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*This substantial linear earthwork is situated across a valley head guarding access into Coverdale from Upper Wharfedale. It stretches for a length of approximately 2000m. The western section of the earthwork includes a ditch, 3m deep and approximately 6m wide, cut into the base of a vertical limestone scar. Above the ditch on the north side is an earth and stone rampart averaging 1m high and 3m wide. Sections of the rampart include rough grooves and pits where stone has been quarried to build the adjacent wall at some time in the more recent past. Further west the limestone scar peters out and a shallower and narrower ditch extends discernibly as far as Top Mere Gate. Where the scar terminates on the east side the line is strengthened and continued by a substantial rampart averaging 1.8m in height and approximately 4m wide. In places, both on the east and west sides of the monument, the rampart is abutted by small enclosures and hut circles, with diameters of up to 20m, of an Iron Age type, which are broadly contemporary in date.
The snowy slopes of Blackfell Top and Great Whernside beyond.
Stone Circle Access visits take place outside the normal opening times at Stonehenge, and are very early in the morning or late in the evening, and are not offered during the normal opening times.
For those of you who have not visited this sacred site, we should mention that the complex is roped off. Visitors observe the stones from a distance and are not permitted within the temple complex. Our special access tours allow you to be amongst the stones. Your guide will bring to life its many myths, legends and rich and fascinating history.
We have arranged with English Heritage for you to experience a unique guided visit to this ancient sacred site - beyond the fences and after the crowds have gone home. Walk amongst the stones and experience the magical atmosphere within the inner circle.
Stonehenge Sunset and Sunrise Trips from London and Salisbury
Stonehenge Guided Tours: www.StonehengeTours.com
Palais Coburg
At the site of today's Palais Coburg were in the 18th Century several buildings, which like almost all buildings that were built on the city walls or leaning on these, were of a military nature. So here was situated the Stadt-Schultheissen Office (Wikipedia: In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß (Middle High German schultheize, from Old High German sculdheizo; Latinised as scultetus or sculteus; in Switzerland: Schultheiss, also: Schultheis, Schulte or Schulze; in Italian the two offices Scoltetto and Sculdascio, Medieval Latin sculdasius and Polish Sołtys) was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler), which was the seat of the respective city commander. Here lived and died in 1766 Field Marshal Leopold Josef Graf Daun. His successor as resident, Field Marshal Franz Moritz Graf Lacy, succeeded to acquire the building of the Imperial Court Chamber. He changed the city commandant's house into the Palais Lacy and inhabited this until his death in 1801. His nephew and heir sold the building in the same year to the Hungarian Count Franz Joseph Koháry. This one could in 1812 also acquire a neighboring house. The Kohárys were among the wealthiest landowners in Hungary. Franz Joseph's daughter Gabriele Maria Antonia married in 1816 Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Since the marriage between a prince and a countess was not befitting one's social status, much trouble and especially money had to be expended in order to raise the family Koháry, 1817, but retroactive to 1815 in the rank of prince. To document this rise in rank, they began with measures to develop the still modest palace. Prince Franz Joseph Koháry inhabited it hardly, however, since he lived mainly in Oroszvár south of Bratislava. When he died in 1826, his Viennese palace was still not very representative .
His daughter inherited it and rented it for the moment to Countess Cordelia Potocki. Through the Kohárysche heritage, to which belonged ore mines and steel plants and large agricultural estates in Hungary and the Slovakia of today, the family Coburg, which called itself since 1825 Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, could finally think of the construction of a befitting palace. She lived then in later Palais Archduke Karl Ludwig in the Favoritenstraße. The appreciation of the family through Victoria's accession to the throne in England made a representative place to stay of the Viennese branch of the family appear urgent. Duke Ferdinand had in the years 1843 to 1847 instead of the existing buildings, that ist, at the access of the side facing the city to Braunbastei, built a great palace. His son August Ludwig had 1843 married Princess Clementine of Orleans Bourbon, daughter of the French citizen king Louis-Philippe, and determined the building to his Viennese home. The architect was Karl Schleps. For the execution of his plans responsible was Adolf Korompay. Karl Schleps had the plans yet submitted in 1839, but he passed away as early as next year. He was succeeded by his former assistant Franz Neumann. With Philip Menning another architect was hired, so it is not clear today which architect what share of the palace has. To extend the construction site, some adjacent properties, as the Croats Dörfl (Kroatendörfl) were purchased. The architecture is a blend of classicism and historicism and clearly reflects those change in the architecture, which took place at this time. But for the moment followed no interior expansion, because Louis-Philippe demanded that his grandson in France should enter this world and the ducal couple moved to Paris. In 1849 that part of the palace, which is on the Seilerstaette, was largely transformed into an apartment building, designed by Franz Neumann. Yet three years earlier, Baron Sina wanted it to acquire and here housing the stock exchange and the Wechselgericht (competend in exchange disputes), but those plans had dashed.
Resided in 1851 the English ambassador to Austria, Lieutenant General John Fane, as a tenant here. Johann Strauss served him for its festivals as music director. 1852 the Palais was also inside ready to move in and Herzog August Ludwig was able to return to Vienna. After the Braunbastei 1863 was demolished, arose the classicist garden facade. Just before the turn of the century resided Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who stemmed from the family of Coburg, in his Vienna stays in the palace. During World War II, the right part of the portico was hit by a bomb. Thereby also two figures of the Attica went lost. During occupation time Russian soldiers were intitially quartered in the palace. Plans to demolish the palace and build in its place a hotel, were fortunately not realized. After this for a long the Directorate General of Austrian Federal Railways was occupying the building as tenant. 1978 sold Princess Sarah Aurelia of Saxe-Coburg the Palais to a real estate broker. Restoration plans came to a nothing for the moment again and again for financial reasons. Currently, the building belongs to a private foundation under German investor Peter Pühringer. Since 2000 it was subjected to a comprehensive refurbishment. Here two years ago one of the finest luxury hotels in the city with excellent restaurants was put into operation. In addition, there are a number of homes and offices in the vast complex of buildings. The originally planned shopping mall was not realized.
Casemates. But although the palace does not just lie at the ring road, the owner has for himself the free outlook in the city park by a servitude secured, that has been preserved until today. While the Bastion side remembers aristocratic country houses such as Castle Liechtenstein at Maria Enzersdorf or the former Weilburg in Baden, the Seilerstaette-front is more as a bourgeois apartment building designed. Attractive visual appearance is the to the ring turned 21-axis garden facade. It is characterized by the two-storey columns order which has the Palais soon led in common parlance to the name "asparagus Castle" after its establishment. The facades of the palace namely does not show the with Viennese palais common colossal order in which multiple floors are aggregated by giant pilasters or giant pillars. Here the walls are structured by Ionic columns. On whose entablature have been put Corinthian columns. Behind the pillars of the seven-axis central risalit lie open loggias in the two upper floors. They were originally connected by staircases on both sides of the garden. As this had to be re-created in 1864 due to the razing of the bastions, the Attica area has been redesigned. Franz Neumann and Leopold Mayer placed here figures, representing the personifications of music, hunting, strength, history, science, agriculture and flower care. It's due to the construction of the palace on the Braunbastei that parts of the Renaissance fortifications of Vienna have been preserved, most of all, the of brick masonry consisting casemates. They are located directly below the palace and were made available again in the last renovation in 2003. In this case , however, the ramp leading to the bastion was destroyed.
Ball room. The late classicist road tract at the Seilerstaette is the a little older part of the building. Since we have got to deal was a narrow downtown alley, the facade at the Seilerstaette is relatively flat structured. Due to the level difference to the bastion it has a considerable height. In the two-story base zone three large banded arched portals are inserted. The windows of the upper floors are designed differently (round arch pediment, not crowns). The central projection is superimposed a shallow three-storey loggia. Franz Neumann Younger created about 1880 the strict historical front building at the Coburggasse. It is organized by risalits and presents an attic parapet. The here located portal is provided with seashell decor. From the Seilerstaette one enters the palace through a two-story vestibule that leads to the magnificent staircase. It is supported by Ionic columns. Large decorative vases stand on pedestals. The piano nobile is a remarkable space ensemble of late Classicism and early-Baroque. Of its equipment only the to the wall fixed parts remained preserved because after the Second World War much of the furniture was sold. The inlaid parquet floors have been replaced for the most part in 2001. The in the center located ballroom is a with stucco marble overlayed room decorated with stuccoed volutes. Gilded mirror frames and wall lights complete the equipment. It is lit by a glass ceiling. Interesting is the family room or Green Salon. Here hang numerous portraits of members of the Coburg family, including those in the 19th Century as kings or dukes reigning different European countries (Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, England). The Blue Salon is decorated with full-length pictures of the inner family circle of the palace residents. They stem from Franz Xaver Winterhalter and from those workshop. Neo-Baroque is also the Yellow Salon Over the three doors hold stucco figures the coat of arms of Coburg and Orleans.
Haleakala Crater hike on 7/9/2019
I caught the first Hawaiian Airlines flight to Maui from Oahu which left at 5:05 am, arrival at 5:44 am.
I took a carryon duffel bag and a photo backpack ( no checked bags )
Picked up my rental car from Alamo and first stopped at 7-Eleven for water, food and snacks.
Maui Airport has changed. All the car rental companies moved to one central location reachable by tram. Additonally a specific Airport Access road was constructed and in use by this trip.
7:40 am left 7-Eleven for Haleakala.
7:30 am arrived at park entrance. $25 entrance fee by credit card only.
8:00 am arrived at Halemau'u trail head parking lot. Filled my CamelBak bladder with 3L of water, redistributed my equipment and used the bathroom to add a thermal underwear layer for the cold.
8:40 am left the parking lot and went to the Hitchhiking spot to wait for a ride. I was picked up by the 3rd car to come along. A single young male on vacation by himself. As I was grabbing my things to get into his car a mother and young son came up and asked to share the ride. I only waited maybe 5 minutes to catch a ride.
9:00 am arrived at the Summit Visitor Center parking lot. The driver had never been up to Haleakala even after visiting Maui a couple of times before, and he was considering doing a short hike while up there. I would be passed by him and the other hitch hiker about a mile down the trail later.
9:15 am after a short look around at the lookout and tightening up my boot laces, I started on Keonehe'ehe'e ( Sliding Sands Trail )
11:51 am I would get to the bottom of the crater and the trail for Holua cabins or Kapaloa, Paliku cabins. Ate lunch of one Spam musube.
12:06 pm I would start on the trial to Holua Cabin
12:59 pm top of the ascent to "Ka Moa o Pele"
1:24 pm trail juncture on the left of "Halali'i"
2:14 pm Silver Sword loop begin ( did not take the loop )
2:22 pm Silver Sword loop end
3:05 pm Holua Cabin - rested
3:32 pm left Holua Cabin and headed out on Halemau'u trail and the crater rim.
4:13 pm arrived at base of crater rim and the start of the switchbacks up the crater wall. rested and stretched.
4:27 pm started up the crater rim switch backs.
6:56 pm I would reach the flat narrow spot I consider the end of the switchbacks.
7:00 pm the temperature would be 56 degrees and dropping down to 52 degrees ( not including windchill )
7:10 pm Sunset, and I was hiking in dark shadow. Too dark to take meaningful pictures or pics of my watch.
8:00 pm I would reach the Halemau'u parking lot and my car.
8:30 pm I would finish unloading and repacking bags for going to my hotel and possibly doing some astro photography.
8:45 pm arrive at Kalahaku overlook to check out the possibility of astro photography. The 50% moon washed out the Milky way too much, stars were visible and I was starting to yawn. So I didn't, and I left at 9:05 pm for Kahului and a shower.
I used up all my water, when I got to my hotel and check, the hydration bladder was flat. Possibly one or two sips left in the tube. This was the 2nd time hiking this trail. Both times I brought a collapsable water bag w/filter to refil water at Holua and did not. If I do this again I really, REALLY need to refill water at Holua cabin.
The weather reports for the previous week were about the possibility of hurricane Barbera hitting the islands the day before my trip. Fortunately Barbera down graded and by the time of my trip and predictions for the summit were somewhat cloudy with occasional showers. While hiking I only encountered a few light drizzle/drops from the clouds that didn't require me to break out any of the rain gear I brought or to stow my cameras from rain.
The weather at the summit was cloudy and approximately 65 degrees with windchill. Along the hike until the ascent up the crater rim at the end, the temperature would not seem as cold as I expected or remember from my previous hike a couple of years ago. Possibly due to my wearing thermal underwear, hiking pants, a medium thick long sleeve athletic shirt beneath a button long sleeve hiking shirt and my broad brimmed hat of course. While moving I felt cool and relatively comfortable temperature wise, while raising a slight glistening sweat. At least it wasn't dripping into my eyes.
Keeping to my expected and normal average hiking pace of around 1 mph or less going down hill and across the flats, I would take pictures about every 1-2 hundred feet of the trail. Boring, but I like to document the trail condition. In addition to any interesting views, scenery or recording the weather.
I kept one of my watches attached to my sleeve so it would not be in skin contact and would mostly dangle in my body shade. This would give me a way of tracking my elevation and mostly the temperature.
There were many more day hikers actually crossing the crater along the same route I was going. Most notable was the mother and son that caught a ride with me. They met up with her husband and other son who caught another ride a bit later.
Probably all the hikers that were crossing the crater caught up to me and passed me, and they all started later than I did. The only people who caught up but didn't pass me were 3 female park rangers on their way to Holua Cabin and pretty much started doing their park ranger stuff in the area where they caught up to me and didn't catch up again.
I was constantly annoyed by the hikers I would see taking short cuts along the trail. I had to remind myself to not get pissy with them. I'm tempted to think the only other hikers on the trail that did not take short cuts were the park rangers I met.
Personally, I started the hike with a kinda sharp lower back pain, which had been ongoing since the previous week. But since this hike was already book and paid for I wasn't going to cancel. All thru the hike my back would be in constant pain and I would continually think I might have to give up hiking if my back doesn't get better. It was most painful going down hill, while the flats and going up weren't as bad.
I was hoping the strain and constant back movement would loosen up my lower back and aleviate my pain. Supprisingly, while getting on my stomach with all my gear still on me, when I got up my lower back was better. The pain would come and go, but could now be aleviated for short periods of time by taking off all my gear and bending over to stretch my back. When I would get home, my lower back pain issues would return to "normal"
Evidently, the dry cold air and constant breeze caused my face and lips to chap, which showed up a day after I got home.
Once again I brought chapstick but didn't use it.
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CamelBak Octane 16X Hydration Pack (3L Hydration bladder)
3 liters of water = 6.6 pounds
1x Nikon D700 w/battery grip - Nikon 28-300mm
1x Nikon D700 w/out grip - Rokinon 12mm f2.8 fisheye
Tokina 16-28mm f2.8
Camera & lens weight = 12 pounds
I brought both cameras to reduce the amount of time spent changing lenses and the possibility of getting grit on the camera sensors. Turns out I never changed to the 16-28 so never removed any lens. Yay, no spots in my pictures, Bo, lugged another heavy lens around for nothing. At least I left the 100mm macro in the car already.
The MTA's East Side Access project is connecting the Long Island Rail Road to a newly built concourse underneath the existing lower level of Grand Central Terminal. These photos show the progress on the project as of January 25, 2012. Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.
Workers drill trough the shotcrete walls at the bottom of the north access shaft south of Jackson, to improve soil conditions ahead of excavating a lateral tunnel which will connect the shaft with the eventual station cavern nearby.
Stone Circle Access visits take place outside the normal opening times at Stonehenge, and are very early in the morning or late in the evening, and are not offered during the normal opening times.
For those of you who have not visited this sacred site, we should mention that the complex is roped off. Visitors observe the stones from a distance and are not permitted within the temple complex. Our special access tours allow you to be amongst the stones. Your guide will bring to life its many myths, legends and rich and fascinating history.
We have arranged with English Heritage for you to experience a unique guided visit to this ancient sacred site - beyond the fences and after the crowds have gone home. Walk amongst the stones and experience the magical atmosphere within the inner circle.
Stonehenge Sunset and Sunrise Trips from London and Salisbury
Stonehenge Guided Tours: www.StonehengeTours.com
The MTA's East Side Access project is connecting the Long Island Rail Road to a newly built concourse underneath the existing lower level of Grand Central Terminal. These photos show the progress on the project as of January 25, 2012. Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.
As someone pointed out yesterday, if these pictures were taken in the summer, you probably wouldn't even see the building.
More images in the Letchworth Village set.
Stone Circle Access visits take place outside the normal opening times at Stonehenge, and are very early in the morning or late in the evening, and are not offered during the normal opening times.
For those of you who have not visited this sacred site, we should mention that the complex is roped off. Visitors observe the stones from a distance and are not permitted within the temple complex. Our special access tours allow you to be amongst the stones. Your guide will bring to life its many myths, legends and rich and fascinating history.
We have arranged with English Heritage for you to experience a unique guided visit to this ancient sacred site - beyond the fences and after the crowds have gone home. Walk amongst the stones and experience the magical atmosphere within the inner circle.
Stonehenge Sunset and Sunrise Trips from London and Salisbury
Stonehenge Guided Tours: www.StonehengeTours.com
An infilled access cover by D Evans of Llandaff.
Slater's Directory of 1880 shows Daniel Evans as at the Eagle Foundry in Llandaff, Cardiff. They closed down in the 1930s.
St Fagan's is an open air museum, part of the National Museum of Wales. Buildings and artefacts from all over Wales have been dismantled and re-erected here, often saving them from destruction. This process is ongoing.
Ellenbrook Fields, Hertfordshire, 31 August 2013.
To see my collections, go here: www.flickr.com/photos/anemoneprojectors/collections/.
I live in Dublin city centre and I have been shocked by how quickly every thing has changed. It is the day before St. Patrick's Day and all tourist attractions and public parks are deserted and many are closed to the Public. A few restaurants are open but I know of only three that plan to remain open [with restricted access].
Wood Quay is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. The site is bounded on the north side by Wood Quay on the River Liffey, on the west by Winetavern Street, on the south by John's Lane and on the east by Fishamble Street.
Dublin Corporation acquired Wood Quay gradually between 1950 and 1975, finally announcing that it would be the location of their new offices. Large-scale archaeological excavations were conducted on the site by the National Museum of Ireland at intervals between 1974 and 1981. Finds made during the excavations of the site led to a significant, but ultimately unsuccessful, public campaign to halt the development. Artefacts from the excavations are now on display in the National Museum of Ireland. Most of the quay is now entirely occupied by Dublin City Council's Civic Offices.
Two bridges cross the river at Wood Quay, one at the eastern and the other at the western end. The bridge at the eastern end is Grattan Bridge, formerly known as Essex Bridge, named after 18th century parliamentarian Henry Grattan. This bridge, which resembles Westminster Bridge in London, was until the 18th century the most easterly and therefore the closest to the sea of the Liffey Bridges. The bridge at the westerly end of Wood Quay is O'Donovan Rossa Bridge named after the 19th century fenian.
In a later excavation between 1990 and 1993 further along the quay at Lower Exchange Street, an archaeological dig team unearthed a roundtower-like ruin from the 13th century called Isolde's Tower. This tower was first discovered in the 17th century, but most of it was destroyed and covered in. Because of the dig, the construction of underground parking facilities for a planned development on the site could not be constructed at their intended location. The tower ruins are now viewable through railings on Lower Exchange Street, and the car park ramp is further to the left.
Please take care.
The abandoned Leith South Yard to the north of Edinburgh.
The cobbled street is Albert Road and is fenced off at both ends by Forth Ports, an organisation with a rather selfish sense of providing access to otherwise unused land.
The distinctive floodlight towers give away that this used to be a rail yard, even though most of the track has been lifted.
The blue shed is the "Speedlink" rail freight shed that was modernised in the 1970s or 1980s before the entire concept of this sort of "wagonload" freight service was abandoned by British Rail. The shed is maintained in good condition and is fenced off from the rest of the yard so probably has some sort of other use now.
The MTA's East Side Access project is connecting the Long Island Rail Road to a newly built concourse underneath the existing lower level of Grand Central Terminal. These photos show the progress on the project as of January 25, 2012. Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.
The MTA's East Side Access project is connecting the Long Island Rail Road to a newly built concourse underneath the existing lower level of Grand Central Terminal. These photos show the progress on the project as of January 25, 2012. Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.
All rights reserved. Please do not use or reproduce this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission.
Frank Lloyd Wright - Unity Temple
in Oak Park, IL - USA (1908)
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Look more in a [HD] Video on YouTube:
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Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Temple is considered to be one of Wright's most important structures dating from the first decade of the twentieth century. Because of its consolidation of aesthetic intent and structure through use of a single material, reinforced concrete, Unity Temple is considered by many architects to be the first modern building in the world.
To accommodate the needs of the congregation, Wright divided the community space from the temple space through a low, middle loggia that could be approached from either side. This was an efficient use of space and kept down on noise between the two main gathering areas: those coming for religious services would be separated via the loggia from those coming for community events. This design was one of Wright's first uses of a bipartite design: with two portions of the building similar in composition and separated by a lower passageway, and one section being larger than the other. The Guggenheim Museum in New York City is another bipartite design.
To reduce noise from the street, Wright eliminated street level windows in the temple. Instead, natural light comes from stained glass windows in the roof and clerestories along the upper walls. Because the members of the parish would not be able to look outside, Unity Temple's stained glass was designed with green, yellow, and brown tones in order to evoke the colors of nature. The main floor of the temple is accessed via a lower floor (which has seating space), and the room also has two balconies for the seating of the congregation. These varying seating levels allowed the architect to design a building to fit the size of the congregation, but efficiently: no one person in the congregation is more than 40 feet from the pulpit. Wright also designed the building with very good acoustics.
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Photos by Franco Di Capua www.facebook.com/dicapua.franco
Di CAPUA on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/franckyOtedesc
Di CAPUA GROUP: www.facebook.com/groups/DiCapua.Channel/
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The MTA's East Side Access project is connecting the Long Island Rail Road to a newly built concourse underneath the existing lower level of Grand Central Terminal. These photos show the progress on the project as of January 25, 2012. Photo by Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin.
In deploying a long-distance WiFi network, Inveneo often uses relay stations to route radio beams along the network
Exemple d'installation de la douche Access, douche senior de plain pied sur mesure, www.seniorbains.com/douche-access.html
Etnic provides IT services to the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the government body responsible for the approximately 4 million French speaking citizens in Belgium.
Etnic implemented NetIQ Identity Manager and NetIQ Access Manager, with the assistance of OPNS Consultants, to address manage user identity and access rights for hundreds of thousands of users. Eventually, all French speaking citizens of Belgium should have a "citizen" account within the eGovernment framework and Etnic will reach around 3 million users.
Visit: bit.ly/UEQ9QO to watch the video.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with support from the EU Investment Facility for Central Asia and the United States, delivered a series of workshops focused on expanding SME access to trade finance. The workshops took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic on 06-08 April 2015. Over 90 employees of Demir Kyrgyz International Bank and 20 local consultants were trained in the selling and marketing of trade finance products.
High up on the moors above the Goyt Valley. The Land Rover is on the former trackbed of the Cromford & High Peak Railway and is heading for the top of the Bunsall Incline.
The Orchha Fort complex, which houses a large number of ancient monuments consisting of the fort, palaces, temple and other edifices, is located in the Orchha town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The fort and other structures within it were built by the Bundela Rajputs starting from early 16th century by King Rudra Pratap Singh of the Orchha State and others who followed him.
The fort complex, which is accessed from an arched causeway, leads to a large gateway. This is followed by a large quadrangular open yard surrounded by palaces. These are Raja Mahal or Raja Mandir, Sheesh Mahal, Jahangir Mahal, a temple, gardens and pavilions. The battlements of the fort have ornamentation. Notable architectural features in the fort complex are projected balconies, open flat areas and decorated latticed windows.
LOCATION
The fort complex is located in the Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh in the erstwhile state of Orchha. The fort complex is within an island formed by the confluence of the Betwa River and Jamni River in Orchha town. Approach to the complex from the eastern part of the market in the town is through a multiple arched bridge with 14 arches built in granite stones.
Orchha town is approximately 80 kilometres away from Tikamgarh town, which is the district headquarters of the district of the same name. Jhansi town is 15 kilometres away. Orchha is a railway station of the Central Railway on the Jhansi-Manikpur section.
HISTORY
The fort was built following the founding of the Orchha State in 1501 AD by Rudra Pratap Singh (r. 1501–1531), a Bundela rajput. The palaces and temples within the fort complex were built over a period of time by successive Maharajas of the Orchha State. Of these, the Raja Mandir or Raja Mahal was built by Madhukar Shah who ruled from 1554 to 1591. Jahangir Mahal and Sawan Bhadon Mahal were built during the reign of Vir Singh Deo (r. 1605–1627). The features of "pepper pots and domes" seen in the fort complex are believed to have inspired Lutyens in the architecture of the structures which he built in New Delhi.
MONUMENTS
The fort complex, accessed from an arched causeway, leads to a large gateway followed by a large quadrangular open space which is surrounded by palaces such as Raja Mahal or Raja Mandir, Sheesh Mahal, Jahangir Mahal, a temple, gardens and pavilions. The fort walls have battlements, which have ornamentation. Notable architectural features seen in the fort complex consist of projected balconies, open flat areas and decorated latticed windows.
RAJA MAHAL
The Raja Mahal (King’s Palace), where the kings and the queens had resided till it was abandoned in 1783, was built in the early part of 16th century. Its exterior is simple without any embellishments but the interior chambers of the palace are elaborately royal in its architectural design, decorated with murals of social and religious themes of gods, mythical animals and people. In the upper floor of the palace there are traces of mirrors in the ceilings and walls. Its windows, arcaded passages and layout plan are designed in such a way that the "sunlight and shadow create areas of different moods and temperatures throughout the day". The interior walls of the Mahal have murals of Lord Vishnu. The Mahal has several secret passages.
A part of this Mahal was converted into a temple and named Rama Raja Temple in honour of the god Rama. There is legend associated with naming it as a temple. According to a local legend, the temple was built following Rani Ganeshkuwari, the queen getting a "dream visitation" by Lord Rama directing her to build a temple for Him; while Madhukar Shah was a devotee of Krishna, his wife's dedication was to Rama. Following this a new temple known as the Chaturbuj Temple was approved to be built, and the queen went to Ayodhya to obtain an image of Lord Rama that was to be enshrined in her new temple. When she came back from Ayodhya with the image of Rama, initially she kept the idol in her palace as the Chaturbuj Temple was still under construction. She was, however, unaware of an injunction that the image to be deified in a temple could not be kept in a palace. Once the temple construction was completed and the idol of the lord had to be moved for installation at the Chatrubhuj Temple, it refused to be shifted from the palace. Hence, instead of the Chaturbhuj Temple, the Rama's idol remained in the palace where as the Chaturbhuj Temple remained without an idol in its sanctum. As Rama was worshipped in the palace, part of the palace was converted into the Rama Raja Temple; it is the only shrine in the country where Rama is worshipped as a King. The temple is guarded by a police force and the deity, Lord Rama, is considered as the king and is given a gun salute of honour every day.
SHEESH MAHAL
Sheesh Mahal is flanked on either side by the Raja Mahal and the Jahangir Mahal. This has royal accommodation, which was built for king Udait Singh. It has now been converted into a hotel. The interior of this edifice consists of a huge impressive hall with high ceiling, which is the dining hall. Its recent colour scheme renovations are an eyesore. But staying in two of its royal suites on the upper floor, which provide scenic views of the town, gives the guest a feeling of royalty.
JAHANGIR MAHAL
Jahangir Mahal is a palace that was exclusively built by Bir Singh Deo in 1605 to humor the Mughal emperor Jahangir who was a guest of the Maharaja for one night only. The palace is built in four levels with elegant architectural features of both Muslim and Rajput architecture. Its layout is a symmetrical square built in the inner courtyard of the fort and has eight large domes. It has a plethora of rooms with arcaded openings, projecting platforms and windows with lattice design work. The roof above top floor of this Mahal is accessed through a steep stairway. It provides picture perfect views of the temples and the Betwa River outside the fort complex. The palace also houses a small archaeological museum.
The entrance gate from this palace, which was earlier the main gate and which has carved ornamentation, leads to the royal baths and then to an elegant small dwelling unit built within a garden in typical Mughal architectural style; this had been built exclusively for Rai Parveen, the female escort of the Raja Indramani (1672 – 76); her large-size portrait in a revealing and seductive attire adorns hall in this Mahal. She was a poet and musician. The building is a double storied structure built with bricks, rising to the height of the trees in the well tended garden called Anand Mahal. The garden is laid out with octagonal flower beds and has good network of water supply. There are niches in the Mahal which permit natural light to the main hall and smaller rooms.
It is said that Emperor Akbar (r. 1556 – 1605) who was enamored by Parveen's beauty had taken her to his palace in Agra to be his courtesan. But Parveen, who wanted to get out of the situation, composed a gazal or a couplet which stated her status as an already used woman not fit for an emperor, which enabled her to get release from Akbar's court and return to Orchha.
PHOOL BAGH
Phool Bagh is an elegantly laid out garden in the fort complex which has a line of water fountains that terminates in a "palace-pavilion" which has eight pillars. Below this garden is an underground structure which was used by the royalty as a cool summer retreat. This cooling system consists of water ventilation system that is linked to an underground palace with "Chandan Katora", which is in the shape of a bowl from where fountains of droplets trickle through the roof creating rainfall.
WIKIPEDIA
Stone Circle Access visits take place outside the normal opening times at Stonehenge, and are very early in the morning or late in the evening, and are not offered during the normal opening times.
For those of you who have not visited this sacred site, we should mention that the complex is roped off. Visitors observe the stones from a distance and are not permitted within the temple complex. Our special access tours allow you to be amongst the stones. Your guide will bring to life its many myths, legends and rich and fascinating history.
We have arranged with English Heritage for you to experience a unique guided visit to this ancient sacred site - beyond the fences and after the crowds have gone home. Walk amongst the stones and experience the magical atmosphere within the inner circle.
Stonehenge Sunset and Sunrise Trips from London and Salisbury
Stonehenge Guided Tours: www.StonehengeTours.com
I’ve been wanting to take a city break in summer, rather than in the cold months for a while, so rather than heading for the Lake District for a week of toil on the fells when Jayne could get a week off, we took off from Liverpool for Paris. Flight times were nice and sociable but it meant we were on the M62 car park at a busy time in both directions – it’s a shambles! I’ve stopped over in Paris a dozen times – on my way to cycling in the Etape du Tour in the Alps or Pyrenees – and had a few nights out there. Come to think about it and we’ve spent the day on the Champs Elysees watching the final day of the Tour de France with Mark Cavendish winning. We hadn’t been for a holiday there though and it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. Six nights gave us five and a half days to explore Paris on foot. I had a good selection of (heavy) kit with me, not wanting to make the usual mistake of leaving something behind and regretting it. In the end I carried the kit in my backpack – an ordinary rucksack – to keep the weight down, for 103 miles, all recorded on the cycling Garmin – and took 3500 photos. The little Garmin is light and will do about 15 hours, it expired towards the end of a couple of 16 hour days but I had the info I wanted by then. This also keeps the phone battery free for research and route finding – I managed to flatten that once though.
What can I say – Paris was fantastic! The weather varied from OK to fantastic, windy for a few days, the dreaded grey white dullness for a while but I couldn’t complain really. We were out around 8.30 in shorts and tee shirt, which I would swap for a vest when it warmed up, hitting 30 degrees at times, we stayed out until around midnight most nights. It was a pretty full on trip. The security at some destinations could have been a problem as there is a bag size limit to save room in the lifts etc. I found the French to be very pragmatic about it, a bag search was a cursory glance, accepting that I was lugging camera gear, not bombs around, and they weren’t going to stop a paying customer from passing because his bag was a bit over size.
We didn’t have a plan, as usual we made it up as we went along, a loose itinerary for the day would always end up changing owing to discoveries along the way. Many times we would visit something a few times, weighing the crowds and light etc. up and deciding to come back later. I waited patiently to go up the Eiffel Tower, we arrived on Tuesday and finally went up on Friday evening. It was a late decision but the weather was good, the light was good and importantly I reckoned that we would get a sunset. Previous evenings the sun had just slid behind distant westerly clouds without any golden glory. It was a good choice. We went up the steps at 7.30 pm, short queue and cheaper – and just to say that we had. The steps are at an easy angle and were nowhere near as bad as expected, even with the heavy pack. We stayed up there, on a mad and busy Friday night, until 11.30, the light changed a lot and once we had stayed a couple of hours we decided to wait for the lights to come on. This was a downside to travelling at this time of year, to do any night photography we had to stay out late as it was light until 10.30. The Eiffel Tower is incredible and very well run, they are quite efficient at moving people around it from level to level. It was still buzzing at midnight with thousands of people around. The sunset on Saturday was probably better but we spent the evening around the base of the Tower, watching the light change, people watching and soaking the party atmosphere up.
Some days our first destination was five miles away, this is a lot of road junctions in a city, the roads in Paris are wide so you generally have to wait for the green man to cross. This made progress steady but when you are on holiday it doesn’t matter too much. Needless to say we walked through some dodgy places, with graffiti on anything that stays still long enough. We were ultra-cautious with our belongings having heard the pickpocket horror stories. At every Café/bar stop the bags were clipped to the table leg out of sight and never left alone. I carried the camera in my hand all day and everywhere I went, I only popped it in my bag to eat. I would guess that there were easier people to rob than us, some people were openly careless with phones and wallets.
We didn’t enter the big attractions, it was too nice to be in a museum or church and quite a few have a photography ban. These bans make me laugh, they are totally ignored by many ( Japanese particularly) people. Having travelled around the world to see something, no one is going to stop them getting their selfies. Selfies? Everywhere people pointed their cameras at their own face, walking around videoing – their self! I do like to have a few photos of us for posterity but these people are self-obsessed.
Paris has obviously got a problem with homeless (mostly) migrants. Walk a distance along the River Seine and you will find tented villages, there is a powerful smell of urine in every corner, with the no alcohol restrictions ignored, empty cans and bottles stacked around the bins as evidence. There are families, woman living on mattresses with as many as four small children, on the main boulevards. They beg by day and at midnight they are all huddled asleep on the pavement. The men in the tents seem to be selling plastic Eiffel Tower models to the tourists or bottled water – even bottles of wine. Love locks and selfy sticks were also top sellers. There must be millions of locks fastened to railings around the city, mostly brass, so removing them will be self-funding as brass is £2.20 a kilo.
As for the sights we saw, well if it was on the map we tried to walk to it. We crossed the Periphique ring road to get to the outer reaches of Paris. La Defense – the financial area with dozens of modern office blocks – was impressive, and still expanding. The Bois de Boulogne park, with the horse racing track and the Louis Vuitton Centre was part of a 20 mile loop that day. Another day saw us in the north east. We had the dome of the Sacre Couer to ourselves, with thousands of tourists wandering below us oblivious of the entrance and ticket office under the church. Again the light was fantastic for us. We read that Pere Lachaise Cemetery or Cimitiere du Pere Lachaise was one of the most visited destinations, a five mile walk but we went. It is massive, you need a map, but for me one massive tomb is much the same as another, it does have highlights but we didn’t stay long. Fortunately we were now closer to the Canal St Martin which would lead us to Parc de la Villette. This was a Sunday and everywhere was both buzzing and chilled at the same time. Where ever we went people were sat watching the world go by, socializing and picnicking, soaking the sun up. As ever I wanted to go up on the roof of anything I could as I love taking cityscapes. Most of these were expensive compared with many places we’ve been to before but up we went. The Tour Montparnasse, a single tower block with 59 floors, 690 foot high and extremely fast lifts has incredible views although it was a touch hazy on our ascent. The Arc de Triomphe was just up the road from our hotel, we went up it within hours of arriving, well worth the visit.
At the time of writing I have no idea how many images will make the cut but it will be a lot. If I have ten subtly different shots of something, I find it hard to consign nine to the dark depths of my hard drive never to be seen again – and I’m not very good at ruthless selection – so if the photo is OK it will get uploaded. My view is that it’s my photostream, I like to be able to browse my own work at my leisure at a later date, it’s more or less free and stats tell me these images will get looked at. I’m not aiming for single stunning shots, more of a comprehensive overview of an interesting place, presented to the best of my current capabilities. I am my own biggest critic, another reason for looking at my older stuff is to critique it and look to improve on previous mistakes. I do get regular requests from both individuals and organisations to use images and I’m obliging unless someone is taking the piss. I’m not bothered about work being published (with my permission) but it is reassuringly nice to be asked. The manipulation of Flickr favourites and views through adding thousands of contacts doesn’t interest me and I do sometimes question the whole point of the Flickr exercise. I do like having access to my own back catalogue though and it gives family and friends the chance to read about the trip and view the photos at their leisure so for the time being I’m sticking with it. I do have over 15 million views at the moment which is a far cry from showing a few people an album, let’s face it, there’s an oversupply of images, many of them superb but all being devalued by the sheer quantity available.
Don’t think that it was all walking and photography, we had a great break and spent plenty of time in pavement bistros having a glass of wine and people watching. I can certainly understand why Paris is top of the travellers list of destinations.