Dubrovnik, is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in southern Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, a seaport and the center of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Situated in an exclave, it is connected to the rest of the country by the Pelješac Bridge. Its total population is 42,615 (2011 census). In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town.

 

The history of the city probably dates back to the 7th century, when the town known as Ragusa was founded by refugees from Epidaurum (Ragusa Vecchia). It was under the protection of the Byzantine Empire and later under the sovereignty of the Republic of Venice. Between the 14th and 19th centuries, Dubrovnik ruled itself as a free state. The prosperity of the city was historically based on maritime trade; as the capital of the maritime Republic of Ragusa, it achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries, as it became notable for its wealth and skilled diplomacy. At the same time, Dubrovnik became a cradle of Croatian literature.

 

The entire city was almost destroyed when a devastating earthquake hit in 1667. During the Napoleonic Wars, Dubrovnik was occupied by the French Empire forces, and then the Republic of Ragusa was abolished and incorporated into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and later into the Illyrian Provinces. Later on, in the early 19th to early 20th century, Dubrovnik was part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austrian Empire. Dubrovnik became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia immediately upon its creation, and it was incorporated into its Zeta Banovina in 1929, before becoming part of the Banovina of Croatia upon its creation in 1939. During World War II, it was part of the Axis puppet state Independent State of Croatia, before being reincorporated into SR Croatia in SFR Yugoslavia.

 

In 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence, Dubrovnik was besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army for seven months and suffered significant damage from shelling. After undergoing repair and restoration works in the 1990s and early 2000s, it re-emerged as one of the Mediterranean's top tourist destinations, as well as a popular filming location.

The Ascension Convent (Ukrainian: Флорівський монастир, Russian: Флоровский монастырь) in the Kievan neighbourhood of Podil, also known as the Florivsky, originated in the 16th century as the wooden church of Sts. Florus and Laurus. Its buildings occupy the slopes of the Zamkova Hora. Address: vulytsia Frolivska, 8.

 

The convent greatly expanded at the time of the Great Northern War, when Peter the Great ordered the demolition of the old Ascension Convent on Pechersk Hill with the aim of building an arsenal there. When run by Ivan Mazepa's mother, the older convent had amassed much property. Its riches and nuns were transferred to the Florovsky Convent.

 

The main church, or katholikon, is a notable example of Ukrainian Baroque architecture. Its first stone was laid in 1722. Ten years later, the three-domed building was dedicated to the feast of the Ascension of Christ. Its Neoclassical bell-tower is of later construction.

 

The wooden buildings of the monastery were entirely destroyed by fire in 1811. Only the katholikon and a 17th-century refectory were left standing amid the ashes. It was Andrey Melensky, a Neoclassical architect from Kiev, who was in charge of the convent's reconstruction.

 

The convent's notable residents included Princess Natalia Dolgorukova, one of the first Russian women writers. It was closed in 1929 but reopened after the Germans entered the city in 1941. Several buildings have since been taken over by industrial enterprises.

The northern end of Thame's long high street and where it begins to widen to form the market place.

The architecture is typical of the town, a comfortable mix from all eras, not always notable in itself, but creating a pleasant harmonious whole.

www.flickr.com/photos/ferranp/2584744641/sizes/l/

Restormel Castle lies by the River Fowey near Lostwithiel in Cornwall, England, UK. It is one of the four chief Norman castles of Cornwall, the others being Launceston, Tintagel and Trematon. The castle is notable for its perfectly circular design. Although once a luxurious residence of the Earl of Cornwall, the castle was all but ruined by the 16th century. It was briefly reoccupied and fought over during the English Civil War but was subsequently abandoned. It is now under the supervision of the English Heritage and open to the public.

 

Restormel Castle is an unusually well-preserved example of a circular shell keep, a rare type of fortification built during a short period in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Only 71 examples are known in England and Wales, of which Restormel Castle is the most intact. Such castles were built by converting a wooden motte-and-bailey castle through replacing the external palisade with a stone wall and filling the internal bailey with domestic stone buildings, clustered around the inside of the wall to form a defensive bailey; the buildings are curved to fit into the shell keep, in an extreme example of the 13th-century trend.

 

The wall measures 125 ft in diameter and is up to 8 ft thick. It still stands to its full height with a wall walk 25 ft above the ground, and the battlemented parapet is also reasonably intact. The wall is surrounded in turn by a ditch measuring 50 ft) by 13 ft deep. Both the wall and the internal buildings were constructed from slate, which appears to have been quarried from the scarp face north-east of the castle.

 

The domestic buildings within the wall included a kitchen, hall, solar, guest chambers, and an ante-chapel. Water from a natural spring was piped under pressure into the castle buildings. A square gate tower, largely ruined, guards the entrance to the inner castle, and may have been the first part of the original castle to have been partially constructed in stone.

 

The castle appears to stand upon a motte; its massive walls were, unusually for the period, sunk deep into the original motte. The effect is heightened by a surrounding ringwork, subsequently filled in on the inner side so as to appear to heap against the castle wall.

 

Restormel was part of the fiefdom of the Norman magnate Robert, Count of Mortain, located within the manor of Bodardle in the parish of Lanlivery. Restormel Castle was probably originally built after the Norman conquest of England as a motte and bailey castle around 1100 by Baldwin Fitz Turstin, the local sheriff. Baldwin's descendants continued to hold the manor as vassals and tenants of the Earls of Cornwall for nearly 200 years.

 

The castle overlooked the primary crossing point over the River Fowey, a key tactical location; it may have been originally intended for use as a hunting lodge as well as a fortification, however.

  

One of the more notable aspects of the Rolls Royce engined Class 127 diesel hydraulic multiple units used on the St Pancras – Bedford suburban services was volume of diesel fumes generated after they had been idling for any length of time. This is demonstrated here as M51644 + M59628 + M59612 + M51599) and their immediate surroundings are almost lost in a blanket of diesel fumes as they depart Bedford, 22nd April 1978. Another problem with these sets was that they were notorious to start in the winter and I have spent a couple of Sundays working at Bedford when all the sets stabled in the sidings are gently idling away to ensure availability for the Monday morning peak.

 

Vehicle History

This set was part of thirty four class 127 four car diesel multiple unit sets, each formed DMBS + TS (Trailer Second) + TSL (Trailer Second Lavatory) + DMBS. They were high density sets with no gangway connections, with seats for three hundred and fifty two 2nd class passengers. Unusually they were fitted with hydraulic transmissions and Rolls Royce engines. Although initially designed with the standard “Blue Square” coupling code it was soon found that they did not make good partners with the standard mechanical transmission fitted diesel multiple units due the transmissions changing gear at different times. They were therefore recoded “Red Triangle” to avoid this problem. They were built for and rarely ventured from the intensively worked St. Pancras to Bedford suburban service and remained on these duties until electrification in 1983 when the power cars were generally withdrawn, although a few went into parcels use. A number of the trailers were transferred to Tyseley and lasted until the early 1990’s. M51644 entered service in November 1959, was withdrawn in December 1983 and broken up in September 1985. M59628 entered service in August 1959, was withdrawn in June 1984 and broken up in December 1990. M59612 entered service in November 1959, was withdrawn in November 1990 and broken up in November 1991. M51599 entered service in June 1959, was withdrawn in August 1983 and broken up in July 1985.

 

Praktica LTL, Ektachrome 200

  

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

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia

 

The Rutland Arms Hotel is a historic 17th-century former coaching inn located on the High Street in Newmarket, Suffolk, England. It is a Grade II listed Georgian building with a notable history connected to horse racing and the town's heritage. Originally known as the Ram Inn, it was renamed in the 20th century after the Duke of Rutland, who was then Lord of the Manor of Newmarket. Its construction as the Rutland Arms Hotel began in 1815, commissioned by John Henry Manners, the fifth Duke of Rutland. The hotel retains many original period features, including a cobbled courtyard dating back to the reign of Charles II. It features timber-framed and rendered elevations with 18th-century joinery, including a distinctive sash window with a semi-circular head on the north side. The hotel has undergone various ownership changes and has been the subject of redevelopment plans aimed at refurbishment and expansion. In recent years, it was put up for auction after its owners faced challenges in progressing development plans, despite having secured planning permission for a 72-en-suite bedroom hotel.

 

The Codebreaker sculpture in Newmarket is a public artwork commemorating William "Bill" Tutte, a World War II codebreaker who cracked the German Lorenz cipher at Bletchley Park, a feat believed to have shortened World War II. The sculpture, partly seen here beyond and to the right of the info board was designed by Harry Gray. It features six 2.4-meter high perforated steel panels that resemble the paper tape used in the coded messages. When viewed from a distance, the holes in the panels coalesce to form a portrait of Tutte. The sculpture is located on Newmarket's High Street and was unveiled in September 2014.

 

Tutte's work on the Lorenz cipher was kept secret for decades due to national security concerns. The sculpture serves as a permanent public reminder of his contribution to the war effort.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._T._Tutte

 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-27737921

Thanks to the lines near the left and right edges of the frame this shot of Bath Abbey looks more distorted than most. So far I've only really shot architecture with my new(ish) Samyang 8mm lens but I'm looking forward to shooting other subjects. Anyone up for for wacky portraits ?

 

Click here to see more of my fisheye shots : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157655179707591

 

From Wikipedia : "The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, Bath Abbey was reorganised in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries; major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s. It is one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture in the West Country.

 

The church is cruciform in plan, and is able to seat 1200. An active place of worship, with hundreds of congregation members and hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, it is used for religious services, secular civic ceremonies, concerts and lectures. The choir performs in the abbey and elsewhere. There is a heritage museum in the vaults.

 

The abbey is a Grade I listed building, particularly noted for its fan vaulting. It contains war memorials for the local population and monuments to several notable people, in the form of wall and floor plaques and commemorative stained glass. The church has two organs and a peal of ten bells. The west front includes sculptures of angels climbing to heaven on two stone ladders."

 

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© D.Godliman

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

 

The Church of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic house of worship in Warsaw, Poland. Located on Krakowskie Przedmieście opposite the main Warsaw University campus, it is one of the most notable Baroque churches in Poland's capital.

 

The Holy Cross Church is currently administered by the Missionary Friars of Vincent de Paul.

 

As early as the 15th century, a small wooden chapel of the Holy Cross had been erected here. In 1526 the chapel was demolished, and a newer church was erected. Refurbished and extended by Paweł Zembrzuski in 1615, the church was too small to fill the needs of the growing city. Initially located well outside the city limits, by the 17th century it had become one of the main churches in the southern suburb (przedmieście) of the city that had in 1596 become Poland's capital.

 

In 1653 Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga gave the church to the French order of Missionary Friars of Vincent de Paul. However, three years later Warsaw was captured by Swedish armies during the Deluge. Pillaged, the church was found to be damaged beyond repair. During the reign of King John III Sobieski the church's remnants were demolished, and it was decided to erect a new shrine. In the 18th century this became the origin of the gorzkie żale tradition.

 

National Altar (Ołtarz Ojczyzny), symbolizing national unity, was built ca. 1700 to a design by Tylman Gamerski.

 

The main building was constructed between 1679 and 1696. Its main designer was Józef Szymon Bellotti, the royal architect at the Royal Court of Poland. It was financed by abbot Kazimierz Szczuka and the Primate of Poland Michał Stefan Radziejowski. The façade was relatively modest and reminded of Renaissance facades of the nearby churches. The two towers surrounding the façade were initially square-cut.

 

From 1765 the church was one of the most attended by Polish King Stanisław II Augustus. It was also there that the King established the Order of St. Stanisław and bestowed it upon loyal servants annually on May 8. On May 3, 1792, the Polish Diet gathered there on the first anniversary of the May 3rd Constitution. During the Warsaw Uprising of 1794, the stairs leading to the main entrance were destroyed and had to be replaced with new ones designed by Chrystian Piotr Aigner.

 

During the Partitions, the church gained much importance, especially after the 1861 demonstration held before it, which was brutally put down by Russian Cossack troops — sparking the January 1863 Uprising.

 

On Christmas Day 1881, an outbreak of panic following a false alarm of fire in the crowded church caused the stampede deaths of twenty-nine persons. Jews were blamed for starting the panic, and the Warsaw pogrom of 1881 ensued.

 

In the late 19th century the church interior was slightly refurbished, and in 1882 an urn containing the heart of Frédéric Chopin was immured in a pillar. Some decades later, a similar urn was added with the heart of Władysław Reymont. In 1889 the external staircase leading to the main entrance was reconstructed, and a sculpture of Christ Bearing His Cross by Pius Weloński was added. The sculpture bears the inscription, Sursum Corda ("Lift Up Your Hearts"), signifying the Poles' endurance under the Russian partition. In addition to urns containing the hearts of some of Poland's most renowned artists, there are several epitaphs to other notable Poles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Juliusz Słowacki, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Bolesław Prus, and Władysław Sikorski.

 

During the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, the church was severely damaged. On 6 September 1944, when the Germans detonated two large Goliath tracked mines in the church (they usually carried 75–100 kg of high explosives) the facade was destroyed, together with many Baroque furnishings, the vaulting, the high altar, and side altars. Afterward the church was blown up by the Germans in January 1945.

 

Between 1945 and 1953, the church was rebuilt in a simplified architectural form by B. Zborowski. The interior was reconstructed without the Baroque polychromes and frescos. The main altar was reconstructed between 1960 and 1972.

The city of Alcobaça became notable after the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, decided to build a church to commemorate the Conquest of Santarém from the Moors in 1147. The church later evolved into the Monastery of Alcobaça, one of the most magnificent gothic monuments in the country. In the church are the tombs of Pedro I of Portugal and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro. Over the centuries this monastery played an important role in shaping Portuguese culture.

The Pont du Gard

is a notable ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gard River in southern France.

It is part of a 50 km (31 mi) long aqueduct that runs between Uzès and Nîmes in the South of France.

It is located in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins, in the Gard département.

The aqueduct was constructed in the 1st century AD and is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges and the best preserved after the Aqueduct of Segovia.

It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985.

@Wikipedia

 

June 2012

The most notable elements are the window grilles and the coffered ceiling of the courtyard. The grilles, which have been described as one of the finest examples of Spanish Gothic wrought iron, were cold-worked by master craftsmen from Salamanca. Their function is not only ornamental but also to protect the privacy and security of the house's inhabitants.

One of GBRf's less notable 66's - 66760 "David Gordon Harris" - is seen approaching Eastern Way with 4N03 from Carlisle to Clitheroe cement works. Behind it is a rake of cement wagons used on the flow between Mossend and Clitheroe which is split into 2 paths at weekends - 4M00 Mossend to Carlisle on Saturday then 4N03 Carlisle to Clitheroe on the following Monday.

 

The last couple of weeks have seen "celebrity" locos used on this train - 66773 with it's pride livery and 66779 "Evening Star". Unfortunately, 66779 ended up moving to Tyne Yard following work in a possession over the weekend before I could get a chance to photograph it on this train.

 

You can't win them all as they say - one of the joys of working full-time!

Two notable liveries pass at Rotherham Masborough.

DBS Red is carried by 66101 working the 1017 6X01 Scunthorpe - Eastleigh , coming the other is 37025 carrying BR Large Logo livery with 37219 in charge of the 1Z01 1030 Derby RTC - Neville Hill .

 

28 6 16

Italien / Piemont - Nationalpark Val Grande

 

On the way from the Capella Fina to the Rifugio Pian Cavallone.

 

Auf dem Weg von der Capella Fina zum Rifugio Pian Cavallone.

 

Val Grande National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale della Val Grande) is a protected area located in Piedmont, in the north of Italy, at the border with Switzerland. It is most notable for landscapes of the High Alps.

 

Geography

 

The park is located in Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and is shared between ten municipalities: Aurano, Beura-Cardezza, Caprezzo, Cossogno, Valle Cannobina, Intragna, Malesco, Miazzina, Premosello-Chiovenda, San Bernardino Verbano, Santa Maria Maggiore, Trontano, and Vogogna.

 

The park lies entirely in the drainage basin of the Po River. It is located between the valley of Vigezzo in the north, the Cannobina valley in the northwest, the valley of Ossola in the southwest, and Lake Maggiore in the southeast. The park is not populated and is often described as "the largest wilderness in the Alps"

 

Val Grande and Val Pogallo, two principal valleys inside the park, with the former running southeast and the latter running south, feed the two major rivers in the park. These valleys join into Torrente San Bernardino, a tributary of Lake Maggiore. The majority of the area of the park is forested.

 

History

 

Shepherds populated Val Grande since at least the 13th century, and the timber production was active since the 15th century. However, at the end of World War II all population left the area, following the actions of German troops against the Italian resistance in the area in June 1944. The idea to create a national park in Val Grande dates back to 1953. In 1967, the area was designated a Strict Nature Reserve and became the first conservation area with this status in the Italian Alps. In 1974, the Association Italia Nostra developed a detailed plan to establish a national park, and, in the 1980s, the preparation started. The park was established on March 2, 1992. On June 24, 1998 the area of the park was extended.

 

Tourism

 

As of 2012, the park had three visitor centers (located in Santa Maria Maggiore, Cossogno, and Premosello-Chiovenda), two museums, and a number of nature itineraries, which should be followed accompanied by a guide.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Nationalpark Val Grande (italienisch Parco nazionale della Val Grande) ist ein Nationalpark in den norditalienischen Alpen, nahe der Schweiz. Er liegt zwischen dem Lago Maggiore und dem Val d’Ossola in der piemontesischen Provinz Verbano-Cusio-Ossola und ist 146 km² groß.

 

Im westlichen Teil des Parks liegt seine namengebende Kernzone, das schwer zugängliche Val Grande. Der östliche Teil besteht aus dem offeneren Val Pogallo und einigen angrenzenden Gebieten.

 

Das Gebiet des Felsenmassivs Pedum wurde 1967 zur Riserva naturale integrale (Totalreservat) erklärt. Nach mehreren Initiativen lokaler Gruppen und des Umweltministers in den 1980er Jahren wurde schließlich 1992 der Parco Nazionale della Valgrande geschaffen.

 

Die einzigen Ortschaften im Nationalpark sind Cicogna im Val Pogallo und Colloro am südwestlichen Rand des Parks. Der größte Teil des Nationalparks war nie ganzjährig bewohnt. Es wurde jedoch intensive Almwirtschaft betrieben, bis in die 1950er Jahre auch Waldwirtschaft. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden bis in die 1970er Jahre sämtliche Almen aufgegeben, im Val Grande selbst bis 1969. Nachdem der Verbiss durch die Weidetiere fehlt, wandeln sich die ehemaligen Almen allmählich zur Wildnis.

 

Erst nach Gründung des Nationalparks begann ein bescheidener Tourismus. Abgesehen von etlichen frei zugänglichen Steinhäusern ist kaum touristische Infrastruktur vorhanden. Außer den Zufahrten nach Cicogna und Colloro existieren keine ausgebauten Straßen.

 

Geographie

 

Val Grande

 

Das Val Grande ist etwa 25 Kilometer lang, der größte Teil davon ist unbewohnt und liegt im Nationalpark Val Grande (Parco Nazionale della Valgrande). Der Hauptfluss des Val Grande ist der Torrente San Bernardino, er entspringt am Monte Togano (2301 m s.l.m.) und fließt in Intra/Verbania in den Lago Maggiore (193 m s.l.m.). Sieben stark bewaldete und ursprüngliche Seitentäler bilden den oberen Teil des Val Grande. Mancherorts finden sich noch Überreste der einstigen Alpwirtschaft.

 

Im Zentrum des oberen Val Grande steht der Pizzo Mottac (1802 m s.l.m.). An dessen Fuß liegen die Alpen In La Piana und Gabbio. Der mittlere Bereich ist eine wilde Schlucht ohne Wanderweg. Steile Wälder und Felsbänder prägen diesen Abschnitt. Der unterste Teil des Val Grande ist ab Ponte Casletto mit einer schmalen Straße, die nach Cicogna führt, erschlossen. Darin liegen die Ortschaften Rovegro, Cossogno, Santino, Unchio und Trobaso.

 

Das Val Grande gilt als das größte Wildnisgebiet im Alpenraum.

 

Die Vegetation besteht in den Tälern aus Kastanien- und Buchenwäldern. Bis 1800 m s.l.m. reicht dichter Bewuchs. Darüber findet sich Grasheide mit Erlensträuchern in geschützten Lagen.

 

Die Seitentäler des oberen Val Grande heißen Val Gabbio, Val Serena, Valle Rossa, Val Ragozzale, Val Portaiola, Val Biordo und Vallone di Loc. Im mittleren Val Grande heißen die Seitentäler Val Fredda, Val Piana und Val Cauri.

 

Val Pogallo

 

Beim Ponte Casletto treffen sich Val Pogallo und Val Grande. Das Val Pogallo ist bewohnt und besser erschlossen. Zur Blütezeit der Holzwirtschaft wurde ein teils mit großen Steinplatten sehr gut ausgebauter Weg von Cicogna aus erbaut. Dieser Weg wurde später nach dem Gründer der Holzgesellschaft und vielseitigen Industriellen Carlo Sutermeister benannt und wird als Strada Sutermeister bezeichnet. Gerne nutzen ihn als einen der schönsten leichten Wege Wanderer von Cicogna aus. Das einstige Holzfällerdorf Pogallo war zwischenzeitlich komplett verfallen. Nach und nach wurden viele der Steinhäuser wieder instand gesetzt. Mitglieder des Vereines Associazzione Amici di Pogallo pflegen das Dorf, das von Cicogna aus über eine 1,5 Stunden lange Wanderung erreichbar ist. Der Weg ist ein Sentiero Natura mit Infotafeln des Nationalparkes und führt auch an einer Badestelle vorbei.

 

Geschichte

 

Zur Römerzeit scheint das Val Grande besiedelt gewesen zu sein. Ab dem 13. Jahrhundert begannen die Bewohner der umliegenden Täler die Alpwirtschaft auf das Val Grande auszudehnen.

 

Mit der Industrialisierung ergab sich eine Abwanderung aus den Bergtälern und die Alpwirtschaft wurde bereits stellenweise aufgegeben. Im Val Grande wurde 1969 die letzte Alp der Natur überlassen.

 

Im mittleren und unteren Val Grande hinterließ die Holzwirtschaft in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts ihre Spuren, als ein verzweigtes Netz von Seilbahnen errichtet wurde. In dieser Zeit wurden in Pogallo, Orfalecchio, Arca und an anderen Orten Wohn- und Wirtschaftsgebäude errichtet.

 

Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs gründeten antifaschistische Partisanen die Repubblica dell’Ossola. Nachdem alliierte Truppen bereits Rom eingenommen hatten, wurden die Partisanen von Soldaten Mussolinis und der deutschen Wehrmacht vertrieben und zogen sich ins Gebiet des Val Grande zurück. Im Juli 1944 unternahm die deutsche SS mit Einheiten der faschistischen Repubblica Sociale Italiana eine Durchkämmung (Rastrellamento), um gegen Kämpfer der Resistenza in den Bergen vorzugehen. Dabei wurden ca. 500 Menschen getötet. Darunter wurden viele Opfer grausamer Hinrichtungen der Faschisten.

 

Wie die Zeitzeugin Antonietta Chiovini berichtete, wurden auf dem kargen Gipfel bei der Kapelle von Marona von der Waffen-SS zwölf Partisanen gestellt, die den Feind von der eigenen Brigade ablenken wollten. Um Munition zu sparen, wurden die jungen Männer halbtot geschlagen, bevor sie den Abhang hinunter gestoßen wurden.

 

Beim Beschuss der Bergsiedlungen wurden viele Gebäude und die zum Abtransport gefällter Bäume dienenden Seilbahnen zerstört. Der Verlust der Infrastruktur trug zum Rückzug des Menschen aus dem Gebiet um das Val Grande bei.

 

Wanderrouten

 

Im oberen Teil existiert ein gut ausgebauter und markierter Weg von Malesco über die Alpe Scaredi, In La Piana, Gabbio und Alpe della Colma nach Premosello (in diesen erwähnten Alpen stehen kostenlose und sehr einfach eingerichtete Hütten zur Verfügung). Abseits dieser Route gibt es nur wenige und schlechter erkennbare markierte Wege. Die meisten alten Pfade sind verschwunden. Mobilfunkempfang gibt es fast im gesamten oberen Val Grande nicht.

 

(Wikipedia)

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.

Notable Big Sur Beach and Sentinel Rock

Notable autumn scenery along the Rum River Trail in Anoka County, central Minnesota. Taken on 21 Sept. 2023.

 

Visitors: Please check out my photostream & albums for various seasonal pix of wildlife/scenics/florals.

The most notable geographic features of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park are the pillar-like formations that are seen throughout the park. Although resembling karst terrain, this area is not underlain by limestones and is not the product of chemical dissolution, which is characteristic of limestone karst. They are the result of many years of physical, rather than chemical, erosion. Much of the weathering which forms these pillars are the result of expanding ice in the winter and the plants which grow on them. The weather is moist year round, and as a result, the foliage is very dense. The weathered material is carried away primarily by streams. These formations are a distinct hallmark of Chinese landscape, and can be found in many ancient Chinese paintings.

 

Prints and Downloads are available on my 👉 H O M E P A G E

This famous fresco depicting the ladies of the court from the Palace of Knossos can be found at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, a museum located in Heraklion on Crete. It is one of the greatest museums in Greece and the best in the world for Minoan art, as it contains the most notable and complete collection of artifacts of the Minoan civilization of Crete. Crete is Greece's largest island and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean.

 

The highly sophisticated Minoans which were Europe's first great civilization built the Palace of Knossos, the legendary home of King Minos which is connected with thrilling legends, such as the myth of the Labyrinth, with the Minotaur and the story of Daidalos and Ikaros.

 

The museum began in 1883 as a simple collection of antiquities. A dedicated building was constructed from 1904 to 1912 at the instigation of two Cretan archaeologists, Iosif Hatzidakis and Stefanos Xanthoudidis. After three destructive earthquakes in 1926, 1930, and 1935, the museum nearly collapsed. The director of the Heraklion Museum was then Spyridon Marinatos, who made great efforts to find funds and persuade the locals and the central government alike that a new solid building was needed. In 1935, Marinatos succeeded in engaging Patroklos Karantinos to build a sturdy structure that has withstood both natural disasters and the bombing that accompanied the German invasion in 1941. Although the museum was damaged during World War II, the collection survived intact and again became accessible to the public in 1952. A new wing was added in 1964.

 

The Herakleion Archaeological Museum is one of the largest and most important museums in Greece, and among the most important museums in Europe. It houses representative artifacts from all the periods of Cretan prehistory and history, covering a chronological span of over 5,500 years from the Neolithic period to Roman times. The singularly important Minoan collection contains unique examples of Minoan art, many of them true masterpieces.

 

The Herakleion Museum is rightly considered as the museum of Minoan culture par excellence worldwide. The museum, located in the town centre, was built between 1937 and 1940 by architect Patroklos Karantinos on a site previously occupied by the Roman Catholic monastery of Saint-Francis which was destroyed by earthquake in 1856. The museum's antiseismic building is an important example of modernist architecture and was awarded a Bauhaus commendation. Karantinos applied the principles of modern architecture to the specific needs of a museum by providing good lighting from the skylights above and along the top of the walls, and facilitating the easy flow of large groups of people. He also anticipated future extensions to the museum. The colours and construction materials, such as the veined polychrome marbles, recall certain Minoan wall-paintings which imitate marble revetment. The two-storeyed building has large exhibition spaces, laboratories, a drawing room, a library, offices and a special department, the so-called Scientific Collection, where numerous finds are stored and studied. The museum shop, run by the Archaeological Receipts Fund, sells museum copies, books, postcards and slides. There is also a cafe.

 

The Herakleion Archaeological Museum is a Special Regional Service of the Ministry of Culture and its purpose is to acquire, safeguard, conserve, record, study, publish, display and promote Cretan artefacts from the Prehistoric to the Late Roman periods. The museum organizes temporary exhibitions in Greece and abroad, collaborates with scientific and scholarly institutions, and houses a variety of cultural events.

 

For more information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraklion_Archaeological_Museum

 

Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kríti ['kriti]; Ancient Greek: Κρήτη, Krḗtē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece.The capital and the largest city of Crete is Heraklion. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry, and music). Crete was once the center of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), which is currently regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.

 

The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible (Caphtor). It was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting some form similar to both was the Minoan name for the island.

 

The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words ke-re-te (*Krētes; later Greek: Κρῆτες, plural of Κρής),[4] and ke-re-si-jo (*Krēsijos; later Greek: Κρήσιος), "Cretan". In Ancient Greek, the name Crete (Κρήτη) first appears in Homer's Odyssey.[8] Its etymology is unknown. One speculative proposal derives it from a hypothetical Luvian word *kursatta (cf. kursawar "island", kursattar "cutting, sliver").[9] In Latin, it became Creta.

 

The original Arabic name of Crete was Iqrīṭiš (Arabic: اقريطش‎ < (της) Κρήτης), but after the Emirate of Crete's establishment of its new capital at ربض الخندقRabḍ al-Ḫandaq (modern Iraklion), both the city and the island became known as Χάνδαξ (Khandhax) or Χάνδακας (Khandhakas), which gave Latin and Venetian Candia, from which French Candie and English Candy or Candia. Under Ottoman rule, in Ottoman Turkish, Crete was called Girit (كريت).

 

For more information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crete

   

This is one of several Art Nouveau buildings that surround the square that is the site of the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord.

 

So far, I have not been able to find any specialized architectural history sites specific to Prague that describe notable period buildings and recount their history. If you know of one, please let me know.

 

I've been able to provide addresses for the buildings by searching the names of the businesses on the ground floors.

The most notable aspect of São Bento Station is the large, magnificent tile panels in the vestibule. The tiles numbers are 20 thousand, date from 1905–1916 and are the work of Jorge Colaço, the most important azulejo painter of the time. The first tiles were put up on 13 August 1905.

The panels depict landscapes, ethnographic scenes as well as historical events like the Battle of Valdevez (1140), the meeting of the knight Egas Moniz and Alfonso VII of León (12th century), the arrival of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster in Porto (1387) and the Conquest of Ceuta (1415).

INSTRUCTIONS AVAILABLE

 

The Citroen Traction Avant is notable for being one of the singularly most innovative cars in history. Unfortunately it is overshadowed in this respect by its immediate successor, the equally innovative Citroen DS - a car with arguably more radical appearance.

 

The Traction Avant, as the name implies, was one of the very first front wheel drive (FWD) vehicles. Not the very first, but the vehicle that largely popularised the configuration to the marketplace.

 

The configuration placed the engine inline, behind the front axle, with the gearbox ahead of the axle (this layout was also used on the Citroen DS and Renault R4, R16 and first generation R5).

 

The Traction Avant was also one of the first monocoque (or unibody) cars - a method which allowed mass reduction and a lowering of the vehicle profile.

 

The Traction Avant was first launched in 1934 in the 7CV and 11CV taxation classes with 4-cylinder engines. Over time further versions were added. Long wheelbase. Wagon, convertible and Coupe bodystyles. Six-cylinder, and prototype V8-engine editions.

 

The Traction Avant was updated in the 1950s to the version shown here, which modified the bumpers, turn signals and rear luggage door.

The second square established in Savannah, Percival Square was named for Lord Percival, generally regarded as the man who gave the colony of Georgia its name (a tribute to Great Britain's King George II. It was renamed in 1763 to honor James Wright, the third, last and perhaps most notable of Georgia's royal governors.

 

The square is the burial site of Tomochichi a leader of the Creek nation of Native Americans. Tomochichi was a trusted friend of James Oglethorpe and assisted him in the founding of his colony. When Tomochichi died in 1739 Oglethorpe ordered him buried with military honors in the center of Percival Square. In accordance with his people's customs the grave was marked by a pyramid of stones gathered from the surrounding area.

   

Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Syracuse next to the Ionian Sea.

 

The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entirety of Magna Graecia, of which it was the most important city. Described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all", it equaled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and Byzantine Empire. After this Palermo overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860.

 

In the modern day, the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica. In the central area, the city itself has a population of around 125,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Siracusans. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28:12 as Paul stayed there.

 

A notable feature of Hanbury Hall, England, is the painting of the staircase, hall ceiling, and other rooms by the English painter Sir James Thornhill (1675-1734).

The focus of the paintings around the stairwell is the life of the Greek hero Achilles, as told by a range of classical sources. They are surmounted by a large representation of the Olympian gods on the ceiling.

sometimes we feel like this

some notable things about this: 1. i love taking pictures of my cuts and bruises but i didn’t expect it to be so incredibly difficult. 2. this was from last night when i banged my thigh directly into the metal staircase railing edge. 3. i think that’s it, actually, permantely black and blue for you.

Artur Biernacki, one of the most notable Polish origami creators, unexpectedly died on June 8th, 2023, at the young age of 44. He is survived by his wife and their son. Artur created mostly figurative origami models, but also liked to fold complex models by other designers. At conventions, he usually held the most advanced workshops, sometimes in addition to the official schedule. He was always full of energy and humor. May he rest in peace.

 

The models shown here: Elephant, Chameleon and Butterfly, were designed and folded by Artur, while the arrangement and photograph are mine. A few years ago, we planned an origami exhibition with models by various authors. Artur sent me some models but in the end the exhibition did not take place. When I wanted to return the models, he insisted I keep them. Now they are not only beautiful origami sculptures but also a memory of their creator.

Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη, often referred to internationally as Thessalonica or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace.[3][4] Its honorific title is Συμπρωτεύουσα (Symprotévousa), literally "co-capital",[5] and stands as a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (Symvasilévousa) or "co-reigning" city of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, alongside Constantinople.[6]

 

According to the preliminary results of the 2011 census, the municipality of Thessaloniki today has a population of 322,240,[1] while the Thessaloniki Urban Area (the contiguous built up area forming the "City of Thessaloniki") has a population of 790,824.[1] Furthermore, the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area extends over an area of 1,455.62 km2 (562.02 sq mi) and its population in 2011 reached a total of 1,104,460 inhabitants.[1]

 

Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for the rest of southeastern Europe;[7] its commercial port is also of great importance for Greece and the southeastern European hinterland.[7] The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general,[8] and is considered to be Greece's cultural capital.[8] Events such as the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually, while the city also hosts the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greek diaspora.[9] Thessaloniki is the 2014 European Youth Capital.[10]

 

Founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon, Thessaloniki's history spans some 2,300 years. An important metropolis by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest city of the Byzantine Empire. Thessaloniki is home to numerous notable Byzantine monuments, including the Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as several Roman, Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish structures. The city's main university, Aristotle University, is the largest in Greece and the Balkans.[11]

 

Thessaloniki is a popular tourist destination in Greece. In 2010, Lonely Planet ranked Thessaloniki as the world's fifth-best party city worldwide, comparable to other cities such as Dubai and Montreal.[12] For 2013 National Geographic Magazine included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide,[13] while in 2014 Financial Times FDI magazine (Foreign Direct Investments) declared Thessaloniki as the best mid-sized European city of the future for human capital and lifestyle.

  

Etymology

  

All variations of the city's name derive from the original (and current) appellation in Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη (from Θεσσαλός, Thessalos, and Νίκη, Nike), literally translating to "Thessalian Victory". The name of the city came from the name of a princess, Thessalonike of Macedon, half sister of Alexander the Great, so named because of her birth on the day of the Macedonian victory at the Battle of Crocus Field (353/352 BCE).[16]

 

The alternative name Salonica (or Salonika) derives from the variant form Σαλονίκη (Saloníki) in popular Greek speech, and has given rise to the form of the city's name in several languages. Names in other languages prominent in the city's history include Солѹнь (Solun) in Old Church Slavonic, סלוניקה (Salonika) in Ladino, Selanik (also Selânik) in Turkish (سلانیك in Ottoman Turkish), Solun (also written as Солун) in the local and neighboring South Slavic languages, Салоники (Saloníki) in Russian, and Sãrunã in Aromanian. In local speech, the city's name is typically pronounced with a dark and deep L characteristic of Macedonian Greek accent.[17][18]

 

The name often appears in writing in the abbreviated form Θεσ/νίκη

  

History

  

From antiquity to the Roman Empire

  

The city was founded around 315 BC by the King Cassander of Macedon, on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and 26 other local villages.[20] He named it after his wife Thessalonike,[21] a half-sister of Alexander the Great and princess of Macedon as daughter of Philip II. Under the kingdom of Macedon the city retained its own autonomy and parliament[22] and evolved to become the most important city in Macedon.[21]

 

After the fall of the kingdom of Macedon in 168 BC, Thessalonica became a free city of the Roman Republic under Mark Antony in 41 BC.[21][23] It grew to be an important trade-hub located on the Via Egnatia,[24] the road connecting Dyrrhachium with Byzantium,[25] which facilitated trade between Thessaloniki and great centers of commerce such as Rome and Byzantium.[26] Thessaloniki also lay at the southern end of the main north-south route through the Balkans along the valleys of the Morava and Axios river valleys, thereby linking the Balkans with the rest of Greece.[27] The city later became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia.[24] Later it became the capital of all the Greek provinces of the Roman Empire due to the city's importance in the Balkan peninsula. When the Roman Empire was divided into the tetrarchy, Thessaloniki became the administrative capital of one of the four portions of the Empire under Galerius Maximianus Caesar,[28][29] where Galerius commissioned an imperial palace, a new hippodrome, a triumphal arch and a mausoleum among others.[29][30][31]

 

In 379 when the Roman Prefecture of Illyricum was divided between the East and West Roman Empires, Thessaloniki became the capital of the new Prefecture of Illyricum.[24] In 390 Gothic troops under the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, led a massacre against the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who had risen in revolt against the Germanic soldiers. With the Fall of Rome in 476, Thessaloniki became the second-largest city of the Eastern Roman Empire.[26] Around the time of the Roman Empire Thessaloniki was also an important center for the spread of Christianity; some scholars hold that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians written by Paul the Apostle is the first written book of the New Testament.

  

Byzantine era and Middle Ages

  

From the first years of the Byzantine Empire, Thessaloniki was considered the second city in the Empire after Constantinople,[33][34][35] both in terms of wealth and size.[33] with an population of 150,000 in the mid 1100s.[36] The city held this status until it was transferred to Venice in 1423. In the 14th century the city's population exceeded 100,000 to 150,000,[37][38][39] making it larger than London at the time.[40]

 

During the 6th and 7th centuries the area around Thessaloniki was invaded by Avars and Slavs, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the city several times.[41] Traditional historiography stipulates that many Slavs settled in the hinterland of Thessaloniki,[42] however, this migration was allegedly on a much smaller scale than previously thought.[42][42][43] In the 9th century, the Byzantine Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius, both natives of the city, created the first literary language of the Slavs, the Glagolic alphabet, most likely based on the Slavic dialect used in the hinterland of their hometown.[44][45][46][47][48]

 

An Arab naval attack in 904 resulted in the sack of the city.[49] The economic expansion of the city continued through the 12th century as the rule of the Komnenoi emperors expanded Byzantine control to the north. Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204,[50] when Constantinople was captured by the forces of the Fourth Crusade and incorporated the city and its surrounding territories in the Kingdom of Thessalonica[51] — which then became the largest vassal of the Latin Empire. In 1224, the Kingdom of Thessalonica was overrun by the Despotate of Epirus, a remnant of the former Byzantine Empire, under Theodore Komnenos Doukas who crowned himself Emperor,[52] and the city became the Despotat's capital.[52][53] This era of the Despotate of Epirus is also known as the Empire of Thessalonica.[52][54][55] Following his defeat at Klokotnitsa however in 1230,[52][54] the Empire of Thessalonica became a vassal state of the Second Bulgarian Empire until it was recovered again in 1246, this time by the Nicaean Empire.[52] In 1342,[56] the city saw the rise of the Commune of the Zealots, an anti-aristocratic party formed of sailors and the poor,[57] which is nowadays described as social-revolutionary.[56] The city was practically independent of the rest of the Empire,[56][57][58] as it had its own government, a form of republic.[56] The zealot movement was overthrown in 1350 and the city was reunited with the rest of the Empire.[56]

 

In 1423, Despot Andronicus, who was in charge of the city, ceded it to the Republic of Venice with the hope that it could be protected from the Ottomans who were besieging the city (there is no evidence to support the oft-repeated story that he sold the city to them). The Venetians held Thessaloniki until it was captured by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II on 29 March 1430.

  

Ottoman period

  

When Sultan Murad II captured Thessaloniki and sacked it in 1430, contemporary reports estimated that about one-fifth of the city's population was enslaved.[60] Upon the conquest of Thessaloniki, some of its inhabitants escaped,[61] including intellectuals such as Theodorus Gaza "Thessalonicensis" and Andronicus Callistus.[62] However, the change of sovereignty from the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman one did not affect the city's prestige as a major imperial city and trading hub.[63][64] Thessaloniki and Smyrna, although smaller in size than Constantinople, were the Ottoman Empire's most important trading hubs.[63] Thessaloniki's importance was mostly in the field of shipping,[63] but also in manufacturing,[64] while most of the city's trade was controlled by ethnic Greeks.[63]

 

During the Ottoman period, the city's population of mainly Greek Jews and Ottoman Muslims (including those of Turkish and Albanian, as well as Bulgarian Muslim and Greek Muslim convert origin) grew substantially. By 1478 Selânik (سلانیك), as the city came to be known in Ottoman Turkish, had a population of 4,320 Muslims, 6,094 Greek Orthodox and some Catholics, but no Jews. Soon after the turn of the 15th to 16th century, nearly 20,000 Sephardic Jews had immigrated to Greece from Spain following their expulsion by the 1492 Alhambra Decree.[65] By c. 1500, the numbers had grown to 7,986 Greeks, 8,575 Muslims, and 3,770 Jews. By 1519, Sephardic Jews numbered 15,715, 54% of the city's population. Some historians consider the Ottoman regime's invitation to Jewish settlement was a strategy to prevent the ethnic Greek population (Eastern Orthodox Christians) from dominating the city.[38]

 

Thessaloniki was the capital of the Sanjak of Selanik within the wider Rumeli Eyalet (Balkans)[66] until 1826, and subsequently the capital of Selanik Eyalet (after 1867, the Selanik Vilayet).[67][68] This consisted of the sanjaks of Selanik, Serres and Drama between 1826 and 1912.[69] Thessaloniki was also a Janissary stronghold where novice Janissaries were trained. In June 1826, regular Ottoman soldiers attacked and destroyed the Janissary base in Thessaloniki while also killing over 10,000 Janissaries, an event known as The Auspicious Incident in Ottoman history.[70] From 1870, driven by economic growth, the city's population expanded by 70%, reaching 135,000 in 1917.[71]

 

The last few decades of Ottoman control over the city were an era of revival, particularly in terms of the city's infrastructure. It was at that time that the Ottoman administration of the city acquired an "official" face with the creation of the Command Post[72] while a number of new public buildings were built in the eclectic style in order to project the European face both of Thessaloniki and the Ottoman Empire.[72][73] The city walls were torn down between 1869 and 1889,[74] efforts for a planned expansion of the city are evident as early as 1879,[75] the first tram service started in 1888[76] and the city streets were illuminated with electric lamp posts in 1908.[77] In 1888 Thessaloniki was connected to Central Europe via rail through Belgrade, Monastir in 1893 and Constantinople in 1896.

  

Since the 20th century

  

In the early 20th century, Thessaloniki was in the center of radical activities by various groups; the Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, founded in 1897,[78] and the Greek Macedonian Committee, founded in 1903.[79] In 1903 an anarchist group known as the Boatmen of Thessaloniki planted bombs in several buildings in Thessaloniki, including the Ottoman Bank, with some assistance from the IMRO. The Greek consulate in Ottoman Thessaloniki (now the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle) served as the center of operations for the Greek guerillas. In 1908 the Young Turks movement broke out in the city, sparking the Young Turk Revolution.[80]

The Ottoman Feth-i Bülend being sunk in Thessaloniki in 1912 by a Greek ship during the First Balkan War.

Constantine I of Greece with George I of Greece and the Greek army enter the city.

 

As the First Balkan War broke out, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire and expanded its borders. When Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister at the time, was asked if the Greek army should move towards Thessaloniki or Monastir (now Bitola, Republic of Macedonia), Venizelos replied "Salonique à tout prix!" (Thessaloniki, at all costs!).[81] As both Greece and Bulgaria wanted Thessaloniki, the Ottoman garrison of the city entered negotiations with both armies.[82] On 8 November 1912 (26 October Old Style), the feast day of the city's patron saint, Saint Demetrius, the Greek Army accepted the surrender of the Ottoman garrison at Thessaloniki.[83] The Bulgarian army arrived one day after the surrender of the city to Greece and Tahsin Pasha, ruler of the city, told the Bulgarian officials that "I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered".[82] After the Second Balkan War, Thessaloniki and the rest of the Greek portion of Macedonia were officially annexed to Greece by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913.[84] On 18 March 1913 George I of Greece was assassinated in the city by Alexandros Schinas.[85]

 

In 1915, during World War I, a large Allied expeditionary force established a base at Thessaloniki for operations against pro-German Bulgaria.[86] This culminated in the establishment of the Macedonian Front, also known as the Salonika Front.[87][88] In 1916, pro-Venizelist Greek army officers and civilians, with the support of the Allies, launched an uprising,[89] creating a pro-Allied[90] temporary government by the name of the "Provisional Government of National Defence"[89][91] that controlled the "New Lands" (lands that were gained by Greece in the Balkan Wars, most of Northern Greece including Greek Macedonia, the North Aegean as well as the island of Crete);[89][91] the official government of the King in Athens, the "State of Athens",[89] controlled "Old Greece"[89][91] which were traditionally monarchist. The State of Thessaloniki was disestablished with the unification of the two opposing Greek governments under Venizelos, following the abdication of King Constantine in 1917.[86][91]

The 1st Battalion of the National Defence army marches on its way to the front.

Aerial picture of the Great Fire of 1917.

 

Most of the old center of the city was destroyed by the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, which started accidentally by an unattended kitchen fire on 18 August 1917.[92] The fire swept through the centre of the city, leaving 72,000 people homeless; according to the Pallis Report, most of them were Jewish (50,000). Many businesses were destroyed, as a result, 70% of the population were unemployed.[92] Also a number of religious structures of the three major faiths were lost. Nearly one-quarter of the total population of approximately 271,157 became homeless.[92] Following the fire the government prohibited quick rebuilding, so it could implement the new redesign of the city according to the European-style urban plan[6] prepared by a group of architects, including the Briton Thomas Mawson, and headed by French architect Ernest Hébrard.[92] Property values fell from 6.5 million Greek drachmas to 750,000.[93]

 

After the defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War and during the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, a population exchange took place between Greece and Turkey.[90] Over 160,000 ethnic Greeks deported from the former Ottoman Empire were resettled in the city,[90] changing its demographics. Additionally many of the city's Muslims were deported to Turkey, ranging at about 20,000 people.[94]

 

During World War II Thessaloniki was heavily bombarded by Fascist Italy (with 232 people dead, 871 wounded and over 800 buildings damaged or destroyed in November 1940 alone),[95] and, the Italians having failed to succeed in their invasion of Greece, it fell to the forces of Nazi Germany on 8 April 1941[96] and remained under German occupation until 30 October 1944 when it was liberated by the Greek People's Liberation Army.[97] The Nazis soon forced the Jewish residents into a ghetto near the railroads and on 15 March 1943 began the deportation process of the city's 56,000 Jews to its concentration camps.[98][99] They deported over 43,000 of the city's Jews in concentration camps,[98] where most were killed in the gas chambers. The Germans also deported 11,000 Jews to forced labor camps, where most perished.[100] Only 1,200 Jews live in the city today.

Part of Eleftherias Square during the Axis occupation.

 

The importance of Thessaloniki to Nazi Germany can be demonstrated by the fact that, initially, Hitler had planned to incorporate it directly in the Third Reich[101] (that is, make it part of Germany) and not have it controlled by a puppet state such as the Hellenic State or an ally of Germany (Thessaloniki had been promised to Yugoslavia as a reward for joining the Axis on 25 March 1941).[102] Having been the first major city in Greece to fall to the occupying forces just two days after the German invasion, it was in Thessaloniki that the first Greek resistance group was formed (under the name «Ελευθερία», Eleftheria, "Freedom")[103] as well as the first anti-Nazi newspaper in an occupied territory anywhere in Europe,[104] also by the name Eleftheria. Thessaloniki was also home to a military camp-converted-concentration camp, known in German as "Konzentrationslager Pavlo Mela" (Pavlos Melas Concentration Camp),[105] where members of the resistance and other non-favourable people towards the German occupation from all over Greece[105] were held either to be killed or sent to concentration camps elsewhere in Europe.[105] In the 1946 monarchy referendum, the majority of the locals voted in favour of a republic, contrary to the rest of Greece.[106]

 

After the war, Thessaloniki was rebuilt with large-scale development of new infrastructure and industry throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Many of its architectural treasures still remain, adding value to the city as a tourist destination, while several early Christian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988.[107] In 1997, Thessaloniki was celebrated as the European Capital of Culture,[108] sponsoring events across the city and the region. Agency established to oversee the cultural activities of that year 1997 was still in existence by 2010.[109] In 2004 the city hosted a number of the football events as part of the 2004 Summer Olympics.[110]

 

Today Thessaloniki has become one of the most important trade and business hubs in Southeastern Europe, with its port, the Port of Thessaloniki being one of the largest in the Aegean and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland.[7] On 26 October 2012 the city celebrated its centennial since its incorporation into Greece.[111] The city also forms one of the largest student centres in Southeastern Europe, is host to the largest student population in Greece and will be the European Youth Capital in 2014

  

Geography

  

Geology

  

Thessaloniki lies on the northern fringe of the Thermaic Gulf on its eastern coast and is bound by Mount Chortiatis on its southeast. Its proximity to imposing mountain ranges, hills and fault lines, especially towards its southeast have historically made the city prone to geological changes.

 

Since medieval times, Thessaloniki was hit by strong earthquakes, notably in 1759, 1902, 1978 and 1995.[113] On 19–20 June 1978, the city suffered a series of powerful earthquakes, registering 5.5 and 6.5 on the Richter scale.[114][115] The tremors caused considerable damage to a number of buildings and ancient monuments,[114] but the city withstood the catastrophe without any major problems.[115] One apartment building in central Thessaloniki collapsed during the second earthquake, killing many, raising the final death toll to 51.[114][115]

Climate

  

Thessaloniki's climate is directly affected by the sea it is situated on.[116] The city lies in a transitional climatic zone, so its climate displays characteristics of several climates. According to the Köppen climate classification, it is a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) that borders on a semi-arid climate (BSk), with annual average precipitation of 450 millimetres (18 in) due to the Pindus rain shadow drying the westerly winds. However, the city has a summer precipitation between 20 to 30 millimetres (0.79 to 1.18 in), which borders it close to a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa).

 

Winters are relatively dry, with common morning frost. Snowfalls are sporadic, but οccur more or less every winter, but the snow cover does not last for more than a few days. Fog is common, with an average of 193 foggy days in a year.[117] During the coldest winters, temperatures can drop to −10 °C (14 °F).[117] The record minimum temperature in Thessaloniki was −14 °C (7 °F).[118] On average, Thessaloniki experiences frost (sub-zero temperature) 32 days a year.[117] The coldest month of the year in the city is January, with an average 24-hour temperature of 6 °C (43 °F).[119] Wind is also usual in the winter months, with December and January having an average wind speed of 26 km/h (16 mph).[117]

 

Thessaloniki's summers are hot with rather humid nights.[117] Maximum temperatures usually rise above 30 °C (86 °F),[117] but rarely go over 40 °C (104 °F);[117] the average number of days the temperature is above 32 °C (90 °F) is 32.[117] The maximum recorded temperature in the city was 42 °C (108 °F).[117][118] Rain seldom falls in summer, mainly during thunderstorms. In the summer months Thessaloniki also experiences strong heat waves.[120] The hottest month of the year in the city is July, with an average 24-hour temperature of 26 °C (79 °F).[119] The average wind speed for June and July in Thessaloniki is 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph)

  

Government

  

According to the Kallikratis reform, as of 1 January 2011 the Thessaloniki Urban Area (Greek: Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Θεσσαλονίκης) which makes up the "City of Thessaloniki", is made up of six self-governing municipalities (Greek: Δήμοι) and one municipal unit (Greek: Δημοτική ενότητα). The municipalities that are included in the Thessaloniki Urban Area are those of Thessaloniki (the city center and largest in population size), Kalamaria, Neapoli-Sykies, Pavlos Melas, Kordelio-Evosmos, Ampelokipoi-Menemeni, and the municipal unit of Pylaia, part of the municipality of Pylaia-Chortiatis. Prior to the Kallikratis reform, the Thessaloniki Urban Area was made up of twice as many municipalities, considerably smaller in size, which created bureaucratic problems.[123]

  

Thessaloniki Municipality

  

The municipality of Thessaloniki (Greek: Δήμος Θεσαλονίκης) is the second most populous in Greece, after Athens, with a population of 322,240[1] people (in 2011) and an area of 17.832 km2 (7 sq mi). The municipality forms the core of the Thessaloniki Urban Area, with its central district (the city center), referred to as the Kentro, meaning 'center' or 'downtown'.

 

The institution of mayor of Thessaloniki was inaugurated under the Ottoman Empire, in 1912. The first mayor of Thessaloniki was Osman Sait Bey, while the current mayor of the municipality of Thessaloniki is Yiannis Boutaris. In 2011, the municipality of Thessaloniki had a budget of €464.33 million[124] while the budget of 2012 stands at €409.00 million.[125]

 

According to an article in The New York Times, the way in which the present mayor of Thessaloniki is treating the city's debt and oversized administration problems could be used as an example by Greece's central government for a successful strategy in dealing with these problems.[126]

  

Other

  

Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece. It is an influential city for the northern parts of the country and is the capital of the region of Central Macedonia and the Thessaloniki regional unit. The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace is also based in Thessaloniki, being that the city is the de facto capital of the Greek region of Macedonia.

 

It is customary every year for the Prime Minister of Greece to announce his administration's policies on a number of issues, such as the economy, at the opening night of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. In 2010, during the first months of the 2010 Greek debt crisis, the entire cabinet of Greece met in Thessaloniki to discuss the country's future.[127]

 

In the Hellenic Parliament, the Thessaloniki urban area constitutes a 16-seat constituency. As of the national elections of 17 June 2012 the largest party in Thessaloniki is New Democracy with 27.8%, followed by the Coalition of the Radical Left (27.0%) and the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (10.2%).[128] The table below summarizes the results of the latest elections.

  

Cityscape

  

Architecture

  

Architecture in Thessaloniki is the direct result of the city's position at the centre of all historical developments in the Balkans. Aside from its commercial importance, Thessaloniki was also for many centuries the military and administrative hub of the region, and beyond this the transportation link between Europe and the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel / Palestine). Merchants, traders and refugees from all over Europe settled in the city. The need for commercial and public buildings in this new era of prosperity led to the construction of large edifices in the city center. During this time, the city saw the building of banks, large hotels, theatres, warehouses, and factories. Architects who designed some of the most notable buildings of the city, in the late 19th and early 20th century, include Vitaliano Poselli, Pietro Arrigoni, Xenophon Paionidis, Eli Modiano, Moshé Jacques, Jean Joseph Pleyber, Frederic Charnot, Ernst Ziller, Roubens Max, Levi Ernst, Angelos Siagas and others, using mainly the styles of Eclecticism and Art Nouveau.

 

The city layout changed after 1870, when the seaside fortifications gave way to extensive piers, and many of the oldest walls of the city were demolished, including those surrounding the White Tower, which today stands as the main landmark of the city. As parts of the early Byzantine walls were demolished, this allowed the city to expand east and west along the coast.[129]

 

The expansion of Eleftherias Square towards the sea completed the new commercial hub of the city and at the time was considered one of the most vibrant squares of the city. As the city grew, workers moved to the western districts, due to their proximity to factories and industrial activities; while the middle and upper classes gradually moved from the city-center to the eastern suburbs, leaving mainly businesses. In 1917, a devastating fire swept through the city and burned uncontrollably for 32 hours.[71] It destroyed the city's historic center and a large part of its architectural heritage, but paved the way for modern development and allowed Thessaloniki the development of a proper European city center, featuring wider diagonal avenues and monumental squares; which the city initially lacked – much of what was considered to be 'essential' in European architecture.

  

City Center

  

After the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, a team of architects and urban planners including Thomas Mawson and Ernest Hebrard, a French architect, chose the Byzantine era as the basis of their (re)building designs for Thessaloniki's city center. The new city plan included axes, diagonal streets and monumental squares, with a street grid that would channel traffic smoothly. The plan of 1917 included provisions for future population expansions and a street and road network that would be, and still is sufficient today.[71] It contained sites for public buildings and provided for the restoration of Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques.

The Metropolitan Church of Saint Gregory Palamas, designed by Ernst Ziller.

 

Today the city center of Thessaloniki includes the features designed as part of the plan and forms the point in the city where most of the public buildings, historical sites, entertainment venues and stores are located. The center is characterized by its many historical buildings, arcades, laneways and distinct architectural styles such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco, which can be seen on many of its buildings.

 

Also called the historic center, it is divided into several districts, of which include Ladadika (where many entertainment venues and tavernas are located), Kapani (were the city's central city market is located), Diagonios, Navarinou, Rotonta, Agia Sofia and Ippodromio (white tower), which are all located around Thessaloniki's most central point, Aristotelous Square.

 

The west point of the city center is home to Thessaloniki's law courts, its central international railway station and the port, while on its eastern side stands the city's two universities, the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center, the city's main stadium, its archaeological and Byzantine museums, the new city hall and its central parklands and gardens, namely those of the ΧΑΝΘ/Palios Zoologikos Kipos and Pedio tou Areos. The central road arteries that pass through the city center, designed in the Ernest Hebrard plan, include those of Tsimiski, Egnatia, Nikis, Mitropoleos, Venizelou and St. Demetrius avenues.

  

Ano Poli

  

Ano Poli (also called Old Town and literally the Upper Town) is the heritage listed district north of Thessaloniki's city center that was not engulfed by the great fire of 1917 and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site by ministerial actions of Melina Merkouri, during the 1980s. It consists of Thessaloniki's most traditional part of the city, still featuring small stone paved streets, old squares and homes featuring old Greek and Ottoman architecture.

 

Ano Poli also, is the highest point in Thessaloniki and as such, is the location of the city's acropolis, its Byzantine fort, the Heptapyrgion, a large portion of the city's remaining walls, and with many of its additional Ottoman and Byzantine structures still standing. The area provides access to the Seich Sou Forest National Park[131] and features amphitheatric views of the whole city and the Thermaic Gulf. On clear days Mount Olympus, at about 100 km (62 mi) away across the gulf, can also be seen towering the horizon.

  

Southeastern Thessaloniki up until the 1920s was home to the city's most affluent residents and formed the outermost suburbs of the city at the time, with the area close to the Thermaic Gulf coast called Exoches, from the 19th century holiday villas which defined the area. Today southeastern Thessaloniki has in some way become a natural extension of the city center, with the avenues of Megalou Alexandrou, Georgiou Papandreou (Antheon), Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, Delfon, Konstantinou Karamanli (Nea Egnatia) and Papanastasiou passing through it, enclosing an area traditionally called Dépôt (Ντεπώ), from the name of the old tram station, owned by a French company. The area extends to Kalamaria and Pylaia, about 9 km (5.59 mi) from the White Tower in the city centre.

 

Some of the most notable mansions and villas of the old-era of the city remain along Vasilissis Olgas Avenue. Built for the most wealthy residents and designed by well known architects they are used today as museums, art galleries or remain as private properties. Some of them include Villa Bianca, Villa Ahmet Kapanci, Villa Modiano, Villa Mordoch, Villa Mehmet Kapanci, Hatzilazarou Mansion, Chateau Mon Bonheur (often called red tower) and others.

 

Most of southeastern Thessaloniki is characterized by its modern architecture and apartment buildings, home to the middle-class and more than half of the municipality of Thessaloniki population. Today this area of the city is also home to 3 of the city's main football stadiums, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the Posidonio aquatic and athletic complex, the Naval Command post of Northern Greece and the old royal palace (called Palataki), located on the most westerly point of Karabournaki cape. The municipality of Kalamaria is also located in southeastern Thessaloniki and has become this part of the city's most sought after areas, with many open spaces and home to high end bars, cafés and entertainment venues, most notably on Plastira street, along the coast

 

Northwestern Thessaloniki had always been associated with industry and the working class because as the city grew during the 1920s, many workers had moved there, due to its proximity near factories and industrial activities. Today many factories and industries have been moved further out west and the area is experiencing rapid growth as does the southeast. Many factories in this area have been converted to cultural centres, while past military grounds that are being surrounded by densely built neighborhoods are awaiting transformation into parklands.

 

Northwest Thessaloniki forms the main entry point into the city of Thessaloniki with the avenues of Monastiriou, Lagkada and 26is Octovriou passing through it, as well as the extension of the A1 motorway, feeding into Thessaloniki's city center. The area is home to the Macedonia InterCity Bus Terminal (KTEL), the Zeitenlik Allied memorial military cemetery and to large entertainment venues of the city, such as Milos, Fix, Vilka (which are housed in converted old factories). Northwestern Thessaloniki is also home to Moni Lazariston, located in Stavroupoli, which today forms one of the most important cultural centers for the city.

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thessaloniki

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri

 

Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the most populated municipality and historic core city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Kansas–Missouri state line and has a population of 2,392,035. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.

 

Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas, with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about 319.03 square miles (826.3 km2), making it the 23rd largest city by total area in the United States. It serves as one of the two county seats of Jackson County, along with the major suburb of Independence. Other major suburbs include the Missouri cities of Blue Springs and Lee's Summit and the Kansas cities of Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, and Kansas City, Kansas.

 

The city is composed of several neighborhoods, including the River Market District in the north, the 18th and Vine District in the east, and the Country Club Plaza in the south. Celebrated cultural traditions include Kansas City jazz, theater, which was the center of the Vaudevillian Orpheum circuit in the 1920s, the Chiefs and Royals sports franchises, and famous cuisine based on Kansas City-style barbecue, Kansas City strip steak, and craft breweries.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauffman_Center_for_the_Performing_...

 

The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the T-Mobile Center and the Crossroads Arts District. Its construction was a major part of the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Kansas City.

 

The Center was created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Unlike some other major civic construction projects, no taxpayer funds went into its construction. The City of Kansas City contributed to and operates a parking garage adjacent to the Kauffman Center.

 

It is the performance home to the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet which in the past performed at the Lyric Theatre, eight blocks north of the center. The Kauffman Center houses two unique performance venues: Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall.

 

According to its website, the Kauffman Center's mission is "to enrich the lives of communities throughout the region, country and world by offering extraordinary and diverse performing arts experiences". Not only do notable performances take place almost weekly, but the Center is a place where the KC community comes together and celebrates the city's rich arts culture. The Kauffman Center seeks to fulfill this mission by offering a wide selection of performances, and also by offering specific programs to connect with the youth in the Kansas City area.

A notable capture during a fleeting visit to Singapore in October 1992 was this prototype Alexander-bodied Mercedes-Benz 0305, the forerunner of a large fleet to operate in the City state, all of which had their bodywork assembled locally. SBS 5541Z, seen here on North Bridge Road, was, I believe, shipped from the UK as a complete vehicle.

 

This image is copyright and must not be reproduced or downloaded without the permission of the photographer.

  

Holi people chilling out in their hut (Benin)

 

The Holi people, belong to a subgroup of the Yoruba ethnic community. They live in southeastern Benin and have a population of about 100,000.

One of the most notable aspects of Holi culture is their body art, which includes tattoos and scarifications. Women traditionally decorated their bellies with tattoos, believed to offer protection during pregnancy.

These body modifications also played an important role in their history. During the time of the slave trade, Europeans viewed individuals without scarifications as unmarked and desirable. Consequently, the Holi's distinct scarifications helped protect them from being captured.

The Holi build their homes from bamboo, designing them with a characteristic square layout.

 

Website: www.robertopazziphoto.com/

 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/roberto_pazzi_photo/

A famous notable person of North Brookfield was George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878 – November 5, 1942) an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. (James Cagney played Cohan in the 1942 biopic Yankee Doodle Dandy receiving the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.)

 

As a child, George M. Cohan and his family toured most of the year and spent summer vacations from the vaudeville circuit at his grandmother's home in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, where Cohan befriended baseball player Connie Mack. The family generally gave a performance at the town hall there each summer, and Cohan had a chance to gain some more normal childhood experiences, like riding his bike and playing sandlot baseball.

 

Cohan's memories of those happy summers inspired his 1907 musical 50 Miles from Boston, which is set in North Brookfield and contains one of his most famous songs, "Harrigan". As Cohan matured through his teens, he used the quiet summers there to write. When he returned to the town in the cast of Ah, Wilderness! in 1934, he told a reporter "I've knocked around everywhere, but there's no place like North Brookfield."

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.

To view more of my images, of Windsor & Windsor Castle click

"here"

 

From the Achives, reprocessed, using Photoshop CC 2023.

 

I would be most grateful if you would refrain from inserting images, and/or group invites; thank you!

 

Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. The castle is notable for its long association with the English and later British royal family and also for its architecture. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by succeeding monarchs and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish, early 19th-century State Apartments are architecturally significant, described by art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". The castle includes the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design. More than 500 people live and work in Windsor Castle. Originally designed to protect Norman dominance around the outskirts of London, and to oversee a strategically important part of the River Thames, Windsor Castle was built as a motte and bailey, with three wards surrounding a central mound. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a prolonged siege during the First Barons' War at the start of the 13th century. Henry III built a luxurious royal palace within the castle during the middle of the century, and Edward III went further, rebuilding the palace to produce an even grander set of buildings in what would become "the most expensive secular building project of the entire Middle Ages in England". Edward's core design lasted through the Tudor period, during which Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made increasing use of the castle as a royal court and centre for diplomatic entertainment. Windsor Castle survived the tumultuous period of the English Civil War, when it was used as a military headquarters for Parliamentary forces and a prison for Charles I. During the Restoration, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of architect Hugh May, creating a set of extravagant, Baroque interiors that are still admired. After a period of neglect during the 18th century, George III and George IV renovated and rebuilt Charles II's palace at colossal expense, producing the current design of the State Apartments, full of Rococo, Gothic and Baroque furnishings. Victoria made minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. Windsor Castle was used as a refuge for the royal family during the bombing campaigns of the Second World War and survived a fire in 1992. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, and the preferred weekend home of Elizabeth II.

 

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

The Queen Victoria Monument, Ballarat, is a key component of Sturt Street in Ballarat, a notable streetscape of the late Victorian era. It represents a pivotal element in the extensive series of public art forms erected during the late nineteenth century in the heyday of Ballarat and added to during the twentieth century.

The Queen Victoria Monument is an over life size statue mounted on a freestone pedestal containing four bronze relief interpretive plaques. It is situated in front of the Ballarat Town Hall, a prominent position on the wide notable picturesque boulevard of Sturt Street.

The Queen Victoria Monument at Ballarat is historically significant as a fine example of a tribute to the reigning monarch, initiated by citizens, on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, prior to her death. It reflects the fervour of the citizens of the town that played an important role in the development of the State of Victoria during the latter half of the nineteenth century.

The Monument is important for its aesthetic characteristics in that it displays a combination of excellent examples of the artistry and technical skills of the sculptor E.B. MacKennall. These elements are evident in design, carving, and in casting of relief modelling.

Bupaya Pagoda is a notable pagoda located in Bagan (formerly Pagan), in Myanmar, at a bend on the right bank of the Ayeyarwady River. The small pagoda, which has a bulbous shaped dome, is widely believed to have been built by the third King of Pagan, Pyusawhti who ruled from 168 to 243 AD. It is one of the most notable shrines among the thousands of new or ruined Pagodas in Pagan, which is located about 90 miles (140 km) south of Mandalay.

 

Schweiz / Berner Oberland - Eiger, Mönch und Jungfrau

 

seen on the way from Allmendhubel to Grütschalp

 

gesehen auf dem Weg vom Allmendhubel zur Grütschalp

 

The Eiger (German pronunciation: [ˈaɪ̯ɡɐ]) is a 3,967-metre (13,015 ft) mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m (13,642 ft), constituting one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps. While the northern side of the mountain rises more than 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above the two valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, the southern side faces the large glaciers of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, the most glaciated region in the Alps. The most notable feature of the Eiger is its nearly 1,800-metre-high (5,900 ft) north face of rock and ice, named Eiger-Nordwand, Eigerwand or just Nordwand, which is the biggest north face in the Alps.] This huge face towers over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg at its base, on the eponymous pass connecting the two valleys.

 

The first ascent of the Eiger was made by Swiss guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren and Irishman Charles Barrington, who climbed the west flank on August 11, 1858. The north face, the "last problem" of the Alps, considered amongst the most challenging and dangerous ascents, was first climbed in 1938 by an Austrian-German expedition.The Eiger has been highly publicized for the many tragedies involving climbing expeditions. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand, literally "murder(ous) wall"—a pun on its correct title of Nordwand (North Wall).

 

Although the summit of the Eiger can be reached by experienced climbers only, a railway tunnel runs inside the mountain, and two internal stations provide easy access to viewing-windows carved into the rock face. They are both part of the Jungfrau Railway line, running from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, at the highest railway station in Europe. The two stations within the Eiger are Eigerwand (behind the north face) and Eismeer (behind the south face), at around 3,000 metres. The Eigerwand station has not been regularly served since 2016.

 

Etymology

 

The first mention of Eiger, appearing as "mons Egere", was found in a property sale document of 1252, but there is no clear indication of how exactly the peak gained its name. The three mountains of the ridge are commonly referred to as the Virgin (German: Jungfrau – translates to "virgin" or "maiden"), the Monk (Mönch), and the Ogre (Eiger; the standard German word for ogre is Oger). The name has been linked to the Latin term acer, meaning "sharp" or "pointed".

 

Geographic setting and description

 

The Eiger is located above the Lauterbrunnen Valley to the west and Grindelwald to the north in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern. It forms a renowned mountain range of the Bernese Alps together with its two companions: the Jungfrau (4,158 m (13,642 ft)) about 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) southwest of it and the Mönch (4,107 m (13,474 ft)) about in the middle of them. The nearest settlements are Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen (795 m (2,608 ft)) and Wengen (1,274 m (4,180 ft)). The Eiger has three faces: north (or more precisely NNW), east (or more precisely ESE), and west (or more precisely WSW). The northeastern ridge from the summit to the Ostegg (lit.: eastern corner, 2,709 m (8,888 ft)), called Mittellegi, is the longest on the Eiger. The north face overlooks the gently rising Alpine meadow between Grindelwald (943 m (3,094 ft)) and Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m (6,762 ft)), a mountain railways junction and a pass, which can be reached from both sides, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen/Wengen – by foot or train.

 

Politically, the Eiger (and its summit) belongs to the Bernese municipalities of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The Kleine Scheidegg (literally, the small parting corner) connects the Männlichen-Tschuggen range with the western ridge of the Eiger. The Eiger does not properly form part of the main chain of the Bernese Alps, which borders the canton of Valais and forms the watershed between the Rhine and the Rhône, but constitutes a huge limestone buttress, projecting from the crystalline basement of the Mönch across the Eigerjoch. Consequently, all sides of the Eiger feed finally the same river, namely the Lütschine.

 

Eiger's water is connected through the Weisse Lütschine (the white one) in the Lauterbrunnen Valley on the west side (southwestern face of the Eiger), and through the Schwarze Lütschine (the black one) running through Grindelwald (northwestern face), which meet each other in Zweilütschinen (lit.: the two Lütschinen) where they form the proper Lütschine. The east face is covered by the glacier called Ischmeer, (Bernese German for Ice Sea), which forms one upper part of the fast-retreating Lower Grindelwald Glacier. These glaciers' water forms a short creek, which is also confusingly called the Weisse Lütschine, but enters the black one already in Grindelwald together with the water from the Upper Grindelwald Glacier. Therefore, all the water running down the Eiger converges at the northern foot of the Männlichen (2,342 m (7,684 ft)) in Zweilütschinen (654 m (2,146 ft)), about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of the summit, where the Lütschine begins its northern course to Lake Brienz and the Aare (564 m (1,850 ft)).

 

Although the north face of the Eiger is almost free of ice, significant glaciers lie at the other sides of the mountain. The Eiger Glacier flows on the southwestern side of the Eiger, from the crest connecting it to the Mönch down to 2,400 m (7,900 ft), south of Eigergletscher railway station, and feeds the Weisse Lütschine through the Trümmelbach. On the east side, the Ischmeer–well visible from the windows of Eismeer railway station–flows eastwards from the same crest then turns to the north below the impressive wide Fiescherwand, the north face of the Fiescherhörner triple summit (4,049 m (13,284 ft)) down to about 1,600 m (5,200 ft) of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier system.

 

The massive composition of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau constitutes an emblematic sight of the Swiss Alps and is visible from many places on the Swiss Plateau and the Jura Mountains in the northwest. The higher Finsteraarhorn (4,270 m (14,010 ft)) and Aletschhorn (4,190 m (13,750 ft)), which are located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south, are generally less visible and situated in the middle of glaciers in less accessible areas. As opposed to the north side, the south and east sides of the range consist of large valley glaciers extending for up to 22 kilometres (14 mi), the largest (beyond the Eiger drainage basin) being those of Grand Aletsch, Fiesch, and Aar Glaciers, and is thus uninhabited. The whole area, the Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area, comprising the highest summits and largest glaciers of the Bernese Alps, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.

 

In July 2006, a piece of the Eiger, amounting to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of rock, fell from the east face. As it had been noticeably cleaving for several weeks and fell into an uninhabited area, there were no injuries and no buildings were hit.

 

Climbing history

 

While the summit was reached without much difficulty in 1858 by a complex route on the west flank, the battle to climb the north face has captivated the interest of climbers and non-climbers alike. Before it was successfully climbed, most of the attempts on the face ended tragically and the Bernese authorities even banned climbing it and threatened to fine any party that should attempt it again. But the enthusiasm which animated the young talented climbers from Austria and Germany finally vanquished its reputation of unclimbability when a party of four climbers successfully reached the summit in 1938 by what is known as the "1938" or "Heckmair" route.

 

The climbers that attempted the north face could be easily watched through the telescopes from the Kleine Scheidegg, a pass between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, connected by rail. The contrast between the comfort and civilization of the railway station and the agonies of the young men slowly dying a short yet uncrossable distance away led to intensive coverage by the international media.

 

After World War II, the north face was climbed twice in 1947, first by a party of two French guides, Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray, then by a Swiss party consisting of H. Germann, with Hans and Karl Schlunegger.

 

First ascent

 

In 1857, a first recorded attempt was made by Christian Almer, Christian Kaufmann, Ulrich Kaufmann guiding the Austrian alpinist Sigismund Porges. They did manage the first ascent of neighboring Mönch instead. Porges, however, successfully made the second ascent of the Eiger in July 1861 with the guides Christian Michel, Hans and Peter Baumann.

 

The first ascent was made by the western flank on August 11, 1858 by Charles Barrington with guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren. On the previous afternoon, the party walked up to the Wengernalp hotel. From there they started the ascent of the Eiger at 3:30 a.m. Barrington describes the route much as it is followed today, staying close to the edge of the north face much of the way. They reached the summit at about noon, planted a flag, stayed for some 10 minutes and descended in about four hours. Barrington describes the reaching of the top, saying, "the two guides kindly gave me the place of first man up." After the descent, the party was escorted to the Kleine Scheidegg hotel, where their ascent was confirmed by observation of the flag left on the summit. The owner of the hotel then fired a cannon to celebrate the first ascent. According to Harrer's The White Spider, Barrington was originally planning to make the first ascent of the Matterhorn, but his finances did not allow him to travel there as he was already staying in the Eiger region.

 

Mittellegi ridge

 

Although the Mittellegi ridge had already been descended by climbers (since 1885) with the use of ropes in the difficult sections, it remained unclimbed until 1921. On the 10th of September of that year, Japanese climber Yuko Maki, along with Swiss guides Fritz Amatter, Samuel Brawand and Fritz Steuri made the first successful ascent of the ridge. The previous day, the party approached the ridge from the Eismeer railway station of the Jungfrau Railway and bivouacked for the night. They started the climb at about 6:00 a.m. and reached the summit of the Eiger at about 7:15 p.m., after an over 13 hours gruelling ascent. Shortly after, they descended the west flank. They finally reached Eigergletscher railway station at about 3:00 a.m. the next day.

 

Attempts on the north face

 

1935

 

In 1935, two young German climbers from Bavaria, Karl Mehringer and Max Sedlmeyer, arrived at Grindelwald to attempt the ascent of the north face. After waiting some time for the weather to improve, they set off, reaching the height of the Eigerwand station before stopping for their first bivouac. The following day, facing greater difficulties, they gained little height. On the third day, they made hardly any vertical gain. That night, the weather deteriorated, bringing snow and low cloud that shrouded the mountain from the observers below. Avalanches began to sweep the face. Two days later, the weather briefly cleared, and the two men were glimpsed a little higher and about to bivouac for the fifth night, before clouds descended again. A few days later, the weather finally cleared, revealing a completely white north face.: 225  Weeks later, the German World War I ace Ernst Udet went searching for the missing men with his aircraft, eventually spotting one of them frozen to death in what became known as the "Death Bivouac". Sedlmeyer's body was found at the foot of the face the following year by his brothers Heinrich and Martin Meier, who were part of a group looking for the victims of the 1936 climbing disaster. Mehringer's remains were found in 1962 by Swiss climbers below the "Flat Iron" (Bügeleisen) at the lefthand end of the second ice field. 

 

1936

 

The next year ten young climbers from Austria and Germany came to Grindelwald and camped at the foot of the mountain. Before their attempts started one of them was killed during a training climb, and the weather was so bad during that summer that, after waiting for a change and seeing none on the way, several members of the party gave up. Of the four that remained, two were Bavarians, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz, and two were Austrians, Willy Angerer and Edi Rainer. When the weather improved they made a preliminary exploration of the lowest part of the face. Hinterstoisser fell 37 metres (121 ft) but was not injured. A few days later the four men finally began the ascent of the face. They climbed quickly, but on the next day, after their first bivouac, the weather changed; clouds came down and hid the group to the observers. They did not resume the climb until the following day, when, during a break, the party was seen descending, but the climbers could be seen only intermittently from the ground. The group had no choice but to retreat, since Angerer had suffered serious injuries from falling rock. The party became stuck on the face when they could not recross the difficult Hinterstoisser Traverse, from which they had taken the rope they had first used to climb it. The weather then deteriorated for two days. They were ultimately swept away by an avalanche, which only Kurz survived, hanging on a rope. Three guides started on an extremely perilous rescue attempt. They failed to reach him but came within shouting distance and learned what had happened. Kurz explained the fate of his companions: one had fallen down the face, another was frozen above him, and the third had fractured his skull in falling and was hanging dead on the rope.

 

In the morning the three guides came back, traversing the face from a hole near the Eigerwand station and risking their lives under incessant avalanches. Toni Kurz was still alive but almost helpless, with one hand and one arm completely frozen. Kurz hauled himself off the cliff after cutting loose the rope that bound him to his dead teammate below and climbed back onto the face. The guides were not able to pass an unclimbable overhang that separated them from Kurz. They managed to give him a rope long enough to reach them by tying two ropes together. While descending, Kurz could not get the knot to pass through his carabiner. He tried for hours to reach his rescuers who were only a few metres below him. Then he began to lose consciousness. One of the guides, climbing on another's shoulders, was able to touch the tip of Kurz's crampons with his ice-axe but could not reach higher. Kurz was unable to descend further and, completely exhausted, died slowly.

 

1937

 

An attempt was made in 1937 by Mathias Rebitsch and Ludwig Vörg. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, they were nonetheless the first climbers who returned alive from a serious attempt on the face. They started the climb on 11 August and reached a high point of a few rope lengths above Death Bivouac. A storm then broke and after three days on the wall they had to retreat. This was the first successful withdrawal from a significant height on the wall.

 

First ascent of the north face

 

The north face was first climbed on July 24, 1938 by Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek in a German–Austrian party. The party had originally consisted of two independent teams: Harrer (who did not have a pair of crampons on the climb) and Kasparek were joined on the face by Heckmair and Vörg, who had started their ascent a day later and had been helped by the fixed rope that the lead team had left across the Hinterstoisser Traverse. The two groups, led by the experienced Heckmair, decided to join their forces and roped together as a single group of four. Heckmair later wrote: "We, the sons of the older Reich, united with our companions from the Eastern Border to march together to victory."

 

The expedition was constantly threatened by snow avalanches and climbed as quickly as possible between the falls. On the third day a storm broke and the cold was intense. The four men were caught in an avalanche as they climbed "the Spider," the snow-filled cracks radiating from an ice-field on the upper face, but all possessed sufficient strength to resist being swept off the face. The members successfully reached the summit at four o'clock in the afternoon. They were so exhausted that they only just had the strength to descend by the normal route through a raging blizzard.

 

Other notable events

 

1864 (Jul 27): Fourth ascent, and first ascent by a woman, Lucy Walker, who was part of a group of six guides (including Christian Almer and Melchior Anderegg) and five clients, including her brother Horace Walker[

1871: First ascent by the southwest ridge, 14 July (Christian Almer, Christian Bohren, and Ulrich Almer guiding W. A. B. Coolidge and Meta Brevoort).

1890: First ascent in winter, Ulrich Kaufmann and Christian Jossi guiding C. W. Mead and G. F. Woodroffe.

1924: First ski ascent and descent via the Eiger glacier by Englishman Arnold Lunn and the Swiss Fritz Amacher, Walter Amstutz and Willy Richardet.

1932: First ascent of the northeast face ("Lauper route") by Hans Lauper, Alfred Zürcher, Alexander Graven and Josef Knubel

1970: First ski descent over the west flank, by Sylvain Saudan.

1986: Welshman Eric Jones becomes the first person to BASE jump from the Eiger.

1988: Original Route (ED2), north face, Eiger (3970m), Alps, Switzerland, first American solo (nine and a half hours) by Mark Wilford.

1991: First ascent, Metanoia Route, North Face, solo, winter, without bolts, Jeff Lowe.

1992 (18 July): Three BMG/UIAGM/IFMGA clients died in a fall down the West Flank: Willie Dunnachie; Douglas Gaines; and Phillip Davies. They had ascended the mountain via the Mittellegi Ridge.

2006 (14 June): François Bon and Antoine Montant make the first speedflying descent of the Eiger.

2006 (15 July): Approximately 700,000 cubic metres (20 million cubic feet) of rock from the east side collapses. No injuries or damage were reported.

2015 (23 July): A team of British Para-Climbers reached the summit via the West Flank Route. The team included John Churcher, the world's first blind climber to summit the Eiger, sight guided by the team leader Mark McGowan. Colin Gourlay enabled the ascent of other team members, including Al Taylor who has multiple sclerosis, and the young autistic climber Jamie Owen from North Wales. The ascent was filmed by the adventure filmmakers Euan Ryan & Willis Morris of Finalcrux Films.

 

Books and films

 

The 1959 book The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer describes the first successful ascent of the Eiger north face.

The Climb Up To Hell, 1962, by Jack Olson, an account of the ill-fated 1957 attempted climb of the north face by an Italian four-man team and the dramatic rescue of the sole survivor mounted by an international all-volunteer group of rescuers.

Eiger Direct, 1966, by Dougal Haston and Peter Gillman, London: Collins, also known as Direttissima; the Eiger Assault

The 1971 novel The Ice Mirror by Charles MacHardy describes the second attempted ascent of the Eiger north face by the main character.

The 1972 novel The Eiger Sanction is an action/thriller novel by Rodney William Whitaker (writing under the pseudonym Trevanian), based around the climbing of the Eiger. This was then made into the 1975 film The Eiger Sanction starring Clint Eastwood and George Kennedy. The Eiger Sanction film crew included very experienced mountaineers (e.g., Mike Hoover, Dougal Haston, and Hamish MacInnes, see Summit, 52, Spring 2010) as consultants, to ensure accuracy in the climbing footage, equipment and techniques.

The Eiger, 1974, by Dougal Haston, London: Cassell

The 1982 book Eiger, Wall of Death by Arthur Roth is an historical account of first ascents of the north face.

The 1982 book Traverse of The Gods by Bob Langley is a World War II spy thriller where a group escaping from Nazi Germany is trapped and the only possible exit route is via the Nordwand.

Eiger, 1983, a documentary film by Leo Dickinson of Eric Jones' 1981 solo ascent of the north face.

Eiger Dreams, 1990, a collection of essays by Jon Krakauer, begins with an account of Krakauer's own attempt to climb the north face.

Eiger: The Vertical Arena (German edition, 1998; English edition, 2000), edited by Daniel Anker, a comprehensive climbing history of the north face authored by 17 climbers, with numerous photographs and illustrations.

The IMAX film The Alps features John Harlin III's climb up the north face in September 2005. Harlin's father, John Harlin II, set out 40 years earlier to attempt a direct route (the direttissima) up the 6,000-foot (1,800 m) face, the so-called "John Harlin route". At 1300 m, his rope broke, and he fell to his death. Composer James Swearingen created a piece named Eiger: Journey to the Summit in his memory.

The 2007 docu/drama film The Beckoning Silence featuring mountaineer Joe Simpson, recounting—with filmed reconstructions—the ill-fated 1936 expedition up the north face of the Eiger and how Heinrich Harrer's book The White Spider inspired him to take up climbing. The film followed Simpson's eponymous 2003 book. Those playing the parts of the original climbing team were Swiss mountain guides Roger Schäli (Toni Kurz), Simon Anthamatten (Andreas Hinterstoisser), Dres Abegglen (Willy Angerer) and Cyrille Berthod (Edi Rainer). The documentary won an Emmy Award the subsequent year.

The 2008 German historical fiction film Nordwand is based on the 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger north face. The film is about the two German climbers, Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser, involved in a competition with an Austrian duo to be the first to scale the north face of Eiger.

The 2010 documentary Eiger: Wall of Death by Steve Robinson.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

The Mönch (German pronunciation: [ˈmœnç] German: "monk") at 4,110 metres (13,480 ft) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau, it forms a highly recognisable group of mountains, visible from far away.

 

The Mönch lies on the border between the cantons of Valais and Bern, and forms part of a mountain ridge between the Jungfrau and Jungfraujoch to the west, and the Eiger to the east. It is west of Mönchsjoch, a pass at 3,650 metres (11,980 ft), Mönchsjoch Hut, and north of the Jungfraufirn and Ewigschneefäld, two affluents of the Great Aletsch Glacier. The north side of the Mönch forms a step wall above the Lauterbrunnen valley.

 

The Jungfrau railway tunnel runs right under the summit, at an elevation of approximately 3,300 metres (10,830 ft).

 

The summit was first climbed on record on 15 August 1857 by Christian Almer, Christian Kaufmann (1831-1861), Ulrich Kaufmann and Sigismund Porges.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

The Jungfrau (YOONG-frow, German pronunciation: [ˈjʊŋˌfʁaʊ̯], transl. "maiden, virgin"), at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall of mountains overlooking the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Plateau, one of the most distinctive sights of the Swiss Alps.

 

The summit was first reached on August 3, 1811, by the Meyer brothers of Aarau and two chamois hunters from Valais. The ascent followed a long expedition over the glaciers and high passes of the Bernese Alps. It was not until 1865 that a more direct route on the northern side was opened.

 

The construction of the Jungfrau Railway in the early 20th century, which connects Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, the saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, made the area one of the most-visited places in the Alps. Along with the Aletsch Glacier to the south, the Jungfrau is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 2001.

 

Etymology

 

The name Jungfrau ("maiden, virgin"), which refers to the highest of the three prominent mountains overlooking the Interlaken region, along with the Mönch ("monk") and the Eiger ("ogre"), is most likely derived from the name Jungfrauenberg given to Wengernalp, the alpine meadow directly facing the huge northern side of the Jungfrau, across the Trummelbach gorge. Wengernalp was so named for the nuns of Interlaken Monastery, its historical owner. Contrary to popular belief, the name did not originate from the appearance of the snow-covered mountain, the latter looking like a veiled woman.

 

The "virgin" peak was heavily romanticized as "goddess" or "priestess" in late 18th to 19th century Romanticism. Its summit, considered inaccessible, remained untouched until the 19th century. After the first ascent in 1811 by Swiss alpinist Johann Rudolf Meyer, the peak was jokingly referred to as "Mme Meyer" (Mrs. Meyer).

 

Geographic setting

 

Politically, the Jungfrau (and its massif) is split between the municipalities of Lauterbrunnen (Bern) and Fieschertal (Valais). It is the third-highest mountain of the Bernese Alps after the nearby Finsteraarhorn and Aletschhorn, respectively 12 and 8 km (7.5 and 5 mi) away. But from Lake Thun, and the greater part of the canton of Bern, it is the most conspicuous and the nearest of the Bernese Oberland peaks; with a height difference of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) between the summit and the town of Interlaken. This, and the extreme steepness of the north face, secured for it an early reputation for inaccessibility.

 

The Jungfrau is the westernmost and highest point of a gigantic 10 km (6.2 mi) wall dominating the valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. The wall is formed by the alignment of some of the biggest north faces in the Alps, with the Mönch (4,107 m or 13,474 ft) and Eiger (3,967 m or 13,015 ft) to the east of the Jungfrau, and overlooks the valleys to its north by a height of up to 3 km (1.9 mi). The Jungfrau is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) from the Eiger; with the summit of the Mönch between the two mountains, 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from the Jungfrau. The Jungfraujoch is the saddle between the Jungfrau and the Mönch and the Eigerjoch is the saddle between the Mönch and the Eiger. The wall is extended to the east by the Fiescherwand and to the west by the Lauterbrunnen Wall, although it follows different directions from the Jungfrau and the Eiger.

 

The difference of altitude between the deep valley of Lauterbrunnen (800 m or 2,600 ft) and the summit is particularly visible from the area of Mürren. From the valley floor, west of the massif, the altitude gain is more than 3 km (1.9 mi) for a horizontal distance of 4 km (2.5 mi).

 

The landscapes around the Jungfrau are extremely contrasted. In contrast to the vertiginous precipices of its northwest, the mountain's southeastern side emerges from the upper snows of the Jungfraufirn, one of the main feeders of the Aletsch Glacier, at around 3,500 meters (11,500 ft). The 20-kilometer-long (12 mi) valley of Aletsch on the southeast is completely uninhabited, and is surrounded by neighboring valleys with similar landscapes. The area as a whole constitutes the largest glaciated area not just in the Alps, but in Europe as well.

 

Climbing history

 

In 1811, the brothers Johann Rudolf (1768–1825) and Hieronymus Meyer, sons of Johann Rudolf Meyer (1739–1813), the head of a rich merchant family of Aarau, along with several servants and a porter picked up at Guttannen, first reached the Valais by way of the Grimsel, and crossed the Beich Pass, a glacier pass over the Oberaletsch Glacier, to the head of the Lötschen valley. There, they added two local chamois hunters, Alois Volken and Joseph Bortis, to their party and traversed the Lötschenlücke before reaching the Aletschfirn (the west branch of the Aletsch Glacier), where they established the base camp, north of the Aletschhorn. After the Guttannen porter was sent back alone over the Lötschenlücke, the party finally reached the summit of the Jungfrau by the Rottalsattel on August 3. They then recrossed the two passes named to their point of departure in Valais, and went home again over the Grimsel.

 

The journey was a most extraordinary one for the time, and some persons threw doubts at its complete success. To settle these, another expedition was undertaken in 1812. In this the two sons, Rudolf (1791–1833) and Gottlieb (1793–1829), of Johann Rudolf Meyer, played the chief parts. After an unsuccessful attempt, defeated by bad weather, in the course of which the Oberaarjoch was crossed twice (this route being much more direct than the long detour through the Lötschental), Rudolf, with the two Valais hunters (Alois Volker and Joseph Bortis), a Guttannen porter named Arnold Abbühl, and a Hasle man, bivouacked on a depression on the southeast ridge of the Finsteraarhorn. Next day (August 16) the whole party attempted the ascent of the Finsteraarhorn from the Studer névé on the east by way of the southeast ridge, but Meyer, exhausted, remained behind. The following day the party crossed the Grünhornlücke to the Aletsch Glacier, but bad weather then put an end to further projects. At a bivouac, probably just opposite the present Konkordia Hut, the rest of the party, having come over the Oberaarjoch and the Grünhornlücke, joined the Finsteraarhorn party. Gottlieb, Rudolf's younger brother, had more patience than the rest and remained longer at the huts near the Märjelensee, where the adventurers had taken refuge. He could make the second ascent (September 3) of the Jungfrau, the Rottalsattel being reached from the east side as is now usual, and his companions being the two Valais hunters.

 

The third ascent dates from 1828, when several men from Grindelwald, headed by Peter Baumann, planted their flag upon the summit. Next came the ascent by Louis Agassiz, James David Forbes, Heath, Desor, and Duchatelier in 1841, recounted by Desor in his Excursions et Séjours dans les Glaciers. Gottlieb Samuel Studer published an account of the next ascent made by himself and Bürki in 1842.

 

In 1863, a party consisting of three young Oxford University graduates and three Swiss guides successfully reached the summit and returned to the base camp of the Faulberg (located near the present position of the Konkordia Hut) in less than 11 hours (see the section below, The 1863 Ascent). In the same year Mrs Stephen Winkworth became the first woman to climb the Jungfrau. She also slept overnight in the Faulberg cave prior to the ascent as there was no hut at that time.

 

Before the construction of the Jungfraujoch railway tunnel, the approach from the glaciers on the south side was very long. The first direct route from the valley of Lauterbrunnen was opened in 1865 by Geoffrey Winthrop Young, H. Brooke George with the guide Christian Almer. They had to carry ladders with them in order to cross the many crevasses on the north flank. Having spent the night on the rocks of the Schneehorn (3,402 m or 11,161 ft) they gained next morning the Silberlücke, the depression between the Jungfrau and Silberhorn, and thence in little more than three hours reached the summit. Descending to the Aletsch Glacier they crossed the Mönchsjoch, and passed a second night on the rocks, reaching Grindelwald next day. This route became a usual until the opening of the Jungfraujoch.

 

The first winter ascent was made on 23 January 1874, by Meta Brevoort and W. A. B. Coolidge with guides Christian and Ulrich Almer. They used a sled to reach the upper Aletsch Glacier, and were accompanied by Miss Brevoort's favorite dog, Tschingel.

 

The Jungfrau was climbed via the west side for the first time in 1885 by Fritz and Heinrich von Allmen, Ulrich Brunner, Fritz Graf, Karl Schlunegger and Johann Stäger—all from Wengen. They ascended the Rottal ridge (Innere Rottalgrat) and reached the summit on 21 September. The more difficult and dangerous northeast ridge that connects the summit from the Jungfraujoch was first climbed on 30 July 1911 by Albert Weber and Hans Schlunegger.

 

In July 2007, six Swiss Army recruits, part of the Mountain Specialists Division 1, died in an accident on the normal route. Although the causes of the deaths was not immediately clear, a report by the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research concluded that the avalanche risk was unusually high due to recent snowfall, and that there was "no other reasonable explanation" other than an avalanche for the incident.

 

The 1863 Ascent

 

The Führerbuch of the Alpine guide Peter Baumann records an ascent of the Jungfrau made by himself with three men from England in July 1863. The foreign climbers were long thought to have been John Tyndall, J.J. Hornby and T.H. Philpott, until in 1958 the records were checked by the Alpine Club and the following conclusion was reached:

 

On July 23, 1963, Phillpotts, with James Robertson and H.J. Chaytor, climbed the Jungfrau (the entry shown in A.J. 32. 227 was wrongly transcribed by Montagnier, who says ‘T.H. Philpott’ for J.S. Phillpotts). The entry in Peter Baumann’s Führerbuch (facsimile in A.C. archives) says that the trio crossed the Strahlegg Pass and the Oberaarjoch, and then climbed the Jungfrau from the Eggishorn.

 

Tyndall, Hornby and Philpott were well-known Alpinists, but there is no record of their having attempted the Jungfrau in 1863. Robertson, Chaytor and Phillpotts were novices; they had recently graduated from Oxford University where they had all been keen members of the Oxford University Boat Club.

 

William Robertson (1839–1892), the leader of the expedition (wrongly called ‘James’ in the Note quoted above), was an Australian by birth, and the first non-British national to take part in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. He later became a barrister and member of parliament in Australia. He and H.J. Chaytor (possibly the father of the medievalist Henry John Chaytor) were both members of the victorious Oxford team in the 1861 Boat Race. James Surtees Phillpotts (1839–1930) was the third member of the team; he would later become headmaster of Bedford School. The trio had three Swiss guides, Peter Baumann, Peter Kaufmann ("Grabipeter", father of Peter Kaufmann the younger) and Rubi.

 

A description of the ascent of the Jungfrau is contained in a letter dated Sunday 26 July which Phillpotts wrote to his friend Alexander Potts (later to become the first headmaster of Fettes College). The letter is now in the possession of the Alpine Club. The following extracts are from that letter.

 

The Virgin certainly did not smile on the poor "fools who rushed in" on her sacred heights, i.e. in plain British, we had the treadmill slog, the biting wind, the half frost-bitten feet and the flayed faces that generally attend an Alpine ascent.

 

We got to the Faulberg hole about dark, and enjoyed the coffee the longman (Kauffmann) made, as one would in a hole in a rock in a cold evening. The "Faulberg Nachtlager" consists of two holes and a vestibule to the upper hole. The Upper Hole in which we lodged just contained Chay[tor], the Guv [Robertson] and myself, stretched at full length on a little hay over a hard rock mattress, convex instead of concave at the point where one likes to rest one's weight. Chaytor was in the middle, and as we were very close was warm and slept. The Guv and I courted Nature's soft nurse in vain. At two we got up and methodically put our feet into the stocks, i.e. our boots, breakfasted and shivered, then started (unwashed of course, as the cold gave us malignant hydrophobia) a little after 3:30.

 

The hole was about 150 feet [46 m] up one of the loose stone cliffs one now knows so well. So we groped our way down it and over the moraine – the stars still lingering, as day was just dawning. We could not start at 1:30, the proper time, as there was no moon and we wanted light as we had to tramp the glacier at once. Rubi led, and off we went, roped and in Indian file, in the old treadmill way over the slippery plowed-field-like snow that lay on the upper glacier, for a pull without a check of one or two hours.

 

At last we came to the region of bergschrunds and crevasses. They seemed to form at first an impassable labyrinth, but gradually the guides wound in and out between the large rifts, which were exquisitely lovely with their overhanging banks of snow and glittering icicles, and then trod as on pins and needles over a snowbridge here and there, or had to take a jump over the more feasible ones – and we found ourselves at the foot of the mountain; trudged up on the snow which ought to have been crisp but was even then more or less fresh fallen and sloppy; had to creep over about three crevasses, and after a tiresome pull, dragging one leg after another out of ankle or knee deep snow, we got on a crest of snow at right angles to the slope we had just come up. That slope with its crevasses on one side, and on the other a shorter and much steeper one which led in a few steps to a precipice.

 

All along this crest went a snakelike long crevasse, for which we had continually to sound, and go first one side and then the other; then we got to the foot of the saddle. Some twenty or thirty steps, some cut, some uncut, soon took us up a kind of hollow, and we got on a little sloping plateau of some six feet [1.8 m] large, where we left the grub and the knapsack, keeping my small flask of cognac only. Then up a steep ice slope, very steep I should say, down which the bits of ice cut out of the steps hopped and jumped at full gallop and then bounded over to some bottomless place which we could not see down. Their pace gave one an unpleasant idea of the possible consequence of a slip.

 

Here we encountered a biting bitter wind. Peter Baumann cut magnificent steps, at least he and Rubi did between them, the one improving on the other's first rough blows. After Rubi came Chaytor with Kauffmann behind him, then the Guv, and then myself, the tail of the string. Each step was a long lift from the last one, and as the snow was shallow they had to be cut in the ice which was like rock on this last slope.

 

Suddenly there burst upon us, on lifting our heads over the ridge, the green and cheerful valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken, of Grindelwald and a distant view of others equally beautiful stretching on for ever in one vast panorama. On the other side in grim contrast there was a wild and even awful scene. One gazed about one and tried in vain to see to the bottom of dark yawning abysses and sheer cliffs of ice or rock.

 

Tourism

 

Named after the Jungfrau, the Jungfrau Region of the Bernese Oberland is a major tourist destination in the Alps and includes a large number of railways and other facilities. While the mountain peak was once difficult to access, the Jungfrau Railway, a rack railway, now goes to the Jungfraujoch railway station at 3,454 m (11,332 ft), therefore providing an easy access to the upper Aletsch Glacier and a relatively short access to the Jungfrau itself, the height difference between the station and the summit being only 704 metres and the horizontal distance being slightly less than 2 kilometres. As a result, in the popular mind, the Jungfrau has become a mountain associated with the Bernese Oberland and Interlaken, rather than with Upper Valais and Fiesch.

 

In 1893, Adolf Guyer-Zeller conceived of the idea of a railway tunnel to the Jungfraujoch to make the glaciated areas on its south side more accessible. The building of the tunnel took 16 years and the summit station was not opened before 1912. The goal was in fact to reach the summit of the Jungfrau with an elevator from the highest railway station, located inside the mountain. The complete project was not realized because of the outbreak of the World War I. Nevertheless, it was at the time one of the highest railways in the world and remains today the highest in Europe and the only (non-cable) railway on Earth going well past the perennial snow-line.

 

The Jungfrau Railway leaves from Kleine Scheidegg, which can be reached from both sides by trains from Grindelwald, and Lauterbrunnen via Wengen. The train enters the Jungfrau Tunnel running eastward through the Eiger just above Eigergletscher, which is, since 2020, also accessible by aerial tramway from Grindelwald. Before arriving at the Jungfraujoch, it stops for a few minutes at two other stations, Eigerwand (on the north face of the Eiger) and Eismeer (on the south side), where passengers can see through the holes excavated from the mountain. The journey from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch takes approximately 50 minutes including the stops; the downhill return journey taking only 35 minutes.

 

A large complex of tunnels and buildings has been constructed at the Jungfraujoch, referred to as the "Top of Europe". There are several restaurants and bars, shops, multimedia exhibitions, a post office, and a research station with dedicated accommodation facilities. An elevator enables access to the top of the Sphinx and its observatory, at 3,571 m (11,716 ft), the highest viewing platform of the area. Outside, at the level of the Jungfraujoch, there is a ski school, and the "Ice Palace", a collection of elaborate ice sculptures displayed inside the Aletsch Glacier. Another tunnel leads to the east side of the Sphinx, where one can walk on the glacier up to the Mönchsjoch Hut, the only hotel infrastructure in the area.

 

Apart from the Jungfraujoch, many facilities have been built in the Jungfrau Region, including numerous mountain railways. In 1908, the first public cable car in the world, the Wetterhorn Elevator, opened at the foot of the Wetterhorn, but was closed seven years later. The Schilthorn above Mürren, the Männlichen above Wengen, and the Schynige Platte above Wilderswil, offer good views of the Jungfrau and the Lauterbrunnen valley. On the south side, the Eggishorn above Fiesch also offers views of the Jungfrau, across the Aletsch Glacier.

 

Climbing routes

 

The normal route follows the traces of the first climbers, but the long approach on the Aletsch Glacier is no longer necessary. From the area of the Jungfraujoch the route to the summit takes only a few hours. Most climbers start from the Mönchsjoch Hut. After a traverse of the Jungfraufirn the route heads to the Rottalsattel (3,885 m or 12,746 ft), from where the southern ridge leads to the Jungfrau. It is not considered a very difficult climb but it can be dangerous on the upper section above the Rottalsattel, where most accidents happen. The use of the Jungfrau Railway instead of the much more gradual approach from Fiesch (or Fieschertal), via the Konkordia Hut, can cause some acclimatization troubles as the difference of altitude between the railway stations of Interlaken and Jungfraujoch is almost 3 km (1.9 mi).

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Eiger ist ein Berg in den Berner Alpen mit einer Höhe von 3967 m ü. M. Er ist dem Hauptkamm der Berner Alpen etwas nördlich vorgelagert und steht vollständig auf dem Territorium des Schweizer Kantons Bern. Zusammen mit Mönch und Jungfrau, deren Gipfel auf der Grenze zum Kanton Wallis liegen, dominiert der Eiger die Landschaft des zentralen Berner Oberlandes. Die etwa 3000 Meter über dem Tal aufragenden Nordflanken dieser Berge stellen die Schauseite einer der bekanntesten je als ein «Dreigestirn» bezeichneten Gipfel-Dreiergruppen in den Alpen dar.

 

Insbesondere die Nordwand des Eigers fasziniert sowohl Bergsteiger als auch Alpin-Laien. Durch dramatische Begehungsversuche und gelungene Begehungen dieser Wand wurde der Eiger weltweit bekannt und immer wieder ins Blickfeld der Öffentlichkeit gerückt – nicht zuletzt, da die gesamte Wand von Grindelwald und der Bahnstation Kleine Scheidegg aus einsehbar ist. Die Jungfraubahn mit ihrem Tunnel durch den Eigerfels ist seit ihrer Eröffnung im Jahr 1912 ein Touristenmagnet.

 

Namensherkunft

 

Die erste urkundliche Erwähnung des Eigers stammt aus dem Jahre 1252 – dies ist die zweitfrüheste urkundliche Erwähnung eines Schweizer Bergs nach dem Bietschhorn (1233). Am 24. Juli 1252 wurde in einer Verkaufsurkunde zwischen Ita von Wädiswyl und der Propstei Interlaken ein Grundstück mit den Worten «ad montem qui nominatur Egere» (dt.: Bis zum Berg, der Eiger genannt wird) abgegrenzt. Ein halbes Jahrhundert später wird der Eiger in einem Belehnungsbrief erstmals in deutscher Sprache erwähnt: «under Eigere».

 

Für die Herkunft des Namens gibt es drei gängige Erklärungen. Eine erste ist der althochdeutsche Name Agiger oder Aiger, wie der erste Siedler unterhalb des Eigers geheissen haben soll. Der Berg über dessen Weiden wurde deshalb Aigers Geissberg oder auch nur Geissberg genannt. Hieraus entwickelten sich dann im Laufe der Zeit die direkten Vorgänger der heutigen Bezeichnung. Die Herkunft des Namens könnte auch von dem lateinischen Wort acer kommen, woraus sich im Französischen aigu entwickelte. Beide Worte haben die Bedeutung scharf beziehungsweise spitz – in Anlehnung an die Form des Eigers. Die dritte Erklärung stammt von der früher gebräuchlichen Schreibweise Heiger, was sich aus dem Dialektausdruck «dr hej Ger» entwickelt haben könnte (hej bedeutet hoch, Ger war ein germanischer Wurfspiess). Wiederum wäre hier die Form des Eigers ausschlaggebend für seine Bezeichnung.

 

Im Zusammenhang mit dem Eiger wird auch des Öfteren die Namensähnlichkeit mit dem Oger, einem menschenähnlichen Unhold, genannt. In Anlehnung an das Dreigestirn «Eiger–Mönch–Jungfrau» gibt es die Erzählung, der Unhold Eiger wolle seine lüsternen Pranken auf die Jungfrau legen, woran er aber vom fröhlichen Mönch gehindert werde. Zu dieser Geschichte sind in Grindelwald alte Karikaturen und neuere Postkarten zu kaufen.

 

Lage und Umgebung

 

Der Eiger erhebt sich direkt südwestlich von Grindelwald (Amtsbezirk Interlaken). Die bekannte Nordwand ist genaugenommen eine Nordwestwand. Neben dieser existiert in der berühmten «Eiger-Nordansicht» auch noch die Nordostwand. Sie bildet die Basis für den scharfen Mittellegigrat, der vom Unteren Grindelwaldgletscher zum Gipfel zieht. Auf der gegenüberliegenden Seite begrenzt der Westgrat die Nordwand. Ihm folgt die Westflanke, in welcher sich der Eigergletscher und der Klein Eiger befinden. An diesen schliessen sich der Südwestgrat und noch ein Stück östlicher der Südgrat an, der wiederum die Südostwand begrenzt, welche bis zum Mittellegigrat reicht. Südöstlich des Eigers liegt der Grindelwald-Fieschergletscher.

 

In der Umgebung des Eigers befinden sich einige Viertausender des Aarmassivs. Im Osten ist er umgeben von Schreckhorn (4078 m ü. M.) und Lauteraarhorn (4042 m ü. M.), im Südosten vom Grossen Fiescherhorn (4049 m ü. M.), und im Südwesten ist der Mönch (4107 m ü. M.) durch das Nördliche und Südliche Eigerjoch vom Eiger getrennt. Zusammen mit dem Mönch und der Jungfrau (4158 m ü. M.) bildet der Eiger das «Dreigestirn», bei dem der Eiger den nordöstlichen und die Jungfrau den südwestlichen Endpunkt bildet. Entgegen der steil abfallenden Nordseite des Berges befindet sich im Süden des Eigers die Hochfläche und Gletscherwelt der Berner Alpen. Seit Ende 2001 gehört der Eiger zum Gebiet des UNESCO-Weltnaturerbes Schweizer Alpen Jungfrau-Aletsch.

 

Geologie

 

Der Eiger ist ein Teil des helvetischen Systems, das im Grossraum um den Thunersee die Decken des Alpennordrandes bildet. In einer späten Phase der alpidischen Gebirgsfaltung wurden die helvetischen Kalk-Sedimente von ihrer kristallinen Basis abgeschürft und in Form einer Abscherungsdecke nach Nordwesten verschoben. Während des Faltungsprozesses in der Alpenentstehung brachen die Kalkbänke auf und Kluft- sowie Faltensysteme entstanden, die später mit ausgefälltem Calcit geschlossen wurden. Wichtigste Bestandteile der Sedimente sind der Schrattenkalk der Kreidezeit und der Malmkalk. Als Füll- und Schmiermaterial dienten Mergel und Tonschiefer.

 

Die klar erkennbare Faltung des Helvetikums mit seinen gebänderten, plattigen Kalkschichten zeigt sich auch am Eiger. Das Massiv des Eigers besteht komplett aus Kalk der helvetischen Zone und schliesst die Flyschschichten und die Molasse des Grindelwaldbeckens steil nach Süden hin ab. Weil der Talkessel von Grindelwald so reich gegliedert ist, finden hier die verschiedensten Tiere einen Lebensraum.[6] Südlich des Eigers schliesst sich das Aarmassiv mit seinem Innertkirchner-Lauterbrunner-Kristallin an. Teilweise hat sich dieses über die Sedimente des Eiger geschoben. Im Bereich des Mönchs treffen die Sedimente auf Altkristallin. Die typischen Gesteine des helvetischen Systems im Bereich des Eigers entstanden während des Jura, dem mittleren Zeitabschnitts des Mesozoikums. Der vorherrschende Kalk ist dabei mit verschiedenen Gesteinen durchmischt. Es zeigen sich Mergel-Kalke und -Schiefer, Ton-Schiefer, Eisenoolith sowie kalkige Sandsteine.

 

Die Kalkschichten des Eigers lagern auf Gneis und sind um 60–70° nach Norden geneigt. Geprägt wurde die heutige Form des Eigers durch die Eiszeiten. Während der Riss-Kaltzeit reichte die Vergletscherung bis an den Fuss der Nordwand. In der Würm-Kaltzeit war die Mächtigkeit des Eises um 200 Meter geringer. Durch die Bewegung der Gletscher wurde die Erdoberfläche umgestaltet. Vom Eis überlagerte Landschaften wurden abgeschliffen, wohingegen unbedeckte Bereiche durch Verwitterung und andere Formen der Erosion verändert wurden. Mit dem Rückzug des Eises änderten sich auch die Druckverhältnisse im Gestein, was sich durch Entlastungsbewegungen formgebend auswirkte. Prägend für den Eiger und seine Form war die allseitige Umlagerung von Eismassen, welche für einen recht gleichmässigen und markanten Abrieb aller Wände sorgte. Darüber hinaus war die Nordwand durch ihre Exposition den Abtragungsprozessen wie Frostverwitterung mehr ausgesetzt.

 

Felssturz

 

2006 ereignete sich am Eiger ein grosser Bergsturz, der öffentliches Interesse auf sich zog. An der Ostseite des Berges, unterhalb des Mittellegigrates, war durch Felsbewegungen ein rund 250 Meter langer Spalt entstanden, der eine Breite von etwa 7 Metern erreichte.Danach senkten sich die äusseren Teile mehrere Zentimeter pro Tag ab. Eine Ursache dieser Felsabspaltung könnte sowohl das massive Eindringen von Schmelzwasser in den Felsen gewesen sein, als auch eine Instabilität des Gesteins durch den Rückgang des Gletschers unterhalb des Felsabbruchs infolge der globalen Erwärmung. Am 13. Juli 2006 um 19:24 Uhr stürzten rund 500'000 Kubikmeter Felsbrocken auf den Unteren Grindelwaldgletscher. Über der Gemeinde Grindelwald schwebte stundenlang eine Staubwolke. Bereits am Nachmittag desselben Tages war die sogenannte «Madonna vom Eiger» zu Tal gestürzt. Hierbei handelte es sich um einen ungefähr 30 Meter hohen schlanken Felsturm mit rund 600 Kubikmeter Volumen.

 

Seit diesen Ereignissen wird die Felsnase (Gesamtvolumen: ungefähr eine Million Kubikmeter Gestein), aus der die Gesteinsmasse abbrach, von der Universität Lausanne beobachtet. Die Beobachtungen ergaben, dass sich die Nase von Juli 2007 bis August 2008 auf einer nach Osten geneigten Gleitfläche um 15 Meter talwärts bewegte. Zusätzlich kippte die Gesteinsmasse um zwei Grad nach Nordosten. Die Kluft zwischen Berg und Felsbrocken betrug im August 2008 50 Meter. Immer wieder brechen Gesteinsteile ab und stürzen zu Tal. Gebremst und stabilisiert wird die Masse vom Gletschereis, in das die Felsnase gleitet. Dies verhindert, dass die Nase als kompakte Masse zu Tal stürzt. So gilt es als wahrscheinlicher, dass der Gesteinsblock in sich selbst zusammenfallen wird.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Mönch ist ein 4107 m ü. M. hoher Berg der Berner Alpen in der Schweiz. Zusammen mit dem Eiger und der Jungfrau bildet er eine markante, von weit her sichtbare Dreiergruppe, ein sogenanntes „Dreigestirn“.

 

Seine Erstbesteigung fand am 15. August 1857 durch Christian Almer, Christian Kaufmann, Ulrich Kaufmann und Sigismund Porges statt.

 

Südöstlich des Mönch liegt die Mönchsjochhütte, eine 3657 m ü. M. hoch gelegene Berghütte wenig oberhalb des oberen Mönchsjochs, das den Mönch vom Trugberg trennt.

 

Höhenbestimmung

 

1935 wurde die Höhe des Mönchs mit 4099 m ü. M. bestimmt. Diese Zahl ist noch heute häufig in der Literatur zu finden. 1993 ergaben jedoch Messungen per Luftfotogrammetrie eine Höhe von 4107 m ü. M.. Daraufhin wurde der Wert auf der Landeskarte der Schweiz korrigiert. Mit einer Messung per GPS ermittelte man 1997 eine Höhe von 4109,4 m ü. M.; und bei einer erneuten luftfotogrammetrischen Messung von 1999 resultierte sogar eine Höhe von 4110 m ü. M.. Diese neuen Messwerte wurden jedoch nicht auf den amtlichen Karten berücksichtigt. Für diese abweichenden Werte sind nicht nur Messfehler verantwortlich, sondern auch die Tatsache, dass der Mönch eine Kuppe aus Firn besitzt, welche in den letzten Jahren gewachsen ist.

 

Name

 

Am Fusse des Mönchs befinden sich Alpweiden, auf welchen früher Wallache, sogenannte „Münche“, gesömmert wurden. So hat man den über den Münchenalpen gelegenen Berg Münchenberg genannt und schliesslich nur noch Münch oder Mönch.

 

Routen

 

Südarm des Ostgrates (Normalroute)

 

Schwierigkeit: ZS-, mit II. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei

Zeitaufwand: 2½–3½ Std. von der Mönchsjochhütte, 3–4 Std. vom Jungfraujoch

Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m ü. M.)

Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)

 

Südwestgrat

 

Schwierigkeit: ZS-, mit III-. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei

Zeitaufwand: 3–4 Stunden

Ausgangspunkt: Jungfraujoch (3454 m ü. M.)

Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)

 

Nordostarm des Ostgrates

 

Schwierigkeit: ZS, mit III+. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei

Zeitaufwand: 4–5 Stunden

Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m ü. M.)

Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)

 

Nordostgrat

 

Schwierigkeit: ZS

Zeitaufwand: 4–5 Stunden

Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m ü. M.)

Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)

 

Nordwestbollwerk (Nollen)

 

Schwierigkeit: S

Zeitaufwand: 6–10 Stunden

Ausgangspunkt: Guggihütte (2791 m ü. M.)

Talort: Kleine Scheidegg (2061 m ü. M.)

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Die Jungfrau ist ein Berg in der Schweiz. Sie ist mit 4158 m ü. M. der dritthöchste Berg der Berner Alpen und bildet zusammen mit Eiger und Mönch eine markante Dreiergruppe, ein sogenanntes «Dreigestirn».

 

Am 13. Dezember 2001 wurde die Jungfrau zusammen mit südlich angrenzenden Gebieten als Schweizer Alpen Jungfrau-Aletsch in die Liste als UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe aufgenommen.

 

Lage und Umgebung

 

Über den Jungfrau-Gipfel verläuft die Grenze zwischen den Kantonen Bern und Wallis. Der Berg ist ausserordentlich vielgestaltig. Im Norden und Nordwesten, auf ihrer „weiblichen“ Schauseite (vgl. Foto) sind ihr Wengen-Jungfrau, Schneehorn, das Silberhorn, das Chly Silberhoren und der „Schwarzmönch“ vorgelagert sowie die zerrissenen Kühlauenen- und Giessengletscher. Im Westen erhebt sie sich fast eisfrei volle 3250 Meter über dem hinteren Lauterbrunnental. Es ist dies (nach dem Mont Blanc) der zweithöchste direkte Abhang in den Alpen. Ihre Südwand erhebt sich über dem versteckten Rottalgletscher und ihre Ostwand über den Firnen am Jungfraujoch.

 

Die Pläne, auf die Jungfrau eine Bergbahn zu bauen, wurden aufgrund finanzieller Schwierigkeiten nicht realisiert. Die ursprünglich bis unter den Gipfel geplante Jungfraubahn wurde bis 1912 mit Endstation Jungfraujoch fertiggestellt.

 

Auf dem untersten Absatz des Nordostgrats haben die PTT einen Funk-Umsetzer auf 3777 m ü. M. installiert.

 

Geologie

 

Die Jungfrau liegt im nördlichen Randbereich des Aarmassivs, eines der sogenannten Zentralmassive der Schweizer Alpen. Ihre höheren Lagen (Silberhorn, Wengen-Jungfrau und Hauptgipfel) sowie ihre Westflanke bis hinunter zum oberen Ende des Lauterbrunnentals sind weit überwiegend aus kristallinem Grundgebirge (prä-triassische Gneise, Glimmerschiefer u. ä.) der Helvetischen Zone aufgebaut. Die Nordwestflanke hingegen, der ganze «Vorbau» (Schwarzmönch, Rotbrett und Schneehorn) besteht aus sedimentärem, überwiegend jurassischem und kretazischem Deckgebirge des Helvetikums. Eine Besonderheit der Jungfrau ist, dass dort zwischen dem prinzipiell autochthonen Gipfel-Kristallin und dessen Deckschichten ein Überschiebungs-kontakt besteht; somit ist das Grundgebirge geringfügig auf sein Deckgebirge überschoben worden.

 

Name

 

Der Name Jungfrau dürfte sich von der Wengernalp am Fusse des Berges ableiten, die – nach den Besitzerinnen, den Nonnen vom Kloster Interlaken – früher Jungfrauenberg genannt wurde. Einer anderen Quelle zufolge leitet sich der Name vom Aussehen des Nordhanges des Berges ab, der aus der Ferne dem Schleier eines Mädchens ähneln soll.

 

Nach dem Berg ist die Jungfrau-Region benannt, die Tourismusorganisation der Orte Grindelwald, Wengen, Mürren und Lauterbrunnen, ausserdem die Jungfraubahn Holding AG, die neben der Jungfraubahn selbst auch die anderen Bergbahnen in der Region betreibt.

 

Besteigungsgeschichte

 

Bergsteiger auf dem Gipfel im Jahr 1878

Erstbesteiger waren Johann Rudolf Meyer und sein Bruder Hieronymus mit den Führern Joseph Bortis und Alois Volken, die am 3. August 1811 vom Lötschental her den Berg von Süden erklommen hatten. Sie folgten ungefähr der heutigen Normalroute. Der Volksmund taufte daraufhin die bis dahin unberührte Jungfrau «Madame Meyer».

 

1874 erfolgte die Winter-Erstbesteigung durch die Alpinistin Margaret Claudia Brevoort.

 

Die Jungfrau gilt, obwohl leicht erreichbar, als unfallträchtiger Berg. Bei einem der schwersten Unglücke stürzten am 12. Juli 2007 sechs Rekruten der Gebirgsspezialisten-Rekrutenschule Andermatt vom Rottalsattel 1000 Meter auf den darunterliegenden Rottalgletscher in den Tod, nachdem sie eine Lawine ausgelöst hatten. Das urteilende Militärgericht ging von einem falsch eingeschätzten, heimtückischen Lawinenrisiko aus und sprach in der Folge die verantwortlichen Bergführer frei.

 

Routen

 

Rottalsattel und Südostgrat (Normalroute)

 

Schwierigkeit: ZS-

Zeitaufwand: 4–5 Std. von der Mönchsjochhütte, 3½–4½ Std. vom Jungfraujoch

Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m)

Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m)

 

Innere Rottalgrat

 

Schwierigkeit: ZS

Zeitaufwand: 6–7 Stunden

Ausgangspunkt: Rottalhütte (2755 m)

Talort: Stechelberg (919 m)

 

Nordwestgrat oder „Rotbrettgrat“

 

Schwierigkeit: S

Zeitaufwand: 8–12 Stunden

Ausgangspunkt: Silberhornhütte (2663 m)

Talort: Stechelberg (919 m)

 

Nordostgrat

 

Schwierigkeit: S+, mit IV. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei

Zeitaufwand: 8–10 Stunden

Ausgangspunkt: Jungfraujoch (3454 m)

Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m)

 

Kunst

 

Erwähnt ist die Jungfrau unter anderem bei Friedrich Schiller, Wilhelm Tell, Vers 628 (1804). Lord Byrons Drama Manfred (1817) spielt am Fuss und auf dem Gipfel des Massivs. Ferdinand Hodler hat die Jungfrau mehrfach gemalt, darunter die perspektivisch verfremdete «Jungfrau über dem Nebelmeer». Alex Diggelmann gab 1958 eine Lithographienmappe unter dem Titel Die Jungfrau, mein Berg heraus. Stephan Bundi gestaltete 2005 eine Schweizer Gedenkmünze mit dem Bergmotiv.

 

Im Januar 2012 wurde zum 100-jährigen bestehen der Jungfraubahn eine übergrosse Schweizer Flagge vom Lichtkünstler Gerry Hofstetter an den Gipfel projiziert. Zeitweise waren neben dem Schweizer Kreuz auch ein Porträt des Zürcher Unternehmers Adolf Guyer-Zeller sowie ein Bild von einem der Züge zu sehen.

 

(Wikipedia)

One of the more notable architectural features of the Chapel is the "Apprentice Pillar, or "Prentice Pillar". Originally called the "Prince's Pillar" (in the 1778 document An Account of the Chapel of Roslin) the name morphed over time due to a legend dating from the 18th century, involving the master mason in charge of the stonework in the chapel and his young apprentice mason. According to the legend, the master mason did not believe that the apprentice could perform the complicated task of carving the column without seeing the original which formed the inspiration for the design.

The master mason travelled to see the original himself, but upon his return was enraged to find that the upstart apprentice had completed the column by himself. In a fit of jealous anger, the master mason took his mallet and struck the apprentice on the head, killing him. The legend concludes that as punishment for his crime, the master mason's face was carved into the opposite corner to forever gaze upon his apprentice's pillar. There is, however, no evidence that any such murder took place.

On the architrave joining the pillar there is an inscription, Forte est vinum fortior est rex fortiores sunt mulieres super omnia vincit veritas: "Wine is strong, a king is stronger, women are stronger still, but truth conquers all".

The author Henning Klovekorn has proposed that the pillar is representative of one of the roots of the Nordic Yggdrasil tree, prominent in Germanic and Norse mythology. He compares the dragons at the base of the pillar to the dragons found eating away at the base of the Yggdrasil root and, pointing out that at the top of the pillar is carved tree foliage, argues that the Nordic/Viking association is plausible considering the many auxiliary references in the chapel to Celtic and Norse mythology. The general form of the pillar has been related to a type described by the French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc as a "bunch of sausages."

A full-size plaster cast of the Apprentice Pillar and the adjacent bay of the chapel was made in 1871, and is in the Cast Courts of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Oribi Loop

 

Burchell's Zebra

 

Steppenzebra

 

Golden Gate Highlands National Park is located in Free State, South Africa, near the Lesotho border. It covers an area of 340 km2 (130 sq mi). The park's most notable features are its golden, ochre, and orange-hued, deeply eroded sandstone cliffs and outcrops, especially the Brandwag rock. Another feature of the area is the numerous caves and shelters displaying San rock paintings. Wildlife featured at the park includes mongooses, eland, zebras, and over 100 bird species. It is the Free State's only national park, and is more famous for the beauty of its landscape than for its wildlife. Numerous paleontology finds have been made in the park, including dinosaur eggs and skeletons.

 

"Golden Gate" refers to the sandstone cliffs found on either side of the valley at the Golden Gate dam. In 1875, a farmer called J.N.R. van Reenen and his wife stopped here as they travelled to their new farm in Vuurland. He named the location "Golden Gate" when he saw the last rays of the setting sun fall on the cliffs.

 

In 1963, 47.92 km2 (11,840 acres) were proclaimed as a national park, specifically to preserve the scenic beauty of the area. In 1981, the park was enlarged to 62.41 km2 (15,420 acres), and in 1988, it was enlarged to 116.33 km2 (28,750 acres). In 2004, the park was announced to be joining with the neighbouring QwaQwa National Park. The amalgamation of QwaQwa National Park was completed in 2007, increasing the park's area to 340 km2 (84,000 acres).

 

The park is 320 km (200 mi) from Johannesburg and is close to the villages of Clarens and Kestell, in the upper regions of the Little Caledon River. The park is situated in the Rooiberge of the eastern Free State, in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains. The Caledon River forms the southern boundary of the park, as well as the border between the Free State and Lesotho. The highest peak in the park (and also in the Free State) is Ribbokkop at 2,829 m (9,281 ft) above sea level.

 

The park is located in the eastern highveld region of South Africa, and experiences a dry, sunny climate from June to August. It has showers, hail, and thunderstorms between October and April. It has thick snowfalls in the winter. The park has a relatively high rainfall of 800 mm (31 in) per year.

 

The park is an area of rich highveld and montane grassland flora. It has more than 60 grass species and a large variety of bulbs and herbs. Each of these species has its own flowering time, meaning that veld flowers can be seen throughout the summer. The park also has Afromontane forests and high-altitude Austro-Afro alpine grassland, which is scarce in South Africa. The ouhout (Leucosidea sericea), an evergreen species, is the most common tree in the park. Ouhout is a favourite habitat of beetles and 117 species occur on these trees in the park. The Lombardi poplars and weeping willows in the park are introduced species, but are kept because of their cultural and historic connection with the eastern Free State. Other exotic species in the park, for example wattle and bluegum, are systematically eradicated.

 

Instead of reintroducing one of the "big five" into the park, the sungazer lizard and water mongoose were reintroduced. Twelve species of mice, 10 species of carnivores, and 10 antelope species have been recorded in the park. The grey rhebuck and the mountain reedbuck were present when the park was established.

 

The geology of the park provides very visual "textbook" examples of Southern Africa's geological history. The sandstone formations in the park form the upper part of the Karoo Supergroup. These formations were deposited during a period of aeolian deposition towards the end of the Triassic Period. At the time of deposition, the climate of the area the park covers was becoming progressively drier until arid desert conditions set in, resulting in a land of dunes and sandy desert, with occasional scattered oases. The deposition of the sandstones ended when lava flowed out over the desert 190 million years ago.

 

The following sequence of geological formations is visible in the park (starting from the bottom): the Molteno Formation, Elliott Formation, Clarens Formation, and Drakensberg Formation. The yellow-brown Golden Gate and Brandwag cliffs are made up of the Clarens formation. The layers in this formation are 140 to 160 m (460 to 520 ft) thick. The Drakensberg formation comprises the basaltic lava that flowed over the desert. It forms the mountain summits in the park. On Ribbokkop, it is 600 m (2,000 ft) thick. The Elliot Formation is a red mudstone where many dinosaur fossils have been found.

 

The oldest dinosaur embryos ever discovered were found in the park in 1978. The eggs were from the Triassic Period (220 to 195 million years ago) and had fossilised foetal skeletons of Massospondylus, a prosauropod dinosaur. More examples of these eggs have since been found in the park. Other fossils found in the park include those of advanced cynodontia (canine toothed animals), small thecodontia (animals with teeth set firmly in the jaw), and bird-like and crocodile-like dinosaurs.

 

Accommodation in the park is available at Glen Reenen and Brandwag Rest camps. Caravan and camp sites with all amenities are available at Glen Reenen camp. The hotel was formerly part of Brandwag camp, but since its recent refurbishment, it is managed separately by SANParks as Golden Gate Hotel. The nearest town to Golden Gate Highlands National Park is Clarens (17 km to the west), but Phuthaditjhaba is also easily reached by a good tar road, driving through the access gate to the east of the park.

 

This park will be included into the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area, Peace Park.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Burchell's zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) is a southern subspecies of the plains zebra. It is named after the British explorer and naturalist William John Burchell. Common names include the bontequagga, Damaraland zebra, and Zululand zebra (Gray, 1824). Burchell's zebra is the only subspecies of zebra which may be legally farmed for human consumption.

 

Like most plains zebras, females and males are relatively the same size, standing 1.1 to 1.4 meters (3.75 to 4.6 feet) at the shoulder. They weigh between 485 to 550 pounds. Year-round reproduction observed in this subspecies in Etosha National Park, Namibia, concludes synchronization of a time budget between males and females, possibly explaining the lack of sexual dimorphism.

 

Damara zebras are described as being striped on the head, the neck, and the flanks, and sparsely down the upper segments of the limbs then fading to white. One or two shadow stripes rest between the bold, broad stripes on the haunch. This main, distinguishing characteristic sets the Zuzuland Zebra apart from the other subspecies. Gray (1824), observed a distinct dorsal line, the tail only bristly at the end, and the body distinctly white. The dorsal line is narrow and becomes gradually broader in the hinder part, distinctly margined with white on each side.

 

Like most plains zebras, Burchells live in small family groups. These can be either harem or bachelor groups, with harem groups consisting of one stallion and one to six mares and their most recent foals, and bachelor groups containing two to eight unattached stallions. The males in bachelor herds are often the younger or older stallions of the population, as they are most likely not experienced enough or strong enough to defend breeding rights to a group of females from challengers. These small groups often congregate together in larger herds around water and food sources, but still maintain their identity as family units while in the population gatherings.

 

Formerly, the Burchell's zebra range was centered north of the Vaal/Orange river system, extending northwest via southern Botswana to Etosha and the Kaokoveld, and southeast to Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal. Now extinct in the middle portion, it survives at the northwestern and southeastern ends of the distribution.

 

Burchell's zebra migrates the longest distance of any terrestrial animal in Africa, traveling 160 miles one way. They migrate from the Chobe River in Namibia to Nxai Pan National Park in Botswana. Their migration follows a straight north–south route almost entirely within the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA).

 

Like other plains zebras, Burchell's zebras must have populated the African plains in impressive numbers. Associations of thousands have been reported. The wild herds were thought to have disappeared by 1910, and the last known captive individual died in the Berlin Zoo in 1918. As European settlement spread northward from the Cape to colonial southern Rhodesia, this subspecies was thought to have been hunted to extinction.

 

However, Groves and Bell concluded in their 2004 publication that "the extinct true Burchell's zebra" is a phantom. Careful study of the original zebra populations in Zululand and Swaziland, and of skins harvested on game farms in Zululand and Natal, has revealed that a certain small proportion shows similarity to what now is regarded as typical burchellii. The type localities of the two subspecies Equus quagga burchellii (Burchell's zebra) and Equus quagga antiquorum (Damaraland zebra) are so close to each other that they suggest that the two are in fact one, and therefore the older of the two names should take precedence over the younger. They therefore say that the correct name for the southernmost subspecies must be burchellii, not antiquorum.[9] The subspecies Equus quagga burchellii still exists in KwaZulu-Natal and in Etosha. Equus quagga burchellii can be found in a number of zoos in the United States including the following: the Cincinnati Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Naples Zoo, Nashville Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, etc.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Golden-Gate-Highlands-Nationalpark (englisch Golden Gate Highlands National Park) liegt in Südafrika, im Südosten des Freistaates nahe der Grenze zu Lesotho, und zeichnet sich besonders durch seine malerischen Felslandschaften aus. Orange oder ocker gefärbte Sandsteinfelsen ragen über das bergige Grasland auf. Außerdem gibt es Felsmalereien der San.

 

Der nördliche Eingang zum Park liegt bei dem Künstlerdorf Clarens.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Das Steppenzebra (Equus quagga) oder Pferdezebra ist ein Zebra aus der Familie der Pferde (Equidae) und gehört zur Ordnung der Unpaarhufer (Perissodactyla). Es stellt heute die häufigste Zebra-Art in Afrika dar und ist vom Nordosten bis in den Süden des Kontinents verbreitet. Es lebt gesellig in kleinen Herdenverbänden und ernährt sich hauptsächlich von Gräsern. Im Gegensatz zu den anderen heutigen Pferdearten kommt es auch in teilweise geschlossenen Landschaften vor. Der Bestand, dessen größte Population heute in der Serengeti lebt, gilt als nicht gefährdet. Es werden sechs rezente Unterarten unterschieden, die sich meistens deutlich in der Streifenzeichnung voneinander abheben.

 

(Wikipedia)

IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE

 

Dins de les nombroses càmeres produides per la URSS n'hi ha moltes que foren copies més o menys flagrants de models occidentals, sobretot alemans. Però hi ha algunes notables excepcions, mostrant la seva capacitat per crear càmeres de gran qualitat, com a mínim fins els anys 60.

 

La Leningrad fou un dels disenys sovietics més unics, i plenament autocton. Produida per GOMZ a la mateixa ciutat que li dona nom (la actual Sant Petersburg), la Leningrad era una càmera telemetrica de 35mm amb motor de molla. Es a dir, que el obturador de pla focal era semi-automatic, mogut per una gran molla situada en el tambor de dalt a l'esquerra; es poden arribar a fer unes 3 fotos per segon, amb traça. Per desgracia, la complexitat d'aquesta càmera la feia procliu a les averies, i moltes de les que es poden trobar no funcionen. El sistema de telemetria també és molt complexe, emprant prismes, i no miralls, el que dona un visor de gran lluminositat i qualitat.

 

Aquest exemplar fou fabricat el 1958-59, i venia amb un objectiu Jupiter-8 f2 / 50mm del 1957. L'obturador funciona molt be, i amb un so fantastic. Talment com un fusell semiautomatic!!

 

Però el més unic d'aquesta càmera en concret és que porta una inscripció en ciril·lic honrant al propietari, pel que fou un regal força especial.

 

En primer lloc parlem de la inscripció, en ciril·lic cursiu i que he traduit com he pogut gràcies a internet:

 

"1972р

П/П Садовникову ВП

от офицеров -

сослуживцев

о. Сахалин

май"

 

Es a dir: " A 1972, per a "P/P" Sadovnikov V.P., dels companys oficials, illa de Sakhalin, maig".

 

Obviament és una càmera regalada a un oficial del exercit sovietic pels seus companys, tots plegats part de la guarnició de la illa de Sakhalin, al nord del Japó. La Leningrad era una de les càmeres de més gran qualitat de la URSS tot i que ja fabricada feia uns 12 anys. Per tant era un regal de força prestigi. L'homenatjat és cert V. P. Sadovnikov, clarament oficial sovietic ell mateix.

 

Altres elements no tant clars son el inici i el final del text. Aquest acaba amb el mot "maig", que només sé interpretar com que li fou regalada el 1 de Maig, cosa molt lògica en el món sovietic i encara més dins l'exèrcit, ja que era un dia de desfilades i celebracions. Més dificil de veure'n el significat és l'abreviació П/П, es a dir, P.P. Tot i que no ho he pogut confirmar, potser fa referencia al rang sovietic de tinent coronel, ja que aquest era podpolkovnik (подполко́вник), i pp sembla una abreviació lògica.

 

El més curios del cas es que he trobat un oficial sovietic (i després ucraines) que correspon a aquest noms i cognom: Valentin Pavlovitx Sadovnikov (Валентин Павлович Садовников). Es tracta d'un general nascut el 1938. El 1979 comandà la 42 divisió cuirassada. Entre el 1983 i el 1985 comandà el 8e Exercit Cuirassat!! Després es retirà. Sembla agossarat, però el cognom i el patronimic coindiceixen plenament. Podria ser que aquest oficial fos tinent coronel a Sakhalin el 1972 i que 7 anys més tard hagues ascendit fins a general-major? Ah...

 

www.sovietcams.com/index.php?-398124798

 

www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/camera-11017-Gomz_Leni...

 

www.ww2.dk/new/army/armies/8ta.htm

 

uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B...

 

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Among the many cameras produced by the USSR are many that were more or less blatant copies of western models, especially German ones. But there are some notable exceptions, showing their ability to create high-quality cameras, at least until the 1960's.

 

The Leningrad was one of the most unique and fully indigenous Soviet designs. Produced by GOMZ in it's namesake city (now St. Petersburg), the Leningrad was a 35mm spring-loaded rangefinder camera. That is, the focal plane shutter automatically advanced, driven by a large spring located on the upper left drum; You can get about 3 photos per second, but pushing the release everytime. Unfortunately, the complexity of this camera made it prone to breakdowns, and many of those that can be found do not work. The rangefinder system is also very complex, using prisms, not mirrors, which gives a high-quality, high-brightness viewfinder.

 

This specific camera was manufactured in 1958-59, and came with a 1952 KMZ Jupiter-8 f2 / 50mm lens. I'ts in perfect condition, almost as new. The shutter works very well, and it has a fantastic sound. Such as a semi-automatic rifle !!

 

But the most unique thing about this particular camera is that it has a Cyrillic inscription on top of the spring drum, honoring the owner, so it was a very special gift.

 

First we talk about the inscription, in cursive Cyrillic and that I have translated as I could thanks to the internet:

 

"1972р

П/П Садовникову ВП

от офицеров -

сослуживцев

о. Сахалин

май"

 

That is: "In 1972, for P./P. Sadovnikov V.P., from his fellow officers, Sakhalin Island, May."

 

It is obviously a camera given as a present to a Soviet army officer by his colleagues, all from the garrison of Sakhalin Island in northern Japan. The Leningrad was one of the highest quality cameras in the USSR, although this was manufactured about 12 years before 1972. Therefore it was a gift of great prestige. The owner is V.P. Sadovnikov, clearly a Soviet officer himself.

 

Other elements not so clear are the beginning and the end of the text. This ends with the word "May", which I can only interpret as the present being given on May 1, which is quite logical in the Soviet world and even more so in the army, as it was a day of parades and celebrations. The most difficult to see the meaning of is the abbreviation П / П, that is, P.P. Although I have not been able to confirm this, it may refer to the Soviet rank of Lieutenant Colonel, as this was a podpolkovnik (подполко́вник), and pp seems like a logical abbreviation.

 

The interesting question here is that I have come across a Soviet official who corresponds to this name and surname: Valentin Pavlovich Sadovnikov (Валентин Павлович Садовников). This is a major-general born in 1938. In 1979 he comanded the 42th Armoured Division, and between 1983 and 1985 he commanded the 8th Armored Army!! Then he retired. It seems bold, but the surname and patronymic fully coincide with the person receiving this camera. Could it be that this officer was a lieutenant colonel in Sakhalin in 1972 and that 11 years later he had promoted to general and commanded an armored corps? Ah ...

 

www.mikeeckman.com/2018/10/gomz-leningrad-1956/

 

www.sovietcams.com/index.php?-398124798

 

www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/camera-11017-Gomz_Leni...

 

www.ww2.dk/new/army/armies/8ta.htm

 

uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B...

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2OCG0rnrTE

 

Restormel Castle lies by the River Fowey near Lostwithiel in Cornwall, England, UK. It is one of the four chief Norman castles of Cornwall, the others being Launceston, Tintagel and Trematon. The castle is notable for its perfectly circular design. Although once a luxurious residence of the Earl of Cornwall, the castle was all but ruined by the 16th century. It was briefly reoccupied and fought over during the English Civil War but was subsequently abandoned. Now in the care of English Heritage, it is open to the public.

The late afternoon sun bathed Heidelberg Castle as seen from across the Neckar River.

 

Castle construction began in the 13th century, but the most notable work was done in the Renaissance.

 

The majestic palace sits prominently on a hill overlooking historic Heidelberg. Schloss Heidelberg has inspired poets for centuries. It is a huge tourist attraction and located on a spur called Jettenbühl on the northern slope of the Königstuhl mountain with splendid views over the Neckar valley and the old town of Heidelberg.

 

History of Heidelberg Castle starts in early 1200s when documents started mentioning presence of castle in the location of the Heidelberg city.

 

The first time the castle was attacked was during the destructive Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in which European Protestant States fought against Roman Catholic States and caused death of over 8 million people.

 

During this war, Frederick V left the castle undefended, which enabled General Tilly (commander of the Catholic League's forces) to capture the castle defenses in 1622.

 

After that siege the castle was involved in several more skirmishes before the end of the war.

 

Castle Heidelberg was also a part of the Nine Years' War between France and Grand Alliance when Germany was a part of Holy Roman Empire.

 

During that war the French took hold of the deserted castle in 1688, and retreated from it in 1689 while setting it on fire and destroying its fortifications and defensive structures.

 

In the decades after this war, the castle remained in ruin and only the most basic maintenance functions were performed.

 

Salvation of the castle came not from nobles, royals and German politicians, but from artists, who started painting and promoting the castle across Europe, getting the castle vocal support from several European lords, most notably French count Charles de Graimberg.

 

In the second part of 19th century, German poets and historians started arguing for expensive complete restoration, that finally happened between 1897 and 1900. During this period the castle became more and more famous, and tourists Europe and North America started visiting it in ever increasing numbers.

Early newspaper articles capture notable events around Ouray. Most descriptions of the history of Ouray describe a town that was the center of mining and society in an area of vast mineral wealth. It is easy to forget that the town was still part of the Wild West, and was sometimes subject to the same lawlessness that impacted many frontier towns.

 

June 25, 1897 A MOST DARING ROBBERY

Ora Jones and an unknown companion entered Chase’s saloon today and after drinking leveled the guns at the customers, picked up sacks containing five hundred dollars, and escaped on horses.

 

October 3, 1899 - A STAGE STOPPED - ROBBERS OVERLOOKED A BOX FILLED WITH BULLION

Two masked men stopped the Sneffels' stage one mile this side of the Camp Bird mills, eight miles from Ouray this afternoon. They were after the daily shipment of gold bullion from the Camp Bird mine, and unloaded the mail and baggage looking for it. However, they overlooked the box containing $12,000 worth of gold, representing two days' production of the mine.

The mails were left untouched and the passengers were not molested. Sheriff Edgar was notified, and, with a posse, overtook the holdups near Yankee Boy basin. After a brisk exchange of shots the officers retired to secure reinforcements. Several other parties are in pursuit.

 

July 30, 1910 - FINANCIER WITH REVOLVER ROUTS STAGE ROBBERS

An attempt to hold up a stage coach of eight easterners was frustrated last night by the coolness and nerve of Samuel McCurdy of Pittsburg, a retired financier, who opened fire with an automatic pistol.

The party was returning from an outing in the mountains in an old-fashioned stage coach driven by A.L. Stewart, a veteran stage driver, when two bandits stepped into the road and ordered Stewart to stop.

 

February 27, 1921 - ANGRY MINERS TRY TO LYNCH MURDERER

A mob of more than 200 miners smashed down the door to the Ouray county jail at Ouray, Colorado, last night and Invaded the jail in an attempt to lynch Billy Nagle, a miner, who had confessed, according to the sheriff, that he had killed Fred Jacobs, superintendent of the White Cloud mine at Ironton and Hindmarch Hill.

Nogle had been removed from the jail by Sheriff Roy Laird a short time before, smuggled through a coal chute, and brought to Montrose in an automobile.

  

Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Syracuse next to the Ionian Sea.

 

The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entirety of Magna Graecia, of which it was the most important city. Described by Cicero as "the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all", it equaled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and Byzantine Empire. After this Palermo overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860.

 

In the modern day, the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica. In the central area, the city itself has a population of around 125,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Siracusans. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28:12 as Paul stayed there.

 

The City of London is a city within London. The City constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond its borders. As the City's boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, it is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of Greater London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It holds city status in its own right and is also a separate ceremonial county.

 

It is widely referred to as the City (often written on maps as "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalizing the word City) or the Square Mile as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km2) in area. These terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's financial services industry, which continues a notable history of being largely based in the City.

 

The term London now refers to a much larger conurbation roughly corresponding to the London region, also known as the Greater London administrative area, comprising 32 boroughs (including the City of Westminster), in addition to the City of London. The local authority for the City, the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council, such as being the police authority. It also has responsibilities and ownerships beyond the City's boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, an office separate from (and much older than) the Mayor of London.

 

The City is a major business and financial center, ranking as the world's leading center of global finance. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the world's primary business center, and continues to be a major meeting point for businesses. London came top in the Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index, published in 2008. The insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City. Another major financial district in London is located at Canary Wharf, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the east.

 

The City has a resident population of about 7,000 (2011) but over 300,000 people commute to it and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. The legal profession forms a major component of the northern and western sides of the City – especially in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas where the Inns of Court are located, of which two—Inner Temple and Middle Temple—fall within the City of London boundary.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London