High in the mountains of Tibet, in the dwelling-place of the gods themselves, the adamant citadel city was forged by the hands of mortals. It was carved and crafted out of white limestone, through eons of manual labor in the frigid conditions of eternal winter, to defy nature itself.
The thin mountain air of the pass was knowing for curing the deadliest of diseases and thus holy men from all world religions had made pilgrimage into the mountains, to dedicate another temple to the site, constructed and added onto by their followers.
The monumental, heavy buildings pierced the mountain, open to all the winds, defying all enemies and opposing even the harsh hands of time.

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Started out as a collab with terragen of
... back in 2005, and was severely updated recently for your viewing pleasure.

What it is: Initial terragen background+Photoshop CS work
Hardware used: Wacom Intuos 6x8 tablet
Real size: 33x33 Inches or 10'000x10'000 pixels

Inspired by the seascape paintings of romantic artist Ivan Aivazovsky.

1600x1200 background (more detail crop): [link]