Page 50 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

46 ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL SIGHTS

ABOVE Stunning mosaic decoration inside the Galla Placidia Mausoleum, Ravenna
RIGHT Stately Hatshepsut Temple rising out of the red Egyptian desert

GALLA PLACIDIA MAUSOLEUM, RAVENNA, ITALY Most visitors go to Ravenna to see HATSHEPSUT TEMPLE, EGYPT Called “the sublime of sublimes” by the ancient Egyptians,
the beautiful mosaics of the Basilica di San Vitale, unaware that just a few footsteps away, the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut (1479–58 BC) was the grandest in the whole
within the grounds of the church, lies a splendid cruciform mausoleum. The Mausoleum of Thebes. Designed by Hatshepsut’s architect, Senenmut, during the 18th Dynasty, the
of Galla Placidia (AD 425–30) is decorated with some of the earliest and most fabulous partly rock-hewn building rises theatrically from the valley of Deir el-Bahri in a series of
mosaics in Western art. Heavenly blue covers the ceiling, and the Apostles are all represented, colonnaded terraces, beneath the golden limestone curtain of rocks that separates the
while over the door a Christ-figure sits in a country setting guarding his flock. The area from the Valley of the Kings. The temple contains exquisite decorative reliefs and
window panes are made of stone panels so thin that light seeps through them. murals, including scenes portraying the divine birth of the queen.

THE ARK, BUKHARA, UZBEKISTAN YONGHEGONG, BEIJING This beautiful AXUM, ETHIOPIA Hidden in the remote mountains of northern Ethiopia lies Axum, a gem
The fortress that lies at the heart of Bukhara 17th-century Buddhist temple, also known of the ancient world that was founded in the 1st century BC as the capital of the Axumite
dates back 2,000 years. It was the home as the Lama Temple, comprises five main Empire. One of Ethiopia’s holiest sites and the supposed home of the Queen of Sheba,
of the emirs who ruled over this great city halls, elegant courtyards, and stunning Axum houses many different Islamic and Christian archaeological treasures, including
on the Silk Road. Inside its mud-brick walls statuary. In the Pavilion of Ten Thousand giant 4th-century obelisks thought to be memorials of Abyssinian kings, and the alleged
lie beautiful mosques, former ceremonial Happinesses is a 80-ft (25-m) wooden remains of the mystical Ark of the Covenant, in the church of St Mary of Zion. Despite
rooms, and the remains of the harem. Buddha carved from a single tree. intensive research, surprisingly little is known about this once-powerful commercial center.

EPHESUS, TURKEY More than any other NURAGHI, SARDINIA, ITALY Thousands LABRANG MONASTERY, XIAHE, CHINA
classical site, the ruined city of Ephesus of circular forts dating from 1500 BC are This extensive monastery is in a beautiful
shows the harmonious way in which scattered around Sardinia, although this is mountain setting by the Daxia River, high
Greek architecture segued into Roman. probably a quarter of the number originally on the Tibetan plateau. Outside Tibet, it is
Paved marble streets lead to the Library built. These unusual, truncated cones were the most important center of the Yellow
of Celsus (AD 114–17) and the Hellenistic renovated in Roman times, but little else Hat Sect (Gelugpa), of which the Dalai
25,000-seat amphitheater, which was is known about them. The largest is Su Lama is leader. Inside are halls, learning
renovated by the Romans. Pause to Nuraxi in Barùmini, which rises to three institutes, and sutras. Closed during the
imagine the ancient rattle of trade stories. The structures have come to Cultural Revolution, it reopened in 1980,
echoing around this enormous port. represent the mystical spirit of the island. and is now home to around 2,000 monks.

LUGO’S ROMAN WALLS, SPAIN EL CARACOL, BELIZE The Sky Palace, NEMRUT DAGI, TURKEY This tumble of
Western Europe’s finest surviving Roman soaring 140 ft (42 m) above the jungle temples and statuary on a tawny peak in
walls completely surround the town of floor, is just one of thousands of buildings the Anti-Taurus mountain range is the
Lugo. Set beside the Minho river in Galicia, identified in this ancient Mayan city. At its burial ground of King Antiochus I Theos,
northwest Spain, Lugo was important to peak in the 7th century, El Caracol was who ruled the Commagene kingdom
the Romans because of its thermal waters twice the size of Belize City, which is today between 64 and 38 BC. Antiochus built
and the vast deposits of gold that were the capital. Its power was felt for miles two temples and what is assumed to be
found nearby. Walk around the top of the around, and it frequently fought against, his burial tumulus. To glorify his rule, he
walls, which are 32-ft (10-m) high, passing and defeated, its neighboring city-states, had three terraces carved into the hillside
its many gateways and towers on the way. including Tikal in Guatamala (see pp40–41). and adorned with statues of himself.

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