This site stands alone on the banks of a massive man-made lake. Although hundreds of kilometers from the nearest city, it’s one of the top attractions in the country. The great temple, with its four colossal statues of the king was built on the southern border of our mystery country to intimidate would-be invaders. A somewhat more demure temple for the queen stands next door.
Can you name that country? What about the site?
See below for answers.
All the clues in this post refer to one Ya’lla Tours destination: Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Turkey, or United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Dubai).
We’ll show you images of popular tourist sites in our mystery country, along with descriptions of those sites. Continue reading
HAGIA SOPHIA, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) rises like a rust-colored mountain near the end of Istanbul’s Historic Peninsula, overlooking the confluence of the Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus Strait. The city originated on this peninsula and Hagia Sophia has been there almost since the beginning. OK, that’s not quite true, but it has been there for a very long time. The city originated, as Byzantium, in the 7th century BCE. In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Constantine claimed Byzantium as his capital and renamed the city Constantinople. Constantine was the first Christian emperor of Rome. The building we know as Hagia Sophia was built in 537 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, on the ruins of two previous cathedrals. Hagia Sophia stood as the largest cathedral for almost 1,000 years. The dome spans over 100 feet and is 180 feet high. Upon conquering the city in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II was so impressed with the building, he made it his imperial mosque. The design of many subsequent mosques built in the city was influenced by the Hagia Sophia.
It’s very impressive from the outside but, for me, the real WOW experience happens inside. It’s just so big and wide-open, you really feel like a speck of dust in there. Continue reading
Eye of Horus, Eye of Ra, Daughter of Ra, and Wadjet are just some of the names associated with the enigmatic symbol pictured above. Surely you’ve seen it, whether or not you have been to Egypt. It’s one of the most recognizable symbols of Ancient Egypt, but what does it mean?
Primarily, the eye is a protector. However, the symbol has been around since the very early days of Egypt and over many centuries numerous, sometimes conflicting, stories arose about its origins, actions and significance. It’s pretty confusing. 3,000 years of stories and traditions are not easily digested and squeezed into a nutshell. So, I’ll just give the most common meanings here. Continue reading
photo by Jason Hedrick
photo by Jason Hedrick
photo by Jason Hedrick
photo by Jason Hedrick
photo by Jason Hedrick
photo by Jason Hedrick
photo by Jason Hedrick
photo by Jason Hedrick
Happy Friday. Some random shots of Ya’lla travelers:
at Ernest Hemingway’s house in Cuba, Finca Vigia
at Ernest Hemingway’s house in Cuba, Finca Vigia
in the Bastakiya district of old Dubai
at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
at Caesarea, Israel
at Caesarea, Israel
at Masada, Israel
at Bethany Beyond the Jordan in Jordan – likely baptism site of Jesus
a group on the tour bus in Oman
in Oman
at Pergamum, Turkey
the Giza Pyramids, Egypt
Too obvious? Maybe so, but there’s no denying the wow-factor of the pyramids at Giza. The largest, known as the Great Pyramid, was built for the pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek). It stands almost 500 feet tall and is constructed of 2.3 million limestone and granite blocks, some of which weigh 80 tons. Some of the materials were locally sourced but the granite, 8,000 tons of it, came from the quarries at Aswan, 500 miles up river. The Giza pyramids were all built about 4,500 years ago, which makes their immense size all the more incredible. We know they were built as tombs and archaeologists have come up with some very plausible explanations for how they were built; still, few places on earth inspire such wonder.
The Treasury as seen from the siq, Petra, Jordan
The whole of the ancient city of Petra is astonishing, but, for a couple of reasons, the Treasury is the unequivocal star. In a city full of tombs, dwellings and temples, most of which are carved right into the canyon walls, the Treasury is the best-preserved and grandest of all. Then there’s its alluring position. Surely it’s no accident that the city’s best building is the first thing you see upon entering, if you come though the siq (canyon), which most visitors do. After walking for about a mile, you come around a bend and there it is, magnificently filling the seam of light that opens onto the city. It says “Be impressed.” And you are. The likelihood that you have been anticipating the sight with every step does not diminish the effect. CLICK to read more about Petra.
Meteora, Greece
At Meteora in central Greece, six Orthodox monasteries cling to the tops of soaring sandstone pillars and look out over the stunning Peneas Valley. The monasteries were built in the 14th-16th centuries by hauling materials in nets 1,000 feet straight up the sheer pillar walls. CLICK to read more about Meteora.
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