“If you look up, at just the right time, you’ll see a peacock on the ceiling,” our guide, Javad, explained as he walked us under the gilded and tiled dome of Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran.
We craned our necks, searching for just the right angle. With the aid of sunlight passing through a nearby window, an image of a peacock — previously unseen, now tail shimmering — was revealed to us brush strokes. Intermittent cries of “Oh!” indicated when everyone in the room “got it.” Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Iran, Middle East, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
13 Comments | 28 January 2013
Although the Saladin Citadel in Cairo was built in the 12th century to help protect the city from the Crusaders, the Muhammad Ali Mosque came much later, in the 19th century. Built in the architectural style of the Ottomans, the mosque has a feeling of wide open grandeur punctuated by chandeliers and cupolas.
Sit on the carpet in middle for as long as you need. Look up, look around and enjoy the peacefulness of the place. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Egypt, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
11 Comments | 22 April 2012
There’s nothing like early morning light falling through a stained-glass window…casting designs on a Persian carpet…amidst immaculately tiled pink columns.
This is the winter prayer hall inside the Pink Mosque in Shiraz, Iran. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Iran, Middle East, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
10 Comments | 16 November 2011
While Shait Gumbad Masjid (Sixty Dome Mosque) in Bagerhat, Bangladesh might qualify as one of more remote and foreigner-free UNESCO sites we’ve come across in our travels, it’s certainly not a lonely place. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Bangladesh, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
13 Comments | 28 March 2011
