ABIQUIU & CAÑONES

We first visit the mosque-madrassah of Dar al Islam, designed by Hassan Fathy (author of Architecture for the Poor) using vault and dome construction techniques and following the prototypes of Nubian vernacular adobe architecture. Executive Director Rafaat Ludin guides our visit. Lunch (please bring your own meal) is in a courtyard outside the madrassah.

We then drive a short distance to a ridge above Abiquiú to the Morada del Alto of Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno, where we visit the interior and talk with hermano Dexter Trujillo.

For our final visit we drive on an unpaved road past Cañones to meet with the Orthodox monastic community at the Monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael. Following conversation with the monks we attend a sung (Byzantine chant) vespers service. The monastery is less elaborate—more humble—than Benedictine sites; the chapel exudes an otherworldly beauty. Our…