About five kilometres south of Kathmandu, across the sacred Bagmati River, lies Patan, also known as Lalitpur. This ancient Newar capital produced many of Nepal's finest works of art and its most renowned craftsmen.
It is often called the oldest city in the valley, and it shows the richness and finesse of Newar culture better than anywhere. Generation after generation, Newar craftsmen passed on their skill in wood carving, metalwork and temple building, carving the lives of gods and goddesses into every beam. The same know-how still fills its workshops today.
Legend says the city was laid out as a great Buddhist mandala, with four stupas at the cardinal points. More than a thousand Buddhist monuments stand in and around it. Its centrepiece, Patan Durbar Square, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and a walk through it makes clear why.
