Kategorie: Architecture

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COLOMBIA: Zipaquirá – Magical Underground Catedral de Sal

The Catedral de Sal in Zipaquirá is a very special Catholic church located deep in the underground in the salt mine of Zipaquirá, located in the province of Cundinamarca in Colombia. It has no official status as a cathedral and is not subject to any bishop, but attracts thousands of visitors and pilgrims every week. The whole complex is part of the theme park Parque de la Sal and there are numerous religious artefacts and imposing artworks presented below the surface. The additional great light effects and lamp installations make a visit just unforgettable.

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MALTA: Sacred Door Saints and Nicknamed Houses – Valletta Architecture

Religion plays an important role in Maltese culture and tradition. There are over 360 chapels and churches throughout the archipelago, including the huge Carmelite Cathedral in Valletta and the great Ta’ Pinu Basilica in Gozo for example. The presence of faith is also evident in the streets and integrated onto the homes of the Maltese people in form of small plaques, figures and ornaments depicting saints and thus acting as the patron saint of the building. Many Maltese also give their houses their individual names, so you often find among these door saints also tiles or signs with the building names. Here is a small collection of these beautiful mostly made of ceramic works of art.

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USA: New York – Manhattan Street Life

Our visit was just awesome! Thanks a lot to crazy and surprisefull taxi drivers, to fantastic cheese cake bakers, to great stand up comedians and definitely for sure thanks a lot for cinema pass out places when they are needed! Sorry for the snorring! ? But the Lincoln movie is quite a long one and even without  the New York nightlife we would have fallen asleep in those cozy cinema seats. Thanks a lot for the contribution of the pics from photographer Alexander Teczar.

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NORWAY: Streetart Oslo – Frogner District – Vigeland Park and „The London Police”

Norway is a rich country where prosperity and quality of life are tangible and visible. The neighbourhood Frogner is the best example of this. Noble and sublime is the central district of Oslo. For us it was the starting point of our ventures in the city and a very good choice. In Frogner we resided and rented for seven days. This had many advantages and good reasons and this choice was really well made in retrospect. Accommodation and flights were in themselves very cheap compared to the cost of living in the city. This was probably a pure stroke of luck in the run-up to the event.

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JAPAN: Nara – UNESCO Historic Monuments of the Ancient

Many of the temples, shrines and ruins in Nara form the “Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara”, which is announced as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The complex includes the Tōdai-ji, the Kōfuku-ji, the Kasuga taisha, the Gangō-ji, the Yakushi-ji, the Tōshōdai-ji, and the Heijō Palace. The nearby Kasugayama Primeval Forest is also identified as part of the world heritage site and worth a visit.

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COLOMBIA: Barichara – Colonial Hormigas

Barichara is a municipality in the department of Santander and famous for its “Hormigas” – grilled and spice-flavoured ants. Yes, ANTS! Of course we tried some! The little village is located in the province of Guanentá at an altitude of about 1280 and close to San Gil. It´s a perfect dinner stop when you travel between Venezuela and Colombia. The colonial architecture is unique and well preserved. Here you can imagine how it was some centuries ago, the buildings and plazas didn´t change much. Around the city are wonderful mountains to explore, several hike routes are possible. If you are in a rush, stay the afternoon, try the Hormigas and check out the pueblo. If you have more time, stay for one or two nights.

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GREECE: The COLORS Hotel Thessaloniki – Modern style in historic walls

While staying in Thessaloniki we spend a lot of time on going out, having delicious meals and enjoying the vibrant nightlife. During one of these evenings I met Christina Drakopoulou and asked her, if she knows any graffiti artists or recommendable places for streetart. And yes, she knew. Her place: The Colors Hotel. Actually there are three of them. The Colors Hotels are old remodeled buildings with artworks of local sprayers. Again a magic meeting, it could have been fate or it just happened by accident, but of course we made an appointment for a visit. A few days later I met Christina at the building in 13 Tzimski Street, she showed me the place and we recorded an informative interview, as well we made a little movie about the place and some of the artistic rooms.

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ALBANIA: Durrës – Historic Epidamnos and Dyrrachium

After we had left Tirana our first stop was the big city Durrës at the Adriatic coast of Central Albania. Durrës is the most important port city in the country and therefore an economic centre. In terms of population, Durrës is the second largest city in the country after the capital Tirana, 30 km away, and the official seat of the Qark of the same name. Durrës and Tirana together form a metropolitan region. We could find a lot of nice street art here, but the historic buildings from antiquity and the Middle Ages, mixed with modern architecture, are also quite astonishing.

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JAPAN: Anago No Nedoko – Onomichi

The few but increasingly growing tourists who travel to Japan first of course visit the major cultural centers or high-tech cities such as Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. But if you have a little more time for your trip to Nippon, you have the opportunity to get to know many other sites in the country. Often the smaller villages are hidden and undervalued delicacies. For example, the fishing town of Onomichi (Japanese: 尾 道 市, -shi) on the southwest coast of Honshū Island.

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