Meeting with a minaret - Dan Cruickshank

Late last year, after a decade of failed attempts to make the journey, I drove 14 hours across Afghanistan to look upon one of the architectural wonders of the world. The road east from Herat had long given way to dumpy tracks and rocky riverbeds when suddenly - through a cleft in the looming cliffs - I caught my first glimpse of the minaret of Jam, a fragile sliver of tapering, man-made beauty dating from the 12th century and set among momentous mountains.

Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan: Cruickshank needed the protection of 60 police to visit it. Photograph: Dan Cruickshank

Rising 65 metres, the minaret is far from inconspicuous, yet such is its remoteness that rumours of its existence only reached the west in 1944. The tallest complete and authentic ancient minaret in the world, it is believed to have been built by the once great Ghorid empire, who in the late 12th century ruled over what are now Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, as far south as Delhi. Before a French archaeologist finally located it in 1957, the minaret had endured more than 700 years of obscurity and neglect after the Ghorids were defeated by Genghis Khan.

Now this moving, beautiful building is once again under threat. In 2002, Unesco declared Jam a World Heritage site, the first in Afghanistan, but soon after also listed it as a site in danger. Rich in archaeological remains, the spot has been ruthlessly looted for the past 20 years, while the minaret itself is slowly crumbling and tilting, its foundations undermined by the waters of a nearby river. Repairs started in the 1970s, but were effectively halted by the conflict that subsequently engulfed the country. It was only in 2001 that work to stabilise the minaret and shore up its foundations finally resumed. Meeting with a minaret -Dan Cruickshank [thanks YA]