Journey back in time in this ancient city nested below the Himalayas, where the daily life is steeped in a rich culture.

Terracotta-roofed pagodas tower over the squares and courtyards. Narrow cobblestone streets weave their way between the houses, red-brick temples, stone statues and cisterns. This is Bhaktapur, one of the best preserved ancient towns in Nepal. Thanks to its location in the Kathmandu Valley along the old trade route between Tibet and India, Bhaktapur used to be a prosperous gateway; today it remains an excellent place to visit with its treasure trove of pagodas and palaces. With architecture dating back to the 16th century, it displays the best arts and craft achievements from Nepal’s Malla dynasty.

There is no clear approach to defining the authenticity of the ‘spirit and feeling’ of a place or how it could inform heritage conservation. One could identify the spirit of Bhaktapur in terms of four interrelated place dimensions; that is, the ‘sense of sacrality’, the ‘sense of community’, the ‘sense of historicity’ and the ‘sense of serenity’

City: Kathmandu, Nepal.

Location: Bhaktapur Darbar.