1 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,990 DAN CRUICKSHANK: This is a journey to explore the architecture of power, 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,110 power of a despot over his people, 3 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,750 of man over nature, 4 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,310 the power to enslave, 5 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,350 and as a weapon that can control a whole land 6 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,150 and its destiny. 7 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:47,710 This is the capital of Romania. Bucharest. 8 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,910 A city that once straddled the cultural divide 9 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:53,590 between Eastern and Western Europe 10 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,310 was known as the Paris of the Balkans. 11 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,590 But in the 1980s, Bucharest was transformed 12 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,510 to reflect the brutal power of the country's leader, 13 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,510 Nicolae Ceausescu, Europe's last Communist dictator. 14 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,350 This is the Palace of the People, 15 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,110 one of the most outrageous monuments to despotic rule 16 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,150 the world has ever seen. 17 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,190 The Palace was to be both Ceausescu's personal residence 18 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,910 and home to all aspects of government, 19 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,550 the building that would secure his iron grip on power. 20 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,790 The Boulevard of Socialist Victory is just over 3 kilometres long 21 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:54,950 and was cut through the city's fabric during the late 1980s. 22 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,790 At one end is the People's Palace. 23 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,790 This road was, of course, inspired by the Champs Élysées in Paris. 24 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,790 And like all long, straight routes, 25 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,510 it is a timeless symbol of power, 26 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,870 of order, of a godlike determination to control nature 27 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:14,870 and the affairs of man. 28 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,670 From here, the building's at its most ominous, most threatening. 29 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,350 The windows, like hundreds of eyes, 30 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:33,910 observing and controlling. 31 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,030 This is the epitome of Big Brother architecture. 32 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,510 Golly, this interior is a power personified, 33 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,950 power achieved through intimidating scale that dwarfs, 34 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,670 and by the use of ruthless, repetitive classical architecture. 35 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:26,390 Classicism, that sort of impersonal and funereal white marble. 36 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,470 The Palace contains over 1,000 rooms, 37 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:37,590 a never-ending parade of extravagance. 38 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,670 In floor area, it's the largest building in the world 39 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,150 after the Pentagon in Washington. 40 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:49,470 No expense was spared. 41 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:53,350 There's estimated to be over 1 million tons of marble 42 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,790 and over 3,500 tons of crystal 43 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,550 used to decorate the lavish interiors. 44 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,870 Seven hundred architects and 20,000 workers toiled in shifts, 45 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:07,910 24 hours a day. 46 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,710 The overall cost is said to have exceeded £2 billion. 47 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,990 Ceausescu wanted his palace to be a triumph for Romania. 48 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:26,150 Everything from the chandeliers to the carvings had to be made in the country. 49 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,310 This is the room in which Ceausescu 50 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:46,950 would have signed documents of state. 51 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,030 It's huge. It's absurd. 52 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:55,910 The climax of the building, 53 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,310 the size and grandeur of this room, 54 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,790 was designed to make visitors feel small and insignificant 55 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,030 before the master statesman. 56 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,750 If you were left with any doubt that you were in the grips of a man with power, 57 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,590 then you just had to have a look from this balcony. 58 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,870 It's like a kick in the guts. 59 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,390 From here you can see the scale of Ceausescu's monstrous ambition. 60 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,470 It's been estimated that he destroyed one-fifth of central Bucharest 61 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,910 to create a ceremonial route to his palace. 62 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,950 Thirteen churches and over 9,000 homes were torn down, 63 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,510 displacing at least 40,000 people. 64 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,710 This was the most vicious attack on architecture and history in Europe 65 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:54,910 since the Second World War. 66 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,310 Even though the Romanian population 67 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,190 would suffer power cuts and food shortages, 68 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:05,830 Ceausescu was determined his palace would be unrivalled. 69 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:08,710 He held a competition. 70 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,590 A young and ambitious architect was chosen to do his bidding. 71 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:14,710 (IN ROMANIAN) 72 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:30,870 Many people may find this building oppressive 73 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,310 because they lost their homes, their livelihood for its construction. 74 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:35,670 What do you say to those people? 75 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:19,470 This vast, formal room was intended for state receptions. 76 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,190 It was called the ballroom. 77 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,190 I can't imagine they would have been very warm, these receptions. 78 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,470 It's a very chilling interior, 79 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,750 which was dominated by gigantic portraits 80 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,950 of Ceausescu at one end, his wife, Elena, at the other. 81 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:41,110 And we have now these large, empty, marble panels. 82 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,430 The paintings were never to be installed. 83 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,710 Ceausescu never saw his palace completed. 84 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,710 In December 1989, to his utter bewilderment, 85 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,790 the people, at last, rebelled against his rule. 86 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,190 Three days later, on Christmas day, 87 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,590 Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed 88 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:27,510 by firing squad. 89 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,030 But his death left the Romanian people with a dilemma. 90 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,070 What should they do with the vast monument 91 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,630 that symbolised Ceausescu's reign? 92 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,390 What happened next was extraordinary. 93 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:00,270 Ceausescu's palace was transformed into the home of Romanian democracy. 94 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,910 This grandiose room is the senate. 95 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:22,150 It was designed as a great hall in which Ceausescu would receive heads of state. 96 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:25,750 This building is rich in irony. 97 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,750 What was to be the domain of a despot 98 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:35,350 has become the symbol of a new democratic Romania. 99 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:38,910 What was Ceausescu's palace 100 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,750 has now become the Palace of Parliament. 101 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,990 The Romanian parliament began to move into this building in 1994, 102 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,470 just five years after the death of the dictator. 103 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,350 The people are obliged, for practical and economic reasons, 104 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,870 to use the building as a monument to their oppression. 105 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,190 This long, straight boulevard, 106 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:15,910 combined with this domineering palace, 107 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,550 is the ultimate expression of an architectural dream 108 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,390 that's haunted the imagination of despots 109 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:24,350 for thousands of years. 110 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:26,990 This is power personified. 111 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:32,430 And I must say, this is the gloomiest expression of that dream I've ever seen. 112 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,150 So what's going to happen now? 113 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,470 The people of this city are learning to live with this building, 114 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,110 but will they ever learn to love it? 115 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:23,510 (MUEZZIN CHANTING) 116 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,790 On the shores of the eastern Mediterranean 117 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,390 lies a land sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. 118 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:38,430 The Holy Land. 119 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:49,790 (SPEAKING IN ARABIC) 120 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:54,790 (THANKING IN ARABIC) 121 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,830 Off the Mediterranean coast of Syria 122 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,190 stands one of the most historically important 123 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,830 and architecturally powerful castles ever built. 124 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:09,070 For over 100 years it stood defiantly at the meeting point of two worlds, 125 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,230 the Muslim and the Christian. 126 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,750 And in the end, it alone kept Christian hopes alive 127 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:17,470 in the Holy Land. 128 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,630 In the 12th century, Marqab was one of the largest castles 129 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,510 controlled by the Crusader knights, 130 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,510 part of a mighty European army that fought to reclaim the Holy Land 131 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,550 for the Christian faith. 132 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,870 But in 1188, Saladin, the most successful Muslim commander, 133 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:36,590 had just defeated the Crusader army, 134 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,710 and one of the last great bastions that stood between him 135 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,750 and control of the Holy Land was Marqab. 136 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,350 Saladin must have stood just about here. 137 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:52,710 This location to the southeast of the castle 138 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,790 is the best place to view its defensive works. 139 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,350 A contemporary chronicle says he thought the place impregnable 140 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:01,390 and impossible to take. 141 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,630 It's very large, and it's also set in a naturally strong position, 142 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,630 the plateau top fortified with a series of walls 143 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:10,710 and mighty round towers. 144 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:19,510 The physical power of the castle 145 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,430 allowed it to command a huge area of land, 146 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,630 extracting tribute from its neighbours for almost a century. 147 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,910 For Saladin, it was both a military and an economic prize. 148 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:44,390 Saladin would also have noted 149 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:48,990 that the castle's made of hard, volcanic basalt. 150 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,230 A very tough material. 151 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:56,190 And he recognised that the castle is a fine pioneering example 152 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,230 of the science of military design. 153 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,350 I'll show you what I mean. 154 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,470 The basic plan of the castle is dictated by nature. 155 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:09,030 The rocky plateau on which it sits is triangular in shape, 156 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:10,990 so a perimeter wall 157 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,550 is built round the edge of the triangular plateau. 158 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,390 Then within that, a higher wall is constructed 159 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:22,870 that overlooks the outer one. 160 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,990 Also, the castle divides in two by a great wall here. 161 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:31,430 This is the castle town. Up to 1,000 people lived there in 1200. 162 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,070 This is the citadel. 163 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,470 And, here, the great donjon or keep. 164 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,350 To take the castle, you had to take that. 165 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,070 I'm in the space between the perimeter walls. 166 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:10,710 If I were an attacker, I'd be suffering terribly 167 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:12,910 because the defenders up there on the higher wall 168 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,030 would be showering missiles onto me. 169 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,750 Now, here is the gate to the citadel. 170 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,550 I'd have to break my way through this. That would be quite difficult, I'm sure. 171 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:22,670 Massive defence. 172 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,510 And then I'd penetrate up 173 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:28,750 and, golly, I'm baffled. 174 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,390 There are several exits left to right. What am I to do? 175 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,910 This is like entering a labyrinth. 176 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:42,270 The plan of the citadel is complicated, confusing, 177 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,710 all calculated to confound any attacker. 178 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,870 Where would one go? There's these narrow alleys. 179 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,550 Arches leading left, right, up and down. 180 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,830 This is a fantastic machine of war, this castle, 181 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,870 everything designed to help the defender, 182 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,710 give him security in a hostile land. 183 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,990 For example, here, there are four or five, sort of, different, sort of, 184 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:11,750 ways to go. 185 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,190 An arch, there. Stairs plunging into the bowels. 186 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,190 Another arch, here. This divides again. 187 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,550 Where on earth would your attacker go? Well, I'll try this direction. 188 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,790 This is the great hall, the convivial heart of the castle 189 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:48,630 where the garrison would have dined. 190 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,470 But even this is essentially a bit of ruthless, 191 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,390 functional military architecture, 192 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:00,430 part of the fighting capability of the castle. 193 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,350 It's vaulted with stone, very strong. 194 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,190 That's to protect it from missiles being hurled in 195 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,190 by enemy catapults outside. 196 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:14,270 Also, this provides a very strong platform 197 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,870 on which the castle's catapults could be mounted to fling stones back. 198 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,750 This castle wasn't just a fortress, it was also a monastery, 199 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,510 because the Crusader knights who held this castle 200 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:42,950 were also a military order of monks 201 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,390 who'd come to the Holy Land to look after pilgrims. 202 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,630 This stupendous building was built in about 1190 203 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:06,590 as a chapel. 204 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,750 A fantastic piece of early Gothic architecture. 205 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,270 This is an amazing world, 206 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:18,710 a world where holy men were fighting for the Holy Land. 207 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:33,230 The military order was the Knights Hospitallers. 208 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:38,190 Its members took monastic vows of poverty, chastity, obedience. 209 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,870 And in this little side chapel is something very amazing, 210 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,470 a fresco that dates from 1190. 211 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:50,190 It shows Christ with the 12 disciples. 212 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:54,710 And what's incredible, only the faces survive. 213 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:59,110 And these are not the faces of men only of prayer, 214 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,310 these are the faces of warriors. 215 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,550 Surely these are portraits of the Hospitallers here at the time 216 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:08,110 this fresco was painted. 217 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:09,470 It's very moving. 218 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,550 These are the faces of men that made this castle great, 219 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:15,470 that rebuilt it and enlarged it, 220 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:19,190 that made it one of the greatest castles in the Holy Land. 221 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:02,030 Massive defences could not ultimately save the castle. 222 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:04,710 Even this mighty keep, 223 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,070 with walls up to 5 metres thick, 224 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:10,870 could not resist. 225 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,470 When the end came, it came from below 226 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,830 and these great works are undermined, 227 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,870 and so would tumble. 228 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:27,990 A Muslim force arrived in 1285 229 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,430 and tunnelled beneath the huge keep, 230 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,270 fatally weakening the castle's defences. 231 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,630 Downhearted, with no hope of relief, 232 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,750 the Crusader knights surrendered after a siege that had lasted just five weeks. 233 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:47,150 The loss of Marqab marked the end of the Crusader adventure. 234 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,350 The dream of a Christian state in the Holy Land was over. 235 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:00,190 This castle has a grim and brooding presence in the landscape. 236 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,790 It's a dark place, really. 237 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,550 An appropriate monument to a particularly bloody epoch 238 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,950 of human history, the Crusades. 239 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:11,990 The struggle between East and West, between Islam and Christianity, 240 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,070 a struggle which started with the bloody taking 241 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,230 by the Christians of Jerusalem in 1099. 242 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,630 An event that shocked the Muslim world. 243 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:21,230 Shocks it still, really. 244 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:26,550 An act of barbarity undertaken by a religion dedicated to love. 245 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:31,110 And this castle played a key role in the Crusades, 246 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,990 so, standing here, one cannot help but think about the legacy of that struggle. 247 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,350 The fact that it still goes on, in a way. 248 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:40,550 There's still religious wars. 249 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,630 There's still bloodshed. 250 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,790 There's still pain and suffering in this region. 251 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,870 And this castle, in a way, 252 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,310 and its history, marks the beginning of that tragedy. 253 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:20,950 (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) 254 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,870 New Orleans, Louisiana, in the American South. 255 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,150 This is a land with a troubled past. 256 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,270 The Mississippi River made the city rich. 257 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:49,030 But it wasn't just crops that were traded along its length. 258 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:54,270 Human beings were once sold down the river to work as slaves. 259 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:09,830 The city's moved on since then, 260 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:14,430 but Hurricane Katrina of 2005 and the massive floods that followed 261 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:16,550 reopened old wounds. 262 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,470 # Some bright morning when this life is over 263 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,550 # I'll fly, fly away 264 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,670 # When I die Hallelujah by and by 265 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,990 # I'll fly away # 266 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,310 Wonderful. I'll Fly Away. I love it. 267 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,510 Fly, far off, far away. It's really good. 268 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,990 And what do you reckon the legacy of slavery is? 269 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,470 I think slavery is still going on. 270 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:51,750 Contemporary slavery. 271 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:53,950 The hurricane hit us, it took about four, five days 272 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:55,670 for anyone to come down here to see what happened. 273 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,270 My people were stuck on a roof for three days. 274 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,030 You don't have to have shackles on my feet and have me chained up 275 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:04,230 for me to be a slave, you know what I'm saying? 276 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,070 Slavery, to me, is a mental thing right now. 277 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,190 Contemporary, you know what I'm saying? 278 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,070 It's all contemporary. 279 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:14,510 (TROMBONE HONKING) 280 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,670 Out of the city, hugging the banks of the Mississippi, 281 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,070 snakes Louisiana's River Road. 282 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,670 It's hard to believe now that for much of the 19th century, 283 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,190 this was the country's wealthiest highway, 284 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,310 the home of millionaires. 285 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,790 And the relationship between these masters 286 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:42,390 and the slaves they owned 287 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,670 is written into the very architecture of the region. 288 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,230 This is Evergreen, 289 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,910 a sugarcane plantation where once 200 people lived and worked. 290 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,710 But the hard labour went on behind the scenes. 291 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,590 Evergreen's public face was this grand family mansion, 292 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,950 dramatically remodelled in the 1830s by its owner, 293 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:15,870 Michel Pierre Becnel. 294 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:19,910 Becnel was an ambitious man. 295 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,150 He saw himself as more than just a farmer, 296 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:23,270 he was a gentleman. 297 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:25,950 And his social and cultural aspirations 298 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:29,150 are reflected in the architecture he commissioned. 299 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,750 He did everything he could to magnify the importance of his house, 300 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:36,550 and by doing that, to magnify the importance of his family. 301 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,910 The secret of the success here are these giant columns. 302 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,470 They really put this house in the major league. 303 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,750 They make it look like a really grand mansion. 304 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,070 Also, they proffer a rather clever visual trick. 305 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,470 They make what is quite a small house look vast. 306 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:04,390 Becnel spent so much on Evergreen that he went bankrupt. 307 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,590 But he got the grandeur he so much desired. 308 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,270 The details of the house are Greek Revival, 309 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,870 a style that was internationally fashionable in the early 19th century. 310 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,830 And here, in front of me, is a wonderful example. 311 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:23,030 This doorcase is very sophisticated. 312 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:26,070 In the United States, Greek Revival architecture 313 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,590 had a particular meaning and importance. 314 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:30,790 It almost represented the national identity. 315 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,110 It represented civilisation, liberty and freedom. 316 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:39,190 But in the South it was favoured for perhaps less noble reasons, 317 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,550 because Greece had been an ancient democracy, 318 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,310 but a democracy that supported slavery. 319 00:27:55,480 --> 00:28:00,470 Gosh, the interior is very opulent. 320 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,670 And the Greek Revival theme is continued. 321 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,470 Ionic capitals here, Greek Revival fire surround. 322 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,630 And this is the main entertaining room of the house. 323 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:15,110 Here, the family would have gathered. 324 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,270 And, here, it would have held parties. 325 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:21,910 This door is the clue. A wide door with an overleaf. 326 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:26,830 That's to allow ladies in their great crinoline dresses 327 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:31,590 to pass through with ease, circulating around the interior. 328 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,070 At the back of the mansion, everything's ordered, neat, symmetrical. 329 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,310 The outbuildings look like chess pieces on a green board. 330 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,110 Even the outdoor privy, temple-like in appearance, 331 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,670 is an essay in classical geometry. 332 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:00,430 It's all designed to send out a message 333 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,630 about man's control over nature, 334 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:05,870 but also speaks of man's control over other men. 335 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,190 Behind the mansion lies a different world. 336 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,590 This is where Evergreen's field slaves lived, 337 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,550 in cabins separated from the world of the master, 338 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,630 but laid out with the same symmetrical rigour. 339 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:39,350 The slave quarters here now look charmingly picturesque. 340 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:44,070 The cabins are in a romantic state of decay 341 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:48,710 and they're sheltered by enchanting shadows 342 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,190 cast by this avenue of wonderful oak trees. 343 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,870 But things would have been very different when slaves lived here. 344 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:57,710 The oaks wouldn't have been here. 345 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,270 This was a grim, industrial road 346 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:06,390 with uniform and utilitarian cabins set on each side. 347 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:11,710 At one end was a mill, and at the other, the River Road and the Mississippi. 348 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,990 Feeding the sugar mill was harsh work. 349 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:24,470 At harvest time, the slaves laboured 16 hours a day, seven days a week, 350 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,070 to reap the tall, tough crop. 351 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,510 Here's a copy of the inventory drawn up when Becnel went bankrupt. 352 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,510 It's in French, then the legal language of Louisiana. 353 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,590 And, of course, it lists his slaves. 354 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,350 And here we have them. Each one is numbered, named 355 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,630 and his sort of profession, trade described. 356 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,070 For example, Number 2, 357 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,030 is Rançon, aged 37, 358 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:59,510 described as commander, capable of directing works on the plantation. 359 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,510 So he's an overseer. 360 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:04,510 Then there's Phill, aged 34. 361 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,190 He's a sugar worker. 362 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:11,230 And described here as a Negro of confidence. 363 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,230 That means he would be trusted to go down the river by himself 364 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,710 to New Orleans, delivering goods, I guess. Something like that. 365 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:21,270 And, of course, these slaves are listed in the inventory 366 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,350 because they're merely assets. 367 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,190 Each one has a price tag next to his name in dollars. 368 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:32,030 In the end, these human beings were only property. 369 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:37,630 These slaves were thrown together with relatives and strangers, 370 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,510 sometimes as many as 16 to a cabin. 371 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:50,030 Gosh, pretty compact accommodation. 372 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,470 But in fact, what you're seeing is two houses. 373 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:58,510 There would have been a partition down here. I can see the mark on the floor. 374 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:04,870 It's a very minimal construction. Just timber posts with boarding outside. 375 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:07,670 Perhaps there would have been some insulation in between, 376 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,910 but, nevertheless, I guess it would have been pretty cold in winter. 377 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:13,870 Hot in summer. 378 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:16,590 Imagine the life in here. 379 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:18,270 Crowded. 380 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,670 The smells. Some cooking there. 381 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,350 Also, I guess, a little kitchen somewhere outside, 382 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:28,190 along with a privy. 383 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,070 Life must have been very intense. 384 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:43,270 So, Kathe, what's it feel like to be here? 385 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:45,510 (SIGHS) 386 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,470 I find that when I bring groups here, 387 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:51,990 you'll oftentimes find 388 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,990 one or two people who just journey off on their own. 389 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,430 And you may find them standing on a porch or beside a tree, 390 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:04,270 and they're crying. 391 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,550 Just sometimes very emotionally crying. 392 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:11,750 You can almost hear the children. 393 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,990 I can see people sometimes standing on a porch. 394 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:22,590 I can see people coming down this lane, 395 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:24,910 in from the fields in the evening, 396 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:26,630 very, very tired. 397 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,910 And if you're just quiet and just listen, 398 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:32,870 you can hear it and feel it, 399 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,270 the spirit of my ancestors all around this place. 400 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,550 It's incredibly moving and important 401 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:59,070 that the grand mansion house and the humble slave quarters 402 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,030 survive on the same plantation. 403 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,550 This beautiful architecture is not tainted by slavery, 404 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,110 but is part of the same narrative. 405 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,390 The slave quarters, here, are, I suppose, to some, 406 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:19,190 an embarrassing survival. 407 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,830 But that's a good thing. Forgetfulness is a great enemy. 408 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,830 While slave quarters like that survive, 409 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:31,510 people are reminded of the evil that comes when man has power over man. 410 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:34,590 The evil of exploitation. 411 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,390 The evil of domination. 412 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:41,790 And while that memory survives, those evils, 413 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,470 one hopes, can be eradicated. 414 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:27,190 Istanbul, the ancient home of the Ottoman Sultans. 415 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,550 This was the capital of their mighty empire, 416 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:32,430 from the 15th century, 417 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:36,550 and the place where their dynasty thrived for over 400 years. 418 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:03,070 I've come to Istanbul to explore an institution 419 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,070 in the former Ottoman court 420 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,350 that for centuries has been reviled and misunderstood 421 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,270 by people in the West. 422 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:15,790 It was a place, it is said, in which men had absolute power over women. 423 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,750 It's the harem of the Sultans. 424 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:26,270 The harem was a labyrinth of nearly 400 rooms, 425 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,870 many of which have still never been seen by the public. 426 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,630 This is the architecture of a hidden and secret world 427 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:37,710 that is still largely written out of Turkish history. 428 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,110 I've now entered the harem. 429 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:52,870 This gate was guarded by black eunuchs. 430 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,950 They would be sitting in this room, on these benches, 431 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,670 stopping people like me from proceeding beyond this point. 432 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,990 The life story of the eunuchs is peculiar, indeed. 433 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,750 They were slaves, mostly purchased as boys in North Africa and Egypt 434 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:12,910 and then castrated en route back to Istanbul. 435 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:14,750 Brutal, indeed. 436 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:20,430 And these eunuchs lived in the rooms here. 437 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:25,350 They guarded the Sultan's harem of beautiful women. 438 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,830 Imagine the atmosphere, the veiled fury, 439 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,030 the frustration. 440 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:38,750 The harem was enlarged by Sultan Murad III 441 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,030 in the late 16th century. 442 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:45,750 Estimates vary, but it's thought that between 400 and 1,000 women 443 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:49,070 were living within these walls during his reign. 444 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:54,790 Most of the girls were slaves purchased at slave markets, 445 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,030 captured in war or simply presented as gifts. 446 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:03,670 And since Islamic law forbade the enslavement of Muslims, 447 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,470 virtually all the girls here had been born Christians or were Jewish. 448 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,990 And this is where the new arrivals lived. 449 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,950 The girls were virgins when they arrived here, 450 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,750 generally not more than 12 years old, 451 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,430 and immediately converted to Islam. 452 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:31,670 And then harem-trained. 453 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:36,110 Taught useful skills, music, embroidery, Turkish. 454 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:40,430 And they slept in dormitories up here, 455 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:44,270 overseen at night by an elderly lady 456 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:47,310 to ensure there would be no sapphic activity. 457 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,710 Sex was strictly controlled in the harem. 458 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,470 A rigid hierarchy was in place. 459 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,670 Only the most accomplished and beautiful girls 460 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,990 would be chosen to spend the night with the Sultan. 461 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:16,950 And these favourites would often be picked by the Sultan's own mother. 462 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,830 When chosen, a girl's life would be transformed. 463 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,350 After Murad had slept with a girl, 464 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,790 her status increased literally overnight. 465 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:42,710 After all, she could be carrying a child that would be the next Sultan. 466 00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:47,310 The girl was moved here into the favourites' courtyard, 467 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,550 given her own apartment and staff, her own eunuch. 468 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:54,790 I suppose most girls in the harem 469 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:57,270 wanted to be selected as favourites, 470 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:02,190 were furious if not chosen and were jealous of those who were. 471 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,830 Murad is said to have fathered nearly 50 children. 472 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:14,830 All the males were instantly considered potential heirs to the throne. 473 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,710 This fostered a savagely competitive atmosphere amongst the mothers, 474 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:23,190 as they promoted the interests of their own children. 475 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:29,030 The harem was a hotbed of intrigue. 476 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:32,670 Only the cunning and manipulative could succeed here, 477 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:34,230 could rise to the top. 478 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:38,910 Women would spy on women, women would spy on the council of state, 479 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,070 if they could, on the Sultan himself 480 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,150 through that window over there, that grill. 481 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:45,310 This is the council hall. 482 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:47,510 Eunuchs would be bribed. 483 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:51,030 In this world, there were no boundaries, 484 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:53,590 this world of subtle intrigue, 485 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,670 anything was possible. 486 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:57,190 Murders were undertaken. 487 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:00,230 Even the Sultan himself could be toppled. 488 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:09,390 When the Sultan died or was deposed, 489 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:13,030 it was a terrifying moment for the inhabitants of the harem. 490 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:14,630 Favourites were replaced, 491 00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:18,390 and the battle for the succession began amongst the sons. 492 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:25,110 Murad, when he became the Sultan, 493 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:27,470 had all his brothers executed 494 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:31,750 so that none of them could challenge his possession of the throne. 495 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:35,590 This bloody solution was typical of Ottoman rulers 496 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:37,310 in the 16th century. 497 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,710 In the 17th century, this rather extreme approach 498 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,350 of solving the tricky problems of succession 499 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:45,190 was gradually rejected, 500 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:50,070 and the Sultans preferred to keep their brothers in protective custody. 501 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:56,190 And these rooms are where these chaps whiled away their time. 502 00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,830 Gorgeous interior. It's very much gilded cages 503 00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:02,190 within the heart of the harem. 504 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:22,830 The woman whose son survived 505 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:26,430 family struggles and fratricide to become Sultan 506 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:29,990 would herself become the most powerful woman in the harem. 507 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:33,510 Indeed, one of the most powerful women in the Muslim world. 508 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,990 She became the Valide Sultan. 509 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:37,550 The Queen Mother. 510 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:40,230 And this is her apartment. 511 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:42,070 An amazing place. 512 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:47,270 You can feel here the privilege, the prestige, that went with her position. 513 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,190 This apartment is an amazing place. 514 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,390 This is set at the very heart of the harem. 515 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:56,870 From here she could see and control everything. 516 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:06,190 Golly, this is the private part of the apartment. 517 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:09,230 This is where the Queen Mother would sleep. 518 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:11,190 The bed over there. 519 00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:13,790 And here is her prayer room. 520 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:17,150 And on the wall, well, is Mecca. 521 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:21,270 Golly. And she, of course, would pray here, facing Mecca. 522 00:43:29,240 --> 00:43:31,390 The Queen Mother and her son, the Sultan, 523 00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,030 ruled the empire from this harem. 524 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,310 It's ironic that the sons born here 525 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,590 could become heads of the greatest Islamic dynasty on Earth, 526 00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:43,910 and yet their mothers had almost invariably been slaves 527 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:46,790 and had been born non-Muslims. 528 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:53,430 Power was achieved and maintained at tremendous human cost. 529 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:59,430 It's true that slaves within the harem were educated, 530 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:03,070 and they could rise to a high position of power in the land. 531 00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:06,270 But we have to remember that within its walls, 532 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:09,630 girls were enslaved and trained 533 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:12,470 to be put at the disposal of one man. 534 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:16,270 And those girls were guarded by male slaves 535 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:18,390 who had been castrated. 536 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:20,590 And also, within the harem, 537 00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:24,150 was a tradition of brother murdering brother. 538 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:30,990 So, although the harem is a fascinating and efficient machine of the state, 539 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:35,470 it was surely, in the end, a deadly and terrifying place.