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joseantonio | all galleries >> Galleries >> SWITZERLAND 2015 > Guarda, Traditional houses in the Engadin
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26-JUN-2015

Guarda, Traditional houses in the Engadin

Surrounded by beautifully decorated old houses, you feel you have stepped into a page from a fairytale book. All you need to do next is lose yourself in the maze of cobblestoned streets and narrow lanes and be surprised at every turn.The unique feature of this village are the magnificent and well preserved ‘Sgrafitto’ houses, with beautifully painted facades dating back to the first half of the 17th century CE. The houses, built of stone, lime and wood, have thick coarsely plastered walls washed in white/off white/ light brown, which provide an ideal background for murals executed predominantly in subtle pastel colors and shades. While ‘Sgraffito’ decorations are sometimes freehand paintings and stencils executed on plaster, more often these are etchings in which the outer layer of plaster, while it is still wet, is consummately scrapped away in beautiful and complex patterns to create the images.

Canon EOS 70D
1/640s f/7.1 at 18.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Carol Rollins06-Jul-2015 13:24
Wonderfully seen and composed Jose. This is so interesting - so much to see here.
Dennis Hoyne06-Jul-2015 02:31
Beautiful personal decorations applied to these lovely structures. As always, thanks for the background information.
Menno Hölscher05-Jul-2015 19:28
You're right, Guarda is so nice. Fine picture also.
Richard Townsend05-Jul-2015 19:13
The decoration on this house adds an extra dimension to it, very nice shot Jose. V
Helen Betts05-Jul-2015 18:51
What charming designs they have on these houses! Nicely captured, Jose. V.
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