iguanamountain blog

Consciousness of Place

Blog City Prompt: Have you ever visited a place that remains in your consciousness, long after you left?
Was it the people? The architecture?

I have two.

The first is the ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis. I've visited the site many times, spending days studying the massive stone work---the walls with intricate carving, the high columns, stairways with hundreds of figures, and the grand doorway arches. Mostly carved from grey limestone, the palaces were started about 518 BC with work continuing for several hundred years. I know there are many other ancient sites, but this one I had access to and it impressed me.

The scale of everything is beyond human size, meant to impress. When Alexander the Great discovered the city in 330 BC, it was the capital of the Persian Empire. Because the Persian army had burned the Greek city of Athens in 480 BC, Alexander burned, looted, and destroyed Persepolis in retribution. Only the stone remains plus the tombs high above, carved into the mountain face.

Persepolis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. It is located about 80 miles from the city of Shiraz, Iran.

The second is the old city of Bam in Iran. Built almost entirely out of mud adobe, the city is a major location in my soon to be completed novel, Apex Project. It is another site I've been visiting since about 1974. It the fortress and palace had been restored beautifully only to be destroyed by a massive earthquake. Now the restoration work is about two-thirds completed. There is one photo in my portfolio. "Invalid Item" 

In both cases it was the architecture that attracted me. I only spent one day, but Pompei in Italy was pretty cool. And now in Belize there are uncounted Mayan sites to explore.

I love all this stuff...>>>iggy

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