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Wat Xieng Thong is the holiest temple in Luang Prabang. It has been under royal patronage since 1560 when it was built by the great Lao King Setthathirat. It is one of only two wats to survive the 1887 Chinese Black Flag Haw invansion of Luang Prabang. Wat Xieng Thong is a typical example of the Luang Prabang style with low sweeping roofs and gold stenciled walls. One of the more unique features of this temple complex is the Red Chapel decorated with colored glass mosaics depicting scenes from everyday life.
A photo of the back of Wat Xieng Thong with its famous tree of life mosaic in colored glass on a dark red background. This is one of the best known images in modern Laos. The mosaic was crafted in 1960 by the Lao craftsmen.
Wat Xieng Thong dates back to the 16th century. King Setthathilat (1548-1571) founded it in 1560 to commemorate the memory of the Chanthaphanith, a betal merchant and the legendary first king of Luang Prabang. It is one of the most important Lao monasteries with over twenty structures on the grounds including shrines, pavilions and residences, in addition to its gardens of various flowers, ornamental shrubs and trees
Ｍｙ HomePage 『gentle*time』 & Ｍｙ photography BLOG
Please look at a lot of photographs on my homepage.
(The language is Japanese but you can see the photos.)
Another character that won't be appearing, but is a somewhat important part of JL: Overlords. Prepare yourself, his story is kinda out there.
Jor-El
Born during the height of Kryptons era of great expansion, Jor-El was one of the first to know something was wrong with Krypton. As one of Kryptons elite scientists, he had been chosen to crew one of Kryptons most important and well equipped space stations, 'Rao's hand'
From his orbit above Krypton, Jor-El could see that something terrible was happening to the planet. His instruments confirmed his suspicions when they found that Krypton was wobbling on its axis, and its core had become unstable. Naturally, he rushed back to Krypton to inform the high council of his concerns.
So, Jor-El stood before the high council and made his case. He urged them to seriously consider evacuating the planet, and resettling on one of Kryptons many colonies. They laughed at him. They dismissed his concerns by fobbing them off as 'Gravitational re-alignment'. But Jor-El new they were wrong. He had estimated that there was around 3 years until the planets core would destabilise, and cause the planet to be destroyed.
So, for three years, he planned. Eventually, he came to a conclusion: the council must be removed. Luckily, he was friends with one of Kryptons great military leaders, General Zod. Although Zod, being a soldier, didn't entirely understand the matter at hand, he agreed with Jor-El that the high council were incompetent.
And so, the general and the scientist led a revolution, to remove the high council, and assume command of the planet, and give the evacuation order. Suffice to say, they failed. They were outnumbered and Zod was arrested, imprisoned in the Phantom zone for high treason.
Jor-El, however, was lucky. His wife, Lara, was pregnant, and he knew that if he couldn't save Krypton, he could at least save their child. Jor-El managed to escape, and went into hiding. He made a recording, of himself, explaining his sons heritage, and preparing a message for whoever found him. He also created an interface based on himself, to help guide his child as he grew up. He was able to build a ship, load his child on it, and blast him off to a planet called 'Earth'. Once this was done, he loaded a second rocket with the codex, a device that stored all of Krypton. Culture, customs, all the important aspects of Kryptonian life. He set this rocket upon its course and headed to the roof. As he entered the turbo-lift, the ground shook. Violently. Kryptons destruction had begun.
The first rocket, containing his son, named Kal-El, set upon its course, taking it straight to Earth. However, the second rocket, went off course, still on track to Earth, but the long way round.
As Jor-El and Lara watched their son head off into the blackness of space, a look of horror swept across Jor-Els face. He had mixed up the messages. He had meant to put the interface on his sons ship, and his message on the other. He had made a mistake, which could have devastating consequences. He was powerless to fix his mistake, so he did the only thing he could do. He held his wife, as his world burned. He could only hope his son would live to see a brighter future.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
"Backgrounds are as important as subjects in making a picture successful. For example, is it too light? Too messy? Too attention grabbing? Don’t underestimate their importance. If they are messy and there is a lot going on, the distracting elements tug at our eyes and pull our attention away from your subject."
~ Jim Zuckerman, professional photographer
The collage features photos from CC group members, who last week looked at the backgrounds behind their subjects.
Find out more at Compositionally Challenged, where we aim to inspire creativity and improve our technical skills.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
Hambantota was an important maritime city since ancient times. The inland harbour on the Walawe river and the sea harbour on the bay of Godavaya were an important component in the economy of ancient Sri Lanka, This port was first known to be operational in the general area of Hambantota around 250 BC, when Chinese and Arabian merchants used it as part of the maritime silk route. Around the 1st century CE, a furnace powered by monsoon winds was built near Embilipitiya, which used wind based air supply to produce high carbon steel. This steel was exported to Rome and other European areas for the manufacture of armor and swords, with ships sailing to a port in Hambantota to obtain steel.
Proposals to build a port in Hambantota date back over three decades, but plans never got out of conceptual stages till 2005. Launched on 15 January 2008, the first phase of the port was opened on 18 November 2010, When completed, the port will be the biggest port constructed on land to date in the 21st century
The mouth of the natural harbor at Hambantota has a 22m depth. When completed, the port will have a 1.5 km long breakwater, with a minimum basin depth of 17m. The turning circle will be 600m. A dam will also be built to prevent flooding in nearby areas, and a seawall made of interlocking concrete blocks will protect the port from high seas
View of the administrative building.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting or removing water marks are liaIble to prosecution.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
Before setting out on his quest, Quinsy consults the wise mage of the ice flows. Much has been said about the advice given by the mage, and if there was a time to receive such advice, it would be now.
Quinsy hopes to embark on a journey, not only for self-discovery, but more importantly, to find the strength he needs to help his people. Quinsy’s clan has been ravaged by attacks from other clans and races. They are perceived to be a weak group, but Quinsy hopes to prove them wrong.
He approaches the mage respectfully and tells him of his plans. He asks the mage if he will find success on his quest. The mage responds... “without the journey, we will not find our destination”.
Quinsy leaves the mage’s company, ready to begin his long passage through the wild.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/rainhammarshes/index.aspx
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/rainhammarshes/about.aspx
One of very few ancient landscapes remaining in London, these medieval marshes right next to the River Thames were closed to the public for over 100 years and used as a military firing range.
We managed to acquire the site in 2000 and set about transforming it into an important place for nature and a great place for people to visit. Now you can expect to see breeding wading birds in spring and summer, and large flocks of wild ducks in winter.
Birds of prey and rare birds are regularly seen too. There are also water voles in the ditches and rare dragonflies flit across the boardwalks.
There is an innovative visitor centre, with huge picture-windows that look out across the marshes. It is full of environmentally friendly features and already boasts a handful of prestigious architectural awards.
There is also a shop and café and a new wildlife garden and children's adventure play area too. A full events programme offers something for everyone, and while we still have several years to go to finish all the visitor features out on the reserve, it is already an incredible transformation. Boardwalks throughout the reserve give access for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Opening times
From 1 November to 31 January, we're open from 9.30 am - 4.30 pm. From 1 February to 31 October, it's 9.30 am - 5 pm. We're closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Entrance charges
Car park: voluntary £1 donation. Reserve: Free to RSPB members and residents of Havering and Thurrock. Non-members: £3 adult, £1.50 child, £9 family (two adults and up to four children). There are extra costs for some events - please check when you book.
If you are new to birdwatching...
Birds are easy to see year round. The reserve runs a number of regular events for birdwatchers throughout the year, from novice to expert, including weekly Wednesday guided birding walk with Howard Vaughan, dawn chorus walks, winter spectacle birding event, a new birdwatching club for children, February's flock bird event and spring walks. There are also designated open days and weekends. Please see the events pages for further information.
Information for families
There is an evolving events and walks programme specially designed for families, with activities for all. All the reserve's paths and boardwalks are family and wheelchair friendly. There are also Adventure and Toddler's Playgrounds.
Information for dog owners
No dogs allowed, except registered assistance dogs. However, dogs are allowed on the Thames riverside path - a public footpath and cycleway running adjacent to the reserve.
Star species
Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.
Avocet
The delicate forms and and piping 'kluit' calls of avocets are becoming a more and more frequent site at Rainham throughout the year.
Lapwing
Lapwings from different places visit Rainham Marshes during the year. Wintering birds are replaced by breeding birds in spring and other birds that have bred further north pass through in summer and autumn.
Little egret
Little egrets can now be seen here in large numbers right throughout the year. Dispersing juvenile birds lead to a sudden rise in numbers in late summer and autumn.
Peregrine
The large concentrations of wildfowl and waders regularly attract hunting peregrines - especially in autumn and winter.
Ringed plover
These neatly banded waders can be seen performing their 'run and stop' feeding routine here.
Seasonal highlights
Each season brings a different experience at our nature reserves. In spring, the air is filled with birdsong as they compete to establish territories and attract a mate. In summer, look out for young birds making their first venture into the outside world. Autumn brings large movements of migrating birds - some heading south to a warmer climate, others seeking refuge in the UK from the cold Arctic winter. In winter, look out for large flocks of birds gathering to feed, or flying at dusk to form large roosts to keep warm.
Spring
Wheatears, stonechats, oystercatchers, hobbies, curlews, swifts, sand martins, house martins, warblers, marsh harriers, reed buntings, water and short-tailed voles, damselflies, marsh frogs, grass snakes, water shrews.
Summer
Black-tailed godwits, whimbrels, greenshanks, snipe, little egrets, dunlins, lapwings, teals, swifts, common sandpipers, ruffs, starlings, avocets, yellow wagtails, oystercatchers, yellow-legged gulls, bank and water voles, water shrews, marsh frogs, wasp spiders, red foxes.
Autumn
Marsh harriers, arctic terns, bearded tits, thrushes, finches, skylarks, meadow pipits, jackdaws, stonechats, hen harriers, goshawks, merlins, peregrines, short-eared owls, barn owls, avocets, black-tailed godwits, white fronted geese, pintails, wigeons, crickets, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, stoats, weasels, red foxes.
Winter
Bullfinches, ringed plovers, oystercatchers, golden plovers, water and rock pipits, little egrets, snipe, chiffchaffs, curlews, lapwings, dunlins, redshanks, shelducks, peregrines, kingfishers, short-eared owls, red foxes, stoats, weasels.
Facilities
Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Disabled toilets
Baby-changing facilities
Picnic area
Group bookings accepted
Guided walks available
Good for walking
Pushchair friendly
Viewing points
Currently two bird hides, family orientated Marshland Discovery Zone and several open viewing areas.
Nature trails
There are a network of nature trails currently in place, which are utilised for specific guided walks and events. There are approximately 2.5 miles plus of nature boardwalks, all designed for wheelchair and pushchair access.
Refreshments available
Hot drinks
Cold drinks
Sandwiches
Snacks
Shop
The shop stocks:
Binoculars and telescopes
Books
Bird food
Bird feeders
Nestboxes
Outdoor clothing
Educational facilities
The Education team offer a comprehensive and exciting array of curriculum linked field study visits for all school levels. We have Woodland, Reedbed and Marshland Discovery Zones, an Environment and Education centre, fully equipped classrooms, specific study areas, pond dipping areas and lots more. It's a safe and inspiring environment to get close to nature. A selection of lifelong learning courses on a variety of topics are run throughout the year, along with a range of children's activities, including holiday clubs. Please contact us for further details.
Cafe
Our cafe gives magnificent views not only over the ancient wildlife-filled grazing marsh, but also across Old Father Thames which flows majestically past the window. It is the perfect place to relax after exploring our nature trails or as a respite stop after the hustle and bustle of shopping nearby.
We serve our own exclusive coffee that is grown, imported and roasted by us. It's Fairtrade, organic and certified bird-friendly by the Smithsonian Institute, so now you can help save nature simply by enjoying a great cup of coffee!
Whether you are after a refreshing cuppa and a slice of our fabulous home-made cake, or a filling sandwich, panini or jacket potato, you will find something to tickle your taste buds. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Opening hours
From 1 November-31 March, we're open from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm. From 1 April-31 October it's 9.30 am to 5 pm. We're closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Highlights from our menu:-
Fabulous home-made cakes
Locally-made soup
Freshly-prepared jacket potatoes with a variety of fillings
Locally-baked pies and pasties
Made-to-order toasties, paninis and sandwiches
Lovely cafe with warming soup and fantastic cake. Yummy!
Access to the cafe
The cafe is fully wheelchair-friendly.
Children welcome
We're happy to serve smaller portions and we can also warm baby food in the microwave.
We use local ingredients
All produce is sourced locally where possible, including ham, bacon, sausages, soup and pies.
Dietary requirements
Jacket potatoes, sandwiches etc all have veggie options, as well as a veggie pastry. We have vegan meals. The soup and jacket potatoes are wheat-free; some gluten-free cakes are available.
Accessibility
8 August 2013
This is a Summary Access Statement. A full access statement is available to download from the webpage.
Before you visit
Clear print site leaflet available from our reserve reception
Free entry for RSPB members, residents of Havering and Thurrock. For other visitors admission charges apply. Carer or essential companion admitted free with disabled visitor
No dogs. Registered Assistance dogs only
Visitor Centre, car park and reserve trails are open 9.30 am to 4.30 pm from 1 November-31 March and 9.30 am to 5 pm from 1 April-31 October; closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Check accessibility for events and activities.
How to get here
Purfleet Railway Station is a 15 minute walk to reserve
Bus stops near the reserve entrance.
Car parking
110 spaces and seven Blue Badge spaces
Gates locked at 5 pm
Surface is loose gravel
No formal drop-off point
No height restrictions.
Visitor centre and shop
Ground floor shop, slight slope to heavy door with 10 mm lip, normally open. Assistance bell. Non-slip tiles. Reasonable lighting. Some display units tall or deep. Pen and paper available. Bird seed bins are outside the shop.
The visitor centre and cafe are on first floor, accessed by a long ramp left of Blue Badge parking. Entry by two sets of double heavy doors opening outwards. No threshold. NOTE JUNE 2012, power assistance is out of order so an alternative bell is provided.
Step-free, level access throughout and non-slip tiles. Lowered counter section. Good lighting. Pen and paper available. Binocular hire. Staff available to assist.
Nature trails
Three signposted trails, a mix of flat gravel surface paths and boardwalks. Information boards in large print. Trails start at the visitor centre across a short section of non slip grill with a short steep section. You can leave the reserve part way round and along the River Thames. Use the one way turnstile or gate (Gate key code available from reception)
Viewing facilities
Four hides on the circular walk. None on the Woodland walk. All level entry either adapted for wheelchair spaces or designed for everyone to gain the same great views. Marshland Discovery Zone has touch interpretation. Shooting Butts Hide has 14 stairs and a lift.
Toilets and baby changing facilities
Accessible toilet on ground and first floors (Baby changing in first floor)
Catering
Café on first floor. Good lighting. Non slip tile flooring. Self-service. Menus are clear print. Staff available to assist.
Picnic area
Eleven tables with wheelchair spaces, on soft and hard surfaces, level ground behind visitor centre. Alternatively, a table in the adventure playground and toddler's play area. Visitors are welcome to consume their own food and drink here.
Education facilities
Education team offer a wide and exciting array of curriculum linked field study visits at our Environment and Education centre, fully equipped classrooms, specific study areas, pond dipping areas.
Help us improve accessibility by sending feedback to the Site Manager.
For more information
Rainham Marshes
E-mail: rainham.marshes@rspb.org.uk
Telephone:01708 899840
RM19 1SZ
How to get here
By train
The nearest railway station to this reserve is Purfleet. Purfleet train station is on the C2C line from Fenchurch Street. The reserve is a 15 minute walk from the station following the brown pedestrian signs along the riverside path. Turn right out of the station and then join the path at the Royal Pub. Follow the Riverside path and then cross the Mardyke Bridge to the Visitor Centre.
By bus
The ensignbus 44 bus route which runs between Lakeside and Orsett Hospital, Grays, stops near the reserve entrance on New Tank Hill Road. This bus runs every hour and up to 30 minutes during peak periods. The service is operated by Ensignbus (01708 865656).
By road
The reserve is located off New Tank Hill Road (A1090) in Purfleet which is just off the A1306 between Rainham and Lakeside. This is accessible from the Aveley, Wennington and Purfleet junction off the A13 and J30/31 of the M25.
Cycling at Rainham Marshes
RSPB Rainham Marshes is just a stone's throw from London, easily accessible by public transport, on foot and by bike. Located on ancient marshland nestled beside the river Thames, it really is a special place to enjoy the great outdoors.
The reserve itself offers a leisurely amble in a superb setting with fantastic facilities such as an award-winning, eco-friendly visitor centre with cafe and shop.
If cycling is your thing, a brand new cycle route links the villages of Purfleet and Rainham. This runs beside the reserve, following the Thames, looping round and passing the stone barges.
Both on the reserve and along the riverside path, you will see a variety of interesting, sometimes rare, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians as well as bugs and beasties of all kinds. You will also be able to learn so much of the history and importance of this area.
Our work here
Rainham Marshes protects an ancient, low-lying grazing marsh in the Thames Estuary. Its complex of wet grassland and ditches, together with rank grassland and scrub, supports many breeding and wintering birds.
Wildlife also includes scarce wetland plants and insects, and a key population of the nationally declining water vole.
The site has a history of neglect, but the RSPB is working to restore important habitats and improve their biodiversity. This will transform a former wasteland into an important natural asset, and help raise public awareness of local conservation issues.
Managing the marsh
Birdlife on the marsh includes breeding waders, such as lapwing, redshank and snipe, as well as important numbers of wintering wildfowl, waders, finches and birds of prey.
We plan to enhance the habitat for these birds by creating a mosaic of unflooded tussocky grassland, flooded short grassland and semi-permanent pools. This will also benefit important plant species, such as golden dock.
Meanwhile we will improve the ditch system for the benefit of water voles, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates and breeding birds.
Leaving well alone
We will leave the areas of tall rank grass and scattered scrub unmanaged in order to retain their existing conservation value. Wildlife in these habitats includes small mammals, reptiles and invertebrates, and birds such as wintering short-eared owls and breeding stonechats.
We will also look after sandy areas for their specialist insect life.
Silt lagoons
Lagoons on the reserves are currently used for commercial silt dredging. We will work around this in order re-create and maintain a complex of brackish lagoons and reed-swamp for important wildlife, including breeding, wintering and passage waterfowl.
While some lagoons will remain operational, we will manage others rotationally and keep the rest permanently open.
Access for all
We aim to make the site accessible to everyone, without impinging on the dredging operation or compromising our conservation priorities. We will develop and promote the reserve as a major visitor attraction and centre for environmental education. We aim to encourage interest in local and general conservation, and create a broader understanding of the work of the RSPB.
Funding
Current work is being funded by the EU’s Interreg IVA Two Seas Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013, Homes and Communities Agency’s Parklands Funding administered by Essex County Council, and Biffa Award and Veolia Cleanaway Havering Riverside Trust, both through the Landfill Communities Fund.
Thanks to help on the reserve from employees of Goldman Sachs, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Earthwatch, Barclays, Royal Mail, Family Mosaic, Ipsos Media we have been able to deliver more for wildlife and people at Rainham Marshes.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
The Queensland Cultural Centre (QCC), located on the south bank of the Brisbane River opposite the central business district, is the state's principal cultural venue and an important example of late 20th century modernist architecture. Constructed between 1976 and 1998, this ambitious complex, a milestone in the history of the arts in Queensland and the evolution of the state, was designed by renowned Queensland architect Robin Gibson in conjunction with the Queensland Department of Public Works, for the people of Queensland.
The Cultural Centre includes the Queensland Art Gallery (1982), the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (1984), the Queensland Museum (1986), the State Library and The Fountain Room Restaurant and Auditorium (The Edge in 2015) (1988). The substantially altered State Library and the Gallery of Modern Art are part of the broader cultural precinct but are not included in the heritage register boundary.
South Brisbane before the Queensland Cultural Centre (QCC)
By the late 1960s, much of South Brisbane, especially along the river, was in economic decline. Prior to European settlement, the whole of the South Brisbane peninsula was known as Kurilpa, an important meeting place for the Yuggera/Jagera people. The tip of the South Brisbane peninsula was a traditional river crossing. After the establishment of the Moreton Bay Penal settlement in 1825, convicts cleared the river flats to grow grain for the settlement and during the 1830s, timber from the south bank was exported to Sydney.
From the 1840s, South Brisbane developed as one of Queensland's key location for portside activity, initially advantaged by its more direct access to the Darling Downs and Ipswich. As maritime trade expanded, wharfs and stores were progressively established adjacent to the river. Over time, a range of commercial, light industrial and manufacturing activities also occurred, along with civic and residential land uses. The area prospered in the 1880s and South Brisbane became a municipality in 1888. Along with the development boom, a dry dock was opened in 1881, coal wharves and associated rail links were constructed and South Brisbane was established as the passenger terminus for suburban and country train lines.
By the end of the 19th century, the area had evolved into a substantial urban settlement, with Stanley Street a major retail centre and thoroughfare. Such development however, could not arrest a gradual 20th century decline which accelerated after World War II, influenced by the reorientation of economic activity and transport networks in Brisbane. Post-war, wharves, stores and railway sidings closed and were subsequently demolished, with the progressive relocation of shipping downriver. The decline of such a centrally located area in the capital city presented an opportunity for significant urban renewal.
Impetus for the Queensland Cultural Centre
The pressure to address the lack of adequate cultural facilities in Queensland increased in the 1960s, as public awareness of the importance of the arts to the cultural health of the community was rising. At this time, the Queensland's principal cultural institutions were located in buildings and sites in Brisbane that did not meet their existing or future requirements. The first purpose-built Museum had opened in William Street in 1879 but proved inadequate from the outset. It was converted to the Public Library of Queensland (the State Library from 1971) in 1900-02, after the 1889 Exhibition Building at Bowen Hills was converted for use as a Museum in 1900. From 1895, the Queensland Art Gallery was housed in the Brisbane Town Hall, moving in 1905 to a purpose designed room on the third floor in the new Executive Building overlooking George Street. When the new City Hall was completed in 1930, the Concert Hall at the Museum building was remodelled to house the art gallery.
Until the opening of the Queensland Cultural Centre, there were no Queensland government-operated performing arts facilities. Most musical and theatrical performances were initially held in local venues such as schools of arts, church halls or town halls, of varying suitability. Purpose-built facilities were limited and only erected in major centres. By the 1880s, Brisbane had four theatres, with the Opera House (later Her Majesty's Theatre), erected in 1888, the most lavish and prestigious, with seating for 2700. The Exhibition Building was one of the first buildings specifically designed for musical performances and contained a concert hall complete with a four-manual pipe organ. It became the centre for major musical events until the opening of the Brisbane City Hall in 1930.
Across Australia, the post-war era saw governments on all tiers commit to large projects related to developing the arts, including standalone and integrated landmark projects for institutions such as libraries, theatres and art galleries. Sites for such projects were often in centrally located areas, where previous uses and activities were in decline, or had become redundant. This type of urban renewal offered a blank slate for development, where the existing layout could be reconfigured and the built environment transformed. The construction of Sydney's Opera House had commenced in 1959; preliminary investigations for Adelaide Festival Centre started in 1964; the National Gallery of Australia was established in 1967; the first stage of the Victorian Arts Centre, the National Gallery of Victoria, was completed in 1969 and Perth's Civic Centre was also developed during the 1960s.
In Queensland, an earlier phase of civic construction (mostly town halls and council chambers) occurred in the 1930s, often incorporating spaces for arts and cultural activities. By the early 1950s, architect and town planner Karl Langer was designing civic centre complexes for larger regional centres such as Mackay, Toowoomba and Kingaroy.
Several attempts were made to secure stately cultural facilities in Queensland's capital but each came to nothing. Construction of an art gallery and museum near the entrance to the Government Domain, on a site granted in 1863, never eventuated. In the 1890s a major architectural competition for a museum and art gallery on a site in Albert Park sought to address the need for sufficient premises. In 1934, on a nearby site along Wickham Park and Turbot Street, an ambitious urban design proposal to incorporate a public art gallery, library and dental hospital resulted only in the construction of the Brisbane Dental Hospital. Post-WWII plans to incorporate the art gallery in the extensions to the original Supreme Court Building did not eventuate. The Queensland Art Gallery Act 1959 paved the way for a new Board of Trustees to establish a gallery with public funds subsidized by Government. The proposal at that time, for a gallery and performance hall at Gardens Point, to mark Queensland's centenary, was not realised; however, an extension to the State Library proceeded and included an exhibition hall and reading rooms.
A proposal for a State Gallery and Centre for Allied Arts, on the former municipal markets site adjacent to the Roma Street Railway station, formed part of a government backed plan for the redevelopment of the Roma Street area. Prepared by Bligh Jessup Bretnall & Partners in 1967, this substantial development over a number of city blocks, inspired by the redevelopment of redundant inner city areas in Europe and new towns in America, incorporated a significant commercial component. The plan was abandoned in 1968 due to conflicting local and state interests, together with the lack of an acceptable tender.
The following year, the Treasury Department initiated a formal investigation into a suitable site for an art gallery, led by Treasurer, Deputy Premier and Liberal Party Leader, Gordon Chalk. An expert committee, including Coordinator-General Charles Barton as chair, Under-Secretary of Works David Mercer and Assistant Under-Secretary Roman Pavlyshyn, considered 12 sites, including those from previous proposals. Three sites were shortlisted: The Holy Name Cathedral site in Fortitude Valley; upstream of the Victoria Bridge at South Brisbane; and the BCC Transport Depot in Coronation Drive. The South Brisbane site was preferred, considered to be the most advantageous for the city and the most architecturally suitable. The recommendation was accepted and work on progressing a design commenced.
Architectural competition and concept (1289)
In April 1973, Robin Gibson and Partners Architects won a two-staged competition to design the new Queensland Art Gallery at South Brisbane, with a sophisticated scheme considered superior in its simplicity and presentation. While this design was never realised, the art gallery that was built as part of the Cultural Centre was in many ways very similar, including the palette of materials and modernist design details inspired by the 1969 Oaklands Museum in California. The original design occupied the block bounded by Melbourne, Grey, Stanley and Peel Streets. Over Stanley Street, a pedestrian walkway connected the gallery to the top of an amphitheatre leading to sculpture gardens along the river.
The development of cultural facilities was reconsidered during 1974, evolving into a much more ambitious project. In early November, Deputy Premier Sir Gordon Chalk (who had a real interest and commitment to developing the arts in Queensland) announced as an election policy, a proposal for a $45 million dollar cultural complex. While the development of the Art Gallery had been progressing, Chalk, with the assistance of Under Treasurer Leo Hielscher, had covertly commissioned Robin Gibson to produce a master plan for an integrated complex of buildings which would form the Queensland Cultural Centre (QCC). The plan included an Art Gallery, Museum, Performing Arts Centre, State Library and an auditorium and restaurant. The devastating floods of January, which had further hastened the decline of South Brisbane, provided a timely opportunity to utilise more space adjacent to the river, through resumptions of flood prone land.
When the proposal was submitted to Cabinet by Chalk in late November, it was initially opposed by Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen. However, the support of Brisbane's Lord Mayor, Clem Jones, (who gifted council-owned allotments on what became the QPAC site); influential public servants Hielscher, Pavlyshyn; Mercer, and Sir David Muir, Director of the Department of Commercial and Industrial Development, helped the project gain momentum. After winning the December 7 election, the proposal was formally adopted by the Bjelke-Petersen government. Muir was appointed chairman of the planning committee and became the first chairman of the QCC Trust.
Gibson's November 1974 Cultural Centre master plan differed significantly from his winning competition design for the Gallery and gave Gibson the opportunity to further demonstrate his planning principles for inner city development. Stanley Street was to be diverted under the Victoria Bridge through to Peel Street, with the Art Gallery and Museum occupying one large block. The scheme included building forms with oblique angles to the street grid, to address the main approaches. The Performing Arts building, comprising a single, multi-purpose hall, and the Art Gallery, extending from the Museum to the river's edge, were aligned diagonally around a Melbourne Street axis to address the approach from the Victoria Bridge. Pedestrian bridges provided access across the site over Melbourne Street and to the South Brisbane Railway Station over Grey Street.
Gibson's design of the QCC sought to convey a relaxed atmosphere reflective of Queensland's lifestyle. A simple, disciplined palette of materials, and design elements was adopted and rigorously maintained throughout the lengthy construction program to unify the complex: off-white sandblasted concrete; cubic forms with deeply recessed glazing; a constancy of structural elements, fixtures and finishes; repetitive stepped profiles and extensive integrated landscaping.
A fundamental conceptual aspect of the Cultural Centre's design was its relationship to the Brisbane River and the natural environment. Gibson saw the Cultural Centre as an opportunity for ‘amalgamating a major public building with the river on the South Bank'. The external landscaping and built form was carefully articulated to ‘step up' from the river. The comparatively low form of the complex was consciously designed so that the profile of the Taylor Range behind would remain visible when viewed from the city.
Retaining the approved general placement of the individual buildings, subsequent changes to the complex plan included: the orthogonal realignment of each of the buildings; the duplication of the multipurpose hall to create separate purpose-built facilities for musical and theatrical performances; the extension of an existing diversion in Stanley Street upstream to Peel Street and under the Victoria Bridge, which was bridged by a wide plaza as a forecourt to the Gallery.
Robin Gibson & Partners
Robin Gibson (1930-2014) attended Yeronga State School and Brisbane State High before studying architecture at the University of Queensland (UQ). After graduating in 1954, Gibson travelled through Europe and worked in London in the offices of architects, Sir Hugh Casson, Neville Conder, and James Cubitt and Partners. Returning to Brisbane in 1957, he set up an architectural practice commencing with residential projects, soon expanding into larger commercial, public and institutional work. Notable Queensland architects employed by his practice included Geoffrey Pie, Don Winsen, Peter Roy, Allan Kirkwood, Bruce Carlyle and Gabriel Poole.
Gibson's creative, administrative and diplomatic talents were widely recognised. His buildings were consistently simple, refined, and carefully executed, often comprehensively detailed to include fabrics, finishes and furnishings. Characteristically crisp, logical and smoothly functional, his works employed a limited palette of materials and were carefully integrated into their setting.
Robin Gibson & Partners' contribution to Queensland's built environment is significant. Other major architectural projects include: Mayne Hall, University of Queensland (UQ) (1972), Central Library, UQ (1973) Library and Humanities building at Nathan Campus, Griffith University (1975), Post Office Square (1982), Queen Street Mall (1982), Wintergarden building (1984), Colonial Mutual Life (1984) and 111 George Street (1993). Over time, Gibson and his body of work has been highly acclaimed and recognised through numerous awards including: 1968 Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Building of the Year award, Kenmore Church; 1982 RAIA Sir Zelman Cowen Award (for public buildings) QAG; 1982 RAIA Canberra Medallion - Belconnen Library, ACT; 1982 Queenslander of the Year; 1983 Order of Australia; 1986 Honorary Doctorate - Griffith University; 1988 Advance Australia Award; 1989 RAIA Gold Medal for outstanding performance and contributions; 2000, and the 2007 25 year RAIA award for Enduring Architecture.
Construction and completion
The design development, documentation and the multifaceted construction program for the entire complex was administered by Roman Pavlyshyn, Director of Building, Department of Public Works. Pavlyshyn had previously overseen the selection of the site and had run the competition for the Queensland Art Gallery. The Cultural Centre was to continue the Department of Public Works' tradition in providing buildings of high quality in design, materials and construction throughout the state.
The funding of the QCC came entirely from the government-owned Golden Casket. The revenue derived from the Golden Casket was effectively ‘freed up' from health funding after Medicare was introduced by the Whitlam government. The then annual income of $4 million was projected to fund the QCC's construction over 10 years. By the early 1980s, inflationary impacts had blown out the cost to $175 million. Under Hielscher's guidance, Treasury looked at other ways to raise revenue. In response, Instant Scratch-Its and mid-week lotto were introduced to Queensland. This successful increase in gambling revenue enabled the QCC to be built at no extra cost to the state's existing budget and without going into debt.
The construction of the Cultural Centre was a complex undertaking and involved a multifaceted program staged over 11 years with a workforce of thousands, from design consultants to onsite labourers. Pavlyshyn guided Stages One, Two and Three to completion and the commencement of Stage Four, before retiring in July 1985. With the number of contractors and suppliers involved, quality control was a critical factor for a successful outcome. For example, the consistent quality of the concrete finish was achieved by securing a guaranteed supply of the principal materials, South Australian white cement, Stradbroke Island sand and Pine River aggregates, for the duration of the project and the strict control of colour and mix for each contract.
The program commenced with the construction of the Art Gallery, the most resolved of the building designs. Stage One also included the underground carpark to the Gallery and Museum and the central services plant facility on the corner of Grey and Peel Streets. Contractors, Graham Evans & Co, commenced construction in March 1977 and the Art Gallery was officially opened by Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen on 21 June 1982. When awarding the art gallery the Sir Zelman Cowen Award that year, the RAIA jury declared the art gallery would enrich the fabric of Brisbane for many years to come, praising: the sustained architectural expertise and masterly articulation of space; avoidance of rhetorical gestures and fussy details, noting the building would enrich the fabric of the city for many years to come.
A development plan for the largest component of the complex, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), built as Stage Two, was released in 1976. The project architect for the Centre was Allan Kirkwood from Robin Gibson and Partners and contributors to the development and design of the Centre were theatre consultants, Tom Brown and Peter Knowland, the Performing Arts Trust and user committees. Completed in November 1984 by contractors Barclay Bros Pty Ltd, a concert for workers and the first public performance were held in December ahead of the official opening by the Duke and Duchess of Kent on 20 April 1985.
The Centre comprised three venues, each specifically designed for particular performance types. The Lyric Theatre and Concert Hall shared an entrance off Melbourne Street with shared and mimicked foyers, bars, circulation and ancillary facilities. The Studio theatre, now the Cremorne, had a separate entrance and foyer off Stanley Street with its own discreet ancillary facilities.
The Lyric Theatre, (2200 seats) was designed for large-scale dramatic productions including opera, operettas, musicals, ballets and dance performances. It had an orchestra pit, stalls, two balconies and side aisles. The 1800 seat Concert Hall was designed for orchestral concerts, choral performances, chamber music, recitals, popular entertainment and ceremonies. A Klais Grand Organ, featuring 6500 pipes, was built into the stage area. Its ‘shoe box' form, designed to enhance natural acoustics, incorporated an orchestral pit, stalls, single balcony, side galleries and side aisles. The Studio Theatre was built to accommodate up to 300 seats for dramatic performances and could be configured in 6 different ways, from conventional set-ups to theatre-in-the-round. It had stalls and a balcony level with an internal connection to the other two theatres.
Opened in 1986, the Queensland Museum, (Stage Three), was connected to the Art Gallery by a covered walkway and to the Performing Arts Complex by a footbridge over Melbourne Street. The entrance on the Melbourne Street side of the building was accessed from street level and the Melbourne Street footbridge. Built over the Stage One carpark, the six-level Museum building had four floors open to the public, with the two top levels dedicated to offices, laboratories , library and artefact storage. The first floor was designed for a variety of uses, including lecture halls, back of house, preparatory area and workshops. Levels 2 to 4 showcased collections in galleries situated on either side of a central circulation core comprising walkways, stairs, lifts and escalators. The outdoor area contained a geological garden on Grey Street side (in 2014 the Energex Playasaurus Place). Stage Four included the State Library and adjacent restaurant and auditorium building (The Edge) completed in 1988.
Public artworks
As part of the construction of the QCC, several pieces of public art were commissioned from Australian artists. Five outdoor sculptures were purchased and installed in 1985, the largest commission of public sculpture at one time in Australia. Four were directly commissioned: Anthony Pryor's Approaching Equilibrium (Steel, painted. River plaza-upper deck); Leonard and Kathleen Shillam's Pelicans (Bronze. QAG Water Mall); Ante Dabro's Sisters (Bronze. Melbourne Street plaza) and Rob Robertson-Swann's Leviathan Play (Steel, painted. Melbourne Street plaza). Clement Meadmore's Offshoot (Aluminium, painted. Gallery plaza) was an existing work.
Other public artworks commissioned at the time of construction are located at QPAC: Lawrence Daws' large interior mural, Pacific Nexus and Robert Woodward's Cascade Court Fountain.
Use and modifications
Since opening, the institutions of the QCC have played a dominant role in fostering and enabling cultural and artistic activities of Queensland - through performances, exhibitions, collections and events. The purpose built world class facilities of the complex, with their careful consideration of both front and back of house requirements, have enabled Queensland to host national and international performances, events and exhibitions, and expand and display collections, in a way that was not possible previously. In addition to the QCC's artistic endeavours, the role of the Queensland Museum in science disciplines has also been an important activity. The QCC (as part of the larger Cultural Precinct) is a major visitor destination in Brisbane; millions of people from Queensland and elsewhere have visited the site.
The successful development of the Cultural Centre was the catalyst for the broader renewal of South Brisbane along the Brisbane River. In 1983 Queensland won the right to hold the 1988 World Exposition (Expo 88). The site for Expo 88 was directly adjacent to the Cultural Centre and underwent a major transformation to host the event. Robin Gibson designed the Queensland Pavilion. Expo 88 was a highly successful for Brisbane and Queensland. After Expo, the site was again comprehensively redeveloped, opening in 1992 as the South Bank Parklands, now a major public space in Brisbane. More widely, the Cultural Centre's direct relationship with the Brisbane River influenced the way the city has come to engage with its dominant natural feature along its edges.
With the exception of The Edge, each of the buildings within the QCC retains its original use. Subsequent modifications to cater for changing requirements have altered the buildings within the complex to varying degrees. The most significant of these changes were the addition of the Playhouse to QPAC and the multimillion dollar Millennium Arts Project, which provided for a refurbishment of the entire complex.
QPAC was well utilised from the outset and the need for a mid-sized theatre was soon realised. Plans for Stage Five, a 750-850 seat Playhouse theatre, designed by Gibson, were produced with input from the same committees and advisers as Stage Two. Completed in 1998, the Playhouse, attached at the eastern end of QPAC, incorporated stalls, balcony, mid-stalls and balcony boxes for patron seating. It had a separate entrance off Russell Street and was separated from the rest of the complex by the loading dock. The Playhouse was refurbished between 2011-12.
The key features of the Millenium Arts Project (2002-2009) were: the addition of a new Gallery of Modern Art and public plaza; the major redevelopment of the SLQ including the addition of a fifth floor; a new entrance to the QAG, and refurbishment of the QM and QPAC.
At the north-western end of the complex, the Gallery of Modern Art, completed in 2006 was built to house Queensland's growing art collection and is linked to the rest of the complex by a public plaza.
The major refurbishment of the Library in 2006 included the addition of a fifth storey and substantial alterations to both the interior and exterior. A new entrance and new circulation patterns were established and the stepped terraces were removed, replaced by a large extension toward the river.
New entrances to QAG and QM were designed by Gibson and completed in 2009.
The new art gallery entrance provided alternative access from Peel Street and included the partial enclosure of the courtyard, a new staircase, and a lift. At the Museum, in addition to the new entrance provided on the eastern end of the Museum, a café was added to the western end, the internal circulation was rearranged and a new entrance on the Grey Street elevation was created to provide access to the Sciencentre, relocated from George Street to the ground floor of the museum in 2009.
In 2009 QPAC was refurbished to meet safety standards and to improve access. A setdown area was added along Grey Street to replace the drop off tunnel which was closed in 2001. Changes to circulation included the installation of lifts and the replacement and reorientation of staircases. The lobby book shop was replaced with a bar and other bars and lobbies were refurbished, removing the salmon colour scheme in higher traffic areas. Brown carpet was installed and the red marble bar finishes were replaced with black in the Lyric Theatre foyer and white in the Concert Hall foyer. Many seats were also replaced in the Lyric and Concert Hall. The Cremorne Theatre remains largely unchanged.
The Edge, operated and managed by SLQ, was reopened in 2010 as a new facility containing workshops, spaces for creative activities, events and exhibitions. The dropped restaurant floor was filled and new lifts installed. Wide scale changes were made to interior fit-out and finishes. The auditorium floor was replaced, and new openings were created in the rear and side elevations. The external structure was modified at ground level with changes to access and the loading dock which was made obsolete by changes to SLQ car park entry. The major external change was cosmetic and involved the enclosure of the open verandah with pre-fabricated steel window bays to create riverfront study and meeting spaces.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
Jenna looked across at Jake, taking a minute from the cleaning of her automatic rifle, "If it moves I can shoot it! If I can hit it, it will bleed., and if it bleeds, I can kill it!" smiled Jenna.
Thank you for putting up with our Airplane images, this is important to me as my Dad was in the military. We hope everyone has a great Veterans Day !!! Linda and I were invited by our family down in Key Largo to go to the Homestead Air Force Base Air Show on this past Sunday. We thought that with Veteran's Day coming on November 11, we would put up our images from the Air Show to honor Veterans no matter which country they served for !!! You will see lots of images grouped together on each day. On next Monday we will make them all public so that you may see each one large. We hope you enjoy our efforts at photographing these amazing planes. Thanks for looking and enjoy the amazing images !!! All images were shot with a Canon 100-400 5.6mm L Zoom Len...
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Heidelberg - Heidelberger Schloss
Heidelberg Castle (German: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.
The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. It is served by an intermediate station on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway that runs from Heidelberg's Kornmarkt to the summit of the Königstuhl.
The earliest castle structure was built before 1214 and later expanded into two castles circa 1294; however, in 1537, a lightning bolt destroyed the upper castle. The present structures had been expanded by 1650, before damage by later wars and fires. In 1764, another lightning bolt caused a fire which destroyed some rebuilt sections.
Before destruction
Early history
Heidelberg was first mentioned in 1196 as "Heidelberch". In 1155 Conrad of Hohenstaufen was made the Count Palatine by his half-brother Frederick Barbarossa, and the region became known as the Electoral Palatinate. The claim that Conrad's main residence was on the Schlossberg (Castle Hill), known as the Jettenbühl, cannot be substantiated. The name "Jettenbühl" comes from the soothsayer Jetta, who was said to have lived there. She is also associated with Wolfsbrunnen (Wolf's Spring) and the Heidenloch (Heathens' Well). The first mention of a castle in Heidelberg (Latin: "castrum in Heidelberg cum burgo ipsius castri") is in 1214, when Louis I, Duke of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach received it from Hohenstaufen Emperor Friedrich II. The last mention of a single castle is in 1294. In another document from 1303, two castles are mentioned for the first time:
The upper castle on Kleiner Gaisberg Mountain, near today's Hotel Molkenkur (destroyed in 1537);
The lower castle on the Jettenbühl (the present castle site).
All that is known about the founding of the lower castle is that it took place sometime between 1294 and 1303. The oldest documented references to Heidelberg Castle are found during the 1600s:
The Thesaurus Pictuarum of the Palatinate church counsel Markus zum Lamb (1559 to 1606);
The "Annales Academici Heidelbergenses" by the Heidelberg librarian and professor Pithopoeus (started in 1587);
The "Originum Palatinarum Commentarius" by Marquard Freher (1599);
The "Teutsche Reyssebuch" by Martin Zeiller (Strasbourg 1632, reprinted in 1674 as the "Itinerarium Germaniae").
All of these works are for the most part superficial and do not contain much information. In 1615, Merian's Topographia Palatinatus Rheni described Prince Elector Ludwig V as he "started building a new castle one hundred and more years ago". Most of the descriptions of the castle up until the 18th century are based on Merian's information. Under Ruprecht I, the court chapel was erected on the Jettenbühl.
Palace of kings
When Ruprecht became the King of Germany in 1401, the castle was so small that on his return from his coronation, he had to camp out in the Augustinians' monastery, on the site of today's University Square. What he desired was more space for his entourage and court and to impress his guests, but also additional defences to turn the castle into a fortress.
After Ruprecht's death in 1410, his land was divided between his four sons. The Palatinate, the heart of his territories, was given to the eldest son, Ludwig III. Ludwig was the representative of the emperor and the supreme judge, and it was in this capacity that he, after the Council of Constance in 1415 and at the behest of Emperor Sigismund, held the deposed Antipope John XXIII in custody before he was taken to Burg Eichelsheim (today Mannheim-Lindenhof).
On a visit to Heidelberg in 1838, the French author Victor Hugo took particular pleasure in strolling among the ruins of the castle. He summarised its history in this letter:
But let me talk of its castle. (This is absolutely essential, and I should actually have begun with it.) What times it has been through! Five hundred years long it has been victim to everything that has shaken Europe, and now it has collapsed under its weight. That is because this Heidelberg Castle, the residence of the counts Palatine, who were answerable only to kings, emperors, and popes, and was of too much significance to bend to their whims, but couldn't raise his head without coming into conflict with them, and that is because, in my opinion, that the Heidelberg Castle has always taken up some position of opposition towards the powerful. Circa 1300, the time of its founding, it starts with a Thebes analogy; in Count Rudolf and Emperor Ludwig, these degenerate brothers, it has its Eteocles and its Polynices [warring sons of Oedipus]. Then the prince elector begins to grow in power. In 1400 the Palatine Ruprecht II, supported by three Rhenish prince electors, deposes Emperor Wenceslaus and usurps his position; 120 years later in 1519, Count Palatine Frederick II was to create the young King Charles I of Spain Emperor Charles V.
Reformation and the Thirty Years Wars
It was during the reign of Louis V, Elector Palatine (1508–1544) that Martin Luther came to Heidelberg to defend one of his theses (Heidelberg Disputation) and paid a visit to the castle. He was shown around by Louis's younger brother, Wolfgang, Count Palatine, and in a letter to his friend George Spalatin praises the castle's beauty and its defenses.
In 1619, Protestants rebelling against the Holy Roman Empire offered the crown of Bohemia to Frederick V, Elector Palatine who accepted despite misgivings and in doing so triggered the outbreak of the Thirty Years War. It was during the Thirty Years War that arms were raised against the castle for the first time. This period marks the end of the castle's construction; the centuries to follow brought with them destruction and rebuilding.
Destruction
After his defeat at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620, Frederick V was on the run as an outlaw and had to release his troops prematurely, leaving the Palatinate undefended against General Tilly, the supreme commander of the Imperial and Holy Roman Empire's troops. On 26 August 1622, Tilly commenced his attack on Heidelberg, taking the town on 16 September, and the castle a few days later.
When the Swedes captured Heidelberg on 5 May 1633 and opened fire on the castle from the Königstuhl hill behind it, Tilly handed over the castle. The following year, the emperor's troops tried to recapture the castle, but it was not until July 1635 that they succeeded. It remained in their possession until the Peace of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years War was signed. The new ruler, Charles Louis (Karl Ludwig) and his family did not move into the ruined castle until 7 October 1649.
Victor Hugo summarized these and the following events:
In 1619, Frederick V, then a young man, took the crown of the kings of Bohemia, against the will of the emperor, and in 1687, Philip William, Count Palatine, by then an old man, assumes the title of prince-elector, against the will of the king of France. This was to cause Heidelberg battles and never-ending tribuluations, the Thirty Years War, Gustav Adolfs Ruhmesblatt and finally the War of the Grand Alliance, the Turennes mission. All of these terrible events have blighted the castle. Three emperors, Louis the Bavarian, Adolf of Nassau, and Leopold of Austria, have laid siege to it; Pio II condemned it; Louis XIV wreaked havoc on it.
— quoted from Victor Hugo: "Heidelberg"
Nine Years' War
After the death of Charles II, Elector Palatine, the last in line of the House of Palatinate-Simmern, Louis XIV of France demanded the surrender of the allodial title in favor of the Duchess of Orléans, Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine who he claimed was the rightful heir to the Simmern lands. On 29 September 1688, the French troops marched into the Palatinate of the Rhine and on 24 October moved into Heidelberg, which had been deserted by Philipp Wilhelm, the new Elector Palatine from the line of Palatinate-Neuburg. At war against the allied European powers, France's war council decided to destroy all fortifications and to lay waste to the Palatinate (Brûlez le Palatinat!), in order to prevent an enemy attack from this area. As the French withdrew from the castle on 2 March 1689, they set fire to it and blew the front off the Fat Tower. Portions of the town were also burned, but the mercy of a French general, René de Froulay de Tessé, who told the townspeople to set small fires in their homes to create smoke and the illusion of widespread burning, prevented wider destruction.
Immediately upon his accession in 1690, Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine had the walls and towers rebuilt. When the French again reached the gates of Heidelberg in 1691 and 1692, the town's defenses were so good that they did not gain entry. On 18 May 1693 the French were yet again at the town's gates and took it on 22 May. However, they did not attain control of the castle and destroyed the town in attempt to weaken the castle's main support base. The castle's occupants capitulated the next day. Now the French took the opportunity to finish off the work started in 1689, after their hurried exit from the town. The towers and walls that had survived the last wave of destruction, were blown up with mines.
Removal of the court to Mannheim
In 1697 the Treaty of Ryswick was signed, marking the end of the War of the Grand Alliance and finally bringing peace to the town. Plans were made to pull down the castle and to reuse parts of it for a new palace in the valley. When difficulties with this plan became apparent, the castle was patched up. At the same time, Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine played with the idea of completely redesigning the castle, but shelved the project due to lack of funds. He did, however, install his favorite court jester, Perkeo of Heidelberg to famously watch over the castle's wine stock. Perkeo later became the unofficial mascot of the city. In 1720, he came into conflict with the town's Protestants as a result of fully handing over the Church of the Holy Spirit to the Catholics (it had previously been split by a partition and used by both congregations), the Catholic prince-elector moved his court to Mannheim and lost all interest in the castle. When on 12 April 1720, Charles announced the removal of the court and all its administrative bodies to Mannheim, he wished that "Grass may grow on her streets".
The religious conflict was probably only one reason for the move to Mannheim. In addition, converting the old-fashioned hill-top castle into a Baroque palace would have been difficult and costly. By moving down into the plain, the prince-elector was able to construct a new palace, Mannheim Palace, that met his every wish.
Karl Phillip's successor Karl Theodor planned to move his court back to Heidelberg Castle. However, on 24 June 1764, lightning struck the Saalbau (court building) twice in a row, again setting the castle on fire, which he regarded as a sign from heaven and changed his plans. Victor Hugo, who had come to love the ruins of the castle, also saw it as a divine signal:
One could even say that the very heavens had intervened. On 23 June 1764, the day before Karl Theodor was to move into the castle and make it his seat (which, by the bye, would have been a great disaster, for if Karl Theodor had spent his thirty years there, these austere ruins which we today so admire would certainly have been decorated in the pompadour style); on this day, then, with the prince's furnishings already arrived and waiting in the Church of the Holy Spirit, fire from heaven hit the octagonal tower, set light to the roof, and destroyed this five-hundred-year-old castle in very few hours.
— Victor Hugo, Heidelberg
In the following decades, basic repairs were made, but Heidelberg Castle remained essentially a ruin.
Since destruction
Slow decay and Romantic enthusiasm
In 1777, Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria in addition to the Palatinate and removed his court from Mannheim to Munich. Heidelberg Castle receded even further from his thoughts and the rooms which had still had roofs were taken over by craftsmen. Even as early as 1767, the south wall was quarried for stone to build Schwetzingen Castle. In 1784, the vaults in the Ottoheinrich wing were filled in, and the castle used as a source of building materials.
As a result of the German mediatisation of 1803, Heidelberg and Mannheim became part of Baden. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden welcomed the addition to his territory, although he regarded Heidelberg Castle as an unwanted addition. The structure was decaying and the townsfolk were helping themselves to stone, wood, and iron from the castle to build their own houses. The statuary and ornaments were also fair game. August von Kotzebue expressed his indignation in 1803 at the government of Baden's intention to pull down the ruins. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the ruined castle had become a symbol for the patriotic movement against Napoleon.
Even before 1800, artists had come to see the river, the hills and the ruins of the castle as an ideal ensemble. The best depictions are those of England's J. M. W. Turner, who stayed in Heidelberg several times between 1817 and 1844, and painted Heidelberg and the castle many times. He and his fellow Romantic painters were not interested in faithful portrayals of the building and gave artistic licence free rein. For example, Turner's paintings of the castle show it perched far higher up on the hill than it actually is.
The saviour of the castle was the French count Charles de Graimberg. He fought the government of Baden, which viewed the castle as an "old ruin with a multitude of tasteless, crumbling ornaments", for the preservation of the building. Until 1822, he served as a voluntary castle warden, and lived for a while in the Glass Wing (Gläserner Saalbau), where he could keep an eye on the courtyard. Long before the origin of historic preservation in Germany, he was the first person to take an interest in the conservation and documentation of the castle, which may never have occurred to any of the Romantics. Graimberg asked Thomas A. Leger to prepare the first castle guide. With his pictures of the castle, of which many copies were produced, Graimberg promoted the castle ruins and drew many tourists to the town.
Planning and restoration
The question of whether the castle should be completely restored was discussed for a long time. In 1868, the poet Wolfgang Müller von Königswinter argued for a complete reconstruction, leading to a strong backlash in public meetings and in the press.
In 1883, the Grand Duchy of Baden established a "Castle field office", supervised by building director Josef Durm in Karlsruhe, district building supervisor Julius Koch and architect Fritz Seitz. The office made a detailed plan for preserving or repairing the main building. They completed their work in 1890, which led a commission of specialists from across Germany to decide that while a complete or partial rebuilding of the castle was not possible, it was possible to preserve it in its current condition. Only the Friedrich Building, whose interiors were fire damaged, but not ruined, would be restored. This reconstruction was done from 1897 to 1900 by Karl Schäfer at the enormous cost of 520,000 Marks.
Castle ruins and tourism
The oldest description of Heidelberg from 1465 mentions that the city is "frequented by strangers", but it did not really become a tourist attraction until the beginning of the 19th century. Count Graimberg made the castle a pervasive subject for pictures which became forerunners of the postcard. At the same time, the castle was also found on souvenir cups. Tourism received a big boost when Heidelberg was connected to the railway network in 1840.
Mark Twain, the American author, described the Heidelberg Castle in his 1880 travel book A Tramp Abroad:
A ruin must be rightly situated, to be effective. This one could not have been better placed. It stands upon a commanding elevation, it is buried in green woods, there is no level ground about it, but, on the contrary, there are wooded terraces upon terraces, and one looks down through shining leaves into profound chasms and abysses where twilight reigns and the sun cannot intrude. Nature knows how to garnish a ruin to get the best effect. One of these old towers is split down the middle, and one half has tumbled aside. It tumbled in such a way as to establish itself in a picturesque attitude. Then all it lacked was a fitting drapery, and Nature has furnished that; she has robed the rugged mass in flowers and verdure, and made it a charm to the eye. The standing half exposes its arched and cavernous rooms to you, like open, toothless mouths; there, too, the vines and flowers have done their work of grace. The rear portion of the tower has not been neglected, either, but is clothed with a clinging garment of polished ivy which hides the wounds and stains of time. Even the top is not left bare, but is crowned with a flourishing group of trees & shrubs. Misfortune has done for this old tower what it has done for the human character sometimes – improved it.
— Mark Twain
In the 20th century, Americans spread Heidelberg's reputation outside Europe. Thus, Japanese also often visit the Heidelberg Castle during their trips to Europe. Heidelberg has, at the beginning of the 21st century, more than three million visitors a year and about 1,000,000 overnight stays. Most of the foreign visitors come either from the USA or Japan. The most important attraction, according to surveys by the Geographical Institute of the University of Heidelberg, is the castle with its observation terraces.
Chronology
Timeline of events for Heidelberg Castle:
1225: first documented mention as "Castrum".
1303: mention of two castles.
1537: destruction of the upper castle by lightning bolt.
1610: creation of the palace garden ("Hortus Palatinus").
1622: Tilly conquers city and castle in the Thirty Years War.
1642: renewal of the Castle plants.
1688/1689: destruction by French troops.
1693: renewed destruction in the Palatinate succession war.
1697: (start) reconstruction.
1720: transfer of the residence to Mannheim.
1742: (start) reconstruction.
1764: destruction by lightning bolt.
1810: Charles de Graimberg dedicates himself to the preservation of the Castle ruins.
1860: first Castle lighting.
1883: establishment of the "office of building of castles of Baden."
1890: stocktaking by Julius Koch and Fritz Seitz.
1900: (circa) restorations and historical development.
(Wikipedi)
Das Heidelberger Schloss ist eine der berühmtesten Ruinen Deutschlands und das Wahrzeichen der Stadt Heidelberg. Bis zu seiner Zerstörung im Pfälzischen Erbfolgekrieg war es die Residenz der Kurfürsten von der Pfalz. Seit den Zerstörungen durch die Soldaten Ludwigs XIV. 1689 und der Sprengung durch französische Pioniere am 6. September 1693 wurde das Heidelberger Schloss nur teilweise restauriert. Nachdem am 24. Juni 1764 Blitze die teilweise renovierte Anlage in Brand gesetzt hatten, wurde die Wiederherstellung aufgegeben. Die Schlossruine aus rotem Neckartäler Sandstein erhebt sich 80 Meter über dem Talgrund am Nordhang des Königstuhls und dominiert von dort das Bild der Altstadt. Der Ottheinrichsbau, einer der Palastbauten des Schlosses, zählt zu den bedeutendsten Bauwerken des deutschen Manierismus. In der kulturgeschichtlichen Epoche der Romantik wurde die Schlossruine zu einem Inbegriff einer vergangenen und bewundernswerten Epoche stilisiert. Es zählt heute zu den meistbesuchten touristischen Sehenswürdigkeiten Europas.
Geschichte
Bis zu den Zerstörungen
Erste Erwähnungen
Um das Jahr 1182 verlegte Konrad der Staufer, Halbbruder von Kaiser Friedrich I. Barbarossa und seit 1156 Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, seine Hofhaltung von der Burg Stahleck bei Bacharach am Mittelrhein auf die Burg Heidelberg, seinem Sitz als Vogt des Klosters Schönau im Odenwald.
Die Stadt Heidelberg wird im Jahr 1196 zum ersten Mal in einer Urkunde genannt. Eine Burg in Heidelberg („castrum in Heidelberg cum burgo ipsius castri“) wird im Jahr 1225 erwähnt, als Ludwig der Kelheimer diese Burg vom Bischof Heinrich von Worms als Lehen erhielt. 1214 waren die Herzöge von Bayern aus dem Haus Wittelsbach mit der Pfalzgrafschaft belehnt worden.
Von einer Burg ist zuletzt im Jahr 1294 die Rede. In einer Urkunde des Jahres 1303 werden zum ersten Mal zwei Burgen aufgeführt: die obere Burg auf dem Kleinen Gaisberg bei der jetzigen Molkenkur und die untere Burg auf dem Jettenbühl. Lange Zeit hatte sich deshalb in der Forschung die Auffassung durchgesetzt, dass die Gründung der unteren Burg zwischen 1294 und 1303 entstanden sein müsse, zumal die vom Schlossbaubüro in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts akribisch durchgeführte Bauaufnahme zum Schluss gelangte, dass die Bausubstanz keine Datierung des Schlosses vor das 15. Jahrhundert gerechtfertigt habe. Aufgrund von Architekturfunden und neueren bauarchäologischen Untersuchungen wird in der jüngeren Forschung zum Heidelberger Schloss die Entstehung der unteren Burg dagegen mittlerweile auf die erste Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts datiert. Bereits 1897 wurde ein vermauertes spätromanisches Fenster in der Trennwand zwischen Gläsernem Saalbau und Friedrichsbau entdeckt. 1976 förderten Ausschachtungsarbeiten an der Nordostecke des Ruprechtbaues in einer um 1400 abgelagerten Schutt- und Abbruchschicht ein Fensterfragment in Form eines Kleeblattbogens zutage, wie es sich in ähnlicher Form in den Arkadenfenstern der Burg Wildenberg findet. Eine im Jahr 1999 im Bereich des Ludwigsbaus durchgeführte archäologische Untersuchung verdichtete die Hinweise auf eine Bebauung des Schlossareals in der ersten Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts.
Die ältesten Werke, die das Heidelberger Schloss erwähnen, sind:
der Thesaurus Picturarum des pfälzischen Kirchenrats Markus zum Lamb (1559 bis 1606)
die Annales Academici Heidelbergenses des Heidelberger Bibliothekars und Professors Pithopoeus (1587 begonnen)
der Originum Palatinarum Commentarius von Marquard Freher (1599)
das Teutsche Reyssebuch von Martin Zeiller (Straßburg 1632, als Itinerarium Germaniae 1674 wieder abgedruckt)
Alle diese Werke sind meist oberflächlich und enthalten nichts Ernsthaftes. Anders verhält es sich mit Matthäus Merian Topographia Palatinatus Rheni aus dem Jahr 1615, in der Kurfürst Ludwig V. als derjenige genannt wird, der „vor hundert und etlichen Jahren hat ein neu Schloß angefangen zu bauen“. Auf Merians Angaben stützen sich die meisten Beschreibungen des Schlosses bis ins 18. Jahrhundert hinein. Das Bestreben, die Gründungszeit des Schlosses weiter rückwärts zu verlegen, führt später zu Hinweisen, dass bereits unter Ruprecht I. die berühmte Hofkapelle auf dem Jettenbühl errichtet worden sei.
Königsschloss und Papstgefängnis
Als Ruprecht III. im Jahr 1401 Deutscher König (Ruprecht I.) wurde, herrschte im Schloss so großer Raummangel, dass er bei seiner Rückkehr von der Königskrönung sein Hoflager im Augustinerkloster (heute: Universitätsplatz) aufschlagen musste. Jetzt galt es, Raum zur Repräsentation und zur Unterbringung des Beamten- und Hofstaates zu schaffen. Gleichzeitig musste die Burg zu einer Festung ausgebaut werden. Etwa aus der Zeit Ruprechts III. stammen die ältesten heute sichtbaren Teile des Schlosses.
Nach Ruprechts Tod im Jahr 1410 wurde der Herrschaftsbereich unter seinen vier Söhnen aufgeteilt. Die pfälzischen Stammlande gingen an den ältesten Sohn Ludwig III. Nach dem Konzil von Konstanz brachte dieser als Stellvertreter des Kaisers und oberster Richter im Jahr 1415 im Auftrag König Sigismunds den abgesetzten Papst Johannes XXIII. auf dem Schloss in Gewahrsam, bevor er auf Burg Eichelsheim (heute Mannheim-Lindenhof) gebracht wurde.
Der französische Dichter Victor Hugo besuchte 1838 Heidelberg und spazierte dabei besonders gerne in den Ruinen des Schlosses herum, dessen Geschichte er in einem Brief zusammenfasst:
„Lassen Sie mich nur von seinem Schloß sprechen. (Das ist absolut unerläßlich, und eigentlich hätte ich damit beginnen sollen). Was hat es nicht alles durchgemacht! Fünfhundert Jahre lang hat es die Rückwirkungen von allem hinnehmen müssen, was Europa erschüttert hat, und am Ende ist es darunter zusammengebrochen. Das liegt daran, daß dieses Heidelberger Schloß, die Residenz des Pfalzgrafen, der über sich nur Könige, Kaiser und Päpste hatte und zu bedeutend war, um sich unter deren Füßen zu krümmen, aber nicht den Kopf heben konnte, ohne mit ihnen aneinanderzugeraten, das liegt daran, meine ich, daß das Heidelberger Schloß immer irgendeine Oppositionshaltung gegenüber den Mächtigen eingenommen hat. Schon um 1300, der Zeit seiner Gründung, beginnt es mit einer Thebais; in dem Grafen Rudolf und dem Kaiser Ludwig, diesen beiden entarteten Brüdern, hat es seinen Eteokles und seinen Polyneikes. Darin nimmt der Kurfürst an Macht zu. Im Jahre 1400 setzt der Pfälzer Ruprecht II., unterstützt von drei rheinischen Kurfürsten, Kaiser Wenzeslaus ab und nimmt dessen Stelle ein; hundertzwanzig Jahre später, 1519, sollte Pfalzgraf Friedrich II. den jungen König Karl I. von Spanien zu Kaiser Karl V. machen.“
– Victor Hugo: Heidelberg
Badisch-Pfälzischer Krieg
Im Badisch-Pfälzischen Krieg 1462 setzte Kurfürst Friedrich I. von der Pfalz (der „Pfälzer Fritz“) den Markgrafen Karl I. von Baden, den Bischof Georg von Metz und den Grafen Ulrich V. von Württemberg auf dem Schloss fest. Friedrich ließ die Gefangenen bei harter Kost in Ketten legen, bis sie bereit waren, die geforderten Lösegeldzahlungen zu leisten. Markgraf Karl I. musste zur Freilassung 25.000 Gulden zahlen, seinen Anteil an der Grafschaft Sponheim als Pfand abgeben und Pforzheim zum pfälzischen Lehen erklären. Der Metzer Bischof musste 45.000 Gulden zahlen. Das Wichtigste war aber, dass Friedrich I. von der Pfalz seinen Anspruch als Kurfürst gesichert hatte. Die Sage berichtet, Friedrich habe seinen unfreiwilligen Gästen das Fehlen von Brot bei der Mahlzeit dadurch begreiflich gemacht, dass er sie durch das Fenster auf das verwüstete Land hinab blicken ließ. Dies wird in einem Gedicht von Gustav Schwab mit dem Titel „Das Mahl zu Heidelberg“ nacherzählt.
Reformation und Dreißigjähriger Krieg
Während der Regierung Ludwigs V. besichtigte Martin Luther, der zu einer Verteidigung seiner Thesen (Heidelberger Disputation) nach Heidelberg gekommen war, das Schloss. Er wurde dabei von Pfalzgraf Wolfgang, dem Bruder Ludwigs V., herumgeführt und lobte später in einem Brief an seinen Freund Georg Spalatin vom 18. Mai 1518 die Schönheit und kriegerische Ausrüstung des Schlosses.
Im Dreißigjährigen Krieg flogen zum ersten Mal Kugeln gegen das Heidelberger Schloss. Hiermit endet auch die eigentliche Geschichte des Schlossbaus. Die folgenden Jahrhunderte bringen hauptsächlich Zerstörungen und Wiederherstellungen.
Friedrich V. von der Pfalz nahm – trotz vieler Bedenken – die Königswürde von Böhmen an und löste damit eine Katastrophe aus. Nach der Schlacht am Weißen Berg war er als Geächteter auf der Flucht und hatte voreilig seine Truppen entlassen, so dass General Tilly, der Oberbefehlshaber der katholischen Liga-Truppen im Dienst des Kurfürsten von Bayern, eine unverteidigte Pfalz vor sich hatte. Am 26. August 1622 eröffnete er die Beschießung Heidelbergs und nahm am 16. September die Stadt und wenige Tage darauf das Schloss ein. Nachdem die Schweden am 5. Mai 1633 die Stadt Heidelberg eingenommen und vom Königstuhl aus das Feuer auf das Schloss eröffnet hatten, übergab der kaiserliche Kommandant am 26. Mai 1633 die Festung an die Schweden. Nach der schweren Niederlage der Schweden in der Schlacht bei Nördlingen im September 1634 besetzten Truppen des Kaisers erneut die Stadt. In der Absicht, das Schloss zu sprengen, wurden innerhalb von 14 Tagen 24 Tonnen Pulver in Stollen unter den Mauern des Schlosses deponiert. Das überraschende Erscheinen einer französischen Armee mit 30.000 Mann verhinderte die geplante Sprengung. Erst im Juli 1635 kam die Stadt erneut in die Gewalt der kaiserlichen Truppen, in der es dann bis zum Friedensschluss blieb. Erst am 7. Oktober 1649 zog der neue Herrscher wieder in das zerstörte Stammschloss seiner Familie ein.
Im Pfälzischen Erbfolgekrieg
Der französische König Ludwig XIV. verlangte nach dem Tode des kinderlosen Kurfürsten Karl II., des letzten Fürsten der Linie Pfalz-Simmern, im Namen der Herzogin von Orléans die Herausgabe des pfälzischen Allodialgutes. Am 29. September 1688 rückten die französischen Heere im Pfälzischen Erbfolgekrieg in die Pfalz und zogen am 24. Oktober in das von Philipp Wilhelm, dem neuen Kurfürsten aus der Linie Pfalz-Neuburg, verlassene Heidelberg ein.
Gegen die verbündeten europäischen Mächte beschloss der französische Kriegsrat, durch Zerstörung aller Festungswerke und durch Verwüstung des pfälzischen Landes dem Feinde die Möglichkeit des Angriffes von dieser Gegend her zu entziehen. Beim Ausrücken aus der Stadt am 2. März 1689 steckten die Franzosen das Schloss und auch die Stadt an vielen Ecken zugleich in Brand.
Johann Wilhelm ließ sofort nach seinem Einzug in die verwüstete Stadt die Mauern und Türme wiederherstellen. Als die Franzosen 1691 und 1692 erneut bis vor die Tore Heidelbergs gelangten, fanden sie die Stadt in einem so guten Verteidigungszustand vor, dass sie unverrichteter Dinge abziehen mussten. Am 18. Mai 1693 standen die Franzosen allerdings wieder vor der Stadt und nahmen sie am 22. Mai ein. Sie versuchten vermutlich, mit der Zerstörung der Stadt die Hauptoperationsbasis gegen das Schloss zu schaffen. Am folgenden Tage kapitulierte die Schlossbesatzung, und nun holten die Franzosen nach, was sie 1689 in der Eile ihres Abzugs nur unvollständig ausgeführt hatten: Sie sprengten nun durch Minen die Türme und Mauern, die beim letzten Mal der Zerstörung entgangen waren. Das Heidelberger Schloss wurde eine Ruine.
Verlegung der Residenz nach Mannheim
Der Frieden von Rijswijk, mit dem der Pfälzische Erbfolgekrieg beendet wurde, brachte im Jahr 1697 endlich etwas Ruhe. Es war geplant, das Schloss abzureißen und die brauchbaren Teile zur Errichtung eines neuen Palastes im Tal zu verwenden. Als sich aber der Durchführung dieses Planes Schwierigkeiten entgegenstellten, wurde das Schloss notdürftig wiederhergestellt. Gleichzeitig trug sich Karl Philipp mit dem Gedanken eines vollständigen Umbaues des Schlosses, aber der Mangel an finanziellen Mitteln schob dieses Projekt auf, und als der Kurfürst 1720 mit den Protestanten der Stadt wegen Überlassung der Heiliggeistkirche an die Katholiken in Streit geriet, der die Verlegung der Residenz nach Mannheim zur Folge hatte, endete das Interesse des Kurfürsten am Heidelberger Schloss. Seine Absicht war es, die Heiliggeistkirche zur katholischen Hofkirche umzuwidmen, was die Heidelberger Reformierten mit allen Mitteln zu verhindern suchten. Als er am 12. April 1720 die Verlegung seiner Residenz mit allen Behörden nach Mannheim verkündete, überließ der Kurfürst die alte Hauptstadt ihrem Schicksal und wünschte ihr, dass „Gras auf ihren Straßen wachsen“ solle. Der religiöse Konflikt war vermutlich aber nur der letzte Anstoß gewesen, das alte, schwer zu einer barocken Anlage umzubauende Bergschloss aufzugeben und in die Ebene zu ziehen, wo er eine ganz seinem Willen entspringende Neugründung vornehmen konnte.
Sein Nachfolger Karl Theodor plante vorübergehend, seinen Wohnsitz wieder ins Heidelberger Schloss zu verlegen. Er nahm davon allerdings wieder Abstand, als am 24. Juni 1764 der Blitz zweimal hintereinander in den Saalbau einschlug und das Schloss abermals brannte. Victor Hugo hielt dies später für einen Wink des Himmels:
„Man könnte sogar sagen, daß der Himmel sich eingemischt hat. Am 23. Juni 1764, einen Tag, bevor Karl-Theodor in das Schloß einziehen und es zu seiner Residenz machen sollte (was, nebenbei gesagt, ein großes Unglück gewesen wäre; denn wenn Karl-Theodor seine dreißig Jahre dort verbracht hätte, wäre die strenge Ruine, die wir heute bewundern, sicher mit einer schrecklichen Pompadour-Verzierung versehen worden), an diesem Vortag also, als die Möbel des Fürsten bereits vor der Tür, in der Heiliggeistkirche, standen, traf das Feuer des Himmels den achteckigen Turm, setzte das Dach in Brand und zerstörte in wenigen Stunden dieses fünfhundert Jahre alte Schloß.“
– Victor Hugo: Heidelberg.
In den folgenden Jahrzehnten wurden zwar noch notwendige Erneuerungen vorgenommen, aber das Heidelberger Schloss blieb von nun an hauptsächlich eine Ruine.
Seit den Zerstörungen
Langsamer Zerfall und romantische Begeisterung
Im Jahr 1777 verlegte Kurfürst Karl Theodor seine Residenz von Mannheim nach München. Damit verlor er das Heidelberger Schloss noch mehr aus den Augen. Die überdachten Räume wurden nun von Handwerksbetrieben genutzt. Schon 1767 hatte man begonnen, die Quader des Südwalles als Baumaterial für das Schwetzinger Schloss zu verwenden. Im Jahr 1784 wurden gar die Gewölbe im Erdgeschoss des Ottheinrichsbaus eingelegt und das Schloss als Steinbruch verwendet.
Durch den Reichsdeputationshauptschluss von 1803 gingen Heidelberg und Mannheim an Baden über. Der große Gebietszuwachs war Großherzog Karl Friedrich willkommen, das Heidelberger Schloss betrachtete er jedoch als unerwünschte Zugabe. Die Bauten verfielen, Heidelberger Bürger holten aus dem Schloss Steine, Holz und Eisen zum Bau ihrer Häuser. Auch Figuren und Verzierungen wurden abgeschlagen. August von Kotzebue äußerte sich 1803 voller Empörung über die Absicht der badischen Regierung, die Ruinen abtragen zu lassen. Das zerstörte Schloss wurde am Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts zum Sinnbild für die patriotische Gesinnung, die sich gegen die napoleonische Unterdrückung richtete.
Schon vor 1800 erkannten Maler und Zeichner in der Schlossruine und der bergigen Flusslandschaft ein idealtypisches Ensemble. Den Höhepunkt bilden die Gemälde des Engländers William Turner, der sich zwischen 1817 und 1844 mehrfach in Heidelberg aufhielt und etliche Gemälde von Heidelberg und dem Schloss anfertigte. Ihm und anderen Künstlern der Romantik ging es dabei nicht um eine detailgetreue Bauaufnahme. Sie pflegten eher einen recht freien Umgang mit der Wirklichkeit. So ist bei seinem Gemälde des Schlosses das Gelände mehrfach überhöht dargestellt.
Der Begriff Romantik wurde von dem Philosophen Friedrich Schlegel Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts zu einer Universalpoesie erklärt – ein literaturtheoretischer Begriff aus der Frühromantik. In ihr würden alle Künste und Gattungen zu einer Form verschmelzen. Jedoch wandelte sich dies im allgemeinen Verständnis zu einem verklärenden sentimentalen Gefühl der Sehnsucht. Diese Empfindung fand insbesondere in der sogenannten Heidelberger Romantik ihren Ausdruck. So zum Beispiel in Liedersammlungen der Autoren Achim von Arnim und Clemens Brentano, die sich oft in Heidelberg aufhielten. Landschaftsmaler machten die Schlossreste zum zentralen Motiv ihrer Gemälde, in denen häufig das Anmutige der umgebenden Landschaft in Kontrast gestellt wurde zum Feierlich-Düsteren der Ruine. Clemens Brentano dichtete:
„Und da ich um die Ecke bog, – ein kühles Lüftlein mir entgegen zog – Der Neckar rauscht aus grünen Hallen – Und giebt am Fels ein freudig Schallen, – Die Stadt streckt sich den Fluss hinunter, – Mit viel Geräusch und lärmt ganz munter, – Und drüber an grüner Berge Brust, – Ruht groß das Schloss und sieht die Lust.“
– Clemens Brentano: Lied von eines Studenten Ankunft in Heidelberg und seinem Traum auf der Brücke, worin ein schöner Dialogus zwischen Frau Pallas und Karl Theodor.
Die auf Poetik beruhenden Konzepte der Romantik wurden in brieflichen Diskussionen zwischen Achim und Jacob Grimm über das Verhältnis von Natur- und Kunstpoesie entwickelt. Abkehrend von den Elementen der Reflexion, Kritik und Rhetorik in der Kunstpoesie, beschäftigt sich die „Heidelberger Romantik“ mit der Naturpoesie. Im Laufe des 19. Jahrhunderts wurde Heidelberg mit seinem Schloss und der heimischen Natur auch bei Reisenden und Wanderern zunehmend bekannt und beliebt. Stadt und Schloss wurden zum Inbegriff romantischer Stimmung.
Der Retter des Schlosses war der französische Graf Charles de Graimberg. Er kämpfte gegen Pläne der badischen Regierung, für die das Heidelberger Schloss das „alte Gemäuer mit seinen vielfältigen, geschmacklosen, ruinösen Verzierungen“ war, für die Erhaltung der Schlossruinen. Er versah bis 1822 das Amt eines freiwilligen Schlosswächters und wohnte eine Zeit lang im Vorbau des Gläsernen Saalbaues, von dem aus er den Schlosshof am besten übersehen konnte. Lange bevor es in Deutschland eine Denkmalpflege gab, war er der erste, der sich um den Erhalt und die Dokumentation des Schlosses kümmerte, als bei der romantischen Schwärmerei noch niemand daran dachte, den Verfall zu unterbinden. In Auftrag Graimbergs verfasste Thomas A. Leger den ersten Schlossführer. Mit seinen in hoher Auflage produzierten druckgraphischen Ansichten verhalf Graimberg der Schlossruine zu einem Bekanntheitsgrad, der den Tourismus nach Heidelberg lenkte.
Bestandsaufnahme und Restaurierung – der Heidelberger Schlossstreit
Die Frage, ob das Schloss vollständig wiederhergestellt werden solle, führte zu langen Diskussionen. Der Dichter Wolfgang Müller von Königswinter machte sich im Jahr 1868 für eine vollständige Erneuerung stark und rief damit heftige Reaktionen hervor, die in der Presse und in Versammlungen ausgetragen wurden. Aus dem Streit um den richtigen Umgang mit der Schlossruine entwickelte sich eine Grundsatzdiskussion über die Aufgaben der Denkmalpflege. Die Ergebnisse dieser Debatte, die als der „Heidelberger Schlossstreit“ in die Geschichte eingegangen sind, prägten die Prinzipien der Bewahrung historischer Bauwerke nachhaltig.
Die Großherzogliche badische Regierung errichtete im Jahr 1883 ein Schloßbaubüro, das unter Oberaufsicht des Baudirektors Josef Durm in Karlsruhe vom Bezirksbauinspektor Julius Koch und dem Architekten Fritz Seitz geleitet wurde. Aufgabe des Büros war es, eine möglichst genaue Bestandsaufnahme zu machen und zugleich Maßnahmen zur Erhaltung oder Instandsetzung der Hauptgebäude vorzuschlagen. Die Arbeiten dieses Büros endeten 1890 und bildeten die Grundlage für eine Kommission von Fachleuten aus ganz Deutschland. Die Kommission kam zu der einhelligen Überzeugung, dass eine völlige oder teilweise Wiederherstellung des Schlosses nicht in Betracht komme, dagegen eine Erhaltung des jetzigen Zustandes mit allen Mitteln zu erstreben sei. Nur der Friedrichsbau, dessen Innenräume zwar durch Feuer zerstört worden waren, der aber nie Ruine war, sollte wiederhergestellt werden. Diese Wiederherstellung geschah schließlich in der Zeit von 1897 bis 1900 durch Carl Schäfer mit dem enormen Kostenaufwand von 520.000 Mark. Im Jahr 2019 entspricht der Aufwand Inflationsbereinigt 3.700.000 €.
Schlossruine und Tourismus
Schon die älteste Beschreibung Heidelbergs aus dem Jahr 1465 erwähnt, dass die Stadt „vielbesucht von Fremden“ sei. Doch ein eigentlicher Städtetourismus setzte frühestens zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts ein. Graf Graimberg sorgte mit seinen Zeichnungen dafür, dass das Schloss als Bildmotiv eine große Verbreitung fand. Sie wurden praktisch zu Vorläufern der Postkarte. Zur gleichen Zeit gab es auch schon das Schloss als Souvenir auf Tassen. Den entscheidenden Schub erhielt der Tourismus aber erst mit dem Anschluss Heidelbergs ans Eisenbahnnetz im Jahr 1840.
Mark Twain beschrieb 1878 in seinem Buch Bummel durch Europa (A Tramp Abroad) das Heidelberger Schloss folgendermaßen:
„Um gut zu wirken, muss eine Ruine den richtigen Standort haben. Diese hier hätte nicht günstiger gelegen sein können. Sie steht auf einer die Umgebung beherrschenden Höhe, sie ist in grünen Wäldern verborgen, um sie herum gibt es keinen ebenen Grund, sondern im Gegenteil bewaldete Terrassen, man blickt durch glänzende Blätter in tiefe Klüfte und Abgründe hinab, wo Dämmer herrscht und die Sonne nicht eindringen kann. Die Natur versteht es, eine Ruine zu schmücken, um die beste Wirkung zu erzielen.“
– Mark Twain: Bummel durch Europa.
Bei einem am 18. Mai 1978 verübten Brandanschlag, der den Revolutionären Zellen zugerechnet wird, entstand ein Sachschaden von 97.000 DM am Schloss.
Im 20. Jahrhundert verfielen die US-Amerikaner noch mehr dem Heidelberg-Mythos und trugen ihn hinaus in die Welt. So kommt es, dass auch viele andere Nationalitäten das Heidelberger Schloss auf ihren Kurzreisen durch Europa zu den wenigen Zwischenstopps zählen.
Heidelberg hat zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts jährlich mehr als eine Million Besucher und etwa 900.000 Übernachtungen. Wichtigster Anlaufpunkt ist laut einer Befragung des geografischen Instituts der Universität Heidelberg das Schloss mit seinen Aussichtsterrassen.
Das Heidelberger Schloss zählt heute zu den landeseigenen Monumenten und wird von der Einrichtung „Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg“ betreut. Aus dem Landesinfrastrukturprogramm Baden-Württemberg wurden für den Neubau eines von Max Dudler entworfenen Besucherzentrums 3 Millionen Euro zur Verfügung gestellt. Es wurde 2012 eröffnet.
Zudem ist das Schloss nach Angaben der Schlösserverwaltung das größte Fledermaus-Winterquartier in Nordbaden. Wegen der dort überwinternden Zwergfledermaus sowie dem Großen Mausohr wurde im Jahr 2016 der im Stückgarten vor dem Schloss stattfindende Teil des Weihnachtsmarktes auf den Friedrich-Ebert-Platz verlegt.
(Wikipdia)
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
By Jo Williams
The Parque Nacional de Doñana is one of Europe's most important wetland reserves and a major site for migrating birds. It is an immense area; the parque itself and surrounding parque natural or Entorno de Doñana (a protected buffer zone) amount to over 1,300 sq km in the provinces of Huelva, Sevilla and Cádiz. It is internationally for recognised for its great ecological wealth. Doñana has become a key centre in the world of conservationism.
Doñana is well known for its enormous variety of bird species, either permanent residents, winter visitors from north and central Europe or summer visitors from Africa, like its numerous types of geese and colourful colonies of flamingo. It has one of the world's largest colonies of Spanish imperial eagles. The park as a whole comprises three distinct kinds of ecosystem: the marismas, the Mediterranean scrublands and the coastal mobile dunes with their beaches.
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The configuration of the Parque Nacional de Doñana is a result of its past as the delta of the Guadalquivir river, the 'big river', or Wada-I-Kebir, of the Moors. But it is a delta with a difference. Unlike most, the river has only one outlet to the sea, just below Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The rest of what used to be its delta has gradually been blocked off by a huge sandbar that stretches from the mouth of the Río Tinto, near Palos de la Frontera, to the riverbank opposite Sanlúcar, and which the sea winds have gradually formed into high dunes. Behind this natural barrier stretches the marshlands (marismas).
The effect of this extraordinary mélange of land and water was to create an environment shunned by people but ideal for wildlife. As early as the thirteenth century, the kings of Castille set aside a portion of the Doñana as a royal hunting estate; later the dukes of Medina Sidonia made it their private coto too. One of the duchesses of Medina Sidonia, Doná Ana de Silva y Mendoza, indulged her antisocial instincts by building a residence there that was more hermitage than palace. As a result, the entire region came to be known as the 'forest of Doná Ana', or Doñana. In the eighteenth century, Goya is known to have visited the Duchess of Alba at the Palacio de Doñana when she was its proprietress. Subsequently, the land passed through many hands before the official creation of the parque nacional in 1969.
Meanwhile, adjoining areas of wetland were being dramatically reduced. Across the Guadalquivir vast marshes were drained and converted to farmland, until only the protected lands of the Doñana remained intact. For centuries there had been only a vacant spot on the map between Lebrija in the east and Almonte in the north west, but in recent years whole towns and villages have sprung up west of the Guadalquivir, and the resort town of Matalascañas has brought urban sprawl to the south-western edge of the Doñana, a place once occupied by reed-thatched fishermen's huts. The proximity of these settlements has further complicated the work of the park's wildlife guardians. Two of the Doñana's precious lynxes, for example, have been run over by cars on the highway to Matalascañas; cats and dogs straying out of the nearest towns have killed animals in the park, and birds that have overflown the fences have been gunned down by trigger-happy hunters despite stringent conservation laws.
A more permanent threat to the Doñana's ecosystem are the new ricefields and other agricultural projects north of El Rocío, whose run-off waters sluice pesticides into the marismas and the sulphur mines upstream at Aznalcóliar which was effluvium into the river.
Access
Marismas de Odiel, Huelva
Marismas de Odiel, Huelva
Entrance to the park is strictly controlled. You can take half-day trips with official guides or explore the environs of the visitors' centres on foot.
To visit the principal visitors' centre at El Acebuche, take the A483 south of Almonte and about 12km from El Rocío is the signposted turn at Km29 for Centro de Recepción El Acebuche (959 44 87 11), 1½km from the main road. Alternatively, you can drive 3km north of Matalascañas to the turn-off at Km29. The centre has an exhibition about the park, a café and a shop selling maps and books. From the centre is a signposted 5km trail through scrubland and pine trees. Next to the centre is the El Acebuche lagoon, with bird hides, where you can see purple gallinules, among other birds.
From El Acebuche there are four-hour trips into the park run by the Cooperativa Marsimas del Rocío (959 43 04 32), which must be booked in advance. The four-wheel drive vehicle can seat 21 people and guides speak some English. There are two trips a day (excluding Mondays), at 0830 and 1500 (1700 in summer). Full day trips can also be organised for groups, with lunch in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. A typical trip will take in all three ecosystems in the park - dunes, matorral and marshland - but the amount of exposure to each environment varies with the seasons. One thing is guaranteed - no two visits will be alike.
The nearest visitors' centre to El Rocío is La Rocina (959 44 23 40), 500m from the village and just off the Matalascañas road. It has information on the park and a 3km-long nature trail along the freshwater lake and marshland Charco de la Boca, which feeds into the Madres de la Marismas at El Rocío. The trail has five bird hides and it's possible to see purple gallinules, hoopoes, herons and Savi's warblers, among other birds.
Seven kilometres on from La Rocina is the Palacio del Acebrón, an old hunting lodge containing exhibitions on the park. In the grounds is a pleasant 1½-km nature trail through woodland and around a small lake, the Charco del Acebrón.
The Centro de Visitantes José Antonio Valverde on the northern edge of the park has some excellent birdwatching opportunities. It is 30km south of the town of Villamanrique de la Condesa, from where it is signposted.
The Playa de Castilla beach, reached on foot east of Matalascañas, runs alongside the park boundary and although you can't enter Doñana here, it is a beautiful, unspoilt stretch of coastline with good birdwatching possibilities.
The park can also be reached (but not entered) by taking the ferry boat across the Guadalquivir river from Sanlúcar de Barrameda where there is a visitors' centre, the Centro de Visitantes Fábrica de Hielo (956 38 16 35), with exhibitions on the Doñana. You can take the Real Fernando boat daily (except in January) from Sanlúcar for 13km up the Guadalquivir river, stopping in a few places for guided walks into the park. It's advisable to book in advance, especially during the summer and holidays.
Accommodation
The closest accommodation to the entry point of El Acebuche in the park is in Matalascañas, about 3km from El Acebuche. Ten kilometres north of El Acebuche is the village of El Rocío, with various hotels. Alternatively, between Matalascañas and Huelva there is Mazagón or Villamanrique de la Condesa to the north of the park. Accommodation will be very hard to find (or extremely expensive) around the time of the El Rocío pilgrimage at Pentecost. During the summer months Matalascañas and Mazagón are also very busy, so book ahead at this time.
• El Cortijo de los Mimbrales (959 44 22 37) Conveniently located for the park on the A483 El Rocío-Matalascañas road, 3km south of El Rocío. A former farm in an orange grove with delightful rooms set in beautiful gardens. Excellent bar and restaurant.
• Hotel Toruño (959 44 23 23) This is the best hotel in El Rocío. It is in a great location overlooking the marismas, so you can even birdwatch from your bedroom, if you choose your room carefully (ask for rooms 219, 221, 223 or 223).
Camping
There are many campsites close to the Playa de Castilla beach along the A494 between Mazagón and Matalascañas, which runs alongside the park boundary. In the summer it's well worth booking in advance when the campsites could be full, particularly in August.
• Camping Doñana (959 53 62 81) At the Mazagón end of the A494 at Km34.6, this shady campsite has wooden cabins and tents for rent and a swimming pool.
• Camping La Aldea Located inland on the edge of El Rocío village near the marismas, this campsite has bungalows for hire, a bar and a shop.
• Camping Rocío Playa (959 43 02 38) On the A494 Mazagón-Matalascañas road at Km 45.2, 1½km west of Matalascañas, is this large campsite. Facilities include a restaurant, tennis court, football pitch and a bar with wonderful views. There are wooden bungalows and tents for hire.
Flora
The park supports an incredible array of vegetation in a variety of virgin habitats. Inland are large expanses of stone pines, as well as Mediterranean scrublands, with narrow leaved cistus heather, mastic tree, rosemary, cistus scrub, glasswort, red lavender, rosemary and thyme. There are also junipers and forests of cork oaks, known as "las pajareras" for the enormous quantity of birds that nest in them. Among the flowering plants are lavender, tree heaths, gladioli, irises and rock roses. In the spring the marshlands are covered with flowers.
Fauna
This is a vast wilderness that supports an unrivalled wealth of fauna; 125 species of birds are known to be resident here, as well as 125 migratory bird species, 17 reptiles, nine amphibians and eight species of fish. There is a rich variety of mammals, 28 species in total, with some in danger of extinction, such as the lynx and the Egyptian mongoose. Also here are badgers, rabbits and otters. Game is also plentiful, with red deer, fallow deer and wild boar.
Birds
Doñana comprises delta waters which flood in winter and then drop in the spring leaving rich deposits of silt and raised sandbanks and islands. These conditions are perfect in winter for geese and ducks but most exciting in spring when they draw hundreds of flocks of breeding birds. If you're lucky you may also catch a glimpse of the rare Spanish Imperial Eagle, now down to 15 breeding pairs. In the marshes and amid the cork oak forests behind you've a good chance of seeing grey herons, lanner falcons, ring and turtle doves, partridges, oxpeckers, cattle egret, storks and vultures.
What you see at Doñana depends on the time of year and the luck of the draw - November, December and January constitute the off-season for visitors but is an ideal time for waterfowl, since the autumn rains have brought life back to the marismas and filled the lagunas. Gradually, the water attains a uniform depth of 30-60 centimetres (12-24 inches) over vast areas and the resulting marches attract huge flocks of wildfowl, ducks, geese and other water birds of the most varied kind. These are freshwater marshes, incidentally, although there are traces of sea salt in the underlying silt. Here and there small islands (vetas) rise above the water. These remain dry throughout the year, creating an ideal breeding ground for waders and terns.
Towards the end of February the geese that have migrated here from northern Europe commence their return journey, but at the same time the spoonbills arrive from North Africa to nest in the cork oaks. In March the waters begin to recede and spring begins in earnest. This is also the time when the imperial eagle hatches its eggs: 15 breeding pairs of these formidable hunters were counted recently in the park - above a third of all the imperial eagles known to survive in Spain. Each pair requires nearly 2,600 hectares of land to hunt over in summer, and even more in winter. This is a far from perfect environment for these great birds and Doñana pairs seldom raise as many young as those elsewhere in Spain.
In spring the marismas are alive with birds - some settling down to breed, others en route for more northern climes. Huge numbers of kites hang in the air, harriers send the duck scurrying skywards in fear of their lives. There are black-tailed godwit and ruff on their way to Holland and beyond, greenhank and wood sandpiper bound for Scandinavia, little stint and curlew sandpiper heading for northern Siberia and usually a marsh sandpiper that should be a thousand kilometres or more further east.
Overhead, vast flocks of whiskered terns wheel and circle along with a few gullbilled terns and racy pratincoles. There are swallows galore, some of them red-rumped, and bee-eaters and rollers perch on post and wire. All of these and more can be seen from the bridge at El Rocío - perhaps the best free birdwatching in Europe.
From bird hides at the reserve centre, just south of the bridge, you will hear Cetti's and Savi's warblers and watch egrets, herons and little bitterns come and go. Marsh harriers and kites are continually on view and sometimes a majestic imperial eagle will soar from the woods of Doñana over El Rocío to the Coto del Rey.
In mid-summer the temperature in the parched marismas easily exceeds 40°C. Aquatic birds that remain in the stagnant pools die of botulism, and each year thousands more die during the advancing drought in the Doñana. In August, there is almost nothing left of the marsh's aquatic fauna, but it is a good time for observing dozens of summer residents, which include griffon vulture, booted eagle, red and black kites, short toed eagle, Baillon's crake, purple gallinule, great spotted cuckoo, Scops owl, red necked nightjar, bee eater, hoopoe, calandra, short toed and thekla larks, golden oriole, azure winged magpie. Cetti's and Savi's warblers, tawny pipit, great grey shrike, woodchat shrike and serin.
Rivers
As part of the Guadalquivir delta, the park is riddled with creeks and streams, the main ones being the Brazo de la Torre, the Caño de Guadiamar and Caño Real. The park is dotted with ponds (lucios) that, like the marshlands themselves, can dry up almost completely in summer.
Walks
The core of the park is off-limits to independent walkers. There are footpaths, often with bird hides, leading from the following visitors' centres: El Acebuche, La Rocina and El Palacio del Acebrón. You can also walk alonside the park boundary on the Playa de Castilla, near Matalascañas. A signposted walk, the Sendero Laguna del Jaral Medano del Asperillo, is off the A494 at Km 47. Coming from Matalascañas, there is a car park on the left with an information board and map. It is a challenging circular 5.6km trail that crosses sand dunes and pine woods and will take around 3½ hours. It has superb views of the sea. Make sure you take plenty of water and go when it is not too hot.
Also signposted is the Sendero Cuesta del Maneli. This is a circular trail through the dunes and pine woodland between the road and the beach. It is 2.3km long and takes around 1½ hours and is easier than the Sendero Laguna del Jaral Medano del Asperillo. To get there, take the off the A494 Matalascañas-Mazagón road and at Km 38 there is a car park and information board.
Villages
El Rocío
Matalascañas
Mazagón
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Villamanrique de la Condesa
The Bara Gumbad, or "big dome," is a large domed structure grouped together with the Friday mosque of Sikander Lodi and a mehman khana (guesthouse), located in New Delhi's Lodi Gardens. The buildings were constructed at different times during the Lodi era and occupy a common raised platform. Formerly an outlying area of Delhi, the Lodi Gardens are a British-planned landscaped garden which includes a number of monuments (primarily tombs) from the Sayyid and the Lodi dynasties. Originally called Willingdon Park, the gardens were located in the former village of Khairpur, now on the edge of Lutyen's Delhi, the colonial capital built by the British in the early 20th century. The gardens, which cover approx. 70 acres, have come to be surrounded by institutional buildings and some of contemporary Delhi's most expensive real estate.
Although they were built under the same dynasty, each of the three structures was undertaken separately. The Bara Gumbad, completed in 1490, is considered to have the first full dome constructed in Delhi. Its original purpose is contested; although it appears to be a freestanding tomb, it contains no tombstone. This causes the speculation that the building might have been intended as a gateway for the Friday mosque; however, their respective placements, stylistic differences, and construction dates do not support this theory. The Friday mosque, completed in 1494, is the first example of the new mosque type that developed during the Lodi era. Characterized by a relatively simple five bay prayer hall building adjacent to a simple open courtyard, this type was an important precedent for mosque architecture in the Lodi and Mughal eras.
The complex can be accessed from various points along the roads bordering the Lodi Gardens, with the access from the Lodi road towards the south most prominent. The buildings are situated at a distance of about 300 meters from Muhammad Shah's tomb towards the south and about 380 meters from Sikander Lodi's tomb towards the north. Another prominent structure, the Shish Gumbad, is located facing the Bara Gumbad at a distance of about seventy-five meters towards the north. The area surrounding the buildings is landscaped with manicured grass lawns. Few trees are planted in the immediate vicinity, leaving the view of the structures unobscured. The path winding through the Lodi Gardens approaches the buildings axially from the north, although the building plinth is accessible all from all sides.
The buildings are sited on a three-meter-high platform, measuring approximately 30 meters (east-west) by 25 meters (north-south). The Friday mosque is located along the western edge of the platform; the guesthouse is sited opposite it, occupying the eastern edge, while the Bara Gumbad is located along the southern edge. Stone masonry walls, about six meters high, connect the three structures along the southern edge. The northern edge is provided with staircases for accessing the platform. A centrally located straight flight comprising of eight steps, about ten meters wide, connects the ground to a generous mid landing. Another 'C' shaped flight of eight steps wraps around the landing, creating an amphitheatre-like space and reaching the top of the platform. The current arrangement of steps appears to be more recent, and the remains of walls adjoining the southern face of the guesthouse and the mosque indicate that the northern edge might have originally been walled. In the center of the raised court, with its southern edge along the staircase, are the remains of a square shaped platform, 8 meters wide, which appears to be a grave.
Friday mosque:
The Friday mosque is a single aisled, rectangular building, approx. 30 meters (north-south) by 8 meters (east-west). The mosque is organized in five unequal bays, which correspond to the five arched doorways on the eastern (entry) elevation. The width of the arched doorways decreases from the center towards the sides. The arches span across grey granite piers. The central arch is framed within a projecting rectangular portal, measuring about 8 meters in height by 6 meters wide. The piers of the rectangular frame are cased in dressed granite and have three shallow arched niches in red sandstone, occurring vertically above the springing point of the arch, on either side. The doorway itself is described by four receding planes of ogee arches, the outermost one being in line with the external face of the rectangular portal. The doorways immediately to the side of the central portal are about 5 meters wide, while those at the two ends are approx. 1.5 meters wide with two receding planes of ogee arches, adding to the prominence of the central doorway. The apex of each innermost arch is constant, measuring approx. 5 meters from the top of the platform. Each arch is finished in plaster and embellished with intricate carved Arabic inscriptions. The spandrels are also heavily carved with geometric motifs, and their the corners are adorned with round inscribed plaster medallions. Red sandstone eaves (chajjas) on stone brackets top the arches, interrupted only by the central projecting portal that extends above them. There is a blank plastered frieze above the eaves, followed by the projecting horizontal bands of the cornice that is topped by a blind masonry parapet adorned with petal shaped crenellations with inscribed plaster medallions.
The interior of the prayer hall reflects the five bay division of the eastern elevation. It is a rectangular space, measuring about 27 meters (north-south) by about 7 meters (east-west). Additional arches spanning between the piers on the eastern elevation and the engaged piers of the western wall emphasize the demarcation of the interior space into bays. These internal ogee arches reach a height of about five meters. They are finished in plaster and profusely decorated with carvings of Arabic inscriptions. The piers are unornamented, dressed gray granite.
The qibla (western) wall of the prayer hall is a blind wall divided into five unequal bays expressed as recessed ogee arched niches, reflecting the arched openings on the eastern wall. The two bays adjacent to the central bay have three equal niches carved out from the portion below the springing line of the main arch. These niches are separated by granite piers, which have smaller arched niches in the top third of their elevation. The three niches are made of two layers of ogee arches framed by the piers. The external layer is in gray-yellow granite, while the interior arch is made of red sandstone. The central niche is mildly distinguishable from the others because its arched portion is curved and the imposts are engraved, while those of the adjacent arches are plain. The innermost rectangular portion of the central niche is blank, while that of the adjoining niches has the carving of a vase and flora inscribed in it. The tympanum of the main outer arch is finished in plaster and has an additional niche directly above the central niche which is embellished heavily with plaster carvings of Arabic inscriptions. A band of similar inscriptions runs along the interior perimeter of the arch and around the upper niche in a closed loop. The voussoirs of the outer arch are plastered and embellished with another layer of carvings. The central bay of the western wall also has three niches, each made of four recessed planes of alternating rectangular and arched profiles. The central mihrab niche is taller and wider. It is also shallower and the innermost plane is blank, while the other two niches are deeper set with relief work. A stone minbar with three steps has been provided abutting the northern pier of the central niche.
Hemispherical domes cover the three central bays, while the terminal bays are covered by low flat vaulted ceilings. The square plan of the three central bays transitions into an octagonal drum through the application of corbelled pendentives at the corners. The corbelling occurs in four layers, which increases in width from the bottom up. The layers are further embellished with curved niches set into rectangular frames, which also increase in number, the lowest corbel having one and the last corbel having five such niches. The last layers of the pendentives form alternate edges of the octagonal drum; the remaining edges being formed by the extension of the walls and are also provided with similar curved niches. The octagonal drum transitions into a hexadecagon, followed by a thirty-two-sided polygon by the provisions of small struts. Each face of the hexadecagon is provided with shallow niches, while the thirty-two-sided polygon is described by a projecting band of red sandstone, followed by a band of inscriptions finally topped by the hemispherical dome. The dome is finished in plain plaster. The voussoirs of the arches, the pendentives and the tympanum are all covered by intricate stucco Arabic inscriptions. The central dome is relatively higher that the other two domes.
The northern and southern walls of the mosque are punctured by ogee arch doorways below the springline of the main arch. Each opening leads to a projecting balcony, comprising of red sandstone posts supporting a tiered roof. The balconies protrude out from the faade and are supported on red sandstone brackets, whose profiles and carvings are characteristic of Hindu architecture. An elaborately carved arched niche is provided above each opening on the interior wall. It is set into a rectangular frame embossed with Arabic text.
The plasterwork on the external northern and southern walls of the mosque has fallen off, exposing the stone masonry, while that on the western wall has survived. The central bay of the western wall projects out and is marked by two solid towers at the corners. These towers are divided vertically into four layers; the first two layers from the bottom are orthogonal, while the third layer has alternating curved and angular fluting; the top layer, extending over the parapet of the mosque, has a circular section. The corners of the mosque are marked by similar tapering towers, which are divided into four layers. Each layer is circular in plan except the third layer, which is described by alternating curved and angular fluting. All the towers have the remains of finials at their apex. The central projecting wall has four red sandstone brackets in its upper third portion, which may have supported a projecting balcony similar to those on the north and south elevations.
The plasterwork on the walls of the plinth is now gone, exposing the rubble masonry construction below. The western face of the plinth is punctured by five ogee arch openings set into rectangular frames, one in the center and two each on the sides. These openings provide access to the basement within the plinth.
The roof has three domes corresponding to the three central bays of the prayer hall and the three central arches on the eastern elevation. The extrados of the domes are finished in plaster. The octagonal drums supporting the domes protrude out over the roof level, above which the circular bases of the domes are decorated with blind crestings having floral motifs. The central dome is marginally larger than the adjacent domes and all three have the remains of lotus finials at their apex.
Bara Gumbad:
Square in plan, the Bara Gumbad measures approx. 20 meters per side. Set on a plinth 3 meters high, it joins the common plinth on the north and projects beyond it to the south. Its plinth is decorated on the east, south, and west with ogee arch openings set into rectangular frames. These provide access to a basement.The walls of the Bara Gumbad are approx. 12 meters tall, above which a hemispherical dome on a hexadecagonal drum extends another 14 meters from the roof level, for a total building height of 29 meters above ground level.
Each of its elevations is nearly identical and divided into 2 horizontal sections. A projecting portal composed of an ogee arch set in a rectangular frame (approx. 8 meters wide), is centered in each elevation and rises approximately 75 cm above the parapet line of the building. The 1.5 meter wide frame is made of dressed gray granite. Each vertical pier of the frame has six shallow red sandstone niches arranged atop one another at varying heights; nine niches continue in a line along the horizontal portion of the frame. The portal is described by two receding planes of grey granite ogee arches; the spandrels are cased with black granite with a thin projecting edge of red sandstone. Two round plaster medallions adorn the spandrels. The lower layer of the portal has a central doorway, spanned by two red sandstone brackets that form a trabeated arch supporting a black granite lintel. These brackets are supported on grey granite posts. An intricately carved red sandstone frame adorns the brackets and the lintel; it starts at the springing point of the arch and frames the lintel of the doorway. The entire composition is set in a rectangular yellow sandstone frame. An ogee arch window has been provided above the trabeated entrance. The portal is crowned by the arched crenellations of the blind parapet. Solid turrets mark the projecting corners of the portal.
The remainder of the elevation, that flanking the central portal on either side and recessed behind it, is divided vertically into two equivalent parts by projecting horizontal bands of stone. Each part is described by two equal arched panels set into rectangular frames. Both the panels of the upper part on either side of the portal are blind and filled with granite masonry. The lower panels located adjacent to the portal are windows, while the lower panels at the edges are filled in. The parapet, like the portal, is decorated with arched crenellations, and the roof has solid turrets at each corner.
A single hemispherical dome surmounted on a sixteen-sided drum crowns the building. Each face of the drum is described by an ogee arched niche set in a rectangular frame. The voussoirs of the arches are gray granite, while the spandrels are clad with red sandstone. The top edge of the drum is decorated with a band of arched crenellations, similar to those on the roof parapets, running above a projecting band of stone that surrounds the drum. Below this projection is band of leaves carved in relief. The extrados of the dome are finished in smooth plaster. The lotus base, possibly for a vanished calyx finial, is still extant.
The structure can be entered either from the raised courtyard via the north elevation or from a double flight of steps located on the western elevation. Inside, the square building measures about seven meters per side. An 80 cm high, 45 cm wide solid seat runs continuously along the interior perimeter of the building. Light streams in from all four walls, which are punctured by the openings of the doorway at the ground level and the ogee arch window above. The interior surfaces of the Gumbad are unornamented and finished in dressed granite. The square plan of the room transitions into an octagon via squinches, which then support the thirty-two-sided drum and the dome. The apex of the dome has two bands of floral inscriptions; otherwise, the dome is finished in plaster. The absence of historical inscriptions has contributed to the confusion over the original purpose of the Bara Gumbad.
Mehman Khana:
The third structure in the group is rectangular in plan, measuring about 27 meters (north-south) by 7 seven meters (east-west). Located along the eastern edge of the common plinth, it faces the mosque and is connected to the Bara Gumbad by a masonry wall along its northern face. The structure is believed to have either been a mehman khana, (guesthouse) or a majlis khana (assembly hall).
The building is accessed from the common plinth through its western wall, which is divided into five bays, mirroring the eastern elevation of the mosque opposite it. The three central bays are considerably larger and have ogee arch doorways, giving access to the interior, while windows puncture the smaller end bays. The arches are set in rectangular frames, which are recessed from the face of the elevation. Each opening is composed of two recessed planes of arches. The spandrels are clad in red sandstone, contrasting with the gray granite of the elevation, and are decorated with round plaster medallions with lotus motifs. The window openings have an additional tie beam or lintel at the springline. The tympanum of the window towards the south has been filled with stone, while that of the window towards the north has been left open. A continuous chajja, supported on equidistant stone brackets, projects from the western wall above the rectangular frame. The cornice is unornamented and is topped by the projecting horizontal band of the parapet, which reaches a height of approximately five meters from the top of the raised plinth. The roof of the structure is flat. The exterior of the building lacks decoration and is finished in dressed granite.
The interior is divided into seven chambers occurring from north to south; the central chamber is the largest, measuring about 5 meters (north-south) long. It is abutted by relatively narrow chambers (approx. 2.5 meters long). The outside chambers which flank the 2.5 meter wide chambers on either side are approximately the size of the central chamber, and correspond to the arched openings in the western wall. The chambers are separated from each other by gray granite walls, punctured by simple ogee arched doorways set in rectangular frames. Square in plan, the outer rooms are separated from the adjacent chambers by stone walls with rectangular door openings with blind ogee arches and rectangular frames. Each doorway has shallow rectangular recesses on either side, as well as a small arched window set into a rectangular recess and a stone jali screen set above the doorway within the tympanum of the main arch. The eastern wall of the building has blind ogee arches, occurring as two successive planes, reflecting the arched openings of the western elevation.
The roof of the central chamber is flat and supported on arches located on four sides; flat stone brackets appear at the corners. The two adjacent rooms are covered by shallow domes supported on squinches. The interior domes are finished in plaster with carved concave fluting. The exterior of the domes has been filled to blend with the flat roof of the central room.
Certain stylistic continuities are recognizable in the three buildings; each was constructed with (local) gray granite and lime mortar. However, the degree and type of embellishment, both interior and exterior, on the mosque differs substantially from that found on the other two, relatively unadorned, buildings.
Apart from the grouping of the three structures and their stylistic similarities, the buildings do not appear to have been planned as a complex. The Friday mosque is the first example of the panchmukhi building type, where "panch" (five) and "mukhi " (facade) characterize a five-bay prayer hall. This approach was influential in both the Lodi and the Mughal periods. The Bara Gumbad is significant for having the first complete hemispherical dome in Delhi.
The differences in the surface ornament of the buildings suggest that the buildings were constructed at different times, with the Bara Gumbad and the guesthouse being similar in style and decoration, without the multilayered arches of the Friday mosque. The function of the Bara Gumbad is still unknown; its geometry and form aligns with the predominant tomb architecture of the period (like the neighboring Shish Gumbad). However, there is no grave or cenotaph in the building, and rather than being blank, its qibla wall (like its other walls) is punctured by an entrance. While the continuous stone bench in the interior is also found in gateway architecture, (as in the Alai Darwaza at the Quwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Mehrauli), the size of the Bara Gumbad vis-a-vis the Friday mosque does not support this conjecture. Some scholars surmise that the structure might have been a gateway to the larger complex of tombs within the Lodi Gardens.
Lodi Dynasty
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The Lodi dynasty in India arose around 1451 after the Sayyid dynasty. The Lodhi Empire was established by the Ghizlai tribe of the Afghans. They formed the last phase of the Delhi Sultanate. There were three main rulers in the history of Lodi dynasty. All three of them have been discussed in detail in the following lines. So read on about the Lodi dynasty history.
Buhlul Khan Lodi
Buhlul Khan Lodi (1451-1489) was the founder of the Lodi dynasty in India and the first Afghan ruler of Delhi. He was an Afghan noble who was a very brave soldier. Buhlul Khan seized the throne without much resistance from the then ruler, Alam Shah. His territory was spread across Jaunpur, Gwalior and northern Uttar Pradesh. During his reign in 1486, he appointed his eldest son Barbak Shah as the Viceroy of Jaunpur. Though he was an able ruler, he really couldn't decide as to which son of his should succeed him as the heir to the throne.
Sikandar Lodi
After the death of Buhlul Khan, his second son succeeded him as the king. He was given the title of Sultan Sikander Shah. He was a dedicated ruler and made all efforts to expand his territories and strengthen his empire. His empire extended from Punjab to Bihar and he also signed a treaty with the ruler of Bengal, Alauddin Hussain Shah. He was the one who founded a new town where the modern day Agra stands. He was known to be a kind and generous ruler who cared for his subjects.
Ibrahim Lodhi
Ibrahim Lodhi was the son of Sikander who succeeded him after his death. Due to the demands of the nobles, his younger brother Jalal Khan was given a small share of the kingdom and was crowned the ruler of Jaunpur. However, Ibrahim's men assassinated him soon and the kingdom came back to Ibrahim Lodhi. Ibrahim was known to be a very stern ruler and was not liked much by his subjects. In order to take revenge of the insults done by Ibrahim, the governor of Lahore Daulat Khan Lodhi asked the ruler of Kabul, Babur to invade his kingdom. Ibrahim Lodhi was thus killed in a battle with Babur who was the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India. With the death of Ibrahim Lodhi, the Lodhi dynasty also came to an end.
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Important note:The swastika is totally objective.I just tried to be as historically accurate as possible
ODC-Small & Important
I've been taking this amazing product for a while now and it is helping me stay healthy. This bottle is very small and only holds 5 ml of liquid.
Not too important but anyway, sorry I haven’t been posting. I haven’t done too much on my new custom ( Marcus Wright Terminator Salvation) and I have a few Mocs planned(sort of) but don’t expect too Much content because it is pretty much the end of my school year and I am under a lot of pressure with art homework. Thanks if you read this :)
Graben (en alemán, zanja, foso) es una de las calles más importantes del Innere Stadt, el centro de la ciudad de Viena, Austria. Empieza en Stock-im-Eisen-Platz, junto al Palais Equitable, y termina en la intersección de Kohlmarkt y Tuchlauben. En el centro de Viena hay otra calle llamada Tiefer Graben («zanja profunda»), que es cruzada por Wipplinger Straße mediante el célebre Hohe Brücke, un puente a unos diez metros por encima del nivel de la calle.
El origen de Graben se remonta al antiguo campamento romano de Vindobona. La muralla suroeste del asentamiento se extendía a lo largo de los actuales Graben y Naglergasse; antes de la muralla se dispuso un foso (Graben). Este foso siguió existiendo frente a las murallas medievales. A finales del siglo XII, la ciudad fue ampliada por los Duques de Babenberg. En esta época, el foso fue rellenado y nivelado. Graben se convirtió así en una de las primeras calles residenciales de la ampliación de la ciudad. En esta zona de la ciudad aún había disponibles grandes zonas sin urbanizar, lo que probablemente contribuyó a que se haya conservado el nombre Graben hasta la actualidad.
Aunque la forma de Graben siguió siendo prácticamente la misma, su carácter empezó a cambiar. Esto fue marcado sobre todo por la construcción del Arkadenhof, un llamativo edificio renacentista, que en 1873 fue sustituido por el actual Grabenhof. Graben se convirtió en el lugar de celebración de varias festividades, incluidas demostraciones públicas de homenaje a la dinastía reinante. Esto impulsó a los residentes a reconstruir sus casas y engalanar sus fachadas. En 1701 se demolió la antigua Iglesia de San Pedro para ser reconstruida, y la nueva estructura se completó en 1708.
Con el aumento del tráfico rodado, Graben también se convirtió en una calle con mucho tráfico. Sin embargo, el tráfico fue limitado a la mitad sur de la calle. El 4 de diciembre de 1950, se instalaron aquí las primeras luces de neón de Viena.
En el siglo XX se han propuesto numerosos proyectos para la remodelación de Graben. El 22 de noviembre de 1974 Graben se convirtió, de manera provisional, en la primera zona peatonal de Viena. Durante la construcción del metro, Graben fue remodelado en fases sucesivas, y la zona peatonal fue expandida gradualmente. Para esta remodelación, se encargaron propuestas a cinco arquitectos y estudios de arquitectura. La propuesta de Gruppe M para la cubrición de Graben fue debatida acaloradamente.
En la actualidad, Graben sigue siendo una de las calles y zonas de tiendas más importantes de Viena.
En Graben hay dos fuentes. Ya en 1455, se encuentran gastos para una fuente en los libros de contabilidad de la ciudad. Esta fuente se situaba en el extremo noroeste de Graben y servía principalmente para apagar incendios. Debido a que estaba decorada con cuatro cabezas de león, era conocida como Löwenbrunnen («fuente de los leones»).
La segunda fuente, en el suroeste, fue construida probablemente en 1561. Cuando en 1638 se decidió establecer nuevas regulaciones contra incendios, se consideraron necesarias del mismo modo nuevas fuentes en Freyung y Graben. Las dos fuentes fueron por tanto reconstruidas. A instancias de Leopoldo I, las fuentes estaban adornadas con esculturas de los santos José y Leopoldo, que fueron realizadas por el escultor Johann Frühwirth. Estas fueron sustituidas posteriormente con figuras de plomo de Johann Martin Fischer. Las estatuas de Frühwirth se han perdido.
A partir del 1 de marzo de 1912, la primera línea de autobús de la ciudad discurría desde Stephansplatz hasta la Volksoper pasando por Graben. Posteriormente, numerosas líneas de autobús atravesarían Graben. En conexión con la construcción del metro, Graben se convirtió en una zona peatonal. En el desfile de Navidad del 27 de noviembre de 1971 se inauguró una prueba de la zona peatonal. El proyecto final para el establecimiento de la zona peatonal fue obra de Hermann Stiegholzer, y fue inaugurado en 1978. El proyecto fue completado en 1988 con la incorporación del tramo entre la Iglesia de San Pedro y el Kohlmarkt. Sin embargo, la línea de autobús A1 todavía atraviesa este tramo.
La línea U3 del Metro discurre bajo la sección entre Stock-im-Eisen-Platz y Jungferngasse desde 1991. La estación de Stephansplatz ya se había construido durante la construcción original de la línea U1, haciendo necesaria su extensión bajo Graben. Una salida de esta estación conduce a Graben. Esta salida no tiene techo, en un intento de hacerla lo menos invasiva visualmente posible. La incorporación de la salida en los edificios vecinos no fue posible debido a los altos pagos compensatorios que hubieran sido necesarios.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graben_(Viena)
The Graben is one of the most famous streets in Vienna's first district, the city centre. It begins at Stock-im-Eisen-Platz next to the Palais Equitable and ends at the junction of Kohlmarkt and Tuchlauben. Another street in the first district is called Tiefer Graben (deep ditch). It is crossed by Wipplinger Straße by means of the Hohe Brücke, a bridge about ten metres above street level.
The Graben traces its origin back to the old Roman encampment of Vindobona. The south-western wall of the settlement extended along the length of the present-day Graben and Naglergasse; before the wall lay a trench (Graben). This trench still stood in front of the medieval city walls. At the end of the 12th century, the city was enlarged by the Babenberg Dukes, using the ransom money for Richard the Lionheart. At this time the trench was filled in and levelled. The Graben thereby became one of the first residential streets in the new section of the city. In this area of the city large unbuilt areas were still available, which probably contributed to the maintenance of the name "Graben" up until the present day.
Although the form of the Graben remained more or less the same, its character began to change. It was marked above all by the construction of the Arkadenhof, a striking Renaissance building, which in 1873 was replaced by the present-day Grabenhof. The Graben became the site of various festivities, including public displays of homage to the ruling house. This prompted the residents to rebuild their houses and to deck out their facades. In 1701 the old Peterskirche was torn down, and the new structure was completed in 1708.
In the course of the 18th century the use of the Graben as a market was suppressed. In 1753 the produce-sellers were removed, and in 1772 the Christmas market was relocated. The Graben became the most fashionable promenade, the chief arena for the self-display of the urban elite. This was not limited to the nobility, but included the entrepreneurial class as well, who were most visibly represented by the construction of the Trattnerhof by the printer Thomas von Trattner. Prostitutes were also in evidence — the famous Grabennymphen.
With the increase in car traffic, the Graben also became a heavily traveled street. However, traffic was limited, as previously, to the southern half of the street. On December 4, 1950, the first neon lights in Vienna were installed here.
Numerous plans for the development of the Graben were proposed, including two for its surveillance. On November 22, 1974, the Graben became, on a provisional basis, Vienna's first pedestrian zone. In the course of the construction of the U-Bahn, the Graben was rebuilt in successive phases, and the pedestrian zone was gradually expanded. In this connection, development proposals from five architects and architectural firms were commissioned. The proposal of Gruppe M for the roofing of the Graben was hotly debated.
Today the Graben is again one of the most important promenades and shopping streets in Vienna.
Two fountains are found on the Graben. Already in 1455, expenditures for a fountain are found in the city account books. This fountain stood on the northwestern end of the Graben and served primarily to put out fires. As it was decorated with four lion's heads, it was known as the Löwenbrunnen (lion fountain). The second, southwestern, fountain was presumably built in 1561. When in 1638 it was decided to establish new fire regulations, new fountains on the Freyung and the Graben were likewise deemed necessary. The two fountains were therefore rebuilt. At the behest of Leopold I, the fountains were adorned with sculptures of Saints Joseph and Leopold, which were executed by the sculptor Johann Frühwirth. These were later replaced with lead figures by Johann Martin Fischer. Frühwirth's statues have since been lost.
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The Glasshouse is an international centre for musical education and concerts on the Gateshead bank of Quayside in northern England. Opened in 2004 as Sage Gateshead and occupied by North Music Trust The venue's original name honours a patron: the accountancy software company The Sage Group.
History
Planning for the centre began in the early 1990s, when the orchestra of Sage Gateshead, Royal Northern Sinfonia, with encouragement from Northern Arts, began working on plans for a new concert hall. They were soon joined by regional folk music development agency Folkworks, which ensured that the needs of the region's traditional music were taken into consideration and represented in Sage Gateshead's programme of concerts, alongside Rock, Pop, Dance, Hip Hop, classical, jazz, acoustic, indie, country and world, Practice spaces for professional musicians, students and amateurs were an important part of the provision.
The planning and construction process cost over £70 million, which was raised primarily through National Lottery grants. The contractor was Laing O'Rourke. The centre has a range of patrons, notably Sage Group which contributed a large sum of money to have the building named after it. Sage plc has helped support the charitable activities of Sage Gateshead since its conception. The venue opened over the weekend 17–19 December 2004.
Sage Gateshead was developed by Foster and Partners following an architectural design competition launched in 1997 and managed by RIBA Competitions. Over 100 architects registered their interest and 12 – a mixture of local, national and international talent – were invited to prepare concept designs. A shortlist of six was then interviewed with Foster and Partners unanimously selected as the winner. The Design has gone on to win a number of awards: the RIBA Inclusive Design Award, Civic Trust Award and The Journal North East Landmark of the Year Award.
As a conference venue, the building hosted the Labour Party's Spring conference in February 2005 and the Liberal Democrat Party conference in March 2012. On 18 August 2009, Sage Gateshead was selected to host the 2010 and 2011 National Union of Students annual conference. The 2010 Annual Conference took place 13–15 April 2010.
In 2022 The Sage Group announced that they were also sponsoring a new development that is being built next to Sage Gateshead which will be called The Sage. Sage Gateshead announced that they will be finding a new name for the venue prior to The Sage opening in 2024. On 13 September 2023 the venue announced its new name, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music.
Building
The centre occupies a curved glass and stainless steel building designed by Foster and Partners, Buro Happold (structural engineering), Mott MacDonald (engineering consultants) and Arup (acoustics), with views of Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides, the Tyne Bridge and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.
The Glasshouse contains three performance spaces; a 1,700-seater, a 450-seater, and a smaller rehearsal and performance hall, the Northern Rock Foundation Hall. The rest of the building was designed around these three spaces to allow for maximum attention to detail in their acoustic properties. Structurally it is three separate buildings, insulated from each other to prevent noise and vibration travelling between them. The gaps between them may be seen as one walks around inside. A special 'spongy' concrete mix was used in the construction, with a higher-than-usual air capacity to improve the acoustic. These three buildings are enclosed (but not touched) by the now-famous glass and steel shell. Sage One was intended as an acoustically perfect space, modelled on the Musikverein in Vienna. Its ceiling panels may be raised and lowered and curtains drawn across the ribbed wooden side walls, changing the sound profile of the room to suit any type of music. Sage Two is a smaller venue, possibly the world's only ten-sided performance space.
The building is open to the public throughout the day.
Concerts
The Glasshouse will host concerts from a wide range of internationally famous artists, and those who have played at the venue include Above and Beyond, Blondie, James Brown, Bonobo, Andy Cutting, De La Soul, Nick Cave, George Clinton, Bill Callahan, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Dillinger, Grace Jones, Gretchen Peters, Elbow, Explosions in the Sky, the Fall, Herbie Hancock, Mogwai, Morrissey, Mumford & Sons, Pet Shop Boys, Sunn O))), Nancy Sinatra, Snarky Puppy, Sting, Yellowman, Shane Filan of Westlife and others. In February 2015, it was one of the hosts of the second annual BBC Radio 6 Music Festival.
It is also home to Royal Northern Sinfonia, of which The Guardian wrote there is "no better chamber orchestra in Britain", and frequently hosts other visiting orchestras from around the world. The current music director for Royal Northern Sinfonia is the pianist and conductor Lars Vogt. In late 2014, Royal Northern Sinfonia collaborated with John Grant, performing at Sage Gateshead, and other venues throughout the UK. Recordings from this tour were made available as a limited edition CD and 12" record via Rough Trade Records in 2015.
Opinion
There has been popular debate surrounding what was Sage Gateshead. The venue is popular in the local area because of its concerts, and also its accessible learning courses for all ages and its constant interaction with local schools and academies through programmes such as Sing Up and the option of school visits.
Awards
2019: UK National Lottery 25th Birthday Award - Best Arts, Culture and Film
2019: Julie's Bicycle Creative Green 2 Star
2019: Gold Standard - Attitude is Everything
2018: Gold Award for Inclusive Tourism (North East Tourism Awards)
2018: Gold Award for Business Tourism (Visit England Awards for Excellence)
2005: Local Authority Building of the Year
2005: British Construction Industry Awards
2005: RIBA Award for Inclusive Design
Gateshead is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. The town shares the Millennium Bridge, Tyne Bridge and multiple other bridges with Newcastle upon Tyne.
Historically part of County Durham, under the Local Government Act 1888 the town was made a county borough, meaning it was administered independently of the county council.
In the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 120,046 while the wider borough had 200,214.
History
Gateshead is first mentioned in Latin translation in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People as ad caput caprae ("at the goat's head"). This interpretation is consistent with the later English attestations of the name, among them Gatesheued (c. 1190), literally "goat's head" but in the context of a place-name meaning 'headland or hill frequented by (wild) goats'. Although other derivations have been mooted, it is this that is given by the standard authorities.
A Brittonic predecessor, named with the element *gabro-, 'goat' (c.f. Welsh gafr), may underlie the name. Gateshead might have been the Roman-British fort of Gabrosentum.
Early
There has been a settlement on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne, around the old river crossing where the Swing Bridge now stands, since Roman times.
The first recorded mention of Gateshead is in the writings of the Venerable Bede who referred to an Abbot of Gateshead called Utta in 623. In 1068 William the Conqueror defeated the forces of Edgar the Ætheling and Malcolm king of Scotland (Shakespeare's Malcolm) on Gateshead Fell (now Low Fell and Sheriff Hill).
During medieval times Gateshead was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham. At this time the area was largely forest with some agricultural land. The forest was the subject of Gateshead's first charter, granted in the 12th century by Hugh du Puiset, Bishop of Durham. An alternative spelling may be "Gatishevede", as seen in a legal record, dated 1430.
Industrial revolution
Throughout the Industrial Revolution the population of Gateshead expanded rapidly; between 1801 and 1901 the increase was over 100,000. This expansion resulted in the spread southwards of the town.
In 1854, a catastrophic explosion on the quayside destroyed most of Gateshead's medieval heritage, and caused widespread damage on the Newcastle side of the river.
Sir Joseph Swan lived at Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead from 1869 to 1883, where his experiments led to the invention of the electric light bulb. The house was the first in the world to be wired for domestic electric light.
In the 1889 one of the largest employers (Hawks, Crawshay and Company) closed down and unemployment has since been a burden. Up to the Second World War there were repeated newspaper reports of the unemployed sending deputations to the council to provide work. The depression years of the 1920s and 1930s created even more joblessness and the Team Valley Trading Estate was built in the mid-1930s to alleviate the situation.
Regeneration
In the late noughties, Gateshead Council started to regenerate the town, with the long-term aim of making Gateshead a city. The most extensive transformation occurred in the Quayside, with almost all the structures there being constructed or refurbished in this time.
In the early 2010s, regeneration refocused on the town centre. The £150 million Trinity Square development opened in May 2013, it incorporates student accommodation, a cinema, health centre and shops. It was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup in September 2014. The cup was however awarded to another development which involved Tesco, Woolwich Central.
Governance
In 1835, Gateshead was established as a municipal borough and in 1889 it was made a county borough, independent from Durham County Council.
In 1870, the Old Town Hall was built, designed by John Johnstone who also designed the previously built Newcastle Town Hall. The ornamental clock in front of the old town hall was presented to Gateshead in 1892 by the mayor, Walter de Lancey Willson, on the occasion of him being elected for a third time. He was also one of the founders of Walter Willson's, a chain of grocers in the North East and Cumbria. The old town hall also served as a magistrate's court and one of Gateshead's police stations.
Current
In 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, the County Borough of Gateshead was merged with the urban districts of Felling, Whickham, Blaydon and Ryton and part of the rural district of Chester-le-Street to create the much larger Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.
Geography
The town of Gateshead is in the North East of England in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear, and within the historic boundaries of County Durham. It is located on the southern bank of the River Tyne at a latitude of 54.57° N and a longitude of 1.35° W. Gateshead experiences a temperate climate which is considerably warmer than some other locations at similar latitudes as a result of the warming influence of the Gulf Stream (via the North Atlantic drift). It is located in the rain shadow of the North Pennines and is therefore in one of the driest regions of the United Kingdom.
One of the most distinguishing features of Gateshead is its topography. The land rises 230 feet from Gateshead Quays to the town centre and continues rising to a height of 525 feet at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Sheriff Hill. This is in contrast to the flat and low lying Team Valley located on the western edges of town. The high elevations allow for impressive views over the Tyne valley into Newcastle and across Tyneside to Sunderland and the North Sea from lookouts in Windmill Hills and Windy Nook respectively.
The Office for National Statistics defines the town as an urban sub-division. The latest (2011) ONS urban sub-division of Gateshead contains the historical County Borough together with areas that the town has absorbed, including Dunston, Felling, Heworth, Pelaw and Bill Quay.
Given the proximity of Gateshead to Newcastle, just south of the River Tyne from the city centre, it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as being a part of Newcastle. Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council teamed up in 2000 to create a unified marketing brand name, NewcastleGateshead, to better promote the whole of the Tyneside conurbation.
Economy
Gateshead is home to the MetroCentre, the largest shopping mall in the UK until 2008; and the Team Valley Trading Estate, once the largest and still one of the larger purpose-built commercial estates in the UK.
Arts
The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art has been established in a converted flour mill. The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, previously The Sage, a Norman Foster-designed venue for music and the performing arts opened on 17 December 2004. Gateshead also hosted the Gateshead Garden Festival in 1990, rejuvenating 200 acres (0.81 km2) of derelict land (now mostly replaced with housing). The Angel of the North, a famous sculpture in nearby Lamesley, is visible from the A1 to the south of Gateshead, as well as from the East Coast Main Line. Other public art include works by Richard Deacon, Colin Rose, Sally Matthews, Andy Goldsworthy, Gordon Young and Michael Winstone.
Traditional and former
The earliest recorded coal mining in the Gateshead area is dated to 1344. As trade on the Tyne prospered there were several attempts by the burghers of Newcastle to annex Gateshead. In 1576 a small group of Newcastle merchants acquired the 'Grand Lease' of the manors of Gateshead and Whickham. In the hundred years from 1574 coal shipments from Newcastle increased elevenfold while the population of Gateshead doubled to approximately 5,500. However, the lease and the abundant coal supplies ended in 1680. The pits were shallow as problems of ventilation and flooding defeated attempts to mine coal from the deeper seams.
'William Cotesworth (1668-1726) was a prominent merchant based in Gateshead, where he was a leader in coal and international trade. Cotesworth began as the son of a yeoman and apprentice to a tallow - candler. He ended as an esquire, having been mayor, Justice of the Peace and sheriff of Northumberland. He collected tallow from all over England and sold it across the globe. He imported dyes from the Indies, as well as flax, wine, and grain. He sold tea, sugar, chocolate, and tobacco. He operated the largest coal mines in the area, and was a leading salt producer. As the government's principal agent in the North country, he was in contact with leading ministers.
William Hawks originally a blacksmith, started business in Gateshead in 1747, working with the iron brought to the Tyne as ballast by the Tyne colliers. Hawks and Co. eventually became one of the biggest iron businesses in the North, producing anchors, chains and so on to meet a growing demand. There was keen contemporary rivalry between 'Hawks' Blacks' and 'Crowley's Crew'. The famous 'Hawks' men' including Ned White, went on to be celebrated in Geordie song and story.
In 1831 a locomotive works was established by the Newcastle and Darlington Railway, later part of the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway. In 1854 the works moved to the Greenesfield site and became the manufacturing headquarters of North Eastern Railway. In 1909, locomotive construction was moved to Darlington and the rest of the works were closed in 1932.
Robert Stirling Newall took out a patent on the manufacture of wire ropes in 1840 and in partnership with Messrs. Liddell and Gordon, set up his headquarters at Gateshead. A worldwide industry of wire-drawing resulted. The submarine telegraph cable received its definitive form through Newall's initiative, involving the use of gutta-percha surrounded by strong wires. The first successful Dover–Calais cable on 25 September 1851, was made in Newall's works. In 1853, he invented the brake-drum and cone for laying cable in deep seas. Half of the first Atlantic cable was manufactured in Gateshead. Newall was interested in astronomy, and his giant 25-inch (640 mm) telescope was set up in the garden at Ferndene, his Gateshead residence, in 1871.
Architecture
JB Priestley, writing of Gateshead in his 1934 travelogue English Journey, said that "no true civilisation could have produced such a town", adding that it appeared to have been designed "by an enemy of the human race".
Victorian
William Wailes the celebrated stained-glass maker, lived at South Dene from 1853 to 1860. In 1860, he designed Saltwell Towers as a fairy-tale palace for himself. It is an imposing Victorian mansion in its own park with a romantic skyline of turrets and battlements. It was originally furnished sumptuously by Gerrard Robinson. Some of the panelling installed by Robinson was later moved to the Shipley Art gallery. Wailes sold Saltwell Towers to the corporation in 1876 for use as a public park, provided he could use the house for the rest of his life. For many years the structure was essentially an empty shell but following a restoration programme it was reopened to the public in 2004.
Post millennium
The council sponsored the development of a Gateshead Quays cultural quarter. The development includes the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, erected in 2001, which won the prestigious Stirling Prize for Architecture in 2002.
Former brutalism
The brutalist Trinity Centre Car Park, which was designed by Owen Luder, dominated the town centre for many years until its demolition in 2010. A product of attempts to regenerate the area in the 1960s, the car park gained an iconic status due to its appearance in the 1971 film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine. An unsuccessful campaign to have the structure listed was backed by Sylvester Stallone, who played the main role in the 2000 remake of the film. The car park was scheduled for demolition in 2009, but this was delayed as a result of a disagreement between Tesco, who re-developed the site, and Gateshead Council. The council had not been given firm assurances that Tesco would build the previously envisioned town centre development which was to include a Tesco mega-store as well as shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, offices and student accommodation. The council effectively used the car park as a bargaining tool to ensure that the company adhered to the original proposals and blocked its demolition until they submitted a suitable planning application. Demolition finally took place in July–August 2010.
The Derwent Tower, another well known example of brutalist architecture, was also designed by Owen Luder and stood in the neighbourhood of Dunston. Like the Trinity Car Park it also failed in its bid to become a listed building and was demolished in 2012. Also located in this area are the Grade II listed Dunston Staithes which were built in 1890. Following the award of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of almost £420,000 restoration of the structure is expected to begin in April 2014.
Sport
Gateshead International Stadium regularly holds international athletics meetings over the summer months, and is home of the Gateshead Harriers athletics club. It is also host to rugby league fixtures, and the home ground of Gateshead Football Club. Gateshead Thunder Rugby League Football Club played at Gateshead International Stadium until its purchase by Newcastle Rugby Limited and the subsequent rebranding as Newcastle Thunder. Both clubs have had their problems: Gateshead A.F.C. were controversially voted out of the Football League in 1960 in favour of Peterborough United, whilst Gateshead Thunder lost their place in Super League as a result of a takeover (officially termed a merger) by Hull F.C. Both Gateshead clubs continue to ply their trade at lower levels in their respective sports, thanks mainly to the efforts of their supporters. The Gateshead Senators American Football team also use the International Stadium, as well as this it was used in the 2006 Northern Conference champions in the British American Football League.
Gateshead Leisure Centre is home to the Gateshead Phoenix Basketball Team. The team currently plays in EBL League Division 4. Home games are usually on a Sunday afternoon during the season, which runs from September to March. The team was formed in 2013 and ended their initial season well placed to progress after defeating local rivals Newcastle Eagles II and promotion chasing Kingston Panthers.
In Low Fell there is a cricket club and a rugby club adjacent to each other on Eastwood Gardens. These are Gateshead Fell Cricket Club and Gateshead Rugby Club. Gateshead Rugby Club was formed in 1998 following the merger of Gateshead Fell Rugby Club and North Durham Rugby Club.
Transport
Gateshead is served by the following rail transport stations with some being operated by National Rail and some being Tyne & Wear Metro stations: Dunston, Felling, Gateshead Interchange, Gateshead Stadium, Heworth Interchange, MetroCentre and Pelaw.
Tyne & Wear Metro stations at Gateshead Interchange and Gateshead Stadium provide direct light-rail access to Newcastle Central, Newcastle Airport , Sunderland, Tynemouth and South Shields Interchange.
National Rail services are provided by Northern at Dunston and MetroCentre stations. The East Coast Main Line, which runs from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, cuts directly through the town on its way between Newcastle Central and Chester-le-Street stations. There are presently no stations on this line within Gateshead, as Low Fell, Bensham and Gateshead West stations were closed in 1952, 1954 and 1965 respectively.
Road
Several major road links pass through Gateshead, including the A1 which links London to Edinburgh and the A184 which connects the town to Sunderland.
Gateshead Interchange is the busiest bus station in Tyne & Wear and was used by 3.9 million bus passengers in 2008.
Cycle routes
Various bicycle trails traverse the town; most notably is the recreational Keelmans Way (National Cycle Route 14), which is located on the south bank of the Tyne and takes riders along the entire Gateshead foreshore. Other prominent routes include the East Gateshead Cycleway, which connects to Felling, the West Gateshead Cycleway, which links the town centre to Dunston and the MetroCentre, and routes along both the old and new Durham roads, which take cyclists to Birtley, Wrekenton and the Angel of the North.
Religion
Christianity has been present in the town since at least the 7th century, when Bede mentioned a monastery in Gateshead. A church in the town was burned down in 1080 with the Bishop of Durham inside.[citation needed] St Mary's Church was built near to the site of that building, and was the only church in the town until the 1820s. Undoubtedly the oldest building on the Quayside, St Mary's has now re-opened to the public as the town's first heritage centre.
Many of the Anglican churches in the town date from the 19th century, when the population of the town grew dramatically and expanded into new areas. The town presently has a number of notable and large churches of many denominations.
Judaism
The Bensham district is home to a community of hundreds of Jewish families and used to be known as "Little Jerusalem". Within the community is the Gateshead Yeshiva, founded in 1929, and other Jewish educational institutions with international enrolments. These include two seminaries: Beis Medrash L'Morot and Beis Chaya Rochel seminary, colloquially known together as Gateshead "old" and "new" seminaries.
Many yeshivot and kollels also are active. Yeshivat Beer Hatorah, Sunderland Yeshiva, Nesivos Hatorah, Nezer Hatorah and Yeshiva Ketana make up some of the list.
Islam
Islam is practised by a large community of people in Gateshead and there are 2 mosques located in the Bensham area (in Ely Street and Villa Place).
Twinning
Gateshead is twinned with the town of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen in France, and the city of Komatsu in Japan.
Notable people
Eliezer Adler – founder of Jewish Community
Marcus Bentley – narrator of Big Brother
Catherine Booth – wife of William Booth, known as the Mother of The Salvation Army
William Booth – founder of the Salvation Army
Mary Bowes – the Unhappy Countess, author and celebrity
Ian Branfoot – footballer and manager (Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton)
Andy Carroll – footballer (Newcastle United, Liverpool and West Ham United)
Frank Clark – footballer and manager (Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest)
David Clelland – Labour politician and MP
Derek Conway – former Conservative politician and MP
Joseph Cowen – Radical politician
Steve Cram – athlete (middle-distance runner)
Emily Davies – educational reformer and feminist, founder of Girton College, Cambridge
Daniel Defoe – writer and government agent
Ruth Dodds – politician, writer and co-founder of the Little Theatre
Jonathan Edwards – athlete (triple jumper) and television presenter
Sammy Johnson – actor (Spender)
George Elliot – industrialist and MP
Paul Gascoigne – footballer (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers and Middlesbrough)
Alex Glasgow – singer/songwriter
Avrohom Gurwicz – rabbi, Dean of Gateshead Yeshiva
Leib Gurwicz – rabbi, Dean of Gateshead Yeshiva
Jill Halfpenny – actress (Coronation Street and EastEnders)
Chelsea Halfpenny – actress (Emmerdale)
David Hodgson – footballer and manager (Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Sunderland)
Sharon Hodgson – Labour politician and MP
Norman Hunter – footballer (Leeds United and member of 1966 World Cup-winning England squad)
Don Hutchison – footballer (Liverpool, West Ham United, Everton and Sunderland)
Brian Johnson – AC/DC frontman
Tommy Johnson – footballer (Aston Villa and Celtic)
Riley Jones - actor
Howard Kendall – footballer and manager (Preston North End and Everton)
J. Thomas Looney – Shakespeare scholar
Gary Madine – footballer (Sheffield Wednesday)
Justin McDonald – actor (Distant Shores)
Lawrie McMenemy – football manager (Southampton and Northern Ireland) and pundit
Thomas Mein – professional cyclist (Canyon DHB p/b Soreen)
Robert Stirling Newall – industrialist
Bezalel Rakow – communal rabbi
John William Rayner – flying ace and war hero
James Renforth – oarsman
Mariam Rezaei – musician and artist
Sir Tom Shakespeare - baronet, sociologist and disability rights campaigner
William Shield – Master of the King's Musick
Christina Stead – Australian novelist
John Steel – drummer (The Animals)
Henry Spencer Stephenson – chaplain to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II
Steve Stone – footballer (Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Portsmouth)
Chris Swailes – footballer (Ipswich Town)
Sir Joseph Swan – inventor of the incandescent light bulb
Nicholas Trainor – cricketer (Gloucestershire)
Chris Waddle – footballer (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday)
William Wailes – stained glass maker
Taylor Wane – adult entertainer
Robert Spence Watson – public benefactor
Sylvia Waugh – author of The Mennyms series for children
Chris Wilkie – guitarist (Dubstar)
John Wilson - orchestral conductor
Peter Wilson – footballer (Gateshead, captain of Australia)
Thomas Wilson – poet/school founder
Robert Wood – Australian politician
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.
Engaku-ji (円覚寺) es uno de los complejos de templos de Budismo Zen más importantes de Japón. Se encuentra en la ciudad de Kamakura, dentro de la prefectura de Kanagawa, al sur de Tokio, muy cerca de la estación de ferrocarril de Kita-Kamakura en la línea férrea entre Tokio y Yokosuka.
Un monje budista de origen chino fundó el templo en 1282 a solicitud del entonces gobernante de Japón, el regente Hōjō Tokimune que había repelido los intentos de invasión de los mongoles entre 1274 y 1281. Tokimune era un ferviente seguidor del Zen y el templo se erigió para honrar a los caídos en ambos bandos de la guerra y para que sirviera como un centro desde el que extender la influencia del Zen. Según los registros de la época, al comenzar las obras se extrajo de la colina un ejemplar enterrado del Engaku-kyo, sutra de la Perfecta Iluminación, hecho que dio nombre al templo.
La forma actual del templo se debe al sacerdote budista Seisetsu, que lo reconstruyó y consolidó hacia el final del período Edo. En el período Meiji, Engaku-ji se convirtió en el principal centro de educación Zen en la región de Kantō; Kosen Roshi y Soyen Shaku fueron abades en este período y Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki estudió bajo su dirección. Aún se ofrecen cursos de Zazen en el templo.
Los incendios han dañado varios de los edificios en diferentes ocasiones, y las fechas que se ofrecen a continuación se refieren a la construcción de las estructuras en su forma actual. Desde la entrada, los edificios del templo se sitúan a lo largo de una colina arbolada, estando situados los edificios principales en línea recta, al estilo chino; la mezcla de edificios austeros y árboles supone una composición agradable. En total hay 18 templos en el recinto. Entre los edificios y demás monumentos se encuentran:
La puerta principal, San-mon (1783), con caligrafía del Emperador Fushimi;
Un gran salón de Buda, moderno o Butsu-den (1964);
Shari-den, construido en el siglo XVI al estilo de la dinastía Song de China, que se dice que alberga un diente de Buda;
El Butsunichi-an, techado, que es el lugar donde se encuentran enterrados los restos de Hōjō Tokimune;
Ōbai-in, un pequeño templo con tejado que contiene una estatua de Kannon;
Ōgune (1301), la mayor de las campanas de los templos de Kamakura, de más de 2,5 metros de altura.
De todos ellos, Shari-den y Ōgune han sido declarados Tesoros Nacionales de Japón.
Los visitantes deben pagar una entrada de 300 yenes (marzo de 2007) para acceder al recinto.
El fuego ha dañado muchos de los edificios en diferentes ocasiones, y las fechas que se dan a continuación se refieren a la construcción de las estructuras que se ven actualmente. Desde la entrada, los edificios del templo se elevan por una ladera boscosa, con los edificios principales en línea recta al estilo chino; los edificios austeros y los árboles se mezclan en una composición general satisfactoria. Hay en total 18 templos en el sitio.
Engaku-ji - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
Zuirokusan Engaku Kōshō Zenji (瑞鹿山円覚興聖禅寺), or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa prefecture to the south of Tokyo.
Founded in 1282 (Kamakura period, the temple maintains the classical Chinese Zen monastic design, and both the Shariden and the Great Bell (大鐘, Ogane) are designated National Treasures. Engaku-ji is one of the twenty-two historic sites included in Kamakura's proposal for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
It is located in Kita-Kamakura, very close to Kita-Kamakura Station on the Yokosuka Line, and indeed the railway tracks cut across the formal entrance to the temple compound, which is by a path beside a pond which is crossed by a small bridge
The temple was founded in 1282 by a Chinese Zen monk Mugaku Sōgen (1226-1286) at the request of the then ruler of Japan, the regent Hōjō Tokimune after he had repelled a Mongolian invasion in the period 1274 to 1281. Tokimune had a long-standing commitment to Zen and the temple was intended to honour those of both sides who died in the war, as well as serving as a centre from which the influence of Zen could be spread. According to the records of the time, when building work started a copy of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (in Japanese, engaku-kyō 円覚経) was dug out of the hillside in a stone chest during the initial building works, giving its name to the temple.
The fortunes of the temple have waxed and waned over the centuries. Its present form is owed to the Zen priest Seisetsu Shucho (1745–1820), also known as Daiyu Kokushi, who reconstructed and consolidated it towards the end of the Edo era. A particularly important year for these reforms and the history of the temple was 1785, the "500th Anniversary of the Foundation". In the Meiji era, Engaku-ji became the chief centre for Zen instruction in the Kantō region; Kosen Roshi and Soyen Shaku were successively abbots in this period, and Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was a student under them.
Zazen courses are still held in the temple, with open meditations sessions every morning (except for New Year's and early October) and every Saturday afternoon (except for August). There's also a sermon the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at 9:00 am, followed by a session of zazen. These activities are held at the main hall (Butsuden), Kojirin and Hojo buildings respectively. A four-day "Summer Lecture Series" is organized yearly in late July.
Fire has damaged many of the buildings at different times, and the dates given below refer to the building of the structures currently seen. From the entrance, the buildings of the temple rise up a wooded hillside, with the major buildings in a straight line in the Chinese style; the austere buildings and the trees blending in a satisfying overall composition. There are altogether 18 temples on the site.
Sanmon
The two-storied main gate, or Sanmon (山門), was rebuilt in 1785, as part of the reconstruction works lead by Seisetsu. A wooden plaque of calligraphic work by the Emperor Fushimi (1265-1317) reads "Engaku Kōshō Zenji". On the upper floor there are statues enshrined of Bodhisattva, the Sixteen Arhats and the Twelve Heavenly Generals. The roof is covered with copper.
It is designated an Important Cultural Property of the Kanagawa Prefecture.
Butsuden
The large modern Butsuden (仏殿) (; main hall;) at the center of the Engaku-ji complex was rebuilt in 1964, after it was destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake. The construction of this new building, surrounded by junipers, was made following closely a plan from 1573.
It is dedicated to Hokan Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni with a Jeweled Crown), enshrined there, the main object of worship of the temple. This seated statue dates from the late Kamakura period. Statues of Bonten and Taishakuten in the same hall date from 1692. A painting of a dragon in the ceiling was painted by Tadashi Moriya under the supervision of Seison Maeda.
Above the front entrance there is a plaque of calligraphy from Emperor Go-Kogon (1338–74) which reads Daikomyohoden.
Sembutsudo and Kojirin
Sembutsudo (選仏堂) is a thatch-roofed hall for Zen meditation and a sutra repository, built in 1699.
The Kojirin (居士林) is a Zen meditation hall for lay trainees (Koji). Meditation sessions are held here most Sundays, both for first-time participants and for the general public.
Both building stand left of the Butsuden, and are open to the public.
Ogane (National Treasure) and Bentendo
Cast by Mononobe Kunimitsu in August 1301, the Great Bell (大鐘, Ogane) of Engaku-ji is at 2.6 metres tall the largest of all the many temple bells of Kamakura (in fact the largest in Kantō. It was made by order of Hojo Sadatoki (1271-1311), after he confined himself in the Benzaiten shrine in Enoshima.
This bell and the one at Kenchō-ji are the only ones designated National Treasure in that category of crafts in the Kanagawa prefecture (also the only ones from the Kamakura period).
A waniguchi gong from 1540 hangs in the belfry. It designated an Important Cultural Property.
Bentendo (弁天堂) is dedicated to the Benzaiten shrine in Enoshima. According to the legend, the cast of the Ogane successful thanks to the protection of Benzaiten. Once every 60 years a grand ceremony is held between both temples.
Shariden (National Treasure)
The Shariden (舎利殿) (reliquary hall), is a 3×3 hall, single-storied, irimoya style, with a pent roof enclosure, covered with hinoki cypress bark shingles. It is the only building with the designation of National Treasure in the Kanagawa prefecture.
The original structure, built in 1285 by Hōjō Sadatoki (1271-1311), was destroyed by a fire in 1563. The current building was transferred from the Taiheiji convent in Nishi Mikado, but it still dates from the Muromachi period.
The structure is typical of kara-yo (Chinese-style architecture), also called Zenshu-yo (Zen-sect-style), introduced from China in the Kamakura period, with a style close to that of the Song dynasty. It houses what is claimed to be a tooth of Shakyamuni, presented by the Noninji Temple in China to Minamoto no Sanetomo.
There is an admission fee (as of 2017, 300 yen) for visitors to enter the temple complex, and additional similar charges to enter a few of the buildings. Booths selling tourist items are located near the entrance, below the Sanmon, and there are refreshment facilities in the garden of the Shariden and at the platform where the Great Bell is located, from where there are extensive views across the valley to other temple complexes in the Kita-Kamakura neighbourhood, such as Jōchi-ji and Tōkei-ji (another temple of the Engaku-ji school).
Engaku-ji - Wikipedia
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liable to prosecution.
Volubilis is an archaeological site in Morocco situated near Meknes between Fez and Rabat. The nearest town is Moulay Idriss. Volubilis features the best preserved Roman ruins in this part of northern Africa. In 1997 the site was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In antiquity, Volubilis was an important Roman town situated near the westernmost border of Roman conquests. It was built on the site of a previous Carthaginian settlement from (at the latest) the third century BC, but that settlement overlies an earlier neolithic habitation.
Volubilis was the administrative center of the province in Roman Africa called Mauretania Tingitana. The fertile lands of the province produced many commodities such as grain and olive oil, which were exported to Rome, contributing to the province's wealth and prosperity.
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting or removing water marks are liable to prosecution.
Title.
Advertising and men.
(LUMIX G3 shot)
Manhattan. new york. America. 2017. … 5 / 8
(Today's photo. It is unpublished.)
Images.
Lihtz - Serenity
youtu.be/3uP9VGA_aak?si=1NMWmzpk2OLnauH5
::Link photo music and iTunes playlist::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/photo-music/pl.u-Eg8qefpy8Xz
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Important Notices.
I have relaxed the following conditions.
I will distribute my T-shirt to the world for free.
m.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/50656401427/in/dateposted-p...
m.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/50613367691/in/dateposted-p...
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Exhibition in 2024
theme
Goodbye , Photo .
Images
Ai Otsuka ( 大塚 愛 ) / Goodbye photo ( 恋愛写真 )
youtu.be/B2XfJCQ2Dy0?si=WN3UePWye5N03yi4
Live 1.
youtu.be/MjBYxuVgj70?si=K3TyYOGqa3Y8BdAt
Live 2.
youtu.be/Dccv85TarHs?si=BI-f4JfrihO3CTXD
Mitsushiro - Nakagawa
Sponsored by
design festa
place
Tokyo Big Site
schedule
2024. autumn.
exhibition.mitsushiro.nakagawa@gmail.com
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Notice regarding "Lot No.402_”.
From now on # I will host "Lot No.402_".
The work of Leonardo da Vinci who was sleeping.
That is the number when it was put up for auction.
No sign was written on the work.
So this work couldn't conclude that it was his work.
However # as a result of various appraisals # it was exposed to the sun.
A work that no one notices. A work that speaks quietly without a title.
I will continue to strive to provide it to many people in various ways.
October 24 2020 by Mitsushiro - Nakagawa.
Mitsushiro Nakagawa belong to Lot No. 402 _.Copyright©︎2024 Lot No.402_ All rights reserved.
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Profile.
In November 2014 # we caught the attention of the party selected to undertake the publicity for a mobile phone that changed the face of the world with just a single model # and will conclude a confidentiality agreement with them.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
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Interviews and novels.
About my book.
I published a book a long time ago.
At that time # I uploaded my interview as a PDF on the internet.
Its Japanese and English.
I will publish it for free.
For details # I explained to the Amazon site.
How to write a novel.
How to take a picture.
A sense of distance to the work.
All of these have something in common.
I wrote down what I felt and left it.
I hope my text will be read by many people.
Thank you.
Mitsushiro.
1 Interview in English
2 novels. unforgettable 'English version.(This book is Dedicated to the future artist.)
3 Interview Japanese version
4 novels. unforgettable ' JPN version.
5 A streamlined trajectory. only Japanese.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
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iBooks. Electronic Publishing. It is free now.
0.about the iBooks.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
1.unforgettable '(ENG.ver.)(This book is Dedicated to the future artist.)
itunes.apple.com/us/book/unforgettable/id1216576828?ls=1&...
2.unforgettable '(JNP.ver.)(This book is Dedicated to the future artist.)
itunes.apple.com/us/book/unforgettable/id1216584262?ls=1&...
3. Streamlined trajectory.(For Japanese only.)
itunes.apple.com/us/book/%E6%B5%81%E7%B7%9A%E5%BD%A2%E3%8... =11
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My Novel : Unforgettable'
(This book is Dedicated to the future artist.)
Synopsis
Kei Kitami, who is aiming for university, meets Kaori Uemura, an event companion who is 6 years older than her, on SNS.
Kaori's dream of coming to Tokyo is to become friends with a famous artist.
For that purpose, the radio station's producer, Ryo Osawa, was needed.
Osawa speaks to Kaori during a live radio broadcast.
"I have a wife and children. But I want to meet you."
Rika Sanjo, who is Kei's classmate and has feelings for him, has been looking into her girlfriend Kaori's movements. . . . .
Mitsushiro Nakagawa
All Translated by Yumi Ikeda .
images.
U2 - No Line On The Horizon Live in Dublin
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oKwnkYFsiE&feature=related
Main story
There are two reasons why a person faces the sea.
One to enjoy a slice of shine in the sea like children bubbling over in the beach.
The other to brush the dust of memory like an old man who misses old days staring at the shine
quietly.
Those lead to only one meaning though they do not seem to overlap. It’s a rebirth.
I face myself to change tomorrow a vague day into something certain.
That is the meaning of a rebirth.
I had a very sweet girlfriend when I was 18.
After she left I knew the meaning of gentleness for the first time and also a true pain of loss. After
she left # how many times did I depend too much on her # doubt her # envy her and keep on telling lies
until I realized it is love?
I wonder whether a nobody like me could have given something to her who was struggling in the
daily life in those days. Giving something is arrogant conceit. It is nothing but self-satisfaction.
I had been thinking about such a thing.
However I guess what she saw in me was because I had nothing. That‘s why she tried to see
something in me. Perhaps she found a slight possibility in me # a guy filled with ambiguous unstable
tomorrow. But I wasted days depending too much on her gentleness.
Now I finally can convey how I felt in those days when we met.
1/9
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2/9
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3/9
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5/9
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Fin.
images.
U2 - No Line On The Horizon
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oKwnkYFsiE&feature=related
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Title of my book : unforgettable'
Author : Mitsushiro Nakagawa
Out Now.
ISBN978-4-86264-866-2
in Amazon.
Unforgettable’ amzn.asia/d/eG1wNc5
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The schedule of the next novel.
Still would stand all time. (Unforgettable '2)
(It will not go away forever)
Please give me some more time. That is Japanese.
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My Works.
1 www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/48072442376/in/dateposted...
2 www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/48078949821/in/dateposted...
3 www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/48085863356/in/dateposted...
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Do you want to hear my voice?
:)
1
About the composition of the picture posted to Flicker. First type.
2
About the composition of the picture posted to Flicker. Second type.
3
About when I started Fotolog. Architect 's point of view.
4
Why did not you have a camera so far?
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What is the coolest thing? The photo is as it is.
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About the current YouTube bar. I also want to tell # I want to leave.
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About Japanese photographers. Japanese YouTube bar is Pistols.
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The composition of the photograph is sensibility. Meet the designers in Milan. Two questions.
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What is a good composition? What is a bad composition?
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What is the time to point the camera? It is slow if you are looking into the viewfinder or display.
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Family photos. I can not take pictures with others. The inside of the subject.
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About YouTube 's photographer. Camera technology etc. Sensibility is polished by reading books.
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About the Japanese newspaper. A picture of a good newspaper is Reuters. If you continue to look at useless photographs # it will be useless.
14
About Japanese photographers. About the exhibition.
Summary. I wrote a novel etc. What I want to tell the most.
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I talked about how to make a work.
About work production 1/2
About work production 2/2
1 Photo exhibition up to that point. Did you want to go?
2 Well # what is an exhibition that you want to visit even if you go there?
3 Challenge to exhibit one work every month before opening a solo exhibition at the Harajuku Design Festa.
4 works are materials and silhouettes. Similar to fashion.
5 Who is your favorite artist? What is it? Make it clear.
6 Creating a collage is exactly the same as taking photos. As I wrote in the interview # it is the same as writing a novel.
7 I want to show it to someone # but I do not make a piece to show it. Aim for the work you want to decorate your own room as in the photo.
8 What is copycat? Nowadays # it is suspected to be beaten. There is something called Mimesis?
kotobank.jp/word/Mimesis-139464
9 What is Individuality? What is originality?
www.youtube.com/user/mitsushiro/
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Explanation of composition. 2
1.Composition explanation 2 ... 1/4
2.Composition explanation 2 ... 2/4
3.Composition Explanation 2 ... 3/4
4.Composition Explanation 2 ... 4/4
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My shutter feeling.
Today's photo.
It is a photo taken from Eurostar.
This video is an explanation.
I went to Milan in 2005.
At that time # I went from Milan to Venice.
We took Eurostar into the transportation.
This photo was not taken from a very fast Eurostar.
When I changed the track # I took a picture at the moment I slowed down.
Is there a Japanese beside you?
Please have my video translated.
:)
In the Eurostar to Venice . 2005. shot ... 1 / 2
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/49127115021/in/dateposted...
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Miles Davis sheet 1955-1976.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
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flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/
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instagram.
www.instagram.com/mitsushiro_nakagawa/
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Pinterest.
www.pinterest.jp/MitsushiroNakagawa/
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YouPic
youpic.com/photographer/mitsushironakagawa/
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twitter.
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facebook.
www.facebook.com/mitsushiro.nakagawa
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threads.
www.threads.net/@mitsushiro_nakagawa
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Amazon.
www.amazon.co.jp/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AHSKI3YMYPYE5UE...
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my statistics. (As of February 7, 2024)
What is the number of accesses to Flickr and U-Pik?
Flickr 21,694,434 Views
Youpic 7,003,230 Views
What is the number of accesses to Flickr and YouPic?
(As of November 13, 2023)
Flickr 20,852,872 View
Youpic 6,671,486 View
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Japanese is the following.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
Title of my book unforgettable' Mitsushiro Nakagawa Out Now. ISBN978-4-86264-866-2
Mitsu Nakagawa belong to Lot No. 204 _ . Copyright©︎2020 Lot No.402_ All rights reserved.
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Title.
広告と男性。
( LUMIX G3 shot )
マンハッタン。ニューヨーク。アメリカ。2017年。 … 5 / 8
(今日の写真。それは未発表です。）
Images.
Lihtz - Serenity
youtu.be/3uP9VGA_aak?si=1NMWmzpk2OLnauH5
::写真の音楽とiTunesプレイリストをリンク::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/photo-music/pl.u-Eg8qefpy8Xz
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重要なお知らせ。
僕は以下の条件を緩和します。
僕はTシャツを無料で世界中へ配布します。
m.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/50656401427/in/dateposted-p...
m.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/50613367691/in/dateposted-p...
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２０２４年の展示
テーマ
Goodbye , Photo
Images
大塚 愛 ( Ai Otsuka ) / 恋愛写真 ( Goodbye photo )
youtu.be/B2XfJCQ2Dy0?si=WN3UePWye5N03yi4
Live 1.
youtu.be/MjBYxuVgj70?si=K3TyYOGqa3Y8BdAt
Live 2.
youtu.be/Dccv85TarHs?si=BI-f4JfrihO3CTXD
Mitsushiro - Nakagawa
主催
デザインフェスタ
場所
東京ビッグサイト
日程
2024年。秋。
exhibition.mitsushiro.nakagawa@gmail.com
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” Lot No.402_ ” に関するお知らせ。
今後、僕は、” Lot No.402_ ”を主催します。
このロットナンバーは、眠っていたレオナルドダヴィンチの作品がオークションにかけらた際に付されたものです。
作品にはサインなどがいっさい記されていなかったため、彼の作品だと断定できませんでした。
しかし、様々な鑑定の結果、陽の光を浴びました。
誰にも気づかれない作品。肩書がなくとも静かに語りかける作品。
僕はこれから様々な形で、多くの皆様に提供できるよう努めてゆきます。
2020年10月24日 by Mitsushiro - Nakagawa.
Copyright©︎2021 Lot No.402_ All rights reserved.
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プロフィール
2014年11月、たった1機種で世界を塗り替えた携帯電話の広告を請け負った選考者の目に留まり、秘密保持同意書を結ぶ。
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
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インタビューと小説。
僕の本について。
僕は、昔に本を出版しました。
その際に、僕のインタビューをPDFでネット上へアップロードしていました。
その日本語と英語。
僕は、無料でを公開します。
詳細は、アマゾンのサイトへ解説しました。
小説の書き方。
写真の撮影方法。
作品への距離感。
これらはすべて共通項があります。
僕は、僕が感じたことを文章にして、残しました。
僕のテキストが多くの人に読んでもらえることを望みます。
ありがとう。
Mitsushiro.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
１ インタビュー 英語版
２ 小説。unforgettable’ 英語版。
３ インタビュー 日本語版
４ 小説。unforgettable’ 日本語版。(この小説は未来のアーティストへ捧げます)
(四百字詰め原稿用紙４５６枚)
あらすじ
大学を目指している北見ケイは、SNS上で、6歳年上のイベントコンパニオン、上村香織に出会う。
上京してきた香織の夢は、有名なアーティストの友達になるためだ。
そのためにはラジオ局のプロデューサー、大沢亮の存在が必要だった。
大沢は、ラジオの生放送中、香織へ語りかける。
「僕には妻子がある。しかし、僕は君に会いたいと思っている」
ケイの同級生で、彼を想っている三條里香は、香織の動向を探っていた。。。。。
本編
人が海へ向かう理由には、二つある。
ひとつは、波打ち際ではしゃぐ子供のように、今の瞬間の海の輝きを楽しむこと。
もうひとつは、その輝きを静かに見据えて、過ぎ去った日々を懐かしむ老人のように記憶の埃を払うこと。
二つは重なり合わないようではあるけれども、たったひとつの意味しか生まない。
再生だ。
明日っていう、曖昧な日を確実なものへと変えてゆくために、自分の存在に向き合う。
それが再生の意味だ。
十八歳だった僕には大切な人がいた。
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
５ 流線形の軌跡。 日本語のみ。
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
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iBooks.電子出版。（現在は無料）
0.about the iBooks.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
1.unforgettable’ ( ENG.ver.)(This book is Dedicated to the future artist.)
itunes.apple.com/us/book/unforgettable/id1216576828?ls=1&...
For Japanese only.
2.unforgettable’ ( JNP.ver.)(この小説は未来のアーティストへ捧げます)
itunes.apple.com/us/book/unforgettable/id1216584262?ls=1&...
3.流線形の軌跡。
itunes.apple.com/us/book/%E6%B5%81%E7%B7%9A%E5%BD%A2%E3%8...
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僕の小説。英語版
My Novel Unforgettable' (This book is Dedicated to the future artist.)
Mitsushiro Nakagawa
All Translated by Yumi Ikeda .
1/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/24577016535/in/dateposted...
2/9
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3/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/23975215274/in/dateposted...
4/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/24515964952/in/dateposted...
5/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/24276473749/in/dateposted...
6/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/24548895082/in/dateposted...
7/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/24594603711/in/dateposted...
8/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/24588215562/in/dateposted...
9/9
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/24100804163/in/dateposted...
Fin.
images.
U2 - No Line On The Horizon Live in Dublin
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oKwnkYFsiE&feature=related
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Title of my book : unforgettable'
Author : Mitsushiro Nakagawa
Out Now.
ISBN978-4-86264-866-2
in Amazon.
Unforgettable’ amzn.asia/d/eG1wNc5
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僕の作品。
1 www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/48072442376/in/dateposted...
2 www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/48078949821/in/dateposted...
3 www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/48085863356/in/dateposted...
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あなたは僕の声を聞きたいですか？
:)
1
フリッカーへ投稿した写真の構図について。１種類目。
2
フリッカーへ投稿した写真の構図について。２種類目。
3
Fotologを始めた時について。 建築家の視点。
4
なぜ、今までカメラを手にしなかったのか？
5
何が一番かっこいいのか？ 写真はありのままに。
6
現在のユーチューバーについて。僕も伝え、残したい。
7
日本人の写真家について。日本のユーチューバーはピストルズ。
8
写真の構図は、感性。ミラノのデザイナーに会って。二つの質問。
9
良い構図とは？ 悪い構図とは？
10
カメラを向ける時とは？ ファインダーやディスプレイを覗いていては遅い。
11
家族写真。他人では撮れない。被写体の内面。
12
ユーチューブの写真家について。カメラの技術等。感性は、本を読むことで磨く。
13
日本の新聞について。良い新聞の写真はロイター。ダメな写真を見続けるとダメになる。
14
日本の写真家について。その展示について。
まとめ。僕が書いた小説など。僕が最も伝えたいこと。
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作品制作について 1/2
作品制作について 2/2
１ それまでの写真展。自分は行きたいと思ったか？
２ じゃ、自分が足を運んででも行きたい展示とは何か？
３ 原宿デザインフェスタで個展を開くまでに、毎月ひとつの作品を展示することにチャレンジ。
４ 作品とは、素材とシルエット。ファッションと似ている。
５ 自分が好きなアーティストは誰か？ どんなものなのか？ そこをはっきりさせる。
６ コラージュの作成も写真の撮り方と全く同じ。インタビューに書いたように小説の書き方とも同じ。
７ 誰かに見せたい、見せるがために作品は作らない。写真と同じように自分の部屋に飾りたい作品を目指す。
８ パクリとは何か？ 昨今、叩かれるパクリ疑惑。ミメーシスとは？
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ミメーシス
https://kotobank.jp/word/ミメーシス-139464
９ 個性とはなにか？ オリジナリティってなに？
おまけ 眞子さまについて
という流れです。
お時間がある方は是非聴いてください。
:)
www.youtube.com/user/mitsushiro/
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構図の解説２
1.構図の解説２ ... 1/4
2.構図の解説２ ... 2/4
3.構図の解説２ ... 3/4
4.構図の解説２ ... 4/4
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僕のシャッター感覚
In the Eurostar to Venice . 2005. shot ... 1 / 2
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/49127115021/in/dateposted...
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Miles Davis sheet 1955-1976.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
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flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/
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YouTube.
www.youtube.com/user/mitsushiro/
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instagram.
www.instagram.com/mitsushiro_nakagawa/
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Pinterest.
www.pinterest.jp/MitsushiroNakagawa/
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YouPic
youpic.com/photographer/mitsushironakagawa/
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fotolog
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twitter.
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facebook.
www.facebook.com/mitsushiro.nakagawa
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threads.
www.threads.net/@mitsushiro_nakagawa
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Amazon.
www.amazon.co.jp/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AHSKI3YMYPYE5UE...
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僕の統計。（2024年2月7日現在）
フリッカー、ユーピクのアクセス数は？
Flickr 21,694,434 View
Youpic 7,003,230 View
僕の統計。（2023年11月13日現在）
フリッカー、ユーピクのアクセス数は？
Flickr 20,852,872 View
Youpic 6,671,486 View
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Japanese is the following.
drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vBRMWGk29EmsoBV2o9NM1LIVi...
Title of my book unforgettable' Mitsushiro Nakagawa Out Now. ISBN978-4-86264-866-2
Mitsushiro Nakagawa belong to Lot no.204_ . Copyright©︎2020 Lot no.204_ All rights reserved.
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” Lot No.402_ ” に関するお知らせ。
今後、僕は、” Lot No.402_ ”を主催します。
このロットナンバーは、眠っていたレオナルドダヴィンチの作品がオークションにかけらた際に付されたものです。
作品にはサインなどがいっさい記されていなかったため、彼の作品だと断定できませんでした。
しかし、様々な鑑定の結果、陽の光を浴びました。
誰にも気づかれない作品。肩書がなくとも静かに語りかける作品。
僕はこれから様々な形で、多くの皆様に提供できるよう努めてゆきます。
2020年10月24日 by Mitsushiro - Nakagawa.
Copyright©︎2023 Lot No.402_ All rights reserved.
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By Jo Williams
The Parque Nacional de Doñana is one of Europe's most important wetland reserves and a major site for migrating birds. It is an immense area; the parque itself and surrounding parque natural or Entorno de Doñana (a protected buffer zone) amount to over 1,300 sq km in the provinces of Huelva, Sevilla and Cádiz. It is internationally for recognised for its great ecological wealth. Doñana has become a key centre in the world of conservationism.
Doñana is well known for its enormous variety of bird species, either permanent residents, winter visitors from north and central Europe or summer visitors from Africa, like its numerous types of geese and colourful colonies of flamingo. It has one of the world's largest colonies of Spanish imperial eagles. The park as a whole comprises three distinct kinds of ecosystem: the marismas, the Mediterranean scrublands and the coastal mobile dunes with their beaches.
l
The configuration of the Parque Nacional de Doñana is a result of its past as the delta of the Guadalquivir river, the 'big river', or Wada-I-Kebir, of the Moors. But it is a delta with a difference. Unlike most, the river has only one outlet to the sea, just below Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The rest of what used to be its delta has gradually been blocked off by a huge sandbar that stretches from the mouth of the Río Tinto, near Palos de la Frontera, to the riverbank opposite Sanlúcar, and which the sea winds have gradually formed into high dunes. Behind this natural barrier stretches the marshlands (marismas).
The effect of this extraordinary mélange of land and water was to create an environment shunned by people but ideal for wildlife. As early as the thirteenth century, the kings of Castille set aside a portion of the Doñana as a royal hunting estate; later the dukes of Medina Sidonia made it their private coto too. One of the duchesses of Medina Sidonia, Doná Ana de Silva y Mendoza, indulged her antisocial instincts by building a residence there that was more hermitage than palace. As a result, the entire region came to be known as the 'forest of Doná Ana', or Doñana. In the eighteenth century, Goya is known to have visited the Duchess of Alba at the Palacio de Doñana when she was its proprietress. Subsequently, the land passed through many hands before the official creation of the parque nacional in 1969.
Meanwhile, adjoining areas of wetland were being dramatically reduced. Across the Guadalquivir vast marshes were drained and converted to farmland, until only the protected lands of the Doñana remained intact. For centuries there had been only a vacant spot on the map between Lebrija in the east and Almonte in the north west, but in recent years whole towns and villages have sprung up west of the Guadalquivir, and the resort town of Matalascañas has brought urban sprawl to the south-western edge of the Doñana, a place once occupied by reed-thatched fishermen's huts. The proximity of these settlements has further complicated the work of the park's wildlife guardians. Two of the Doñana's precious lynxes, for example, have been run over by cars on the highway to Matalascañas; cats and dogs straying out of the nearest towns have killed animals in the park, and birds that have overflown the fences have been gunned down by trigger-happy hunters despite stringent conservation laws.
A more permanent threat to the Doñana's ecosystem are the new ricefields and other agricultural projects north of El Rocío, whose run-off waters sluice pesticides into the marismas and the sulphur mines upstream at Aznalcóliar which was effluvium into the river.
Access
Marismas de Odiel, Huelva
Marismas de Odiel, Huelva
Entrance to the park is strictly controlled. You can take half-day trips with official guides or explore the environs of the visitors' centres on foot.
To visit the principal visitors' centre at El Acebuche, take the A483 south of Almonte and about 12km from El Rocío is the signposted turn at Km29 for Centro de Recepción El Acebuche (959 44 87 11), 1½km from the main road. Alternatively, you can drive 3km north of Matalascañas to the turn-off at Km29. The centre has an exhibition about the park, a café and a shop selling maps and books. From the centre is a signposted 5km trail through scrubland and pine trees. Next to the centre is the El Acebuche lagoon, with bird hides, where you can see purple gallinules, among other birds.
From El Acebuche there are four-hour trips into the park run by the Cooperativa Marsimas del Rocío (959 43 04 32), which must be booked in advance. The four-wheel drive vehicle can seat 21 people and guides speak some English. There are two trips a day (excluding Mondays), at 0830 and 1500 (1700 in summer). Full day trips can also be organised for groups, with lunch in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. A typical trip will take in all three ecosystems in the park - dunes, matorral and marshland - but the amount of exposure to each environment varies with the seasons. One thing is guaranteed - no two visits will be alike.
The nearest visitors' centre to El Rocío is La Rocina (959 44 23 40), 500m from the village and just off the Matalascañas road. It has information on the park and a 3km-long nature trail along the freshwater lake and marshland Charco de la Boca, which feeds into the Madres de la Marismas at El Rocío. The trail has five bird hides and it's possible to see purple gallinules, hoopoes, herons and Savi's warblers, among other birds.
Seven kilometres on from La Rocina is the Palacio del Acebrón, an old hunting lodge containing exhibitions on the park. In the grounds is a pleasant 1½-km nature trail through woodland and around a small lake, the Charco del Acebrón.
The Centro de Visitantes José Antonio Valverde on the northern edge of the park has some excellent birdwatching opportunities. It is 30km south of the town of Villamanrique de la Condesa, from where it is signposted.
The Playa de Castilla beach, reached on foot east of Matalascañas, runs alongside the park boundary and although you can't enter Doñana here, it is a beautiful, unspoilt stretch of coastline with good birdwatching possibilities.
The park can also be reached (but not entered) by taking the ferry boat across the Guadalquivir river from Sanlúcar de Barrameda where there is a visitors' centre, the Centro de Visitantes Fábrica de Hielo (956 38 16 35), with exhibitions on the Doñana. You can take the Real Fernando boat daily (except in January) from Sanlúcar for 13km up the Guadalquivir river, stopping in a few places for guided walks into the park. It's advisable to book in advance, especially during the summer and holidays.
Accommodation
The closest accommodation to the entry point of El Acebuche in the park is in Matalascañas, about 3km from El Acebuche. Ten kilometres north of El Acebuche is the village of El Rocío, with various hotels. Alternatively, between Matalascañas and Huelva there is Mazagón or Villamanrique de la Condesa to the north of the park. Accommodation will be very hard to find (or extremely expensive) around the time of the El Rocío pilgrimage at Pentecost. During the summer months Matalascañas and Mazagón are also very busy, so book ahead at this time.
• El Cortijo de los Mimbrales (959 44 22 37) Conveniently located for the park on the A483 El Rocío-Matalascañas road, 3km south of El Rocío. A former farm in an orange grove with delightful rooms set in beautiful gardens. Excellent bar and restaurant.
• Hotel Toruño (959 44 23 23) This is the best hotel in El Rocío. It is in a great location overlooking the marismas, so you can even birdwatch from your bedroom, if you choose your room carefully (ask for rooms 219, 221, 223 or 223).
Camping
There are many campsites close to the Playa de Castilla beach along the A494 between Mazagón and Matalascañas, which runs alongside the park boundary. In the summer it's well worth booking in advance when the campsites could be full, particularly in August.
• Camping Doñana (959 53 62 81) At the Mazagón end of the A494 at Km34.6, this shady campsite has wooden cabins and tents for rent and a swimming pool.
• Camping La Aldea Located inland on the edge of El Rocío village near the marismas, this campsite has bungalows for hire, a bar and a shop.
• Camping Rocío Playa (959 43 02 38) On the A494 Mazagón-Matalascañas road at Km 45.2, 1½km west of Matalascañas, is this large campsite. Facilities include a restaurant, tennis court, football pitch and a bar with wonderful views. There are wooden bungalows and tents for hire.
Flora
The park supports an incredible array of vegetation in a variety of virgin habitats. Inland are large expanses of stone pines, as well as Mediterranean scrublands, with narrow leaved cistus heather, mastic tree, rosemary, cistus scrub, glasswort, red lavender, rosemary and thyme. There are also junipers and forests of cork oaks, known as "las pajareras" for the enormous quantity of birds that nest in them. Among the flowering plants are lavender, tree heaths, gladioli, irises and rock roses. In the spring the marshlands are covered with flowers.
Fauna
This is a vast wilderness that supports an unrivalled wealth of fauna; 125 species of birds are known to be resident here, as well as 125 migratory bird species, 17 reptiles, nine amphibians and eight species of fish. There is a rich variety of mammals, 28 species in total, with some in danger of extinction, such as the lynx and the Egyptian mongoose. Also here are badgers, rabbits and otters. Game is also plentiful, with red deer, fallow deer and wild boar.
Birds
Doñana comprises delta waters which flood in winter and then drop in the spring leaving rich deposits of silt and raised sandbanks and islands. These conditions are perfect in winter for geese and ducks but most exciting in spring when they draw hundreds of flocks of breeding birds. If you're lucky you may also catch a glimpse of the rare Spanish Imperial Eagle, now down to 15 breeding pairs. In the marshes and amid the cork oak forests behind you've a good chance of seeing grey herons, lanner falcons, ring and turtle doves, partridges, oxpeckers, cattle egret, storks and vultures.
What you see at Doñana depends on the time of year and the luck of the draw - November, December and January constitute the off-season for visitors but is an ideal time for waterfowl, since the autumn rains have brought life back to the marismas and filled the lagunas. Gradually, the water attains a uniform depth of 30-60 centimetres (12-24 inches) over vast areas and the resulting marches attract huge flocks of wildfowl, ducks, geese and other water birds of the most varied kind. These are freshwater marshes, incidentally, although there are traces of sea salt in the underlying silt. Here and there small islands (vetas) rise above the water. These remain dry throughout the year, creating an ideal breeding ground for waders and terns.
Towards the end of February the geese that have migrated here from northern Europe commence their return journey, but at the same time the spoonbills arrive from North Africa to nest in the cork oaks. In March the waters begin to recede and spring begins in earnest. This is also the time when the imperial eagle hatches its eggs: 15 breeding pairs of these formidable hunters were counted recently in the park - above a third of all the imperial eagles known to survive in Spain. Each pair requires nearly 2,600 hectares of land to hunt over in summer, and even more in winter. This is a far from perfect environment for these great birds and Doñana pairs seldom raise as many young as those elsewhere in Spain.
In spring the marismas are alive with birds - some settling down to breed, others en route for more northern climes. Huge numbers of kites hang in the air, harriers send the duck scurrying skywards in fear of their lives. There are black-tailed godwit and ruff on their way to Holland and beyond, greenhank and wood sandpiper bound for Scandinavia, little stint and curlew sandpiper heading for northern Siberia and usually a marsh sandpiper that should be a thousand kilometres or more further east.
Overhead, vast flocks of whiskered terns wheel and circle along with a few gullbilled terns and racy pratincoles. There are swallows galore, some of them red-rumped, and bee-eaters and rollers perch on post and wire. All of these and more can be seen from the bridge at El Rocío - perhaps the best free birdwatching in Europe.
From bird hides at the reserve centre, just south of the bridge, you will hear Cetti's and Savi's warblers and watch egrets, herons and little bitterns come and go. Marsh harriers and kites are continually on view and sometimes a majestic imperial eagle will soar from the woods of Doñana over El Rocío to the Coto del Rey.
In mid-summer the temperature in the parched marismas easily exceeds 40°C. Aquatic birds that remain in the stagnant pools die of botulism, and each year thousands more die during the advancing drought in the Doñana. In August, there is almost nothing left of the marsh's aquatic fauna, but it is a good time for observing dozens of summer residents, which include griffon vulture, booted eagle, red and black kites, short toed eagle, Baillon's crake, purple gallinule, great spotted cuckoo, Scops owl, red necked nightjar, bee eater, hoopoe, calandra, short toed and thekla larks, golden oriole, azure winged magpie. Cetti's and Savi's warblers, tawny pipit, great grey shrike, woodchat shrike and serin.
Rivers
As part of the Guadalquivir delta, the park is riddled with creeks and streams, the main ones being the Brazo de la Torre, the Caño de Guadiamar and Caño Real. The park is dotted with ponds (lucios) that, like the marshlands themselves, can dry up almost completely in summer.
Walks
The core of the park is off-limits to independent walkers. There are footpaths, often with bird hides, leading from the following visitors' centres: El Acebuche, La Rocina and El Palacio del Acebrón. You can also walk alonside the park boundary on the Playa de Castilla, near Matalascañas. A signposted walk, the Sendero Laguna del Jaral Medano del Asperillo, is off the A494 at Km 47. Coming from Matalascañas, there is a car park on the left with an information board and map. It is a challenging circular 5.6km trail that crosses sand dunes and pine woods and will take around 3½ hours. It has superb views of the sea. Make sure you take plenty of water and go when it is not too hot.
Also signposted is the Sendero Cuesta del Maneli. This is a circular trail through the dunes and pine woodland between the road and the beach. It is 2.3km long and takes around 1½ hours and is easier than the Sendero Laguna del Jaral Medano del Asperillo. To get there, take the off the A494 Matalascañas-Mazagón road and at Km 38 there is a car park and information board.
Villages
El Rocío
Matalascañas
Mazagón
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Villamanrique de la Condesa
Important legal note.
All images are copyright and must not be re posted or water marks removed, anyone found reposting is liaIble to prosecution.