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DAN CRUICKSHANK: I'm on a journey
to see architecture shaped by disaster.

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A great and ancient city
engulfed by calamity.

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A wartime attack that laid waste
a Baroque masterpiece.

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A city that lives in the shadow
of imminent earthquake.

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And one of the wonders of the world
threatened by violent conflict.

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The city of Dresden on the river Elbe
in eastern Germany.

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Dresden was known
as the Florence on the Elbe

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because of the spectacular
Baroque architecture

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created here in the 18th century.

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It was the ultimate expression
of the city as a coherent work of art.

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With monumental public buildings
and more humble private buildings

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coalescing to create a place
of outstanding beauty.

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Before World War II,

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Dresden had survived
both bombardment and modernisation.

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It stood as one the world's
most intact historic cities.

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In February, 1945,

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Dresden was bombed
in one of the most savage aerial attacks

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of the Second World War.

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75% of the buildings
in its historic core

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were destroyed or damaged beyond repair.

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The Allies' aim
was to undermine German morale

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to hasten the end of the war.

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To do this, they would attack
a great German city

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virtually untouched by bombing.

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So from the night of February the 13th

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to the afternoon of the 15th,

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3,900 tons of high explosives
and firebombs

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were dropped on Dresden.

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(SPEAKING GERMAN)

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As many as 35,000 people perished.

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The centre of Dresden was devastated.

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Miraculously, Dresden's
most beautiful building,

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the Frauenkirche,
the Protestant Church of Our Lady,

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was still standing
when the last bombers left.

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The stone exterior
of the fire-gutted Frauenkirche

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simply collapsed.

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The bombing of Dresden

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remains one of the most
controversial actions of World War II.

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The people of Dresden
believed the city would be safe

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because of its beauty,

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and because it wasn't a crucial part
of the German war machine.

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But the Allies argued the city
was a centre of communications

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and arms production.

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Dresden certainly
wasn't entirely innocent,

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but it was stunningly beautiful.

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And did its bloody destruction
end the war more quickly?

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Did it save the lives
of many Allied soldiers?

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Or was it simply a war crime

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to rank alongside the crimes committed
by the Germans and the Japanese?

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This is a question that is much debated
and will never be fully resolved.

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But what seems clear to me

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is that total war,
by its very definition,

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is immoral, inhumane and unethical.

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As the war ended in Europe,
Dresden came under communist control.

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East Germany became the GDR,

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the German Democratic Republic.

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At first, the communists were sensitive
to the need for restoration.

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But by the late '50s,
they'd embraced hard-line modernity.

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The centrepiece of the GDR vision

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for the historic heart of Dresden

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is this, this mighty road
that divides the old town

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into two parts.

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This road is three times the width
of the road that was here before 1945.

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I suppose it's meant to symbolise
socialist progress.

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Along this road were grouped the major
new buildings of the socialist regime.

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Including this,
the People's Palace of Culture,

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completed in 1968.

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While all this was being built,

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the re-creation of historic,
aristocratic and bourgeois Dresden

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was off the agenda.

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(COMMUNIST CHOIR SINGING)

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In 1989, the Iron Curtain fell.

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Germany was reunified.

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And in the euphoria that followed,

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there was a passion to re-create
the lost dream of Dresden.

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For nearly 50 years, the Frauenkirche,

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Dresden's own St Paul's Cathedral,

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was left a pile of rubble.

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But in 1992, a decision was taken to
rebuild this 18th-century masterpiece.

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(SPEAKING GERMAN)

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It's amazing, against all the odds,
this mighty domed church

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once again presides
over the centre of Dresden.

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This is more than simply
an archaeologically correct recreation.

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It's more of a radical repair.

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Because 45% of the stones
are the original,

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salvaged from the site.

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Which explains its somewhat mottled
appearance. Which is great, I think.

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So the outside is fine.
What about the interior?

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Will it have power? Will it have spirit?

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This is sensational.

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A brand new, early 18th century
Baroque interior.

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We're seeing this
as it was intended to be seen

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in the 1730s,

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full of colour, light and wit.

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The stone and the timber

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is marble painted.

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Amazing. And lots of gilding.

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Nothing here is quite what it seems.
Very theatrical.

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In front of me is the altar.

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And this is very moving, indeed.

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Around 8% of it is original.

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Nearly 2,000 fragments
found amongst the ruins

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used to reconstruct it.
A great jigsaw puzzle.

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An amazing piece of work.
You can see at the back, there,

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the stone is damaged from the fire
that raged here.

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The money for this
came from around the world.

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The altar, for the whole church,
all this,

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is very much an act of reconciliation.

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And now the rebuilding
of the Frauenkirche

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has stimulated the reconstruction

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of much of the historic heart
of Dresden.

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Old buildings are more than
merely masonry and mortar.

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They're a memory, an idea,
expressed through their design.

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And even when the stones
of the building are scattered,

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the idea lives on
through archaeological evidence,

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through drawings, through photographs.

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And that building can be reborn.

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The destruction, the suffering
of Dresden was exceptional.

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Therefore, its reconstruction
must be exceptional.

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If the centre is rebuilt

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with gusto and with conviction,

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and that could mean the removal
of inappropriate modern buildings,

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then this great city centre
will live once again

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and the wounds of the war
will finally be healed.

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I'm driving through the Syrian desert.

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In the past, this vast, arid land

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was dominated
by one of the world's greatest cities.

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For nearly a thousand years,

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the once great and beautiful
trading city of Palmyra,

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the Bride of the Desert,

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a jewel of classical architecture,

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lay abandoned, forgotten,
engulfed by sand.

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It was the victim of a catastrophe

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that shook the ancient world.

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A shocking example of how far

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the high and mighty could fall.

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Palmyra flourished as a colony

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under Rome's control
for nearly 300 years.

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But in the third century A.D.,

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the city began to break free
from Roman rule.

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In 267 A.D.,

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Zenobia became queen.

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She's now a character
surrounded by myth.

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Said to have been ruthless, ambitious,

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a lover of the arts, highly intelligent

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and, of course, very beautiful.

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Under Zenobia,

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Palmyra enjoyed power and prosperity.

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A golden age.

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The wealth of Palmyra
was based on commerce.

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It dominated one of the great
trade routes of the ancient world.

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Silk from China, precious purple dye,

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all passed through the city.

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This is the main street of Palmyra,

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the colonnaded street.

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It was a processional route
but also the main shopping street.

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Behind the columns
were set individual shops.

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And on the columns
are these little brackets

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upon which sat statues
of the civic notables,

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of men who'd invested in Palmyra.

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Really, this street is a monument

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to the merchants of the city.

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On that bracket stood a statue
of Queen Zenobia.

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And she had a very bold vision
for Palmyra.

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The city's wealth
had given it power and pride.

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And she wanted the city
to be independent of Rome.

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Indeed, she wanted Palmyra to become
mistress of its own empire.

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In 271 A.D.,

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Zenobia freed Palmyra from Rome

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and invaded Egypt and Asia Minor,

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both part of the Roman Empire.

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But Zenobia's ambition
was soon challenged.

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The emperor Aurelian sent his troops
to reclaim his conquered territories.

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Zenobia's army was defeated
in Asia Minor.

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A Roman attack on the city
now looked inevitable.

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This might look like a pile of rubble,

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but these stones tell a desperate story.

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After her defeat,
Zenobia retreated back to Palmyra

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and here, in haste,
she fortified the centre of the city

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to create a bastion of inner defence,

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to await the fury she'd unleashed.

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And this is part
of her defensive system,

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known to this day as Zenobia's wall.

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In 272 A.D.,

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Aurelian's army surrounded the city.

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During the siege,
the people must have gathered here,

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in the courtyard around the temple

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to their great god, Baal.

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They'd have prayed,
offered up animal sacrifices,

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pleaded for divine intervention

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to help them in their struggle

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with the Roman legions just over there,
outside the city walls.

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You can imagine the citizens of Palmyra

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standing right here,
crouching by these columns

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day and night. Fear, trepidation.

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Wondering what on earth they'd done

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taking on the might of Rome.

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These stones were originally placed
high up on the temple.

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And this one contains
some rather amazing detail.

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It shows here, three veiled women,

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revealing that in the Middle East

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women were veiled for at least 600 years

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before the coming of Islam.

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Also, the decoration here
is strangely prophetic.

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This stone was carved
hundreds of years before Zenobia's time,

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but it seems to capture the moment
during the siege when she,

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mounted on a camel, here's a camel,

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and escaped from the city
seeking assistance.

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But as Zenobia fled east,

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she was caught by the Romans
crossing the river Euphrates.

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With the Queen captured, the people must
have felt that all their prayers,

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their sacrifices, had been in vain.

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The gods had deserted the temples,

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abandoned the city.

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There was nothing left to do now
but surrender.

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The ultimate fate of Zenobia
is uncertain.

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It's likely Aurelian
took her back to Rome

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where she was imprisoned in a villa
until her death.

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But her city was to have
a more tragic end.

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After just a few months
of Roman occupation,

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the citizens of Palmyra rose again.

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So Aurelian returned to Palmyra,
full of fury.

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He crushed the city.

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He let his troops pillage it.

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They raped, they stole the treasures
from the temples,

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they massacred its citizens.

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This was the end of Palmyra
as a great city.

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It's sobering to contemplate
the destruction wrought by...

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By time, by neglect, by the elements.

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To see the ambitious works of man

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laid in the dust.

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"Look on my works,
ye Mighty, and despair!"

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But these are no mute ruins,

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not mute stones.

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One stands here in the evening
as the sun goes down,

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and one can hear
echoes of the past, really.

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Looking down this great
street of trade, one can imagine

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the caravans, the camels, the merchants.

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It's all strangely alive.
Very evocative.

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My goodness, one can almost
feel their presence.

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On America's West Coast

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is one of the great cities of the world.

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San Francisco is celebrated
for the beauty of its setting,

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its culture and quality of life.

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But lurking beneath its streets

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is a permanent threat.

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San Francisco is waiting
for what everyone here calls,

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"The Big One".

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There's a 62% chance
that a major earthquake

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will hit this area
within the next 30 years.

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Which means an earthquake is nearly
twice as likely to happen as not

252
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:10,350
within the lifetime of the adults
living down there below me.

253
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:15,110
Indeed, an earthquake could happen
right now, in which case,

254
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,630
those buildings, designed to offer
shelter and protection,

255
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,190
will be turned into killing machines.

256
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:37,430
But living with this threat isn't
as straightforward as it might seem.

257
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,670
DAN: So what have you done to prepare
for an earthquake?

258
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,510
-Absolutely nothing.
-Oh, I'm totally unprepared.

259
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,430
I'm worry, but nothing I can do it.

260
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,150
I have water stockpiled,
I have food stockpiled.

261
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,670
-I have some water, but that's about it.
-I don't even have that.

262
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,190
My husband, I know, keeps, like,

263
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,550
jugs of water, like, under his dresser,

264
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,830
which kind of annoys me, because we live
in a really small apartment.

265
00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:06,590
-Denial.
-DAN: Yes, yes.

266
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,990
It's something that Americans
largely live in about a lot of things.

267
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:18,590
Berkeley University Stadium sits astride
one of the Bay Area's major faults,

268
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,150
marking the collision of the Pacific
and North American tectonic plates.

269
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:30,670
It runs down the middle of the stadium,
bisecting it like a coffee bean.

270
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,750
So when I stand here, I'm standing
astride one of the major cracks

271
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,150
in the Earth's crust.

272
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,070
The stadium structure is fragmenting,

273
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,310
caused by the constant movement
of the tectonic plates.

274
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:07,630
This is known as "creep", and it's
gradually pulling the stadium apart.

275
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,910
And with pressure building
beneath the surface,

276
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,190
at some point creep will become quake.

277
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,590
And it's all happened before.

278
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,790
Just before dawn,
on the 18th of April, 1906,

279
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,910
a massive earthquake
led to catastrophic fires.

280
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:44,630
Over 3,000 people died, and a quarter
of a million were left homeless.

281
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,790
One of San Francisco's greatest
monuments,

282
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:59,070
City Hall was a casualty of
the 1906 quake.

283
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:06,950
It was re-built in 1915, but how will
the new building escape a similar fate?

284
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,870
If you look closely, you can see a clue.

285
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,510
City Hall no longer rests on the ground.

286
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,070
Eric Elsesser is the man
who's masterminded this feat.

287
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:26,070
I'm about to take a tour of
the extraordinary cavity he's created

288
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,750
between the building and the ground.

289
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:36,150
Oh, my God!

290
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:52,470
Down here, there's a vast network
of sophisticated shock absorbers,

291
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:54,270
or isolators.

292
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,670
DAN: Now, what exactly does it do,
this open space?

293
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,510
This is the big isolator space,

294
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,030
where all the isolators for
the building are, 530 of them.

295
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,110
And they basically protect the building.

296
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,110
So, Eric, how do you get
these isolators in place?

297
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,710
Basically, the entire building was
jacked up. Not all at one time,

298
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:23,310
but in pieces, basically about
30 or 40 jacks at a time,

299
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,390
and one isolator per day was installed.

300
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,750
So they're taking the total weight
of the building.

301
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,030
So how far could the building move
before the catastrophe?

302
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:31,590
I mean, several feet?

303
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,870
Well, we figure that it would be
30 inches in each direction.

304
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,470
So that's basically six feet.

305
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,830
So what would happen
if an earthquake struck right now?

306
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,150
-What would happen to us?
-We would be just fine.

307
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:46,150
And the building would move a lot
above us, it might even bump your head.

308
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,270
DAN: But we would be kind of all right.

309
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,390
ERIC: I think. You'd be in for
a good shock, but it's all right.

310
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:52,470
(BOTH LAUGHING)

311
00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,630
DAN: But away from
the prestige public projects,

312
00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,430
the city has a more fundamental problem,

313
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,110
ordinary people's homes.

314
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,350
Our biggest concern is
the typical building style here,

315
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,310
is we have a ground floor
that's a garage.

316
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:13,990
-We can see that all around here.
-DAN: Yeah.

317
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,470
And above it there's typically
several floors of living.

318
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:19,910
We call these buildings soft stories.

319
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,350
They're fine as long as
the load is vertical,

320
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:25,350
just the weight of the building,
but as soon as you start shaking it,

321
00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:27,550
there's no resistance, sheer resistance.

322
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,150
There's nothing being done to make sure
houses like this are upgraded?

323
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,790
California has
the strictest building codes

324
00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:36,510
for seismic safety in the country.

325
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,750
However, they don't apply retroactively.

326
00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:40,870
But what would happen to areas
like this?

327
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:44,830
We would probably have about
a half a million people homeless

328
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:49,110
throughout the Bay Area, and anywhere
from 3,000 to 5,000 people

329
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,230
could be killed,
depending on the time of day.

330
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:21,830
Despite great human ingenuity,
the city of San Francisco remains

331
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,750
terribly vulnerable to
the mighty forces of nature.

332
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:31,910
The people here have to learn to live
with the near certainty of disaster.

333
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,830
They don't know the hour, they don't
know the day, but they know,

334
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,510
sooner or later, it will come.

335
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,750
Herat Airport,
in the west of Afghanistan.

336
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,150
I'm trying to reach the legendary
Minaret of Jam,

337
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:25,070
one of the architectural wonders
of the Islamic world.

338
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,710
A spectacular monument threatened
by warfare and neglect

339
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:32,910
for nearly 800 years,

340
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,150
is now at greater risk than ever before.

341
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:41,190
In recent years, few people have been
able to visit the minaret.

342
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,230
I can't be sure what state
I'll find it in.

343
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,310
My best chance of getting to the minaret

344
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,550
is to win the trust and protection
of the local police.

345
00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,310
I'm going to meet the Herat
Chief of Police, Shafiq Fazli.

346
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,310
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

347
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:15,150
OFFICER: Twenty people.

348
00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:16,790
-Twenty?
-OFFICER: Yeah.

349
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:18,190
Twenty? Right.

350
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,430
An escort of 20 policemen
is more than I expected.

351
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,870
But just before I arrived,
a group of Koreans were kidnapped

352
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:34,150
by the Taliban near Ghazni,
and two of the party executed.

353
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:43,550
So the authorities are nervous about
my trip.

354
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,870
I need to talk to the most senior
policeman in western Afghanistan,

355
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:49,630
Mudine Yawa.

356
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,590
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

357
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:32,590
We were thinking, obviously, be advised,
but to try and get there before dark,

358
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:35,870
so we imagine we'd have to leave
about 4:30 tomorrow morning?

359
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,070
We have the green light to travel,
but we don't know when.

360
00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:06,590
I meet up with my security advisor,
and former British soldier, David Holly.

361
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,950
We head back to our hotel,
but Hanif, our interpreter,

362
00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:13,310
gets an unexpected phone call.

363
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,870
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

364
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:20,150
Now, a sudden call from
the Chief of Police, a change of plan,

365
00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:23,670
a dramatic change of plan.
We've got to leave now, with them.

366
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:25,390
(HANIF SPEAKING FAINTLY)

367
00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:27,550
Perhaps security is just picking up.

368
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:32,310
...whenever you are going, that is
the best time, opportunity for you

369
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,150
to grasp it, with us, to go.

370
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:37,590
-He will give us accommodation tonight?
-HANIF: Yeah.

371
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,190
Because we're not gonna
make Jam tonight.

372
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:46,870
There are foreigners leaving,
engineers are leaving.

373
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,950
We will find you suitable rooms...

374
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,590
DAN: Is it really a debate for us
to have? We are being told

375
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:54,430
what we've got to do.
He's not really asking our opinion.

376
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:55,790
HANIF: You have come here to go
to the Minaret?

377
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,230
-Yes, that's indeed right.
-If that's the plan,

378
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,270
please, come,
this is the good time for you.

379
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,950
Okay, this... They are...
They are our security, we rely on them

380
00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,190
for protection and advice.
If they're saying this is the best way,

381
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:08,790
then I guess we have to do it.

382
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:10,750
HANIF: This is unexpected for us now.

383
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:12,670
DAN: Yeah, yeah, it's good deception,
good deception.

384
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:14,950
From my point of view, it would be safer
if you are travelling

385
00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:19,470
with such big bosses,
like Chief of Zone, Chief of Police...

386
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,590
DAN: Well, except,
we become a bigger target, but...

387
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,350
No, no, because, you see, this area is
not, except the robbers, bandits...

388
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,270
-Yeah. Yes.
-...and there is no Taliban activity

389
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,630
in this area, so this is,
from my point of view, safer.

390
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,230
I love it, yeah. It's amazing.
"No, no, no, no danger at all.

391
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:36,990
-"But, have 50 guards."
-Yeah.

392
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:38,830
Fifty guards just in case.

393
00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:51,710
Here they come. Okay, well,
the position now is very interesting.

394
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,950
Just over an hour since we got a call
saying we had to go to Jam tonight,

395
00:36:55,240 --> 00:36:58,870
the Chief of Police we met earlier
is himself going.

396
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:02,870
And this, I think, is our convoy
coming up, quite heavy weapons.

397
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,950
I noticed some rocket launchers, and
we're on the road to Jam. Incredible.

398
00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:17,950
We head out into the desert with
a convoy of 12 police vehicles.

399
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:29,150
Jam is 200 miles away from Herat,
in Afghanistan's central highlands.

400
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,270
On these tracks,
it's a journey of up to 14 hours.

401
00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:47,590
After two hours' driving,
there's a problem,

402
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:50,510
and our convoy is forced to stop.

403
00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,990
It's starting to get dark,
and the police are nervous.

404
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:07,270
So they post guards on high ground
while the tyre is changed.

405
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,270
By the time we messed about with
fuel and air...

406
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,110
-Yeah, yeah.
-...we actually left at 1700,

407
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:18,710
and we've got to that village, Marwah,
in 75 minutes.

408
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,430
-Yeah, not bad.
-It's pretty good.

409
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,670
So that's 75 minutes, that's an hour,

410
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,990
and then it's another hour and a half
to our destination tonight.

411
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:29,190
That's daylight.

412
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:30,950
DAN: It'll be dark.
It's gonna be dark now, isn't it?

413
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:32,430
-We're gonna have to slow down at night.
-Right.

414
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:35,750
We can't carry on at this speed.
We're doing very well at the moment.

415
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,070
So maybe another two-and-a-half hours
from here in daylight,

416
00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,430
maybe add another half an hour
for night-time driving.

417
00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:42,790
-Okay.
-It's not the end of the world, is it?

418
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,350
Well, as things are going,
not a bad plan so far.

419
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:49,230
So we'll have... We're going to have
about, what, nearly an hour in the dark,

420
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:51,070
-aren't we? Which is not good.
-Minimum. Minimum, I think.

421
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:52,950
-Yeah.
-Yeah, we're gonna have to slow down.

422
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:54,070
-Okay.
-'Cause of these...

423
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:55,910
-The holes, and everything else.
-Yeah.

424
00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,790
Hi, very good. Good man.

425
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,150
And with a rocket...
Grenade launcher. Yeah.

426
00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:05,430
Yeah, yeah, it's a 40mm grenade launcher
we're talking about.

427
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:09,750
Okay, thank you. Right.
The tyre's done. Back on the road.

428
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:14,790
Back in the cars and get to
our destination not too long after dark.

429
00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:47,310
Driving through the dark,
it's a relief to arrive at the village

430
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:49,310
where we're to spend the night.

431
00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:52,630
We're now nearly halfway to Jam.

432
00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:02,470
So, five-hour journey from Herat.
Not bad.

433
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:06,030
They're charming chaps. Hello. Hello.

434
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:09,510
(GREETING IN ARABIC)

435
00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:11,510
-Oh, yes.
-How are you?

436
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,670
Very well, and thank you very much
for such a splendid escort.

437
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:16,870
-Very, very good.
-And so many people.

438
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:18,750
Thank you very much.

439
00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:24,830
The village chief invites us to dinner.

440
00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,270
We're in the main building
in this village, the name of which

441
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,590
I still haven't found out.
Where, actually, where are we?

442
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,350
What is the name of this little village
we're at?

443
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:35,950
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

444
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:38,190
-Chesht-e Sharif.
-Chesht-e Sharif.

445
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:40,150
Chesht-e Sharif. Chesht-e Sharif.

446
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:45,230
This is the main room of the house,
the main house.

447
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,870
We're having a splendid banquet,
we've had some vegetables and rice.

448
00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:51,030
This is splendid chicken.

449
00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:53,110
Mmm.

450
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:55,990
My God. Very tasty.

451
00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:59,590
Very good, very strong taste.
Very strong taste. Gosh.

452
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:01,310
You try some.

453
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:02,390
(CHUCKLES)

454
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:13,110
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

455
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,070
We got up at 5:00, meant to be
on the road to Jam by 6:00,

456
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:23,430
but it's 6:45 and we're still here.

457
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:28,830
Trouble is, the tyre over there
got damaged on the road here.

458
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,070
And we can't seem to mend it.

459
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:33,670
The police are getting very edgy.

460
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:37,550
This village is regarded as
a medium risk,

461
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:39,670
but that's relatively high for them.

462
00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:42,430
The people here are not
particularly happy.

463
00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:46,950
The officer in charge of our party is
getting very fractious.

464
00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:51,150
He's over there,
marching around being very angry.

465
00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:53,230
It's not good. It's not good.

466
00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:56,710
The more grumpy he gets,
the less time we'll have at Jam, I fear.

467
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,550
Well, we're back on the road now,
making good progress.

468
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,670
The atmosphere is interesting.
The police are very anxious.

469
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,790
They're rushing on ahead.
Quite hard for us to keep up with them.

470
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:22,590
A little bit absurd, really.
They're up there, making clouds of dust.

471
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:42,190
The track becomes narrow,
threading through steep gorges.

472
00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:47,350
I know we're close, but after such
a long journey, what am I going to find?

473
00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:54,030
My God, and there it is.

474
00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:57,150
Crikey, it looks absolutely fantastic.

475
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:02,870
Absolutely perfect,

476
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:06,430
this image of delicate perfection.

477
00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:15,030
Reminds one what a great country,
what a great empire there was here once.

478
00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,870
This building is not only one of
the most

479
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,350
magical, mysterious and beautiful
buildings in the world,

480
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:43,430
it's also one of
the most architecturally

481
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:45,630
and historically important.

482
00:43:46,240 --> 00:43:49,870
It's one of the tallest and earliest
of the great minarets.

483
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:54,590
Indeed, it's the only early minaret
that hasn't been over-repaired,

484
00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:57,950
over-restored,
it's authentic, fantastic.

485
00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:02,870
Also, it's the last significant
architectural reminder, survivor

486
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,750
of a once great and mighty empire.

487
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:17,590
The minaret, built in the 1190s
and standing 60 metres high,

488
00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:20,910
is a memorial to the Ghurid Empire,
which stretched across

489
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:24,630
modern Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and North India.

490
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:31,550
Some believe the minaret marks the site
of the Ghurid summer capital,

491
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:33,950
the legendary Firuzkuh.

492
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:39,550
(GROANING)

493
00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:44,270
The mountainsides are pockmarked
with robber holes,

494
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:50,150
that is, illegal excavations carried out
by looters. They're all around me,

495
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:53,670
two or three in front of me here.
Now this one... This one... Good Lord!

496
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:58,350
Look at this one. These are meant to
have been carried out by

497
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:02,910
people during the Taliban times,
about 10 years ago, but I fear

498
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:08,510
these are more recent than that.
And here we see incredible evidence

499
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:13,470
revealed by this desperate looter.
Look, there's a great arch there.

500
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:18,750
A massive building on this mountainside,
good evidence of this being

501
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:20,670
the lost city of the Ghurids.

502
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:25,590
A great structure here, covered,
I suppose, through mud that's fallen

503
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:29,990
during various landslides during the
centuries and buried the foundations.

504
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:32,070
And what's more, look.

505
00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:35,510
A looter has discarded an artefact.

506
00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:38,910
So if that's thrown away,
one just wonders what on earth

507
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:43,350
was found and carried off.
Strange thing, man-made, clearly.

508
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:47,710
A bit of a pot. Clay, it is.

509
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,190
A bit of architectural decoration,
perhaps?

510
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,110
Well, I'll put it back.
This is where it belongs.

511
00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:58,470
But, I say, a sad and tragic business.

512
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:02,510
The looters did this
mostly because they're poor.

513
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:06,190
The poor are forced to pillage
their own culture

514
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:10,710
to live, to find objects to sell to
the Western art market, ultimately.

515
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:13,870
We are destroying our own history.

516
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,190
Because objects removed from here,
removed from their context,

517
00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:17,790
are robbed of meaning.

518
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:21,470
And they make it very hard to untangle

519
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:23,710
the complex meaning
of this location certainly...

520
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:25,750
It's a tragedy taking place
before our eyes.

521
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:29,790
And we, the world community, seem
to be unable to do anything about it.

522
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,950
The looters have robbed the valley
of much of its archaeology,

523
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:40,230
but the message on the minaret remains.

524
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:46,910
The lower portion is covered with text,

525
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:49,630
organised as a surface ornament.

526
00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:54,750
And the text is the entire 19th surah,
or chapter, of the Qur'an.

527
00:46:55,440 --> 00:47:00,190
It's a chapter entitled "Maryam",
and it tells the story of Mary,

528
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:02,830
of Jesus Christ and the prophets

529
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:05,510
venerated by both Muslims
and Christians.

530
00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:09,950
So this text here,
this minaret, is preaching tolerance,

531
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:13,670
it's preaching understanding
between these two religions.

532
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:18,150
That's what it's about. It's about
making the point that they should

533
00:47:18,240 --> 00:47:22,830
live together in harmony, because
they have so much in common.

534
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:27,390
Wonderful. Now, the entrance
to this minaret is below my feet,

535
00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:30,870
buried by centuries of mud washed here
by the river.

536
00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:34,750
There is, though, a little door,
a little hole knocked up there.

537
00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:38,750
That's the way in. Let's see if I can
get up this rather ramshackle ladder.

538
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:42,790
I hope I fit. Most shaming if I don't.

539
00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:46,590
Okay, well, first thing, up the ladder.

540
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:50,990
So far so good.

541
00:47:53,040 --> 00:47:56,910
Okay, here we are.
Gosh, it is a tight fit.

542
00:47:57,440 --> 00:47:58,950
A very tight fit.

543
00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:02,910
But I am now at last inside

544
00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:08,150
the mighty Minaret of Jam.

545
00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:14,950
Incredible. Here we see the staircase.

546
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:17,470
Amazing, beautifully detailed.

547
00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:20,870
Beautiful brickwork.
Well, first of all, I'll go down,

548
00:48:21,240 --> 00:48:25,390
down to see what's to be discovered.
The stairs are made of brick.

549
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:29,190
They're damaged, rather treacherous.
Be careful here.

550
00:48:29,720 --> 00:48:31,670
And now the stairs in fact stop.

551
00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:33,070
Ooh!

552
00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:38,230
People will not excavate below here,
for good reason.

553
00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:39,470
If you excavate this earth,

554
00:48:39,600 --> 00:48:43,550
then it weakens the foundations
of the building,

555
00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:46,710
which are already pretty precarious,
so no work has been done.

556
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:51,110
What's below my feet for the moment
remains a mystery.

557
00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:12,510
Some climb. Oops. I've reached the level
of the first platform,

558
00:49:12,600 --> 00:49:15,510
so just over halfway up the minaret,

559
00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:19,550
and here the stairs get
very perilous indeed.

560
00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:23,670
Well, this is fascinating,
'cause in fact, I observe

561
00:49:24,240 --> 00:49:28,390
that there are two spiral staircases
coming up, one wrapped inside the other.

562
00:49:28,480 --> 00:49:30,550
Um, a sort of double helix.

563
00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:32,870
This one I've come up,
another one going down here.

564
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:36,750
Incredible! Very complex.
Very strong, I suppose.

565
00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:40,870
And here, a shallow vault,
again, beautifully built.

566
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:46,270
Minarets are, of course,
practical things. They are platforms

567
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:49,470
from which the faithful are called
to prayer.

568
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:52,110
They are, of course,
also fingers to heaven.

569
00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:55,070
They raise humanity up towards the gods,

570
00:49:55,160 --> 00:49:58,150
and they declare a site sacred.

571
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:05,350
Sadly, the staircase is too precarious
to continue.

572
00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:11,190
The tower leans dramatically as
the river undermines its foundations.

573
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:19,830
The Afghan police have given us
very good protection,

574
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:23,030
for which we're very grateful.
Now something of a problem's emerged.

575
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:26,590
They're insisting we leave immediately,
for reasons of security,

576
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:29,550
to wrongfoot the enemy,
who might be waiting on the road back.

577
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:31,510
We haven't really finished filming here.

578
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:34,150
It's incredibly frustrating,
but we've got to go.

579
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:48,350
The Minaret of Jam is emblematic of
the many historic buildings and sites

580
00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:52,670
around the world threatened by conflict
and looting.

581
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:55,750
This building has survived so much.

582
00:50:56,080 --> 00:50:59,350
For it to be lost now
would be a disaster.