Kylemore Abbey (Mainistir na Coille Móire) is a Benedictine monastery founded in 1920 on the grounds of Kylemore Castle, in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. The abbey was founded for Benedictine Nuns who fled Belgium in World War I. The current Mother Abbess of the Benedictine Community is Máire Hickey.

Moritzburg Castle (Schloss Moritzburg) or Moritzburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg, in the German state of Saxony, about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden.

The castle has four round towers and lies on a symmetrical artificial island. It is named after Duke Moritz of Saxony, who had a hunting lodge built there between 1542 and 1546. The surrounding woodlands and lakes were a favourite hunting area of the electors and kings of Saxony.

In 1972 Moritzburg Castle was one of the locations of the Czechoslovak-German film Tři oříšky pro Popelku ("Three Nuts for Cinderella"), which became a popular fairy-tale movie in Central Europe.

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.

The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is egg-shaped and about 430 hectares in size.

The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (meaning "Brugge aan Zee" or "Bruges on Sea").

The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of which around 20,000 live in the historic centre.

Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".

The church Saint Elisabeth is the Catholic parish church of Eisenach. It was built after approval of the Grand Duke Carl Alexander in the years from 1886 to 1888 after plans of the Kasseler architects Hugo Schneider in the neo-Gothic style.

Church patroness is holy Elisabeth, landgravine of Thuringia whose life is closely connected with Eisenach and Wartburg. The Marburger Elisabethkirche – above all their tower form – was a model for the a lot of smaller Eisenacher construction.

In Eisenach which belongs to the heartland of the Reformation there had been more than three centuries no Catholics.

Only about 1840 a small municipality had originated from immigration for which on the property of the today's Elisabethkirche a small oratory could be established and be celebrated in the feast day of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, the 19th of November, 1844, the first holy mass.

The Tüshaus mill is a water mill near Dorsten-Deuten in North Rhine-Westphalia. The mill is located on the southern edge of the forest area of Üfter Mark, where the water of the Hammbach River from Rhade is stowed to the mill pond.

The history of the Tüshaus-Hof, to which the mill belongs, can be traced back to 1382. The lords of Lembeck, who held the water law in their territory, leased a whale mill driven by the water of the Hammbach in 1615 to a certain Mr. Tuschhaus.

However, the mill was not the first building on this site, as it was built on older foundations. Sheep were mainly kept in the extensive heathland surrounding the area. The wool was rolled in the Tüshaus mill by a hammer mill and sold as felt material to the region's cloth makers for further processing. The billing books include customers from Wesel, Recklinghausen, Westerholt, Dülmen, Münster and Dinxperlo.

The mill had already been increased in 1752 and expanded by a second mill wheel, so that since 1754 it also served the tenant Joan-Heinrich Tüshaus as an oil mill. The oil was obtained mainly from the rapeseed and linseed of the surrounding fields. In 1880 Albert Brosthaus was the Ölmüller, followed by Dumpe and Schetter. The old plants of the oil mill were replaced in 1914 by a modern hydraulic oil mill, which pressed the oil out of the seeds with 350 atü. The operation of the oil mill was discontinued around 1948 for economic reasons.

Cushendun (from Irish Cois Abhann Duinne, meaning 'beside the River Dun') is a small coastal village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits off the A2 coast road between Cushendall and Ballycastle. It has a sheltered harbour and lies at the mouth of the River Dun and Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim. The Mull of Kintyre in Scotland is only about 15 miles away across the North Channel and can be seen easily on clear days. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 138 people.

It is part of Causeway Coast and Glens district.

The nearby hamlet of Knocknacarry is located approximately 0.6 miles to the west.

Cushendun village, was designed for Ronald McNeill, the Conservative MP and author later Lord Cushendun in the style of a Cornish village by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis. He is buried in the Church of Ireland graveyard near his nationalist cousin Ada or Ide McNeill, Roger Casement's friend and admirer who died in 1959.

Since 1954 most of the village and the parkland around Glenmona to the north has been owned by the National Trust. Cushendun's picturesque coastal setting in the heart of the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, together with its architectural inheritance, resulted in designation as a Conservation area in 1980.

The nearby caves of Cushendun have been used as backdrop in the series Game of Thrones.

The Henrichenburg boat lift facilitates a change in elevation of the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal in Waltrop-Oberwiese. The boat lift is part of the Waltrop Lock Park (Schleusenpark), which includes the old Henrichenburg boat lift built in 1899, a disused shaft lock from 1912, the new boat lift built in 1962 and a modern ship lock from 1989.

The Henrichenburg boat lift is a popular destination for cyclists along the canals of the northern Ruhr Area.

The old boat lift was opened in 1899. It was an important structure on the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal without which it would not have been possible to navigate to Dortmund Port. The lift was the biggest and most spectacular structure on the old Dortmund-Ems-Kanal. It was inaugurated by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 11 August 1899.

This technically very interesting construction managed to lift approximately 1000 tonnes of ship and water filled trough using a relatively small amount of power. The trough was supported by 5 cylindrical floats each immersed in 40 metre deep water-filled wells. The lift from the floats was the same as the load of the water filled trough therefore, only a small electric motor sufficient to overcome friction and viscous resistance was needed to set the trough in motion in either direction. Four steel worm gears, 20 metres long and 280 mm in diameter were used to direct the trough in the appropriate course.

The old lift was closed shortly after the opening of the new lift. A year later in 1963 an attempt was made to restart the old lift. It was found that the trough had tilted and that it could no longer be moved into either the fully up or fully down positions. The lift remains in this condition today and is conserved as part of a museum.

Aasleagh (in Irish Eas Liath) is the name of an Irish waterfall in the northern Connemara. He becomes by the river Erriff (Ir. In Oirimh) fed and is shortly before the mouth of the river in the Killary fjord northeast of the place Leenaun on the border of the counties Galway and Mayo. The name decreases to the originally Irish naming Eas Liath. Eas is the waterfall and liath the colour calls grey, translates „grey waterfall“.

The Aasleagh waterfall was exact like the place Leenaun, the film scenery for the film rotated in 1990 "The Field" with Richard Harris.

Aasleagh is under the spectacles of nature Connemaras a popular photo motive for the visitors. near the waterfall Lodge, a country house from the 18th century which is pursued today by the regional fishing management as fishing lodge is Aasleagh. The waters of the Erriff are famous for her salmons.

After the Ulster cycle of the Irish mythology should have disappeared both favorite horses of the hero Cú Chulainn, Liath Macha and Dub Sainglenn, from which Linn Liaith („grey pool“) appeared and after his death again in it. – argumentative – localisation associates this place with the Eas Liath.

balloon trip morning over Rajasthan

The Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces form a historical building complex in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which has been listed as a UNESCO cultural World Heritage Site since 1984. The buildings are connected by the spacious gardens and trees of the Schlosspark. Augustusburg Palace (German: Schloss Augustusburg) and its parks also serve as a venue for the Brühl Palace Concerts. The Max Ernst Museum is located nearby.

Falkenlust hunting lodge was designed by François de Cuvilliés and built from 1729 to 1740, in the style of the Amalienburg hunting lodge in the park of Nymphenburg Palace.

From shortly after World War II until 1994, Augustusburg was used as a reception hall for guests of state by the German President, as it is not far from Bonn, which was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany at that time.

Fatehpur Sikri is a city and a municipal board in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city was founded in 1569 by the Mughal emperor Akbar, and served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585.

After his military victories over Chittor and Ranthambore, Akbar decided to shift his capital from Agra to a new location 37 km W.S.W on the Sikri ridge, to honor the Sufi saint Salim Chishti. Here he commenced the construction of a planned walled city which took the next fifteen years in planning and construction of a series of royal palaces, harem, courts, a mosque, private quarters and other utility buildings. He named the city, Fatehabad, with Fateh, a word of Arabic origin in Persian, meaning "victory." it was later called Fatehpur Sikri. It is at Fatehpur Sikri that the legends of Akbar and his famed courtiers, the nine jewels or Navaratnas, were born.

Fatehpur Sikri is one of the best preserved collections of Mughal architecture in India.

Kyritz is a town in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 28 km west of Neuruppin and 28 km southeast of Pritzwalk.

The town is situated near the Kyritzer Seenkette, a chain of lakes. The town is nicknamed "Kyritz an der Knatter" (Kyritz at the Rattle). The noise of numerous water mills along a stream parallel to the river Jäglitz was the reason for this nickname. This river channel does not exist anymore.

The town includes the districts Berlitt, Bork, Drewen, Gantikow, Ganz, Holzhausen, Kötzlin, Lellichow, Mechow, Rehfeld and Teetz.

Kyritz is the hometown of the fictive comic detective Nick Knatterton.

The stream that runs through a stretch of the city

This photo shows in Old Montreal the Marché Bonsecours, inaugurated in 1847, Marché Bonsecours is acknowledged as one of Canada's ten finest heritage buildings and has become an essential stop on any visit to Old Montréal.

The castle Romrod is a castle arrangement in Romrod near Alsfeld in theVogelsbergkreis in Hessen. The arrangement decreases to an older water castle of Messrs. von Romrod which originated probably in the 12th century. Later she fell to the landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt who allowed to alter the castle to a hunting seat.

The first documentary mention Romrods is given from 1197 when in a document of the cloister of Fulda under abbot Heinrich III. of Kronberg Ludwig of Rumerot appears as a witness of a manors transference. The ministerial gender presumably belonged to the followers of the landgraves of Thuringia, however, is testified also in the Fuldaer sphere.

The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a small pelican found in the Americas. It is one of the best known and most prominent birds found in the coastal areas of the southern and western United States. It is one of only 3 pelican species found in the Western Hemisphere. The Brown Pelican is only one of the two pelican species which feeds by diving into the water.

The Brown Pelican the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is 106–137 cm in length, weighs from 2.75 to 5.5 kg and has a wingspan from 1.83 to 2.5 m. Through most of its range, the brown pelican is an unmistakable bird. Like all pelicans, this species has a very large bill, 28 to 34.8 cm long in this case, with a gular pouch on the bottom for draining water when it scoops out prey. The head is white but often gets a yellowish wash in adult birds. The bill is grayish overall in most birds, though breeding birds become reddish on the underside of the throat. The back, rump, and tail are streaked with gray and dark brown, sometimes with a rusty hue. In adult pelicans, the breast and belly are a blackish-brown and the legs and feet are black. The juvenile is similar but has a brownish-gray neck and white underparts.

This bird is readily distinguished from the American White Pelican by its non-white plumage, smaller size and its habit of diving for fish from the air, as opposed to co-operative fishing from the surface. The Peruvian Pelican, previously considered a subspecies of Brown Pelican, is now considered to be a separate species. It has very similar plumage to the Brown, but it is noticeably larger. The Brown and Peruvian pelicans may overlap in some areas along the Pacific coast of South America.

Marblehead MA. The town is a coastal community of 19,808 residents located 18 miles north of Boston, Marblehead is famous for its unsurpassed contributions to the American Revolution and Civil War. Today, its quaint narrow streets and historic 17th and 18th Century buildings mirror Marblehead as it has existed since its founding in 1629.

Monschau (French: Montjoie, Walloon: Mondjoye) is a small resort town in the Eifel region of western Germany, located in the district Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia.

On the heights above the city is Monschau castle, which dates back to the 13th century — the first mention of Monschau was made in 1198. Beginning in 1433, the castle was used as a seat of the dukes of Jülich. In 1543, Emperor Charles V besieged it as part of the Geldern Feud, captured it and plundered the town. However, the castle stayed with Jülich until 1609, when it became part of Palatinate-Neuburg.

In 1795, the French captured the area and, under the name Montjoie, made it the capital of a canton of the Roer département. After the area became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815, Monschau became the district capital of the Kreis Montjoie.

During World War I, some people argued that Monschau (or "Montjoie" as it was then still called) should be annexed to Belgium since they believed it historically to be a Walloon area that had been Germanized by the Prussians.

In 1918, William II, German Emperor, changed the name to Monschau. In 1972, the town was enlarged with the previous independent municipalities of Höfen, Imgenbroich, Kalterherberg, Konzen, Mützenich and Rohren. Mützenich, to the west of the town center, is an exclave of German territory surrounded by Belgium. It is separated from Germany by a railroad line that was assigned to Belgium by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Für mich persönlich einer der schönsten Wasserfälle in der gesamten Region.

In 2011, the two hard cast iron bells of 1924 reached their material-typical end and had to be taken out of operation. As a replacement, Luther and Peace Bell were now re-cast in bronze. In addition, there was also the restoration of the Patriotic Bell, whose crown was broken off in 2010 by a clapper demolition of the women's bell hanging above it, as well as the low mood of the Patriotic Bell by half a half-tone to better fit it into the overall sound.

The water castle Gemen is in the Münsterland, in the former swamp area of the Bocholt Aa an smal creek. Although the name suggests otherwise, it is today at a palace. His former Castle Square is today Borkener - Gemen district.

The castle was built from the gradual rebuilding of more than 900 years old water castle which was built by the nobles of Gemen, one of the most influential Westphalian nobility of his time. It stands on two islands that are surrounded by an extensive systems of chanels. The palace was the center of the rule Gemen.

Created from a number of bracketed exposures.

Little Italy located just south of historic downtown Troy on 4th Street from Ida to Division Streets.

Carrowmore (Irish: An Cheathrú Mhór, 'the great quarter') is a large group of megalithic monuments on the Coolera Peninsula to the west of Sligo, Ireland. They were built in the 4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic (New Stone Age).

There are thirty surviving tombs, making Carrowmore one of the largest clusters of megalithic tombs in Ireland, and one of the 'big four' along with Carrowkeel, Loughcrew and Brú na Bóinne. Carrowmore is the heart of an ancient ritual landscape which is dominated by the mountain of Knocknarea to the west. It is a protected National Monument.

Placed on a small plateau at an altitude of between 36.5 and 59 metres above sea level Carrowmore is the focal point of a prehistoric ritual landscape which is dominated by the mountain of Knocknarea to the west with the great cairn of Miosgán Médhbh on top. To the east, in Carns townland, two large cairns overlook Lough Gill, and along the eastern boundary of the peninsula the Ballygawley Mountains have four passage tombs at their peaks.

Radiocarbon dates from the survey and excavation project in the 1970s, 80s and 90s by Professor Göran Bürenhult generated some controversy at the time, as Burenhult interpreted the dates to indicate that the monuments were erected and used by a hunter gatherer community.

For example, a sample taken from the chamber of Carrowmore 3 was claimed to indicate a date of 5400 BC. Burenhult's theory of Mesolithic tomb builders, first presented in 1982, received critical revision in the quarter century that followed. A source critical review and 25 new radiocarbon dates demonstrated that the Carrowmore monuments are shown to have spanned the era circa 3750 BC to circa 3000 BC. This data set is supported by palaeo-environmental studies in adjacent lakes conducted by Stolze, O'Connell, Ghilardi and others, showing farming activity coincident with or preceding monument use.

After my accident with my HD I have not been abel to shoot new photos. So when I don't have anything to show you I'm not so active here. Hopefully my love for Flickr will return again soon when I get some new photos to work with on my own.

Happy Halloween to you who celebrate this day.

And have a great weekend all...

Gelnhausen is a town and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one of the eleven towns (urban municipalities) in the district. Gelnhausen has around 22,000 inhabitants.

Gelnhausen was founded by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1170, it is therefore nicknamed "Barbarossastadt". The place was chosen because it was at the intersection of the Via Regia imperial road between Frankfurt and Leipzig and several other major trade routes. Frederick had three villages connected by streets and surrounded by a wall. At the same time Gelnhausen received town privileges and a Kaiserpfalz was erected on an island of the Kinzig river. The emperor also granted trade privileges like the staple right which forced traveling merchants to offer their goods in the town for three days.

According to the Institut Géographique National from 1 January 2007 until July 2013 the geographic centre of the European Union was located on a wheat field outside the town.

Gelnhausen is located on the German Fairy Tale Route, a tourist route.

The lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed in an eruption 84000 years ago. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing".

Tolimán is a stratovolcano in Guatemala, on the southern shores of Lago de Atitlán. The volcano has an elevation of 3,158 m (10,361 ft) and was formed near the southern margin of the Pleistocene Atitlán III caldera. The top of the volcano has a shallow crater and its flanks are covered with the thick remains of ancient lavas flows that emerged from vents in the volcano's flanks. A parasitic lava dome, known as Cerro de Oro, was formed on the volcano's northern flank, which may have erupted a few thousand years ago.

The social flycatcher (Myiozetetes similis) is a passerine bird from the Americas, a member of the large tyrant flycatcher family (Tyrannidae).

It is sometimes split into two species with the social flycatcher, Myiozetetes texensis, from Costa Rica northwards to Mexico and the vermilion-crowned flycatcher, M. similis proper, from southwest Costa Rica across South America.

In appearance, the social flycatcher resembles a smaller boat-billed flycatcher or great kiskadee. The adult is 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) long and weighs 24–27 g (0.85–0.95 oz). The head is dark grey with a strong white eyestripe and a usually concealed orange to vermilion crown stripe. The upperparts are olive-brown, and the wings and tail are brown with only faint rufous fringes. The underparts are yellow and the throat is white. Young birds have a paler eye mask, reduced crown stripe, and have chestnut fringes to the wing and tail feathers. The call is a sharp peeurrr and the dawn song is a chips-k’-cheery.

Dunseverick Castle is situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, near the small village of Dunseverick and the Giant's Causeway. Dunseverick Castle and earthworks are Scheduled Historic Monuments.

Dunseverick Castle and the peninsula on which it stands were given to the National Trust in 1962 by local farmer Jack McCurdy. The Causeway Cliff Path also runs past on its way to Dunseverick Harbour to the east and to the Giant's Causeway to the west.

Saint Patrick is recorded as having visited Dunseverick castle in the 5th century AD, where he baptized Olcán, a local man who later became a Bishop of Ireland.[2] The original stone fort that occupied the position was attacked by Viking raiders in 870 AD.

In the later part of the 6th century AD, this was the seat of Fergus Mor MacEirc (Fergus the Great). Fergus was King of Dalriada and great-uncle of the High King of Ireland, Muirceartaigh (Murtagh) MacEirc. It is the 500 AD departure point from Ireland of the Lia Fail or coronation stone. Murtagh loaned it to Fergus for the latter's coronation in western Scotland part of which Fergus had settled as his sea-kingdom expanded.

The O'Cahan family held it from circa 1000 AD to circa 1320 AD, then regained it in the mid 16th century. Last one to have the castle was Giolla Dubh Ó Catháin, who left it in 1657 to settle in the Craig/Lisbellanagroagh area. Post 1660 they use the anglicised name McCain/O'Kane.

The castle was captured and destroyed by General Robert Munro in 1642 and his Cromwellian troops in the 1650s, and today only the ruins of the gatelodge remain. A small residential tower survived until 1978 when it eventually surrendered to the sea below.

It was a 'key' ancient site in Ireland. One of the five great royal highways, or slighe of ancient Ireland, Slige Midluachra, had its terminal point at Dunseverick castle, running from here to Emain Macha and further to Tara and the fording point on the Liffey at what is now Dublin.

Chiwa is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Region, Uzbekistan. According to archaeological data, the city was established in the beginning of the Christian era. It is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Chiwa. Itchan Kala in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List (1991).

The Islom-Hoja Minaret at Khiva is the tallest, 57m tall minaret, in Uzbekistan. Most of Chiwa's monuments are hundreds of years younger than those in Bukhara and Samarkand.

Islam-Hoja Minaret was built in 1908 by Islam-Hoja of the Prime Minister of Khan. The minaret is a symbol of the country, is an early example of the architecture of the XIV century. The construction was completed in 1910. The tapered shape makes up more slender minaret and strength. The famous Kalyan Minaret is inferior to the height of Islam-Khoja Minaret. Its height is 56 meters and a base diameter is 9.5 meters. Trunk of the minaret is made of bricks, decorated with white and blue tiles made of glazed ceramic.

Islam-Khoja Minaret is the tallest structure in Khiva, visible from anywhere in the city. After rising to the top of the minaret, you will see the most beautiful panorama of the eastern fairy tale city Khiva.

The Prussian Class P 8 steam locomotive (here 38 2267 Build 1918) of the Prussian state railways (DRG Class 38.10-40 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn) was built from 1906 onwards by the Berliner Maschinenbau (previously Schwartzkopff) and the Linke-Hofmann factory in Breslau by Robert Garbe. It was intended as a successor to the Prussian P6, which was regarded as unsatisfactory.

The door is closed.

This picture depicts the Bierder windmill in Bierde a borough of Petershagen in the Mindener County. The windmill was constructed in 1802.The Windmill is a part of the "Westfälische Mühlenstraße".

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though it has never been the geographic center of the federal district, the Capitol is the origin by which both the quadrants of the District are divided and the city was planned. Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts." Historically, however, only the east front of the building was intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries.

Minh Mạng (25 May 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu) was the second emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from 14 February 1820 until his death, on 20 January 1841. He was the fourth son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Crown Prince Cảnh, had died in 1801. He was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam and his rigid Confucian orthodoxy.

The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York.

The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna. The Empire State Building was the world's tallest building until the first tower of the World Trade Center was topped out in 1970; following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was New York City's tallest building until it was surpassed in 2012 by One World Trade Center. As of 2022, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 54th-tallest in the world, and the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas.

The building's Art Deco architecture, height, and observation decks have made it a popular attraction. Around four million tourists from around the world annually visit the building's 86th- and 102nd-floor observatories; an additional indoor observatory on the 80th floor opened in 2019. The Empire State Building is an international cultural icon: it has been featured in more than 250 television series and films since the film King Kong was released in 1933.

The building's size has become the global standard of reference to describe the height and length of other structures. A symbol of New York City, the building has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was ranked first on the American Institute of Architects' List of America's Favorite Architecture in 2007. Additionally, the Empire State Building and its ground-floor interior were designated city landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1980, and were added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Windmill in bad weather

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though it has never been the geographic center of the federal district, the Capitol is the origin by which both the quadrants of the District are divided and the city was planned. Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts." Historically, however, only the east front of the building was intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries.

The Registan was the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand of the Timurid dynasty, now in Uzbekistan. The name Rēgistan means "Sandy place" or "desert" 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 madrasahs of the Registan are: the Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1417–1420), the Tilya-Kori Madrasah (1646–1660) and the Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619–1636). Madrasah is an Arabic term meaning school.

This picture depicts the castle “Burg Vondern” in Osterfeld, a borough of Oberhausen. Constructed in 1520 in the art of late Gothic period.

Monschau (French: Montjoie, Walloon: Mondjoye) is a small resort town in the Eifel region of western Germany, located in the district Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia.

On the heights above the city is Monschau castle, which dates back to the 13th century — the first mention of Monschau was made in 1198. Beginning in 1433, the castle was used as a seat of the dukes of Jülich. In 1543, Emperor Charles V besieged it as part of the Geldern Feud, captured it and plundered the town. However, the castle stayed with Jülich until 1609, when it became part of Palatinate-Neuburg.

In 1795, the French captured the area and, under the name Montjoie, made it the capital of a canton of the Roer département. After the area became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815, Monschau became the district capital of the Kreis Montjoie.

During World War I, some people argued that Monschau (or "Montjoie" as it was then still called) should be annexed to Belgium since they believed it historically to be a Walloon area that had been Germanized by the Prussians.

In 1918, William II, German Emperor, changed the name to Monschau. In 1972, the town was enlarged with the previous independent municipalities of Höfen, Imgenbroich, Kalterherberg, Konzen, Mützenich and Rohren. Mützenich, to the west of the town center, is an exclave of German territory surrounded by Belgium. It is separated from Germany by a railroad line that was assigned to Belgium by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Sailing trip

Croatia

Ranakpur is a village located in Desuri tehsil near Sadri town in the Pali district of Rajasthan in western India. It is located between Jodhpur and Udaipur, in a valley on the western side of the Aravalli Range. The Nearest Railway Station to reach Ranakpur is Falna Railway station. Ranakpur is one among the most famous places to visit in Pali, Rajasthan. Ranakpur is easily accessed by road from Udaipur.

Ranakpur is widely known for its marble Jain temple, said to be the most spectacular of the Jain temples.

Light colored marble has been used for the construction of this grand temple which occupies an area of approximately 60 x 62 meters. The temple, with its distinctive domes, shikhara, turrets and cupolas rises majestically from the slope of a hill. Over 1444 marble pillars, carved in exquisite detail, support the temple. The pillars are all differently carved and no two pillars are the same. It is also said that it is impossible to count the pillars. Also all the statues face one or the other statue. There is one beautiful carving made out of a single marble rock where there 108 heads of snakes and numerous tails. One cannot find the end of the tails. The image faces all four cardinal directions. In the axis of the main entrance, on the western side, is the largest image.

The temple is designed as chaumukha - with four faces. The construction of the temple and quadrupled image symbolize the Tirthankara's conquest of the four cardinal directions and hence the cosmos.

A nice view from Weehawken Township, New Jersey, to Manhattan on an rainy night. In front of the picture the U.S.S. Intrepid Museum.

The site contains several large temple pyramids, the tallest, in what is known as the Nohoch Mul group of structures, being some 42 metres in height or 120 steps up to the top. Nohoch Mul is the tallest pyramid on the Yucatán peninsula.