il-balad
Amman, once the capital of the Ammonites, is a city of hills. Inevitably, then, it is also a city of steps, in long steep flights linking modern and old neighbourhoods, and a city of massive walls holding back the hills, keeping centuries of masonry from sliding into the valleys. Like a children’s drawing with no sense of perspective, or a monochrome Hundertwasser, the houses seem to be somehow piled on top of each other on the steep hillsides and the composition is obscure.
Many cities lead a bipolar existence – Paris is one, with class issues dividing the more arty, student friendly east from the wealthier west. Beirut has been a prime example since the civil war when the religion-based split materialised quite literally as the Read the rest of this entry »
