Showing posts with label Heritage Sites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heritage Sites. Show all posts

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Petra - Half As Old As Time

 Petra - Half as old as Time

Situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Nabatean City of Petra is considered among the Seven Wonders of the World. 

In the description of the “Universal Outstanding Value” of this World Heritage Site, UNESCO describes the Ancient City as a “Major Caravan Centre for the incense of Arabia, the silks of China and the Spices of India, a crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia.” 

The poet John William Burgon memorably described the spellbinding ruins of Petra as “A Rose-Red City Half As Old As Time.” 

Around AD 663, an earthquake destroyed parts of Petra and choked water supply, leading to its abandonment. The city remained lost to the World until the Swiss Explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, in the guise of an Arabic scholar, rediscovered it for the Western World.


Petra, a world hidden within the mountains of Jordan, was built several centuries ago. This ancient "caravan city" was the capital of the Nabataean Arabs, an ancient Semitic race of people who inhabited Jordan. They were mostly traders and agriculturists.


Tombs, caves, temples, monasteries, amphitheatres, gates, street facades – you need at least a couple of days to explore Petra.


The rock-cut architecture takes your breath away. Animals, deities and mortals, mostly carved in rock, greet you everywhere in this World Heritage Site. The architecture is heavily influenced by Assyrian, Egyptian, Hellenistic and Roman styles.


Perhaps the most stereotyped image of Petra is Al Khazneh or the Treasury. Entry is through the Siq, a long narrow gorge, no more than 3 meters wide in some places, which gives the impression that the mountain has parted ways to allow you to enter it. Back in the day, caravans made their grand entry to Petra via the Siq.


The Treasury or Al Khazneh is one of Petra’s most recognizable monuments and one celebrated in Hollywood classics such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Tintin fans will also recognize the monument for its appearance in the Red Sea Sharks.


The Street of Facades in Petra is lined with rock-cut tombs in sandstone. Bodies were interred in chambers carved on the rocks.



The Royal Tombs, much larger in scale, and Urn Tombs lead to a single chamber, which was probably an ancient Byzantine church.

TRAVEL TIPS: Royal Jordanian Airlines flies three times a week (ex Mumbai) and five times a week (ex Delhi) to Amman, Jordan, from where Petra is a three-hour drive. Jordan Express Tourist Transportation (JETT) operates air-conditioned luxury buses to nearby Wadi Musa, where a selection of accommodation is available.



Petra is not just a city of tombs and rock cut temples. Meet the Bedouins here, stay in a cave, ride a horse up to the monastery, or watch craftsmen create sand art in bottles. Petra, as the BBC says, is one of the places you must see before you die.



Sunday, March 28, 2021

5 Epic Pyramids of the World

 Most likely, the only pyramids you learned about in school were the “Great” ones in Egypt. If you were lucky, you maybe heard that there were some in Central America, but mostly the education was all about Giza and the buried Pharaohs. However, pyramids were built as sacred architecture all over the world, from Chichen Itza (Mexico) to Indonesia; from China to the Canary Islands. If you’re traveling because you’re interested in cultures that you may not have known about before, then you have to check out these epic pyramids of the world.



1) Pyramids of Guimar (Tenerife) – Tenerife is one of the most well-traveled locales in the Canary Islands. There are plenty of hotels and cheap flights to Tenerife; this makes the Pyramids of Guimar a great first “Pyramid That’s Not In Egypt” to see. Built out of volcanic rock and fitted together without mortar, these pyramids are mysterious in that a) they’re comparable in size to all the major pyramids of the world, yet b) no one knows who built them. There are all kinds of stories involving Gnostic Christians, Freemasons, or even Aztec traders before the first millennium, but no one knows for sure. That’s why they’re so interesting.




2) Pyramids of Meroe (Sudan) – Just south of Egypt, a completely different civilization, the Kush, built a completely different sort of pyramid by the city of Meroe. Less vast monuments and more very large gravestones, the graveyards in Meroe contain over fifty pyramids for royalty, set within a vast, rocky desert landscape. Due to politics, Sudan can be a difficult place to travel, but the Meroe graveyard is nothing short of chilling, when you consider the rich Nubian history and the modern-day constant civil war. If you’re interested in the Meroe architecture but don’t want to travel there, consider visiting the Pyramid of Cestius in Rome – the Romans copied Nubian architecture.




3) Tomb of the General (Eastern China) – The Tomb of the General, also known as the Pyramid of the East, is located in the Chinese province of Jilin, bordering Korea. Home to the ancient kings of Korea, it is a fascinating political landmark in that its sister temple, the Mausoleum of Tangun, is located in Pyongyang, North Korea. China and Korea have a complex past together, and by climbing the steps and entering into the underground mausoleum, you can tap into the aesthetics that both bridge and divide the Koreans and the Chinese.



4) Brihadeeswarar Temple (India) – Sacred to the Tamil Emperor in the 11 Century BC, Brihadeeswarar was literally where the king became a god. By ascending the tower and being anointed by the priests, the emperor could proceed to speak with the voice of Shiva, the Auspicious Deva, the lord of the dance. The temple complex, located in the city of Thanjavur, contains numerous examples of Indian pyramidal architecture, as it was added to at many points between the 11th and 16th Centuries.





5) Chichen Itza (Mesoamerica) – One of the most famous pyramid complexes in the world, Chichen Itza (literally “the mouth of the well of magic”) is where Maya priests sacrificed human beings so that their blood might spill into the well of magic for the good of the whole. The complex is thought to be an entire “holy city” of sorts, complete with living quarters for the king and queen, a ball court for entertainment, and a steam bath for relaxation. The draw of Chichen Itza is the ability to explore the ancient holy city of a people now long gone, and to imagine yourself in their shoes.







Wednesday, March 24, 2021

GREAT BLUE HOLE - Natural Features

 The Great Blue Hole is a giant submarine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 70 km (43 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 m (984 ft) across and 124 m (407 ft) deep. It was formed during several episodes of quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower. Analysis of stalactites found in the Great Blue Hole shows that formation took place 153,000; 66,000; 60,000; and 15,000 years ago. As the ocean began to rise again, the cave was flooded. The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).










Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Some WorldWide Heritage Sites

Some WorldWide Heritage Sites


Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe







Timbuktu, Mali







The Great Wall, China







Mountain Railways, India







Casa Milà, Spain







Amalfi Coast, Italy







Old Quebec, Canada







Machu Picchu, Peru







Amazon Basin, Brazil







Pueblo de Taos, New Mexico