England’s little ‘Taj Mahal’
The little town of Woking in Surrey, England, sits just outside London’s motorway belt, the M25, surrounded by thick woodland with an idyllic canal running through it. It [...]
Places
The pining palaces of Portugal
They say if you wander through the lush, green hills of the Serra di Sintra on bright moonlit nights, chances are you will come upon a stunning Moorish maiden all in white. [...]
A stunning ode to the pain of devsirme
“The first idea of the bridge, which was destined to be realised, flashed, at first naturally confused and foggy, across the imagination of a ten year old boy from the [...]
Lithuania’s 600-year-old Muslim village
“We are Muslims and we have been here more than 600 years”, says 70-year-old Lithuanian, Fatima Stantrukova. I am in a tiny little village called Keturiasdesimt Totoriu, [...]
Travel Guide to Muslim Europe
Europe’s Mother Mosque You can’t actually pray in the former Grand Mosque of Cordoba, in southern Spain because it no longer functions as one. Depending on who you ask, [...]
Travel Guide to Muslim Europe
The Grandfather of modern Muslim Europe Just north-west of the capital city of Kosovo, Prishtina, where the land is of little value, and the only sound you can hear is the [...]
Power and Protection – Islamic Art and the Supernatural
“The fear of death shall avail nothing, nor [shall avail] attachment of amulets and blue necklaces,” wrote al-Isfahani in the tenth century. While the idea that aspects [...]
The charm of Arabic Typography
As this recent exhibition in the library of languages and civilisations (BULAC) in Paris ‘graphically’ illustrates, Arabic text not only lends itself to the refinement of [...]
The Sancaklar Mosque, Turkey: History, Modernity and Spirituality
Shortlisted for the Design of the Year award, the Sancaklar mosque near Istanbul marks not just a new mosque but a new concept of a mosque. Designed by Emre Arolat Architects [...]
Mountaintop Mosque
An unusual mosque built on top of a 1,130-meter mountain in a Black Sea province in Turkey. The lush mountain in the Rize province’s Güneysu district is known as [...]
