This morning, Maria and Philippe went on hike in the heat and the hills, to see a tiny old church and whatever was along the way. That included, they found, a shooting range, and a huge old abandoned earth moving machine.
The little church. It is still in use.
In the afternoon, we all went down to the town to visit its museum and browse some craft and book shops. Local handmade pure-ingredient soaps were appealing. “Rose petals from our neighbors.”
The town has old brick buildings…
Wood buildings with gingerbread trim….
And stone buildings, street pavings, and fortress walls
The museum we had set out to see was inside these walls. It had a small, diverse, but interesting collection of Stone Age tools, Bronze Age tools and jewelry and pottery, early Christian stone work, and more recent ethnic accoutrements.
Horse and wild goats, it said
My favorite item. Look closely. This was small, but very intricately carved in stone.
A saddle not behind glass this time.
Persian- influence dress
Hand worked wool clothes -female
Likewise, for male
Ladies carried their wealth with them
I have been asked what the people look like here. At this time, after centuries of being a crossroads of battling people groups coming through, there is a hodgepodge mix of ethnicities, with Asian and Middle Eastern (Turkish, Mongol, Persian, Jewish, Khazar, etc.) types predominanting and the white Caucasian in a distinct minority.
Here are groups from a century ago.
The day’s post will continue in Part Two.
There is that same Christ again. I want to know where he came from, what artist, that became the standard look for the churches.
ReplyDeletePam, that pose and depiction of Christ Enthroned is a TYPE that has evolved over the whole Christian age. In the Roman catacombs there is something similar, but the earlier figures were the Good Shepherd, then (after the persecutions, I think, when Christianity was more dominant) Christ was depicted as the universal ruler. So now, Christ enthroned is a relatively set pattern. There is not one artist that started this.
ReplyDeleteBehold! For the first time in YEARS, I have gotten a comment to post. I am on my computer instead of iPad, but neither worked for a long time. Lets see how long this lasts.
ReplyDeleteI see though that every comment is anonymous. So, to clarify, both of those were from Sarah B.
ReplyDelete