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The date above the door (now hidden from view) says 1647. King Charles I was on the English throne. He was executed two years later.
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First Friday Art Walk in Downtown Baker City Oregon
Celebrating the arts during the First Friday Art Walk in historic downtown Baker City, Oregon, multiple gallery openings, and just exploring downtown Baker City's amazing architecture.
The First Friday Art Walk is one of numerous events celebrating the arts throughout Baker County. Other events include the Baker Open Artists Studio Tour in October, the monthly Thursday Art Night at the historic Eltrym Theater, the We Like ‘em Short Film Festival in August, and the Great Salt Lick Art Auction in September.
Visitors will find numerous art galleries throughout Baker City’s historic downtown including the Crossroads Carnegie Art center in the restored Carnegie Library building.
For more information about First Friday Art Walk or other art events and galleries throughout Baker County Oregon visit the Baker County Tourism website at www.travelbakercounty.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzi_Barbaro,_Venice
The Union of Fire and Water presents an historical and cultural superimposition of Baku and Venice as seen through the eyes of two artists, Almagul Menlibayeva and Rashad Alakbarov. The exhibition brings together site-specific video work, sculpture and installation to explore the interrelation between Venice and Baku. The Union of Fire and Water is based in the previously private Palazzo Barbaro, the former residence of Giosafat Barbaro, a Venetian ambassador who travelled to and wrote extensively on Azerbaijani cities and the court of Shah Uzun Hassan in the late 1400s.
The internationally renowned Kazakhstani-born contemporary artist Almagul Menlibayeva works with a range of media including paintings, graphics, performance, installation, video and fine art in order to expose shared cultural experiences across time and place. Menlibayeva’s acclaimed practice references non-verbal dialogues across worlds, cultures and eras, with particular attention given to the role of women in pre-Soviet, pre-Islamic and Shamanistic and dervish cultures. Rashad Alakbarov is one of the key Azerbaijani artists to come to international attention in recent years. His installation-based works explore the distortion of sensory perception; using various media, Alakbarov arranges objects and fragments before a light-source to cast shadows. The duality between installation and creation, light and shadow, reality and perception is central to his art.
Drawing on ideas of tradition, history, culture and architecture, The Union of Fire and Water takes inspiration from a landmark building constructed in the Venetian Gothic style in Baku in 1912: Mukhtarov’s Palace. Erected for his beloved wife by one of the first oil magnates, Murtuza Mukhtarov, the building has since changed hands and functions numerous times following the Soviet invasion and Mukhtarov’s suicide. The building now houses the main marriage registry office in Baku and is informally known as the “Palace of Happiness.” The story of Mukhtarov’s Palace exemplifies wider themes of unity and conflict, love and violence, dialogue and aggression explored by Menlibayeva and Alakbarov within the show.
Rashad Alakbarov’s sculptural interventions interact with the Venetian environment of the Palazzo Barbaro and its 14th-century Gothic interior. Metal, light, shadow and sound installations combine to expose discrepancies and dualities latent within the space. Uniting the Venetian history of the Palazzo with his personal history of Baku, Alakbarov introduces an emerging voice from the East. Almagul Menlibayeva’s newly commissioned video installation plays on multiple channels across successive rooms. The film draws on the narrative of Mukhtarov and his wife Lisa, immersing the viewer in the story of Baku, whilst further exploring ideas of legacy, modernity, conflict and kinship.
(e-flux announcements)
Night view of NanQiao bridge, a renowned cultural landmark in in DuJiangYan, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. The central focus is a beautifully illuminated traditional Chinese building, characterized by its ornate roof, intricate carvings, and golden accents. The structure is surrounded by a crowd of people, some of whom are taking photos or admiring the architecture. The scene is further enhanced by the warm glow of the lights, creating a lively and festive atmosphere. The surrounding trees and additional lighting add depth and context to the composition, emphasizing the cultural significance of the location.
Ostuni is one of the most stunning cities in southern Italy famous for the dazzling effect of its whitewashed houses. It is a genuine and charming example of Mediterranean architecture.
The city of Ostuni is a series of levels, staircases, small roads, alleys, arches. Hints of the Middle Ages are at hand in every corner, in every view to the sea, in the portal of a palace, in the walls of a convent or the front of a church.
The brightness of its whitewashed houses, set against the pink-tinged brown of its principal monument, makes the town stand out in the green of the surrounding area.
Is this happy combination of the natural and the manmade that has made Ostuni one of the most attractive cities in the region and an essential part of any tour of Italy.
Main entrance to Jameh Mosque, the grand, congregational mosque of Yazd city, in Yazd province of Iran.
Built in 12th century, Jameh mosque is a fine specimen of the Azari style of Persian architecture. The mosque is crowned by a pair of minarets, the highest in Iran, and the portal's facade is decorated from top to bottom in dazzling tile work, predominantly blue in colour. Within is a long arcaded courtyard where, behind a deep-set south-east iwan, is a sanctuary chamber (shabestan). This chamber, under a squat tiled dome, is exquisitely decorated with faience mosaic: its tall faience Mihrab, dated 1365, is one of the finest of its kind in existence..
The mosque is depicted on the reverse of the Iranian 200 rials banknote.
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nrhp # 90000130- The city of Albany had a subscription library which operated from 1885 to about 1890. Because of renewed interested in having a public library, a grant was requested from Andrew Carnegie. A pledge of $10,000 was made on June 2, 1903, and a lot was purchased in July 1904. The building was designed by Edmond J. Eckel. After requesting bids in November 1905, Louis Walin was selected. The final bid was $9,071, which required further grant money from Carnegie, bringing the total donation to $12,500. The library opened to the public on March 1, 1906.
The library basement housed city hall from 1939 until the mid-1960s, and then the University of Missouri Extension Office. The building continues to serve as a library in Albany.
The library was nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its significance in social history as a Carnegie Library and Criterion C for its architecture. The library was listed on the National Register on February 23, 1990, as the "Albany Carnegie Public Library".
from Wikipedia
⛪ St Andrew's Church in Dalton-le-Dale is a hidden gem nestled in the tranquil countryside of County Durham. This Grade II\* listed building dates back to 1155 AD, making it one of the oldest churches in the region.
Here’s what makes it special:
Historic Architecture: The church features Norman and Romanesque elements, including a beautifully preserved doorway with chevron carvings and a medieval font.
Unique Features:
A lepers’ door where those afflicted could listen to services from outside.
Two ancient sundials, one of which used sea tides to tell time.
The effigy of Sir William Bowes, an ancestor of the Queen Mother, lies within the nave.
Peaceful Setting: Surrounded by trees and a quiet graveyard, it offers a serene atmosphere that draws visitors seeking reflection or spiritual connection.
Community Spirit: The church is active in worship and outreach, hosting regular services and events for all ages
Architect: John Roberts.
Built: 1955-61.
Style: Late 20th-Century International construction brick, concrete.
Previously drama Theater, now lecture theatre.
Source:Sydney Architecture
The sculpture panel was created by Lyndon Dadswell and added in 1962, titled 'University Life'.
Source: Sydney City and Suburbs
www.facebook.com/stloureda - twitter.com/Woody_Twitt
La iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós, conocida popularmente como «el Conventín», se alza en el valle de Valdediós, en el término municipal de Villaviciosa (Asturias), junto al Monasterio de Santa María de Valdediós. Es un monumento representativo de la arquitectura asturiana posramirense que anuncia ya el estilo románico.
No hay certeza sobre cuándo se erigió esta iglesia cuya construcción se atribuye de ordinario al rey Alfonso III, aunque bien pudiera ser que a este monarca sólo se debiera la galería porticada adosada al templo tardíamente y algunos detalles ornamentales. De lo que no cabe duda es de la fecha de la consagración efectuada bajo su reinado y que quedó grabada en una lápida de mármol en la que se afirma que sucedió «SUB ERA DCCCCXXX», esto es, en el año 930 de la era augusta, equivalente al año 892 de nuestra era cristiana. De la solemnidad del acto da prueba el hecho de que asistieran, según esa misma inscripción lapidaria, los obispos Rosendo I de Mondoñedo, Nausto de Coimbra, Sisenando de Iria, Ranulfo de Astorga, Argimiro de Lamego, Recaredo de Lugo y Eleca de Zaragoza.
El trazado de la planta responde al esquema basilical de tres naves, más ancha la central, constituidas por cuatro tramos de arcos de medio punto, y rematadas en sus cabeceras por sendas capillas absidiales rectangulares. No posee transepto, por más que dos dependencias anexas, una a cada uno de sus lados, pueden dar una impresión equivocada. A los pies de la nave central se dispone un nártex o vestíbulo al que se han adosado dos estancias en correspondencia con las dos naves laterales. Sobre el conjunto monta una tribuna a la que se accede por una escalera interior. Apoyándose en el muro sur de la iglesia se construyó más tarde un pórtico que preludia las galerías porticadas que en el periodo románico proliferaron en las iglesias castellanas. A través de él se accede al interior del templo por su puerta meridional.
Las tres naves se cubren con bóvedas de cañón que cargan sobre los muros exteriores contrafuertados y sobre las dos arquerías que separan longitudinalmente las naves. Están formadas aquéllas por arcos de medio punto soportados por recios pilares de sección cuadrada. El pórtico lateral también posee bóveda de cañón, pero en este caso reforzada por arcos fajones. Los ábsides son asimismo abovedados a una altura inferior a la de la nave respectiva.
Al exterior se refleja el orden compositivo de la edificación: la nave central sobresaliente en altura sobre las laterales; los contrafuertes bien marcados en el muro norte y en la fachada occidental separando las naves; la prolongación de la cabecera de la nave principal sobre las contiguas; la espadaña con que culmina el imafronte acabada en una almena de estilo califal; los vanos de acceso al nártex y al pórtico lateral, ambos bajo arco de medio punto; y el gran número de ventanas para proporcionar una adecuada iluminación a todas las estancias: las hay de simple aspillera, sencillas de un solo arco, geminadas de arcos visigóticos enmarcados por un alfiz, con celosía de primorosa tracería, y una ventana de triple arco en el ábside central.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Salvador_de_Valdedi%C3%B3s
The church of the Holy Savior of Valdediós (Spanish: Iglesia de San Salvador de Valdediós) is a Roman Catholic pre-romanesque church, located next to Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
The church stands in the Boides valley (Villaviciosa), the place where Alfonso III of Asturias was detained when he was dispossessed by his sons, and where there used to be an old convent governed by the Benedictine Order, substituted in the 13th century by the Cistercians. The church known as the "Bishops' Chapel" was consecrated on 16 September 893, with seven bishops in attendance.
Architecture
The church stands on a classic basilica ground plan with a triple sanctuary, separating the central nave from the side aisles with four semicircular arches. At the western end, there are three enclosures, the central one used as an access vestibule, and two located on the left and right which may have been used to house pilgrims. The vault over the central nave, like the one over the apses, is barreled with a brick ceiling and decorated with al fresco wall painting, alternating a variety of geometric designs.
Ground plan of the church
Royal tribune
The royal tribune is located above the vestibule, separate from the area intended for the congregation (spatium fidelium) in the central nave, and this from the area devoted to the liturgy by iron grilles, now disappeared. Particular elements of this church include the covered gallery annexed to the southern facade at a later date or Royal Portico, the 50 cm square columns on the central naves arches, the triple-arched window open in the central apse, and the room above it, exclusively accessed from the exterior by a window which here has two openings, compared with the habitual three.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_San_Salvador_de_Valdedi%C...
The image shows the bell tower of the Cathedral of Saint Domnius in Split, Croatia, against a blue sky. The Romanesque-style tower features ornate carvings and arched windows. In the foreground are traditional stone buildings with red-tiled roofs, typical of Mediterranean architecture. The tower and surrounding structures hint at the area's historical significance and architectural heritage.
St. Paul's Chapel is an Episcopal church in Lower Manhattan. The church was built in 1766 and is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan. It is considered one of the nation's finest examples of Late Georgian church architecture.
The church was near the World Trade Center. During the collapse of The Towers on 911, the church suffered no damage, not even a broken window. It was nicknamed: "The Little Chapel that Stood".
To view more of my images, of Windsor & Windsor Castle click
"here"
From the Achives, reprocessed, using Photoshop CC 2024.
I would be most grateful if you would refrain from inserting images, and/or group invites; thank you!
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. The castle is notable for its long association with the English and later British royal family and also for its architecture. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by succeeding monarchs and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish, early 19th-century State Apartments are architecturally significant, described by art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". The castle includes the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design. More than 500 people live and work in Windsor Castle. Originally designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London, and to oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames, Windsor Castle was built as a motte and bailey, with three wards surrounding a central mound. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a prolonged siege during the First Barons' War at the start of the 13th century. Henry III built a luxurious royal palace within the castle during the middle of the century, and Edward III went further, rebuilding the palace to produce an even grander set of buildings in what would become "the most expensive secular building project of the entire Middle Ages in England". Edward's core design lasted through the Tudor period, during which Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made increasing use of the castle as a royal court and centre for diplomatic entertainment. Windsor Castle survived the tumultuous period of the English Civil War, when it was used as a military headquarters for Parliamentary forces and a prison for Charles I. During the Restoration, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of architect Hugh May, creating a set of extravagant, Baroque interiors that are still admired. After a period of neglect during the 18th century, George III and George IV renovated and rebuilt Charles II's palace at colossal expense, producing the current design of the State Apartments, full of Rococo, Gothic and Baroque furnishings. Victoria made minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. Windsor Castle was used as a refuge for the royal family during the bombing campaigns of the Second World War and survived a fire in 1992. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, and the preferred weekend home of Elizabeth II.
Byzantine Chant
Title: "Αποδεξάμενος ο τύραννος" (Kalophonic Sticheron "When the tyrant saw")
Service: The Service of the Furnace; The Play of the Three Holy Children
Performers: Cappella Romana & Alexander Lingas
Album: "Mt. Sinai: Frontier of Byzantium (Voices of Byzantium: Medieval Byzantine Chant from Mt. Sinai)"
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photo:
Densuș Church (St Nicholas)
Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania
mainly 13th century
Probably built on the site of a 2nd century Roman temple or mausoleum, might have also been a 4th century Christianized Roman temple, with the main construction faze dating hypothesis ranging from the 7th century to the 12th-13th centuries, and later additions from the 15th-17th centuries. Fragments of 15th century frescoes are preserved inside.
Hateg region contains several striking old stone masonry churches built in Romanian villages as Orthodox churches but with Roman-Catholic architectural influences, testimony to the complex history of Transylvania.
Apart from its architecture [categorized by some as Romanesque or as a local syntheses of Romanesque and Byzantine architectures] the church is remarkable by the ubiquitous use of spolia from the ruins of the nearby capital of the Roman province of Dacia called Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, in the form of stamped bricks and various carved stones, some with Roman epigraphy. Presently it is considered to be the oldest Romanian Orthodox church building still in use today.
Category: Churches - Orthodox
Period: sec. XIII; adăugiri sec. XV - XVII
Importance: A
LMI code: HD-II-m-A-03307
Address: 23
Location: sat DENSUŞ; comuna DENSUŞ
District: Hunedoara
Region: Transilvania
Categorie: Biserici ortodoxe
Perioada: sec. XIII; adăugiri sec. XV - XVII
Importanta: A
Cod LMI: HD-II-m-A-03307
Adresa: 23
Localitate: sat DENSUŞ; comuna DENSUŞ
Judet: Hunedoara
Regiune: Transilvania
www.monumenteromania.ro/index.php/monumente/detalii/en/Bi...
Lumely castle architecture, the side facade of this grand looking building. Formerly a stronghold and now a hotel.
County Durham, England, UK. Sony A6000
Switching gears here and playing around with Flickr's new photo editing tool Aviary.
Per Wikipedia: "The magnificent Carson Mansion is perhaps the most spectacular Victorian in the nation. Regarded as one of the highest executions of American Queen Anne Style architecture, the home is 'considered the most grand Victorian home in America.' It is one of the most written about and photographed Victorian houses in California, and perhaps, in the United States Originally the home of one of Northern California's first major lumber barons, it has housed the Ingomar Club, a private members only club, since 1950. The design of the house is prevalent in website design, video animations, posters, paintings, book covers and includes renditions in amusement parks, including the clock tower on the train station at Disneyland. The home also serves as a model for haunted house art work and design."
Thanks for viewing and have a great day everyone! :D
Emerson College is located on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles. One of the many interesting buildings I found while googling Los Angeles Architecture.
The building was completed in 2014 and designed by Morphosis Architects.
Check out my facebook and twitter pages for before and after photo's.
Until the 1920s, a Gothic house which was later modified into Baroque style and named U Božiho oka (At God's eye) stood there. In its place, a hotel was built by entrepreneur Karel Juliš. Designed by architect and urban planner Pavel Janák, the Functionalist building represents a bright example of 1920s architecture. The hotel with a passageway is built on a narrow lot. On the lower floor was a terraced café with a cake shop inspired by the Hotel Avion in Brno designed by Bohuslav Fuchs.
The hotel was built in a few stages between 1920-1928. After the construction, there was a large restaurant on the ground floor, a confectionary, and café, hotel rooms were on the upper floors and in the basement, there was a cinema.
To view more of my images, of Belton House, please click "here" ! Click any image to view large!
Please, no group invites; thank you!
Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period. The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes. Only Brympton d'Evercy has been similarly lauded as the perfect English country house. For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace. The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly completely separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls and then once again became barons, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little. Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away—complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public. It is in a good state of repair and visited by many thousands of tourists each year The Brownlow family, a dynasty of lawyers, began accumulating land in the Belton area from approximately 1598. In 1609 they acquired the reversion of the manor of Belton itself from the Pakenham family, who finally sold the manor house to Sir John Brownlow I in 1619. The old house was situated near the church in the garden of the present house and remained largely unoccupied, since the family preferred their other houses elsewhere. John Brownlow had married an heiress but was childless. He became attached to two of his more distant blood relations: a great-nephew, also called John Brownlow, and a great-niece, Alice Sherard. The two cousins married each other in 1676 when both were aged 16; three years later, the couple inherited the Brownlow estates from their great-uncle together with an income of £9,000 per annum (about £ 1.17 million in present day terms) and £20,000 in cash (equivalent to about £ 2.59 million now). They immediately bought a town house in the newly fashionable Southampton Square in Bloomsbury, and decided to build a new country house at Belton. Work on the new house began in 1685. The architect thought to have been responsible for the initial design is William Winde, although the house has also been attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, while others believe the design to be so similar to Roger Pratt's Clarendon House, London, that it could have been the work of any talented draughtsman. The assumption popular today, that Winde was the architect, is based on the stylistic similarity between Belton and Coombe Abbey, which was remodelled by Winde between 1682 and 1685. Further evidence is a letter dated 1690, in which Winde recommends a plasterer who worked at Belton to another of his patrons. Whoever the architect, Belton follows closely the design of Clarendon House, completed in 1667. This great London town house (demolished circa 1683) has been one of the most admired buildings of its era due to "its elegant symmetry and confident and common-sensical design". Sir John Summerson described Clarendon House as "the most influential house of its time among those who aimed at the grand manner" and Belton as "much the finest surviving example of its class". John and Alice Brownlow assembled one of the finest teams of craftsmen available at the time to work on the project. This dream team was headed by the master mason William Stanton who oversaw the project. His second in command, John Thompson, had worked with Sir Christopher Wren on several of the latter's London churches, while the chief joiner John Sturges had worked at Chatsworth under William Talman. The wrought-ironworker John Warren worked under Stanton at Denham Place, Buckinghamshire, and the fine wrought iron gates and overthrow at Belton may be his. Thus so competent were the builders of Belton that Winde may have done little more than provide the original plans and drawings, leaving the interpretation to the on-site craftsmen. This theory is further demonstrated by the external appearance of the adjoining stable block. More provincial, and less masterful in proportion, it is known to have been entirely the work of Stanton.
This striking long-exposure photograph captures the energy of Bergen's Småstrandgaten at night, looking towards Hotel Bergen Børs. The bright neon signs of DNB contrast against the historic facade of the old stock exchange building, showcasing Bergen's blend of modern and classic architecture.
The sweeping light trails curve dynamically through the frame, created by a bus making its way into Christies gate. Due to the long exposure, only the glowing streaks of headlights and taillights remain visible, adding a sense of movement and vibrancy to the nighttime cityscape. Notably, the pixelated destination sign on the front of the bus can still be faintly seen, a small but fascinating detail that highlights the interaction between digital displays and motion in long-exposure photography.
Above, streetlights cast a golden glow, creating a starburst effect that enhances the composition. This image beautifully encapsulates the pulse of Bergen after dark, where history and modern life seamlessly intertwine.
The Katsura Imperial Villa (桂離宮 Katsura Rikyū), or Katsura Detached Palace, is a villa with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan (in Nishikyō-ku, separate from the Kyoto Imperial Palace). It is one of Japan's most important large-scale cultural treasures.
Its gardens are considered a masterpiece of Japanese gardening, and the buildings are regarded among the greatest achievements of Japanese architecture. The palace includes a shoin ("drawing room"), tea houses, and a strolling garden.
The palace formerly belonged to the princes of the Hachijō-no-miya (八条宮) family. The Imperial Household Agency administers it, and accepts visitors by appointment. (Wikipedia)
A forgotten façade, eroded by time and matter, where shadows cling like ghosts of an erased architecture. The gridded windows capture an external world that seems more real than the structure itself. Behind the glass, light sneaks in, revealing a perspective that may no longer exist—a frozen illusion within the reflection.
But what commands attention is the anomaly carved into the wall. An absurd mechanism, a dissident cogwheel whose core—a smooth, unfathomable sphere—reflects a fractured reality. The eye of a forgotten machine? A breach into another dimension? Everything around it disintegrates—matter cracks, retracts, vanishes. Order is torn apart, giving way to the unexplained.
Further away, another geometric protrusion defies the logic of the construction. As if concrete and wood were nothing more than illusions, remnants of a world slowly being absorbed by a shifting digital entity.
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, connections to the Ringling family, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located at the southern end of the Tampa Bay Area, north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its current official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2013 Sarasota had a population of 53,326. In 1986 it became designated as a certified local government. Sarasota is a principal city of the Sarasota metropolitan area, and is the seat of Sarasota County.
The islands separating Sarasota Bay from the gulf near the city, known as keys, include Lido Key and Siesta Key, which are famous worldwide for the quality of their sandy beaches. The keys that are included in the boundary of Sarasota are Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Otter Key, Coon Key, Bird Key, and portions of Siesta Key. Previously, Siesta Key was named Sarasota Key. At one time, it and all of Longboat Key were considered part of Sarasota and confusing contemporaneous references may be found discussing them.
Longboat Key is the largest key separating the bay from the gulf, but it is now evenly divided by the new county line of 1921. The portion of the key that parallels the Sarasota city boundary that extends to that new county line along the bay front of the mainland was removed from the city boundaries at the request of John Ringling in the mid-1920s, who sought to avoid city taxation of his planned developments at the southern tip of the key. Although they never were completed in the quickly faltering economy, those development concessions granted by the city never were reversed and the county has retained regulation of those lands ever since.
The city limits had expanded significantly with the real estate rush of the early twentieth century, reaching almost 70 square miles (180 km2). The wild speculation boom began to crash in 1926 and following that, the city limits began to contract, shrinking to less than a quarter of that area.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Built by the Public Works Department for a princely £7,000.00, the Mount Buffalo Chalet was opened in 1910 by the Victorian State Government as Australia’s first ski lodge, and it quickly became a popular destination within the alpine region. Initially leased to private enterprise as a guest house, The Chalet was taken over by Victorian Railways in October 1924. Described as the “last word in luxury”, The Chalet featured large sitting rooms, ample fireplaces, a smoking room, well ventilated rooms of capacious size and hot and cold baths. They offered holiday packages with train services running to Porpunkah railway station and then a connecting Hoys Roadlines service. It was a very popular destination for newlyweds as the perfect place for a honeymoon, and over the years traditions began to emerge such as an elegant dress code within The Chalet, a dinner gong to announce dinner, costume parties and grand balls in The Chalet’s ballroom.
Originally intended to be built in granite, cost blowouts of £3,000.00 meant that instead The Chalet was built of timber. To this day, it is still the largest timber construction in Victoria. It was designed in the fashionable Arts and Crafts style of the period. Reminiscent in style to northern European Chalet architecture, the Mt Buffalo Chalet is built on a coursed random rubble plinth, with a series of hipped and gabled corrugated iron roofs. Originally designed as a symmetrical, gabled roof building, early additions were carried out in a similar style and continued the symmetry of the front facade. The second storey addition to the central wing altered the appearance of the building, however the bungalow character was retained. Slender rough cast render chimneys with tapering tops and random coursed rubble bases, a decorative barge board over the main entry, decorative timber brackets supporting timber shingled gable ends, exposed rafters and double hung, paned windows are all typical architectural details of the Arts and Crafts Movement. It was constructed over a thirty year period during which time extensions, extra wings and outbuildings were added and removed with the changing times and its tourism demands. Improvements were made soon after construction and these included a golf links in 1911, a north wing addition in 1912 and a south wing and billiard room in 1914. Heating and lighting in The Chalet was improved and upgraded in 1919. Between 1921 and 1922, an addition to the south wing increased bedroom and bathroom facilities. The billiard room was moved to the front of the house and the terraced garden, with rubble granite retaining walls, was laid out at the front of The Chalet. The present dining room, the kitchen and billiard room wings were constructed in 1925, and the original dining room was converted to a ballroom, with a stage. Balustrading along the front of the building was removed and large windows inserted to provide uninterrupted views. Between 1937 and 1938 major alterations were made with the extension of the south wing and a second storey added to the central wing of the building. At this time the provisions for two hundred guests at The Chalet was noted as more than equalling the best Melbourne hotels. Internally, some remnants of decoration remain, reflecting various stages of The Chalet’s development, and these can be viewed through The Chalet’s large windows, where several suites, the lounge and the dining room are all set up to display what the accommodation was like. The formal terraced gardens built around the Mount Buffalo Chalet were seen as a civilising image within the context of the wild and relatively harsh Australian landscape. The key built features if the gardens seen today remain intact. The garden’s shape and form remain largely unchanged from when they were created including the stonewalling, terracing, central set of stairs and exposed bedrock.
The Mount Buffalo Chalet is lovingly sometimes referred to as the “Grand Old Lady”. If nothing else, she is a unique survivor of the earliest days of recreational skiing in Australia. It was included on the Victorian Heritage Register in 1992 and is maintained today as a time capsule to show what life was like when tourism was done on a grand scale.
Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell and has an official population of 96,722 as of January 2011. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès. It is located 99 km (62 mi) northeast of Barcelona. Girona is one of the major Catalan cities.
The first historical inhabitants in the region were Iberians; Girona is the ancient Gerunda, a city of the Ausetani. Later, the Romans built a citadel there, which was given the name of Gerunda. The Visigoths ruled in Girona until it was conquered by the Moors. Finally, Charlemagne reconquered it in 785 and made it one of the fourteen original countships of Catalonia. Thus it was wrested temporarily from the Moors, who were driven out finally in 1015. Wilfred the Hairy incorporated Girona into the countship of Barcelona in 878. Alfonso I of Aragón declared Girona to be a city in the 11th century. The ancient countship later became a duchy (1351) when King Peter III of Aragon gave the title of Duke to his first-born son, John. In 1414, King Ferdinand I in turn gave the title of Prince of Girona to his first-born son, Alfonso. The title is currently carried by Prince Felipe, Prince of Asturias, the first since the 16th century to do so.
The 12th century saw a flourishing of the Jewish community of Girona, with one of the most important Kabbalistic schools in Europe. The Rabbi of Girona, Moshe ben Nahman Gerondi (better known as Nahmanides or Ramban) was appointed Great Rabbi of Catalonia. The history of the Jewish community of Girona ended in 1492, when the Catholic Kings expelled all the Jews from Catalonia. Today, the Jewish ghetto or Call is one of the best preserved in Europe and is a major tourist attraction. On the north side of the old city is the Montjuïc (or hill of the Jews in medieval Catalan), where an important religious cemetery was located.
Girona has undergone twenty-five sieges and been captured seven times. It was besieged by the French royal armies under Charles de Monchy d'Hocquincourt in 1653, under Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds in 1684, and twice in 1694 under Anne Jules de Noailles. In May 1809, it was besieged by 35,000 French Napoleonic troops under Vergier, Augereau and St. Cyr, and held out obstinately under the leadership of Alvarez until disease and famine compelled it to capitulate, 12 December. Finally, the French conquered the city in 1809, after 7 months of siege. Girona was center of the Ter department during the French rule, which lasted from 1809 to 1813. The defensive city walls were demolished at the end of the 19th century to allow for the expansion of the city. In recent years, the missing parts of the city walls on the eastern side of the city have been reconstructed. Called the Passeig de la Muralla it now forms a tourist route around the old city.
The monastery of Sant Pere de Galligants was built from 992, outside the walls of Girona, when Ramon Borrell, count of Barcelona gave to the monks rights over the quarter of Sant Pere. The monks held the ruler of the quarter until 1339, when King Peter IV of Aragon restored it to Aragon.
In 1117 Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona united the monastery to the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, in what is now France, though Sant Pere kept an abbot of his own and a large degree of autonomy. Sant Pere was never a big community, and the church was not the local parish, and only baptisms were held in the monastery. In 1362, when the monastery was enclosed within the city's walls, it was redesigned to a more defensive shape. It started to decay from the 15th century, and in 1592 it was united to the also decaying monasteries of Sant Miquel de Cruïlles and Sant Miquel de Fluvià. In 1835 the monastery included an abbot and four monks. It was declared a national monument in 1931.
The small cloister is an example of Catalan Romanesque architecture. The northern gallery dates to 1154, while the remaining ones are from 1190. The capitals of the columns have motifs very similar to those in the cloisters of Sant Cugat del Vallès or in the Cathedral of Girona. Some depict scenes from Jesus' life, while others show typical Romanesque elements such as lions or sirens.
The current church was built in 1130, and has a nave and two aisles with a transept, and four apses. The portal, in a rather archaic style, comes probably from a previous building. It is surmounted by a rose window with a diameter of 3.5 meters.
The interior features a series of side columns, with capitals having vegetable motifs, used to reinforce the central vault. The capitals of the apse columns are more elaborated, and were probably executed by different artists. Some of them have been attributed to the Master of Cabestany.
The bell tower has an octagonal plan and two sectors, the upper one, of two floors featuring with double arches divided by columns, decorated with Lombard bands
Looking southwest across Cincinnati's Over the Rhine Historical District. Cincinnati Music Hall is center left with it's Venetian Gothic Architecture. The hills of Northern Kentucky are located upper left.
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.
El Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, conocido simplemente como la Sagrada Familia, es una basílica católica de Barcelona (España), diseñada por el arquitecto Antoni Gaudí. Iniciada en 1882, todavía está en construcción (noviembre de 2016). Es la obra maestra de Gaudí, y el máximo exponente de la arquitectura modernista catalana.
La Sagrada Familia es un reflejo de la plenitud artística de Gaudí: trabajó en ella durante la mayor parte de su carrera profesional, pero especialmente en los últimos años de su carrera, donde llegó a la culminación de su estilo naturalista, haciendo una síntesis de todas las soluciones y estilos probados hasta aquel entonces. Gaudí logró una perfecta armonía en la interrelación entre los elementos estructurales y los ornamentales, entre plástica y estética, entre función y forma, entre contenido y continente, logrando la integración de todas las artes en un todo estructurado y lógico.
La Sagrada Familia tiene planta de cruz latina, de cinco naves centrales y transepto de tres naves, y ábside con siete capillas. Ostenta tres fachadas dedicadas al Nacimiento, Pasión y Gloria de Jesús y, cuando esté concluida, tendrá 18 torres: cuatro en cada portal haciendo un total de doce por los apóstoles, cuatro sobre el crucero invocando a los evangelistas, una sobre el ábside dedicada a la Virgen y la torre-cimborio central en honor a Jesús, que alcanzará los 172,5 metros de altura. El templo dispondrá de dos sacristías junto al ábside, y de tres grandes capillas: la de la Asunción en el ábside y las del Bautismo y la Penitencia junto a la fachada principal; asimismo, estará rodeado de un claustro pensado para las procesiones y para aislar el templo del exterior. Gaudí aplicó a la Sagrada Familia un alto contenido simbólico, tanto en arquitectura como en escultura, dedicando a cada parte del templo un significado religioso.
El Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, well known simply as La Sagrada Familia is a Catholic basilica in Barcelona (Spain), designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí. Initiated in 1882, Todavia is under construction (November 2016). It is the masterpiece of Gaudí, and the maximum exponent of Catalan modernist architecture.
The Sagrada Familia is a reflejo the full artistic Gaudí: Trabajo in her durante la mayor parte de su professional career, but especially in the últimos years of your career, where you read the culmination of its naturalistic style, haciendo a synthesis todas the solutions and styles that one entonces hasta probados. Gaudí achieves a perfect harmony in the interrelation between the Parts ornamental and structural, and aesthetic between plástica, across functions and form, and between contenido continent, logrando Integration of all the todo artes a structured and logical.
The Sagrada Familia has cruz latina plant of five naves and transept of three central Nave and apse with seven chapels. It shows three facades dedicadas the Birth, Pasión and Gloria de Jesus y cuando Be concluído tender 18 towers: four each post haciendo a total of twelve by the apostles, four on the cruise invoking to the evangelist, one on the apse dedicated to the Virgin and the central tower dome in honor of Jesus, that the alcanzará 172.5 meters high. The Temple dispondra two sacristías along the apse, and three large chapels: that of the Assumption in the apse and those of Baptism and Penance next to the main façade; Likewise, you will be surrounded by a cloister has been designed for the processionary and to isolate the Temple of the exterior. Gaudí applied to the Sagrada Familia alto contenido a symbolic tanto architecture as sculpture, dedicando each part of a significado Religious Temple.
In addition to the magnificent architecture, the mosaics in San Vitale are the main attractions. These are considered the largest and best-preserved Byzantine mosaics outside modern-day Istanbul.
Original mosaics from late antiquity still cover the whole apsis and altar area. The intrados of the triumphal arch features fifteen figures, including Christ and the twelve apostles.
The Basilica of San Vitale is a highlight of any visit to see the Byzantine wall mosaics in Ravenna, a town popular with day trippers from Venice and Bologna. San Vitale in Ravenna has the largest Byzantine mosaics outside Istanbul and is the best example of Justinian church architecture in existence.
Ravenna in Italy is famous for its Late Antiquity and Byzantine wall and ceiling mosaics in early Christian monuments and churches, which are the top UNESCO World Cultural Heritage-listed sites to see when visiting this interesting town.
A well-preserved town situated on a unique site with outstanding religious heritage features, Le Puy-en-Velay is a haven of peace and a source of spiritual inspiration. Here, visitors can relax and recharge their batteries. Internationally recognised as a starting point for St. James Way (the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela), the town of Le Puy-en-Velay is also a great family holiday location in the centre of the Haute-Loire.
The religious architectural heritage of Le Puy-en-Velay
The sheer majesty of the town is further reinforced by the high cultural quality of its architecture. Be sure to visit the Cathedral of Notre-Dame du Puy, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the departure for the Way of Saint James pilgrimage route. Inside the cathedral are several interesting works including the statue of the Black Virgin and a 12th century cloister.
Other religious monuments look down over the city. Perched on the Corneille rock is the high statue of Notre-Dame-de-France (the town's protective virgin), and you can't miss the Chapel of Saint Michel d’Aiguilhe towering 82 m (269 ft) high atop "Le Rocher" rock.
An attractive town, Le Puy-en-Velay is also known for its ancient buildings and well preserved architecture. The very stones and paths of the town are a testament to architectural skill. The charming historical streets winding their way up to the cathedral provide a great place to stop off in one of the many restaurants where local specialities are served, including AOC (controlled origin) Le Puy lentils and of course the famous Velay Vervaine, a precious liquor offering digestive benefits (to be consumed in moderation).
The Catherine Palace is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), located 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of central St. Petersburg. It was the summer residence of the tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. The display of the Catherine Palace (known until 1910 as the Great Palace of Tsarskoe Selo) covers the 300-year history of this outstanding edifice and presents the work of architects involved in its construction and decoration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and also with the achievements of the restorers who returned the palace to life after the Second World War. Of the 58 halls destroyed during the war years, 32 have been recreated.
In 1717, while St Petersburg was being created on the banks of the Neva, the architect Johann Friedrich Braunstein started supervising the construction of the first masonry royal residence at Tsarskoe Selo that has gone down in history as “the stone chambers” of Catherine I. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth (the daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I) in late 1742 or early 1743 it was decided to enlarge the building. From late 1748 until 1756 the construction of the Tsarskoe Selo residence was directed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (1700–1771), the chief architect of the imperial court. On 10 May 1752 Empress Elizabeth signed a decree on the complete reconstruction of the old building and on 30 July 1756 Rastrelli was already presenting his new creation to his crowned mistress and foreign ambassadors.
The next stage in the decoration of the state rooms and living quarters came in the 1770s. The new mistress of the residence, Empress Catherine II, was fascinated with the art of the Ancient World and wanted to have her apartments finished in keeping with current tastes. She entrusted the task to the Scottish architect Charles Cameron (1743–1812), an expert on ancient architecture. The interiors that he created in the Zubov Wing and the North Part of the Palace are marked by refined beauty, austere decoration and especially exquisite finishing. In 1817, on the orders of Emperor Alexander I, the architect Vasily Stasov (1769–1848) created the State Study and a few adjoining rooms that are finished in a commons style – all these rooms were devoted to extolling the brilliant victories that the Russian army won against Napoleon in 1812 and afterwards. The last note in the symphony of palace state rooms was struck by the new Main Staircase created in 1860–63 by Ippolito Monighetti (1819–1878) in the “Second Rococo” style.
The East Block is the most intact of Parliament Hill's heritage buildings. It is also one of the world's finest examples of High Victorian Gothic architecture. The Government of Canada built the East Block in two major campaign periods. The first portion was completed in 1865, but is referred to as the 1867 Wing. A second wing was added in 1910. We last performed major work on the 1867 Wing in the 1970s. The East Block is now in need of restoration and modernization.
Read more about the history and architecture of the East Block.
The most iconic building in Cambridge is Kings College Chapel I had not seen it for twenty years and it still amazed me. It is incredibly beautiful both in its internal design and the external purity of the building.
King's College Chapel is perhaps the finest example of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture. The chapel was built in phases by a succession of kings of England from 1446 to 1515, a period which spanned the Wars of the Roses.
My next post will be a shot of the interior of the chapel for those who are not familiar with it from watching the Annual service of carols on television. It’s the fan-vaulted ceiling which is perhaps the most extraordinary part of the chapel.
As for the photograph a little crop otherwise SOOC. It was taken from the Backs looking towards the East window.
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A charming classic-style restaurant entrance in Zaragoza, featuring elegant details and timeless architecture. The warm atmosphere invites visitors to step inside and enjoy a unique dining experience.
Foster and Partners designed this superb piece of architecture. The Reading Room had been opened in 1857 but the surrounding quadrangle had been a gradual evolution over more than 100 years starting in 1802. The "Queen Elizabeth II Great Court" was opened officially in 2000 by HM The Queen.
The geometric shapes used to create the roof, in turn, create an art installation with the shapes and shades of light and dark changing completely from wherever the observer stands.
Exterior wall of the outbuilding with the Tintin exhibition at the Château de Cheverny, Cheverny, Loire Valley, France.
Some background information:
The Château de Cheverny is a stately home located at Cheverny, in the département of Loir-et-Cher in the Loire Valley. It is one of the châteaux of the Loire valley and a prime example of early Baroque architecture. The commune of Cheverny has more than 1,000 residents and is situated about 10 km (6.2 miles) southeast of the town of Blois.
In 1315, Henry Le Mareschau was the owner of Cheverny. He was a member of the low nobility under the count of Blois. In the late 14th century, Cheverny was sold to Jean Hurault with its "houses, presses and vineyards". His grandson Jaques gained the title, Seigneur de Cheverny, having served under the kings Louis XI, Charles VIII and Louis XII and gained the governorship of the county of Blois under king Francis I.
The château was built at the beginning of the 16th century either by Jaques or his son Raoul. In 1510, Raoul applied for permission of the king to fortify the new house. Later the lands were purchased by Henri Hurault, Comte de Cheverny, a lieutenant-general and military treasurer of Louis XIII, whose descendant, the Marquis de Vibraye, is still the present owner. Only a portion of the original fortified castle possibly remains in existence today. It is somewhat of a mystery, because to the present day there is no reliable way to prove whether or not a certain section is part of the original building. The interiors were completed by the daughter of Henri Hurault and Marguerite, Marquise de Montglas, by 1650, employing several craftsmen from Blois.
Lost to the Crown because of fraud to the State, it was donated by King Henri II to his mistress Diane de Poitiers. However, she preferred Château de Chenonceau as her place of residence and hence, sold the property to the former owner's son, Philippe Hurault, who rebuilt the château completely between 1624 and 1630. The reconstruction was conducted according to plans of the sculptor-architect of Blois, Jacques Bougier. His design at Cheverny recalls features of the Palais du Luxembourg in the French capital of Paris.
During the next 150 years ownership passed through many hands, and in 1768 a major interior renovation was undertaken. Required to forfeit much of their wealth at the time of the French Revolution, the family Hurault sold the property in 1802,but bought it back again in 1824, during the Restoration under Charles X, when the aristocracy was once again in a very strong political and economic position.
In 1914, the owners opened the château to the public, being one of the first families who took this then unusual step. The de Vibraye family still operates the Château de Cheverny, which has remained a top tourist attraction till this day. It is renowned for its magnificent interiors as well as its collection of furniture, tapestries and objets of art.
It is also wortth mentioning that the popular Belgian comic book authorr Hergé has memorialized Château de Cheverny in his famous comic book series "The Adventures of Tintin". In this series Hergé used Château de Cheverny as a model for his fictional "Marlinspike Hall" (in French: "Château de Moulinsart"), which is the country house and family estate of Captain Haddock, a main character in the comic books. In these books the two outermost wings are not present, but the remaining central tower and two wings of "Marlinspike Hall" are almost identical with the central tower and the wings of its model Château de Cheverny.
Today, there’s even a Tintin exhibition in one of Château de Cheverny’s outbuidlings, whose entrance you can see on this picture. The inscription on the top sign next to the entrance means "Château for sale", while the inscription on the bottom sign means "The château is not for sale any longer. Haddock". By the way, the man in the window on the right side is Captain Haddock while the other one is Tintin.
Since 2000, the Château de Cheverny belongs to the UNESCO Word Heritage Site "The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes" with its many breathtaking châteaux. Altogether there are more than 400 of them in the Loire region.
Neon Reflections From First Friday Art Walk in Baker City Oregon
Celebrating the arts during the First Friday Art Walk in historic downtown Baker City, Oregon, multiple gallery openings, and just exploring downtown Baker City's amazing architecture.
The First Friday Art Walk is one of numerous events celebrating the arts throughout Baker County. Other events include the Baker Open Artists Studio Tour in October, the monthly Thursday Art Night at the historic Eltrym Theater, the We Like ‘em Short Film Festival in August, and the Great Salt Lick Art Auction in September.
Visitors will find numerous art galleries throughout Baker City’s historic downtown including the Crossroads Carnegie Art center in the restored Carnegie Library building.
For more information about First Friday Art Walk or other art events and galleries throughout Baker County Oregon visit the Baker County Tourism website at www.travelbakercounty.com
Mixed media video presentation created specially for the American Institute of Architects in San Francisco (AIASF) and its 2016 "Architecture + The City Festival." This installation is part of the group exhibition, “Resilient City: Strength by Design,” which is on view through November 17, 2016 at the AIASF Center for Architecture + Design in San Francisco.
See: www.archandcity.org/
Project Description
"Passages (time, travel, text)," by Bay Area artists
Marty McCutcheon and Bradley S. Wise, is an interactive mixed media presentation exploring the flow of energies through structure, movement, and written communication. Inspired by literature, paintings by McCutcheon celebrate words and letter forms as the foundations and building blocks of ideas. Some 65 short videos by Wise and McCutcheon are further projected onto moveable, lightweight, white-painted, paper blocks made from repurposed packaging. Viewers are invited to move these blocks as they wish to create new structures, compositions, and perspectives.
Video collections
Time. A selection of time-compressed San Francisco and Oakland cityscapes in contrast and harmony with the resonance of nature.
Travel. Perspectives, old and new, from various Bay Area transits.
Text. Slowly moving images of book type and word paintings.
Total running time: 2h30m
Paintings
DD199 (acrylic on salvaged hollow-core door, 36X80 inches)
BS216 (acrylic on salvaged hollow-core door, 36X80 inches)
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower (Russian: Колокольня Ивана Великого) is the tallest of the towers in the Moscow Kremlin complex, with a total height of 81 metres (266 ft). It was built in 1508 for the Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Cathedral Square, namely the Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation cathedrals, which do not have their own belfries. and is said to mark Moscow's precise geographic centre
History
From 1329, Moscow's first stone bell tower stood on this site, affiliated with the Church of St. Ivan of the Ladder-under-the Bell, hence the name "Ivan" in the title. This church was erected by Grand Duke Ivan Kalita, and was one of the first to be built in Moscow out of stone, rather than wood. During Grand Duke Ivan III’s major renovation of the Kremlin, he hired an Italian architect to replace this church. Construction was begun in 1505, the year of Ivan’s death, and was completed three years later under his son Vasily III. Vasilly also ordered that a new and unprecedentedly large tower be erected on the foundations of the old tower as a monument to honour his father.
The new bell tower, completed in 1508, originally had two belfries on different levels and a height of around 60 meters. Because of its height, the tower also served as an observation point against fires and the approach of enemies.
A new church, the Church of the Resurrection, was built next to the tower from 1531-1543, but already by the end of the 17th century it was used as bell choir stalls to supplement the hanging bells, rather than as a place of worship.
In 1600 on the orders of Boris Godunov the tower was raised to its present height. Until the building of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 1883, it was the tallest building in old Moscow, and it was forbidden to put up any building in Moscow which was taller than the Bell Tower.
There's a popular yet disputable legend, that when Napoleon captured Moscow in 1812 after the Battle of Borodino, he heard that the cross on the central dome of the Annunciation Cathedral had been cast in solid gold, and immediately gave orders that it should be taken down. But he confused the cathedral with the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, which only had a gilded iron cross. This cross resisted all attempts of French equipment and engineers to remove it from the tower. It was only after a Russian peasant volunteered to climb up to the dome that the cross was lowered on a rope. When he went up to Napoleon seeking a reward, the latter had him shot out of hand as a traitor to his fatherland.[1] During the retreat Napoleon attempted to blow up the tower. The blast destroyed the former Church of the Resurrection, but the tower itself proved to be extremely stable and suffered only a few cracks in the foundation walls.
Ivan the Great Bell Tower adjoins the Assumption Belfry, which was built between 1523 and 1543 by the Italian immigrant architect Petrok Maly Fryazin (who converted to Orthodox Christianity and settled in Russia). It contains the Great Assumption Bell which was cast in the mid-19th century by Zavyalov, and it is the biggest of all the Kremlin bells. This ensemble contains 24 large bells.
Architecture
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is an ensemble with three components. All of the buildings are made of brick, and are whitewashed in accord with the neighboring buildings of Cathedral Square. The tower itself consists of three octagonal drums, narrowing towards the top, and surmounted by a golden dome and seven-meter high cross. Each section has cut-out windows for the bells, and the upper third has a series of kokoshnik ornamentation (which marks the translation between the 1509 original and the 1600 addition).
Inside the tower a total of 329 steps long spiral staircase leads to the highest observation deck. The space on the ground floor of the base was once home to the Church of St. John Climacus and is cramped due to the five meters thick. The former Church of the Resurrection, since the late 17th Century, only for the accommodation of bells, has a four-story rectangular base with large arched recesses for the bell choir stalls. A top drum decorated with a dome and cross. On the third floor of the building is a small chapel founded in the 19th Century.
Bells
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower today contains 22. Of these, 18 small bells hang in the base and in the middle of the bell tower. Of the four large bells, one is named the Upsensku Bell, and weighs 65.5 tons. It rings traditionally among the largest religious festivals such as Easter, and was made in the early 16th century.
Two large bells in the Assumption stalls are the 19.6-ton Reut and the 16.6-ton Daily. The latter was cast by the same craftsman as the Tsar Cannon, Andrey Chokhov. The remaining large bell is the Sunday Bell, weighing 13 tons, which was cast in 1704 by Ivan Motorin, caster of the Tsar Bell.
UNESCO World Heritage Site (1983)
Agra Fort is located on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the most important and robustly built stronghold of the Mughals, embellished with number of richly decorated buildings encompassing the imposing Mughal style of art and architecture.
The fort, semi-circular on plan, is surrounded by a 21.4 m high fortification wall. Double ramparts have been provided here with broad massive circular bastions at regular intervals
The Registan - the 3 buildings here are amongst the world's oldest preserved medrassas, anything older having been destroyed by Genghis Khan.
The Registan was the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand of the Timurid dynasty, now in Uzbekistan. The name Registan means "Sandy place" in Persian.
The Registan was a public square, where people gathered to hear royal proclamations, heralded by blasts on enormous copper pipes called dzharchis - and a place of public executions. It is framed by three madrasahs (Islamic schools) of distinctive Islamic architecture.
The three madrassas of the Registan are: the Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1417–1420), the Tilya-Kori Madrasah (1646–1660) and the Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619–1636). Madrassa is an Arabic term meaning school.
15th Century - Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1417–1420)
The Ulugh Beg Madrasah, built during the Timurid Empire era of Timur—Tamerlane, has an imposing Iwan portal with lancet arch facing the square. The corners are flanked by the high well-proportioned minarets. The mosaic panel over the iwan's entrance arch is decorated by geometrical stylized ornaments. The square courtyard includes a mosque, lecture rooms, and is fringed by the dormitory cells in which students lived. There are deep galleries along the axes. Originally the Ulugh Beg Madrasah was a two-storied building with four domed darskhonas (lecture rooms) at the corners.
17th century - Sher-Dor Madrasah 1619–1636)
In the 17th century the ruler of Samarkand, Yalangtush Bakhodur, ordered the construction of the Sher-Dor and Tillya-Kori madrasahs. The Sher-Dor (Having Tigers) Madrassa was designed by the architect Abdujabor. The decoration of the madrasah is not as refined as that on the Ulugh Beg madrasah of the 15th century - the "golden age" of Timurid Samarkand architecture. Yet the harmony of large and small rooms, exquisite mosaic decor, monumentality and efficient symmetry, all place the structure among the finest architectural monuments of Samarkand.
Tilya-Kori Madrasah (1646–1660)
Ten years later the Tilya-Kori ("Gilded") Madrassa was built. It was not only a residential college for students, but also played the role of grand masjid (mosque). It has a two-storied main facade and a vast courtyard fringed by dormitory cells, with four galleries along the axes.
Belton House a Grade I listed country house in Belton near Grantham, Lincolnshire.
The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leading to follies within a larger wooded park. Belton has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period.
The house has also been described as the most complete example of a typical English country house; the claim has even been made that Belton's principal facade was the inspiration for the modern British motorway signs which give directions to stately homes.
For three hundred years, Belton House was the seat of the Brownlow and Cust family, who had first acquired land in the area in the late 16th century. Between 1685 and 1688 Sir John Brownlow and his wife had the present mansion built. Despite great wealth they chose to build a modest country house rather than a grand contemporary Baroque palace.
The contemporary, if provincial, Carolean style was the selected choice of design. However, the new house was fitted with the latest innovations such as sash windows for the principal rooms, and more importantly separate areas for the staff. As the Brownlows rose from baronets to barons upward to earls, successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes.
Following World War I (a period when the Machine Gun Corps was based in the park), the Brownlows, like many of their peers, were faced with mounting financial problems. In 1984 they gave the house away complete with most of its contents. The recipients of their gift, the National Trust, today fully open Belton to the public.
Information Source:
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is situated within the Stuttgart Region, and the district is part of the administrative region (Regierungsbezirk) of Stuttgart.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg_Palace
Ludwigsburg Palace (Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg), also known as the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is 32 ha (79 acres)—the largest palatial estate in the country. The palace has four wings: the northern wing, the Alter Hauptbau, is the oldest and was used as a ducal residence; the east and west wings were used for court purposes and housing guests and courtiers; the southern wing, the Neuer Hauptbau, was built to house more court functions and was later used as a residence.
Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg, appointed Philipp Joseph Jenisch to direct the work and construction began in 1704. In 1707, Jenisch was replaced with Johann Friedrich Nette, who completed the majority of the palace and surrounding gardens. Nette died in 1714, and Donato Giuseppe Frisoni finished much of the palace facades. In the final year of construction, Eberhard Louis died and the Neue Hauptbau's interiors were left incomplete. Charles Eugene's court architect, Philippe de La Guêpière, completed and refurbished parts of the New Hauptbau in the Rococo style, especially the palace theatre. Charles Eugene abandoned the palace for Stuttgart in 1775. Duke Frederick II, later King Frederick I, began using Ludwigsburg as his summer residence in the last years of Charles Eugene's reign. Frederick and his wife Charlotte, Princess Royal, resided at Ludwigsburg and employed Nikolaus Friedrich von Thouret to renovate the palace in the Neoclassical style. Thouret converted much of Ludwigsburg's interiors over the reign of Frederick and later life of Charlotte. As a result of each architect's work, Ludwigsburg is a combination of Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and Empire style architecture.
The constitutions of the Free People's State and Kingdom of Württemberg were ratified at Ludwigsburg Palace in 1919 and 1819, respectively. It was the residence for four of Württemberg's monarchs and some other members of the House of Württemberg and their families. The palace was opened to the public in 1918 and then survived World War II intact. It later underwent periods of restoration in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1990s and again for the palace's 300th anniversary in 2004. The palace had more than 350,000 visitors in 2017 and has hosted the Ludwigsburg Festival every year since 1947.
Surrounding the palace are the Blooming Baroque (Blühendes Barock) gardens, arranged in 1954 as they might have appeared in 1800. Nearby is Schloss Favorite, a hunting lodge built in 1717 by Frisoni. Within the palace are two museums operated by the Landesmuseum Württemberg dedicated to fashion and porcelain respectively.
First Friday Art Walk in Baker City Oregon
Celebrating the arts during the First Friday Art Walk in historic downtown Baker City, Oregon, multiple gallery openings, and just exploring downtown Baker City's amazing architecture.
The First Friday Art Walk is one of numerous events celebrating the arts throughout Baker County. Other events include the Baker Open Artists Studio Tour in October, the monthly Thursday Art Night at the historic Eltrym Theater, the We Like ‘em Short Film Festival in August, and the Great Salt Lick Art Auction in September.
Visitors will find numerous art galleries throughout Baker City’s historic downtown including the Crossroads Carnegie Art center in the restored Carnegie Library building.
For more information about First Friday Art Walk or other art events and galleries throughout Baker County Oregon visit the Baker County Tourism website at www.travelbakercounty.com
The Torre de Belém (in English: "Belém Tower") in the city of Lisbon’s district Belém on the northern bank of the Tejo river (in English: "Tagus river"), Lisbon, Portugal
Some background information:
The Torre de Belém, officially the Tower of Saint Vincent, is a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. The tower was finished in 1519 and symbolizes Portugal's maritime and colonial power in early modern Europe. It was built during the height of the Portuguese Renaissance, and is a prominent example of the Portuguese Manueline style, but it also incorporates other architectural styles, such as the minarets, which are inspired by Moorish architecture. The structure was built from lioz limestone and is composed of a bastion and a 30-metre (100 feet) four-storey tower.
Since 1983, the tower has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Jerónimos Monastery. It is often portrayed as a symbol of Europe's Age of Discoveries and as a metonym for Portugal or Lisbon, given its landmark status. It has incorrectly been stated that the tower was built in the middle of the Tagus and now sits near the shore because the river was redirected after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. But in fact, the tower was built on a small island in the Tagus river near the Lisbon shore.
With an estimated population of almost 568,000 within its administrative limits and 2,961,177 within its metropolitan area, Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is mainland Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Situated on the northern shore of the Tejo river near its estuary, Lisbon’s port can be called at by ships of any size.
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second-oldest European capital city (after Athens). Although the first fortifications on Lisbon's castle hill are known to be no older than the 2nd century BC, recent archaeological finds have shown that Iron Age people already occupied the site from the 8th to 6th centuries BC. The Phoenicians and later the Carthaginians, are said to have called the place Alis Ubbo and used it as the only major natural harbor on the Iberian Atlantic coast. There are also evidences that Lisbon once was a Greek city, but its Greek name is unknown.
Under Roman rule, starting around 205 BC, the city was initially called Olisipo. In 48 BC, the town was granted Roman municipal rights and subsequently became known as Colonia Felicitas Iulia, growing into a larger town in the province of Lusitania. From 409 AD, barbarian tribes advanced onto the Iberian Peninsula from Gaul. During the late antique migration period, Alans, Suebi, Vandals, and Visigoths tried to occupy Lisbon.
In 719, Lisbon was conquered by Muslim Moors and later became part of the Emirate of Córdoba. The city, now known as al-Ushbuna, experienced its first major boom. During the Caliphate of Córdoba, the city was one of the most important ports, while Christian Galicians and Leonese repeatedly attempted to seize it. In 844, Vikings ravaged Lisbon and its surroundings.
In the 11th century, Lisbon was part of the Moorish Emirate of the Aftasids from Badajoz. Starting in 1093, Count Raymond of Armous, a younger son of Duke William I of Burgundy, was given rule over Galicia by King Alfonso VI of León. From there, he launched campaigns against the Moors in the south, temporarily managing to occupy Lisbon.
At the beginning of the 11th century, the south of the Iberian Peninsula was still under Moorish control. But in 1147, in the course of the so-called Reconquista, the Siege of Lisbon led to the city's final capture by the Portuguese under Alfonso I. In 1255, Lisbon became the capital city of the new Portuguese territory and in 1290, the first Portuguese university was founded in the town. During the last centuries of the Middle Ages, Lisbon expanded substantially and became an important trading post with both Northern European and Mediterranean cities.
When the Spaniards had expelled the Jews from Spanish territory, many of them fled to Lisbon. But even in Portugal they either had to convert to Christianity or leave. In 1506, an anti-semitic movement among the Old Christians of Lisbon culminated in a massacre lasting four days in which some 1,000 to 4,000 New Christian residents, converted descendants of Sephardic Jews, are estimated to have been killed.
Most of the Portuguese expeditions of the Age of Discovery set out from Lisbon during the period from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century, including Vasco da Gama's expedition to India in 1498. In the 16th century, Lisbon’s golden era began: The city was the European hub of commerce between Africa, India, the Far East and later, Brazil, and acquired great riches by exploiting the trade of spices, slaves, sugar, textiles and other goods. This period also saw the rise of the exuberant Manueline style in architecture, which left its mark in many 16th-century monuments, including the Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery.
The succession crisis of 1580 initiated a sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal and Spain under the Spanish Habsburgs. In 1589, Lisbon was the target of an incursion by the English Armada led by Francis Drake. The Portuguese Restoration War, which began with a coup d'état organised by the nobility and bourgeoisie in Lisbon in 1640 amd ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, restored Portuguese independence.
In the early 18th century, gold from Brazil allowed King John V to sponsor the building of several Baroque churches and theatres in the city. Prior to the 18th century, Lisbon had experienced several significant earthquakes: eight in the 14th century, five in the 16th century, and three in the 17th century. But the earthquake of 1755 was the most davastating one. It destroyed 85 percent of the city's structures, including the Ribeira Palace and the hospital Real de Todos os Santos. An an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Lisbon residents of a total population estimated of 200,000 to 275,000 wer killed. And in the coastal areas north of Lisbon even more people were killed by the following tsunami.
This catastrophic event shocked the whole of Europe and left a deep impression on its collective psyche. However, the city was rebuilt quickly and largely according to the plans of prime minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the 1st Marquis of Pombal. He decided to demolish what remained after the earthquake and rebuild the city centre in accordance with principles of modern urban design. It was reconstructed in an open rectangular plan with two great squares: the Praça do Rossio and the Praça do Comércio.
In the first years of the 19th century, Portugal was invaded by the troops of Napoléon Bonaparte, forcing Queen Maria I and Prince-Regent John to flee temporarily to Brazil. By the time the new King John VI returned to Lisbon, many of the buildings and properties were pillaged, sacked or destroyed by the invaders. The development of industry and commerce determined the growth of the city and Lisbon grew farther from the Tejo river.
In 1911, Lisbon refounded its university after centuries of inactivity. In the 20th century, the city was also the site of three revolutions. The first ond of 1910 brought an end to the Portuguese monarchy and established the highly unstable and corrupt Portuguese First Republic. The second one of 1926 ended the first republic and firmly established the Portuguese Second Republic. And the third revolution of 1974, the so-called Carnation Revolution, put an end to the right-wing regime and reformed the country to what it is still today, the Portuguese Third Republic.
Modern Lisbon is the political centre of the country and hosts the government, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court of Justice and the Armed Forces. It is also the residence of the head of state and the centre of Portuguese diplomacy, with ambassadors from 86 countries residing in the city, as well as representations from Taiwan and Palestine. About 2.96 million people, who live in the Lisbon metropolitan area (representing almost 28 % of the Portugal's population), make Lisbon the third largest metropolitan area in the Iberian Peninsula after Madrid and Barcelona.
The National Trust has this to say about the bridge:
Probably Prior Park's best known feature, the Palladian Bridge, is an elegant and eye-catching example of architecture. The Palladian Bridge at Prior Park Landscape Garden was built in 1755, the last of three of its kind built in England.
It was created in the 18th century by local entrepreneur Ralph Allen, with advice from 'Capability' Brown and the poet Alexander Pope.
Palladian architecture reached the height of its popularity in England during the 18th century.
Venetian architect Andrea Palladio inspired the building of structures such as the bridges at Prior Park and at Stourhead.
Palladio himself was influenced by the classical architecture of the ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans.
Hexham Abbey is a place of Christian worship dedicated to St Andrew and located in the town of Hexham, Northumberland, in northeast England. Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537, the Abbey has been the parish church of Hexham.
There has been a church on the site for over 1300 years since Etheldreda, Queen of Northumbria made a grant of lands to Wilfrid, Bishop of York c.674. Of Wilfrid's Benedictine abbey, which was constructed almost entirely of material salvaged from nearby Roman ruins, the Saxon crypt still remains; as does a frith stool, a 7th/8th century cathedra or throne.[1] For a little while around that time it was the seat of a bishopric.
In the year 875 Halfdene (Halfdan Ragnarsson) the Dane ravaged the whole of Tyneside and Hexham Church was plundered and burnt to the ground.[2]
About 1050 one Eilaf was put in charge of Hexham, although as treasurer of Durham, he probably never came there. Eilaf was instructed to rebuild Hexham Church which then lay in utter ruin. His son Eilaf II completed the work, probably building in the Norman style.[2]
In Norman times Wilfrid's abbey was replaced by an Augustinian priory. The current church largely dates from that period (c.1170–1250), in the Early English style of architecture. The choir, north and south transepts and the cloisters, where canons studied and meditated, date from this period.
Built in 1916, this Gothic Revival-style church was designed by Hewitt and Brown for the congregation of the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, which formed in 1875. Modeled on English Gothic architecture, the church takes heavy inspiration from the design of Ely Cathedral, with an octagonal, layered form and a spire that was, at the time of its completion, the second-tallest building in Minneapolis, only exceeded by Minneapolis City Hall. The building features a limestone exterior with a roughly plus-shaped form, centering around a central octagonal section that rises above the rest of the church before having a setback below the bell tower, and a second setback at the base of the metal-clad spire. The church features lancet windows, buttresses, crenellated towers flanking the main entrance, decorative stone railings, blind gothic arches, multiple pinnacles, a decorative surround framing the front entrance, historic lampposts at the front steps, and very small windows near the base of the building. To the rear of the sanctuary structure is a wing containing classrooms, offices, and a fellowship hall, completed around the same time as the church and featuring many Gothic Revival elements in its design, though less ostentatious than the main church building, and with oriels and flat-topped window openings. The church was protected during the construction of the Lowry Hill Tunnel, carrying Interstate 94, immediately adjacent to it in the 1960s by installing refrigeration equipment that froze the ground, ensuring the building would not be undermined in the event of an accidental tunnel collapse. In 2006, a new handicapped-accessible entrance, designed by Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, was added to the rear of the educational wing to provide access directly from the church’s parking lot.
photo rights reserved by Ben
Gergeti Trinity Church, located in Georgia, is situated on a mountain top near the village of Gergeti, near Stepantsminda Kazbegi in the Caucasus, at an altitude of about 2,170 meters. This area is popular with hikers and photographers for its breathtaking views and historical value. The Georgian Orthodox church was built in the 14th century and is a beautiful example of medieval Georgian architecture. The church is an important national symbol of Georgia and attracts many pilgrims and tourists every year. Behind Gergeti Trinity Church lies Kazbek (in Georgian: მყინვარწვერი, Mkinvartsveri), with an altitude of 5,054 meters one of the highest and most famous mountains in Georgia and the Greater Caucasus. Although the mountain is hidden in this photo, Kazbek is known for its impressive presence and mythological significance. Kazbek is an extinct stratovolcano. The name Mkinvartsveri means the icy peak in Georgian. The mountain is popular among mountaineers and adventurers. The standard route for climbing usually starts from Stepantsminda, with the Gergeti Trinity Church as the starting point. Kazbek is often covered in snow and ice, which adds to the spectacular and mysterious appearance of the region. On clear days, the summit offers a beautiful panoramic view of the Caucasus.
This photo shows Kanitha enjoying the Sun at Gergeti – Time for a Mountain Picnic! Gergeti Trinity Church, one of the most iconic and spiritual sites in Georgia, with the imposing Mount Kuro in the background. The church, which is located at an altitude of approximately 2,170 meters, was built in the 14th century and served as both a religious and defensive center. The location of the monastery makes it particularly special: it stands on a secluded hill with panoramic views of the Caucasus and the nearby village of Stepantsminda. In times of war, the church was used as a shelter for valuable relics, including the famous Mtskheta Cross. Mount Kuro, visible in the background, rises to 3,980 meters and forms a dramatic and rugged frame for this sacred structure. The snow-capped peaks and steep cliffs underline the solitude and grandeur of this place. Today, Gergeti Trinity Church is a popular destination for pilgrims and travelers. The climb to the church can be done on foot, on horseback or by 4x4, and once at the top, visitors are rewarded with breathtaking views over the mountains and valleys of the Caucasus.
De Gergeti Trinity Church, gelegen in Georgië, bevindt zich op een bergtop bij het dorp Gergeti, nabij Stepantsminda Kazbegi in de Kaukasus-regio, op ongeveer 2170 meter hoogte. Het eerste zonlicht van de ochtend op de voorgrond van de foto versterkt het mystieke karakter van de locatie, terwijl de besneeuwde bergtoppen en de donkere silhouetten van de kerk de dramatische sfeer van het landschap benadrukken. Dit gebied is geliefd bij wandelaars en fotografen vanwege het adembenemende uitzicht en de historische waarde. De indrukwekkende besneeuwde toppen van de Kazbek op de achtergrond worden verlicht door de gouden gloed van de opkomende zon. De Georgisch-orthodoxe kerk is gebouwd in de 14e eeuw en is een prachtig voorbeeld van middeleeuwse Georgische architectuur. De kerk is een belangrijk nationaal symbool van Georgië en trekt jaarlijks veel pelgrims en toeristen. Achter de Gergeti Trinity Church ligt de Kazbek (in het Georgisch: მყინვარწვერი, Mkinvartsveri), met een hoogte van 5.054 meter een van de hoogste en bekendste bergen in Georgië en de Grote Kaukasus. Hoewel de berg op deze foto verscholen is, staat Kazbek bekend om zijn indrukwekkende aanwezigheid en mythologische betekenis. Kazbek is een uitgedoofde stratovulkaan. De naam Mkinvartsveri betekent de IJzige Top in het Georgisch. De berg is populair onder bergbeklimmers en avonturiers. De standaardroute voor de beklimming begint meestal in Stepantsminda, waarbij de Gergeti Trinity Church als startpunt dient. Kazbek is vaak bedekt met sneeuw en ijs, wat bijdraagt aan de spectaculaire en mysterieuze uitstraling van de regio. Op heldere dagen biedt de top een prachtig panoramisch uitzicht over de Kaukasus. Deze foto toont Kanitha die geniet van de zon bij Gergeti – tijd voor een bergpicknick! De Gergeti Trinity Church, één van de meest iconische en spirituele plekken in Georgië, met de imposante Mount Kuro op de achtergrond. Mount Kuro, zichtbaar op de achtergrond, stijgt tot 3.980 meter en vormt een dramatische en ruige omlijsting van dit heilige bouwwerk. De besneeuwde pieken en steile rotsen onderstrepen de eenzaamheid en grootsheid van deze plek.