MY FAVOURITE ‘CULTURAL SITES’ (MONUMENTS, MUSEI, ARCHEOLOGICAL PARKS…)
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1. Piazza San Marco in Venice (Italy) Basilica San Marco, Palazzo Duccale, Campanile, clock tower, the elegant palazzi surrounding it… more over, the lagune is right there. I think that San Marco has the highest density of beautiful buidlings in Venice, which is the most beautiful city in the world! Therefore I name it my top favorite! |
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2. Aya Sofya in Istanbul (Turkey) Consecrated as a Byzantine church in 537, converted to a mosque in 1453, and declared a museum in 1935, this is a colossal, mesmerizing building. |
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3. Shah Mosque in Isfahan (Iran) With its wonderful mosaic tiles, maybe the most beautiful mosque in the world?! With adjacent Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Ali Qapu Palace and Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque, definitely a most harmonious and romantic site. |
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4. Persepolis (Iran) There is not that much left of the great ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BC) – Alexander the Great’s troops looted and burnt it down. However, some of the ruins and remains make this a top worldwide archaeological site. I found the bas-reliefs of the Apadana staircase the most beautiful and super interesting from a historic perspective (in particular the panels showing the foreign delegations bringing their gifts to the king.) |
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5. Registan in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) Maybe a bit too ‘well’ renovated and too touristic, but this single site is probably still the most stunning in the whole of Central Asia. |
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6. Sanjusangendo temple in Kyoto (Japan) This temple is famous for the 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, that it houses. What a sight! Each statue is human-sized (plus a big one in the middle), has 11 heads and 42 arms. In addition, there are 30 marvellous other bigger statues of Buddhist deities. These statues are housed in a 120 m wooden hall – the longest in Japan. |
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7. The Zen temples of Kyoto (Japan) If the statues inside Sanjusangendo were the single most impressive sight for me in Kyoto, I need to separately – and collectively – recognize the Buddhist Zen temples of Kyoto. This city houses about 2000 temples and shrines, but I’m talking about the true Zen-looking temples, which usually are big complexes with gates, several halls, a bell tower, a magnificent garden, etc. Temples like Nanzenji, Tofukuji, Myoshinji…I love the majesty and serenity of these huge simple old buildings made out of dark wood. |
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8. Sukhothai and Ayuthaya archological parks (Thailand) These are 2 distinct sites hundreds of kilometers apart (Sukhothai was the capital of Siam before Ayuthaya) but they are quite similar, featuring (more or less) ruined palaces, temples and buddha statues full of incredible charm. I can’t make up my mind which one I prefered. |
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9. Dàzu Buddhist Caves (Chongqing province, China) Thousands of cliff carvings and statues dating from 9th-13th century. Some of them are in very good condition, still with vivid colors, making you almost wonder if they are really that old (we are in China, the country of ‘fake old’!) But apparently they are, and I think that Dàzu is among the most beautiful Buddhist sites worldwide. |
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10. Butrint (Albania) An archeological site in a beautiful natural setting boasting remains from many different periods: ancient greek, roman, byzantine, venetian… |
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11. Topkapi palace in Istanbul (Turkey) The Ottoman sultans lived in this ‘city within the city’ for 5 centuries. So much beautiful things to see, you could spend a day there. |
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12. Royal Palace compound in Bangkok (Thailand) There are many beautiful monuments (mostly temples) in Bangkok, all dating from the 19th century. I think the MOST beautiful one IS also the most visited: the huge Royal Palace compound, in particular this ‘Upper terrace’ on the photo. |
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13. Chora church in Istanbul (Turkey) Most beautiful mosaics in the Byzantine world! |
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14. Purple Cloud Temple in Wudang Shan (Hubei province, China) What a wonderful real old Taoist temple set in the wonderful mountains of Wudang Shan (the birth place of taichi). I’ve seen many beautiful Chinese temples, pagodas, palaces, etc, but I think this complex is my favorite. |
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15. Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto (Japan) This place is magical! Imagine over 10000 ‘tori’ (red wooden gates at the entrance of a Shinto shrine) aligned one after another in a thick forest on a hill… with statues of foxes (a symbol of the deity honored here), lamps, small shrines, etc, everywhere. The site is very busy near the entrance, but the deeper into the forest you go, the fewer people there are. In the part of the site pictured here – with a particularly high density of moss-covered statues and shrines – we were alone… with the animals of the forests and the ‘kamis’ (Shinto spirits)… surreal! |
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16. Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik (Croatia) Amongst the beautiful churches I’ve seen in Dalmatia (incl. cathedrals of Split and Trogir, the churches in Zadar), this one is the most impressive; it’s quite peculiar because it is built entirely of stone. |
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17. Hofkirche in Innsbruck (Austria) The memorial of Maximillian 1st with the surrounding huge bronze sculptures is amazing . |
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18. Interior of Byzantine church in Kalambaka (Greece) Entirelly covered with frescoes from the 14th century and with a beautiful pulprit. More generally, all the frescoes from the monasteries of Meteora should be recognized here. |
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19. Huguan Guild Hall in Chongqing (China) Gorgeous complex of temples, opera stages, tea rooms, etc, that served as a community of immigrants from provinces south-east. The roofs of the buildings are particularly beautiful… |
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20. The ‘Diaolou’ of Kaiping (China)I loved this site – so special, so different from anything else I had seen in China (and elsewhere)! It’s made up of nearly 2000 ‘dialou’ scattered across a beautiful countryside. A ‘diaolou’ is a kind of watchtower or a fortified residence, built in the early 20th by villagers who made a fortune overseas; they display an interesting mix of Chinese and Western architecture and design. |
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21. Cloister of the cathedral of Brixen/ Bressaone (Italy) What an unexpected wonderful surprise when walking into this small cloister: it’s fully covered with lovely frescoes from the 14-16th century. |
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22. Golden church iconostasis in the Onufri Museum in Berat (Albania) I have already often been amazed by the beauty of the ‘iconostasis’ (‘wall’ of icons and paintings separating the nave from the sanctuary) in orthodox churches, but this one is particularly exceptional. |
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23. Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang (Laos) There are many beautiful buddhist temples in the former capital of Laos, but I liked this one best because it is the oldest and most interesting. |
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24. Castel Firmiano / Messner Mountain Museum in Bozen/Bolzano (Italy) A mix between a storybook medieval castle, beautiful Buddhist statues and monuments and an interesting exhibits about worldwide mountains – a truly unique place! |
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25. Museum of Anatolian civilisations in Ankara (Turkey) Superb museum that not only displays beauticul exhibits from the various early Anatolian civilisations but also helps understand these civilisations. |
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26. Archeological museum in Thessaloniki (Greece) Well done and many wonderful pieces. What I prefered were the gold treasures found in the tumbs of the old Greeks. |
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27. Mausoleum of the Nanyuè King in Guanghzhou (China) The best museum I’ve seen in China. On one hand there is the 2000 year-old tomb that can be visited in-situ, on the other hand there is the lovely display of all the fantastic objects found in the tomb, including the body in its jade burial suit. |
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28. Duomo of Trento (Italy) By ‘Italian cathedral standards’, probably nothing exceptional. But since that standard is exceptional, this duomo deserves to be nominated here! |
Farmers on my Road 