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Angled concrete pillar at the L-Tower in downtown Toronto

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from deko (Finland)

This is taken in one of the most beautiful and impressive bldg.s I've toured anywhere, and the most iconic in Iran. The smaller Sheikh Lotfollah mosque on the same square could be the most beautiful. This was taken soon after I arrived in Esfahan city, and in the vast province of Esfahan, which is "the most Persian [province in Iran] in the sense that most foreigners understand the term" according to the LP.

- I made copies in a library in Ghazvin of chapters from an entertaining, edifying old book called 'Persian cities' (1960). Some excerpts follow, including this.:

The MASJID-I-SHAH [EMAM]: "At the southern end of the Maidan [see below] is the great Masjid-i-Shah, 'the Shah's mosque' [renamed the 'Masjed-e Emam' in 1979] with its beautiful dome, twin minarets, imposing portal and another pair of minarets. ... Work on it began in the spring of 1611 [1612 per Bradt]. So anxious was the Shah to see rapid progress made that he ordered his chief architect to commence construction of the walls before the foundations had had time to settle. The architect refused, pointing out that the safety of the bldg. would be endangered, but the Shah would not listen. Finally the architect, after taking careful measurements, went into hiding. As the work could not be carried out without his guidance, it came perforce to a standstill, much to the anger of Shah 'Abbas. When the architect deemed that enough time had elapsed for the foundations to bear the weight of the walls, he reappeared; on taking fresh measurements, he found that the foundations had sunk to an appreciable extent. He then went before the Shah, explained fully what he had done, and obtained the monarch's forgiveness. However, as another means of expediting construction, the Shah insisted on the use of ordinary painted and glazed tiles for most of the interior instead of tile-mosaic [as in the older Jame mosque at Yazd]; he nonetheless had the majestically tall entrance portal [30 m.s high] facing on to the maidan, the twin minarets flanking it [both 42 m.s high], the bulbous dome [54 m.s in height] and other conspicuous parts of the bldg. faced with glazed brick mosaic. Notwithstanding these measures, Shah 'Abbas died [in 1629] some years before the finishing touches could be put to the mosque. It's estimated that no less than 18 million bricks and half a million tiles were used in the construction of this great building."

- Inside the door, which is small relative to the portal, a short corridor and then a hallway lead to an inner courtyard surrounded by four eivans. youtube.com/shorts/WIwigbgOaqU?si=qIOJuCXHJt1SOg8c Three lead into vaulted sanctuaries, the largest (the dome chamber), to the south. The dome-chamber is flanked by two courtyards to the east and west containing a medreseh. The whole complex is lavishly decorated with sumptuous blue tiles which "take on a different hue according to the light conditions." (LP)

- According to Bradt, Shah Abbas ordered construction of this mosque in memory of his ancestor Shah Tahmasp I (d 1576). Construction was completed under Shah 'Abbas's grandson Shah Safi (1629-'42).

- "The entrance portal to the mosque is at the central of the south side of the maidan, but the mosque itself is set at an angle, to face Mecca. So successfully did the architects design this change of access, which occurs within the entrance complex, that it is almost imperceptible; nor is the general aspect from the square unbalanced." ('Architecture of the Islamic World' [AOTIW]) Shah 'Abbas clearly preferred the Maidan be oriented on a north-south axis. I wonder if this was for the lighting and the aesthetic.

- This is the underside of a Persian double-dome, "the inner one absorbing and distributing the structural load so allowing the outer dome to have a more eye-catching outline. There is a 14 m. gap /b/ the 2, the outer shell being supported on huge spars embedded into the inner dome."

- Some scenes from Pasolini's 'Arabian nights' were filmed in this incredible mosque. See from the 2 min. pt. in the video in the link.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX_vu5UdYvo Pasolini was openly gay if you can't tell from this clip. But the dialogue and tone fit with 'The 'Arabian nights', which is fun and a little racy. I like the fable about the young man in his home-town in Yemen who one day let out a great fart so loud that he had to leave town in disgrace. As an old man, he hoped that people in his town might've forgotten about the fart and that he might be able to return, and so one day he mustered the courage to travel there but soon after he arrived, walking through the streets of the town with hope and trepidation, he passed an open window and heard a young girl ask her mother "When did that happen Mommy?" and her mother replied "Oh that was long ago, back before the time of the great fart." He realized then with great sorrow that he could never return home.

- Pasolini filmed his 'Arabian Nights' in Iran (Esfahan and the Murcheh Khvort citadel), Yemen, the deserts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and in Nepal (Bhaktapur, Patan and Kathmandu), with incredible settings. He fell in love with Yemen in particular, as anyone would who watches this film, a feast for the eyes, with scenes in Taiz, Zabid, Sana'a, Shibam, the Dar al-Hajar palace, and Seiyun. The beautiful Morricone soundtrack helps too.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUUHykKvpKw

- "Shooting was complicated in Esfahan: military guards threw Pasolini and the crew out because they brought donkeys onto the premises of the Shah Mosque [so dumb] and Pasolini had women singing for the scene; this was explicitly prohibited and cost the production a few days delay." (Wikipedia)

- History.: "If the world had no Esfahan, the creator of the world would have no world."

"Esfahan is the meaning of the word 'world.'"

"'World' is the word and 'Esfahan' the meaning."

"The poets of Esfahan had no mean opinion of their city. Rather more modest is the boast of its citizens that "Esfahan is half the world", "Esfahan misf-i-jahan". ... [A]t the height of its glory in the 17th cent., Esfahan was one of the largest cities in the world, rivalling London in size. ... The city owes much to its situation. Not only does it stand in a wide and fertile valley, but it's far from any frontier and, unlike Tabriz, Nishapur, Damghan, and Hamadan, from any invasion route. The Zayandeh-rud (the 'Life-giving river') flows through it and the altitude of 5,200' gives the city a temperate climate. According to the author of the Pahlavi book Eranshahr "the accursed Alexander, the son of Philip" founded Esfahan. But "there are grounds for identifying Esfahan with Strabo's Gabae, where the Achaemenid monarchs at times resided. In default of conclusive evidence in support of these claims, one can safely say that, in light of its good situation and climate, an early origin can be ascribed to it.

- "The legendary hero, the blacksmith Kaveh, is said to have been a native of Esfahan. In his day, Persia groaned under the tyranny of the cruel usurper Zahak (Azhdahak, the dragon of the Avesta), who had a snake growing out of each shoulder. These snakes had to be fed daily on the brains of 2 of his unlucky subjects. When the news came that Zahak had put Kaveh's 2 sons to death to feed his snakes on their brains, the blacksmith incited the populace to rise, hoisted his leather apron on a pole to serve as a standard, and marched at their head against the usurper. The revolt ended with the defeat and death of Zahak.

- "The oldest part of Esfahan was named Gadh or Gai (Strabo's Gabae?), and later Shahristan or 'the Township'. Subsequently a Jewish community settled some 2 miles to the west-NW. In due course the two towns grew to such an extent that they coalesced to form one large city, but this fusion did not occur until @ the 10th cent. The name Esfahan (probably Aspadan, from the older Aspadana) had however been applied jointly to the two towns for some hundreds of years. Opinions differ as to the origins of the Jewish town. Only its Arabic name Yahudiyeh appears to have been preserved. Some authorities maintain that it was Nebuchadnezzar I (604-562 BC) who settled there some of the exiles from Jerusalem, but it's more probable that it was Queen Shushan-Dukht, the Jewish consort of the Sassanian king Yazdigird I (399-420), who founded the town @ 1,000 yr.s later. In Parthian times (249 BC - 226 AD) Esfahan was already the capital of a large province. When Ardeshir I revolted against Artabanus (Ardavan) V, he defeated and killed Shadh Shapur, the satrap of Esfahan, in the early stages of his rebellion. [@ 4 centuries later,] towards the close of the Sassanian era, the city became the place of residence of many of the 'vaspuhran' or members of the 7 great families of Persia. This might have been why Yazdigird III, the last of the Sassanians, sought refuge in Esfahan for a spell following his defeat by the Muslim Arabs before resuming his flight when his pursuers drew near. The city itself surrendered to the Arabs in @ 642 following a series of battles in the neighbourhood.

- "Esfahan became the capital of the province of al-Jibal under Muslim rule, and was renowned for the quality of its textiles ('attabi' in particular, a striped silk fabric named for Attabiyya, the quarter in Baghdad where it was originally made [the origin of the English word 'Tabby' {Huh!} which today applies only to cats with streaked or brindled coats]) and metalwork. The early 10th cent. geographer Ibn Rusta, a native, described the city as half a league in diameter, with 4 gates, a central fortress, and containing 'the Saruq' (likely the ancient Tabarak citadel) which he claimed predated the Flood. Esfahan was ruled in this period by the Persian House of Buwaih and then by the Persian Kakuyid until 1051 when the Seljuq Tughril Beg seized the city and made it the capital of his rapidly growing empire. The following year, the well-known Persian traveler and Isma'ili propagandist Nasir-i-Khusrau (whose teachings greatly influenced Hasan-i Sabbah, the founder of the Order of the Assassins) visited Esfahan, described the city in some detail, and wrote that he had "never seen, in any place where Persian is spoken, a finer, larger and more prosperous city."

- "Alp Arslan retained Esfahan as his capital while his son and successor, Sultan Malikshah (1072-'92) preferred it to any of his other cities.

- In the 1220s, the Mongol tsunami was "checked outside [the city] in a great battle waged against [it] by the heroic Jalal ad-Din Khwarazmshah", but which would only delay the Mongol conquest. "Like the Arabs 600 yr.s earlier, the Mongols refrained from sacking Esfahan and butchering its inhabitants. Rather, after acquiring some of the polish and refinement of the Persians, they became patrons of the arts and took some steps to embellish the city." (A famous stucco mihrab in the Jame masjid is Il-Khanid.) The Muzaffarids succeeded the Mongols, and Timur Leng (Tamerlane) took the city in 1388, sparing the city and the locals, but then slaughtered > 70,000 in his response to a revolt, and built a pyramid of their skulls.

- The Timurids were followed by the Qara-Qoyunlu (the 'Black Sheep' Turcomans), but "the fortunes of Esfahan took an upward turn with the arrival of the Safavid dynasty at the turn of the 16th cent. Shah Isma'il (r 1501-'24), the first Safavid, made Tabriz his capital, but would often visit Esfahan where he laid out the spacious park known as the Naqsh-i-Jahan ('the Picture of the World') in the area to the west of the Maidan." His successor, Shah Tahmasp I (r 1524-'76), spent much time at Esfahan, and would reside at the small Timurid palace fronting on to the great Maidan. (See the write-up for the Ali Qapu.) "It was doubtless in this palace that he entertained the Mughal emperor Hemayun when, in 1541, that monarch had temporarily to abandon his throne and seek sanctuary and support in Persia. Six years later, when the Shah's brother Ilkhas Mirza rebelled against him and allied himself with the Ottoman sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, Turkish forces invaded Persia and occupied Esfahan for a time.

- "The Golden Age of Esfahan began during the reign of Shah 'Abbas the Great [r 1588-1629], the most capable and illustrious of the Safavids. Early in his reign, in the intervals /b/ his campaigns against the Turks and other foes, he visited Esfahan on several occasions. The situation of the city, its good climate, and, above all, its distance from any frontier [relative to Tabriz and Ghazvin], led him to transfer his court there permanently from Ghazvin in the spring of 1598. Over the remaining 31 years of his reign, he replanned and largely rebuilt the city, personally supervising a great part of the work. He was extremely well served by his own architects and master-masons, but didn't hesitate to supplement their work by importing artists and artisans from Italy and other European countries, as well as from India and even China. Once again, as in the time of Darius, craftsmen from many lands were brought to Persia to assist in the embellishment of the royal bldg.s, but in this case they were not all subjects of the king. His greatest achievement in Esfahan is undoubtedly the creation of the magnificent monuments which still grace the Maidan-i-[Imam, amongst which this mosque is pre-eminent]. In this task he consciously or subconsciously copied the Seljuqs' 12th cent. achievements at their Maidan-i-Kuhneh or 'Old Square'. Like them, he believed that his capital should have a fitting centre. The Maidan itself is of noble proportions, being 1,674' long and 540' wide.

- "In the course of his campaigns in Azerbaijan, Shah 'Abbas was impressed with the energy and ability of the Armenian inhabitants of the town of Jolfa, on the Aras (Araxes) river. To encourage trade and industry in Esfahan, he determined to [forcibly] transfer several thousand of them to a site on the south side of the Zayandeh-rud" (and did so at 'New Jolfa'. Cont. in the write-up for the Beit-ol Lahm [Bethlehem] church in New Jolfa.) The Shah was "amply rewarded" for the 'resettlement' "by the impetus which these clever traders and craftsmen gave to the commerce and industry" of the city.

- "With the death of Shah 'Abbas in Jan., 1629, the decline of the Safavid empire set in, but it was long before the process of decay became manifest. As for Esfahan, it continued, until the fall of the Safavid dynasty in 1722, to be the great metropolis of the empire. Shah 'Abbas was succeeded by his grandson Shah Safi (r 1629-'42), who was followed by Shah 'Abbas II (r 1642-'66), Shah Sulaiman (r 1666-'94), and the last Safavid, Shah Sultan Husain (1694-1722). The famous Huguenot John Chardin, court jeweller to Charles II, who lived in Esfahan for @ 10 yr.s /b/ 1664 and '77, noted that the city was "as populous as London, which was then, as he rightly remarked, "la ville la plus peuplée de l'Europe". As we know from other sources that London had some 670,000 inhabitants at the close of the 17th cent., we shall not be far wrong if we put the population of Esfahan at a little > 600,000 in those days. According to Chardin, Esfahan had in his time 162 mosques, 48 colleges, 273 hamams, no less than 1,802 caravanserais and 12 cemeteries." (Chardin recorded a couplet he found in one of the royal palaces, which read: "When I was about to marry, the married folk were dumb. Now that I am married, those who are about to marry are deaf." :D )

- "Alas for Esfahan! Its period of glamour and glory was soon to come to a sudden and terrible end. ... Disaster came like a bolt from the blue. From 1720 to '22 Persia suffered a series of shattering blows from the Ghalzai Afghans, the Turks and the Russians. Most of her territory was overrun, and Esfahan itself underwent a terrible siege at the hands of the barbarous Afghans. Muhammad Muhsin, a Persian historian who experienced the siege, has described how the citizens were at length reduced to [cannibalism of the dead]. On one occasion, Muhsin was sent with some others to look for hidden hoards of food. In the course of their search they came upon a cellar filled with sacks which, when they opened them, they found to contain coins worth a fabulous sum. He and his companions were so disappointed at finding $ instead of grain that they left sacks and their contents lying where they had found them." After a siege of seven months and the deaths of 100s of 1000s, the city was forced to surrender, and the Shah abdicated in favour of Mahmud, the Afghan leader, who threw him into prison and slaughtered most male members of the royal family. Fearing a revolt by the Esfahanis, who, despite the ravages of the siege, greatly outnumbered his Afghan troops, Mahmud ordered his men to commit a wholesale massacre. Esfahan has never fully recovered from the combined effects of the siege and this slaughter, in which over 90% of the population lost their lives. [! - I didn't know.] Moreover, large areas of the city were razed to the ground. Mahmud's successor, Ashraf, put the ex-Shah to death in 1727.

- "The famous general Nadr Quli Beg defeated the Afghans, drove them from Esfahan, seized the throne and reigned as Nadir Shah, but made Mashad his capital." (The capital would move to Shiraz under Karim Khan Zand in 1762 and to Tehran in 1786.) In the chaotic period that followed Nadir Shah's assassination in 1747 Esfahan was looted twice, first by the Bakhtiari tribe and later by Afghan rebels and Lurs, thus further adding to its misfortunes and those of its citizens. One James Morier, who visited Esfahan early in the 19th cent., wrote that "one might suppose that God's curse had extended over parts of the city, as it did over Babylon. Houses, bazaars, mosques, palaces, whole streets are to be seen in total abandonment; and I have rode for miles amongst its ruins without meeting with any living creature, except perhaps a jackal peeping over a wall, or a fox running to his hole" ('Persian Cities', 1960). This is hard to believe in light of how well-preserved and lovely the city's early 17th cent. monuments are today, but while "[t]he power and breadth of Shah 'Abbas's vision is still very much in evidence, what remains is just a small taste of what the city looked like at its height" during the early 17th-cent. reign of Shah 'Abbas I. (LP) Wow. Reza Shah Pahlavi is given credit for much of the renovation.

- Tourism in Esfahan is less cerebral than in any other city that I toured in Iran. With the exception of the fascinating Jame mosque, several early mosques and shrines and a collection of ancient minarets in the older, northern half of the city, and the adobe ateshkadeh complex at or past the edge of town, Esfahan for tourists is all about a series of exceptional 17th cent. Safavid monuments. In that way, tourism in Esfahan is akin to tourism in Ani (but which is more cerebral), Sivas, Beijing, St. Petersburg or Agra, an exploration of a flowering of art and architecture in a distinctive, magnificent style from a moment in time. Magnificent is truly the best word to describe Esfahan. I've also read that Esfahan has the greatest concentration of Islamic monuments in Iran.

- youtu.be/a9FVrJS4MzU?si=a-iwZjyTpqouJ3NF

- youtu.be/TEHC307aK_E?si=MR6GAoHM4BVrmtJ6

- This vlogger has a suitable level of appreciation and enthusiasm for Esfahan and the local culture.: youtu.be/eVzPH8RT6P0?si=sYuYYensO2U24ulq

- I write this is in November, 2024.: In early Jan., 2020, President-elect Trump threatened to target Iranian cultural sites "if Iran retaliates against the U.S." for the assassination of General Soleimani on Jan. 3. He's now set to nominate Fox news troll Pete Hegseth as U.S. Secretary of Defense, who also advocated to hit Iranian cultural sites. I don't know who put that idea in Trump's head, but the Iranian military and the IRGC have famously excavated very deep, extensive, subterranean tunnels and caves to house missile production facilities, etc., and would see no advantage in placing any of their assets at any cultural sites (certainly not after the IDF has repeatedly bombed every mosque, church, hospital, university, etc. in Gaza since Oct. 7, '23). This mosque and that of Sheikh Lotfollah, Esfahan's Jame mosque, the Sheikh Safi-ad Din Khanegah and shrine ensemble at Ardabil, and the Imam Reza shrine in Mashad are the greatest Islamic monuments in the country, and threats to destroy or damage them are nothing but sadistic, unless those threats involve some jealousy as well. But of course any bombing with bunker buster bombs thickly coated in depleted uranium (D.U.), as in Beirut this month, would be even worse, much worse, contaminating the bomb-site forever, causing cancers and birth defects as with Gulf War syndrome, Afghan syndrome, and Balkans syndrome, but worse still as it seems that much more D.U. was used in Beirut. Evil. (I'm not religious, but if I was I might take some interest in the similarity /b/ pentagons and pentagrams, or inverted pentagrams. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigil_of_Baphomet )

- I stayed in Esfahan over 9 days, but don't recall anything about the hotel or hostel where I stayed, although it would've been in the 'budget range' (very much so), and European tourists were staying there, more than I'd met in my first month in the country (which isn't saying much). One person I remember was Ellen, a pretty brunette with a hair-lip from Norway, a solo traveler, quiet but adventurous, who recruited my services as a chaperone one evening to accompany her in her search for Sufis. We walked quite a ways and asked anyone we came across who could speak English, but had no luck. It would've been easier to find Christians, Jews or Zoroastrians. (Kermanshah is known for Sufism, but it's officially discouraged in Iran, generally.) I don't know just what she expected from the Sufis, whether or how they would involve her in their observances or their cosmology, but she was on a quest. It seemed she'd come to Iran in a search for enlightenment, or maybe for love.

- "The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist" (i.e., that the supreme Shiite jurist should be the nation's political leader)." (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Sufis According to that Wikipedia entry, the persecution and suppression of Sufis in Iran, or at least those in Shi'ite regions, has increased since 2000. Sufis are more or less suppressed across the Islamic world. "Sufism [has been perceived] as emotional and uncontrollable, reaching beyond reason to a state of ecstasy and Truth reached through practices of dancing and physical self-deprivation. It is regarded as a dissenting form of worship at odds with authoritarian power structures." (Wikipedia)

I toured the following sights and sites.:

Around the Maidan:

1. The MAIDAN: "This huge, open square, laid out in 1612, is one of the largest in the world (500 x 160 m.s), and a majestic example of town planning." (LP) "The mast or pole that was in the centre of the maidan has long since disappeared. Atop this pole, which was @ 25' high, was a target or mark which, on special occasions, was a golden cup; at other times a melon or an apple. It was the practice of the Shah and his nobles to ride at full gallop past the pole, and then, turning back in their saddles in Parthian fashion, to discharge their arrows at their mark. ... The original goalposts [from the Shah's polo ground] are still in place and to be seen at either end of the Maidan," which I don't recall. ('Persian cities')

2. The MOSQUE of SHEIKH LOTFOLLAH (1603-1618):

"On the eastern side of the [Maidan] is the superb Masjid-i-Lutfullah [or Lotfollah] aka the Masjid-i-Sadr, the mosque which Shah 'Abbas erected in honour of his saintly father-in-law and which he used for his private devotions. This mosque is much smaller than the Masjid-i-[Emam], but it's an even finer example of what the Shah's architects, builders and craftsmen could accomplish. Its exquisite dome, adorned with lovely arabesques, [and with "pale tiles that change colour from cream through to pink according to the light conditions" {LP}], eclipses in beauty that of its larger neighbour. The interior is covered with tile mosaic rivalled in quality only by similar contemporary work in the ... shrine of Iman Reza at Mashad." ('Persian Cities', 1960) (I didn't make it to Mashad.) The tile-mosaic of the facade has been largely restored but the interior is entirely covered with its original mosaic. The mosque is unusual in that it has no minaret nor a courtyard (as, again, it was private).

- "The portal dedication emphasizes the explicit Shi'a role of the shah as the "reviver of the virtues of his pure ancestors, and propagator of the doctrine of the pure Imams. ... Surface patterns of ceramic shapes, sometimes set into unglazed brick, disguise thick walls which support the single-shell dome (diameter 13 m.s) while turquoise barley-twist cables outlining the full-length squinches lead the eye into the dome. We always wonder how the pattern designer calculated for the diminishing size of the [lozenges] on the dome’s concave surface. No wonder geometry, algebra and mathematics developed in the Islamic world." (Bradt)

- "Sunlight filters through a series of double grilles in the drum, resting on squinches that rise directly from the floor. Each of the 8 pointed arches supporting the dome is outlined by [the said cables] framing a number of inlays with inscriptions or foliage." (AOTIW)

- This mosque is darker, cooler and more intimate than the crowded Masji-e Emam and I took my time to take it all in, and sat by a wall looking up and around, gawking in awe. (Photography in the interior was forbidden.) I should've bought a poster of a photo of the inner dome on sale in a shop or 2 across the Maidan. Here it is.: youtube.com/shorts/i6ymddxcGKs?si=QNKkwKqZCUFDFE_a youtu.be/spSPAKEvFXI?si=xnlMhcpvTFPTnTCQ It's certainly one of the 5 most beautiful buildings I've ever toured. I don't know what most of those five might be, but I know they include the Taj Mahal. So at least 2 of those most beautiful bldg.s were designed by Iranians (or Iranians and Ustad A. Lahori, a Punjabi of Iranian heritage and ethnicity). My top 5 likely includes the Masjed-e Emam as well.

-The Maidan (with the Shiekh Lotfollah dome seen at the start): youtube.com/shorts/gJeCuyaYCKc?si=nnoHH8L2QzGaiOcD

3. The 'ALI QAPU palace: (See my write-up for my photo taken inside it.)

4. The perimeter of the Maidan (i.e. the Emam Khomeini square): "In the centre of the northern side of the Maidan is the high, tiled gateway of the Qaisariyeh, the Imperial bazaar. Flanking this gateway were the two galleries of the Naqqareh-Khaneh where [back in the day] orchestras of trumpets and kettle-drums played violently and discordantly at dusk and again at 2 a.m. [?] [Here a vlogger explores beautiful, restored "VIP" music rooms on the upper floor of this 'gateway' bldg., which were probably closed to tourism in 2000.: youtu.be/llcax66iOCg?si=D_Xn8AykrwfcvU0h ] A line of 2-storeyed bldg.s of uniform, arcaded design runs right @ the square /b/ [the Maidan's] monuments. The ground floor was and still is used to accommodate shops, and dwellings were on the upper floor. Shah 'Abbas housed many of his skilled craftsmen in these bldg.s. ... On great occasions and at times merely for his own pleasure, the Shah would have these bldg.s surrounding the Maidan illuminated with small lamps, of which, we are told, there were no less than 50,000." ('Persian Cities') I bought some good quality books with old photos and quality postcards in shops lining the Maidan, and enjoyed the atmosphere and the views on repeated visits. The LP writes that the square is "(usually) beautifully illuminated" at 8 p.m. when local families visit.

- I patronized a popular cafe on a high, upper level at the NW corner of the square, above and next to the entrance to the bazaar, with great views over the Maidan, and took a few puffs of flavoured smoke from a hookah (although I don't smoke).

- The QAISARIYEH or GRAND bazaar (1620): Originally constructed in the 11th cent., this bazaar grew to become one of the largest and most luxurious trading centres in the Middle East, a vaulted, 2-km.-long street linking the older Seljuk neighborhood in the north with the 17th cent. Safavid hood in the south (and with @ 5 km.s of corridors and walkways in total per the LP) and incl. "mosques, tea-shops, hamams and even gardens". Destroyed several times, it dates to the 17th cent. in its current form. I was more impressed with it and its decorative and visibly ancient aspects than any other bazaar that I toured in Iran. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Isfahan_Grand_Bazaar#...

- youtube.com/shorts/4-YOa2_aAnI?si=77F1doJg0QcOC7IX

- The CHEHEL SOTOUN ('40 Columns') palace and museum (Cheh-hell So-toon, Safavid, 1647): Shah 'Abbas II built this beautiful palace pavilion for coronations (Solayman aka Safi II was crowned within on March 20, 1668) and the reception of foreign embassies, around a small pavilion built for 'Abbas I (57.8 x 37 m.s). 20 16-m.-tall, wooden columns on the large, open verandah (tālār) are reflected in a pool which provides the other 20, hence the name. But another theory has it that "40 was once used synonymously with 'many' in ancient Persian, and still is in some quarters." (LP) commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chehel_Sotoun,_Isfahan,_I...

- "The 4 columns in the centre [of the portico], surrounding a small basin, rest on bases carved as [stylized] lions, while the alcove at the rear of the portico is decorated with the remains of the mirror-mosaics that, originally, entirely covered the walls." (AOTIW)

- The small, crowded museum within exhibits the obligatory ceramics, old coins, militaria and several Qurans, incl. "one said to be in the handwriting of the 2nd Imam". (LP) Six murals painted on ceramic panels on the interior walls of the banquet hall could be the most famous murals or paintings in Iran. They depict such scenes as:

1. The famous reception of the Mughal Emperor Hemayun, who took refuge in Iran in 1544, by Shah Tahmasp I (r 1524-'76), with a large retinue, musicians and very un-Islamic dancing girls in the foreground. (It's no surprise that this and the two of the other murals that depict banquets were covered up for @ 15 - 20 yr.s following the Islamic revolution. [LP]) It fascinates Indian visitors. Could it be the most famous painting in the country? It's the best represented Persian mural or painting on all the postcard racks. ranasafvi.com/the-famous-humayun-and-shah-tahmasp-fresco-...

2. The reception and entertainment of Walī Moḥammad Khan, Uzbek ruler of Turkistan, by Shah ʿAbbas I, with more dancing girls et al. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painting_in_Chehel_Sotoun...

3. The reception by Shah ʿAbbās II of an Uzbek ambassador in 1646. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iran,_Chehel_Sotoun,_Cult...

4. The victory of Isma'il I (r 1501-'24) over the Uzbek Saybani Khan at the Battle of Marv in 1510. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marv#/media/File:Fresco_c... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chehel_Sotoun#/media/File:Chehel_So...

5. A later, Qajar-era mural of a battle, Nadir Shah's victory over the Mughal emperor Mohammad of India at Karnal in 1739 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chehel_Sotoun_%D8%B9%D9%8... and

6. Another Qajar-era depiction of a battle, Shah Isma'il's "triumph over the Janissary aga at Chaldiran" (Iranicaonline.org) ? - But Chaldiran was a rout for Selim the Grim's Ottomans on Aug. 23, 1514. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Painting_in_Chehel_Sotoun... commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_painting_in_Chehel_Soto...

The walls of the banquet hall are otherwise coated in dazzling decorative detail, of course, with floral arabesques, muqarnas vaulting, etc.

- More murals were discovered in the flanking rooms under a coat of whitewash applied in the Qajar period, incl. landscapes, figural compositions, scenes from Persian poetry with Khosrow and Shirin, et al., etc. (Iranicaonline.org) Two women in one scene in one mural wear garments that are see-through above the waist. (!) commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sathi.jpg

- Alterations have been made over the centuries. The 20 columns in the porch and the exterior walls behind were coated in reflective mirrors in the renovation of 1706 such that "the mass of structure appear[ed] to be of glass, and when new must have glittered with magnificent splendour." (J.J. Morier)

- The superb gardens, 67,000 m.s2 [formerly @ 7 ha.s], with a large pool, 110 x 16 m.s, are included in the collective Unesco site 'Persian Gardens', designated in 2011, one of nine in Iran. And there's much early-19th-cent., stylized stone sculpture in the round of lions and standing maidens on the grounds too. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chehel_Sotoun_%D8%B9%D9%8...

- youtu.be/fVSAFpa1XvM?si=H03IZVoRntBDs323

- The HASHT BEHESHT palace (1669, Safavid): (See my comment for my photo taken inside it.)

- Safavid BRIDGES across the Zayandeh-rud, incl. the Khaju and the Si-o-SePol: (See my comment for my photo taken on the latter bridge.)

- The MEDRESEH-ye CHAHAR BAGH ('School of the Four Gardens'), built by the mother of Shah Sultan Husain, previously known as the Medrese-ye Madar-e Shah ('Seminary of the Shah's mother'), and completed in 1715, is "one of the most beautiful and attractive of the monuments of the whole Safavid era." It includes a mosque with a dome similar to that of the Masjed-e Emam but smaller, and 160 rooms behind rows and rows of pointed-arched eivans, all covered in fine tiles with arabesques, etc. Allegedly Shah Husain spent the night before his execution in 1727 (by the Afghan warlord Ashraf) in one of the small rooms or cells (one of the eivans) looking out onto the courtyard. (I've read that a scene in Pasolini's 'Arabian nights' was filmed in that courtyard.) I walked and gawked through it at least a few times in transit.

- I also took a look @ the former early 18th-cent. caravanserai which became the luxury Abbasi Hotel in 1955 with its fine courtyard and which is handy to the medreseh.

- The VANK CATHEDRAL aka the Holy Savior Cathedral aka the Church of the Saintly Sisters (Armenian Apostolic, 1606) and museum, the BEIT-OL LAHM (Bethlehem) aka Bedkhem church (Armenian, 1628), and NEW JOLFA (the Armenian quarter): (See my comment for my photo taken in the Beit-ol Lahm church.)

- The GOLESTAN-E SHOHADA cemetery: (See my comment for my photo taken there.)

- The KETER DAVID SYNAGOGUE (Kenisa-ye Keter David aka the 'Cathedral Synagogue' aka the Kanise-ye Esfahan [per the LP], 1940): I visited this relatively large, modern synagogue one evening or late one afternoon, @ 800 m.s SW of the Maidan, as it had an entry in my LP guide (the only synagogue with a mention, despite the importance of Judaism to the city's early medieval history, see above). Built in the 'Pahlavi style', I've read that it houses 500-yr.-old copies of the Torah written on vellum, and has a popular mikveh (or 'miqwa', 1944). This article includes photos taken inside.: en.shafaqna.com/171487/living-conditions-are-now-better-t... Sadly, my visit involved another miss a bit similar to that in the Falak ol-aflak in Khorramabad, one of my bigger misses in the country. The bldg. was open, I walked in and immediately met some very friendly, warm, and welcoming locals. My memory's fuzzy but I recall it was wide with pews or rows of chairs (the latter), and with a friendly, grinning woman sitting at the left. The people inside and I had a discussion and they were happy to talk about their lives in Esfahan. I can only paraphrase, but they said they were happy there and had no desire to leave for Israel nor anywhere else. (Again, these are 'the Children of Esther', members in a community with roots that run very deep in the country, back to the early 1st mill. B.C. The 'Aryans', aka Arya, the ancestors of the Persians themselves and the Kurds, arrived only @ millenium or so earlier.) It's possible they were just being charming and agreeable, but they were open, candid and seemed entirely sincere. (This was in 2000, which seems like a long time ago in this context, but this CNN article from 2015 is consistent with my impression.: www.cnn.com/2015/03/11/middleeast/iran-jews-esfahan/index... ) I can't recall what else was said, but near the end of the discussion I remarked that the synagogue seemed relatively new and that there must be older, much more historic synagogues in town, and they responded "Oh yes", nodding with eyebrows raised, etc. and one older man offered to take me to visit some on a tour in his car for a fee. I had the impression they would've been hard to find and to access otherwise, hidden away in alleyways (even Armenian churches in New Jolfa were a trick to find) but that was likely an assumption. It was a fair one (as I explain below). Whatever his fee was it was very reasonable, @ as little as the equivalent of $10.00 or more, and I was tempted but I was on the tightest budget ever and had to decline. (I was paying @ $5.00 per night for a bed most nights, albeit in the cheapest or the worst digs. Most sights and sites were free and every dollar saved prolonged my trip.) I've wondered ever since what he would have shown me. Well the internet to the rescue! I've learned that there are from 16 to 24 synagogues in Esfahan, 7 of which are registered in the list of National monuments of Iran, and that at least 8 are in a cluster in a neighborhood named Joubareh, aka Yahudiyeh (per Google maps) in the older, Seljuk part of town, only 150-400 m.s NE of the world-famous Jame mosque. Most date from the 19th and 20th cent.s (many built over older synagogues), consist of fired mud-brick with adobe cladding, and most have octagonal skylight-towers, some visibly ancient, through which sunlight shines down on the cantor and the dukhan or bimah (typically 3 x 3 m.s) at the centre of each sanctuary. "The entire interior space of the synagogue is “separated” from the outside world and has minimal connection to it. To reach this space, one must follow a path, one that is generally dark and long; a path that cuts off the ongoing connection with the mortal world and prepares one for a renewed “presence”; a presence before the creator of light and illumination." www.7dorim.com/en/pictures/joubareh-neighborhood-isfahan-... maps.app.goo.gl/XaYnbSL9e5SmBD9j6 The Golbahar Mohammad Safari synagogue (8th cent.), @ 100 m.s SW of the Imam Ali square, is said to be the oldest in the city, although apart from an ancient plaque and its stone-carved dukhan, it appears almost new. youtu.be/eOEAhiywLAk?si=WrDl7mD54_29r4-7 The loveliest of the city's synagogues is the Molla Nisan (early 20th cent.) in Joubareh, with its muqarnas vaulting, Persian floral frescos, etc. www.7dorim.com/en/pictures/the-molla-nisan-synagogue-of-i... So I imagine that that man would've taken me to the Golbahar synagogue and then to Joubareh to show me @ the synagogues there, most of which (all?) are locked up today and hard to find. And of course I regret declining his offer. (Several in the site in the next link are unbeknownst to Google maps.)

- Here's a site that's a vault of photos taken in the synagogues in Joubareh, etc.: www.7dorim.com/en/?s=Esfahan

- According to this article re the 'Molla (Mulla) Yaghoob (Jacob) synagogue' archive.diarna.org/site/detail/public/782/ , geniza records from Cairo suggest that Persian communities in ancient times had been quite large. While the community was often highly respected, there were times when its members were under duress to convert, such as during the reign of 'Abbas II, through the threat of confiscation of inheritance. "By 1889 there were only @ 400 Jewish families left in Esfahan and most were poor. The Alliance Israelite Universelle established a school in the city in 1901. By 1968 the school had expanded to provide both a high school and an elementary school for Jewish students. ... Of the 18 functioning synagogues, now only one [the Keter David] is in use" (although the Golbahar looks to be in occasional use at least, in the video in the 3rd-last link above).

- Here a vlogger explores and films at Joubareh. (The lovely panel of 12 tiles [which looks to be Qajar] with 2 angels and the Decalogue above an entrance at the 42 sec. pt. was recently removed or stolen, per photos on google maps.): youtu.be/8XSDI8BigmY?si=ZiAQB04ZCNykooNF

- youtu.be/MhJ16uH0ETI?si=f15RpKuz0LNMuDH9

- Watch 'Jewish journey to Iran', an interesting discussion on 'Israel Hayom' /b/ a guy with a Buffalonian accent and a Jewish columnist re her two visits to Iran, specifically to Jewish communities in Tehran, Hamadan and Esfahan.: youtu.be/MHcugV6vgDU?si=Wj9kLWrbqPb5neh8 She was impressed. She's critical, but considers that Iran is filled with "beautiful contradictions", and when asked what surprised her most on her trip (at the 11:40 min. pt.), she (very) readily responds: "How much I loved the country. Aside from Israel, I've never fallen that deeply in love with a country. ... The people, the mentality, the Persian and the Jewish mentality are quite alike. I mean we're very academic, very family-oriented, warm, respectful people, both of us, and I felt a strong connection to the people, and it's beautiful." But she says (at the 45 sec. pt.) that before she visited she rarely thought of Iranian Jews "outside of a pogrom context." Travel's always the best education. (A 2nd cousin of mine repeats a great quote. [I forget from whom.]: "I don't like those people much. I'll have to get to know them better.")

- All that said, the main challenge facing Iranian Jewry today is their low population (only 9,826 in 2016 according to a census, although the largest in the Middle and Near East after Israel), and the strict prohibition against Muslim apostasy. Their population can only grow from within or from marriage to foreigners who would then immigrate, a tall order. A far greater number of Iranian Jews live in Israel today than in Iran.

- youtu.be/dUP571KQyRQ?si=Ggmhr_H46uewaYRp

- The MASJED-E JAME, the 11th-18th cent. 'Museum of Islamic archictecture': (See my comment for my photo taken in an eivan in that mosque.)

- The IMAM ALI MINARET and MOSQUE (Seljuk, 1118-'57): This incredible minaret, the oldest in Esfahan, is 52 m.s high (I've also read 48), 2 m.s shy of the Sarban minaret near Joubareh (if so), the tallest in Esfahan province. A tapering cylindrical shaft built entirely of brick with decorative brick-work in recess, a prominent 'girdle' or balcony near the top, and 4 Kufic inscriptions, 3 highlighted with blue, glazed tiles, it was built together with the Imam Ali mosque during the reign of the Seljuk Khan Sanjar (r 1118-1157). The mosque was designed in the classic 4-eivan plan with a domed sanctuary in the qibla wing, and was renovated during the reign of Shah Isma'il I (1501-'24), much of it covered in tiles with floral and geometric motifs in blue, turquoise and white, a band with a Kufic inscription on the exterior of the dome, etc. www.archnet.org/sites/1611

- "The Chihil Dukhtaran and other Seljuq minarets [such as the Ali minaret] appear to have had considerable influence on the successive Ghurid victory towers built over Afghanistan and North of the Indian Subcontinent in the 12th to 13th cent.s." www.archnet.org/sites/1614

- The IMAMZADEH HARUN-e-VILAYET (Safavid, 1512-'13, restored in 1656-'57): "There are many accounts of Harun Vilayet," the man buried within, including that he's the son of the 10th Imam, the son of the 11th, the grandson of the 6th, and of the 7th. Whoever he was, his shrine is "the most important historical structure related to the early Safavid era" and "greatly influenced Safavid Esfahan's urban design in the 16th cent. The square of Harun-i Vilayet was at the centre of the city from the time of the reign of Shah Isma'il, the first Safavid ruler, until Shah 'Abbas I shifted the focus to the Maidan-i Shah in 1590." The shrine's construction is "attributed to Mirza Shah Husain, a vassal of Durmish Khan Shamlu, Isfahan's governor under Safavid Shah Ismail I." www.archnet.org/sites/3904 The interior is "only accessible during performances" of passion plays (Archnet), and was closed when I was there. Interesting murals and paintings with figural compositions of Ali, Fatima et al. adorn the walls of the antechamber as seen on google maps. Devotions here are reputed to work miracles. Some Armenian Christians worship here as well (?).

- Unusually, in 2000, huge (roof-high), very non-iconoclastic (un-Islamic?) portraits of Khomeini and Khamenei loomed to the left and right, respectively, of the ornate, tile-clad eivan in the entrance portal to the medreseh (adjoining the shrine itself), beside and beneath the minaret of Imam Ali. (They reminded me of Ataturk's cult of personality. I'll scan a photo.)

- the IMAMZADEH JA'FAR (Il-Khanid, 1320s): This slender, free-standing, octagonal tomb tower was built for a descendant of the 5th Imam. (For some strange reason, a Wikipedia entry writes at length that the occupant was a famous companion of Muhammad [who was also entombed in Jordan]. - ?) It's built with yellow, fired brick, has 2 impressive bands of tile mosaic inscription @ the top, and looks fairly new. (I don't recall it, but I took a photo of it.) www.archnet.org/sites/1617 See this older photo of the bands of tiles from the Smithsonian and be amazed at how much and how well it's been restored since it was taken.: www.si.edu/object/archives/components/sova-fsa-a-06-ref28...

- The DARB-e-IMAM ('The Shrine of the Imams', Qara Qoyunlu, from 1453, much of it restored in the 17th and 18th cent.s): This is a funerary complex with 2 shrines, a mosque, a mausoleum with a royal cemetery, and a stone sculpture that I photographed in its courtyard of a lion with a man's head in its open mouth. The cemetery dates to the Seljuk era and "[t]he first bldg. in the complex was built [in 1453 by Jahan Shah, two yr.s after Esfahan fell to the 'Qara Qoyunlu', to house the tomb of his mother, and] ... as an Imamzadeh for two saints, Ibrahim Tabatabai and Zayn al-'Abidin Ali, [alleged] descendants of Ali ibn Abi Talib", THE Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, the 4th Imam, "through Ja'far al-Sadiq", the 6th. 12 more of Ali's descendants are buried there according to tradition. The complex grew to become a venerated burial ground for Safavid princes and dignitaries. "Shah 'Abbas I exhumed the remains of his predecessor Shah Tahmasp, who was defiled by Mongols in Mashhad," and reburied him there. The complex is known for the "brilliance of quality and colour of [its] early Timurid tile work" and its plaster inscription friezes. Its raised tile mosaic patterns and thuluth inscriptions were an influence on later Safavid architects. www.archnet.org/sites/3901

- The DARDASHT MINARETS and the TOMB of SULTAN BOKHT AGHA (late 14th cent.): The occupant Sultan (the wife or queen of the Shah and the niece of the last Injuid ruler, Sheikh Abu Ishaq Inju, executed by her husband or her father-in-law in 1357, and celebrated in Persian literature, incl. in the works of Hafez) was married to the Muzaffarid Shah Mahmud Ibn Amir Mobarez al-Din Muhammad, who, "although he was fascinated by [her] perfection," murdered her in a drunken rage one night during Hamadan, and then blamed her for an alleged plot to (somehow) capture and surrender him to his enemy Shah Shoia Ibn Amir Mobarez alDin Muhammad, for whom she would open the gates of Esfahan, all "to avenge the blood of her uncle." An inscription on her tomb reads: "This is the sacred stone which was created by the Great Khatun Sultan Bokht Agha, the daughter of Al-Amir Khosrow Shah. May God grant her success after her death in Ramadan in the year 753." According to popular legend, the Sultan foresaw that her husband would murder her at Ramadan that year, and she ordered her own tombstone and wrote her own epitaph. I've also read that the mausoleum was built in 1375 by her husband the Shah's successor, Shah Shoja Mozaffari, who imprisoned her husband and conquered Esfahan, and that he built it "to honour [the Sultan's] bravery." (I knew none of this then.)

- The twin, cylindrical minarets (15 m.s tall) and the dome of the mausoleum are built in fine, yellow fired brick with interlocking geometric designs and Kufic inscriptions in lines of turquoise and azure glazed bricks and faience, but much missing from the pattern on the dome in 2000. I saw a tall portal topped by twin minarets, one broken and truncated, the other with a crown or 'girdle' near the top (as seen in this photo www.archnet.org/sites/1615 ). Both the broken minaret and the dome have been so well-restored with missing parts replaced since (as seen in photos on-line) that it's hard to believe they weren't entirely intact these past 700 years. The complex includes a large courtyard with a fine eivan that leads to the tomb.

- youtu.be/UgrB3XPLxgk?si=tP0nNDfC1RPTw77Z

- I was taken on a tour through the back-streets and alleyways in neighborhoods just west of the Jame mosque (although all these many years I thought we drove north of the mosque) on the back of the seat of a motorbike (see my write-up for my photo taken at the Jame mosque) on which I saw a photogenic, new mosque (I've read that the number of mosques in Iran has increased from @ 25,000 in 1979 to @ 75,000 today) with a large, onion dome above a tall drum with tall windows, not yet tiled, and the dome of this old tomb with the truncated minarets, and either asked to stop to tour it or returned to it later. (I looked [and looked] for these needles in a haystack on google maps, but found the tomb and minarets while checking a list of sites in town in 'Persian Cities'.) Many old houses with ancient balconies and courtyards with elaborate porches or talars, incl. many old fixer-uppers, were seen on that tour too. Impressive interior walls and doors decorated with stucco were exposed in ruins here and there, including one beside that new mosque. I took a photo of an impressive wall of old windows made with stained glass and wooden panes in a ruined courtyard which has not only been restored since, it's now the 'Javaheri Historical House'. youtu.be/Z3Va46LyWEo?si=cZYv--Z4POHKvs9M

- This short video gives a good impression of the time capsuley quality of those old neighborhoods near the Jame mosque.: youtu.be/wHfsufNIZa0?si=WlEMEFOJ0mfonP5E

- The ATESHKADE (or ĀTAŠKADA)-ye ESFAHAN (Zoroastrian fire-temple): This ancient adobe complex, said to be that of a Sassanian Zoroastrian ateshkade (ātaškada), is perched atop a 105-m.-high hill @ 7 km.s west of town which affords good views back to the city and of the Zayandeh-rud. It was threatening to rain when I was there, and I took some good photos of structures at the top of the hill with the dark clouds behind. (I'll scan and upload one.)

- The complex includes the remains of a citadel consisting of @ 20 rooms or small bldg.s, several with the classic chartaq, 'four-arch' floor plan, characteristic of Sassanian fire-temples. (Wikipedia) The Arab historian Masudi visited the site in @ 1970, and "recorded [a] local tradition that the [temple] was converted from one of idol worship to fire worship by King Yustasf (aka Vishtaspa, the patron of Zoroaster) when he adopted the religion of the Magi." Since then, carbon-14 tests have revealed that the oldest elements of the temple (or fortress? whatever it was) date from the Elamite period (!).

- The most distinctive feature of the complex is a plain, adobe, circular tower atop the hill with one door and 7 windows. It "appears to have been a watch-tower" within which a fire served as a beacon, and may date to the Islamic period. It's been partly reconstructed in modern times. (Wikipedia) upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Atashgah_Isfa... According to a brochure, the complex is at 1,680 m.s above sea level and occupies an area of @ 36,000 m.s2.

- itto.org/iran/itemgallery/atashgah-zoroastrian-fire-templ...

- "The bldg.s [in the complex] were used by members of Esfahan's Isma'ili community in the 10th cent. to avoid tax collectors." I relate.

- I'd forgotten, but I wrote on the back of a photo that I walked the 7 or so clicks west to this site.

- After scrambling up to and @ the top and taking it all in, I headed east to the Manar Jomban (but missed a famous pigeon tower or 2 in the area).

- youtube.com/shorts/wy5991letwk?si=HuSQ0Nb4uoEOHzHl

- The MANAR JONBAN (Il-khanid, I337, and Safavid): A shrine built over the tomb of the early 14th cent. gnostic Amu Abdollah Karladani, @ 7 km.s west of the city centre, is known as Manar Jonban, 'Shaking Minarets'. Twin minarets stand at the corners of the roof of the 10 m. tall shrine with its single eivan. When one shakes one minaret from within at the top, causing it to wobble or sway back and forth, its twin does so as well at the same frequency. "Although by no means unique in this respect, these 'Shaking Minarets' are probably the most famous of their kind. The minarets [which at 7.5 m.s each aren't so tall,] probably date from the late Safavid period, while the tomb beneath them was built in the 14th cent." (LP) The Doppler effect seen here is a function of the use of light-weight materials in the construction of the minarets, their low height, their distance from one another, and the installation of wooden 'spreaders' in the upper and lower parts of the minarets. The architect designed them specifically for this effect. (That said, local legend has it that both minarets shake as Abu Abdollah shakes in his grave "with fury at being disturbed yet again.") I climbed up a flight of stairs to the roof, and then climbed up a minaret, shook it by leaning back and forth, causing it to sway, and observed its twin get into the act, so I can confirm the reports. (A visit here is a bit like a trip to 'Magnetic Hill' in Moncton on some level.) Tourists aren't permitted to climb up and mess with the minarets anymore, so the custodian puts on a demonstration 5 x a day.

- youtu.be/AJDatkvuXIo?si=Hod-O9Dbshu8jMKB

- I had a memorable exchange with a man in a mosque in Esfahan, and was about to include the mosque's name in the following account of the exchange (seeing as I'm writing this in 2024, 24 yr.s later), but I've thought better of it. I was looking around within it, taking in the details, as is my wont, and spoke briefly with a local man who suddenly and very kindly offered to help me to access a portion of it that was closed to the public at the time, about which I knew nothing. (This isn't to say that it wasn't closed to the public at all times in 2000, nor that it isn't closed to the public today. I wouldn't know.) He indicated that I should wait there for him and left for a few minutes. I later learned that he'd gone to look for the caretaker or custodian, the man with the keys, which I gathered from his limited English and his body-language as follows. When he returned he shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, and made a gesture with one arm (his left I think) extended outwards and with the palm of his right hand facing up and positioned close to the crook in his left, outstretched arm, while pointing the thumb of his right hand a few times toward the space /b/ the 2nd and 3rd fingers of that hand and to the crook in his left arm. (See how a picture is worth a thousand words?) He was imitating the action of injecting a needle into his outstretched arm, and was efficiently and effectively communicating that the caretaker of this famous mosque was unavailable to admit me to the said wonderful but mysterious locked portion of it because he was SHOOTING UP! What the ...?! Wow. That's how bad the situation had become locally with the flood of opiates across the Afghan border only @ 900 km.s to the East. I'd heard that this had become a real problem for Iran, and I'd already come across a junkie's needles in an adobe hollow of sorts at Susa, and would later seem them at Tappe Sialk where some kids pointed some out in a similar spot, and then found them by the toilet in a mosque at Firouzabad a few weeks later. I shouldn't have been surprised. Milk from the seeds of poppies grown in the vast poppy fields of Afghanistan (which have grown in total area to that of Rhode Island) has been converted to opium and morphine since ancient times, and increasingly to heroin since the late 19th cent. Annual Afghani production rose from @ 100 tons in the 70s to 2,000 in 1990, the year of the "conclusion" of the C.I.A.'s 10 year 'secret war' against the Soviets with the Afghan Mujahideen, "Operation Cyclone", and to 4,600 tons by 1999. (The Taliban famously attempted to destroy or greatly reduce production in 2000, the year of this trip, and achieved "an almost overnight drop to 185 tons harvested [in 2001]", but that just wouldn't do, and the U.S. invaded later that year, very coincidentally, hot on the heels of 9-11.) Afghanistan is now said to be "the source of over 90% of all the world’s illicit opium." mronline.org/2021/06/29/geopolitics-profit-and-poppies-ho... I'd heard or read that Iranian authorities had made inquiries (to their credit) with Western governments in the late 90s as to how they might address and seek to reduce opiate abuse and mitigate the levels of addiction Iran was facing. I also heard or read that "if the mullahs have resorted to asking for help or advice from the West, you know the situation MUST be bad." I heard that the situation in the city of Kerman, further east (which I didn't visit) was especially bad. Someone, somewhere that trip told me that Afghani suppliers had been training camels to run supply routes while addicting them to heroin, for which they would book it back and forth across the desert in the west and SW for their fix, laden with heroin. And to think that I was in Esfahan less than a year before 9-11, the American invasion of Afghanistan, and the expansion of opiate production to unprecedented levels.

- Of course I hope that that caretaker or custodian managed to turn things around and overcome his addiction to one of the most powerfully addictive drugs out there (at least in 2000). It's not a habit you can maintain without losing control of your life, so I assume his employers or supervisors learned about his problem and that either he prevailed against it or was let go.

The sad, but colourful autumnal change

Now showing Exif if you are interested, though i'm still shooting large fine jpeg. Like the seasons, i'm slow to change. When the weather gets a bit raw....

The green glass façade bulges from a diagonal grid that forms its structural skin. Inside the building houses retail floors, lounges, and event spaces.

Ludlow Castle: Detail - Keep and Inner Bailey

Ludlow Castle

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1004778

More information can be found on the link below:-

historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004778

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Ludlow Castle, Castle Square, Ludlow, Shropshire

Ludlow Castle the standing structural remains

Heritage Category: Listed Building

Grade: I Listed

List Entry Number: 1291698

Summary

The standing structural remains of Ludlow Castle, an enclosure castle, begun in the late C11, and converted into a tower keep castle in the early C12.

Reasons for Designation

The standing structural remains of Ludlow Castle are listed at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

Historical: as one of England's finest castle sites, clearly showing its development from an enclosure castle into a tower keep castle in the C12; the castle played an important historical role particularly as seat of the President of the Council of the Marches; Architectural: the castle remains illustrate significant phases of development between the C11 and the C16; Survival: the buildings are in a ruinous condition, but nonetheless represent a remarkably complete multi-phase complex.

History

An enclosure castle is a defended residence or stronghold, built mainly of stone, in which the principal or sole defence comprises the walls and mural towers bounding the site. Enclosure castles, found in urban and in rural areas, were the strongly defended residence of the king or lord, sited for offensive or defensive operations, and often forming an administrative centre. Although such sites first appeared following the Norman Conquest, they really developed in the C12, incorporating defensive experience of the period, including that gained during the Crusades. Many enclosure castles were built in the C13, with a few dating from the C14, and Ludlow Castle is not alone in having begun as an enclosure castle and developed into a tower keep castle. At Ludlow, the large existing gate tower was converted into a tower keep in the early C12, providing more domestic accommodation, as well as defence.

Ludlow Castle occupies a commanding position at the steep-sided western end of a flat-topped ridge overlooking the valleys of the River Teme and the River Corve. The adjacent town of Ludlow, which was established by the mid-C12, lies to the south and east of the castle. The defences surrounding the medieval town are designated separately. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy in about 1075 and served as the ‘caput' (the principal residence, military base and administrative centre) of the de Lacy estates in south Shropshire until the mid-C13. During the Anarchy of King Stephen's reign the castle was for Matilda until 1139, when it was besieged and captured by Stephen. The de Lacy family recovered the castle in the C12 and retained it, apart from occasional confiscations, until the death of Walter de Lacy in 1241. Ludlow Castle features in an ‘ancestral romance’ called ‘The Romance of Fulk FitzWarren', written in the late C13 about the adventures of a C13 knight. Other documentary sources indicate that when the castle was in royal control it was used for important meetings, such as that held in 1224 when Henry III made a treaty with the Welsh prince, Llewellyn. Following the death of Walter de Lacy in 1241 the castle came into the possession of the de Genevilles, and in the early C14, the castle passed through marriage to Roger Mortimer. Between 1327 and 1330 Roger Mortimer ruled England as Regent, with Edward II's widowed queen, Isabella. Mortimer had himself made Earl of March in 1328. In 1425 the Mortimer inheritance passed to Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, who made Ludlow a favoured residence. His eldest son, who assumed the title of Earl of March, claimed the crown as Edward IV in 1461. Edward IV's son Edward was created Prince of Wales in 1471, and in 1473 was sent to Ludlow, where the administration of the principality known as the Council in the Marches was established. Both Edward and the Council remained at Ludlow until Edward IV's death in 1483. Ludlow Castle continued as an important royal residence and in 1493 the Council was re-established at Ludlow with Henry VII's son and heir, Prince Arthur as Prince of Wales. In 1501 Arthur was installed at Ludlow with his bride, Katherine of Aragon, and it was at Ludlow that Arthur died in 1502. In 1534 the Council in the Marches received statutory powers both to hear suits and to supervise and intervene in judicial proceedings in Wales and the Marches, and from that time until 1641, and again from 1660 to 1689, Ludlow's principal role was as the headquarters for the Council and, as such, the administrative capital of Wales and the border region. Milton’s mask, ‘Comus’, was first performed here in 1634 before John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater, in celebration of the earl’s new appointment as Lord President of Wales. On the dissolution of the Council the castle was abandoned and left to decay. Lead, window glass and panelling were soon removed for reuse in the town. In 1771, when the castle was leased to the Earl of Powis, many of the buildings were in ruins.

Since the late C18, the buildings have undergone repair and restoration at various times, as well as some further deterioration, with some rebuilding and replacement of stonework. Extensive archaeological excavations were undertaken by William St John Hope between 1903 and 1907. The castle is now open to the public.

Details

The standing structural remains of Ludlow Castle, an enclosure castle, begun in the late C11, and converted into a tower keep castle in the early C12.

MATERIALS: the castle is constructed of a variety of local stones; it appears that the greenish-grey flaggy calcerous siltstones that underlies the castle was used in its initial phase, with local sandstones being used thereafter.

PLAN: the castle consists of an elliptical INNER BAILEY, in the north-west corner of the site, representing the earliest area of development, with the OUTER BAILEY, created in the second half of the C12, to the south and east.

BUILDINGS:

The curtain wall of the inner bailey incorporates four mural towers and the former gatehouse, all thought to have been constructed by 1115. Three of the four towers are open at the back and would originally have contained wooden scaffolding supporting look-out and fighting platforms. The fourth tower, known as the POSTERN TOWER, on the western side of the enclosure, has small ground-floor postern doorways on its north and east sides. The former gatehouse, situated at the south-eastern part of the enclosure, is rectangular in plan and was originally three storeys in height. Remaining in the ground-floor of the building is part of a wall arcade, thought to be late-C11, with ornamented capitals. In the early C12 a fourth storey was added to provide more domestic accommodation, thus converting the gatehouse into a tower keep, known as the GREAT TOWER. In the later C12 the original gatehouse entrance passage was blocked (the location of the former arch remains visible on the south elevation) and an archway was cut through the adjacent part of the curtain wall to the north-east, reached by a stone bridge. This archway was partially infilled and a smaller arch constructed in the C14. Access to the upper floors of the tower is by a spiral stair to the east, reached by an ornamented doorcase, the Tudor arch having a trefoiled lintel flanked by cusped panelling and trefoiled lintel, which also gives access to rooms in the Judges’ Lodgings (see below). On the first floor is the hall, with a chamber and garderobe to the west. In the second half of the C15 the north wall of the Great Tower was rebuilt and internal floors added to create new rooms lit by enlarged windows. Adjoining the Great Tower, in the south-west section of the inner bailey, is the INMOST BAILEY, a walled enclosure constructed in the C12 and C13 to provide greater security and privacy to those living in the Great Tower. There is a well within this enclosure surrounded by a low stone wall.

Located in the north-eastern sector of the elliptical enclosure of the inner bailey are the remains of the CHAPEL OF ST MARY MAGDALENE. This was built in the first half of the C12, probably by Gilbert de Lacy, and was remodelled in the C16, probably in two phases. In the first phase, thought to have been undertaken circa 1502 for the installation of Arthur, Prince of Wales, a first floor was inserted in the circular nave, together with additional openings, including a first-floor doorway which gave access to a passage linking the chapel with the Great Chamber Block to the north. In the second phase, during the presidency of the Council in the Marches of Sir Henry Sidney (1560-86), the original presbytery and chancel were taken down and a new chancel, or chapel, built, stretching as far as the curtain wall. The crenellated circular nave, which measures 8.3m in diameter internally, survives to its full height as a roofless shell, and contains much original carving to the round-headed order arches of the door openings, with chevron and billet mouldings, and to the internal blind arcade with a variety of capitals and moulded arches.

Since the late C12, the castle site has been entered through the two-storeyed GATEHOUSE within the eastern part of the curtain wall of the outer bailey. The wall originally had two adjoining rectangular mural towers of which the one to the north of the gatehouse survives as a standing structure; this, together with the adjacent section of the curtain wall form part of the CASTLE HOUSE built in the C18 (listed separately at Grade I). Protruding from the curtain wall defining the western side of the outer bailey are the remains of a semi-circular tower known as MORTIMER'S TOWER, possibly built in the early C13; this originally consisted of a ground-floor entrance passage, with two floors above, and was used as the postern entrance to the outer bailey until the C15. In the south-west corner of the outer bailey are the remains of ST PETER’S CHAPEL, originally a free-standing rectangular structure, founded by Roger Mortimer to celebrate his escape from the Tower of London in 1324, following his rebellion against Edward II. The chapel served as the Court House and offices of the Council in the Marches, for which an adjacent building to the west was constructed. The south-east corner of the chapel is now attached to a wall which completes the enclosure of the outer bailey’s south-west corner. In the north wall of the chapel is a blocked two-light window, enlarged at the bottom when a floor was inserted for the court house; a second original window towards the eastern end now contains a first-floor blocked doorway.

At the end of the C13 or in the early C14 an extensive building programme was initiated, replacing existing structures within the inner bailey with a grand new range of domestic buildings, built along the inside of the north section of the Norman curtain wall. The construction of these new buildings indicates the changing role of Ludlow Castle from military stronghold to a more comfortable residence and a seat of political power, reflecting the more peaceful conditions in the region following the conquest of Wales by Edward I. The first buildings to be completed were the GREAT HALL and the adjoining SOLAR BLOCK (private apartments). The Great Hall, which was used for ceremonial and public occasions, consisted of a first floor over a large undercroft, reached through a moulded pointed arch in the south elevation. The Hall was lit on both south and north sides by three pointed-arched windows with sunk chamfers and ‘Y’ tracery formed of paired cusped trefoil-headed lights, under hoodmoulds; these originally had seats, now partially surviving. The central south window was converted to a fireplace, replacing the louver which formerly covered the open fire towards the east of the Hall, its position indicated by elaborate corbels. At the west end, a series of openings lead into the Solar Block, only one of these (that to the north) being of the primary phase. Within the Hall, at the western end, is a timber viewing platform, which is not of special interest.* The Solar Block is thought to have been begun as a two-storey building, and raised to three storeys shortly afterwards, at which time the adjacent NORTH-WEST TOWER was raised, with the new CLOSET TOWER being built in the angle between the two. Each of the three floors of the Solar Block extended into the North-West Tower, with each being linked to a room in the Closet Tower. All three floors of the Solar were heated, the ground floor having a fireplace which originally had a stone hood; the first-floor room has hooded fireplace, on nearly triangular-sectioned jambs; the room above has a plainer hooded fireplace. The windows include original openings with ‘Y’ tracery and trefoil-headed lights, similar to those in the Hall, and a ground-floor mullioned window probably dating from the late C16.

In the early C14 two additional buildings containing more private apartments were constructed by Richard Mortimer. The three-storeyed GREAT CHAMBER BLOCK was built in about 1320 next to the Great Hall to balance the Solar Block to the west of the Hall. The connecting four-storeyed GARDEROBE TOWER, which projects from the curtain wall of the inner bailey, was also probably built about the same time. As in the Hall and Solar blocks, the floors are now lost but features in the walls remain to indicate layout and function. The main entrance to this block is through a recessed doorway in the south-west corner, with a pointed two-light window above. The undercroft was heated, and is lit by two two-light windows with stone side seats in the south wall. The tracery of the eastern of these windows has been lost. The first-floor main room, or ‘Great Chamber’, contains a grand hooded fireplace carried on a fourfold series of corbels; to either side of the fireplace are large head corbels with leafwork. The Tudor transomed and mullioned window probably replaced an earlier window. The upper room also has a large hooded fireplace, and was lit principally by a large trefoil-headed window with head-stopped hoodmould in the southern wall.

Following the establishment of the headquarters for the Council in the Marches at Ludlow, new buildings were constructed and many existing buildings changed their use. Within the inner bailey the main room in the Great Chamber Block became the council chamber, with additional chambers above. A new adjoining residential block, now called the TUDOR LODGINGS, was built to the east, replacing earlier structures. The block consisted of two sets of lodgings both being of three storeys with attic rooms above. The south wall of this block cuts across openings in the east wall of the Great Chamber Block. Between the lodgings, projecting from the south wall, is a circular stair tower, entered through an ogee-headed arch. The windows in the south elevation are mullioned; several have been blocked. In the north wall of the western lodging, at ground-floor level, is an opening with double trefoil head, having a divided light above. Otherwise, the features of this range are plain, with pointed door openings, and straight lintels to fireplaces.

As the power of the Council grew, further domestic accommodation was needed. To the east of the entrance within the inner bailey, a three-storeyed range, known as the JUDGES LODGINGS, was completed in 1581. On the south side, this building extends the curtain wall upwards, with two gables, and piercing for fenestration, the earlier arched entrance to the inner bailey becoming visually part of the newer building, with rooms above; stone arms set immediately over the archway dated 1581 commemorate the Presidency of the Council of Sir Henry Sidney. Rooms set above the arch leave a gate-passage leading through a second archway to the inner bailey, and giving access to both the Great Keep and the Judges’ Lodgings. The rooms above the gate-passage appear to have been accessed by the embellished Tudor-arched doorway in the Keep at the north end of the passage. The north side of the Judges’ Lodgings, within the inner bailey, has a polygonal stair turret (which originally had a pyramidal roof), with mullioned and transomed eight-light windows set regularly to either side. Within, some indication is given of the arrangement and appearance of the rooms by the survival of numerous fireplaces of red sandstone backed by brick set in herringbone pattern. The adjoining building to the east, originally two-storeyed, is thought to date from the C17.

Other developments during the C16 included changes to the south-west corner tower, enclosed within the inmost bailey, with the installation of a large oven at ground-floor level, with residential rooms above; the tower became known as the OVEN TOWER. In 1522 the PORTER'S LODGE was built in the outer bailey to the south of the gatehouse. The shell of this building now contains the castle shop; the modern structure and fittings of the shop are not of special interest.* Also dating from 1522 is the PRISON, adjoining to the south, which retains square-headed windows with moulded frames and hoodmoulds, and the stable block, completed in 1597, with mullioned windows. Like the porter's lodge, these buildings remain as incomplete shells.

*Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act'), it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.

Sources

Books and journals

Cathcart-King, D J, Castellarium Anglicanum, (1983)

Goodall, J, The English Castle, 1066-1650, (2011)

H M Colvin, D R Ransome, The History of the KIng's Works, vol 3, (1975)

Kenyon, J, Castles in Wales and the Marches Essays in honour of DJ Cathcart King, (1987), 55-74

Pevsner, N, Newman, J, The Buildings of England: Shropshire, (2006)

R Allen Brown, H M Colvin, The History of the King's Works, vol 2, (1963)

Shoesmith, R, Johnson, A (eds), Ludlow Castle. Its History and Buildings, (2000)

'' in Archaeological Investigations Ltd, Hereford archaeology series, (1991)

W. H. St John Hope, , 'Archaeologia' in The Castle of Ludlow, (1908)

Other

Pastscape Monument No. 111057,

Shropshire HER 01176,

historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1291698

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Ludlow Castle, Castle Square, Ludlow, Shropshire

Construction of Ludlow Castle began in the late 11th century by the de Lacy's and held by them until the 13th century. In the 14th century it was enlarged by the Mortimers. In the 15th century ownership transferred between the House of York and Lancashire during the War of the Roses. In Elizabethan times the castle was further extended by Sir Henry Sidney. After the civil war the castle declined. It is now owned by the Earl of Powys for the crown.

Grade I listed.

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Welcome to Ludlow Castle, one of the finest medieval ruins in England. Set in the glorious Shropshire countryside at the heart of the superb, bustling black & white market town of Ludlow. Walk through the Castle grounds and see the ancient houses of kings, queens, princes, judges and the nobility – a glimpse into the lifestyle of medieval society

The Castle, firstly a Norman Fortress and extended over the centuries to become a fortified Royal Palace, has ensured Ludlow’s place in English history – originally built to hold back unconquered Welsh, passing through generations of the de Lacy and Mortimer families to Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. It became Crown property in 1461 and remained a royal castle for the next 350 years, during which time the Council of the Marches was formed with responsibility for the Government of Wales and the border counties. Abandoned in 1689 the castle quickly fell into ruin, described as ‘the very perfection of decay’ by Daniel Defoe

Since 1811 the castle has been owned by the Earls of Powis, who have arrested further decline, and allowed this magnificent historical monument to be open to the public. Today the Castle is the home to Ludlow’s major festivals throughout the year and open for all to enjoy.

www.ludlowcastle.com/the-castle/

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See also:-

www.britainirelandcastles.com/England/Shropshire/Ludlow-C...

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Castle

I had about a half hour to kill before going to a show at Yoshi's in Oakland's Jack London Square last night (John Mayall), so how better to spend it than to take advantage of the low light.

Central Station on Ann Street (Brisbane, Australia)

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my written permission. © Toni_V. All rights reserved.

BIGGER

Southern elevation of the Electrical and Computer Engineering building (ECE). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Champaign, IL.

"Abandoned but not forgotten"

This is one of 6 images in the set. This is a creative commons image, which you may freely use by linking to this page. Please respect the photographer and his work.

Today part of the Hinkle House is the Andrews Funeral Home www.andrewsfuneralservices.com/fh/home/home.cfm?fh_id=14468 just south of Gloucester Court House in Gloucester County, Virginia. It was built around 1910 of structural terracotta (also spelled terra cotta) blocks and stucco covering. This information came from a phone conversation with the home owner. In the last quarter of the 19th century, stucco and hollow terracotta bricks had become more common as building materials but never reached tremendous popularity in home construction. Terracotta is clay based and is notable for widespread use as roof tiles and in sculpture (when glazed) as well. Homes of this construction were advertised as having fire resistant properties. Use of terracotta and stucco helped create homes with quiet interiors, sound effectively diminished by the structural properties. The hollow tiles were used as foundation and walls, the latter often covered by plaster generally on exterior walls. Structural terracotta has gone by many names—hollow tile, building tile, structural clay tile, terracotta blocks, terracotta bricks, etc.

The spacious 2 1/2 storied home has steep-pitched red-shingled roofs and prominent gables. Visible on the front façade is a gabled dormer with two windows. This pattern of paired windows is prominent as well on the front façade. The fenestration is mostly 9/1 sash. The ground level has an addition to the left, a slight bay construction and an entry porch. The porch is small and covered with a sloping roof, a small gable and underneath that a partial arch, which matches the arched transom of the door; four slender Tuscan columns support the roof. The entrance is single-leaf with 10 glass panes; the sidelights consist of 5 panes each. It seems the transom consists of irregularly shaped panes, possibly of a sun-burst pattern. The photos were taken around 7:30 on an early May morning in 2011; the light was not the best at that time.

For additional information on terra cotta see

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_clay_tile

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_cotta

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

After I finished off the first wing prototyp I wanted to attach it to the cockpit pod just to notice that the wing turned out way to heavy for the joints I´ve build, as they immediatly cracked under the pressure.

So next thing to do is to get those joints stronger.

Otherwise the poor pilot will never ever know how it feels to fly among the stars, well at least among a planetary surface.

See the finished MOC here.

© Andy Matthews

www.andymatthewsphotography.com

Astrowsky-Alvarado Residence

Project type: 2 story residential addition and remodel

Status: complete

>View from entry to living room

Location: Silver Lake, CA

Jeremy Levine Design

www.jeremylevine.com

Trittico veneziano 3/3 (Venice, you can recognize it from birds :)

www.francescopapagni.com/

This sculpture was one of my favourites this year.

You can imagine the scale of this artwork by comparing the height

of the people in the background. It is by the same artist of last year's

Metal Tsunami.

Original title "Structural Wind"... Truly amazing

We don't really understand why a taller building needs less external supports than a smaller one, but whatever works!

Underside of the Golden Gate Bridge with the sun going down.

This photo is taken in Infosys Bangalore Campus

Engine 4, 2018 E One Typhoon, P22 Structural Pumper

Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Maurice Forbes, assigned to the "Ragin' Bulls" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 37, removes corroded screws from the wing of an F/A-18 Hornet in order to access a malfunctioning collision light in hangar bay one aboard the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Truman and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 are underway on a scheduled deployment in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and maritime security operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Matthew A. Lawson. www.navy.com

Bolting / working hands

Structural system for my next model.

See the insulation board at the bottom with the foam layer of outer and inner rings above it, and they are no longer flexing. Note that she's leaning in this picture. When she stands up straight the costume stays level on her hips.

The Left Coast Lifter Is Still Close To The Westchester Shoreline This Week. The Left Coast Lifter Will Be Used To Install Of Tons Of Structural Steel As The Westchester Approach Takes Shape. Photo Taken Saturday May 14, 2016.

DSC4511

Some interesting geology on display. See comment box for the nearest source document located. Then just highlight the mystery terms and right click to search Google, one could spend hours learning about structural geology, fun isn't it. Seen any good easterly-verging reverse faults lately?

"Seal Rocks once supported the most northern rookery of the Australian fur seal in NSW where seals were seen regularly until the 1970s. There are still occasional sightings of Australian fur seals, and suitable habitat also exists for the New Zealand fur seal. Seal Rocks may be used occasionally by little penguins and sea birds. The waters surrounding the reserve are within the Sanctuary Zone of the Port Stephens – Great Lakes Marine Park and the waters around Seal Rocks form a key aggregation site for the endangered grey nurse shark.

The nature reserve is in the traditional country of the Worimi people." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_Rocks,_New_South_Wales

Old brick building in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

The core tool of success in my business and personal life. Robert Fritz developed this tool, and Peter Senge included it in his book The Fifth Discipline.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The aircraft that became known as ’The Jägermeister’ was an ambitious racing aircraft project from Germany, that took part in the US National Air Races at Reno during 1967-69.

During the 1969 Reno Air Races, The Jägermeister suffered a major engine failure. While Farnsworth could keep the aircraft under control and bring it down, the landing attempt ended in disaster and the airframe had to be written off.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 26 ft 11 in (8.20 m)

Wingspan: 26 ft 5 1/2 in (8.08 m)

Height: 8 ft 2 in (2.5 m)

Wing area: 134 ft² (12.5 m²)

Empty weight: 4.361 lb (1.980 kg)*

Loaded weight: 5.420 lb (2.460 kg)

*raised to 4.500 lb when starting at the National Championship Air Races

Powerplant

1× modified DB 601M V12 race engine with up to 2.000hp (1.470kW), driving a five-bladed propeller

Performance

Maximum speed (theoretical): 800 km/h (432 kn, 496 mph) at 20.000 ft

Range: n/a

Service ceiling: 10.000 m (28.250 ft)

Rate of climb: n/a

Wing loading: 158,4 kg/m² (32,5 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 742,4 W/kg (0.46 hp/lb)

The kit and its assembly

Primiraly, this fictional Unlimited Class Reno Air Racer was a contribution to an air racer group build at whatifmodelers.com, but also a nice distraction from military vehicles/aircraft. You rarely have the chance to turn a weapon into a sport item.

Conceptually it was clear from the start that I wanted to build something that would be plausible/realistic, still with a twist. When I wondered about a potential German type for the Reno Air Race after WWII (where a lot of US, British and recently some Soviet warbirds were used), I passed the 'typical candidates' of Bf 109 or Fw 190 and settled for the unlucky pre-war He 100.

Originally, the He 100 had been a rival to the Bf 109 and the He 112, and it was definitively the best aircraft of both of these. The real He 100 flew for the first time in early 1938, and it was used for record attempts (e .g. on a 100km round course, and also for the absolute speed record - and the eight prototype even reached 746,61 km/h (462,58 mph)! Anyway, the Bf 109 was preferred and the He 100 became a passed opportunity.

Since the He 100's DB 601 engine was reserved for the Bf 109, the He 100 was not 'allowed' into German service and serial production and only a few He 100D (slightly modified, with a new cooler and an enlarged tail fin) were built - even though the type was offered for export and license production, e .g. to Japan or the Soviet Union.

The fifteen built aircraft were primarily used for propaganda purposes, or ended up as local defense of the Heinkel plant in Rostock-Marienehe.

Anyway, the elegant and fast He 100D would be a perfect candidate for a fast racing aircraft. In order to make a Reno Racer from it, the kit (Special Hobby kit, the optional Lindberg kit is a joke) saw some basic modifications:

● Clipped wing tips, which would reduce the real life span by about 3'

● A new propeller with five blades and a bigger spinner

● New exhaust pipes

● A new, more modern and streamlined canopy

● A modern pilot figure

● Omittance of the belly radiator

Around the fuselage, any sign of armament disappeared. Clipped wings are a common practice on racing warbirds, as it reduces drag and G-forces in tight turns, so the wing span was reduced and new wing tips sculpted. The new propeller comes from a Griffon Spitfire: the spinner from a Pavla aftermarket kit, the propeller blades from a Special Hobby kit. In order to fit the slightly bigger diameter spinner onto the tiny He 100 fuselage I had to cut the latter by about 3mm, I wanted to use the original lines instead of adding a fat nose with putty.

The propeller was mounted with a metal axis in a styrene tube, so that it could rotate freely.

The cockpit was taken OOB, but a modern pilot from an Academy kit was used - this pilot wears a jumpsuit and a 'bone dome', but no oxygen mask, so it is a perfect choice for a low altitude racer.

The canopy actually is a rear canopy part from a Hobby Boss P-51, just facing rearwards. Fairings from styrene and putty had to be added to make the new piece fit, but its slender like looks much more aerodynamic than the original He 100 part, and such simple modifications are frequently done to warbird racers.

The rest of the kit was taken more or less OOB - I just left the water cooler under the fuselage away. The original He 100 did not have this piece either, as the DB 601 was cooled by a complicated but aerodynamically very effective evaporative cooling system - and for short race distances, falling back to this option would IMHO make sense. Actually, this has also been employed in real life Reno Racers, so it's plausible.

Painting and markings:

Well, a German Reno Racer was the idea, and I found a nice livery/sponsor option when I browsed through Germany's touring car history: thorough many years, the Rauch destilery sponsored race cars for their herbal liquor 'Jägermeister', and this old brand has orange as ID color, as well as promiment logos and typo. What else could you ask for?

Consequently, the He 100 racer became 'The Jägermeister; in a simple, all-orange livery, just like the respectice race cars. The original tone is, as far as I could find out, RAL 2004 (Reinorange). I used Testors 1595 (Semigloss Orange), since the tone comes pretty close. Panels were later emphasized through light dry-brushing with Humbrol 18 (Gloss Orange), which is slightly lighter, and some Humbrol 132 for depth. The intention was to make the kit not look too uniform, but not dirty or dented, as air racers are frequently kept clean and in best possible shape.

The logos, sponsor stickers and typo come from an aftermarket decal sheet for 1:43 race cars and were deliberately scattered across the aircraft, using real life racers as benchmark for details like grid number positions and orientation.

The German registration D-WILD is fictional and was created through single letters from TL Modellbau aftermarket sheets. These also provided the German flag on the tail.

The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey. The pilot received a dark brown jumpsuit with white and orange trim, as well as a white helmet.

The landing gear and the interior of the wells were painted in Aluminum (Humbrol 56), the wheel discs are black so that they'd not stand out too much.

The spinner tip was painted with glossy silver (Humbrol 11), the propeller blades were painted black from behind, light grey from the front, with yellow warning tips.

Finally, everything was sealed under a double coat of gloss acrylic varnish.

As the kit was built OOB and any ingredients at hand, the whole thing was puzzled together in less than three days – it actually took longer to wait for the right weather condition to take the pictures.

It is a nice and colorful whif that would have certainly looked great (if not somewhat dwarfish) among other Reno warbirds?

These old, worn pillars of a pier at Portishead made for an interesting subject on a recent club photo-shoot.

This is the 'Stockline Plastics' explosion and structural collapse in Glasgow. A multi-agency combined response including 2 SORT (HART) teams from the ambulance service, casualty clearing, decontamination, command and control, shelters and logistics. Background: On May 11, 2004, the ICL Plastics factory (commonly referred to as Stockline Plastics factory), in Glasgow, Scotland, exploded. Nine people were killed, including two company directors, and 33 injured, 15 seriously. The four-storey building was destroyed.

The first service to attend were a Patient Transport Ambulance crew who took the decision to divert straight to the scene because they were so close at the time of the explosion. This initial crew was credited with saving dozens of lives by taking control of the evacuation and pulling the injured to safety. Approximately 60 people worked in the factory, and around a dozen were trapped in the rubble. Sniffer dogs, carbon dioxide detectors, thermal-imaging equipment, and fibre-optic cameras were used. Some trapped workers were able to make themselves heard by shouting, or by using their mobile phones. Fire and Ambulance crews pulled seven people alive from the rubble on May 11. The search through the collapsed structures continued for the following three days.

At the height of this incident it was reported that 300 Firefighters and Paramedics were present at the scene, also assisted by the nearest Air Ambulance, a Sea King helicopter from the RAF, sniffer dog team from RAF and the Voluntary International Rescue Corps.

The injured were taken for treatment to five hospitals in Glasgow; Stobhill Hospital, Western Infirmary and Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Southern General and Victoria Infirmary.

Seven people were declared dead at the scene, and sadly two more people died in the Western Infirmary.

Granite jointing with cross-cutting faulting in the Chilliwack Batholith of the Cascade Mountains

(Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)

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The Structural Genocide That Is Capitalism

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Structural subterranean vaults were used to create a level surface on which to build the Temple of Traianus on the Acropolis at Pergamon near Bergama close to the North Aegean Coast at Turkey.