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Venice Gold: The Treasures of Saint Mark’s Cathedral

  • Venice, Italy
The 'skip-the-line' line appeared longer than the regular line outside Saint Mark’s in Venice. Puddles of rainwater were pooling in a downpour perfectly aligned with the time on my ticket. The storm that had gathered all morning had just broken, as had the umbrella I'd bought for five euros nearby....

The Twin Cathedrals of Aarhus

  • Aarhus, Denmark
At Aarhus' cathedral, the superlatives flow: tallest in the country, longest, with the largest frescoes, votive ship, stained-glass window, organ. And it’s among the oldest in use in all Scandinavia, its Romanesque precursor having opened in the late 12th century. But it isn’t the oldest in town….

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...

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