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  • Adventure, Jordan, Long Reads, Off-the-beaten-path, Places, Stories, Uncategorized

Qusayr ‘Amra and Jordan’s ‘Desert Castles’

  • Jordan
A stone's throw from the runway at Amman's Queen Alia Airport I'd spotted the first on my list of Jordan's 'desert castles,' studding the empty Badia to the east: a little-visited, motley array of middle-of-nowhere caravanserais, lodges and Umayyad palatial pavilions long left to the desert...

Umm ad-Dami & the Bedouin of Wadi Rum

  • Southern Jordan
The afternoon sun was sinking into the tops of the ochre cliffs as we burst south of Wadi Rum village, bounding along a highway of tracks in the sand in Salman’s old truck, subtly shifting the wheel to dodge dunes and shrubs. He hurriedly poked at his phone. The network wouldn’t last...

Cimitero delle Fontanelle & Naples’ Cult of the Dead

  • Naples, Italy
Northwest of old Naples, an ordinary driveway leads to a gaping chasm in the hillside over La Sanità: the enormous Cimitero delle Fontanelle, a vast quarried cave packed tightly with the remains of tens of thousands of Neapolitan souls.
The Church of the 21 Martyrs

The Church of the 21 Martyrs

  • Samalut, Egypt
Tattered, discolored jumpsuits fill most of the nave at Samalut's Church of the 21 Martyrs, along with the zip tie cords that bound their hands and whatever was found in their pockets. Their fresh-faced icons adorn the back of the sanctuary with gold-leaf halos beneath an image of Christ.

Sacred Landmarks of Jordan

  • Jordan
Introducing Jordan's undersung trove of sites considered holy to the Abrahamic trio: Jordan's ancient landscape is an intrinsic part of the Biblical 'Holy Land' and Quran's 'blessed neighborhood. The sacred landmarks of Jordan flag the footfall of scriptural giants like Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus and Muhammad...

Shatrunjaya: Ascent to the City of Temples

  • Palitana, India
Atop the crests of Saurashtra's hills are some of Jainism’s holiest sites—none more so than Shatrunjaya, the City of Temples, where many hundreds of marble shrines cap a forested ridge. Leaving my belt behind in Palitana, I started early for the hike to the top, along with pockets of white-clad pilgrims.

Scaling the Cliffs of Shahin al-Khalwati’s Khanqa

  • Cairo, Egypt
The jagged ruins of Shahin al-Khalwati’s khanqa (Sufi lodge) first caught my eye from Saladdin’s Citadel. On the hazy horizon to the south, its minaret juts from the cliffs of Muqattam like a knife. From miles away, the rest of the complex appears one with the desolate ridge.

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