Fes is a city of schools and universities and mosques. All of these buildings, and many of the larger ryads as well, are ornamented with beautiful architectural details. Herewith, and without much explanation, are some examples. Enjoy!
Next, we leave Fes for the mountains and the high desert!
Banteay Srei, about fifteen miles northeast of the main Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom complexes, is small compared to those better-known temples. Small but really sweet. And perhaps this is why it came to be called “Banteay Srei,” which means “Ladies’ Citadel.” Some say this is because the structures, doorways, and so on, are small, as if they were built for women. Others say the name came from the fact that the stone was so delicately carved and in such detail that only a woman could have done it. (Ladies, watch out for those second sort of men…)
Banteay Srei was built in 967AD and used into the fifteenth century. Its original name (in Sanskrit) was (er, sounds like…) Shiri Tre Bhuvan Mahes Vara, which means “Sacred Home of the Great Lord of the World.” The Great Lord in question is Shiva.
The temple later fell into disuse and was then abandoned and lost, to be rediscovered by the French but not until 1914.
The temple was built mostly of red sandstone, which is amenable to detailed carving and strong enough to endure a long time. And indeed the carvings are still after all these centuries so breathtaking that I’ve had a hard time narrowing down the photos to include here.
Remember, these carvings are well over a thousand years old!
Here’s a detail of the above pediment.
