Kings of Jerusalem or Europe in a nutshell

To me, this slightly gawky synthesis of a Gothic high-medieval cathedral and a mosque (by the later addition of a minaret) represents the essence of what it means to be European. The church is magnificent.

It is the great cathedral of Famagusta, the St Nicolas church, where the Lusignan kings of Cyprus were crowned as titular kings of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, long after any landholdings were retained. The fig trees outside is claimed to be 700 years old. After the Ottoman conquest it was made the Lala Mustafa Pasha mosque. The whitewashed inside retains the feeling of a gothic cathedral and was magnificent in it's feeling of serenity and calm.

I have many more pictures to show and I will come back to do so. But I may be off line for a few days, while relocating to the Gulf...

Peter-Paul or Sinan?

Well, both - of course! ;-) (and a glimpse of the Venetian palace) in between...

My absolute favourite was this top picture of the electric appliance ;-) but all the surrounding buildings were also amazing and you can look forward to a bunch of postings with medieval ruins from central Famagusta!

Closed?

Peeking through the padlocked door this church/mosque looked empty (but with magnificent vaults in the dark, showing through light streaming in through window-openings) but according to our guidebook it housed the municipal library! Anyway, it was built as the Peter-Paul-church and renamed Sinan Pasha Mosque - located next to the Venetian Palace and the across the square from the great cathedral of Famagusta.

Missing persons

The International Red Cross-committe are highlighting today, The International Day of the Disappeared, and the fact that not enough is done to solve disappearances in war situations. Also media have picked up on it.

Walls of Famagusta

The Venetian walls of old Famagusta were massive! We never made it to the highly contested Varosha "Ghost town" by the Palm Beach though. Over the next few posts I will show you some nice shots of medieval architecture in the old town - all of which deserve a place in the annals of European history and which we shoudl not need to be isolated from either.

Random reading recommendations...

Turkey is still very much in focus, now due to the election of Abdullah Gül as president. This Svenska Dagbladet-essay discusses the intellectual roots of the Islamic movement and his highly recommended!

Another interesting global feature is informal money transfers.

Celebrating the 800th aniversary of the birth of Rumi is a widespread occurence taking place this year. There are new translations to Swedish I believe (or was it Hafez?) - if I find a review I will post it for you.

The Stockholm Museum of Ancient Near Eastern art has an interesting autumn programme which I would attend if I were to spend the rest of the year in Stockholm!

Thanks to Carpetblogger we can take a look at the dig in Istanbul for the new subway under the Bosphorus!


A look at partying in Tel Aviv, in the shadow of regional unrest...

Famagusta - titbits to look at...

A few looks at sights and streets of Famagusta - more to come!

Streets of Nicosia

These photos are a bit jumbled - but I wanted to show you also some street scenes from north Nicosia - probably very much less affluent than the southern half - less than a kilometer away. But (as very much else we saw) very much part of a European heritage we should share and protect. More about that another day, though.

Jacaranda!

Jacarandas remind me of Southern Africa, where whole cities are in blue bloom in late autumn (their spring). The colour is illusive, though, even if it seems a bit easier to catch in in digital photos than it used to be on film.

Icon museum

In the alleys behind the harbour in Kyrenia, this Church of the archangel Michael shone brightly to passersby. It was supposed to house an icon museum, which I would have loved to see, but despite the large sign at the door dsplaying generous opening hours, it was always locked when we passed by.

Reading back

Well, I guess we've had a bit of time off from reading here ;-) but I have still been collecting links and have a few from recent weeks to share with you!

This Svenska Dagbladet-account of (northern) Iraqi investments in tourism gives some
perspective on the and development. But with increased violence also in the north, it still feels distant, even if there has been, so far, more reason for optimism there that elsewhere. However, last weeks rising attacks in the north do not encourage optimism - read the BBC reporting on Yazidis own opinions on the tragic event.

Al-Jazeera had this story on the situation for women in Iraq, highlighting the difficulties they face, including the need for selling sex to surive.

The US is attempting to list the Iranian revolutionary guard as terrorists. I am afraid this does not further dialogue and constructive development.

A friend has previously shown this, but I still want to share it with you too - beautiful photos (published by the BBC) of Lake Nasser south of Aswan in Egypt. Thanks Ibn ad Dunya!

Swedish Middle East journalist and photographer Mia Gröndahl writes about a Swedish photographer in the 1950's and his attempts to publish images of the Palestinian refugee population in Gaza. If I remember correctly his book is impossible to get hold of...

In the Swedish debate, issues on the fight against terrorism has been discussed again, here in Expressen.

Slightly more recent are 2 very interesting (as usual!) Crisisgroup-reports. The first one, from early August, is on Gaza and the way forward after the violent and tragic intra-Palestinian split earlier this summer. It warns against believing that peace is made by splitting the Palestinians like this.
The second report discusses Turkey and Europe after the AKP landslide election victory in July (heavily covered here) and was issued last week.

Fortress walls

Some more shots of and from the fortress walls (which one could walk on), perhaps giving a better picture of the setting and view. The location of Kyrenia between a mountain range and the sea can also be seen.

Fortress Kyrenia

Kyrenia used to be the best fortified town in Cyprus (probably with a combination of this Venetian fortress by the harbour and St Hilarion in the hills above the town) - but I think it is long since these were militarily meaningful. They were quaint and impressive though, and looking out from the walls in the deep blue sea was marvelous!

Aster Aweke

We did go see Aster Aweke tonight at the the Stockholm culture festival - imagine a whole week of free concerts and events, outdoors all over downtown!!!!

Anyway, she was terrific! (official website found here, but I think you can mostly buy records, there) I've seen her once before, also in Stockholm, probably more than 10 years ago, but had a memory of an energetic rhythmic vibrant feeling. It was just as good as I recalled and better - she played for about 2 hours, with absolutely no lax moments all through the concert. Extremely professional, a natural icon and idol, she played really funky music in a performance of outstandingly high and even quality - and didn't stand still for one second. It was great!

Stockholm culture festival

This week the Stockholm culture festival takes place in a range of locations across central Stockholm. Most of the activities seem to be for free!

I'm looking forward to Ethiopian star Aster Aweke on Friday and to the second-hand book sale down the whole length of Drottninggatan on Sunday!

Back streets

Glimpses of the back alleys behind the harbour - it looks a lot like I imagine Greece may have done in the days before mass tourism, but it was very Turkish also. And a bit British!

Kyrenia harbour

Some shots of the harbour in Kyrenia (Girne in Turkish), on both sides of the fort (photos to some of that too!)

Water week here in Stockholm

This week is the 17th World Water Week here in Stockholm, arranged by SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute). This event gathers a range of important global actors dealing with water issues, year after year. Judging from the media coverage, issues of climate change and of sanitation are high on the agenda this time. Also the Water Prize is awarded during the week.

Bougainvillea and other flower favourites

It is such a kick every time you get to see your favourite potted plants in lifesize versions, and with such bright colours also - I love it!