Some cool internal cylindrical grinding images:
Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam
Image by james_gordon_losangeles
The Minaret of Jam stands sixty-five meters tall in a deep rugged valley at the juncture of the Hari and Jam rivers, approximately one hundred kilometers east of Herat. It was built by Ghurid sultan Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad bin Sam (1163-1203). The foundation plaque above the base on the north side has been read differently by Pinder-Wilson and by Sourdel-Thomine as 1194/95 and 1174/75. The earlier date supports the prevailing argument that the minaret was erected alone to commemorate the Ghurid conquest of Ghazna in 1173. Remains of a settlement on the northern bank of Hari and surrounding hillsides, and pottery fragments collected in the area suggest that the site may be the lost Ghurid capital of Firuzkuh destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1222. Remains of a fort or castle are seen on a hilltop to the east of the minaret.
Made entirely of fired brick, the minaret is composed of a two-tier cylindrical body raised seven meters on an octagonal base. Two spiral staircases, accessed from a single doorway above the ground, provide access to two balconies atop the lower shaft and midway up the upper shaft, visiting six vaulted chambers located in between. Only the supports have remained of the brick balconies. The minaret is capped at sixty-five meters with a cupola (now damaged) raised on six open archways.
The two towers of the minaret shaft differ structurally. The broad lower shaft is made of thick walls enveloping two spiral staircases at center; it rises to a height of thirty-eight meters, with an exterior diameter diminishing from 9.7 meters at the base to 6 meters at top. The narrow upper shaft, by contrast, has a central void spanned by six cross-vaults resting on four internal buttresses. The stairs are here channeled into the narrow spaces between the walls and the buttresses.
The rich decoration of the minaret, executed with tiles and terracotta in high relief, has largely survived and was analyzed in detail by Sourdel-Thomine. The upper shaft features three epigraphic bands — one below the cupola and two below the second balcony — that contain the shahada, Quranic verses from Sura al-Saff and the name of Ghiyath al-Din, respectively. The two lower bands are separated by a thick decorative band featuring a symbolic vase motif found in the Ghazna palace of Mas’ud III and on coins issued at Firuzkuh.
The lower shaft is covered entirely with eight vertical tile panels that lead up to a thick epigraphic band below the first balcony. Each panel here features a braid of geometric shapes framed with a continuous kufic inscription (Sura Maryam, Quran 19) and filled in with interlacing geometric patterns. The braid motif on the east and west facing panels, which mark the original entrance and the direction of qibla, are distinguished with the use of eight-pointed stars. The dedicatory inscription above the panels includes the name and celebratory titles of Ghiyath al-Din, written in a floriated kufic script highlighted with turquoise glazed tiles. It is framed with tile bands of varying width, including series of circles and roundels fitted with floral inserts. A cursive inscription, placed halfway up on the eastern panel, gives the name of the architect, ‘Ali ibn Ibrahim of Nishapur. Fragments remaining of the fifth epigraphic band on the base of the minaret show that it also contained titles of the Ghurid sultan in a knotted kufic script.
Stabilization efforts for the Jam Minaret began in the 1960s following a survey by the Instituto Italiano per il Media ed Estremo Oriente (ISMEO) that warned of collapse due to soil erosion at the minaret base. A temporary dam was built of stone and wood in 1963-64, and followed by the construction of a gabion wall by UNESCO in 1978. Preservation efforts halted by the civil war were resumed in 1999 and in 2001 with the construction of additional walls and gabions along the Jam and Hari rivers. The minaret and the surrounding archaeological site were amended to the UNESCO list of World Heritage in Danger in 2002. Illegal excavations since 2001 have compromised the historical integrity of the archaeological site.
Sherborne Old Castle – Earl Henry’s Bridge
Image by ell brown
The Estate of Sherborne Castle – grounds and gardens.
The area of the garden walk that goes past Sherborne Old Castle.
This is Sherborne Old Castle. Built by Bishop Roger of Salisbury between 1122 and 1139.
Sir Walter Raleigh bought the castle in 1592, and tried to modernize it. But by 1594 he gave up and instead started to build his own home nearby.
The Digby’s got Sherborne Castle (both old and new) in 1617 when Sir John Digby acquired it.
During the Civil War, the Digby’s were on the Royalist side, and the Old Castle was garrisoned and suffered two sieges. After the second siege in 1645 Fairfax and his Parliamentarian army systematically demolished the Old Castle. Thus Sherborne Castle after that came to mean the new hous in the park.
A bridge over the moat. It is called Earl Henry’s Bridge.
Under the bridge – towards some fields.
Grade I listed.
Sherborne Old Castle, Castleton
CASTLETON
ST 6416 SHERBORNE CASTLE
12/26 Sherborne Old Castle
11.7.51
GV I
Episcopal castle with curtain-wall and gatetowers. Built by Roger, bishop
of Salisbury 1107-1135. Restoration begun by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1592,
and soon abandoned. Castle partly demolished and rendered untenable, 1645.
Rubble-stone walls, with close-jointed ashlar facing and freestone dressings.
Curtain wall and gatetowers. Curtain-wall enclosed an area 470 ft by 330 ft
with diagonal walls across the angles, forming an elongated octagon. Walling
stands either side of the SW gatetower,in places on the north, south and east
walls. SW gatehouse, C12, 4 storeys with a battered plinth and clasping
buttresses. NW angle stands to full height, S side is more ruined. W face,
facing of the outer archway has gone and only the segmental rear-arch remains.
C16 restorations and alterations under Raleigh. (See RCHM). Present approach
to gate, C20. Abutments and central pier revealed by excavations. NW Tower,
foundations only. North gate and barbican, revealed by excavation, C12 and
C13. Flanking the C13 buildings are the remains of wing-works with circular
turrets at the outer angles. NE gate, foundations and some walling. SE tower,
site only. Keep and attached courtyard of buildings at the centre of the
bailey. Keep. C12, of at least 3 stages. Ground floor has a dividing wall
running N and S., and supporting two barrel-vaults. These barrels run on
into groined vaults, supported by a cylindrical column with a scalloped capital.
South wall of the extension has externally a central buttress of segmental form.
SW angle of the keep adjoins the S wall of the forebuilding, which stands to
the top of the third stage. The forebuilding has clasping buttresses at the
west angles. Late C16 stone staircase and terrace against north wall of
forebuilding. 3 ranges of buildings, and an excavated S range stand round
a central courtyard, originally with cloister-walks. W Ranges running N from
Keep, W wall has pilaster buttresses and a moulded string-course. E wall of
this range largely destroyed. Rubble (tufa) barrel vault. N range, 2 storeys,
4 bays, with clasping and pilaster buttresses externally. Ground-floors groined
rubble vault over 3 E bays and barrel-vault over W bay. N wall has remains of
former windows and openings upper floor round-headed windows decorated with
chevron, and label with billet. Internal wall-arcading of intersecting arches,
of which traces remain. Floor may have housed the chapel. East range, much
ruined. East hall has pilaster buttresses and an original window in each of
the 3 bays. Ground floor has a rubble barrel-vault of which the springing
remains. S range, foundations found of N and S walls, probably housed the
great Hall. The castle was held for the Crown in 1642 and 1645.
(RCHM Dorset I, p.64(4))(Sch. Monument: DORSET.2)
Listing NGR: ST6480316768
Protected by English Heritage.
Scopello 18
Image by bill anderson
On a cliff overlooking the Gulf of Castellammare is the town of Scopello, a small of houses around a baglio (rural fortified structure), built on the site of a pre-existing Arab casale (hamlet). The name possibly comes from the Greek Skopelos, the rock, or from the Arab Iscubul. In fact, from the enchanting sea in front of the coast emerge majestic and picturesque stacks, covered in Mediterranean vegetation.
The ancient coastal village, according to tradition is situated on the site of the mythical city of Cetaria, so called due to the abundance of tuna fish. It was the Arabs who, once the city was destroyed, rebuilt the tonnara (tuna warehouse) and increased the activity which continued for centuries and stopped in the last century.
Scopello welcomes the visitor with the lovely Guidaloca inlet which has a crystalline sea, is covered in white pebbles, and is protected by the cylindrical tower from the XVI century which overlooks it. A suggestive undersea cave, Gala Rossa, opens up along the enchanting rocky coast. From the top of some high ground, the village dominates the countryside.
On a high cliff, the ruins of the Bennistra tower (XVI century) remain which, with the two towers of the tonnara, one embedded in a rugged cliff (XIII century) and the other situated on a small headland (XVI century), ensured the surveillance of the area and its protection from any danger coming from the sea.
The baglio (XIII century), a typical square construction with an internal courtyard, together with the square and the ancient drinking trough constitutes the most important part of the village. At the end of the XVIII century, Ferdinando III di Borbone chose the baglio as his hunting residence and declared the surrounding wood, rich in game, to be a royal reserve.