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Example of building exterior stone aggregate façade (cladding) system with minor damage revealing exposed grey asbestos-cement paneling underneath.
From Stirling's brick-clad "red trilogy" of university buildings in the early 60s, which were instrumental in authorizing the cockeyed functionalist-formalism that undergirded a great deal of international Brutalism. The Smithson-Banham version of that term, as has been much discussed in recent years, was really a matter of self-announcing ascetic utilitarianism: just steel and pipes here, folks - and look how brutally honest we're being about it! Its stealth aesthetics were neoclassical, as Philip Johnson recognized, but they looked like someone had taken the classicism out of Mies.
Stirling's forms also appear to be derived from a functionalist reading, of program rather than construction: just classrooms and lecture halls here, folks. In so doing, he reaches back to a 1920s Modernist sense of form-making, where different programs get different forms. He could have found this in the Bauhaus, or in the engineer-and-accountant "found aesthetic" of industrial complexes, where functionally-driven forms are jammed together based on production sequences. If admiring the look and feel of a factory site - or, likely, a Melnikov workers' club - isn't quite the same as designing according to purely functionalist principles, whatever: the compositions thrilled a whole range of architects looking for new ways of making form under the functionalist umbrella.
A great many Brutalist works to come owe a lot to the finessed form-following seen here. I'm thinking of John Johansen, et al. - but by extension also later architects (especially OMA and their children) who carried forth the massing strategy while punting the material palette. In Stirling's case, what makes it work is pure compositional instinct: while a classical symmetry haunts the composition here, you can't get far enough back, on axis, to see it, and you register instead a dynamically counterpoised game of verticals, horizontals, things flying apart while being held together. That things actually did fly apart, in the form of tiles slipping off the surface of the building, is a whole 'nother story...
Lit with a Sb-800 on 1/64, triggered with Cactus V6.
Taken the night before a Safari in Chobe, Botswana.
Nikon D40
Focal Length: 50mm
Optimize Image: Custom
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Long Exposure NR: Off
High ISO NR: Off
2008/10/17 11:17:08.4
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
White Balance: Auto
Tone Comp.: Auto
Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
AF Mode: AF-S
Hue Adjustment: 0°
1/640 sec - F/11
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Saturation: Auto
Color
Exposure Comp.: -0.7 EV
Sharpening: Medium high
Lens: 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3G Sigma
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Image Comment: (c) Gerard Prins All rights reserved
Tel.: (56) 22758 7209
AD 37-41. Bronze, lost-wax casting, retouched by hand with burin and chisel.
The big cats (lions and a panther) adorned the main crosswise structures, the wolves the lengthwise structures. The lions have a tamer appearance whilst the wolves are fiercer: their bared teeth, taut muscles and small lowered ears give these animals a proud beauty, exalted by the use of bronze. Standing out in this group is the panther, whose spotted coat is rendered by damascening, a special artistic metal-working technique used to obtain a multicolored decoration; in this case sheet of copper and tin have been inserted onto the metal surface. The moveable ring between the teeth seemingly intended for mooring actually had an ornamental function or was used for hanging garlands.
THE BRONZE FITTINGS OF THE NEMI SHIPS
The bronze fittings are the most important set of objects found during work to salvage the Nemi ships. The first group of objects was acquired by the Museo Nazionale Romano in 1906, following the explorations undertaken in the lake by the antiquarian Eliseo Borghi in 1895 on behalf of the Orsini family, Princes of Nemi, with the authorization from the Minestero della Pubblica Istruzione.
The second group of objects came to light during excavations between 1929 and 1932.
The objects form a decorative apparatus of exceptional richness: the ships were clearly ostentatious luxury vessels used as an expression of power. Belonging to the decorations of the first ship are the group of animal heads, a common ornamental motif in ancient art. The three lions and the panther adorned the ends of the beams running across the ship, the four wolves decorated the ends of the lengthwise beams; the two lions’ heads on cylindrical caps crowned the long shafts of the side-rudders. The head of Medusa was placed high up, as if to watch over the ship with her gaze.
From the second ship come the hands adorning the beams next to the four rudders and the railing with two-faced herms. Within the structure of the ships the bronze decorations stood out from the painter wooden parts and the rich marble cladding.
THE NEMI SHIPS
The two ships are a unique example of ceremonial vessels, genuine palaces floating on the waters of the lake, created by the emperor Caligula in the image of luxurious eastern residences.
The attribution to Caligula was confirmed by the discovery of some lead water pipes with inscriptions proving that the ships belonged to this emperor, fond of whimsical creations and constructions judges to be impossible.
The emperor’s architects were familiar with earlier examples from the Greek world, dating to the Hellenistic period. The most complete description is provided by the Greek writer Athenaeus of Naucratis who recalls the “floating palaces” of Hiero II of Syracuse and Ptolemy IV Philopater: vessels richly adorned with marbles, mosaics and hanging gardens used as “cruise ships” in accordance with a tradition passed down from ancient Egypt to the Hellenistic princes. Although ancient sources do not mention the Nemi ships, recents studies have succeeded in reconstructing the architecture and function of the vessels. The first was used as a sort of annex to the sumptuous residence owned by the emperor on the banks of the lake. The second was used for ceremonial purposes, as proven by the discovery of cult objects connected to the goddess Isis, assimilated to Diana in the nearby Sanctuary. The complex consisting of the villa, the sanctuary and the ships formed part of a specific political, religious and architectural program devised by the emperor, who intended to revitalize a cultural model passed down to him from the Egypt of the Pharaohs via Hellenistic Greece.
Photographed at the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.
The New York Palace Hotel (formerly The Helmsley Palace)
455 Madison Avenue at 50th Street
New York, NY 10022
Floors 53,54 and 55 contain 4 triplex penthouses, each having their own elevator.
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The Villard Houses were brownstone residences built by Henry Villard in 1884. Villard was a railway promoter and financier, who took over the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1881. The architect was McKim, Mead & White. The firm also designed the Pennsylvania Hotel in Manhattan. The six residence building was clad in quarried brownstone and wrapped around a u-shaped courtyard representative of a 15th century Italian palazzo. Four homes opened onto the courtyard while two had entrances on 51st Street.
Villard moved into the corner residence at 451 Madison, at the corner of 50th Street for just a short while before declaring bankruptcy. Much of the interior decoration is still visible today in the restaurant Gilt (formerly Le Cirque 2000).
In the 1940’s the Villard House was known as Women's Military Services Club. It served women in the military that could stay there for .50 cents a night. By the late 60’s the Archdiocese of New York owned the complex.
In the early 70’s Harry Helmsley found the perfect location in which to build his dream hotel. The Villard House was located on New York's Madison Avenue, across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Helmsley negotiated a 99 year lease on the site from the the Archdiocese of New York and proposed gutting the interiors of the Villard and putting a 51-story hotel on top of it. The preservationists prevailed and Helmsley’s plan was changed to save most of the interiors of the Villard houses, though the buildings' rear facades were demolished and incorporated in to the new 51-story hotel. long-term ground lease, which runs for decades. The Archdiocese of New York receives $10 million annually in ground rent.
Helmsley commissioned architects Emery Roth & Sons and Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer to design the modern structure and integrate the 1884 houses. The tower’s façade is a dark bronze reflective glass that was to blend with the Villard Houses. Started in 1977, the 905-room hotel project was completed in 1980.
Leona Helmsley spent a great deal of time and energy managing the decorating and staffing of the hotel. Leona took seriously her role as President of Helmsley Hotels and was determined to give her guests unprecedented service.
On September 15, 1980, the opulent Helmsley Palace Hotel opened. At the time The Helmsley Palace had the highest hotel rates in the city. An early print advertisement featuring Leona had the by-line: “It’s the only palace in the world where the Queen stands guard”
The hotel has four Triplex Suites. Situated at the top of the tower and occupying the four corners, each 2-bedroom suite is spread over three floors and include a private roof terrace.
In 1982, the limited partners in the Helmsley Palace Hotel partnership forced an arbitration proceeding after Harry Helmsley, in his role as general partner demanded more money from the limited partners for cost overruns in building the hotel. The limited partners said the Helmsley’s had mismanaged the business and had hurt the partnership through several self-dealing transactions. The arbitrators ruled in favor of the limited partners and forced the Helmsley’s to pay the cost overruns and an additional $3.5 million to the partnership.
Leona Helmsley, was convicted of income tax fraud in August 1989 - (“We don’t pay taxes … only the little people do”). Leona was convicted of 33 felony counts of trying to defraud the government and IRS, including mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns (essentially running millions of dollars of personal expenses through the Helmsley Palace and Park Lane books)
Harry Helmsley was indicted on similar charges in 1988, but was found too ill to stand trial. He died in 1997.
Following appeals Leona Helmsley was imprisoned from 1992-1993.
The limited partners in the Palace partnership were rightfully concerned during the Helmsley’s legal mess that the hotel was in desperate need for another general partner. The limited partners contended Helmsley Enterprises breached its fiduciary duties in managing and operating the partnership. They sought through the courts to remove the Helmsleys as general partner, and to appoint a receiver until a new general partner and manager can be found or the hotel be sold. They also sought restoration of any money the Helmsleys may have diverted to their affiliates through self-dealing.
Helmsley operated the Helmsley Palace hotel until 1992. She was known to fire managers from her jail cell.
Interstate Hotels was appointed by the court as the hotel’s receiver. The hotel changed its name to The New York Palace Hotel. The receiver received 6 qualified bids for the hotel.
In November 1993 The Royal Family of Brunei agreed to buy the New York Palace for $202 million (the highest offer). The agreement to buy the Palace is with Amedeo Hotels Limited Partnership, an investment company in Brunei. The Sultan of Brunei, through its development company, Amedeo Limited, contracted with Harman Jablin Architects for the complete renovation of the hotel and Villard Houses.
The hotel is comprised of three structures: the899-room 55-story hotel tower, the 5-story Villard House, and the 2-story Maloney & Porcelli restaurant.
The wealth of the royal family of Brunei, a tiny oil-rich sultanate on the island of Borneo, is controlled by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, whose estimated worth of $33 billion makes him one of the world's richest men. He and his family also own the 263-room Beverly Hills Hotel in California, bought for $187 million in 1987, and the Dorchester Hotel in London, bought for about $85 million in 1985.
The Royal Family’s new wealth comes from a constant flow of royalties into their private bank accounts from Shell Oil, who they joint ventured with to extract Brunei’s only natural resource.
The Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah younger brother is Prince Jefri Bolkiah who was the finance minister of Brunei from 1986 to 1998 and thus the chairman of The Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) responsible for overseas investments. He was known for his extravagant lifestyle, which included a private Boeing 747 and 2,000 automobiles. Hotels he controlled included The New York Palace Hotel, Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles and Plaza Athénée in Paris.
Following an audit in 1987 The Brunei government charged Prince Jefri with embezzling $14.8 billion and he was removed as chairman of BEI.
In July 2008 BEI signed management contracts with the Dorchester Group to operate the New York Plaza and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.
Prince Jefri’s two main legal and financial advisors, the British husband and wife lawyers Thomas Derbyshire and Faith Zaman were dispatched by the Prince to the New York Palace in 2004 to protect his interests. The two were involved in many aspects of Prince Jefri’s business affairs and they held powers of attorney to act of his behalf.
So In November 2005, Zaman claims Jefri gave them a 17-year lease on a 2,800-square-foot apartment on the third floor of the hotel, which rented as a suite for $20,000 a night. The prince gave the apartment to them rent-free for the first five years After that, the charge would be $500 a month, with an option to renew for 51 years. According the Vanity Fair this was done so the sultan if ever was successful in taking over the hotel, he would have to deal with them for the rest of his life.
In February 2006, John Segreti, the managing director of the Palace, dropped dead at 52 of a pulmonary embolism. Segreti formerly was the chief operating officer at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, in Hong Kon).
In March 2006 Faith Zaman was appointed Managing Director of the Palace. Her annual salary included 5 percent of the hotel’s gross operating profit, a car allowance of $100,000 per year, and free use of the company credit card for personal expenses. Also the prince gave her control of a second lease at a low price for the Maloney & Porcelli steak house on the hotel’s ground floor, on East 50th Street.
Meanwhile Derbyshire was working hard on finding a way for Jefri to cash in on two of his biggest assets the New York Palace and Hotel Bel-Air. A prospective buyer, Ty Warner (owner of the Four Seasons New York), was found who had agreed to acquiring the two hotels for $800 million. The sell certainly would have breached the government of Brunei’s freeze of Prince Jefri’s assets and further, what bank in the world could be used to deposit the proceeds and hide it from the government of Brunei.
The sell never occurred. Prince Jefri filed a suit against Derbyshire and Zaman seeking to recover $7 million in questionable expenses, Derbyshire and Zaman countersued for $13 million in contractual wages never received. In December 2010 the New York City jury awarded Derbyshire and Zaman $21 million.
Prince Jefri, a father of 17 with four wives, has swapped a decadent lifestyle for a fugitive existence. He is reported to have been allowed back in Brunei.
In 1997, with a new name--Le Cirque 2000--the restaurant moved from the Mayfair to the New York Palace Hotel and its landmark, the Villard Houses. Designer Adam Tihany gave Le Cirque its dazzling new look, and, as the opening approached, Siro Maccioni told New York magazine, "They're either going to give us a medal or exile us to Kilimanjaro."
In 2006 Siro Maccioni moved Le Cirque from the Palace Hotel to the Bloomberg building on East 58th Street.
John Segretti, the hotel’s managing director, decided The Palace Hotel should operate its own restaurant in the Villard space. In December 2005 it opened the 52-seat restaurant GILT with the interior design done by Patrick Jouin. The executive chef was Paul Liebrandt. The NY Times food critic panned Gilt two months after opening describing some entrees as “no larger than a hockey puck”. Shortly after Liebrandt was fired. In 2009 GILT was awarded Twp Michelin Stars under the direction of Executive Chef Justin Bogle.
In July 2011 Northwood Investors acquired the New York Plaza for approximately $400 million. The price is low by NYC standards – held down due to the $10 million dollar a year ground lease. The seller Brunei Investment Agency also owns the Dorchester Collection of luxury hotels. The New York Palace is no longer affiliated with the Dorchester Collection.
Northwood Investors is a privately-held real estate investment advisor that was founded in 2006 by John Z. Kukral, the former President and CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. It also owns the Alden Houston Hotel and The Radisson Hotel Boston.
Northwood has appointed David Chase to general manager of The New York Palace. Most recently he was the pre-opening general manager of Trump SoHo New York.
Darjeeling is a City and a Municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya at an elevation of 2,164.1 m. It is noted for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Darjeeling is the headquarters of Darjeeling district which has a partially autonomous status within the state of West Bengal. The development of the town dates back to the mid-19th century, when the colonial British administration set up a sanatorium and a military depot. Subsequently, extensive tea plantations were established in the region, and tea growers developed hybrids of black tea and created new fermentation techniques. The resultant distinctive Darjeeling tea is internationally recognized and ranks among the most popular of the black teas.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connects the town with the plains and has one of the few steam locomotives still in service in India.
Darjeeling has several British-style public schools, which attract students from India and neighbouring countries. The varied culture of the town reflects its diverse demographic milieu consisting of Nepalis, Bhutia, Lepcha and other mainland Indian ethno-linguistic groups. Darjeeling, with its neighboring town of Kalimpong, was a center of the Gorkhaland movement (Separate State demand within India) in the 1980s. The town's fragile ecology has been threatened by a rising demand for environmental resources, stemming from growing tourist traffic and poorly planned urbanization.
HISTORY
The history of Darjeeling is intertwined with that of Sikkim, Nepal, British India and Bhutan. Until the early 19th century, the hilly area around Darjeeling was controlled by the kingdom of Sikkim, while the plains around Siliguri were intermittently occupied by the Kingdom of Nepal, with settlement consisting of a few villages of Lepcha and Kirati people. The Chogyal of Sikkim had been engaged in unsuccessful warfare against the Gorkhas of Nepal. From 1780, the Gorkhas made several attempts to capture the entire region of Darjeeling. By the beginning of 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai. In the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from overrunning the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas and subsequently led to the signing of the Sugauli Treaty in 1815. According to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company (i.e. the area between Mechi River and Teesta River). Later in 1817, through the Treaty of Titalia, the British East India Company reinstated the Chogyal of Sikkim, restored all the tracts of land between the Mechi River and the Teesta River to the Chogyal of Sikkim and guaranteed his sovereignty.In 1828, a delegation of the British East India Company (BEIC) officials on its way to the Nepal-Sikkim border stayed in Darjeeling and decided that the region was a suitable site for a sanatorium for British soldiers. The company negotiated a lease of the area west of the Mahananda River from the Chogyal of Sikkim in 1835. In 1849, the BEIC director Arthur Campbell and the explorer and botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker were imprisoned in the region by the Sikkim Chogyal. The BEIC sent a force to free them. Continued friction between the BEIC and the Sikkim authorities resulted in the annexation of 1,700 km2 of territory by the British in 1850. In 1864, the Bhutanese rulers and the British signed the Treaty of Sinchula that ceded the passes leading through the hills and Kalimpong to the British. Further discord between Sikkim and the British resulted in a war, culminating in the signing of a treaty and the annexation by the British of the area east of the Teesta River in 1865. By 1866, Darjeeling district had assumed its current shape and size, covering an area of 3,200 km2.
During the British Raj, Darjeeling's temperate climate led to its development as a hill station for British residents seeking to escape the summer heat of the plains. The development of Darjeeling as a sanatorium and health resort proceeded briskly. Arthur Campbell, a surgeon with the Company, and Lieutenant Robert Napier were responsible for establishing a hill station there. Campbell's efforts to develop the station, attract immigrants to cultivate the slopes and stimulate trade resulted in a hundredfold increase in the population of Darjeeling between 1835 and 1849. The first road connecting the town with the plains was constructed between 1839 and 1842. In 1848, a military depot was set up for British soldiers, and the town became a municipality in 1850. Commercial cultivation of tea in the district began in 1856, and induced a number of British planters to settle there. Darjeeling became the formal summer capital of the Bengal Presidency after 1864. Scottish missionaries undertook the construction of schools and welfare centres for the British residents, laying the foundation for Darjeeling's notability as a centre of education. The opening of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in 1881 further hastened the development of the region. In 1899, Darjeeling was rocked by major landslides that caused severe damage to the town and the native population.
Under British rule, the Darjeeling area was initially a "Non-Regulation District", a scheme of administration applicable to economically less advanced districts in the British Raj; acts and regulations of the British Raj did not automatically apply to the district in line with rest of the country. In 1919, the area was declared a "backward tract". During the Indian independence movement, the Non-cooperation Movement spread through the tea estates of Darjeeling. There was also a failed assassination attempt by revolutionaries on Sir John Anderson, the Governor of Bengal in 1934. Subsequently, during the 1940s, Communist activists continued the nationalist movement against the British by mobilising the plantation workers and the peasants of the district.
Socio-economic problems of the region that had not been addressed during British rule continued to linger and were reflected in a representation made to the Constituent Assembly of India in 1947, which highlighted the issues of regional autonomy and Nepali nationality in Darjeeling and adjacent areas. After the independence of India in 1947, Darjeeling was merged with the state of West Bengal. A separate district of Darjeeling was established consisting of the hill towns of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong and some parts of the Terai region. While the hill population comprised mainly ethnic Nepalis, the plains harboured a large ethnic Bengali population who were refugees from the Partition of India. A cautious and non-receptive response by the West Bengal government to most demands of the ethnic Nepali population led to increased calls, in the 1950s and 1960s, for Darjeeling's autonomy and for the recognition of the Nepali language; the state government acceded to the latter demand in 1961.
The creation of a new state of Sikkim in 1975, along with the reluctance of the Government of India to recognise Nepali as an official language under the Constitution of India, brought the issue of a separate state of Gorkhaland to the forefront. Agitation for a separate state continued through the 1980s, included violent protests during the 1986–88 period. The agitation ceased only after an agreement between the government and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), resulting in the establishment of an elected body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), which received autonomy to govern the district. Though Darjeeling became peaceful, the issue of a separate state lingered, fuelled in part by the lack of comprehensive economic development in the region even after the formation of the DGHC. New protests erupted in 2008–09, but both the Union and State governments rejected Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) demand for a separate state. In July 2011, a pact was signed between GJM, the Government of West Bengal and the Government of India which includes the formation of a new autonomous, elected Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a hill council endowed with more powers than its predecessor Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.
GEOGRAPHY
Darjeeling is the main town of the Sadar subdivision and also the headquarters of the district. It is located at an elevation of 2,200 m in the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region on the Darjeeling-Jalapahar range that originates in the south from Ghum. The range is Y-shaped with the base resting at Katapahar and Jalapahar and two arms diverging north of the Observatory Hill. The north-eastern arm dips suddenly and ends in the Lebong spur, while the north-western arm passes through North Point and ends in the valley near Tukver Tea Estate. The hills are nestled within higher peaks and the snow-clad Himalayan ranges tower over the town in the distance. Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak, 8,598 m high, is the most prominent mountain visible. In days clear of clouds, Nepal's Mount Everest, 8,850 m high, can be seen. The hills of Darjeeling are part of the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya. The soil is chiefly composed of sandstone and conglomerate formations, which are the solidified and upheaved detritus of the great range of Himalaya. However, the soil is often poorly consolidated (the permeable sediments of the region do not retain water between rains) and is not considered suitable for agriculture. The area has steep slopes and loose topsoil, leading to frequent landslides during the monsoons. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town falls under seismic zone-IV, (on a scale of I to V, in order of increasing proneness to earthquakes) near the convergent boundary of the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates and is subject to frequent earthquakes.
FLORA AND FAUNA
Darjeeling is a part of the Eastern Himalayan zoo-geographic zone. Flora around Darjeeling comprises sal, oak, semi-evergreen, temperate and alpine forests. Dense evergreen forests of sal and oak lie around the town, where a wide variety of rare orchids are found. The Lloyd's Botanical Garden preserves common and rare species of plants, while the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park specialises in conserving and breeding endangered Himalayan species. The town of Darjeeling and surrounding region face deforestation due to increasing demand for wood fuel and timber, as well as air pollution from increasing vehicular traffic.Wildlife in the district is protected by the wildlife wing of the West Bengal Forest Department. The fauna found in Darjeeling includes several species of ducks, teals, plovers and gulls that pass Darjeeling while migrating to and from Tibet. Small mammals found in the region include civets, mongooses and badgers. The nearby Jaldapara National Park consists of semi-evergreen and sal forests. Animals found here include the one-horned rhinoceros, elephant, tiger, leopard and hog deer, while the main bird species include the Bengal florican and herons. As of 2009, work was in progress for setting up a conservation centre for red pandas in Darjeeling.
CLIMATE
Darjeeling has a temperate climate (Köppen: Cwb, subtropical highland climate) with wet summers caused by monsoon rains. The annual mean maximum temperature is 15.98 °C while the mean minimum temperature is 8.9 °C, with monthly mean temperatures range from 5 to 17 °C. The lowest temperature recorded was −24 °C on 11 February 1905. The average annual precipitation is 309.2 cm, with an average of 126 days of rain in a year. The highest rainfall occurs in July. The heavy and concentrated rainfall that is experienced in the region, aggravated by deforestation and haphazard planning, often causes devastating landslides, leading to loss of life and property.
CIVIC ADMINISTRATION
The Darjeeling urban agglomeration consists of Darjeeling Municipality and the Pattabong Tea Garden.Established in 1850, the Darjeeling municipality maintains the civic administration of the town, covering an area of 10.57 km2. The municipality consists of a board of councillors elected from each of the 32 wards of Darjeeling town as well as a few members nominated by the state government. The board of councillors elects a chairman from among its elected members; the chairman is the executive head of the municipality. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJMM) holds power in the municipality As of 2011.From 1988 to 2012, the Gorkha-dominated hill areas of Darjeeling district was under the jurisdiction of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). In 2012, the DGHC was replaced by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). The elected members of this body are authorised to manage certain affairs of the hills, including education, health and tourism. Law and order in Darjeeling town comes under the jurisdiction of the district police force, which is a part of the West Bengal Police; a Deputy Superintendent of Police oversees the town's security and law affairs. Darjeeling municipality area has two police stations at Darjeeling and Jorebungalow.
UTILITIES
Natural springs in the Senchal Range provide most of Darjeeling's water supply. Water collected is routed through stone conduits to two lakes that were constructed in 1910 and 1932, from where it is piped to the town after purification at the Jorebungalow filtration plant. During the dry season, when water supplied by springs is insufficient, water is pumped from Khong Khola, a nearby small perennial stream. There is a steadily widening gap between water supply and demand; just over 50% of the town's households are connected to the municipal water supply system. Various efforts made to augment the water supply, including the construction of a third storage reservoir in 1984, have failed to yield desired results. The town has an underground sewage system, covering about 40% of the town area, that collects domestic waste and conveys it to septic tanks for disposal. Solid waste is disposed of in a nearby dumping ground, which also houses the town's crematorium. Doorstep collection of garbage and segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste have been implemented since 2003. Vermicomposting of vegetable waste is carried out with the help of non-governmental organisations. In June 2009, in order to reduce waste, the municipality proposed the ban of plastic carry bags and sachets in the town.
Darjeeling got from 1897 up to the early 1990s hydroelectricity from the nearby Sidrapong Hydel Power Station, such being the first town in India supplied with hydropower. Today, electricity is supplied by the West Bengal State Electricity Board from other places. The town often suffers from power outages and the electrical supply voltage is unstable, making voltage stabilisers popular with many households. Almost all of the primary schools are now maintained by Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council. The total length of all types of roads within the municipal area is around 134 km. The West Bengal Fire Service provides emergency services for the town.
ECONOMY
The two most significant contributors to Darjeeling's economy are tourism and the tea industry. Darjeeling tea, due to the unique agro-climatic conditions of Darjeeling, has a distinctive natural flavour, is internationally reputed and recognised as a geographical indicator. Darjeeling produces 7% of India's tea output, approximately 9,000,000 kilograms every year. The tea industry has faced competition in recent years from tea produced in other parts of India as well as other countries like Nepal. Widespread concerns about labour disputes, worker layoffs and closing of estates have affected investment and production. Several tea estates are being run on a workers' cooperative model, while others are being planned for conversion into tourist resorts. More than 60% of workers in the tea gardens are women. Besides tea, the most widely cultivated crops include maize, millets, paddy, cardamom, potato and ginger. Darjeeling had become an important tourist destination as early as 1860. It is reported to be the only location in eastern India that witnesses large numbers of foreign tourists. It is also a popular filming destination for Bollywood and Bengali cinema. Satyajit Ray shot his film Kanchenjungha (1962) here, and his Feluda series story, Darjeeling Jomjomaat was also set in the town. Bollywood movies Aradhana (1969), Main Hoon Na (2004), and more recently Barfi! (2012) have been filmed here. Tourist inflow into Darjeeling has been affected by the political instability in the region, and agitations in the 1980s and 2000s have hit the tourism industry hard.
TRANSPORT
Darjeeling can be reached by the 88 km long Darjeeling Himalayan Railway from New Jalpaiguri, or by National Highway 55, from Siliguri, 77 km away.The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a 600 mm narrow-gauge railway that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999 for being "an outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on the social and economic development of a multi-cultural region, which was to serve as a model for similar developments in many parts of the world", becoming only the second railway in the world to have this honour.Bus services and hired vehicles connect Darjeeling with Siliguri and Darjeeling has road connections with Bagdogra, Gangtok and Kathmandu and the neighbouring towns of Kurseong and Kalimpong. However, road and railway communications often get disrupted in the monsoons because of landslides. The nearest airport is Bagdogra Airport, located 90 km from Darjeeling. Within the town, people usually traverse by walking. Residents also use two-wheelers and hired taxis for travelling short distances. The Darjeeling Ropeway, functional since 1968, was closed in 2003 after an accident killed four tourists. It was proposed to be reopened in 2007, and finally opened in February 2012.
DEMOGRAPHICS
According to provisional results of 2011 census of India, Darjeeling urban agglomeration has a population of 132,016, out of which 65,839 were males and 66,177 were females. The sex ratio is 1005 females per 1,000 males. The 0–6 years population is 7,382. Effective literacy rate for the population older than 6 years is 93.17 per cent. According to the 2001 census, the Darjeeling urban agglomeration, with an area of 12.77 km2 had a population of 109,163, while the municipal area had a population of 107,530. The population density of the municipal area was 10,173 per km2. The sex ratio was 1,017 females per 1,000 males, which was higher than the national average of 933 females per 1000 males. The three largest religions were Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, in that order. The majority of the populace are Gorkhas of ethnic Nepali background. Indigenous ethnic groups include the Limbu, Rai, Magars, Gurung, Tamangs, Lepchas, Bhutias, Sherpas and Newars. Other communities that inhabit Darjeeling include the Marwaris, Anglo-Indians, Chinese, Biharis, Tibetans and Bengali. The most commonly spoken languages are Nepali, Hindi, Bengali and English. Darjeeling has seen a significant growth in its population, its decadal growth rate being 47% between 1991 and 2001. The colonial town had been designed for a population of only 10,000, and subsequent growth has created extensive infrastructural and environmental problems. The district's forests and other natural wealth have been adversely affected by an ever-growing population. Environmental degradation, including denudation of the surrounding hills has adversely affected Darjeeling's appeal as a tourist destination. The official language of West Bengal is Bengali, additional official languages in Darjeeling are English and Nepali.
CULTURE
Apart from the major religious festivals of Dashain (Durga puja), Tihar (Diwali) and Christmas the diverse ethnic populace of the town celebrates several local festivals. The Lepchas and Bhutias celebrate new year in January, while Tibetans celebrate their new year, Losar, in February–March. The birthday of the Buddha is celebrated in mid-June with processions. Darjeeling Carnival, initiated by a civil society movement known as The Darjeeling Initiative, is a ten-day carnival held every year during the winter with portrayal of the Darjeeling Hill's musical and cultural heritage as its central theme. A popular food in Darjeeling is the Nepalese and Tibetan momo, a steamed dumpling containing meat cooked in a doughy wrapping and served with clear soup and achar. A form of Tibetan noodle called thukpa, served in soup form is also popular. Other commonly eaten dishes include alu dum, a potato preparation, and shaphalay, Tibetan bread stuffed with meat. Fermented foods and beverages are consumed by a large percentage of the population. Fermented foods include preparations of soybean, bamboo shoots, milk and Sel roti, which is made from rice. Tea is the most popular beverage, the Tibetan version is also drunk.Alcoholic beverages include Tongba, Jnaard and Chhaang, variations of a local beer made from fermenting finger millet.
Colonial architecture characterises many buildings in Darjeeling, exemplified by several mock Tudor residences, Gothic churches, the Raj Bhawan, Planters' Club and various educational institutions. Buddhist monasteries showcase the pagoda style architecture. Darjeeling is regarded as a centre of music and a niche for musicians and music admirers. Singing and playing musical instruments is a common pastime among the resident population, who take pride in the traditions and role of music in cultural life. Darjeeling also has a Peace Pagoda built in 1992 by the Japanese Buddhist organisation Nipponzan Myohoji.
EDUCATION
There are 52 primary schools, 21 high schools and 4 colleges in the town. Darjeeling's schools are either run by the state government or by private and religious organisations. Schools mainly use English and Nepali as their media of instruction, although there is the option to learn the national language Hindi and the official state language Bengali. The schools are either affiliated with the ICSE, the CBSE, or the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. Having been a summer retreat for the British in India, Darjeeling became the place of choice for the establishment of public schools on the model of Eton, Harrow and Rugby, allowing the children of British officials to obtain an exclusive education. Institutions such as Mount Hermon School, St. Robert's H.S. School, St. Joseph's College (School Dept.), Loreto Convent, and St. Paul's School are renowned as centres of educational excellence. Darjeeling has four colleges - St. Joseph's College, Southfield College (earlier known as Loreto College), Darjeeling Government College and Sri Ramakrishna B.T. College - all affiliated to the University of North Bengal in Siliguri.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Tiger Hill is located in Darjeeling, in the Indian State of West Bengal, and is the summit of Ghoom, the highest railway station in the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park is a 67.56-acre zoo in the town of Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. The zoo was opened in 1958, and an average elevation of 7,000 feet, is the largest high altitude zoo in India.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India.
The Batasia Loop is a spiral railway created to lower the gradient of ascent of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. At this point, the track spirals around over itself through a tunnel and over a hilltop.
Peace Pagoda, Darjeeling or Darjeeling Peace Pagoda is one of the Peace Pagodas designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds to help unite them in their search for world peace.
Windamere Hotel, built in the 1930s, is a heritage hotel situated on Observatory Hill, in Darjeeling, India.
Mirik is a picturesque tourist spot nestled in the serene hills of Darjeeling district in West Bengal, India. The name Mirik comes from the Lepcha words Mir-Yok meaning "place burnt by fire".
Samsing is a small hill village and tourist spot in the Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal situated at an elevation of 3000 ft in the foothills of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts border.
Suntalekhola or Suntaley Khola is a small village and a tourist spot in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal. The altitude of the place ranges from 650 to 950 m. It gets it name from a small stream: Suntaley Khola.
Bhutia Busty monastery or Karmaa Dorjee Chyoling monastery is a Buddhist monastery located in Tongsong, Darjeeling, India. It belongs to the Red Sect of Buddhist Lamas.
DARJEELING CARNIVAL
Darjeeling Carnival is a ten-day carnival arranged in the town of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.The carnival consists of several functions like poetry-reading sessions, painting and photo exhibitions, tea-drinking ceremonies, a Land Rover rally, music concerts and ethnic food festivals.
WIKIPEDIA
Notice the bulls eye glass in the modern windows, . The wall is particuarly nice, inspired by Barbara Hepworth, possibly.
Built in 1889, this Romanesque Revival-style flatiron building was designed by Conover and Porter for Christian Dick to house a wine and liquor wholesale business. The building is clad in buff brick with a cylindrical turret at the narrow end of the building, red medina sandstone columns at the base of the turret, arched openings flanking the turret on both facades of the building, modern storefronts with steel lintels at the retail spaces, pilasters with rusticated stone capitals flanking the storefront on King Street, medina sandstone belt coursing at the sills of the second and third floor windows, shallow arched window openings on the second floor, roman arched windows on the third floor with decorative brick trim, stone belt coursing at the base of the attic floor level, a datestone above the third floor window in the tower displaying the year “1889” prominently, tiny arched attic windows at the narrower end of the building, a conical roof atop the turret, a hipped roof at the narrower end portion of the building, and a low-slope roof enclosed by a parapet on the wider section of the building. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, and presently houses retail space on the ground floor and offices on the upper floors.
Everyone in their PJs (because every time I change their clothes I take a mandatory group photo....)
I confess that these trees are clad in man-made snow from all the Milky Way snow machines (apparently the best skiing surface is a mix of real and snow-machine snow...), but it certainly made them beautiful.
The lovely thing about skiing around Sauze d'Oulx is that much of the skiing is below the tree line - so it's really pretty.
Cladding of a building in Duesseldorf´s harbour area. Often photographed, still fascinating (at least to me). Rolleiflex SL66, Planar 2,8/80, Orangefilter, MLU, Acros (scan from negative).
31.08.2022 - De Ziua Limbii Române, clădirea Parlamentului este iluminată în culorile drapelului național
youtu.be/mqD7pkVyoOw Highlight Reel
Starring Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins, John Richardson, Rosenda Monteros, and Christopher Lee. Directed by Robert Day.
synopsis
Hammer Films co-produced this lavishly mounted adventure, the fourth adaptation of the novel by H. Rider Haggard. In Jerusalem, Leo Vincey (John Richardson) meets with a slave girl, Ustane (Rosenda Monteros), who has been charged with bringing him to an immortal queen, Ayesha (Ursula Andress). Ayesha, who desires Leo because of his resemblance to her long-dead lover, offers riches if he will travel to her lost city in the mountains, where a magical flame will also give him eternal life. Accompanied by his adventurous friend Major Horace Holly (Peter Cushing), Leo sets out for the fabled city across the desert, but along the way Ustane causes trouble when she decides she wants Leo for her own. She (1965) was followed by a sequel, The Vengeance of She (1968), although the follow-up did not star Andress.
Hammer Films, best known as the House of Horror, enjoyed a long history reaching as far back as the 1930s when it began as a production unit of the distribution company Exclusive Films. Exclusive had been started by William Hinds and Enrique Carreras, and Hammer remained a family-run firm throughout its heyday as a producer of small-budget but stylish horror movies. James Carreras, son of Enrique, presided over Hammer's famous repertory group of horror directors, writers, actors, editors, production designers, and composers, bringing his son Michael into the fold as a producer in the 1960s alongside William Hinds's son, Tony.
Though a small company with a modest studio at Bray, Hammer proved to be successful enough by the 1960s to attract the interests of Hollywood, and studios such as 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and MGM made deals with the House of Horror to coproduce films and distribute them in the U.S. Taking advantage of these deals, Hammer sought to maximize profits and diversify their output by increasing budgets and branching out into other genres. She, released in 1965, proved a successful foray into a new direction for Hammer, though Michael Carreras soon grew leery of the increased budgets that accompanied his studio's change in course.
She, H. Rider Haggard's story of a lost world in the jungles of Africa, was destined for cinema almost from the beginning. Haggard published his novel in 1887, and by 1908, a one-reeler of the story had been directed by Edwin S. Porter for Thomas Edison's company. In 1917, a longer interpretation was released by Fox Film starring forgotten actress Valeska Suratt, promoted in publicity materials as the Vampire Woman. Eight years later, an English version surfaced with Betty Blythe as the title character. Prior to Hammer's production, the most well-known interpretation of She was produced by Merian C. Cooper for RKO in 1935. Cooper changed the setting to the frozen north and cast Helen Gahagan as She in her only film role. The material was ripe for an update when Hammer took on the project in 1963.
Originally, Universal partnered with Hammer to produce She, and the project was assigned to Tony Hinds. He hired John Temple Smith to write the first draft of the script, which mirrored the original novel, but the content proved too dark and violent for Universal. Hinds had the script rewritten by Berkeley Mather, but Universal still did not warm up to the material. The project passed to Michael Carreras, who asked David T. Chantler to write another version and steer it toward an adventure tale. MGM stepped in to co-finance and coproduce, tripling the budget of the average Hammer film and making She its most expensive production to date. But MGM knew how to exploit the film, which starred Ursula Andress--famous for her turn as the bikini-clad Bond Girl walking out of the ocean in Dr. No. The posters for She featured Andress's impressive physique, and publicity took advantage of her jet-set lifestyle. She became a commercial hit on two continents.
The film opens in Palestine just after World War I. Three adventure-loving war buddies, Leo Vincey, Holly, and Holly's valet, Job, are enjoying themselves in a bar when a sultry local named Ustane approaches them. Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing plays Holly with his typical charisma and charm, while Bernard Cribbins complements him as his right-hand man Job--a fitting name for a character who is defined by his devotion to his employer. John Richardson costars as leading man Leo Vincey, though he lacks the magnetism of Cushing. Unknown to the men, Ustane secretly serves She, called Ayesha, and the young maiden recognizes Vincey as the reincarnation of her queen's long-dead lover, Kallikrates. Ayesha had murdered Kallikrates 2,000 years earlier for being unfaithful to her, but she pines for him regardless.
Based on Ustane's story, the trio is lured by the idea of a quest for a lost civilization and set out on a journey across the desert. They soon discover they are lost, though they are not without the creature comforts of the upper-crust adventurer. Job the valet, who never forgets his place, serves Holly and Leo their whiskey despite the dire circumstances. The trio reunites with Ustane in her desert village, where her father rules a lost tribe who guard the entrance to Kuma, Ayesha's kingdom. The three adventurers enter Kuma, which had been the scheming queen's long-term plan all along. Ustane has fallen in love with Leo, but Leo has become entranced by Ayesha, known variously as She Who Waits and She Who Must Be Obeyed. Ayesha wants Leo to step into her eternal flame so the two can be united for all eternity, but her priest, Billali, played by Hammer legend Christopher Lee, is jealous of the newcomer. A beautiful but selfish despot, Ayesha does not care about her subjects, including Ustane. She foolishly executes several of her subjects, causing an uprising and complicating the situation for the adventurers.
She was the first film from Hammer to be built around a female star. Tall and statuesque, Ursula Andress was a perfect choice to play Ayesha, though in retrospect she claims to have disliked the role. Andress has been criticized by reviewers for her icy demeanor and aloof detachment, but these characteristics proved beneficial for playing the steely-eyed Ayesha. Costumed in a selection of warm-colored, Grecian-styled gowns and gold jewelry, she glows onscreen, partly due to the flattering, high-key lighting of cinematographer Harry Waxman. Born in Switzerland to German parents, the exotic-looking beauty spoke with an accent, which Hammer's producers found too distracting. Andress's entire role was then re-voiced and dubbed over by an actress named Monica Van Der Syl, who mimicked a slight Swiss accent so audiences did not suspect the truth. John Richardson's lines were also dubbed in post-production by the actor himself, perhaps to give his line readings an added emphasis, since he tended to be overshadowed by Cushing and Lee.
The large budget for She is apparent on screen in the effective location shooting. Instead of the original jungle setting of the novel, writer David T. Chantler opted for a Middle Eastern background. The production shot for two weeks in Israel's Negev desert and then returned to England to shoot the interiors. Hammer's modest Bray Studio proved too small for the scale of the lavish Kuma sets, so the production set up at Elstree Studios. The authentic desert scenes gave She an epic quality not associated with Hammer's stylish but intimate horror films.
She did propel Hammer in a new direction, launching its so-called Hammer Glamour films of the 1960s, which starred or spotlighted female characters. A sequel, The Vengeance of She, was released in 1968, starring Olinka Berova in the starring role. It was yet another Hammer adventure tale with a sexy female lead that quickly outshone Andress and She at the box office. Released in 1966, One Million Years B.C. starred Raquel Welch in a role that propelled her to stardom and created one of the most memorable movie posters of the 1960s. Hammer would continue to place emphasis on women characters into the 1970s, but, just as Michael Carreras predicted, the big budgets that allowed for the location work in She and One Million Years B.C. quickly evaporated. Due to changes in tax laws and industry financing, American studios pulled out of British coproduction deals in the late 1960s, leaving Hammer with higher budgets and higher financial expectations from unions.
The 2015 HUNKY JESUS CONTEST with THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE !
A MUSCLE-BOUND, diaper clad, HUNKY JESUS carrying his toy Easter bunnies, two baby bottles filled with milk, and sucking on a pacifier waddled up on stage much to the delight of Sister ROMA and the crowd. Everyone went in to a wild uproar when he squirted his bottle of milk all over his golden tan, rippled muscled beautiful body a la Flashdance. Milk really do a body good...BABY JESUS won the title of 2015 HUNKY JESUS CONTEST!
The sexy lanky ROLLER DISCO JESUS stunned the crowed with his roller skating antics on stage, ok it was his tight muscled body in a white disco jumpsuit which was ripped open in just the right places !
The EXORCIST JESUS also got the audience howling with his Dr. Frankenfurter black lace , neglige outfit and 6-inch black platform boots.
Afterwards, HUNKY, MUSCLE-BOUND BABY JESUS was pulled aside by tons of people for a photo-op !
+++++
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The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale that was published by Nouvelles Galeries of Rouen.
Although the card was not posted, a man named Sam has written a recipient's name on the right of the divided back of the card:
Miss D. Peachey.
On the left, they wrote:
"12 - 11 - 1917.
Best wishes.
Yours ever,
Sam".
It is highly likely that Sam was serving on the Western Front during the Great War, and that the card was sent in an addressed envelope via the British Army Post Office.
The British Army Postal Service
During the Great War, the British Army Postal Service despatched over two billion letters and cards. Assuming an average length of 6 inches, if they were laid end to end they would stretch for 189,394 miles (304,800km) - that's over seven and a half times round the Earth's equator.
The Great War lasted for 1,567 days, therefore the Postal Service were kept busy handling an average of over 1¼ million pieces of mail every day of the war's duration.
Jeanne d'Arc
Jeanne d'Arc, or Joan of Arc (c. 1412 – 30th. May 1431) was nicknamed 'The Maid of Orléans' (French: 'La Pucelle d'Orléans'). She is a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, and was canonized as a Catholic saint.
She was born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family, at Domrémy in the Vosges of northeast France.
Late in the Hundred Years' War, Joan claimed to have received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination.
The as-yet-unanointed King Charles VII sent Joan to the Siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's consecration at Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory at Castillon in 1453.
On the 23rd. May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundian faction, a group of French nobles allied with the English. She was later handed over to the English and put on trial by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake in May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age.
In 1456, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. In the 16th. century she became a symbol of the Catholic League, and in 1803 she was declared a national symbol of France by Napoleon Bonaparte.
She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Joan of Arc is one of the nine secondary patron saints of France, along with Saint Denis, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Louis, Saint Michael, Saint Rémi, Saint Petronilla, Saint Radegund and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
Joan of Arc has remained a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, playwrights, filmmakers, artists, and composers have created, and continue to create, cultural depictions of her.
Rouen
Rouen is a city on the River Seine in northern France, and is relatively close to the English Channel. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population of the metropolitan area is 702,945 (2018). People from Rouen are known as Rouennais.
“Upon approaching Rouen one is sure to be struck
by the insolent daring of its situation. Lying on a
sloping plain beside the river, it seems to disdain the
well-nigh impregnable site afforded by the steep cliffs
which rise just to the northeast.
The history of the city bears out the audacity of its
location. Through all the centuries, its inhabitants
concerned themselves so continuously in conquering
other peoples that little time was left in which to
consider the security of their own homes.”
-- Charles Hitchcock Sherrill, Stained Glass Tours in France (1908).
Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy during the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th. to the 15th. centuries.
From the 13th. century onwards, the city experienced a remarkable economic boom, thanks in particular to the development of textile factories and river trade. Claimed by both the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War, it was in Rouen that Joan of Arc was tried and burned alive.
Severely damaged by a wave of bombing in 1944, Rouen nevertheless regained its economic dynamism in the post-war period thanks to its industrial sites and busy seaport, which is the fifth largest in France.
Endowed with a prestige established during the medieval era, and with a long architectural heritage in its historical monuments, Rouen is an important cultural capital. Several renowned establishments are located here, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Secq des Tournelles Museum, and Rouen Cathedral.
“Perhaps the most characteristic feature of Rouen
when viewed from a distance is the great number
of its spires that shoot up above the housetops,
earning for it the sobriquet of the City of Churches.”
-- Charles Hitchcock Sherrill, Stained Glass Tours in France (1908).
Sadly not all of those churches are still there because of the ravages of war.
Seat of an archdiocese, Rouen also hosts a court of appeal and a university. Every four to six years, Rouen becomes the showcase for a large gathering of sailing ships called "L'Armada"; this event makes the city an occasional capital of the maritime world.
Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral was commenced in the 12th. Century on the site of an earlier structure. It has a Roman crypt.
The Butter Tower dates from the 16th. century. The name of the Tour de Beurre comes from the fact that butter was banned during Lent, and those who wished to carry on eating it had to donate 6 Deniers Tournois towards the building of the tower. Practically everyone in Rouen must have carried on eating butter in order to fund a tower like that!
The Victorian cast-iron Lantern Tower in the centre of the building made the cathedral the tallest building in the world from 1876 until 1880, when it was overtaken by Cologne Cathedral.
The Lantern Tower was designed by the architect Jean-Antoine Alavoine who proposed the use of cast iron, a modern material for the time, because it was less combustible than wood, and lighter than stone. The Lantern Tower took 50 years to construct. The 151 metre height of the spire still makes Rouen Cathedral the tallest cathedral in France.
The presence of a lantern tower at the crossing of the transept is a frequent feature in churches in Normandy (St. Ouen in Rouen, and Bayeux) and in England (Gloucester, Salisbury, and Winchester).
The lantern is in a bulge in the ironwork near the top of the spire, which is surmounted by a weathercock.
The Cathedral holds the heart of Richard the Lionheart. His bowels were buried within the church of the Château de Châlus-Chabrol in the Limousin. The cathedral seems to have got the better end of that particular deal!
Claude Monet painted a series of studies of the cathedral's façade 1894. Roy Lichtenstein also made a series of pictures of the front of the building.
The Cathedral has had to put up with a lot of wilful destruction during its lifetime:
- The Calvinists damaged much of what they could easily reach during the religious wars of the 16th. Century - the furniture, tombs, stained glass and statuary.
- The French State nationalised the building in the 18th. Century, and sold some of its furniture and statues to make money. The chapel fences were melted down to make guns.
- In WW2 the Cathedral was first bombed in 1944, taking 7 bombs. The bombs narrowly missed destroying a key pillar of the Lantern Tower, but damaged most of the south aisle, and destroyed two medieval rose windows. One of the bombs was fortunately a dud and failed to explode.
- As a consequence of a subsequent WW II bombing, the north tower, on the left of the façade, was entirely burned. During the fire the stonework calcified and the bells melted, leaving molten metal on the floor. The cathedral is still being restored after the extensive damage incurred during World War II.
Also, during the violent storm of December 1999, a copper-clad wooden turret weighing 26 tons fell into the Cathedral and damaged the choir and the stalls. The three other turrets were removed for maintenance and safety purposes before being replaced in 2012.
The Execution of Jeanne d'Arc
Jeanne d'Arc was executed not far from the Cathedral in the Vieux-Marché on Wednesday the 30th. May 1431.
The famous depiction of 19 year old Joan of Arc's execution showing her on top of a pile of wood and straw is wrong.
The site for her execution comprised a stake at the centre of a large ring of wood, with a gap left for Joan to be led to the stake. Once she was tied to the stake and the gap closed, she was hidden from sight.
One authority has suggested that her body would have burnt in the following sequence: calves, thighs and hands, torso and forearms, breasts, upper chest and face.
However in all likelihood she would have died from heatstroke, loss of blood plasma and carbon dioxide poisoning before the fire attacked the upper parts of her body.
After Jeanne had expired, the English exposed her charred body so that no-one could claim that she had escaped alive, then burned her body twice more to reduce it to ashes in order to prevent the collection of relics.
They then cast her remains into the Seine.
A modern church now stands on the site of her execution.
Walter Yeo
So what else happened on the day that Sam wrote the card?
Well, Monday the 12th. November 1917 was the date of a pioneering cosmetic surgery operation on Walter Yeo.
Walter Ernest O'Neil Yeo, who was born on the 20th. October 1890, was an English sailor in the Great War, who is thought to have been one of the first people to benefit from advanced cosmetic surgery, namely a skin flap.
Walter Yeo - The Early Years
Yeo was born in Plymouth, Devon, to Petty Officer Francis Yeo and his wife Rhoda Sarah Yeo (née Jarman). He had two elder sisters, Adelaide and Elsie.
Three weeks after his birth, his father was killed aboard HMS Serpent while en route to Sierra Leone, after hitting rocks off Cape Vilan, Spain. Only three of the 150 people on board survived the shipwreck.
Walter's mother was later an ale-maker at the Royal William Victualling Yard.
Yeo's Service in the Royal Navy
Yeo enlisted into the navy aged 12, serving as a bugler until 1911. He was promoted to leading seaman in 1912, becoming a petty officer in 1915 and a warrant officer in June 1917.
Yeo's Injuries
Yeo was wounded on the 31st. May 1916, during the Battle of Jutland, while manning the guns aboard the battleship HMS Warspite.
Walter sustained terrible facial injuries, including the loss of upper and lower eyelids. There is some uncertainty as to where he was first admitted to hospital, due to poor documentation. However, he is known to have been initially admitted to Plymouth Hospital while waiting for a place at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, which was granted on the 8th. August 1917.
Walter was treated at Queen Mary's by Sir Harold Gillies, the first man to transfer skin from undamaged areas on the body. Gillies' notes on this case indicate that the main disfigurement was severe ectropion as well as waxy scar tissue of the forehead and nose.
Gillies opened a specialist ward at Queen Mary's Hospital for the treatment of the facially-wounded. Yeo is thought to have been one of the first patients to be treated with this newly developed technique; a form of skin transplantation called a 'tubed pedicle' flap.
Aftermath of the Surgery
During the long process of sequential operations, a 'mask' of skin was transplanted across Yeo's face and eyes, including new eyelids.
The operation to replace the skin of the midface and forehead took place in multiple stages. The first stage was the outlining of the graft as well as placement of a stent to contour for the nasal dorsum on the 12th. November 1917.
On post-operative day five, a serious infection was noted as well as complications with the stent requiring surgical intervention. On the 30th. November, the second stage of the surgery was performed; this consisted of excision of the scar tissue of the face and transfer of the graft.
Again, post-operative infection was a major complication. Gillies described the flap as "floating in pus at one point". This required extensive care to salvage most of the tissue.
In January 1918, the pedicles were returned to the chest with the surgery deemed a success. Minor revisions were performed in the following months to improve the aesthetics of the graft.
By July 1919, Walter was found to be fit for active service again, and was recorded as having completed courses in September 1919.
He underwent a further operation in August 1921, after which his disfigurement was recorded as "improved, but still severe", and he was recommended for medical discharge, which took place on the 15th. December 1921.
Yeo later received further treatment for a corneal ulcer at the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth in 1938.
Personal Life and Death of Walter Yeo
Yeo married Ada Edwards in 1914, and had two daughters with her: Lilian Evelyn Yeo, born on the 21st. October 1914, and Doreen Y. Yeo, born in 1919.
Walter died at the age of 70 in his hometown, Plymouth, where he had spent the majority of his life, in 1960.
'Disabled' by Wilfred Owen
'Disabled' is a Great War poem written by Wilfred Owen in 1917. It expresses the tormented thoughts and recollections of a teenage soldier who has lost his limbs in battle, and is now confined to a wheelchair. Here it is:
'He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.
About this time Town used to swing so gay
When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees,
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,—
In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
Now he will never feel again how slim
Girls' waists are, or how warm their subtle hands,
All of them touch him like some queer disease.
There was an artist silly for his face,
For it was younger than his youth, last year.
Now, he is old; his back will never brace;
He's lost his colour very far from here,
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.
One time he liked a blood-smear down his leg,
After the matches carried shoulder-high.
It was after football, when he'd drunk a peg,
He thought he'd better join. He wonders why.
Someone had said he'd look a god in kilts.
That's why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,
He asked to join. He didn't have to beg;
Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years.
Germans he scarcely thought of, all their guilt,
And Austria's, did not move him. And no fears
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.
Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul.
Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes,
And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.
Tonight he noticed how the women's eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don't they come
And put him into bed? Why don't they come?'