Holiday snaps from Herat

[Will Bailie]

Herat - city of culture, where it is said, "if you stretch out your leg you are sure to kick a poet."

Apologies to all for not posting these sooner.  I hope they provide some inspiration.

The Blue Mosque

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x96/WillBailie/Hiking/Herat%20Blue%20Mosque/





The Citadel.  There was a citadel on this site when Alexander visited Herat, although obviously the current fortress is of more recent construction.

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x96/WillBailie/Hiking/Herat%20Citadel/




And, of course, the bazaar!

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x96/WillBailie/Hiking/Herat%20Souk/



Cheers!

W

[Hammers]

Lovely WB. These images will come in handy for my scratch building plans.

[Poliorketes]

beautiful!

[AzSteven]

OK, who wants to paint the 28mm Blue Mosque facade?   

[6milPhil]

When I started on my mosque that's what I thought of... it's a WIP but I'm putting the effort into the architecture rather than the paint job... a flash interior is a bit of a must though.

[Will Bailie]

The mosque is not painted - it is completely covered in ceramic tile.  We were very lucky, and got to join in a tour of the workshops with some government bigwigs.  The mosque has a team of craftsmen who are constantly restoring the mosque, making new tiles to keep the appearance impeccable.

The main courtyard is in white marble, surrounded by a ring of black.  One must remove one's shoes before entering a mosque.  After nearly burning my tender, unconditioned feet on the black stone, I really appreciated walking on the cool, white stone!

[Hammers]

The soyuk is very interesting to. How old is it? ANd waht are the upper gallery doors hiding? Booths or windows?

[Centaur_Seducer]

The soyuk is very interesting to. How old is it? ANd waht are the upper gallery doors hiding? Booths or windows?

I'd assume that they are the windows to their warehouses

[Will Bailie]

Didn't get ages or dates for the original souks, but the two we visited were recently completely renovated.  I was impressed how much natural light came in from the skylights.  In the first souk, we didn't go up to the first floor, but I understand that there are additional stalls upstairs.  I could be wrong, though, they might just be storerooms!

W