Vignettes of Dresden

Inside the Panometer. The recreated past has continued to amaze visitors ever since it opened in 2006.

Once you ascend a stairwell to a circular platform in the middle of the Panometer, encircling you is a breathtaking view of the Saxon countryside, put together through the happy marriage of triptych and Photoshop.

In the Panometer, Yadegar Asisi, an Austrian citizen of Persian origin, has brought alive the baroque splendour of a bygone era, such as in this picture, from larger-than-life photographs.

The ceramic mural that depicts the procession of all the rulers of Saxony, in Dresden. The original mural was destroyed during the Allied bombing in the Second World War, but Meissen, the town’s famous potter, put together 25,000 seamless porcelain tiles to replace it, as authentic and as alluring as the original. This mural is said to be the largest porcelain picture in the world.

The archway in the Albrecht castle in Meissen, the porcelain town.

Roof design in Albrecht castle.

Ornate roof design, Albrecht castle.

A door in the Albrecht castle.

The Zwinger, a grand palace built in Dresden by Augustus the Strong, the Elector of Saxony. Now home to some of the finest art collections in Europe, it represents the synthesis of baroque and rococo arts and is surrounded by art museums, fountains, courtyards and galleries.

In Bastei, soaring columns of sandstone form a dramatic backdrop to the Saxony countryside with the Elbe river winding its way at the foot of the rocks.

A view of Leipzig, a city of inns, pubs and trendy cafes and some refurbished hostelries.

An exquisite piece of Meissen pottery.

An artisan at work at the Meissen porcelain factory where art colludes with commerce.

In the Bach Museum at Leipzig, the first Organ that Johann Sebastian Bach used, still in working condition.

The statue of Bach in Leipzig. He wrote some of his most famous compositions during the 27 years he spent in the town.

The University of Leipzig.

Baroque style architecture, Dresden.

A view of the countryside from Bastei

The Morritzburg castle near Dresden.

The St. Nocholas Church in Leipzig.

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An abandoned gas storage tank in the middle of Dresden has been converted into a spectacular art show called Panometer, which offers panoramic views of the Saxony countryside as it might have been in 1756.