Delighting In Durham.

   After the heat back home, Durham's verdant cool was a blessed relief. Our first day was spent walking along the banks of the River Wear , with the Castle,  its Keep and Cathedral always in view. They claim joint UNESCO World Heritage status.

 

The Castle is Norman in archtectural style. It began as a defensive  mound in 1072, with the Keep fortifying the later castle stronghold .Originally constructed in wood, the current stone Keep was built by Bishop Hatfield in the 14th century. Primarily the traditional residence of the Bishop of Durham until Bishop van Mildert donated the Castle to the University who have been located there since 1837.

 

Across The Green lies the Church of England Cathedral, and seat of the Bishop of Durham. This was originally a monastery but since the dissolution has been governed by the Dean and Chapter from 1541.

 

Romanesque in architectural style, the nave ceiling is the earliest surviving example of a pointed rib vault. Bishop Walcher was appointed by the king to exercise royal authority and later purchased the Earldom of Northumberland. Thus began the famous line of Prince Bishops who were entitled to raise an army, levy taxes and even mint their own coinage! An Act of Parliament curbed those powers in 1836.

 We were impressed to see many tourists enjoy visiting this sanctuary in hushed tones of awe!

 

This beautiful stained glass window honours the Magna Carta,  a kind of early constitution. Though radically changed over the years, it had an important role in the development of mediaeval law.  The only example of the 1216 Charter is housed in Durham Cathedral. 

And we admired  secular stained glass art in our boutique hotel in Old Elvet. Originally the Old Shire Hall, founded in 1892, from 1898 to 1963 it was the headquarters of Durham County Council. Thereafter it was used by the University of Durham until 2012 when it became what is now the Indigo Hotel. 

We enjoyed delicious breakfasts in the Marco Pierre White restaurant, no less!

 

I loved the  tea-making/ reading nook, complete with a Charles Rennie Mackintosh-type chair! 

 

Beyond tourism, we had the chance to meet  family and friends - round the table, of course !

 

More on Sandanski

 In my last post about Sandanski, I mentioned some of the architectural remnants of the communist regime. I should also mention some  positive results still in evidence. Art was always supported, albeit of a restricted nature in terms of subject matter. Around the town, and particularly in St Vrach Park, lovely pieces of art were on display. It must also be mentioned that there not one piece of litter or graffiti was to be seen througout the area!

Our first picture shows art being encouraged at school. In the background are mosaic designs created by pupils  for a competition.  In front is a beautiful  wrought-iron butterfly serving as a stand for colourful potted plants. 

Z rather liked this statue of this somewhat  reclining head. There is a sadness to it but I don't know what it represents. 

There was a small zoo where we were entertained by some greedy little pigs who were competing with much larger goats for pieces of water melon. Very amusing ! We saw, too, these unusual beings - small white marsupials, clearly not indigenous creatures ! 

Being well acquaint with the Greek alphabet, I enjoyed trying to sound out the signs and shop names in Cyrillic script. Most of the characters are shared but others were especially imported to represent sounds in Slavic tongues.  Two brothers, Cyril (826-869) and Methodius (815-885), born in Thessaloniki, were sent as missionaries to Moravia , then part of Czechoslovakia, to evangelise the Slavic people there. In 863 they began translating the gospels and liturgical books into what was known as the Old Church Slavonic.  To do this they devised The Glagolitic  alphabet from which the Cyrillic script developed.  

                                         

These brothers were men of the cloth and highly educated, gifted in diplomatic skills, and greatly revered throughout the Balkans. Below is a piece of art honouring them and their achievments.