Delhi
— — a city built on top of seven other cities.
Not only on a wall.
“Seven cities have been built on this ground, one on top of the last. The Red Fort still holds the eastern end of Old Delhi above the Yamuna. From the Jama Masjid roof at evening the call to prayer carries across Chandni Chowk, and the sandstone reads pink in the last light. The newer Delhi — Lutyens' wide avenues, the India Gate, the bungalow zone — sits just south.
Delhi, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Delhi is India's capital territory, home to roughly 33 million people across the National Capital Region. The city sits on the western bank of the Yamuna River, the Aravalli range pushing in from the south. It has been a capital seven times — the earliest, Lal Kot, founded in the 11th century; the latest, New Delhi, planned by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker between 1911 and 1931. The historic Old Delhi north of Connaught Place is anchored by the Red Fort, completed in 1648 under Shah Jahan, and the Jama Masjid of 1656.
The red sandstone of Mughal Delhi was quarried from the Aravalli foothills near Dholpur, 250 kilometres south. The Red Fort, built between 1638 and 1648 by Shah Jahan, walls 254 acres in this stone — the colour deepens to brick in the afternoon and reads pink at sunrise. Humayun's Tomb of 1570 set the template the Taj Mahal would refine eighty years later: a high red plinth, a white marble dome, a four-quadrant garden. The Qutub Minar to the south, 72.5 metres tall, was begun in 1199 — the tallest brick minaret in the world.
The Red Fort is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed on Monday. The sound-and-light show runs after dark in Hindi and English. Humayun's Tomb opens dawn to dusk; the gardens are quietest in the early morning. The Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, is open between prayers, and the minaret climb gives the best rooftop view of Old Delhi. The Delhi Metro reaches all four sites — Lal Quila for the Fort, JLN Stadium for Humayun's, Chandni Chowk for the Masjid, Qutub Minar for the minaret.