Dresden's Treasures

 

A large bouquet of flowers made of mother of pearl

There's a lot to see within walking distance in Dresden, churches and museums each with their own story. Many intersect with World War II that was destroyed in air raids and buildings were slowly rebuilt.

One of these examples is the Frauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady. It was originally a Catholic church built in the 11th century in Romanesque style, but became Protestant during the Reformation. Hence the statue of Martin Luther in front.

The Frauenkirche rebuilt only recently

It has one of the largest domes in Europe at 96 metres high, called die Steinerne Glocke, or "Stone Bell". 

But in World War II it was severely damaged by air raids, the roof finally collapsing after having withstood two days and nights of attacks. The church was left in a pile of rubble for 45 years, because of Communist rule in East Germany, though the residents had already begun trying to salvage what they could and numbering them for future reconstruction.

That didn't happen until 1994, after Germany's reunification and raising money to rebuild Frauenkirche, which took 11 years and over 180 million euros. Some of the stone blocks are black, from the original building, but most are relatively new, a testament to the residents' determination to rebuild it also using the original plans.

Another jewel in Dresden is the Royal Palace or Residenzschloss. We came to see the Green Vault, which was amazingly not damaged during the air raids, and contains immense treasures royalty collected over the centuries.

The interior is stunning and awe-inspiring

The Historic Green Vault has its rules -- no bags or coats -- these must be placed at the coat check or in a locker, and you must be there at the time issued on your ticket, to limit the number of people in there. And at one point you must enter a room at most two by two into double doors, much like entering a jewellery store. It's that intense.

But it's worth the hassle -- the items they collected, from stunning wood carvings, mother-of-pearl decorating boxes, horns covered in carvings, massive silver platters, goblets, tiered platters lavishly decorated with tiny tea cups and the jewels! Massive rocks from diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies… how did they wear all that jewellery?

It was impressive to say the least. The Dresden Green Diamond is quite the stunner at 41 carats, decorated with two large diamonds and many smaller ones. For us plebs, we’d be happy with one small stone or two. They had hundreds of them. Even the rooms themselves are examples of the height of opulence, with each room decorated in a different colour and accentuated with curvy shaped mirrors framed in gold (of course).

Above the painted dome that is 96 metres tall

There’s tight security for the History Green Vault, but when it comes to the New Green Vault, visitors are taking pictures, and the stuff is still impressive, but not as much as those crazy jewels and boxes covered in glowing amber. There’s a massive display like a miniature stage filled with characters in a lavish set called The Throne of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb.

August the Strong bought the work in 1709 for a massive sum at the time, and he and other royalty would buy items from jewellers and artisans, which ended up in this giant collection that reflects artistic and technical skills at the time. Interestingly they even used coconut shells to carve, and the stones of fruits. The ivory balls, with several balls inside look similar to the ones made in China – were they influenced by the Chinese? We didn’t get the audio tour to find out.

The Throne of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb

Nevertheless the collection is stunning and worth just seeing for the admission alone (21 euros/$23.52). The upper floors are exhibition spaces and we saw one on Kandinsky and his woodblock prints.

Another place nearby worth checking out is Zwinger, another palace steps away from Residenzschloss that dates back to the 18th century, designed in the Baroque style by Matthaus Daniel Poppelmann for Augustus the Strong.

Zwinger means an enclosed killing ground in front of a castle or city gate, and this palace was formerly a fortress complete with a moat. The palace was used as one point to grow oranges, an exhibition space and festival area for the Dresden court.

It too was destroyed during World War II and luckily the art collection was evacuated earlier. Reconstruction began with the Soviets in 1945 and was completed finally in 1963, restoring Zwinger to its pre-war state.

Zwinger with the massive crown down at the other end

Walking into the massive courtyard leaves you in awe of such an amazing space and the giant crown at the top held up by four golden eagles. It is a replica of the Polish royal crown that Augustus the Strong wore from 1687 to 1704.

Visitors can see the massive amount of art amassed here, like the extensive porcelain collection of 20,000 pieces, with ceramics from Jingdezhen in China. There is also the Old Masters Picture Gallery that houses many well known paintings like Raffael's Die Sixtinische Madonna or two angels looking upwards, works by Van Eyck, Durer, Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer are here. The highlight is The Sistine Madonna by Raffael.

But it must also be amazing to come here to listen to live concerts that are put on here during the summer.
 

Chateau Gazing

Chenonceau chateau, with the original tower on the right

This morning we went to visit a beautiful chateau at Chenonceau. It is located in a beautiful idyllic setting and one can imagine royalty arriving by horse-drawn carriage, with immaculately manicured gardens flanking both sides of the castle.

It was owned by Thomas Bohier and his wife Katherine Briconnet. However, Bohier owed money to the crown, and he had to forfeit the property to Henry II.

Catherine de Medici's portrait on the fireplace

He in turn gave the chateau to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, who was apparently 20 years older than him and known for her beautiful skin and red hair. In her bedroom is a portrait of Henry II's wife, Catherine de Medici, who looks very stern, so it seems strange for Diane to have her rival's portrait hanging on her wall, or is it a reminder not to be like Catherine?

After Henry II died, Catherine took her revenge, kicking out Diane and taking over the estate. She held parties in the gallery and covered the area to create more space in the chateau.

The next generation, Henry III occupied the chateau with his wife Louise of Lorraine. However, when he was assassinated, Louise was so distraught that she made her bedroom all black, while she wore white, the royal sign of mourning.

Each of the rooms were very beautifully decorated, and tapestries were more used as ways to insulate rooms, and many of the fireplaces are still in working order. The kitchen was interesting, with lots of copper pots hanging on the walls, as well as knives in the butcher area with a well worn wooden block.

The gallery used for parties and wounded soldiers

There were no washrooms in this chateau -- they used chamber pots and hardly bathed! Also curtains were installed in four-poster beds so that people could have some privacy -- there weren't many corridors so people, from visitors to staff had to pass through other people's rooms to get elsewhere.

There are many interesting details, such as the private chapel, the interlinking C's that almost look like a "D", and the original tile worn out, but the designs can still be seen on the edges of the rooms.

During World War I, the gallery was used as an impromptu hospital for over 2,000 soldiers, and in World War II, its location on the River Cher marks the line of demarcation between the occupied zone and the free zone.

The butcher room with choppers and a worn chopping board

The resistance used the chateau to smuggle people, including Jews from the north to the south in the free zone.

Outside the gardens are very pretty, but use the same plants in the entire design which while pretty, isn't very interesting for green thumb fans. There's also a garden maze, but we didn't have time to go in.

After lunch we visited the chateau at Amboise, a short drive away. It was originally built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and was the home of many kings and queens -- Charles VIII, Francis I, Henry II and Catherine de Medici.

However most of the property is gone, after an owner sold many of the stone blocks to raise money. But what we could still see was impressive.

Leonardo is apparently buried here

We first went into the small St Hubert chapel and in there is apparently the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci. He was asked by Francis I to come to France, and at that time the artist was already 64 years old. Leonardo was not the first Italian architect/artist invited by Francis I, as the others didn't want to come.

It is believed that days before Leonardo died, he called the notary to come and discuss his will and burial arrangements. He asked that he have a simple tombstone and he was apparently buried with one hand behind his head, which is unusual.

However the original church in which he was buried (not far away, on the same grounds) was destroyed, and his corpse was moved again, apparently in this chapel; however we cannot be sure because Leonardo had no descendants so there are no DNA samples to verify this. Our guide believes 95 percent that Leonardo is buried there.

The castle with those in black still existing, in red are gone

Then we made our way into the main building, going through several of the rooms, like the cupbearer's room, where there is a special cabinet storing the king's drinks. Only one person has the key to the cabinet to prevent poisoning.

Another was a long room with vaulted ceilings that would have been used for dining and partying, but also for trials, one case which involved Protestants who were convicted with attempting to assassinate the king and were hung outside the castle for four days so that the public learned a deadly lesson.

However towards the end of our tour some of the rooms were decorated with 19th century furniture, complete with wallpaper and paintings. The landscaped gardens outside are also sculpted, with bushes looking like verdant balls.

A Flemish influence in the architecture of the castle

We survived the day -- reaching 35 degrees! It was still very hot and very bright at 7pm! And it will still be very hot in the next few days.

Little Chapel, Rich History

Morrison Chapel is located next to Casa Garden with the cemetery in the back

Today I went to Macau for the day and at lunch a friend there suggested that I check out what is known on the tourist map as the Protestant Cemetery, but it is also called "the Morrison Chapel".

I got a taxi and said the name of the place wrong in Chinese -- it is nicknamed "white dove nest garden" in Chinese (bak gup chau goong yuen) and the taxi driver chided me for pronouncing it wrong. I said I didn't read much Chinese and then let the matter rest.

Inside are historical photos on the walls

He said tourists hardly ever go there -- and in fact I was his first customer to request to go there. He added tourists don't know about this place and I explained that my friend said I should go there.

We passed St Paul's Ruins and went further up the hill to reach this church that is right next to Casa Garden. He warned it would be difficult to catch a cab back down and as soon as I got out, a couple jumped right in.

The area is called white dove nest because at dusk there would be droves of white doves in the sky in this area.

The chapel is very small and simple but airy and kept well. What's also interesting about it is that as part of the British East India Company or EIC, it was stipulated that the chaplain had to come from England to minister to the employees' spiritual needs, and the person had to be approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London.

At the back is a small cemetery of various shapes and sizes

However during World War II, no chaplain was sent out from England and so Deaconess Florence Li Tim-oi from Hong Kong stepped up to the plate to become the first woman priest in the Anglican communion.

The chapel is named after Robert Morrison (1782-1834) who was the first Protestant missionary in China and completed the first translation of the Bible into Chinese. He also wrote the first Chinese to English dictionary.

After his wife died, Morrison was employed by the British East India Company, and he asked the company to acquire land from the government to use as a burial ground because at the time Protestants were not allowed to be buried within Macau's Roman Catholic city walls.

The headstones tell short stories of lives lived

Morrison himself is buried here, though during a quick visit to the cemetery grounds I could not spot him, though I did find a large tribute to British artist George Chinnery who lived in Macau for 20 years and painted landscapes and portraits. The Chinnery Bar in the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong is also named after him.

Then there are a number of headstones marking the deaths of many seamen, particularly from Philadelphia and New York from the 1800s. One wonders how they decided to go to Macau and then died either by sickness or accident...

It's so interesting how such a small chapel has such a rich history!

The large tribute to artist George Chinnery

If you want to go there, either take a taxi or you can take the No. 17 bus that starts from the Macau Cultural Centre and passes by Guia Fortress along the way and the chapel, located right next to Casa Garden is the bus terminus. The bus fare is MOP3.20.