Category Archives: History

Every square inch of Greece has a story to tell. History imbues the ancient structures and the fallen stones. Even without an education in what was called in the West “The Classics”, the names were all familiar to me from childhood, and I recognised many of the stories. At Olympia, I saw Hera’s alter, where […]

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I fell in love with Crete. Greece’s southernmost district, Crete is the country’s largest and most populous island. Nestled between the Aegean and Libyan Seas, it is home to a magnificent coastline and beautiful beaches (eg: Preveli Beach). Populated since time immemorial, there is evidence of human settlement as early as 130,000 years ago. Buildings […]

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It is a truly biblical landscape. Referenced in the Old Testament, it was on this rocky desert terrain that the Hebrew prophet, teacher, and leader Moses walked, gave sermons, and ultimately died. Moses is considered the most important prophet in Judaism and one of the most important personages in Christianity, Islam, and other Abrahamic religions. He […]

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A Crusader castle? It didn’t feel real to me; it was as if the pictures in an old children’s storybook had come to life. My visit to Shobak Montreal Castle – now known as Qal’at ash-Shawbak in Arabic (the nomenclature and spellings vary wildly) – caused me to take a deep-dive back into my vinyl […]

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I always struggled with Greek mythology: there was an irrationality and impetuosity to the behaviour of the Gods that didn’t sit well with my conservative upbringing. And, having been trained to ‘be good’ and to ‘work hard’, the concept of being unable to escape one’s fate – regardless of one’s behaviour – was an anathema! […]

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