LBIS Art and History Trip to GREECE 2011

Monday, 30 May 2011

BARRI - ITALY

Our very first visit was in Barri, south of Italy.

We visited the St Nicholas church and had a tour round the town.

St Nicolas church

St Nicholas

inside St Nicolas's Church

Split is the second largest city in Croatia, with just over 200,000 inhabitants, and is the largest city on the Adriatic coast. Coupled with its strong history - it emerged from a palace built by Roman emperor Diocletian, and was also an important city within Yugoslavia - this lively city sure was worth a visit!!!!

We had a Croatian guide helping us along and we visited the Roman Palace built by the Emperor.

Roman Palace

walking on the waterfront

Touching The Golden Toe for luck!!

IZMIR - TURKEY

Izmir, (Turkey`s third largest city) has been for ages regarded as `The pearl of the Aegean`. The present day Izmir is the most westernized city of Turkey in terms of lifestyle of the inhabitants, their values and ideologies.

inside a mosque in Izmir

Continuous archeological excavations have led to the unearthing of many such world-famous monuments from Izmir`s historical past. We visited some of these relics such as the Zeus Altar, the Artemis Temple are a part of Izmir`s distant past. Some important constructions of the Roman period are the Agora, Acropolis, Theater and the Stadium.

A group photo

SANTORINI - GREECE

Santorini

walking the the village

Santorini is really a very unique island with its own character and style. The various towns are built on the top of a cliff or even on the cliff itself. This is one of the unique features of the island that you won't be seeing anywhere else.
One thing on Santorini most of the things worth visiting are sort of spread out. Nothing seems to be within walking distance, unless you want to see specific things that happen to be within one town.

View on the Cliffs

We took the Cable Car which starts from the town of Fira and takes us down to the old port of Santorini, which is where most island boat-tours start from. Another way to down there (or back up to the town of Fira) is to take the steps...either on foot or by donkey.
Most of our students tried donkey ride!!

Raissa Maghoo

Neha and Simn Pierre

going down the cliff on donkeys' back!!!

Santorini has many different villages with the majority of them either located by the sea or built on the cliff. It is strongly suggested to visit Oia, a small village at the far end of the island.

Santorini has a lot of very old churches, some of which are thousands years old. If you are into this sort of thing, there is a lot for you to see on the island.

ISTANBUL- TURKEY

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, is unique among the cities of the world, having one foot in Europe and the other in Asia. We went rented 7 taxis and made our way to the Bosphorus Bridge and were already in the Asian part of Istanbul!!!

Bosphorus bridge

We treated ourselves turkish coffee and tea in a small restaurant, and were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place.

Istanbul is Turkey's economic capital and biggest trade center, home to nearly half of the country's wealth.

Much of Istanbul is hilly and especially in the old part many of the streets are steep and narrow. This big city spread over seven hills and surrounded on three sides by water and it is atonishingly beautiful.

A must see in Istanbul is the BLUE MOSQUE. We had the opportunity to visit during during prayer time to watch the powerful Muslim prayer ritual. The mosque is lit by thousands of lanterns and has amazing ceiling frescoes. It has beutiful stained glass windows which look ethereal in the light of the lanterns. The burgundy carpet looks royal.

The mosque is lit by thousands of lanterns and has amazing ceiling frescoes. It has beutiful stained glass windows which look ethereal in the light of the lanterns. The burgundy carpet looks royal.

The Hagia Sophia,
Hagia Sophia, now known as the Ayasofya Museum, was an early Christian Church and later an Eastern Orthodox church which was transformed into a mosque in 1453 by the Turks, and converted into a museum in 1935. I It is regularly considered one of the greatest and most beautiful buildings in history.
Its conquest by the Ottomans at the fall of Constantinople is considered one of the great tragedies of Christianity by the Greek Orthodox faithful.

Hagia Sophia

Mosaic in Hagia Sophia: Virgin Mary

The Old Market,
The busy market attracted our students. From leather jackets, scarfs, colourful lamps to jellewery....they wanted it all! They learned how to bargain to get a good price! we spent hours in the labyrinth of goodies and ended up eating a Kebab and drinking tea!!!

Sunday, 29 May 2011

ACROPOLIS- ATHENS- GREECE

One of the Dreams of Historians is to make a pilgrimage to the seat of democracy...!

What would a visit to Athens be without going to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon? it is believed to be one of the the most perfect building built by the world's most advanced ancient civilization.

As it stands now,we felt that it is a tribute to the glorious past and the achievement of the Ancient Athenians it is also a reminder that whatever man builds is eventually overcome by time.