Clik here to view.
El latido de la Edad de Piedra en Cerdeña
Sòrgono es un pueblo grande en las montañas de Barbagia, Cerdeña. Es, de hecho, la entrada a Barbagia. El ferrocarril de vía estrecha que lo une a Cagliari, antaño una línea minera, aún se esfuerza en...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The gates of the dead
Gubbio is the most beautiful medieval town in Italy. If the view from the Montefeltro Garden on the side of Monte Ingino, above the town hall, does not convince you, then you must believe the signs...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Giorgoba
Para Gyuri San Jorge es el patrón de Georgia. Más aún, Georgia lleva su nombre. O más exactamente: el exónimo persa Gorgân usado para Georgia –que significa «tierra de lobos»– fue transformado en esta...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Giorgoba
To Gyuri Saint George is the patron saint of Georgia. What’s more, Georgia got its name from him. Or more exactly: the Persian exonym Gorgân used for Georgia – which meant “land of wolves” – was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Armenian Saint George
Saint George is an important patron saint not only of Georgians but also of Armenians. What is more, his body was also buried in an Armenian church, in Mughni, from where it – or at least his skull –...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spirits in Tusheti
From Omalo, the central village of Tusheti, it is a two-hour ride on horseback to Shenako. The winding road first descends steeply into the valley of the Pirikita Alazani river, then, after crossing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The last journey of Lady Veruna
Germany, like Austria and Hungary, has its own Danube Bend, which is protected by monuments typical of German history and culture: on the west, Europe’s oldest brewery, and on the east, the Kelheim...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jashideley!
The Tibetan greeting is “tashi delek”, which roughly translates as “may luck come!” However, in the dialect (or language) of Kham province, which once belonged to Eastern Tibet and now is part of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Burial in the sky
I love cemeteries, those museums not mentioned in guidebooks, which often tell a different kind of history than the official one. Their stones have often been written with different letters, in a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Andachtsbilder from Krumau
The Regional Museum of Český Krumlov occupies three floors of the Baroque building of the former Jesuit seminary founded in 1650. The lower two floors house temporary exhibitions. The visitor only...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dartsedo / Kangding, the gateway of Tibet (Traveling in Kham 2)
Traveling in Kham• Jashideley!• Burial in the sky• Kangding, the gateway of Tibet• The Love Song of Kangding• The monastery of Tagong• The Buddhas of Drakgo Traditionally, five roads led from Tibet to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Love Song of Kangding
Traveling in Kham• Jashideley!• Burial in the sky• Kangding, the gateway of Tibet• The Love Song of Kangding• The monastery of Tagong• The Buddhas of DrakgoKangding’s best-known cultural product is the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The monastery of Tagong (Traveling in Kham 3)
Traveling in Kham• Jashideley!• Burial in the sky• Kangding, the gateway of Tibet• The Love Song of Kangding• The monastery of Tagong• The Buddhas of Drakgo The monastery of Tagong (Lhagang in Tibetan)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Buddhas of Drakgo (Traveling in Kham 4)
Traveling in Kham• Jashideley!• Burial in the sky• Kangding, the gateway of Tibet• The Love Song of Kangding• The monastery of Tagong• The Buddhas of Drakgo The city of Drakgo, in Chinese Luhou, is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Christmas in Kashan
Christmas? In Kashan?? At the edge of the Iranian desert?? Maybe rather in Isfahan, among the Armenians of New Julfa, or with the Assyrian Christians in Tabriz or Tehran… But the title is no mistake,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The towers of the Himalayas (Traveling in Kham 5)
Traveling in Kham• Jashideley!• Burial in the sky• Kangding, the gateway of Tibet• The Love Song of Kangding• The monastery of Tagong• The Buddhas of Drakgo• The towers of the Himalayas The peoples of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The flood and the monkey
Where should I begin this sprawling story, with its hundreds of tiny swarming figures? Perhaps at the most tangible place, the royal palace of Lijiang.Lijiang is a beautiful little town, the “Venice...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nomadic wedding in Tibet (Traveling in Kham 6)
We are trudging out of the town of Garzê. What the heck causes traffic jam in such a small town, whose wide streets immediately open onto the Shanghai-Lhasa national highway? At one point, the traffic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Better to ride an ass that carries me than a horse that throws me. Donkey...
In 1417, the Mallorcan priest Anselm Turmeda wrote Disputa de l’ase (“The Dispute of the Donkey”), in which a donkey and a monk debate whether humans are superior to animals. The monk wins the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Happy Easter
“Down with Easter!” Easter – as we have amply documented here among the Poemas del Río Wang – is celebrated in many ways in many places around the world, where it is celebrated at all. It may sound...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Easter Sunday in Sardinia
Every yearwe return to Oliena for Easter Sunday, the feast of s’incontru, the meeting, when the statues of the risen Christ and Mary, carried by Sardinian men and women, meet each other on the lavender...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the border of two Tibets. Dzokchen Monastery (Traveling in Kham 7)
Traveling in Kham:• Jashideley!• Burial in the sky• Kangding, the gateway of Tibet• The Love Song of Kangding• The monastery of Tagong• The Buddhas of Drakgo• The towers of the Himalayas• Nomadic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lamproba: Lanterns for the dead in Svaneti
It is dark. It is dark even late in the morning, and it is already getting dark in the early afternoon. The only source of light is the snow that has accumulated over the months, while the few objects...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pathos formulas
The Zeugma Mosaic Museum displays a total of 2,500 square meters of Roman mosaic floors that were rescued by international archaeological teams from the city of Zeugma, which had been built on the...
View Article