TEMPLES OF THE GODS - ON THE TRAIL OF WESTERN ART AND CULTURE IN CENTRAL ASIA

4 - part documentary - English and German version - narrated by ROBERT POWELL

TEMPEL DER GÖTTER - AUF DEN SPUREN WESTLICHER KUNST UND KULTUR IN ZENTRALASIEN

4 - teilige Dokumentation - deutsche und englische Fassung

A SPECTACULAR EXPEDITION ALONG THE MOST ROMANTIC TRADE ROUTE IN HISTORY -

THE GREAT SILK ROAD

Following in the footsteps of explorers and archaeologists from Europe, Japan and the United States, our cameras crossed the deserts of Central Asia from the Pamir Massif to the Yellow River plain. The art, architecture and culture of this vast land are shown in breathtaking details and placed in their fascinating historical context, in images never before seen in the West.

Along the ancient caravan trails, we filmed lost cities built in the Classical Greek style, magnificent Buddhist cave temples with heavily Indo-Hellenistic influence, tombs deeply buried beneath the shifting desert sands, beautifully preserved wall paintings and fabulous sculptures, together with an abundance of artefacts which have thrown new light on the cultural and social history of Central Asia.

"Underground Palaces" of gigantic size, richly decorated make this tour as important as the earliest visits of the Valley of the Kings in Egypt - but far greater in scope.

Cave monasteries of unimaginable intricacy, extraordinary tombs, glorious murals, bronzes, manuscripts, and delightful pottery, reveal amazing details about the lives of the Imperial Families, the aristocracy, and the ordinary people. The spread Buddhism, its beliefs and its wonderful works of art, together with the Chinese infatuation with everything from the "barbarian" West, are shown here as never before.

We also visited villages surrounded by some of the world's most haunting sceneries, cities with colorful bazaars and people of many ethnical backgrounds living in this magic world.

TEMPLES OF THE GODS is a unique record of one of the most amazing journeys ever undertaken -

the journey of a lifetime, down the Great Silk Road.

© CBC Commercial Broadcasting Communications