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Hiking tour from Queimadas to Caldeirão Verde ("Green cauldron") and (somewhere near) Caldeirão do Inferno ("Cauldron of hell"), island of Madeira, Portugal.
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.
Fountain at the corner of Fährstraße and Schillstraße in the Hanseatic Town of Stralsund, district of Vorpommern-Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Germany.
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The town of Stralsund lies in Northeast Germany in the region of Western Pomerania in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
...
The town lies on the sound of Strelasund, a strait of the Baltic Sea. Its geographic proximity to the island of Rügen, whose only fixed link to the mainland, the Strelasund Crossing, runs between Stralsund and the village of Altefähr, has given Stralsund the sobriquet "Gateway to the Island of Rügen" (Tor zur Insel Rügen). Stralsund lies close to the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park.
A municipal forest and three municipal ponds (the Knieperteich, Frankenteich and Moorteich) belong to the Stralsund's town borough . The three ponds and the Strelasund lend the Old Town, the original settlement site and historic centre of the town, a protected island location.
...
The centre of Stralsund has a wealth of historic buildings. Since 1990, large parts of the historic old town have been renovated with private and public capital, and with the support of foundations. As a result of the contempt for historic buildings in East Germany many houses were threatened by ruin. The Old Town in particular, offers a rich variety of historic buildings, with many former merchants' houses, churches, streets and squares. Of more than 800 listed buildings in Stralsund, more than 500 are designated as individual monuments in the Old Town. In twenty years, from the Wende in 1990 to November 2010, 588 of the more than 1,000 old buildings were completely refurbished, including 363 individual monuments. Because of its historical and architectural significance, in 2002 Stralsund's old town together with the old town of Wismar were added to entitled the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list as the "Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar".
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----quotation from whc.unesco.org:----
The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries they became Swedish administrative and defensive centres for the German territories. They contributed to the development of the characteristic building types and techniques of Brick Gothic in the Baltic region, as exemplified in several important brick cathedrals, the Town Hall of Stralsund, and the series of houses for residential, commercial and crafts use, representing its evolution over several centuries.
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Stralsund short trip October 2012
Ekes Konvents (Ecke Convent House) was built by city magistrates at Skārņu iela in 1435 as emergency shelter for those in need. Council Member Nikolaus Ecke had it remodeled 1594-1596 as a home for needy widows of members of the small guild.
The lovely relief in the center of the façade in a late Renaissance style, entitled “Christ and a sinner (woman)," was added by Nikolaus Ecke in 1618.
Dom zu Lübeck (Lübeck Cathedral), Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
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The Lübeck Cathedral (German: Dom zu Lübeck, or colloquially Lübecker Dom) is a large brick Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of Lübeck's world heritage. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral for the Bishop of Lübeck. It was partly destroyed in a bombing raid in World War II (1942), and later reconstructed. The organ by Arp Schnitger was lost in the fire. The current church was finished in 1982.
It is also famous for works of Bernt Notke and Thomas Quellinus, which survived the bombing raid in 1942. The famous altar by Hans Memling is now in Lübeck's St. Annen Museum.
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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
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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.
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Sightseeing tour with Seppo and Merja on 15 September 2013.
Student Fado singers in Coimbra, Portugal.
Fado is a typical Portuguese music genre, Coimbra Fado (also called Student Fado) being one particular style. It is performed by male voices accompanied by a traditional Guitarra de Coimbra (a special kind of Portuguese guitar) and a classic acoustic guitar.
Coimbra is a city at the Rio Mondego in Mid-Portugal with now over 100.000 inhabitants. The first settlement on the site probably was Celtic, later it was Roman, Visigothic and Moorish. In 1064 Coimbra was conquered by the Spanish King Fernando I of Castile. The first king of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques, was born here and integrated the city into the Portuguese territory in 1131.
Coimbra was the setting of the forbidden love of Dom Pedro I (Peter I of Portugal, 1357-67) and Dona Inês, a lady at court. The legend of their tragic love is omnipresent and still alive everywhere in Coimbra.
Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, Coimbra is better-known for its university, the Universidade de Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world.
The area around Coimbra University was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list as University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia in 2013.
Coimbra also is a city of the typical Portuguese music genre Fado. There are two main styles of Fado in Portugal, one is Lisbon Fado and one is Coimbra Fado, also known as Student Fado (Fado de Estudante).
Fado, Urban Popular Song of Portugal was declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.
Natur und Kultur in Mittelportugal (Nature and Culture in Mid-Portugal), Wikinger-Reisen, September 2011
Romanesque Kaiserpfalz (Imperial Palace), Goslar, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Germany.
Seen from the tower of Marktkirche (Market Church).
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The Imperial Palace of Goslar (...) is the greatest, oldest and best-preserved secular building of the 11th century in Germany. It was a favourite imperial residence, especially for the Salian emperors.
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Goslar is a historic town at the foot of the Harz mountain range. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System".
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Rammelsberg-Goslar is the largest and longest-lived mining and metallurgical complex in the central European metal-producing region whose role was paramount in the economy of Europe for many centuries. It is a very characteristic form of urban-industrial ensemble which has its most complete and best preserved expression in Europe at Rammelsberg-Goslar.
Rammelsberg lies 1 km south-east of Goslar, in the Harz Mountains. It has been the site of mining for metalliferous ores and metal production (silver, copper, lead, zinc and gold) since as early as the 3rd century BC. The first documentary mention of Rammelsberg is from the beginning of the 11th century. The rich deposits of silver ore there were one of the main reasons for siting an imperial residence at the foot of the Rammelsberg mountain by Emperor Henry II; he held his first Imperial Assembly there in 1009. The town of Goslar grew up around the imperial residence. The town was to play an important role in the economic operations of the Hanseatic League and achieved great prosperity, which reached a peak around 1450. The revenues from mining, metal production, and trade financed the creation of the late medieval townscape of fortifications, churches, public buildings, and richly decorated mine-owners' residences which distinguish the present-day town.
(...)
The town was not significantly damaged in the Second World War and so the historic centre has survived intact, with its original medieval layout and many Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings of high quality.
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Harz weekend June 2012
Pig dog as door handle of Stiftskirche St. Servatius (Collegiate church of St. Servatius), Quedlinburg in the Harz mountains, Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany.
Quedlinburg is a beautiful medieval town in the north of the Harz mountains. With its many half-timbered houses, the Quedlinburg castle (which later became a house of secular canonesses) and the Romanesque Collegiate Church of St. Servatius it is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.
----quotation from whc.unesco.org:----
Quedlinburg, in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt, was a capital of the East Franconian German Empire at the time of the Saxonian-Ottonian ruling dynasty. It has been a prosperous trading town since the Middle Ages. The number and high quality of the timber-framed buildings make Quedlinburg an exceptional example of a medieval European town. The Collegiate Church of St Servatius is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture. (...)
The importance of Quedlinburg rests on three main elements: the preservation of the medieval street pattern; the wealth of urban vernacular buildings, especially timber-framed houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the important Romanesque collegiate church of St Servatius. The original urban layout is remarkably well preserved: it is a classic example of the growth of European medieval towns. The history of the medieval and early modern town is perfectly illustrated by the street pattern of the present-day town. (...)
Situated in a hilly region to the north of the Harz Mountains, the villa Quitilingaburg is first mentioned in 922 in an official document of Henry I (the Fowler), who was elected German King in 919. He built a castle on what became known as the Castle Hill (Burgberg), one of the two sandstone hills that overlook the Harz valley, and this became one of his favourite residences. It became the capital of the East Franconian German Empire and was the place where many important political and religious assemblies and festivals took place. The town owes its wealth and importance during the Middle Ages to Henry I and his successors. German Kings are known to have stayed at Quedlinburg on 69 occasions between 922 and 1207.
On the death of Henry I in 936 his widow Mathilde remained in Quedlinburg at the collegiate church of St Servatius on the Castle Hill, founded by Henry's son and successor Otto I as a collegial establishment for unmarried daughters of the nobility. It was to become one of the most influential foundations of its type in the Holy Roman Empire. From 944 the abbesses (many of whom were members of the Imperial family and were buried in the crypt of the church) had the right to mint coins at Quedlinburg.
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Harz weekend June 2012
Mexico
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If you are interested in my photos, please contact me via flickr-mail.
Terrace of a 17th century row house behind Johanniskloster (Monastery of St. John) in the Hanseatic Town of Stralsund, district of Vorpommern-Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Germany.
The houses behind Johanniskloster (most of them half-timbered) were used as an old people's home in former times. Today they are private homes.
The Franciscan Monastery of St. John was founded in 1254 and was built directly at the town wall in the north of the Old Town. It is a large complex of buildings grouped around two courtyards, decorated with precious medieval murals and vault paintings inside. The monastery church, however, fell to ruin due to a great fire in 1624 and the World War II air raid of 6 October 1944, with only the walls of the choir remaining.
----quotation from en.wikipedia.org:----
The town of Stralsund lies in Northeast Germany in the region of Western Pomerania in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
...
The town lies on the sound of Strelasund, a strait of the Baltic Sea. Its geographic proximity to the island of Rügen, whose only fixed link to the mainland, the Strelasund Crossing, runs between Stralsund and the village of Altefähr, has given Stralsund the sobriquet "Gateway to the Island of Rügen" (Tor zur Insel Rügen). Stralsund lies close to the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park.
A municipal forest and three municipal ponds (the Knieperteich, Frankenteich and Moorteich) belong to the Stralsund's town borough . The three ponds and the Strelasund lend the Old Town, the original settlement site and historic centre of the town, a protected island location.
...
The centre of Stralsund has a wealth of historic buildings. Since 1990, large parts of the historic old town have been renovated with private and public capital, and with the support of foundations. As a result of the contempt for historic buildings in East Germany many houses were threatened by ruin. The Old Town in particular, offers a rich variety of historic buildings, with many former merchants' houses, churches, streets and squares. Of more than 800 listed buildings in Stralsund, more than 500 are designated as individual monuments in the Old Town. In twenty years, from the Wende in 1990 to November 2010, 588 of the more than 1,000 old buildings were completely refurbished, including 363 individual monuments. Because of its historical and architectural significance, in 2002 Stralsund's old town together with the old town of Wismar were added to entitled the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list as the "Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar".
----end of quotation----
----quotation from whc.unesco.org:----
The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries they became Swedish administrative and defensive centres for the German territories. They contributed to the development of the characteristic building types and techniques of Brick Gothic in the Baltic region, as exemplified in several important brick cathedrals, the Town Hall of Stralsund, and the series of houses for residential, commercial and crafts use, representing its evolution over several centuries.
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Stralsund short trip October 2012
Floor mosaic inside Gothic Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), official name Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria (High Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Mary), Köln (Cologne), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Germany.
Cologne Cathedral is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.
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Begun in 1248, the construction of this Gothic masterpiece took place in several stages and was not completed until 1880. Over seven centuries, successive builders were inspired by the same faith and a spirit of absolute fidelity to the original plans. Apart from its exceptional intrinsic value and the artistic masterpieces it contains, Cologne Cathedral testifies to the enduring strength of European Christianity.
(...)
Cologne Cathedral is a High Gothic five-aisled basilica, with a projecting transept and a two-tower facade. The construction is totally unified. The western section, begun in 1330, changes in style, but this is not perceptible in the overall building. The 19th-century work followed the medieval forms and techniques faithfully. The original liturgical appointments of the choir are still extant to a considerable degree. These include the high altar on an enormous monolithic slab of black marble, the carved-oak choir stalls (1308-11), the painted choir screens (1332-40), the 14 statues on the pillars in the choir (1270-90), and the stained-glass windows, the largest extant cycle of 14th-century windows in Europe. There is an outstanding series of tombs of 12 archbishops between 976 and 1612.
(...)
During World War II the cathedral suffered tremendous damage during air-raids: no fewer than fourteen heavy bombs reduced it to a pitiful state. Restoration and reconstruction work rendered the chevet usable in time for the centenary celebrations in 1948, but the remainder of the building was not restored fully until 1956.
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Summer holiday August 2014
Venedig Venice Venezia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice
Italia 3 Album
www.flickr.com/photos/arjuna/sets/72157627437241642/
Venedig ( italienisch : Venezia [venɛttsja] ( hören ) , [ 1 ] Venetian : Venexia [venɛsja] ; ( Latein : Venetia )) ist eine Stadt im Nordosten von Italien gelegen an einer Gruppe von 118 kleinen Inseln, die durch Kanäle getrennt und verbunden durch Brücken. [ 2 ] Es wird in der sumpfigen befindet Lagune von Venedig , die sich entlang der Küste zwischen den Mündungen der streckt Po und Piave Rivers. Venedig ist für die Schönheit seiner Umgebung, seiner Architektur und seinen Kunstwerken bekannt. [ 2 ] Die Stadt ist in ihrer Gesamtheit als börsennotiertes Weltkulturerbe , zusammen mit seiner Lagune. [ 2 ]
This residential building at Elizabetes iela 21 was designed by the architect Edmunds fon Trompovskis 1851-1919) in an eclectic Neo-Gothic style and constructed in 1883-1884. It now houses Monika Centrum Hotels.
The Nativity of Christ Cathedral (Kristus Piedzimšanas pareizticīgo katedrāle) was designed by Nikolai Chagin in a Neo-Byzantine style and built 1876-1884 under the direction of Robert Pflug, during the period when Latvia was part of the Russian Empire. The cathedral was part of a Tsarist effort to russianize Latvia in the late 19th century. In 1963, during the Soviet period, the cathedral was closed and converted into a planetarium. Newly-independent Latvia restored the cathedral and re-opened it in 1991.
Puebla - 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.
Ceiling of the Sala dos Cisnes (Swan hall), Palácio Nacional de Sintra (Sintra National Palast), Sintra, Portugal.
Sintra National Palace belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Cultural Lanscape of Sintra.
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The Sintra National Palace [...] is the best preserved mediaeval Royal Palace in Portugal, having been inhabited more or less continuously at least from the early 15th up to the late 19th century. It is an important tourist attraction and is part of the Cultural landscape of Sintra, designated World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The history of the Sintra Palace goes back to the times of Islamic domination, when Sintra had two different castles. [...] Its first historical reference dates from the 10th century [...]. In the 12th century, when the village was conquered by King Afonso Henriques, the King took the residence in his possession. The mixture of Gothic, Manueline and Moorish styles in the present palace is, however, mainly the result of building campaigns in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
Nothing built during Moorish rule or during the reign of the first Portuguese kings survives. The earliest surviving part of the palace is the Royal Chapel, possibly built during the reign of King Dinis I in the early 14th century. Much of the palace dates from the times of King John I, who sponsored a major building campaign starting around 1415.
[...]
The other major building campaign that defined the structure and decoration of the Palace was sponsored by King Manuel I between 1497 and 1530, using the wealth engendered by the exploratory expeditions in this Age of Discoveries. The reign of this King saw the development of a transitional Gothic-Renaissance art style, named Manueline, as well as a kind of revival of Islamic artistic influence (Mudéjar) reflected in the choice of polychromed ceramic tiles (azulejos) as a preferred decorative art form.
[...]
In the following centuries the Palace continued to be inhabited by Kings from time to time, gaining new decoration in the form of paintings, tile panels and furniture. A sad story associated with the Palace is that of the mentally unstable King Afonso VI, who was deposed by his brother Pedro II and forced to live without leaving the Palace from 1676 until his death in 1683.
The ensemble suffered damage after the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake but was restored in the "old fashion", according to contemporary accounts.
[...]
During the 19th century, Sintra became again a favourite spot for the Kings and the Palace of Sintra was frequently inhabited. [...] With the foundation of the Republic, in 1910, the Palace became a National Monument. [...] It has been an important historical tourist attraction ever since.
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----quotation from en.wikipedia.org about Sintra:----
Sintra [...] is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion (Lisbon Region) of Portugal. Owing to its 19th century Romantic architecture and landscapes, becoming a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.
In addition to the Sintra Mountains and Sintra-Cascais Nature Park, the parishes of the town of Sintra are dotted by royal retreats, estates, castles and buildings from the 8th-9th century, in addition to many buildings completed between the 15th and 19th century, including the Castelo dos Mouros, the Pena National Palace and the Sintra National Palace, resulting in its classification by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1995.
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Natur und Kultur in Mittelportugal (Nature and Culture in Mid-Portugal), Wikinger-Reisen, September 2011
One of the houses at the entrance of Parc Güell (Park Güell), Barcelona, autonomous community Catalonia, Spain.
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Park Güell (Catalan: Parc Güell...) is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It has an extension of 17.18 ha (0.1718 km²), which makes it one of the largest architectural works in south Europe. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí".
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---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.
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---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.
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Costa Brava holiday April 2009.
architect: Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Named for Catherine I, Peter I's wife, briefly Empress in her own right, and mother of Elizabeth I
DSCN6804
This playful modern monument of the Bremen Town Musicians at Skārņu iela next to St. Peter's Church is a reference to a similar monument in Bremen, Riga's partner city in Germany.
This Jugendstil (Art Nouveu) building in Riga was designed by the German-Baltic architect Mihails Eizenšteins (Mikhail Eisenstein; 1867—1921) and built in 1906. Eizenšteins was the father of the Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein.
10-10-2013
La Antigua Guatemala
"La muy Noble y muy Leal ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemala"
DSC07002
created between 1797 and 1799 after a project by Vincenzo Brenna ---
The corners of this square room were cut off to form wide niches, which were filled with moulded stoves. The centre of each wall is cut through with arched apertures in exact proportion to the corner niches.
DSCN8391
Western facade of Lübeck Rathaus (town hall) on market square, 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
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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.
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Sightseeing tour with Seppo and Merja on 15 September 2013.
View east over the large market halls of the Riga Central Market and the Riga Radio and TV Tower, built 1979-1989. The Moscow District is located behind the market halls.
The Central Market in Riga (Rīgas Centrāltirgus) is the largest market in Latvia. Planning began in 1922 the market was constructed from 1924 to 1930. It opened in 1930 and was Europe's largest and most modern market until WW II.
The five large market halls were constructed out of materials that stem from two large hangars at the Luftschiffhafen Wainoden (Wainoden airship port) in Southern Latvia which the Germans operated 1916-17 during their occupation in WW I. Because of the uniqueness of the architecture, it was included in the Riga UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The tower of St. Peter's Church (Svētā Pētera baznīca) offers an exquisite view of Riga. In view is the Daugava river which joins the Baltic just a few miles from here.
Summer Palace ◊ 颐和园
Beijing
Over 60 stores extend from North Palace Gate entrance into a street about 300 meters (328.1 yards) in length. Along the Back Lake, the street design imitates the ancient style of shops on the banks of rivers in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, that is, taking the running water of Back Lake as the street and its banks as a market. The area served as an entertainment place where Emperors and concubines could feel as if they were strolling on a commercial street. When the royals went there, eunuchs and maids of honor would playact as peddlers, customers and shop assistants to mimic market activities.
Built during the reign of Qianlong (1711-1799), it was burned down by Anglo-French allied force in 1860. In 1986, it was rebuilt and in 1990 it was opened to the public. Today's market includes stores such as dyers, souvenir shops, drugstores, banks, shoe stores, teashops, and hockshops, with clerks dressed in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) costumes. www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/summer/suzhou...
03.31 1098
Halong Bay - Vietnam
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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.
Stairway and main entrance of the historic building of the Faculty of Law of Universidade de Coimbra (University of Coimbra), Coimbra, Portugal.
The University of Coimbra is one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world, the oldest university of Portugal, and one of its largest higher education and research institutions. It has approximately 20,000 students, and hosts one of the largest communities of international students in Portugal, being the most cosmopolitan Portuguese university.
The University was founded in Lisbon in 1290 by Dom Dinis I de Portugal (King Denis I of Portugal), but moved to Coimbra in 1308.
The University has a grandiose Baroque library called Biblioteca Joanina (John's Library) which was founded in the 18th century by Dom João V (King John V). It is full of books from the 15th, 16th and 17th century. Unfortunately, it was forbidden to take photos in there, but there are lots of photos and interesting information on bibliotecajoanina.uc.pt.
Coimbra is a city at the Rio Mondego in Mid-Portugal with now over 100.000 inhabitants. The first settlement on the site probably was Celtic, later it was Roman, Visigothic and Moorish. In 1064 Coimbra was conquered by the Spanish King Fernando I of Castile. The first king of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques, was born here and integrated the city into the Portuguese territory in 1131.
Coimbra was the setting of the forbidden love of Dom Pedro I (Peter I of Portugal, 1357-67) and Dona Inês, a lady at court. The legend of their tragic love is omnipresent and still alive everywhere in Coimbra.
Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, Coimbra is better-known for its university, the Universidade de Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world.
The area around Coimbra University was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list as University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia in 2013.
Coimbra also is a city of the typical Portuguese music genre Fado. There are two main styles of Fado in Portugal, one is Lisbon Fado and one is Coimbra Fado, also known as Student Fado (Fado de Estudante).
Fado, Urban Popular Song of Portugal was declared as Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.
Natur und Kultur in Mittelportugal (Nature and Culture in Mid-Portugal), Wikinger-Reisen, September 2011
Central Library building with mosaic tile murals by Juan O'Gorman.
The most elaborate example of O'Gorman's work is the exterior of the Library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which he planned and built in the early 1950s. The windowless library featured a tower containing book stacks; the tower was covered with natural-stone mosaics, which symbolically depicted a history of Mexican culture. O'Gorman was born in 1905 and comitted suicide due to failing health, in 1982.
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Lübeck made of marzipan in the marzipan showroom of Niederegger, Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
The Niederegger company is a renowned producer of Lübeck Marzipan and sweets situated in Lübeck, family-owned in the 7th generation since 1806. Café Niederegger in Breite Straße offers a shop, a café and a marzipan showroom, the latter explaining the history of marzipan and Niederegger and showing some impressive pieces of marzipan art.
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
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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.
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Sightseeing tour with Seppo and Merja on 15 September 2013.
For the monks, the forge was the only means to earn some money. The forge hammer was driven by a water mill.
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.
I visited Prague for a weekend in January. On my first evening I wandered around and finally found me in front of the tower of the Old Town Hall. Quite famous for the Astronomical Clock. But in my opinion it should be equally famous for the lift inside the tower. And you get a fantastic view of Prague.
All pictures clickable and some more in the set.
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Im Januar war ich für ein Wochenende in Prag. An meinem ersten Abend bin ich ein wenig durch die Gegend gelaufen und stand auf mal vor dem Altstädter Rathaus. Das ist bekannt, weil da an der Seite die Astronomische Uhr ist. Ich finde aber, dass auch das Treppenhaus und der Fahrstuhl im Turm mehr als einen Blick wert sind. Außerdem hat man einen schönen Blick über die Stadt.
Alle Bilder anklickbar und noch mehr im Album.
From Cologne to Leipzig: Cologne Cathedral and Cologne Grand Central Station
Cologne Cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 (ref. 0292).
This mural, on all 4 sides of the building, recognized as the largest mural in the world, covering all sides of the Library, based on Aztec and Spanish motifs and UNAM's coat of arms, makes the Central Library Ciudad Universitaria's most iconic building. (built 1953)
O'Gorman incorporates the windows in the center of each floor into his artwork, so that the almost disappear into the design.
Ciudad Universitaria - Mexico City
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Sculpture in the castle garden of Quedlinburg in the Harz mountains, Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany.
Quedlinburg is a beautiful medieval town in the north of the Harz mountains. With its many half-timbered houses, the Quedlinburg castle (which later became a house of secular canonesses) and the Romanesque Collegiate Church of St. Servatius it is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.
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Quedlinburg, in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt, was a capital of the East Franconian German Empire at the time of the Saxonian-Ottonian ruling dynasty. It has been a prosperous trading town since the Middle Ages. The number and high quality of the timber-framed buildings make Quedlinburg an exceptional example of a medieval European town. The Collegiate Church of St Servatius is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture. (...)
The importance of Quedlinburg rests on three main elements: the preservation of the medieval street pattern; the wealth of urban vernacular buildings, especially timber-framed houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the important Romanesque collegiate church of St Servatius. The original urban layout is remarkably well preserved: it is a classic example of the growth of European medieval towns. The history of the medieval and early modern town is perfectly illustrated by the street pattern of the present-day town. (...)
Situated in a hilly region to the north of the Harz Mountains, the villa Quitilingaburg is first mentioned in 922 in an official document of Henry I (the Fowler), who was elected German King in 919. He built a castle on what became known as the Castle Hill (Burgberg), one of the two sandstone hills that overlook the Harz valley, and this became one of his favourite residences. It became the capital of the East Franconian German Empire and was the place where many important political and religious assemblies and festivals took place. The town owes its wealth and importance during the Middle Ages to Henry I and his successors. German Kings are known to have stayed at Quedlinburg on 69 occasions between 922 and 1207.
On the death of Henry I in 936 his widow Mathilde remained in Quedlinburg at the collegiate church of St Servatius on the Castle Hill, founded by Henry's son and successor Otto I as a collegial establishment for unmarried daughters of the nobility. It was to become one of the most influential foundations of its type in the Holy Roman Empire. From 944 the abbesses (many of whom were members of the Imperial family and were buried in the crypt of the church) had the right to mint coins at Quedlinburg.
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Harz weekend June 2012
The Long Leg Gate Tower (Pika jala väravatorn) is the main gate that separates the lower town from Toompea Hill. It was built around 1380 and expanded around 1450.
Detail of the choir stalls of Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See), better known as Catedral de Sevilla (Seville Cathedral), Sevilla (Seville), Province of Sevilla (Seville), Andalusia, Spain.
Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world.
Together with the Alcázar and the General Archive of the Indies of Seville it is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.
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Together the Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias as a series, form a remarkable monumental complex in the heart of Seville. They perfectly epitomize the Spanish "Golden Age", incorporating vestiges of Islamic culture, centuries of ecclesiastical power, royal sovereignty and the trading power that Spain acquired through its colonies in the New World.
Founded in 1403 on the site of a former mosque, the Cathedral, built in Gothic and Renaissance style, covers seven centuries of history. With its five naves it is the largest Gothic building in Europe. Its bell tower, the Giralda, was the former minaret of the mosque, a masterpiece of Almohad architecture and now is important example of the cultural syncretism thanks to the top section of the tower, designed in the Renaissance period by Hernán Ruiz. Its "chapter house" is the first known example of the use of the elliptical floor plan in the western world. Ever since its creation, the Cathedral has continued to be used for religious purposes.
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Seville ... is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of 7 metres (23 ft) above sea level. The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos (feminine form: sevillanas) or hispalenses, following the Roman name of the city, Hispalis.
Seville is the fourth largest city of Spain with a municipal population of about 703,000 as of 2011, and a metropolitan population (including satellite towns) of about 1.2 million, making it the 31st most populous municipality in the European Union. Its Old Town is one of the three largest in Europe along with Venice and Genoa (covering almost four square kilometers), which includes three UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the Alcázar palace complex, the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies). The Seville harbor, located about 80 km from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain.
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Andalusia holiday April 2012
Nell'area degli scavi archeologici di Pompei è stata portata alla luce l'antica città romana distrutta tragicamente a seguito di una delle eruzioni del vicino vulcano Vesuvio, avvenuta nell'anno 79.
Già alcuni anni prima - nel 62 - un terribile terremoto, premonitore della ben più grave catastrofe che si sarebbe abbattuta sulla città di lì a pochi anni, colpì Pompei e la città di Ercolano nonché altri centri della Campania.
Pompei fu gravemente danneggiata, ma subito cominciò l'opera di ricostruzione. Diciassette anni più tardi, mentre i lavori continuavano a procedere a ritmo sostenuto (ed anche se gli edifici pubblici erano ancora quasi tutti da restaurare), la città e i suoi abitanti vissero una tra le più grandi tragedie della storia antica che oggi, cristallizzata nel tempo e in quell'attimo, è stata riportata in superficie divenendo il secondo sito archeologico più visitato al mondo[1]. La città tornò alla luce nel 1748, grazie agli scavi voluti e finanziati da Carlo di Borbone.
Gli scavi di Pompei, con quelli di Ercolano ed Oplontis, sono riportati nella lista dei patrimoni dell'umanità dell'UNESCO
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Pompeia foi outrora uma cidade do Império Romano situada a 22 quilômetros da cidade de Nápoles, na Itália, no território do atual município de Pompeia. A antiga cidade foi destruída durante uma grande erupção do vulcão Vesúvio em 24 de agosto do ano 79 d.C.
A erupção do vulcão provocou uma intensa chuva de cinzas que sepultou completamente a cidade, que se manteve oculta por 1600 anos antes de ser reencontrada por acaso. Cinzas e lama moldaram os corpos das vítimas, permitindo que fossem encontradas do modo exato em que foram atingidas pela erupção do Vesúvio. Desde então, as escavações proporcionaram um sítio arqueológico extraordinário, que possibilita uma visão detalhada na vida de uma cidade dos tempos da Roma Antiga.
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Pompeii is a partly buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, its sister city, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD. The eruption buried Pompeii under 4 to 6 meters of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1599. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2,500,000 visitors every year
Sign of Ferienwohnung "Moni" (Holiday Flat "Moni"), Im Stieg, Quedlinburg in the Harz mountains, Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Germany.
Quedlinburg is a beautiful medieval town in the north of the Harz mountains. With its many half-timbered houses, the Quedlinburg castle (which later became a house of secular canonesses) and the Romanesque Collegiate Church of St. Servatius it is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO.
----quotation from whc.unesco.org:----
Quedlinburg, in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt, was a capital of the East Franconian German Empire at the time of the Saxonian-Ottonian ruling dynasty. It has been a prosperous trading town since the Middle Ages. The number and high quality of the timber-framed buildings make Quedlinburg an exceptional example of a medieval European town. The Collegiate Church of St Servatius is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture. (...)
The importance of Quedlinburg rests on three main elements: the preservation of the medieval street pattern; the wealth of urban vernacular buildings, especially timber-framed houses of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the important Romanesque collegiate church of St Servatius. The original urban layout is remarkably well preserved: it is a classic example of the growth of European medieval towns. The history of the medieval and early modern town is perfectly illustrated by the street pattern of the present-day town. (...)
Situated in a hilly region to the north of the Harz Mountains, the villa Quitilingaburg is first mentioned in 922 in an official document of Henry I (the Fowler), who was elected German King in 919. He built a castle on what became known as the Castle Hill (Burgberg), one of the two sandstone hills that overlook the Harz valley, and this became one of his favourite residences. It became the capital of the East Franconian German Empire and was the place where many important political and religious assemblies and festivals took place. The town owes its wealth and importance during the Middle Ages to Henry I and his successors. German Kings are known to have stayed at Quedlinburg on 69 occasions between 922 and 1207.
On the death of Henry I in 936 his widow Mathilde remained in Quedlinburg at the collegiate church of St Servatius on the Castle Hill, founded by Henry's son and successor Otto I as a collegial establishment for unmarried daughters of the nobility. It was to become one of the most influential foundations of its type in the Holy Roman Empire. From 944 the abbesses (many of whom were members of the Imperial family and were buried in the crypt of the church) had the right to mint coins at Quedlinburg.
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Harz weekend June 2012
Puebla - Mexico
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If you are interested in my photos, please contact me via flickr-mail.
Visita micamara.es/alemania/ para saber mas de Alemania y de mas lugares que quiero compartir y he viajado.