Page 131 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

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Giotto’s Bell Qutb Minar St. Mark’s
Tower NEED TO KNOW Campanile

LOCATION Delhi,
NEED TO KNOW in the Punjab region NEED TO KNOW
1",*45"/
northern India /&1"-
LOCATION Florence, DATE OF %&-)* LOCATION Venice,
in the Tuscany region of .JMBO CONSTRUCTION ,PMLBUB on the Adriatic Sea in .JMBO 7&/*$& ARCHITECTURAL MARVELS
northern Italy */%*" northeastern Italy
'-03&/$& 1193–1236 'MPSFODF
DATE OF HEIGHT 238 ft (72 m) .VNCBJ #BZ PG DATE OF
CONSTRUCTION *5"-: "ESJBUJD "SBCJBO #FOHBM CONSTRUCTION *5"-: "ESJBUJD
4FB
4FB
4FB PURPOSE Uncertain,
1334–59 9th–12th centuries. 3PNF
3PNF #BSJ but possibly for the call to #BOHBMPSF #BSJ
HEIGHT 278 ft (85 m) Collapsed completely
prayer, as a watchtower, or in 1902; reconstruction
PURPOSE Bell tower a triumphal monument 5ZSSIFOJBO
5ZSSIFOJBO completed in 1912 4FB
(campanile) for the 4FB *POJBO
adjoining Basilica of *POJBO HEIGHT 320 ft (98 m) 1BMFSNP 4FB
1BMFSNP 4FB
Santa Maria del Fiore PURPOSE Bell tower
The world’s tallest brick minaret, the Qutb Minar
is set in peaceful gardens along with funerary
This exquisite masterpiece of the Florentine buildings and other masterworks of Indo-Muslim The elegant bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica is as
Renaissance is the perfect accompaniment to architecture dating from the 12th to the 14th recognizable and treasured a Venetian icon as the
Brunelleschi’s basilica dome on the Piazza del centuries. It is a tapering cylindrical tower, with gondolas of the Grand Canal. The red brick shaft,
Duomo in Florence. An accomplished painter as alternating angular and circular flutings, covered with its arched belfry and pyramidal spire, is
well as an architect, Giotto di Bondone created a with fine engravings and Koranic quotations. topped by a 10-ft (3-m) golden weathervane
tower designed to look as if it were painted, Construction was begun under Qutub-ud-Din depicting the angel Gabriel with outstretched
incorporating his chiaroscuro (“light and shade”) Aibak, the first ruler of the medieval Delhi wings. Venetians believe that when the angel is
style and perspective. The tower is decorated in Sultanate, and founder of the Slave Dynasty, facing the Basilica, high tides are on the way.
geometric designs of multicolored marble and using sandstone from demolished Jain temples. It Fires, floods, and earthquakes all took their toll on
adorned with sculptures. Giotto was 67 when was extended by his son-in-law and has been the campanile. Even after repeated restoration,
construction began and at the time of his death repaired several times since, but it has withstood ominous cracks reappeared and on July 14, 1902
three years later, only the first level was complete, the pull of gravity, leaning only 24 inches (60 cm). at 9:45am the original tower collapsed into
but his design was carried forward by Pisano, rubble. Miraculously, the only fatality was the
Talenti, Donatello, and other master craftsmen caretaker’s cat. A wisely reinforced reconstruction
Practical Information
and artists to glorious completion 22 years later. was inaugurated on St. Mark’s Day, April 25, 1912.
Getting There and Around The Qutb Minar is the centerpiece of the Qutb
Complex in Mehrauli, 9 miles (15 km) south of central Delhi.
Practical Information When to Go The complex is open year-round (though the Minar cannot be Practical Information
Getting There and Around Florence has a regional aiport but most visitors climbed), but the heat and pollution of Mar–Jun, and the monsoons of Getting There and Around Busy public water buses take 45 mins from
arrive from Pisa’s international airport (1hr by train). Jul–Sep make late fall to early spring (Oct– Feb) the best time to visit. Marco Polo Airport to St. Mark’s Square, site of the campanile.
When to Go April and May are delightful in Florence, while July and Website www.asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_qutbminar.asp When to Go Summer is hot and crowded. Winter can see flooding but the
August bring the biggest crowds. The campanile can be climbed all year. Carnival (Feb) is a magical time. The campanile may be climbed all year.
Website www.duomofirenze.it Elaborately carved, tapering Qutb Minar, viewed from the Quwwat-ul- Website www.basilicasanmarco.it
Islam Mosque in the complex, India
Giotto’s magnificent bell tower, flanked by the Basilica di Santa Maria The Campanile, dominating St. Mark’s Square, seen from the perfect
del Fiore on Piazza del Duomo, Italy vantage point of the Grand Canal, Italy

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