500 Places to See Before They Disappear From The Map

Istanbul

The Ayasofya in Istanbul.

after many years under plaster. And then clubs. To grasp the paradox of Istanbul,
there’s Topkapi Palace, an exotic marvel roam through the Grand Bazaar (Kapali
of ceramic tiles, inlaid ivory, and ornate Çar@isi), a labyrinth of more than 2,600
friezes and mosaics, loaded with the loot of shops and several individual marketplaces.
4 centuries of Ottoman rulers. A separate The exuberant free-for-all of the bazaar—
admission ticket gets you into Topkapi’s prices can be insane and haggling over
Harem, where up to 800 concubines lived merchandise is an age-old custom—could
in cramped cubicles—except for the sul- stand as a metaphor for Istanbul itself.
tan’s favorites, who occupied his lavish
seaview apartments. e www.tourismturkey.com

Yet this ancient city also offers trendy Atatürk International, Istanbul
shopping along Istiklal Caddesi, cutting-
edge art at the Istanbul Museum of Modern $$ Sari Konak, Mimar Mehmet
Art, and chic nightlife amid the 19th-c­ entury
mansions of Beyoglu. At dawn the call of Aga Cad. 42 (& 90/212/638-6258; www.
muezzins in their minarets mingles with the
thump of hip-hop music from all-night istanbulhotelsarikonak.com). $$$ Mavi Ev

(Blue House), Dalbasti Sok. 14 (& 90/­212/­

638-9010; www.bluehouse.com.tr).

341

Cityscapes

Cities in Peril 369

Hong Kong

The Big Land Grab

Hong Kong S.A.R., China

Watchdog groups led by the Society for the Protection of the Harbour have

aggressively campaigned against land reclamation projects nibbling away at Hong

Kong’s centerpiece, Victoria Harbour.

That postcard view of Hong Kong’s Victo- Kong Island’s Central District. Otherwise,
ria Harbour, bristling with skyscrapers— for city panoramas you’ll need to get
what glittering urban romance it promises. high—as in the top of Victoria Peak, via
an 8-minute ride on the Peak tram, the
This former Crown Colony once seemed world’s steepest funicular railway. The
a magic portal into the Far East, one with modern Peak Tower has a viewing terrace
English spoken everywhere and modern (as well as restaurants, shops, and attrac-
creature comforts at hand. Wooden boats tions like Madame Tussauds), where you
bobbed in the harbor beside ocean liners, can still catch glimpses of the harbor
crumbling tenements leaned against mod- between the skyscrapers; walk along the
ern high-rises, and rickshaws trundled Peak’s cliffside footpaths for a taste of this
past gleaming Rolls-Royces. But with a exclusive enclave’s expat British vibe. For
population of seven-million-plus crowded more exotic Asian atmosphere, ride the
into an area half the size of Rhode Island, rickety old double-decker trams around
this international finance city—the “Wall the northern end of Hong Kong Island, old-
Street of Asia”—values commercial inter- fashioned neighborhoods where you can
ests over the charming and picturesque, still see laundry hanging from second-story
and since it became an autonomous windows, signs swinging over the street,
region of China in 1997, China’s leaders and markets twisting down side alleys.
show little interest in reining this in. Jump off at Des Vouex Street and Morrison
Road to browse the still-colorful shopping
Real estate is at such a premium, Hong streets of the Western District—Hillier
Kong is currently the world’s most expen- Street, Bonham Strand, and Man Wa Lane.
sive place to buy a home. For over a cen-
tury, Hong Kong solved that problem by Hong Kong’s future may be prefigured by
reclaiming land, bit by bit, from its sur- the development of nearby Lantau Island
rounding channels and bays, until Victoria for Hong Kong Disneyland, and the explo-
Harbour was reduced to less than half of sive growth of Macau—a former Portu-
its original size. New construction along guese colony 64km (40 miles) west of Hong
the waterfront is almost always high-rise, Kong, across the Pearl River estuary—into
blocking water views, and the few parks the Las Vegas of the Far East. Where will the
and gardens left around the island—par- growth end?
ticularly near the waterfront—are increas-
ingly hemmed in by fences, roads, and e Hong Kong Tourism Board, the Peak
buildings.
Piazza or Kowloon Star Ferry Concourse
That sweeping vista of the skyscraper-
ringed harbor is still available from the (& 852/2508 1234; www.discoverhong
decks of the green-and-white Star Ferry, a
7-minute ride between Kowloon and Hong kong.com)

342

Machiya Town Houses

Hong Kong International bpih.com.hk). $$ The Salisbury YMCA,

$$ BP International House, 8 Austin 41 Salisbury Rd., Kowloon (& 852/2268

Rd., Kowloon (& 852/2376 1111; www. 7000; www.ymcahk.org.hk).

370 Traditional Ways of Living

Machiya Town Houses

Sliding Doors Behind the Shops

Kyoto, Japan

Real estate pressures have done what WWII bombers didn’t, razing 2% of Kyoto’s

traditional machiya town houses every year to make room for new malls and apartment

blocks.

For nearly a thousand years, Kyoto reigned cover the shop front, with specific lattice
over Japan, from the feudal era of 794 to designs indicating the owner’s trade. The
the cosmopolitan society of 1868. The city kyoshitsubu, or living space, stretches
is such a treasure box of history that Allied behind the shop, its polished timber floors
bombers in World War II intentionally covered with woven tatami mats; sliding
spared it from destruction, leaving its his- doors reconfigure the living space, open-
toric city center—unlike most of southern ing rooms to breezes in summer but shut-
Japan—gloriously intact. ting up against cold in winter. Farther
behind that, the deep plot also contains an
Most visitors focus on Kyoto’s medieval earthen-floored kitchen, storehouses, per-
landmarks, like the 14th-century Temple haps even an interior courtyard. Second
of the Golden Pavilion, covered in gold stories rise above with slatted “insect
leaf; the 15th-century Ryoanji Temple, cage” windows cut into their earthen walls,
with Japan’s most famous Zen rock gar- allowing ventilation and yet privacy. It’s a
den; the 17th-century Nijo Castle, an design that’s as functional as it is elegant.
exquisitely understated palace of Japa- For an inside look, make a reservation to
nese cypress; and Kiyomizu Temple, tour the Nishijin Tondaya town house
with its grand wooden veranda suspended
over a cliff. But Kyoto was still a great city (& 81/75/432-6701; www.tondaya.co.jp).
during the Edo period (1603–1867), when
it evolved from shogun culture into a mod- Unfortunately, these historic buildings
ern city with a thriving merchant and require skilled carpentry to maintain, and
­artisan class—perfectly embodied in its they don’t suit the denser living conditions
handsome machiya town houses. Chances of crowded modern Japan. Between 1993
are, this is what you picture when you and 2003, some 13% of Kyoto’s machiya
think of traditional Japanese lifestyle. Airy were demolished; there are still 28,000
and light, with interior gardens, they com- standing, but as you walk around the city,
bined residences and workspace in one you’ll see many that are badly dilapidated
property, creating integrated urban neigh- or have been clumsily modernized. Preser-
borhoods for the rising middle class. vation groups such as the Kyoto Center for
Community Collaboration, however, have
A typical Kyoto machiya might be only been spearheading a turnaround, arous-
6m (20 ft.) wide, although a merchant ing public interest and teaching conserva-
could flaunt his success by claiming wider tion techniques to machiya owners. Some
street frontage. Latticed wooden shutters tour operators now offer themed machiya

343

Cityscapes 0 Kyoto, 21⁄2 hr. from Tokyo by bullet

tours, and restored machiyas can be train
booked as a trendy lodging option. The
machiya renaissance may take off yet. $$ ANA Hotel Kyoto, Nijojo-mae,

e Tourist information, JR Kyoto Station, Horikawa Dori, Nakagyo-ku (& 877/834-
2nd floor (& 81/75/343-0548; www.
3613 in North America, or 81/75/231-
kyoto.travel) 1155; www.ichotelsgroup.com). $$$ IORI
Kansai International, Osaka
Kyoto Townhouse Stays (& 81/75/352-

0211; www.kyoto-machiya.com).

Traditional Ways of Living 371

Hutong Neighborhoods

Hiding Out in the Alley

Beijing, China

To combat Beijing’s chronic overcrowding, housing officials have been steadily

razing the city’s iconic hutong courtyard complexes, as foreign visitors rush to tour the

remaining few.

Chinese officials were determined to But dissent was boiling to a head. In
remake Beijing into a modern showcase 2003, suicide attempts by displaced
city for the 2008 Olympics—the hutongs hutong residents highlighted the crisis. In
simply had to go. What did it matter that 2002, the government had promised land-
they’d been the basis of Beijing’s urban mark protection to several hutongs, but it
fabric since the 14th century? Hutongs wasn’t until 2007 that it finally spent 1 bil-
made Chinese society look backward, and lion yuan refurbishing 44 dilapidated
with the world’s eyes on China, that simply hutongs in the Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chon-
would not do. gwen, and Xuanwu districts. Gentrification
may be another force that could restore
Granted, this wholesale destruction hutongs—just look at what’s happening
began way back in the 1950s, during Mao around the alley of Nan Luogu Xiang, site
Tse-tung’s Cultural Revolution. Old hutongs of a growing number of hipster cafes, bars,
were sacrificed in favor of wide boulevards restaurants, and hotels.
lined with high-rises; hutong dwellers were
resettled in apartment buildings with ame- Several tour companies now include
nities like central heating and indoor hutong excursions among their city tours,
plumbing that were rare in the hutongs. using cycle rickshaws to navigate the nar-
But in the new era of Chinese capitalism— row lanes. The hutong lifestyle is a perfect
the Second Industrial Revolution, some call expression of traditional Chinese culture.
it—the Beijing Municipal Construction Within its shady courtyards, communal
Committee in 2004 announced that it social networks—especially extended
would demolish more of the old housing, families—became the basic building
displacing 20,000 households. Given the blocks of Beijing cultural life. While some
lack of property rights in China, there hutongs were built for aristocrats, hum-
wasn’t much those citizens could do. bler merchants and craftsmen and laborers

344

Hutong Neighborhoods

A hutong in Beijing.

huddled together in much smaller court- Two months later in Shanghai, a fatal
yards. The name “hutong” comes from the blaze killed 58 people trapped on upper
Mongolian word for “well,” reflecting the floors of a 28-story apartment building—
idea of a community’s central meeting the same sort of housing that displaced
point. With their upturned eaves, wooden hutong residents have been moved into. It
doors and windows, decorative brick- had no fire-sprinkler system, and the city’s
work, and garden plantings (traditionally, fire hoses couldn’t reach that high. So
pomegranate trees) or fishponds in the much for progress.
central courtyard, these hutong com-
plexes have a distinctly Chinese flavor— Capital Airport, Beijing
presumably, the very thing the Olympics
were meant to showcase. $$$ Grand Hyatt, D∂ng Ch≈ng’≈n

Even with the Olympics over, the Ji√ 1, D∂ngchéng District (& 86/10/8518-
destruction continues. The Qián Mén
hutong at the south end of Tiananmen 1234; http://beijing.grand.hyatt.com). $$
Square is now gone; the well-preserved Lhs∂ng Yuán B∫nguân, Bânchâng
upper-class Gulou hutongs around the
Drum Tower and Shichahai Lake were Hútòng 22, D∂ngchéng District (& 86/­
slated to be replaced (with a theme com-
plex named Beijing Time Cultural City) until 10/6404-0436; www.the-silk-road.com).
preservationists won a reprieve in Sep-
tember 2010. TOUR Beijing Hutong Tourist Agency

(& 86/10/6615-9097). Cycle China Tours
(& 86/10/6402-5653; www.cyclechina.

com).

345

Cityscapes

Traditional Ways of Living 372

The Courtyard Houses of Zabid

Outside, Inside

Southwestern Yemen

With Yemen embroiled in political ferment, money and administration may not be

available to save this dilapidated Red Sea treasure, which is lacking even the infrastruc-

ture to attract tourist income.

Sheep and goats roam freely in a maze of But ever since the Ottoman conquest of the
dusty lanes, where young children play, 16th century, Zabid has been in decline. The
the girls in bright dresses, the boys in little- proud circle of walls that once girded Zabid
man sport coats. Electrical wires and the collapsed long ago, yet the city hasn’t grown
occasional satellite dish are stuck rudely much beyond those medieval boundaries.
along the tops of blank white stucco walls, You can wander among the ruined walls of
which line the streets so closely that in the old university, littered with rubble; weav-
some places you could stretch out your ers and blacksmiths ply their trades in an
arms and touch both sides at once. It’s ancient souk, between the Great Mosque
hard to imagine that this city, Zabid, was and the Asa’ir Mosque.
once the medieval capital of Yemen, a
center of learning renowned throughout That lost-in-history atmosphere is part
the Arab world. of Zabid’s charm. While Zabid has modern-
ized haphazardly, rudely jacking concrete
Yet within those walls are near-classic buildings into any open site, it is estimated
examples of southern Arabian domestic that nearly three-quarters of the historic
architecture, ideally suited for urban des- housing remains, hidden behind those
ert life. The heart of such houses is an walls. Cash-poor landlords can’t charge
enclosed courtyard, or qabal, with wells high enough rents on their dilapidated
and basins in their corners; a gracious properties to pay for restoration, but
reception room, or muraba’a, opens onto UNESCO attention has attracted some for-
the qabal, lined with sofas for both sitting eign investment to improve Zabid’s crum-
and sleeping. More sleeping rooms may bling urban fabric. Meanwhile, friendly
lead off of this; upstairs terraces provide locals often invite intrepid tourists inside
cooler sleeping space for hot summer their courtyard homes to show off their
nights. Anonymous as the outer walls may interiors. Since most Zabid residents
look, families poured their wealth into speak only Arabic, hire a local guide to
interior decor, with brilliant painted ceil- facilitate such interactions—and to help
ings and decorated plasterwork. The you navigate that maze of lanes.
courtyard’s bricks were laid in fantastical
designs—Egyptian arches, Indian floral e Consult your embassy about travel
patterns, African animals, Islamic geomet-
ric figures, reflecting all the cultural forces conditions before your visit; www.yemen
that converged along the Aden-to-Mecca tourism.com.
trade route. Layers of lime wash coat the
bricks, dazzling in the desert sun. Al-Hodeidah

Islam came early to Zabid, and it’s still a Zabid Tourist Rest House, Zabid
deeply Muslim place, with some 86
mosques. These inward-looking homes (& 967/3/340 270)
were built for scholars, merchants, and arti-
sans who prized the sanctity of home life. TOUR Yemen Holiday Tour, Sana’a

346 (&  967/­1/297 369; www.yemenholiday

tour.com)

The Trulli District of Alberobello

373 Traditional Ways of Living

The Trulli District of Alberobello

Living in a Beehive

Apulia, Italy

Protected under UNESCO World Heritage law since 1996, the distinctive Apulian

cottages known as trulli can be restored only within strict guidelines. Even in the tourist

magnet of Alberobello, their exteriors remain pristine.

Nobody else ever built homes quite like town of Alberobello, which has preserved
these—beehive-shaped cottages with so many that the town now lives on sum-
whitewashed limestone walls and conical mer hordes of Italian day-trippers rather
fieldstone roofs, like something out of a than on its olive groves.
storybook. If you saw just one cozy little
trullo, you might think it was some modern Apulia, the high heel of Italy’s boot, is a
architect’s fantasy, but drive around the land of gritty survivors, invaded over the
rugged landscape of Apulia’s Itria valley years by everyone from ancient Greeks to
and they pop up often, charming relics of a Goths, Byzantines, Saracen pirates, and
traditional peasant way of life that persists Turks. Trulli were built as early as the 13th
only in little pockets of this rural province. century, by peasants scavenging whatever
But Trulli Central is the once-sleepy rural materials came easily to hand. What’s
amazing, when you take a close look, is the

Trulli in Alberobello.

347

Cityscapes

craftsmanship involved: The stones fit Follow the tourist track up Largo Mar-
together in such a way that not a speck of tellotta to the main trulli neighborhood, a
mortar was needed. This allowed medieval maze of curving cobbled lanes running up
peasants to dismantle the structures quickly a hillside with the round houses on every
if a king came to inspect the district. For such side, an astonishing ensemble of more
provisional dwellings, they sure have lasted than 1,000 trulli. In Alberobello, even the
a long time, and now that the ones in Alber- churches occupy trulli—witness the
obello are under UNESCO protection, their Church of Saint Anthony atop the hill,
upkeep is strictly regulated. with its large dome and Greek cross lay-
out. To escape the crowds, wander east to
Trulli-packed Alberobello is a fantastical the Aia Piccola neighborhood—it has
sight, verging on kitsch. Tacky souvenirs about half as many trulli, but it’s more
are on sale everywhere, even in converted residential and more authentic.
trulli, and vendors can be aggressive. An
obvious first stop is the two-story trullo e Tourist office, Piazza Ferdinando IV
sovrano (sovereign trullo) at Piazza Sac- (& 39/80/4325171)
ramento; period furnishings inside give
you a sense of what living in one of these 0 Alberobello, 13⁄4 hr. from Bari
houses must have been like. Then cross
the main road to find Piazza 27 Maggio $$$ Grand Hotel Olimpo, Via Sette
(near Piazza del Populo), where several
trulli have been cobbled together to cre- Liberatori della Selva (& 39/80/432-1678;
ate the Museo del Territorio, which dis-
plays traditional trulli furnishings, farm www.grandhotelolimpo.it). $$ Trullo Casa
tools, and other rural artifacts. Here you’ll
learn the iconography of the trulli’s roof- Rosa, C. da Staffone 222 (&  39/80/­438-
top spires and lime-washed hex signs.
3059; www.trullocasarosa.it).

Traditional Ways of Living 374

Taos Pueblo

The House Mountain

New Mexico

Despite tourist entrance fees and revenue from its small casino, the Tiwa people’s

pueblo in Taos struggles with poverty. Slipshod repairs to the ancient adobe structures

threaten their integrity.

In our consumer-culture society, it’s down- echo the shape of Taos Mountain to the
right inspirational—some 150 Taos Pueblo northeast. A connection to the natural
residents living much as their Tiwa ances- world is expressed in every detail—the
tors did 1,000 years ago, without electric- adobe exterior blends in with the sur-
ity and running water, and by choice. They rounding desert, bright blue doors echo
cluster in two main buildings—Hlauuma the blue sky above.
(north house) and Hlaukwima (south
house)—a rambling series of rooms piled The northernmost of New Mexico’s 19
on top of each other, built of straw and pueblos, Taos Pueblo looks much the same
mud with distinctive flowing rooflines that today as it did when a regiment from the
Spanish explorer Coronado’s expedition

348

Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo.

first came upon it in 1540. Though the Tiwa cemetery, but do not trespass into kivas
were essentially a peaceful agrarian peo- (ceremonial rooms), private homes, and
ple, in 1680 they spearheaded the only other areas marked as restricted. Ask per-
successful revolt by Native Americans in mission from individuals before taking
history, driving the Spanish from Santa Fe their photos; some will request a small
until 1692 and from Taos until 1698—you payment. You can buy traditional fried and
can still see the old church ruined in that oven-baked bread, as well as a variety of
uprising. The main pueblo contains several arts and crafts like moccasins, pottery,
individual homes, built side by side with and jewelry. To try traditional feast-day
common walls. Some 2,000 other Tiwas meals, stop by the Tiwa Kitchen, near the
live in conventional homes on the pueblo’s entrance to the pueblo.
95,000 acres (38,400 hectares), but most
still practice ancestral customs, baking Be aware that the pueblo shuts down
their traditional bread in communal bee- for tribal ceremonies, including an 8-week
hive-shaped ovens and drinking water period every spring; on the other hand, on
from the sacred Blue Lake nearby. Balanc- certain feast days you may be lucky
ing 21st-century life with ancient customs enough to watch ceremonial dances.
is inevitably a challenge for the Tiwas, Check the tribe’s website for schedules.
however, with the modern town of Taos
only a couple of miles away. The tribe’s e Veterans Hwy. (& 505/758-1028;
small casino (www.taosmountaincasino.
com) adheres to tribal bans on smoking www.­taospueblo.com)
and alcohol—a plus for some visitors, but
not the general gaming audience. Santa Fe

As you explore the historic pueblo com- $$ El Rey Inn, 1862 Cerrillos Rd.,
plex, respect tribe members’ privacy. You
can visit residents’ studios, the San Geron- Santa Fe (& 800/521-1349 or 505/982-
imo Chapel, and the ruined church and
1931; www.elreyinnsantafe.com). $$ Old
Taos Guesthouse, 1028 Witt Rd., Taos

(& 800/758-5448 or 575/758-5448; www.

oldtaos.com).

349

Cityscapes

375Neighborhoods in Transition

The Death of the High Street

Working on the Chain Gang

The United Kingdom

Internet shopping, chain stores, and American-style malls have all crippled tradi-

tional U.K. “high street” shopping areas. Will the country’s recent economic downturn

deal the final blow?

More than 5,000 streets throughout the shut down a slew of branches; employ-
United Kingdom are named High Street. ment agencies and estate agents also
Each one is expected to have its own char- closed in record numbers. (The one seg-
acter, set by local tradesmen selling ment that grew was betting parlors.)
regionally made products. But that cher- Among the factors blamed in a November
ished vision of a nation of shopkeepers is 2010 report by the British Retail Consor-
increasingly a fantasy scenario. tium: high property taxes, inadequate
public transport, costly parking, vandal-
First came a boom in American-style ism, lack of local flavor, and not enough
shopping malls, which quadrupled in num- variety in the retail mix. “Gangs of yobs are
ber between 1986 and 1997. Against that spoiling our town centres by intimidating
competition, chain shops seemed to fare shoppers,” added a 2010 article in The
better than small independents; Boots Sun, entitled “Hell on High Street.”
Pharmacies supplanted small chemists,
WHSmith drove out independent news So where can one find an authentic high
agents, Marks & Spencer replaced local street? Tourist magnets such as Bath, Strat-
clothing boutiques, while Tesco and Sains- ford-upon-Avon, and Chester have care-
bury’s supermarkets consolidated food fully preserved shopping streets, often with
shopping (between 1992 and 2003, Yellow half-timbered historic buildings. But for a
Pages listings for fruit-and-veg shops real-life everyday high street, consider
declined nearly 60%, butchers 40%, and Gloucester Road, a northern artery (A38)
bakers 20%). When a 2004 report by the that curves through the Bristol suburb of
New Economics Foundation titled “Clone Bishopston, half a mile north of the city
Town Britain” rated towns according to center. There’s nothing twee or stage-set
the number of chain stores in their central perfect about it, just a series of tidy two-
retail districts, the cathedral town of story terraces—food shops, news agents,
Exeter ranked worst, with only one inde- clothing boutiques, coffee bars, pubs, and
pendent store in its entire shopping dis- takeaway shops. Chains have made a few
trict. A 2010 survey showed that 41% of inroads—a Tesco Express, a small Sains-
British municipalities are now “clone bury’s, Pizza Hut, Thresher’s spirits shop—
towns,” with chains composing more than but they are still outpaced by small
half of their stores. With Internet shopping independent shops. In this middle-class,
on the rise—up 18% in 2010—fewer peo- family-oriented neighborhood, Gloucester
ple see any reason to visit shops at all. Road’s shops serve residents’ day-to-day
needs, rather than being a shopping desti-
After the economic downturn in autumn nation in and of itself.
2008, even the chains were closing
branches, leaving more and more vacant You’d best run down to the shops while
windows in town centers—a 12% vacancy you still can.
rate nationwide, up to 30% in some towns,
especially in the North. Bank consolidation

350

Spitalfields

Bristol House, 33 Henleaze Gardens, Henleaze

$$ Tyndall’s Park Hotel, 4 Tyndall’s (& 44/117/962 1639; www.down­lands

Park Rd., Clifton (& 44/117/973 5407; www.­ house.co.uk).

tyndallsparkhotel.co.uk). $$ Downlands

376 Neighborhoods in Transition

Spitalfields

To Market, to Market

London, England

Gentrification is rapidly changing the dynamic of this historic market area in London’s

East End. The market itself moved out in 1991—what’s left is merely a trendy mall.

Through centuries of British history, per- one Georgian relic after another was refur-
secuted refugees and racial outcasts bished, squatters were evacuated and
found a haven in London’s East End. In the house prices skyrocketed. More recently,
18th century, it was Huguenot silk weav- large modern office blocks have sprouted
ers driven out of France; in the 19th cen- on the western edge, spilling over from
tury, it was Irish navvies displaced by the the City of London. The produce market
Potato Famine and Jews fleeing pogroms moved out to Leyton in 1991; landmark
in eastern Europe; in the 20th century, it status protected the remaining third of the
was Bangladeshi immigrants. Check out Victorian-era market building, but its
the mosque in Brick Lane: Originally a glass-roofed central hall now sells crafts,
Huguenot church, it became a synagogue vintage clothing, and organic foods, and
in the 19th century, then was converted to similar virtuously chic shops line the
a mosque for Bangladeshi Muslims in the adjoining streets.
mid–20th century. Each group brought its
own flavor to the neighborhood; each, in To some locals, the smartness of the
turn, moved out of these crowded, unfash- “new” Spitalfields seems a betrayal of the
ionable streets as soon as they could. East End’s colorful past. Case in point:
Christ Church Spitalfields, a baroque
A focal point since the 17th century was Nicholas Hawksmoor gem on Fournier
the Spitalfields meat and produce market, Street between Brick Lane and Commer-
held at first in an open field, which was cial Street, now a posh concert venue. The
replaced by a handsome covered market red-brick Georgian terrace at 18 Folgate
building in 1875. By then, however, the old St. (www.dennissevershouse.co.uk) where
merchant dwellings surrounding the mar- avant-garde artist Dennis Severs once
ket had been sliced up into crowded, lived in an anachronistic “still-life drama,”
dilapidated slums, huddled around narrow each room reflecting a different historic
lanes and alleys. This was the squalid face era, is now on public display. A pair of
of Dickensian London, the den of criminals 18th-century town houses at 56 Artillery
like Fagin and Bill Sykes; Jack the Ripper Lane, derelict since a 1970s fire, have
met some of his victims at the Ten Bells been reborn as the contemporary art cen-
pub on Commercial Street. ter Raven Row (www.ravenrow.org).
Even the Ten Bells pub now sells imported
In the 1960s, well-meaning preserva- microbrews and discourages its Ripper
tionists focused on saving those old mer- associations. Yes, the buildings have been
chant terraces from the wrecking ball. As

351

Cityscapes

The Spitalfields market entrance.

preserved—but if the vitality of the East $$ Mornington Hotel, 12 Lancaster
End lives on anywhere, it’s in the kebab
shops and curry restaurants along Brick Gate, Bayswater (& 800/633-6548 in
Lane.
North America, or 44/20/7262-7361; www.
e www.spitalfields.co.uk
bw-morningtonhotel.co.uk). $$ Sanctuary
Heathrow International
House Hotel, 33 Tothill St., Westminster

(& 44/20/7799-4044; www.fullershotels.

com).

377Neighborhoods in Transition

Prenzlauerberg

In Search of a Kiez

Berlin, Germany

German reunification was enough of a shock to the system for long-divided Berlin.

In Prenzlauerberg, urban evolution is playing out at dizzying speed.

Built as housing for factory workers in the Soviet-controlled German Democratic
1860s, the cramped five-story tenements Republic. It was the sort of radical quarter
of East Berlin’s Prenzlauerberg became a where you’d expect political activity, like
magnet for artists, thinkers, students, and the government resistance that emanated
orange-haired punks in the days of the from the Protestant Gethsemane church on

352

Cesk; Krumlov Inner Town

Gethsemanestrasse. For a cheap meal, you repainting the dull facades in bright colors
could always have a grilled sausage at Kon- and designs. Nightlife exploded, particu-
nopkes Imbiss, under the U-Bahn tracks larly around Kollwitzplatz and Kastanienal-
between Schönhauser Allee and Danziger lee, with a fairly active gay scene; a constant
Strasse. This northern suburb had a definite rotation of hip boutiques, galleries, and
character, a real kiez (German for a neigh- sidewalk cafes attract the leisured classes
borhood you feel connected to). by day. Weekly street markets at Kollwitz-
platz and Helmholtzplatz add to the lively
But with reunification, those historic ten- atmosphere. Students and punks—those
ements with their trees and interior yards perennial urban colonizers—were soon
seemed pretty attractive to young profes- priced out of the area.
sionals eager to renovate prime real estate.
Unlike other districts of East Berlin, Pren- In the hyperactive post-reunification cli-
zlauerberg hadn’t been bombed in World mate, nothing in Berlin stays the same for
War II; somehow it had also escaped being long. Already the really hot nightlife has
replaced with the GDR era’s typical boxy moved elsewhere (to the east), and the
concrete apartment blocks. A few atmo- first wave of yuppies are starting families—
spheric landmarks had survived, like the there’s a surprising number of baby stroll-
handsome 19th-century brick water tower ers around. It’s anybody’s guess what the
that rises over Kollwitzplatz, the Prater character of Prenzl’berg will be in the end,
Beer Garden (Berlin’s oldest) on Kastani- but at least those classic old buildings have
enallee, and a handful of disused breweries been refurbished.
ripe for redevelopment. (One of them, the
Kulturbrauerei on Sredzkistrasse, now e Tourist information, in the Kulturbrau-
houses a warren of bars, restaurants, and a erei (& 49/30/4435 2170; www.tic-in-
cinema beneath its brick towers and chim-
ney stacks.) Remnants of the days when prenzlauerberg.de)
this was a Jewish neighborhood persist in
an old synagogue on Rykestraße and a Jew- Berlin-Tagel
ish cemetery on Schönhauser Allee. A
mound of postwar rubble cleared from $$ Ackselhaus Blue Home, Belforter
other districts grew into a wooded hilltop in
leafy Volkspark to the east. Strasse 21 (& 49/30/4433-7633; www.

And so in the early 1990s free market ackselhaus.de). $$ Myers Hotel Berlin,
forces took hold and the yuppies moved in,
Metzer Strasse 26 (& 49/30/440140;

www.myershotel.de).

378 Neighborhoods in Transition

Cesk; Krumlov Inner Town

Watching the River Flow

Czech Republic

Climate change, deforestation, and melting Alpine glaciers are raising river levels

throughout Europe, increasing the risk of seasonal flooding for historic river towns like
Bohemia’s Cesk; Krumlov.

Since the fall of communism in 1989, the near-perfect assemblage of medieval and
Renaissance-era town houses. Under
Czech government has invested heavily in Communism this area had little money to
sprucing up historic Cesk; Krumlov, a

353

Cityscapes

Gargoyles on St. Vitus cathedral.

spare for “development,” which turned The ancestral tapestries and rococo interi-
out to be a boon—no glass-and-steel mon- ors of 16th-century Cesk; Krumlov Château
strosities to spoil the architectural beauty. remained dry on its rocky mount across
Tourism is now a mainstay of the local the river, but Inner Town’s picturesque
economy, and the town is jam-packed cobblestoned streets disappeared under
every summer, especially at the summer the swirling waters.
solstice for the Slavnost petilisté ruze (Fes-
tival of the Five-Petaled Rose), when And this is the area that tourists really fall
townsfolk dress up in Renaissance cos- in love with—the harmony of its red roofs,
tume and the streets are full of living chess the stenciled colors on its gabled house
games, music, plays, and staged duels. fronts, the narrow traffic-free lanes (check
out the town model at the Okresní
But in 2002, it all threatened to wash Muzeum, Horní ulice 152). Inner Town con-
away, as Cesk; Krumlov’s low-lying Inner tains many charming buildings, such as the
Town was inundated by the worst flood late-Gothic St. Vitus Cathedral (great views
since 1890. Downstream in Prague, the from its tower), the Radnice (Town Hall), at
surging Vltava River submerged several námestí Svornosti 1, with Gothic arcades and
baroque palaces and synagogues, but its Renaissance vaulting, and the Hotel Ruze,
atmospheric Old Town remained above Horní 154, a 16th-century amalgamation of
water. Cesk; Krumlov wasn’t so lucky. Gothic, Renaissance, and rococo influences.
Though the river is much smaller here, up If you’ve ever seen the 2006 movie The Illu-
by the Austrian border, Krumlov had been sionist, you’ll recognize the picture-perfect
founded at a convenient fording place, on ensemble of this Bohemian jewel.
low ground within a tight crook of the
river; it’s nearly surrounded by water, and As you wander along the river, notice
the mistimed opening of an upstream dam high-water marks on some of the quirky
released a catastrophic gush all at once. bankside houses. Scientists gloomily predict
that the Vltava will flood again and again in

354

the future. In 2009, the town embarked Art Nouveau Riga
on a controversial flood-prevention plan—
replacing a weir, razing an entire island, and e Tourist Information Centre (&  420/­
clearing the riverbanks’ willows and alders
to erect concrete barriers. This lovely town 380/704-622; www.ckrumlov.info)
is already a little less lovely.
Prague or Vienna

$$$ Hotel Ruze, Horní 154 (& 420/­

380/772-100; www.hotelruze.cz). $ Pen-

sion Na louzi, Kájovská 66 (&  420/380/

711-280; www.nalouzi.cz).

379 Neighborhoods in Transition

Art Nouveau Riga

The Paris of the North

Riga, Latvia

Riga has become notorious for the worst traffic congestion in Europe and all the

air pollution that goes with it. Will a new bridge and bypass highway save the city center’s

architectural gems?

It’s true that Latvia was a Russian posses- Walk along Alberta Street, to the east of
sion from 1710 to 1918, and part of the Kronvalda Park, where a flurry of construc-
Soviet Union for another half century after tion from 1901 to 1908 composed a mag-
that, but nevertheless, the Latvia capital of nificent ensemble of buildings, many by
Riga always felt more German than Russian. Eisenstein. You’ll want binoculars or a
Until 1891, German was still the official telephoto lens to pick out all the ornamen-
­language of this bustling Baltic port, Rus- tal details, from stone sculptural reliefs to
sia’s third-largest city after Moscow and wrought-iron gates and balconies, colorful
St. Petersburg. No wonder Riga’s biggest stencils, and brilliant touches of stained
claim to fame is a spectacular flowering of a glass. Nearby Elizabetes, Strelnieku, Kr.
German architectural style: Jugendstil. Barona, A. Caka, and Gertrudes streets are
also particularly rich; notice how the clean
Though it’s often called the Paris of the lines of the architecture sweep your eyes
North, Riga’s Art Nouveau architecture is upward to ornate steeples, clocks, cor-
much more akin to Vienna’s, though it’s nices, and rooftop decorations. The imagi-
even more pronounced, characterizing native detail is incredible—from amazingly
more than a third of the central district’s expressive human faces to droll pelicans,
buildings. After the city’s medieval walls chubby squirrels, sleek greyhounds, and
were demolished in the mid–19th century, majestic lions. In Esplanade Park, you
sweeping boulevards and stylish suburbs can see the evolution of the style: In the
were laid out, paving the way for a turn-of- Academy of Arts, Jugendstil elements
the-century building boom. Luckily, that have been imposed on a Neo-Gothic base,
boom coincided with the rise of several while at the State Museum of Fine Arts,
talented local architects, notably Mikhail the eclectic exterior is graced with classic
Eisenstein (father of Russian film director Jugendstil touches like the entrance stair-
Sergei Eisenstein); these young designers case and sculptured figures over the front
embraced the exuberance of Jugendstil as doors.
an expression of Latvian nationalism.

355

Cityscapes But gaping at those early-20th-century
marvels isn’t so easy these days, given the
A cafe-lined street in Art Nouveau Riga. explosion of traffic in Riga’s city center.
Riga has taken steps to address the prob-
lem at last: In 2008, the new Southern
Bridge across the Daugava began to route
traffic past the city center, a wildly expen-
sive (and probably corrupt) project that
may not solve congestion at all in the long
run. (Access roads are still under construc-
tion.) Paris itself has recently made great
strides in reducing urban congestion; why
not the Paris of the North, too?

e www.virtualriga.com

Riga

$$$ Grand Palace Hotel, Pils iela 12

(& 371/6/704 4000; http://grandpalace

riga.com). $$ Laine Hotel, Skolas iela 11

(& 371/6/728 8816; www.laine.lv).

380Neighborhoods in Transition

Old Jewish Ghetto

Under the Wrecking Ball

Budapest, Hungary

With no city planning to guide restoration of the historic Erzsébetváros neighbor-

hood, grass-roots activists offer alternative visions for commemorating the ghetto’s history.

The war is on for the soul of Jewish Buda- government weakened their religious
pest, and the battleground is Erzsébet- identity, even though Hungarian Jews
város, the 19th-century Jewish quarter on were granted more freedoms than Jews in
the Pest side of the Danube River. The first many Soviet-controlled regimes—Buda-
shots were fired in mid-2004, when more pest kept its rabbinical school and had the
than a dozen abandoned buildings in this only matzo factory behind the Iron Cur-
run-down neighborhood were snapped up tain. Erzsébetváros’s Grand Synagogue
by condo developers. Suddenly, in a blaze is still an active house of worship—the
of “cowboy capitalism,” even landmarked second-largest synagogue in Europe and
buildings were being torn down and new one of the city’s architectural jewels, a
projects were going up everywhere. twin-towered 19th-century fantasy of Byz-
antine and Moorish motifs. (Interestingly,
During World War II, Hungary’s Jews its restoration was funded by actor Tony
weren’t exterminated to the extent that Curtis, to commemorate his Hungarian
they were in other countries; many contin- forebears.) The Jewish Museum sits next
ued to live here after the Soviets “liber- to the Synagogue at Dohány 2, with a
ated” Budapest. Yet decades of Communist

356

The Lower Ninth Ward

Holocaust Memorial in the garden. There A 2008 moratorium on new construction
are other synagogues close by, on Rum- may have come too late, with an estimated
bach Street and on Kazinczy Street. Also 40% of the quarter already altered; several
on Kazinczy Street is the Mikveh, or Jew- dilapidated buildings stand poised in limbo
ish ritual bath (Budapest is famous for its between the restorations and the new con-
thermal baths). But many Jewish residents struction. Alongside traditional restaurants
of this neighborhood are not observant. such as Kádár (Klauzál Ter. 9), Hanna (Dob
35), and Frölich Confectionery (Dob 22),
Budapest still has about 100,000 Jewish you’ll also find trendy open-air pubs and
citizens, but in the second half of the 19th cafes like Siraly (Kiraly 50); Kuplung (Kiraly
century, twice that number were packed 46); Szoda (Wesselenyi 18); or Spinoza (Dob
into Erzsébetváros. You can get a glimpse of 15). They have Jewish roots too, but it’s a
that past in Gozsdu Court, a series of different generation entirely.
seven small courtyards between Kiraly and
Dob streets, just north of the Great Syna- e Tourist information (& 36/1/322-
gogue. Back in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, this was a hive of small stores and 4098; www.budapestinfo.hu)
tradesmen’s workshops, a buzzing center
of the community. But in 2006, in the back- Budapest
yard of Király 15, construction workers raz-
ing an old building knocked down the last $$ Hotel Erzsébet, Károlyi Mihály
fragment of the stone wall the Nazis built in
1944 to enclose the Jews in their ghetto. It 11–15, Budapest (& 36/1/889-3746; www.­
was replaced by a memorial wall in 2010,
but that contains little of the original. danubiusgroup.com). $$ Hotel Papillon,

II. Rózsahegy 3/b (& 36/1/212-4750; www.­

hotelpapillon.hu).

381 Neighborhoods in Transition

The Lower Ninth Ward

The Road Back

New Orleans, Louisiana

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath nearly wiped New Orleans

off the face of the earth. Though wealthier pockets have revived, the city’s poorer neigh-

borhoods are still in critical condition.

New Orleans has always been a true origi- federal disaster aid and corrupt, inefficient
nal among American cities, a quirky town local government.
where people dance with parasols at
funerals; believe in voodoo and vampires; New Orleans’s oldest neighborhoods—
eat exotic foods like beignets, po’ boys, like the French Quarter, with its Spanish-
and gator-on-a-stick; and throw plastic flavored wrought-iron balconies and
beads off Mardi Gras floats. And in some flower-filled courtyards—were built above
respects, the Katrina disaster was also a sea level, and suffered less damage. Luck-
special case, a man-made tragedy more ily, those are the city’s prime tourist areas,
than a natural one. Decades of misguided and a few months after Katrina they were
engineering destroyed the delta’s wetlands back in business, bringing revenue back to
and erected shoddy levees; on top of that a city that desperately needed it. Even the
came the one-two punch of inadequate historic black neighborhood of Treme
escaped relatively unscathed, thanks to its

357

Cityscapes

traditional architecture style, with raised 2005. Ninth Ward residents who moved
house foundations. Sponsors were solic- back say it’s like living in a ghost town; few
ited to ensure that the city’s traditional businesses have returned, and many
festivals, Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, would schools are still shuttered. Still, there are
take place in 2006; the Saints football pockets of hope, like the Musician’s Vil-
team, displaced from the Superdome in lage being built in the upper Ninth Ward
2005, returned in 2006 for a championship by Habitat for Humanity, inspired by New
season. Orleans musicians Harry Connick, Jr. and
Branford Marsalis. A set of stunning con-
But venture beyond the French Quarter temporary houses-on-stilts built by actor
and the Garden District and the Central Brad Pitt has been more controversial, as
Business District and you’ll still see signs they bear little architectural reference to
of the havoc Katrina wrought. The great- the Ninth Ward’s traditional shotgun-style
est devastation fell on the lower Ninth housing stock.
Ward, a poor but proud bastion of black
working-class home ownership. The lower Come to New Orleans—the city needs
Ninth got flooded from two sides, from the your tourist dollars. But don’t just party on
Mississippi River and the Industrial Canal, Bourbon Street, browse the art galleries,
and was completely submerged. Electric- and listen to the jazz at Preservation Hall.
ity and water weren’t restored for more Volunteer to go down into the Ninth Ward
than a year; even street signs weren’t and help rebuild houses. It’ll be the most
replaced until shortly before Katrina’s fifth rewarding vacation of your life.
anniversary.
e To volunteer, contact www.common
With most of its shattered houses
removed, the Ninth Ward today seems groundrelief.org or www.lowernine.org.
spookily bucolic, full of neat grassy plots
(to prevent city seizure, owners must Louis Armstrong New Orleans
maintain empty lots) with only faint traces I­ nternational
of house foundations. Fresh construction
looks spick-and-span alongside surviving $$$ Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal St.
houses, many of which still wear, like a
badge of honor, the grim spray-painted (& 866/338-4684 or 504/523-3341; www.
symbols left by National Guard rescuers in
hotelmonteleone.com). $$ Hotel Villa

Convento, 616 Ursuline Ave. (& 504/522-

1793; www.villaconvento.com).

382Neighborhoods in Transition

Little Italy

Ghosts of the Godfathers

New York City, New York

Half a century ago, half the neighborhood claimed Italian ancestry; now it’s only

about 5%, with all but a 2-block area officially designated as part of Chinatown. Little Italy

hangs on, but it’s only a shadow of its former self.

From Mulberry Street just north of Canal as the upwardly mobile Irish vacated. Note
Street, imagine what Little Italy once was the red-brick tenement architecture, nar-
like, when it covered 17 city blocks. In the row but deep, designed to squeeze in as
late 19th century, a wave of Italian immi- many small rooms as possible; their street
grants, mostly from Sicily and Naples, faces are hung with a maze of iron fire
moved into this tenement neighborhood escapes.

358

Little Italy

A restaurant in Little Italy.

The Church of the Most Precious Blood, corner of Prince and Mott streets, a red-
109 Mulberry St., is still the focus of the brick wall surrounds the cemetery of the
traditional Feast of St. Gennaro, an austere 200-year-old landmark St. Patrick’s
11-day festival with parades and food stalls church, which became a regular parish
which has lit up the streets every Septem- church when the new St. Patrick’s was built
ber since 1926. A few stores remain on uptown on Fifth Avenue. (The churchyard
Mulberry and intersecting Grand Street: figures prominently in Martin Scorsese’s
There’s DiPalo’s Fine Foods at 200 Grand classic Little Italy movie Mean Streets.)
St., the Alleva Dairy cheese shop at 188
Grand St., and E. Rossi & Co. music and A smaller Italian-American enclave
gifts store at 193 Grand St. At the intersec- hangs on in west Greenwich Village—near
tion of Mulberry and Broome streets, you Father Demo Square, on Bleecker Street
can stop for cannoli and espresso at the west of Sixth Avenue—but as younger
old-fashioned tile-floored Caffé Roma pas- generations of Italians improved their eco-
try shop; Caffé Ferrara around the corner nomic status, most moved out to the sub-
at 195 Grand St. is larger and brighter, urbs. Although Manhattan’s Little Italy has
though a bit less atmospheric. But with withered, its spirit lives on up in the Bel-
their sidewalk touts trawling for tourist mont section of the Bronx, where several
business, most of the Italian restaurants thriving food stores and restaurants along
that line Mulberry Street offer standard Ital- Arthur Avenue supply Italian specialties
ian meals at anything but bargain prices. to Italian-American suburbanites. Even
Umberto’s Clam House—the Mulberry
Above Grand Street, Mulberry gets a lit- Street restaurant where mobster Joey
tle quieter. At Spring Street, leafy little Gallo was famously “offed” in 1972—has
DeSalvio Park still retains some of the old moved to Arthur Avenue. Little Italy has
neighborhood’s feel; just east on Spring truly migrated.
Street, Lombardi’s Pizza is the resurrec-
tion of a 1905 coal oven pizzeria. At the

359

Cityscapes $ Union Square Hotel, 209 E. 14th

e NYC & Company (& 212/484-1222; St. (& 212/614-0500; www.nyinns.com).

www.nycvisit.com) $$ Hotel Belleclaire, 250 W. 77th St. at
John F. Kennedy International, Newark
Broadway (& 877/468-3522 or 212/362-
Liberty International, LaGuardia
7700; www.hotelbelleclaire.com).

383Neighborhoods in Transition

Baltimore’s Row Houses

Getting the Scoop on the Stoop

Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore’s population declined by a full third from 1950 to 2000; the 2010

census shows another 10% drop. That shrinking tax base will impact efforts to restore

derelict row house neighborhoods.

Think Baltimore, and what do you picture? Granted, the term “row house” covers
Most probably, if you’ve seen the movies an extremely wide range of housing stock.
Tin Men, The Accidental Tourist, or Hair- The houses can be three or four stories
spray, you’ll immediately envision a long, high in some posh areas, simple two-story
straight street lined with a continuous structures in others. The front doors may
front of matching row houses. It’s Balti- open onto small porches, petite front
more’s quintessential urban feature, yards, or, more often, a low bare stoop
where famed Baltimoreans from Betsy with a railing. (Many of these humble
Ross and Edgar Allan Poe to critic H. L. stoops, though, are made from fine local
Mencken have lived. Ever since the 1790s, white marble, which housewives tradition-
the vast street grid of this working-class ally scrubbed to a shine with Bon Ami
port city has been lined with terraces of scouring powder.) While most houses are
small single houses. Wave after wave of built of brick, in some neighborhoods each
new immigrants settled into these tightly house in a row features its own distinctive
packed house fronts, where they could stone pediment or cornice; in others, the
ride streetcars or walk to their jobs and brick has been covered with a stuccolike
grab a piece of the American dream. protective veneer called Formstone, pop-
ular in the 1950s.
But in the second half of the 20th cen-
tury, the American dream decamped to the Visit the Patterson Park/Highland-
suburbs—and in Baltimore, the defection town Historic District in East Baltimore
was particularly severe. The Inner Harbor to see a still-intact streetscape of middle-
rejuvenation of the 1980s spurred some class row houses, where various owners
gentrification—Mayor William Schaefer added their own touches, from Formstone
jump-started urban homesteading by sell- to picture windows to porch seating.
ing 500 abandoned downtown row houses Mount Vernon’s and Bolton Hill’s landmark
for $1 apiece, and refurbishment trans- 19th-century row houses are more
formed Federal Hill, Fells Point, and Can- upscale, with brownstone exteriors and
ton—but elsewhere, block after block of iron fences. It’s the overall profile, though,
row houses stood derelict. From the late that lingers in the eye—the low, orderly,
1990s on, the city government’s solution harmonious silhouette of these city blocks,
was to send out wrecking crews and knock and how they earned Baltimore its nick-
them down, leaving gaping holes in already name, “City of Neighborhoods.”
decrepit inner city neighborhoods.

360

Lancaster County

Baltimore-Washington International waterfront.com). $$ Brookshire Suites,

$$$ Baltimore Marriott Waterfront 120 E. Lombard St. (& 410/625-1300; www.
Hotel, 700 Aliceanna St., Inner Harbor East
harbormagic.com).
(& 410/385-3000; www.baltimoremarriott

384 Neighborhoods in Transition

Lancaster County

Sprawl Meets the Plain Folk

Pennsylvania

In traditional Amish Lancaster County, non-Amish now outnumber Amish 17 to 1.

Suburban sprawl drives up land prices, attracts strip malls, and threatens farming as a

local way of life.

Sure, Lancaster County looks bucolic—all small family-owned farms (the average
those rolling hills, winding creeks, neatly farm size is only 78 acres/32 hectares).
cultivated farms, and covered bridges, not
to mention the presence of Amish farm- But in 1998, suburban sprawl was
ers, dressed in their old-fashioned black ­identified as Pennsylvania’s number one
clothes and driving buggies at a slow clip- environmental problem, and Lancaster
clop along country roads. Two-thirds of County—only 50 miles (80km) west of Phil-
the country is farmland, nearly all of it adelphia along Route 30—was singled out
as the most endangered area in reports by

An Amish family in Lancaster County.

361

Cityscapes

10 Unique Accommodations
Four walls, a sloping roof, a door, square windows—we think we know what a house
should look like. But throughout the ages, people have found creative housing solu-
tions to various environmental challenges—from harsh weather to scarce building
materials, from clan solidarity to protection from invasion. Here are 10 examples that
have survived into modern times:

Barumini, Sardinia, Italy  Dating back to the Bronze Age, nuraghe are dwell-
ings built of rough-cut gray stone, tightly clustered around a central cone-shaped
tower set on strategic high ground. Found only in Sardinia, these curious beehive-
shaped settlements were apparently deserted and repopulated often during Phoeni-
cian, Punic, and Roman invasions. www.nuraghi.org.

Matera, Italy  The word sassi literally
means stones—as in the steep ravine walls that
prehistoric southern Italians burrowed into, carv-
ing out tiny windowless homes linked by under-
ground passageways—safe refuges in times of
invasion. Abandoned sassi have now been reno-
vated into hotels, restaurants, and chic residences,
Matera’s main tourist draw. & 39/835/3­ 34033. www.

sassiweb.it.

Sassi dwellings in Matera, Italy. Gjirokastra, Albania  The word gjirokastra

means “silver fortress”—an apt name for this

Ottoman town in southern Albania, with its dis-

tinctive 17th-century Turkish kule tower houses. Piled on the steep hillsides sur-

rounding a 13th-century citadel, these slate-roofed stone houses stacked their

rooms vertically. You enter on the top floor via a ladder, which could be swiftly pulled

in when enemies arrived. www.united-albania.com.

Cappadocia, Turkey  The original inhabitants of this Turkish hinterland hol-
lowed out dwellings in pink cliffs of soft tufa rock; centuries later, they sheltered early
Christians fleeing persecution. Open-air museums in both Goreme and the nearby
Zelve Valley preserve frescoed churches and living quarters; eroded pillars known as
“fairy chimneys” add to Cappadocia’s distinctive landscape. www.goreme.org.

Matmâta, Southern Tunisia  Filmmaker George Lucas discovered a ready-
made sci-fi setting for his Star Wars in this small Berber village, where prehistoric
ancestors dug homes around a large circular pit, two stories deep, leading to each
family’s private network of cave chambers and connecting passageways. Today’s
villagers greet floods of tourists; some of these troglodyte homes have even been
turned into hotels. & 888/474-5502. www.tunisusa.com.

362

10 Unique Accommodations

Ksour District, Western Tunisia  The traditional Berber mud-and-stone
oasis complex—a ksar, or plural ksour—combined family dwellings with communal
granaries, ovens, shops, and mosques. As time passed, villagers walled them up to
use as forts during foreign invasions. Crumbling abandoned ksour stand as haunting
relics in the desert, many clustered around the modern town of Tataouine. www.

ksour-tunisiens.com.

Ulan Bator, Mongolia  Round white felt-covered yurts—or in Mongolian,
gers—are an ancient adaptation by Mongolian nomads to their peripatetic lives on
the Central Asia steppes. Hung on a collapsible wood lattice, gers could be packed
onto a camel or yak for easy transport, yet they are no mere tents, often boasting
carved doors and pillars and rich hand-woven fabrics. Day-trip tours to outlying ger
settlements leave from Ulan Bator. www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn.

Hukeng, China  In rural Fujian province, for centuries ethnic Hakka and Minnan
peoples have traditionally lived in clan groups in tile-roofed tulous—huge communal
complexes of rammed earth, with hundreds of rooms overlooking a central court-
yard. Despite the Cultural Revolution’s efforts to disperse clans, some 3,000 remain,
mostly unmodernized and in disrepair. Several around Hukeng are open to the pub-
lic; overnight tours run from Xiamen. www.discoverfujian.com.

Ogimachi, Japan  In the Japanese Alps of central Honshu, extended families
bunked together in shared gassho-zukuri—snowfall-shedding houses with tall
A-frame thatched roofs (the name translates to “hands joined in prayer,” which is
what the roofs resemble). The hamlet of Ogimachi contains many 200- to 300-year-
old thatched houses amid its rice paddies and mulberry orchards; the open-air
museum Shirakawago Gassho Zukuri Minkaen
features several. & 81/5769/6-1231. http://shirakawa-

go.org.

Coober Pedy, Australia Early-20th-cen-

tury opal miners in Australia’s rough-and-ready

interior found a unique solution to the punishing

heat and dust of Outback existence: live in under-

ground “dugouts,” in holes left by earlier miners

or the sun-bleached mullock heaps of mining

waste. Even the hotels and restaurants here are

mostly underground. It certainly gives new mean-

ing to the term “down under.” www.opalcapitalofthe The Goreme open-air museum,
­Cappadocia.
world.com.au.

363

Cityscapes

the Sierra Club and the World Monuments onto quiet back roads, where you have a
Fund. Since then, the county has embarked better chance of seeing Amish farmers in
on an aggressive program to conserve their daily rounds. (Just remember: Photo-
farmland, mostly by locking in easements graphing them seriously violates their
on existing farms, and has tried to funnel beliefs.) Stop at local farm stands to buy
new growth into identified “urban” zones. their excellent produce, and you’ll have a
natural opportunity to exchange a few
In Lancaster County, farmland is valu- words. Several Amish farmhouses east of
able not only because it produces food, but Lancaster have been recast as tourist
because it attracts tourism—which adds $1 attractions: the Amish Farm and House
billion a year to the county’s economy. in Lancaster (www.amishfarmandhouse.
While locals may appreciate the outlet com), the Amish Country Homestead in
shopping malls along Route 30, tourists are Bird-In-Hand (www.amishexperience.com),
more drawn to the area’s wonderful farm- and Amish Village in Ronks (http://the
er’s markets (try the Central Market in Lan- amishvillage.net). Also in Lancaster, the
caster, the Bird-in-Hand Market on Route Landis Valley Museum (www.landisvalley
340 in Bird-in-Hand, or the Green Dragon museum.org) is a 21-building “living arts”
Farmers Market in Ephrata), as well as complex where costumed interpreters
o­utlets for traditional handicrafts like pie demonstrate Pennsylvania German cul-
baking, quilt making, furniture making, and ture and folk traditions.
basketry. Individual farmers cash in on tour-
ism with everything from buggy rides and e Pennsylvania Dutch visitors bureau
petting farms to roadside stands and bed- (& 800/723-8824; www.padutchcountry.
and-breakfasts. The challenge is to strike
the right balance between tourist infrastruc- com)
ture (hotels, shops, restaurants) and the
pastoral landscape that draws the tourists. Philadelphia

In summer, the main roads around Lan- $$ Lancaster County Farm Stays
caster can be clogged with traffic, and (www.afarmstay.com). $$$ Bird-in-Hand
horse-drawn vehicles cause bottlenecks;
get a good area map so you can venture Village Inn (& 800/914-2473 or 717/768-

1538; www.bird-in-handvillageinn.com).

395Neighborhoods in Transition

Sweet Auburn

Odd Twist of Civil Rights History

Atlanta, Georgia

Deserted by the black professionals and entrepreneurs who once made it vital,

Atlanta’s historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood is struggling to reinvent itself without los-

ing its character.

Sweet Auburn earned its nickname hon- repealed, blacks moved out of Sweet
estly. From the 1890s to the 1960s, prosper- Auburn, no longer limited to its blacks-only
ity flowed from the 10-block area around enterprises. Suddenly it was just another
Auburn Avenue, the center of African- inner-city neighborhood, and the construc-
American enterprise in racially segregated tion of a new highway, I-75/85, slashed right
Atlanta. But after the civil rights struggles through its heart.
of the 1960s, as segregation laws were

364

Harry S. Truman Historic District

West of the highway, you can still see King’s son. In its exhibition hall, you can
such imposing buildings as the Beaux-Arts see King’s Bible and clerical robe and a
headquarters of the Atlanta Life Insurance handwritten sermon, as well the key to his
Company (148 Auburn), founded in 1905 room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis,
by former slave Alonzo Herndon; the Tennessee, where he was assassinated. Dr.
offices of the Atlanta Daily World (145 King’s white marble crypt sits outside in
Auburn), the first black-owned daily news- Freedom Plaza, surrounded by a five-tiered
paper; the Royal Peacock Club (186 reflecting pool.
Auburn), which hosted black musicians
such as B. B. King, the Four Tops, the Tams, But urban renewal poses a challenge,
and Atlanta’s own Gladys Knight; and the especially with the highway dividing the
Odd Fellows Building (228 Auburn), which district’s commercial and residential areas.
boasted a rooftop dance hall and the only Over the past 20 years, the Historic District
movie theater where blacks weren’t con- Development Corporation (HDDC) has built
fined to balcony seating. The pioneering or rehabilitated more than 110 single-fam-
Yates & Milton Drugstore is replicated ily homes and more than 50 affordable
among the historical exhibits at the APEX rental units, bypassing free-market gentrifi-
Center (135 Auburn). Unfortunately, other cation that can price low-income residents
landmarks became derelict and were even- out of a neighborhood. Taking a different
tually razed—the city’s first black-owned tack, developers replaced an entire block
office building, the Rucker Building (160 of Auburn Street with Renaissance Walk, a
Auburn), and the Herndon Building (245 modern condo-and-retail complex that
Auburn). Vacant lots punctuate this once- opened in 2007. Its ground-floor “interpre-
bustling strip. tive center” pays homage to Sweet
Auburn’s history, but the bricks-and-mor-
In the 1990s, concerted efforts arose to tar neighborhood keeps slipping away.
make Sweet Auburn sweet again. East of
the highway, the first project was the resto- e http://sweetauburn.us or www.sweet
ration of King’s birthplace, a modest Queen
Anne–style house at 501 Auburn Ave., auburn.com
which can be visited on guided tours. The
red-brick Ebenezer Baptist Church at 407 Atlanta
Auburn—where his father and, later, King
himself were pastors—was more recently $$ The Georgian Terrace Hotel,
restored. The National Park Service
includes these properties in the Martin 659 Peachtree St. (& 800/651-2316 or
Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site
(www.nps.gov/malu), accompanied by the 404/897-1991; www.thegeorgianterrace.
modern King Center, 449 Auburn Ave. com). $$ Residence Inn Atlanta Mid-
(www.thekingcenter.org), now directed by town/Historic, 1041 W. Peachtree St.

(& 404/872-8885; www.marriott.com).

TOUR Atlanta Preservation Center

(&  404/688-3350; www.preserveatlanta.

com)

396 Neighborhoods in Transition

Harry S. Truman Historic District

Where the Buck Stops

Independence, Missouri

The Truman home’s neighborhood represents a perfect time capsule of mid-20th-

century small-town America, but the town that surrounds it seems stalled.
365

Cityscapes

To understand George Washington or book-lined study that was Truman’s favorite
Thomas Jefferson, you visit grand manor retreat, and the wide back porch where
houses on Tidewater Virginia estates. But they played cards and ate meals during hot
to understand Harry S. Truman, you have Missouri summers. It’s a wonderful slice of
to go to a tidy little frame house on a side history, and surprisingly affecting.
street of a small Missouri town.
As Kansas City sprawls ever closer, Inde-
Thrust into the presidency by Franklin pendence is neither a suburb nor a self-suf-
Roosevelt’s death, Harry S. Truman—who’d ficient county seat; its pawnshops and
been vice president for only 10 weeks—was shabby houses reveal a city that prosperity
a plain-spoken Missourian, fond of mottoes has passed by. In some sections of town, an
like “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of epidemic of drug use and methamphet-
the kitchen” and “the buck stops here.” You amine traffic has taken a toll. By the 1990s
can see a desk sign with that saying, along the simple frame houses of this neighbor-
with a host of other Truman memorabilia, at hood had significantly lost value; many were
the Harry S. Truman Library in Indepen- subdivided into apartments. A program
dence (off US 24 at Delaware St.), along with of home-renovation tax abatements has
his doughboy uniform from World War I; his spruced up the immediate neighborhood,
trademark walking canes and straw hats; but Truman’s 5-block stroll to downtown—
the upright piano that his wife, Bess, played past his office in the local courthouse, the
at White House parties; and the safety plug barbershop he once frequented, and a soda
that was pulled to detonate the Nagasaki fountain where he worked as a youth—tells
bomb. Truman’s grave lies in the courtyard. a different story. Main Street Independence
looks desperate for business, with more
The place that really conveys Truman’s parking lots than buildings. Perhaps it’s fit-
common-man qualities, though, is the Tru- ting that the decline of small-town America
man home at 219 N. Delaware St. Both should be most evident in the hometown of
Harry and Bess were small-town folks, and our most ordinary-guy president.
their summer White House was simply
Bess’s family home, a gabled white Victo- e Truman Site visitor center, 223 N.
rian house with a scrollwork corner porch,
where the Trumans lived from 1918 on. (The Main St. (www.nps.gov/hstr)
family farm Harry ran in Grandview, Mis-
souri, is also part of the historic site.) Get Kansas City International
tickets early in the day, because they do sell
out—tours are limited to eight people $$$ Westin Crown Center, One
because the rooms are small. Inside the
house, virtually untouched since Bess Tru- Pershing Rd., Kansas City, MO (& 816/474-
man died, you’ll see the red kitchen table
where Harry and Bess ate breakfast, the 4400; www.westin.com/crowncenter). $
Holiday Inn Kansas City SE Waterpark,

9103 E. 39th St., Kansas City, MO (& 816/­

737-0200; www.holidayinn.com).

397Neighborhoods in Transition

Over-the-Rhine

Reversing the Tide

Cincinnati, Ohio

Urban neglect and flight left this historic 19th-century neighborhood, filled with

Italianate row houses, vacant and deteriorating. A new generation of urban pioneers
hopes to reverse the trend.

366

Over-the-Rhine

It wasn’t really the Rhine that 19th-century steer a careful course between yuppifica-
German immigrants crossed, trooping tion and urban renewal.
home from work in downtown Cincinnati—
it was just the Miami and Erie Canal. Still, Despite decades of neglect, Over-the-
once they had crossed it they felt at home, Rhine still has several attractions. Both the
in a vibrant German-speaking community Cincinnati Opera and the Cincinnati Sym-
with their own churches, shops, and news- phony perform at the Cincinnati Music
paper (and some 50 breweries). They built Hall (1241 Elm St.), a marvel of eclectic
solid homes in the then-popular architec- red-brick architecture that some have
tural styles, especially Italianate row houses. dubbed Sauerbraten Byzantine. The
It was one of the most densely populated Ensemble Theater (1120 Vine St.; www.
neighborhoods in the Midwest, and the sort cincyetc.com) and the more experimental
of working-class urban neighborhood that Know Theatre (1120 Jackson St.; www.
made America great. knowtheatre.com) have restored other
historic buildings nearby. Ohio’s largest
The 20th century, however, did not treat indoor market, the 1850s-era Findlay
Over-the-Rhine kindly. The stagnant canal Street Market (open Wed–Sat, at Elder
was replaced by a failed streetcar line, then and Race sts.) is riding the crest of foodie
a failed subway, and eventually became the interest in farmer’s markets. Celebrating
traffic-choked Central Parkway. As German- OTR’s history as a brewing district, the
Americans moved up the economic ladder popular annual spring Bockfest is cen-
and out of the neighborhood, they were tered in the revived Christian Moehlein
replaced by day laborers, mostly black, craft brewery (1619 Moore St.).
from the South. The decline of Cincinnati’s
prominent machine-tool industry hit hard. But the main thing remains the hous-
By the 1970s, Over-the-Rhine had become ing—block after sloping block of neat three-
just another inner-city neighborhood and four-story brick Italianate beauties,
plagued with drugs, crime, and racial most with their ornate cornices, window
unrest. In 1990, nearly a quarter of its apart- pediments, and door lintels intact. Many are
ments sat vacant and uninhabitable. in a shocking state of neglect; gaping holes
in several blocks show what has been lost
Still, some 1,200 historic buildings already. Can Over-the-Rhine cross back
remain, though many stand vacant and over?
deteriorating. To jump-start investment,
developers spruced up the area around e www.otrchamber.com
12th and Vine streets to attract young
professionals looking to live close to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
downtown. Meanwhile, Over-the-Rhine International
Community Housing has focused on devel-
oping affordable housing so that current $$$ Millennium Hotel Cincinnati,
residents won’t be priced out of the neigh-
borhood. With a population that’s now 150 W. 5th St. (& 513/352-2100; www.
80% black, 20% white, Over-the-Rhine must
millennium-hotels.com). $$ Symphony

Hotel, 210 W. 14th St. (& 513/721-3353;

www.symphonyhotel.com).

367

12 Holy Places
Ancient Temples . . . 369
Seats of Religion . . . 376
Pilgrimage Sites . . . 384
Churches . . . 389
Haunting Memorials . . . 400

La Sagrada Família.

Angkor Wat

398 Ancient Temples

Angkor Wat

Glory in the Jungle

Siem Reep, Cambodia

More than a million tourists visit the ancient city of Angkor Wat every year, putting

tremendous stress on the sandstone temples, stairs, and walkways.

In 1861, it was just a mysterious hulk in the you climb up three steep levels to the inner
Cambodian jungle, a pile of jumbled later- sanctum; you’ll be high up for an inspiring
ite and sandstone blocks shrouded in roots view.
and vines. Today, however, the ancient
city of Angkor Wat—capital of the Khmer Of course, the most famous—some
kingdom from 802 until 1295—is Cambo- would say clichéd—view is not from Ang-
dia’s chief tourism attraction, a breathtak- kor Wat but of Angkor Wat: from the five-
ing sprawl of temples and shrines that tiered Phnom Bakheng, topping a hill just
covers 98 sq. km (38 sq. miles). past the entrance to Angkor Wat. Its nar-
row staircases get packed with up to
Benefiting from a boom in exotic travel 3,000 tourists some evenings at sunset,
since 1993, Angkor Wat’s annual visitor putting incredible wear and tear on the
totals have shot from 7,500 to more than a ancient Khmer temple.
million. Foot traffic is wearing ruts on sand-
stone stairs and walkways, and the faces of A detail of Angkor Wat.
poorly conserved sculptural panels are
crumbling away. Several of the site’s more
than 40 temples are sinking into the sandy
ground as area hotels and resorts drain
underground water sources. It’s one of the
world’s most endangered classical sites,
but the Cambodian government is slowly
taking steps to sustain it. Entrance fees
have been hiked to limit the number of
visitors, and the authority that maintains
the site claims to have roped off the most
fragile structures, employing more than
270 tourist guards, and diverting people
away from the most crowded sites.

The resplendent main temple, also
called Angkor Wat, is the star attraction—
its four-spired profile has virtually become
the symbol of Cambodia. Dating from the
12th century, it stands 213m (700 ft.) high
from its base to the tip of its highest lotus-
shaped tower, the largest religious monu-
ment ever built. Scholars believe that this
sandstone temple’s symmetry mirrors the
timeline of the Hindu ages, like a map or
calendar of the universe. Approaching from
the main road over a baray, or reservoir,

369

Holy Places

Another large temple complex called roots of fig, banyan, and kapok trees
Angkor Thom—or “great city” in Khmer—is cleaving its massive stones. It’s an intrigu-
dotted with many temples; don’t miss the ing notion—what if Angkor Wat had been
bas-reliefs on the Terrace of the Leper left in the jungle forever? Would it be bet-
King and the Terrace of Elephants. One ter off today?
of the most imperiled temples here is the
centerpiece of this complex, a fantastical Siem Reap
Buddhist temple called Bayon, with four
huge enigmatic stone faces, each cosmo- $$$ Sofitel Royal Angkor, Vithei
logically aligned with a compass point (the
same is true of each of its 51 small towers). Charles de Gaulle (& 855/63/964-6000;

One temple—Ta Prohm—has been www.accor.com). $ La Noria, off Rte. 6
deliberately left overgrown in foliage, the
northeast of Siem Reap (& 855/63/964-

242).

Ancient Temples 399

Pulemelei Mound

Lost in the Jungle

Savaii, Western Samoa

Without efforts to protect it, Pulemelei Mound could fall victim to pollution,

population growth, mining, logging, and agriculture, which have destroyed nearby native

forests and habitats.

Researchers agree on two points: The aligned entryways scooped out of the
Pulemelei Mound is important, and it is earthen slopes on its east and west side, a
big. After that, the arguments start to fly. feature found on no other such mound.
Sitting silently, overgrown and crumbling,
The biggest ancient structure in Polyne- in the middle of the jungle, it still has a curi-
sia (65x60m/213x197 ft. at its base, and ous aura and power.
12m/39 ft. high), the stepped pyramid of
Pulemelei—or Tia Seu, as some call it— Pulemelei’s island, Savaii, is the largest
may have been a chieftain’s residence, a in this volcanic South Sea archipelago, but
ritual site for pigeon snaring, a sentry it’s much more rugged than its neighbors.
tower, a celestial observatory, or a place of As South Pacific hideaways go, this is it:
worship. Stone pedestals at the corners of lush inland jungles and waterfalls, deso-
its leveled-off top may have been ceremo- late-looking lava fields, a beach-edged
nial thrones for worthies, or receptacles lagoon or two, and very few other tourists,
for conch-shell trumpets that were blown though it’s only an hour’s ferry ride or a
every night to call holy spirits back to this 10-minute flight from the Samoan capital
resting place. Some Polynesians believe it of Apia on Upolu Island. Many historians
was built by the great god Togaloa, or that consider Savaii the cradle of Polynesian
it was the launching point for the great civilization—it was a major political capi-
West Polynesian Diaspora—which makes tal, and any chieftain who lived here would
this place equally significant to Tahitians, have been powerful indeed. Archaeolo-
Hawaiians, and New Zealand Maoris. Some gists think the mound was built about a.d.
even believe Pulemelei is the gateway to 1100 to 1400, but the settlement that sur-
the afterlife, which explains the neatly rounds it seems to have been mysteriously

370

The Temples of Khajuraho

abandoned between 1700 and 1800 and fires were lit to purify the area, in case
was swallowed up by jungle—until anthro- human remains were d­isturbed (Heyer-
pologists started poking around in the dahl’s people discovered none), but it’s
1950s. still a politically sensitive issue. Hire a local
guide to lead you through the jungle to
Left alone, this pile of packed earth and Pulemelei, and imagine what this site
basalt stones will soon be swallowed by could look like, when—and if—it’s ever
jungle again. But that’s another thing no properly preserved.
one can agree on—what is to be done
with Pulemelei. Located on an old copra e Pulemelei, Lesolo Plantation
plantation, it’s still privately owned,
though the landowners would like to Savaii
develop the site for tourism. Local villag-
ers have taken them to court to stop exca- $$$ The Savaiian Hotel, Savaii
vations, which they believe desecrate the
holy site. When a team of archaeologists (&  685-51296; www.savaiianhotel.com).
carrying on the work of Thor Heyerdahl
finally began to dig here in 2003, ritual $$$ Vacations Beach Resort, Manase

Village, Savaii (& 685/54001 or 685/54024;

www.vacationsbeachfales.com).

400 Ancient Temples

The Temples of Khajuraho

The Sacred & the Profane

Madya Pradesh, India

New businesses and homes are crowding into the buffer zone around the Temples

of Khajuraho. There is also growing concern that the temple’s erotic art could become

targets of religious fundamentalists in India.

The naughty frescoes of Pompeii are noth- inner sanctum past beautifully rendered
ing compared to the X-rated sculptures friezes of gods, nymphs, animals, warfare,
decorating these 10th- and 11th-century and various bodies twined together in hot-
temples, found in 1838 in the jungles of blooded passion. The most spectacular—
Madya Pradesh. Built by the Chandela and most erotically charged—temples are
kings, a robust clan of Rajput warriors, 25 within the Western Group, including the
exuberant many-spired sandstone tem- large Lakshmana Temple, the elegantly
ples stand in a cluster (there were origi- proportioned Kandariya Mahadev Temple
nally 85), full of artwork frankly celebrating with its 872 statues, Devi Jagadambi Tem-
the pleasures of the human body. ple (devoted to Kali), Chitragupta Temple
(devoted to Surya, the sun god), and the
Sexy art aside, these temples are aston- Temple of Vishvanatha. Take your time
ishingly beautiful, as increasing numbers strolling through, for every sculptured
of tourists can testify. The only real sin panel has a story to tell. Not all are erotic;
here is how the modern world is encroach- many narrate the exploits of the Hindu
ing on the site, desecrating what really gods, particularly Shiva and Vishnu in vari-
should feel like a spiritual site. ous incarnations. It’s all part of the parade
of life that these temples extol.
In these richly sculpted temples, you
make a ritual clockwise circuit around the

371

Holy Places

The Temples of Khajuraho.

The Eastern Group consists of both sites—it’s a good way to see close-up
Hindu and Jain temples—you can tell them details of carved figures that usually occur
apart because the ascetic Jain philosophy high on the temple walls and spires. To get
ruled out sculpture that was too graphic the most out of your temple tour, rent an
(though voluptuous nudity was apparently audio guide or hire an official guide
okay, as you’ll see in the Parsvanatha through the Raja Café, the tourist office, or
Temple). One of the most fun temples here your hotel. Avoid all those unofficial touts
is the 11th-century Hindu temple honoring and guides, no matter how much they
Vamana, a plump dwarf incarnation of pester you—and they will.
Vishnu; also check out the sculpted bells
on the pillars of the Ghantai Temple. In the e & 502/926-0002. www.jaguartikal.com.
Southern Group, notice the dizzying orna-
mentation of the Duladeo Temple, one of Khajuraho
the last temples built before the Sultans of
Delhi squeezed out the Chandela kings. $$$ Radisson Jass, By-Pass Rd.

Across the road from the entrance to (& 91/124-422657). $$ Ken River Lodge,
the Western Group, the Archaeological Village Madla (& 91/7732/27-5235; www.
Museum displays a modest selection of
sculptures collected from various Khajuraho kenriverlodge.com).

372

The Mosques of Timbuktu

401 Ancient Temples

The Mosques of Timbuktu

Melting into the Desert

Timbuktu, Mali

Built of mud, like every other building in Timbuktu, these three medieval mosques

are susceptible to damage from nature’s most common wrath—rain.

Yes, Timbuktu really does exist, although it The first mosque—Djinguere Ber, or the
was the early 19th century before any white Friday Prayers Mosque—was built in 1327
European traveled there and lived to tell the by Emperor Mansa Mussa. (His Egyptian
tale. By then, this desert trading city—situ- architect designed an even larger mosque
ated right where the Niger River flows into in Djenné, still the largest mud-built struc-
the southern edge of the Sahara desert— ture in the world.) With its main tower like
was long past its golden age, when it had a a tapering, stunted skyscraper, Djinguere
population of 100,000. Today’s population Ber is big enough for 2,000 worshipers,
is only about 32,000, but Timbuktu’s skyline and is still the central mosque of the city.
still boasts three towering medieval land- The other two, Sankore and Sidi Yahya,
marks—a trio of mosques once renowned were built in the 15th century. Pyramid-
throughout the Islamic world. shaped Sankore developed into the epi-
center of Islamic scholarship in all of Africa,
There’s just one catch: Those mosques and even today functions as a university.
are built entirely of mud. Every spring
when the rains come, citizens pack fresh Though non-Muslim visitors are no lon-
mud onto their rounded towers and slop- ger allowed inside, you can still marvel at
ing walls to keep them from dissolving the mosques’ flowing exteriors (said to
back into the desert (even the streets here have inspired Antonin Gaudí in designing
are nothing but drifting sand—camels and La Sagrada Família). Today you’ll see tele-
donkeys fare better than the few taxis). vision aerials on Timbuktu’s huddled mud
The tan walls of the taller sections bristle houses; there’s even an Internet cafe on
with the tips of dark wooden struts, but the high street. But it’s still remote and
despite those supports, an unexpected desolate, and the heat is relentless (at mid-
thunderstorm could wipe them out at any day, nobody ventures outdoors). Strolling
time. Only recently have they begun des- around its soft sand streets between the
perately needed structural reinforcement. uniformly tawny, low adobe buildings is
like entering a dream world—don’t miss it.
Dominating the intersection where Ara-
bia’s gold and ivory were traded for sub- Timbuktu International
Saharan Africa’s salt and slaves—imagine
the Sahara as an ocean, and Timbuktu as $$ Hendrina Khan Hotel, off Route
its biggest seaport—medieval Timbuktu
used its wealth to become Africa’s great- de Korioumé (& 223/292-16-81). $$ Hotel
est Islamic center of learning. These aren’t Colombe, Blvd. Askia Mohamed (& 223/­
just any mosques—they were also univer-
sities, or madrassahs, with celebrated 292-14-35).
imams teaching in the courtyards, and
libraries containing thousands of precious TOUR World Heritage Tours (& 800/­
manuscripts. Most studies centered on the
Koran, but related fields such as astron- 663-0844 or 604/264-7378; www.world
omy, history, and logic were also taught. heritagetours.com). Intrepid Travel

(&  800/­970-7299; www.intrepidtravel.
com). Palace Travel (& 800/683-7731 or

215/471-8555; www.palacetravel.com).

373

Holy Places

Ancient Temples 402

Ggantija

Going Back to Mother Earth

Gozo, Malta

Vandalism, a severe storm, and work in nearby stone quarries damaged this ancient

temple, leading to a renovation that was completed in 2005. Now its biggest threat

comes from tourist traffic.

Legend has it that Ggantija was built, like Older than the Pyramids of Giza, older
the name suggests, by a giant—not only than Stonehenge, Ggantija has stubbornly
that, but a female giant, who made the weathered the centuries, along with 50
whole thing in 1 night while holding a baby other megalithic temples on the islands of
in her other arm. Being a woman, she built Malta. No one knows why these Mediterra-
this sanctuary in the rounded curves of the nean people went through an explosion of
female form; worshipers entered and left temple building in this period, or why their
the temple through the birth canal, as if culture swiftly declined around 2300 b.c.—
reliving their own birth experience. it may have been famine, deforestation, or
overpopulation. Today, however, the tem-
This stupendous fertility goddess ples are one of Malta’s chief tourist attrac-
relic—one of Malta’s best known destina- tions, and busloads of tourists tramp
tions, along with Fort St. Elmo —was through ancient sites that were built to
constructed between 3600 and 3000 b.c., admit only a select few worshipers.
which makes it the world’s oldest man-
made free-standing building—although Ggantija is the largest and most intact
these days it isn’t entirely free-standing, of all these temples, partly because it’s off
but propped up with unsightly metal scaf- the beaten track on the small island of
folding. Still, you can’t deny the elemental Gozo (a 20-min. ferry ride from Malta). But
power of these pitted limestone blocks— it was the first to be dug up, back in the
stern gray on the outer walls, warm yellow 1820s, when the art of excavation was in
for the inner walls—which weigh up to 60 its infancy; many carvings and sculptures
tons and cover an area of 1,000 sq. m apparently disappeared, and stones were
(10,760 sq. ft.); there are two adjacent disturbed and/or damaged.
temples, like a mother and daughter. The
rear wall alone rises 6m (20 ft.). Delicately e Ggantija, Temples St., Xaghra (& 356/­
incised geometrical designs ornament the
stone, lovely curling shapes that seem 21/553 194)
hardly possible from artists working with
just simple flint knives. A faint blush of red Malta
here or there reminds us of the bold red
ocher paint that once decorated the $$$ Westin Dragonara, 5 Drago-
megaliths. Imagine being inside these oval
chambers when they were roofed over nara Rd., St. Julian’s (& 356/21/381 000;
and painted a dark, warm red—it must
truly have felt like entering a womb. www.starwoodhotels.com). $$ San Andrea

Hotel, Xlendi Promenade, Gozo (&  356/­

21/565 555; www.hotelsanandrea.com).

374

San Agustín Archeological Park

403 Ancient Temples

San Agustín Archeological Park

Cult of the Dead

San Agustín, Colombia

Looting threatens San Agustín Archeological Park, which contains hundreds of pre-

Columbian stone statues. During the 1980s and 1990s, at least 17 carvings were stolen.

Mysterious, haunting, enigmatic, eerie— trace—even the local indigenous people
all these adjectives and more apply to the have no legends to explain the death cult
San Agustín Archeological Park. It’s a vast that apparently thrived here.
city of the dead, with 14 separate sites
scattered over nearly 650 sq. km (250 sq. The main collection is at Parque
miles). More than 500 massive stone stat- Arqueologico, about 3km (2 miles) west
ues stand here, perfectly preserved on of the town of San Agustín; two other out-
groomed lawns, set off with awesome standing sites are Chaquira, just north-
mountain views. east of the town, with its massive figure
etched into the face of a cliff overlooking
Hardy souls are increasingly traveling the Magdalena River; and Alto los Idolos,
here—mostly Colombians, anthropologists, 27km (17 miles) northeast of town, a com-
and backpackers with a yen for on-the-edge plex necropolis with stark imposing mono-
travel. But given the political situation in liths on a high Andean hillside. Because so
Colombia—although relative peace has many different sites exist, walking around
reigned during the last few years, the coun- to all of them would require a few days;
try’s long, vicious civil war and drug traffick- horseback excursions and jeep tours are
ing reputation loom large—travelers should better options (hotels in the area can help
be cautious. At the time of writing, the U.S., arrange these). English-speaking guides
U.K., Canadian, and Australian governments can be hired at the Parque Arqueologico.
still issue warnings against travel to Colom-
bia, particularly rural areas. Coastal Carta- Although it is wise to heed current travel
gena gets a fair amount of tourism, but not warnings, these shouldn’t hamper plans to
San Agustín, which is deep in the tropical visit Colombia. The country has increased
Andes—a 10-hour bus ride from Bogota its military and police presence significantly
(backpackers do it overnight to save a since former President Uribe took office in
night’s hotel cost) or a 4-hour ride from the 2002, and as a tourist, you are unlikely to
regional airport of Neiva. encounter any violence. Colombia needs
tourism revenues to develop alternatives to
Apparently created to serve as guard- the drug trade, and San Agustín should be
ians of the dead, these statues range in one of the keys to drawing tourists.
size from tiny (20cm/8 in. high) to gargan-
tuan (7m/23 ft.). Carved from dark, craggy e www.colombia.travel
volcanic rocks, they depict gods and myth-
ical animals, grouped in ceremonial Neiva
arrangements, often around burial cham-
bers. The heads are large and the faces $ Finca El Maco, Maco, San Agustín
bold, expressive, and challenging. The
pre-Inca culture that produced them may (& 57/8/837 34 37; www.elmaco.ch)
have ruled this region from as early as the
6th century b.c. to as late as a.d. 1200, but TOUR Nueva Lengua International
they seem to have vanished without a
(&  202/­470-2555 in North America.,

57/1­ /­753 24 51 in Colombia; www.travel
sanagustin.com)

375

Holy Places

Seats of Religion 404

Old Jerusalem

Sacrilege in the Holy City

Israel

The biggest face-off these days in Old Jerusalem may be between archaeologists,

who want to preserve the city’s priceless antiquities, and modern developers. How far

can they go before the essential character of Jerusalem is destroyed forever?

Everybody wants a piece of Jerusalem. Gate. Eccentric, small-scale 19th-century
Not only is this “City on the Hill” a holy city neighborhoods in the New City, with their
to much of the world—Judaism, Islam, and quaint networks of pedestrian streets,
Christianity all have major shrines here— courtyards, and Ottoman-era mansions,
but it’s also deeply embroiled in the Israeli- are being demolished and replaced with
Palestinian conflict, with every new office blocks. A new wave of skyscrapers
development weighed for its political is planned for the previously low-rise cen-
implications. A major highway system sits ter of West Jerusalem, and 10 new proj-
just 9m (30 ft.) from the walls of the Old ects are on the books.
City, so that visitors have to climb a pedes-
trian overpass in order to enter the Jaffa For centuries this city has been tugged to
and fro. King Solomon erected the first great

Old Jerusalem.

376

Church of the Holy Nativity

Jewish temple here in 957 b.c.; Nebuchadne- Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Egyptian Cop-
zzar destroyed it 4 centuries later. In 34 b.c. tics, Ethiopians, and Syrian Orthodox all
King Herod built the greatest religious com- claim it. Founded by Constantine, the first
plex in the eastern Roman Empire—which Christian emperor of Rome, it enshrines
the Romans leveled in a.d. 70. (At Temple what tradition claims is the tomb of Jesus
Mount’s foot, a surviving fragment of Christ (it once also held the Cross that Jesus
Herod’s wall is known as the Wailing Wall was crucified on, but the Persians stole that
because for centuries Jews have crowded centuries ago).
here to mourn the loss of their temple.) After
the Muslim conquest of a.d. 638, Temple Outside of the Old City, the Mount of
Mount was rebuilt with Islamic holy places. Olives contains one of the oldest, perhaps
El Aksa Mosque here is the third-holiest the holiest, Jewish cemeteries in the
Muslim place of prayer after Mecca and world, as well as the spot where Jesus
Medina, and the dazzling Dome of the ascended to heaven, the spot where Jesus
Rock protects a rock revered by Muslims as taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, and
the spot where Prophet Muhammad viewed the courtyard where Jesus supposedly
paradise. To Jews, however, it’s the rock prayed the night before his arrest, each
where Abraham proved his faith by nearly sanctified with its own church. With a leg-
sacrificing his son Isaac. acy this rich, no wonder everybody’s fight-
ing over Jerusalem.
As a political compromise, the walled Old
City was divided into five sections: Temple Jerusalem
Mount, the Muslim Quarter, the Jewish Quar-
ter, the Christian Quarter, and the Armenian $$$ Jerusalem Sheraton Plaza, 47
Quarter. But even there, factions compete:
The dour sandstone Church of the Holy King George St. (& 800/325-3535 or
Sepulchre in the Christian quarter is a site
so holy that Roman Catholics, Armenian 02/629-8666; www.sheraton.com). $$$
King Solomon Hotel, 32 King David St.

(& 02/569-5555).

405 Seats of Religion

Church of the Holy Nativity

An Unstable Stable Scene

Bethlehem, Palestine

While guided tours still come daily to see Jesus’ birthplace, the locality is so drained

by military turmoil that routine maintenance has been ignored in the decaying church

guarding where he was born.

Even if you’re not a practicing Christian, political tinderbox torn between Israel and
you probably know where Jesus Christ ­Palestine.
was born—the story of his birth in a sta-
ble in Bethlehem has been told over and Milling around a plaza called Manger
over again for 20 centuries now. But Square, you’ll notice different priests pro-
B­ ethlehem today is no simple village of tecting their sects’ claim to this sacred
shepherds, camels, and donkeys; it’s a site—Franciscan priests in brown robes,
busy, modern town in the West Bank, that Armenians in purple- and cream-colored
robes, bearded Greeks in black robes with

377

Holy Places

The Church of the Holy Nativity. from riding their horses inside, others say
built by post-crusade Muslims to humble
long hair tied into a bun. After being tus- Christian pilgrims.
sled over for centuries, it’s no surprise that
the ancient Church of the Holy Nativity Inside, the stately Corinthian pillars that
looks dilapidated—competing priests may line the basilica’s naves bear faded paint-
even come to blows over the right to ings of apostles, bishops, saints, and
scrub a certain section of the worn floors. kings; gilded lamps hang from the oak ceil-
(Having armed Palestinian soldiers occupy ing, and trapdoors in the stone-and-wood
the church, as has happened recently, floor give mere glimpses of old Byzantine
only aggravates the situation.) Though it mosaic glories beneath. But the heart of
was first built in a.d. 326 by the Roman the church lies not with its ornate gold-
emperor Constantine, and rebuilt 200 and-silver main altar, but down narrow
years later by Emperor Justinian, its pres- staircases beside the altar: a subterranean
ent fortresslike facade was the work of marble grotto, draped in worn tapestries.
12th-century crusaders, aggressively rein- According to ancient tradition, this shal-
forcing their claim to the site. Unlike the low cave is where Mary gave birth to
grand portals of most churches, this one Jesus; altars mark nearby spots where the
has an odd low doorway—some say low- manger stood and where the Magi bowed
ered by Christians to prevent Ottomans to the baby Jesus. Historically accurate or
not, after centuries of adoration this
hushed grotto is full of spiritual aura.

While you’re here, you should also visit
the grand Franciscan church just north of
the Church of the Holy Nativity, which
offers a competing Nativity site: A stair-
way from the back of its nave leads to an
underground maze of rock-hewn cham-
bers that supposedly include the stable
where Joseph and Mary stayed the night
of Jesus’ birth. In the scrum of modern
Bethlehem, finding not one but two holy
retreats isn’t a bad bargain at all.

e The Church of the Holy Nativity,
Manger Sq., Bethlehem (& 972/2/647‑7050)

Jerusalem

$$$ Jerusalem Sheraton Plaza, 47

King George St. (& 800/325-3535 or 972/­

2/629-8666; www.sheraton.com). $$$ King

Solomon Hotel, 32 King David St. (& 972/­

2/569-5555).

TOUR Egged Tours (& 972/2/530-4422).
United Tours (& 972/2/625-2187). Alter-
native Tours (& 972/2-6283282; raed@

jrshotel.com).

378

Little Hagia Sofia

406 Seats of Religion

Little Hagia Sofia

The Model Mosque

Istanbul, Turkey

As if surviving centuries of war, earthquakes, and humid weather wasn’t enough,

when they put a railroad next to Little Hagia Sophia—that was the last straw.

You’d think a holy place this old would get ancient building. When rising damp became
a little more respect. After all, this is the a problem, the foundation was raised in the
oldest Byzantine monument in Istanbul, 1970s—but a recently built sea wall nearby
built as the Christian church of Sts. Sergios raised the water table and caused the damp
and Bacchos by Emperor Justinian in a.d. to return worse than ever.
527 to 536. Many architectural historians
believe it was a working model for Justini- When the earthquake of 1999 widened
an’s later great church, Hagia Sophia (now existing cracks in the dome, rainwater
the Ayasofya Mosque), which is why this seeped in and the mosque—which had
one eventually became known as Little just been restored in 1996—began to
Hagia Sophia. Like the bigger Hagia Sophia, show serious signs of decay. Unless those
this smaller church was converted to a unsteady foundations were finally shored
mosque in 1504 after the Muslim takeover up, there was every reason to believe that
of Istanbul, and the gold Byzantine mosa- Little Hagia Sophia would collapse. The
ics that once glittered all over its interior mosque was closed for major structural
were plastered over. Unlike big Hagia work beginning in 2002—but almost
Sophia, though, it is still a working mosque, immediately, workers discovered ancient
which you can visit (observe the usual eti- tombs under the site, which ground work
quette for visiting mosques—remove your to a halt. Some international observers
shoes, don’t take flash photos, don’t walk began to fear that the landmark mosque
in front of worshipers, and dress mod- would be left to rot.
estly). Its lovely octagonal nave is sur-
mounted by a broad dome, accented by It’s been a long haul, but the project was
slender columns of colored marble with finally completed in 2007. The mosque,
ornately sculpted capitals; don’t miss its crisply repainted and plastered, looks in
especially serene and leafy garden outside. fine form again. After all it’s gone through,
it deserves a visit.
Little Hagia Sophia is one of Istanbul’s
lesser known gems (for more on Istanbul, e Lower end of Küçük Ayasofya Cad
see , tucked away by the southern city
walls near the shore of the Sea of Marmara. (www.sacred-destinations.com)
The 20th century, however, has not been
kind to it. It was once closer to the sea, until Atatürk International, Istanbul
the 1950s, when a landfill project made
room for a new coastal road routed close to $$$ Çiragan Palace Hotel Kempin-
the mosque. The railway came soon after-
ward, adding more vibrations to shake the ski Istanbul, Çiragan Cad. 84 (& 800/426-

3135 in North America, or 90/212/258-3377
in Istanbul; www.kempinski.com). $$ Mavi

Ev (Blue House), Dalbasti Sok. 14 (& 90/­

212/638-9010; www.bluehouse.com.tr).

379

Holy Places

Seats of Religion 407

Kathmandu

Shangri-La in Crisis

Nepal

To the mountain trekkers and hippies who first flocked here in the 1960s, this

Himalayan capital seemed like an isolated Shangri-La. But Kathmandu is now a city of

around 800,000 people, with rapidly worsening pollution—diesel fumes fill the air, and

the sacred Bagmati River has become a jet-black stagnant mess.

In this mountain region, earthquakes, gets its modern name from the two-story
landslides, and floods pose a continual wooden pagoda on Durbar Square named
threat; to make things worse, a decade of Kaasthamandap (or Maru Sattal), built in
conflict between the government and 1596, supposedly from the timber of a
Maoist rebels drained the resources single tree, without a single nail or exter-
needed to protect its wildlife and historic nal support. The rest of the Durbar Square
monuments. A peace agreement was complex—the seat of the Malla dynasty
signed in late 2006, and as of mid-2011, that built much of the city—includes
the terms of the agreement were being nearly 50 temples, shrines, and palaces,
met—still, the truce is precarious. including the former royal Hanumand-
hoka Palace, Kumari Ghar (Abode of the
And the cultural heritage of the Kath- Living Goddess), and the vermilion-walled
mandu Valley is so worth saving. This Taleju temple. But don’t stop there; wan-
compact mountain valley has not one but der around the city’s maze of narrow
three historic towns—Patan, Bhaktapur, streets, finding smaller temples, open-air
and Kathmandu itself, each with a beauti- markets, and miniature shrines tucked
ful, if crumbling, collection of buildings
around a central square. Kathmandu city

A temple in Kathmandu.

380

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

around the bustling city, a jumbled juxta- meditation. Tibetan monks, Brahmin
position of the new and the old. priests, and Newar nuns all worship at the
hilltop Syambhunath complex, 3km (2 miles)
The most ancient site in the valley is the west of the city; notice the watchful eyes of
1,600-year-old Hindu shrine of Changu all-seeing Buddha painted on all sides of the
Narayan, devoted to Vishnu, 12km (71⁄2 stupa. Tibetan Buddhists predominate at
miles) east of the city; elaborate stone the monastery complex of Bouddhanath,
carving, woodwork, and silver crafting are 6km (33⁄4 miles) west of the city, with its
festooned over seemingly every surface of immense 36m-high (118-ft.) stupa deco-
this temple. Set amid jungle only 5km rated with prayer wheels and 108 tiny
(3 miles) east of the city, the gold-roofed images of Buddha, as well as another set of
temple of Pashupatinath, sacred to Lord those watchful painted eyes.
Shiva, is one of the holiest of Hindu
shrines, drawing pilgrims from all over Tribhuvan International Airport
Asia. Its stair steps ripple down to the
Bagmati River, which despite its pollution $$$ Dwarikas Hotel, Battisputali,
remains a revered cremation site.
Kathmandu (& 977/1/447 3725; www.
In Nepal, Hinduism intertwines harmoni-
ously with Buddhism, especially at Syamb- dwarikas.com). $$–$$$ Taragaon, Boudha
hunath and Bouddhanath, two famous
stupas, or circular monuments built for (& 977/1/449 1234; http://kathmandu.

regency.hyatt.com).

408 Seats of Religion

Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park

A Sacrilege at the Sacred Red Rocks

Northern Territory, Australia

The Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park is one of the most significant arid-land eco-

systems in the world. But while increasing tourism helps the economy, it takes a toll on

the landscape.

The native Anangu call tourists minga— Anangu leaders have reestablished the
little ants—because that’s what they look historic names Uluru (instead of the colonial
like, crawling up the red sandstone flanks name Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (instead of
of Uluru, central Australia’s most storied the Olgas), but they haven’t banned either
monolith. Despite often-ferocious winds rock climbers or sightseeing flights over
and withering heat, some visitors still feel Uluru—they simply request climbers to
compelled to spend 2 to 4 hours scram- refrain from violating the sacred site.
bling up the great rock. Yes, the views Focused on scaling the rock, climbers rarely
from the top are impressive, but the tour- take time to experience the monolith’s rich-
ists are committing sacrilege: Uluru is a ness—the wildlife that thrives in the pot-
sacred spot in the Tjukurpa/Wapar belief holes and overhangs of the red rock surface,
system. Even more sacred is Kata Tjuta the little coves hiding water holes and
(“Many Heads”), 36 momentous red Aboriginal rock art. But you can see all this
domes bulging out of the earth 50km (31 on a paved 9.7km (6-mile) Base Walk
miles) to the west. around Uluru, or an easy 1km (.6-mile)

381

Holy Places

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

round-trip loop from the Mutitjulu parking Just gazing upon Uluru should be
lot. Even better is the free daily 90-minute enough—there’s something undeniably
Mala Walk with a ranger—often an Aborig- spiritual in its massive shape, heaving
ine—who can explain the significance of the powerfully upward from the dunes, chang-
rock art and the Creation narrative related ing color dramatically depending on the
to Uluru. It’s no coincidence that this hike is slant of the sun. The best time to visit is
named after the mala, or rufous hare-walla- sunset, when gaudy oranges, peaches,
bies; the Anangu consider them important pinks, reds, and then indigo and deep vio-
ancestral guardians, and recently an enclo- let creep across its face as if it were a giant
sure was built nearby in the park for a group opal. But there’s something to be said,
of ranger-bred mala. Extinct in the wild, the too, for experiencing the rosy spectacle of
species are to be reintroduced to a land- Uluru gradually unveiled by dawn, hailed
scape they haven’t inhabited since the mid- by a chorus of twittering bird song.
1900s.
e Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
Though it looks like a giant meteorite, (& 61/8/8956 3138)
Uluru did not fall from the sky; it is a mass of
hardened sediment heaved upward from Ayers Rock (Connellan) Airport
the floor of an ancient inland sea. The same
seismic forces created the domes of Kata $$$ Emu Walk Apartments, Yulara
Tjuta, but their conglomerate rock yielded
far more dramatically to the sculpting Dr., Ayers Rock Resort (& 61/8/8957
power of rain and temperature. At Kata
Tjuta, there are two routes winding through 7888; www.voyages.com.au). $$$ Out-
the other-worldly domes: the 7.4km (4.6- back Pioneer Hotel and Lodge, Yulara
mile) Valley of the Winds walk or an easy
2.4km (1.5-mile) Gorge walk. Dr., Ayers Rock Resort (& 61/8/8957

7888; www.voyages.com.au).

382

Lutherstadt Wittenberg

409 Seats of Religion

Lutherstadt Wittenberg

Nailed to the Door

Wittenberg, Germany

Wittenberg has survived a lot of tumult, but climate change presents a whole new

challenge. Though repairs and renovations were promptly carried out after 2002’s major

flood, the probability of another flood looms on the horizon.

There’s a reason they call it a flood plain. affectingly simple tomb is inside. Luther
Swollen by heavy rains and excessive preached most of his dangerously dissi-
snowmelt in the Czech mountains, in dent sermons, however, at the twin-tow-
August 2002 the Elbe River raged through ered Gothic parish church of Stadtkirche
Saxony, looking for a place to spread out. St. Marien, Judenstr. 35, where he’s even
When it reached Wittenberg, the Elbe was depicted in the great altarpiece painted by
already 7.5m (25 ft.) higher than usual, Lucas Cranach the Elder (you can see Cra-
ready to burst its banks. While the church nach’s house on Marksplatz).
spires of the old town center, set on
higher ground north of the river, escaped After splitting from the Catholic faith,
the worst of it, the waters simply gushed Luther—no longer bound by priestly celi-
into the flatter working-class suburb of bacy—also married his wife, a former nun,
Pratau, turning it into one big lagoon. in the Stadtkirche. Their family home, the
Lutherhalle, Collegienstr. 54—a former
As the waters rose, the infrastructure of Augustinian monastery disbanded at the
this former East German region was start of the Reformation—has been turned
strained to the utmost. Wittenberg’s flood into a museum displaying Luther’s desk, his
defenses were simply overwhelmed; the pulpit, first editions of his books, and the
main road and railway connections were wood-paneled lecture hall where he taught
washed out for days. Residents were evac- students. The towering Luthereiche
uated, and when they returned, they (Luther’s Oak) at the end of Collegien-
found their abandoned homes sodden strasse outside the Elster gate commemo-
and thick mud slopped everywhere. rates the spot where Luther in 1520
defiantly burned the papal edict that
Most of the sights of Wittenberg—offi- excommunicated him. Statues of Luther
cially renamed Lutherstadt Wittenberg, to and his humanist scholar friend, Philip Mel-
honor its connection with the great reli- ancthon, have been erected in the cobbled
gious reformer Martin Luther—are clus- central square, in front of the big white City
tered mainly in the historic center, away Hall (Rathaus).
from the industrial clutter of the modern
town. Look for the round, crown-topped Berlin
tower of the Schlosskirche at Friedrich-
strasse 1A, where Martin Luther nailed 0 Wittenberg
his radical 95 Theses to the door in 1517
(the brass doors there today are a 19th- $$ Grüne Tanne, Am Teich 1 (& 49/
century addition, engraved with his the-
ses—in church Latin, of course). Luther’s 3491/6290)

383

Holy Places

Pilgrimage Sites 410

The Great Stupa of Sanchi

In the Shadow of Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh, India

A thorough 20th-century restoration brought the Great Stupa back to top

condition. But since the 1984 environmental disaster at nearby Bhopal, tourism has dried

up. Is the Great Stupa facing a fourth chapter of decline?

Three times in its history, the Great Stupa disciples).Originally it was a smaller brick
of Sanchi was nearly destroyed—once by hemisphere; in the 2nd century b.c. the brick
vandals in the 2nd century b.c.; a second dome was enlarged considerably with a
time from the 13th to the 18th century, sandstone casing, and a balustrade was
when Buddhism withered in India; and a added. Later, around 25 b.c., four intricately
third time in the late 19th century when carved gateways of finer-grained sandstone
amateur archaeologists and treasure were placed around the stupa, facing the
hunters ravaged the newly rediscovered four points of the compass. Mounted on
ruins. these gates are intricately carved story pan-
els depicting episodes from the life of Bud-
It’s a shame, because there’s some- dha. (Notice that the Buddha is never
thing innately appealing about this plump pictured as a human—look for him instead
domed Buddhist monument, set serenely as a lotus, a wheel, a bodhi tree, or a pair of
on a hill with lovely views of the surround- feet.) As a classic stupa, it also has circling
ing countryside. India’s finest example of pathways designed for meditative circum-
ancient Buddhist architecture, it’s the cen- ambulations.
terpiece of a complex founded in the 3rd
century b.c. by the Mauryan emperor Originally the stupa was a much more
Ashoka, who converted to Buddhism after gaudy affair—its dome and supporting
massacring thousands in his military cam- plinth were coated with white-lime con-
paigns. Excavations to date have crete, the railways and gateway were
unearthed about 55 temples, pillars, stu- painted red, and the surface of the stupa
pas, and monasteries in the complex, an was painted with swags and garlands. The
amazing continuum of Buddhist architec- antenna-like spire on top would have been
tural styles. Yet it doesn’t overwhelm the gilded, too. But it wears its present weath-
visitor—it’s a low-rise site of gentle domes ered look well—the peace of the centuries
and spaces for contemplation. seems to settle upon it like the folds of a
sari.
The proportions of the Great Stupa itself
are so harmonious, you’re surprised when e Madhya Pradesh State Tourism
you get up close to see how big it actually is.
At 16m (52 ft.) high, nearly eight stories tall, Development Corp. (www.mptourism.
it anchors the center of the complex like a com)
massive beehive, or maybe a flying saucer.
The stupa may once have held inside some Bhopal
ashes of the Buddha, who died in 483 b.c.
(smaller stupas alongside, like satellites $$ Jehan Numa Palace, 157 Shamla
around a mother ship, contain ashes of his
Hill, Bhopal (& 91/755/266-1100; www.

hoteljehanumapalace.com)

384

Ajanta Caves

411 Pilgrimage Sites

Ajanta Caves

Worshiping Art

Maharashtra, India

More than 2,000 years old, the Ajanta Caves display rock paintings that have

survived for centuries. However, clumsy restoration and the presence of so many admir-

ers are hastening their decay.

It’s quite a proposition, getting to the side Avalokitesvara with his thunderbolt in
ancient cave temple of Ajanta, in far-flung hand, on the other Padmapani holding a
Maharashtra, India, about 500km (310 water lily. The great mandala, or sacred
miles) east of Mumbai. What makes it meditative design, on the ceiling of Cave 2
worth the trip is not just the beauty of this is awesome. Cave 16 has a lovely painting
Buddhist worship site—though it certainly of the princess Sundari, wife of the Bud-
is beautiful, a horseshoe-shaped cliff dha’s half-brother (she’s swooning at
above a hairpin bend in the Waghora the news that her husband is becoming
River—it’s the fact that it was chiseled a monk); the most brilliantly painted is
patiently out of the cliff face, chip by chip, Cave 17, where maidens float overhead,
using nothing but handheld tools. accompanied by celestial musicians, lotus

Remote as it is, thousands of visitors Cave 26 at the Ajanta Caves.
come here every year, particularly in the
summer months. The crush inside the
caves can be stifling. Visitors are asked to
take their shoes off, photography is forbid-
den, and barriers prevent people from
touching the artworks. The rock surfaces
need to be treated to protect the art
against inevitable water leakage. The
painting in some caves survived the centu-
ries better than in others, where only tan-
talizing fragments of images remain. Some
earlier attempts at restoring the paintings
have even worsened their condition. The
sculptures have survived better—proof of
how hard this stone was to carve—though
some are pitted with age.

Ajanta is an incredibly old site—begun
in the 2nd century b.c. and executed over
the next 700 years by Buddhist monks.
Some of its 29 caves are chaityas—
shrines—and others are viharas, or mon-
asteries, where the artworks were meant
to inspire spiritual contemplation on the
life and teachings of Buddha. Cave 1 is per-
haps the most famous vihara, renowned
for the two fantastic murals of bodhisatt-
vas (precursors of Buddha) flanking the
doorway of the antechamber—on one

385

Holy Places

petals, and scrollwork. Check out the huge Aurangabad
sculpture of the reclining Buddha in the
richly carved Cave 26. $$ The Ambassador Ajanta, Jalna

It has been said that all Indian art stems Rd., Aurangabad (& 0240/248-5211;
from Ajanta—and yet, incredibly, for cen-
turies it lay remote and forgotten, redis- www.ambassadorindia.com). $$ Quality
covered accidentally by a boar-hunting Inn The Meadows, Gat no. 135 and 136,
British soldier in 1819. As you walk
through, don’t get overwhelmed by the Village Mitmita, Aurangabad (& 0240/
sheer profusion of detail. Focus instead on
imagining the anonymous monks long 267-7412; [email protected].
ago, tending to their devotions, and creat- net.in).
ing immortal art in the process.
$$ Les Terrasses Poulard, Grande

Rue (& 33/2/33-60-14-09; www.mere

poulard.fr)

Pilgrimage Sites 412

Borobudur

Ascending to Nirvana

Central Java, Indonesia

When Mount Merapi erupted in late 2010, more than 300 lives were lost and

volcanic ash was spewed on Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple standing. UNESCO

helped to clear away the ash, and the temple is once again open to visitors.

It was built to be walked on—the winding underground to stabilize the pyramid) are
pathway of this stepped pyramid was spe- rectangular in shape, decorated with
cifically designed for meditation, and sculpted bas-relief panels, 1,460 in all. Seen
you’ll see hosts of saffron-robed Buddhist in order, the panels are more or less a spiri-
priests pacing along, chanting as they tual textbook, depicting the life and lessons
wind around the 3.2km-long (2-mile) route of Buddha. Each ascending level represents
to the top. Set on a smooth green plain a higher stage of man’s spiritual journey.
south of Magelang on the gardenlike
island of Java, Borobudur is not only the The top three levels, however, are cir-
largest Buddhist monument in the world, cular terraces with no ornamentation—
but quite simply is one of the most stun- Buddhism considers simplicity far more
ning architectural creations you’ll ever virtuous than decoration. Instead, these
see. Some two million blocks of lava rock upper levels hold a series of beehivelike
completed the original pyramid-like stone stupas, their bricks arranged in per-
design, though some have been lost over forated checkerboard patterns, with stone
the centuries. Seen from the ground, it Buddhas tucked inside. Each inscrutable
looks like a mountain, bristling with odd Buddha sits cross-legged, making a hand
little spires; seen from above, it looks like gesture that signifies one of five spiritual
an open lotus blossom, the sacred expres- attainments. At the top, one large central
sion of Buddhism. stupa crowns the pyramid, empty inside—
scholars still debate whether it once con-
But the true brilliance of Borobudur can tained a bigger Buddha, or whether its
be understood only if you walk around it. emptiness symbolizes the blessed state of
The first six levels (plus another one left nirvana.

386

Santiago de Compostela

One of the many mysteries of Borobudur the recent volcanic activity, the site proves
is why it was ever abandoned. When Sir just how fragile our ancient archaeological
Thomas Stanford Raffles discovered it in treasures can be.
1814, Borobudur was buried under layers
of ash from nearby Mount Merapi. Perhaps Yogvakarta
it was buried Pompeii-style; or maybe a
series of eruptions brought famine to the $$$ Sheraton Mustika, JL Laksda
region, causing the population to move
away. Either way, Borobudur lay forgotten Adisucipto, Yogyakarta (& 62/274-
for centuries. Nowadays, it’s Java’s most
popular tourist destination. Despite the 488588; www.sheraton.com). $$ Mano-
level of visitor traffic, however, a medita- hara Hotel, Borobudur Archaeological
tive, tenuous peace still holds sway—given
Park, Magelang (& 361/731520; www.

baliwww.com).

413 Pilgrimage Sites

Santiago de Compostela

A Pilgrim’s Progress

Spain & France

The pilgrim’s route along Santiago de Compostela is at risk due to highway

construction that has already claimed 4.8km (3 miles) of the sacred path.

All roads in Spain once led to the north- Compostela now, before more pieces of
western city of Santiago de Compostela, the path are cut off.
where the Catholic faithful flocked to visit
the tomb of St. James, hoping thereby to Pilgrimages on this sacred path began
win a spot in heaven. The pilgrimage route in a.d. 813, when priests unearthed what
ran from Paris over the Pyrenees and were said to be the remains of St. James
along Spain’s northern coast—an enor- (Santiago, in Spanish), the patron saint of
mous distance even by car. (Some hardy Spain. In the 11th century, this huge cathe-
souls still make the trek on foot.) Even if dral was built over his tomb, and a trickle
you drive only the last section, from Pam- of local pilgrims grew into an international
plona through León to Santiago de Com- flood. From the Praza do Obradoido,
postela, you can imagine the joy of weary admire its three ornate towers and the
pilgrims arriving at last in front of this glori- wrought-iron enclosed staircase; in an
ous Romanesque cathedral. arch inside the middle tower is a statue of
St. James, dressed in traditional pilgrim
Unfortunately, these ancient roads are garb (wide-brimmed hat and walking
at risk from the construction of a major staff), because he traveled widely around
new highway. Although alternative high- western Europe spreading the gospel. The
way routes have been proposed, con- west door’s triple-arched front portico
struction has started on the A-12 highway is famous, with sculpted biblical figures
between Santo Domingo de la Calzada representing the Last Judgment. Look for
and Burgos, which will run counter to the St. James, in the center beneath Christ.
path, and a few miles of the route have The carved column under him bears five
already been slashed. Which is all the grooves worn into the stone by centuries
more reason to try to visit Santiago de of pilgrims, leaning forward to place their

387

Holy Places

hands on the pillar and knock foreheads they went missing for almost 300 years,
with the carved face at the bottom—the when, in the 16th century, with Sir Francis
likeness of the portico’s designer, Maestro Drake raiding the coast, the church fathers
Mateo. It’s nicknamed—what else?— hid them so well that they weren’t found
Santo dos Croques (Saint of the Bumps). again until 1879. To verify their authentic-
ity, a sliver of the skull of St. James was
In our age of jet travel, it’s amazing to fetched from Italy—and it fit perfectly into
recall that most medieval folks spent their the recently discovered skeleton.
entire lives in one village, without TV or
newspapers or the Internet to tell them e Catedral de Santiago, Praza do Obra-
about the rest of the world. The few who doiro (& 34/981/58-35-48; www.catedral
took a pilgrimage played a vital role in dis-
seminating European culture. Inside, desantiago.es)
notice how wide the barrel-vaulted aisles
are, built to accommodate hordes of pil- Santiago de Compostela
grims. On the altar is a huge golden mol-
lusk shell that pilgrims traditionally kissed, $ Hotel Real, Caldereria 49 (& 34/
as well as a great silver incense burner—
the botufumiero—which purified the air at 981/56-92-90; www.hotelreal.com). $$
night while hundreds of pilgrims slept in
the cathedral. Los Abetos Hotel, San Lázaro (& 34/981/

The remains of St. James are in a silver 55-70-26; www.hotellosabetos.com).
urn in the crypt. Hard as it is to believe,
TOUR www.followthecamino.com/en/
credential

Pilgrimage Sites 414

The Last Supper

da Vinci’s Wall

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy

It’s a masterpiece of composition, both technical and dramatic, and no matter how

often it’s parodied (Mel Brooks, Monty Python, and George Carlin have all had a go at it),

the original still takes your breath away. Without proper maintenance, however, we

could lose this treasure forever.

It’s been said that all that’s left of the again quite recently; though modern tech-
original Last Supper is a “few isolated niques have improved the sensitivity of
streaks of fading color”—everything else these repaintings, it’s often impossible to
was layered on by later hands. Leonardo tell what was painted by da Vinci and what
da Vinci’s masterful picture of Jesus and was painted by later restorers. In 1943, a
his disciples at their Passover Seder began bomb demolished the roof—luckily that
to disintegrate almost as soon as Leon- wall wasn’t hit—and the painting stood
ardo finished it, for in executing this mural exposed to the elements for 3 years. It just
on the wall of a convent in Milan, he may be the master’s greatest painting, but
experimented with risky new paints and it’s a wonder that anything is left of it at all.
application techniques. But it is so clearly
a work of genius that over the centuries Though born in Florence, Leonardo da
artists and restorers felt drawn to save it, Vinci spent many years in Milan (1482–99
repainting it in the 1700s, the 1800s, and and 1506–13), under the patronage of
the dukes of Milan. The finicky da Vinci

388

La Sagrada Família

produced endless studies and sketches in from the windows behind him, while
for projects he never finished; one he did darkness looms behind the disciples.
complete, however, was this mural that
Duke Ludovico commissioned for the con- Only 25 viewers are admitted at a time
vent of Santa Marie delle Grazie church. (be prepared to wait in line), and you must
Set above a doorway in what was once a pass through antipollutant chambers
dining hall, The Last Supper (Il Cenacolo before you get your allotted 15 minutes in
Vinciano) is a huge artwork, 8.5m (28 ft.) front of the painting. A lot to go through,
wide and 4.6m (15 ft.) tall. There’s nothing but The Last Supper is worth it.
static about this scene: Jesus, hands out-
spread (as if to display his future wounds), e Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie (off
has just announced that one of his follow- Corso Magenta; & 39/2/4987588)
ers will betray him, and the disciples all
lean away, aghast, each in his own manner Milan’s Aeroporto di Linate or Aero-
protesting his fidelity. (Judas is the one porto Malpensa
with his face in shadow, already clutching
the bag of money he was paid to betray $$$ Four Seasons Hotel Milano,
Jesus.) Christ’s sorrowful figure is isolated,
the curved pediment of a doorway over Via Gesú 8 (& 39/2/77088; www.four
his head suggesting a halo; light streams
seasons.com). $$ Antica Locanda Leon-

ardo, Corso Magenta 78 (& 39/02/

48014197; www.leoloc.com).

415 Churches

La Sagrada Família

The Flower of Modernismo

Barcelona, Spain

The unfinished La Sagrada Família is scheduled to be finally completed in 2026.

But will ongoing construction on an underground tunnel for a high-speed train shake its

foundations?

Amid the massed Gothic cathedrals of Gaudí-like Nativity facade—but the Glory
Europe, La Sagrada Família rises like a portal, the transepts, and several of its 18
breath of fresh air—the exuberantly un- spiky mosaic-crowned spires are still
Gothic masterpiece of the great 20th-cen- unfinished. The joyous flowerlike vaulting
tury architect Antonio Gaudí. Begun in of the central nave wasn’t completed until
1882, this church is the glorious flowering 2000. With no government or church fund-
of Gaudí’s signature style: modernismo, a ing, the project depends on tourism reve-
romantic, voluptuous Catalonian offshoot nues and private donations; its projected
of Art Nouveau that flourished in Barce- 2026 completion date is seriously in
lona from about 1890 to 1910. doubt. And now, to cap it all off, an under-
ground tunnel for a new high-speed train
But when Gaudí died in 1926, La from Barcelona to Madrid is in the works
Sagrada Família (the Church of the Holy (scheduled to be completed in 2013), and
Family) was still far from done. Two portals drilling will happen only 4m (13 ft.) from
were later completed, in startlingly con- the cathedral, possibly shaking it to its
trasting styles by two different sculp- intricately engineered foundations.
tors—the stark, blocky figures of the
Passion facade and the more fanciful,

389

Holy Places

As it expanded beyond its historic core fanciful pinnacles. La Sagrada Família’s rose
in the late 19th century, Barcelona offered windows really do look like roses, its fluted
a virtual blank slate for a gifted crew of columns like flower stalks, rising to a
architects eager to express their Catalan vaulted ceiling pattern that looks like noth-
identity—and Gaudí stood head and ing more than a field spangled with daisies.
shoulders above them all. (Other exam-
ples of his style can be found along the Gaudí’s original plans were discovered
Passeig de Grácia and out in the northern only in 1950; with those in hand, the direc-
suburbs at Parc Güell.) Their modernismo tors of the ongoing project hope to exe-
rejected monumental symmetry and went cute the cathedral just as he intended it.
instead for forms found in nature, with lots But unlike Europe’s Gothic cathedrals,
of handcrafted decoration. Gaudí in particu- which took leisurely centuries to com-
lar loved drooping masses, melting hori- plete, La Sagrada Família is in a race
zontal lines, and giddy spirals. This against time. Will that high-speed train
cathedral erupts skyward with clusters of beat it to the finish line?
honeycombed spires, looking more like
encrusted stalagmites than like traditional e Carrer de Sardenya, Barcelona (& 34/
Gothic towers; its arches are neither
pointed Gothic nor rounded Romanesque, 93-207-30-31; www.sagradafamilia.org
but tapering curves of a certain Star Trek– or www.sossagradafamilia.org)
ish flair. (Gaudí’s versions of flying but-
tresses are definitely Space Age struts.) Barcelona
Sculpted figures seem to grow organically
out of its portals and arches; brightly col- $$$ Hotel Hespería Sarriá, Los
ored fruits and flowers sprout from the
Vergós 20 (& 34/93-204-55-51). $$ Cata-
lonia Plaza Cataluña, Bergara 11 (& 34/

934-451-530; www.hoteles-catalonia.com).

Churches 416

The Abbey of Mont-St-Michel

Time & Tide

Normandy, France

When you think of the engineering required to build this immense church on this

tide-scoured outcrop, it’s a marvel it has stood this long. Short-sighted renovations that

built the causeway and altered natural tidal patterns have exacerbated the silting up of

the bay. Can the government reverse this?

Approaching across the coastal flatlands, The narrow land bridge that once con-
you see its Gothic splendor erupt toward nected Mont-St-Michel to the mainland,
the sky, usually cloaked in dramatic fog. exposed only at low tide, was beefed up in
Set upon a massive rock just off the Nor- 1879 into a permanent causeway, accessi-
mandy coast, the great Gothic abbey ble at all hours. Meanwhile, the local folks
church of Mont-St-Michel rises dramati- kept on tinkering with the natural tidal
cally from its rampart walls to an ethereal processes—polderizing shallow parts of
spire topped with a gilded statue of the the bay to create pastureland, making a
archangel Michael, the abbey’s guardian canal out of the Couesnon River—until the
spirit. bay gradually silted up. Finally, in June
2006, the French government took action,
Yet in the past couple of centuries, St. initiating a hydraulic dam project. The dam
Michael seems to have let down his guard.

390