Aga Khan

The Aga Khan Museum & Park

Continuing through the “111 Places in Toronto that you Must Not Miss”, we decided to head out to visit the Aga Khan Museum located in Don Mills, a Toronto suburb. It involved a subway ride of 7 stops and then a 20 stop bus ride for almost and hour, but sounded like an interesting place. The book actually suggested a visit to the park surrounding the museum, but we figured we might as well make it a day and visit the museum as well which also featured an excellent restaurant for lunch. 

I really did not know what to expect from the Museum; I had heard of Aga Khan,

Eager Visitors

but did not know much about him. After visiting the museum, I came home and did some research to find out more. The Aga Khan is the traditional head of the Ismaili islamic religious people. The Ismaili are an esoteric non-conformist branch of islam that is actually more like Hinduism. Although the Aga Khan was born in Switzerland and actually lives and works from Portugal, his followers are located in countries all over the world. He is one of the richest “Royals” in the world, with his wealth coming from donations from his 15 million followers worldwide. Although he does enjoy the life of a wealthy aristocrat, he is well known for using his wealth for many worthwhile projects around the world. The Aga Khan Museum is one of his projects.

Entry to the 'Night in the Garden of Love"

The museum itself is amazing. It is situated in a large park and the building is modern, beautiful and an example of a “Money is no object” building project. As you walk in you are presented with a wide open spectacular structure. It contains the actual museum, an auditorium, a teaching area, a gift shop wth gifts I could never afford, a restaurant and various areas for temporary exhibitions. The museum itself is actually a small part of the complex. Nothing is crowded here; there are open spaces everywhere, including a huge open courtyard in the middle open to the sky. 

The Actual museum contains artifacts collected from around the world about the Ismaili religion and culture, and wandering through, I really did feel I was getting a better understanding of their history and culture. The collection contains many beautiful, intricate wood, ceramics and metal pieces from all over the globe as well as various ornate copies of the Qur’an and other Ismaili literature. Another room contained a beautiful collection of ceramics, and the Temporary exhibition featured a multi-sensory presentation by two artists entitled “A night in the Garden of Love”

We spent most of the day exploring the museum, with a break for lunch in the restaurant which is decorated with 200 year old panels donated from an Islamic mansion. I left feeling I knew a lot more about the Ismaili religion and culture; Regis felt the same, but she was also a bit dizzy from the virtual reality part of the “Night in the garden of Love”.

Below are some photos from the museum. 

Going to Church

View from the roof terrace

I am not a religious person, but for some reason as I travel the world I seem to end up finding churches and cathedrals. My time in Lecce is no exception. For someone who never actually attends church, I spend a lot of my travel finding and visiting them.

I can however justify this seemingly odd inconsistency. I appreciate the artistry and beauty of these buildings. Although they hold no religious significance to me I enjoy seeing the amazing architecture and art work in them.

There are lots of churches here in Lecce and all of them are quite beautiful. They are scattered all over the inner city, and it seems there is one around every corner. As you wander around narrow streets here you will suddenly come across another church. I was told that there are 300 churches in the whole of Lecce, but just in the old walled inner city where I am located I count 20 little crosses on the map indicating a church. Some of them are within a block of each other. I have no idea how a city this size can support 20 churches, yet they all seem to be well maintained, and like so many old churches in Europe many are being restored, hidden behind scaffolding.

As I sit on the terrace outside, I can see the tallest structure in Lecce, the bell tower of the Cattedrale di Lecce on one side and the bell tower of Chiese (church) di Sant’Irene. We haven’t quite figured when and where the bells in these towers ring, but they seem to go quite often. However they seems slightly off, ringing at 18 past or 21 minutes to, but then on one walking trip where I forgot my watch the first four clocks we found had completely different times, none close to correct.

On a walking tour of the old city, we visited at least four major churches, and another was recommended as a worthwhile visit. Just waking straight out to the city gate on the road outside the apartment we pass four churches on the 5 minute walk.

 

All these churches are similar in design, with solid stone structures rather than the tall spires and intricate ornate design of the lofty cathedrals we saw in many of the European cities on our River Cruise. I was told that the Churches in Lecce are excellent examples of baroque architecture. The facade of these churches all feature beautiful carved stone work, but turn the corner to walk down beside them and you see simple stone walls, and at times you will find yourself walking beside a tall unadorned wall and wonder what it is only to turn the corner to find another church. Inside the carved stone work is even more beautiful, but the lack of marble in the area cause many interiors to be painted to look like marble rather than actual marble.

The other day while out on my photo walk for the door knockers, I came across a church built on a corner and the façade was curved to match the street, and created a unique design, and since the door was open I went in to find one of the most beautiful churches in the city.

Well, as Regis says, “Father Art” is off to find another church . . . . .