Home Page/St Basil's: St. Basils was constructed by order of Ivan the Terrible to commemorate Russia's victory over the neighboring state of Kazan in 1552. Eight of the towers on the cathedral represent the epic eight day battle that led to Kazan's final conquest. However, since even numbers are thought to be unlucky in Russia, the ninth, central tower was added. It is a replica of the church where Ivan worshiped in his youth. Legend has it that, upon seeing the completed cathedral, Ivan was so struck that he asked the architect if another could ever be built. The architect said that he could of course build another such cathedral, just as striking as the first. Ivan then had the architect's eyes put out to preserve the uniqueness of St. Basil's. St. Basil's is often mistaken by westerners for the Kremlin, which is a walled fortress nearby. This photo was taken by my good friend Wendy Stultz in 1996.
Uzbek Links Page/Kolon Minaret: The Kolon minaret is supposedly the only structure in the Uzbekistani city of Bukhara to survive Gengis Khan's occupation of the city. According to legend, when the Mongols occupied Bukhara Gengis Khan gathered his men at a nearby mosque and told them that they were free to rape, pillage, plunder, and burn whatever they liked with the exception of this tower. The entire city of Bukhara, which is currently over 2,500 years old, was then destroyed except for the minaret. The Kolon minaret is also known as the Tower of Death because, prior to Russian occupation, murderers and adultorous women were sewn into sacks and thrown from it to the ground below. I took this picture in 1999.
Photos Page/Tomb of Imam al-Bukhari: This is a photo of the tomb of Imam al-Bukhari, founder of one of the main schools of Islamic legal and religious thought. al-Bukhari was from Uzbekistan, which for centuries was a center of Islamic learning and thought. The tomb itself is outside of Samarkand and is frequented by religious pilgrims from throughout the region. The complex that holds the tomb has been extensively renovated by the government of independent Uzbekistan after decades of dilapidation under Soviet rule. One Uzbek joked to me that two visits to al-Bukhari's tomb is the equivilant of making hajj, or the trip to Mecca required of all Muslims. I took this photo in 1999.
Soapbox Archive Page/Pavlovsk
I was in Russia in 1996, when there were still a fair amount of hammers and sickles around, not to mention empty pedastals where statues of Lenin had been toppled. This particular pedestal is located in Pavlovsk, just outside St. Petersburg.
