Wandering around the old streets of Aix-en-Provence this summer, I yet again admired the incredible historic doorways that are monuments in themselves, witnesses to so much over their centuries of existence. The fact that works of such incredible skill, beauty and imagination have withstood the passage of time proves how robust and resiliant they are.
Most of these vast, majestic doorways lead onto an interior courtyard or into an imposing hallway, giving you the impression that you could enter another period if you merely stepped in across the threshold... If only!
Sometimes it is the carved wood that catches your attention, as you marvel at its intricate crafstmanship, unique aesthetic quality and remarkably well-preserved state. Is there anything even vaguely comparable today?
At other moments, it is the massive stonework that is astounding, with its height bearing down on you, but often with delicate sculpted features giving it a sophistication and odd lightness...
As you look at the worn flagstone steps, you wonder about all the lives that were spent at that address, each gradually leaving its mark.
The weight of the building is sometimes borne by the figures of
caryatids (for the female forms) or
atlantes (for the male equivalent), in place of a pillar. Some seem to bear this with greater ease than others, who toil under the burden...
Their massive hands gripping onto the architecture as they gaze on intently...
Some entrances are guarded over by strange creatures, of mythological character...
Not necessarily menacing...
But a presence to be reckoned with and respected...
Others are just plain strange!
Or joyous, despite their rather delapidated state...
Comic faces watching down in amusement at our antics...
And then, of course, there are the door knockers of impressive shape and size...
Creating an impression of grandeur and elegance that does not exist anymore...
How could anything compete with these?
Even when in a rather sorry condition due to ignorant 21st century neglect, their majesty shines through...
May these stunning doorways live on for years ahead...
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