View allAll Photos Tagged Affects
Female roosting.
An extremely early start looking for the Dark Green Fritillary roosting produced this sleeping female Marbled White.
The early start has produced an almost monochrome affect that is hopefully a little different. Almost the only colour is the hint of blue in the wing spots.
This species is a fabulous sight on the downland in the Summer.
Worth viewing large.
I’ve been craving some of the larger and more elaborate snowflakes, so I dug through the archives and found this beauty that had been sitting for over nine months to be edited. Snowflakes like this take up a lot more time, and this one was worked on across three days when I could find the time. View large!
Complex snowflakes are interesting, because additional complexity tends to break the symmetry, and some of the beauty is lost. At the same time the details are fascinating and I can’t get enough of them, giving much more to explore “under the hood” – including a strange three-layer design!
It’s common that a snowflake will have a “jeweled” center, created when a column-type crystal grows plates of each side and the plates then compete for growth. If out outperforms the other, the losing plate remains small and grows thick in the center, like a diamond button. We see that here, but we also see signs of a second battle for resources with the upper right branch. This branch appears to be growing behind the top branch where there is an obvious point of the two overlapping. The battle between plates can happen with a column, but they can also happen when a cavity forms on the tip of a growing branch that splits it into two new plates.
This second battle for resources has affect the snowflake all over. If you look closely you can see two side-branches growing one on top of the other, most noticeable with the broad, slower-growing central branches. This creates a very multi-layered snowflake, shifting between three or four distinct layers of growth. While still very flat and all growth happening along the same angles, this is a great example of snowflake with depth at every opportunity.
This was a difficult snowflake to edit for another reason: it didn’t all fit into the frame. I try to maximize my resolution by setting a magnification that will allow me to get the entire snowflake tip-to-tip, and sometimes even a bit beyond as I know that I can shift the camera slightly while shooting the focus-stack slices to encompass everything I need. In this case, two of the longer branches were not in the “primary” set of images, and needed to be manually added to the focus stack later as a grid panorama. In total 52 images were combined with about six hours of editing to present the final image to you.
If you’re keen on photographing snowflakes and want the full comprehensive tutorial, you’ll need a copy of Sky Crystals: www.skycrystals.ca/book/ - there really is no better resource on the topic, and it’s something you’ll want to dig out every winter!
● Historique :
Mise en service : 02/04/1966
N° d'origine 67000 «67079»
Modifier :
Le 16/08/1993
Nouvelle numérotation : BB 67200 «67253»
Source :
Liste des BB 67000
fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_67000
Liste des BB 67200
fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_67200
▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬
Série BB 67200 construction de 1963 à 1967
par Brissoneau & Lotz, M.T.E, S.E.M.T.
Type de moteur diesel :
Pielstick 16 PA 4 de S.E.M.T.
Type de transmission :
électrique par génératrice à courant continu.
Les BB 67200 sont des locomotives Diesel-électriques de la SNCF, issues de la transformation de BB 67000. Elles sont destinées à la circulation sur les lignes à grande vitesse françaises pour les travaux ou le secours des TGV en panne
Caractéristiques :
Sur la face avant côté extrémité 1, le marchepied frontal central est supprimé et un attelage Scharfenberg de secours y est installé pour secourir et tirer une rame de TGV en panne. À la suite de cela, les UM ne peuvent se faire que par l’extrémité 2.
Elles sont équipées suivant leur affectation soit de la TVM 300 soit de la TVM 430. Certaines sont également munies de l'attelage de secours de type BSI.
En 2016, SNCF Réseau missionne la société de location Akiem pour commander des engins en remplacement des BB 67200. C'est la BB 79000 (DE 18) de Vossloh qui est sélectionné, les livraisons commencent en 2019
Source :
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_67200
Brissonneau et Lotz
Brissonneau et Lotz (BL) est une entreprise française de construction mécanique, spécialement de matériel ferroviaire, à l'origine localisée à Nantes, puis sur plusieurs sites français, Creil et Aytré avant d'être intégrée au groupe Alstom en 1972.
Source :
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brissonneau_et_Lotz
Traduction / Translation 🇬🇧 GB. UK.
The Class BB 67200 diesel locomotives of SNCF were adapted from BB 67000 locomotives.
History
With the opening of the LGV Sud-Est, thirty BB 67000 class locomotives were fitted with cab signalling and radio to operate ballast trains and for use in an emergency on the high speed lines. For the latter purpose they were fitted with a Scharfenberg coupler at one end to enable them to be attached to a TGV rake. Initially the class was based at Nevers.[1] A further 50 locomotives were subsequently converted.
Source :
The affective deficiency syndrome determines that emotional void that many adults feel as if they lack something or with a deep sense of loneliness, which will lead to the development of hostility, rejection, dependency, jealousy, dissatisfaction.
Avant d'être affectés au musée, les bâtiments étaient une maison de l'ordre des Ermites de saint Augustin. Dans son emplacement actuel, à l'intérieur des murs de la cité, le couvent des Augustins de Toulouse fut construit à partir de 1310 après l'autorisation du pape Clément V donnée par un rescrit daté du 28 janvier 1310.
Le couvent des Augustins devient bien national par décret le 2 novembre 1789. Il est désaffecté puis démembré en 1790 lors de la suppression des ordres monastiques. Il fut transformé en musée après la suppression des ordres religieux à la Révolution française.
La saisie des œuvres les plus utiles pour la création d'un « Muséum du Midi de la République » est décidée par le Conseil du département de Haute-Garonne le 12 décembre 1793. Il s'installe aux Augustins et ouvre solennellement ses portes le 27 août 1795, ce qui en fait l'un des plus anciens musées de France, très peu de temps après le Louvre.
Fermé à partir du 31 mai 2019 pour réfection des verrières, le musée devait rouvrir début 2020 mais les travaux sont prolongés jusqu'à début 2025.
Finally! After many many many attempts of photographing her, I was finally able to photograph this gorgeous (and rare) Leucistic Red-Tailed Hawk
👉 The red-tailed hawk population in North America is believed to be around 2 million, meaning only a few-hundred might fly with leucism in the continent.
👉 Leucism causes white coloration, white patches, spots, or splotches on the skin or fur. Leucism is also discernible from albinism because leucism does not affect the pigment cells in the eyes.
Red-Tailed Hawks (Leucistic) & Normal Colorization
🔎 Buteo jamaicensis
Orange County, NY
Feb. 2024
Nikon D500 200-500mm lens
Reminder: Give Wildlfie Space - Make sure to bring binoculars or a camera with a telephoto lens, and give our wildlife the respect they deserve by not going near them.
At first glance, the galaxy NGC 4151 looks like an average spiral. Examine its center more closely, though, and you can spot a bright smudge that stands out from the softer glow around it. That point of light marks the location of a supermassive black hole weighing about 40 million times as much as our Sun.
Astronomers will use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to measure that black hole’s mass. The result might seem like a piece of trivia, but its mass determines how a black hole feeds and affects the surrounding galaxy. And since most galaxies contain a supermassive black hole, learning about this nearby galaxy will improve our understanding of many galaxies across the cosmos.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, and J. DePasquale (STScI)
Artificial lighting at night affects the behavior of urban wildlife, according to a recent study published in Nature Scientific Reports, which examined animals in the laboratory and the field. The researchers mapped light levels in the city of Chicago using publicly available images of Earth taken by astronauts from the International Space Station.
The study is only one example of the wide variety of scientific research based on images taken by crew members from space using the Crew Earth Observations (CEO) facility.
Here, an image of the city of Chicago at night taken by crew aboard the International Space Station. Scientists have used images such as this one in studies demonstrating the effects of artificial light on urban wildlife and research on the proximity of urban greenspaces to residential areas.
Image Credit: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center
Rainbow
An individual raindrop has a different shape and consistency than a glass prism, but it affects light in a similar way. When white sunlight hits a collection of raindrops at a fairly low angle, you can see the component colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet -- a rainbow. For simplicity's sake, we'll only look at red and violet, the colors of light on the ends of the visible light spectrum.
The diagram below shows what happens when the sunlight hits one individual raindrop.
When the white light passes from air into the drop of water, the component colors of light slow down to different speeds depending on their frequency. The violet light bends at a relatively sharp angle when it enters the raindrop. At the right-hand side of the drop, some of the light passes back out into the air, and the rest is reflected backward. Some of the reflected light passes out of the left side of the drop, bending as it moves into the air again.
In this way, each individual raindrop disperses white sunlight into its component colors. So why do we see wide bands of color, as if different rainy areas were dispersing a different single color? Because we only see one color from each raindrop. You can see how this works in the diagram below.
When raindrop A disperses light, only the red light exits at the correct angle to travel to the observer's eyes. The other colored beams exit at a lower angle, so the observer doesn't see them. The sunlight will hit all the surrounding raindrops in the same way, so they will all bounce red light onto the observer.
Raindrop B is much lower in the sky, so it doesn't bounce red light to the observer. At its height, the violet light exits at the correct angle to travel to the observer's eye. All the drops surrounding raindrop B bounce light in the same way. The raindrops in between A and B all bounce different colors of light to the observer, so the observer sees the full color spectrum. If you were up above the rain, you would see the rainbow as a full circle, because the light would bounce back from all around you. On the ground, we see the arc of the rainbow that is visible above the horizon.
Sometimes you see a double rainbow -- a sharp rainbow with a fainter rainbow on top of it. The fainter rainbow is produced in the same way as the sharper rainbow, but instead of the light reflecting once inside the raindrop, it's reflected twice. As a result of this double reflection, the light exits the raindrop at a different angle, so we see it higher up. If you look carefully, you'll see that the colors in the second rainbow are in the reverse order of the primary rainbow.
Source: science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/r...
Rencontres de Noël:
- Alors, vous préparez le réveillon? demande le vacataire qui m'est affecté au vaccinodrome de Toulouse ce lundi 27 décembre au soir alors que le bourdonnement de cette immense ruche où des centaines de professionnels, parfois bénévoles et souvent jeunes accueillent les candidats au vaccin (qui nous décevra beaucoup par son incapacité à nous protéger tant du Covid que de la transmission du virus…), le bourdonnement donc s'est calmé dans l'attente des doses de Moderna et Pfizer.
- Je suis prêtre et nous sommes, comme vous, mobilisés durant les fêtes alors nous ne préparons pas de Réveillon sauf si nous pouvons en organiser un pour des personnes pauvres ou isolées.
Ainsi hier, jour de Noël, je suis aller prier auprès d'une défunte à la demande de ses enfants avant de rendre une longue visite à une personne en longue maladie qui unit ses souffrances à celles du Christ crucifié.
- Je compris plus tard que mon interlocuteur avait déjà repéré à mon col et ma croix qu'il accueillait un prêtre et que sa question sur le Réveillon n'était qu'un prélude à ce qu'il allait me confier ensuite.
C'est ma troisième visite en ce lieu, toujours à la nuit tombée et l'impeccable organisation permet une belle fluidité du mouvement à travers les huit étapes du processus vaccinal depuis le premier accueil jusqu'à la sortie après les 15 minutes d'observations qui suivent la vaccination proprement dite.
Un autre mérite de cette organisation réside dans l'accueil qui nous est réservé à chaque étape: professionnel et souriant. Avec le charme additionnel des nombreux jeunes gens et jeunes filles mobilisés.
Est-ce un bénéfice additionnel de cette organisation anti-stress ou l'apanage de mes visites en fin de journées qui m'ont permis à chaque fois d'avoir de belles rencontres avec les accueillants heureux de converser avec un prêtre?
- Ce vieux pompier volontaire qui me piqua la première fois, après 21 heure alors qu'il avait une heure de route à faire pour rentrer chez lui à Saint Gaudens.
- Ce jeune professionnel africain, à ma deuxième visite, avec qui nous avons pu parler de son éducation chrétienne au Burundi et de son concitoyen et aumônier, notre ami le P. Jean.
- Et ce soir de Noël, cet homme de ma troisième dose, qui me confiait sa fierté d'être allé à la messe de la nuit de Noël, à Saint-Lizier, en compagnie de ses belles-filles de 10 et 14 ans et du père de ces dernières:
- Cela faisait des années que je n'étais plus allé à la messe.
- Qu'est-ce qui vous y a poussé?
- Je ne sais pas… Mais le plus beau est d'avoir réussi à convaincre mes belles-filles de venir.
- Leu mère y était aussi?
- Non, c'est leur père qui voulait mais elles ne voulaient pas au début. Et c'est moi, le compagnon de leur mère, non pratiquant, qui les ai convaincus de venir voir ce que c'est que la messe.
- Elles n'ont pas fait de catéchisme?
- Non et pourtant, finalement, elles ont voulu absolument venir.
- Et elles étaient contentes à la sortie?
- Oui, et j'espère surtout qu'il va se passer quelque chose pour elles.
- Qu'elle rencontrent Dieu, expérimentent l'amour du Christ?
- Oui, c'est ça.
À la sortie, un pompier volontaire repérant que je suis prêtre me parle de son bonheur d'avoir pris en blablacar pour un long trajet jusqu'à Paris, un prêtre pompier volontaire lui-aussi, le P. Moïse Kaboré, ancien curé de Castanet près Toulouse et ancien curé et pompier à Saint-Céré, dans mon diocèse de Cahors.
3 doses, 4 rencontres chaleureuses qui sont autant de motifs d'action de grâce et de confirmation de cette certitude qui a grandi en moi: ces rencontres d'ici-bas qui sont les vraies richesse de nos vies sont un préludes aux rencontres de là-haut, avec nos frères et sœurs, concitoyens du Ciel.
DSCF1391 Lalande2021
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The affects of COVID-19 on Heritage railway operations in Australia has been damning with several organisations cancelling operations or postponing tours and events until normality returns. The Steamranger Heritage Railway has been out of action since April and has since resumed the popular Cockle Train operations between Goolwa and Victor Harbor in mid June followed by the Southern Encounter service from Mt Barker during August.
The return of the Southern Encounter from Victor Harbor to Mt Barker powers away from the township of Goolwa over one of the state's most dangerous level crossings with rarely used 958 on Sunday the 16th of August 2020. The Southern Encounter service providing an opportunity to transfer some of the Cockle Train carriages (Out of sight on the rear) based at Goolwa back to Mt Barker for inspection following a busy June/July period.
© Dom Quartuccio 2020
Rainbow
An individual raindrop has a different shape and consistency than a glass prism, but it affects light in a similar way. When white sunlight hits a collection of raindrops at a fairly low angle, you can see the component colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet -- a rainbow. For simplicity's sake, we'll only look at red and violet, the colors of light on the ends of the visible light spectrum.
The diagram below shows what happens when the sunlight hits one individual raindrop.
When the white light passes from air into the drop of water, the component colors of light slow down to different speeds depending on their frequency. The violet light bends at a relatively sharp angle when it enters the raindrop. At the right-hand side of the drop, some of the light passes back out into the air, and the rest is reflected backward. Some of the reflected light passes out of the left side of the drop, bending as it moves into the air again.
In this way, each individual raindrop disperses white sunlight into its component colors. So why do we see wide bands of color, as if different rainy areas were dispersing a different single color? Because we only see one color from each raindrop. You can see how this works in the diagram below.
When raindrop A disperses light, only the red light exits at the correct angle to travel to the observer's eyes. The other colored beams exit at a lower angle, so the observer doesn't see them. The sunlight will hit all the surrounding raindrops in the same way, so they will all bounce red light onto the observer.
Raindrop B is much lower in the sky, so it doesn't bounce red light to the observer. At its height, the violet light exits at the correct angle to travel to the observer's eye. All the drops surrounding raindrop B bounce light in the same way. The raindrops in between A and B all bounce different colors of light to the observer, so the observer sees the full color spectrum. If you were up above the rain, you would see the rainbow as a full circle, because the light would bounce back from all around you. On the ground, we see the arc of the rainbow that is visible above the horizon.
Sometimes you see a double rainbow -- a sharp rainbow with a fainter rainbow on top of it. The fainter rainbow is produced in the same way as the sharper rainbow, but instead of the light reflecting once inside the raindrop, it's reflected twice. As a result of this double reflection, the light exits the raindrop at a different angle, so we see it higher up. If you look carefully, you'll see that the colors in the second rainbow are in the reverse order of the primary rainbow.
Source: science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/r...
Ce dragon de bronze a été exécuté par le sculpteur Giovanni Lapi (Rome ? - Livorno 1772). Il monte la garde avec d'autres sculptures semblables au pied du Monument en marbre dédié à sainte Marguerite de Cortone, et réalisé quant à lui par Giuseppe Pompilio Ticciati (Florence, 1706-1777).
MARGUERITE DE CORTONE :
Marguerite de Cortone, (en italien : Margherita da Cortona) en religion Marie-Margherite (en italien : Maria Margherita) née en 1247 à Laviano Pérouse, en Ombrie est décédée à Cortone le 22 février 1297 est une franciscaine du Tiers-Ordre canonisée en 1728, dont la fête liturgique se célèbre le 22 février.
Marguerite naît en Toscane dans une famille paysanne. Elle perd sa mère alors qu'elle a à peine sept ans. Son père se remarie, et sa vie en devient fort difficile car sa belle-mère ne lui manifeste ni attention ni affection.
Marguerite est fort belle, et à seize ans, elle est séduite par un jeune et riche noble de Montepulciano, nommé Arsenio, qui promet de la prendre pour femme. Elle quitte la maison paternelle pour vivre avec lui à Montepulciano. Malgré des promesses répétées aucun mariage n'a lieu, même lorsqu'un fils naît de cette union.
Durant neuf ans c'est la vie facile et insouciante. Elle reçoit l'argent qui lui permet d'acheter des bijoux et de se parer. Elle a beaucoup de charme et est connue comme la 'Dame de Montepulciano' alors qu'elle n'est en fait que la maîtresse d'Arsenio.
En 1273 son amant est assassiné en des circonstances mystérieuses. La légende raconte que son chien vient chercher Marguerite pour la conduire jusqu'au corps du malheureux, d'où les représentations de la sainte, accompagnée d'un chien. La vie de Marguerite s'en trouve radicalement changée. Elle est mise à la porte de la maison de son amant. Retournant auprès de son père, elle n'y est pas reçue. Elle se retrouve seule avec un enfant de six ans, à la rue, sans argent et désespérée.
Se réfugiant dans une église proche, elle y est reçue et écoutée par des franciscains. Elle se met sous leur direction et fait pénitence. En 1272 Marguerite arrive à Cortone avec son fils; elle a alors vingt-cinq ans. Elle y est accueillie par la famille Moscari. Le père Giunta Bevegnati, franciscain, est son confesseur et guide spirituel. Marguerite fait la profonde expérience du pardon de Dieu (ou de la divine Miséricorde) et souhaite vivre une vie de pénitence dans le Tiers-Ordre de Saint-François.
En 1226, Marguerite fonde une communauté de femmes désireuses de venir en aide aux malheureux, ainsi que l'hôpital de 'Sainte-Marie du Pardon', à Cortone. Après sept cent cinquante ans l'hôpital existe toujours même si, pour les besoins d'une modernisation radicale, il a dû déménager et se trouve à Valdichiana (Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite). Les Sœurs Franciscaines missionnaires de l'Enfant Jésus, qui sont quelque sept cent quarante-huit (surtout en Italie), continuent son œuvre.
(en) : Homo Algorithmus Angelus between the rationality of his architectonic phenomenal pareidolia and the affectivity of his twilighted libidinal atavism . .
__________________________________________________
Outlining a Theory of General Creativity . .
. . on a 'Pataphysical projectory
Entropy ≥ Memory ● Creativity ²
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Etude du jour:
"L'Intelligence Artificielle est le bocal que l'homme s'est construit pour mieux y conserver sa Bêtise Naturelle. Pas si bête l'homme, puisque fatalement, . . le fermoir est buggé !"
( jef Safi )
Artificial Intelligence is the jar the man constructed himself to better conserve his Natural Stupidity. Not so stupid, because fatally, . . the clasp is bugged !
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S'il se présente un évènement qui sollicite nos adhésions les plus "viscérales", alors nous vérifions que c'est le corps qui parle. Et le philosophe (ou l'artiste) qui se présente alors pour faire le malin à propos de l'an-arkhé n'a aucune chance de nous retenir.
( Frédéric Lordon - La condition anarchique - Seuil 2o18 )
If there is an event that solicits our most "visceral" adhesions, then we verify that it is the body that speaks. And the philosopher (or the artist) who present himself at this time to be clever about the an-arkhé have no chance to attract us.
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rectO-persO | E ≥ m.C² | co~errAnce | TiLt
Also known as Paradise flying snake. Ular Petola, ular sawa burung (Malay), Ular Pohon Paradise (Indonesia) , Ngu Kieo Ron (Thai).
Location: Malaysia
Toxicity: Non-venomous (too mild to affect human)
Size: 1 meter, max 1.2 m
PTS is a species of snake found in southeastern Asia. It can, like all species of its genus Chrysopelea, glide by stretching the body into a "S" shape (spring) then flatten itself while flying/gliding.
Habitat: It is mostly found in moist forests and can cover a horizontal distance of about 100 metres in a glide from the top of a tree.
Diet: Mostly lizards and bats.
Range: South East Asia countries.
I hope you'll enjoy the my images as much as I enjoyed taking them.
The Caucasian squirrel lives in the hollows of centuries-old olive trees. The number of Caucasian squirrels in the North Aegean region is decreasing every year, noticeably.
Like most red squirrels, spotting a Caucasian Squirrel is definitely becoming a rare sight. Climate change affects nature differently in every corner of the world.
The Caucasian squirrel - Sciurus anomalus ; The Caucasian squirrel or Persian squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus found in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in south-western Asia.
The species is usually said to have first been described in 1778 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in the 13th edition of Systema Naturae,and named Sciurus anomalus. However, some authors argue that this work was actually published in 1788, and that the true first description was made by Johann Anton Güldenstädt in 1785.
Description -
Caucasian squirrels are small tree squirrels, with a total length of 32 to 36 cm (13 to 14 in), including the 13 to 18 cm (5.1 to 7.1 in) tail, and weighing 250 to 410 g (8.8 to 14.5 oz). The color of the upper body fur ranges from greyish brown to pale grey, depending on the subspecies, while that of the underparts is rusty brown to yellowish, and that of the tail, yellow brown to deep red. The claws are relatively short, compared with those of other tree squirrels, and females have either eight or ten teats.
Samuel Griswold Goodrich described the Caucasian squirrel in 1885 as "Its color is grayish-brown above, and yellowish-brown below".
Physical Description -
Caucasian squirrels have a dental formula of incisors 1/1, canines 0/0, premolars 1/1, and molars 3/3, totaling 20. They have four fingered fore feet and five fingered hind feet. Sex differences in body length or mass are not evident.
Distribution and habitat -
Caucasian squirrels are native to south-western Asia, where they are found from Turkey, and the islands of Gökçeada and Lesbos in the west, Iran in the southeast, and as far as Israel and Jordan in the south.It is one of only two species of the genus Sciurus to be found on Mediterranean islands,and, although Eurasian red squirrels have been recently introduced to some areas, is the only species of Sciurus native to the wider region.
The species mainly lives in forested areas dominated by oak, pine, and pistachio, up to altitudes of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft).
Biology and behavior -
The squirrels are diurnal, and solitary, although temporary groups may forage where food is plentiful. Their diet includes nuts, seeds, tree shoots, and buds,with the seeds of oak and pine being particularly favored. Like many other squirrels, they cache their food within tree cavities or loose soil, with some larders containing up to 6 kg (13 lb) of seeds. They live in trees, where they make their dens, but frequently forage on the ground, and are considered less arboreal than Eurasian red squirrels. They commonly nest in tree hollows lined with moss and leaves, and located 5 to 14 m (16 to 46 ft) above the ground, but nests are also sometimes found under rocks or tree roots. Their alarm call is high-pitched, and said to resemble the call of the European green woodpecker, and they mark their territories with urine and dung.
Breeding occurs throughout the year, but is more common in spring or autumn. Litters range from two to seven, with three or four being typical, and the young are fully mature by five or six months of age.
Conservation -
A survey in 2008 found that the species remained abundant within Turkey, however declines are noted in population within the Levant region. The guides for a survey in 1993 in Israel stated that they considered the species to be nearly extinct within the area studied. Whilst the Caucasian squirrel is threatened by poaching and deforestation, the declines recorded are not sufficient to qualify them as anything other than "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[1] Hunting of the species is banned by the Central Hunting Commission, and the Caucasian squirrel is protected by the Bern Convention and the EU Habitats Directive.
This information is sourced from "Wikipedia".
Thank you so much for visiting my stream, whether you comments , favorites or just have a look.
I appreciate it very much, wishing the best of luck and good light.
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Lens - hand held or Monopod and definitely SPORT VR on. Aperture is f5.6 and full length. All my images have been converted from RAW to JPEG.
I started using Nikon Cross-Body Strap or Monopod on long walks. Here is my Carbon Monopod details : Gitzo GM2542 Series 2 4S Carbon Monopod - Really Right Stuff MH-01 Monopod Head with Standard Lever - Really Right Stuff LCF-11 Replacement Foot for Nikon AF-S 500mm /5.6E PF Lense -
Thanks for stopping and looking :)
Affectation peu mise en valeur et circulant une seule fois par semaine, le QG 857 effectue la desserte des deux derniers clients de la ville de Saint-Jérôme. Ici, la cheffe de train F.D. est descendue de la QGRY 3538 pour changer la position de l’aiguille. Le train pourra donc quitter la subdivision Lachute et s’engager sur l'embranchement Montfort. Une cinquantaine d’années auparavant, cette jonction était utilisée par le CNR et permettait d’atteindre le Lac-Rémi (vers l’Ouest) ou Montréal en passant par la défunte ligne Deux-Montagnes. Le signal en bas à droite est l’un des seuls vestiges de cette activité ferroviaire d’un autre temps.
A little-valued assignment and running only once a week, QG train 857 serves the last two customers in the town of Saint-Jérôme. Here, trainmaster F.D. came down from QGRY 3538 to change the position of the switch. The train will now be able to leave the Lachute subdivision and enter the Montfort spur. Around fifty years ago, this junction was used by the CNR and made it possible to reach Lac-Rémi (towards the West) or Montreal via the defunct Deux-Montagnes line. The signal at the bottom right is one of the only vestiges of this railway activity from another time.
Avant d'être affectés au musée, les bâtiments étaient une maison de l'ordre des Ermites de saint Augustin. Dans son emplacement actuel, à l'intérieur des murs de la cité, le couvent des Augustins de Toulouse fut construit à partir de 1310 après l'autorisation du pape Clément V donnée par un rescrit daté du 28 janvier 1310.
Le couvent des Augustins devient bien national par décret le 2 novembre 1789. Il est désaffecté puis démembré en 1790 lors de la suppression des ordres monastiques. Il fut transformé en musée après la suppression des ordres religieux à la Révolution française.
La saisie des œuvres les plus utiles pour la création d'un « Muséum du Midi de la République » est décidée par le Conseil du département de Haute-Garonne le 12 décembre 1793. Il s'installe aux Augustins et ouvre solennellement ses portes le 27 août 1795, ce qui en fait l'un des plus anciens musées de France, très peu de temps après le Louvre.
Fermé à partir du 31 mai 2019 pour réfection des verrières, le musée devait rouvrir début 2020 mais les travaux sont prolongés jusqu'à début 2025.
Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη, often referred to internationally as Thessalonica or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace.[3][4] Its honorific title is Συμπρωτεύουσα (Symprotévousa), literally "co-capital",[5] and stands as a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (Symvasilévousa) or "co-reigning" city of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, alongside Constantinople.[6]
According to the preliminary results of the 2011 census, the municipality of Thessaloniki today has a population of 322,240,[1] while the Thessaloniki Urban Area (the contiguous built up area forming the "City of Thessaloniki") has a population of 790,824.[1] Furthermore, the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area extends over an area of 1,455.62 km2 (562.02 sq mi) and its population in 2011 reached a total of 1,104,460 inhabitants.[1]
Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for the rest of southeastern Europe;[7] its commercial port is also of great importance for Greece and the southeastern European hinterland.[7] The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general,[8] and is considered to be Greece's cultural capital.[8] Events such as the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually, while the city also hosts the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greek diaspora.[9] Thessaloniki is the 2014 European Youth Capital.[10]
Founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon, Thessaloniki's history spans some 2,300 years. An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. Thessaloniki is home to numerous notable Byzantine monuments, including the Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as several Roman, Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish structures. The city's main university, Aristotle University, is the largest in Greece and the Balkans.[11]
Thessaloniki is a popular tourist destination in Greece. In 2010, Lonely Planet ranked Thessaloniki as the world's fifth-best party city worldwide, comparable to other cities such as Dubai and Montreal.[12] For 2013 National Geographic Magazine included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide,[13] while in 2014 Financial Times FDI magazine (Foreign Direct Investments) declared Thessaloniki as the best mid-sized European city of the future for human capital and lifestyle.
Etymology
All variations of the city's name derive from the original (and current) appellation in Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη (from Θεσσαλός, Thessalos, and Νίκη, Nike), literally translating to "Thessalian Victory". The name of the city came from the name of a princess, Thessalonike of Macedon, half sister of Alexander the Great, so named because of her birth on the day of the Macedonian victory at the Battle of Crocus Field (353/352 BCE).[16]
The alternative name Salonica (or Salonika) derives from the variant form Σαλονίκη (Saloníki) in popular Greek speech, and has given rise to the form of the city's name in several languages. Names in other languages prominent in the city's history include Солѹнь (Solun) in Old Church Slavonic, סלוניקה (Salonika) in Ladino, Selanik (also Selânik) in Turkish (سلانیك in Ottoman Turkish), Solun (also written as Солун) in the local and neighboring South Slavic languages, Салоники (Saloníki) in Russian, and Sãrunã in Aromanian. In local speech, the city's name is typically pronounced with a dark and deep L characteristic of Macedonian Greek accent.[17][18]
The name often appears in writing in the abbreviated form Θεσ/νίκη
History
From antiquity to the Roman Empire
The city was founded around 315 BC by the King Cassander of Macedon, on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and 26 other local villages.[20] He named it after his wife Thessalonike,[21] a half-sister of Alexander the Great and princess of Macedon as daughter of Philip II. Under the kingdom of Macedon the city retained its own autonomy and parliament[22] and evolved to become the most important city in Macedon.[21]
After the fall of the kingdom of Macedon in 168 BC, Thessalonica became a free city of the Roman Republic under Mark Antony in 41 BC.[21][23] It grew to be an important trade-hub located on the Via Egnatia,[24] the road connecting Dyrrhachium with Byzantium,[25] which facilitated trade between Thessaloniki and great centers of commerce such as Rome and Byzantium.[26] Thessaloniki also lay at the southern end of the main north-south route through the Balkans along the valleys of the Morava and Axios river valleys, thereby linking the Balkans with the rest of Greece.[27] The city later became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia.[24] Later it became the capital of all the Greek provinces of the Roman Empire due to the city's importance in the Balkan peninsula. When the Roman Empire was divided into the tetrarchy, Thessaloniki became the administrative capital of one of the four portions of the Empire under Galerius Maximianus Caesar,[28][29] where Galerius commissioned an imperial palace, a new hippodrome, a triumphal arch and a mausoleum among others.[29][30][31]
In 379 when the Roman Prefecture of Illyricum was divided between the East and West Roman Empires, Thessaloniki became the capital of the new Prefecture of Illyricum.[24] In 390 Gothic troops under the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, led a massacre against the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who had risen in revolt against the Germanic soldiers. With the Fall of Rome in 476, Thessaloniki became the second-largest city of the Eastern Roman Empire.[26] Around the time of the Roman Empire Thessaloniki was also an important center for the spread of Christianity; some scholars hold that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians written by Paul the Apostle is the first written book of the New Testament.
Byzantine era and Middle Ages
From the first years of the Byzantine Empire, Thessaloniki was considered the second city in the Empire after Constantinople,[33][34][35] both in terms of wealth and size.[33] with an population of 150,000 in the mid 1100s.[36] The city held this status until it was transferred to Venice in 1423. In the 14th century the city's population exceeded 100,000 to 150,000,[37][38][39] making it larger than London at the time.[40]
During the 6th and 7th centuries the area around Thessaloniki was invaded by Avars and Slavs, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the city several times.[41] Traditional historiography stipulates that many Slavs settled in the hinterland of Thessaloniki,[42] however, this migration was allegedly on a much smaller scale than previously thought.[42][42][43] In the 9th century, the Byzantine Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius, both natives of the city, created the first literary language of the Slavs, the Glagolic alphabet, most likely based on the Slavic dialect used in the hinterland of their hometown.[44][45][46][47][48]
An Arab naval attack in 904 resulted in the sack of the city.[49] The economic expansion of the city continued through the 12th century as the rule of the Komnenoi emperors expanded Byzantine control to the north. Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204,[50] when Constantinople was captured by the forces of the Fourth Crusade and incorporated the city and its surrounding territories in the Kingdom of Thessalonica[51] — which then became the largest vassal of the Latin Empire. In 1224, the Kingdom of Thessalonica was overrun by the Despotate of Epirus, a remnant of the former Byzantine Empire, under Theodore Komnenos Doukas who crowned himself Emperor,[52] and the city became the Despotat's capital.[52][53] This era of the Despotate of Epirus is also known as the Empire of Thessalonica.[52][54][55] Following his defeat at Klokotnitsa however in 1230,[52][54] the Empire of Thessalonica became a vassal state of the Second Bulgarian Empire until it was recovered again in 1246, this time by the Nicaean Empire.[52] In 1342,[56] the city saw the rise of the Commune of the Zealots, an anti-aristocratic party formed of sailors and the poor,[57] which is nowadays described as social-revolutionary.[56] The city was practically independent of the rest of the Empire,[56][57][58] as it had its own government, a form of republic.[56] The zealot movement was overthrown in 1350 and the city was reunited with the rest of the Empire.[56]
In 1423, Despot Andronicus, who was in charge of the city, ceded it to the Republic of Venice with the hope that it could be protected from the Ottomans who were besieging the city (there is no evidence to support the oft-repeated story that he sold the city to them). The Venetians held Thessaloniki until it was captured by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II on 29 March 1430.
Ottoman period
When Sultan Murad II captured Thessaloniki and sacked it in 1430, contemporary reports estimated that about one-fifth of the city's population was enslaved.[60] Upon the conquest of Thessaloniki, some of its inhabitants escaped,[61] including intellectuals such as Theodorus Gaza "Thessalonicensis" and Andronicus Callistus.[62] However, the change of sovereignty from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman one did not affect the city's prestige as a major imperial city and trading hub.[63][64] Thessaloniki and Smyrna, although smaller in size than Constantinople, were the Ottoman Empire's most important trading hubs.[63] Thessaloniki's importance was mostly in the field of shipping,[63] but also in manufacturing,[64] while most of the city's trade was controlled by ethnic Greeks.[63]
During the Ottoman period, the city's population of mainly Greek Jews and Ottoman Muslims (including those of Turkish and Albanian, as well as Bulgarian Muslim and Greek Muslim convert origin) grew substantially. By 1478 Selânik (سلانیك), as the city came to be known in Ottoman Turkish, had a population of 4,320 Muslims, 6,094 Greek Orthodox and some Catholics, but no Jews. Soon after the turn of the 15th to 16th century, nearly 20,000 Sephardic Jews had immigrated to Greece from Spain following their expulsion by the 1492 Alhambra Decree.[65] By c. 1500, the numbers had grown to 7,986 Greeks, 8,575 Muslims, and 3,770 Jews. By 1519, Sephardic Jews numbered 15,715, 54% of the city's population. Some historians consider the Ottoman regime's invitation to Jewish settlement was a strategy to prevent the ethnic Greek population (Eastern Orthodox Christians) from dominating the city.[38]
Thessaloniki was the capital of the Sanjak of Selanik within the wider Rumeli Eyalet (Balkans)[66] until 1826, and subsequently the capital of Selanik Eyalet (after 1867, the Selanik Vilayet).[67][68] This consisted of the sanjaks of Selanik, Serres and Drama between 1826 and 1912.[69] Thessaloniki was also a Janissary stronghold where novice Janissaries were trained. In June 1826, regular Ottoman soldiers attacked and destroyed the Janissary base in Thessaloniki while also killing over 10,000 Janissaries, an event known as The Auspicious Incident in Ottoman history.[70] From 1870, driven by economic growth, the city's population expanded by 70%, reaching 135,000 in 1917.[71]
The last few decades of Ottoman control over the city were an era of revival, particularly in terms of the city's infrastructure. It was at that time that the Ottoman administration of the city acquired an "official" face with the creation of the Command Post[72] while a number of new public buildings were built in the eclectic style in order to project the European face both of Thessaloniki and the Ottoman Empire.[72][73] The city walls were torn down between 1869 and 1889,[74] efforts for a planned expansion of the city are evident as early as 1879,[75] the first tram service started in 1888[76] and the city streets were illuminated with electric lamp posts in 1908.[77] In 1888 Thessaloniki was connected to Central Europe via rail through Belgrade, Monastir in 1893 and Constantinople in 1896.
Since the 20th century
In the early 20th century, Thessaloniki was in the center of radical activities by various groups; the Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, founded in 1897,[78] and the Greek Macedonian Committee, founded in 1903.[79] In 1903 an anarchist group known as the Boatmen of Thessaloniki planted bombs in several buildings in Thessaloniki, including the Ottoman Bank, with some assistance from the IMRO. The Greek consulate in Ottoman Thessaloniki (now the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle) served as the center of operations for the Greek guerillas. In 1908 the Young Turks movement broke out in the city, sparking the Young Turk Revolution.[80]
The Ottoman Feth-i Bülend being sunk in Thessaloniki in 1912 by a Greek ship during the First Balkan War.
Constantine I of Greece with George I of Greece and the Greek army enter the city.
As the First Balkan War broke out, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire and expanded its borders. When Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister at the time, was asked if the Greek army should move towards Thessaloniki or Monastir (now Bitola, Republic of Macedonia), Venizelos replied "Salonique à tout prix!" (Thessaloniki, at all costs!).[81] As both Greece and Bulgaria wanted Thessaloniki, the Ottoman garrison of the city entered negotiations with both armies.[82] On 8 November 1912 (26 October Old Style), the feast day of the city's patron saint, Saint Demetrius, the Greek Army accepted the surrender of the Ottoman garrison at Thessaloniki.[83] The Bulgarian army arrived one day after the surrender of the city to Greece and Tahsin Pasha, ruler of the city, told the Bulgarian officials that "I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered".[82] After the Second Balkan War, Thessaloniki and the rest of the Greek portion of Macedonia were officially annexed to Greece by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913.[84] On 18 March 1913 George I of Greece was assassinated in the city by Alexandros Schinas.[85]
In 1915, during World War I, a large Allied expeditionary force established a base at Thessaloniki for operations against pro-German Bulgaria.[86] This culminated in the establishment of the Macedonian Front, also known as the Salonika Front.[87][88] In 1916, pro-Venizelist Greek army officers and civilians, with the support of the Allies, launched an uprising,[89] creating a pro-Allied[90] temporary government by the name of the "Provisional Government of National Defence"[89][91] that controlled the "New Lands" (lands that were gained by Greece in the Balkan Wars, most of Northern Greece including Greek Macedonia, the North Aegean as well as the island of Crete);[89][91] the official government of the King in Athens, the "State of Athens",[89] controlled "Old Greece"[89][91] which were traditionally monarchist. The State of Thessaloniki was disestablished with the unification of the two opposing Greek governments under Venizelos, following the abdication of King Constantine in 1917.[86][91]
The 1st Battalion of the National Defence army marches on its way to the front.
Aerial picture of the Great Fire of 1917.
Most of the old center of the city was destroyed by the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, which started accidentally by an unattended kitchen fire on 18 August 1917.[92] The fire swept through the centre of the city, leaving 72,000 people homeless; according to the Pallis Report, most of them were Jewish (50,000). Many businesses were destroyed, as a result, 70% of the population were unemployed.[92] Also a number of religious structures of the three major faiths were lost. Nearly one-quarter of the total population of approximately 271,157 became homeless.[92] Following the fire the government prohibited quick rebuilding, so it could implement the new redesign of the city according to the European-style urban plan[6] prepared by a group of architects, including the Briton Thomas Mawson, and headed by French architect Ernest Hébrard.[92] Property values fell from 6.5 million Greek drachmas to 750,000.[93]
After the defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War and during the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, a population exchange took place between Greece and Turkey.[90] Over 160,000 ethnic Greeks deported from the former Ottoman Empire were resettled in the city,[90] changing its demographics. Additionally many of the city's Muslims were deported to Turkey, ranging at about 20,000 people.[94]
During World War II Thessaloniki was heavily bombarded by Fascist Italy (with 232 people dead, 871 wounded and over 800 buildings damaged or destroyed in November 1940 alone),[95] and, the Italians having failed to succeed in their invasion of Greece, it fell to the forces of Nazi Germany on 8 April 1941[96] and remained under German occupation until 30 October 1944 when it was liberated by the Greek People's Liberation Army.[97] The Nazis soon forced the Jewish residents into a ghetto near the railroads and on 15 March 1943 began the deportation process of the city's 56,000 Jews to its concentration camps.[98][99] They deported over 43,000 of the city's Jews in concentration camps,[98] where most were killed in the gas chambers. The Germans also deported 11,000 Jews to forced labor camps, where most perished.[100] Only 1,200 Jews live in the city today.
Part of Eleftherias Square during the Axis occupation.
The importance of Thessaloniki to Nazi Germany can be demonstrated by the fact that, initially, Hitler had planned to incorporate it directly in the Third Reich[101] (that is, make it part of Germany) and not have it controlled by a puppet state such as the Hellenic State or an ally of Germany (Thessaloniki had been promised to Yugoslavia as a reward for joining the Axis on 25 March 1941).[102] Having been the first major city in Greece to fall to the occupying forces just two days after the German invasion, it was in Thessaloniki that the first Greek resistance group was formed (under the name «Ελευθερία», Eleftheria, "Freedom")[103] as well as the first anti-Nazi newspaper in an occupied territory anywhere in Europe,[104] also by the name Eleftheria. Thessaloniki was also home to a military camp-converted-concentration camp, known in German as "Konzentrationslager Pavlo Mela" (Pavlos Melas Concentration Camp),[105] where members of the resistance and other non-favourable people towards the German occupation from all over Greece[105] were held either to be killed or sent to concentration camps elsewhere in Europe.[105] In the 1946 monarchy referendum, the majority of the locals voted in favour of a republic, contrary to the rest of Greece.[106]
After the war, Thessaloniki was rebuilt with large-scale development of new infrastructure and industry throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of its architectural treasures still remain, adding value to the city as a tourist destination, while several early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988.[107] In 1997, Thessaloniki was celebrated as the European Capital of Culture,[108] sponsoring events across the city and the region. Agency established to oversee the cultural activities of that year 1997 was still in existence by 2010.[109] In 2004 the city hosted a number of the football events as part of the 2004 Summer Olympics.[110]
Today Thessaloniki has become one of the most important trade and business hubs in Southeastern Europe, with its port, the Port of Thessaloniki being one of the largest in the Aegean and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland.[7] On 26 October 2012 the city celebrated its centennial since its incorporation into Greece.[111] The city also forms one of the largest student centres in Southeastern Europe, is host to the largest student population in Greece and will be the European Youth Capital in 2014
Geography
Geology
Thessaloniki lies on the northern fringe of the Thermaic Gulf on its eastern coast and is bound by Mount Chortiatis on its southeast. Its proximity to imposing mountain ranges, hills and fault lines, especially towards its southeast have historically made the city prone to geological changes.
Since medieval times, Thessaloniki was hit by strong earthquakes, notably in 1759, 1902, 1978 and 1995.[113] On 19–20 June 1978, the city suffered a series of powerful earthquakes, registering 5.5 and 6.5 on the Richter scale.[114][115] The tremors caused considerable damage to a number of buildings and ancient monuments,[114] but the city withstood the catastrophe without any major problems.[115] One apartment building in central Thessaloniki collapsed during the second earthquake, killing many, raising the final death toll to 51.[114][115]
Climate
Thessaloniki's climate is directly affected by the sea it is situated on.[116] The city lies in a transitional climatic zone, so its climate displays characteristics of several climates. According to the Köppen climate classification, it is a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) that borders on a semi-arid climate (BSk), with annual average precipitation of 450 millimetres (18 in) due to the Pindus rain shadow drying the westerly winds. However, the city has a summer precipitation between 20 to 30 millimetres (0.79 to 1.18 in), which borders it close to a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa).
Winters are relatively dry, with common morning frost. Snowfalls are sporadic, but οccur more or less every winter, but the snow cover does not last for more than a few days. Fog is common, with an average of 193 foggy days in a year.[117] During the coldest winters, temperatures can drop to −10 °C (14 °F).[117] The record minimum temperature in Thessaloniki was −14 °C (7 °F).[118] On average, Thessaloniki experiences frost (sub-zero temperature) 32 days a year.[117] The coldest month of the year in the city is January, with an average 24-hour temperature of 6 °C (43 °F).[119] Wind is also usual in the winter months, with December and January having an average wind speed of 26 km/h (16 mph).[117]
Thessaloniki's summers are hot with rather humid nights.[117] Maximum temperatures usually rise above 30 °C (86 °F),[117] but rarely go over 40 °C (104 °F);[117] the average number of days the temperature is above 32 °C (90 °F) is 32.[117] The maximum recorded temperature in the city was 42 °C (108 °F).[117][118] Rain seldom falls in summer, mainly during thunderstorms. In the summer months Thessaloniki also experiences strong heat waves.[120] The hottest month of the year in the city is July, with an average 24-hour temperature of 26 °C (79 °F).[119] The average wind speed for June and July in Thessaloniki is 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph)
Government
According to the Kallikratis reform, as of 1 January 2011 the Thessaloniki Urban Area (Greek: Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Θεσσαλονίκης) which makes up the "City of Thessaloniki", is made up of six self-governing municipalities (Greek: Δήμοι) and one municipal unit (Greek: Δημοτική ενότητα). The municipalities that are included in the Thessaloniki Urban Area are those of Thessaloniki (the city center and largest in population size), Kalamaria, Neapoli-Sykies, Pavlos Melas, Kordelio-Evosmos, Ampelokipoi-Menemeni, and the municipal unit of Pylaia, part of the municipality of Pylaia-Chortiatis. Prior to the Kallikratis reform, the Thessaloniki Urban Area was made up of twice as many municipalities, considerably smaller in size, which created bureaucratic problems.[123]
Thessaloniki Municipality
The municipality of Thessaloniki (Greek: Δήμος Θεσαλονίκης) is the second most populous in Greece, after Athens, with a population of 322,240[1] people (in 2011) and an area of 17.832 km2 (7 sq mi). The municipality forms the core of the Thessaloniki Urban Area, with its central district (the city center), referred to as the Kentro, meaning 'center' or 'downtown'.
The institution of mayor of Thessaloniki was inaugurated under the Ottoman Empire, in 1912. The first mayor of Thessaloniki was Osman Sait Bey, while the current mayor of the municipality of Thessaloniki is Yiannis Boutaris. In 2011, the municipality of Thessaloniki had a budget of €464.33 million[124] while the budget of 2012 stands at €409.00 million.[125]
According to an article in The New York Times, the way in which the present mayor of Thessaloniki is treating the city's debt and oversized administration problems could be used as an example by Greece's central government for a successful strategy in dealing with these problems.[126]
Other
Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece. It is an influential city for the northern parts of the country and is the capital of the region of Central Macedonia and the Thessaloniki regional unit. The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace is also based in Thessaloniki, being that the city is the de facto capital of the Greek region of Macedonia.
It is customary every year for the Prime Minister of Greece to announce his administration's policies on a number of issues, such as the economy, at the opening night of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. In 2010, during the first months of the 2010 Greek debt crisis, the entire cabinet of Greece met in Thessaloniki to discuss the country's future.[127]
In the Hellenic Parliament, the Thessaloniki urban area constitutes a 16-seat constituency. As of the national elections of 17 June 2012 the largest party in Thessaloniki is New Democracy with 27.8%, followed by the Coalition of the Radical Left (27.0%) and the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (10.2%).[128] The table below summarizes the results of the latest elections.
Cityscape
Architecture
Architecture in Thessaloniki is the direct result of the city's position at the centre of all historical developments in the Balkans. Aside from its commercial importance, Thessaloniki was also for many centuries the military and administrative hub of the region, and beyond this the transportation link between Europe and the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel / Palestine). Merchants, traders and refugees from all over Europe settled in the city. The need for commercial and public buildings in this new era of prosperity led to the construction of large edifices in the city center. During this time, the city saw the building of banks, large hotels, theatres, warehouses, and factories. Architects who designed some of the most notable buildings of the city, in the late 19th and early 20th century, include Vitaliano Poselli, Pietro Arrigoni, Xenophon Paionidis, Eli Modiano, Moshé Jacques, Jean Joseph Pleyber, Frederic Charnot, Ernst Ziller, Roubens Max, Levi Ernst, Angelos Siagas and others, using mainly the styles of Eclecticism and Art Nouveau.
The city layout changed after 1870, when the seaside fortifications gave way to extensive piers, and many of the oldest walls of the city were demolished, including those surrounding the White Tower, which today stands as the main landmark of the city. As parts of the early Byzantine walls were demolished, this allowed the city to expand east and west along the coast.[129]
The expansion of Eleftherias Square towards the sea completed the new commercial hub of the city and at the time was considered one of the most vibrant squares of the city. As the city grew, workers moved to the western districts, due to their proximity to factories and industrial activities; while the middle and upper classes gradually moved from the city-center to the eastern suburbs, leaving mainly businesses. In 1917, a devastating fire swept through the city and burned uncontrollably for 32 hours.[71] It destroyed the city's historic center and a large part of its architectural heritage, but paved the way for modern development and allowed Thessaloniki the development of a proper European city center, featuring wider diagonal avenues and monumental squares; which the city initially lacked – much of what was considered to be 'essential' in European architecture.
City Center
After the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, a team of architects and urban planners including Thomas Mawson and Ernest Hebrard, a French architect, chose the Byzantine era as the basis of their (re)building designs for Thessaloniki's city center. The new city plan included axes, diagonal streets and monumental squares, with a street grid that would channel traffic smoothly. The plan of 1917 included provisions for future population expansions and a street and road network that would be, and still is sufficient today.[71] It contained sites for public buildings and provided for the restoration of Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques.
The Metropolitan Church of Saint Gregory Palamas, designed by Ernst Ziller.
Today the city center of Thessaloniki includes the features designed as part of the plan and forms the point in the city where most of the public buildings, historical sites, entertainment venues and stores are located. The center is characterized by its many historical buildings, arcades, laneways and distinct architectural styles such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco, which can be seen on many of its buildings.
Also called the historic center, it is divided into several districts, of which include Ladadika (where many entertainment venues and tavernas are located), Kapani (were the city's central city market is located), Diagonios, Navarinou, Rotonta, Agia Sofia and Ippodromio (white tower), which are all located around Thessaloniki's most central point, Aristotelous Square.
The west point of the city center is home to Thessaloniki's law courts, its central international railway station and the port, while on its eastern side stands the city's two universities, the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center, the city's main stadium, its archaeological and Byzantine museums, the new city hall and its central parklands and gardens, namely those of the ΧΑΝΘ/Palios Zoologikos Kipos and Pedio tou Areos. The central road arteries that pass through the city center, designed in the Ernest Hebrard plan, include those of Tsimiski, Egnatia, Nikis, Mitropoleos, Venizelou and St. Demetrius avenues.
Ano Poli
Ano Poli (also called Old Town and literally the Upper Town) is the heritage listed district north of Thessaloniki's city center that was not engulfed by the great fire of 1917 and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site by ministerial actions of Melina Merkouri, during the 1980s. It consists of Thessaloniki's most traditional part of the city, still featuring small stone paved streets, old squares and homes featuring old Greek and Ottoman architecture.
Ano Poli also, is the highest point in Thessaloniki and as such, is the location of the city's acropolis, its Byzantine fort, the Heptapyrgion, a large portion of the city's remaining walls, and with many of its additional Ottoman and Byzantine structures still standing. The area provides access to the Seich Sou Forest National Park[131] and features amphitheatric views of the whole city and the Thermaic Gulf. On clear days Mount Olympus, at about 100 km (62 mi) away across the gulf, can also be seen towering the horizon.
Southeastern Thessaloniki up until the 1920s was home to the city's most affluent residents and formed the outermost suburbs of the city at the time, with the area close to the Thermaic Gulf coast called Exoches, from the 19th century holiday villas which defined the area. Today southeastern Thessaloniki has in some way become a natural extension of the city center, with the avenues of Megalou Alexandrou, Georgiou Papandreou (Antheon), Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, Delfon, Konstantinou Karamanli (Nea Egnatia) and Papanastasiou passing through it, enclosing an area traditionally called Dépôt (Ντεπώ), from the name of the old tram station, owned by a French company. The area extends to Kalamaria and Pylaia, about 9 km (5.59 mi) from the White Tower in the city centre.
Some of the most notable mansions and villas of the old-era of the city remain along Vasilissis Olgas Avenue. Built for the most wealthy residents and designed by well known architects they are used today as museums, art galleries or remain as private properties. Some of them include Villa Bianca, Villa Ahmet Kapanci, Villa Modiano, Villa Mordoch, Villa Mehmet Kapanci, Hatzilazarou Mansion, Chateau Mon Bonheur (often called red tower) and others.
Most of southeastern Thessaloniki is characterized by its modern architecture and apartment buildings, home to the middle-class and more than half of the municipality of Thessaloniki population. Today this area of the city is also home to 3 of the city's main football stadiums, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the Posidonio aquatic and athletic complex, the Naval Command post of Northern Greece and the old royal palace (called Palataki), located on the most westerly point of Karabournaki cape. The municipality of Kalamaria is also located in southeastern Thessaloniki and has become this part of the city's most sought after areas, with many open spaces and home to high end bars, cafés and entertainment venues, most notably on Plastira street, along the coast
Northwestern Thessaloniki had always been associated with industry and the working class because as the city grew during the 1920s, many workers had moved there, due to its proximity near factories and industrial activities. Today many factories and industries have been moved further out west and the area is experiencing rapid growth as does the southeast. Many factories in this area have been converted to cultural centres, while past military grounds that are being surrounded by densely built neighborhoods are awaiting transformation into parklands.
Northwest Thessaloniki forms the main entry point into the city of Thessaloniki with the avenues of Monastiriou, Lagkada and 26is Octovriou passing through it, as well as the extension of the A1 motorway, feeding into Thessaloniki's city center. The area is home to the Macedonia InterCity Bus Terminal (KTEL), the Zeitenlik Allied memorial military cemetery and to large entertainment venues of the city, such as Milos, Fix, Vilka (which are housed in converted old factories). Northwestern Thessaloniki is also home to Moni Lazariston, located in Stavroupoli, which today forms one of the most important cultural centers for the city.
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It’s amazing how the affects from the volcano eruption in the southern Pacific Ocean earlier this year can still be seen. They say the affects from it could last up to a year with us having brighter than normal sunrises and sunsets. I'll take it! This was a recent trip I took to the city which produced breath taking sunsets every night I was there. What I like most about this photo is how it looks like the sunset to shining through the windows of the buildings.
Chronos
Double exposure on film
Kodak t-Max 400 & Nikon Fm2
One of the many marvellous photography techniques provided by analog photography is the double (or triple…) exposure film, directly on camera.
I was always fascinated by the possibility of handling the negative from the moment of shooting, and this factor was the key one for me when it came the time to chose a camera; I need a fully mechanical camera that allows me to control shutter speed, aperture, and lock the film for double exposure. Doesn’t seem like i am asking to much, am I?
Nowadays is relatively easy to produce double exposure. Although i like digital photography, i always preferred to create my double exposures with my trusty old camera, get out in the streets and enjoy shooting, avoiding tedious hours of post production in front of a computer screen, often ending up with a result that is closer to graphic design than photography.
The magic of double exposure is limitless. I love how it’s possible to mix and mash spaces that are completely different from each other, make them clash inside a new world that takes life inside a negative. I call it pre-darkroom; a manipulation of reality that we cannot affect in any way. Only at the time of processing the film we will how the planes stack with each other. Most times it is actually almost impossible to discern how the images complement each other; it might be simple luck, or it might very well be that these 2 worlds really take a life of their own on the silver of the film, and they become something else. In the end, what we try to do is to clumsily control the light.
Our lives affect to other people's life like a cogwheel turns the other cog. Some of us might be coloured differently than others. Some of us might seem small and almost invisible to others. Some of us are prominent whom everybody recognise.
No matter what kind of cogwheels we are, we all "move" other people emotionally, spiritually or physically towards good or bad. We can make her happy with our kind words and our smile or press down by cruel ones.
And as prominent ones often move many other cogs, sometimes only one tiny cog is needed to make a difference and move the prominent ones.
Let's begin to make at least one person happy everyday and so turn humanity to happy clockwork!
Light and colour can influence how people perceive the area around them. Different light sources affect how the colours of walls and other objects are seen. Specific hues of colours seen under natural sunlight may vary when seen under the light from an incandescent (tungsten) light-bulb: lighter colours may appear to be more orange or "brownish" and darker colours may appear even darker.
Light and the colour of an object can affect how one perceives its positioning. If light or shadow, or the colour of the object, masks an object's true contour (outline of a figure) it can appear to be shaped differently than it really is.
Objects under a uniform light-source will promote better impression of three-dimensional shape.
The colour of an object may affect whether or not it seems to be in motion. In particular, the trajectories of objects under a light source whose intensity varies with space are more difficult to determine than identical objects under a uniform light source.
Carl Jung is most prominently associated with the pioneering stages of colour psychology. Jung was most interested in colours’ properties and meanings, as well as in Art’s potential as a tool for psychotherapy.
Colour has long been used to create feelings of cosiness or spaciousness. However, how people are affected by different colour-stimuli varies from person to person.
There is evidence that colour preference may depend on ambient temperature. People who are cold prefer warm colous like red and yellow while people who are hot prefer cool colours like blue and green.
A few studies have shown that cultural background has a strong influence on colour preference. These studies have shown that people from the same region regardless of race will have the same colour preferences.
I'm ALWAYS fascinated by COLOUR!
Have a lovely day and thanx for your visit, M, (*_*)
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