0:00:07 > 0:00:11This is a journey to explore the architecture of power.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17In Romania, the iron grip of a despot over his people.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22In the American South,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26the architecture of slavery.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36In Istanbul...
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..a building to enslave women.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44HE BLOWS WHISTLE
0:00:48 > 0:00:54In Kazakhstan, alien architecture to assert the power of a new nation.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01And in the Middle East,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05a last bastion of the Crusader Knights.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58The capital of Romania, Bucharest.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03A city that once straddled the cultural divide
0:02:03 > 0:02:07between eastern and western Europe, known as the Paris of the Balkans.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15Bucharest was transformed in the 1980s by Nicolae Ceausescu,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Europe's last communist dictator.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29I'm heading towards the Palace of the People,
0:02:29 > 0:02:34one of the most outrageous monuments to despotic rule the world has ever seen.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45The palace was to be both Ceausescu's personal residence
0:02:45 > 0:02:47and home to all aspects of government,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51a building that would secure his grip on power.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02From here, the building's at its most ominous, most threatening.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06The windows, like hundreds of eyes, observing
0:03:06 > 0:03:08and controlling.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11This is the epitome of Big Brother architecture.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Golly, this interior is power personified.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Power achieved through intimidating scale that dwarfs,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52and the use of ruthless, repetitive
0:03:52 > 0:03:54classical architecture.
0:03:54 > 0:04:00Classicism that's impersonal, this funereal white marble.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08'The palace contains over 1,000 rooms,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10'a never-ending parade of extravagance.'
0:04:14 > 0:04:18In floor area, it's the largest building in the world after the Pentagon in Washington.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22No expense was spared.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27There's estimated to be over one million tonnes of marble,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and over 3,500 tonnes of crystal,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33used to decorate the lavish interiors.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37700 architects and 20,000 workers
0:04:37 > 0:04:41toiled in shifts 24 hours a day.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47The overall cost was said to have exceeded £2 billion.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Ceausescu wanted his palace to be a triumph for Romania.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59Everything from the chandeliers to the carvings had to be made in the country.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20This is the room in which Ceausescu would've signed documents of state.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22It's huge, it's absurd.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31The climax of the building, the size and grandeur of this room,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35was designed to make visitors feel small and insignificant
0:05:35 > 0:05:37before the master statesman.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48If you were left in any doubt that you were in the grips of a man of power,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51then you just had to have a look from this balcony.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53It's like a kick in the guts.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59From here, you can see the scale of Ceausescu's monstrous ambition.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04It's been estimated that he destroyed one-fifth of central Bucharest,
0:06:04 > 0:06:09to create a ceremonial route to his palace, known as the Boulevard of Socialist Victory.
0:06:11 > 0:06:1513 churches and over 9,000 homes were torn down,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19displacing at least 40,000 people.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25This was the most vicious attack on architecture and history
0:06:25 > 0:06:28in Europe since the Second World War.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Even though the Romanian population would suffer power cuts and food shortages,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Ceausescu was determined his palace would be unrivalled.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42He held a competition.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46A young and ambitious architect was chosen to do his bidding.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49WOMAN SPEAKS ROMANIAN
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Many people may find this building oppressive,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08because they lost their homes for its construction.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09What do you say to those people?
0:07:33 > 0:07:36But Ceausescu was ruthless and obsessed.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43The palace would prevail... at any cost.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53This vast, formal room was intended for state receptions.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55It's called the ballroom.
0:07:55 > 0:08:01I can't imagine they would've been very warm, these receptions, a very chilling interior.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05It would be dominated by gigantic portraits,
0:08:05 > 0:08:10of Ceausescu at one end and his wife, Elena, at the other.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14All we have now is large, empty marble panels.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18The paintings were never to be installed.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Ceausescu never saw his palace completed.
0:08:25 > 0:08:32In December 1989, to his utter bewilderment, the people at last rebelled against his rule.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Three days later, on Christmas Day,
0:08:55 > 0:09:01Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed by firing squad.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17But his death left the Romanian people with a dilemma -
0:09:17 > 0:09:19what should they do with the vast monument
0:09:19 > 0:09:22that symbolised Ceausescu's reign?
0:09:26 > 0:09:28What happened next was extraordinary.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34Ceausescu's palace was transformed into the home of Romanian democracy.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49This grandiose room is the senate.
0:09:49 > 0:09:56It was designed as a great hall in which Ceausescu would receive heads of state.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59This building is rich in irony.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03What was to be the domain of a despot,
0:10:03 > 0:10:09has become the symbol of a new, democratic Romania.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15What was Ceausescu's Palace has now become Palace of Parliament.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23The Romanian parliament began to move into this building in 1994,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26just five years after the death of the dictator.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31The people are obliged, for practical and economic reasons,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35to use a building that is a monument to their oppression.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49This long, straight boulevard, combined with this domineering palace,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53is the ultimate expression of an architectural dream
0:10:53 > 0:10:57that has haunted the imagination of despots for thousands of years.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01This is power personified.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06But I must say this is the grimmest expression of that dream I have ever seen.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08So, what's going to happen now?
0:11:08 > 0:11:12The people of this city are learning to live with this building,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14but will they ever learn to love it?
0:11:45 > 0:11:50On the shores of the eastern Mediterranean
0:11:50 > 0:11:55lies a land sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims...
0:11:55 > 0:11:57the Holy Land.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15MAN CALLS OUT
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Oh! Shukran.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Off the Mediterranean coast of Syria stands one of the most historically
0:12:33 > 0:12:37important and architecturally powerful castles ever built.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38For over 100 years,
0:12:38 > 0:12:42it stood defiantly at the meeting point of two worlds,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46the Muslim and the Christian, and, in the end,
0:12:46 > 0:12:51it alone kept Christian hopes alive in the Holy Land.
0:12:51 > 0:12:57In the 12th century, Marqab was one of the largest castles controlled by the Crusader Knights,
0:12:57 > 0:13:02part of a mighty European army that fought to reclaim the Holy Land for the Christian faith.
0:13:02 > 0:13:09But in 1188, Saladin, the most successful Muslim commander, had just defeated the Crusader army.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13And one of the last great bastions that stood between him
0:13:13 > 0:13:16and control of the Holy land was Marqab.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Saladin must have stood just about here.
0:13:23 > 0:13:29This location to the south east of the castle is the best place to view its defensive works.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35A contemporary chronicle says he thought the place impregnable and impossible to take.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39It's very large and set in a naturally strong position,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41the plateau top fortified
0:13:41 > 0:13:44with a series of walls and mighty round towers.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55The physical power of the castle allowed it to command a huge area of land,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59extracting tribute from its neighbours for almost a century.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05For Saladin, it was both a military and an economic prize.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Saladin will also have noted that
0:14:19 > 0:14:24the castle's made of hard volcanic basalt, a very tough material.
0:14:24 > 0:14:31And he'd have recognised that the castle's a fine, pioneering example of the science of military design.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34I'll show you what I mean.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38The basic plan of the castle is dictated by nature.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42The rocky plateau on which it sits is triangular in shape,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44so the perimeter wall is built
0:14:44 > 0:14:48around the edge of the triangular plateau.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Then, within that, a higher wall is constructed
0:14:53 > 0:14:55that overlooks the outer one.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Also the castle divides in two by a great wall here.
0:15:01 > 0:15:02This is the castle town.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05Up to 1,000 people lived there in 1200.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09This is the citadel, and here the great donjon or keep.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11To take the castle, you had to take that.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41I'm in the space between the perimeter walls.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44If I were an attacker, I'd be suffering terribly
0:15:44 > 0:15:48because the defenders up there on the higher wall would be showering missiles onto me.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Now here is the gate to the citadel. I'd have to break my way through this,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56that'd be quite difficult, I'm sure, massive defence.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59And then I'd penetrate up.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02And golly! I'm baffled.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05There are several exits to left and right. What am I to do?
0:16:05 > 0:16:07This is like entering a labyrinth.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16The plan of the citadel is complicated, confusing,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20all calculated to confound any attacker.
0:16:21 > 0:16:22Where would one go?
0:16:22 > 0:16:29There's these narrow alleys, arches leading left, right, up and down.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33This is a fantastic machine of war, this castle.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Everything's designed to help the defender,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39give them security in a hostile land.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43For example, here there are four or five sort of...
0:16:43 > 0:16:45different ways to go.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48An arch there, stairs plunging into the bowels,
0:16:48 > 0:16:49another arch here.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52This divides again. Where on earth would an attacker go?
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Well, I'll try this direction.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19This is the Great Hall, the convivial heart of the castle,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22where the garrison would have dined.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24But even this is essentially
0:17:24 > 0:17:28a bit of ruthless, functional military architecture,
0:17:28 > 0:17:34part of the fighting capability of the castle.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37It's vaulted with stone, very strong,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39that's to protect it
0:17:39 > 0:17:44from missiles being hurled in by enemy catapults outside.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Also this provides a very strong platform
0:17:47 > 0:17:50on which the castle's catapults could be mounted
0:17:50 > 0:17:51to fling stones back.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10This castle wasn't just a fortress, it was also a monastery,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13because the Crusader Knights who held this castle
0:18:13 > 0:18:19were also a military order of monks, who had come to the Holy Land to look after pilgrims.
0:18:35 > 0:18:41This stupendous building was built in about 1190 as a chapel,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44a fantastic piece of early Gothic architecture.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48This was an amazing world, a world where
0:18:48 > 0:18:52holy men were fighting for the Holy Land.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06The military order was the Knights Hospitallers.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11Its members took monastic vows of poverty, chastity, obedience,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15and in this little side chapel is something very amazing,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18a fresco that dates from 1190.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24It shows Christ with the 12 disciples
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and what's incredible is that many of the faces survive.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30These are not the faces of men
0:19:30 > 0:19:34only of prayer but these are the faces of warriors.
0:19:34 > 0:19:41Surely these are portraits of the Hospitallers here at the time when this fresco was painted.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44It's very moving... These are
0:19:44 > 0:19:47the faces of the men that made this castle great,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52that rebuilt it and enlarged it, that made it one of the greatest castles in the Holy Land.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35Massive defences could not ultimately save the castle.
0:20:35 > 0:20:42Even this mighty keep with walls up to five metres thick
0:20:42 > 0:20:44could not resist.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48When the end came, it came from below.
0:20:48 > 0:20:54These great works were undermined and so they tumbled.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03A Muslim force arrived in 1285 and tunnelled beneath the huge keep,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06fatally weakening the castle's defences.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Downhearted, with no hope of relief,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12the Crusader Knights surrendered,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16after a siege had lasted just five weeks.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20The loss of Marqab marked the end of the crusader adventure.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25The dream of a Christian state in the Holy Land was over.
0:21:28 > 0:21:34This castle has a grim and brooding presence in the landscape.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37It's a dark place really, an appropriate monument
0:21:37 > 0:21:41to a particularly bloody epoch of human history, the Crusades.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45The struggle between east and west, between Islam and Christianity.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51A struggle which started with the bloody taking by the Christians of Jerusalem in 1099,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54an event that shocked the Muslim world,
0:21:54 > 0:21:55shocks it still, really,
0:21:55 > 0:22:00an act of barbarity undertaken by a religion dedicated to love.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04And this castle played a key role in the Crusades.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09So, standing here, one cannot help but think about the legacy of that struggle,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11the fact that it still goes on, in a way.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16There's still religious wars, there's still bloodshed,
0:22:16 > 0:22:21there's still pain and suffering in this region.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25And this castle, in a way, and its history,
0:22:25 > 0:22:29marks the beginning of that tragedy.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55JAZZ MUSIC
0:23:02 > 0:23:06New Orleans, Louisiana, in the American South.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12This is a land with a troubled past.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18The Mississippi River made the city rich,
0:23:18 > 0:23:22but it wasn't just crops that were traded along its length.
0:23:22 > 0:23:28Human beings were once sold down the river to work as slaves.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45The city's moved on since then, but Hurricane Katrina of 2005,
0:23:45 > 0:23:50and the massive floods that followed, reopened old wounds.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54THEY SING
0:23:56 > 0:23:57# Fly away...
0:23:58 > 0:24:02# By, by, hallelujah, by and by
0:24:02 > 0:24:05# Fly-y-y fly away... #
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Wonderful. I'll Fly Away. I love it.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Really good.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21What do you reckon the legacy of slavery is?
0:24:21 > 0:24:25I think slavery is still going on, contemporary slavery.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29The hurricane hit us, took four or five days for them to even come and see it.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31My people were stuck on the roof for three days.
0:24:31 > 0:24:37You don't have to have shackles on my feet and to be chained up for me to be a slave.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Slavery to me is a mental thing right now, contemporary.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44You know what I'm saying? It's all contemporary.
0:24:54 > 0:25:00Out of the city, hugging the banks of the Mississippi, snakes Louisiana's River Road.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05It's hard to believe now, but for much of the 19th century,
0:25:05 > 0:25:10this was the country's wealthiest highway, the home of millionaires.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16And the relationship between these masters and the slaves they owned
0:25:16 > 0:25:19is written into the very architecture of the region.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27This is Evergreen...
0:25:29 > 0:25:34..a sugar-cane plantation where once 200 people lived and worked.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40But the hard labour went on behind the scenes.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Evergreen's public face was this grand family mansion,
0:25:44 > 0:25:49dramatically remodelled in the 1830s by its owner, Michel Pierre Becnel.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Becnel was an ambitious man.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56He saw himself as more than just a farmer, he was a gentleman.
0:25:56 > 0:26:02And his social and cultural aspirations are reflected in the architecture he commissioned.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06He did everything he could to magnify the importance of his house,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10and by doing that, to magnify the importance of his family.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17The secret of the success here are these giant columns.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21They really put this house in the major league,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24they make it look like a grand mansion.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Also they fulfil a rather clever visual trick.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30They make what is quite a small house look vast.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Becnel spent so much on Evergreen that he went bankrupt.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41But he got the grandeur he so much desired.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46The details of the house are Greek revival,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50a style that was internationally fashionable in the early 19th century.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52And here, in front of me, is a wonderful example.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57This door case...it's very sophisticated.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02In the United States, Greek revival architecture had a particular meaning and importance.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07It almost represented national identity, it represented civilisation, liberty and freedom.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12But, in the South, it was favoured for perhaps less noble reasons,
0:27:12 > 0:27:18because Greece had been an ancient democracy, but a democracy that supported slavery.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Gosh, the er...interior is very opulent,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37and the Greek revival theme is continued -
0:27:37 > 0:27:42Ionic capitals here, Greek revival fire surround.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46And this is the main entertaining room of the house.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Here, the family would have gathered,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51and here, they would have held parties.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55This door is the clue, a wide door with a double leaf.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58That's to allow ladies in um...
0:27:58 > 0:28:02great crinoline dresses to pass through with ease,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05circulating around the interior.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19At the back of the mansion, everything is ordered, neat, symmetrical.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25The outbuildings look like chess pieces on a green board.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32Even the outdoor privy, temple-like in appearance, is an essay in classical geometry.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36It's all designed to send out a message about man's control over nature,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39but also speaks of man's control over other men.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47Behind the mansion lies a different world.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57This was where Evergreen's field slaves lived,
0:28:57 > 0:28:59in cabins separated from the world of the master,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02but laid out with the same symmetrical rigour.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12The slave quarters here now look charmingly picturesque,
0:29:12 > 0:29:17the cabins in a romantic state of decay,
0:29:17 > 0:29:22and they're sheltered by enchanting shadows
0:29:22 > 0:29:26cast by this avenue of wonderful oak trees.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29But things would have been very different when slaves lived here.
0:29:29 > 0:29:35The oaks wouldn't have been here. This was a grim industrial road,
0:29:35 > 0:29:40with uniform and utilitarian cabins set on each side.
0:29:40 > 0:29:41At one end was the mill,
0:29:41 > 0:29:45and at the other, the River Road and the Mississippi.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Feeding the sugar mill was harsh work.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56At harvest time, the slaves laboured 16 hours a day,
0:29:56 > 0:30:00seven days a week, to reap the tall, tough crop.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08This is a copy of the inventory drawn up when Becnel went bankrupt.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12It's in French, then the legal language of Louisiana,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15and of course it lists his slaves.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18And here we have them. Each one is numbered, named,
0:30:18 > 0:30:22and his sort of profession, trade, described.
0:30:22 > 0:30:29For example, number two is Rancon, aged 37, described as commander,
0:30:29 > 0:30:35capable of directing works on the plantation, so he's an overseer.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Then there's Phill, aged 34.
0:30:38 > 0:30:45He's a sugar-worker and described here as a negro of confidence.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49That means he would be trusted to go down the river by himself to New Orleans,
0:30:49 > 0:30:51delivering goods, I guess, something like that.
0:30:51 > 0:30:57But of course, these slaves are listed in the inventory because they're merely assets.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Each one has a price tag next to his name in dollars.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10In the end, these human beings were only property.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14housed sometimes as many as 16 to a cabin.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Gosh, pretty compact accommodation,
0:31:23 > 0:31:27but in fact what you're seeing is two houses.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29There would have been a partition down here.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31I can see the mark on the floor.
0:31:31 > 0:31:38So it's a very minimal construction, just timber posts with boarding outside.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Perhaps there would have been some insulation between, but nevertheless,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46I guess it would have been pretty cold in the winter,
0:31:46 > 0:31:47hot in summer.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49Imagine the life in here.
0:31:50 > 0:31:51Crowded...
0:31:52 > 0:31:54..the smells,
0:31:54 > 0:31:55some cooking there,
0:31:55 > 0:32:00but also I guess a little kitchen somewhere outside
0:32:00 > 0:32:02along with a privy.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Life must have been very intense.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Kathe, what does it feel like to be here?
0:32:17 > 0:32:18Hmm...
0:32:19 > 0:32:25I find that when I bring groups here, you'll oftentimes find...
0:32:27 > 0:32:32..one or two people who just journey off on their own
0:32:32 > 0:32:36and you may find them standing on a porch or beside a tree
0:32:36 > 0:32:37and they're crying.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41Just sometimes very emotionally crying.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43You can almost...
0:32:43 > 0:32:46hear the children.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50I can see people sometimes standing on the porch.
0:32:52 > 0:32:58I can see people coming down this lane from the fields in the evening,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00very, very tired.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03And if you're just quiet and just listen,
0:33:03 > 0:33:10you can hear it, and feel it, the spirit of my ancestors all around this place.
0:33:24 > 0:33:30It's incredibly moving and important that the grand mansion house
0:33:30 > 0:33:36and the humble slave quarters survive on the same plantation.
0:33:36 > 0:33:42This beautiful architecture is not tainted by slavery,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44but is part of the same narrative.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50The slave quarters here are, I suppose, to some,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53an embarrassing survival, but that's a good thing.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Forgetfulness is the great enemy.
0:33:56 > 0:34:01While slave quarters like that survive, people are reminded of
0:34:01 > 0:34:08the evil that comes when man has power over man, the evil of exploitation,
0:34:08 > 0:34:14the evil of domination, and while that memory survives,
0:34:14 > 0:34:18those evils, one hopes, can be eradicated.
0:34:56 > 0:34:57Istanbul.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01The ancient home of the Ottoman Sultans.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05This was the capital of their mighty empire from the 15th century
0:35:05 > 0:35:10and the place where their dynasty thrived for over 400 years.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37I've come to Istanbul to explore an institution in the former Ottoman court
0:35:37 > 0:35:42that for centuries has been reviled and misunderstood
0:35:42 > 0:35:43by people in the West.
0:35:43 > 0:35:49It was a place, it is said, in which men had absolute power over women.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53It's the harem of the Sultans.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00The harem is a labyrinth of nearly 400 rooms,
0:36:00 > 0:36:04many of which have still never been seen by the public.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08This is the architecture of a hidden and secret world
0:36:08 > 0:36:11that is still largely written out of Turkish history.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22I've now entered the harem.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26This gate was guarded by black eunuchs.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30They'd be sitting in this room on these benches,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34stopping people like me proceeding beyond this point.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37The life story of the eunuchs was peculiar indeed.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42They were slaves mostly purchased as boys in North Africa and Egypt
0:36:42 > 0:36:46and then castrated en route back to Istanbul.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Brutal indeed.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54The eunuchs lived in the rooms here,
0:36:54 > 0:36:59they guarded the Sultan's harem of beautiful women.
0:36:59 > 0:37:05Imagine the atmosphere, the veiled fury, the frustration.
0:37:08 > 0:37:14The harem was enlarged by Sultan Murad III in the late 16th century.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17Estimates vary, but it's thought that between
0:37:17 > 0:37:22400 and 1,000 women were living within these walls during his reign.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28Most of the girls were slaves purchased at slave markets,
0:37:28 > 0:37:32captured in war, or simply presented as gifts.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37And since Islamic law forbade the enslavement of Muslims,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42virtually all the girls here had been born Christians or were Jewish,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45and this is where the new arrivals lived.
0:37:54 > 0:38:00The girls were virgins when they arrived here, generally not more than 12 years old
0:38:00 > 0:38:05and immediately converted to Islam and then harem-trained.
0:38:05 > 0:38:10Taught useful skills: music, embroidery, Turkish,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14and they slept in dormitories up here,
0:38:14 > 0:38:21overseen at night by an elderly lady to ensure there'd be no Sapphic activity.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Sex was strictly controlled in the harem.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35A rigid hierarchy was in place.
0:38:38 > 0:38:45Only the most accomplished and beautiful girls would be chosen to spend the night with the Sultan
0:38:45 > 0:38:51and these favourites would often be hand-picked by the Sultan's own mother.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55When chosen, a girl's life would be transformed.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08After Murad had slept with a girl,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11her status increased literally overnight.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16After all, she could be carrying a child that would be the next Sultan.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21The girl was moved here, into the favourites' courtyard,
0:39:21 > 0:39:25given her own apartment and staff, her own eunuch.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30I suppose most girls in the harem wanted to be selected as favourites,
0:39:30 > 0:39:35were furious if not chosen, and were jealous of those who were.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Murad is said to have fathered nearly 50 children.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48All the males were instantly considered potential heirs to the throne.
0:39:48 > 0:39:53This fostered a savagely competitive atmosphere amongst the mothers,
0:39:53 > 0:39:56as they promoted the interests of their own children.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02The harem was a hotbed of intrigue,
0:40:02 > 0:40:07only the cunning and manipulative could succeed here, could rise to the top.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Women would spy on women,
0:40:09 > 0:40:13women would spy on the council of state if they could,
0:40:13 > 0:40:14on the Sultan himself,
0:40:14 > 0:40:18through that window there, that grille, this is the council hall.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21Eunuchs would be bribed.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24In this world there were no boundaries,
0:40:24 > 0:40:29this world of subtle intrigue, anything was possible.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33Murders were undertaken, even the Sultan himself could be toppled.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42When a sultan died or was deposed,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46it was a terrifying moment for the inhabitants of the harem
0:40:46 > 0:40:51as favourites were replaced and the battle for the succession began amongst the sons.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01Murad, when he became sultan, had all his brothers executed
0:41:01 > 0:41:05so that none of them could challenge his possession of the throne.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10This bloody solution was typical of Ottoman rulers in the 16th century.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14In the 17th century this rather extreme approach
0:41:14 > 0:41:19to solving the tricky problems of succession was gradually rejected.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23The Sultans preferred to keep their brothers in protective custody
0:41:23 > 0:41:29and these rooms are where these chaps whiled away their time.
0:41:29 > 0:41:35Gorgeous interiors, very much gilded cages within the heart of the harem.
0:41:54 > 0:42:00The woman whose son survived family struggles and fratricide to become Sultan
0:42:00 > 0:42:03would herself become the most powerful woman in the harem,
0:42:03 > 0:42:07indeed one of the most powerful women in the Muslim world.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11She became the Valide Sultan, the Queen Mother,
0:42:11 > 0:42:15and this is her apartment, an amazing place.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17You can feel here the privilege,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21the prestige that went with her position.
0:42:21 > 0:42:27This apartment, this amazing place is set at the very heart of the harem.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30From here she could see and control everything.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Golly, this is the private part of the apartment,
0:42:39 > 0:42:43this is where the Queen Mother would sleep.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47The bed over there, and here is her prayer room
0:42:47 > 0:42:51and on the wall is Mecca.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55Golly, and she would pray here, facing Mecca.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07The Queen Mother and her son, the Sultan, ruled the empire from this harem.
0:43:07 > 0:43:14It is ironic that the sons born here could become heads of the greatest Islamic dynasty on earth
0:43:14 > 0:43:17and yet their mothers had almost invariably been slaves
0:43:17 > 0:43:19and had been born non-Muslims.
0:43:22 > 0:43:28Power was achieved and maintained at tremendous human cost.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31It's true that slaves within the harem were educated
0:43:31 > 0:43:35and they could rise to high positions of power in the land
0:43:35 > 0:43:39but you have to remember that within its walls,
0:43:39 > 0:43:45girls were enslaved and trained to be put at the disposal of one man,
0:43:45 > 0:43:52and those girls were guarded by male slaves who'd been castrated.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57And also within the harem there was a tradition of brother murdering brother.
0:43:57 > 0:44:03So although the harem is a fascinating and efficient machine of state,
0:44:03 > 0:44:09it was surely, in the end, a deadly and terrifying place.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39This is the steppe of central Asia,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42the vast and snowy plains of Kazakhstan.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44This is a country with little architectural history.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47The people have a nomadic tradition.
0:44:48 > 0:44:54But it's here that the first new capital city of the 21st century is being created.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58This is a country starting from an almost blank slate.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00What kind of city will they create?
0:45:28 > 0:45:31The city authorities have organised this pageant for me.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35It displays traditional Kazakh culture.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38These chaps are fighting for the body of a dead sheep,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42and one side will get it and carry it and score a goal.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56In the background is the image of the city.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59And that is the strange thing,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03the fusion between tradition here, on this playing field,
0:46:03 > 0:46:08with modernity marching towards us, the fusion of the two worlds.
0:46:08 > 0:46:09The marriage!
0:46:20 > 0:46:25This is Astana, a name that simply means "capital".
0:46:34 > 0:46:37Kazakhstan only became independent in 1991,
0:46:37 > 0:46:40after the fall of the Soviet Union.
0:46:40 > 0:46:45And fuelled by oil riches, this young nation is creating
0:46:45 > 0:46:49a space-age capital to show that it's a force to be reckoned with.
0:47:01 > 0:47:08It's astonishing and very exciting to see a capital city arising before one's very eyes.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12In the central area here, it's very much a construction site,
0:47:12 > 0:47:17a work in progress, but things are going ahead at some speed.
0:47:17 > 0:47:22Also, historically, it's very rare to see a city that's the vision of one man.
0:47:22 > 0:47:29But this city, one man's vision, one man's dream, is being realised all around me in steel and concrete.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Astana is being forged by President Nazarbayev -
0:47:35 > 0:47:40an authoritarian ruler who has led the nation since its creation.
0:47:40 > 0:47:45In the last election, he received an implausible 91% of votes.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49But while there is oil wealth and stability,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52Nazarbayev remains popular,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55despite his decision to move the capital to this remote location.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59The emerging city centre feels like a ghost town.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04But one key building is calculated to attract the people.
0:48:06 > 0:48:11In front of me is a mighty tower that marks the symbolic heart of the city.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15It represents the tree of life, the Baiterek,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18connecting the earth to the heavens.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22It's 97 metres high, because it was in 1997
0:48:22 > 0:48:27that Astana was declared the capital of the nation.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30On top is a huge golden globe.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34That refers to a Kazakh myth of the Samruk bird,
0:48:34 > 0:48:38which each year lays a mighty golden egg
0:48:38 > 0:48:42which marks the coming of spring, and symbolises the sun.
0:48:56 > 0:49:02Within this great orb, this rather powerful symbol of the sun,
0:49:02 > 0:49:06is an unusual image, a representation, I suppose, of the President.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08And here it is.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11It's his hand, his hand imprint.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16He invites all who come to the city to put their hand in his,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18to join with him.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20I'll have a go. It's a rather large mitt he's got.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24KAZAKH NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS
0:49:24 > 0:49:27The national anthem is played.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32One stands here, thinking of the great leader,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34looking at his palace right in front of me.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42ANTHEM FINISHES
0:49:42 > 0:49:43Charming.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48What's strange of course is that this is an unusual cult of the personality,
0:49:48 > 0:49:53because one walks around the city, and his name, his power, really,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56is imprinted in everything, but there are no images of him,
0:49:56 > 0:49:57except here.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01This is the one moment on one's journey through his city
0:50:01 > 0:50:03that one actually meets the man.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20The President's will is absolute.
0:50:20 > 0:50:25Kazakhstan is to be represented by modern and monumental architecture.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30Money is no object, especially when it comes to his own residence.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41And here's the President's palace,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45standing in autocratic isolation,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48yet commanding the centre of the city.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50I guess its dominating position
0:50:50 > 0:50:55and its rather grandiose classical style of architecture
0:50:55 > 0:51:00can be read as a portrait of the man, central to affairs,
0:51:00 > 0:51:04utterly in command, the head of state in every way conceivable.
0:51:10 > 0:51:15The audacity of Nazarbayev's vision culminates in the most mysterious sight of all,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18a pyramid surrounded not by sand, but snow.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36This is the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation...
0:51:36 > 0:51:40a monument to the artistic and spiritual life of Kazakhstan,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43designed by British architect Norman Foster.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46All of the President's hopes for his nation are vested here,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49a showpiece for the reinvention of Kazakhstan.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55This is very much a pyramid of the 21st century.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00It's made of modern materials, and is a pioneering piece of structural engineering.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Egyptian pyramids are things of mystery.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05What secrets can this pyramid hold?
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Wow, a dark, a black interior.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28Something you don't see every day.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31It's astonishing, cavernous, cave-like.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33Very elemental.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37To find out what the story is, I'll start at the bottom.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43ORCHESTRA PLAYS
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Good heavens, a theatre in the bowels of the building.
0:52:51 > 0:52:57Not a tomb chamber as in Egyptian pyramids, but a living, vibrant opera house.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01ALL SING
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Of course, an opera house -
0:53:20 > 0:53:23the universal symbol that you've arrived.
0:53:23 > 0:53:28The essential component of any capital city with cultural aspirations.
0:53:28 > 0:53:33It's an amazing space, this, subterranean,
0:53:33 > 0:53:38but above me, presiding over all, is a gigantic image of the sun.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01I now rise up the pyramid, towards the heavens.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04It's intended to symbolise the journey of the Kazakh nation,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08emerging from the shadows into a glorious new age.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31I've ascended back into the light.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36I'm now in a fantastic minimal, soaring space.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39I'm at the very heart of the pyramid.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Below me is the opera house.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45I'm standing on top of its sun,
0:54:45 > 0:54:49and above me is the apex of the pyramid, my journey's end.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07The building reaches a climax with a dramatic explosion of light,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09as you enter paradise.
0:55:10 > 0:55:16There's another dazzling sun overhead, and dotted around are the images of doves of peace.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25This is where the President meets to discuss spiritual matters.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29And now I think I'm beginning to understand the purpose,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32the meaning, of this strange and exotic structure.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36The President is, in effect, the new sun god,
0:55:36 > 0:55:40the man from whom all glory, all power, all light,
0:55:40 > 0:55:42emanates in his land.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46And here he sits at the top of his pyramid,
0:55:46 > 0:55:52contemplating his creation, his city, his dream.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18The architecture here speaks of power yet to come.
0:56:41 > 0:56:47On my last night in Astana, I try the national dishes of Kazakhstan,
0:56:47 > 0:56:49sheep's head and horse meat.
0:56:49 > 0:56:54The survival food of nomads transformed into an expensive delicacy.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59Horse I'm intrigued to taste.
0:57:01 > 0:57:02Oh, gosh!
0:57:03 > 0:57:04Wow!
0:57:04 > 0:57:05Very pungent.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10Very, very, very strong taste.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15A taste you have to acquire through years of perseverance.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Here's something very special.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22God! Amazing.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24This is horse's milk.
0:57:24 > 0:57:25It's like rancid yoghurt.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Interesting, actually.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31Memorable.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44Astana is all about this clash between tradition and modernity.
0:57:44 > 0:57:50A home for a nomadic people packaged as a modern, thrusting metropolis.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53It's the expression of the power of one man,
0:57:53 > 0:58:01but although displays of power can be oppressive they can also produce architecture of high quality.
0:58:01 > 0:58:06History teaches that something ugly can create something beautiful.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:42 > 0:58:44E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk