0:00:11 > 0:00:16Mankind has created brilliant architecture all over the world.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Buildings shaped by our ambitions, our instincts,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26our hopes and dreams.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31Shared human desires that inspired incredible buildings.
0:00:33 > 0:00:39This is the story of how architecture has defined the way we live.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44The architecture of tyranny and power.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Architecture to lift the human spirit.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00The architecture of death and resurrection.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11And the architecture of paradise on earth.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22My journey starts with man's dream of creating beauty.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26On top of the world, the beauty of a simple igloo.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33In the Far East, the beauty of a sacred face.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39The brilliant decoration of a Russian palace.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43The divine beauty of human passion
0:01:43 > 0:01:47proclaimed on an Indian temple.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53And the terrifying beauty of a towering French cathedral.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42WIND HOWLING
0:03:13 > 0:03:16BARKING
0:03:25 > 0:03:32I'm in the Arctic Circle, travelling towards the North Pole across a frozen world.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52This is a vast, limitless land.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57It feels as old as the earth itself,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00pure, unchanging.
0:04:01 > 0:04:07Golly, being here is like being at the beginning of time.
0:04:08 > 0:04:14I've come to celebrate an ancient, elemental and beautiful structure.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20But because temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster
0:04:20 > 0:04:25than anywhere else, it's a structure that could soon be lost forever.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31My guide is Andreas Sanimuinaq,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35and together, we're going to build an igloo,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39a structure that reveals the origin of architecture,
0:04:39 > 0:04:45when man first created shelter from hostile weather and prowling beasts.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48So, this is good snow?
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Yeah. Very good snow here.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01The igloo, a creation of the Inuit culture,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05was used as a winter home and shelter on hunting expeditions.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11The people here still hunt, but few build igloos.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Andreas is one of the last men to keep the tradition alive,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19using knowledge passed down from his father,
0:05:19 > 0:05:21a legendary hunter.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25It's big.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27It's very big.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29That's ambitious.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The blocks are cut from snow,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45compacted by the wind to the right consistency.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I mean, how many blocks do we need?
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- How many?- I don't know!- Guess.
0:05:54 > 0:06:00- Maybe five-teen.- Fifty?
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Five-oh? Fifty?
0:06:03 > 0:06:06A lot of work. OK. They're heavy.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08So I take, er...
0:06:10 > 0:06:1550?! Good Lord!
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Ah... Right.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25London seems sweet at this moment.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Does it matter where we put the first block?
0:06:56 > 0:06:59OK...
0:06:59 > 0:07:03The blocks are laid in a clockwise direction,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05following the motion of the sun
0:07:05 > 0:07:09as it moves through the sky from dawn to dusk.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12The way it works is very simple.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15This particular sort of dome is like the top of an eggshell.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19It's a sort of ovoid dome, not a semicircle, so that the forces,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22the weight of the blocks - and they are heavy, I can tell you -
0:07:22 > 0:07:26are taken more or less straight down to the ground.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30The trouble with lots of domes is they thrust outwards and want to fall down,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34but the igloo is incredibly strong and it supports its own weight
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and a lot of other things besides when it's completed.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41But it is quite hard work to build.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48The miracle of the igloo is that the weakest building material possible,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53frozen water, achieves strength through brilliant engineering.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00After a couple of layers of blocks, the walls start sloping inwards.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Andreas cuts one into a wedge shape.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09A lot of intuitive engineering skills here with Andreas.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14He's making this structure sort of perform in an amazing way.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16As far as I can understand it,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19the blocks start to spiral up at some point down here,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and each block is cunningly shaped.
0:08:22 > 0:08:28It's all held together by a good bit of bashing and manoeuvring,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31which creates friction which sort of melts a bit of the snow,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and then that freezes, and it all stays firm.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38So really, it's sort of being glued together with ice.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47Igloos are immensely strong when completed, but constructing a dome
0:08:47 > 0:08:51without props or scaffolding is a perilous undertaking.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02I'm really beginning to wonder about this igloo.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05It almost feels like it's about to cave in on me,
0:09:05 > 0:09:10and the next course above this is gonna be even steeper, virtually horizontal.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Can't quite see how it's going to work.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20The final stages are hazardous.
0:09:20 > 0:09:26Problematic joins are fixed with intricate ice carpentry,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30and the familiar shape keeps on growing.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36The dome is regarded as one of the high points of our architectural culture,
0:09:36 > 0:09:42particularly celebrated as a hallmark of Roman engineering genius.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47Yet in this culture, isolated, remote from our own,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52the dome also developed to meet particular environmental problems and demands.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56It's incredible that two cultures so different
0:09:56 > 0:10:00should come up with the same architectural form.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31BARKING
0:10:33 > 0:10:35- Dogs.- Dogs? Ah!
0:10:43 > 0:10:47We're interrupted by a hunter returning to his village.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52So, can I see what you've got?
0:10:52 > 0:10:53What have you got here?
0:10:53 > 0:10:56- Polar bear.- Polar bear? Really?!
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Are there many polar bears around here?
0:11:04 > 0:11:06- A lot?- Yes, many.
0:11:06 > 0:11:07Many? Can I see?
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Well, it's very shocking, isn't it, a polar bear shot?
0:11:31 > 0:11:35I feel shocked, but you've got to remember
0:11:35 > 0:11:40this is not shot for fun, it's not shot by a tourist as a trophy.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46This chap's a member of one of the last true hunting communities in the world. He's a licensed hunter.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49These guys have to hunt to live. That's it.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53So this is what's going to keep him and his family alive,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56the food, the skin, eating and selling.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58And that's the truth of the matter.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03But it's very moving, though, very moving.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06There it is, this wonderful beast, the polar bear.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Its plaintive expression is heartbreaking.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Oh, I see.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Back inside, all that remains are the finishing touches.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39Good? Good. So that's half.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Yeah. That's it.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44So you spin it.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46I see, I see.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Cunning.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51It's the keystone or capstone.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56- Fine!- Well done, Andreas, well done!
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Thank you very much. Congratulations. Excellent.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02It's a beautiful igloo.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Tense at moments, but thank goodness we've finished it.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08It looks terrific inside.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Here we are. It's complete.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21An incredible sense of achievement. We've actually made our own igloo.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26I must admit, externally it looks a trifle peculiar,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28a rather personal piece of work,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32more of a cone than a dome,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36a bit like a beehive, but it's immensely strong.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39I must say, standing here contemplating it,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43it looks like a really ancient piece of architecture,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45the first building in the world.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58Inside, the dome is superb, sublime.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00It works.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03The igloo is a wondrous machine.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06The snow blocks, of course, are cold
0:14:06 > 0:14:10but wonderful insulators, and my body is hot.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14And this heat melts the surface of the snow,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18and the liquid would run into the cracks here, freeze and seal them,
0:14:18 > 0:14:22so the whole thing really becomes a building of ice
0:14:22 > 0:14:25rather than snow, eventually, much stronger.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Absolutely fantastic!
0:14:51 > 0:14:55The igloo contains all the basic ideas of architecture.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57It's a practical shelter
0:14:57 > 0:15:01and a miniature masterpiece of engineering.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09But above all, the igloo's beautiful,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12beautiful because of the logic,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16the clarity of the thinking behind its design and construction.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Beautiful because it seems so simple,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23yet is also so complex in its function,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27and of course beautiful because of its form,
0:15:27 > 0:15:33the celestial dome, the symbol of the sun in this icy land.
0:16:18 > 0:16:25This is the city of Leshan, in the heart of China's Sichuan province.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31Sichuan is famous the world over for its fiery and exhilarating food.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44Gosh, that is delicious, but it is indeed very spicy, hot.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46All these are chillies.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50But there's not just food for the body in Leshan,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53there's also food for the soul.
0:16:55 > 0:17:01In this city, there's an object that forms a bridge between the physical world and the spiritual,
0:17:01 > 0:17:06an object that uses beauty and scale to inflame the imagination,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08to overawe the senses.
0:17:22 > 0:17:29Leshan was once a fishing village surrounded by treacherous waters.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34There's a local legend the water was controlled by an evil spirit.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36But in the eighth century,
0:17:36 > 0:17:41Buddhist monks created a colossus to calm the torrents.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Over there, across these waters,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52is the largest stone-carved image of the Buddha from the ancient world.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54I'm agog to see it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Here he is, the giant Buddha at Leshan.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Golly, he's absolutely enormous.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Everything about such a vast work of art,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29made over a long period of time with so much effort,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33is full of meaning. The posture, the proportions, the details,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37the solemn and serene expression on the Buddha's face.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42This is beauty at a truly sublime scale.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Carved out of the rock face,
0:18:46 > 0:18:51the Buddha is over 70 metres high and took 90 years to complete.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54And it remains a wonder,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58a sculpture so large that it's a work of architecture.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13This towering, compelling, spiritually-charged beauty
0:19:13 > 0:19:18draws people here in their thousands, tourists and believers.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30The Buddha lived around 2,500 years ago.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35For believers, the Buddha brought to humanity the key to enlightenment,
0:19:35 > 0:19:40the way to escape worldly desires and reach nirvana.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47Gradually, the Buddha, the wise man and great teacher,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52was worshipped as a god, and around 1,900 years ago,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55he started to be portrayed not in almost abstract form
0:19:55 > 0:19:59as a column or as a wheel, but as a human being.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03I suppose that made it easier for people to identify with him.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09And from the very start, this human portrayal of Buddha was often on a vast scale.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Clearly, in Buddhism, size mattered.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14The bigger the more beautiful.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23When it was first created,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26the Buddha was enclosed by an immense wooden temple.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30Only his face was left exposed.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Monks would have sheltered under the Buddha's shadow,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37living and worshipping in these small caves in the cliff face.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44So the Buddha would have been within a temple, an enclosed space.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Imagine the atmosphere.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51The chanting, the colours, the great image towering above.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Here, people would have sat, meditating,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57concentrating on the colossal scale of the image.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59It would have liberated their imagination,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02an incredible, moving experience.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05For them sitting here, the great Buddha in front of them,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09it would have been a living being. Incredible.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Pilgrims walk clockwise round the Buddha,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20seeking a path to enlightenment.
0:21:22 > 0:21:28The huge size of the image reveals that his spiritual power is without limit.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32The Buddha comes in many different forms,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and the Leshan statue has a particular meaning.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Ah, the head of Buddha at last.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44We meet face to face.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49This really is a very robust beauty.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52In fact, this colossal image of Buddha
0:21:52 > 0:21:56is a particular manifestation of the Buddha.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01It's Maitreya, a Buddha-to-be, a Buddha of the future.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06Quite when Maitreya arrives is a matter of debate.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09It seems he'll come when he's needed,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12when the old Buddhist faith is eroded,
0:22:12 > 0:22:18when the world is coming to its end, when the world is in extremis.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28When pilgrims ascend this mountain and behold Maitreya's face,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32they must feel they've already reached nirvana.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37This is a beauty that could save their souls.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42As with a sacred building,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45every detail on the head is full of meaning.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47The ears with the long earlobes,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50that reflects an Oriental idea of beauty,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54signifying a developed, refined human being.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57The eyes with their transcendental gaze,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00that shows that the Buddha is full of bliss,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02compassion, understanding.
0:23:02 > 0:23:09The little coiled buns of hair on his head, each like a little shrine,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13a diagram in itself to inspire and help meditation.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16On the top of the head is this bump,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19the bump that reflects the possession of a cosmic brain.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22That's the route to nirvana.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26BELL RINGING
0:23:35 > 0:23:38CHANTING
0:23:40 > 0:23:45Monks no longer live in the cliff face, but they still worship here.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Buddhism was repressed during China's Cultural Revolution.
0:23:50 > 0:23:56This temple, located just behind the Buddha's head, was shut down.
0:23:58 > 0:24:04But monks and believers have returned once more to pray for the arrival of Maitreya.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10So Maitreya's the Buddha of the future.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12But what exactly does that mean?
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Does that mean we should have hope for the future?
0:24:54 > 0:25:00Maitreya is supposed to return when the world's in torment,
0:25:00 > 0:25:01and perhaps that moment is now.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07The Leshan Buddha is slowly being defaced by pollution.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17The Buddha received a major facelift in 2001,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and is now badly stained again.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23These chaps are trying to brush away these dark stains,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26the tracks of tears.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30The trouble is, the acid rain is slowly, remorselessly
0:25:30 > 0:25:32eroding the sandstone.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Wrought from the entire cliff face,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49this giant figure creates a sense of awe.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55It's a personification of the wonder and the wisdom of nature.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03For me, the fantastic giant Buddha
0:26:03 > 0:26:06is emblematic of the beauty of the world,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10a world that man now seems set on destroying
0:26:10 > 0:26:13through ruthless exploitation of natural resources,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17through global warming, through pollution, through acid rain.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Incredibly, the giant Buddha
0:26:19 > 0:26:25is a warning from the past to the present about the future.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05St Petersburg in the depths of winter.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09It's Russia's most fashionable city,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13even when the temperature is way below zero.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22The city was founded by Peter the Great 300 years ago,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25but St Petersburg is also the triumph of a great woman,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Peter's daughter, Empress Elizabeth I.
0:27:29 > 0:27:36It was her taste for opulence and grandeur that made St Petersburg beautiful.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42She dressed up the city in colourful and extravagant baroque architecture
0:27:42 > 0:27:45that expressed national pride.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01And I've come to see Elizabeth's most personal and ornate creation.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41In northwest Russia, rising from the snow,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44is a hot-blooded baroque masterpiece.
0:28:44 > 0:28:49It's Russia's own Versailles, a building in which beauty
0:28:49 > 0:28:55is used as a political weapon, as an expression of divine majesty.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01This is the Catherine Palace,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04which Elizabeth named after her beloved mother.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10This palace was designed in the 1750s
0:29:10 > 0:29:14by an architect with Italian blood, Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19The building's enormous length
0:29:19 > 0:29:23is a grand display of imperial power and order.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27But this intimidating scale
0:29:27 > 0:29:31is enlivened with exuberant and joyful details.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42Rastrelli's the architect, but this building's not about him.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46He was merely the means by which Elizabeth expressed her nature,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49her passions, her loves, her aspirations.
0:29:49 > 0:29:55This building's an almost shockingly personal portrait of a most unusual woman.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03The exterior of the Catherine Palace
0:30:03 > 0:30:07is one of the world's most sensational classical compositions,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11but the real glories are inside.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24The palace is organised around the Golden Enfilade,
0:30:24 > 0:30:28an awe-inspiring route that took you to the imperial presence.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41The straight route through Elizabeth's palace,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43originally nearly 325 metres in length,
0:30:43 > 0:30:47was like a test for those granted admission to this magical world.
0:30:47 > 0:30:54The highest in the land and those most in favour with the Empress would penetrate deepest.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06The grandest room was the colossal Great Hall,
0:31:06 > 0:31:11where Elizabeth received visitors while seated on her throne.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33The vastness of the hall, the huge array of mirrors and gilded figures
0:31:33 > 0:31:38were designed to bewitch the senses and confirm her godlike status.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46This wasn't only Elizabeth's throne room but also her playroom.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49This became the centre of her hedonistic world.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53It was here that she held her famed metamorphoses balls,
0:31:53 > 0:31:57in which men dressed as women and women dressed as men.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01Such cross-dressing in parties in the 18th century wasn't unusual,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04but mostly, people would wear masks.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08But here, by Elizabeth's orders, nobody wore masks.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11People were themselves, but strangely transformed,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15which is, I suppose, why these parties were not very popular
0:32:15 > 0:32:18with Elizabeth's courtiers and nobles.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43And as privileged visitors moved deeper into the palace,
0:32:43 > 0:32:46the decorative schemes became ever more ingenious.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59This really is one of the strangest rooms in the palace.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04The walls are covered by old-master oil paintings purchased by Elizabeth
0:33:04 > 0:33:08but organised not by subject, style, artist or date,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12but simply by size and by colour.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17They're rammed together to make a sort of mosaic, a sort of massive tapestry.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24This really is a triumph of interior decoration.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Ah, now I can meet Elizabeth herself.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50This portrait shows her in her prime.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54It's all to do with power and wealth expressed through beauty -
0:33:54 > 0:33:58beautiful architecture and beautiful clothes.
0:33:58 > 0:34:03And what of the woman beneath all this pomp? Look at her face.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07It looks homely, somewhat earthy,
0:34:07 > 0:34:11far from cruel and arrogant. She loved architecture,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14and she created one of the most spectacular buildings in the world.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16I like her!
0:34:22 > 0:34:27But Elizabeth's greatest triumph was the installation of the Amber Room,
0:34:27 > 0:34:31the crowning architectural glory of her reign.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39This is a room with an almost magical quality.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42It's haunted the Western imagination for centuries.
0:34:42 > 0:34:48It's been regarded as the most enigmatic and beautiful room ever created.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52It's been called the Eighth Wonder of the World.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54It's a hymn to the beauty of nature,
0:34:54 > 0:34:58because its walls are covered with amber,
0:34:58 > 0:35:01a very valuable natural material
0:35:01 > 0:35:05that anciently was thought to be sunlight petrified,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08encompass the power of the sun god.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13And what a very appropriate material for an imperial palace.
0:35:25 > 0:35:32Amber, made from fossilised tree resin, was rare and expensive.
0:35:32 > 0:35:39This exclusive material was used to create a rarefied and fantastical world.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48But these are not the amber panels installed by Elizabeth.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58This Amber Room, a perfect copy, is less than ten years old.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14The palace was a victim of fighting during the Second World War.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21When German soldiers retreated after the siege of Leningrad,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23the building was left a ruin.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31But after the war, it became an issue of national pride
0:36:31 > 0:36:33to restore Elizabeth's vision of beauty.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44The restoration is ambitious.
0:36:44 > 0:36:49The designs, materials and techniques are authentic.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02But does the spirit of Elizabeth's lost palace really live again?
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Why is it important to restore lost beauty?
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Why is it important to restore the Catherine Palace?
0:37:59 > 0:38:04And so the beauty of the Catherine Palace lives again.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57The eastern coast of India...
0:39:00 > 0:39:04..where the beauty of the human body can be a sacred thing.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I've come to see a temple which is one of the most magnificent
0:39:28 > 0:39:31and richly ornamented in India,
0:39:31 > 0:39:35which has dominated this coast on the Bay of Bengal for centuries.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38But despite the temple's architectural wonder,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41it's puzzled, shocked and appalled people.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45It's been called the most beautiful building in the world
0:39:45 > 0:39:48and also the most obscene.
0:39:48 > 0:39:54What's certain, though, is that it's a sensational monument to the power of sex.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08The temple was once positioned right on the beach.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16But over the centuries,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19the land between the ocean and the temple grew,
0:40:19 > 0:40:24and it's now stranded inland, in the small town of Konarak.
0:40:58 > 0:41:03The temple was built in the mid-13th century by a local Hindu king.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09It's dedicated to the sun god, Surya.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13But there are more unusual sculptures here.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18The walls are covered with beautiful images
0:41:18 > 0:41:21of people in the most intimate embrace.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27This building has more graphic sex acts depicted on it
0:41:27 > 0:41:29than any other temple in India.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40The whole temple's conceived as the mighty chariot
0:41:40 > 0:41:43on which the sun god Surya is drawn through the sky
0:41:43 > 0:41:48from dawn until dusk, and number is all-important here.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52The chariot's furnished with 24 massive wheels,
0:41:52 > 0:41:58which represent the 24 bright and dark moons of each year.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02The chariot's drawn by seven prancing steeds,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05symbolising, of course, the seven days of the week.
0:42:08 > 0:42:14The temple's not just a celestial vehicle, it's also a time machine,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17or rather a magic machine outside time,
0:42:17 > 0:42:23rolling through eternity, and all is organised around the sun.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26The main door faces east, towards the rising sun,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29which brings new life with every dawn.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32And as the sun moves around the building,
0:42:32 > 0:42:36it brings to life, energises all the sculpture on the temple.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Ah, this is the dance hall.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58This is where the devadasis, the temple dancing girls,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01would have performed, and you can see them here
0:43:01 > 0:43:04carved onto the architecture dancing.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08This one, beautiful creature with a drum, a musical instrument.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Right here, they danced. Imagine it.
0:43:10 > 0:43:17Originally, this was a roofed structure, dark, mysterious, magical,
0:43:17 > 0:43:22and the girls dancing to please the god and to please the Brahmin priests.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26These girls had a high status, just below that of the priests themselves,
0:43:26 > 0:43:31but they may have participated in the rites particular and peculiar to this temple.
0:43:39 > 0:43:46For centuries, the sexual images have confused and alarmed people.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51One British commissioner during the Raj denounced them as "beastly"
0:43:51 > 0:43:55and said it would be better if the whole place was levelled to the ground.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05Today, the temple's swarming with inquisitive tourists
0:44:05 > 0:44:10and schoolchildren, who seem a little more relaxed.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16But what's this sexual imagery all about?
0:44:20 > 0:44:23The meaning of this building has long puzzled people,
0:44:23 > 0:44:27but I believe some of the answers must lie in the Hindu faith itself.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29When the temple was being constructed,
0:44:29 > 0:44:34Tantric practices were gaining strength in northeast India,
0:44:34 > 0:44:38and in Tantra, the idea is that power can be obtained from nature
0:44:38 > 0:44:44and contact made with the divine through the medium of the body.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Sex plays a very important role.
0:44:47 > 0:44:54Sexual bliss is seen as akin to the joy, the ecstasy of enlightenment,
0:44:54 > 0:44:58of union with the god, so a building like this, full of sexual images,
0:44:58 > 0:45:02are really images to do with divine practices.
0:45:02 > 0:45:08Sex, orgasm, is seen as opening a window onto the divine.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20The belief that sexual activity could lead to spiritual enlightenment
0:45:20 > 0:45:24was particular to the more radical school of Tantric thinking,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27which challenged most established Hindu conventions.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34So the people who created these images had very specific beliefs.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38They believed in the sacred nature of bodily fluids,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42and once you understand that, all of this begins to make sense.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46These are not just images of people seeking gratification
0:45:46 > 0:45:49but images of people feasting on divine nectar,
0:45:49 > 0:45:53the stuff of life, the stuff of immortality.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59Fluid is central to the Hindu creation myth,
0:45:59 > 0:46:02in which life springs from an ocean of milk.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10And during sexual activity, the bodily fluids unite to create life.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13They are the nectar of immortality.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21The ways in which this nectar was extracted and distributed
0:46:21 > 0:46:26can only leave you lost in wonder - such invention, such gymnastics.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30Some of it looks really hard work!
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Here, a woman's presenting certain bodily fluids to an altar
0:47:01 > 0:47:04on which burns a sacred flame.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08Such fluids were vital offerings to Tantric deities.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25And animals, which according to Hindu belief
0:47:25 > 0:47:28contain a soul on a journey, were not left out.
0:47:28 > 0:47:33Here, a thoughtful young lady is giving a dog, I believe,
0:47:33 > 0:47:35a divine meal.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59The final mystery of the Sun Temple is its end.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03After being a place of worship for more than 400 years,
0:48:03 > 0:48:05it was abandoned.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13Already by the early 17th century, it was a desolate ruin,
0:48:13 > 0:48:15half-buried in the sand,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18and the interior now is simply full of stone.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Why this happened, we do not know.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24Perhaps it was a cyclone in the past that damaged the building,
0:48:24 > 0:48:27made it no longer auspicious for the god.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30Perhaps local people turned against it.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32What we do know is that the great kalash,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36the great pot on the top of the pyramid
0:48:36 > 0:48:39that symbolically contained ambrosia,
0:48:39 > 0:48:43the stuff of immortality, that pot has long gone.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55This temple is now an extraordinary place.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58It's a slumbering giant.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00The spiritual power of the place has been reduced,
0:49:00 > 0:49:02but it's far from lost.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05People flock here to wonder at the architecture and the sculpture
0:49:05 > 0:49:09to try and understand the temple's mysteries and secrets.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12What they make of it, of course, depends on their individual natures.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15To the pure, all is pure.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18To those of evil intentions, all is evil.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22I see the temple as a great temple of joy,
0:49:22 > 0:49:24a temple to the power of sex.
0:50:04 > 0:50:10The town of Albi, in the historic region of Languedoc.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14It's now the perfect image of a peaceful French town.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20But in the Middle Ages, it wasn't part of France.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23It was a place of persecution and terror
0:50:23 > 0:50:28from which emerged a vision of powerful, sinister beauty.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37This is Albi Cathedral,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41part house of prayer, part fortress.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57It was begun in the late 13th century by the Catholic Church
0:50:57 > 0:51:02to oppress the local population and terrify it into submission.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08Even today, the cathedral's scale and brooding presence
0:51:08 > 0:51:10instils awe and astonishment.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21The building's bold, functional forms
0:51:21 > 0:51:25give it an abstract, sculptural, poetic power,
0:51:25 > 0:51:31and the mellow red bricks are absolutely sensational.
0:51:33 > 0:51:39Albi was at the heart of one of the Middle Ages' most savage crusades,
0:51:39 > 0:51:41as Catholic forces from northern France
0:51:41 > 0:51:44sought to vanquish the people of Languedoc.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50The town had embraced the Cathar religion,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55which branded the Church of Rome materialistic and satanic.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00In turn, the Pope declared them heretics
0:52:00 > 0:52:04and a cathedral was built to suppress the Cathar religion for ever.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10The cathedral's all about power. Worldly power, rather than spiritual.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12It's a fortress, of course.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15The walls are incredibly thick at their base
0:52:15 > 0:52:19to stop them being pierced by battering rams,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21and the windows are high and narrow
0:52:21 > 0:52:25so they can't be entered by intruders.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52The interior's now richly decorated, but all of this is later.
0:52:52 > 0:52:59When new, the interior would have been gaunt, vast, sublime,
0:52:59 > 0:53:01rather intimidating, I should think.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05Quite what the people of Albi though about this interior, it's hard to know,
0:53:05 > 0:53:09but surely they would have been impressed by its vast scale,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12by its bold simplicity, by its terrible beauty.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21In a triumph of military engineering,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24Albi's huge weight is carried on massive buttresses
0:53:24 > 0:53:28set between the windows, projecting into the building
0:53:28 > 0:53:32and pierced only by a series of small doorways.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40Here, defence was all-important.
0:53:40 > 0:53:46The outer walls are incredibly thick and strong to keep out attackers,
0:53:46 > 0:53:50and the buttresses, usually outside, have been brought inside.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53And here's one of them, a massive piece of construction.
0:53:53 > 0:53:58These buttresses hold up much of the vault above the nave.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00The thinking was if these were outside,
0:54:00 > 0:54:06they could be demolished by attackers and the whole building would come tumbling down.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42The cathedral has an incredibly commanding view over the town,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45the river and the surrounding countryside,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48and it would have been very castle-like originally.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51It would have been like a great castle tower, a keep,
0:54:51 > 0:54:54because down there were walls and towers
0:54:54 > 0:54:58and even a gatehouse with a drawbridge, all defending it.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03Whoever ruled the cathedral ruled this land.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18As the cathedral grew tall, the Church launched an inquisition,
0:55:18 > 0:55:23forcing people to declare their allegiance to the Pope or be executed.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31By the early 14th century,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35the persecution of Cathars reached violent extremes.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43The Inquisition's grip on the town was now absolute.
0:55:43 > 0:55:48The bodies of alleged heretics were dug up, defiled, burnt,
0:55:48 > 0:55:52just to let the people here know about the perils of disobedience
0:55:52 > 0:55:54to the Roman Catholic Church.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58And then there was the presence of the cathedral,
0:55:58 > 0:56:02a perpetual reminder of who was in control.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17The cathedral continued to expand
0:56:17 > 0:56:21long after the Inquisition had crushed the spirit of the Cathars.
0:56:22 > 0:56:27But one piece of decoration is a reminder of the savage beauty
0:56:27 > 0:56:30at the heart of Albi Cathedral.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37No doubt as a frightful warning to the community,
0:56:37 > 0:56:41this astonishing painting was unveiled in the 1480s.
0:56:41 > 0:56:46It shows the judgment that Christians believe will take place at the end of time,
0:56:46 > 0:56:50when the dead rise up from their graves
0:56:50 > 0:56:54and are judged and consigned to Heaven or to Hell.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58This painting is amazing because it doesn't show any of the promises
0:56:58 > 0:57:02of Paradise, simply the torments, the suffering of the damned in Hell.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05Amazing scenes are being enacted here.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08People are being broken on the wheel,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11other people are being boiled in cauldrons,
0:57:11 > 0:57:16and one woman is being forced to swallow something absolutely horrid.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20It looks like a snake. Others are being sick.
0:57:20 > 0:57:25What people here made of this, I really cannot imagine,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28though of course, any Cathars lingering in the community,
0:57:28 > 0:57:31this was meant for them, wasn't it?
0:57:31 > 0:57:34It was to tell them this is the fate awaiting them
0:57:34 > 0:57:39if they do not surrender to the will of the Church in Rome.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22This is one of the most intriguing, perplexing and for me,
0:58:22 > 0:58:26most architecturally exciting buildings in the world.
0:58:26 > 0:58:31It was created to oppress and terrify people, yet in its design,
0:58:31 > 0:58:33there's a purity, a bold simplicity,
0:58:33 > 0:58:38a clarity that leads to beauty, a beauty that moves my soul.
0:58:38 > 0:58:42So here we can see good coming out of evil
0:58:42 > 0:58:46and mean intentions leading to a masterpiece.
0:59:01 > 0:59:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:03 > 0:59:05Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk