- South America - Suite de ce voyage - Paracas, capitale du district de Paracas, dans la région d'Ica , au Pérou . Petite ville portuaire touristique, Paracas est le point de départ des excursions vers les îles Ballestas et la réserve nationale de Paracas . La baie de Paracas , protégée par la péninsule de Paracas , offre à ses eaux peu profondes et plus chaudes une pause face aux vagues de l'océan, permettant à la vie de s'épanouir, en particulier près de sa limite sud-ouest, englobée dans la réserve nationale de Paracas. De nombreuses espèces uniques, notamment les oiseaux, qui peuplent la région. Paracas se trouve dans une zone venteuse où de forts courants d'air transportent du sable, d'où le nom de la ville « Paracas », du quechua : para (pluie) et aco (sable).

 

- Les îles Ballestas sont un archipel d’îles péruviennes, au large de Pisco, situé à 300 kilomètres au sud de Lima. Cet archipel est accessible depuis le port de pêche de Paracas.

- Aujourd’hui, grâce à la grande quantité de poissons présente dans ses eaux froides du courant de Humboldt, les îles Ballestas constituent une véritable réserve ornithologique où cohabitent de multiples colonies d’oiseaux marins et un grand nombre d'Otaries :

manchot de Humboldt (Spheniscus humboldti),

cormoran de Bougainville (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii),

sterne inca (Larosterna inca),

pélican thage (Pelecanus thagus),

fou varié (Sula variegata),

de rares et endémiques cinclodes de Taczanowski (Cinclodes taczanowskii)...

 

- Merci pour vos passages sur les vues, favoris et commentaires.

- Thanks all for the views, favs and comments, very appreciated.

 

- Mes vidéos ICI : www.youtube.com/@Poulbeau19/videos

Limits

 

The Canon PowerShot SX60 HS is the company's latest DSLR-styled super-zoom.

 

in exposure and zoom

C2 - sun and moon capture - presets

Aspect Ratio 16:9

Metering Mode Spot

AFPoint Manual AF point selection

Canon Exposure Mode Program AE

Continuous Drive Continuous, Speed Priority

My Color Mode Positive Film

Color Space sRGB

-

Exif data

SX60 HS IS

Camera Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

Exposure 0.001 sec (1/2000)

Aperture f/8.0

Focal Length 247 mm plus Digital Zoom Ratio 3.2x ~ 1365 x 3.2 = 4368 mm

 

ISO Speed 100

 

Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.

 

The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% hotel tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.

 

Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

 

The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be founded was inhabited for more than two thousand years by the Tequesta Indians. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta, as the Europeans unwittingly brought with them diseases, such as smallpox, to which the native populations possessed no resistance. For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with their Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly to their decline over the next two centuries. By 1763, there were only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Although control of the area changed between Spain, United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century.

 

The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement" before the 20th century. In the 1830s there were approximately 70 settlers living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West.

 

The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New River, and the Florida East Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in 1896, that any organized development began. The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915 was designated the county seat of newly formed Broward County.

 

Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic dislocation. In July 1935, an African-American man named Rubin Stacy was accused of robbing a white woman at knife point. He was arrested and being transported to a Miami jail when police were run off the road by a mob. A group of 100 white men proceeded to hang Stacy from a tree near the scene of his alleged robbery. His body was riddled with some twenty bullets. The murder was subsequently used by the press in Nazi Germany to discredit US critiques of its own persecution of Jews, Communists, and Catholics.

 

When World War II began, Fort Lauderdale became a major US base, with a Naval Air Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control operators. A Coast Guard base at Port Everglades was also established.

 

On July 4, 1961 African Americans started a series of protests, wade-ins, at beaches that were off-limits to them, to protest "the failure of the county to build a road to the Negro beach". On July 11, 1962 a verdict by Ted Cabot went against the city's policy of racial segregation of public beaches.

 

Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major yachting center, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale,_Florida

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

 

Obvodny Canal (Russian: Обводный канал, lit. Bypass Canal) is the longest canal in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which in the 19th century served as the southern limit of the city. It is 8 kilometres (5 mi) long and flows from the Neva River near Alexander Nevsky Lavra to the Yekaterinhofka not far from the sea port. The canal was dug in 1769–80 and 1805–33. By the late 19th century, after to the Industrial Revolution, it had effectively become a sewer collecting wastewater of adjacent industrial enterprises. Eventually the canal became shallow and no longer navigable. The banks of the canal are lined with granite.

Les tours de Castillon sont un site archéologique situé à Paradou (Bouches-du-Rhône) sur la chaîne de la Pène (massif des Alpilles). Le site a été habité entre le IIe siècle av. J.-C. et le XVe siècle, avec un maximum de population entre les XIIIe et XIVe siècles. Il a ensuite été abandonné par ses habitants qui sont allés peupler le nouveau village à quelques centaines de mètres plus au nord, dénommé aujourd'hui Paradou.

 

Des fouilles archéologiques récentes ont permis de reconstituer l'histoire de cet oppidum. Le site peut être visité aujourd'hui. On y observe la présence de trois tours encore debout datant du Moyen Âge et qui marquaient les limites de la ville ancienne. Le rempart a disparu dans sa quasi-totalité. Des fouilles archéologiques y ont été menées entre 1986 et 1990 et ont révélé l'existence de cet oppidum très détérioré par le temps et les fouilles clandestines1.

 

Histoire

Antiquité

 

Le site des tours de Castillon a dominé durant des siècles une vaste étendue marécageuse, dénommée les marais des Baux et dont il constituait la frontière nord. Son emplacement par rapport à ce marais n'est pas anodin. Il se situe au-dessus d'un point de franchissement des marais, le pont Saint-Jean2, sur le chaînon de collines de La Pène, à 41 mètres d'altitude.

 

Propriété des seigneurs des Baux au Moyen Âge, le site est habité depuis bien plus longtemps2. Les premières traces d'occupation semblent remonter au IIe siècle av. J.-C.1, même si des tessons retrouvés pourraient être plus anciens de deux à trois siècles. L'oppidum n'est fortifié qu'à partir du IIe siècle av. J.-C., période à laquelle il s'entoure d'un mur en brique crue sur un socle de pierres sèches large de 1,50 mètre3. Le parement en grand appareil est postérieur à ce premier rempart mais date approximativement de la même période ou au plus tard de la période augustéenne1. Contre le rempart, des cases à brique crues sur solin de pierres sont appuyées. Le rempart a beaucoup souffert. Ses blocs ont été prélevés au Moyen Âge pour permettre la construction de divers ouvrages. On considère qu'il devait se trouver deux portes au castrum, au nord et au sud, même s'il n'a pas été possible d'en apporter la preuve à ce jour4. Les pierres utilisées viennent probablement des Alpilles. Il s'agit d'un calcaire burdigalien typique des Baux ou du Montpaon4. Le premier rempart devait être en briques crues, comme le mur des maisons du castrum, tandis que le second rempart, de moindre qualité, était fait d'adobes.

 

Il existe des traces d'un incendie qui a probablement détruit le village entre la fin du IIe et le début du Ier siècle. Toujours est-il que, s'il a sans doute été inhabité à ce moment, le site compte à nouveau une certaine population au début de l'époque romaine1.

 

Une chaussée antique a été repérée par des vues aériennes mais n'a pas encore été datée, même si on peut sans doute l'estimer d'époque romaine4.

Moyen Âge

Quartier d'habitation médiéval.

 

À l'origine propriété de l'abbaye de Montmajour, le site des Tours de Castillon devient possession du seigneur des Baux entre le XIe siècle et le XIIe siècle5. Le site permet de par sa position d'être en communication permanente avec le château des Baux et de contrôler la voie de communication traversant le marais des Baux et menant à la plaine de la Crau. Les sources écrites mentionnent le château au XIIe siècle. Aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles, un rempart enserre la colline. Les angles sont dans un premier état occupés par des tours carrées renforcées par la suite par des tours curvilignes et des lices en avant6. Un petit quartier d'habitation a été fouillé entre 1986 et 1990. Dans cette zone, l'habitat prend de l'ampleur au XIVe siècle et subit de nombreuses modifications durant son occupation. Des silos, des caves et des citernes ont été identifiées. L'abandon est opéré progressivement dans les dernières années du XIVe siècle7.

 

Nécropole

La nécropole découverte sur le versant sud-est du site des tours de Castillon, regardant vers les marais des Baux, a révélé la présence de cinq corps sans doute datés du Moyen Âge. Seuls les sexes de trois de ces corps ont pu être identifiés : il s'agit de deux hommes et d'une femme. Les corps étaient à l'intérieur de sépultures en decubitus dorsal, les bras en adduction et les jambes en extension. Ce sont tous des adultes, entre 21 et 45 ans et ils mesurent entre 1,61 cm et 1,73 cm, ce qui constituent des tailles élevées8.

Provence (/prəˈvɒ̃s/, US: /proʊ-/; French: [pʁɔvɑ̃s]; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm, pronounced [pʀuˈvɛnsɔ]) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east, and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south.[1] It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and includes the departments of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, as well as parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse.[2] The largest city of the region is Marseille.

 

The Romans made the region the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it Provincia Romana, which evolved into the present name. Until 1481 it was ruled by the Counts of Provence from their capital in Aix-en-Provence, then became a province of the Kings of France.[2] While it has been part of France for more than five hundred years, it still retains a distinct cultural and linguistic identity, particularly in the interior of the region.[3]

 

History

Main article: History of Provence

See also: Lower Burgundy

Prehistoric Provence

 

The entrance to the Cosquer Cave, decorated with paintings of auks, bison, seals and outlines of hands dating to 27,000 to 19,000 BC, is located 37 meters under the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou near Cassis.

 

A bronze-age dolmen (2500 to 900 BC) near Draguignan

The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dating back 1 to 1.05 million years BC have been found in the Grotte du Vallonnet near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, between Monaco and Menton.[4] More sophisticated tools, worked on both sides of the stone and dating to 600,000 BC, were found in the Cave of Escale at Saint Estėve-Janson, and tools from 400,000 BC and some of the first fireplaces in Europe were found at Terra Amata in Nice.[5] Tools dating to the Middle Paleolithic (300,000 BC) and Upper Paleolithic (30,000–10,000 BC) were discovered in the Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of Monaco.[6]

 

The Paleolithic period in Provence saw great changes in the climate. Two ice ages came and went, the sea level changed dramatically. At the beginning of the Paleolithic, the sea level in western Provence was 150 meters higher than today. By the end of the Paleolithic, it had dropped to 100 to 150 metres below the sea level today. The cave dwellings of the early inhabitants of Provence were regularly flooded by the rising sea or left far from the sea and swept away by erosion.[7]

 

The changes in the sea level led to one of the most remarkable discoveries of signs of early man in Provence. In 1985, a diver named Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 metres below the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille. The entrance led to a cave above sea level. Inside, the walls of the Cosquer Cave are decorated with drawings of bison, seals, auks, horses and outlines of human hands, dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC.[8]

 

The end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the Neolithic period saw the sea settle at its present level, a warming of the climate and the retreat of the forests. The disappearance of the forests and the deer and other easily hunted game meant that the inhabitants of Provence had to survive on rabbits, snails and wild sheep. In about 6000 BC, the Castelnovian people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, were among the first people in Europe to domesticate wild sheep, and to cease moving constantly from place to place. Once they settled in one place they were able to develop new industries. Inspired by pottery from the eastern Mediterranean, in about 6000 BC they created the first pottery made in France.[7]

 

Around 6000 BC, a wave of new settlers from the east, the Chasséens, arrived in Provence. They were farmers and warriors, and gradually displaced the earlier pastoral people from their lands. They were followed about 2500 BC by another wave of people, also farmers, known as the Courronniens, who arrived by sea and settled along the coast of what is now the Bouches-du-Rhône.[7] Traces of these early civilisations can be found in many parts of Provence. A Neolithic site dating to about 6,000 BC was discovered in Marseille near the Saint-Charles railway station. and a dolmen from the Bronze Age (2500–900 BC) can be found near Draguignan.

 

Ligures and Celts in Provence

Between the 10th and 4th century BC, the Ligures were found in Provence from Massilia as far as modern Liguria. They were of uncertain origin; they may have been the descendants of the indigenous Neolithic peoples.[9] Strabo distinctly states they were not of Celtic origin and a different race from the Gauls.[10] They did not have their own alphabet, but their language remains in place names in Provence ending in the suffixes -asc, -osc. -inc, -ates, and -auni.[9] The ancient geographer Posidonios wrote of them: "Their country is savage and dry. The soil is so rocky that you cannot plant anything without striking stones. The men compensate for the lack of wheat by hunting... They climb the mountains like goats."[11] They were also warlike; they invaded Italy and went as far as Rome in the 4th century BC, and they later aided the passage of Hannibal, on his way to attack Rome (218 BC). Traces of the Ligures remain today in the dolmens and other megaliths found in eastern Provence, in the primitive stone shelters called 'Bories' found in the Luberon and Comtat, and in the rock carvings in the Valley of Marvels near Mont Bégo in the Alpes-Maritimes, at an altitude of 2,000 meters.[12]

 

Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, tribes of Celtic peoples, probably coming from Central Europe, also began moving into Provence. They had weapons made of iron, which allowed them to easily defeat the local tribes, who were still armed with bronze weapons. One tribe, called the Segobriga, settled near modern-day Marseille. The Caturiges, Tricastins, and Cavares settled to the west of the Durance river.[13]

 

Celts and Ligurians spread throughout the area and the Celto-Ligures eventually shared the territory of Provence, each tribe in its own alpine valley or settlement along a river, each with its own king and dynasty. They built hilltop forts and settlements, later given the Latin name oppida. Today the traces 165 oppida are found in the Var, and as many as 285 in the Alpes-Maritimes.[12] They worshipped various aspects of nature, establishing sacred woods at Sainte-Baume and Gemenos, and healing springs at Glanum and Vernègues. Later, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the different tribes formed confederations; the Voconces in the area from the Isère to the Vaucluse; the Cavares in the Comtat; and the Salyens, from the Rhône river to the Var. The tribes began to trade their local products, iron, silver, alabaster, marble, gold, resin, wax, honey and cheese; with their neighbours, first by trading routes along the Rhône river, and later Etruscan traders visited the coast. Etruscan amphorae from the 7th and 6th centuries BC have been found in Marseille, Cassis, and in hilltop oppida in the region.[12]

 

Greeks in Provence

Main article: Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul

 

Remains of the ancient harbour of Massalia, near the Old Port of Marseille

Traders from the island of Rhodes were visiting the coast of Provence in the 7th century BC. Rhodes pottery from that century has been found in Marseille, near Martigues and Istres, and at Mont Garou and Evenos near Toulon. The traders from Rhodes gave their names to the ancient town of Rhodanousia (Ancient Greek: 'Ροδανουσίαν) (now Trinquetaille, across the Rhône river from Arles), and to the main river of Provence, the Rhodanos, today known as the Rhône.[14]

 

The first permanent Greek settlement was Massalia, established at modern-day Marseille in about 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea (now Foça, on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor). A second wave of colonists arrived in about 540 BC, when Phocaea was destroyed by the Persians.[15]

 

Massalia became one of the major trading ports of the ancient world. At its height, in the 4th century BC, it had a population of about 6,000 inhabitants, living on about fifty hectares surrounded by a wall. It was governed as an aristocratic republic, by an assembly of the 600 wealthiest citizens. It had a large temple of the cult of Apollo of Delphi on a hilltop overlooking the port, and a temple of the cult of Artemis of Ephesus at the other end of the city. The Drachma coins minted in Massalia were found in all parts of Ligurian-Celtic Gaul. Traders from Massalia ventured inland deep into France on the Rivers Durance and Rhône, and established overland trade routes deep into Gaul, and to Switzerland and Burgundy, and as far north as the Baltic Sea. They exported their own products; local wine, salted pork and fish, aromatic and medicinal plants, coral and cork.[15]

 

The Massalians also established a series of small colonies and trading posts along the coast; which later became towns; they founded Citharista (La Ciotat); Tauroeis (Le Brusc); Olbia (near Hyères); Pergantion (Breganson); Caccabaria (Cavalaire); Athenopolis (Saint-Tropez); Antipolis (Antibes); Nikaia (Nice), and Monoicos (Monaco). They established inland towns at Glanum (Saint-Remy) and Mastrabala (Saint-Blaise.)

 

The most famous citizen of Massalia was the mathematician, astronomer and navigator Pytheas. Pytheas made mathematical instruments which allowed him to establish almost exactly the latitude of Marseille, and he was the first scientist to observe that the tides were connected with the phases of the moon. Between 330 and 320 BC he organised an expedition by ship into the Atlantic and as far north as England, and to visit Iceland, Shetland, and Norway. He was the first scientist to describe drift ice and the midnight sun. Though he hoped to establish a sea trading route for tin from Cornwall, his trip was not a commercial success, and it was not repeated. The Massalians found it cheaper and simpler to trade with Northern Europe over land routes.[16]

 

Roman Provence (2nd century BC to 5th century AD)

 

Triumphal Arch of Orange, first century AD

 

The Roman arena at Arles (2nd century AD)

 

The baptistery of Fréjus Cathedral (5th century) is still in use

In the 2nd century BC the people of Massalia appealed to Rome for help against the Ligures. Roman legions entered Provence three times; first in 181 BC the Romans suppressed Ligurian uprisings near Genoa; in 154 BC the Roman Consul Optimus defeated the Oxybii and the Deciates, who were attacking Antibes; and in 125 BC, the Romans put down an uprising of a confederation of Celtic tribes.[17] After this battle, the Romans decided to establish permanent settlements in Provence. In 122 BC, next to the Celtic town of Entremont, the Romans built a new town, Aquae Sextiae, later called Aix-en-Provence. In 118 BC they founded Narbo (Narbonne).

 

The Roman general Gaius Marius crushed the last serious resistance in 102 BC by defeating the Cimbri and the Teutons. He then began building roads to facilitate troop movements and commerce between Rome, Spain and Northern Europe; one from the coast inland to Apt and Tarascon, and the other along the coast from Italy to Spain, passing through Fréjus and Aix-en-Provence.

 

In 49 BC, Massalia had the misfortune to choose the wrong side in the power struggle between Pompey and Julius Caesar. Pompey was defeated, and Massalia lost its territories and political influence. Roman veterans, in the meantime, populated two new towns, Arles and Fréjus, at the sites of older Greek settlements.

 

In 8 BC the Emperor Augustus built a triumphal monument at La Turbie to commemorate the pacification of the region, and he began to Romanize Provence politically and culturally. Roman engineers and architects built monuments, theatres, baths, villas, fora, arenas and aqueducts, many of which still exist. (See Architecture of Provence.) Roman towns were built at Cavaillon; Orange; Arles; Fréjus; Glanum (outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence); Carpentras; Vaison-la-Romaine; Nîmes; Vernègues; Saint-Chamas and Cimiez (above Nice). The Roman province, which was called Gallia Narbonensis, for its capital, Narbo (modern Narbonne), extended from Italy to Spain, from the Alps to the Pyrenees.

 

The Pax Romana in Provence lasted until the middle of the 3rd century. Germanic tribes invaded Provence in 257 and 275. At the beginning the 4th century, the court of Roman Emperor Constantine (280–337) was forced to take refuge in Arles. By the end of the 5th century, Roman power in Provence had vanished, and an age of invasions, wars, and chaos began.

 

Arrival of Christianity (3rd–6th centuries)

There are many legends about the earliest Christians in Provence, but they are difficult to verify. It is documented that there were organised churches and bishops in the Roman towns of Provence as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries; in Arles in 254; Marseille in 314; Orange, Vaison and Apt in 314; Cavaillon, Digne, Embrun, Gap, and Fréjus at the end of the 4th century; Aix-en-Provence in 408; Carpentras, Avignon, Riez, Cimiez (today part of Nice) and Vence in 439; Antibes in 442; Toulon in 451; Senez in 406, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in 517; and Glandèves in 541.[18] The oldest Christian structure still surviving in Provence is the baptistery of the cathedral in Fréjus, dating from the 5th century. At about the same time, in the 5th century, the first two monasteries in Provence were founded; Lérins, on an island near Cannes; and Saint-Victor in Marseille.

 

Germanic invasions, Merovingians and Carolingians (5th–9th centuries)

 

King Boson and San Stephen (fragment of fresco at Charlieu Abbey)

Beginning in the second half of the 5th century, as Roman power waned, successive waves of Germanic tribes entered Provence; first the Visigoths (480); then the Ostrogoths; then the Burgundians; finally, the Franks in the 6th century. Arab invaders and Berber pirates came from North Africa to the Coast of Provence in the beginning of the 7th century.

 

During the late 7th and early 8th century, Provence was formally subject to the Frankish kings of the Merovingian dynasty, but it was in fact ruled by its own regional nobility of Gallo-Roman stock, who ruled themselves according to Roman, not Frankish law. Actually, the region enjoyed a prestige that the northern Franks hadn't, but the local aristocracy feared Charles Martel's expansionist ambitions.[19] In 737 Charles Martel headed down the Rhône Valley after subduing Burgundy. Charles attacked Avignon and Arles, garrisoned by the Umayyads. He came back in 739 to capture for a second time Avignon and chase the duke Maurontus to his stronghold of Marseille.[19] The city was brought to heel and the duke had to flee to an island. The region was thereafter under the rule of Carolingian Kings, descended from Charles Martel; and then was part of the empire of Charlemagne (742–814).

 

In 879, after the death of the Carolingian ruler Charles the Bald, Boso of Provence, (also known as Boson), his brother-in-law, broke away from the Carolingian kingdom of Louis III and was elected the first ruler of an independent state of Provence.

 

The Counts of Provence (9th–13th centuries)

 

The Catalan Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Provence, in the Castle in Fos, painted by Marià Fortuny (Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, on deposit at the Palace of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Barcelona).

 

The Coat of Arms of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona and his descendants, who as Counts of Provence ruled Provence from 1112 until 1246

 

Coat of Arms of the Counts of Provence of the House of Valois-Anjou, who ruled Provence from 1246 until it became part of France in 1486

Three different dynasties of Counts ruled Provence during the Middle Ages, and Provence became a prize in the complex rivalries between the Catalan rulers of Barcelona, the Kings of Burgundy, the German rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Angevin Kings of France.[clarification needed]

 

The Bosonids (879–1112) were the descendants of the first King of Provence, Boson. His son, Louis the Blind (890–928) lost his sight trying to win the throne of Italy, after which his cousin, Hugh of Italy (died 947) became the Duke of Provence and the Count of Vienne. Hugh moved the capital of Provence from Vienne to Arles and made Provence a fief of Rudolph II of Burgundy.

 

In the 9th century, Arab pirates (called Saracens by the French) and then the Normans invaded Provence. The Normans pillaged the region and then left, but the Saracens built castles and began raiding towns and holding local residents for ransom. Early in 973, the Saracens captured Maieul, the Abbot of the Monastery at Cluny, and held him for ransom. The ransom was paid and the abbot was released, but the people of Provence, led by Count William I rose up and defeated the Saracens near their most powerful fortress Fraxinet (La Garde-Freinet) at the Battle of Tourtour. The Saracens who were not killed at the battle were baptised and enslaved, and the remaining Saracens in Provence fled the region. Meanwhile, the dynastic quarrels continued. A war between Rudolph III of Burgundy and his rival, the German Emperor Conrad the Salic in 1032 led to Provence becoming a fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire, which it remained until 1246.

 

In 1112, the last descendant of Boson, Douce I, Countess of Provence, married the Catalan Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, who as a result became Raymond Berenguer I, Count of Provence. He ruled Provence from 1112 until 1131, and his descendants, the Catalan counts ruled in Provence until 1246. In 1125, Provence was divided; the part of Provence north and west of the Durance river went to the Count of Toulouse, while the lands between the Durance and the Mediterranean, and from the Rhône river to the Alps, belonged to the Counts of Provence. The capital of Provence was moved from Arles to Aix-en-Provence, and later to Brignoles.[20]

  

The Church of Saint Trophime in Arles (12th century)

Under the Catalan counts, the 12th century saw the construction of important cathedrals and abbeys in Provence, in a harmonious new style, the romanesque, which united the Gallo-Roman style of the Rhône Valley with the Lombard style of the Alps. Aix Cathedral was built on the site of the old Roman forum, and then rebuilt in the gothic style in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Church of St. Trophime in Arles was a landmark of Romanesque architecture, built between the 12th and the 15th centuries. A vast fortress-like monastery, Montmajour Abbey, was built on an island just north of Arles, and became a major destination for medieval pilgrims.

 

In the 12th century three Cistercian monasteries were built in remote parts of Provence, far from the political intrigues of the cities. Sénanque Abbey was the first, established in the Luberon 1148 and 1178. Le Thoronet Abbey was founded in a remote valley near Draguignan in 1160. Silvacane Abbey, on the Durance river at La Roque-d'Anthéron, was founded in 1175.

 

In the 13th century, the French kings started to use marriage to extend their influence into the south of France. One son of King Louis VIII of France "the Lion", Alphonse, Count of Poitou, married the heiress of the Count of Toulouse, Joan. Another, Louis IX "the Saint" of France or Saint Louis (1214–1270), married Marguerite of Provence. Then, in 1246, Charles, Count of Anjou, the youngest son of Louis VIII, married the heiress of Provence, Beatrice. Provence's fortunes became tied to the Angevin Dynasty and the Kingdom of Naples.[21]

 

The Popes in Avignon (14th century)

Main article: Avignon papacy

 

The façade of the Palais des Papes.

In 1309, Pope Clement V, who was originally from Bordeaux, moved the Roman Catholic Papacy to Avignon.[22] From 1309 until 1377, seven Popes reigned in Avignon before the Schism between the Roman and Avignon churches, which led to the creation of rival popes in both places. After that three Antipopes reigned in Avignon until 1423, when the Papacy finally returned to Rome. Between 1334 and 1363 the old and new Papal Palaces of Avignon were built by Popes Benedict XII and Clement VI respectively; together the Palais des Papes was the largest gothic palace in Europe.[23]

 

The 14th century was a terrible time in Provence, and all of Europe: the population of Provence had been about 400,000 people; the Black Plague (1348–1350) killed fifteen thousand people in Arles, half the population of the city, and greatly reduced the population of the whole region. The defeat of the French Army during the Hundred Years' War forced the cities of Provence to build walls and towers to defend themselves against armies of former soldiers who ravaged the countryside.

 

The Angevin rulers of Provence also had a difficult time. An assembly of nobles, religious leaders, and town leaders of Provence was organised to resist the authority of Queen Joan I of Naples (1343–1382). She was murdered in 1382 by her cousin and heir, Charles of Durazzo, who started a new war, leading to the separation of Nice, Puget-Théniers and Barcelonnette from Provence in 1388, and their attachment to the County of Savoy. From 1388 up to 1526, the area acquired by the Savoy was known as Terres Neuves de Provence; after 1526 it officially took on the name County of Nice.

 

Good King René, the last ruler of Provence

 

Detail of the Burning Bush triptych by Nicolas Froment, showing René and his wife Jeanne de Laval

 

The Chateau of René in Tarascon (15th century)

The 15th century saw a series of wars between the Kings of Aragon and the Counts of Provence. In 1423 the army of Alphonse of Aragon captured Marseille, and in 1443 they captured Naples, and forced its ruler, King René I of Naples, to flee. He eventually settled in one of his remaining territories, Provence.

 

History and legend has given René the title "Good King René of Provence", though he only lived in Provence in the last ten years of his life, from 1470 to 1480, and his political policies of territorial expansion were costly and unsuccessful. Provence benefitted from population growth and economic expansion, and René was a generous patron of the arts, sponsoring painters Nicolas Froment, Louis Bréa, and other masters. He also completed one of the finest castles in Provence at Tarascon, on the Rhône river.

 

When René died in 1480, his title passed to his nephew Charles du Maine. One year later, in 1481, when Charles died, the title passed to Louis XI of France. Provence was legally incorporated into the French royal domain in 1486.

 

1486 to 1789

Soon after Provence became part of France, it became involved in the Wars of Religion that swept the country in the 16th century. Between 1493 and 1501, many Jews were expelled from their homes and sought sanctuary in the region of Avignon, which was still under the direct rule of the Pope. In 1545, the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence ordered the destruction of the villages of Lourmarin, Mérindol, Cabriéres in the Luberon, because their inhabitants were Vaudois, of Italian Piedmontese origin, and were not considered sufficiently orthodox Catholics. Most of Provence remained strongly Catholic, with only one enclave of Protestants, the principality of Orange, Vaucluse, an enclave ruled by Prince William of the House of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands, which was created in 1544 and was not incorporated into France until 1673. An army of the Catholic League laid siege to the Protestant city of Mėnerbes in the Vaucluse between 1573 and 1578. The wars did not stop until the end of the 16th century, with the consolidation of power in Provence by the House of Bourbon kings.

  

View of Toulon Harbour around 1750, by Joseph Vernet.

The semi-independent Parliament of Provence in Aix and some of the cities of Provence, particularly Marseille, continued to rebel against the authority of the Bourbon king. After uprisings in 1630–31 and 1648–1652, the young King Louis XIV had two large forts, fort St. Jean and Fort St. Nicholas, built at the harbour entrance to control the city's unruly population.

 

At the beginning of the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu began to build a naval arsenal and dockyard at Toulon to serve as a base for a new French Mediterranean fleet. The base was greatly enlarged by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV, who also commissioned his chief military engineer Vauban to strengthen the fortifications around the city.

 

At the beginning of the 17th century, Provence had a population of about 450,000 people.[24] It was predominantly rural, devoted to raising wheat, wine, and olives, with small industries for tanning, pottery, perfume-making, and ship and boat building. Provençal quilts, made from the mid-17th century onwards, were successfully exported to England, Spain, Italy, Germany and Holland.[25] There was considerable commerce along the coast, and up and down the Rhône river. The cities: Marseille, Toulon, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, saw the construction of boulevards and richly decorated private houses.

  

Marseille in 1754, by Vernet

At the beginning of the 18th century, Provence suffered from the economic malaise of the end of the reign of Louis XIV. The plague struck the region between 1720 and 1722, beginning in Marseille, killing some 40,000 people. Still, by the end of the century, many artisanal industries began to flourish; making perfumes in Grasse; olive oil in Aix and the Alpilles; textiles in Orange, Avignon and Tarascon; and faience pottery in Marseille, Apt, Aubagne, and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. Many immigrants arrived from Liguria and the Piedmont in Italy. By the end of the 18th century, Marseille had a population of 120,000 people, making it the third largest city in France.[24]

 

During the French Revolution

Main article: French Revolution

Though most of Provence, with the exception of Marseille, Aix and Avignon, was rural, conservative and largely royalist, it did produce some memorable figures in the French Revolution; Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau from Aix, who tried to moderate the Revolution, and turn France into a constitutional monarchy like England; the Marquis de Sade from Lacoste in the Luberon, who was a Deputy from the far left in the National Assembly; Charles Barbaroux from Marseille, who sent a battalion of volunteers to Paris to fight in the French Revolutionary Army; and Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (1748–1836), an abbé, essayist and political leader, who was one of the chief theorists of the French Revolution, French Consulate, and First French Empire, and who, in 1799, was the instigator of the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, which brought Napoleon to power.

  

La Marseillaise 1792

Provence also produced the most memorable song of the period, the La Marseillaise. Though the song was originally written by a citizen of Strasbourg, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792, and it was originally a war song for the revolutionary Army of the Rhine, it became famous when it sung on the streets of Paris by the volunteers from Marseille, who had heard it when it was sung in Marseille by a young volunteer from Montpellier named François Mireur. It became the most popular song of the Revolution, and in 1879 became the national anthem of France.

 

The Revolution was as violent and bloody in Provence as it was in other parts of France. On 30 April 1790, Fort Saint-Nicolas in Marseille was besieged, and many of the soldiers inside were massacred. On 17 October 1791 a massacre of royalists and religious figures took place in the ice storage rooms (glaciere) of the prison of the Palace of the Popes in Avignon.

 

When the radical Montagnards seized power from the Girondins in May 1793, a real counter-revolution broke out in Avignon, Marseille and Toulon. A revolutionary army under General Carteaux recaptured Marseille in August 1793 and renamed it "City without a Name" (Ville sans Nom.) In Toulon, the opponents of the Revolution handed the city to a British and Spanish fleet on 28 August 1793. A Revolutionary Army laid siege to the British positions for four months (see the Siege of Toulon), and finally, thanks to the enterprise of the young commander of artillery, Napoleon Bonaparte, defeated the British and drove them out in December 1793. About 15,000 royalists escaped with the British fleet, but five to eight hundred of the 7,000 who remained were shot on the Champ de Mars, and Toulon was renamed "Port la Montagne".

 

The fall of the Montagnards in July 1794 was followed by a new White Terror aimed at the revolutionaries. Calm was only restored by the rise of Napoleon to power in 1795.

 

Under Napoleon

Napoleon restored the belongings and power of the families of the old regime in Provence. The British fleet of Admiral Horatio Nelson blockaded Toulon, and almost all maritime commerce was stopped, causing hardship and poverty. When Napoleon was defeated, his fall was celebrated in Provence. When he escaped from Elba on 1 March 1815, and landed at Golfe-Juan, he detoured to avoid the cities of Provence, which were hostile to him, and therefore directed his small force directly to the northeast of it.[26]

 

19th century

 

Marseille in 1825

Provence enjoyed prosperity in the 19th century; the ports of Marseille and Toulon connected Provence with the expanding French Empire in North Africa and the Orient, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

 

In April–July 1859, Napoleon III made a secret agreement with Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont, for France to assist in expelling Austria from the Italian Peninsula and bringing about a united Italy, in exchange for Piedmont ceding Savoy and the Nice region to France. He went to war with Austria in 1859 and won a victory at Solferino, which resulted in Austria ceding Lombardy to France. France immediately ceded Lombardy to Piedmont, and, in return, Napoleon received Savoy and Nice in 1860, and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Menton in 1861.

 

The railroad connected Paris with Marseille (1848) and then with Toulon and Nice (1864). Nice, Antibes and Hyères became popular winter resorts for European royalty, including Queen Victoria. Under Napoleon III, Marseille grew to a population of 250,000, including a very large Italian community. Toulon had a population of 80,000. The large cities like Marseille and Toulon saw the building of churches, opera houses, grand boulevards, and parks.

 

After the fall of Louis Napoleon following the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War barricades went up in the streets of Marseille (23 March 1871) and the Communards, led by Gaston Cremieux and following the lead of the Paris Commune, took control of the city. The Commune was crushed by the army and Cremieux was executed on 30 November 1871. Though Provence was generally conservative, it often elected reformist leaders; Prime Minister Léon Gambetta was the son of a Marseille grocer, and future prime minister Georges Clemenceau was elected deputy from the Var in 1885.

 

The second half of the 19th century saw a revival of the Provençal language and culture, particularly traditional rural values. driven by a movement of writers and poets called the Felibrige, led by poet Frédéric Mistral. Mistral achieved literary success with his novel Miréio (Mireille in French); he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1904.

 

20th century

Between World War I and World War II, Provence was bitterly divided between the more conservative rural areas and the more radical big cities. There were widespread strikes in Marseille in 1919, and riots in Toulon in 1935.

 

After the defeat of France by Germany in June 1940, France was divided into an occupied zone and unoccupied zone, with Provence in the unoccupied zone. Parts of eastern Provence were occupied by Italian soldiers. Collaboration and passive resistance gradually gave way to more active resistance, particularly after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the Communist Party became active in the resistance. Jean Moulin, the deputy of Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free France resistance movement, was parachuted into Eygalières, in the Bouches-du-Rhône on 2 January 1942 to unite the diverse resistance movements in all of France against the Germans.

 

In November 1942, following Allied landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), the Germans occupied all of Provence (Operation Attila) and then headed for Toulon (Case Anton). The French fleet at Toulon sabotaged its own ships to keep them from falling into German hands.

 

The Germans began a systematic rounding-up of French Jews and refugees from Nice and Marseille. Many thousands were taken to concentration camps, and few survived. A large quarter around the port of Marseille was emptied of inhabitants and dynamited, so it would not serve as a base for the resistance. Nonetheless, the resistance grew stronger; the leader of the pro-German militia, the Milice, in Marseille was assassinated in April 1943.

 

On 15 August 1944, two months after the Allied landings in Normandy (Operation Overlord), the Seventh United States Army under General Alexander Patch, with a Free French corps under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, landed on the coast of the Var between St. Raphael and Cavalaire (Operation Dragoon). The American forces moved north toward Manosque, Sisteron and Gap, while the French First Armored Division under General Vigier liberated Brignoles, Salon, Arles, and Avignon. The Germans in Toulon resisted until 27 August, and Marseille was not liberated until 25 August.

 

After the end of the War, Provence faced an enormous task of repair and reconstruction, particularly of the ports and railroads destroyed during the war. As part of this effort, the first modern concrete apartment block, the Unité d'Habitation of Corbusier, was built in Marseille in 1947–52. In 1962, Provence absorbed a large number of French citizens who left Algeria after its independence. Since that time, large North African communities settled in and around the big cities, particularly Marseille and Toulon.

 

In the 1940s, Provence underwent a cultural renewal, with the founding of the Avignon Festival of theatre (1947), the reopening of the Cannes Film Festival (begun in 1939), and many other major events. With the building of new highways, particularly the Paris Marseille autoroute which opened in 1970, Provence became destination for mass tourism from all over Europe. Many Europeans, particularly from Britain, bought summer houses in Provence. The arrival of the TGV high-speed trains shortened the trip from Paris to Marseille to less than four hours.

 

At the end of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21st century, the residents of Provence were struggling to reconcile economic development and population growth with their desire to preserve the landscape and culture that make Provence unique.

 

Extent and geography

 

The Roman Province of Gallia Narbonensis around 58 BC

The original Roman province was called Gallia Transalpina, then Gallia Narbonensis, or simply Provincia Nostra ('Our Province') or Provincia. It extended from the Alps to the Pyrenees and north to the Vaucluse, with its capital in Narbo Martius (present-day Narbonne).

 

Borders

In the 15th century the Conté of Provence was bounded by the Var river on the east, the Rhône river to the west, with the Mediterranean to the south, and a northern border that roughly followed the Durance river.

 

The Comtat Venaissin, a territory which included Avignon, and the principality of Orange were both papal states, ruled by the Pope from the 13th century until the French Revolution. At the end of the 14th century, another piece of Provence along the Italian border, including Nice and the lower Alps, was detached from Provence and attached to the lands of the Duke of Savoy. The lower Alps were re-attached to France after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, but Nice did not return to France until 1860, during the reign of Napoleon III.[27]

 

The administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur was created in 1982. It included Provence, plus the territory of the Comtat Venaissin around Avignon, the eastern portion of the Dauphiné, and the former county of Nice.

 

Rivers

 

The Rhône at Avignon

The Rhône river, on the western border of Provence, is one of the major rivers of France, and has been a highway of commerce and communications between inland France and the Mediterranean for centuries. It rises as the effluent of the Rhône Glacier in Valais, Switzerland, in the Saint-Gotthard massif, at an altitude of 1753 m. It is joined by the river Saône at Lyon. Along the Rhône Valley, it is joined on the right bank by Cévennes rivers Eyrieux, Ardèche, Cèze and Gardon or Gard, on the left Alps bank by rivers Isère, Drôme, Ouvèze and Durance. At Arles, the Rhône divides itself in two arms, forming the Camargue delta, with all branches flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. One arm is called the "Grand Rhône"; the other one is the "Petit Rhône".

  

The Gorge du Verdon.

The Durance river, a tributary of the Rhône, has its source in the Alps near Briançon. It flows south-west through Embrun, Sisteron, Manosque, Cavaillon, and Avignon, where it meets the Rhône.

 

The Verdon River is a tributary of the Durance, rising at an altitude of 2,400 metres in the southwestern Alps near Barcelonette, and flowing southwest for 175 kilometres through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Var (départements) before it reaches the Durance at near Vinon-sur-Verdon, south of Manosque. The Verdon is best known for its canyon, the Verdon Gorge. This limestone canyon, also called the 'Grand Canyon of Verdon', 20 kilometres in length and more than 300 metres deep, is a popular climbing and sight-seeing area.

 

The Var River rises near the Col de la Cayolle (2,326 m/7,631 ft) in the Maritime Alps and flows generally southeast for 120 kilometres (75 mi) into the Mediterranean between Nice and Saint-Laurent-du-Var. Before Nice was returned to France in 1860, the Var marked the eastern border of France along the Mediterranean. The Var is the unique case in France of a river giving a name to a department, but not flowing through that department (due to subsequent adjustments to the department's boundaries).

 

The Camargue

With an area of over 930 km2 (360 mi2), the Camargue is Western Europe's largest river delta (technically an island, as it is wholly surrounded by water). It is a vast plain comprising large brine lagoons or étangs, cut off from the sea by sandbars and encircled by reed-covered marshes which are in turn surrounded by a large cultivated area.

 

The Camargue is home to more than 400 species of birds, the brine ponds providing one of the few European habitats for the greater flamingo. The marshes are also a prime habitat for many species of insects, notably (and notoriously) some of the most ferocious mosquitoes to be found anywhere in France. It is also famous for bulls and the Camargue horse.

 

Mountains

 

Vallon de Mollières, Mercantour National Park.

 

Alpilles landscape near Le Destet.

By considering the Maritime Alps, along the border with Italy, as a part of the cultural Provence, they constitute the highest elevations of the region (the Punta dell'Argentera has an elevation of 3,297 m). They form the border between the French département Alpes-Maritimes and the Italian province of Cuneo. Mercantour National Park is located in the Maritime Alps. On the other hand, if the département Hautes Alpes is also considered as part of the modern Provence, then the alpin Écrins mountains represent the highest elevations of the region with the Barre des Écrins culminating at 4102m.

  

View of Mont Ventoux from Mirabel-aux-Baronnies.

Outside of the Maritime Alps, Mont Ventoux (Occitan: Ventor in classical norm or Ventour in Mistralian norm), at 1,909 metres (6,263 ft), is the highest peak in Provence. It is located some 20 km north-east of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the Drôme département. It is nicknamed the "Giant of Provence", or "The Bald Mountain". Although geologically part of the Alps, is often considered to be separate from them, due to the lack of mountains of a similar height nearby. It stands alone to the west of the Luberon range, and just to the east of the Dentelles de Montmirail, its foothills. The top of the mountain is bare limestone without vegetation or trees. The white limestone on the mountain's barren peak means it appears from a distance to be snow-capped all year round (its snow cover actually lasts from December to April).

 

The Alpilles are a chain of small mountains located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Avignon. Although they are not particularly high – only some 387 metres (1,270 ft) at their highest point – the Alpilles stand out since they rise abruptly from the plain of the Rhône valley. The range is about 25 km long by about 8 to 10 km wide, running in an east–west direction between the Rhône and Durance rivers. The landscape of the Alpilles is one of arid limestone peaks separated by dry valleys.

  

Mont Sainte-Victoire, painted by Paul Cézanne

Montagne Sainte-Victoire is probably the best-known mountain in Provence, thanks to the painter Paul Cézanne, who could see it from his home, and painted it frequently. It is a limestone mountain ridge which extends over 18 kilometres between the départements of Bouches-du-Rhône and Var. Its highest point is the Pic des mouches at 1,011 m.

  

The massif des Maures

The Massif des Maures (Mountains of the Moors) is a small chain of mountains that lies along the coast of the Mediterranean in the Var Department between Hyères et Fréjus. Its highest point is the signal de la Sauvette, 780 metres high. The name is a souvenir of the Moors (Maures in Old French), Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, who settled on the coast of Provence in the 9th and 10th centuries.

 

The massif des Maures extends about sixty kilometres along the coast, and reaches inland about thirty kilometres. On the north it is bordered by a depression which is followed by the routes nationales 97 and 7 and the railroad line between Toulon and Nice. On the south it ends abruptly at the Mediterranean, forming a broken and abrupt coastline.

 

The peninsula of Saint-Tropez is part of the Massif des Maures, along with the peninsula of Giens and the islands offshore of Hyères; Porquerolles, Port-Cros, and île du Levant. Cape Sicié, west of Toulon, as well as the massif of Tanneron, belong geologically to the massif des Maures.

 

The Calanques

 

Calanque de Sugiton

The Calanques, also known as the Massif des Calanques, are a dramatic feature of the Provence coast, a 20-km long series of narrow inlets in the cliffs of the coastline between Marseille on the west and Cassis on the east. The highest peak in the massif is Mont Puget, 565 metres high.

 

The best known calanques of the Massif des Calanques include the Calanque de Sormiou, the Calanque de Morgiou, the Calanque d'En-Vau, the Calanque de Port-Pin and the Calanque de Sugiton.

 

Calanques are remains of ancient river mouths formed mostly during Tertiary. Later, during quaternary glaciations, as glaciers swept by, they further deepened those valleys which would eventually (at the end of the last glaciation) be invaded with sea and become calanques.

  

The Garrigue, typical landscape of Provence

The Cosquer cave is an underwater grotto in the Calanque de Morgiou, 37 metres (121 ft) underwater, that was inhabited during Paleolithic era, when the sea level was much lower than today. Its walls are covered with paintings and engravings dating back to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC, depicting animals such as bison, ibex, and horses, as well as sea mammals such as seals, and at least one bird, the auk.

 

Landscapes

The Garrigue is the typical landscape of Provence; it is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland or chaparral found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast, where the climate is moderate, but where there are annual summer drought conditions.[28] Juniper and stunted holm oaks are the typical trees; aromatic lime-tolerant shrubs such as lavender, sage, rosemary, wild thyme and Artemisia are common garrigue plants. The open landscape of the garrigue is punctuated by dense thickets of Kermes oak.

 

Climate

 

Mistral wind blowing near Marseille. In the center is the Château d'If

 

Sisteron – la Baume rock

 

Forcalquier Cathedral

Most of Provence has a Mediterranean climate, characterised by hot, dry summers, mild winters, little snow, and abundant sunshine. Within Provence there are micro-climates and local variations, ranging from the Alpine climate inland from Nice to the continental climate in the northern Vaucluse. The winds of Provence are an important feature of the climate, particularly the mistral, a cold, dry wind which, especially in the winter, blows down the Rhône Valley to the Bouches-du-Rhône and the Var Departments, and often reaches over one hundred kilometres an hour.

 

Bouches-du-Rhône

Marseille, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, has an average of 59 days of rain a year, though when it does rain the rain is often torrential; the average annual rainfall is 544.4 mm. It snows an average of 2.3 days a year, and the snow rarely remains long. Marseille has an average of 2835.5 hours of sunshine a year. The average minimum temperature in January is 2.3 °C., and the average maximum temperature in July is 29.3 °C. The mistral blows an average of one hundred days a year.[29]

 

The Var

Toulon and the Department of the Var (which includes St. Tropez and Hyères) have a climate slightly warmer, dryer and sunnier than Nice and the Alpes-Maritime, but also less sheltered from the wind. Toulon has an average of 2899.3 hours of sunshine a year, making it the sunniest city in metropolitan France,[30] The average maximum daily temperature in August is 29.1 °C., and the average daily minimum temperature in January is 5.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 665 mm, with the most rain from October to November. Strong winds blow an average of 118 days a year in Toulon, compared with 76 days at Fréjus further east. The strongest Mistral wind recorded in Toulon was 130 kilometres an hour.[31]

 

Alpes-Maritimes

Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes Department are sheltered by the Alps, and are the most protected part of the Mediterranean coast. The winds in this department are usually gentle, blowing from the sea to the land, though sometimes the Mistral blows strongly from the northwest, or, turned by the mountains, from the east. In 1956 a mistral wind from the northwest reached the speed of 180 kilometres an hour at Nice airport. Sometimes in summer the scirocco brings high temperatures and reddish desert sand from Africa. (See Winds of Provence.)

 

Rainfall is infrequent – 63 days a year, but can be torrential, particularly in September, when storms and rain are caused by the difference between the colder air inland and the warm Mediterranean water temperature (20–24 degrees C.). The average annual rainfall in Nice is 767 mm, more than in Paris, but concentrated in fewer days.

 

Snow is extremely rare, usually falling once every ten years. 1956 was a very exceptional year, when 20 centimetres of snow blanketed the coast. In January 1985 the coast between Cannes and Menton received 30 to 40 centimetres of snow. In the mountains, the snow is present from November to May

 

Nice has an annual average of 2694 hours of sunshine. The average maximum daily temperature in Nice in August is 28 °C., and the average minimum daily temperature in January is 6 °C.[32]

 

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

The Department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has a Mediterranean climate in the lower valleys under one thousand metres in altitude and an alpine climate in the high valleys, such as the valleys of the Blanche, the Haut Verdon and the Ubaye, which are over 2500 metres high. The alpine climate in the higher mountains is moderated by the warmer air from the Mediterranean.

 

Haute-Provence has unusually high summer temperatures for its altitude and latitude (44 degrees north). The average summer temperature is 22 to 23 °C. at an altitude of 400 metres, and 18 to 19 °C. at the altitude of 1000 metres; and the winter average temperature is 4 to 5 °C. at 400 metres and 0 C. at 1000 metres. The lower valleys have 50 days of freezing temperatures a year, more in the higher valleys. Sometimes the temperatures in the high valleys can reach −30 °C. Because of this combination of high mountains and Mediterranean air, it is not unusual that the region frequently has some of the lowest winter temperatures and some of the hottest summer temperatures in France.

 

Rainfall in Haute-Provence is infrequent – 60 to 80 days a year – but can be torrential; 650 to 900 mm. a year in the foothills and plateaus of the southwest, and in the valley of the Ubaye; and 900 to 1500 mm. in the mountains. Most rainfall comes in the autumn, in brief and intense storms; from mid-June to mid-August, rain falls during brief but violent thunderstorms. Thunder can be heard 30 to 40 days a year.

 

Snow falls in the mountains from November to May, and in midwinter can be found down to altitude of 1000–1200 metres on the shady side of the mountains and 1300 to 1600 metres on the sunny side. Snowfalls are usually fairly light, and melt rapidly.

 

The Mistral (wind) is a feature of the climate in the western part of the Department, blowing from the north and the northwest, bringing clear and dry weather. The eastern part of the department is more protected from the Mistral. The Marin (wind) comes from the south, bringing warm air, clouds and rain.

 

Haute-Provence is one of the sunniest regions of France, with an average of between 2550 and 2650 hours of sunshine annually in the north of the department, and 2700 to 2800 hours in the southwest. The clear nights and sunny days cause a sharp difference between nighttime and daytime temperatures. Because of the clear nights, the region is home of important observatories, such as the Observatory of Haute-Provence in Saint-Michel-Observatoire near of Forcalquier.[33]

 

The Vaucluse

The Vaucluse is the meeting point of three of the four different climatic zones of France; it has a Mediterranean climate in the south, an alpine climate in the northeast, around the mountains of Vaucluse and the massif of the Baronnies; and a continental climate in the northwest. The close proximity of these three different climates tends to moderate all of them, and the Mediterranean climate usually prevails.

 

Orange in the Vaucluse has 2595 hours of sunshine a year. It rains an average of 80 days a year, for a total of 693.4 mm a year. The maximum average temperature in July is 29.6 °C., and the average minimum temperature in January is 1.3 °C. There are an average of 110 days of strong winds a year.[34]

 

Language and literature

Scientists, scholars and prophets

Pytheas (4th century BCE) was a geographer and mathematician who lived in the Greek colony of Massalia, which became Marseille. He conducted an expedition by sea north around England to Iceland, and was the first to describe the midnight sun and polar regions.

Petrarch (1304–1374) was an Italian poet and scholar, considered the father of humanism and one of the first great figures of Italian literature. He spent much of his early life in Avignon and Carpentras as an official at the Papal court in Avignon, and wrote a famous account of his ascent of Mount Ventoux near Aix-en-Provence.

Nostradamus (1503–1566), a Renaissance apothecary and reputed clairvoyant best known for his alleged prophecies of great world events, was born in Saint-Remy-de-Provence and lived and died in Salon-de-Provence.

Occitan literature

Main articles: Occitan language and Occitan literature

 

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, from a collection of troubadour songs, BNF Richelieu Manuscrits Français 854, Bibliothèque Nationale Française, Paris.

Historically the language spoken in Provence was Provençal, a dialect of the Occitan language, also known as langue d'oc, and closely related to Catalan. There are several regional variations: vivaro-alpin, spoken in the Alps; and the provençal variations of south, including the maritime, the rhoadanien (in the Rhône Valley) and the niçois (in Nice). Niçois is the archaic form of provençal closest to the original language of the troubadours, and is sometimes to said to be literary language of its own.[35]

 

Provençal was widely spoken in Provence until the beginning of the 20th century, when the French government launched an intensive and largely successful effort to replace regional languages with French. Today Provençal is taught in schools and universities in the region, but is spoken regularly by a small number of people, probably less than five hundred thousand, mostly elderly.

 

Writers and poets in the Occitan language

 

"Folquet de Marselha" in a 13th-century chansonnier. Depicted in his episcopal robes

The golden age of Provençal literature, more correctly called Occitan literature, was the 11th century and the 12th century, when the troubadours broke away from classical Latin literature and composed romances and love songs in their own vernacular language. Among the most famous troubadours was Folquet de Marselha, whose love songs became famous all over Europe, and who was praised by Dante in his Divine Comedy. In his later years, Folquet gave up poetry to become the Abbot of Le Thoronet Abbey, and then Bishop of Toulouse, where he fiercely persecuted the Cathars.

 

In the middle of the 19th century, there was a literary movement to revive the language, called the Félibrige, led by the poet Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914), who shared the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1904.

 

Provençal writers and poets who wrote in Occitan include:

 

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (1180–1207)

Louis Bellaud (1543–1588)

Théodore Aubanel (1829–1886)

Joseph d'Arbaud (1874–1950)

Robert Lafont (1923–2009)

French authors

 

Alphonse Daudet

 

Colette

Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897) was the best-known French writer from Provence in the 19th century, though he lived mostly in Paris and Champrosay. He was best known for his Lettres de mon moulin (eng: Letters from my Mill) (1869) and the Tartarin de Tarascon trilogy (1872, 1885, 1890). His story L'Arlésienne (1872) was made into a three-act play with music by Bizet.[36]

Marcel Pagnol (1895–1970), born in Aubagne, is known both as a filmmaker and for his stories of his childhood, Le Château de la Mere, La Gloire de mon Pere, and Le Temps des secrets. He was the first filmmaker to become a member of the Académie française in 1946.

Colette (Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette) (1873–1954), although she was not from Provence, became particularly attached to Saint-Tropez. After World War II, she headed a committee which saw that the village, badly damaged by the war, was restored to its original beauty and character

Jean Giono (1895–1970), born in Manosque, wrote about peasant life in Provence, inspired by his imagination and by his vision of Ancient Greece.

Paul Arène (1843–1896), born in Sisteron, wrote about life and the countryside around his home town.

Emigrés, exiles, and expatriates

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the climate and lifestyle of Provence attracted writers almost as much as it attracted painters. It was particularly popular among British, American and Russian writers in the 1920s and 1930s.

 

Edith Wharton (1862–1937), bought Castel Sainte-Claire in 1927, on the site of a former convent in the hills above Hyères, where she lived during the winters and springs until her death in 1937.

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) and his wife Zelda first visited the Riviera in 1924, stopping at Hyères, Cannes and Monte Carlo, eventually staying at St. Raphaël, where he wrote much of The Great Gatsby and began Tender is the Night.

Ivan Bunin (1870–1953), the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, went to France after the Russian Revolution, set several of his short stories on the Côte d'Azur, and had a house in Grasse.

Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) bought a house, the Villa Mauresque, in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in 1928, and, except for the years of World War II, spent much of his time there until his death.

Other English-speaking writers who live in or have written about Provence include:

 

Peter Mayle

Carol Drinkwater

John Lanchester

Willa Cather

Charles Spurgeon (who spent long periods in Menton)

Katherine Mansfield

Lawrence Durrell

Music

Music written about Provence includes:

 

The saxophone concerto Tableaux de Provence (Pictures of Provence) composed by Paule Maurice.

The opera Mireille by Charles Gounod after Frédéric Mistral's poem Mireio.

Georges Bizet, 'L'Arlésienne' incidental music to play by Alphonse Daudet.

Darius Milhaud, 'Suite Provençale'

Two song settings of Vladimir Nabokov's poem "Provence" in Russian and English versions by composers Ivan Barbotin and James DeMars on the 2011 contemporary classical album Troika.[37]

The piece "Suite Provencale", written for symphonic band by Jan Van der Roost.

Painters

 

The 14th-century ceiling of the cloister of Fréjus Cathedral is decorated with paintings of animals, people and mythical creatures

 

Triptych of the Burning Bush, by Nicolas Froment, in Aix Cathedral (15th century)

Artists have been painting in Provence since prehistoric times; paintings of bisons, seals, auks and horses dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC were found in the Cosquer Cave near Marseille.[38]

 

The 14th-century wooden ceiling of the cloister of Fréjus Cathedral has a remarkable series of paintings of biblical scenes, fantastic animals, and scenes from daily life, painted between 1350 and 1360. They include paintings of a fallen angel with the wings of a bat, a demon with the tail of a serpent, angels playing instruments, a tiger, an elephant, an ostrich, domestic and wild animals, a mermaid, a dragon, a centaur, a butcher, a knight, and a juggler.[39]

 

Nicolas Froment (1435–1486) was the most important painter of Provence during the Renaissance, best known for his triptych of the Burning Bush (c. 1476), commissioned by King René I of Naples. The painting shows a combination of Moses, the Burning Bush, and the Virgin Mary "who gave birth but remained a virgin", just as the bush of Moses "-burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed". This is the explication according to a plaque in the cathedral. A more likely reason for the juxtaposition is that in 1400 a shepherd, or shepherds, discovered a miraculous statue of the Virgin and Child inside another burning bush (thorn bush specifically), in the village of L'Epine in the present day department of La Marne. The site and statue were later visited by the "Bon Roi René". The wings of the triptych show King René with Mary Magdalene, St. Anthony and St. Maurice on one side, and Queen Jeanne de Laval, with Saint Catherine, John the Evangelist, and Saint Nicholas on the other.[40]

 

Louis Bréa (1450–1523) was a 15th-century painter, born in Nice, whose work is found in churches from Genoa to Antibes. His Retable of Saint-Nicholas (1500) is found in Monaco, and his Retable de Notre-Dame-de-Rosaire (1515) is found in Antibes.

 

Pierre Paul Puget (1620–1694), born in Marseille, was a painter of portraits and religious scenes, but was better known for his sculptures, found in Toulon Cathedral, outside the city hall of Toulon, and in the Louvre. There is a mountain named for him near Marseille, and a square in Toulon.

  

Paul Cézanne, L'Estaque, 1883–1885

 

Vincent van Gogh, Cafe Terrace at Night, September 1888

 

Paul Signac, The Port of Saint-Tropez, oil on canvas, 1901

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many of the most famous painters in the world converged on Provence, drawn by the climate and the clarity of the light. The special quality of the light is partly a result of the Mistral wind, which removes dust from the atmosphere, greatly increasing visibility.

 

Adolphe Monticelli (1824–1886) was born in Marseille, moved to Paris in 1846 and returned to Marseille in 1870. His work influenced Vincent van Gogh who greatly admired him.[41]

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) was born in Aix-en-Provence, and lived and worked there most of his life. The local landscapes, particularly Montagne Sainte-Victoire, featured often in his work. He also painted frequently at L'Estaque.

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) liv

76 heures d’affûts/approches plus tard depuis mes dernières images fin mai, et plus de trois semaines d’arrêt total de photo, je retrouve mon compère préféré à grandes moustaches pour mon plus grand plaisir. Étant présent sur place en affût depuis 5h30 du matin avec une douce lumière, le petit félin n’a pas trouvé la meilleure idée que de sortir par une lumière dure limitant les photos d’ambiance comme j’ai pu vous présenter précédemment sur ma galerie. Une proximité très intéressante malgré tout, permettant d’oublier la luminosité assez médiocre, en se plongeant encore et toujours dans ses magnifiques yeux émeraude.

Pushing the limits a bit - ISO 1600, f/2.8 (!)

Kuwait City (Arabic: مدينة الكويت, transliteration: Madīnat al-Kūwait), is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. It has an estimated population of 63,600 (2006 estimate) within city limits and 2.38 million in the metropolitan area. Located at the heart of the country on the shore of the Persian Gulf, and containing Kuwait's parliament (Majlis Al-Umma), most governmental offices, the headquarters of most Kuwaiti corporations and banks, it is the indisputable political, cultural and economic center of the emirate.

 

The Liberation Tower (2nd highest building on the right of the photo) is the highest structure in Kuwait. Construction of the tower commenced before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. It was meant to be called The Kuwait Telecommunications Tower. When the invasion took place, construction, which was almost half-way complete, was put on hold. However, the structure received no damage, and construction resumed after Saddam Hussein's forces were expelled on February 27, 1991. Upon completion in 1993, the tower was renamed the Liberation Tower, symbolizing Kuwait's liberation from Iraq. The tower contains a revolving restaurant and observation platform (in the first disc-shaped pod; now closed to the public for security reasons), and also houses radio and other telecommunications offices. The structure stands at 372 meters high (1,220 ft) at its pinnacle. The roof of the second pod on the tower is 308 meters high (1,010 ft). It is similar to the CN Tower because both contain a revolving restaurant, observation platform, telecommunications equipment and the same look.

 

As in all Middle East, the city skyline is constantly changing also in Kuwait City . The tower on the very right is a new addition to the city scape. Weather across Middle East has changed in last few days and Kuwait is experiencing humidity over 80% from its usual 10%. Change of weather has brought some clouds to Kuwaiti sky, which beautifully enhance colors in the evening sky.

 

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM

Focal Length: 30mm

Aperture: f/22.0

Shutter Speed : 6 seconds

ISO: 50

Exposure: Manual

1999 Alfa Romeo 146 ti.

 

1970cc.

Scrapped (last MoT test expired in December 2019).

It failed a test in January 2020 -

 

Exhaust hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits (8.2.1.2 (b)) - Major

Exhaust carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits (8.2.1.2 (b)) - Major

Exhaust lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (8.2.1.2 (c)) - Major

Offside track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.1.3 (b) (i)) - Major

Nearside seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced floor (7.1.1 (a) (i)) - Major

Offside seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced floor (7.1.1 (a) (i)) - Major

Offside front inner prop shaft joint constant velocity boot no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.1.7 (g) (ii)) - Major

14 febbraio ? 365 giorni datati 14 febbraio , 8 marzo , 19 marzo , 9 maggio ecc ecc

 

.............con grande gioia degli speculatori. San Valentino è diventata una colossale sagra del commercio”. Ma pare che sia in buona compagnia, con altre ricorrenze, mamma, papà, donna: “ sì, ogni circostanza è buona per celebrare un giorno. Oggi lo giustifico di più perché i commercianti hanno bisogno di vendere, ma in effetti è la vittoria del banale, del pessimo gusto, dell’orribile”. In Messico esiste anche la festa del bambino: “ guardi,io quella la capisco di più ed anche l’ apprezzo. Penso che vada introdotta da noi, primo perché di bambini se ne fanno pochi, poi perché bisogna ricordare con vigore i diritti dei bimbi spesso maltrattati o calpestati. No, i Messicani hanno ragione”.

 

Bruno Volpe

 

La festa degli innamorati, la celebrazione dell’amore, dei cuoricini, dei cioccolatini, del romanticismo senza limitismo.

Una festa palesemente creata in laboratorio, ( come tante altre ) per dare una dose di ricostituente a un indotto che, altrimenti, vivrebbe di compleanni, onomastici e anniversari. Tutte occasioni troppo spalmate e differite tra loro.

Meglio inventare una festività che dia una bella botta al mercato dei regalini love-oriented… e quindi eccoci servito San Valentino.

( VL )

  

Santarcangelo ( rimini ) 7 . 11 . 2009

postata il 12 . 2 . 2010 alle ore 11.11.11

 

Io la consiglio in_________View large___________bella eh ?

 

Comunque la pensiate commentate la foto ( nessun problema se non vi fermate non sentitevi obbligati )

1996 Alfa Romeo 146 ti. 1970cc. Supplied by Follett of Mayfair.

 

1999 Alfa Romeo 146 ti. 1970cc. Last MoT test expired in December 2019 (SORN). It failed a test in January 2020 -

 

Exhaust hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits (8.2.1.2 (b)) - Major

Exhaust carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits (8.2.1.2 (b)) - Major

Exhaust lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (8.2.1.2 (c)) - Major

Offside track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.1.3 (b) (i)) - Major

Nearside seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced floor (7.1.1 (a) (i)) - Major

Offside seat belt anchorage prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced floor (7.1.1 (a) (i)) - Major

Offside front inner prop shaft joint constant velocity boot no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.1.7 (g) (ii)) - Major

When the photographer approaches the small Lego Minifig, facial expressions are often priceless and very photogenic. Here I was teasing a small A-Wing pilot almost to the limit. I'm pretty sure that I do not find this guy to the next photoshoot when I need him again.

 

I have completely forgot to upload these. I'm sorry. It will (not) happen again. These are from the same session as the alternative version of attack of the 5.8 ft photographer. To some extent, these resembles to me space or ultrasound of the womb, which is kinda bizarre. I hope you consider the first…

Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.

 

The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% hotel tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.

 

Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

 

The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be founded was inhabited for more than two thousand years by the Tequesta Indians. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta, as the Europeans unwittingly brought with them diseases, such as smallpox, to which the native populations possessed no resistance. For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with their Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly to their decline over the next two centuries. By 1763, there were only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Although control of the area changed between Spain, United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century.

 

The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement" before the 20th century. In the 1830s there were approximately 70 settlers living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West.

 

The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New River, and the Florida East Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in 1896, that any organized development began. The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915 was designated the county seat of newly formed Broward County.

  

Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic dislocation. In July 1935, an African-American man named Rubin Stacy was accused of robbing a white woman at knife point. He was arrested and being transported to a Miami jail when police were run off the road by a mob. A group of 100 white men proceeded to hang Stacy from a tree near the scene of his alleged robbery. His body was riddled with some twenty bullets. The murder was subsequently used by the press in Nazi Germany to discredit US critiques of its own persecution of Jews, Communists, and Catholics.

 

When World War II began, Fort Lauderdale became a major US base, with a Naval Air Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control operators. A Coast Guard base at Port Everglades was also established.

 

On July 4, 1961 African Americans started a series of protests, wade-ins, at beaches that were off-limits to them, to protest "the failure of the county to build a road to the Negro beach". On July 11, 1962 a verdict by Ted Cabot went against the city's policy of racial segregation of public beaches.

Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major yachting center, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale,_Florida

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

 

Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.

 

The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% hotel tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.

 

Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

 

The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be founded was inhabited for more than two thousand years by the Tequesta Indians. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta, as the Europeans unwittingly brought with them diseases, such as smallpox, to which the native populations possessed no resistance. For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with their Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly to their decline over the next two centuries. By 1763, there were only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Although control of the area changed between Spain, United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century.

 

The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement" before the 20th century. In the 1830s there were approximately 70 settlers living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West.

 

The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New River, and the Florida East Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in 1896, that any organized development began. The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915 was designated the county seat of newly formed Broward County.

  

Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic dislocation. In July 1935, an African-American man named Rubin Stacy was accused of robbing a white woman at knife point. He was arrested and being transported to a Miami jail when police were run off the road by a mob. A group of 100 white men proceeded to hang Stacy from a tree near the scene of his alleged robbery. His body was riddled with some twenty bullets. The murder was subsequently used by the press in Nazi Germany to discredit US critiques of its own persecution of Jews, Communists, and Catholics.

 

When World War II began, Fort Lauderdale became a major US base, with a Naval Air Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control operators. A Coast Guard base at Port Everglades was also established.

 

On July 4, 1961 African Americans started a series of protests, wade-ins, at beaches that were off-limits to them, to protest "the failure of the county to build a road to the Negro beach". On July 11, 1962 a verdict by Ted Cabot went against the city's policy of racial segregation of public beaches.

Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major yachting center, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale,_Florida

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

 

Fort Lauderdale /ˌfɔərt ˈlɔːdərdeɪl/ (frequently abbreviated as Ft. Lauderdale) is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.

 

The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% hotel tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.

 

Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

 

The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be founded was inhabited for more than two thousand years by the Tequesta Indians. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta, as the Europeans unwittingly brought with them diseases, such as smallpox, to which the native populations possessed no resistance. For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with their Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly to their decline over the next two centuries. By 1763, there were only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Although control of the area changed between Spain, United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century.

 

The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement" before the 20th century. In the 1830s there were approximately 70 settlers living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West.

 

The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New River, and the Florida East Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in 1896, that any organized development began. The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915 was designated the county seat of newly formed Broward County.

  

Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic dislocation. In July 1935, an African-American man named Rubin Stacy was accused of robbing a white woman at knife point. He was arrested and being transported to a Miami jail when police were run off the road by a mob. A group of 100 white men proceeded to hang Stacy from a tree near the scene of his alleged robbery. His body was riddled with some twenty bullets. The murder was subsequently used by the press in Nazi Germany to discredit US critiques of its own persecution of Jews, Communists, and Catholics.

 

When World War II began, Fort Lauderdale became a major US base, with a Naval Air Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control operators. A Coast Guard base at Port Everglades was also established.

 

On July 4, 1961 African Americans started a series of protests, wade-ins, at beaches that were off-limits to them, to protest "the failure of the county to build a road to the Negro beach". On July 11, 1962 a verdict by Ted Cabot went against the city's policy of racial segregation of public beaches.

Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major yachting center, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale,_Florida

Ethiopia (Abisinia), África pura

 

© All rights reserved. © Copyright.

Do not use my photography withaut my permision.

 

Viaje de 8 días por Ethiopia. Empezamos por el Norte, el desierto, la Depresión de Danakil, el lugar más caluroso del planeta, dominado por la etnia Afar, para posteriormente bajar al Sur, la sabana, verde, el Valle del Rio Omo, visitando diferentes etnias: Dorze, Konso, Dassanech y Hamer. Extenuante pero corto, muy corto.

 

Ethiopia (Abisinia, el Reino de Saba en la Biblia) es un lugar inhóspito y no preparado para el turismo y debes contar con una agencia que organice tu aventura (yo fui con Karibu, www.kaett.com). Ethiopia limita con países en conflicto y en los desplazamientos por el Norte, el desierto, Danakil, estarás acompañado por policía o milicianos armados, además de guía, cocinero, pinche y conductores.

 

Primer día, llegamos mi mujer y yo, a primeros de Mayo, época no turística debido al calor, a Addis Ababa, con Ethiopian Airlines, para enlazar con un vuelo regional a Makele. En Makele montamos en 4x4 para desplazarnos a Dallol, zona desértica con temperaturas de noche 26 y día 45ºC. Dormimos de acampada, al aire libre sobre camastros, junto con todos nuestros acompañantes, el viento y millones de estrellas. El calor, agobiante, Mayo no es el mejor mes para visitar Danakil. Antes de dormir vislumbramos las caravanas de camellos trasportando la sal depositada en el desierto al secarse un mar interior miles de años atrás. También visitamos las salinas infinitas, disfrutamos de una puesta de Sol con reflejos, única.

 

El segundo día visitamos la Puerta del Infierno, una zona donde la tierra expulsa compuestos de azufre continuamente y donde se han generado unos cráteres freáticos únicos en el mundo, de una extraordinaria belleza y colorido. Andábamos sobre cristales de azufre y óxidos metálicos que crujían bajo nuestros pies. Al terminar la jornada las zapatillas habían pasado a mejor vida. Siempre acompañados por un Kalashnikova AK 47. Llegar hasta allí en un 4x4 sobre las salinas infinitas, con 20 cm de agua sobre la superficie y a 10 km/h durante 2 o 3 hrs, sin llegar nunca, sin ver fondo bajo las ruedas, es uno de los muchos gratos recuerdos que nos ha proporcionado esta superaventura. Más tarde visitamos a los Afar durante su trabajo diario, cortar bloques de sal de 30x40x8 cm que se cargarán sobre los camellos para transportarlos en caravanas infinitas. Aquí todo es infinito. Trabajan bajo un Sol abrasador, pero aunque el Gobierno les ofrece mecanizar la explotación, los Afar no lo permiten, temen perder su forma de vida. Ya no sé dónde dormimos, quizás en Dodhom, donde mataron un cabrito para cenar.

 

El tercer día pretendíamos subir por la noche al Erta Ale, volcán activo con una caldera de magma en ebullición. Al llegar al campo base para gestionar permisos y más y más acompañantes, las temperaturas habían subido a 52ºC. Esta es la zona más caliente de la Tierra y el espesor de la corteza terrestre es el más estrecho de todos los continentes. De hecho esta es la zona del Rift, donde el cuerno de África se escindirá del continente en algunos miles de años. Estamos 110m por debajo del nivel del mar. Mi mujer sufrió un pequeño golpe de calor mientras tratábamos de comer algo a 52ºC y por prudencia descartamos subir al Arte Ale, lo dejamos, o mejor dicho, lo dejaré para un próximo viaje. Se suben 10Km andando por la noche durante unas 4 horas y se duerme en la caldera, tomando fotos del magma durante la noche, para bajar a primera hora de la mañana, antes de que el Sol abrase.. Así las cosas, decidimos volver a Makele (necesitábamos hotel y descanso) pero de camino visitamos un pequeño lago encantador, quizás el lago Bakili, junto a las salinas, dado que el cambio de planes no nos permitiría ya visitar el Lago Afdera de aguas color esmeralda.

 

El cuarto día, improvisando, desde Makele hicimos una visita a una de las miles iglesias en Ethiopia excavadas en la roca, donde el prior nos abrió y atendió con sumo cariño, y posteriormente visitamos la Misión del Padre Ángel, amigo Vasco que realiza una labor extraordinaria en la zona. El Padre Ángel (www. Angelolaran.com) aparenta muchos más años de los que tiene, eso es debido sin duda a una larga vida de sufrimiento. Nos invitó a comer en la misión pero tuvimos que descartarlo para volver a Makele y tomar vuelo a Addis Ababa, también queda pendiente para un próximo viaje. A la vuelta enviamos un donativo a la Misión, ese país y Ángel necesitan de toda nuestra ayuda.

 

Quinto día, desde Addis Ababa tomamos un 4x4 para desplazarnos hacia el Sur, rico en Etnias, poblados, tribus, que nos iban a enamorar. Ni que decir tiene que a estas alturas ya me había convertido en un maestro de la fotografía en desplazamiento, a 80 Km/h en 4x4 se obtienen, a 1/2000s, unas fotografías impagables, las carreteras están llenas de vida y de color. Por la tarde llegamos a Arba Minch, donde habitan los Dorze, a una cota de 3.200m , en sus casas de bambú. Las chozas, de unos 40m2 pueden incluso transportarse con ayuda de 60 personas cuando las termitas se comen la base de sus troncos. Tienen la apariencia de la cabeza de un elefante. Esa noche dormimos en el Paradise Lodge, recomendable, en una cabaña con vistas a los lagos Abaya y Chamo. Estábamos muertos, no hice fotos de la vía láctea y no me lo perdonaré nunca, pero conseguí unos amaneceres únicos.

 

Sexto día, de nuevo en 4x4 y 1/2000s. Nos desplazamos a las tierras altas donde habita la Etnia Konso, en el rio Segen. Los Konso son la tribu más organizada y han sido reconocidos como Patrimonio de la Humanidad por Unesco. Un ejemplo, la piedra de la verdad, donde ante el Consejo del Pueblo ningún vecino se atrevería a mentir influenciado por un temor ancestral a sufrir los peores males como consecuencia de mentir mientras se está de pie sobre esa piedra. La visita a su poblado es indescriptible, una sociedad muy avanzada con un nivel jerárquico bien asumido y una socialización envidiable. Después, desplazamiento a la zona de Turmi, donde empezamos a cruzarnos con los Hamer, pintados con barro en el pelo y acompañados de collares de conchas. Dormimos en el Busca Lodge, con generador eléctrico que arranca de 6 a 9, eso sí, por la mañana y por la noche.

 

Séptimo día, cruzando el rio Omo en piragua (tronco de árbol vaciado) para visitar a los nómadas Dassanech. ¡Qué encanto!. Nos recibieron con sus bailes y pasamos la mañana de su mano, sí, nos llevaban de la mano mientras nos enseñaban su poblado. Sus poblados se caracterizan por el uso de chapa de lata para cubrir sus chozas, ese material que les han traído los Dioses les permite que la vida de su choza se alargue por varios años, además de mantenerlas secas, maravillas de la tecnología. Unos globos y caramelos son el regalo más apreciado por los niños. Por la tarde visita al mercado de Turmi, donde los Hamer y otras tribus se dan cita para intercambiar sus productos (grano, ganado, madera trabajada,...). Más tarde, casi a la puesta de Sol visitamos un poblado Hamer. De chozas con vallado para los animales. Igual de encantadores que los Dassenech, solo nos atendieron los niños, los adultos vienen andando desde el mercado de Turmi. Los niños te piden 5 Birs (0.20€) por cada foto que les haces (íbamos armados con fajos de billetes de 5, claro), el capitalismo está llegando para quedarse. Sonrisas y bromas continuamente, inolvidable. De nuevo al hotel con acotado horario para la ducha.

 

Octavo día, 4x4 a Arba Minch y vuelo regional a Addis Ababa, con shopping y cena étnica para tomar vuelo de nuevo para Madrid (Ida y vuelta nocturna).

 

Algún bajón de tensión, golpes de calor, catarros por el A/A del 4x4, diarrea (posiblemente el contacto con los billetes viejos contaminados con todo tipo de gérmenes), pero desde ya, contando ansioso los días que faltan para volver de nuevo. Bendita África pura.

 

380 imágenes para enmarcar y el 24-120mm muerto, no enfoca, directamente a Nikon...

 

El conjunto de los lagos de Covadonga (llamados Llagos de Cuadonga o Llagos d'Enol en asturiano) está formado por dos pequeños lagos, el Enol y el Ercina de origen glacial situados en la parte asturiana del Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa, en el macizo occidental de dicha cadena montañosa. Existe un tercer lago, el Bricial, que sólo tiene agua durante el deshielo, pero también pertenece al conjunto. En Asturias son conocidos, simplemente, como Los Lagos.

 

Se sitúan en el concejo de Cangas de Onís y se accede a ellos a través de una carretera de 14 km que nace en el Real Sitio de Covadonga para llegar en primer lugar al lago Enol. Su frecuente uso desde 1983 como final de etapa en la Vuelta ciclista a España ha popularizado internacionalmente el paraje.

 

La afluencia masiva de turistas, sobre todo aficionados al ciclismo, ha obligado a limitar el desarrollo de pruebas ciclistas en el entorno de Los Lagos. No obstante, la zona cuenta con una excelente infraestructura turística.

 

En las proximidades del lago Ercina, en Buferrera, hasta 1979 se explotaron minas de hierro, manganeso y mercurio.

 

El lago Enol es uno de los dos lagos que conforman el conjunto conocido como Lagos de Covadonga, en Asturias, España. Se trata del más grande de los dos, quedando situado a unos 10 kilómetros de Covadonga y a unos 25 de Cangas de Onís.

 

Se encuentra situado a unos 1.070 metros de altitud, en el macizo occidental o del Cornión (Picos de Europa), teniendo un calado máximo de unos 25 metros, con un máximo de longitud de 750 metros y una anchura de unos 400 metros.

 

Es un lago cuya formación es debida a la retirada de un frente glaciar, quedando la morrena frontal como cerrojo.

 

En el lago se encuentra sumergida una imagen de la virgen de Covadonga, que cada 8 de septiembre es elevada para sacarla en procesión.

 

Localización

 

Desde Cangas de Onís, y tomando la carretera AS-262 se llega, después de 10 km, al Santuario de Covadonga, que es donde realmente comienza la subida, a través de la CO-4.

Características

 

Desde el Santuario, la subida consta de 14 km, en los que se salva un desnivel de 962 m, lo que supone una pendiente media del 6,87 %. El tramo más duro se encuentra entre los km 7 y 9, en las zonas conocidas como La Huesera (una recta de 800 m con rampas de entre el 12 y el 15 %) y el Mirador de la Reina, con rampas que alcanzan el 14 y el 15% de desnivel.3

Historia

 

Lagos de Covadonga se ascendió por primera vez en la historia de la Vuelta ciclista a España en la edición de 1983, el 2 de mayo. En una etapa procedente de Aguilar de Campoo y en un día de lluvia y viento, el vencedor en su cima fue Marino Lejarreta, y el posterior vencedor de la carrera, Bernard Hinault, llegó a comparar este puerto con el mítico Alpe d'Huez, lo que le empezó a dar fama mundial. En los días previos a la carrera, debido a que estos lagos son también conocidos como Los lagos de Enol, los periodistas deportivos hicieron un juego de palabras ante la batalla que se avecinaba y los llamaron Los lagos de Hinault, nombre con el que serían conocidos desde entonces en el mundo ciclista. En 17 ocasiones la Vuelta ha tenido final de etapa en Los Lagos.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_de_Covadonga

 

The Lakes of Covadonga (el. 1134 m.) are of two glacial lakes located on the region of Asturias, Spain. These lakes, often also called Lakes of Enol or simply Los Lagos, are Lake Enol and Lake Ercina located in the Picos de Europa range and they are the original center of the Picos de Europa National Park, created in 1918.

Vuelta a España

 

The road ascending from Covadonga to the lakes is a popular climb in professional road bicycle racing, having been used by Vuelta a España many times in the last 25 years.

 

Lagos de Covadonga is the most important climb in the modern history of the Vuelta. The road that leads to the lakes starts at Covadonga and is 12.6 kilometres long at an average gradient of 7.3% (height gain: 1056 m).[1] The most demanding section is La Huesera, 7 kilometres from the top of the climb, with an average gradient of 15% during 800 meters. It was featured for the first time in 1983 with the victory of Marino Lejarreta.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakes_of_Covadonga

"An Eye Pressed to Heaven's Window"—The Milky Way under Sky's the Limit Observatory in 29 Palms, near Joshua Tree National Park. I perched my camera on a tripod, opened the shutter for a long time, and then walked around lighting the observatory with a handheld LED light. Photos, books, workshops: www.kenleephotography.com (Plate 5765) Pentax K-1/15-30mm f/2.8 lens. September 2025. #kenlee #nightphotography #lightpainting #LightPaintingPhotography #YourShotPhotographer #mylensrental #astrophotography #astrophoto #nightsky #nightscaper #LongExposure #humanmade #ShootPentax #Pentax #PentaxK1 #Nikon

Lever de soleil depuis les vignes entre Grisolles et Fronton ( Limite Tarn et Garonne - Haute-Garonne au matin du 8 Mai 2015

JARDIN DEL PRINCIPE DEL PALACIO REAL DE ARANJUEZ

 

Este jardín, situado entre el río Tajo y la Calle de la Reina, es el más extenso de todos los de Aranjuez, con un perímetro de 7 km y una extensión de 150 hectáreas, de las cuales sólo son visitables aproximadamente la mitad. En la parte norte, que es la que da al río, está protegido por un dique de piedra llamado Malecón de Solera, mientras que en su cara sur, lo limita una larga verja sobre un zócalo de piedra de Colmenar y pilares de ladrillos, ornamentados por artísticas piedras. El jardín está formado por gran variedad de especies de árboles diferentes, como: plátanos, ahuehuetes, pacanos, caquis de Virginia, cipreses, liquidámbares, pinos, castaños de indias, tilos, fresnos, robles, cafeteros, magnolios, arces, carpes, árboles del amor, de Júpiter,...

Origen

Tiene su origen en la llamada Huerta Grande de Don Gonzalo y en un pequeño jardín mandado crear por Fernando VI en la zona del embarcadero sobre el río. El proyecto del nuevo jardín fue trazado en 1763 por Pablo Boutelou (nieto de Esteban Boutelou I).1 No es hasta el 3 de octubre de 1772 que el futuro Carlos IV, que en aquel momento ostentaba el título de Príncipe de Asturias, manda su construcción. Se finalizaron los trabajos en 1804.

Entrada

La entrada principal de este jardín, situada en la Calle de la Reina, justo detrás del Palacio de Godoy, se realiza a través de una puerta de hierro, obra de Juan de Villanueva, con dos basamentos de piedra, con cuatro columnas cada uno y coronadas por cornisas de orden jónico. En lo alto, están rematadas por geniecillos de piedra con flores, aunque anteriormente estaban adornadas por las esculturas de Palas y Pomona, que ya estuvieron en la Fuente de Hércules e Hidra del Jardín de la Isla y que hoy están en el Museo del Prado.

Embarcadero

Posee un embarcadero fortificado (mandado crear por Carlos IV), muy usado durante las estancias de los Reyes en Aranjuez, en las que organizaban paseos por el Tajo a bordo de lujosas falúas. Dichas embarcaciones se conservan todavía en el Museo de Falúas Reales o Casa de Marinos, que se encuentra al lado. También encontramos en la zona un castillo de piedra, de construcción inacabada, y que fue usado como depósito de leña. Actualmente alberga un restaurante.

Hay una sección del jardín llamada Anglochina, en la que encontramos las hermosas fuentes de Narciso y de los Cisnes.

Fuente de Narciso

La primera, obra de Joaquín Dumandre, muestra al hermoso Narciso junto a su perro, asomándose a un hermoso tazón sobre el que se encuentra en lo alto de un pilar, a punto de caer en él. Sujetan el tazón cuatro robustos Hércules. Al resultar gravemente dañada en la Guerra de la Independencia Española, fue reconstruida por Esteban de Ágreda en 1827 según el diseño de Isidro González Velázquez.

Fuente de los Cisnes

La Fuente de los Cisnes es también obra de Joaquín Dumandre, inspirada en otra de La Granja. Presenta un peñasco con dos figuras de niños de mármol que agarraban un cisne, por cuyo pico salía el agua. Dañada en la Guerra de la Independencia Española. Sólo se conservaba el pilón y el peñasco central, pero en 2009 se llevó a cabo la restauración de las figuras de los niños y el cisne.

Fuente de Apolo

Más allá, la Fuente de Apolo, en mármol de Carrara, muestra al dios de la belleza en lo alto de un pedestal. Mandada crear por Carlos IV, no fue terminada hasta el reinado de su hijo Fernando VII, con diseño de Isidro González Velázquez. Detrás, con forma semicircular, seis columnas coronadas con otros tantos patos lo escoltan. A ambos lados, encontramos dos columnas cuadradas, con dos tazones en lo alto. La estatua de Apolo fue comprada por Felipe V y situada en La Granja. Carlos IV la mandó traer a Aranjuez. Actualmente la estatua presente en el Jardín del Príncipe es una reproducción, pues la original fue devuelta en 2000 a La Granja.

 

Estanque de los Chinescos

 

El Estanque de los Chinescos, lago artificial bordeado por una pequeña baranda, con tres islas, sobre las cuales encontramos un templete o kiosco de estilo griego, otro de tipo chinesco y un mausoleo de granito egipcio. El pabellón griego es obra de Juan de Villanueva, con una serie de ocho columnas de orden jónico que sujetan el techo, coronado por una piña de bronce pintada de color mármol (aunque originalmente poseía un dragón dorado). Entre cada columna existieron unos vasos canopos egipcios, ahora desaparecidos. Por otro lado, el templete chinesco original resultó gravemente dañado en la Guerra de la Independencia Española y reconstruido por Fernando VII más bien como un kiosco de estilo turco, con vivos colores verde, rojo y dorado.

 

Montaña Rusa

 

Muy cerca, se construyó una montaña artificial, la llamada Montaña Rusa, aunque su verdadero nombre es Montaña Suiza, coronada por un templete de madera, desde las cuales se pueden contemplar hermosas vistas de todo el jardín.

 

Casa del Labrador

 

Finalmente, su extremo más oriental se encuentra la Casa del Labrador, edificación mandada construir por Carlos IV y de gran riqueza por su colección de estatuas y relojes.

En este jardín viven en libertad faisanes y pavos reales, así como ardillas y otros animales similares.

  

PALACIO REAL DE ARANJUEZ

 

Los antecedentes del primer acto, antes de que aparezca el Rey Felipe II como protagonista, nos advierten de la pertenencia de estas tierras a la militar Orden de Santiago, cuya propiedad parece arrancar de los días mismos de la Reconquista. Pero los datos más certeros se refieren al otoño de la Edad Media, entre 1387 y 1409, cuando la Orden construyó aquí su Casa Maestral, justo en el solar del actual Palacio, dándole ya un uso de recreo. Del mismo modo, datan de entonces las primeras obras hidráulicas sobre el Tajo para asegurar el riego a las tierras de labor, no descartándose la idea de la existencia de algún jardín en las inmediaciones de la Casa-Palacio, con lo cual tendríamos el esquema del futuro Aranjuez real. Este hecho es tan fuerte, en la historia física de Aranjuez como Real Sitio, que la Casa Maestral estuvo en pie y comunicada con la parte del Palacio hecha por Felipe II hasta su demolición en el siglo XVIII, una vez que Felipe V decidió continuar las obras para terminar el Palacio.

En grandes líneas, el episodio siguiente correspondería al reinado de los Reyes Católicos, cuando la política de sujeción de las órdenes militares convierte a Fernando el Católico en administrador vitalicio de las mismas, entre ellas la de Santiago y, por tanto, la posesión de Aranjuez. La certeza de la estancia de los Reyes Católicos en Aranjuez, alojados en la Casa Maestral, y gozando de los jardines que desde muy pronto debió haber en la lsla inmediata sobre el Tajo, quiere verse recordada en el Salón plantado de plátanos que lleva el nombre de aquellos Monarcas.

 

Bajo Carlos V de acuerdo con la bula pontificia de 1523 dada por Adriano VI, se produjo la agregación perpetua a la Corona de Castilla de la Orden de Santiago, con lo que Aranjuez quedó para siempre vinculada a los bienes de la Corona. El Emperador visitó en varias ocasiones la antigua Casa Maestral y mucho debió satisfacerle el lugar cuando, en 1534, creó el Real Bosque y Casa de Aranjuez, procediendo a la compra de varias tierras limítrofes, al tiempo que daba instrucciones en 1543 para nuevos plantíos: «Se ordena que en el Soto de Siruela se planten nísperos entre los espinos; en el Orzagal, Matalonguilla e Isla de la Huerta se deben plantar sauces, mimbreras, chopos y otros árboles silvestres que sean apropiados. Se establece que las moreras que están en la Huerta se trasplanten...». Como prueba de que en tiempos de Carlos V ya se había consolidado un cierto ambiente cortesano en Aranjuez, tenemos noticia de la boda celebrada aquí, en 1548, entre María, hija del Emperador, y su primo Maximiliano, Rey de Bohemia, representándose entonces una obra de Ariosto en los jardines.

 

Estos antecedentes hacen más comprensible y natural la predilección del Rey Felipe Il por Aranjuez, pues, en la línea de lo que había hecho su padre, siguió aumentando la extensión del Real Bosque y Casa de Aranjuez, iniciando una obra de gran alcance como es toda la infraestructura hidráulica de presas, canales y acequias, que permitiría regar las tierras y plantíos, alimentar los juegos de agua de las fuentes y, en definitiva, convertir aquello en un prodigioso vergel. Así, las tomas de agua del Tajo, tanto por su margen izquierdo, como por la derecha, llevaron el agua por el caz de 12 Azuda en dirección AL Picotajo, o bien por el caz del Embocador, que coge el agua en la presa de este mismo nombre para regar la margen izquierda del río, sin olvidar la traída de aguas desde el Mar o Estanque de Ontígola para alimentar las fuentes del jardín de la Isla. En toda esta inteligente obra de ingeniería se verían involucrados los nombres propios de Juan Bautista de Toledo y Juan de Herrera, a los que luego se citará come artífices del Palacio, pero a su vez, esto no era sino un, parte del más ambicioso plan de Felipe II para hacer navegable el río Tajo, bien hasta Toledo, bien hasta la misma Lisboa, es decir, dando a Aranjuez salida al Atlántico Esta parte del sueño no pudo cumplirse, pero en cambio, sí llegó a ser una hermosa realidad el conjunto de Palacio y jardines, con sus puentes, paseos y acceso, desde Madrid, Toledo y Ocaña que, como mágica en crucijada, plasmó Jean L'Hermite en la primera vista de Aranjuez conocida y celosamente guardada en la Biblioteca Real de Bruselas.

  

EL PALACIO DE FELIPE II

 

Decidido Felipe II a construir el nuevo Palacio, después de las vicisitudes señaladas en la Introducción, se sirvió el Monarca del nuevo arquitecto contratado en Italia, Juan Bautista de Toledo. Su nombre va unido, como es de justicia, al proyecto del Monasterio de El Escorial, pero no es menos cierto que antes de trazar una sola línea para la gran empresa escurialense, Juan Bautista de Toledo ya estaba trabajando en diversos cometidos en Aranjuez, desde 1559, año en que llega a España, y concretamente en el Palacio, cuya simbólica primera piedra no se colocaría hasta el primer día del año de 1565; eso sí, después de haber oído misa. Pero para entonces ya se habían hecho todos los tanteos previos, las trazas y los modelos del nuevo Palacio, el replanteo del edificio sobre el terreno e incluso se había terminado una parte de la cimentación del conjunto.

 

La primera piedra del Monasterio de El Escorial se había colocado, también simbólicamente, en la cimentación del refectorio, en 1563, después de todas las labores de preparación del terreno, de tal modo que Aranjuez y El Escorial son obras hermanas de unos mismos años e hijas de un mismo padre, Juan Bautista de Toledo, y resultado de una misma voluntad real: la de Felipe II. Todo lo cual explica de modo natural la semejanza que existe entre el Palacio Real de Aranjuez y la Casa del Rey en la cabecera del Monasterio de El Escorial, como se verá más adelante.

En este punto no puede olvidarse que Juan Bautista de Toledo fue llamado a Italia «para que ahora y de aquí adelante, para en toda vuestra vida, seáis nuestro Arquitecto y como tal nos hayáis de servir y sirváis en hacer las trazas y los modelos que os mandáremos y en todas nuestras obras, edificios y otras cosas dependientes del dicho oficio de Arquitecto», es decir, Felipe II tiene en proyecto no sólo El Escorial, sino otras muchas obras reales nuevas en Aranjuez o Madrid, además de terminar las iniciadas en Toledo o en El Pardo por su padre, Carlos V De toda esta actividad, ciertamente, El Escorial es la obra más comprometida y de mayor envergadura, que servirá de telón de fondo a los pocos años de vida que las Parcas le dieron a Juan Bautista de Toledo en nuestro suelo, pues llegado a España en 1559, el arquitecto falleció en 1567.

 

Hasta ese momento, Juan Bautista de Toledo no dejó de asistir a la obra del Palacio de Aranjuez, pues el Rey tenía gran empeño en avanzar los trabajos, si bien los menguados recursos financieros no le dejaron adelantar estos al ritmo que el Monarca hubiera querido. La estrecha vinculación biográfica del arquitecto con la obra de Aranjuez es tal que queda de manifiesto al revisar la actividad de Juan Bautista de Toledo en los días finales de su vida. Así, sabemos que después de haber visitado las obras en febrero de 1567, y deseoso el Monarca iniciar las obras de la Capilla del Palacio, el arquitecto estuvo unas semanas del mes de marzo en Aranjuez, dando ya muestras evidentes de falta de salud.

Con todo, fue un tiempo fructífero para la obra y para el proyecto en general, pues dejó nuevas trazas, definió los detalles de la cantería y, de alguna forma, se es pecificaron pormenores de acabado, sin duda no resueltos hasta entonces, dando instrucciones para la organización de la obra a sus ayudantes que, en ese momento, eran los aparejadores Gaspar de Landeras, para la cantería, y Domingo Sánchez y Gaspar Hernández, para la parte de albañilería. Sobre estos, tenía a su cargo la dirección de la obra un italiano, muy afín a Juan Bautista de Toledo, que fue Gerónimo Gili. Con estos hombres, y dadas las instrucciones pertinentes, el arquitecto se volvió a Madrid, pero en mayo de aquel mismo año de 1567 le notificaron la necesidad de sustituir al aparejador de cantería Gaspar de Landeras, que había fallecido tras unas cuartanas. El 12 de mayo Toledo señaló como sustituto a un cantero vizcaíno que ya estaba en la obra, y una semana más tarde el propio arquitecto entregaba su alma a Dios en Madrid. De este modo, bien puede afirmarse que la preocupación por Aranjuez y su Palacio, efectivamente, le acompañó hasta su lecho de muerte, habiendo sido providencial para el futuro de las obras su estancia en aquella primavera de 1567.

 

La sustitución de Juan Bautista al frente de las obras reales era un problema aún mayor, y en Aranjuez la confianza del Monarca en el más cercano colaborador de Toledo, el mencionado Gerónimo Gili, hizo que éste se hiciese cargo de la obra. Su nombre lo habría sugerido el propio Toledo en un Memorial dirigido al Monarca que dejó preparado antes de morir y que se menciona en el codicilo firmado el mismo día de su fallecimiento. Allí «se trata de las personas que son suficientes [apropiadas] para servir a S.M. en las obras y edificios» que el arquitecto dejaba en construcción, donde aparecería el nombre de Gili, colaborador y amigo muy próximo a Toledo, pues no en vano firmó como testigo en la apertura de su testamento.

 

Sin embargo, Gili tuvo muchos problemas con los aparejadores de la obra, y si bien da nuevas instrucciones y trazas sobre el modelo de Juan Bautista de Toledo, Felipe II introdujo poco a poco en la obra a Juan de Herrera hasta que éste quedó como máximo y único responsable del Palacio de Aranjuez en 1575. Sin embargo, una vez más, la escasez de recursos económicos paralizó las obras definitivamente, entre 1584 y 1585, hasta que en el siglo XVIII se reiniciaron bajo los Borbones.

 

¿Cuál y cómo era el Palacio de Felipe II, proyectado por Toledo y construido por Gili y Herrera? La respuesta no es sencilla, pues de una parte, en el incendio del Alcázar de Madrid, en 1734, se debieron de perder los proyectos originales y los modelos que, nos consta, se conservaban allí, y, por otro lado, la formidable obra llevada a cabo en el siglo XVIII oculta la vieja fábrica de Felipe II. Sin embargo, contamos con otras fuentes que permiten tener una idea muy precisa de lo que fue el Palacio filipino y, diríamos más, sin conocerlas difícilmente puede entenderse la génesis del Palacio que hoy visitamos.

Afortunadamente, el Palacio que dejó inconcluso Felipe II fue utilizado y reformado por los Austrias menores, especialmente por Felipe IV lo que generó nuevos planos e informes que son, para nosotros, fuentes exquisitas de información. Así, en 1626, el arquitecto Juan Gómez de Mora copió los planos originales de Juan Bautista de Toledo, proponiendo nuevos usos y distribuciones, según puede comprobarse en el Memorial manuscrito guardado en la Biblioteca Vaticana. A su vez, se conserva en El Escorial una bellísima vista del Palacio de Aranjuez, hecha sin duda sobre el modelo en madera original, donde puede medirse el interés de este proyecto no acabado en sus días y retomado ahora, pues no en vano el anónimo autor de esta obra, que durante algún tiempo se atribuyó a Jusepe Leonardo, escribió los nombres de Felipe II y Felipe IV en la fachada. El pintor, sin duda, tuvo ante sí los suficientes datos como para dar una idea cabal del desarrollo tridimensional del Palacio y de su entorno, dejándonos ver con fidelidad fotográfica el comienzo de las Casas de Oficios, arboledas, huertas y plantíos, viejas construcciones en la parte posterior del Palacio y el puente de madera que lleva a la margen derecha del río, así como el jardín de la Isla, con sus correspondientes parterres y cenadores.

 

Esta vista ideal del Palacio, muy conocida y reproducida, se complementa con la conservada en el Museo del Prado, igualmente anónima, de hacia 1630, donde además de verse el enclave general del Sitio deja ver mento, eran los aparejadores Gaspar de Landeras, para la cantería, y Domingo Sánchez y Gaspar Hernández, para la parte de albañilería. Sobre estos, tenía a su cargo la dirección de la obra un italiano, muy afín a Juan Bautista de Toledo, que fue Gerónimo Gili. Con estos hombres, y dadas las instrucciones pertinentes, el arquitecto se volvió a Madrid, pero en mayo de aquel mismo año de 1567 le notificaron la necesidad de sustituir al aparejador de cantería Gaspar de Landeras, que había fallecido tras unas cuartanas. El 12 de mayo Toledo señaló como sustituto a un cantero vizcaíno que ya estaba en la obra, y una semana más tarde el propio arquitecto entregaba su alma a Dios en Madrid. De este modo, bien puede afirmarse que la preocupación por Aranjuez y su Palacio, efectivamente, le acompañó hasta su lecho de muerte, habiendo sido providencial para el futuro de las obras su estancia en aquella primavera de 1567.

 

La sustitución de Juan Bautista al frente de las obras reales era un problema aún mayor, y en Aranjuez la confianza del Monarca en el más cercano colaborador de Toledo, el mencionado Gerónimo Gili, hizo que éste se hiciese cargo de la obra. Su nombre lo habría sugerido el propio Toledo en un Memorial dirigido al Monarca que dejó preparado antes de morir y que se menciona en el codicilo firmado el mismo día de su fallecimiento. Allí «se trata de las personas que son suficientes [apropiadas] para servir a S.M. en las obras y edificios» que el arquitecto dejaba en construcción, donde aparecería el nombre de Gil¡, colaborador y amigo muy próximo a Toledo, pues no en vano firmó como testigo en la apertura de su testamento.

 

Sin embargo, Gili tuvo muchos problemas con los aparejadores de la obra, y si bien da nuevas instrucciones y trazas sobre el modelo de Juan Bautista de Toledo, Felipe II introdujo poco a poco en la obra a Juan de Herrera hasta que éste quedó como máximo y único responsable del Palacio de Aranjuez en 1575. Sin embargo, una vez más, la escasez de recursos económicos paralizó las obras definitivamente, entre 1584 y 1585, hasta que en el siglo XVIII se reiniciaron bajo los Borbones.

 

Toledo había pensado en un Palacio de amplia fachada y torres en los extremos, disponiendo a su espalda y en torno a un patio central los apartamentos del Rey, al Sur, y de la Reina, al Norte, en dos alturas, para ocupar la baja en verano y la alta en invierno. La simetría de la composición y la presencia de unos jardines privados de acompañamiento, como parte integrante del proyecto arquitectónico, completarían la semejanza que Aranjuez tiene con el Palacio de Felipe II en la cabecera del Monasterio de El Escorial, tal y como advirtiera Fernando Chueca en su día.

¿Qué es lo que, en realidad, se llegó a construir del proyecto de Felipe II? Cuantitativamente, algo menos de la mitad, y cualitativamente, lo más importante, es decir, la Capilla palatina que alberga la única torre construida, al Sur, la llamada Torre de la Capilla, y las estancias del Rey abiertas al jardín que lleva su nombre. De la fachada sólo se hizo el paño entre la mencionada Torre de la Capilla, rematada por una sencilla cúpula, y el primer eje de los cinco que tendría el cuerpo central, algo más elevado, con sus tres alturas en lugar de las dos plantas que tiene el resto del Palacio. Piedra caliza blanca para basas, pilastras, cornisas, remates, así como para la embocadura de los huecos, y paramentos de ladrillo «cocido a la manera de Flandes», harían que el Palacio se asemejara a la intervención de Herrera en el Alcázar de Toledo y, más aún, a la Casa de Contratación de Sevilla. Estilísticamente hablando la obra es muy sobria, acusando las fachadas unos disciplinados órdenes apilastrados, con tableros de piedra que cubren las superficies más amplias y desnudas de ladrillo, en la idea de alcanzar un cálido equilibrio cromático, como convenía al carácter del edificio, todo muy lejos del granítico rigor escurialense.

 

Curiosamente, todos estos aspectos se pueden reconocer todavía no sólo en las partes construidas bajo Felipe II sino en el resto, añadido en el siglo XVIII. En efecto, a pesar de ser de origen francés e italiano, los arquitectos que continuaron las obras dos siglos después, y bajo una dinastía distinta, la obra de terminación y ampliación del Palacio parece una consecuencia natural del primitivo, sin estridencia alguna, conservando el espíritu filipino, la idea básica de Juan Bautista de Toledo y el carácter añadido por Herrera. Todavía distinguimos muy bien la Torre de la Capilla, aunque en el interior desapareciera su uso religioso para acomodar allí unas habitaciones en la reforma de Sabatini. Es evidente que la piedra blanca y el ladrillo siguen dando color y textura al Palacio, en la misma proporción que en el siglo XVI. El recuerdo de Herrera, tópicamente asimilado a las esféricas bolas vistas en El Escorial, corona igualmente toda la obra nueva como lo hacía en la antigua, y así, sucesivamente, podríamos ir desgranando todo cuanto los nuevos constructores tomaron de la obra vieja como punto de partida, en una lección de arquitectura bien trabada por encima del tiempo y de los posibles personalismos de sus autores o de sus comitentes.

 

Entre las muchas cosas que se conservaron del Palacio del siglo XVI, se encuentra el jardín del Rey, al Sur del Palacio, jardín privado y cerrado, al que se abría el pórtico que, luego, en el siglo XVIII, acabaría cegándose para convertirlo en piezas de otro uso. Con todo, allí está el jardín, arquitectónicamente definido en el siglo XVI, dentro del proyecto de Toledo, modificado en el siglo XVII, alterado más tarde y recuperado en nuestros días. Hay que decir que este jardín del Rey tenía su homólogo en el de la Reina, en el lado norte, que nunca se llegó a hacer, y que ambos, a su vez, estaban comunicados por detrás del Palacio, por un jardín común, igualmente cerrado, donde hoy crece el llamado del Parterre, que ha conocido muchos cambios hasta su forma actual, alcanzada a lo largo del siglo XIX.

 

Pero volviendo al proyecto original, diremos que el Palacio veía a sus pies jardines cerrados, secretos, con caminos de baldosas de cerámica y unas fuentes, de las que podemos formarnos una idea por la que centraba el jardín del Rey, de la que sólo conocemos que fue labrada en jaspe por Roque Solario. Unas hornacinas con asientos, abiertas en los muros de cerramiento, ofrecían la comodidad del descanso en la posición más favorable respecto al sol.

 

En los años de Felipe IV se alteró el aspecto del jardín, cuyos antiguos paseos de cerámica se vieron sustituidos por andenes de piedra y cuadros de guijo, tal y como se recuperaron en las recientes obras de restauración (1986). El propio Felipe IV envió, en 1622, una importante colección de esculturas que estaban en el Alcázar de Madrid, para decorar el Palacio de Aranjuez, colocándose algunas de ellas en el jardín del Rey. En concreto, se distribuyeron en los nichos referidos una docena de bustos en mármol de emperadores romanos -hoy en la Casa de Labrador- y se colocó, presidiendo desde el lado occidental del jardín, una escultura en mármol de Felipe II, firmada por Pompeo Leoni en 1568. En su pedestal se puso la siguiente inscripción: «El Rey Nuestro Señor Don Felipe IV mandó adornar este jardín con las estatuas que en él hay, siendo gobernador Don Francisco de Brizuela. Año de MDCXXIII».

 

Desde entonces fue frecuente referirse a este jardín como «el de las estatuas». A uno y otro lado del retrato real, se colocaron entonces los formidables relieves, también en mármol y de los Leoni, de Carlos V y la Emperatriz Isabel de Portugal, que actualmente podemos admirar en el Museo del Prado. Con aquel programa iconográfico quedaba clara la estirpe imperial de este Jardín del Rey, en el que Felipe IV recuerda a su abuelo y bisabuelos, sin omitir la referencia al poder imperial encarnada por los césares romanos.

 

El jardín, comunicado con el Parterre desde el siglo XVIII, tras la eliminación de su cerramiento occiden- tal, ha perdido el primitivo carácter de jardín reservado y secreto, si bien aún es posible rehacer por lo dicho 1 imagen original de este bello rincón del Palacio de Felipe II. El jardín de la Reina no pasó nunca de su fase de proyecto, pero, lógicamente, hubiera sido una réplica del descrito, comunicando ambos por sendas puerta con el jardín común, a Oriente del Palacio, que sí se llegó a definir en una parte, según se desprende de la mencionada vista conservada en el Museo del Prado.

 

En este lienzo de nuestra primera pinacoteca puede verse, igualmente, la Casa de Oficios en pleno proceso de construcción, formando parte del conjunto palacial. En efecto, la Casa de Oficios se une al Palacio a través de un brazo porticado que, en escuadra, comunicaba bajo el pórtico o por encima de la terraza ambos edificios, siendo la solución porticada el elemento de lineal, sutura entre uno y otro. La Casa de Oficios se contemplaba ya en el proyecto inicial de Juan Bautista de Toledo, siendo objeto de una nueva consideración por parte de Juan de Herrera, quien, en 1584 y a instancias del Rey, hace los «apuntamientos» o memoria, con las condiciones de obra, entregando unas plantas a Lucas de Escalante y Antonio de Segura, para iniciar la obra. La Casa de Oficios se situaría entre la llamada Plaza de la Parejas, al Sur del Palacio Real, y la futura Plaza de San Antonio, viéndose recrecida y alargada con la adición, e el siglo XVIII, de la Casa de Caballeros.

  

LA ÉPOCA DE LOS BORBONES

 

Tanto el Palacio como los jardines de la Isla no conocieron nada importante hasta la llegada de la nueva dinastía de los Borbones, siendo el nombre del nuevo Monarca, Felipe V el que muy pronto aparece interesado en la terminación del Palacio, además de impulsar el ambicioso proyecto de Aranjuez no sólo como Palacio y Jardín, sino como Real Sitio. El Palacio presentaba entonces un aspecto modesto, pero que cumplía a satisfacción y ocasionalmente su cometido de grata residencia en las jornadas estivales. Esto es lo que viene a decirnos Juan Álvarez de Colmenar en sus ya citadas Délices de l' Espagne, cuando en 1707, esto es, antes de que se emprendan las nuevas campañas de obras, escribe: «La casa real, aunque es bastante hermosa, es lo que actualmente está más descuidado. Sólo está amueblada cuando el Rey acude; hay algunos cuadros de calidad, y un salón muy agradable en verano a causa del frescor, todo de mármol, y sustentado por columnas del mismo material». A continuación nos proporciona alguna información que nos retrotrae a los años del Felipe IV pues de entonces debe datar el traslado de la estatua en bronce de Carlos V y el Furor, de Leoni, actualmente en la rnda del Museo del Prado, al Palacio de Aranjuez, dónde Álvarez de Colmenar la vio «en el gran patio, cuadrado y pavimentado de mármol», junto a una fuente.

 

Lo cierto es que, en 1715, Felipe V encargó a Pedro Caro Idrogo, del que Ceán dice que era «carabinero de los reales ejércitos y ayuda de Furriera de Felipe V» -sirviendo en la plaza de maestro mayor y aparejador de las obras reales del Palacio de Madrid, desde su nombramiento como tal en 1712- que estudiara la continuación de las obras del Palacio, teniendo muy probablemente ante sí todavía los planos antiguos del proyecto original y, desde luego, los citados proyectos de Mora. El hecho es que en 1719 Idrogo ya había comenzado a mover la obra, lo cual requería el derribo previo de la Casa Maestral que hasta entonces había estado unida al Palacio de Felipe II, haciendo avanzar la construcción en la zona norte, por Real Orden de 2 de mayo de 1727, de acuerdo con los planos y fechas que se recogen en los proyectos conservados, tanto en el Archivo General de Palacio como en el Servicio General del Ejército (1728). Idrogo recuperó la idea inicial de la fachada torreada, cuyos cimientos se abrieron en 1728, llegando a proponer soluciones nuevas para la escalera principal, así como una distinta distribución de usos y espacios, de acuerdo no sólo con la nueva etiqueta cortesana de los Borbones, sino con la ocupación de parte del Palacio por las oficinas y despachos de algunos ramos de la Administración como las Secretarías de Hacienda, Guerra e Indias, todo ello en torno al patio central de Palacio. Esto coincide con el comentario que sobre el Palacio hace el viajero Étienne de Silhouette cuando, al visitar España en 1729-1730, dice que «la casa real es bastante bella, y cuando pasé por allí estaban trabajando en una ampliación».

 

Idrogo debió tener algunas diferencias de criterio con el Gobernador y Superintendente de la obra, Juan Antonio Samaniego, que presentó en 1731 unos pliegos contra la obra del arquitecto. Éste no pudo replicar puesto, que falleció al año siguiente, en 1732, y a Caro Idrogo, al que Bottineau llama «ingeniero militan», le sucedieron otros dos ingenieros militares franceses: Étienne Marchand y Léandre Bachelieu, de los cuales el primero murió también enseguida, en 1733, por lo que muy poco pudo hacer. Bachelieu, en cambio, adelantó mucho la obra, llegando a terminar la fachada principal en 1739, sobre la que se puso, según Ceán, una inscripción latina que este autor transcribe, recordando que aquella opus magnum se había hecho merced a Felipe V y se había terminado en la fecha indicada.

 

Pero a esta etapa protagonizada por los ingenieros franceses sucedió la de los arquitectos italianos, y así nos encontramos con Giacomo Bonavía, de Piacenza, y más adelante, con Francesco Sabatini, de Palermo, a quienes se debe el aspecto general y dominante del edificio, tanto interior como exteriormente, desde su fachada principal hasta la gran escalera o la nueva Capilla. Bonavía entró primero como ayudante de Bachelieu, luego siguió como tracista, en 1744, de la gran escalera de honor, y, finalmente, tras su nombramiento el 29 de septiembre de 1745, como director principal al frente de las obras del Palacio de Aranjuez, hasta su fallecimiento en 1759. Esto por no referirnos a su responsabilidad en la obra más amplia del Real Sitio, desde los aspectos estrictamente urbanos hasta los arquitectónicos, como pudiera ser la deliciosa Capilla de San Antonio presidiendo desde el fondo la gran Plaza que lleva su nombre en Aranjuez, en la que arquitectura y ciudad se solapan de modo ejemplar. En efecto, si bien estos cometidos de gran responsabilidad no son ahora el objeto de las presentes líneas, no se puede olvidar la febril actividad desplegada por Bonavía durante estos años, a la vez que se ocupaba del Palacio de Aranjuez.

 

La intervención de Bonavía en el Palacio tiene, además, un largo alcance, pues de un lado, a falta de culminar la obra gruesa del proyecto de 1715 -que no vería su fin hasta 1752-, él se dedicó a los interiores, de los que resulta pieza excepcional la gran escalera de honor con su espectacular desarrollo, así como la cuidada decoración de los apartamentos reales de Felipe V e Isabel de Farnesio. Pero es que, por otra parte, Bonavía hubo de hacer frente a los daños causados por el incendio fortuito que se produjo en 1747, en una labor de reconstrucción muy importante.

 

Las noticias documentadas desde su nombramiento en 1745 se refieren, en efecto, a los acabados de pavimentos y mobiliario, donde los pagos a tallistas, adornistas y doradores, como Juan Arranz, Matías Pérez, Manuel Corrales y Próspero de Mórtola, entre otros, ponen de manifiesto que la obra de amueblamiento se estaba finalizando, y quedaba constancia de que en los meses de noviembre y diciembre se hacían los últimos trabajos en el Gabinete de la Reina.

 

Precisamente, por las habitaciones de la Reina se inició el terrible incendio que asoló el Palacio en la madrugada del 16 de junio de 1748, lo cual forzaría a Bonavía a desempeñar un nuevo protagonismo en el edificio real, pues además de intentar terminarlo de una vez, tenía que hacer frente a la reconstrucción de buena parte de la zona norte. En aquella fecha los Monarcas residían en Palacio, si bien ya no eran Felipe V fallecido en 1746, e Isabel de Farnesio, que se encontraba en el Palacio de La Granja, sino Fernando VI y Bárbara de Braganza, la hija de Juan V de Portugal, que no sufrieron daños, pero que se trasladaron inmediatamente a Madrid, al Palacio del Buen Retiro.

 

El que sí quedó muy dañado fue el Palacio de Aranjuez, tanto por el fuego como por la precipitación con que se le quiso atajar. Nuevos proyectos afectaron, en lo arquitectónico, a la fachada principal, a la que se le dio definitivamente el aspecto que hoy tiene, en sus tres alturas y ático de remate, donde se resume la agitada historia del edificio mediante la representación y nombre de sus Monarcas.

En efecto, rematando el hastial central aparecen las esculturas labradas por Pedro Martinengo, según modelos de Olivieri, que representan, de derecha a izquierda a Felipe II, Fernando VI -algo más elevada- y a Felipe V. El formidable escudo con las armas reales, dibujado por Bonavía y ejecutado por Arranz, se terminó también en 1752, cuando se pueden dar por finalizadas las obras, según recuerda la inscripción que, sobre dos cartelas, se incluye también en este ático:

 

PHILIPPUS II. INSTITUIT FERDINANDUS VI. PIUS FELIX

 

PHILIPPUS V PROVEXIT CONSUMMAVIT AN. MDCC1,ll

 

Esta fachada principal, muy respetuosa en su arquitectura con el espíritu de la obra de Felipe II en cuanto a contención formal, materiales y color, añadió, como todo, licencia, el pórtico avanzado de la planta baja y unos sencillos frontones curvos y triangulares sobre los balcones: y ventanas de las plantas principal y alta, dando lugar, un noble y palaciego frontis. Sin embargo, y frente a la interpretación lógica que del interior se pudiera hacer, a contemplar esta hermosa fachada desde fuera, no existe detrás de aquel plano estancias reales; no se encuentra e Salón del Trono, ni siquiera una sala de aparato, sino que en realidad, todos aquellos numerosos balcones y venta mas iluminan la gran escalera que, diseñada por Bonavía, en 1744, había sido uno de los elementos de más lente definición a lo largo de la historia constructiva del Palacio Así como en el proyecto de Toledo, por lo que conocemos, no existe una gran escalera de aparato, única, abierta, sino excusadas entre muros, y la pensada por Gómez de Mora tiende a vincularla con el patio central, de donde recibe sus luces, al igual que haría Idrogo sacrificando la cuarta crujía del patio central, Bonavía convierte en une caja monumental todo el espacio entre la fachada y el patio. Asegura así una generosa iluminación natural por su, dos frentes, y desarrolla una escalera colosal, de múltiple, accesos en su arranque, que se encuentran en una meseta desde la que, por un único tiro, se alcanza el rellano siguiente, bifurcándose en dos desde aquí para acceder a la planta alta. Todo este movimiento se ve acompañado de una excelente baranda en hierro forjado y toques dorados, de un bello estilo rococó, mientras que unos magníficos bustos, debidos a Antoine Coysevox y firmados en 1683, observan al recién llegado desde sus pedestales. Sin duda, la nueva dinastía borbónica quiso recordar aquí los suyos, al igual que Felipe IV lo había hecho en el Jardín de las Estatuas, pues en la escalera se ven los retratos de Luis XIV de María Teresa de Austria, y del hijo de ambos, el Delfín de Francia y padre de Felipe V a quien se debe la decisión de terminar el Palacio de Aranjuez. Sin embargo, en esta escalera tan solemne y teatral, digna del mejor Palacio europeo de su tiempo, se echa en falta el apoyo cromático de unas pinturas murales que dieran color a su bóveda, desprovista hoy de este inexcusable aliento.

 

Todavía se ha de mencionar la campaña final del edificio, pues muerto Fernando VI en 1759, el mismo año del fallecimiento de su arquitecto Bonavía, el nuevo Monarca, Carlos III, estimó muy reducida la capacidad del Palacio, y pequeñas algunas de sus piezas, bien fuera la vieja capilla de Felipe II, bien el teatro bajo la torre norte. Para ello dio una Real Orden, el 13 de junio de 1770, por la que se comunicaba a través del Marqués de Grimaldi, Primer Secretario de Estado y del Despacho, su deseo de que en « el Palacio de este Sitio [Aranjuez] se añadiesen dos cuerpos de edificio a los ángulos de la principal hacia poniente, bajo los planos diseñados y dirección de Sabatini», mandando sacar a subasta las obras de acuerdo con las condiciones fijadas por el mencionado arquitecto, adjudicándose la obra a Kearney y Compañía por presentar la oferta más ventajosa para la Real Hacienda.

 

Sabatini concibió este «aumento», con cuyo nombre se conocía la obra nueva, con dos alas perpendiculares a la fachada principal del Palacio, dando lugar a una plaza de armas o cour d'honneur, de tal forma que al tiempo que la población del Real Sitio iba creciendo a sus espaldas hacia Oriente, el Palacio miraba cada vez más fijamente en dirección contraria, a través de la localidad que forzadamente le proporcionaban los dos brazos paralelos de Sabatini. Éste prolongó el carácter dominante del Palacio existente, haciendo un ejercicio de natural injerto en el viejo cuerpo y reservando para el interior los cambios y novedades. Entre ellas, son de gran entidad la inclusión de una nueva Capilla palatina en el extremo del ala Sur, en sustitución de la antigua, así como el proyecto -luego desvirtuado- del teatro cortesano en el ala norte, sin que desde el exterior se pueda percibir la singularidad de estos dos espacios. Las obras se llevaron a buen ritmo, de tal manera que, como nos recuerdan sendas inscripciones sobre las fachadas que miran a la nueva plaza de armas, entre 1772 y 1777, se hizo lo principal de esta ampliación bajo el reinado de Carlos III.

 

Por último, añadiremos que no sólo el Palacio, sino que, tanto el jardín de la Isla como los más inmediatos alrededores del Palacio, en una operación de sutura con el entorno, conocieron mejoras, reformas y adiciones bajo los Borbones en el siglo XVIII. De forma muy abreviada cabe recordar que el propio Bonavía realizó obras en los muros de protección de la Isla, pensó nuevos puentes de exclusivo uso real y proyectó algunas arquitecturas para el jardín de la Isla, como el conocido cenador de 1755 que acompañaría o sustituiría a otros preexistentes, algunos de los cuales aparecen en las más conocidas vistas de Aranjuez. Al mismo tiempo, los nuevos jardineros franceses al servicio del Rey habían incorporado el novedoso gusto de las broderies, como hizo Esteban Boutelou en el jardín de flores proyectado en 1748 para la isla, del que apenas queda nada sino el lugar que ocupó, presidido hoy por una Fuente de Diana.

 

Probablemente el cambio más notable producido en los alrededores del Palacio fue la incorporación del Parterre, bajo su fachada Sur, tal y como se ve de modo perfecto en la vista del Palacio Real pintada por Antonio Joli, que se conserva en el Palacio Real de Nápoles, en los dos excelentes lienzos de Francesco Battaglioli, hoy en el Museo del Prado, y que muestran dos aspectos de la fiesta de San Fernando en 1756, en los que el Parterre es elemento capital de los cuadros, o en la amplia vista grabada en 1773 por Domingo de Aguirre. El recordar estas bellas imágenes, ejecutadas por pintores y grabadores, no tiene más finalidad que recordar, al mismo tiempo, el aspecto original que en su día tuvo el Parterre, proyectado por Marchand en 1728, y muy distinto del que hoy ofrece.

 

El hecho de plantear este jardín en la parte posterior del Palacio deriva, seguramente, del hecho de situar sobre esta fachada los dormitorios del Rey y de la Reina, después de los cambios producidos en la nueva distribución interior del Palacio. De este modo, a los pies de sus balcones se vería un jardín a la francesa, diseñado por un francés para el nieto de Luis XIV de Francia, a la vez que, más allá del cerramiento del Parterre, se vería el frondoso arbolado de la calle de la Reina, así como la del Príncipe y futura de las infantas, formando un tridente convergente hacia el Parterre y Palacio. Es decir, más allá de su esencia como mero jardín, el Parterre fue una charnela múltiple en un lugar clave en la ordenación del Real Sitio, en relación con el Palacio, población y acceso desde Madrid a través del Puente de Barcas.

 

El Parterre fue concebido como una composición muy plana, sin apenas relieve, dominado por las broderies y el gazon, con leves filas de tilos, y animado con sencillos juegos de agua, todo muy leve, como conviene a la concepción de un parterre. Sin embargo, esta misma fragilidad fue su peor enemigo, pues todo cuanto después se hizo, especialmente en el siglo XIX, alteró profundamente aquel jardín, cuando se cambió el diseño de los caminos, se plantaron poderosas especies como coníferas y magnolios, que dieron porte y sombra a un jardín que se alejaba para siempre de lo pensado por Marchand. Obras notables que ya contribuyeron a las primeras alteraciones del tranquilo Parterre fueron el foso o canal de agua que lo bordea, debido al arquitecto francés Marquet y realizado bajo Carlos III, según aparece ya en el conocido cuadro de Paret, así como la incorporación, en 1827, de la Fuente de los Trabajos de Hércules o de Hércules y Anteo, diseñada por Isidro Velázquez, ya en época de Fernando VII, con esculturas de Juan Adán, entre otros artistas.

 

Asimismo, hay otra serie de fuentes notables y esculturas, de procedencia diversa, como la de Ceres y los grupos de niños con canastillos de flores, debidos a Robert Michel, o las más pequeñas de las Nereidas, en plomo, obra de Joaquín Dumandre, y que llegarían hasta aquí procedentes del Palacio de Valsaín. Unas magníficas copas o jarrones en mármol de Carrara, labrados en el siglo xviii, se suman a los elementos escultóricos de este Parterre dieciochesco de romántico aroma.

 

DE PALACIO A MUSEO

 

Después de doscientos años de obras y proyectos, de cuatro siglos de uso y de dos dinastías reinantes, el Palacio de los Austrias y Borbones ha encontrado un nuevo destino como museo de sí mismo. El recorrido por sus estancias palaciegas, que en este largo tiempo han ido cambiando de nombre y de función, es el mejor modo de adentrarnos en un pasado que nos retrotrae, especialmente, al siglo xviii, sin menoscabo de todo aquello que el siglo xix incorporó al mobiliario y decoración de sus salas, que no fue poco. Perdidos los ambientes interiores de los Austrias, la visita al Palacio de Aranjuez hoy es, sobre todo, una amable introducción al arte de la Corte de los Borbones en España, donde lo italiano y lo francés logran un cierto equilibrio, pues si bien la gran pieza de porcelana o los techos llevan sello italiano, lo francés, a través del estilo Imperio, manda sobre gran parte del mobiliario.

 

Las estancias con mayor interés y personalidad se encuentran en la planta alta, haciendo aquí una breve mención de las más importantes que componían los apartamentos de la Reina, ocupando, aproximadamente, la mitad norte del Palacio, y las del Rey situadas en la zona Sur. Una y otra zona tenían, en el comienzo de su recorrido, una sala o cuerpo de guardia interior, a cargo de la Guardia de Corps. La de la Reina, con entrada desde la escalera principal, conserva una buena colección de cuadros de Lucas Jordán con episodios de la vida del Rey Salomón, además de porcelana y relojes de procedencia francesa. A esta sencilla pieza sigue la Saleta de la Reina que, igualmente, cuenta con lienzos de Jordán, y mobiliario de estilo Imperio, con tres excelentes consolas de estilo Luis XVI.

Así como todos los estamentos tenían acceso hasta la Saleta de la Reina para ser recibidos por el Monarca, el protocolo sólo permitía acceder a la siguiente sala, llama da Antecámara de la Reina, a la jerarquía eclesiástica, embajadores, autoridades y personas de una determinada condición social. Inmediatamente después, y completando las tres piezas que la etiqueta del siglo XVIII contemplaba, se encuentra la Cámara de la Reina, con luces sobre el jardín de la Isla, en la que se guarda el piano inglés regalado por la Emperatriz Eugenia de Montijo a Isabel II.

 

El Anteoratorio y Oratorio, por el contrario, se abren al patio central, y siendo muy notables las pinturas, como, la que representa a San Antonio de Padua, de Giaquinto el reloj de Hoffmeyer y las bellísimas composiciones en mosaico ejecutadas en los talleres de piedras duras del Vaticano, nuestro interés busca en el Oratorio la intervención de Villanueva. En efecto, esta pieza nos lleva a recordar las pequeñas intervenciones de Carlos IV en Aranjuez en esta ocasión encargando a Juan de Villanueva, el arquitecto del Museo del Prado, la transformación de esta estancia en Oratorio, con nobles materiales y habilísimos artífices. Mármol, estuco y bronce dorado, bien trabajado por los hermanos Ferroni, y los frescos del pintor de Cámara, Francisco Bayeu, firmados en 1790, garantizan el interés del Oratorio que, como tal, cuenta con un retablo en el que Mariano Salvador Maella pintó una Inmaculada.

 

El Salón del Trono está situado en la crujía norte. Sus tres balcones dan al jardín de la Isla. El ambiente y su mobiliario denotan su pertenencia a la época de Isabel II, cuando se pinta la bóveda por Vicente Camarón (1851) y se amuebla con formidables consolas y espejos característicamente isabelinos. La sillería, arrimada a los zócalos de apariencia marmórea, pero que son de excelente estuco imitando serpentina, pertenece igualmente a esta época, siendo los sitiales del trono de estilo Luis XVI. Como conviene al Salón del Trono, en su bóveda se exalta a la Monarquía, acompañada por las Virtudes, las Artes y la Industria.

 

Entre el Salón del Trono y la excepcional Saleta de Porcelana se encuentra el llamado Despacho o Cámara Oficial de la Reina, pieza reservada para el recibo de la más alta nobleza y jerarquía civil y religiosa. Cuenta con una excelente sillería neoclásica, de la época de Carlos IV en caoba y limoncillo con incrustaciones de ébano, cuyo diseño se ha atribuido a Dougourc. La decoración de la bóveda se debe a Mariano Salvador Maella.

La Saleta o Gabinete de Porcelana es, sin duda, la obra más singular de todo el Palacio, y un ejemplo de aquel interés del siglo XVIII por lo oriental, por lo exótico y pintoresco; en una palabra, por lo que se ha definido como la «chinoiserie», en el sentido de extravagante y llamativo, como contraste con la cultura y gusto occidentales. Todo esto es lo que, en efecto, despierta la contemplación de semejante pieza, después de haber pasado por las anteriores. Sin duda el efecto sorpresa y estupor se apoderan, hoy como ayer, de todos cuantos visitan Aranjuez, al llegar a este rincón del Palacio. Su incorporación se debe a las reformas emprendidas por Carlos III, quien tuvo aquí su sala preferida para las reuniones más íntimas.

 

Se trata de una intervención temprana en el Palacio, mucho antes de pensar en su ampliación con Sabatini, pues el encargo de la obra data de 1760. Ésta se hizo en la Real Fábrica de Porcelana que el Rey, nada más llegar a la Corte, mandó establecer en 1759 en el Buen Retiro de Madrid, a imitación de la que había dejado en Capodimonte, en el reino de Nápoles. Carlos III se trajo a modeladores y técnicos que, como Giuseppe Gricci y Scheppers, dieron feliz término a esta obra en 1765, para iniciar, a continuación, la Sala de Porcelana que el mismo Carlos III introdujo en el Palacio Real de Madrid, si bien ésta es considerablemente más pequeña que la de Aranjuez. Sobre grandes placas de cerámica, sujetas a un armazón de madera, se recogen motivos tópicos orientales de China y Japón, donde vendedores de papagayos, samurais, músicos, mandarines y escenas familiares de padres e hijos prestan un argumento al fondo general, compuesto por una malla de guirnaldas, frutos y pájaros que recorren muros y bóveda. De ésta pende una lámpara con los mismos elementos formales, igualmente en porcelana, como en porcelana son los marcos de los espejos que reflejan y multiplican todos estos motivos en una imagen de ensueño, donde el espacio no tiene límites reales. El color, en sus ricas tonalidades cerámicas, contribuye a realzar esta joya del arte rococó europeo del siglo XVIII.

 

Las dos últimas salas vinculadas a la Reina son su Dormitorio y el Tocador, ambos con balcones sobre el Parterre. El primero tiene la singularidad de conservar el mobiliario ofrecido por Barcelona a Isabel II con motivo de su boda con Don Francisco de Asís de Borbón, hecho en todas sus piezas en aquella ciudad con excelentes maderas y aplicaciones de bronce y taracea. Aquel estilo recargado, con acentos rococó, especialmente visible en los copetes y remates de la cama, del reclinatorio, o en las galerías del cortinaje, parece aletear bajo la bóveda pintada por Zacarías González Velázquez, donde se desarrolla una nueva alegoría de la Monarquía, acompañada por la justicia, las Ciencias, las Virtudes y la Ley.

 

De Don Vicente Camarón es, en cambio, la pintura de la bóveda del Tocador de la Reina, con la representación de las Cuatro Estaciones. Su más desenfadado carácter acompaña bien a este caprichoso espacio, vestido en seda talaverana, donde el mobiliario y aderezo general revelan el gusto de los años de Isabel II.

 

Los apartamentos de la Reina y del Rey están separados hoy por el Salón de Baile, situado en el centro de la fachada sobre el Parterre, en el eje del Palacio. Su ambiente responde al siglo XIX, presidido por los retratos de Alfonso XII y Alfonso XIII, pintados por Ojeda y Garnelo, respectivamente.

 

Gran parte de estas salas, que actualmente conocemos con determinado nombre, tuvieron en otro tiempo un uso diferente. Así, el que llamamos Comedor de Gala, inmediato al Salón de Baile pero abierto al interior, al patio central, fue Sala de conversación bajo Fernando VI hasta que Carlos III le dio el nuevo destino. Es la pieza que mejor conserva lo que pudo haber sido la imagen del Palacio rococó, pues desde el piso hasta la bóveda, pasando por los cuadros pintados expresamente para esta estancia por Giaquinto, con la Historia de José, todo, obedece a un programa decorativo y a un mismo espíritu tardobarroco. El suelo es de un excelente estuco debido a Carlos Antonio Bernasconi. Representa en su centro un apretado grupo de trofeos militares, acompañado de amplias bandas de formas abiertas, muy expresivamente rococó. Con análogo espíritu, la bóveda de la Sala está enmarcada por unos estucos blancos, en cuyos ángulos se ven las cuatro partes del mundo. En el paño central del techo aparece una alegoría que exalta las Virtudes de la Monarquía, acompañada por la justicia, la Religión, la Abundancia, la Munificencia y la Paz. Su autor fue el pintor de Cámara de Fernando VI, Santiago Amiconi, que la ejecutó entre 1750 y 1752.

En la parte más antigua del Palacio, aunque muchas veces alterada, se encuentran las estancias del Rey, a las que se tiene acceso desde la escalera principal, después de pasar por la amplia y desnuda Sala de Guardias del Rey. Pequeñas estancias, resultado de divisiones posteriores, alojan las que se llaman Habitación de pinturas chinas, el Antedespacho o Sala de trabajo del Rey, el Despacho del Rey, y el Salón de espejos, las cuatro con sus balcones hacia el jardín del Rey, mirando al Sur. La primera habitación recibe aquel exótico nombre por el hecho de decorar ordenadamente sus muros una colección de doscientos pequeños cuadros, de apenas veinte centímetros de alto, con escenas chinas pintadas a la acuarela sobre papel de arroz, muy probablemente a finales del siglo XVIII. Su técnica es de gran preciosismo descriptivo, con un dibujo y una paleta de color de gran finura que revelan una maestría excepcional por parte de su anónimo autor. Parece que se trata de un obsequio del Emperador de China a la Reina Isabel II, y de entonces debe datar la lámpara que busca un elemental aspecto orientalizante a tono con la decoración de los cuadros. En esa misma línea encontramos en el centro de la Sala el velador de gusto oriental, bien acompañado por la excelente sillería barroca y dieciochesca, lacada en blanco y tapizada en seda, que probablemente procede de la Sala de Porcelana antes mencionada. Zacarías González Velázquez fue el pintor que hizo las escenas campestres bajo los medios puntos de la bóveda.

 

El Antedespacho del Rey cuenta con una buena colección de pinturas, desde la tela de Mayno, en la que se representa al evangelista San Mateo, pasando por las dos vistas de Mazo, hasta llegar a la serie grande del Hijo pródigo, por Romanelli. El mobiliario mezcla piezas de Carlos III y Carlos IV La lámpara de cristal que pende de la bóveda, cuya decoración en estilo pompeyano se viene atribuyendo al pintor Juan Duque, procede de la Real Fábrica de La Granja. Este mismo artista pintó la alegoría de las Artes Liberales en la bóveda del contiguo Despacho del Rey, pequeña habitación que contiene notables pinturas atribuidas a Furini, Solimena, Magadán y Laguna, si bien la serie de muebles es la que llama más la atención por su calidad y belleza. Siendo magníficas la sillería y la mesa de trabajo del Monarca, de la época de Fernando VII, nuestra atención se centra en el excepcional escritorio arrimado a la pared que, en raíz de olivo y placas de mármol sobre las que se recortan aplicaciones de bronce dorado, hizo el ebanista francés Jacob Desmalter. Sobre él van colocados dos jarrones de porcelana, en el mismo estilo Imperio, flanqueando un biscuit del Buen Retiro con el célebre grupo del Toro Farnesio. Entre otras muchas piezas singulares cabe recordar el reloj de dos esferas sobre la chimenea, firmado por Fernández de la Peña; o el reloj de pie, inglés, firmado por John Shelton, de la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII.

 

El Salón de los espejos, llamado también Salón de vestirse, está situado en el ángulo formado por la facha da al jardín del Rey y la que mira al Parterre, por lo que los espejos, fabricados en La Granja y cubriendo todo: los muros, multiplican las luces procedentes de dos planos en ángulo, creando la esperada imagen que se refleja y repite de modo infinito. La Sala se concibió, en si estado actual, en la época de Carlos IV sirviéndose pare ello de su arquitecto Juan de Villanueva, quien dio modelos y dirigió la obra entre 1790 y 1795. En el mobiliario trabajó el ebanista de Cámara José López, y la pintura de la bóveda, como las anteriores, es de Juan Duque, alquier las terminaba en 1803.

 

Al llegar al Dormitorio del Rey vemos el espíritu neo clásico y equilibrado que le proporciona su mobiliario es tilo Imperio, pero que no concuerda bien con el carácter espectacular de la bóveda pintada por Amiconi dentro de la tradición barroca de fingidas arquitectura: en perspectiva, dotando a la estancia de una monumentalidad sólo aparente pero muy efectista. El rompimiento central permite ver las alegorías de la Paz y de la justicia pintadas por Bartolomé Rusca, sobrevolando la estancia Uno de los mejores cuadros del Palacio de Aranjuez permanece colgado aquí, sobre la cabecera de la cama, esto es, el Cristo en la cruz, pintado expresamente entre 1761 y 1769 para el Dormitorio Real por Antonio Rafael Mengs, pintor que fue de Cámara de Carlos III. Mengs inició otras pinturas en la ampliación del Palacio llevada cabo por Sabatini, como el techo del que iba a ser salón de fiestas, pieza que desapareció como tal salón grande al quedar dividido por las reformas llevadas a cabo por Villanueva para alojar al Príncipe de Parma.

 

Inmediato al Dormitorio Real se encuentra una de las salas más sorprendentes del Palacio. Nos referimos a Gabinete árabe o Salón de fumar, pieza característicamente romántica de la época de Isabel II, iniciada en 1855 por Rafael Contreras, restaurador entonces del Patio de los Leones de la Alhambra de Granada, con cuyos interiores quiere, presuntamente, enlazar. De la vistosa cúpula de mocárabes pende una lámpara de calamina, y bajo ella un velador, de bronce, cristal y tablero de porcelana, en el que se representa la escena del abandono de la Alhambra por Boabdil el Chico, obra de Robert y obsequio del Rey de Francia, Luis Felipe, a la Reina María Cristina durante la minoría de edad de la futura Isabel II.

 

El Anteoratorio, el reducido Oratorio privado del Rey y la Cámara del Rey, abiertas hacia el patio central, cierran esta breve exposición de las estancias más significativas del Palacio, desde donde se puede rememorar la existencia de otros Reales Sitios a través de las bellísimas vistas pintadas por Fernando Brambilla, sobre El Escorial y La Granja.

Si bien tanto el Rey como la Reina contaron con sus oratorios privados, carecían, sin embargo, de una capilla pública, después de la transformación sufrida por la de Felipe II. Para compensar esta carencia, se concibió una excelente Capilla en el brazo Sur de la ampliación de Sabatini, con acceso desde el exterior y que se consagró en 1799. Su interior es de un moderado clasicismo, con un orden apilastrado toscano y una bella cúpula, pintada por Francisco Bayeu. Sobre la cornisa cabe ver angelotes sosteniendo pesadas guirnaldas y un grupo escultórico sobre el altar mayor, todos ellos debidos al escultor francés Robert Michel. Desde el altar mayor una Inmaculada de Mariano Salvador Maella preside esta regia Capilla, tocada de dorados bronces labrados por Fabio Vendetti.

San Sebastián es una localidad argentina de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, perteneciente al partido de Chivilcoy.

 

Cuenta con 166 habitantes (INDEC, 2010), lo que representa un incremento del 8,5% frente a los 153 habitantes (INDEC, 2001) del censo anterior.

 

En la línea general, San Sebastián es la última estación en haber sido levantada desde Puente Alsina por la firma constructora Hume Hnos., que edificaba las estaciones del FC Midland. Al llegar el tendido a San Sebastián, la sociedad constructora quedó en bancarrota como resultado de largas disputas por intereses con el Compañía General Buenos Aires. En ese momento (mediados de 1908) el Ferrocarril del Sud y el Ferrocarril del Oeste absorbieron al Midland y continuaron la construcción, reemplazando a la Hume por la Clarke, Bradbury y Co., lo que le da a las estaciones de aquí a Carhué un diseño arquitectónico totalmente distinto, similar a las estaciones del Ferrocarril Sarmiento.Fue construida por el Ferrocarril Midland de Buenos Aires, y abandonada en 1977 lo que obligó a un gran éxodo de los habitantes del lugar.

   

Las cañadas Las Saladas y La Rica, tributarias del río Salado en su curso medio, involucraron un espacio ocupado por pobladores desde las primeras décadas del siglo XIX, lugar propicio para la agricultura y para estrechar vínculos matrimoniales. Entre los primeros enfiteutas en esta región se cuenta a Santiago Barrios, Ceferino Bermúdes, Dionisio Moyano, entre otros.

 

Y es precisamente un descendiente de estos primeros pobladores que dará origen a la denominación de la localidad rural San Sebastián ubicada hacia el Este del partido de Chivilcoy, a unos 45 metros s.n.m. Santiago Barrios, bisabuelo materno de Sebastián Ca, había solicitado en enfiteusis al Estado en 1826, una suerte de estancia en el pasaje Las Saladas. En la mensura se destacan como antiguos pobladores a Domingo Irrasabal, Pedro Farías, José Bustamante, Francisco Lobo, Domingo Leguizamón, etc. Santiago Barrios había registrado su marca de ganado en 1822 y la propiedad recién la adquiere en 1837 totalizando 3, 5 leguas. La estancia fue subdividida entre los herederos.

 

Esta historia familiar se entronca con la extensión del ferrocarril Midland. A partir de 1897 el gobierno de Buenos Aires previó la construcción y explotación de nuevas líneas ferroviarias de trocha angosta, en zonas no cubiertas por las redes troncales. Pero pasaron años hasta que el 21 de diciembre de 1906, el gobernador Ignacio Darío Irigoyen aprobó los Estatutos de la Sociedad Compañía Ferrocarrilera Buenos Aires Midland Limitada, quién tendría a su cargo la construcción y explotación del ramal vinculado a la localidad de San

 

Sebastián, partido de Chivilcoy. El predio para la estación ferroviaria ubicada al E. del partido de Chivilcoy. El área que corresponde al actual pueblo de San Sebastián, involucraba en las primeras décadas del siglo XIX, a la suerte de estancia de Santiago Barrios heredada por sus descendientes, entre ellos Isidoro Barrios.

 

Aún cuando restaba el replanteo definitivo de la traza, apoderados del Midland suscribieron un convenio con la Isidora Barrios de Cá, nieta de Santiago Barrios y madre de Sebastián Ca (19), por el cual la propietaria de una amplia extensión de terreno se comprometía a donar la superficie para vías, estación y calles de circunvalación si se erigiera una plaza dentro de su campo.

 

El aludido convenio, suscrito el 29 de agosto de 1908, expresa el compromiso de donar gratuitamente a la empresa una fracción de terreno. “Acto inaugural del tramo Puente Alsina- San Sebastián

Una vez superado el estado de zozobra y extendido el riel hasta el Km. 128 – San Sebastián- la administración del Midland inició el comienzo de servicios el 15 de junio de 1909

En aquella mañana, empresarios, periodistas, personalidades e invitados especiales previamente congregados

en la Plaza de Mayo, partieron con rumbo a la estación

El nombre San Sebastián Era tradición asumida que las estaciones que iban conformándose en parajes camperos innominados, necesitaran la imposición de un nombre o indicativo, y en los casos como el que nos ocupa por donación de latierra –la plaza adoptada por padrino al ex titular de dominio o con algo que simbolizara una cercanía afectiva hacia o del donante. Entorno al nombre asignado, corresponde al homenaje por parte de la donante, Isidoro Barios de Ca a su querido hijo, Sebastián Cá, fallecido en plena juventud

A different kind of anemone, for my Wildflowers of Crete set.

Captured at Gious Kampos (Γιους Κάμπος), near Spili, in Rethymno prefecture.

 

Best viewed Large, On Black (definitely!)

 

Have a wonderful week :-)

 

Jökulsárlón ("lagune fluviale glaciaire") est un grand lac glaciaire situé au sud du parc national du Vatnajökull, en Islande. Situé à la tête du Breiðamerkurjökull, il s'est transformé en lac après le début du recul du glacier à la fin du XIXe siècle. Depuis, le lac a connu une croissance variable en raison de la fonte des glaciers. Le front glaciaire se trouve maintenant à environ 8 km du bord de l'océan et couvre une superficie d'environ 25 km². En 2009, il était considéré comme le lac le plus profond d'Islande, avec plus de 284 m de profondeur, le recul glaciaire ayant étendu ses limites. Sa superficie a quadruplé depuis les années 1970. Riche d'icebergs bleus lumineux, Jökulsárlón a servi de décor à quatre films hollywoodiens : "Dangereusement vôtre", "Meurs un autre jour", "Lara Croft : Tomb Raider" et "Batman Begins", ainsi qu'à la série de télé-réalité "The Amazing Race".

 

Jökulsárlón ("glacial river lagoon") is a large glacial lake located south of Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. Situated at the head of Breiðamerkurjökull, it became a lake after the glacier began to retreat in the late 19th century. Since then, the lake has grown at varying rates due to glacial melting. The glacial front is now about 8 km from the ocean's edge and covers an area of about 25 km². In 2009, it was considered the deepest lake in Iceland, at over 284 m deep, as glacial retreat has extended its boundaries. Its surface area has quadrupled since the 1970s. Full of luminous blue icebergs, Jökulsárlón has served as the setting for four Hollywood films: "A View to a Kill," "Die Another Day," "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," and "Batman Begins," as well as the reality TV series "The Amazing Race."

Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census.

 

The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C) and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% hotel tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.

 

Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, the second at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

 

The area in which the city of Fort Lauderdale would later be founded was inhabited for more than two thousand years by the Tequesta Indians. Contact with Spanish explorers in the 16th century proved disastrous for the Tequesta, as the Europeans unwittingly brought with them diseases, such as smallpox, to which the native populations possessed no resistance. For the Tequesta, disease, coupled with continuing conflict with their Calusa neighbors, contributed greatly to their decline over the next two centuries. By 1763, there were only a few Tequesta left in Florida, and most of them were evacuated to Cuba when the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War. Although control of the area changed between Spain, United Kingdom, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, it remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century.

 

The Fort Lauderdale area was known as the "New River Settlement" before the 20th century. In the 1830s there were approximately 70 settlers living along the New River. William Cooley, the local Justice of the Peace, was a farmer and wrecker, who traded with the Seminole Indians. On January 6, 1836, while Cooley was leading an attempt to salvage a wrecked ship, a band of Seminoles attacked his farm, killing his wife and children, and the children's tutor. The other farms in the settlement were not attacked, but all the white residents in the area abandoned the settlement, fleeing first to the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, and then to Key West.

 

The first United States stockade named Fort Lauderdale was built in 1838, and subsequently was a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. The fort was abandoned in 1842, after the end of the war, and the area remained virtually unpopulated until the 1890s. It was not until Frank Stranahan arrived in the area in 1893 to operate a ferry across the New River, and the Florida East Coast Railroad's completion of a route through the area in 1896, that any organized development began. The city was incorporated in 1911, and in 1915 was designated the county seat of newly formed Broward County.

  

Fort Lauderdale's first major development began in the 1920s, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The 1926 Miami Hurricane and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a great deal of economic dislocation. In July 1935, an African-American man named Rubin Stacy was accused of robbing a white woman at knife point. He was arrested and being transported to a Miami jail when police were run off the road by a mob. A group of 100 white men proceeded to hang Stacy from a tree near the scene of his alleged robbery. His body was riddled with some twenty bullets. The murder was subsequently used by the press in Nazi Germany to discredit US critiques of its own persecution of Jews, Communists, and Catholics.

 

When World War II began, Fort Lauderdale became a major US base, with a Naval Air Station to train pilots, radar operators, and fire control operators. A Coast Guard base at Port Everglades was also established.

 

On July 4, 1961 African Americans started a series of protests, wade-ins, at beaches that were off-limits to them, to protest "the failure of the county to build a road to the Negro beach". On July 11, 1962 a verdict by Ted Cabot went against the city's policy of racial segregation of public beaches.

Today, Fort Lauderdale is a major yachting center, one of the nation's largest tourist destinations, and the center of a metropolitan division with 1.8 million people.

 

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Lauderdale,_Florida

 

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

 

- www.kevin-palmer.com - It felt like a slap to the face the second I stepped outside. That first lungful of -26°F air is always a shock to the system. But it certainly woke me up. After covering up my face and everything else, my body adjusts and it’s really not that bad. There’s always something that drives me to get outside on the coldest morning of winter. Pushing my limits and putting my gear to the test is one reason. And interesting things always happen in temperatures far below zero. Deer scattered as I walked through the woods, and trees spontaneously cracked and popped as the sap inside froze. The river was mostly frozen over, but there’s always open water somewhere. When I found it, the swirling steam made it look like a hot spring. Intricate frost crystals covered the surface of the ice. In a winter so mild a cold snap like this seemed unlikely to happen.

Tasmania's remote west coast country is home to the Tasmanian Devil, now endangered due to the spread of a deadly mouth cancer. Vehicle impacts are bad news too, with speed limits, warning signs and rumble strips in place to limit losses.

 

HD PENTAX-D FA 24-70mm f2.8

++++++ from Wikipedia ++++++

 

Taipei (/ˌtaɪˈpeɪ/), officially known as Taipei City, is the capital city and a special municipality of Taiwan (officially known as the Republic of China, "ROC"). Sitting at the northern tip of the island, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City. It is about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city Keelung. Most of the city is located on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed bounded by the two relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border.[5] Formerly known as Taipeh-fu during Qing era and Taihoku under Japanese rule, Taipei became the capital of the Taiwan Province as part of the Republic of China in 1945 and recently has been the capital[a] of the ROC since 1949, when the Kuomintang lost the mainland to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War.

 

The city proper is home to an estimated population of 2,704,810 in 2015,[6] forming the core part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 7,047,559,[6][7] the 40th most-populous urban area in the world—roughly one-third of Taiwanese citizens live in the metro district. The name "Taipei" can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or the city proper.

 

Taipei is the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of Taiwan island, and one of the major hubs of Greater China. Considered to be a global city,[8] Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area.[9] Railways, high-speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan. Taipei is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural landmarks which include Taipei 101, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Lungshan Temple of Manka, National Palace Museum, Presidential Office Building, Taipei Guest House, Ximending, and several night markets dispersing over the city. Its natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan, and hot springs are also well known to international visitors.

 

As the capital city, "Taipei" is sometimes used as a synecdoche for the Republic of China. Due to the ongoing controversy over the political status of Taiwan, the name Chinese Taipei is designated for official use when Taiwanese governmental representatives or national teams participate in some international organizations or international sporting events (which may require UN statehood) in order to avoid extensive political controversy by using other names.

 

Contents

 

1 History

1.1 First settlements

1.2 Empire of Japan

1.3 Republic of China

2 Geography

2.1 Climate

2.2 Air quality

2.3 Cityscape

3 Demographics

4 Economy

5 Culture

5.1 Tourism

5.1.1 Commemorative sites and museums

5.1.2 Taipei 101

5.1.3 Performing arts

5.1.4 Shopping and recreation

5.1.5 Temples

5.2 Festivals and events

5.3 Taipei in films

6 Romanization

7 Government

7.1 Garbage recycling

7.2 Administrative divisions

7.3 City planning

8 Transportation

8.1 Metro

8.2 Rail

8.3 Bus

8.4 Airports

8.5 Ticketing

9 Education

9.1 Chinese language program for foreigners

10 Sports

10.1 Major sporting events

10.2 Youth baseball

11 Media

11.1 Television

11.2 Newspapers

12 International relations

12.1 Twin towns and sister cities

12.2 Partner cities

12.3 Friendship cities

13 Gallery

14 See also

15 Notes

16 References

17 External links

 

History

Main article: History of Taipei

The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a famous monument and tourist attraction in Taipei.

 

Prior to the significant influx of Han Chinese immigrants, the region of Taipei Basin was mainly inhabited by the Ketagalan plains aborigines. The number of Han immigrants gradually increased in the early 18th century under Qing Dynasty rule after the government began permitting development in the area.[10] In 1875, the northern part of the island was incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture.

 

The Qing dynasty of China made Taipeh the temporary capital of Fujian-Taiwan Province in 1886 when Taiwan was separated from Fujian Province.[11][12] Taipeh was formally made the provincial capital in 1894.

 

Japan acquired Taiwan in 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the First Sino-Japanese War. Taiwan became a colony of Imperial Japan with Taihoku (formerly Taipeh) as its capital, in which the city was administered under Taihoku Prefecture. Taiwan's Japanese rulers embarked on an extensive program of advanced urban planning that featured extensive railroad links. A number of Taipei landmarks and cultural institutions date from this period.[13]

 

Following the Japanese surrender of 1945, control of Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China (ROC) (see Retrocession Day). After losing mainland China to the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) relocated the ROC government to Taiwan and declared Taipei the provisional capital of the ROC in December 1949.[14][15] In 1990 Taipei provided the backdrop for the Wild Lily student rallies that moved Taiwanese society from one-party rule to multi-party democracy. The city is today home to Taiwan's democratically elected national government.

First settlements

 

The region known as the Taipei Basin was home to Ketagalan tribes before the eighteenth century.[16] Han Chinese mainly from Fujian Province of Qing dynasty China began to settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709.[17][18]

 

In the late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han Chinese settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated overseas trade ports, Tamsui, were located, gained economic importance due to the booming overseas trade, especially that of tea export. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture and incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture as a new administrative entity of the Qing dynasty.[13] Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of Bangka, Dalongdong, and Twatutia, the new prefectural capital was known as Chengnei (Chinese: 城內; pinyin: chéngnèi; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siâⁿ-lāi), "the inner city", and government buildings were erected there. From 1875 (still Qing era) until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Tamsui County of Taipeh Prefecture and the prefectural capital.

 

In 1885, work commenced to create an independent Taiwan Province, and Taipei City was temporarily made the provincial capital. Taipei officially became the capital of Taiwan in 1894.[citation needed] All that remains from the Qing era is the north gate. The west gate and city walls were demolished by the Japanese while the south gate, little south gate, and east gate were extensively modified by the Kuomintang (KMT) and have lost much of their original character.[19]

Empire of Japan

The Taihoku Prefecture government building in the 1910s (now the Control Yuan)

 

As settlement for losing the First Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the island of Taiwan to the Empire of Japan in 1895 as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. After the Japanese take-over, Taipei, called Taihoku in Japanese, was retained as the capital and emerged as the political center of the Japanese Colonial Government.[13] During that time the city acquired the characteristics of an administrative center, including many new public buildings and housing for civil servants. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule, including the Presidential Building which was the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan.

 

During Japanese rule, Taihoku was incorporated in 1920 as part of Taihoku Prefecture. It included Bangka, Twatutia, and Jōnai (城內) among other small settlements. The eastern village of Matsuyama (松山庄, modern-day Songshan District, Taipei) was annexed into Taihoku City in 1938. Upon the Japanese defeat in the Pacific War and its consequent surrender in August 1945, the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) assumed control of Taiwan. Subsequently, a temporary Office of the Taiwan Province Administrative Governor was established in Taipei City.[20]

Republic of China

With President Chiang Kai-shek, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved to a crowd during his visit to Taipei in June 1960.

 

In 1947 the KMT government under Chiang Kai-shek declared island-wide martial law in Taiwan as a result of the February 28 Incident, which began with incidents in Taipei but led to an island-wide crackdown on the local population by forces loyal to Chiang. Two years later, on December 7, 1949, Chiang and the Kuomintang were forced to flee mainland China by the Communists near the end of the Chinese Civil War. The refugees declared Taipei to be the provisional capital of a continuing Republic of China, with the official capital at Nanjing (Nanking) even though that city was under Communist control.[14][15]

 

Taipei expanded greatly in the decades after 1949, and as approved on December 30, 1966 by the Executive Yuan, Taipei was declared a special centrally administered municipality on July 1, 1967 and given the administrative status of a province.[18] In the following year, Taipei City expanded again by annexing Shilin, Beitou, Neihu, Nangang, Jingmei, and Muzha. At that time, the city's total area increased fourfold through absorbing several outlying towns and villages and the population increased to 1.56 million people.[18]

 

The city's population, which had reached one million in the early 1960s, also expanded rapidly after 1967, exceeding two million by the mid-1970s. Although growth within the city itself gradually slowed thereafter[20] — its population had become relatively stable by the mid-1990s — Taipei remained one of the world's most densely populated urban areas, and the population continued to increase in the region surrounding the city, notably along the corridor between Taipei and Keelung.

 

In 1990 Taipei's 16 districts were consolidated into the current 12 districts.[21] Mass democracy rallies that year in the plaza around Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall led to an island-wide transition to multi-party democracy, where legislators are chosen via regularly scheduled popular elections, during the presidency of Lee Teng-Hui.

Geography

The city of Taipei, as seen from Maokong.

 

Taipei City is located in the Taipei Basin in northern Taiwan.[22] It is bordered by the Xindian River on the south and the Tamsui River on the west. The generally low-lying terrain of the central areas on the western side of the municipality slopes upward to the south and east and especially to the north,[5] where it reaches 1,120 metres (3,675 ft) at Qixing Mountain, the highest (inactive) volcano in Taiwan in Yangmingshan National Park. The northern districts of Shilin and Beitou extend north of the Keelung River and are bordered by Yangmingshan National Park. The Taipei city limits cover an area of 271.7997 km2,[23] ranking sixteenth of twenty-five among all counties and cities in Taiwan.

 

Two peaks, Qixing Mountain and Mt. Datun, rise to the northeast of the city.[24] Qixing Mountain is located on the Tatun Volcano Group and the tallest mountain at the rim of the Taipei Basin, with its main peak at 1,120 metres (3,670 ft). Mt. Datun's main peak is 1,092 metres (3,583 ft). These former volcanoes make up the western section of Yangmingshan National Park, extending from Mt. Datun northward to Mt. Caigongkeng (菜公坑山). Located on a broad saddle between two mountains, the area also contains the marshy Datun Pond.

 

To the southeast of the city lie the Songshan Hills and the Qingshui Ravine, which form a barrier of lush woods.[24]

Climate

 

Taipei has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate[25][26][27] (Köppen: Cfa).[28] Summers are long-lasting, hot and humid, and accompanied by occasional heavy rainstorms and typhoons, while winters are short, generally warm and generally very foggy due to the northeasterly winds from the vast Siberian High being intensified by the pooling of this cooler air in the Taipei Basin. As in the rest of Northern Taiwan, daytime temperatures of Taipei can often peak above 26 degrees Celsius during a warm winter day, while they can dip below 26 degrees Celsius during a rainy summer's afternoon. Occasional cold fronts during the winter months can drop the daily temperature by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius, though temperatures rarely drop below 10 degrees Celsius.[29] Extreme temperatures ranged from −0.2 °C (31.6 °F) on February 13, 1901 to 39.3 °C (102.7 °F) on August 8, 2013, while snow has never been recorded in the city besides on mountains located within the city limit such as Mount Yangmingshan. Due to Taiwan's location in the Pacific Ocean, it is affected by the Pacific typhoon season, which occurs between June and October.

 

Air quality

 

When compared to other Asian cities, Taipei has "excellent" capabilities for managing air quality in the city.[31] Its rainy climate, location near the coast, and strong environmental regulations have prevented air pollution from becoming a substantial health issue, at least compared to cities in southeast Asia and industrial China. However, smog is extremely common and there is poor visibility throughout the city after rain-less days.

 

Motor vehicle engine exhaust, particularly from motor scooters, is a source of air pollution in Taipei. There are higher levels of fine particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the mornings because of less air movement; sunlight reduces some pollution.[32] Occasionally, dust storms from Mainland China can temporarily bring extremely poor air quality to the city.[33]

Cityscape

Taipei viewed from Tiger Mountain, with Taipei 101 on the left.

Demographics

 

Taipei City is home to 2,704,810 people (2015), while the metropolitan area has a population of 7,047,559 people.[6] The population of the city has been decreasing in recent years while the population of the adjacent New Taipei has been increasing. The population loss, while rapid in its early years, has been stabilized by new lower density development and campaigns designed to increase birthrate in the city. The population has begun to rise since 2010.[6][34][35]

 

Due to Taipei's geography and location in the Taipei Basin as well as differing times of economic development of its districts, Taipei's population is not evenly distributed. The districts of Daan, Songshan, and Datong are the most densely populated. These districts, along with adjacent communities such as Yonghe and Zhonghe contain some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world.[34]

 

In 2008, the crude birth rate stood at 7.88% while the mortality rate stood at 5.94%. A decreasing and rapidly aging population is an important issue for the city.[34] By the end of 2009, one in ten people in Taipei was over 65 years of age.[36] Residents who had obtained a college education or higher accounted for 43.48% of the population, and the literacy rate stood at 99.18%.[34]

 

Like the rest of Taiwan, Taipei is composed of four major ethnic groups: Hoklos, Mainlanders, Hakkas, and aborigines.[34] Although Hoklos and Mainlanders form the majority of the population of the city, in recent decades many Hakkas have moved into the city. The aboriginal population in the city stands at 12,862 (<0.5%), concentrated mostly in the suburban districts. Foreigners (mainly from Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines) numbered 52,426 at the end of 2008.[34]

 

Economy

 

As the center of Taiwan's largest conurbation, Taipei has been at the center of rapid economic development in the country and has now become one of the global cities in the production of high technology and its components.[37] This is part of the so-called Taiwan Miracle which has seen dramatic growth in the city following foreign direct investment in the 1960s. Taiwan is now a creditor economy, holding one of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves of over US$403 billion as of December 2012.[38]

 

Despite the Asian financial crisis, the economy continues to expand at about 5% per year, with virtually full employment and low inflation. As of 2013, the nominal GDP per capita in Taipei city is lower than that in Hong Kong by a narrow margin according to The Economist(Nominal GDP per capita in HK is US$38181 in 2013 from IMF).[39] Furthermore, according to Financial times, GDP per capita based on Purchasing Power Parity(PPP) in Taipei in 2015 is 44173 USD, behind that in Singapore(US$48900 from IMF) and Hong Kong(US$56689 from IMF).[40]

 

Taipei and its environs have long been the foremost industrial area of Taiwan, consisting of industries of the secondary and tertiary sectors.[41] Most of the country's important factories producing textiles and apparel are located there; other industries include the manufacture of electronic products and components, electrical machinery and equipment, printed materials, precision equipment, and foods and beverages. Such companies include Shihlin Electric, CipherLab and Insyde Software. Shipbuilding, including yachts and other pleasure craft, is done in the port of Keelung northeast of the city.

 

Services, including those related to commerce, transportation, and banking, have become increasingly important. Tourism is a small but significant component of the local economy[42][43] with international visitors totaling almost 3 million in 2008.[44] Taipei has many top tourist attractions and contributes a significant amount to the US$6.8 billion tourism industry in Taiwan.[45] National brands such as ASUS,[46] Chunghwa Telecom,[47] Mandarin Airlines,[48] Tatung,[49] and Uni Air,[50][51] D-Link [52] are headquartered in Taipei City.

Culture

Tourism

See also: List of tourist attractions in Taipei

 

Tourism is a major part of Taipei's economy. In 2013, over 6.3 million overseas visitors visited Taipei, making the city the 15th most visited globally.[53] The influx of visitors contributed $10.8 billion USD to the city's economy in 2013, the 9th highest in the world and the most of any city in the Chinese-speaking world.[54]

Commemorative sites and museums

The National Palace Museum

 

The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a famous monument, landmark and tourist attraction that was erected in memory of General Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of China.[55] The structure stands at the east end of Memorial Hall Square, site of the National Concert Hall and National Theater and their adjacent parks as well as the memorial. The landmarks of Liberty Square stand within sight of Taiwan's Presidential Building in Taipei's Zhongzheng District.

The National Taiwan Museum

 

The National Taiwan Museum sits nearby in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park and has worn its present name since 1999. The museum is Taiwan's oldest, founded on October 24, 1908 by Taiwan's Japanese colonial government (1895-1945) as the Taiwan Governor's Museum. It was launched with a collection of 10,000 items to celebrate the opening of the island's North-South Railway.[56] In 1915 a new museum building opened its doors in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park. This structure and the adjacent governor's office (now Presidential Office Building), served as the two most recognizable public buildings in Taiwan during its period of Japanese rule.[56]

Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines

 

The National Palace Museum is a vast art gallery and museum built around a permanent collection centered on ancient Chinese artifacts. It should not be confused with the Palace Museum in Beijing (which it is named after); both institutions trace their origins to the same institution. The collections were divided in the 1940s as a result of the Chinese Civil War.[57][58] The National Palace Museum in Taipei now boasts a truly international collection while housing one of the world's largest collections of artifacts from ancient China.[58]

 

The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines stands just 200 metres across the road from the National Palace Museum. The museum offers displays of art and historical items by Taiwanese aborigines along with a range of multimedia displays.

 

The Taipei Fine Arts Museum was established in 1983 as the first museum in Taiwan dedicated to modern art. The museum is housed in a building designed for the purpose that takes inspiration from Japanese designs. Most art in the collection is by Taiwanese artists since 1940. Over 3,000 art works are organized into 13 groups.

 

The National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall near Taipei 101 in Xinyi District is named in honor of a founding father of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen. The hall, completed on May 16, 1972, originally featured exhibits that depicted revolutionary events in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Today it functions as multi-purpose social, educational, concert and cultural center for Taiwan's citizens.[59]

Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, aka "old city hall"

 

In 2001 a new museum opened as Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei. The museum is housed in a building that formerly housed Taipei City government offices.[60]

Night view of a fully lit Taipei 101

Taipei 101

 

Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper that claimed the title of world's tallest building when it opened in 2004, a title it held for six years before relinquishing it to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, Taipei 101 measures 509 m (1,670 ft) from ground to top, making it the first skyscraper in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height. Built to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors, its design incorporates many engineering innovations and has won numerous international awards. Taipei 101 remains one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and holds LEED's certification as the world's largest "green" building. Its shopping mall and its indoor and outdoor observatories draw visitors from all over the world. Taipei 101's New Year's Eve fireworks display is a regular feature of international broadcasts.

Performing arts

Taiwan's National Concert Hall at night

 

The National Theater and Concert Hall stand at Taipei's Liberty Square and host events by foreign and domestic performers. Other leading concert venues include Zhongshan Hall at Ximending and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall near Taipei 101.

 

A new venue, the Taipei Performing Arts Center, is under construction and slated to open in 2015.[61][62] The venue will stand near the Shilin Night Market[63] and will house three theaters for events with multi-week runs. The architectural design, by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, was determined in 2009 in an international competition.[64] The same design process is also in place for a new Taipei Center for Popular Music and Taipei City Museum.[65]

Shopping and recreation

Main article: Shopping in Taipei

 

Taipei is known for its many night markets, the most famous of which is the Shilin Night Market in the Shilin District. The surrounding streets by Shilin Night Market are extremely crowded during the evening, usually opening late afternoon and operating well past midnight. Most night markets feature individual stalls selling a mixture of food, clothing, and consumer goods.

The busy streets of Ximending at night

 

Ximending has been a famous area for shopping and entertainment since the 1930s. Historic structures include a concert hall, a historic cinema, and the Red House Theater. Modern structures house karaoke businesses, art film cinemas, wide-release movie cinemas, electronic stores, and a wide variety of restaurants and fashion clothing stores.[66] The pedestrian area is especially popular with teens and has been called the "Harajuku" of Taipei.[67]

Eastern district at night

 

The newly developed Xinyi District is popular with tourists and locals alike for its many entertainment and shopping venues, as well as being the home of Taipei 101, a prime tourist attraction. Malls in the area include the sprawling Shin Kong Mitsukoshi complex, Breeze Center, Bellavita, Taipei 101 mall, Eslite Bookstore's flagship store (which includes a boutique mall), The Living Mall, ATT shopping mall, and the Vieshow Cinemas (formerly known as Warner Village). The Xinyi district also serves as the center of Taipei's active nightlife, with several popular lounge bars and nightclubs concentrated in a relatively small area around the Neo19, ATT 4 FUN and Taipei 101 buildings. Lounge bars such as Barcode and nightclubs such as Spark and Myst are among the most-visited places here.

Eslite Bookstore in Xinyi District

 

The thriving shopping area around Taipei Main Station includes the Taipei Underground Market and the original Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store at Shin Kong Life Tower. Other popular shopping destinations include the Zhongshan Metro Mall, Dihua Street, the Guang Hua Digital Plaza, and the Core Pacific City. The Miramar Entertainment Park is known for its large Ferris wheel and IMAX theater.

 

Taipei maintains an extensive system of parks, green spaces, and nature preserves. Parks and forestry areas of note in and around the city include Yangmingshan National Park, Taipei Zoo and Da-an Forest Park. Yangmingshan National Park (located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the central city) is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, and sulfur deposits. It is the home of famous writer Lin Yutang, the summer residence of Chiang Kai-shek, residences of foreign diplomats, the Chinese Culture University, the meeting place of the now defunct National Assembly of the Republic of China, and the Kuomintang Party Archives. The Taipei Zoo was founded in 1914 and covers an area of 165 hectares for animal sanctuary.

 

Bitan is known for boating and water sports. Tamsui is a popular sea-side resort town. Ocean beaches are accessible in several directions from Taipei.

Temples

Built in 1738, Longshan Temple is one of the oldest temples in the city.

Street corner shrine, Taipei 2013

 

Taipei is rich in beautiful, ornate temples housing Buddhist, Taoist, and Chinese folk religion deities. The Longshan Temple, built in 1738 and located in the Wanhua District, demonstrates an example of architecture with southern Chinese influences commonly seen on older buildings in Taiwan.

 

Xinsheng South Road is known as the "Road to Heaven" due to its high concentration of temples, shrines, churches, and mosques.[68][69] Other famous temples include Baoan Temple located in historic Dalongdong, a national historical site, and Xiahai City God Temple, located in the old Dadaocheng community, constructed with architecture similar to temples in southern Fujian.[70] The Taipei Confucius Temple traces its history back to 1879 during the Qing Dynasty and also incorporates southern Fujian-style architecture.[71]

 

Besides large temples, small outdoor shrines to local deities are very common and can be spotted on road sides, parks, and neighborhoods. Many homes and businesses may also set up small shrines of candles, figurines, and offerings. Some restaurants, for example, may set up a small shrine to the Kitchen god for success in a restaurant business.[72]

New Year's Eve fireworks at Taipei 101

Festivals and events

 

Many yearly festivals are held in Taipei. In recent years some festivals, such as the Double Ten Day fireworks and concerts, are increasingly hosted on a rotating basis by a number of cities around Taiwan.

 

When New Year's Eve arrives on the solar calendar, thousands of people converge on Taipei's Xinyi District for parades, outdoor concerts by popular artists, street shows, round-the clock nightlife. The high point is of course the countdown to midnight, when Taipei 101 assumes the role of the world's largest fireworks platform.

 

The Taipei Lantern Festival concludes the Lunar New Year holiday. The timing of the city's lantern exhibit coincides with the national festival in Pingxi, when thousands of fire lanterns are released into the sky.[73] The city's lantern exhibit rotates among different downtown locales from year to year, including Liberty Square, Taipei 101, and Zhongshan Hall in Ximending.

 

On Double Ten Day, patriotic celebrations are held in front of the Presidential Building. Other annual festivals include Ancestors Day (Tomb-Sweeping Day), the Dragon Boat Festival, the Ghost Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival).[73]

 

Taipei regularly hosts its share of international events. The city recently hosted the 2009 Summer Deaflympics.[74] This event was followed by the Taipei International Flora Exposition, a garden festival hosted from November 2010 to April 2011. The Floral Expo was the first of its kind to take place in Taiwan and only the seventh hosted in Asia; the expo admitted 110,000 visitors on February 27, 2011.

Taipei in films

  

Romanization

  

The spelling "Taipei" derives from the Wade–Giles romanization T'ai-pei.[75] The name could be also romanized as Táiběi according to Hanyu Pinyin and Tongyong Pinyin.[76][77]

Government

 

Taipei City is a special municipality which is directly under the Executive Yuan (Central Government) of ROC. The mayor of Taipei City had been an appointed position since Taipei's conversion to a centrally administered municipality in 1967 until the first public election was held in 1994.[78] The position has a four-year term and is elected by direct popular vote. The first elected mayor was Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party. Ma Ying-jeou took office in 1998 for two terms, before handing it over to Hau Lung-pin who won the 2006 mayoral election on December 9, 2006.[79] Both Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-Jeou went on to become President of the Republic of China. The incumbent mayor, Ko Wen-je, was elected on November 29, 2014 and took office on December 25, 2014.[80]

 

Based on the outcomes of previous elections in the past decade, the vote of the overall constituency of Taipei City shows a slight inclination towards the pro-KMT camp (the Pan-Blue Coalition);[81] however, the pro-DPP camp (the Pan-Green Coalition) also has considerable support.[82]

 

Ketagalan Boulevard, where the Presidential Office Building and other government structures are situated, is often the site of mass gatherings such as inauguration and national holiday parades, receptions for visiting dignitaries, political demonstrations,[83][84] and public festivals.[85]

Garbage recycling

 

Taipei City is also famous for its effort in garbage recycling, which has become such a good international precedent that other countries have sent teams to study the recycling system. After the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) established a program in 1998 combining the efforts of communities, a financial resource named the Recycling Fund was made available to recycling companies and waste collectors. Manufacturers, vendors and importers of recyclable waste pay fees to the Fund, which uses the money to set firm prices for recyclables and subsidize local recycling efforts. Between 1998 and 2008, the recycling rate increased from 6 percent to 32 percent.[86] This improvement enabled the government of Taipei to demonstrate its recycling system to the world at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Administrative divisions

 

Taipei City is divided up into 12 administrative districts (區 qu).[87] Each district is further divided up into urban villages (里), which are further sub-divided up into neighborhoods (鄰).

Map District Population

(Jan. 2016) Area

(km2) Postal

code

 

Beitou 北投區 Běitóu Pei-t'ou Pak-tâu 257,922 56.8216 112

Da'an 大安區 Dà'ān Ta-an Tāi-an 312,909 11.3614 106

Datong 大同區 Dàtóng Ta-t'ung Tāi-tông 131,029 5.6815 103

Nangang 南港區 Nángǎng Nan-kang Lâm-káng 122,296 21.8424 115

Neihu 內湖區 Nèihú Nei-hu Lāi-ô͘ 287,726 31.5787 114

Shilin 士林區 Shìlín Shih-lin Sū-lîm 290,682 62.3682 111

Songshan 松山區 Sōngshān Sung-shan Siông-san 209,689 9.2878 105

Wanhua 萬華區 Wànhuá Wan-hua Báng-kah 194,314 8.8522 108

Wenshan 文山區 Wénshān Wen-shan Bûn-san 275,433 31.5090 116

Xinyi 信義區 Xìnyì Hsin-yi Sìn-gī 229,139 11.2077 110

Zhongshan 中山區 Zhōngshān Chung-shan Tiong-san 231,286 13.6821 104

Zhongzheng 中正區 Zhōngzhèng Chung-cheng Tiong-chèng 162,549 7.6071 100

 

City planning

 

The city is characterized by straight roads and public buildings of grand Western architectural styles.[88] The city is built on a square grid configuration, however these blocks are huge by international standards with 500 m (1,640.42 ft) sides. The area in between these blocks are infilled with lanes and alleys, which provide access to quieter residential or mixed-use development. Other than a citywide 30 kilometres per hour (19 mph) speed limit, there is little uniform planning within this "hidden" area; therefore lanes (perpendicular to streets) and alleys (parallel with street, or conceptually, perpendicular to the lane) spill out from the main throughways. These minor roads are not always perpendicular and sometimes cut through the block diagonally.

 

Although development began in the western districts (still considered the cultural heart of the city) of the city due to trade, the eastern districts of the city have become the focus of recent development projects. Many of the western districts, already in decline, have become targets of new urban renewal initiatives.[88]

Transportation

Platform of Wende Station on the Taipei Metro system.

 

Public transport accounts for a substantial portion of different modes of transport in Taiwan, with Taipei residents having the highest utilization rate at 34.1%.[89] Private transport consists of motor scooters, private cars, and bicycles. Motor-scooters often weave between cars and occasionally through oncoming traffic. Respect for traffic laws, once scant, has improved with deployment of traffic cameras and increasing numbers of police roadblocks checking riders for alcohol consumption and other offenses.

 

Taipei Station serves as the comprehensive hub for the subway, bus, conventional rail, and high-speed rail.[41] A contactless smartcard, known as EasyCard, can be used for all modes of public transit as well as several retail outlets. It contains credits that are deducted each time a ride is taken.[90] The EasyCard is read via proximity sensory panels on buses and in MRT stations, and it does not need to be removed from one's wallet or purse.

Metro

Main article: Taipei Metro

 

Taipei's public transport system, the Taipei Metro (commonly referred to as the MRT), incorporates a metro and light rail system based on advanced VAL and Bombardier technology. There are currently five metro lines that are labelled in three ways: color, line number and depot station name. In addition to the rapid transit system itself, the Taipei Metro also includes several public facilities such as the Maokong Gondola, underground shopping malls, parks, and public squares. Modifications to existing railway lines to integrate them into the metro system are underway.

 

In 2017 a rapid transit line was opened to connect Taipei with Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taoyuan City. The new line is part of the new Taoyuan Metro system.

Taipei Railway Station front

Rail

Main articles: Taiwan High Speed Rail and Taiwan Railway Administration

 

Beginning in 1983, surface rail lines in the city were moved underground as part of the Taipei Railway Underground Project.[91] The Taiwan High Speed Rail system opened in 2007. The bullet trains connect Taipei with the west coast cities of New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, and Tainan before terminating at Zuoying (Kaohsiung) at speeds that cut travel times by 60% or more from what they normally are on a bus or conventional train.[92] The Taiwan Railway Administration also runs passenger and freight services throughout the entire island.

Bus

 

An extensive city bus system serves metropolitan areas not covered by the metro, with exclusive bus lanes to facilitate transportation.[41] Riders of the city metro system are able to use the EasyCard for discounted fares on buses, and vice versa. Several major intercity bus terminals are located throughout the city, including the Taipei Bus Station and Taipei City Hall Bus Station.[93]

Taipei Songshan Airport

Airports

Main articles: Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei Songshan Airport

 

Most scheduled international flights are served by Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in nearby Taoyuan City. Songshan Airport at the heart of the city in the Songshan District serves domestic flights and scheduled flights to Tokyo International Airport (also known as Haneda Airport), Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, and about 15 destinations in the People's Republic of China. Songshan Airport is accessible by the Taipei Metro Neihu Line; Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is accessible by the Taoyuan International Airport MRT system.

Ticketing

 

In 1994, with the rapid development of Taipei, a white paper for transport policies expressed the strong objective to "create a civilised transport system for the people of Taipei." In 1999, they chose Mitac consortium, which Thales-Transportation Systems is part of. Thales was then selected again in 2005 to deploy an upgrade of Taipei's public transport network with an end-to-end and fully contactless automatic fare collection solution that integrates 116 metro stations, 5,000 buses and 92 car parks.[citation needed]

Education

West Site of National Taiwan University Hospital

 

24 universities have campuses located in Taipei:

 

National Taiwan University (1928)

National Chengchi University (1927)

National Defense Medical Center (1902)

National Defense University (1906)

National Taipei University (1949)

National Taipei University of Business (1917)

National Taipei University of Education (1895)

National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Science (1947)

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (1974)

National Taipei University of Technology (1912)

National Taiwan College of Performing Arts (1957)

National Taiwan Normal University (1946)

National Yang-Ming University (1975)

Taipei National University of the Arts (1982)

University of Taipei (2013)

  

Tamkang University (1950)

Soochow University (1900)

Chinese Culture University (1962)

Ming Chuan University (1957)

Shih Hsin University (1956)

Shih Chien University (1958)

Taipei Medical University (1960)

Tatung University (1956)

China University of Technology (1965)

 

National Taiwan University (NTU) was established in 1928 during the period of Japanese colonial rule. NTU has produced many political and social leaders in Taiwan. Both pan-blue and pan-green movements in Taiwan are rooted on the NTU campus. The university has six campuses in the greater Taipei region (including New Taipei) and two additional campuses in Nantou County. The university governs farms, forests, and hospitals for educational and research purposes. The main campus is in Taipei's Da-An district, where most department buildings and all the administrative buildings are located. The College of Law and the College of Medicine are located near the Presidential Building. The National Taiwan University Hospital is a leading international center of medical research.[94]

 

National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU or Shida) likewise traces its origins to the Japanese colonial period. Originally a teacher training institution, NTNU has developed into a comprehensive international university with demanding entrance requirements. The university boasts especially strong programs in the humanities and international education. Worldwide it is perhaps best known as home of the Mandarin Training Center, a program that offers Mandarin language training each year to over a thousand students from dozens of countries throughout the world. The main campus in Taipei's Da-An district, near MRT Guting Station, is known for its historic architecture and giving its name to the Shida Night Market, one of the most popular among the numerous night markets in Taipei.

Chinese language program for foreigners

 

Taiwan Mandarin Institute (TMI) (福爾摩莎)

International Chinese Language Program (ICLP) (國際華語研習所) of National Taiwan University

Mandarin Training Center (MTC) (國語教學中心) of National Taiwan Normal University

Taipei Language Institute (中華語文研習所)

 

  

Snowy Weekend in England -

 

Much of England experienced a touch of snow this weekend. Starting from midnight, heavy snowfall caused airport runways to close and prompted several warnings. While many woke up to snow-covered landscapes, others reported heavy rain, and some even enjoyed clear skies. Despite the weather, it was confirmed that the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester United would proceed, though many matches in other leagues were postponed.

 

In my local area of Leicestershire, the morning brought thick fog and around 7-8 cm of snow covering everything. Having packed my camera bag the night before, I quickly had breakfast, cleared the snow off my car, and headed to Bradgate Park! However, upon arrival, I was met with an unexpected light sleet, and the melting snow hinted at insufficient cold to keep it frozen.

 

Still, I managed to capture a few shots! Two wide-angle photos showcase Bradgate Park and the River Lin partially covered in snow. My favorite little bird, the robin (or redbreast), saved the day with its generous poses. I hope the close-up shots of this curious bird, gazing at me with its black, inquisitive eyes while perched on the snow, catch your interest.

 

Wishing you all a lovely Sunday evening!

 

Robins and Winter Conditions

Robins (Erithacus rubecula), commonly found across Europe, are resilient birds but face significant challenges during winter, especially in snowy conditions. Here are some key points:

 

Struggle to Find Food:

Robins primarily feed on insects, worms, and berries, often foraged from the ground. Snow-covered landscapes limit their access to these essential food sources, making survival more difficult.

 

Increased Energy Needs:

Cold temperatures demand more energy to maintain body heat. If robins cannot meet this energy requirement, their chances of survival drop significantly.

 

Human Support:

People can aid robins by placing seeds, oats, berries, and dried fruits in bird feeders during the winter months. Providing fresh water is equally vital, as natural water sources may freeze.

 

Connection to Snow:

Robins become more visible against snowy backdrops due to their vibrant red breast, making them a favorite subject for photographers.

 

These challenges highlight the delicate balance of winter ecosystems and the need to support wildlife during harsh conditions.

 

I've captured some unforgettable moments with my camera, and I hope you feel the same joy viewing these images as I did while shooting them.

 

Thank you so much for visiting my gallery, whether you leave a comment, add it to your favorites, or simply take a moment to look around. Your support means a lot to me, and I wish you good luck and beautiful light in all your endeavors.

 

© All rights belong to R.Ertuğ. Please refrain from using these images without my express written permission. If you are interested in purchasing or using them, feel free to contact me via Flickr mail.

 

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 -

 

Your comments and criticism are very valuable.

 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and explore :)

   

Italien / Toskana - Chianti

 

Gaiole in Chianti

 

Chianti (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkjanti]), in Italy also referred to as Monti del Chianti ("Chianti Mountains") or Colline del Chianti ("Chianti Hills"), is a mountainous area of Tuscany in the provinces of Florence, Siena and Arezzo, composed mainly of hills and mountains. It is known for the wine produced in and named for the region, Chianti.

 

History

 

The territory of Chianti was initially limited, in the thirteenth century, by the municipalities of Gaiole in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and Castellina in Chianti and thus defined the "Chianti League" (Lega di Chianti).

 

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, even decided in 1716 to issue an edict in which he officially recognized the boundaries of the Chianti district, which was the first legal document in the world to define a wine production area.

 

The villages of Chianti are often characterized by Romanesque churches and fortified medieval castles, signs of the ancient wars between Siena and Florence or as Monteriggioni, a fortified village north of Siena, on the ancient Via Cassia that leads to Florence.

 

In 1932, the wine designation specified the production limits for Chianti Classico, which is a DOCG (in Italian "Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita", governed by Italian regulations).

 

Geography

 

In addition to the cities already mentioned at the origin of this region, the city of Greve in Chianti radically expresses its connection directly in its name or as Impruneta which claims the name Impruneta in Chianti although it is not an official designation.

 

Agriculture

 

Like all rural regions of Tuscany, there is no monoculture and there are vineyards, olive trees, cereals and potatoes.

 

Silviculture

 

In the lower hills, there is the exploitation of oak woods, on the higher hills those of chestnut and holm oaks. Everywhere there are cypresses.

 

Viticulture

 

The name of Chianti wine refers to a region strictly located in the provinces of Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Pistoia, Pisa and Prato.

 

Cities in the region with explicit reference in their names:

 

Greve in Chianti and its hamlets: Panzano in Chianti, San Polo in Chianti

Radda in Chianti

Gaiole in Chianti

Castellina in Chianti

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Das Chianti-Gebiet [ˈkjantigəˌbiːt], auch Colline del Chianti (Chianti-Hügel) oder Monti del Chianti (Chianti-Berge) genannt, ist eine Hügelkette (Gebirgskette) im Zentrum der Toskana, in der schon seit Jahrhunderten Chianti-Wein produziert wird. Das Weinbaugebiet macht ca. ein Drittel der gesamten Toskana aus.

 

Geografie

 

Das Kerngebiet der Hügelkette teilt sich in die Gebiete Chianti fiorentino und Chianti senese auf. Hierbei liegt der fiorentinische Teil am südöstlichen Rand der Metropolitanstadt Florenz und umfasst die Gemeinden Barberino Val d’Elsa, Greve in Chianti, San Casciano in Val di Pesa und Tavarnelle Val di Pesa. Der senesische Teil liegt im Nordosten der Provinz Siena und umfasst Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Gaiole in Chianti, Poggibonsi und Radda in Chianti. Der sogenannte Chianti aretino ist der westliche Teil der Provinz Arezzo zwischen Arno und Chianti und gehört nicht zum Kerngebiet. Ihm gehören die Gemeinden Cavriglia, Bucine, Pergine Valdarno, Montevarchi und San Giovanni Valdarno an. Diese liegen geografisch gesehen im westlichen Valdarno[ (Arnotal).

 

Das Chianti-Gebiet umfasst im Westen Teile des Elsatals (Val d’Elsa) und des Pesatals (Val di Pesa), im Norden das Grevetal (Val di Greve), im Osten Teile des Arnotals (Valdarno) und des Ambratals (Val d’Ambra bzw. Valdambra). Im Südosten grenzt der Chianti an die Crete Senesi, im Südwesten an die Montagnola Senese.

 

In den Hügeln des Chianti entspringen die Flüsse bzw. Torrenti Ambra, Arbia, Bozzone, Greve, Ombrone, Pesa und Staggia. Zudem durchfließt im Westen der Elsa aus Süden und der Montagnola Senese kommend das Gebiet, das im Norden und Nordosten teilweise an den Arno grenzt.

 

Höchste Erhebung im Chianti-Gebiet ist der Berg Monte San Michele, der im Gemeindegebiet von Greve in Chianti liegt. Er erreicht eine Höhe von 893 Metern.

 

Geschichte

 

Das Gebiet wurde zuerst von den Etruskern und danach von den Römern besiedelt. Beide Kulturen hinterließen viele Spuren – auch, was den Weinbau angeht. Erstmals dokumentiert wurde das Gebiet als Clanti im 8. Jahrhundert. Im Mittelalter kämpften Florenz und Siena um die Vorherrschaft in diesem Gebiet. Der Name "Chianti" (Lega del Chianti) stand ursprünglich für einen Militärbund der Städte Radda, Castellina und Gaiole, der im 13. Jahrhundert entstand. Später wurde der Name auf immer größere Gebiete ausgeweitet. Dörfer und Klöster, Burgen und Festungen wurden in dieser Zeit errichtet, die dann später, als es wieder friedlicher wurde, in Landgüter und Villen umgewandelt wurden. In dieser Zeit fanden umfangreiche Waldrodungen statt, um Olivenhaine und Weinberge anzulegen. Diese Veränderungen brachten wirtschaftliche Erfolge und internationalen Ruhm für die Region.

 

Gesamtes Chianti-Gebiet (Weinbau)

 

Das gesamte Chianti-Gebiet erstreckt sich von Pisa (im Nordwesten) bis Montalcino (im Südosten) und ist offiziell in neun Untergebiete geteilt:

 

Chianti Classico (siehe unten)

Chianti Rufina (um Pontassieve)

Chianti Colline Pisane (um Pisa)

Chianti Montalbano (um Carmignano)

Chianti Colli Fiorentini (um Florenz)

Chianti Colli Senesi (um Siena)

Chianti Aretini (um Arezzo)

Chianti Montespertoli

 

Weinbau im Chianti-Classico-Gebiet

 

Es ist im Norden begrenzt von den Vororten von Florenz, im Osten von den Chianti-Bergen, im Süden von Siena und im Westen von den Tälern der Flüsse Pesa und Elsa. Es ist das Kernland des Chianti-Gebietes. Eine 70 km lange Weinstraße (die „Via Chiantigiana“, SS 222) verbindet die beiden großen Städte und führt durch eine großartige Kulturlandschaft. An der Straße liegen viele bekannte Weinorte aufgereiht wie an einer Perlenkette. Nur ein Zehntel des sehr waldigen Gebiets (insgesamt ca. 70.000 Hektar) wird für Weinbau verwendet. Der Gallo Nero (= „Schwarzer Hahn“) ist das Kennzeichen der Chianti-Classico-Weine. Das Consorzio del Marchio Storico Chianti Classico wacht über die Einhaltung der Regeln für guten Chianti.

 

(Wikipedia)

pour les amateurs d'arts de la rue, voici une série de 8 clichés, portraits féminins croisés à Marseille ...

 

faites moi donc votre quinté du WE !

on ne gagne rien, si ce n'est ma reconnaissance , pour ne pas vous limiter au dernier cliché déposé ! ;-)

Memories of Brambletye Boys Preparatory School 1967 – 1971.

 

When I went to Brambletye at the age of nine, in September 1967, it was my fifth school in the last four years. As my parents were routinely being posted within the Army, they felt a boarding school would give me a more stable education. I vaguely remember touring the school with them and Mr Blencowe, the Headmaster, one summer before term and being asked if I would be happy there for the next four years, to which I obediently replied, "Yes".

 

The school seemed to be based on many military methods. Each boy was allocated to one of four Houses named after great British military heroes: there were Nelson, Marlborough and Drake, and I was in Wellington. Many boy's fathers had been to Brambletye when they were young and it was not unusual for them to insist their son followed in the same House. Instead of prefects we had Officers. As just one part of the overall military discipline we had to march everywhere!

 

We had no first names even though all our parents may have thought long and hard about choosing a name that would either continue the family line, please a grandfather or uncle or be one of the "in" names in the 1960’s. Despite this being formalised by Christening we were only referred to by our surnames. The list of boarders showed a proliferation of double-barrelled surnames, and one poor boy was even blessed with a triple barrelled title. If you had the same surname as someone else, the older and more senior added "1" to his name, the junior adding "2". You had Smith 1 and 2 because they were common. They did get as far as Sommerfelt 3 but no other parents managed to produce four offspring within the four year scope of preparatory school life (fertility treatment had not been developed at this time!).

 

I remember the first night, going to bed later than it should have been at 6.30pm, and a few of the other sixteen or so boys in the dormitory sobbing into their pillows. They were comforted by the matrons in their starched white uniforms. I had the benefit of a few months on the majority of them as I was a Spring baby born in March, while there were still others born later in Autumn of the same year who were in the same intake. Whether this classified me as "retarded" because there were younger and cleverer boys in the same class, I shall never be sure, but I do know I didn't cry on the first night.

 

The dormitory was a long room with nine steel framed beds down one side, seven down the other. One side had deep windows stretching from the high ceiling down to near the floor, overlooking the shallow valley below. To the right you could see a lake or reservoir that glistened in the sun. It appeared only a few miles away. To me it symbolised "freedom" as on nice sunny days you could see yachts sailing on it. But between the shimmering water and me was a gulf that might as well have been a thousand miles wide. I never ever did reach its shores, and be able to look back across to the school.

 

Winter terms could be dark and huge curtains were drawn across those high dormitory windows. In summer time even they couldn't make it dark enough to sleep until late. But at least in summertime you could find the enamelled tin potties which were strategically located around the dormitory. These could get rather full and smelly over night and were a disgusting trap for little feet as boys sneaked around barefoot in their pyjamas after lights out. There was many a time when a toe stubbed a potty in the dark. There would be a stifled shriek either followed by the splashing of urine onto the wooden floor or the crashing of an empty tin potty skidding across the dormitory. If it crashed into the steel frame of a bed you had about 10 seconds to run back to the other end of the dormitory in pitch darkness, find your bed, leap under the blankets and "be asleep" before simultaneously the lights came on and a Master strode into the room. Anyone caught out of bed was in for a whacking!

 

Actually this only happened rarely. Dormitory raids were the exception rather than the rule. Mind you it was difficult from the juniors dormitory. The dormitory door led into a magnificent hall, very much the Headmaster's part of the school, with offices, and staff rooms to the right. A huge skinned tiger with his stuffed head, bared teeth and glass eyes, lay star shaped on the parquet floor, ready to rip into your ankles if you dared pass. To the left lay a wood panelled corridor leading to Mr Blencowe's room. Ahead, past the tiger, rose a magnificent wooden grand staircase. Above it a huge portrait of a very stern gentleman stared down forbiddingly towards the dormitory door. Access to the other dormitories could only be gained across this hall and up the staircase. With doors to left and right from which a master might appear at any moment, the staring, watching eyes of the portrait, and the risk of a master or matron appearing on the landing above, it was incredibly risky in a Colditz sort of way left to venture upstairs after lights out. If a number of you were caught, wielding pillows, tip toeing upstairs, there was only one outcome. A quick march down the panelled corridor to the left took you to Mr Blencowe's office. Normally being there was not good news, but it always gave me the chance to see the two black cast statues of Charles I and Henry VIII(?) that stood in his hallway. I was always impressed by these 3ft tall figures and thirty-five years later was quite upset to hear that they ended their lives thrown in a rubbish tip.

 

There were a number of strange procedures for First Years. One peculiar rule was that juniors had to line up outside the toilets every morning. A junior officer held a book – perhaps it should have been called a log book. According to the order of name in the book each boy would enter the toilet as a cubicle became available, do what he could and return to report to the officer with either a "1" or a "2" to confirm which bodily function had been completed. A twelve or thirteen year old officer then had the medical responsibility when noting a certain boy had not reported a "2" for several days, to tell him to go back in and try harder. Serious cases of constipation were referred to the school nurse.

 

After lunch we were required to rest. This meant returning to our dormitory to lie fully clothed in our uniforms on our beds and in silence. Of course at our age this was the last thing we wanted to do. Sleeping was difficult at this time of the day; after all lights out was at 6.30pm every night. You could take one book to read, but if you had made a poor choice you were stuck with it. Fidgeting was not allowed, even if you were bored!

 

Apart from the above two additions to the day's routine it didn't really matter which year you were in, the routine Monday to Friday was the same.

 

We got up on the alarm bell, dressed and washed. Then all 120 or so boys marched by dormitory into the Dining room to sit on wooden benches down the sides of long wooden tables topped by either a Master or Matron at each end. Grace was said in a silent room to immediately be followed by the din of scraping of chairs and benches, clattering of china and cutlery and 120 chattering boys. The food was always prepared and brought to the ends of the tables in large aluminium trays by some curious little Spanish couple called Angela and Manuel. I was never sure where they lived but it appeared to be in a large cupboard at the end of the dining hall!

 

The Master or Matron served the food, helped by the boy on the end of the row. We all moved round one place each day. As each plate was filled with food it was passed from boy to boy down the line to the end. Breakfast was always cornflakes in the summer term followed by bacon, egg and plum tomatoes. Sometimes the egg was scrambled in a watery pale yellow mush of nothing. For variety it was fried into flat discs of rubber. In winter it was porridge poured out of a massive jug - every day. Sometimes I ate a few spoonfuls, but despite a rule that you sit there until you eat it, there was always a hungry chum nearby that preferred to eat my porridge than have a dose of scrambled egg. Once I sat in the dining hall whilst the rest of school had morning inspection, chapel, prep and the first lesson, before Angela took pity on me, gave me a smile, and removed the solid, cold bowl of porridge from in front of me. I would have sat there all day, but I think she had been waiting to go shopping!

 

After the meal we returned to the dormitory to make our beds. This was a precise science recalling military traditions of the 45 degree hospital tuck and razor sharp folds. Points were attributed to the house for clean and tidy dormitories. We then had a short time to brush up our shoes and present ourselves for inspection in the main hall. This was to all intents and purposes a military parade with the Captain walking up and down each line to give a head to toe examination of brushed hair, tie knot, clean knees and polished and tied shoes. We always faced one side of the hall and your eyes naturally rose up to some huge ornate wooden boards listing the names of all the old School Captains who had gone on to better things. I was always struck by this board as it listed boys all the way back to the time of the Great War. I never thought my name would be on this board and I was proven right!

 

Next came chapel. A short march took us into a beautiful little chapel. I still remember there was so much wood in it and some lovely religious frescos. As a "non-singer" chapel during the week was quite straightforward. You stood up, sang, sat down, knelt, stood up, sang, knelt, sat up, listened to the lesson………..the routine was the same every day. I once was told to read the lesson. I was given a week to prepare for it, and fretted every day over it. Shaking in my shoes I read it in front of the whole school and apparently missed a whole verse out of it, but next to nobody noticed.

 

We had a short spell of "prep" until nine o'clock (time to do the home work you didn't do lastnight) before it was full steam into lessons.

 

Colonel Molesworth, was our French teacher. He was so regimented in everything he did, at lunchtime he would disect a rectangular tray of rice pudding with skin, into 24 precise portions using a knife to gauge the proportions. Then he would take the knife and try to cut a rectangular block of rice pudding! I tell you what, he had some knack! I detested rice pudding, porridge, semolina or tapioca, and still he always managed to give me the same sized portion as everyone else!

 

He was even more amazing at French. He taught us Franglais, a language quite unknown to the Gallic people of France, so that even after finishing at Brambletye, and continuing it at High school, I still could not speak French after nine years.

 

He would have left today's England's football team in tears with his rules. In the days of wingers on each side, inside left, centre forward, inside right, with right, centre and left halves and a left and right back you could not move out of your "box". As a right back, cross an imaginary line between the goal and the centre spot into the left half and the whistle would blow and you would be sent to run a quick circuit of the four pitches on the lower playing fields. Colonel Molesworth approved of the shoulder barge whereby a four stone weakling on the ball could be shoulder-barged with the force of a charging rhinoceros and no foul given. Similarly Henniker–Heaton's clod-hopper boots, which were built of half inch thick leather coming up to the middle of his shins, tipped on the sole with half inch steel studs and re-inforced toe caps, could quite legitimately be used to separate an opponents leg from his foot at the ankle without any thought about the need to take time off sports through injury, physiotherapy or scans.

 

Colonel Molesworth: clipped moustache, highly polished brown shoes: what did he do in the war? (Mmm; he was prisoner. That seems appropriate)

 

Mr Trevanion was hard. Oh yes!!! He taught Maths. You didn't say much to Mr Trevanion, you just answered his questions as directly as possible. You tried not to meet eye to eye with him either: his stare was deadly! Sometimes you would have to stand by the desk and wait whilst he marked your work. I noticed his hands then. They were hard!

 

Scripture was taught by Mr Jones, definitely a man to respect, and whilst he could be strict, I did seem to do well in his classes gaining a few "A-"s, "B+"s and "Satis" all over my work. He made me Form Captain. It was my job to let the class know what their Prep was for the next day so I must apologise to the whole class, now for the first time in thirty-four years, that one day I gave them the wrong details. This meant that the majority of them were in trouble with Mr Jones the next day for doing the wrong work. Protest as they did it was proven I couldn't have given the wrong information as there were a number of boys who had completed the same work as me. They naturally kept quiet because these were the ones who had copied off me!

 

Mr Ogle taught Geography which I liked. I was good at locating the Amazon mouth, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the Nile, etc, on a blank map of the world with pinpoint precision. Is this why I later qualified as a Navigation Officer in the Merchant Navy twelve years later? But Mr Ogle was an arty-farty type of teacher into music and art as well. He seemed to swan around in his black gown and couldn't be taken too seriously.

 

English and Latin were taught by Mr Glanfield (Glanners). I'm not sure why I don't remember much about him. I suited Latin as it was very regimented, but unfortunately being good in Latin at Brambletye proved completely useless for any application in the rest of my life. Mr Glanfield lived in a room at the end of the dormitory corridor, up a short flight of stairs. I only got whacked by Mr Glanfield once with a hair brush (and I deserved it for being an irritating little shit in the dormitory after lights out). It was he who also developed the "sitting in" form of punishment. For minor mis-demeanors you could get a 15 minute "sit in" for each offence up to a maximum of an hour's worth. When the rest of the school was free to play, anyone on a "sit in" was required to sit upright, in silence, facing forward, in a classroom for just you, a Master to watch over you and any other miscreants doing their "sit in". If you accrued more than an hour's worth of "sit in", you not only had to do your time, but were sent down to see the Headmaster for a bit of serious talking, and maybe a whacking too!

 

Learning the dates of births and deaths of every English King and Queen, major battle and historical event from 1066 until the 20th Century by heart, now doesn't seem such a waste of time when you bump into a foreign tourist who knows British Empire history better than you do. But I couldn't trust the History teacher (whose name I conveniently cannot recall) who showed slightly too much favouritism to certain boys.

 

Science was a mix of chemistry, physics and biology taken by Mr Blencowe, a very mild man, who as headmaster had to be all things to the school. Not only did he have to lead the school in prayer and hymn in chapel, but conduct daily inspections, administor the whole school and invariably fill in for any teacher who was "away" for whatever reason. Science was fun. Apart from the effects of burning sodium and magnesium we had everything from breeding locusts to hatching chicks and copulating Xenopus toads. I remember Mr Blencowe saying something about injecting the toads to make them breed. I know at the time I thought the whole matter strangely peculiar: why was the male, scrabbling franticly at the top of the tank and the female lying completely breathless at the bottom? There were eggs everywhere! This was not mating as I knew it. Normally it is the male that is exhausted! It's taken 34 years for Mr Blencowe to admit he was supposed to give the female a larger dose, but he gave it to the male by mistake!

 

Music lessons were the worry. Singing was not my strength but I learned, as a matter of self-preservation, to mime quite well. Mr Sharpe didn't just have a sharp tongue; his hand could to do some damage too. This didn't just happen in music lessons, but more memorably in chapel rehearsing for the main Sunday service. We would have to sing all the hymns and psalms selected for the next day's service. Mr Sharpe would sit in the organ pit, fingers and feet bouncing off the organ keys and pedals. With back to us, suddenly he wouldn't be happy with what he was hearing, leap out of the pit and race to the pew where he thought the wrong sound was coming from. Miming was no good at this point: you had to start singing quickly – and in tune too! Without the rhythm and backing of the organ it was doubly difficult and we had to continue to sing as he would come along our row, ear cocked to what we sang. If he heard the wrong note a hand would flash out so fast: "Whack!" right across the face!

 

I distinctly remember the row of five classrooms partitioned off from each other by wooden folding doors. At prep or when letter writing on Sunday the doors were folded back to allow one teacher to oversee everyone as they worked in silence. With the partitions closed during the day, we sat in cast iron framed desks with a flip up seat. There was an ink well filled regularly with a jug of the blue stuff. It was often spilt and some boys had significant indelible stains on various parts of their school uniform. Ink was used as an offensive weapon too, either flicked from the nibs of fountain pens or launched as a sodden ball of blotting paper into the front rows of the classroom. In one English lesson I remember a classmate taking several thick rubber bands, placing them over the tip of forefinger and thumb to form a catapault, and then placing a pellet of folded card into the "V", pulling it back, until the elastic would stretch no more before firing it into the bare neck of the boy immediately in front of him. Five minutes later he dared to do it again, but this time his aim was slightly out so that the hardened pellet richochetted off the back of the boy’s head, thudding into the wall of the classroom above Mr Glanfield's head, before falling to the floor near his feet! All hell broke loose then and I had to quickly withdraw both hands from under the desk lid where I had been constructing a Concorde shaped aeroplane out of a felt tip pen body, some paperclips and a folded exercise book cover.

 

There were regular intervals in the day to run off energy, shout and run about. These were often five or ten minute spells between chapel and lessons, tea and chapel, prep and bed along with morning breaktime and after lunch –unless you were a junior of course.

 

In the winter and spring term we changed into our sports gear after lunch. We only played football in the winter term, and rugby in the spring term. In summer, games were played after the afternoon break and we always played cricket.

 

Playing football and rugby in the colder, wetter months, every day was not particularly pleasant. Apart from being hacked to death by Hennicker-Heaton's boots, it was normally wet and cold. Being in the lower league playing fields and being refereed by Colonel Molesworth meant a long trudge from the playing fields up to the school. I hated how his military precision required us to play until the second hand of his watch hit the hour when some of the younger masters, watching the rain clouds gather, would blow the whistle early. Two hundred and forty hot, sweaty and wet boots were taken off and hung up in the small lean-to boot shed which stank like a giant mud wrestlers armpit, before the boys went up to shower. Colonel Molesworth's troop, coming from the furthest field, always arrived last to find the changing rooms awash with muddy water and clods of grass, the wooden duck boards barely allowing you to change into dry clothes only by hanging yourself on the clothes hooks, and reaching down to pull your socks on.

 

If it was too wet to play games, we had to don our macintoshs and "gum" boots and walk up and down the school drive. Normally after two laps from one end to other you were allowed back inside out of the rain! Colonel Molesworth would call out, "Left, right, left, right"………c'mon chaps!"

 

Afternoon tea comprised of filing past to pick up your Marmite sandwich (jam on Sundays) and third of a pint of milk bottle. These were consumed whilst each boy sat on his allocated locker surrounding the main hall. Every day we would pass the crates of milk on the way to breakfast. In summer they sat in the sun and were still there at 3.30pm. Sometimes you could barely press the bottle top to remove it because the pressure had built up so much, and when you could, you would find the top half of the milk completely solid, curdled and sour. Some would clamp a hand over the bottle, shake it vigorously and swallow the lot in one. Some would put it on the floor, and whilst sat on the locker, "knock it over by mistake". This normally resulted in them being given another one to drink!!!

 

After games it was back into the classroom for more lessons until teatime. Too often it was bland macaroni cheese - just macaroni cheese on a plate which was abhorred by every boy. Still were to come "Prep", our homework session of homework carried out in silence in the classroom another parade and chapel service before we normally had half an hour or so of play before bed. With juniors tucked up in bed by 6.30pm, the second years were despatched by 7.00pm, third years at 7.30pm. Even the oldest boys had to be in bed by 8.00pm!

 

Saturday was a "half-day". Lessons and chapel Sunday service rehearsal (watch out for Mr Sharpe) in the morning followed by freetime in the afternoon. Freetime could be spent in many ways. There was a boating pond. Electric boats were rare then, and there was certainly no radio control. Most boats were either free sailing yachts or clockwork powered. We could play rounders, fly model planes, roller skate, do woodwork or pottery, go in the monkey-climb or into the woods. There were marionettes and a steam engine Club too. There were great Chestnut trees so the school went conker mad in October. The school drives were lined with rhododendron bushes and you could in places climb through the bushes without touching the ground for up to 200 yards or so in places. Amongst these boys had dens as they did in the bracken filled bushes of the woods. We had khaki coloured jackets that made us quite camouflaged and apart from the dens there were caverns dug out of the sandstone. These could have been dangerous, but despite having fires in them, the odd roof collapse and "wars" between different groups I'm not aware that there were any casualties.

 

Sunday was different. Instead of lessons we had the full service in the chapel lasting 75 minutes. This sometimes seemed quite interminable, especially when the sun was shining outside, but you couldn't relax because the headmaster's wife, teachers and matrons filled the pews behind you.

 

And then it was to letter writing. We had to write one letter every week. I nearly always wrote to my parents in Germany. It tended to get a bit repetitive although the scores and names could normally be alternated on a regular basis. "I got A minus in Latin. The First Eleven played Ashdown House and we won 5 –2. The Second Eleven lost 2-0. Crompton and Wallis 2 have got German measles and have gone to the sick bay for three days. Only 62 days to go until the end of term and I am looking forward to seeing you (for the first time in 3 months)". Normally we had to bring writing pads to school with us at the start of each term. The trick was to get a small one with widely spaced lines so that Colonel Molesworth's demand for all letters to be two full pages didn't require too many words. Whether it was censorship or not, we had to take them to the front of the class for the teacher to read before we could "finish" which normally on a Sunday meant escape into the woods.

 

Young as we were, the confines of the school were exactly that. There were areas you would never go in. In the woods there was only a small fence that marked the limit of where we were allowed to go. It might only have been a two strand barbed wire fence but I never crossed it. It was as if there was a hidden Nazi watchtower ready to machine gun you if you touched the tripwire. The limits were marked by a two bar metal fence or the drives in other directions, easily enough crossed, but like the shimmering lake, in four years that I was there, what lay outside was not part of my world.

 

But apparently there were two escapes in my time at the school. All of a sudden there were rumours that someone had done a runner, but shortly afterwards the school propaganda system kicked in and the "hero" became someone taken out of school urgently to visit a dying grandmother.

 

I think we bathed twice a week. We lined up in the bathroom, with three tubs, where we would take turns to leap in. I don't think the water was changed, and matron would wash our hair. Every week we had a "sock" night or a "pants" night when everyone would throw that item in big baskets to be washed. Jumpers, shirts and trousers were washed less frequently. Only seniors, and only if they were over 5ft, could wear long trousers. At least once a term we were weighed and our height was recorded. Presumably the details helped our parents to recognise us when they next saw us! “Oh yes, darling, this one’s 4 ft 5 inches and about 5 stone, just like Timothy’s report says: this must be our son!”

 

I do remember a few "special" events. We occasionally were shown a film in the library. Apart from Treasure Island and The Robe these normally frightened me, especially the one of the headless horsemen attacking people in the dark! I only saw television a few times. There were some very basic " watch and learn" type physics programs in black and white but the only other thing I saw on TV was a fuzzy grey, live, image of the some men walking on the moon, for the first time.

 

We had some Spanish guy with long, horny nails come and play classical guitar, which seemed extremely tedious for us and him, and some cowboy who came and shot some balloons in the main hall.

 

Every year there was a school play. I was too young to be in Oliver. Just as well, as I was scared of the Bill Sykes character played by Jonathon Hughes De'Ath. Without girls in the school female parts had to be played by boys. It was whispered that one master reputedly quite fancied Cadicott-Bull who played Nancy. On the same basis I was quite glad I wasn't too attractive in my blonde pigtails, pink dress and Bo-Peep hood as a sailor's girl in the Pirates of Penzance. Playing a black cannibal in HMS Pinafore was much less dubious!

 

There were visitors to the school. Unfortunately one of these was the school dentist. Once a week we got sweets. A table was set up on the main hall stage and class by class we were taken to line up and chose our sweets. We each had a shilling with which you could get two handfuls of packets of sweets. Then decimalisation came in 1971 and we were robbed! Our shilling had become 5p. Straightaway we could only get about half as much. If we weren't robbed here, there were other chances to take advantage of us.

 

Every so often a long haired traveller we called the "Swindler" parked near the school. He had a Commer van. It was stacked with miniature chess sets, models, pen-knives and games. Since leaving the school I've never understood why he was given access as he must have obtained his name and reputation from somewhere. But the knives were the most frequently bought items either for activities in the woods or for playing "splits" where two opponents face each other, with two knives. Each in turn throws their knife into the ground, the opponent having to stretch one foot to the knife leading to them eventually doing the splits. Whilst everyone had a knife (and some might come close in this game) I was never aware of any knives being used as weapons. Anyhow, if in any sort of confrontation all you had to do was raise a hand and shout "Pax" (meaning "Peace" in Latin) and for some mysterious reason you were safe. Similarly if a prowling Master was spotted when boys were doing something they shouldn't, the warning word, "Cave" (pronounced "K.V" and meaning "warning" in Latin) was urgently passed from boy to boy.

 

There was also a barber who visited a school. Everyone got a cut and there was never any discussion over which style would suit. We all got the same. Strange that we sat in a small room having our hair cut next to a large glass case of British stuffed birds. I wondered if we would turn out the same.

 

There were tennis courts and a swimming pool at the school. I didn't take tennis, but one summer a keep fit regime was started. At about 7.00 am we were taken to the tennis courts where we did press-ups, star jumps, and lots of exercises in the dewy, cool morning air. I remembering it lasting a week or so, and then strangely we never did it again.

 

We had rehearsals for Sports Day, practising marching onto the fields, when we would line up in front of the parents in white shorts, T-shirts and rubber plimsolls. We had to compete in at least two events. Not a natural runner I actually surprised myself by getting into the heats of the 100 yard hurdles one year. I couldn't jump consistently high enough to ensure I could clear the hurdles, so I developed a technique to deliberately hit the hurdle but make sure I never tripped on it. I was glad when they introduced a new sport called, "Throwing the cricket ball". Requiring one to take a short run and throw the ball as far as you could in the general direction of "away from you", it was a shame they never introduced this at national level as this might have been something I could have done reasonably well at

 

I had a garden. Those that wanted one were given a six by six plot to till. That's six feet by six feet. Almost everyone who had one turned them to carrots, radishes, lettuces and nasturtiums, which we were persuaded we could eat. Some added these into their Marmite sandwiches and gave mixed reviews.

 

Swimming at Brambletye was definitely to be avoided unless you were a frog or a newt……..and despite the name I was not one of the latter. Fed by a stream, this "pit" was filthy for all but a week of the year. It might have been natural, for it was full of the flora and fauna of East Sussex, but it was icy cold even in the middle of summer. Forced to swim its length as a test I would willingly have covered the distance at the fastest possible speed if it hadn't been for the heart seizures and cramps I got when first entering the water. Fortunately I never showed enough promise to get in the swimming team. How some boys could enthusiastically take up diving I shall never know.

 

In quieter times I enjoyed playing billiards in the library. Also there was a reasonable selection of books but it was Hornblower and the World War Two escape stories I enjoyed most. This was partly lived out in the upper reaches of the school. Removing some of the wood panels in the bathroom, we found we could climb into the roof space and travel extensively throughout the length and breadth of the school at night, above the dormitories and master's bedrooms. If this had been Colditz we would have built a glider up here and escaped to freedom!

 

Some of the fixed steel ladder fire-escapes added to the Colditz feel. Forbidden to use them unless there was a fire practice or real emergency, they were actually so dangerous it was only very rarely we went down them even in a drill.

 

Some steep stairs led to the sick bay in the highest part of the school. Catching something highly contagious was quite desirable as long as it wasn't too life threatening. This meant you were isolated in the sick bay, totally exempt from the normal routine, far from the reach of masters and officers and safely tucked up in the motherly care of the matrons. This was the place to have a good time! An outbreak of measles and chicken-pox was of little use to me as I had reasonable resistance to most diseases and only fell to them when most of the school had already got it. This meant the sick bay was already full and I usually ended up confined to my dormitory back under the gaze of the masters and officers.

 

On the return to each term posted on the notice board there would be all the important dates: start and finish of term, half term, Easter holidays, etc. the holidays were so short, and the terms seemed so long. When I first started at school we were all boarders – day pupils didn't start until 1971. A half term or Easter seemed such luxury. You got a Saturday, Sunday AND Monday off, all together. Normally I went to my grandparents who lived nearby. Once there were about four of us who had nowhere to go. We got to watch television and have jam sandwiches in Mr Ogle's bungalow as compensation! I used to fly unaccompanied to my parents in Germany each holiday or to Wick when they moved to the north of Scotland. Once my brother and I were caught up in the effects of a strike at Edinburgh airport.

 

From time to time they added cut outs of certain articles from the daily newspapers and I remember regular features on the Vietnam War and Cassius Clay who would fight any man in the ring with his fists, but refused to fight in a war.

 

Mail used to arrive regularly and was handed out after breakfast. Seeing my parents only in between terms, I felt particularly lucky having such loving parents who ensured I was always well supplied with very regular, long letters every week. Other boys, some sons of diplomatic staff based in Embassies around the world, saw their parents very rarely, not even going home in the holidays sometimes. Some were lucky to even get a card on their birthday. But most received a parcel from home on their birthday. These were handed out on the matron's landing where they had to be opened in front of the staff. Food, sweets and money were immediately confiscated to be saved and supplied to the individual on a rationed basis.

 

The school changed quite a bit towards the end of my time there as Mr Fowler-Watt was phased in as Headmaster. He had an aggressive look to him and the style of the school became more progressive. Unlike Mr Blencowe who had more of a pained look on his face when a boy's behavior frustrated him, Mr Fowler-Watt could explode in rage. The Scots breeding in him meant the songs of Gilbert & Sullivan were out for the school play and in came the ghouls, witches and blood letting of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Extensions were built to the school, and new Portacabin classes positioned on the ground that was once my garden. And then another class of boy arrived; the day boys, namby pambies who went home to their Mummies every night, and arrived by car, freshly washed and dressed each morning. There was even talk of girls joining the school soon! What was the place coming to?!

 

Having laboured through the Common Entrance Exams to Public School, I left Brambletye to join my parents and brothers now living in the far north of Scotland near John O'Groats. The difference could not have been more extreme. I passed into the comprehensive school with girls (!), straight into the highest stream without need for examination. This was a lucky streak as they were all sons and daughters of nuclear physicists, doctors and engineers imported from the higher echelons of the fast breeder nuclear industry, the Royal Navy and Rolls Royce. Even though I was always towards the lower end of the class, as each year went by, I was dragged along by the very high standards so that on finishing some 30 of the 32 in the class went on to University. Each night I would endure a journey involving two buses taking an hour and a quarter, sometimes battling through blizzards in the dark to deposit my brother, the cattleman's son and I at the end of the mile and a half farm road. We had the freedom to drive our own cars from there to the house even at the age of thirteen.

 

Which type of school was best for me? Both were best. Brambletye undoubtedly taught me self-discipline and respect, kept me fit and healthy. But without life at the comprehensive school I could have been scared of the outside world, completely institutionalised by the limits of the school boundaries and routines. But perhaps I should thank Brambletye for making me want to explore more, starting me on a journey in life that has so far taken me to almost 60 countries. Married now for twenty-five years, with three fine children and director of a highly respected business at Manchester airport I look back on life so far with no regrets and fond memories of my years at Brambletye. I am what I am much because of Brambletye. It's not all good: my wife still has to tell me to change my socks and underwear more frequently!

 

My name never did get on those big boards in the main hall, but featuring in four separate photos in Peter Blencowe's history of the school makes me realise that even though I never made the First Eleven, Second Eleven or even Third Eleven in football, it was the mix of characters and abilities that made the school what it was and every boy can be very proud to have been part of its history.

 

I was surprised, in 2008, to discover Brambletye Preparatory School had risen to become the most expensive prep school in the country.

 

This is another image taken last week Friday during a snow storm that was dropping large, fluffy snowflakes in nearly dead calm conditions. Here you see the remains of one of the groynes (shoreline erosion mitigation structures) located along Kelson Beach which is immediately to the East of Fifty Point Conservation Area, on the shore of Lake Ontario. If you look two-thirds of the way up along the left side of the frame you can make out a bit of Fifty Point. Kelson Beach lies at the West limit of Grimsby, Ontario where it abuts Winona (read Regional City of Hamilton). After three days of cold weather, ice had begun to form on the piles that used to hold long horizontal beams. The curved/bent steel rods were used to hold those horizontal beams, but extremely high water levels in Lake Ontario coupled with several violent storms in Spring 2017 tore off the remaining horizontal beams.

 

As of the date of posting, warmer weather has wiped out the snow and ice so now I have to wait for another cold snap to revisit the area for winter photos. - JW

 

Date Taken: 2017-12-15

 

Tech Details:

 

Taken using tripod-mounted Nikon D7100 fitted with a Nikkor 12-24mm lense set to 15mm and with a 10-stop Neutral Density/ND filter attached, ISO100, Auto WB, Manual exposure, f/8.0 (based on test exposures and histogram), 25 sec (to smooth out the water surface and also ensure falling snow flakes did not record in the image). PP in free Open Source RAWTherapee from Nikon RAW/NEF source file: scale image to 9000x6000, set exposure to +0.8 stops brighter than as-shot, level horizon, enable Graduated Neutral Density/GND filter and rotate and relocate it to cover the snow in the lower left corner and slightly darken that snow area, enable shadows-highlights tool and significantly recover highlights to get better detail representation in the brightest snow and ice areas and then very slightly boost shadow recovery to slightly brighten the shoreline gravel, slightly boost vibrance, sharpen, save. PP in free Open Source GIMP: slightly modify the tone curve to bring up the mid-tones a bit while holding the top 20% (i.e. snow ice detail) at default value and then slightly pull down the bottom 10% of the curve, slightly increase contrast and slightly boost brightness (to prevent darkening the darkest areas but boosting contrast in the mid tones a bit), use the colour balance tool to reduce a slight magenta colour cast (i.e. add green), sharpen, save, scale image to 6000x4000, sharpen slightly, save, add fine black-and-white frame, add bar and text on left, save, scale image to 1800 wide for posting online, sharpen slightly, save.

Photo André Knoerr, Genève. Reproduction autorisée avec mention de la source.

Utilisation commerciale soumise à autorisation spéciale préalable.

 

Le 20 février 2018 n'a pas été une bonne journée pour le réseau tramway anversois.

Tout d'abord la motrice PCC 7163 s'est renversée sur le flanc droit dans la boucle au départ du terminus P+R Wommelgem de la ligne 8.

Un peu plus tard la motrice PCC 7107 de la ligne 10 a percuté frontalement un autobus sur un carrefour à Deurne.

Ces accidents se soldent heureusement par un bilan humain très limité.

 

La motrice PCC 7163, encore sur ses pattes, mène un convoi de la ligne 7.

 

17980

Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. This geology produces stunning views and has become a magnet for global tourism. Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the lower 48 states, ascending nearly a mile (5,155 feet/1.6km) above sea level, only 3 miles (4.8 km) from the ocean. Although Big Sur has no specific boundaries, many definitions of the area include the 90 miles (145km) of coastline between the Carmel River and San Carpoforo Creek, and extend about 20 miles (32km) inland to the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucias, while other sources limit the eastern border to the coastal flanks of these mountains, only three to 12 miles (4.8-19km) inland. The northern end of Big Sur is about 120 miles (193km) south of San Francisco, and the southern end is approximately 245 miles (394km) north of Los Angeles.

 

Big Sur Today

 

Big Sur remains sparsely populated, with fewer than 1500 inhabitants, according to the 2000 US Census. The people of Big Sur today are a diverse mix: descendants of the original settler and rancher families, artists and other creative types, along with wealthy home-owners from the worlds of entertainment and commerce. Real estate costs are as impressive as the views, with most homes priced above $2 million. There are no urban areas, although three small clusters of gas stations, restaurants, and motels are often marked on maps as "towns": Big Sur, in the Big Sur River valley, Lucia, near Limekiln State park, and Gorda, on the southern coast. The economy is almost completely based on tourism. Much of the land along the coast is privately owned or has been donated to the state park system, while the vast Los Padres National Forest and Fort Hunter Liggett Military Reservation encompass most of the inland areas. The mountainous terrain, environmentally conscious residents, and lack of property available for development have kept Big Sur almost unspoiled, and it retains an isolated, frontier mystique.

 

Climate

 

It is impossible to generalize about the weather in Big Sur, because the jagged topography causes many separate microclimates. This is one of the few places on Earth where redwoods grow within sight of cacti. Still, Big Sur typically enjoys a mild climate year-round, with a sunny, dry summer and fall, and a cool, wet winter. Coastal temperatures vary little during the year, ranging from the 50s at night to the 70s by day (Fahrenheit) from June through October, and in the 40s to 60s from November through May. Farther inland, away from the ocean's moderating influence, temperatures are much more variable. Annual precipitation in the Big Sur Valley is about 40 inches (100cm), diminishing further to the south to about 25 inches. More than 70% of the rain falls from December through March, while the summer brings drought conditions. Snow is uncommon during the winter months on the coast, although the mountaintops can receive heavy snowfalls. The abundant winter rains cause rock and mudslides that can cut off portions of Highway 1 for days or weeks, but the road is usually quickly repaired.

 

Along with much of the central and northern California coast, Big Sur often has dense fog in summer. The summer fog and summer drought have the same underlying cause: a massive, stable seasonal high pressure system that forms over the north Pacific Ocean. The high pressure cell inhibits rainfall and generates northwesterly airflows. These prevailing summer winds from the northwest push the warm ocean surface water to the southeast, away from the coast, and frigid deep ocean water rises in its place. The water vapor in the air contacting this cold water condenses into fog. The fog usually moves out to sea during the day and closes in at night, but sometimes heavy fog blankets the coast all day. Fog is an essential summer water source for many Big Sur coastal plants. Most plants cannot take water directly out of the air, but the condensation on leaf surfaces slowly precipitates into the ground like rain.

 

Flora

 

The many climates of Big Sur result in an astonishing biodiversity, including many rare and endangered species such as the wild orchid Piperia yadonii. Arid, dusty chaparral-covered hills exist within easy walking distance of lush riparian woodland. The mountains trap most of the moisture out of the clouds; fog in summer, rain and snow in winter. This creates a favorable environment for coniferous forests, including the southernmost habitat of the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), which grows only on lower coastal slopes that are routinely fogged in at night. The redwoods are aggressive regenerators, and have grown back extensively since logging ceased in the early twentieth century. The rare Santa Lucia fir (Abies bracteata), as its name suggests, is found only in the Santa Lucia mountains. A common "foreign" species is the Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), which was uncommon in Big Sur until the late 19th century, when many homeowners began to plant it as a windbreak. Monterey pine fossil remains have been found at Little Sur.

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sony ILCE-7R

300mm F2.8

  

The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a large duck native to Mexico, Central, and South America. Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada. Feral Muscovy ducks are found in New Zealand, Australia, and in parts of Europe.

They are large ducks, with the males about 76 cm (30 in) long, and weighing up to 7 kg (15 lb). Females are considerably smaller, and only grow to 3 kg (6.6 lb), roughly half the males' size. The bird is predominantly black and white, with the back feathers being iridescent and glossy in males, while the females are more drab. The amount of white on the neck and head is variable, as well as the bill, which can be yellow, pink, black, or any mixture of these. They may have white patches or bars on the wings, which become more noticeable during flight. Both sexes have pink or red wattles around the bill, those of the male being larger and more brightly colored.

Although the Muscovy duck is a tropical bird, it adapts well to cooler climates, thriving in weather as cold as −12 °C (10 °F) and able to survive even colder conditions. In general, Barbary duck is the term used for C. moschata in a culinary context.

The domestic breed, Cairina moschata domestica, is commonly known in Spanish as the pato criollo ("creole duck"). They have been bred since pre-Columbian times by Native Americans and are heavier and less able to fly long distances than the wild subspecies. Their plumage color is also more variable. Other names for the domestic breed in Spanish are pato casero ("backyard duck") and pato mudo ("mute duck").

 

All Muscovy ducks have long claws on their feet and a wide flat tail. In the domestic drake (male), length is about 86 cm (34 in) and weight is 4.6–6.8 kg (10–15 lb), while the domestic hen (female) is much smaller, at 64 cm (25 in) in length and 2.7–3.6 kg (6.0–7.9 lb) in weight. Large domesticated males often weigh up to 8 kg (18 lb), and large domesticated females up to 5 kg.

The true wild Muscovy duck, from which all domesticated Muscovys originated, is blackish, with large white wing patches. Length can range from 66 to 84 cm (26 to 33 in), wingspan from 137 to 152 cm (54 to 60 in) and weight from 1.1–4.1 kg (2.4–9.0 lb) in wild Muscovys. On the head, the wild male has short crest on the nape. The bill is black with a speckling of pale pink. A blackish or dark red knob can be seen at the bill base, and the bare skin of the face is similar to that in color. The eyes are yellowish-brown. The legs and webbed feet are blackish. The wild female is similar in plumage, but is also much smaller, and she has feathered face and lacks the prominent knob. The juvenile is duller overall, with little or no white on the upperwing. Domesticated birds may look similar; most are dark brown or black mixed with white, particularly on the head. Other colors such as lavender or all-white are also seen. Both sexes have a nude black-and-red or all-red face; the drake also has pronounced caruncles at the base of the bill and a low erectile crest of feathers.

C. moschata ducklings are mostly yellow with buff-brown markings on the tail and wings. For a while after hatching, juveniles lack the distinctive wattles associated with adult individuals, and resemble the offspring of various other ducks such as Mallards. Some domesticated ducklings have a dark head and blue eyes, others a light brown crown and dark markings on their nape. They are agile and speedy precocial birds.

The drake has a low breathy call, and the hen a quiet trilling coo.

The karyotype of the Muscovy duck is 2n=80, consisting of three pairs of macrochromosomes, 36 pairs of microchromosomes, and a pair of sex chromosomes. The two largest macrochromosome pairs are submetacentric, while all other chromosomes are acrocentric or (for the smallest microchromosomes) probably telocentric. The submetacentric chromosomes and the Z (female) chromosome show rather little constitutive heterochromatin (C bands), while the W chromosomes are at least two-thirds heterochromatin.

Male Muscovy ducks have spiralled penises which can become erect to 20 cm (7.9 in) in one third of a second. Females have cloacas that spiral in the opposite direction that appear to have evolved to limit forced copulation by males.

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1. Taking pictures a tool (camera), not a photographer.

2. The choice of tool limits the possibilities.

3. Experience allows him (instrument) less and less to limit their capabilities.

4. The ability to see is given only when the observer allows ...

5. The moment of observation is the real find ...

6. Training and mastering it defies. Training leads to poor imitations of the original.

7. Often the result should ripen, like wine. Although time is the understanding of the mind, therefore it is very speculative.

8. The meaning of all this is the process!

9. Find someone who inspires shooting the camera!

www.instagram.com/listenwave_photography/

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas

 

Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-largest in the Southwestern United States. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife, with most venues centered on downtown Las Vegas and more to the Las Vegas Strip just outside city limits. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had 641,903 residents in 2020, with a metropolitan population of 2,227,053, making it the 25th-most populous city in the United States.

 

The city bills itself as the Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels. With over 40.8 million visitors annually as of 2023, Las Vegas is one of the most visited cities in the United States. It is a top-three U.S. destination for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world's most visited tourist destinations. The city's tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment has earned it the nickname "Sin City", and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, commercials and music videos.

 

Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated North American city founded within that century (a similar distinction was earned by Chicago in the 19th century). Population growth has accelerated since the 1960s and into the 21st century, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85.2%. As with most major metropolitan areas, the name of the primary city ("Las Vegas" in this case) is often used to describe areas beyond official city limits. In the case of Las Vegas, this especially applies to the areas on and near the Strip, which are actually in the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester.

 

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

 

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"

 

(Nevada) "نيفادا" "内华达州" "नेवादा" "ネバダ" "네바다" "Невада"

 

(Las Vegas) "لاس فيغاس" "拉斯维加斯" "लास वेगास" "ラスベガス" "라스베이거스" "Лас-Вегас"

Pushing the limits of handheld photography is depicted in this shot.

I had abandoned the tripod to give me more freedom to move quickly around this loco servicing area at change of shift.

Here at Dombolisheng in the Sandouling area of NW China locos arrive between 0700 and depart around 0830 for the days work ahead with fresh crew, water and coal. Locos don't stand still for long and the sun rises in the cold winter very quickly with ever changing colours and lighting.

El Herrerillo Común es uno de nuestros pájaros más encantadores. En los primeros días de buen tiempo, cuando el macho se lanza en vuelo nupcial desde la copa de un árbol, utilizando sus azuladas alas como si fueran un paracaídas, su plumaje, pecho amarillo azufre y capirote azul. El Herrerillo Común se limita aún más que el Carbonero Común a los árboles de hoja caduca y suele evitar los bosques sombríos de coníferas. Desde febrero la cavidad del nido, frecuentemente muy estrecha, es elegida y defendida contra los otros parus.

 

Silenciosos en verano, sobre todo en los países mediterráneos donde sólo se les oye a primeras horas de la mañana, los herrerillos comunes vuelven a hacerse vivaces en septiembre. En esta época se registran con frecuencia grandes bandos de estas aves. Estas migraciones son irregulares, según los años y los sectores geográficos en cuestión. Disminuyen en invierno, tiempo de hambre para el Herrerillo Común, que es sobre todo insectívoro y que busca entonces, encarnizadamente, larvas y ninfas ocultas bajo las cortezas y las hojas caídas.

 

Su costumbre de utilizar cajas para anidar ha motivado que su nidificación se haya visto notablemente favorecida.

 

Identificación: Alas, cola y capirote azules; mejillas blancas; dorso verde y partes inferiores amarillas; sexos iguales.

 

Nidificación: Cría en agujeros de árboles, cajas para anidar o huecos en muros; ambos sexos reúnen musgo, hierbas, pelo y lana para material del nido; puesta, de abril a mayo, de 8 a 15 huevos blancos con puntos pardo rojizos; incubación, sólo por la hembra, alrededor de 14 días; ambos progenitores alimentan a las crías, que vuelan después de unos 19 días.

 

Alimentación: Sobre todo pulgones, orugas y otros insectos; algunos frutos, granos y semillas.

 

Hasta que no se coge en la mano no se aprecia bien la brillantez del color azul del píleo, alas y cola del Herrerillo Común, Cyanistes caeruleus. El diseño facial con una estrecha lista negra que atraviesa los ojos, naciendo en la base del pico muy corto y cónico, es característico. En la parte posterior de la cabeza hay una tenue mancha blanca sobre el negro azulado de la nuca y desde aquí parte un estrecho collar negro azulado al principio y más ancho y negro a partir de los blancos carrillos y en el mentón y la garganta. La frente es blancuzca y bordeando el píleo hay una ancha franja blanca que alcanza la nuca. La espalda es verdosa y el obispillo verdoso amarillento. Las partes inferiores son amarillas, pero existe considerable variación en la tonalidad. Muchos herrerillos tienen el centro del pecho y el vientre blanquecinos y siempre se descubre una línea central oscura negro-azulada desde el bajo pecho. El color azul de las alas y la cola es, en muchos, de gran intensidad. Sobre todo en las plumas cobertoras y en los bordes de las primarias.

 

En los herrerillos que se observa durante la reproducción se destaca bien una línea blanca formada por los bordes claros de las cobertoras y una zona gris negruzca alrededor de la base del pico, variable en extensión y que en algunos alcanza considerable tamaño, llegando hasta la parte inferior de los ojos. En parte este color puede deberse a suciedad de las plumas, puesto que el Herrerillo, de pico tan corto, tiene que hurgar con dificultad entre la corteza y los huecos de los árboles. Este plumaje es adquirido por muda completa entre agosto y octubre. El desgaste hace que los colores se acentúen, en especial el azul del píleo, alas y cola y el negro de la garganta. Sin embargo, siempre que los jóvenes herrerillos en agosto, cuando están empezando a adquirir los tonos azules, muestran ya una riqueza incomparable e incluso la intensidad del azul es tal que más parece un tinte cobalto puro. El plumaje de las hembras es algo más apagado y las líneas menos marcadas. Las plumas primarias y secundarias están casi siempre teñidas de verdoso y no son tan brillantemente azules. El pico es negro con bordes laterales gris-azulados, muy fuerte y agudo a pesar de su tamaño; los tarsos y los pies azulados o azul pizarra. El iris de los ojos es pardo oscuro.

 

Los jóvenes herrerillos tienen amarilla o blancuzca la franja que, naciendo en la frente, también amarilla, bordea el píleo. Este es pardo verdoso. Los carrillos son amarillos, igual que las partes inferiores. Falta en ellos el color azul de los adultos y las alas son verdosas, lo mismo que la espalda, pero al extenderlas ya hay en las primarias un tono azulado.

 

Es una especie típica de la campiña, que no duda en vivir en pleno bosque lo mismo que en sotos, zonas de campo abierto con árboles dispersos, carrizales, parques, huertos de frutales, etc.

 

De conducta muy inquieta, se mueve incesantemente por entre el ramaje, posándose en cualquier postura y siendo realmente un pájaro acrobático. Picotea continuamente la corteza, las ramas y el dorso de las hojas. Su agudo pico pronto da cuenta de cualquier minúsculo insecto en una grieta o intersticio de la madera. Levanta el líquen de los troncos buscando diminutas cochinillas de la humedad, larvas, arañas, etc. Estas actividades las acompaña con chillidos continuos y siempre formando grupos más o menos numerosos. Es gregario en otoño e invierno y con frecuencia vaga por la campiña en compañía de otros páridos y agateadores. Los agujeros en árboles y en muros de cercas o edificios le atraen especialmente y en ellos entra y sale continuamente. Durante los primeros días del otoño los herrerillos vagan en grupos familiares o en parejas, puesto que, en general, en la campiña es sedentario, pero, con la llegada del frío, muchos que viven en bosques y los que llegan de otros países europeos se concentran y pueden llegar a formar bandos de considerable tamaño. Estos son rara vez observados en la campiña y casi siempre se concentran en marismas, donde entre las espadañas Typha y los plumeros de los carrizos Phragmytes encuentran abundante alimento. Otros vagan por plantaciones de frutales y huertos. Son pájaros agresivos y para su tamaño muy fuertes, manejando con extraordinaria habilidad las pinzas, que no otra cosa es su pico. Pero también las patas son muy robustas y las uñas afiladas, lo que les facilita el andar cabeza abajo colgados de ellas y comiendo y picoteando con la misma facilidad que en postura normal. También se posa en los troncos de los árboles como si fueran pájaros carpinteros. Normalmente efectúan sólo cortos vuelos de un árbol a otro, pero también lo hacen a lo lejos y entonces se aprecian marcadas ondulaciones. En el suelo, donde también se posan a menudo, caminan a saltos y revuelven entre la hojarasca. Durante la noche se ocultan en grietas de árboles, agujeros, huecos de muros, etc.

 

Su repertorio vocal es muy variado y resulta imposible dar aquí ni siquiera una ligera idea de las voces que un Herrerillo Común puede emitir, aunque nunca tan variadas y fuertes como las del Carbonero Común Parus mayor. El canto es un trino rápido y agudo que comienza con dos o tres notas y se prolonga en un siseo en tono alto ¡¡tsi-tsi-tsi...tsi-hi-hi-hi-hi!! También un agudo y muy alto ¡¡tsi-tsi-tsi-tsissip!! y un más corto ¡¡tsi-tsi-uit, tsi-tsi-uit!! Sus notas de llamada son agudas y de un gran poder de transmisión, escuchándose bien a 200 metros. Cuando vuelan de un árbol a otro o entre arbustos se llaman con continuos ¡¡tsi-tsi-tsi!!

 

La dieta alimenticia es muy extensa. Principalmente en la primavera come innumerable cantidad de insectos y alimenta a sus pollos con muchas orugas verdes. Pero también durante el otoño e invierno, por donde pasa limpia de larvas e insectos las cortezas y los líquenes. Recorre las ramas de los árboles y picotea el dorso de las hojas donde se ha concentrado considerable número de pulgones. Como el Carbonero común ataca al Pulgón Lanígero, Eriosoma lanigerum, y al Cortabrotes, Rhynchites caeruleus. Debajo de la corteza extrae muchas cochinillas de la humedad y tijeretas Forficula auricularia. La mayor parte de las orugas que come son de pequeño tamaño, pero no menos dañinas que las grandes. Posiblemente varios millares de larvas son necesarias para sacar adelante una nidada de cinco-siete pollos. Come también arañas y ciempiés. A la vez no desdeña la fruta y picotea manzanas y peras muy maduras y destroza numerosos brotes y yemas de árboles frutales. La búsqueda en el interior de las flores de los frutales, durante la primavera, de pequeños insectos, provoca la caída de aquéllas. De ahí el nombre popular en algunos lugares: Cortaflor. Frutos silvestres, frutos secos como castañas, avellanas y nueces, cereales como maíz y trigo, a la vez que innumerables pequeñas semillas, son objeto de su atención en el otoño e invierno. En inviernos duros se concentran sobre alimentos artificialmente colocados en jardines y parques y picotean sebo y semillas oleaginosas o cortezas de coco. Muchos herrerillos, habitantes de bosques de coníferas, comen semillas de estos árboles valiéndose de su fuerte pico. En la Cordillera Cantábrica los bandos se congregan en los hayedos, donde comen las semillas de los hayucos.

 

El emparejamiento parece producirse para toda la vida. Así resulta ahora demostrado claramente por el anillamiento. De este modo, pronto empiezan las manifestaciones del celo, volando los machos con las alas bien extendidas, como si de murciélagos se tratara. Posados en una rama cerca de la hembra erizan el píleo, formando entonces como una cresta y entreabren las alas, dejándolas colgando y sometidas a una vibración intensa. No es difícil observar estas representaciones, pero hay que convenir que el Herrerillo Común no las prodiga mucho.

 

A partir de la mitad de abril muchos herrerillos han empezado la construcción de sus nidos, que pueden estar completamente terminados después del día 20. Nidos en la primera semana de abril son muy raros, ocasionales a finales de marzo, normales a primeros de mayo y extremadamente escasos en el otoño. Bernis (1960) cita el caso de dos nidos con pollos en la provincia de Jaén (término municipal de Rus) en el mes de noviembre. La construcción del nido es efectuada por la hembra con mucho aporte de material, de forma que el agujero o hueco donde es construido queda medio ocupado por gran cantidad de musgo, lana, hierba seca y plumas. A menudo colocan este nido contra un rincón, no en el suelo plano de la oquedad y, cuando la puesta comienza, los huevos son ocultados y en la práctica enterrados entre la lana y las plumas hasta que se inicia la incubación. Lugar favorito para la construcción de los nidos es el agujero de un árbol, pero no menos querencioso es el hueco o agujero de un muro, un mechinal de la pared exterior de un edificio, grieta en un paredón, muro de contención, talud, nidos de Avión común, etc. También en cajas nido colocadas en jardines y bosques. A ellas tiene gran querencia y en la práctica parece preferirlas a lugares naturales. Jourdain cita sitios insólitos como el túnel de un Martín Pescador, Alcedo atthis, en el interior de nidos de otras especies, en la base de nidos de aves de presa, buzones de correos, etc. Rara vez, sin embargo, son construidos al exterior. De acuerdo con Perrins (1975), nunca se ve al macho de Herrerillo Común llevar material para la construcción de los nidos. Siempre la hembra efectuaba sola el trabajo aunque aquél se acercaba con frecuencia, y aun entraba en el nido, pero sin conducir material alguno. Parece claro que hay error en quienes aseguran que ambos sexos trabajan en la construcción de los nidos. La dificultad de distinguir machos de hembras es a veces grande si no se cogen los pájaros en la mano, Barnes (1975) asegura, sin lugar a dudas, que en todos los páridos la hembra construye el nido sola y únicamente; en ocasiones el macho entra en él, pero sin aportar material.

 

Cada puesta está formada por seis-trece huevos, normalmente siete-nueve y ocasionalmente doce-trece o quince. No es infrecuente que en un nido haya más de quince huevos, pero ello se debe con seguridad a que dos hembras están poniendo en el mismo. En jardines y parques con alta densidad de parejas estas confusiones son frecuentes en hembras de Herrerillo Común, y relatar aquí algunos de los muchos casos curiosos que los ornitólogos de toda Europa han observado se saldría de los límites de este breve trabajo. Los huevos son blancos, algunas veces sin marcas, pero casi siempre con un punteado muy fino de color rojizo o castaño y que con frecuencia se acumula en el extremo más ancho, Jourdain, para cien huevos colectados en Gran Bretaña, obtuvo un promedio de 15,4 x 11,89 mm., con un máximo de 16,8 x 12 mm. y un mínimo de 14,3 x 11,2 mm. D'Almeida, para 10 del norte de Portugal, obtuvo una media de 15,6 x 12 mm., con extremos entre 14,1 a 16,9 x 11,7 a 12,6 mm. Solamente la hembra incuba y en el interior del nido es cebada por el macho. La incubación comienza normalmente cuando todavía la puesta no está completa, pero casi nunca faltan por poner más de dos huevos. Hasta entonces la hembra los oculta entre el material del nido y están tan bien tapados que resulta difícil y delicado manejar uno de estos nidos si no se conoce previamente esta costumbre del Herrerillo Común. La incubación es muy variable y desde doce hasta dieciséis días se dan todos los períodos. Normalmente debe durar trece-catorce días (Jourdain, trece-catorce; Harrison, doce-dieciséis; Verheyen, doce-trece días). Los pollos al nacer tienen plumón en la cabeza y los hombros, corto y de color blanco grisáceo. El interior de la boca es naranja-rojizo y no hay puntos oscuros en la lengua; las comisuras son de color amarillo pálido. Alimentados por ambos adultos permanecen en el nido entre dieciséis y veintidós días. Algunos hasta veinticuatro días, pero esto no es frecuente y, en general, depende mucho de las condiciones meteorológicas. Días lluviosos retrasan el crecimiento, quizá por mayor dificultad en los padres para encontrar alimento. Muchas parejas crían dos veces en cada temporada.

 

Cyanistes caeruleus se reproduce por toda Europa, excepto en el norte de Escandinavia y en Islandia. Su densidad es muy alta en todas partes y la protección que generalmente se le dispensa con millones de cajas nido instaladas y una constante alimentación en comederos situados en jardines privados y parques públicos contribuyen en no pequeña medida a que este pájaro pueda resistir los rigores del invierno. Las poblaciones más septentrionales son migradoras y en el otoño, desde octubre, descienden hacia Alemania, Países Bajos, Bélgica, Francia y España. Previamente a esta migración hay una dispersión de los jóvenes, que forman bandos a veces muy numerosos. Movimientos a gran escala son frecuentes en la zona costera del noroeste de Alemania occidental, Holanda y Bélgica entre la mitad de agosto y los primeros días del invierno en determinados años. Las irrupciones de herrerillos no son tan espectaculares como las de carboneros comunes, pero se producen muy de tarde en tarde. Para Lack las inesperadas llegadas de estos pájaros en países del centro-oeste de Europa sugieren escasez de alimento en su hábitat normal como último factor que obliga al desplazamiento, pero anterior a él puede estar el de una sobrepoblación.

 

En la Península Ibérica el Herrerillo Común es una especie numerosa, en general, y localmente abundante. Es rara o falta en zonas no arboladas, llanuras y terrenos áridos. Rehúye bosques densos de coníferas y prefiere sus linderos y claros para reproducirse. La falta de lugares adecuados donde anidar le obligan a desertar zonas en las que fue abundante. En Iberia es netamente sedentario, moviéndose muy poco de su lugar de nacimiento, como se ha comprobado por el aniIlamiento. Una pareja de estos pequeños pájaros puede permanecer toda su vida en un estrecho valle. Si cogiéndolo se le aleja más de cinco kilómetros de él, pierde el sentido de la orientación y no vuelve. A menor distancia retorna casi siempre. En todas las recuperaciones habidas de los muchos anillados en la campiña asturiana, ninguno se había alejado del lugar y varias parejas ocuparon la misma caja nido consecutivamente por tres años. La llegada a España de herrerillos extrapirenaicos es fácilmente comprobable todos los años en los lugares de paso en las provincias de Guipúzcoa y Navarra. Pero el contingente es variable de unos años a otros y los mayores bandos se concentran en carrizales.

 

Vaurie (1959) incluye en el grupo caeruleus las subespecies o razas que habitan la Península Ibérica, pero distinguiendo: Parus c. caeruleus en las montañas Cantábricas con los tonos verdosos de la espalda, el azul de las alas, cola y cabeza y el amarillo de las partes inferiores muy contrastados, pasando gradualmente en el sur de Galicia a la subespecie ogliastrae, que ocupa Portugal y el resto de España, y quizá tenga ligeramente menor tamaño y el azul de las alas sea más verdoso cuando el plumaje está gastado, pero más fuertemente azul en los bordes de aquéllas. Para Mallorca separó Von Jordans, admitiéndola Vaurie, Parus c. balearicus, de coloración ligeramente más pálida por encima y debajo que la típica raza caeruleus. Su color azul es más claro y se nota más blanco en el abdomen.

 

Muchas de estas apreciaciones son realmente banales y no obedecen más que al examen de unos pocos ejemplares con los que es difícil y peligroso acertar a exponer toda la problemática de una supuesta raza. Los factores geográficos, de biotopo y de clima, influyen grandemente en la coloración. En general la coloración de los que viven en la zona Cantábrica y en los Pirineos, incluyendo sus vertientes meridionales, poseen un plumaje más acusadamente matizado y oscuro que los herrerillos sometidos a influencia mediterránea y de la Meseta sur. Las medidas alares y sus promedios obtenidos en Asturias y Guipúzcoa difieren mucho de las mismas dadas por Witherby para los herrerillos de las Islas Británicas asignados por Vaurie a la raza obscurus (?? 60-65 mm; ?? 57-64 mm).

 

Hábitat: Parques y jardines.

 

Copyright © juansaturno_5 , All rights reserved. This artwork can't be used without written consent from its author. Esta obra no puede ser utilizada sin el consentimiento por escrito del autor.

I could not help but notice this pleasant scene of 3 blossoms....Gorse, Hawthorn and Rapeseed. To get the 3 together was awesome.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulex

  

Ulex (gorse, furze or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 plant species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are native to parts of western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.

Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green stems and very small leaves and is adapted to dry growing conditions. However it differs in its extreme thorniness, the shoots being modified into branched thorns 1–4 centimetres (0.39–1.6 in) long, which almost wholly replace the leaves as the plant's functioning photosynthetic organs. The leaves of young plants are trifoliate, but in mature plants they are reduced to scales or small spines.[1] All the species have yellow flowers, generally showy, some with a very long flowering season.

  

Species

 

The most widely familiar species is common gorse (Ulex europaeus), the only species native to much of western Europe, where it grows in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils. It is also the largest species, reaching 2–3 metres (7–10 ft) in height; this compares with typically 20–40 centimetres (7.9–16 in) for Western Gorse (Ulex gallii). This latter species is characteristic of highly exposed Atlantic coastal heathland and montane habitats. In the eastern part of Great Britain, dwarf furze (Ulex minor) replaces western gorse. Ulex minor grows only about 30 centimetres (12 in) tall, a habit characteristic of sandy lowland heathland.

 

Common gorse flowers a little in late autumn and through the winter, coming into flower most strongly in spring. Western Gorse and Dwarf Furze flower in late summer (August-September in Ireland and Great Britain|Britain). Between the different species, some gorse is almost always in flower, hence the old country phrase: "When gorse is out of blossom, kissing's out of fashion". Gorse flowers have a distinctive coconut scent, experienced very strongly by some individuals, but weakly by others.[2

  

Ecology

Gorse may grow as a fire-climax plant, well adapted to encourage and withstand fires, being highly flammable,[4] and having seed pods that are to a large extent opened by fire, thus allowing rapid regeneration after fire. The burnt stumps also readily sprout new growth from the roots. Where fire is excluded, gorse soon tends to be shaded out by taller-growing trees, unless other factors like exposure also apply. Typical fire recurrence periods in gorse stands are 5–20 years.

Gorse thrives in poor growing areas and conditions including drought;[5] it is sometimes found on very rocky soils,[6] where many species cannot thrive. Moreover, it is widely used for land reclamation (e.g., mine tailings), where its nitrogen-fixing capacity helps other plants establish better.

Gorse is a valuable plant for wildlife, providing dense thorny cover ideal for protecting bird nests. In Britain, France and Ireland, it is particularly noted for supporting Dartford Warblers (Sylvia undata) and European Stonechats (Saxicola rubicola); the common name of the Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) attests to its close association with gorse. The flowers are sometimes eaten by the caterpillars of the Double-striped Pug moth (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata), while those of the case-bearer moth Coleophora albicosta feed exclusively on gorse. The dry wood of dead gorse stems provides food for the caterpillars of the concealer moth Batia lambdella.

 

Invasive Species

 

In many areas of North America (notably California and Oregon), southern South America, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, the common gorse, introduced as an ornamental plant or hedge, has become an invasive species due to its aggressive seed dispersal; it has proved very difficult to eradicate and detrimental in native habitats. Common gorse is also an invasive species in the montane grasslands of Horton Plains National Park in Sri Lanka.[7]

 

Management

 

Gorse readily becomes dominant in suitable conditions, and where this is undesirable for agricultural or ecological reasons control is required, either to remove gorse completely, or to limit its extent. Gorse stands are often managed by regular burning or flailing, allowing them to regrow from stumps or seed. Denser areas of gorse may be bulldozed.

for cattle.

Uses

 

Foods

 

Gorse flowers are edible and can be used in salads, tea and to make a non-grape-based fruit wine.

As fodder, gorse is high in protein[citation needed] and may be used as feed for livestock, particularly in winter when other greenstuff is not available. Traditionally it was used as fodder for cattle, being made palatable either by "bruising" (crushing) with hand-held mallets, or grinding to a moss-like consistency with hand- or water-driven mills, or being finely chopped and mixed with straw chaff.[citation needed] Gorse is also eaten as forage by some livestock, such as feral ponies, which may eat little else in winter. Ponies may also eat the thinner stems of burnt gorse.

 

Fuel

 

Gorse bushes are highly flammable, and in many areas bundles of gorse were used to fire traditional bread ovens.[8]

 

Wood

 

Gorse wood has been used to make small objects; being non-toxic, it is especially suited for cutlery. In spite of its durability it is not used for construction because the plant is too small and the wood is unstable, being prone to warping. Gorse is useful for garden ornaments because it is resistant to weather and rot.

 

Gorse-based symbols

 

The furze is the badge of the Sinclair and MacLennan clans of Scotland. Compare this with the broom (Planta genista) as the emblem and basis of the name of the Plantagenet kings of England.

The flower, known as chorima in the Galician language, is considered the national flower of Galicia in NW Spain.

 

Gorse in popular culture

 

In Thomas Hardy's classic novel The Return of the Native, when Clym is partially blinded through excessive reading, he becomes a furze-cutter on Egdon Heath, to the dismay of his wife, Eustacia. In the book, the timeless, gorse-covered heath is described in each season of the novel's year-and-a-day timeline and becomes symbolic of the greater nature of mankind.

Its flammability rendered gorse symbolic as quickly flammable and quickly burning out; for example, Doyle, in his book "Sir Nigel" has Sir John Chandos say: "...They flare up like a furzebush in the flames, but if for a short space you may abide the heat of it, then there is a chance that it may be cooler... If the Welsh be like the furze fire, then, pardieu! the Scotch are the peat, for they will smolder and you will never come to the end of them."[9]

Winnie-the-Pooh fell into a gorse bush while trying to get honey in the first chapter of the book of the same name.[10]

In The second book of Tolkien's "Lord of the rings" trilogy, "The Two Towers", Frodo and Sam led by Gollum walked underneath very old and tall thickets of gorse on their way to pass by Minas Morgul. [11]

In "[[Red Doc>]]", Anne Carson's 2013 sequel to her 1998 novel-in-verse entitled "Autobiography of Red", the protagonist, G, owns a herd of musk oxen who like to feed on gorse; one ox in particular, Io, eats gorse flowers and hallucinates that she can fly.

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_hawthorn

   

Crataegus monogyna, known as common hawthorn or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world where it is an invasive weed. Other common names include may, mayblossom, maythorn, quickthorn, whitethorn, motherdie, and haw. This species is one of several that have been referred to as Crataegus oxyacantha, a name that has been rejected by the botanical community as too ambiguous.

   

Description

 

The Common Hawthorn is a shrub or small tree 5–14 m tall, with a dense crown. The bark is dull brown with vertical orange cracks. The younger stems bear sharp thorns, 1 to 1.5 cm long. The leaves are 2–4 cm long, obovate and deeply lobed, sometimes almost to the midrib, with the lobes spreading at a wide angle. The upper surface is dark green above and paler underneath.

The hermaphrodite flowers are produced in late spring (May to early June in its native area) in corymbs of 5-25 together; each flower is about 1 cm diameter, and has five white petals, numerous red stamens, and a single style; they are moderately fragrant. They are pollinated by midges, bees and other insects and later in the year bear numerous haws. The haw is a small, oval dark red fruit about 1 cm long, berry-like, but structurally a pome containing a single seed. Haws are important for wildlife in winter, particularly thrushes and waxwings; these birds eat the haws and disperse the seeds in their droppings.

It is distinguished from the related but less widespread Midland Hawthorn (C. laevigata) by its more upright growth, the leaves being deeply lobed, with spreading lobes, and in the flowers having just one style, not two or three. However they are inter-fertile and hybrids occur frequently; they are only entirely distinct in their more typical forms.

   

Uses

  

Medicinal use

Crataegus monogyna is one of the most common species used as the "hawthorn" of traditional herbalism, which is of considerable interest for treating cardiac insufficiency by evidence-based medicine. The plant parts used medicinally are usually sprigs with both leaves and flowers, or alternatively the fruit. Several species of Crataegus have both traditional and modern medicinal uses. It is a good source of antioxidant phytochemicals,especially extracts of hawthorn leaves with flowers.

  

In gardening and agriculture

 

Common Hawthorn is extensively planted as a hedge plant, especially for agricultural use. Its spines and close branching habit render it effectively stock and human proof with some basic maintenance. The traditional practice of hedge laying is most commonly practised with this species. It is a good fire wood which burns with a good heat and little smoke.[3]

Numerous hybrids exist, some of which are used as garden shrubs. The most widely used hybrid is C. × media (C. monogyna × C. laevigata), of which several cultivars are known, including the very popular 'Paul's Scarlet' with dark pink double flowers. Other garden shrubs that have sometimes been suggested as possible hybrids involving the Common Hawthorn[citation needed], include the Various-leaved Hawthorn of the Caucasus, which is only very occasionally found in parks and gardens.

  

Edible "berries", petals, and leaves

 

The fruit of hawthorn, called haws, are edible raw but are commonly made into jellies, jams, and syrups, used to make wine, or to add flavour to brandy. Botanically they are pomes, but they look similar to berries. A haw is small and oblong, similar in size and shape to a small olive or grape, and red when ripe. Haws develop in groups of 2-3 along smaller branches. They are pulpy and delicate in taste. In this species (C. monogyna) they have only one seed, but in other species of hawthorn there may be up to 5 seeds.

Petals are also edible,[4] as are the leaves, which if picked in spring when still young are tender enough to be used in salads.

 

Notable trees

 

An ancient specimen, and reputedly the oldest tree of any species in France, is to be found alongside the church at Saint Mars sur la Futaie, Mayenne [1]. The tree has a height of 9 m, and a girth of 2.65 m (2009). The inscription on the plaque beneath reads: "This hawthorn is probably the oldest tree in France. Its origin goes back to St Julien (3rd century)", but such claims are impossible to verify.

  

A famous specimen in England was the Glastonbury or Holy Thorn which, according to legend, sprouted from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea after he thrust it into the ground whilst visiting Glastonbury in the 1st century AD. The tree was noteworthy because it flowered twice in a year, once in the late spring which is normal, but also once after the harshness of midwinter has passed. The original tree at Glastonbury Abbey, felled in 1640s during the English Civil War,[2] has been propagated as the cultivar 'Biflora'.[6] A replacement was planted by the local council in 1951, but was cut down by vandals in 2010. [3]

The oldest known living specimen in East Anglia, and possibly in the United Kingdom, is known as "The Hethel Old Thorn",[7] and is located in the churchyard in the small village of Hethel, south of Norwich, in Norfolk. It is reputed to be more than 700 years old, having been planted in the 13th century.

   

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed

  

Rapeseed (Brassica napus), also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed (and, in the case of one particular group of cultivars, canola), is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family). The name derives from the Latin for turnip, rāpa or rāpum, and is first recorded in English at the end of the 14th century. Older writers usually distinguished the turnip and rape by the adjectives round and long (-rooted), respectively.[2] See also Brassica napobrassica, which may be considered a variety of Brassica napus. Some botanists include the closely related Brassica campestris within B. napus. (See Triangle of U).

Brassica napus is cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, the third largest source of vegetable oil in the world.[

  

Cultivation and uses

 

Rapeseed oil was produced in the 19th century as a source of a lubricant for steam engines. It was less useful as food for animals or humans because it has a bitter taste due to high levels of glucosinolates. Varieties have now, however, been bred to reduce the content of glucosinolates, yielding a more palatable oil. This has had the side effect that the oil contains much less erucic acid.[citation needed]

Rapeseed is grown for the production of animal feed, vegetable oil for human consumption, and biodiesel; leading producers include the European Union, Canada, the United States, Australia, China and India. In India, it is grown on 13% of cropped land.[citation needed] According to the United States Department of Agriculture, rapeseed was the third leading source of vegetable oil in the world in 2000, after soybean and oil palm, and also the world's second leading source of protein meal, although only one-fifth of the production of the leading soybean meal.[citation needed]

World production is growing rapidly, with FAO reporting 36 million tons of rapeseed were produced in the 2003-2004 season, and estimating 58.4 million tons in the 2010-2011 season.[4] In Europe, rapeseed is primarily cultivated for animal feed,[citation needed] owing to its very high lipid and medium protein content.[citation needed]

 

Natural rapeseed oil contains 50% erucic acid. Wild type seeds also contain high levels of glucosinolates (mustard oil glucosindes), chemical compounds that significantly lowered the nutritional value of rapeseed press cakes for animal feed. In North America, the term "canola", originally a syncopated form of the abbreviation "Can.O., L-A." (Canadian Oilseed, Low-Acid) that was used by the Manitoba government to label the seed during its experimental stages, is widely used to refer to rapeseed, and is now a tradename for "double low" (low erucic acid and low glucosinolate) rapeseed.[5]

The rapeseed is the valuable, harvested component of the crop. The crop is also grown as a winter-cover crop. It provides good coverage of the soil in winter, and limits nitrogen run-off. The plant is ploughed back in the soil or used as bedding. On some organic operations, livestock such as sheep or cattle are allowed to graze on the plants.

Processing of rapeseed for oil production produces rapeseed meal as a byproduct. The byproduct is a high-protein animal feed, competitive with soya.[citation needed] The feed is mostly employed for cattle feeding, but also for pigs and chickens (though less valuable for these). The meal has a very low content of the glucosinolates responsible for metabolism disruption in cattle and pigs.[6] Neither canola nor soy is recommended as feed for organic animal products, as both are predominantly GMO (some estimates are now at 90%), which is prohibited by organic standards.[citation needed]

Rapeseed "oil cake" is also used as a fertilizer in China, and may be used for ornamentals, such as bonsai, as well.[citation needed]

Rapeseed leaves and stems are also edible, similar to those of the related bok choy or kale. Some varieties of rapeseed (called 油菜, yóu cài, lit. "oil vegetable" in Chinese; yau choy in Cantonese; cải dầu in Vietnamese; phak kat kan khao [ผักกาดก้านขาว] in Thai; and nanohana [菜の花]/nabana [菜花] in Japanese) are sold as greens, primarily in Asian groceries, including those in California, where it is known as yao choy or tender greens. They are eaten as sag (spinach) in Indian and Nepalese cuisine, usually stir-fried with salt, garlic and spices.

Rapeseed produces great quantities of nectar, and honeybees produce a light-colored, but peppery honey from it. It must be extracted immediately after processing is finished, as it will quickly granulate in the honeycomb and will be impossible to extract. The honey is usually blended with milder honeys, if used for table use or sold as bakery grade. Rapeseed growers contract with beekeepers for the pollination of the crop.

"Total loss" chain and bar oil for chainsaws have been developed which are typically 70% or more canola/rapeseed oil. These lubricants are claimed to be less harmful to the environment and less hazardous to users than traditional mineral oil products,[7] although they are currently typically two to five times more expensive, leading some to use inexpensive cooking oil instead. Some countries, such as Austria, have banned the use of petroleum-based chainsaw oil.[8] These "biolubricants" are generally reported to be functionally comparable to traditional mineral oil products, with some reports claiming one or other is superior,[8] but with no overall consensus yet evident.

Rapeseed has also been researched as means of containing radionuclides that contaminated the soil after the Chernobyl disaster.[9][10][11] It was discovered by researchers at the Belarusian Research Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry that rapeseed has a rate of uptake up to three times more efficient than other grains, and only about 3 to 6% of the radionuclides goes into the parts of the plant that could potentially enter the food chain. As oil repels radionuclides, it could be produced canola oil free from contaminants being concentrated in other parts of the plant – the straw, the roots, the seed pods, etc., which then can be ploughed back into the soil and create a recycling process.[9]

 

Biodiesel

 

Rapeseed oil is used as diesel fuel, either as biodiesel, straight in heated fuel systems, or blended with petroleum distillates for powering motor vehicles. Biodiesel may be used in pure form in newer engines without engine damage and is frequently combined with fossil-fuel diesel in ratios varying from 2% to 20% biodiesel. Owing to the costs of growing, crushing, and refining rapeseed biodiesel, rapeseed-derived biodiesel from new oil costs more to produce than standard diesel fuel, so diesel fuels are commonly made from the used oil. Rapeseed oil is the preferred oil stock for biodiesel production in most of Europe, accounting for about 80% of the feedstock,[12] partly because rapeseed produces more oil per unit of land area compared to other oil sources, such as soybeans, but primarily because canola oil has a significantly lower Gel point (petroleum) than most other vegetable oils. An estimated 66% of total rapeseed oil supply in the European Union is expected to be used for biodiesel production in the 2010-2011 year.[12]

Rapeseed is currently grown with a high level of nitrogen-containing fertilisers, and the manufacture of these generates N2O, a potent greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of CO2. An estimated 3-5% of nitrogen provided as fertilizer for rapeseed is converted to N2O.[13]

 

Cultivars

 

Canola was originally a trademark, but is now a generic term in North America for edible varieties of rapeseed oil. In Canada, an official definition of canola is codified in Canadian law.

Rapeseed oil had a distinctive taste and a greenish colour due to the presence of chlorophyll. It also contained a high concentration[specify] of erucic acid.

A variety of rapeseed developed in 1998 is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant canola. This and other recent varieties have been produced by using genetic engineering. In 2009, 90% of the rapeseed crops planted in Canada were GM (genetically modified), herbicide-tolerant canola varieties.[14]

 

Health effects

 

Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest vegetable oils, but historically was used in limited quantities due to high levels of erucic acid, which is damaging to cardiac muscle, and glucosinolates, which made it less nutritious in animal feed.[15] Unmodified rapeseed oil can contain up to 45% erucic acid.[16] Food-grade canola oil derived from rapeseed cultivars, also known as rapeseed 00 oil, low erucic acid rapeseed oil, LEAR oil, and rapeseed canola-equivalent oil, has been generally recognized as safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration.[17] Canola oil is limited by government regulation to a maximum of 2% erucic acid by weight in the USA[17] and 5% in the EU,[18] with special regulations for infant food. These low levels of erucic acid are not believed to cause harm in human neonates.[17][18]

In 1981, a deadly outbreak of disease in Spain, known as toxic oil syndrome,[19] was caused by the consumption of rapeseed oil for industrial use that was fraudulently sold as cooking oil.

Rapeseed pollen contains known allergens.[20][21] Whether rape pollen causes hay fever has not been well established, because rape is an insect-pollinated (entomophilous) crop, whereas hay fever is usually caused by wind-pollinated plants. The inhalation of oilseed rape dust may cause asthma in agricultural workers.[22]

 

Production

 

Worldwide production of rapeseed (including canola) has increased sixfold between 1975 and 2007. The production of canola and rapeseed 00 since 1975 has opened up the edible oil market for rapeseed oil. Since 2002, production of biodiesel has been steadily increasing in EU and USA to 6 million metric tons in 2006. Rapeseed oil is positioned to supply a good portion of the vegetable oils needed to produce that fuel. World production is thus expected to trend further upward between 2005 and 2015 as biodiesel content requirements in Europe go into effect.[23] Every ton of rapeseed yields about 400 kg of oil.

 

Top rapeseed producers

(million metric ton)

Country19651975198519952000200520072009

China

1.11.55.69.811.313.010.513.5

Canada

0.51.83.56.47.29.49.611.8

India

1.52.33.15.85.87.67.47.2

Germany

0.30.61.23.13.65.05.36.3

France

0.30.51.42.83.54.54.75.6

Poland

0.50.71.11.41.01.42.12.5

United Kingdom

<0.0070.060.91.21.21.92.12.0

Australia

<0.007<0.060.10.61.81.41.11.9

Ukraine

<0.007<0.06<0.03<0.10.10.31.01.9

Czech Republic

0.070.10.30.70.80.71.01.1

United States

<0.007<0.06<0.030.20.90.70.70.7

Russia

N/AN/AN/A0.10.10.30.60.7

Denmark

0.050.10.50.30.30.30.60.6

Belarus

N/AN/AN/A0.030.070.10.20.6

Hungary

0.0080.10.10.10.20.30.50.6

Romania

0.010.020.040.040.10.10.40.6

European Union

-------19.3

World Total5.28.819.234.239.546.450.561.6

Source:

UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)[24]

  

Pests and diseases

 

Animal pests

 

•Bertha armyworms (Mamestra configurata)

•Bronzed field beetle (Adelium brevicorne) larvae

•Cyst nematode (Heterodera schachtii)

•Diamondback moths (Plutella xylostella)

•Flea beetles (Phyllotreta sp.)

•Grasshoppers (order Orthoptera)

•Harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica)

•Lygus bugs (Lygus spp.)

•Pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus)

•Root maggots (Delia spp.)

•Snails and slugs

 

Diseases

 

•Beet western yellows virus (Luteoviridae family)

•Blackleg (caused by the fungus species Leptosphaeria maculans)

•Clubroot (caused by the protist Plasmodiophora brassicae)

•Sclerotinia white stem rot (caused by the fungus genus Sclerotinia)

•White rust disease (caused by the fungus species Albugo candida)

 

Genome sequencing and genetics

 

Bayer Cropscience (in collaboration with BGI-Shenzhen, China, Keygene N.V., the Netherlands and the University of Queensland, Australia) announced it had sequenced the entire genome of Brassica napus and its constituent genomes present in Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea in 2009. The "A" genome component of the amphidiploid rapeseed species B. napus is currently being sequenced by the Multinational Brassica Genome Project.[25][dated info]

 

GMO (genetically modified organism) controversy[edit]

 

The Monsanto Company has genetically engineered new cultivars of rapeseed to be resistant to the effects of its herbicide, Roundup. They have sought compensation from farmers found to have the Roundup Ready gene in canola in their fields without paying a license fee. These farmers have claimed the Roundup Ready gene was blown into their fields and crossed with unaltered canola. Other farmers claim that after spraying Roundup in non-canola fields to kill weeds before planting, Roundup Ready volunteers are left behind, causing extra expense to rid their fields of the weeds.

In a closely followed legal battle, the Supreme Court of Canada found in favor of Monsanto's patent infringement claim for unlicensed growing of Roundup Ready in its 2004 ruling on Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser. The case garnered international controversy, as a court-sanctioned legitimation for the global patent protection of genetically modified crops. However, Schmeiser was not required to pay damages, as he did not benefit financially from the GMO crop in his field.[citation needed]

In March 2008, an out-of-court settlement between Monsanto and Schmeiser has an agreement for Monsanto to clean up the entire GMO-canola crop on Schmeiser's farm at a cost of $660.

 

from Wikipedia:

 

Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big country of the south". The terrain offers stunning views, making Big Sur a popular tourist destination. Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the contiguous 48 states, ascending nearly a mile (5,155 feet/1571 m) above sea level, only three miles (4.8 km) from the ocean.

 

Although Big Sur has no specific boundaries, many definitions of the area include the 90 miles (140 km) of coastline from the Carmel River south to the San Carpoforo Creek, and extend about 20 miles (32 km) inland to the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucias. Other sources limit the eastern border to the coastal flanks of these mountains, only three to 12 miles (19 km) inland. Another practical definition of the region is the segment of California State Route 1 between San Simeon and Carmel.

 

The northern end of Big Sur is about 120 miles (190 km) south of San Francisco, and the southern end is approximately 245 miles (394 km) northwest of Los Angeles.

1. Taking pictures a tool (camera), not a photographer.

2. The choice of tool limits the possibilities.

3. Experience allows him (instrument) less and less to limit their capabilities.

4. The ability to see is given only when the observer allows ...

5. The moment of observation is the real find ...

6. Training and mastering it defies. Training leads to poor imitations of the original.

7. Often the result should ripen, like wine. Although time is the understanding of the mind, therefore it is very speculative.

8. The meaning of all this is the process!

9. Let it be!

 

youtu.be/2pQrWPpUN1U

www.facebook.com/oleg.pivovarchik.1971

listenwave.smugmug.com

#FilmOFone

The Jacquard Jumper and fur skirt is now available at the latest round of LIMIT 8.

 

This oversized sweater comes in an assortment of patters and colors, and can be paired with the ADD-ON fur skirt also available for purchase.

 

Each purchase includes a graphic version and solid version of each jumper.

 

Be sure to be one of the first 100 to grab the LIMIT8 Exclusive jacquard jumper.

 

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Please Try a DEMO :)

 

Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Limit8/128/77/23

 

  

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea

  

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a completely separate body of water.

The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning "inland" or "in the middle of the land" (from medius, "middle" and terra, "land"). It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km² (965,000 sq mi), but its connection to the Atlantic (the Strait of Gibraltar) is only 14 km (8.7 mi) wide. In oceanography, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere.[3][4]

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea.

It was an important route for merchants and travellers of ancient times that allowed for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region. The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies.

  

Name

  

The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning "in the middle of earth" or "between lands" (medi-; adj. medius, -um -a "middle, between" + terra f., "land, earth"): as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Greek name Mesogeios (Μεσόγειος), is similarly from μέσο, "middle" + γη, "land, earth").[5]

The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names. For example the Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum (Latin, "Our Sea"), and occasionally Mare Internum (Sallust, Jug. 17).

In the Bible, it was primarily known as הים הגדול (HaYam HaGadol), the "Great Sea", (Num. 34:6,7; Josh. 1:4, 9:1, 15:47; Ezek. 47:10,15,20), or simply "The Sea" (1 Kings 5:9; comp. 1 Macc. 14:34, 15:11); however, it has also been called the "Hinder Sea", due to its location on the west coast of the Holy Land, and therefore behind a person facing the east, sometimes translated as "Western Sea", (Deut. 11:24; Joel 2:20). Another name was the "Sea of the Philistines" (Exod. 23:31), from the people occupying a large portion of its shores near the Israelites.

In Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon (הַיָּם הַתִּיכוֹן), "the Middle Sea", reflecting the Sea's name in ancient Greek (Mesogeios), Latin (Mare internum) and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East (Mediterranean, etc.). Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr [al-Abyaḍ] al-Mutawassiṭ (البحر [الأبيض] المتوسط), "the [White] Medium Sea", while in Islamic and older Arabic literature, it was referenced as Baḥr al-Rūm (بحر الروم), or "the Roman/Byzantine Sea." In Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz,[6] "the White Sea" since among Turks the white color (ak) represents the west.

  

History

  

Several ancient civilizations were located around its shores; thus it has had a major influence on those cultures. It provided routes for trade, colonization and war, and provided food (by fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages.[7]

The sharing of similar climate, geology and access to a common sea led to numerous historical and cultural connections between the ancient and modern societies around the Mediterranean.

Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilizations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states and the Phoenicians. When[citation needed] Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Mediterranean Sea began to be called Mare Nostrum (literally:"Our Sea") by the Romans.

Darius I of Persia, who conquered Ancient Egypt, built a canal linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Darius's canal was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse.[8]

The western Roman empire collapsed around AD 476. Temporarily the east was again dominant as the Byzantine Empire formed from the eastern half of the Roman empire. Another power soon arose in the east: Islam. At its greatest extent, the Arab Empire controlled 75% of the Mediterranean region.

Europe was reviving, however, as more organized and centralized states began to form in the later Middle Ages after the Renaissance of the 12th century.

Ottoman power continued to grow, and in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was extinguished with the Conquest of Constantinople. Ottomans gained control of much of the sea in the 16th century and maintained naval bases in southern France, Algeria and Tunisia. Barbarossa, the famous Ottoman captain is a symbol of this domination with the victory of the Battle of Preveza. The Battle of Djerba marked the apex of Ottoman naval domination in the Mediterranean. However, as naval prowess of the European powers grew, they confronted Ottoman expansion in the region when the Battle of Lepanto checked the power of the Ottoman Navy. This was the last naval battle to be fought primarily between galleys.

The Barbary pirates of North Africa preyed on Christian shipping in the western Mediterranean Sea.[9] According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th century, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves.[10]

The development of oceanic shipping began to affect the entire Mediterranean. Once, all trade from the east had passed through the region, but now the circumnavigation of Africa allowed spices and other goods to be imported through the Atlantic ports of western Europe.[11][12][13] The Malta president described the Mediterranean sea as a "cemetery" due to the large amounts of migrants who drown there.

  

Geography

  

With its highly indented coastline and large number of islands, Greece has the longest Mediterranean coastline.

The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar in the west and to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, in the east. The Sea of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Black Sea is generally not. The 163 km (101 mi) long man-made Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

Large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia, Corfu, Limnos, Samos, Naxos and Andros in the eastern Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Cres, Krk, Brač, Hvar, Pag, Korčula and Malta in the central Mediterranean; and Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca (the Balearic Islands) in the western Mediterranean.

The typical Mediterranean climate has hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork.

  

Extent

  

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Mediterranean Sea as follows:[15]

  

Stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the West to the entrances to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal in the East, the Mediterranean Sea is bounded by the coasts of Europe, Africa and Asia, and is divided into two deep basins:

  

Western Basin:

  

On the west: A line joining the extremities of Cape Trafalgar (Spain) and Cape Spartel (Africa).

 

On the northeast: The West Coast of Italy. In the Strait of Messina a line joining the North extreme of Cape Paci (15°42'E) with Cape Peloro, the East extreme of the Island of Sicily. The North Coast of Sicily.

 

On the east: A line joining Cape Lilibeo the Western point of Sicily (37°47′N 12°22′E), through the Adventure Bank to Cape Bon (Tunisia).

  

Eastern Basin:

 

On the west: The Northeastern and Eastern limits of the Western Basin.

 

On the northeast: A line joining Kum Kale (26°11'E) and Cape Helles, the Western entrance to the Dardanelles.

 

On the southeast: The entrance to the Suez Canal.

 

On the east: The coasts of Syria, Israel, Lebanon, and Gaza Strip.

  

Oceanography

  

Being nearly landlocked affects conditions in the Mediterranean Sea: for instance, tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean is characterized and immediately recognised by its deep blue colour.

Evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation and river runoff in the Mediterranean, a fact that is central to the water circulation within the basin.[16] Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half, causing the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward.[17] This pressure gradient pushes relatively cool, low-salinity water from the Atlantic across the basin; it warms and becomes saltier as it travels east, then sinks in the region of the Levant and circulates westward, to spill over the Strait of Gibraltar.[18] Thus, seawater flow is eastward in the Strait's surface waters, and westward below; once in the Atlantic, this chemically distinct Mediterranean Intermediate Water can persist thousands of kilometres away from its source.

  

Coastal countries

  

Twenty-two countries have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. They are:

  

Northern shore (from west to east): Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia,

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Turkey.

  

Eastern shore (from north to south): Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Flag of Palestine.svg Palestine (limited recognition).

  

Southern shore (from west to east): Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt.

  

Island nations: Malta, Cyprus, Flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.svg Northern Cyprus (limited recognition).

  

Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west to east): The British overseas territory of Gibraltar, the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands, and the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus

  

Major cities (municipalities) with populations larger than 200,000 people bordering the Mediterranean Sea are:

  

CountryCities

  

AlbaniaDurrës

AlgeriaAlgiers, Annaba, Oran

CroatiaSplit, Rijeka

EgyptAlexandria, Port Said

FranceMarseille, Nice

GreeceAthens, Patras, Thessaloniki

IsraelAshdod, Haifa, Tel Aviv

ItalyBari, Catania, Genoa, Messina, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Taranto, Trieste, Venice

LebanonBeirut, Tripoli

LibyaBenghazi, Khoms, Misrata, Tripoli, Zawiya, Zliten

MoroccoTétouan, Tangier

SpainAlicante, Badalona, Barcelona, Cartagena, Málaga, Palma, Valencia

State of PalestineGaza City

SyriaLatakia

TunisiaBizerte, Sfax, Tunis

TurkeyAntalya, İskenderun, İzmir, Mersin

  

Subdivisions

  

According to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), the Mediterranean Sea is subdivided into a number of smaller waterbodies, each with their own designation (from west to east):[15]

the Strait of Gibraltar;

the Alboran Sea, between Spain and Morocco;

the Balearic Sea, between mainland Spain and its Balearic Islands;

the Ligurian Sea between Corsica and Liguria (Italy);

the Tyrrhenian Sea enclosed by Sardinia, Italian peninsula and Sicily;

the Ionian Sea between Italy, Albania and Greece;

the Adriatic Sea between Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania;

the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey.

  

Other seas

  

Although not recognised by the IHO treaties, there are some other seas whose names have been in common use from the ancient times, or in the present:

the Sea of Sardinia, between Sardinia and Balearic Islands, as a part of the Balearic Sea

the Sea of Sicily between Sicily and Tunisia,

the Libyan Sea between Libya and Crete,

In the Aegean Sea,

the Thracian Sea in its north,

the Myrtoan Sea between the Cyclades and the Peloponnese,

the Sea of Crete north of Crete,

the Icarian Sea between Kos and Chios

the Cilician Sea between Turkey and Cyprus

the Levantine Sea at the eastern end of the Mediterranean

  

Other features

  

Many of these smaller seas feature in local myth and folklore and derive their names from these associations. In addition to the seas, a number of gulfs and straits are also recognised:

the Saint George Bay in Beirut, Lebanon

the Ras Ibn Hani cape in Latakia, Syria

the Ras al-Bassit cape in northern Syria.

the Minet el-Beida ("White Harbour") bay near ancient Ugarit, Syria

the Strait of Gibraltar, connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco

the Bay of Gibraltar, at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula

the Gulf of Corinth, an enclosed sea between the Ionian Sea and the Corinth Canal

the Pagasetic Gulf, the gulf of Volos, south of the Thermaic Gulf, formed by the Mount Pelion peninsula

the Saronic Gulf, the gulf of Athens, between the Corinth Canal and the Mirtoan Sea

the Thermaic Gulf, the gulf of Thessaloniki, located in the northern Greek region of Macedonia

the Kvarner Gulf, Croatia

the Gulf of Lion, south of France

the Gulf of Valencia, east of Spain

the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and the toe of Italy

the Gulf of Genoa, northwestern Italy

the Gulf of Venice, northeastern Italy

the Gulf of Trieste, northeastern Italy

the Gulf of Taranto, southern Italy

  

The Adriatic Sea contains over 1200 islands and islets.

the Gulf of Salerno, southwestern Italy

the Gulf of Gaeta, southwestern Italy

the Gulf of Squillace, southern Italy

the Strait of Otranto, between Italy and Albania

the Gulf of Haifa, northern Israel

the Gulf of Sidra, between Tripolitania (western Libya) and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya)

the Strait of Sicily, between Sicily and Tunisia

the Corsica Channel, between Corsica and Italy

the Strait of Bonifacio, between Sardinia and Corsica

the Gulf of İskenderun, between İskenderun and Adana (Turkey)

the Gulf of Antalya, between west and east shores of Antalya (Turkey)

the Bay of Kotor, in south-western Montenegro and south-eastern Croatia

the Malta Channel, between Sicily and Malta

the Gozo Channel, between Malta Island and Gozo

  

Sea temperature

  

Mean sea temperature (°C)

  

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecØ/Year

Marseille[21]13131314161821222118161416.6

Venice[22]11101113182225262320161417.4

Barcelona[23]13131314172023252320171517.8

Valencia[24]14131415172124262421181518.5

Málaga[25]16151516172022232220181618.3

Gibraltar[26]16151616172022222220181718.4

Naples[27]15141415182225272522191619.3

Athens[28]16151516182124242421191819.3

Heraklion[29]16151516192224252422201819.7

Malta[30]16161516182124262523211819.9

Larnaca[31]18171718202426272725221921.7

Limassol[32]18171718202426272725221921.7

Antalya17171718212427282725221921.8

Alexandria[33]18171718202325262625222021.4

Tel Aviv[34]18171718212426282726232022.1

  

Geology

  

The geologic history of the Mediterranean is complex. It was involved in the tectonic break-up and then collision of the African and Eurasian plates. The Messinian Salinity Crisis occurred in the late Miocene (12 million years ago to 5 million years ago) when the Mediterranean dried up. Geologically the Mediterranean is underlain by oceanic crust.

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The coastline extends for 46,000 km (29,000 mi). A shallow submarine ridge (the Strait of Sicily) between the island of Sicily and the coast of Tunisia divides the sea in two main subregions (which in turn are divided into subdivisions), the Western Mediterranean and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Western Mediterranean covers an area of about 0.85 million km² (0.33 million mi²) and the Eastern Mediterranean about 1.65 million km² (0.64 million mi²). A characteristic of the Mediterranean Sea are submarine karst springs or vruljas, which mainly occur in shallow waters[35] and may also be thermal.

  

Tectonic evolution

  

The geodynamic evolution of the Mediterranean Sea was provided by the convergence of European and African plates and several smaller microplates. This process was driven by the differential seafloor spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which led to the closure of the Tethys Ocean and eventually to the Alpine orogenesis. However, the Mediterranean also hosts wide extensional basins and migrating tectonic arcs, in response to its land-locked configuration.

According to a report published by Nature in 2009, some scientists think that the Mediterranean Sea was mostly filled during a time period of less than two years, in a major flood (the Zanclean flood) that happened approximately 5.33 million years ago, in which water poured in from the Atlantic Ocean and through the Strait of Gibraltar, at a rate three times the current flow of the Amazon River.[37] However, the sea basins had been filled for many millions of years before the prior closure of the Strait of Gibraltar.

  

Eastern Mediterranean

  

In middle Miocene times, the collision between the Arabian microplate and Eurasia led to the separation between the Tethys and the Indian oceans. This process resulted in profound changes in the oceanic circulation patterns, which shifted global climates towards colder conditions. The Hellenic arc, which has a land-locked configuration, underwent a widespread extension for the last 20 Ma due to a slab roll-back process. In addition, the Hellenic Arc experienced a rapid rotation phase during the Pleistocene, with a counterclockwise component in its eastern portion and a clockwise trend in the western segment.

  

Central Mediterranean

  

The opening of small oceanic basins of the central Mediterranean follows a trench migration and back-arc opening process that occurred during the last 30 Myr. This phase was characterised by the anticlockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block, which lasted until the Langhian (ca.16 Ma), and was in turn followed by a slab detachment along the northern African margin. Subsequently, a shift of this active extensional deformation led to the opening of the Tyrrenian basin.

  

Western Mediterranean[edit]

  

The Betic-Rif mountain belts developed during Mesozoic and Cenozoic times, as Africa and Iberia converged. Tectonic models for its evolution include: rapid motion of Alboran Domain, subduction zone and radial extensional collapse caused by convective removal of lithospheric mantle. The development of these intramontane Betic and Rif basins led to the onset of two marine gateways which were progressively closed during the late Miocene by an interplay of tectonic and glacio-eustatic processes.

  

Paleoenvironmental analysis

  

Its semi-enclosed configuration makes the oceanic gateways critical in controlling circulation and environmental evolution in the Mediterranean Sea. Water circulation patterns are driven by a number of interactive factors, such as climate and bathymetry, which can lead to precipitation of evaporites. During late Miocene times, a so-called "Messinian Salinity Crisis" (MSC hereafter) occurred, where the Mediterranean entirely or almost entirely dried out, which was triggered by the closure of the Atlantic gateway. Evaporites accumulated in the Red Sea Basin (late Miocene), in the Carpatian foredeep (middle Miocene) and in the whole Mediterranean area (Messinian). An accurate age estimate of the MSC—5.96 Ma—has recently been astronomically achieved; furthermore, this event seems to have occurred synchronously. The beginning of the MSC is supposed to have been of tectonic origin; however, an astronomical control (eccentricity) might also have been involved. In the Mediterranean basin, diatomites are regularly found underneath the evaporite deposits, thus suggesting (albeit not clearly so far) a connection between their geneses.

The present-day Atlantic gateway, i.e. the Strait of Gibraltar, finds its origin in the early Pliocene. However, two other connections between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea existed in the past: the Betic Corridor (southern Spain) and the Rifian Corridor (northern Morocco). The former closed during Tortonian times, thus providing a "Tortonian Salinity Crisis" well before the MSC; the latter closed about 6 Ma, allowing exchanges in the mammal fauna between Africa and Europe. Nowadays, evaporation is more relevant than the water yield supplied by riverine water and precipitation, so that salinity in the Mediterranean is higher than in the Atlantic. These conditions result in the outflow of warm saline Mediterranean deep water across Gibraltar, which is in turn counterbalanced by an inflow of a less saline surface current of cold oceanic water.

The Mediterranean was once thought to be the remnant of the Tethys Ocean. It is now known to be a structurally younger ocean basin known as Neotethys. The Neotethys formed during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic rifting of the African and Eurasian plates.

  

Paleoclimate

  

Because of its latitudinal position and its land-locked configuration, the Mediterranean is especially sensitive to astronomically induced climatic variations, which are well documented in its sedimentary record. Since the Mediterranean is involved in the deposition of eolian dust from the Sahara during dry periods, whereas riverine detrital input prevails during wet ones, the Mediterranean marine sapropel-bearing sequences provide high-resolution climatic information. These data have been employed in reconstructing astronomically calibrated time scales for the last 9 Ma of the Earth's history, helping to constrain the time of past Geomagnetic Reversals.[38] Furthermore, the exceptional accuracy of these paleoclimatic records have improved our knowledge of the Earth's orbital variations in the past.

  

Ecology and biota

  

As a result of the drying of the sea during the Messinian salinity crisis,[39] the marine biota of the Mediterranean are derived primarily from the Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic is considerably colder and more nutrient-rich than the Mediterranean, and the marine life of the Mediterranean has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five million years since the basin was reflooded.

The Alboran Sea is a transition zone between the two seas, containing a mix of Mediterranean and Atlantic species. The Alboran Sea has the largest population of Bottlenose Dolphins in the western Mediterranean, is home to the last population of harbour porpoises in the Mediterranean, and is the most important feeding grounds for Loggerhead Sea Turtles in Europe. The Alboran sea also hosts important commercial fisheries, including sardines and swordfish. The Mediterranean monk seals live in the Aegean Sea in Greece. In 2003, the World Wildlife Fund raised concerns about the widespread drift net fishing endangering populations of dolphins, turtles, and other marine animals.

  

Environmental threats

  

Biodiversity

  

Invasive species

  

The Reticulate whipray is one of the species that colonised the eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean and Red Sea. The Red Sea is higher than the Eastern Mediterranean, so the canal serves as a tidal strait that pours Red Sea water into the Mediterranean. The Bitter Lakes, which are hyper-saline natural lakes that form part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalized with that of the Red Sea, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonise the Eastern Mediterranean. The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient-poor Eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, Red Sea species invade the Mediterranean biota, and not vice versa; this phenomenon is known as the Lessepsian migration (after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French engineer) or Erythrean invasion. The construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in the 1960s reduced the inflow of freshwater and nutrient-rich silt from the Nile into the Eastern Mediterranean, making conditions there even more like the Red Sea and worsening the impact of the invasive species.

Invasive species have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have serious impacts on the Mediterranean ecology, endangering many local and endemic Mediterranean species. A first look at some groups of exotic species show that more than 70% of the non-indigenous decapods and about 63% of the exotic fishes occurring in the Mediterranean are of Indo Pacific origin,[40] introduced into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. This makes the Canal as the first pathway of arrival of "alien" species into the Mediterranean. The impacts of some lessepsian species have proven to be considerable mainly in the Levantine basin of the Mediterranean, where they are replacing native species and becoming a "familiar sight".

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature definition, as well as Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Ramsar Convention terminologies, they are alien species, as they are non-native (non-indigenous) to the Mediterranean Sea, and they are outside their normal area of distribution which is the Indo-Pacific region. When these species succeed in establishing populations in the Mediterranean sea, compete with and begin to replace native species they are "Alien Invasive Species", as they are an agent of change and a threat to the native biodiversity. In the context of CBD, "introduction" refers to the movement by human agency, indirect or direct, of an alien species outside of its natural range (past or present). The Suez Canal, being an artificial (man made) canal, is a human agency. Lessepsian migrants are therefore "introduced" species (indirect, and unintentional). Whatever wording is chosen, they represent a threat to the native Mediterranean biodiversity, because they are non-indigenous to this sea. In recent years, the Egyptian government's announcement of its intentions to deepen and widen the canal have raised concerns from marine biologists, fearing that such an act will only worsen the invasion of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean, facilitating the crossing of the canal for yet additional species.

  

Arrival of new tropical Atlantic species

  

In recent decades, the arrival of exotic species from the tropical Atlantic has become a noticeable feature. Whether this reflects an expansion of the natural area of these species that now enter the Mediterranean through the Gibraltar strait, because of a warming trend of the water caused by Global Warming; or an extension of the maritime traffic; or is simply the result of a more intense scientific investigation, is still an open question. While not as intense as the "lessepsian" movement, the process may be scientific interest and may therefore warrant increased levels of monitoring.

  

Sea-level rise

  

By 2100, the overall level of the Mediterranean could rise between 3 to 61 cm (1.2 to 24.0 in) as a result of the effects of climate change.[42] This could have adverse effects on populations across the Mediterranean:

Rising sea levels will submerge parts of Malta. Rising sea levels will also mean rising salt water levels in Malta's groundwater supply and reduce the availability of drinking water.[43]

A 30 cm (12 in) rise in sea level would flood 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) of the Nile Delta, displacing over 500,000 Egyptians.[44]

Coastal ecosystems also appear to be threatened by sea level rise, especially enclosed seas such as the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. These seas have only small and primarily east-west movement corridors, which may restrict northward displacement of organisms in these areas.[45] Sea level rise for the next century (2100) could be between 30 cm (12 in) and 100 cm (39 in) and temperature shifts of a mere 0.05-0.1°C in the deep sea are sufficient to induce significant changes in species richness and functional diversity.

  

Pollution

  

Pollution in this region has been extremely high in recent years.[when?] The United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that 650,000,000 t (720,000,000 short tons) of sewage, 129,000 t (142,000 short tons) of mineral oil, 60,000 t (66,000 short tons) of mercury, 3,800 t (4,200 short tons) of lead and 36,000 t (40,000 short tons) of phosphates are dumped into the Mediterranean each year.[47] The Barcelona Convention aims to 'reduce pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and protect and improve the marine environment in the area, thereby contributing to its sustainable development.'[48] Many marine species have been almost wiped out because of the sea's pollution. One of them is the Mediterranean Monk Seal which is considered to be among the world's most endangered marine mammals.[49]

The Mediterranean is also plagued by marine debris. A 1994 study of the seabed using trawl nets around the coasts of Spain, France and Italy reported a particularly high mean concentration of debris; an average of 1,935 items per km². Plastic debris accounted for 76%, of which 94% was plastic bags.

  

Shipping

  

Some of the world's busiest shipping routes are in the Mediterranean Sea. It is estimated that approximately 220,000 merchant vessels of more than 100 tonnes cross the Mediterranean Sea each year—about one third of the world's total merchant shipping. These ships often carry hazardous cargo, which if lost would result in severe damage to the marine environment.

The discharge of chemical tank washings and oily wastes also represent a significant source of marine pollution. The Mediterranean Sea constitutes 0.7% of the global water surface and yet receives seventeen percent of global marine oil pollution. It is estimated that every year between 100,000 t (98,000 long tons) and 150,000 t (150,000 long tons) of crude oil are deliberately released into the sea from shipping activities.

Approximately 370,000,000 t (360,000,000 long tons) of oil are transported annually in the Mediterranean Sea (more than 20% of the world total), with around 250-300 oil tankers crossing the Sea every day. Accidental oil spills happen frequently with an average of 10 spills per year. A major oil spill could occur at any time in any part of the Mediterranean.

  

Tourism

  

With a unique combination of pleasant climate, beautiful coastline, rich history and diverse culture the Mediterranean region is the most popular tourist destination in the world—attracting approximately one third of the world's international tourists.

Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for many Mediterranean countries. It also supports small communities in coastal areas and islands by providing alternative sources of income far from urban centres. However, tourism has also played major role in the degradation of the coastal and marine environment. Rapid development has been encouraged by Mediterranean governments to support the large numbers of tourists visiting the region each year. But this has caused serious disturbance to marine habitats such as erosion and pollution in many places along the Mediterranean coasts.

Tourism often concentrates in areas of high natural wealth, causing a serious threat to the habitats of endangered Mediterranean species such as sea turtles and monk seals. Reductions in natural wealth may reduce incentives for tourists to visit

  

Overfishing

  

Fish stock levels in the Mediterranean Sea are alarmingly low. The European Environment Agency says that over 65% of all fish stocks in the region are outside safe biological limits and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, that some of the most important fisheries—such as albacore and bluefin tuna, hake, marlin, swordfish, red mullet and sea bream—are threatened.[date missing]

There are clear indications that catch size and quality have declined, often dramatically, and in many areas larger and longer-lived species have disappeared entirely from commercial catches.

Large open water fish like tuna have been a shared fisheries resource for thousands of years but the stocks are now dangerously low. In 1999, Greenpeace published a report revealing that the amount of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean had decreased by over 80% in the previous 20 years and government scientists warn that without immediate action the stock will collapse.

  

Aquacultur

  

Aquaculture is expanding rapidly—often without proper environmental assessment—and currently accounts for 30% of the fish protein consumed worldwide. The industry claims that farmed seafood lessens the pressure on wild fish stocks, yet many of the farmed species are carnivorous, consuming up to five times their weight in wild fish.

Mediterranean coastal areas are already over exposed to human influence, with pristine areas becoming ever scarcer. The aquaculture sector adds to this pressure, requiring areas of high water quality to set up farms. The installation of fish farms close to vulnerable and important habitats such as seagrass meadows is particularly concerning.

  

PENTAX K-1 • FF Mode • 100 ISO • Pentax HD DA* 11-18 mm F2.8 ED DC AW

 

Playa de la Barceloneta • Barcelona • España

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona

 

Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people, making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of which is 512 metres (1,680 feet) high.

 

Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona continued to be an important city in the Crown of Aragon as an economic and administrative centre of this Crown and the capital of the Principality of Catalonia. Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean are located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments.

 

Barcelona is one of the world's leading tourist, economic, trade fair and cultural centres, and its influence in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. It is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world (before Zürich, after Frankfurt) and a financial centre. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with GDP amounting to €177 billion. In 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion; and it was leading Spain in employment rate in that moment.

 

In 2009 the city was ranked Europe's third and one of the world's most successful as a city brand. In the same year the city was ranked Europe's fourth best city for business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by 17% per year, and the city has been experiencing strong and renewed growth for the past three years. Since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. Barcelona is a transport hub, with the Port of Barcelona being one of Europe's principal seaports and busiest European passenger port, an international airport, Barcelona–El Prat Airport, which handles over 50 million passengers per year, an extensive motorway network, and a high-speed rail line with a link to France and the rest of Europe.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museu_Nacional_d%27Art_de_Catalunya

 

The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is the national museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, near Pl Espanya, the museum is especially notable for its outstanding collection of romanesque church paintings, and for Catalan art and design from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including modernisme and noucentisme. The museum is housed in the Palau Nacional, a huge, Italian-style building dating to 1929. The Palau Nacional, which has housed the Museu d'Art de Catalunya since 1934, was declared a national museum in 1990 under the Museums Law passed by the Catalan Government. That same year, a thorough renovation process was launched to refurbish the site, based on plans drawn up by the architects Gae Aulenti and Enric Steegmann, who were later joined in the undertaking by Josep Benedito. The Oval Hall was reopened in 1992 on the occasion of the Olympic Games, and the various collections were installed and opened over the period from 1995 (when the Romanesque Art section was reopened) to 2004. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Museu Nacional) was officially inaugurated on 16 December 2004. It is one of the largest museums in Spain.

Vienne (prononcé /vjɛn/ ; Wien [viːn] en allemand Prononciation du titre dans sa version originale Écouter, Wean en austro-bavarois, Bécs en hongrois) est la capitale et la plus grande ville de l'Autriche. Elle est aussi un des neuf Land (État fédéré) du pays (en allemand Bundesland Wien).

Elle est située dans l'est du pays, et traversée par le Danube (Donau). Elle fut la capitale du Saint-Empire romain germanique ainsi que de l'Archiduché d'Autriche, de l'Empire d'Autriche (1804–1866) et plus tard de la double monarchie, communément appelée Autriche-Hongrie

 

Vienna (Listeni/viˈɛnə/;[8][9] German: Wien, pronounced [viːn] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million[1] (2.6 million within the metropolitan area,[4] nearly one third of Austria's population), and its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitants.[10] Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin.[11][12] Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

At $8.49 a ball … yeesh I’ll really need to limit purchase … probably

I took this shot already some days ago when it got very cold here in Finland (-25°C / -13°F). For those who might find it an odd scene, it's an ice hole where people go to swim from the sauna. It sure looks terribly cold in the picture with the icicles and all, but it's really a relaxing experience that many here do, sometimes on a daily basis. Though, I do have to admit that stepping down in to cold water does exceed a bit my own personal threshold of comfort, but it has always been a very positive experience when I've actually done it – this time I got to stay behind the camera.

 

As you have probably noticed, I've used the ZEISS Batis 1.8/85 a lot during the couple of weeks. Why is that you may wonder and I've been wondering this same question. One reason behind this preference is most probably the fact I used to shoot a lot with Nex-5N & SEL 50/1.8 OSS (equivalence of 75mm on a full frame) and my way of looking things is kind of 'hardwired' to this focal length. A bit of tele-compression but not too much. Lots of potential for bokeh and not too skewed lines even if position of the camera differs from the parallax-axel. It's a very nice focal length which offers loads of possibilities, though I find the difference between 75mm and 85mm to be more than I thought – it takes a bit to get used to take few more steps back.

 

Another reason favoring the Batis 1.8/85 comes from the lens itself. The first thing many have noticed when shooting with this lens is the sharpness it delivers already from wide open at f/1.8. Now, before I continue I have to add that I find the existing 'sharpness-race' to be a little bit constrained since many modern lenses are already sharp enough and much of the absolute sharpness never materializes in those mediums that people use for their photographs (screens and relatively small photographic papers). Sure, it provides a crude way to separate lenses from each other in product competition, but we never seem to stop and think what is enough. However, having said all this I have to admit that I am indeed pretty impressed with the sharpness that Batis 1.8/85 brings wide open. While it's beautiful performance from the technological point of view, I like even more a certain confidence that it brings to my photography. To understand where I'm coming from with this, you have remember that I spent years shooting with the Nex-5N & SEL 50/1.8 OSS. While the SEL 50/1.8 is still a great lens on its own right, I always had to careful to use it wide open at f/1.8 since it lost much of the sharpness & contrast at that aperture (stop it down to f/2.2 and it gets a lot better). With the Batis 1.8/85 I simply don't need to think about the technological limits of the lens at all, which means more freedom and confidence to me. I believe this is, together with the optical image stabilization, one thing that makes me like this lens a lot. As paradoxical it sounds the optical performance of the Batis 1.8/85 is great because I don't have to think about it all when using it.

 

If you have read any reviews regarding the Batis 1.8/85 this is probably no surprise to you as many others have already reported similar findings regarding the sharpness. To me this confidence of the optical performance definitely describes one trait of this lens and getting to know other aspects as well is the key to understanding its characteristics in total. And the Batis 1.8/85 definitely has other traits as well, most probably one of them being bokeh, but I'm unlocking this lens slowly and taking my time with it – as I do have almost one full year to go. It seems that the Batis 1.8/85 is my first favorite of the setup I'm using, but I'm in no hurry and I want to enjoy the ride to the fullest.

 

Days of Zeiss: www.daysofzeiss.com