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This is one of the most interesting sites in Plovdiv. In the lower half of the image is a small portion of the 2nd century AD Roman Stadium. This, the curved northern end of the stadium, has been fully excavated and you can walk right down into it from street level, or enter through its original northern tunnel entrance (the roof of which is bottom left of image). The excavated portion is a perfect semicircle, and when I first saw it I mistakenly visualized a small circular theater seating at most a few thousand. What you actually see is just the tip of the iceberg, however, since most is buried beneath the main market street of modern Plovdiv. The stadium sat about 30,000 spectators in its 240 meters of length and was used for races and other spectacles. It is, in fact, still complete, and there are some ambitious plans to reinforce the modern buildings that sit atop it and excavate the whole of the stadium to create a massive underground archaeological site.
The top half of the image is the Djumaya (or Friday) Mosque. In the Roman Era there was probably a pagan temple here, likely replaced by a Christian basilica in late antiquity. In the late medieval era the Sveta Petka Tarnovska Cathedral stood here, but when the Ottomans captured Plovdiv in the 1360s, they tore it down and used the materials to construct this mosque, one of the largest and oldest in the Balkans. Roman Stadium and Djumaya Mosque, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
This was our last day in the Rila Mountains before beginning the more rugged Pirin Mountains, which can be seen in the distance. I believe a Martagon Lily (Lilium martagon), somewhere on the ridges above Makedonia Hut (2166m) on the way to Predel Saddle, Five Mountains Trail (E4), Rila Mountains, Bulgaria.
A very small endemic alpine poppy found above 2000m in the Pirin Mountains. This one was very near the summit of Banski Suhodol (2884m). Pirin Poppy (Papaver degenii) on the Five Mountains Trail (E4) at Banski Suhodol, Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria.
The very small medieval church in the foreground is perhaps the oldest surviving building in Yerevan. It was built in the 12th or 13th century. Several hundred years later, in the late 17th century, it was incorporated into the construction of the much larger Katoghike church (the medieval church becoming a chapel within the newer one). In the 1930s the Soviets began demolishing churches, but when the much older church was discovered within the Katoghike church they somehow decided to preserve it. Today it is again an active place of worship on the campus of the 21st century Pontifical Residence, immediately in front of the Saint Anna Church (2011). Saint Astvatsatsin Church, Yerevan, Armenia.
The Bishop's Basilica upgraded its mosaics as the Christian community and the church became wealthier and as tastes and symbolic motifs evolved. The ground floor of the museum preserves the 4th-early 5th century mosaics in situ, where they were laid. Some of these are relatively simple but many are of the rainbow style of very colorful and complex geometric arrangements (above). In the later 5th or early 6th century new mosaics featuring more than a hundred birds were installed over these, but during modern excavation and conservation the two layers were carefully separated and most of the newer mosaics were moved for display on the second floor of the museum. The newer mosaics on the theme of birds are the more famous ones, but in truth I think these geometric ones are the more interesting. Rainbow mosaics, Bishop's Basilica, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
At the terracotta warriors mausoleum, the crowds can easily block you from getting a good look, so you may have to rely on others, especially if you don't have it in you to push and shove to the front. It's estimated that the site averages 10,000 daily visitors.
Almaden Lake Park, San Jose, California
This recent image from a moody and silent morning at a nearby lake is one of my Top 10 Favorites of 2023: www.stefanbaeurle.com/Blog/Top-10-Favorites-of-2023
We spent five or six days walking a section of the Trans Caucasian Trail starting from Dilijan. This section passed through Dilijan National Park and, with a slight diversion at the end, visited three notable medieval monasteries: Goshavank, Sanahin and Hagphat. It had some good ups and downs but spent a lot of time around 2000 meters, where seasonal settlements of shepherds raise sheep, cattle and horses, and cut and dry straw for the harsh Armenian winter. A GAZ-66, a common utility vehicle of Soviet design, on the TCT between Dilijan and Sanahin, Armenia.
Luck
Sometimes a crumb falls
From the tables of joy,
Sometimes a bone
Is flung.
To some people
Love is given,
To others
Only heaven.
Langston Hughes
We're Here! @ The X Spot.
I was in the craft store when I remembered I recently saw some shots that Mr. X posted from a craft store, so I took this shot for today's copycat pic. Happy Birthday to the X's!
The first clear indications of Christians in Plovdiv are Christian symbols dating to 3rd century. In 304, during the persecutions of Diocletian, 38 Christians were martyred here. Three quarters of a century later the situation had changed dramatically, as by that time Christianity was not only tolerated (313, Edict of Milan) but the religion of The State, with pagan worship banned (380, Edict of Thesallonica). Around this time, the Bishop's Basilica in Ploviv was built next to the Roman Forum atop the site of a temple of the Imperial Cult, recycling some of its materials. It was quite large (36 by 83 meters) and--at least in time--grew very extravagant, with increasingly ornate floor mosaics, for which the site is now justifiably famous.
With Rome's collapse Plovdiv became subject to waves of rampaging Huns, Goths and Avars and by the end of the 7th century the Basilica was abandoned. A primitive medieval neighborhood merged with its ruins and part of the site became a cemetery. A millennia later (1980s) the site was rediscovered and partially excavated, and today a very modern museum (above) stands over the extensive ruins and restored mosaics. It is an incredibly well-designed and curated museum, but it is obviously hard to get the general population excited about mosaics. We visited the Bishop's Basilica Museum, the Small Basilica Museum, and the Eirene House Museum in Plovdiv--all museums of Late Antiquity mosaics--and found that we had them all to ourselves.
Exterior of the Bishop's Basilica Museum, with reflection of the Catholic Cathedral of St Louis, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
In 2022 murals were painted in Margate as a part of their Rise Up and Clean Up residency. More information can be found here: riseupresidency.co.uk Unfortunately we didn't find them all, being unfamiliar with some of the areas we gave up once we had walked 8 miles