The World of the unusual birds eye view, is for the photographer Yann Arthus “new dimensions” to enter. In this post shows he selected twelve pictures holy sites.
THE STUPA OF
BODNATH,
BUDDHIST TEMPLE,
KATHMANDU,
NEPAL (27°43’N, 85°22’E)
The city of Bodnath is home to one of the holiest Buddhist temples in Nepal, especially venerated by the thousand Tibetan exiles who now live in this neighboring country. The stupa, which is a reliquary in the form of a tumulus topped by a tower, holds a bone fragment of Buddha. At a height and width of 132 feet (40 m), the temple is one of the largest in Nepal. Pilgrims circle the hill, in the relics and holy objects are walled in, countless times to good karma for all living creatures to collect.
STONEHENGE,
WILTSHIRE,
ENGLAND. (51°11’N 1°50’W)
Rising out of the Salisbury plain in southern England are the impressive remains of Stonehenge ( hanging stones”), built in several phases between 2800 and 1900 B.C. The monument was originally made up of about 125 monoliths arranged in four concentric circles, of which only the first two survive. These blocks of sandstone, weighing up to 30 tons and as tall as 23 feet (7 m), came from diverse regions, some even hundreds of miles aways. The site was constructed so that the sun rises in the axis of the main doorway on the morning of the summer solstice. In addition to its role as an astronomical calendar, Stonehenge might have been the center of religious cults, of which we have lost all traces. Along with the site of Avebury, also in Wiltshire, Stonehenge was named UNESCO world heritage site in 1986. These witnesses of European prehistory have survived through the ages, but retaining part of their mystery.
MARABOUTS IN
JEBEL KREFANE,
TOZEURGOVERNORATE,
TUNISIA (33°55’N, 08°08’E)
Ifriqiya(Africa) had been conquered by the Arabs by the end of theseventh century. But Arabization and Islamization were slowto begin with, and those conversions only gathered momentum fromthe eleventh century on. As in other areas that were late toconvert to Islam, Sufism established itself. In Africa, thissect was founded on maraboutism, the cult of holy men that becamean essential element of popular devotion: their domed tombs(marabouts) are dotted around towns and the countryside. The word“marabout” comes from murabit, which originallydescribed a warrior-monk who lived in a fortified monastery,or ribat. Then it came to refer to a person who haddistinguished himself for his piety, charity, religious knowledge,or healing powers. The term also denoted his mausoleum, which wasa place of pilgrimage where the faithful came to pay theirrespects with ceremonies of singing and dancing. Today, maraboutshave retained a strong spiritual influence, called baraka,which can have a bearing not only on the daily lives of thefaithful but on the country’s political life.
SHINTO TEMPLE OF
MEIJI-
JINGU,
TOKYO,
HONSHU,
JAPAN (35°42’N, 139°46’E)
Severely battered by earthquakes and World War II bombing, Tokyo’s religious heritage has been reduced to a few temples. One of those is Meiji-Jingu, a Shinto sanctuary that was built on the orders of the emperor Meiji and completed in 1920. This is where Tokyo residents gather to celebrate the New Year. The Shinto religion consists of rituals, ceremonies, and various customs associated with kami, spirits that protect communities and people, and which inhabit places in the urban or rural landscape that are considered sacred. Shinto establishes a simple relationship between people and the natural or manmade objects that surround them. It coexists easily with Buddhism, which is more metaphysical in character and was brought to Japan in the 6th century. Many Japanese incorporate both religions into their daily lives.
OLD TOWN OF
SANA’A,
TEMENI
Brilliant white light the minaret of Al-Kabir-Moschee in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in the midst of the sea of residential towers from clay. The mosque, one of the oldest in the world, has 630 built, nor in the lifetime of Muhammad
NOTRE-
DAME DE
REIMS,
FRANCE
In an intoxicating movement striving masses of the stone Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame in Reims French Peaks. Construction started in 1211. The elegant towers, ynamischen pointed arches, massive vault symbolize an ideal heavenly city and the majesty of faith.
BENI ISGUEN IN
MZAB-
TAL,
ALGERIA
Walls of the holy city should Beni Isguen in Mzab-Tal in Algeria before the Verderbnissen the outside world. Behind the living members of the Islamic Community of Ibaditen for nearly 1000 years of very strict religious rules.
METEORA MONASTERY,
THESSALY,
GREECE (39°46’N – 21°36’E)
From the northeastern part of the Thessalian plain rise the Meteora, sandstone peaks sculpted by river erosion during the Tertiary period. Monks established themselves there during the eleventh century, seeking solitude on the summits of these rocky towers. Gradually, there grew up a large community of hermits who, between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, built twenty-four monasteries that perch between 655.8 and 1967.4 feet (200 and 600 m) above the Pindus valley. For a long time, access to the monasteries was possible only by means of winches and ropes. Only in 1920 were steps and footbridges built to allow tourists to visit these sites, which have been on UNESCO’s World Heritage list since 1988. Most of these meteorisa monastiria (suspended monasteries) are in ruins today. Only five, three of which are occupied, are still open to visitors.
HAGIA SOPHIA,
ISTANBUL,
TURKEY (41°00’N 28°59’E)
Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, lies on both sides of the Bosporus Strait, which separates Europe and Asia. On the western bank lies Hagia Sophia, built between 532 and 537 A.D. during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. The basilica is crowned by a majestic cupola more than 98 feet (30 m) in diameter and rising 184 feet (56 m) in the air, a technical marvel at the time. After Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque, and four minarets were added to its initial structure. In 1934, on the order of the government of the nonsectarian Turkish Republic, it became a museum, and most of its magnificent Byzantine mosaics have been restored. Christian for nine centuries, Muslim for more than 500 years, Hagia Sophia illustrates the contrasting destiny of Istanbul, the only city in the world that is divided between two continents. Christianity has 2 billion followers around the world, nearly twice the figure for Islam, which has 1.2 billion followers. However, according to demographic forecasts, this proportion could be reversed by the end of the twenty-first century.
MONASTERY OF
THE MOUNT PANAGIAS GALAKTOTROFOUSAS,
CYPRUS (34°51’N – 33°22’E)
A fertile land lies the monastery Panagias Galaktotrofousas in the Greek part of Cyprus. Christianity has already reached nearly 2000 years the island: The year 45, the apostle Paul, in his first mission trip to Cyprus accompanied by Barnabas, now the National Saints island.
CATHEDRAL SAINTE-
CROIX IN
THE FRENCH ORLEANS,
FRANCE
Liberated from earthly gravity seem to be the tower tops of the Cathedral Sainte-Croix in the French Orleans on the clouds to float. Bring to the ideal of Gothic, in the Secular their structures with the Heavenly sought to unite.
TEMPLE MOUNT TO
THE JEWS,
JERUSALEM,
ISRAEL (31°45’N, 35°15’E)
World Religions meet in the allerheiligsten City of Jerusalem each other: On the Temple Mount to the Jews of the navel of the world, is also the splendid Rock-at the point where Muhammad once drove to the sky should be. Not far from the tomb of Christ Church. Haram-al-Sharif, or the Esplanade of the Mosques, is the Muslim sanctuary that makes Jerusalem Islam’s third most important holy city, after Mecca and Medina. However, it is also built on the ruins of the Temple Mount, where the Tablets of the Law were kept. Only traces remain of the temple’s western wall, of which the Wailing Wall is the sole visible section. This place, which is equally holy to Jews and Muslims, forcefully illustrates the difficulty of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In July 2000, the Camp David II negotiations, which aimed at a peace accord brokered by the United States, foundered over the status of Jerusalem in general and Haram-al-Sharif in particular. U.S. President Bill Clinton proposed that the Palestinians should have sovereignty over the Christian and Muslim areas, including the esplanade, and that Israel retain sovereignty over the ground beneath them. The Palestinian delegation considered this symbolic sovereignty totally illegitimate.
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I do love traveling via the Internet. I see so many things. I have to make travel plans soon.
— Yvonne Stoltenberg · 2007-11-24 07:25 · #Beautiful, thank you for sharing.
— Michael · 2007-12-11 19:54 · #Incredible work. I love to see these beautiful places, since I cannot afford to travel to them in person.
— Drew · 2007-12-18 23:28 · #