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Inspiration for Minas Tirith?

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Eruanna



Joined: 11 Jan 2005
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Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...

PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:08 am    Post subject: Inspiration for Minas Tirith? Reply with quote

http://www.fractale-framboise.com/2005/06/rocamadour

This is Notre-Dame de Rocamadour...

Lovely medieval architecture...

(I am envisioning chainmailed beauties on the ramparts...) Very Happy

Could this be the inpiration for the White City?

--Eruanna

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Illyria



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I can't read the language, lol, so was it made before Tolkien's time? Because then there's a possibility that it was used as a reference point. And it does resemble MT in the films. Very cool pics as well. Wouldn't mind seeing it myself, where is it?
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Neniel



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Beautiful, just beautiful!
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Eruanna



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Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...

PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:49 pm    Post subject: MT in France? Reply with quote

I think it is in France, but I am not sure where.

Very Romanesque-looking arches, and very much like the Minas Tirith in the films. Very Happy

I think of the scene with Gandalf and Pippin in ROTK!

--Eruanna

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ghettoelleth



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

See Eru? If it were left up to me, we wouldn't have found out about this til some guy posed naked on the steps. This is way cool, honey!
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Eruanna



Joined: 11 Jan 2005
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Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...

PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:04 pm    Post subject: MT Reply with quote

Ghetto:

Hmmm Wink

http://www.rocamadour.com/index-us.htm

Another link with history, this time...

Photoshop can do just about anything! Any submissions for Ghetto from the art squad skilled in Photoshop?

(I imagine the possibilities of nekkid skin and armour...) Very Happy

--Eruanna

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Shanalir



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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That is absolutely breathtaking! Thank you so much for sharing.
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Cressida



Joined: 23 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As it happens, I speak French, so here's a quick and dirty translation for anyone who's interested! Smile

***

This isn't Minas Tirith, but it looks like it. It's Rocamdour, the second French site after Mont-Saint-Michel (from which Alan Lee justly took his inspiration for drawing the Gondorian city, I think). Built on the side of a cliff, it rises in different levels: the houses at the bottom, then the chapels and the castle which overhangs the ensemble at a dizzying height.

[picture]

A sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin already existed on this spot by the 10th century. A cult of the Black Virgin (Our Lady of Rocamdour) developed, which attracts pilgrims to this day. She is even invoked in Canada!

[picture of plaque. The inscription reads: "In February of 1536, Jacques Cartier and his companions, suffering from scurvy, were healed after praying to Our Lady of Rocamdour near the Lairet River in New France. On 4 September 1994, Quebec and Quercy remembered." Box: "Friends of Rocamdour."]

The curiosities there are numerous. I think among others of that sword stuck very high on a wall: it is said to be Durendal, the sword of Roland, who spent the last of his energy ensuring that it would not fall into the hands of the Saracens.

The architecture of Rocamdour is so unusual and so well-preserved that I felt as if I were walking through a movie set. Note for those who are interested: the town is at its best in spring and autumn, when the leaves are soft green or brilliantly-colored and the weather is mild. In July and August you'll find scorching heat and thousands of tourists. Don't ruin your pleasure.

[several pictures]

2 comments:

#1 Joel Champetier (13 June 2005): Is this town actually inhabited? I mean, are there "ordinary" people who live in these houses? I visited a town like this, although less spectacular, in the south of France--I forget the name, it was a long time ago. But what I found interesting was that it was still truly inhabited. And I remember wondering how the surveying and taxes worked for a house whose foundation partially overlapped that of its its neighbor below; and all the legal consequences of such close proximity.

#2 Laurine (13 June 2005): There must be several of these little medieval villages in the south of France where people live, even if they have become tourist spots. For my part, I visited Oppède le Vieux in the Vaucluse several years ago. A very impressive location! Getting back to Rocamdour, yes, the town is inhabited: there must be between 600 and 700 inhabitants, no more. They live at the foot of the town, in the business level, I suppose. I took a photo from very high up which gives an idea of how the space is configured.


Last edited by Cressida on Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:47 am; edited 1 time in total
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SilverMoonLady



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PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

very cool:) and a neato blog as well! *puts on her bilingual hat* Good translation Cressida!
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Eruanna



Joined: 11 Jan 2005
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Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...

PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:10 pm    Post subject: Translation Reply with quote

Thanks, Cressida!

Good to know what it said! Smile

My high school French is SO rusty!

--Eruanna

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RJLCyberPunk



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PostPosted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cressida wrote:
As it happens, I speak French, so here's a quick and dirty translation for anyone who's interested! Smile

***

This isn't Minas Tirith, but it looks like it. It's Rocamdour, the second French site after Mont-Saint-Michel (from which Alan Lee justly took his inspiration for drawing the Gondorian city, I think). Built on the side of a cliff, it rises in different levels: the houses at the bottom, then the chapels and the castle which overhangs the ensemble at a dizzying height.

[picture]

A sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin already existed on this spot by the 10th century. A cult of the Black Virgin (Our Lady of Rocamdour) developed, which attracts pilgrims to this day. She is even invoked in Canada!

[picture of plaque. The inscription reads: "In February of 1536, Jacques Cartier and his companions, suffering from scurvy, were healed after praying to Our Lady of Rocamdour near the Lairet River in New France. On 4 September 1994, Quebec and Quercy remembered." Box: "Friends of Rocamdour."]

The curiosities there are numerous. I think among others of that sword stuck very high on a wall: it is said to be Durendal, the sword of Roland, who spent the last of his energy ensuring that it would not fall into the hands of the Saracens.

The architecture of Rocamdour is so unusual and so well-preserved that I felt as if I were walking through a movie set. Note for those who are interested: the town is at its best in spring and autumn, when the leaves are soft green or brilliantly-colored and the weather is mild. In July and August you'll find scorching heat and thousands of tourists. Don't ruin your pleasure.

[several pictures]

2 comments:

#1 Joel Champetier (13 June 2005): Is this town actually inhabited? I mean, are there "ordinary" people who live in these houses? I visited a town like this, although less spectacular, in the south of France--I forget the name, it was a long time ago. But what I found interesting was that it was still truly inhabited. And I remember wondering how the surveying and taxes worked for a house whose foundation partially overlapped that of its its neighbor below; and all the legal consequences of such close proximity.

#2 Laurine (13 June 2005): There must be several of these little medieval villages in the south of France where people live, even if they have become tourist spots. For my part, I visited Oppède le Vieux in the Vaucluse several years ago. A very impressive location! Getting back to Rocamdour, yes, the town is inhabited: there must be between 600 and 700 inhabitants, no more. They live at the foot of the town, in the business level, I suppose. I took a photo from very high up which gives an idea of how the space is configured.


Thanks for that translation...
Very much appreciated!

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Vilwarin



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PostPosted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aw, that looks really great. Thank you for sharing.
The comment did make me wonder how the tax system worked in Minas Tirith. Sadly we will never know who the King/Steward got his money Very Happy
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