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Completed in 1893, All Souls Unitarian Church—now known as All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church—stands at 730 North Tejon Street in Colorado Springs. Located close to the Colorado College campus, the church is notable for its distinctive Shingle architectural style and its association with the establishment of the Unitarian and Universalist communities in Colorado Springs.
The Everett Railroad of today, notable for steam excursions, has nothing in common with the original Everett Railroad, other than the name. Originally, the road operated a former Huntingdon& Broad Top line centered around Everett, Pennsylvania after the H&BT gave up the ghost in 1954. As a kid, I remember seeing the Everett’s GE 80-tonner along the Pennsylvania Turnpike as we passed by Everett on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Everett operated the line until 1982, when Conrail abandoned its Mt. Dallas Secondary, which was the Everett’s connection to the outside world.
After lying dormant for two years, the Everett found a new home on the former Conrail Bedford Secondary between Brooks Mill and Sproul. Remaining rolling stock was trucked to the new line, including 80-tonner number 4, seen idling in the cold morning airin the right distance. Old Number 4 wasn’t enough to handle the new line’s traffic, so the Everett acquired two ex-Conrail SW9’s, painted in a scheme reminiscent of NJDOT’s original scheme. Here SW9 8933 stands at the road’s operational headquarters in Claysburg, Pennsylvania.
The Schlossgarten (Palace Garden) is one of the most beautiful grounds in Europe. Numerous noted garden designers have helped shape the garden since the construction of the castle in the 18th century by Prince-Bishop Friedrich Christian von Münster of the Plettenberg-Lenhausen dynasty. Some parts of the palace park are in the style of an English landscape garden, whilst others have been “re-Baroque-ised” over the course of time. The palace garden still provides a real fascination with its lawn parterres and parterres de broderie, its topiary and its many sculptures in the park, not forgetting its avenues and pathways. Schloss Nordkirchen and its important park have been designated worthy of protection and as an “artwork of international standing” by UNESCO.
Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
wishing you All a great weekend
This a B17 'G' model, notable for the chin gun turret which gave better protection against head-on fighter attack.
This particular aircraft was built just too late to see any wartime service, but was used for many years for surveying purposes, before being acquired by Ted White in the mid 1970s. He named the aircraft 'Sally B' after his partner Elly Sallingboe.
Tragically, Ted White was killed flying another plane in 1982.
In an incredible show of fortitude, Elly decided to take on operating the B17 as Ted had wanted, and for more than 40 years 'Sally B' has appeared in airshows across the UK and Europe as a flying memorial to the many thousands of young airmen who served in the war. As a tribute to Ted White, 'Sally B' wears a chequerboard cowling on the starboard inner engine - decorated as Ted White's aircraft had been.
Also visible is the red 'Memphis Belle' figure on the nose; 'Sally B' was one of five B17s to portray that famous aircraft in the 1990 movie of that name.
The costs of maintaining this decades old aircraft are huge, and funded entirely through charitable donations.
Tower Works is a former factory notable for its three listed towers. It is located on Globe Road in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, next to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The Italianate towers of the factory are a distinctive landmark on the Leeds skyline.
The factory was founded by T.R. Harding to make steel pins for carding and combing in the textile industry, and the original buildings, by Thomas Shaw, were erected in 1864–66. Harding's son, Colonel Thomas Harding, employed William Bakewell to extend the works in 1899. The design of the extension was heavily influenced by Harding's love of Italian architecture and art.
The most notable features of Tower Works are the three towers that give it its name and served for dust extraction from the factory. The largest and most ornate tower (1899, by Bakewell) is based on Giotto's Campanile in Florence. The smaller ornate tower (1866, by Shaw) is styled after the Torre dei Lamberti in Verona. A third plain tower, built as part of Harding's final phase of expansion in 1919, is thought to represent a Tuscan tower house such as can be seen in San Gimignano. All three towers are listed structures, the two ornate towers being Grade II* and the plain tower Grade II.[1]
The design for the Giotto Tower included ventilation systems that were way ahead of their time in terms of minimising pollution from the steel works. The chimney incorporated a filter to remove the excess steel dust.
In 1895 T. W. Harding & Son amalgamated with two other companies to become Harding, Rhodes & Co.
The factory sustained damage in World War II when neighbouring buildings were bombed during the air raids on the nearby Leeds City railway station. It closed in 1981 after 117 years of operating on the site.
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DSC_1843_052018_0743 (1766)
Kea ( Nestor notables )
Extremely intelegent, boisterous and truly entertaining .
Now at seventy years old, Its the memories I treasure, as a boy in the mountains of New Zealands south island among these joyful rascals.
Stealing camp utensils or indeed anything within its grasp. Always there even at night in the midst of a storm with boulders and avalanches crashing down, these birds would still fly in pitch darkness sliding down our tent fly's into the snow.
Yet one cannot help but love them.......
Sadly today... extremely .endangered
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
IMG_1022r
The most notable tomb at Les Invalides is that of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), a tomb made of red quartzite and resting on a green granite base, was finished in 1861.
The Les Invalides complex has fifteen courtyards, the largest being the cour d'honneur designed for military parades.
Around the Cour d'Honneur are distributed the museums: weapons and ancient armor, Louis XIV and Napoleon room, the two world wars, room of the unusual Cabinets, Historial Charles de Gaulle, Museum of the Order of the Liberation, Museum of plans and reliefs.
The Dome chapel became a military necropolis when Napoleon in September 1800 designated it for the relocation of the tomb of Louis XIV's celebrated general Turenne, followed in 1807–1808 by Vauban. In 1835, the underground gallery below the church received the remains of 14 victims of the Giuseppe Marco Fieschi's failed assassination attempt on Louis-Philippe I. The major development came with the building's designation to become Napoleon's tomb by a law of 10 June 1840, as part of the political project of the retour des cendres orchestrated by king Louis-Philippe I and his minister Adolphe Thiers. The creation of the crypt and of Napoleon's massive sarcophagus took twenty years to complete and was finished in 1861. By then, it was emperor Napoleon III who was in power and oversaw the ceremony of the transfer of his remains from a chapel of the church to the crypt beneath the dome.
Beneath the Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides
82 additional military figures, including 28 Governors of Les Invalides, are buried in the Caveau des Gouverneurs, an underground gallery beneath the Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides.
Stockholm Public Library (Swedish: Stockholms stadsbibliotek or Stadsbiblioteket) is a library building in Stockholm, Sweden, designed by Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund, and one of the city's most notable structures. The name is today used for both the main library itself as well as the municipal library system of Stockholm.
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
To view more of my images, of Aldeburgh, please click
"here" !
I would be most grateful if you refrained from inserting images, or group invites; thank you!
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in the English county of Suffolk. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club. The internationally renowned Aldeburgh Festival of arts, which takes place at nearby Snape Maltings, was created in 1948 by the resident and acclaimed composer Benjamin Britten. A popular weekend destination, with second homes making up roughly a third of its residential property, particular attractions are the ancient Moot Hall (where the town council still meets), Napoleonic-era Martello towerto the south, sheltered yachting marina at Slaughden, and two family run shops serving fish and chips, one of which is often cited as among the best fish and chip shops in the UK. Alde Burgh means "old fort" although this structure, along with much of the Tudor town, has now been lost to the sea. In the 16th century, Aldeburgh was a leading port, and had a flourishing ship-building industry. Sir Francis Drake's ships Greyhound and Pelican (later renamed Golden Hind) were both built in Aldeburgh. The flagship of the Virginia Company, the Sea Venture is believed to have been built there in 1608. When the River Alde silted up and was unable to accommodate larger ships, the area went into decline. Aldeburgh survived principally as a fishing village until the nineteenth century, when it became popular as a seaside resort. Much of its distinctive and whimsical architecture derives from this period. The river is now home to a yacht club and a sailing club. Aldeburgh is on the North Sea coast and is located around 87 miles (140 km) north-east of London, 20 miles (32 km) north-east of Ipswich and 23 miles (37 km) south ofLowestoft. Locally it is 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the town of Leiston and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the village of Thorpeness. It lies just to the north of the River Alde with the narrow shingle spit of Orford Ness all that stops the river meeting the sea at Aldeburgh - instead it flows another 9 miles (14 km) to the south-west. The beach is mainly shingle and wide in places with fishing boats able to be drawn up onto the beach above the high tide. The beach was awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005 and becomes narrower at the neck of Orford Ness. The shingle bank allows access to the Ness from the north, passing a Martello tower and two yacht clubs at the site of the former village of Slaughden. Aldeburgh was flooded during the North Sea flood of 1953 and flood defences around the town were strengthened as a result. The town is within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and has a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and nature reserves in the local area. The Alde-Ore Estuary SSSI covers the area surrounding the river fromSnape to its mouth, including the whole of Orford Ness. This contains a number of salt marsh and mudflat habitats. The Leiston-Aldeburgh SSSI extends from the northern edge of the town to cover a range of habitats including grazing marsh and heathland. This includes Thorpeness Mere and the North Warren RSPB reserve an area of wildlife and habitat conservation and nature trails run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Two smaller geological SSSI units are also found on the southern edges of the town. Aldeburgh Brick Pit is a 0.84 hectares (2.1 acres) site showing a clear stratigraphy of Red Crag deposits above Corralline Crag. It is considered a significant site for demonstrating the stratigraphy of Red Crag. Aldeburgh Hall Pit is a shallow pit of 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres) area. The site features a section of Corralline Crag and is considered to be one of the best sites in Britain for Neogene fauna. It has a number of churches including the Anglican pre-Reformation church of St Peter and St Paul and the Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Peter.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
IMGP7893
Avebury henge and stone circles are one of the greatest marvels of prehistoric Britain. Built and much altered during the Neolithic period, roughly between 2850 BC and 2200 BC, the henge survives as a huge circular bank and ditch, encircling an area that includes part of Avebury village. Within the henge is the largest stone circle in Britain - originally of about 100 stones - which in turn encloses two smaller stone circles.
Avebury is part of an extraordinary set of Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial sites that seemingly formed a vast sacred landscape. They include West Kennet Avenue, West Kennet Long Barrow, The Sanctuary, Windmill Hill, and the mysterious Silbury Hill. Many can be reached on foot from the village. The Alexander Keiller Museum also displays many notable finds from the Avebury monuments. Together with Stonehenge, Avebury and its surroundings are a World Heritage Site.
Hpaung Daw U Pagoda also spelt Hpaung Daw Oo or Phaung Daw Oo) is a notable Buddhist site in Myanmar (formerly Burma), located on the Inle Lake in Shan State.
Surrounding the Pagoda, and in the basement are shops selling traditional Shan and Burmese merchandise.
The pagoda houses five small gilded images of Buddha, which have been covered in gold leaf to the point that their original forms cannot be seen. The gold-leaf application to such excess is relatively recent. Old photographs hanging on the monastery walls show some of the images in a more pristine form. It is reported that some gold has been removed on occasion to reduce its mass. Although the monastery is open to all for veneration, only men are permitted to place gold leaf on the images. Another part of the ritual for pilgrims is to place a small robe or thingan around the images, and to take the robe back to their houses and place it on their own altar as a token of respect for the Buddha and his teachings.
Annually, during the Burmese month of Thadingyut (from September to October), an 18-day pagoda festival is held, during which four of the Buddha images are placed on a replica of a royal barge designed as a hintha bird and taken throughout Inlay Lake. One image always remains at the temple. The elaborately decorated barge is towed by several boats of leg-rowers rowing in unison, and other accompanying boats, making an impressive procession on the water. The barge is towed from village to village along the shores of the lake in clockwise fashion, and the four images reside at the main monastery in each village for the night.
The high point of the festival is on the day when the images arrive at the main town of Nyaung Shwe, where most pilgrims from the surrounding region come to pay their respects and veneration. In the past, the Saopha of Yawnghwe would personally welcome the images. The images would be taken from the barge and a grand procession would take them to the palace or haw of the Saopha, entering the prayer hall from the eastern entrance, and where it would reside for a few hours. The public was allowed inside the prayer hall of the haw to pay their respects. Then the images would be taken to the main temple in Nyaung Shwe. Since the mid-1960s, the images have bypassed the visit to the haw and taken directly to the temple. It is now usually welcomed to Nyaung Shwe by some high-ranking official in the government.
Sometime in the 1960s during a particularly windy day, when the waves were high on the lake, the barge carrying the images capsized, and the images tumbled into the lake. It was said that they could not recover one image, but that when they went back to the monastery, the missing image was miraculously sitting in its place.
Asterocampa celtis, the hackberry emperor, is a North American butterfly that belongs to the brushfooted butterfly family, Nymphalidae. It gets its name from the hackberry tree (Celtis occidentalis and others in the genus Celtis) upon which it lays its eggs. The hackberry tree is the only host plant for A. celtis and is the food source for larvae.
The hackberry emperor is known for being a quick, mercurial butterfly. It often is found along water sources and lowlands, although it lives in a broad range of habitats. Another notable characteristic is that it rarely is spotted visiting a flower, which is considered unusual for a butterfly.
Species in the genus Asterocampa are regarded as being "cheater" organisms, since these butterflies do not pollinate flowers when they feed from them. This species can more accurately be described as parasitizing their hosts and plant food sources since they extract nutrients without providing any benefits to the host.
To view more of my images, of Aldeburgh, please click
"here" !
I would be most grateful if you refrained from inserting images, or group invites; thank you!
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in the English county of Suffolk. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club. The internationally renowned Aldeburgh Festival of arts, which takes place at nearby Snape Maltings, was created in 1948 by the resident and acclaimed composer Benjamin Britten. A popular weekend destination, with second homes making up roughly a third of its residential property, particular attractions are the ancient Moot Hall (where the town council still meets), Napoleonic-era Martello towerto the south, sheltered yachting marina at Slaughden, and two family run shops serving fish and chips, one of which is often cited as among the best fish and chip shops in the UK. Alde Burgh means "old fort" although this structure, along with much of the Tudor town, has now been lost to the sea. In the 16th century, Aldeburgh was a leading port, and had a flourishing ship-building industry. Sir Francis Drake's ships Greyhound and Pelican (later renamed Golden Hind) were both built in Aldeburgh. The flagship of the Virginia Company, the Sea Venture is believed to have been built there in 1608. When the River Alde silted up and was unable to accommodate larger ships, the area went into decline. Aldeburgh survived principally as a fishing village until the nineteenth century, when it became popular as a seaside resort. Much of its distinctive and whimsical architecture derives from this period. The river is now home to a yacht club and a sailing club. Aldeburgh is on the North Sea coast and is located around 87 miles (140 km) north-east of London, 20 miles (32 km) north-east of Ipswich and 23 miles (37 km) south ofLowestoft. Locally it is 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the town of Leiston and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the village of Thorpeness. It lies just to the north of the River Alde with the narrow shingle spit of Orford Ness all that stops the river meeting the sea at Aldeburgh - instead it flows another 9 miles (14 km) to the south-west. The beach is mainly shingle and wide in places with fishing boats able to be drawn up onto the beach above the high tide. The beach was awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005 and becomes narrower at the neck of Orford Ness. The shingle bank allows access to the Ness from the north, passing a Martello tower and two yacht clubs at the site of the former village of Slaughden. Aldeburgh was flooded during the North Sea flood of 1953 and flood defences around the town were strengthened as a result. The town is within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and has a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and nature reserves in the local area. The Alde-Ore Estuary SSSI covers the area surrounding the river fromSnape to its mouth, including the whole of Orford Ness. This contains a number of salt marsh and mudflat habitats. The Leiston-Aldeburgh SSSI extends from the northern edge of the town to cover a range of habitats including grazing marsh and heathland. This includes Thorpeness Mere and the North Warren RSPB reserve an area of wildlife and habitat conservation and nature trails run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Two smaller geological SSSI units are also found on the southern edges of the town. Aldeburgh Brick Pit is a 0.84 hectares (2.1 acres) site showing a clear stratigraphy of Red Crag deposits above Corralline Crag. It is considered a significant site for demonstrating the stratigraphy of Red Crag. Aldeburgh Hall Pit is a shallow pit of 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres) area. The site features a section of Corralline Crag and is considered to be one of the best sites in Britain for Neogene fauna. It has a number of churches including the Anglican pre-Reformation church of St Peter and St Paul and the Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Peter.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
Several notable Montreal painters shared studio and exhibition space at 305 Beaver Hall Hill in Montreal, nestled in the shadow of the modernist Guarantee Building. A hive of new ideas and a place of exchange between women artists and their male colleagues, it is remembered her in Savage’s lush pastel-coloured rendering.
South Stack Lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1809, marking a tiny islet off Anglesey at the north west tip of Wales. It is reached via a descent of 400 steps down the steep mainland cliffs.
The small white building atop the rugged sea cliffs is Ellin’s Tower, a castellated folly, originally used as a summer house, which was built between 1820 and 1850 for the notable Stanley family. It was used during both the First and Second World Wars as a coastal observation tower and is now used as an RSPB information centre for the nature reserve.
South Stack is a wonderful place to watch thousands of breeding seabirds including guillemots, razorbills and puffins. To the top right of the image, above the cliffs, can be seen the Snowdon mountain range.
Plaza Mayor, Almagro, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, España.
La plaza medieval sufrió una notable transformación a lo largo del siglo XVI, coincidiendo con la llegada a Almagro de los Fúcar - castellanización del apellido flamenco Fugger -, banqueros súbditos del emperador Carlos V, a quienes se les había arrendado las minas de azogue de Almadén como privilegio por el apoyo económico de la banca familiar durante las guerras de Europa. Se levantaron nuevos edificios en la plaza y se debe a ellos la influencia de las galerías acristaladas, con recuerdos septentrionales, que ennoblecen y dan un aspecto singular a los dos lados mayores de esta Plaza Mayor de Almagro, denominación con la que tradicionalmente se le ha conocido, aunque en distintos momentos haya recibido otros nombre como de la Constitución, de la República, Real o de España, tras la última Guerra Civil. En la década de 1960 se comenzó su restauración que concluyó en 1967, tal como figura en una placa colocada en el edificio del Ayuntamiento. La obra, dirigida por el arquitecto Francisco Pons-Sorolla, devolvió al singular conjunto la nobleza y el esplendor del siglo XVI.
De planta rectangular irregular, uno de sus lados mayores se abre en la parte correspondiente al Palacio Maestral, y según planos antiguos tiene 125 varas de longitud por 44 de anchura, es decir, 104,5 por 37 metros, aproximadamente.
La mayor singularidad de esta plaza se centra en sus lados mayores, donde se levanta un armónico conjunto de viviendas que se disponen sobre soportales en dos alturas, sostenidas por ochenta y cinco columnas de piedra de orden toscano, sobre las que descansan las gruesas zapatas y vigas de madera pintadas de almagre. Estas edificaciones de modestos materiales tienen su mayor originalidad en el doble piso de galería acristalada, que proporciona un característico sabor y notable originalidad al conjunto por tratarse de un caso singular de la arquitectura castellana. Estas galerías estuvieron inicialmente abiertas, eran de carácter público y se utilizaban para presenciar los espectáculos que tenían lugar en la plaza. Posteriormente, fueron cerradas. Sus ventanas balconcillos, al igual que los barrotes torneados, debieron de estar pintados de almagre, pero posteriormente, con motivo de la proclamación del rey Carlos IV en 1788, se pintaron de verde turquesa . Sobre las galerías, sencillos canecillos soportan el alero, y en el tejado, cubierto con teja árabe se levantan buhardillas encaladas, blancas chimeneas y algunas veletas de hierro.
En el lado norte de la plaza, a la derecha desde el Ayuntamiento, se abre el callejón del Villar, donde puede observarse la estructura de la construcción de las viviendas, además de otros elementos, como una columna con capitel tallado en el que figura una jarra con azucenas. En el lado sur se localiza la antigua calle del Toril, hoy del Capitán Parras, en recuerdo de un hijo de este pueblo que murió en 1924, durante la Guerra de África. En esta calle se encuentra la casa de Diego de Molina el Viejo. El soportal y las galerías acristaladas se truncan con dos grandes columnas de granito que sostienen zapatas y una poderosa viga con escudos familiares. La portada enmarcada de piedra, de finales del siglo XVI, presenta un escudo con las armas de Molina, Dávila y Fajardo. Otras edificaciones mantienen algún tipo de interés, como dos casas con dinteles de piedra o la casa de los Rosales, con fachada de fines del siglo XVII.
The medieval square underwent a significant transformation throughout the 16th century, coinciding with the arrival in Almagro of the Fúcars - the Spanish version of the Flemish surname Fugger -, bankers subject to the Emperor Charles V, to whom the Almadén mercury mines had been leased as a privilege for the financial support of the family bank during the wars in Europe. New buildings were built in the square and it is to them that the glass galleries, with northern reminders, which ennoble and give a unique appearance to the two largest sides of this Plaza Mayor de Almagro, the name by which it has traditionally been known, began to be restored, such as the Constitution, the Republic, the Royal or Spain, after the last Civil War. In the 1960s, its restoration began and was completed in 1967, as shown on a plaque placed on the Town Hall building. The work, directed by the architect Francisco Pons-Sorolla, restored the nobility and splendour of the 16th century to the unique complex.
With an irregular rectangular floor plan, one of its larger sides opens onto the part corresponding to the Maestral Palace, and according to old plans it is 125 yards long by 44 wide, that is, approximately 104.5 by 37 metres.
The greatest uniqueness of this square is centred on its larger sides, where a harmonious group of houses is built, arranged on arcades on two levels, supported by eighty-five Tuscan stone columns, on which rest the thick wooden foundations and beams painted in red ochre. These buildings made of modest materials have their greatest originality in the double-storey glass gallery, which provides a characteristic flavour and notable originality to the complex, as it is a unique case of Castilian architecture. These galleries were initially open, were public and were used to watch the shows that took place in the square. Later, they were closed. Their small balconies, like the turned bars, must have been painted red ochre, but later, on the occasion of the proclamation of King Charles IV in 1788, they were painted turquoise green. Above the galleries, simple corbels support the eaves, and on the roof, covered with Arabic tiles, there are whitewashed dormers, white chimneys and some iron weather vanes.
On the north side of the square, to the right of the Town Hall, is the Villar alley, where you can see the structure of the construction of the houses, as well as other elements, such as a column with a carved capital depicting a jar with lilies. On the south side is the old Toril street, today called Captain Parras, in memory of a son of this town who died in 1924, during the African War. On this street is the house of Diego de Molina el Viejo. The arcade and the glass galleries are truncated by two large granite columns that support footings and a powerful beam with family shields. The stone-framed doorway, from the end of the 16th century, features a shield with the arms of Molina, Dávila and Fajardo. Other buildings maintain some kind of interest, such as two houses with stone lintels or the Rosales house, with a façade from the end of the 17th century.
The most notable bridge crossing the canal is Marble Bridge which provides access to Christiansborg riding grounds.. The old main entrance and one of few surviving features of the first Christiansborg Palace which burned in 1794, the bridge was constructed from 1739 to 1745 with Nicolai Eigtved as principal architect.
The canal runs out into Copenhagen Harbour.
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
L'Estany de Banyoles, Banyoles, Girona.
L'Estany de Banyoles es el lago más grande de Catalunya, en la provincia de Girona. Es el principal símbolo de la ciudad de Banyoles. El lago y su cuenca lacustre son considerados el conjunto cárstico más extenso de España, constituyendo un sistema medioambiental de notable valor.
Situado en el oeste del término municipal de Banyoles, fue declarado por la Generalitat de Catalunya como zona integrante del Plan de Espacios de Interés Natural. En 2003 se incluyó en la lista Ramsar de Zonas Húmedas de Importancia Internacional, solicitándose por varios colectivos la instauración de un Parque Natural.
L'Estany de Banyoles es de origen tectónico y cárstico. Se formó en la época cuaternaria, hace unos 250 000 años. Los movimientos tectónicos producidos por la formación de los Pirineos abrieron la falla del Ampurdán. La erosión y otros fenómenos geológicos crearon la zona lacustre.
El primer Estany de Banyoles tenía una extensión muy superior a la actual, inundando las riberas unos 6 u 8 metros por encima del nivel actual de las aguas.
Las pesquerías son pequeñas construcciones que se encuentran en las aguas del lago en la orilla oriental y declaradas Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (en la categoría de Jardín Histórico) por la Generalitat de Catalunya.
En total hay 20 pesquerías, cada una con un nombre particular. Su construcción comenzó a mediados del siglo XIX hasta 1931, y durante estos años han sido renovados y acondicionados.
Inicialmente, el papel de la pesquería era mantener el material para la pesca. Posteriormente, muchos de ellos aumentaron la superficie para poder almacenar un bote. Finalmente, con la llegada de la práctica del deporte y el ascenso de la burguesía banyolina, se adaptaron para poder nadar e incluso quedarse.
L'Estany de Banyoles is the largest lake in Catalonia, in the province of Girona. It is the main symbol of the city of Banyoles. The lake and its lacustrine basin are considered the most extensive karst complex in Spain, constituting an environmental system of remarkable value.
Located in the west of the municipality of Banyoles, it was declared by the Generalitat de Catalunya as an integral part of the Plan of Spaces of Natural Interest. In 2003 it was included in the Ramsar list of Wetlands of International Importance, requesting by several groups the establishment of a Natural Park.
L'Estany de Banyoles is of tectonic and karstic origin. It was formed in the Quaternary era, about 250,000 years ago. The tectonic movements produced by the formation of the Pyrenees opened the Ampurdán fault. Erosion and other geological phenomena created the lacustrine zone.
The first Estany de Banyoles had a much higher extension than the current, flooding the banks about 6 or 8 meters above the current level of water.
The fishery are small constructions that are found in the water of the lake on the east bank and declared Cultural Good of National Interest (in the category of Historic Garden) by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
In total there are 20 the fishery, each with a particular name. Its construction began in the mid-nineteenth century until 1931, and over these years they have been renovated and conditioned.
Initially, the role of the fishery was to keep the material for fishing. Subsequently, many of them increased the surface in order to be able to store a boat. Finally, with the arrival of the practice of sport and the rise of the banyolina bourgeoisie, they adapted to be able to swim and even to stay.
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Jungfraujoch is a notable saddle in the Bernese Alps, connecting the two four-thousander peaks Jungfrau and Mönch, at an elevation of 3,466 metres (11,371 ft) above sea level. It is a glacier saddle, on the upper snows of the Aletsch Glacier, and part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, situated on the boundary between the cantons of Bern and Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch.
Since 1912, the Jungfraujoch has been accessible to tourists by the Jungfrau line, a railway from Interlaken and Kleine Scheidegg, running partly underground through a tunnel through the Eiger and Mönch. The Jungfraujoch railway station, at an elevation of 3,454 metres (11,332 ft) is the highest in Europe. It lies east of the saddle, below the Sphinx station, and is connected to the Top of Europe building, which includes several panoramic restaurants and a post office. Several tunnels lead outside, where secured hiking trails on the crevassed glacier can be followed, in particular to the Mönchsjoch Hut.
The Sphinx Observatory, one of the highest astronomical observatories in the world, provides an additional viewing platform at a height of 3,572 metres (11,719 feet). It can be reached by an elevator from the Jungfraujoch. The observatory houses one of the Global Atmosphere Watch's atmospheric research stations. The Jungfraujoch radio relay station, which is not accessible to the public, is installed west of the Jungfraujoch, on the Jungfrau ridge. It is Europe's highest radio relay station.
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Commissioned by the Shediac Rotary Club, the World's Largest Lobster was created and constructed by the late Winston Bronnum (notable animal sculptor) of Penobsquis, New Brunswick. The sculpture, which is made of reinforced concrete and steel, measures 10.7 meters (35 feet) in length and 5 meters (16.4 feet) in height and took 3 years to complete. This masterpiece weights 50 metric tons (110,231.13 pounds) and rests on a 32 metric ton (70,547.924 pounds) perestal.
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
The Rape of Proserpina, more accurately translated as The Abduction of Proserpina, is a large Baroque marble group sculpture by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, executed between 1621 and 1622, when Bernini's career was in its early stage. The group, finished when Bernini was just 23 years old, depicts the abduction of Proserpina, who is seized and taken to the underworld by the god Pluto. It features Pluto holding Proserpina aloft, and a Cerberus to symbolize the border into the underworld that Pluto carries Proserpina into.
Cardinal Scipione Borghese commissioned the sculpture and gave it to the newly appointed Cardinal-nephew, Ludovico Ludovisi, possibly as a means of gaining favour. The choice to depict the myth of Proserpina may relate to the recent death of Pope Paul V, or to the recent empowerment of Ludovico. Bernini drew inspiration from Giambologna and Annibale Carracci for the sculpture, which is the only work for which preparatory material survives. The Rape of Proserpina is made of rare Carrara marble, and was originally placed on a pedestal, since-destroyed, with a poem by Maffeo Barberini. It has been praised for its realism, as the marble mimics other materials like flesh. The detail is notable; for instance, a trickle of tears contributes to the expressiveness of Proserpina's face.
The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Italian pronunciation: [katteˈdraːle di ˈsanta maˈriːa del ˈfjoːre]; in English "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers") is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.
The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.
The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.
Santa Maria del Fiore was built on the site of an earlier cathedral dedicated to Saint Reparata. The ancient structure, founded in the early 5th century and having undergone many repairs, was crumbling with age, according to the 14th-century Nuova Cronica of Giovanni Villani, and was no longer large enough to serve the growing population of the city. Other major Tuscan cities had undertaken ambitious reconstructions of their cathedrals during the Late Medieval period, such as Pisa and particularly Siena where the enormous proposed extensions were never completed.
Giotto's bell tower (campanile)
The new church was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio and approved by city council in 1294. Di Cambio was also architect of the church of Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio. He designed three wide naves ending under the octagonal dome, with the middle nave covering the area of Santa Reparata. The first stone was laid on September 9, 1296, by Cardinal Valeriana, the first papal legate ever sent to Florence. The building of this vast project was to last 140 years; Arnolfo's plan for the eastern end, although maintained in concept, was greatly expanded in size.
After Arnolfo died in 1310, work on the cathedral slowed for thirty years. When the relics of Saint Zenobius were discovered in 1330 in Santa Reparata, the project gained a new impetus. In 1331, the Arte della Lana, the guild of wool merchants, took over patronage for the construction of the cathedral and in 1334 appointed Giotto to oversee the work. Assisted by Andrea Pisano, Giotto continued di Cambio's design. His major accomplishment was the building of the campanile. When Giotto died in 1337, Andrea Pisano continued the building until work was halted due to the Black Death in 1348.
In 1349, work resumed on the cathedral under a series of architects, starting with Francesco Talenti, who finished the campanile and enlarged the overall project to include the apse and the side chapels. In 1359, Talenti was succeeded by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini (1360–1369) who divided the center nave in four square bays. Other architects were Alberto Arnoldi, Giovanni d'Ambrogio, Neri di Fioravante and Andrea Orcagna. By 1375, the old church Santa Reparata was pulled down. The nave was finished by 1380, and by 1418, only the dome remained incomplete.
On 18 August 1418, the Arte della Lana announced an architectural design competition for erecting Neri's dome. The two main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, the latter of whom was supported by Cosimo de Medici. Ghiberti had been the winner of a competition for a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery in 1401 and lifelong competition between the two remained sharp. Brunelleschi won and received the commission.
Ghiberti, appointed coadjutator, drew a salary equal to Brunelleschi's and, though neither was awarded the announced prize of 200 florins, was promised equal credit, although he spent most of his time on other projects. When Brunelleschi became ill, or feigned illness, the project was briefly in the hands of Ghiberti. But Ghiberti soon had to admit that the whole project was beyond him. In 1423, Brunelleschi was back in charge and took over sole responsibility.
Work started on the dome in 1420 and was completed in 1436. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Eugene IV on March 25, 1436, (the first day of the year according to the Florentine calendar). It was the first 'octagonal' dome in history to be built without a temporary wooden supporting frame. It was one of the most impressive projects of the Renaissance. During the consecration in 1436, Guillaume Dufay's motet Nuper rosarum flores was performed. The structure of this motet was strongly influenced by the structure of the dome.
The decoration of the exterior of the cathedral, begun in the 14th century, was not completed until 1887, when the polychrome marble façade was completed with the design of Emilio De Fabris. The floor of the church was relaid in marble tiles in the 16th century.
The exterior walls are faced in alternate vertical and horizontal bands of polychrome marble from Carrara (white), Prato (green), Siena (red), Lavenza and a few other places. These marble bands had to repeat the already existing bands on the walls of the earlier adjacent baptistery the Battistero di San Giovanni and Giotto's Bell Tower. There are two side doors: the Doors of the Canonici (south side) and the Door of the Mandorla (north side) with sculptures by Nanni di Banco, Donatello, and Jacopo della Quercia. The six side windows, notable for their delicate tracery and ornaments, are separated by pilasters. Only the four windows closest to the transept admit light; the other two are merely ornamental. The clerestory windows are round, a common feature in Italian Gothic.
During its long history, this cathedral has been the seat of the Council of Florence (1439), heard the preachings of Girolamo Savonarola and witnessed the murder of Giuliano di Piero de' Medici on Sunday, 26 April 1478 (with Lorenzo Il Magnifico barely escaping death), in the Pazzi conspiracy.
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_del_Duomo,_Florence
Florence (/ˈflɒrəns/ FLOR-əns; Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ( listen)) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 382,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area.
Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 89th most visited in 2012, with 1.8 million visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Florence is an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 51 fashion capitals of the world; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy.
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence
Sanssouci, Postdam, Brandenburg, Deutschland.
Sanssouci (del francés sans souci= «sin preocupaciones») es el nombre de un conjunto de edificios y jardines que incluyen el antiguo palacio de verano oficial de Federico II el Grande, rey de Prusia, en Potsdam, cerca de Berlín. Se trata de una de las obras cumbres del estilo Rococó, y es también notable por los numerosos templetes y pabellones diseminados por el parque que rodea el conjunto.
El Palacio de Sanssouci combina la arquitectura del siglo XVIII con una arquitectura paisajística. Bajo la dirección de Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, se edificó entre de 1745 y 1747 un palacete de una sola planta del estilo de un “maison de plaisance” según las indicaciones del rey. El edificio comprende dos alas laterales que ocupa casi toda la parte superior de la terraza. Las alas del palacio cuentan con filas de árboles en su lado norte y terminan en sendas glorietas enrejadas, decoradas con adornos dorados.
Bajo su cúpula se encuentra el Salón de Mármol oval en el que pudo celebrarse la legendaria tertulia organizada por el soberano prusiano, deseoso de compartir sus inquietudes musicales y filosóficas con invitados como Voltaire. La decoración interior es, en su mayor parte, originaria desde el siglo XVIII.
Federico II residió en el Palacio habitualmente. Sin embargo, después de su muerte en 1786, este se mantuvo vacío y descuidado hasta mediados del siglo XIX.
Sanssouci (from the French sans souci = "carefree") is the name of a group of buildings and gardens that include the former official summer palace of Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is one of the top works of the Rococo style, and it is also notable for the many pavilions and pavilions scattered throughout the park that surrounds the complex.
Sanssouci Palace combines 18th century architecture with landscape architecture Under the direction of Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, between 1745 and 1747 a one-storey mansion in the style of a “maison de plaisance” was built according to the indications The building comprises two lateral wings that occupy almost the entire upper part of the terrace. The wings of the palace have rows of trees on their north side and end in gazebos gated, decorated with gold ornaments.
Under its dome is the oval Marble Hall where the legendary gathering organized by the Prussian sovereign, eager to share his musical and philosophical concerns with guests like Voltaire, could be held. The interior decoration is, for the most part, original from the 18th century.
Frederick II regularly resided in the Palace, however after his death in 1786 it remained empty and neglected until the mid-19th century.
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Apart from a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona (southeast of Tucson), the cat has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 1900s.
This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioral and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range across a variety of forested and open terrain. It is strongly associated with the presence of water and is notable, along with the tiger, as a feline that enjoys swimming. The jaguar is a largely solitary, stalk-and-ambush predator, and is opportunistic in prey selection. It is also an apex and keystone predator, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of prey species. The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats.[3] This allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles[4] and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.[5]
The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include habitat loss and fragmentation. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still regularly killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America. Although reduced, its range remains large; given its historical distribution, the jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of numerous indigenous American cultures, including that of the Maya and Aztec.
Etymology
A jaguar at the Milwaukee County Zoological GardensThe word jaguar is pronounced /ˈdʒæɡwɑr/ or, in British English, /ˈdʒæɡjuː.ər/. It comes to English from one of the Tupi-Guarani languages, presumably the Amazonian trade language Tupinambá, via Portuguese jaguar.[6] The Tupian word, yaguara "beast", sometimes translated as "dog",[7][8] is used for any carnivorous mammal.[9] The specific word for jaguar is yaguareté, with the suffix -eté meaning "real" or "true".[6][9][10]
The first component of its taxonomic designation, Panthera, is Latin, from the Greek word for leopard, πάνθηρ, the type species for the genus. This has been said to derive from the παν- "all" and θήρ from θηρευτής "predator", meaning "predator of all" (animals), though this may be a folk etymology[11]—it may instead be ultimately of Sanskrit origin, from pundarikam, the Sanskrit word for "tiger".[12]
Onca is the Portuguese onça, with the cedilla dropped for typographical reasons, found in English as ounce for the Snow Leopard, Uncia uncia. It derives from the Latin lyncea lynx, with the letter L confused with the definite article (Italian lonza, Old French l'once).[13]
In many Central and South American countries, the cat is referred to as el tigre ("the tiger")
Taxonomy
The jaguar, Panthera onca, is the only extant New World member of the Panthera genus. DNA evidence shows that the lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, snow leopard, and clouded leopard share a common ancestor and that this group is between six and ten million years old;[14] the fossil record points to the emergence of Panthera just two to 3.8 million years ago.[14][15] Phylogenetic studies generally have shown that the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is basal to this group.[14][16][17][18] The position of the remaining species varies between studies and is effectively unresolved.
Based on morphological evidence, British zoologist Reginald Pocock concluded that the jaguar is most closely related to the leopard.[18] However, DNA evidence is inconclusive and the position of the jaguar relative to the other species varies between studies.[14][16][17][18] Fossils of extinct Panthera species, such as the European Jaguar (Panthera gombaszoegensis) and the American Lion (Panthera atrox), show characteristics of both the lion and the jaguar.[18] Analysis of jaguar mitochondrial DNA has dated the species lineage to between 280,000 and 510,000 years ago, later than suggested by fossil records.[19Geographical variation
While numerous subspecies of the jaguar have been recognized, recent research suggests just three. Geographical barriers, such as the Amazon river, limit gene flow within the species.The last taxonomic delineation of the jaguar subspecies was performed by Pocock in 1939. Based on geographic origins and skull morphology, he recognized eight subspecies. However, he did not have access to sufficient specimens to critically evaluate all subspecies, and he expressed doubt about the status of several. Later consideration of his work suggested only three subspecies should be recognized.[20]
Recent studies have also failed to find evidence for well defined subspecies, and are no longer recognized.[21] Larson (1997) studied the morphological variation in the jaguar and showed that there is clinal north–south variation, but also that the differentiation within the supposed subspecies is larger than that between them and thus does not warrant subspecies subdivision.[22] A genetic study by Eizirik and coworkers in 2001 confirmed the absence of a clear geographical subspecies structure, although they found that major geographical barriers such as the Amazon River limited the exchange of genes between the different populations.[19] A subsequent, more detailed, study confirmed the predicted population structure within the Colombian jaguars.[23]
Pocock's subspecies divisions are still regularly listed in general descriptions of the cat.[24] Seymour grouped these in three subspecies.[20]
Panthera onca onca: Venezuela through the Amazon, including
P. onca peruviana (Peruvian Jaguar): Coastal Peru
P. onca hernandesii (Mexican Jaguar): Western Mexico – including
P. onca centralis (Central American Jaguar): El Salvador to Colombia
P. onca arizonensis (Arizonan Jaguar): Southern Arizona to Sonora, Mexico
P. onca veraecrucis: Central Texas to Southeastern Mexico
P. onca goldmani (Goldman's Jaguar): Yucatán Peninsula to Belize and Guatemala
P. onca palustris (the largest subspecies, weighing more than 135 kg or 300 lb):[25] The Pantanal regions of Mato Grosso & Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, along the Paraguay River into Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.
Physical characteristics
The jaguar is a compact and well-muscled animal. There are significant variations in size and weight: weights are normally in the range of 56–96 kilograms (124–211 lb). Larger males have been recorded at 160 kilograms (350 lb)[26] (roughly matching a tigress or lioness), and smaller ones have extremely low weights of 36 kilograms (80 lb). Females are typically 10–20% smaller than males. The length of the cat varies from 1.62–1.83 metres (5.3–6 ft), and its tail may add a further 75 centimeters (30 in). It stands about 67–76 centimeters (27–30 in) tall at the shoulders.[27]
The head of the jaguar is robust and the jaw extremely powerful. The size of jaguars tends to increase the farther south they are located.
Jaguar skull and jawboneFurther variations in size have been observed across regions and habitats, with size tending to increase from the north to south. A study of the jaguar in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the Mexican Pacific coast, showed ranges of just 30–50 kilograms (66–110 lb), about the size of the cougar.[28] By contrast, a study of the Jaguar in the Brazilian Pantanal region found average weights of 100 kilograms (220 lb) and weights of 300 lb or more are not uncommon in old males.[29] Forest jaguars are frequently darker and considerably smaller than those found in open areas (the Pantanal is an open wetland basin), possibly due to the smaller numbers of large herbivorous prey in forest areas.[30]
A short and stocky limb structure makes the jaguar adept at climbing, crawling and swimming.[27] The head is robust and the jaw extremely powerful. The jaguar has the strongest bite of all felids capable of biting down with 2000 lbs of force twice the strength of a lion, and the second strongest of all mammals after the spotted hyena; this strength is an adaptation that allows the jaguar to pierce turtle shells.[4] A comparative study of bite force adjusted for body size ranked it as the top felid, alongside the clouded leopard and ahead of the lion and tiger.[31] It has been reported that "an individual jaguar can drag a 360 kg (800 lb) bull 8 m (25 ft) in its jaws and pulverize the heaviest bones".[32] The jaguar hunts wild animals weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 lb) in dense jungle, and its short and sturdy physique is thus an adaptation to its prey and environment.
A melanistic jaguar. Melanism is the result of a dominant allele but remains relatively rare in jaguars.The base coat of the jaguar is generally a tawny yellow, but can range to reddish-brown and black. The cat is covered in rosettes for camouflage in its jungle habitat. The spots vary over individual coats and between individual Jaguars: rosettes may include one or several dots, and the shape of the dots varies. The spots on the head and neck are generally solid, as are those on the tail, where they may merge to form a band. The underbelly, throat and outer surface of the legs and lower flanks are white.[27]
A condition known as melanism occurs in the species. The melanistic form is less common than the spotted form (it occurs at about six percent of the population)[33] of jaguars and is the result of a dominant allele.[34] Jaguars with melanism appear entirely black, although their spots are still visible on close examination. Melanistic Jaguars are informally known as black panthers, but do not form a separate species. Rare albino individuals, sometimes called white panthers, also occur among jaguars, as with the other big cats.[30]
While the jaguar closely resembles the leopard, it is sturdier and heavier, and the two animals can be distinguished by their rosettes: the rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, fewer in number, usually darker, and have thicker lines and small spots in the middle that the leopard lacks. Jaguars also have rounder heads and shorter, stockier limbs compared to leopards.[35
[edit] Reproduction and life cycle
Jaguar females reach sexual maturity at about two years of age, and males at three or four. The cat is believed to mate throughout the year in the wild, although births may increase when prey is plentiful.[36] Research on captive male jaguars supports the year-round mating hypothesis, with no seasonal variation in semen traits and ejaculatory quality; low reproductive success has also been observed in captivity.[37] Female estrous is 6–17 days out of a full 37-day cycle, and females will advertise fertility with urinary scent marks and increased vocalization.[36] Both sexes will range more widely than usual during courtship.
Mother about to pick up a cub by the neckMating pairs separate after the act, and females provide all parenting. The gestation period lasts 93–105 days; females give birth to up to four cubs, and most commonly to two. The mother will not tolerate the presence of males after the birth of cubs, given a risk of infanticide; this behaviour is also found in the tiger.[38]
The young are born blind, gaining sight after two weeks. Cubs are weaned at three months but remain in the birth den for six months before leaving to accompany their mother on hunts.[39] They will continue in their mother's company for one to two years before leaving to establish a territory for themselves. Young males are at first nomadic, jostling with their older counterparts until they succeed in claiming a territory. Typical lifespan in the wild is estimated at around 12–15 years; in captivity, the jaguar lives up to 23 years, placing it among the longest-lived cats.[29]
Social activity
Like most cats, the jaguar is solitary outside mother-cub groups. Adults generally meet only to court and mate (though limited non-courting socialization has been observed anecdotally[38]) and carve out large territories for themselves. Female territories, which range from 25 to 40 square kilometers in size, may overlap, but the animals generally avoid one another. Male ranges cover roughly twice as much area, varying in size with the availability of game and space, and do not overlap.[38][40] The jaguar uses scrape marks, urine, and feces to mark its territory.[41]
Like the other big cats, the jaguar is capable of roaring (the male more powerfully) and does so to warn territorial and mating competitors away; intensive bouts of counter-calling between individuals have been observed in the wild.[42] Their roar often resembles a repetitive cough, and they may also vocalize mews and grunts.[29] Mating fights between males occur, but are rare, and aggression avoidance behaviour has been observed in the wild.[41] When it occurs, conflict is typically over territory: a male's range may encompass that of two or three females, and he will not tolerate intrusions by other adult males.[38]
The jaguar is often described as nocturnal, but is more specifically crepuscular (peak activity around dawn and dusk). Both sexes hunt, but males travel further each day than females, befitting their larger territories. The jaguar may hunt during the day if game is available and is a relatively energetic feline, spending as much as 50–60% of its time active.[30] The jaguar's elusive nature and the inaccessibility of much of its preferred habitat make it a difficult animal to sight, let alone study.
Hunting and diet
Illustration of a jaguar battling a boa constrictor
Illustration of a jaguar killing a tapirLike all cats, the jaguar is an obligate carnivore, feeding only on meat. It is an opportunistic hunter and its diet encompasses 87 species.[30] The jaguar prefers large prey and will take adult caiman, deer, capybara, tapirs, peccaries, dogs, foxes, and sometimes even anacondas . However, the cat will eat any small species that can be caught, including frogs, mice, birds, fish, sloths, monkeys, and turtles; a study conducted in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, for example, revealed that jaguars there had a diet that consisted primarily of armadillos and pacas.[41] Some jaguars will also take domestic livestock, including adult cattle and horses.[43]
The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats. It is an adaptation that allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles.While the jaguar employs the deep-throat bite-and-suffocation technique typical among Panthera, it prefers a killing method unique amongst cats: it pierces directly through the temporal bones of the skull between the ears of prey (especially the Capybara) with its canine teeth, piercing the brain.[44] This may be an adaptation to "cracking open" turtle shells; following the late Pleistocene extinctions, armoured reptiles such as turtles would have formed an abundant prey base for the jaguar.[30][42] The skull bite is employed with mammals in particular; with reptiles such as caiman, the jaguar may leap on to the back of the prey and sever the cervical vertebrae, immobilizing the target. While capable of cracking turtle shells, the jaguar may simply reach into the shell and scoop out the flesh.[38] With prey such as smaller dogs, a paw swipe to the skull may be sufficient in killing it.
The jaguar is a stalk-and-ambush rather than a chase predator. The cat will walk slowly down forest paths, listening for and stalking prey before rushing or ambushing. The jaguar attacks from cover and usually from a target's blind spot with a quick pounce; the species' ambushing abilities are considered nearly peerless in the animal kingdom by both indigenous people and field researchers, and are probably a product of its role as an apex predator in several different environments. The ambush may include leaping into water after prey, as a jaguar is quite capable of carrying a large kill while swimming; its strength is such that carcasses as large as a heifer can be hauled up a tree to avoid flood levels.[38]
On killing prey, the jaguar will drag the carcass to a thicket or other secluded spot. It begins eating at the neck and chest, rather than the midsection. The heart and lungs are consumed, followed by the shoulders.[38] The daily food requirement of a 34 kilogram animal, at the extreme low end of the species' weight range, has been estimated at 1.4 kilograms.[45] For captive animals in the 50–60 kilogram range, more than 2 kilograms of meat daily is recommended.[46] In the wild, consumption is naturally more erratic; wild cats expend considerable energy in the capture and kill of prey, and may consume up to 25 kilograms of meat at one feeding, followed by periods of famine.[47] Unlike all other species in the Panthera genus, jaguars very rarely attack humans. Most of the scant cases where jaguars turn to taking a human show that the animal is either old with damaged teeth or is wounded.[48] Sometimes, if scared, jaguars in captivity may lash out at zookeepers.[49]
[edit] Ecology
[edit] Distribution and habitat
The jaguar has been attested in the fossil record for two million years[24] and it has been an American cat since crossing the Bering Land Bridge during the Pleistocene epoch; the immediate ancestor of modern animals is Panthera onca augusta, which was larger than the contemporary cat.[23] Its present range extends from Mexico, through Central America and into South America, including much of Amazonian Brazil.[50] The countries included in this range are Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica (particularly on the Osa Peninsula), Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, United States and Venezuela. The jaguar is now extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay.[2] It occurs in the 400 km² Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, the 5,300 km² Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, the approximately 15,000 km² Manú National Park in Peru, the approximately 26,000 km² Xingu National Park in Brazil, and numerous other reserves throughout its range.
The jaguar can range across a variety of forested and open habitat, but is strongly associated with presence of water.The inclusion of the United States in the list is based on occasional sightings in the southwest, particularly in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. In the early 1900s, the jaguar's range extended as far north as the Grand Canyon, and as far west as Southern California.[45] The jaguar is a protected species in the United States under the Endangered Species Act, which has stopped the shooting of the animal for its pelt. In 2004, wildlife officials in Arizona photographed and documented jaguars in the southern part of the state. For any permanent population to thrive, protection from killing, an adequate prey base, and connectivity with Mexican populations are essential.[51] On February 25, 2009 a 118 lb Jaguar was caught, radio-collared and released in an area southwest of Tucson, Arizona; this is farther north than had previously been expected and represents a sign that there may be a permanent breeding population of Jaguars within southern Arizona. It was later confirmed that the animal is indeed the same male individual (known as 'Macho B') that was photographed in 2004 and is now the oldest known Jaguar in the wild (approximately 15 years old.)[52] On Monday March 2, 2009, Macho B, which is the only jaguar spotted in the U.S. in more than a decade, was recaptured and euthanized after he was found to be suffering from kidney failure.[53]
Completion of the United States–Mexico barrier as currently proposed will reduce the viability of any population currently residing in the United States, by reducing gene flow with Mexican populations, and prevent any further northward expansion for the species.[54]
The historic range of the species included much of the southern half of the United States, and in the south extended much farther to cover most of the South American continent. In total, its northern range has receded 1,000 kilometers southward and its southern range 2,000 km northward. Ice age fossils of the jaguar, dated between 40,000 and 11,500 years ago, have been discovered in the United States, including some at an important site as far north as Missouri. Fossil evidence shows jaguars of up to 190 kg (420 lb), much larger than the contemporary average for the animal.[55]
The habitat of the cat includes the rain forests of South and Central America, open, seasonally flooded wetlands, and dry grassland terrain. Of these habitats, the jaguar much prefers dense forest;[30] the cat has lost range most rapidly in regions of drier habitat, such as the Argentinian pampas, the arid grasslands of Mexico, and the southwestern United States.[2] The cat will range across tropical, subtropical, and dry deciduous forests (including, historically, oak forests in the United States). The jaguar is strongly associated with water and it often prefers to live by rivers, swamps, and in dense rainforest with thick cover for stalking prey. Jaguars have been found at elevations as high as 3,800 m, but they typically avoid montane forest and are not found in the high plateau of central Mexico or in the Andes.[30]
Substantial evidence exists that there is also a colony of non-native melanistic leopards or jaguars inhabiting the rainforests around Sydney, Australia. A local report compiled statements from over 450 individuals recounting their stories of sighting large black cats in the area and confidential NSW Government documents regarding the matter proved wildlife authorities were so concerned about the big cats and the danger to humans, they commissioned an expert to catch it. The three-day hunt later failed, but ecologist Johannes J. Bauer warned: "Difficult as it seems to accept, the most likely explanation is the presence of a large, feline predator. In this area, [it is] most likely a leopard, less likely a jaguar."[56]
Ecological role
The adult jaguar is an apex predator, meaning that it exists at the top of its food chain and is not preyed on in the wild. The jaguar has also been termed a keystone species, as it is assumed, through controlling the population levels of prey such as herbivorous and granivorous mammals, apex felids maintain the structural integrity of forest systems.[28][57] However, accurately determining what effect species like the jaguar have on ecosystems is difficult, because data must be compared from regions where the species is absent as well as its current habitats, while controlling for the effects of human activity. It is accepted that mid-sized prey species undergo population increases in the absence of the keystone predators and it has been hypothesized that this has cascading negative effects.[58] However, field work has shown this may be natural variability and that the population increases may not be sustained. Thus, the keystone predator hypothesis is not favoured by all scientists.[59]
The jaguar also has an effect on other predators. The jaguar and the cougar, the next largest feline of the Americas, are often sympatric (related species sharing overlapping territory) and have often been studied in conjunction. Where sympatric with the jaguar, the cougar is smaller than normal and is smaller than the local jaguars. The jaguar tends to take larger prey and the cougar smaller, reducing the latter's size.[60] This situation may be advantageous to the cougar. Its broader prey niche, including its ability to take smaller prey, may give it an advantage over the jaguar in human-altered landscapes;[28] while both are classified as near-threatened species, the cougar has a significantly larger current distribution.
[edit] Conservation status
Jaguar populations are rapidly declining. The animal is considered Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,[2] meaning it may be threatened with extinction in the near future. The loss of parts of its range, including its virtual elimination from its historic northern areas and the increasing fragmentation of the remaining range, have contributed to this status. The 1960s saw particularly significant declines, with more than 15,000 jaguar skins brought out of the Brazilian Amazon yearly; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of 1973 brought about a sharp decline in the pelt trade.[61] Detailed work performed under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society reveal that the animal has lost 37% of its historic range, with its status unknown in an additional 18%. More encouragingly, the probability of long-term survival was considered high in 70% of its remaining range, particularly in the Amazon basin and the adjoining Gran Chaco and Pantanal.[50]
The major risks to the jaguar include deforestation across its habitat, increasing competition for food with human beings,[2] poaching, hurricanes in northern parts of its range, and the behaviour of ranchers who will often kill the cat where it preys on livestock. When adapted to the prey, the jaguar has been shown to take cattle as a large portion of its diet; while land clearance for grazing is a problem for the species, the jaguar population may have increased when cattle were first introduced to South America as the animals took advantage of the new prey base. This willingness to take livestock has induced ranch owners to hire full-time jaguar hunters, and the cat is often shot on sight.[29]
The Pantanal, Brazil, seen here in flood condition, is a critical jaguar range area.The jaguar is regulated as an Appendix I species under CITES: all international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited. All hunting of jaguars is prohibited in Argentina, Belize, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the United States (where it is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act), Uruguay and Venezuela. Hunting of jaguars is restricted to "problem animals" in Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, while trophy hunting is still permitted in Bolivia. The species has no legal protection in Ecuador or Guyana.[24]
Current conservation efforts often focus on educating ranch owners and promoting ecotourism.[62] The jaguar is generally defined as an umbrella species — a species whose home range and habitat requirements are sufficiently broad that, if protected, numerous other species of smaller range will also be protected.[63] Umbrella species serve as "mobile links" at the landscape scale, in the jaguar's case through predation. Conservation organizations may thus focus on providing viable, connected habitat for the jaguar, with the knowledge that other species will also benefit.[62]
Given the inaccessibility of much of the species' range—particularly the central Amazon—estimating jaguar numbers is difficult. Researchers typically focus on particular bioregions, and thus species-wide analysis is scant. In 1991, 600–1,000 (the highest total) were estimated to be living in Belize. A year earlier, 125–180 jaguars were estimated to be living in Mexico's 4,000 square kilometer (2400 mi²) Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, with another 350 in the state of Chiapas. The adjoining Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, with an area measuring 15,000 square kilometers (9,000 mi²), may have 465–550 animals.[64] Work employing GPS–telemetry in 2003 and 2004 found densities of only six to seven jaguars per 100 square kilometers in the critical Pantanal region, compared with 10 to 11 using traditional methods; this suggests that widely used sampling methods may inflate the actual numbers of cats.[65]
On 7 January 2008 United States Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall approved a decision by the George W. Bush Administration to abandon jaguar recovery as a federal goal under the Endangered Species Act. Some critics of the decision said that the jaguar is being sacrificed for the government's new border fence, which is to be built along many of the cat's typical crossings between the United States and Mexico.[66]
In the past, conservation of jaguars sometimes occurred through the protection of jaguar "hotspots". These hotspots were described as Jaguar Conservation Units, and were large areas populated by about 50 jaguars. However, some researchers recently determined that, in order to maintain a robust sharing of the jaguar gene pool necessary for maintaining the species, it is important that the jaguars be interconnected. To effect this, a new project, the Paseo del Jaguar, as been established to connect the jaguar hotspots.[67]
Fonte-Wikipedia.
Shevchenkivskyi Hai Open-Air Museum, Lviv, Ukraine.
Better known as the Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life, the Shevchenkivskiy Hai Open Air Museum outside of Lviv is one of the largest open air museums in Europe. Set near Shevchenko Park northeast of the city, it is comprised of more than 100 buildings from the past three centuries, including six wooden churches. Most notable is the Church of St Nicholas from the Kryvka village, which features a 17th century iconostasis and is considered an architectural gem of great cultural importance.
For video, please visit youtu.be/YzpMBneAibc
The city of Bologna in Northern Italy is most famously known for its ancient university, however there is also one other notable feature, its towers. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the noble families of Bologna constructed large, fortified towers throughout the city. Some of these towers were as tall as 318 feet in height, or 97 meters. The estimates vary on the number of towers that were once in the city with some estimates ranging from 100 to 200.
The reasons for why these towers were built are not clear, but one reason is likely for defensive purposes. Northern Italy during the medieval period was divided between many city states that were engaged in fierce rivalries between noble families, other cities, the Holy Roman Emperor, or the Pope. The most notable example was the war between the Pro-Pope Guelphs and Pro-Emperor Ghibellines from 1125-1392 as a result of the Investiture Controversy. Another possible reason is that it was a way for the noble families of the city to show off their wealth.
Over time many towers collapsed or were demolished to avoid the former or to make room for new buildings. Today there are just two towers left in Bologna known as the Asinelli tower and Garisenda tower.
My entry to the CCCs "Small Castle" Category.
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
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Jumping around geographically here's another shot of San Gimignano. I definitely would like to return at some point as we only had a few hours to explore when I was there in July 2019.
Well I guess it's time to come clean and admit that my last upload was the result of playing around with the new 'Sky Replacement' feature in Photoshop......... As is this one....... As shot it has a lovely but rather bland clear blue sky.
Presumably most people would agree that this is cheating....... What if I used a photo of a sky that I'd previously taken rather than one from Photoshops included library ?
More photos from Tuscany here : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157714689304067
From Wikipedia : "San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls, form "an unforgettable skyline".
Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant' Agostino contain frescos, including cycles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The "Historic Centre of San Gimignano" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site."
© D.Godliman
Willow Grove Day Camp embarked on their 57th year as one of the areas best and notable summer day camps around on June 27, 2011. With the first week complete there has been many memories made, friendships built, and not to mention endless fun!
The first week of camp was filled with some of the best summer activities kids dream about! The campers at Willow Grove Day Camp participated in activities such as: horseback riding, baseball, arts and crafts, miniature golf, fishing, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and so much more!
The fun as only just begun! Willow Grove Day Camp has a summer full of fun and exciting trips, activities, and experiences for all campers!
Willow Grove Day Camp provides summer fun for kids who live in Willow Grove, Abington, Horsham, Hatboro, Philadelphia, Huntingdon Valley, South Hampton and the surrounding areas. For more information on Willow Grove Day Camp and the services they provide please visit: www.willowgrovedaycamp.com
Tanjung Harapan is a notable tourist attraction in Selangor (Although nothing much there in actual). It is located near the Northport in Port Klang.
A litlle story behind this - I know where the place is but I seriously have no idea on how to get there (been there previously like 2 times and that was like 7-8 years ago!). Lucky for me, Daniel's cool mobile has a GPS. SO we're able to reach there in time for some spectacular sunset/blue hour!
This will be the last photo outing with him as he will be re-locating to Dubai. Definitely will miss going out with the master himself again!
P/s: Wheewww looks like there's a lot of catching up for me! Been taking a nice break from flickr! I'll be visiting your streams and catch up with you as fast as possible :-)
Tech notes: I had taken like 52 shots of this at different exposure and different time. I made like 5 tonemapped HDR from it and blended it using smart objects (thanks to Daniel for shedding some light into it!) and also Rajesh's PSB technique. All in all 25 exposures were used to create this.
::View Large On Black::Most Interesting according to Flickr:: View my HDR/DRI Collections::
Buy My Art at :: vedd.imagekind.com or Projeto Online Gallery UK
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
The Hungarian Parliament Building is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. It lies on the bank of the Danube. It is currently the largest building in Hungary and still the tallest building in Budapest
Das ungarische Parlamentgebäude ist der Sitz der Nationalversammlung von Ungarn, eine der ältesten Regierungsgebäude Europas, ein bemerkenswertes Wahrzeichen von Ungarn und ein beliebtes Touristenziel von Budapest. Es liegt am Ufer der Donau. Es ist derzeit das größte Gebäude in Ungarn und das höchste Gebäude in Budapest.
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is an orphanage, nursery and captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants located at Pinnawala village, 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of Kegalle town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Pinnawala is notable for having the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. In 2011, there were 88 elephants, including 39 males and 49 females from 3 generations, living in Pinnawala.
View from the castle.
"Bamburgh (/ˈbæmbərə/ BAM-bər-ə) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census.
The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, and for its association with the Victorian era heroine Grace Darling, who is buried there.
The extensive beach by the village was awarded the Blue Flag rural beach award in 2005. The Bamburgh Dunes, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, stand behind the beach. Bamburgh is popular with holidaymakers and is within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The site now occupied by Bamburgh Castle was previously home to a fort of the Celtic Britons known as Din Guarie and may have been the capital of the kingdom of Bernicia, the realm of the Gododdin people, from the realm's foundation in c. 420 until 547, the year of the first written reference to the castle. In that year the citadel was captured by the Anglo-Saxon ruler Ida of Bernicia (Beornice) and became Ida's seat.
The settlement was originally known as Bamburgh but became Bebbanburg (named after Saxon Queen Bebba) in 615 AD; later in the 7th century, it was renamed Bamburgh.
Aidan of Lindisfarne came to this area from the monastery of Iona in 635 on behalf of King Oswald of Northumbria. The medieval village began to develop near the castle. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries the property of the friars, including the castle, were seized on behalf of Henry VIII.
Late medieval British author Thomas Malory identified Bamburgh Castle with Joyous Gard, the mythical castle home of Sir Lancelot in Arthurian legend." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.
La Avenida de los Baobabs o Callejón de los Baobabs, es un grupo notable de baobabs de la especie Adansonia grandidieri que bordean un camino de tierra entre Morondava y Belon'i Tsiribihina en la región de Menabe, al oeste de Madagascar. Su sorprendente paisaje atrae a viajeros de todo el mundo, lo que lo convierte en uno de los lugares más visitados de la región. Ha sido un centro de esfuerzos locales de conservación. En julio de 2007, el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Agua y Bosques le otorgó el estado de protección temporal, un paso para convertirlo en el primer monumento natural de Madagascar.
Numerosos baobabs se encuentran dentro del área protegida que abarca 3, 2 km² entre las poblaciones de Morondava y Belo sur Tsiribinha, pero solo un tramo de 250 m se conoce como la Avenida de los Baobabs. Un grupo de 20 a 25 Adansonia grandidieri, especie endémica de Madagascar, con una altura de aproximadamente 30 m y algunos más de 800 años. La zona es el último vestigio del bosque seco que cubría Madagascar occidental, junto a dos humedales protegidos por el Ramsar, hogar de diferentes especies de fauna.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_de_los_Baobabs
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri) lining the unpaved Road No.8 between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and e Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.
Along a 260 m (850 ft) stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 Adansonia grandidieri baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within 9.9 acres (4 ha) of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about 30 m (98 ft) in height.
The baobab trees, known locally as renala or reniala (from Malagasy reny ala "mother of the forest") are a legacy of the dense tropical forests that once thrived on Madagascar. The trees did not originally tower in isolation over the sere landscape of scrub, but stood in dense forest. Over the years, as the country's population grew, the forests were cleared for agriculture, leaving only the baobab trees, which the locals preserved as much for their own sake as for their value as a food source and building material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_of_the_Baobabs
Budapest (HU)
A notable landmark of Hungary, and a popular tourist destination in Budapest. It is situated on Kossuth Square in the Pest side of the city, on the eastern bank of the Danube. It was designed by Hungarian architect Imre Steindl in neo-Gothic style and opened in 1902. It has been the largest building in Hungary since its completion.