Category: Topics

Morocco, ReligiousLeave a comment

King Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco

Rich McClear

The only way to get into the King Hassan II Mosque, if you are not a Moslem, is on a guided tour.  It’s worth it.   The mosque is more than two football fields long and one wide.  I think St. Peters in Rome could easily fit inside if the roof were retracted for the dome.  It has a carved wooden roof of cyprus that is retractable so in good weather you can pray outside.  There is a glass floor under part of the mosque, which is built on and, in parts, over the Atlantic.  The floor gives us a glimpse … Continue reading King Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco

Holy Land, Jordan, ReligiousLeave a comment

Mt. Nebo, Jordan

Rich McClear

When Moses got to Mt. Nebo he could see the Promised Land, but he could not enter. The mountain has a commanding view down into the Jordan Valley and across.  It is more than 2.600 feet above sea level and the Dead Sea at the foot of the Jordan Valley is more than 1,400 feet below sea level.  That’s quite a drop and quite a view.  You can just see the gold glint of dome from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. You can also see Jericho, the Dead Sea and practically all of modern Palestine and Israel.  I … Continue reading Mt. Nebo, Jordan

Poland, ReligiousLeave a comment

Salt Pope, Krakow, Poland

Rich McClear

I’m not sure of the theological meaning, but Pope John Paul II has been turned into a pillar of salt.  In Genesis it was Lot’s wife who became a saline pillar.  Her sin was looking back at Sodom, the home from which she was being evacuated by angels before its destruction. The Wieliczka mines in Krakow Poland are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We took a bus to the salt mines and went on the tour.  We went down about 438 feet, although the mines go down much further than that, and walked for about three kilometers underground.  The wondrous … Continue reading Salt Pope, Krakow, Poland

Contiguous US, ReligiousLeave a comment

Yankee Stadium

Rich McClear

If my parents could see me they would die a second time.  Last night Suzi and I went to Yankee Stadium and I rooted for the Yankees.  I was thrilled when the Yanks popped 4 homers and scored 9 runs in the second inning.  I cheered when the scoreboard showed Baltimore losing to Tampa Bay giving the Yanks sole possession of first place with two games left in the season.  At the end of the game I sang along with Frank Sinatra, long gone but still beloved , in a chorus of “New York, New York.” We had planned to … Continue reading Yankee Stadium

Holy Land, Jordan, ReligiousLeave a comment

Bethany Beyond the Jordan.

Rich McClear

This is the first of my posts on Holy Land sites.  Over the months there will be more.  We cannot be sure where most things in the Bible actually happened because, at the time, people didn’t put down GPS markers.  For instance, there are two competing sites of the crucifixion in Jerusalem.  The Via Dolorosa has changed routes several times.  The upper room touted as the site of the Last Supper is in a building erected in the 11th Century – AD.  This is one of three sites claiming to be the place Jesus was baptized.  If you’re looking for … Continue reading Bethany Beyond the Jordan.

Armenia, ReligiousLeave a comment

Khor Virap Monastery, Armenia

Rich McClear

Khor Virap is the Armenian monastery closest to the sacred Mt. Ararat.  Because of a combination of fog and cloud we were only graced with fleeting glimpses of the mountain and never got its picture.  But when we got to the Monastery a man pushed pigeons into our hands (he said they were doves) and told us to release them with our fondest dreams so they could fly off to the holy mountain (which is in Turkey, behind barbed wire and watchtowers that the clouds did not obscure from the monastery).  Apparently, by releasing doves we were following the example … Continue reading Khor Virap Monastery, Armenia

Morocco, ReligiousLeave a comment

Sacré Coeur in Casablanca.

Rich McClear

The French Cathedral Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Cathedral) is at the heart of French Colonial Art Deco Casablanca.  It was built in 1930, abandoned for Catholic worship in 1956 on Morocco’s independence.  It sat derelict for years and reopened as an art gallery just before I got there in 2005.  It is built in a mix of Gothic and Art Deco styles with Islamic touches.  The stained glass is set in cutwork geometric patterns much like the decoration in a mosque.  Paul Tournon was the architect for this church turned art gallery.  It serves its new purpose well.  For more … Continue reading Sacré Coeur in Casablanca.

Egypt, Religious5 Comments

The Evolution of Egyptian Pyramids.

Rich McClear

Egyptian pyramids evolved.  They did not just pop out of the ground at Giza.  A series of mistakes litter the desert.  In a short space of miles you can see those mistakes and follow that evolution. Saqqara has a stepped pyramid (and rubble of a step pyramid that didn’t hold up so well.)  It was an early incarnation of Pharaonic funeral monuments.  Then the builders decided to shift to smooth sided pyramids.  The Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum was their first big mistake.  The builders made the angle too steep.  Instead of the pressure of the weight at the top of … Continue reading The Evolution of Egyptian Pyramids.

France, Religious1 Comment

“A Mighty Fortress” The fortified churches of Thierache, France.

Rich McClear

In Eastern France there are several war related “roads” to follow, the “road of the fortified towns,” “The road of the battlefields” linking battlefields of the two world wars, and “The road of the military cemeteries.” Wars happened here with alarming regularity.   The road I found most fascinating was the “The Road of the Fortified Churches” celebrating about 65 churches (God’s castles someone called them) built in the Thierache region for the protection of the civilian population.  These towns sat on the border between Champagne and Picardy near Flanders.  They could not afford to wall themselves.  Many did not have … Continue reading “A Mighty Fortress” The fortified churches of Thierache, France.

Ferries, Sitka1 Comment

Alaska Day in Sitka, Alaska, 2013

Rich McClear

Alaska Day in Sitka Alaska Day commemorates the day in 1867 when the United States took possession of Alaska from the Russians.  It’s Sitka’s day.  Up until that time Sitka ran on the Julian calendar and was west of the International Date Line.  Sitka jumped ahead about two weeks in an instant when the American flag hit the top of the pole on Castle Hill. In most Alaska communities Alaska Day is just a substitute for Columbus Day, which is a federal but not a State holiday.  In 1980 when I worked at KTOO in Juneau, we did a vox … Continue reading Alaska Day in Sitka, Alaska, 2013

a, Bulgaria, ReligiousLeave a comment

Rila Monastery, Bulgaria, 1997

Rich McClear

These pictures are faded.  We scanned them to put on this website.   March 1997 There are fine monasteries, isolated in the mountains, and of only passing interest to the Turks, so they remain.  We went to Rila.  It is a four story arcaded and fortified place with fine frescos that have the faces of donors to the monastery depicted as saints, and demons.  I don’t know if the placement has anything to do with the size of the donation.  While we happily spent hours in the monastery on one fine Sunday, it is the mountains rising around it that … Continue reading Rila Monastery, Bulgaria, 1997

Bulgaria, ReligiousLeave a comment

Rakoivishki Monastery, Bulgaria.

Rich McClear

This is from October 2011. We drove back to Serbia by back roads.  The main attraction was to be Belogradchik, an Ottoman fort built around a series of natural red rock monoliths.  In pictures they look spectacular, but we had fog down to the deck so I really can’t testify to them first hand.  Now I know how cruise ship passengers arriving in Sitka must feel.  We also visited the Rakovishki Monastery, which was a center for Bulgarian Nationalism against the Turks.  The Turks destroyed much of the monastery in 1850 but left one chapel from the 11th century unharmed.  … Continue reading Rakoivishki Monastery, Bulgaria.

a, Castles, GeorgiaLeave a comment

Sighnaghi, Georgia

Rich McClear

Sighnaghi, with only 2,100 people, is a mountain top architectural gem.  Its name comes from the word siginak, Turkish for “shelter.”  It was built in the 18th century as a fortified town on the frontiers of Moslem Azerbaijan and Dagestan.  It main industries are wine making, carpet making and, now, tourism.  The town is circled by about 4.5 kilometers of wall with 23 defensive towers.  The wall winds around the mountain side.  I walked along the top for about a half a kilometer between several of the towers with great views of vineyards running down the mountain. Continue reading Sighnaghi, Georgia

Georgia, ReligiousLeave a comment

Bodbe Monastery (St. Nino’s Convent), Georgia

Rich McClear

Bodbe, about two km from Sighnaghi, has a 5th century convent that shelters the remains of St. Nino, who converted the King and Queen to Christianity in the 4th Century.  The convent was rebuilt between the 9th and 11th centuries.  George tells me that all that remains from the 5th century is the foundation.  It, and St. Nino’s spring, a constant source of holy water a few hundred meters away are pilgrimage points.  The chapel’s frescoes are from the 1820s.  The Soviets plastered them over and used the building as a hospital.  Some of the frescoes have been restored.  The … Continue reading Bodbe Monastery (St. Nino’s Convent), Georgia