View allAll Photos Tagged UNESCOWelterbe
Window of Casa Batlló, Passeig de Gràcia 43, Barcelona, autonomous community Catalonia, Spain.
Casa Batlló is a building by the famous modernisme architect Antoni Gaudí and, together with six of his other works, is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO as "Works of Antoni Gaudí".
---quotation from en.wikipedia.org about Casa Batlló:---
Casa Batlló (...) is a renowned building located in the heart of Barcelona and is one of Antoni Gaudí’s masterpieces. Casa Batlló is a remodel of a previously built house. It was redesigned in 1904 by Gaudí and has been refurbished several times after that. Casa Batlló evokes the creativity and playfulness of Gaudí’s work through the incracite facades and creative floors. Gaudí's assistants Domènec Sugrañes i Gras, Josep Canaleta and Joan Rubió also contributed to the renovation project.
The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), as it has a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.
The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudí designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.
It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadís) that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the lance of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia, Gaudí's home), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.
---end of quotation---
---quotation from en.wikipedia.org about Antoni Gaudí:---
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (...25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Spanish Catalan architect and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.
Much of Gaudí's work was marked by his big passions in life: architecture, nature, religion. Gaudí studied every detail of his creations, integrating into his architecture a series of crafts in which he was skilled: ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencadís, made of waste ceramic pieces.
After a few years under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Catalan Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by nature. Gaudí rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and molding the details as he was conceiving them.
Gaudí’s work enjoys widespread international appeal and many studies are devoted to understanding his architecture. Today, his work finds admirers among architects and the general public alike. His masterpiece, the still-uncompleted Sagrada Família, is one of the most visited monuments in Spain. Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
---end of quotation---
---quotation from en.wikipedia.org about Barcelona:---
Barcelona (...) is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,620,943 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km² (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of around 4.5 million within an area of 803 km² (310 sq mi), being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, the Ruhr, Madrid and Milan. About five million people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also the largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea. It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 metres (1,680 ft)).
Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona became the most important city of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, 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 is 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.
---end of quotation---
Costa Brava holiday April 2009.
Oaxaca - Mexico
All my photos are under full copyright. All rights are reserved.
If you are interested in my photos, please contact me via flickr-mail.
Timur plante 1399 den Bau der größten Freitagsmoschee der islamischen Welt. Doch Erdbeben und die Gesetze der Statik machten diesen Plan zunichte. Umbauten und Verstärkungen sollten die Moschee retten. Jedoch schon nach wenigen Jahren fielen erste Ziegel aus der Kuppel über dem Mihrab. Möglicherweise waren auf Timurs Betreiben die bautechnischen Grenzen überschritten worden. Danach verfiel die Moschee und wurde zur Ruine, an der Wind, Wetter und Erdbeben weiter nagten. Der innere Bogen des Portalbaus brach 1897 in sich zusammen. Jahrhundertelang plünderten die Bewohner Samarkands die Ruine auf der Suche nach Baumaterial. Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts begann die usbekische Regierung mit der Wiederherstellung der drei Kuppelbauwerke und des Paradeportals.
Samarkand wurde etwa 750 v. Chr. gegründet. Der mongolische Herrscher Timur machte Samarkand zur 1369 zur Hauptstadt seines Großreichs und baute die Stadt zu einer der schönsten und bedeutendsten Metropolen seiner Zeit aus.
Die Altstadt von Samarkand ist Weltkulturerbe der UNESCO.
Die Zeche Zollverein war ein von 1851 bis 1986 aktives Steinkohlebergwerk in Essen.
Sie ist heute ein Architektur- und Industriedenkmal. Gemeinsam mit der unmittelbar benachbarten Kokerei Zollverein gehören die Schachtanlagen 12 und 1/2/8 der Zeche seit 2001 zum Welterbe der UNESCO. Zollverein ist Ankerpunkt der Europäischen Route der Industriekultur. (aus Wikipedia)
In der Kohlenwäsche ist das Ruhr Museum untergebracht, das sich mit der Geschichte des Ruhrgebieites beschäftigt.
The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (German Zeche Zollverein) is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has been inscribed into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since December 14, 2001, and is one of the anchor points of the European Route of Industrial Heritage.
The first coal mine on the premises was founded in 1847, mining activities took place from 1851 until December 23, 1986.(from Wikipedia)
The Ruhrmuseum is housed in a coal mill, dealing with the history of the Ruhr district.
Die Zitadelle befindet sich auf einem aufgeschütteten Hügel. Die Festungsmauer hat eine Länge von 780 m . Der Grundriss der Anlage entspricht dem Sternbild des Großen Wagens.
Buchara wurde im 6. Jhdt v. chr. gegründet und profitierte durch seine Lage vom Handel an der Seidenstraße.
Buchara war die erste bedeutende Stadt in Zentralasien, wo sich der Islam durchsetzen konnte.
Buchara ist Weltkulturerbe der UNESCO.
Bürgerschaftssaal (Hall of the City Council) in Lübeck Rathaus (town hall), Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
The town hall of Lübeck is one of the largest and most significant town halls of Germany. It was a model for many other town halls in the Baltic Sea region.
Over the years, Lübeck town hall was extended several times. The largest part was built in brick gothic style, but some parts were also built with sandstone in Renaissance style.
The old city center of Lübeck is in great parts inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO. A plan of the inscribed zones can be found here: whc.unesco.org/download.cfm?id_document=102311
---quotation from whc.unesco.org:---
Lübeck – the former capital and Queen City of the Hanseatic League – was founded in the 12th century and prospered until the 16th century as the major trading centre for northern Europe. It has remained a centre for maritime commerce to this day, particularly with the Nordic countries. Despite the damage it suffered during the Second World War, the basic structure of the old city, consisting mainly of 15th- and 16th-century patrician residences, public monuments (the famous Holstentor brick gate), churches and salt storehouses, remains unaltered.
---end of quotation---
Sightseeing tour with Ralph on Good Friday 2016.
Die Nordseite des Portikus zum Hypostyl mit Reliefs und Wandmalerei an den Pfeilern im zweiten Hof des Totentempels des Ramses III.: Der Pharao Ramses III. mit Opfergaben für die Gottheiten.
Im Jahr 1933 beschrieb der Religionsphilosoph Martin Buber in einem Zwiegespräch mit dem evangelischen Theologen Karl Ludwig Schmidt diesen ganz besonderen Blick vom Wormser Judenfriedhof Heiliger Sand über die alten Gräber hinweg zum Wormser Dom beschrieb. Bei diesem Teffen ging es um die Frage des Bundes zwischen Gott und den Juden und seither ist vom „Buber-Blick“ die Rede. Inzwischen markiert eine Stele auf dem jüdischen Friedhof die Stelle, von der aus dieser Blick möglich ist.
Hier die wichtigsten Zitatauszüge:
„Ich lebe nicht fern von der Stadt Worms, an die mich auch eine Tradition meiner Ahnen bindet; und ich fahre von Zeit zu Zeit hinüber. Wenn ich hinüber fahre, gehe ich immer zuerst zum Dom. Das ist eine sichtbar gewordene Harmonie der Glieder, eine Ganzheit, in der kein Teil aus der Vollkommenheit wankt … Dann gehe ich zum jüdischen Friedhof hinüber. Der besteht aus schiefen, zerspellten, formlosen, richtungslosen Steinen. Ich stelle mich darein, blicke von diesem Friedhofgewirr zu einer herrlichen Harmonie empor, und mir ist, als sähe ich von Israel zur Kirche auf ... Ich habe da gestanden und habe alles selber erfahren, mir ist all der Tod widerfahren: all die Asche, all die Zerspelltheit, all der lautlose Jammer ist mein; aber der Bund ist mir nicht aufgekündigt worden. Ich liege am Boden, hingestürzt wie diese Steine. Aber gekündigt ist mir nicht. Der Dom ist, wie er ist. Der Friedhof ist, wie er ist. Aber gekündigt ist uns nicht worden.“
Dancing House (Tančící dům) in Rašínovo nábřeží (Rašínovo Embankment), New Town (Nové Město), Prague (Praha), Czech Republic.
------citation from en.wikipedia.org:-------
The Dancing House or Dancing Building (Czech: Tančící dům) is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic at Rašínovo nábřeží 80, 120 00 Praha 2. It was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.
The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time. Czech president Václav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity.
Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - the house resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous. Others have nicknamed it "Drunk House".
On the roof is a French restaurant with views of the city. The building's other tenants include several multinational firms.
-----end of citation------
The Historic Centre of Prague is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.
Citation from whc.unesco.org/en/list/616
-----------------------------------------------------------
Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New Town speak of the great architectural and cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the Middle Ages. The many magnificent monuments, such as Hradcani Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge and numerous churches and palaces, built mostly in the 14th century under the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV.
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe in terms of its setting on both banks of the Vltava River, its townscape of burger houses and palaces punctuated by towers, and its individual buildings.
The Historic Centre represents a supreme manifestation of Medieval urbanism (the New Town of Emperor Charles IV built as the New Jerusalem). The Prague architectural works of the Gothic Period (14th and 15th centuries), of the High Baroque of the 1st half of the 18th century and of the rising modernism after the year 1900, influenced the development of Central Europe, perhaps even all European architecture. Prague represents one of the most prominent world centres of creative life in the field of urbanism and architecture across generations, human mentality and beliefs.
Prague belongs to the group of historic cities which have preserved the structure of their development until the present times. Within the core of Prague, successive stages of growth and changes have respected the original grand-scale urban structure of the Early Middle Ages. This structure was essentially and greatly enlarged with urban activities in the High Gothic period with more additions during the High Baroque period and in the 19th century. It has been saved from any large-scale urban renewal or massive demolitions and thus preserves its overall configuration, pattern and spatial composition.
In the course of the 1100 years of its existence, Prague’s development can be documented in the architectural expression of many historical periods and their styles. The city is rich in outstanding monuments from all periods of its history. Of particular importance are Prague Castle, the Cathedral of St Vitus, Hradćany Square in front of the Castle, the Valdgtejn Palace on the left bank of the river, the Gothic Charles Bridge, the Romanesque Rotunda of the Holy Rood, the Gothic arcaded houses round the Old Town Square, the High Gothic Minorite Church of St James in the Stark Mĕsto, the late 19th century buildings and town plan of the Nave Mĕsto.
As early as the Middle Ages, Prague became one of the leading cultural centres of Christian Europe. The Prague University, founded in 1348, is one of the earliest in Europe. The milieu of the University in the last quarter of the 14th century and the first years of the 15th century contributed among other things to the formation of ideas of the Hussite Movement which represented in fact the first steps of the European Reformation. As a metropolis of culture, Prague is connected with prominent names in art, science and politics, such as Charles IV, Petr Parléř, Jan Hus, Johannes Kepler, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Kafka, Antonín Dvořák, Albert Einstein, Edvard Beneš (co-founder of the League of Nations) and Václav Havel.
-------------------------------------------------------
End of citation
Abends auf dem 1. Hof des Tempels des Amun-Re (Karnak): Blick auf die Statue Ramses II. und der 2. Pylon.
Scan of an analog photo taken in September 1987
Built in 90 AD by the Romans, the amphitheatre of Arles held more than 20,000 spectators of bloody gladiator fights and chariot races. In the 5th century after the fall of the Western Empire, the amphitheatre became a shelter for the people of Arles and was transformed into a fortress with four towers while the 3rd row of arches was lost.
Today during the Feria d'Arles in April and in September, bullfights take place in the Arena, attracting crowds of visitors.
Since 1981 the amphitheatre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with other Roman and medieval buildings of the city.
Uttar Pradesh - India
All rights reserved - Copyright © Joerg Reichel
All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Window Details: Fagus Factory commissioned by owner Carl Benscheidt , designed by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, constructed between 1911 and 1913. UNESCO World Heritage, shoe last factory in Alfeld on the Leine, Lower Saxony, Germany, Sonnar FE 55mm F1.8 ZA
The World Heritage Site Tejeda on Gran Canaria (Spain) is a lovely, very well kept little village up in the mountains near the center of the island.
When we visited the place in July 2016, the Jacaranda trees were in full bloom. The mountain range in the background is Montaña de los Moriscos
Canon EOS 70D, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS. Pano stitched in Lightroom.
I have 3 albums with photos from the island. This photo belongs to the second, 'natural beauty' album:
Gran Canaria coastal area set .
Gran Canaria - natural beauty (from the mountains).
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (from the capital).
Blick von Elephantine auf das Westufer des Nils und Assuan. Am rechten Rand oben das Old Cataract Hotel.
Timur (8. April 1336 bis 19. Februar 1405), auch bekannt als Amir Temur, war ein zentralasiatischer Militärführer eines in Samarkand ansässigen turko-mongolischen Stammesverbands und Eroberer am Ende des 14. Jahrhunderts. In der westlichen Geschichtsschreibung ist er auch bekannt als Tīmūr-i Lang, „Timur der Lahme“). Der Name Tamerlan, wie er ebenfalls noch in verschiedenen europäischen Sprachen in Gebrauch ist, leitet sich daraus ab.
In der Stellung eines Emirs war er der Begründer der Dynastie der Timuriden, deren Reich im Zenit der Macht weite Teile Vorder- und Mittelasiens einschloss. Timurs Herrschaft ist gekennzeichnet durch Brutalität und Tyrannei. Gleichzeitig galt er als großzügiger Kunst- und Literaturförderer.
Er schuf eines der größten, wenn auch kurzlebigsten Reiche, die jemals in Zentralasien existierten. Dabei erlangte er den Ruf eines skrupellosen Eroberers, der die Bevölkerung in den unterworfenen Gebieten und Städten zu Hunderttausenden ermorden und Aufstände gnadenlos unterdrücken ließ
Window of Heiligen-Geist-Hospital (Hospital of the Holy Spirit) in Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Heiligen-Geist-Hospital is one of the oldest and best preserved civil hospitals of the Middle Age. It is furthermore one of the earliest institutions of social welfare in Europe and belongs to the most significant monumental architecture of the Middle Age.
It was a combination of wealth and piety that brought the mercantile patricians and other wealthy citizens of Lübeck to establish a lot of foundations and institutions for social welfare.
The building of the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital began in 1280, 4 years after the great fire of Lübeck, and was ready in 1286. It has been modified later several times.
The complex consists of a hospital church, an elongate hospital hall (called long house), some auxiliary buildings around a small courtyard and two citizens’ houses.
In the beginning, the patients / residents only had one bed each, and the beds simply were laid out in 4 lines across the long house of the hospital.
Not before 1820 there were built really small cabins of about 4 m² for the residents. These cabins were made out of wood and were open at the top. They are called “Kabäuschen” in German. The last residents moved out of the “Kabäuschen” not before 1970, and they did it only reluctantly.
From 1973 to 1976 a part of the complex was converted into a modern old people’s home for 85 people. The church hall has been restored from 1977-1984. Today, the historic rooms of the church hall and the long house are regularly used for a very famous artisan market in Christmas time, and for other exhibitions and touristic activities.
The church hall of Heiligen-Geist-Hospital is filled with precious artwork. Vaults and walls are covered with frescoes, the windows are made of stained glass. There are two altarpieces, a pulpit, many wooden sculptures of Saints and a richly decorated rood screen, its balustrade showing in 23 painted wooden panels the legend of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary.
The old city center of Lübeck is in great parts inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO. A plan of the inscribed zones can be found here: whc.unesco.org/download.cfm?id_document=102311
---quotation from whc.unesco.org:---
Lübeck – the former capital and Queen City of the Hanseatic League – was founded in the 12th century and prospered until the 16th century as the major trading centre for northern Europe. It has remained a centre for maritime commerce to this day, particularly with the Nordic countries. Despite the damage it suffered during the Second World War, the basic structure of the old city, consisting mainly of 15th- and 16th-century patrician residences, public monuments (the famous Holstentor brick gate), churches and salt storehouses, remains unaltered.
---end of quotation---
July 2009.
Window of Spišský hrad (Spiš Castle, German: Zipser Burg), municipality Žehra, district Spišská Nová Ves, Košický kraj (Košice region), Slovakia.
This window looks at Spišské Podhradie and Spišská Kapitula.
Spiš Castle is inscribed in the World Heritage list of the UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site Levoča, Spišský Hrad and the Associated Cultural Monuments.
---quotation from en.wikipedia.org:---
The ruins of Spiš Castle (Slovak: Spišský hrad; Hungarian: Szepesi vár; German: Zipser Burg) in eastern Slovakia form one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe. The castle is situated above the town of Spišské Podhradie and the village of Žehra, in the region known as Spiš (Hungarian: Szepes, German: Zips, Polish: Spisz, Latin: Scepusium). It was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1993 (together with the adjacent locations of Spišská Kapitula, Spišské Podhradie and Žehra). This is one of the biggest European castles by area (41 426 m²).
---end of quotation---
Slovakia holidays May 2016
Scan of an analog photo taken in July 2004
Als Teil der Great Spa Towns of Europe wurde Baden-Baden im Juli 2021 in die UNESCO Welterbeliste aufgenommen. Zur Kernzone des Welterbes in Baden-Baden gehören die verschiedenen Stadtquartiere in der historischen Innenstadt, die sich vom Mittelalter bis in das frühe 20. Jahrhundert entwickelten.
The Abbey of Fontenay is a former Cistercian abbey located near the villiage Marmagne in the Arrondissement Montbard (Département of Côte-d'Or). It was founded by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in 1118 and built in the Romanesque style. It is one of the oldest and most complete Cistercian abbeys in Europe and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.
At the time of the French Revolution, the monastic live came to an end, the Abby became a property of the French State and lateron was used as a paper mill. This lead to some destructions but prevented an eventual final decay.
In 1906 the brothers Aynard bought the complex and started extensive restauration work. Fontenay still belongs to the Aynard family and thus is the only privately owned UNESCO Heritage Site. Of the original complex comprising church, dormitory, cloister, chapter house, caldarium, refectory, dovecote and forge, all are intact except the refectory.
Album Timbres / Sammelalbum
Chocolats Peter / Cailler's / Kohler / Nestlé's
> Nestlé / Fête des Vignerons 1905 Vevey
(Lausanne / Schweiz; Bilder von 1923-1929)
ex ephemera-collection MTP
Die Seiser Alm ist die größte Hochalm Europas. Sie liegt in den Südtiroler Dolomiten in Italien, rund 20 km nordöstlich von Bozen und oberhalb der bekannten Tourismus-Orte Seis am Schlern, Kastelruth und St. Ulrich in Gröden. Wikipedia
Architect of the castle: Johann Conrad Schlaun.
Architect of the staircase: Balthasar Neumann.
Fresco: Carlo Carlone.
UNESCO Weltkulturerbe / World Heritage Site.
Classic black and white photograph. Leica M3, Summicron 50mm f/2, AgfaPhoto APX 100 Professional film.
Gay Street, seen from The Circus, Bath, Somerset
Some background information:
The Circus is an example of Georgian architecture in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768. The name comes from the Latin “circus”, which means a ring, oval or circle. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
Divided into three segments of equal length, the Circus is a circular space surrounded by large townhouses. Each of the curved segments faces one of the three entrances, ensuring that whichever way a visitor enters there is a classical facade straight ahead.
The Circus, originally called King's Circus, was designed by the architect John Wood the Elder, although he never lived to see his plans put into effect as he died less than three months after the first stone was laid. It was left to his son, John Wood the Younger to complete the scheme to his father's design. The Circus was part of John Wood the Elder's grand vision to recreate a classical Palladian architectural landscape for the city. Other projects included nearby Queen Square and the Forum (which was never built). The Circus is the culmination of Wood's career, and is considered his masterpiece.
Wood's inspiration was the Roman Colosseum, but whereas the Colosseum was designed to be seen from the outside, the Circus faces inwardly. Three classical orders, (Greek Doric, Roman/Composite and Corinthian) are used, one above the other, in the elegant curved facades. The frieze of the Doric entablature is decorated with alternating triglyphs and 525 pictorial emblems, including serpents, nautical symbols, devices representing the arts and sciences, and masonic symbols. The parapet is adorned with stone acorn finials.
When viewed from the air, the Circus, along with Queens Square and the adjoining Gay Street, form a key shape, which is a masonic symbol similar to those that adorn many of Wood's buildings.
The central area was paved with stone setts, covering a reservoir in the centre that supplied water to the houses. In 1800 the Circus residents enclosed the central part of the open space as a garden. Now, the central area is grassed over and is home to a group of old plane trees. Between 1758 and 1774 number 17 The Circus was home to Thomas Gainsborough and also used as his portrait studio.
With its roughly 84,000 residents Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset in South West England. It is situated 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Bristol.
The city was first established as a spa with the Latin name "Aquae Sulis" by the Romans around 60 AD, about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain. But archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman Baths' main spring was already treated as a shrine by the Iron Age Britons long before the Romans arrived. The shrine was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva. However, the name Sulis was also used after the Roman invasion.
A Roman temple was constructed between 60 and 70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. Probably in the 3rd century the city was given defensive walls. After the failure of Roman authority in the first decade of the 5th century, the baths fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up.
There are many Roman archaeological sites throughout the central area of the city, but the Roman baths themselves are about 6 metres (20 feet) below the present city street level. Around the hot springs, Roman foundations, pillar bases, and baths can still be seen, however all the stonework above the level of the baths is from more recent periods.
In 675 a monastery was set up in Bath by Osric, King of the Hwicce. King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter. During the reign of Edward the Elder (899 to 924) coins were minted in the town, based on a design from the Winchester mint but with "BAD" on the obverse, relating to "Baðum", the Anglo-Saxons’ name for the town, meaning "at the baths".
In the Elizabethan era the baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. In 1590 Bath was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth I. During the Stuart period several areas of the city underwent development, and this increased during Georgian times in response to the increasing number of visitors to the spa and resort town who required accommodation. The architects John Wood the elder and his son John Wood the younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical facades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum. Throughout the whole city the creamy gold and rather expensive Bath Stone was used for construction.
The early 18th century saw Bath acquire its first purpose-built theatre, the Old Orchard Street Theatre, which was rebuilt as the Theatre Royal, the along with the Grand Pump Room attached to the Roman Baths and assembly rooms. During the 18th century Bath became not only the leading centre of fashionable life in England, but also a popular spa town and residence of aristocrats and artists alike. For instance the painter Thomas Gainsborough and the author Jane Austen lived and worked in Bath.
In 1889 the city finally became a county borough, which gave it administrative independence from its county Somerset.
In 1987 the City of Bath was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. Bath has two universities and several schools and colleges. There is a large service sector, growing communication technologies and creative industries, providing employment for the population of Bath and its surrounding area.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCbeck
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCbeck
____________________________________________________
Copyright Notice
Please do not use my images without my permission This includes blogging them without my consent. All my photos are my copyright and may not be used or reproduced in any way without my express permission.
If you would like to use an image, please leave a comment to that effect or contact me via Flickrmail.
Scan of an analog photo taken in May 2005.
Unfortunately on my visit in 2005 it was quite impossible to take any good photos with an analog camera within this dimly lit but nevertheless very stunning villa which once belonged to Poppea, the wife of Emperor Nero. A good photo docmentation is available on the Spanish Wikipedia entry of Villa Poppea.
Old Jewish Cemetery in Josefov, Prague, Czech Republic
Some background information:
The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague is probably the most noted Jewish cemetery all over Europe. It’s located in Josefov, which is the Jewish Quarter of Prague. The cemetery was in use from the early 15th century until 1787. The oldest preserved tombstone, the one of the rabbi Avigdor Kara, dates back to 1439. The predecessor of this cemetery was called "The Jewish Garden", which was found in archaeological excavations under the Vladislavova street in Prague’s New Town.
The numbers of graves and people buried there are uncertain, because there are so many layers of tombs. However it has been estimated that there are approximately 12,000 tombstones presently visible and there may be as many as 100,000 burials in all.
According to Jewish religious law Jews mustn't destroy Jewish graves. In particular it’s not allowed to remove the tombstones. Therefore the cemetery ran out of space sometime. As purchasing extra land was impossible, more layers of soil were placed on the existing graves and the decedents were buried in up to twelve layers. The old tombstones were always taken out and put back upon the new layer of soil. This explains why the tombstones in the cemetery are placed so closely to each other and the cemetery entails such a picturesque up and down of the ground.
Some gravestones are even decorated with animals or objects, which symbolize the family names of the decedents. Important personalities buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery are the rabbi and author Avigdor Kara, the famous rabbi Judah Loew, who used to be the originator of the Prague Golem, the mayor and minister of finance Mordechai Maisel , the historian and astronomer David Gans as well as the chief rabbi David Oppenheim.
The Old Jewish Cemetery is enclosed by a huge wall and nestled between Pinkas and Klaus Synagogue. The Jewish Museum, where many Jewish cultural objects and paintings are exhibited, is situated next to the cemetery. Despite the admission fee is quite high, there’s always a long queue of people waiting at the entrance of the Old Jewish Cemetery. And despite this already high admission fee, one has to pay another fee to obtain the permission to take photos there. Being still outside it was a little bit annoying for us, but after entering the burial ground, we really felt that it was worth doing.
My Son - Vietnam
All rights reserved - Copyright © Joerg Reichel
All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.
Album Timbres / Sammelalbum
Chocolats Peter / Cailler's / Kohler / Nestlé's
> Nestlé / Fête des Vignerons 1905 Vevey
(Lausanne / Schweiz; Bilder von 1923-1929)
ex ephemera-collection MTP
Brüdersaal (lay brothers' room) of Kloster Walkenried (Walkenried Abbey), Göttingen district, southern Harz region, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Germany.
Kloster Walkenried was the third Cistercian abbey on German territory, founded in 1127. Being experts in water technology, the Cistercian monks put great effort into cultivation and land development, and were also very active in mining, smelting and charcoal works.
Since the Cistercian monks of Walkenried are regarded as the "fathers of the Upper Harz Water Regale", Kloster Walkenried is part of the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System.
The Gothic church from 1290 used to be one of the largest churches in Northern Germany but was greatly damaged in the 17th to 19th centuries so today there are only some ruins remaining.
The Gothic claustral buildings, however, including the chapter house, the lay brothers' room, the lavatorium and the partially two-bayed cloister, are well preserved and today house a museum.
Harz short trip April/May 2018.
Row of statues in the park of Wallenstein Palace (Valdštejnský palác), Lesser Town (Malá Strana), Prague (Praha), Czech Republic.
Wallenstein Palace was built from 1623-1630 by Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Mecklenburg (1583-1634) in Baroque style. Today it is the home of the Czech Senate.
The Historic Centre of Prague is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.
Citation from whc.unesco.org/en/list/616
-----------------------------------------------------------
Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New Town speak of the great architectural and cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the Middle Ages. The many magnificent monuments, such as Hradcani Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge and numerous churches and palaces, built mostly in the 14th century under the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV.
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe in terms of its setting on both banks of the Vltava River, its townscape of burger houses and palaces punctuated by towers, and its individual buildings.
The Historic Centre represents a supreme manifestation of Medieval urbanism (the New Town of Emperor Charles IV built as the New Jerusalem). The Prague architectural works of the Gothic Period (14th and 15th centuries), of the High Baroque of the 1st half of the 18th century and of the rising modernism after the year 1900, influenced the development of Central Europe, perhaps even all European architecture. Prague represents one of the most prominent world centres of creative life in the field of urbanism and architecture across generations, human mentality and beliefs.
Prague belongs to the group of historic cities which have preserved the structure of their development until the present times. Within the core of Prague, successive stages of growth and changes have respected the original grand-scale urban structure of the Early Middle Ages. This structure was essentially and greatly enlarged with urban activities in the High Gothic period with more additions during the High Baroque period and in the 19th century. It has been saved from any large-scale urban renewal or massive demolitions and thus preserves its overall configuration, pattern and spatial composition.
In the course of the 1100 years of its existence, Prague’s development can be documented in the architectural expression of many historical periods and their styles. The city is rich in outstanding monuments from all periods of its history. Of particular importance are Prague Castle, the Cathedral of St Vitus, Hradćany Square in front of the Castle, the Valdgtejn Palace on the left bank of the river, the Gothic Charles Bridge, the Romanesque Rotunda of the Holy Rood, the Gothic arcaded houses round the Old Town Square, the High Gothic Minorite Church of St James in the Stark Mĕsto, the late 19th century buildings and town plan of the Nave Mĕsto.
As early as the Middle Ages, Prague became one of the leading cultural centres of Christian Europe. The Prague University, founded in 1348, is one of the earliest in Europe. The milieu of the University in the last quarter of the 14th century and the first years of the 15th century contributed among other things to the formation of ideas of the Hussite Movement which represented in fact the first steps of the European Reformation. As a metropolis of culture, Prague is connected with prominent names in art, science and politics, such as Charles IV, Petr Parléř, Jan Hus, Johannes Kepler, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Kafka, Antonín Dvořák, Albert Einstein, Edvard Beneš (co-founder of the League of Nations) and Václav Havel.
-------------------------------------------------------
End of citation
At Levada do Norte, island of Madeira, Portugal.
Hiking tour "Two levadas near Encumeada pass": Levada das Rabaças and Levada do Norte.
This region of Madeira is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Laurisilva of Madeira.
Madeira is a Portuguese island in the Atlantic ocean, approximately 1000 km (620 mi) southwest of Lisbon and 700 km (435 mi) west of the Moroccan coast. Situated in a hot spot area, Madeira is of volcanic origin, formed during several eruptive phases, the last of which ended around 6500 years ago. Madeira is a very mountainous island. With an extent of only 57 km (35 mi) from west to east and 22 km (14 mi) from north to south, and with the highest mountain having an elevation of 1862 m (6109 ft), the terrain of the island is mostly very rocky and steep, except for the high plateau Paul da Serra.
Madeira is also known as the "island of flowers", although most of the popular "typical" Madeiran flowers (like the bird of paradise flower, the hydrangea, the agapanthus and others) are neither endemic nor native. Some of the genuine Madeiran plants are the "Pride of Madeira" (Echium candicans), Canary Islands Juniper (Juniperus cedrus) and the laurel forests of Madeira (the latter one being listed as UNESCO World Heritage).
Madeira is permeated by artificially built water channels called levadas, which distribute the water from the wetter northern half of the island to the agricultural regions of the south. The levadas, mostly built by prisoners or slaves, were cut into the side of the mountains, partly running through tunnels, and enabled for example the cultivation of sugar cane which was the source of the Madeiran wealth during the 15th to 17th century.
Today most of the levadas are still in use, not only for irrigation but also for hydroelectricity. Running across the whole island, they provide a wide network of walking paths, making even extremely remote regions of the island accessible to pedestrians, which is one of the reasons for Madeira's popularity as a hiking paradise.
Madeira hiking holiday July 2013.
The Roman Baths and Bath Abbey, Bath, Somerset
Some background information:
The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath. The baths themselves are below the modern street level. There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum holding finds from Roman Bath. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century. The Roman Baths are a major tourist attraction and, together with the Grand Pump Room, receive more than one million visitors a year.
The first shrine at the site of the hot springs was built by Celts and dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva. Geoffrey of Monmouth describes in his largely fictional Historia Regum Britanniae how in 836 BC the spring was discovered by the British king Bladud who built the first baths. Early in the 18th century Geoffrey's obscure legend was given great prominence as a royal endorsement of the waters' qualities, with the embellishment that the spring had cured Bladud and his herd of pigs of leprosy through wallowing in the warm mud.
The name Sulis continued to be used after the Roman invasion, leading to the town's Roman name of Aquae Sulis. The temple was constructed between 60 and 70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. During the Roman occupation of Britain and possibly on the instructions of Emperor Claudius, engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation and surrounded the spring with an irregular stone chamber lined with lead. In the 2nd century it was enclosed within a barrel-vaulted building, which included the caldarium (hot bath), tepidarium (warm bath), and frigidarium (cold bath). After the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the first decade of the 5th century, these fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up and flooding. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests the original Roman Baths were destroyed in the 6th century.
The baths have been modified on several occasions, for example in the 12th century when John of Tours built a curative bath over the King's Spring reservoir and in the 16th century when the city corporation built the new Queen's Bath to the south of the spring. The spring is now housed in 18th century buildings, designed by architects John Wood, the Elder and John Wood, the Younger, father and son. Visitors drank the waters in the Grand Pump Room, a neo-classical salon which remains in use, both for taking the waters and for social functions. Victorian expansion of the baths complex followed the neo-classical tradition established by the Woods. In 1810 the Hot Springs seemingly failed and William Smith opened up the Hot Bath Spring to the bottom, where he found that the spring had not failed but flowed into a new channel. Smith restored the water to its original course and the Baths filled in less time than formerly.
The visitor entrance is via an 1897 concert hall by J M Brydon. It is an eastward continuation of the Grand Pump Room with a glass-domed centre and single-storey radiused corner. The Grand Pump Room was begun in 1789 by Thomas Baldwin. He resigned in 1791 and John Palmer continued the scheme until its completion in 1799. The elevation on to Abbey Church Yard has a centre piece of four engaged Corinthian columns with entablatures and pediment. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building. The north colonnade was also designed by Thomas Baldwin. The south colonnade is similar but had an upper floor added in the late 19th century.
With its roughly 84,000 residents Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset in South West England. It is situated 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Bristol.
In 1987 the City of Bath was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, largely because of its complete Georgian architecture. It has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. Bath has two universities and several schools and colleges. There is a large service sector, growing communication technologies and creative industries, providing employment for the population of Bath and its surrounding area.
This Jugendstil (Art Nouveu) building in Riga was designed by the German-Baltic architect Mihails Eizenšteins (Mikhail Eisenstein; 1867—1921) and built in 1904. Eizenšteins was the father of the Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein.
www.jugendstils.riga.lv/lat/JugendstilsRiga/eizensteins/a...