Page 48 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

44 ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL SIGHTS 44 MORE AMAZING ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL SIGHTS

ABOVE Monumental figures of Buddha at Gal Vihara, carved from the rock cliff at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka
RIGHT Evocative walled town of Aït Benhaddou, Morocco, on the fringe of the Sahara

GAL VIHARA BUDDHAS, POLONNARUWA, SRI LANKA These four huge, exquisite AIT BENHADDOU, MOROCCO Looking like something out of a living bible, it is no
figures of Buddha near the beautiful ancient city of Polonnaruwa were cut from a surprise that Aït Benhaddou has featured as the backdrop in numerous historical films.
single granite cliff. They include a standing figure more than three times life-size This beautiful walled collection of ancient fortresses or kasbahs, which make up the ksar,
and, twice bigger still, a Buddha in the reclining “lion posture” (simhasana) in which he seems to rise out of the red earth from another era. The town dates from the 16th
attained his final nirvana. The two other Buddhas are seated. The figures, which remain century and it thrived on trade, being in a prime location on the caravan route between
unsurpassed in Sinhalese art, were commissioned by the rich and devout 12th-century the Sahara and Marrakech. Today, with its earthen houses and decorative crenellated
King Parakramabahu, but nobody knows who it was that carved them. towers gradually eroded by the rain, it is inhabited by fewer than ten families.

MAIDEN CASTLE, DORSET, UK Just TEMPLE OF SETI I, ABYDOS, EGYPT CITADELLE LAFERRIERE, HAITI This dramatic fortress is perched like some deity’s ship
south of Dorchester lie the remains of the Abydos was dedicated to the ruler of the on top of a high mountain, with a sheer drop on three sides. Built for Henri Christophe,
largest iron-age hill fort in Britain, a series of Underworld and this temple, built under leader of the slave rebellion, it is said to be the largest citadel in the western hemisphere,
towering earthworks some 20 ft (6 m) high. Seti I in the 13th century BC, was the burial its walls reaching 130 ft (40 m) high and 13 ft (4 m) thick. Some 20,000 workers are said
Among the finds made here are skeletons site for all the pharaohs of the first dynasty. to have died during its construction. It was designed to support the island community
of the men who fought in vain to defend Its List of Kings – 76 cartouches carved for up to a year, in case the country should ever come under siege by the French. The
it against Roman invasion in AD 43. into the walls – is especially fascinating. expected attack never came, however, and it remains a symbol of Haiti’s independence.

SERGIYEV POSAD, RUSSIA Sergiyev PERSEPOLIS, IRAN This, the glory of MOUNTAIN RESORT, CHENGDE, CHINA
Posad is home to the Troitse-Sergiyeva ancient Persia, is the city of kings Darius This walled estate is the final flourish of
Lavra monastery – spiritual center of the and Xerxes, a metropolis which buzzed imperial China, built by the emperors of
Russian Orthodox Church and an artistic with traders from the 5th century BC. Set the Qing Dynasty between 1703 and
treasurehouse. This magical enclave of on an immense terrace, it was approached 1792 as an escape from the heat and
onion domes and churches was founded from the plains up shallow steps, leading intrigue of court life in Beijing. Inside, a
by St Sergius, Russia’s patron saint, in the to the monumental Gate of All Nations. replica of the Forbidden City stands
14th century. Among its cathedrals is one The portal, carved with bulls’ heads, has among new palaces, temples, and other
added by Ivan the Terrible, and another inscriptions in three languages urging buildings, all beautifully landscaped to
decorated by icon painter Andrei Rublev. travelers to respect each other’s cultures. mirror different facets of the country.

CUEVAS DE POMIER, SAN CRISTÓBAL, ERUM, OMAN Though little is visible but PALENQUE, MEXICO Visitors who come
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC A collection of its foundations, to look on the remains of upon this majestic Mayan city, emerging
more than 50 interconnecting caves, the Erum is to look on a legend. The “City of from the jungle canopy and watched
Cuevas de Pomier contain several 1,000 Pillars,” which flourished between over by toucans and howler monkeys,
thousand spectacular drawings, carvings, 3,000 BC and the 1st century AD, was feel as if they are the first to set eyes on
and pictographs portraying human discovered in the 1980s using satellite it. Though not the largest of its kind, the
figures, birds, reptiles, and religious rites. technology to track its whereabouts in site has some impressive buildings. Of
They were created some 2,000 years ago the Rub’ al-Khali Desert. Until then, it was the few excavated, most notable are the
using charcoal and animal fat, and are thought to exist only in folk tales and Temple of Inscriptions, a palace with
principally the work of the Taíno people. ancient records, including the Qur’an. intriguing carvings, and an observatory.

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