Dark sights in Middle East
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Aramgah-e Shah-e Cheragh
Sayyed Mir Ahmad, one of Imam Reza’s 17 brothers, was hunted down and killed by the caliphate on this site in AD 835. His remains are housed at the glittering Aramgah-e Shah-e Cheragh. A mausoleum was first erected over the grave during the 12th century but most of what you see dates from the late-Qajar period and the Islamic Republic; expansion is ongoing.
reviewed
-
B
Mount of Olives
Offering visitors a big slice of biblical history, along with some of the most spectacular views over Jerusalem, is the Mount of Olives. According to the Book of Zechariah, this is where God will start to redeem the dead when the Messiah returns on the Day of Judgement. In order to get a good place in line, Jews have always preferred to be buried here and to date some 150,000 people have been laid to rest on these slopes.
Aside from being the world's oldest continually used cemetery, there are many churches commemorating the events that are believed to have led to Jesus' arrest and his ascension to heaven.
Most of the Mount's churches and gardens are open in the morning,…
reviewed
-
Hypogeum of the Three Brothers
In addition to the funerary towers, Palmyra boasts a second, later type of tomb, the hypogeum, which was an underground burial chamber. As with the towers, this chamber was filled with loculi fitted with stone carved seals. The best of the 50 or more hypogea that have been discovered and excavated, apart from the Hypogeum of Yarhai, is the Hypogeum of the Three Brothers , which lies just southwest of the Palmyra Cham Palace hotel.
The tomb dates from AD 160 to AD 91. It is very modest in size but contains some beautiful frescoes, including portraits of the three brothers in oval frames. There are also three large sarcophagi topped by figures reclining on couches. You'll…
reviewed
-
Boq'eh-ye Khajeh Rabi
The beautifully proportioned, blue-domed mausoleum Boq'eh-ye Khajeh Rabi commemorates an apostle of the prophet Mohammad. Coming to pay respects here was said to have been Imam Reza's 'main consolation' in coming all the way out to Khorasan. The tower took its present form after a 1612 rebuild, which added a band of interior Kufic inscriptions by master-calligrapher Ali Reza Abbasi.
The jolly floral motifs around it date from a Qajar redecoration. Surrounding the mausoleum is a large cemetery paved with thousands of tombstones. Burial here currently costs from around IR90,000. That gets you stacked four bodies deep for 30 years before you're dug up again; pay four times…
reviewed
-
C
Mausoleum of Saladin
In the small archaeological garden that lies along the north wall of the Umayyad Mosque are a few columns dating back to the original Roman Temple of Jupiter, and a small white building topped by a rust-red dome, which is the Mausoleum of Saladin. The famed, chivalrous adversary of the Western Crusaders died in Damascus in 1193, and the original mausoleum was erected on this site that same year.
It was restored with funds made available by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany during his visit to Damascus in 1898.
For a man who was famed for his austerity, the mausoleum is a fittingly modest affair. Inside are two cenotaphs - the walnut-wood one on the right, richly decorated with…
reviewed
-
Madain Saleh
If you can only visit one place in Saudi Arabia, make it Madain Saleh, which rises up from the sands in a landscape of rare beauty. Madain Saleh is home to 131 tombs, 45 of which carry inscriptions in late Aramaic script above the doors. A permit is required but most hotels and tour operators can arrange one if you fax them your details a week in advance.
The Nabataeans, who carved the astonishing city of Petra (in Jordan) chose Madain Saleh as their second city. Although the tombs are less spectacular here than those in Petra, the landscape of sweeping sand and wonderful rock formations is stunningly beautiful. The tombs are also in an excellent state of preservation,…
reviewed
-
D
Grave of Oskar Schindler
Among the ancient sites on Mt Zion is one relatively new site, the grave of Oskar Schindler, the Austrian industrialist who saved more than 1200 Jews from the gas chambers (and whose story was captured by filmmaker Steven Spielberg). From Zion Gate in the Old City walk directly ahead, downhill, bearing left at the fork to go past the Chamber of the Holocaust, round the bend and head across the road to the entrance of the Christian cemetery. Once inside the cemetery head down the stairs two levels. Schindler’s grave is near the centre of the third (lowest) level. It’s not well marked but you can look for the cenotaph covered in stones. Ask the guard for directions if you…
reviewed
-
E
Imamzadeh-ye Ali Ebn-e Hamze
The Imamzadeh-ye Ali Ebn-e Hamze stands as the tomb of Emir Ali, a nephew of Shah Cheragh who also died here while en route to Khorasan to help Imam Reza. The existing shrine was built in the 19th century after earthquakes destroyed previous incarnations. It has an eye-catching bulbous Shirazi dome, dazzling mirror work, stained-glass windows and an intricate, ancient wooden door. The tombstones around the courtyard, for which families of the deceased paid a small fortune, are also interesting. Unlike some other shrines, the caretakers here are very welcoming of foreigners; women are happily handed a chador , and in you go!
reviewed
-
F
Moshtari-ye Moshtaq Ali Shah
The attractive Moshtari-ye Moshtaq Ali Shah is the mausoleum for Sufi mystic Moshtaq Ali Shah, and other Kerman notables. Moshtaq Ali Shah was renowned for his singing and ability with the setar (a four-stringed instrument) , and is apparently responsible for adding the fourth string to the setar (which literally means ‘three strings’). He eventually fell so far out of favour with the local religious community that he was stoned in the Jameh Mosque. Most of what you see, including the prominent blue-and-white-tiled roofs, are from the late Qajar period.
reviewed
-
G
Nader Shah Mausoleum
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Nader Shah is considered something of a historical tyrant. But here he’s a local hero for briefly returning Khorasan to the centre of a vast Central Asian empire. Nader’s horseback statue crowns his otherwise rather dour 1950s grey-granite mausoleum, which was designed to emulate the lines of a tent (reputedly Nader was born and died under canvas). A small museum displays guns, a rhino-hide shield and four-pointed hats that must have made Afshar-dynasty courtiers look like jesters.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
H
Madrassa an-Nuri
Just 50m beyond Azem Ecole, Madrassa an-Nuri is easy to pick out because of its crimson domes. The structure is fairly modern and not particularly noteworthy but inside is a surviving part of a madrassa dating from 1172, which houses the mausoleum of Nureddin, the uncle of Saladin, who united Syria and paved the way for his nephew's successes against the Crusaders.
It's not necessary to enter the building to see the tomb chamber. Instead, walk down the narrow market alley beside the madrassa and peer in through a big iron-grille opening in the wall.
reviewed
-
Buali Sina (Avicenna) Mausoleum
Hamadan’s icon is the BuAli Sina (Avicenna) Mausoleum a 1954 tower that looks something like a vast, unfinished concrete missile. It is loosely modelled on Qabus’s 1000-year-old tower in Gonbad-e Kavus, which Buali probably saw inaugurated. Paying the entry fee (entry from west) allows you to see the single-room museum of Avicenna memorabilia, his tombstone, a small library and a display on medicinal herbs. But the tower itself is better observed from a distance.
reviewed
-
I
Shrine of Hussein
To the eastern side of the Umayyad Mosque courtyard, but a part of the mosque building itself, is the Shrine of Hussein, son of Ali and grandson of the Prophet. He was killed by the Umayyads at Kerbala in Iraq. The shrine attracts large numbers of Shiite Muslims (Ali is regarded as the founder of Shiism), and black-clad Iranians are a common sight, making straight across the courtyard for this part of the mosque.
reviewed
-
Royal Tombs
The Royal Tombs are the largest and most impressive of Bahrain's 85,000 burial mounds. Located in the village of A'ali the tombs may or may not have been the final resting places of kings, but they're definitely large: up to 15m (50ft) high and 45m (150ft) in diameter.
A'ali is also the home of Bahrain's best-known pottery workshop, and many fine pieces are available for purchase.
reviewed
-
J
Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin
The beautiful blue-tiled dome of the Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin, the tomb of local Islamic notable Sayyed Roknaddin Mohammed Qazi, is visible from any elevated point in the city. Built 700 years ago, the dome is notable but the deteriorating interior stucco and other decoration remains impressive. The door is often closed but a knock should bring the caretaker.
reviewed
-
K
Church of Dominus Flevit
Built in the 1950s, the Church of Dominus Flevit is one of the latest additions to the Mount of Olives’ collection of sites. The original church on this site was built by medieval pilgrims who claimed to have found the rock on the Mount of Olives where Jesus had wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) – hence, Dominus Flevit, meaning ‘the Lord wept’.
reviewed
-
L
Poets’ Mausoleum
Shahriyar is now commemorated much more ostentatiously with the strikingly modernist Poets’ Mausoleum. Its angular interlocking concrete arches are best viewed across the reflecting pool from the south. The complex also commemorates over 400 other scholars whose tombs have been lost in the city’s various earthquakes.
reviewed
-
M
Alexander’s Prison
This 15th-century domed school is known as Alexander’s Prison because of a reference to this apparently dastardly place in a Hafez poem. Whether the deep well in the middle of its courtyard was in fact built by Alexander the Great and used as a dungeon seems doubtful, no matter what your guide tells you.
reviewed
-
N
Madrassa al-Tuwashiyat
Madrassa al-Tuwashiyat, a law school with an attached mausoleum that dates back to around 1471, is on the main street of the gold souq (Souq al-Sayyaghin). Built of sandstone in alternating black-and-white patterns, it has an unusual, finely decorated portal that towers above the building's ornate façade.
reviewed
-
Jamaa al-Jedid
Tucked down narrow Sharia al-Nawa'eer, the 14th-century Jamaa al-Jedid contains the tomb of Ismat al-Din Khatun, wife of first Nureddin and then his successor Saladin. The richly decorated burial chamber is worth a look.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Horseman Statue
The horseman statue is Kuchuk Khan, the Jangali leader of 'Soviet Iran'. A steady flow of well-wishers visit his mausoleum on Manzariyeh St, sheltered by a contemporary brick gazebo with intricate wooden roof.
reviewed
-
Baba Taher Mausoleum
It looks like a failed prototype for Thunderbird 3. There’s little reason to go inside unless you enjoy Persian calligraphy, inscribed here on some gently opalescent stone wall-slabs.
reviewed
-
O
Gonbad-e-Sabz
In its own little traffic roundabout, Sheikh Mohammed Hakim Mo'men's modest, Safavid-era mausoleum, Gonbad-e-Sabz isn't very green but makes a useful landmark.
reviewed
-
Mausoleum of Al-Malek az-Zaher Ghazi
At the Ayyubid Madrassa as-Sultaniyya is the Mausoleum of Al-Malek az-Zaher Ghazi, a son of Saladin (Salah ad-Din), and one-time occupant of the Citadel.
reviewed
-
Madain Saleh
If you can only visit one place in Saudi Arabia, make it Madain Saleh, which rises up from the sands in a landscape of rare beauty. Madain Saleh is home to 131 tombs, 45 of which carry inscriptions in late Aramaic script above the doors. A permit is required but most hotels and tour operators can arrange one if you fax them your details a week in advance.
The Nabataeans, who carved the astonishing city of Petra (in Jordan) chose Madain Saleh as their second city. Although the tombs are less spectacular here than those in Petra, the landscape of sweeping sand and wonderful rock formations is stunningly beautiful. The tombs are also in an excellent state of preservation,…
reviewed