Canbulat Tomb and Museum

Famagusta, North Cyprus

Canbulat tomb, Famagusta, North Cyprus

 

In the southeast corner of the Famagusta walls is the Canbulat Bastion. (The Venetians called it the Arsenal) and is named after Canbulat (sometimes spelt Djanboulat) who was the Bey (provincial governor) of Kilis in Turkey.

 

When the decision was taken to conquer Cyprus, Canbulat joined the invading forces. Because he played a key role in the siege of Nicosia, he was promoted to become the commander of the right wing of the Ottoman army to the south of the walled city of Famagusta. It was from here that the Ottomans bombarded the town, and why most damage to the taller buildings within the walls is on the southeast side.

 

Initially, the Ottomans tried to dig under the walls, but the Venetians blasted the tunnels, causing their collapse. It is also said that the Venetians placed sharp blades on a turning wheel at the entrance to the bastion to ensure that any attack there would lead the attacker to be cut to pieces.

 

The Canbulat Museum

Legend has it, that in order to stop the wheel and allow the Ottomans through the castle entrance, Canbulat rode his horse into the wheel. During this event, Canbulat's head was cut off, but undaunted, he picked his head up, mounted his horse, and continued to fight for the next three days with his head under his arm. This motivated the Ottomans to continue the fight and take the castle. Historians believe that what actually went in to the rotating wheel and stopped it, were simply, bales of wool. The date of his actual death is unknown, but there is documentary evidence that he was still alive in March 1572

 

Canbulat's tomb was placed in the passageway of the bastion, the name of which was changed from Arsenal to Canbulat in his honour. Supposedly a fig tree grew up alongside his tomb, the fruits of which promoted fertility in any woman who ate them. As a place of pilgrimage for Turks, this tomb ranks second in Cyprus only to the shrine of Hala Sultan Tekke at Larnaca.

 

The bastion containing his tomb was opened as a museum in 1968, and has recently been refurbished, re-opening in 2008. In the new museum, as well as the tomb of Canbulat, you will find items relating to the Ottoman times in Cyprus.

 

Famagusta is a city on the east coast of the de facto state Northern Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice), Famagusta was the island's most important port city and a gateway to trade with the ports of the Levant, from where the Silk Road merchants carried their goods to Western Europe. The old walled city and parts of the modern city are de facto part of Northern Cyprus as the capital of the Gazimağusa District.

 

The city was known as Arsinoe or Arsinoë (Greek: Ἀρσινόη, Arsinóē) in antiquity, after Ptolemy II of Egypt's sister and wife Arsinoe II.

 

By the 3rd century, the city appears as Ammochostos (Greek: Ἀμμόχωστος or Αμμόχωστος, Ammókhōstos, "Hidden in Sand") in the Stadiasmus Maris Magni.[5] This name is still used in modern Greek with the pronunciation [aˈmːoxostos], while it developed into Latin Fama Augusta, French Famagouste, Italian Famagosta, and English Famagusta during the medieval period. Its informal modern Turkish name Mağusa (Turkish pronunciation: [maˈusa]) came from the same source. Since 1974, it has formally been known to Turkey and Northern Cyprus as Gazimağusa ([ɡaːzimaˈusa]), from the addition of the title gazi, meaning "veteran" or "one who has faught in a holy war".

 

In the early medieval period, the city was also known as New Justiniana (Greek: Νέα Ἰουστινιανία, Néa Ioustinianía) in appreciation for the patronage of the Byzantine emperor Justinian, whose wife Theodora was born there.

 

The old town of Famagusta has also been nicknamed "the City of 365 Churches" from the legend that, at its peak, it boasted a church for every day of the year.

 

The city was founded around 274 BC, after the serious damage to Salamis by an earthquake, by Ptolemy II Philadelphus and named "Arsinoe" after his sister.[6] Arsinoe was described as a "fishing town" by Strabo in his Geographica in the first century BC. In essence, Famagusta was the successor of the most famous and most important ancient city of Cyprus, Salamis. According to Greek mythology, Salamis was founded after the end of the Trojan War by Teucros, the son of Telamon and brother of Aedes, from the Greek island of Salamis.

 

The city experienced great prosperity much later, during the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. To honor the city, from which his wife Theodora came, Justinian enriched it with many buildings, while the inhabitants named it New Justiniania to express their gratitude. In AD 647, when the neighboring cities were destroyed by Arab raiding, the inhabitants of these cities moved to Famagusta, as a result of which the city's population increased significantly and the city experienced another boom.

 

Later, when Jerusalem was occupied by the Arabs, the Christian population fled to Famagusta, as a result of which the city became an important Christian center, but also one of the most important commercial centers in the eastern Mediterranean.

 

The turning point for Famagusta was 1192 with the onset of Lusignan rule. It was during this period that Famagusta developed as a fully-fledged town. It increased in importance to the Eastern Mediterranean due to its natural harbour and the walls that protected its inner town. Its population began to increase. This development accelerated in the 13th century as the town became a centre of commerce for both the East and West. An influx of Christian refugees fleeing the downfall of Acre (1291) in Palestine transformed it from a tiny village into one of the richest cities in Christendom.

 

In 1372 the port was seized by Genoa and in 1489 by Venice. This commercial activity turned Famagusta into a place where merchants and ship owners led lives of luxury. By the mid-14th century, Famagusta was said to have the richest citizens in the world. The belief that people's wealth could be measured by the churches they built inspired these merchants to have churches built in varying styles. These churches, which still exist, were the reason Famagusta came to be known as "the district of churches". The development of the town focused on the social lives of the wealthy people and was centred upon the Lusignan palace, the cathedral, the Square and the harbour.

 

In 1570–1571, Famagusta was the last stronghold in Venetian Cyprus to hold out against the Turks under Mustafa Pasha. It resisted a siege of thirteen months and a terrible bombardment, until at last the garrison surrendered. The Ottoman forces had lost 50,000 men, including Mustafa Pasha's son. Although the surrender terms had stipulated that the Venetian forces be allowed to return home, the Venetian commander, Marco Antonio Bragadin, was flayed alive, his lieutenant Tiepolo was hanged, and many other Christians were killed.

 

With the advent of the Ottoman rule, Latins lost their privileged status in Famagusta and were expelled from the city. Greek Cypriots natives were at first allowed to own and buy property in the city, but were banished from the walled city in 1573–74 and had to settle outside in the area that later developed into Varosha. Turkish families from Anatolia were resettled in the walled city but could not fill the buildings that previously hosted a population of 10,000. This caused a drastic decrease in the population of Famagusta. Merchants from Famagusta, who mostly consisted of Latins that had been expelled, resettled in Larnaca and as Larnaca flourished, Famagusta lost its importance as a trade centre. Over time, Varosha developed into a prosperous agricultural town thanks to its location away from the marshes, whilst the walled city remained dilapidated.

 

In the walled city, some buildings were repurposed to serve the interests of the Muslim population: the Cathedral of St. Nicholas was converted to a mosque (now known as Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque), a bazaar was developed, public baths, fountains and a theological school were built to accommodate the inhabitants' needs. Dead end streets, an Ottoman urban characteristic, was imported to the city and a communal spirit developed in which a small number of two-storey houses inhabited by the small upper class co-existed with the widespread one-storey houses.

 

With the British takeover, Famagusta regained its significance as a port and an economic centre and its development was specifically targeted in British plans. As soon as the British took over the island, a Famagusta Development Act was passed that aimed at the reconstruction and redevelopment of the city's streets and dilapidated buildings as well as better hygiene. The port was developed and expanded between 1903 and 1906 and Cyprus Government Railway, with its terminus in Famagusta, started construction in 1904. Whilst Larnaca continued to be used as the main port of the island for some time, after Famagusta's use as a military base in World War I trade significantly shifted to Famagusta. The city outside the walls grew at an accelerated rate, with development being centred around Varosha. Varosha became the administrative centre as the British moved their headquarters and residences there and tourism grew significantly in the last years of the British rule. Pottery and production of citrus and potatoes also significantly grew in the city outside the walls, whilst agriculture within the walled city declined to non-existence.

 

New residential areas were built to accommodate the increasing population towards the end of the British rule,[11] and by 1960, Famagusta was a modern port city extending far beyond Varosha and the walled city.

 

The British period saw a significant demographic shift in the city. In 1881, Christians constituted 60% of the city's population while Muslims were at 40%. By 1960, the Turkish Cypriot population had dropped to 17.5% of the overall population, while the Greek Cypriot population had risen to 70%. The city was also the site for one of the British internment camps for nearly 50,000 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust trying to emigrate to Palestine.

 

From independence in 1960 to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus of 1974, Famagusta developed toward the south west of Varosha as a well-known entertainment and tourist centre. The contribution of Famagusta to the country's economic activity by 1974 far exceeded its proportional dimensions within the country. Whilst its population was only about 7% of the total of the country, Famagusta by 1974 accounted for over 10% of the total industrial employment and production of Cyprus, concentrating mainly on light industry compatible with its activity as a tourist resort and turning out high-quality products ranging from food, beverages and tobacco to clothing, footwear, plastics, light machinery and transport equipment. It contributed 19.3% of the business units and employed 21.3% of the total number of persons engaged in commerce on the island. It acted as the main tourist destination of Cyprus, hosting 31.5% of the hotels and 45% of Cyprus' total bed capacity. Varosha acted as the main touristic and business quarters.

 

In this period, the urbanisation of Famagusta slowed down and the development of the rural areas accelerated. Therefore, economic growth was shared between the city of Famagusta and the district, which had a balanced agricultural economy, with citrus, potatoes, tobacco and wheat as main products. Famagusta maintained good communications with this hinterland. The city's port remained the island's main seaport and in 1961, it was expanded to double its capacity in order to accommodate the growing volume of exports and imports. The port handled 42.7% of Cypriot exports, 48.6% of imports and 49% of passenger traffic.

 

There has not been an official census since 1960 but the population of the town in 1974 was estimated to be around 39,000 not counting about 12,000–15,000 persons commuting daily from the surrounding villages and suburbs to work in Famagusta. The number of people staying in the city would swell to about 90,000–100,000 during the peak summer tourist period, with the influx of tourists from numerous European countries, mainly Britain, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The majority of the city population were Greek Cypriots (26,500), with 8,500 Turkish Cypriots and 4,000 people from other ethnic groups.

 

During the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 14 August 1974 the Mesaoria plain was overrun by Turkish tanks and Famagusta was bombed by Turkish aircraft. It took two days for the Turkish Army to occupy the city, prior to which Famagusta's entire Greek Cypriot population had fled into surrounding fields. As a result of Turkish airstrikes dozens of civilians died, including tourists.

 

Unlike other parts of the Turkish-controlled areas of Cyprus, the Varosha suburb of Famagusta was fenced off by the Turkish army immediately after being captured and remained fenced off until October 2020, when the TRNC reopened some streets to visitors. Some Greek Cypriots who had fled Varosha have been allowed to view the town and journalists have been allowed in.

 

UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Famagusta by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. The UN's Security Council resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.

 

Famagusta's historic city centre is surrounded by the fortifications of Famagusta, which have a roughly rectangular shape, built mainly by the Venetians in the 15th and 16th centuries, though some sections of the walls have been dated earlier times, as far as 1211.

 

Some important landmarks and visitor attractions in the old city are:

The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque

The Othello Castle

Palazzo del Provveditore - the Venetian palace of the governor, built on the site of the former Lusignan royal palace

St. Francis' Church

Sinan Pasha Mosque

Church of St. George of the Greeks

Church of St. George of the Latins

Twin Churches

Nestorian Church (of St George the Exiler)

Namık Kemal Dungeon

Agios Ioannis Church

Venetian House

Akkule Masjid

Mustafa Pasha Mosque

Ganchvor monastery

 

In an October 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund listed Famagusta, a "maritime ancient city of crusader kings", among the 12 sites most "On the Verge" of irreparable loss and destruction, citing insufficient management and development pressures.

 

Famagusta is an important commercial hub of Northern Cyprus. The main economic activities in the city are tourism, education, construction and industrial production. It has a 115-acre free port, which is the most important seaport of Northern Cyprus for travel and commerce. The port is an important source of income and employment for the city, though its volume of trade is restricted by the embargo against Northern Cyprus. Its historical sites, including the walled city, Salamis, the Othello Castle and the St Barnabas Church, as well as the sandy beaches surrounding it make it a tourist attraction; efforts are also underway to make the city more attractive for international congresses. The Eastern Mediterranean University is also an important employer and supplies significant income and activity, as well as opportunities for the construction sector. The university also raises a qualified workforce that stimulates the city's industry and makes communications industry viable. The city has two industrial zones: the Large Industrial Zone and the Little Industrial Zone. The city is also home to a fishing port, but inadequate infrastructure of the port restricts the growth of this sector. The industry in the city has traditionally been concentrated on processing agricultural products.

 

Historically, the port was the primary source of income and employment for the city, especially right after 1974. However, it gradually lost some of its importance to the economy as the share of its employees in the population of Famagusta diminished due to various reasons. However, it still is the primary port for commerce in Northern Cyprus, with more than half of ships that came to Northern Cyprus in 2013 coming to Famagusta. It is the second most popular seaport for passengers, after Kyrenia, with around 20,000 passengers using the port in 2013.

 

The mayor-in-exile of Famagusta is Simos Ioannou. Süleyman Uluçay heads the Turkish Cypriot municipal administration of Famagusta, which remains legal as a communal-based body under the constitutional system of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Since 1974, Greek Cypriots submitted a number of proposals within the context of bicommunal discussions for the return of Varosha to UN administration, allowing the return of its previous inhabitants, requesting also the opening of Famagusta harbour for use by both communities. Varosha would have been returned to Greek Cypriot control as part of the 2004 Annan Plan but the plan had been rejected by a majority(3/4) of Greek Cypriot voters.

 

The walled city of Famagusta contains many unique buildings. Famagusta has a walled city popular with tourists.

 

Every year, the International Famagusta Art and Culture Festival is organized in Famagusta. Concerts, dance shows and theater plays take place during the festival.

 

A growth in tourism and the city's university have fueled the development of Famagusta's vibrant nightlife. Nightlife in the city is especially active on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights and in the hotter months of the year, starting from April. Larger hotels in the city have casinos that cater to their customers. Salamis Road is an area of Famagusta with a heavy concentration of bars frequented by students and locals.

 

Famagusta's Othello Castle is the setting for Shakespeare's play Othello. The city was also the setting for Victoria Hislop's 2015 novel The Sunrise, and Michael Paraskos's 2016 novel In Search of Sixpence. The city is the birthplace of the eponymous hero of the Renaissance proto-novel Fortunatus.

 

Famagusta was home to many Greek Cypriot sport teams that left the city because of the Turkish invasion and still bear their original names. Most notable football clubs originally from the city are Anorthosis Famagusta FC and Nea Salamis Famagusta FC, both of the Cypriot First Division, which are now based in Larnaca. Usually Anorthosis Famagusta fans are politically right wing where Nea Salamis fans are left wing.

 

Famagusta is represented by Mağusa Türk Gücü in the Turkish Cypriot First Division. Dr. Fazıl Küçük Stadium is the largest football stadium in Famagusta. Many Turkish Cypriot sport teams that left Southern Cyprus because of the Cypriot intercommunal violence are based in Famagusta.

 

Famagusta is represented by DAÜ Sports Club and Magem Sports Club in North Cyprus First Volleyball Division. Gazimağusa Türk Maarif Koleji represents Famagusta in the North Cyprus High School Volleyball League.

 

Famagusta has a modern volleyball stadium called the Mağusa Arena.

 

The Eastern Mediterranean University was founded in the city in 1979. The Istanbul Technical University founded a campus in the city in 2010.

 

The Cyprus College of Art was founded in Famagusta by the Cypriot artist Stass Paraskos in 1969, before moving to Paphos in 1972 after protests from local hoteliers that the presence of art students in the city was putting off holidaymakers.

 

Famagusta has three general hospitals. Gazimağusa Devlet Hastahanesi, a state hospital, is the biggest hospital in city. Gazimağusa Tıp Merkezi and Gazimağusa Yaşam Hastahanesi are private hospitals.

 

Personalities

Saint Barnabas, born and died in Salamis, Famagusta

Chris Achilleos, illustrator of the book versions on the BBC children's series Doctor Who

Beran Bertuğ, former Governor of Famagusta, first Cypriot woman to hold this position

Marios Constantinou, former international Cypriot football midfielder and current manager.

Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Cypriot singer.

Derviş Eroğlu, former President of Northern Cyprus

Alexis Galanos, 7th President of the House of Representatives and Famagusta mayor-in-exile (2006-2019) (Republic of Cyprus)

Xanthos Hadjisoteriou, Cypriot painter

Oz Karahan, political activist, President of the Union of Cypriots

Oktay Kayalp, former Turkish Cypriot Famagusta mayor (Northern Cyprus)

Harry Luke British diplomat

Angelos Misos, former international footballer

Costas Montis was an influential and prolific Greek Cypriot poet, novelist, and playwright born in Famagusta.

Hal Ozsan, actor (Dawson's Creek, Kyle XY)

Dimitris Papadakis, a Greek Cypriot politician, who served as a Member of the European Parliament.

Ṣubḥ-i-Azal, Persian religious leader, lived and died in exile in Famagusta

Touker Suleyman (born Türker Süleyman), British Turkish Cypriot fashion retail entrepreneur, investor and reality television personality.

Alexia Vassiliou, singer, left here as a refugee when the town was invaded.

George Vasiliou, former President of Cyprus

Vamik Volkan, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry

Derviş Zaim, film director

 

Famagusta is twinned with:

İzmir, Turkey (since 1974)

Corfu, Greece (since 1994)

Patras, Greece (since 1994)

Antalya, Turkey (since 1997)

Salamina (city), Greece (since 1998)

Struga, North Macedonia

Athens, Greece (since 2005)

Mersin, Turkey

 

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

 

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

 

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

 

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

 

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

 

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

 

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

 

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

 

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

 

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

 

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

 

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

 

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

 

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

 

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

 

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

 

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

 

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

 

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

 

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

 

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

 

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

 

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

 

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

 

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

 

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

 

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

 

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

 

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

 

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

 

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

 

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

 

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

 

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

 

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

 

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

 

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

 

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

 

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

 

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

 

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The Dornier Do 319 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but problems with engines, metallurgy and top-level interference kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944.

 

However, when it became clear that the new jet engine carried the potential for aircraft that were faster than piston engine counterparts, the German Navy urged the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) to develop an amphibian fighter, attack and reconnaissance aircraft. This was not to be a navalized Me 262 (which was regarded as impossible due to the aircraft’s layout with low wings and underslung engine nacelles, and added floats would have ruined the aircraft’s aerodynamics, too), but rather a dedicated single-seat jet aircraft. This new design was to be either operated from catapults (replacing the Marine’s standard on-board aircraft, the Arado Ar 196 floatplane) or, with foldable wings, from submarines with water-tight hangars. This concept had already been discussed in the mid-late 1930s, when German class III submarines were to be outfitted with such compartments – but at that time for small motorboats only, for covert landing operations, and no submarine was converted accordingly. But the concept still found a lot of attention.

 

Dornier was tasked with the development of such an aircraft, based on the experience gained with the Me 262 and its innovative means of propulsion. Dornier realized that the new turbojet engine presented an opportunity to overcome the drawback of floatplanes if it was possible to combine the light jet engine with a streamlined flying boat hull, which would impose only a small aerodynamic penalty. Such an aircraft could still be at least on par with piston-engine land-based aircraft.

Using aerodynamic research data from the Messerschmitt fighter, Dornier conceived a compact flying boat with shoulder-mounted gull wings, carried by a narrow pylon behind the single seat cockpit. The engine nacelles were placed on the wings’ upper sides, as far away from spray water as possible. Through this layout, however, stabilizer floats would have necessitated very long and draggy struts, and the relatively thin, swept wings did not allow a (favored) retracting mechanism.

As a consequence, the aircraft was designed with Dornier’s trademark stub-wing floats, which added uplift in both water and air and offered, despite a permanent drag penalty, a convenient amount of space for extra fuel and the wells for a fully retractable landing/beaching gear, which made the aircraft fully amphibious and independent from a beaching trolley. Armament consisted of four 30mm MK 108 machine guns in the aircraft’s nose section, and the aircraft’s main task would be ground attack, air defense and, as a secondary mission, fast tactical reconnaissance.

 

Dornier first presented the initial concept to the RLM in mid-1943. Performance with two Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines was – naturally – lower than the clean Me 262 fighter, but still impressive. The Me 262 was supposed to achieve a maximum speed of 900 km/h (559 mph), while the Dornier aircraft, with basically the same engines, was expected to have a top speed of 520 mph at 40,000 ft. But this was still regarded as sufficient, and the project was officially given the RLM’s type number 319. Two prototypes were built (under the designation Do 319 A-0), the first one making its maiden flight in February 1944.

 

However, at that time the German navy had lost much of its power and sovereignty, and more and more resources had to be allocated to defense projects. As a consequence, the Do 319 as a combat aircraft (originally designated Do 319 A) became a secondary priority only, and the original aircraft was cancelled. Still, the small amphibious aircraft attained a lot of interest through the type’s potential as a fast reconnaissance plane and for special purpose transport duties – namely as a personal transport for high-ranking officials and for covert operations behind enemy lines and at foreign shores – was discovered and the type nevertheless ordered into small-scale production.

 

As a consequence and as an adaptation of the airframe to its new role, the Do 319’s design was modified: the fuselage behind the cockpit was widened into a compartment for passengers, cargo or other equipment. The cabin could hold up to two passengers, sitting vis-à-vis, and it was accessible through a watertight door on each side above the stub floats. The cabin was open to the cockpit in front of it, but the opening was blocked if the front passenger seat was in place. Alternatively, up to 300 kg (660 lb) of cargo or photo equipment could be carried, and one or both seats could also be replaced by internal auxiliary tanks. The provision for the Do 319 A’s cannon armament was retained, but the weapons were rarely mounted in order to save weight.

 

In this form, and now designated Do 319 B and christened “Seeschwalbe”, the aircraft entered service with the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine on a limited scale. Most machines were exclusively assigned to staff units and reserved for special missions like liaison duties for high ranking officials, but they were also used in recce and other special missions. At least one Do 319 B was shot down over the American east coast, probably while deploying German agents from a submarine. How the aircraft with its limited range itself could come close to American shores remains a mystery until today, since Germany did not build or operate submarine aircraft carriers.

 

Production numbers remained low, though, reaching roundabout 20 aircraft (even this number is uncertain) until the end of the war, and no Do 319 survived the hostilities.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot plus up to 2 passengers

Length: 10.80 m (35 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.78 m (12 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wing area: 26.8 m² (288 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 7.32

Empty weight: 4,120 kg (9,075 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,830 kg (15,044 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 7,385 kg (16,266 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 820 km/h (510 mph)

Range: 1,200 km (652 mi)

2,100 km (1,300 mi) with extra internal fuel cells

Service ceiling: 10,850 m (35,538 ft)

Rate of climb: 1,000 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,275 ft/min)

 

Armament:

Provisions for 4× 30 mm MK 108 cannon in the nose, but rarely mounted

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017, and the result of a spontaneous inspiration from a drawing of a Luft’46/fantasy creation of a Me 262 fuselage with a planning bottom, a parasol(!) wing and a single jet engine exhausting right above the cockpit, and no (visible) stabilizing floats at all. Rather spurious.

Well, nevertheless, the Me 262 jet fighter has a very shark-like profile and shape, and it has already been converted into flying boats or even submarines by modelers, and I decided to create my personal interpretation of the theme. I remembered a lone He 115 float in my stash (maybe 35 years old or even more!), and when I held to a Me 262 fuselage the parts had almost the same length and width. So, creating a flying boat jet fighter seemed like a realistic task.

 

Things started straightforward with an 1:72 Smer Me 262 fighter, which is actually the vintage Heller two-seater night fighter with a new fuselage and canopy. My kit of choice would have been the Matchbox kit, but the Heller kit is also O.K., due to its simplicity and simple construction.

 

Creating something amphibian from a Me 262 is not a trivial task, though. With its low wings and underslung engine nacelles there’s a lot to be changed until you get a plausible floatplane. Another challenge is to integrate some form of stabilizer/outrigger floats, what also influences the wings’ position. Placing the engines where they are safe from spray ingestion is also a serious matter – you have to get the high and the intakes as far forward as possible.

 

Doing some legwork I found some similar builds, and they all did not convince me. And, after all, I wanted to create my own “design”; in order to incorporate some realism I eventually settled on Dornier’s typical WWII designs like the Do 18 and Do 24. These elegant aircraft had a common, elegant trait: low stub wings as stabilizer floats, paired with high wings (in the case of the Do 18 held by a massive central pylon) which carried the engine out of the water’s reach. This appeared like a feasible layout for my conversion, even though it would mean a total re-construction of the kit, or rather assembling it in a way that almost no part was glued into the intended place!

 

Work started with the cockpit, which had to be moved forward in order to make room for the wings behind the canopy, placed high on a pylon above the fuselage. For this stunt, the cockpit opening and the place in front of it (where the original front fuselage tank would be) were cut out and switched. The cockpit tub was moved forward and trimmed in order to fit into the new place. The nose section was filled with lead, because the stub wings/floats would allow a retractable landing gear to be added, too, making the aircraft a true amphibian!

 

The He 115 float was cut down in order to fit under the OOB Me 262 fuselage, and a front wheel well was integrated for a tricycle landing gear. Once the fuselage was closed, the planning bottom was added and the flanks sculpted with putty – lots of it.

 

In the meantime the Me 262 wing received a thorough re-arrangement, too. Not only were the engine nacelles moved to the upper wing surface (cutting the respective wing and intake sections of the nacelles off/out and turning them around 180°), the original connecting ventral wing part with the landing gear wells were turned upside down, too, the landing gear covers closed (with the respective OOB parts) and the inner wing sections modified into a gull wing, raising the engines even further. VERY complex task, and blending/re-shaping everything took a lot of PSR, too.

 

Under the central wing section I added a pylon left over from a Smer Curtiss SC Seahawk kit, because a massive Do 18-esque construction was out of question for a fast jet aircraft. The gaps were filled with putty, too.

 

In order to keep the stabilizers free from water spray they were moved upwards on the fin, too. The original attachment points were sanded away and hidden under putty, and the OOB stabilizers placed almost at the top at the fin.

 

Finding suitable stub wings/floats became a challenge: they have to be relatively thick (yielding buoyancy and also offering room for the retractable landing gear), but also short with not-so-rounded tips. It took a while until I found suitable donor parts in the form of the tips of an 1:32 AH-64 Apache (!) stabilizer! They were simply cut off, and openings for the main landing gear cut into their lower sides.

 

Once glued to the lower flanks and the stabilizers in place it was time to place the wing. In the meantime the moved cockpit had been blended to the fuselage, and initial tests indicated that the pylon would have to be placed right behind the canopy – actually on top of the end of the clear part. As a consequence the canopy was cut into pieces and its rear section integrated into the fuselage (more PSR).

However, the relatively thin and slender central pylon from the Curtiss SC indicated that some more struts would be necessary in order to ensure stability – very retro, and not really suited for a jet-powered aircraft. And the more I looked at the layout, the more I became convinced that the wings and engines were in a plausible position, but placed too high.

 

What started next were several sessions in which I shortened the pylon step by step, until I was satisfied with the overall proportions. This went so far that almost everything of the pylon had gone, and the wings almost rested directly on the Me 262’s spine!

However, this new layout offered the benefit of rendering the extra struts obsolete, since I decided to fill the small gap between wing and fuselage into a single, massive fairing. This would also mean more internal space, and consequently the original idea of a jet-powered combat aircraft was modified into a fast multi-purpose amphibian vehicle for special tasks, capable of transporting personnel behind enemy lines with a quick move.

 

More PSR, though, and after some finishing touches like a scratched landing gear (front leg/wheel from an Italeri Bae Hawk, main struts from a Mistercraft PZL Iskra trainer, wheels from an Academy OV-10 Bronco and with improvised covers), several antennae and mooring lugs made from wire, the aircraft was ready for painting. On the downside, though, almost any surface detail had been lost due to the massive, overall body sculpting – but the application of the light zigzag pattern helped to recreate some “illusionary” details like flaps or panel lines. ;-)

  

Painting and markings:

Originally, when the Seeschwalbe was still conceived as a fighter, the model was to receive a daylight scheme in typical German naval aircraft colors (RLM 72/73/65). But this plan changed when the aircraft’s role became a ‘special purpose’ transporter for covert operations.

 

Nocturnal operations appeared plausible, so that the scheme became much more murky: from above, a splinter scheme with RLM 73 and RLM 74 (naval dark green and dark, greenish grey, both from the ModelMaster Authentic enamel paint range) was applied as a basis, and the undersides became black – as if standard daylight colors had been overpainted, a frequent practice.

Since this black paint was made from soot, it easily wore away and many Luftwaffe machines with improvised black undersides quickly gained a rather shaggy look. I wanted to re-create this look, and built up the lower paint accordingly: In an initial step, RLM76 (I used Humbrol 87, which is a tad darker than the RLM tone, for less contrast with the black) was painted on the lower wing surfaces, the fuselage with a medium waterline and the fin. Once dry, the national marking decals were added. Then a coat of thinned Revell Acrylics 6 Tar Black was applied on top of the lower surfaces, including the lower decals, and later wet-sanded in order to reveal some of the grey underneath for a worn look.

 

In order to break up the aircraft’s outlines, esp. at low altitude, a disruptive meander pattern in light grey (RLM 76) was painted on top of the upper surfaces. For this task, I thinned Humbrol’s 247 enamel and used a simple brush, painting the curls free-handedly. The finish looks pretty convincing, and it mimics well the technique with which those improvised patterns were applied in the field in real life: quickly, with anything at hand. The way the finish turned out, the pattern could have been applied with a broad brush – the use of a spray gun was rather uncommon, and IMHO the use of an airbrush on a model to recreate such a zigzag pattern rarely leads to convincing results?

 

This pattern was painted tightly around all the upper markings, and the markings themselves were kept at a minimum. For instance, the tactical code only comprises the aircraft’s individual letter “Blue O” behind the fuselage cross, which indicates an air staff machine. This would, following the official German squadron code system, be confirmed by an “A”, following as a fourth digit. The squadron’s code (“P7”, which is fictional, just like the aircraft’s sea reconnaissance squadron itself) was omitted, too. Such minimal markings became a frequent practice towards the final war stages, though, and it fits the aircraft’s special duty role well. The only individual marking is a squadron badge under the cockpit – lent from an Italian night fighter and placed on a dark blue disc. Another, subtle indicator for the aircraft’s operator are the blue air intake center bodies, repeating the staff flight’s blue color code.

 

Only some light weathering was done, with dry-brushed light grey on the leading edges, and finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri). In a final step, some very light dry-brushing with aluminum was done on some of the fuselage edges, esp. the spray dams, and the position lights were painted with translucent paint over a silver base.

  

A messy project, in many ways, but I am happy with result. Most stunning is IMHO the fact that all major parts for this compact flying boat actually come from a single, simple Me 262 kit – but visually there’s not much of the left from the jet fighter. But it’s also amazing that the proportions look right, and the whole thing quite plausible and Dornier-esque! Turned out better than expected.

Ideas for this box began to percolate after I received the rug as an exchange gift at our miniature club's Christmas party in 2002. I'd been wanting to try something Colonial so work got underway.

 

Painting, paneling and molding, flooring were just about complete when a move intervened and changed everything,

 

It was the day I started packing up books. Sitting down to take a break, I happened to pick up my copy of "The Babcock Genealogy", which fell open to the pages about Dr. Joshua Babcock. (My father's mother was Nora Viola Babcock.)

 

Joshua Babcock was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, in 1707, At the age of 17 he was the first Rhode Islander to graduate from Yale. The young scholar then went to Boston to study medicine and, about 1730, sailed for London and additional medical training.

 

Upon his return in 1734 he returned to Westerly and for nearly 25 years practiced there as a physician and surgeon.

 

He obviously did well because Babcock purchased a house when he married Hannah Stanton. Later he would open a country store, which is said to have done as much business as any similar establishment between Boston and Washington.

 

Through an appointment by the Rhode Island Assembly (and probably because of his friendship with Benjamin Franklin), Babcock became Westerly's first Postmaster, establishing a post office in his home, which is also where the store was located.

 

As a politician, Dr. Babcock represented Westerly in the Rhode Island General Assembly for nine years and presided as Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court for sixteen years.

 

In 1776 when the Colony became the first to repeal the Act of Allegiance to the King of England -- two months before the Declaration of Independence -- Dr. Babcock was one of the members of the Rhode Island Assembly who signed the Repeal,

 

It's said that George Washington, when passing between New York and Boston, frequently stayed with the Babcocks. Besides being appointed Major General of the Rhode Island Militia, he was also a member of the Colony's War Council, procuring equipment for the town's troops and serving as Paymaster. This remarkable man continued serving his community and country until his death in 1783.

 

It was at this point I went online to see what else I might learn about my distinguished relative; that's when I discovered his Westerly home is on the National Register of Historic Places! The head of their docent group quickly responded to my request for a photo of the dining room.

 

Unfortunately, by now I was far enough along with construction that the door was glued in place. In reality it should be to the right of the fireplace on that wall and where I put the door is actually a window.

 

I did take one liberty. The photograph shows above the wainscoting red flocked wallpaper, which I chose to replace with painted walls. Research revealed flocking goes way back. In fact, it predates scenic papers, but somehow in such a small space it seemed out of place.

 

In reality no Colonial gentleman would have carried his hat into the dining room and dropped it on a chair, but I think it helps establish the period, don't you?

 

And the pretty lady over the fireplace? She's Hannah Babcock Bours, the doctor's oldest daughter. Don't know if the oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Blackburn ever actually hung in her parents's home, but it certainly looks nice there. (Found Hannah's portrait in a Google search. What did we do before the Internet?)

 

That's Ben, the doctor's favorite spaniel, hiding under the table, where he hopes no one will notice him and he can retrieve any food that drops.

 

SUPPLIERS:

Bellows: Unknown

Brass andirons: from my 1939 dollhouse

Brass fender: Brooke Tucker

Candlesnuffer: Mark Stockton

Candlesticks: Unknown

Ceiling Carving: Unique Miniatures

Ceiling rose: Unique Miniatures

Chairs: Bespaq

Chandelier: J. Getzan

Clock: Bespac

Clock hands: Russo

Columns: Unique Miniatures

Cornice: Unique Miniatures

Crown moldijng: Northeastern

Dining table: Bespaq

Dishes: Bespac

Napkins: MBO

Silverware: Chrysenbon

Door: Houseworks

Doorknob: Handley

Fireplace: Houseworks

Fireplaces bricks: Handley House

Fireplace framing: Northeastern

Flooring: Handley House

Floral arrangement: Unknown

Grapes: Unknown

Hearth tiles: Mini-Magic

Hinges: Houseworks

Mirror: Marcia Gardner

Picture frame: Jacqueline's

Pierced silver bowl: John McFall

Poker: Unknown

Room box: Houseworks

Rug: A. F. P.

Sconces: Clare-Bell

Side table: Bespaq

Silverware: Dragonfly

Skirting/baseboards: Northeastern

Spaniel: Armitron

Staffordshire dogs: Unknown

Tea pot: Obadiah Fisher

Tricorn hat: Rik Pierce

Wainscot: Unique Miniatures

Wine glasses: Brightdelights

           

HEMIPTERA: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Diaspididae (armored scales)

 

Armored scale in the photo is Hemiberlesia palmae (Cockerell), the tropical palm scale. First recorded on Oahu in 1981, followed by Hawaii I. in 1982.

 

Distribution: Australia, Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Is., Papua New Guinea, Soloman Is., Tonga, Western Samoa, U.S. (Florida, Hawaii), Mexico, South America, Sumatra, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China, Poland, Portugal, Germany, France, United Kingdom, etc.

 

Relatively wide host range.

 

Female scale cover usually round to oval (white to brown), with exuviae subcentral, dark to almost black. Size 1.75mm to 2.25 mm. Somewhat distinct once stained and mounted.

 

Collection data: HI: Oahu I, U.H. Manoa Campus, 8/25/2014, on underside of coconut leaflet growing by St. John Bldg, coll. Scot Nelson.

1:18 AUTOart

Aston Martin V12 Vantage S

The DOE/Sandia Scaled Wind Farm Technology (SWiFT) facility at the Reese Technology Center in Lubbock, Texas allows for rapid, cost-efficient testing and development of transformative wind energy technology, with specific emphasis on improving wind plant performance. The facility’s advanced testing and monitoring will help researchers evaluate how larger wind farms can become more productive.

 

Photo by Lloyd Wilson.

The Portraits of Hogwarts

Hanging on the walls of the Hogwarts Castle were nearly 350 enchanted portraits honouring centuries-old wizards and witches. However, as a tribute, many of the film's crew were given the opportunity to be immortalised in hand-painted portraits throughout the castle.

 

People the world-over have been enchanted by the Harry Potter films for nearly a decade. The wonderful special effects and amazing creatures have made this iconic series beloved to both young and old - and now, for the first time, the doors are going to be opened for everyone at the studio where it first began. You'll have the chance to go behind-the-scenes and see many things the camera never showed. From breathtakingly detailed sets to stunning costumes, props and animatronics, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London provides a unique showcase of the extraordinary British artistry, technology and talent that went into making the most successful film series of all time. Secrets will be revealed.

 

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London provides an amazing new opportunity to explore the magic of the Harry Potter films - the most successful film series of all time. This unique walking tour takes you behind-the-scenes and showcases a huge array of beautiful sets, costumes and props. It also reveals some closely guarded secrets, including facts about the special effects and animatronics that made these films so hugely popular all over the world.

 

Here are just some of the things you can expect to see and do:

- Step inside and discover the actual Great Hall.

- Explore Dumbledore’s office and discover never-before-seen treasures.

- Step onto the famous cobbles of Diagon Alley, featuring the shop fronts of Ollivanders wand shop, Flourish and Blotts, the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Eeylops Owl Emporium.

- See iconic props from the films, including Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorcycle.

- Learn how creatures were brought to life with green screen effects, animatronics and life-sized models.

- Rediscover other memorable sets from the film series, including the Gryffindor common room, the boys’ dormitory, Hagrid’s hut, Potion’s classroom and Professor Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic.

 

Located just 20 miles from the heart of London at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, the very place where it all began and where all eight of the Harry Potter films were brought to life. The Studio Tour is accessible to everyone and promises to be a truly memorable experience - whether you’re an avid Harry Potter fan, an all-round movie buff or you just want to try something that’s a little bit different.

 

The tour is estimated to take approximately three hours (I was in there for 5 hours!), however, as the tour is mostly self guided, you are free to explore the attraction at your own pace. During this time you will be able to see many of the best-loved sets and exhibits from the films. Unique and precious items from the films will also be on display, alongside some exciting hands-on interactive exhibits that will make you feel like you’re actually there.

 

The magic also continues in the Gift Shop, which is full of exciting souvenirs and official merchandise, designed to create an everlasting memory of your day at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.

 

Hogwarts Castle Model - Get a 360 degree view of the incredible, hand sculpted 1:24 scale construction that features within the Studio Tour. The Hogwarts castle model is the jewel of the Art Department having been built for the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It took 86 artists and crew members to construct the first version which was then rebuilt and altered many times over for the next seven films. The work was so extensive that if one was to add all the man hours that have gone into building and reworking the model, it would come to over 74 years. The model was used for aerial photography, and was digitally scanned for CGI scenes.

 

The model, which sits at nearly 50 feet in diameter, has over 2,500 fibre optic lights that simulate lanterns and torches and even gave the illusion of students passing through hallways in the films. To show off the lighting to full effect a day-to-night cycle will take place every four minutes so you can experience its full beauty.

 

An amazing amount of detail went into the making of the model: all the doors are hinged, real plants are used for landscaping and miniature birds are housed in the Owlery. To make the model appear even more realistic, artists rebuilt miniature versions of the courtyards from Alnwick Castle and Durham Cathedral, where scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone were shot.

From the autumn 2016 trip to Vietnam:

 

Hey, Hey, Hue Hue! (“Hue” rhymes with “way,” by the way, and has an aspirated ‘h’ at the beginning.) As I mentioned yesterday, the fine folks at Huenino arranged a private car to shuttle us around the Hue countryside. That cost $37, flat rate, to take as long as we wanted, but she said we would probably be done around 2:00.

 

After eating an omelet and toast, our driver came to our hotel (which was in an alley) to pick us up. The agenda was this: First, we went to the Thien Mu Pagoda about 1-2 kilometers due west of the Citadel along the Perfume River. After that, we went to three different imperial tombs that were roughly 20 kilometers from downtown Hue (and a few kilometers from each other), and then ended up at the Citadel.

 

Normally, I wouldn’t be very excited about a pagoda, but when we got to Thien Mu, I was pleased. It’s situated on a slight hill above the Perfume River. (I love the name of the river, by the way, though there was nothing pleasantly aromatic about it. I’m also glad to say it wasn’t a sarcastic name with a pungent bouquet to offend the senses, either.) When you get to the pagoda, though, it has a wonderful little approach: a small, steep staircase that leads up to the pagoda with four pillars right at the top of the stairs that frame the pagoda well.

 

Next to the pagoda are a few minor temples (about the size of outhouses) surrounded by trees with views of the river. Directly behind the pagoda is the entrance to the temple. The main gate is nice and, upon entering, the main hall is about a hundred meters directly in front of you. The green is pretty lovely and, on the side of the green are some minor halls.

 

Behind the main hall there is a bonsai garden and a second hall. Finally, behind the secondary hall is another green with a mini pagoda/statue at the back of the grounds. The back of the grounds are enclosed by trees.

 

After leisurely making our way to the back of the grounds (in 30-45 minutes, I’d guess), we walked back towards the front, photographing flowers and two women in traditional dress before stopping at a side hall that had a peculiarity: A sky blue Austin dating from around 1960.

 

This is the car (which, I believe, I mentioned in my Saigon posts as well) in which the monk Thich Quang Duc rode from An Quang Pagoda down to Saigon before self-immolating in 1963 to protest the treatment of the Ngo Dinh Diem government. (I won’t elaborate here, but the response of Ngo’s sister, to say the least, was callous. You can find a letterbox in the LP Vietnam and read about it.) As I said, I was absolutely delighted by this temple. I suppose I could ascribe it the polar opposite from how I felt at seeing Disappointment Falls en route to Hue on Thursday.

 

After roughly an hour here at Thien Mu Pagoda, our driver took us to the first of three imperial tombs. To say a little bit about imperial Vietnam – and the era that these tombs cover – the first thing you need to know is that you can NOT associate dynastic Vietnam with China. They couldn’t be much more different. China’s dynasties span more than two thousand years from 221 B.C.-1911 A.D. (with smaller kingdoms even predating those). When talking about imperial Vietnam, we have to reach way, way back in time…to the 1800s – A.D., that is. So, these tombs are somewhere around 150-200 years old, give or take a few years.

 

Another thing to know about imperial Vietnam is that they ruled while the country was really being run by the French who, by this point, had taken over Indochina. So, I suppose if you were desperate to compare Vietnamese emperors to Chinese, you could go with the last emperor, Puyi, who was pretty much a puppet emperor in Manchuria until the 1930s when the Japanese let him rule as a figurehead. (Speaking of Puyi, that movie – the Last Emperor – is extraordinary.)

 

For now, I’ll focus squarely on the tombs themselves. The first one we stopped at was the Tomb of Minh Mang. When we arrived here, we went to the ticket booth to buy a pass to the four sites (three tombs plus Citadel) for 360,000 VND/person (~17-18 USD).

 

Of the imperial tombs I’ve seen – primarily in southeastern Korea – this one was the most like those. The Korean mausoleums are massive mounds built on top of the tombs and that’s what this was.

 

In retrospect, Minh Mang’s tomb was my favorite of the three we would see on the day. It was parklike and fairly expansive. Minh Mang “ruled” from 1820-1840, so obviously the tomb would date from sometime around 1840. The tomb was planned during his reign and built by his successor, Thieu Tri.

 

The Honor Courtyard is at the south end of the complex directly in front of Dinh Vuong (Stele Pavilion). There are three stairways leading up to the pavilion. From inside the pavilion, you have a nice view of Sung An Temple (dedicated to Minh Mang and his empress) directly in front of you and two side halls framing in a courtyard filled with potted flowers.

 

Behind Sung An temple, you pass through Hien Duc Gate descend some stairs and can cross one of three bridges to span Trung Minh Ho (Lake of Impeccable Clarity). The central bridge was for the emperor’s use only, so I guess I was an emperor on this day.

 

Once across the bridge, you find yourself looking up at Minh Lau Pavilion (Pavilion of Light) which is built on three superimposed terraces that represent the “three powers”: the ehavens, the earth, and water. To the left of this is the Fresh Air Pavilion and, to the right, the Angling Pavilion.

 

Finally, you cross another, slightly longer, stone bridge that carries you over Tan Nguyet Lake (Lake of the New Moon). This is a crescent-shaped lake and, once across, you finally find yourself at the base of Minh Mang’s tomb with its rather large staircase flanked by dragon banisters that lead to his sepulcher. However, you also find that the gates are locked and you can’t actually go see the tomb. (It’s only open one day a year, on the anniversary of his death.)

 

After reaching the tomb, you can walk out the same way you came in or, after crossing the stone bridges in front of Minh Lau Pavilion, you can veer off and take a path that skirts the large and rather pleasant Tan Nguyet Lake back to the front gate (which is what we did).

 

When we finally made our way back to our driver, I think we’d spent an hour or so at the first tomb. From there, it was a short 5-10 minute drive to the second of the three: the Tomb of Khai Dinh. I’ll simply copy the LP Vietnam description of this tomb here:

 

“This hillside monument is a synthesis of Vietnamese and European elements. Most of the tomb’s grandiose exterior is covered in blackened concrete, creating an unexpectedl Gothic air, while the interiors resemble an explosion of colorful mosaic.

 

Khai Dinh was the penultimate emperor of Vietnam, from 1916 to 1925, and widely seen as a puppet of the French. The construction of his flamboyant tomb took 11 years.

 

Steps lead to the Honor Courtyard where mandarin honor guards have a mixture of Vietnamese and European features. Up three more flights of stairs is the stupendous main building, Thien Dinh. The walls and ceiling are decorated with murals of the Four Seasons, Eight Precious Objects, and Eight Fairies. Under a graceless, gold-speckled concrete canopy is a gilt bronze statue of Khai Dinh. His remains are interred 18m below the statue.”

 

Khai Dinh’s tomb was a stark contrast to Minh Mang’s. Minh Mang’s takes advantage of a natural setting whereas this tomb has a castle/temple feel to it. It’s on a hill and the views afforded from in front of Thien Dinh are quite wonderful. The temple itself – actually it advertises itself as a palace – is pretty much as Lonely Planet described it: rather ostentatious. That being said, it’s still well worth coming out here, especially to use it as a contrast from the other two tombs. Anyway, about 30 minutes at the Tomb of Khai Dinh should more than suffice even the most leisurely of visitors.

 

From there, we hopped back in the car for a 15 minute drive to the third and final tomb of the day: the Tomb of Tu Duc. This is actually the closest of the three to the city. I rather like the order in which we visited, though. My favorite first, least-favorite second, and another nice one to end it.

 

The Tomb of Tu Duc was built between 1864 and 1867. According to LP, it’s “the most popular, and certainly one of the most impressive of the royal mausoleums.” (That being said, I preferred Minh Mang’s tomb…by a long way.)

 

This tomb was designed by the emperor himself for use both before and after his death. Tu Duc was an interesting puppet king. Basically…he was a sterile Lothario. He had 104 wives and countless concubines, though no offspring. (Ok…he may not have been sterile, but with that many women around, I don’t think it’s a terribly unreasonable guess.)

 

This tomb is much closer in style to Minh Mang’s than to Khai Dinh’s. When you walk through the front gate, a path leads directly to Lou Khiem Lake. There’s a tiny island to the right – Tinh Khiem – where he used to hunt small game. Across the water to the left is Xung Khiem Pavilion, where he would compose and recite poetry to his concubines.

 

From the lake, turn directly behind you to find Hoa Khiem Temple, where Tu Duc and his wife (Empress Hoang Le Thien Anh) were worshipped. It’s not much to speak of when visiting it today, for it doesn’t seem to be a priority to maintain it. There are two thrones in here…and the larger one was for the empress. Tu Duc was, shall we say, vertically challenged, only reaching 153 cm in stature. (That’s a hair over 5’0”, which would even make Prince seem to tower over him.)

 

Anyway, the temples to honor the emperor/empress and another to honor his mother were so unimpressive to me that I won’t bother with more details. From this area, you continue to walk back less than 5 minutes to the Honor Courtyard with its statues of elephants, horses, and diminutive mandarins (the emperor ensured that his servants were even shorter than he, though I’m not sure where he found enough that fit that description). The courtyard leads to the Stele Pavilion, which has a 20 ton stele for which the emperor drafted the inscriptions himself. From LP, “He freely admitted that he had made mistakes and chose to name his tomb Khiem (modest).”

 

Of the three tombs on the day, this one is the least impressive. It’s enclosed by a wall on the back side of a tiny crescent-shaped lagoon. It’s a drab, gray monument. The reason it’s unimpressive, I guess, is because the emperor isn’t actually buried here. The site of his remains is unknown as, to keep it a secret from grave robbers, all 200 servants who buried the king were beheaded. How lovely.

 

As you can tell, I’m not a fan of this particular kind. (Paranoid and insecure, anyone?) However, the grounds and his tomb – barring the temples dedicated to him and his mom – are pleasant enough. I honestly don’t know why people would consider this the most popular, but I won’t argue. I’ll just say it’s a nice place to visit – but not if it’s the only destination you have in mind. The tombs are best seen as a group for contrast’s sake.

 

Having had our fix of tombs satisfied, the driver took us back into town and dropped us off just inside the Quang Duc Gate (southwestern gate) of the Citadel right in front of the Nine Holy Cannons. (Actually, there are five on this side; the other four are inside the southeast gate: Ngan Gate.)

 

The Citadel, for comparison, is quite a bit like China’s Forbidden City in its layout and use. Having said that…it’s nothing like the Forbidden City in terms of scale or elaborate detail. However, it’s still quite photogenic.

 

To get the dimensions out of the way, the outer wall of the Citadel is 10 kilometers long (close to square in orientation, so 2.5 km by 2.5 km) with a moat surrounding it that is 30 meters across. Within the Citadel, there are very distinct sections: the Imperial Enclosure and Forbidden Purple City is in the center. Temple compounds are in the southwest section and residences for family members (emperor’s mother, for example) are in the northwest. There are gardens in the northeast and to the north was the Mang Ca Fortress (which is still a military base).

 

Unfortunately for the world, you need to really use your imagination when visiting the Forbidden City because the one thing that wasn’t forbidden, sadly, were bombs by both the French and U.S troops during the various wars of the 20th century. Of the 148 buildings that were originally here, only 20 are still standing.

 

Getting back to our particular tour of the citadel, it started inside the southwest gate which was the outer wall of the compound. It was more of a military parade ground for the emperor and is currently flanked by the nine aforementioned cannons (for decorative purposes only, found under small pavilions) and a massive Vietnamese flag flying high at the center of the southern outer wall.

 

Walking across the parade grounds, you get to the ticket booth and pass through Ngo Mon Gate. This is a gate with three doors, the central of which was only for the emperor’s use. On top of the gate is the Ngu Phung (Belvedere of the Five Phoenixes). There’s a large drum and bell on its upper level as well. The emperor only came here on special occasions, the last of which, on 30 August 1945, was when Emperor Bao Dai appeared to end the Nguyen Dynasty, abdicating to a delegation sent by Ho Chi Minh.

 

After entering and crossing a bridge, you arrive at the Thai Hoa Palace (Palace of Supreme Harmony, built in 1803). This is an attractive palace which forbids photography inside. That’s all for the best. It has nice details but, except for the throne, is essentially a large, empty chamber. In a back room, though, is a nice introductory video that previews the Citadel which I’d recommend watching.

 

We actually went counter to the plan laid out by Lonely Planet here. Instead of continuing directly through the middle of the compound, we turned left out of the back door of the main palace.

 

After resting for half an hour or so in a cafe, we continued to the southwest corner of the compound. The highlights here are open fields – in a few cases where temples used to be before being blown to smithereens – and a few nice temples are still standing. The most photographic of these is a temple in front of which stand Nine Dynastic Urns. Having seen the three temples in the southwestern corner of the Citadel, we made our way north along the inside of the western wall towards the residential compounds.

 

On the way there, we decided to skip those and head back towards the center of the Citadel where we came upon the Hall of Mandarins. This is a hall that lists the accomplishments of every emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty. Again, most of the buildings here are gone, and there are just open, grassy fields framed by the halls. The mandarins used to have their offices off the halls here.

 

Once through the western hall, you come back into an interior grassy field – also framed by rather nice, long corridors. This is/was the Forbidden Purple City where the private residence of the emperor would have been. To the right of the eastern corridor, just outside the Forbidden Field, is the Royal Theater which, while we were here, was under restoration.

 

From here, we made our way back towards the Thai Hoa Palace, only to find that we couldn’t exit whence we came in, so we had to follow the wall around to the eastern gate. I can say that the southeastern section of the Citadel just has a nice forest-like feel to it, but nothing architectural of note.

 

When we finally made our way out the eastern gate, we paid two bike drivers (these are bikes on the front of which are placed chariot-ish looking carts that seat one person) to take us back over towards our hotel where we grabbed a very late lunch/early dinner.

 

For the evening, we just went out for a walk along the river, but – unlike Hoi An – Hue isn’t terribly impressive at night. There’s a night market, but really, everything just seemed a bit dark and not interesting. This was probably also due to the fact that I was feeling a slight fever (possibly from the afternoon shower the day before) and my energy was practically drained. I’m glad to say that I felt fine the following morning, which was good, since we had a one hour flight to Hanoi that would get us to the capital around noon.

 

As always, thanks for dropping by and viewing these pictures. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and I’ll answer as I have time.

It's a little rusty and full of charm but will do the job, just like it did on the first day. No vintage kitchens complete without an old green scale.

Althea stopped in to Pono's Market for a roll of Lifesavers.

 

#The100DayProject

Day 81/100

Zoom into this map at maps.bpl.org.

Author: Richardson, Freeman

Publisher: Freeman Richardson

Date: 1864

Location: Boston (Mass.)

 

Scale: Not drawn to scale.

Call Number: G3764.B6A3 1864R5

 

Type: Action figure.

Name: Revoltech Queen's Blade Alice.

Origin: Queen's Blade.

Brand: Kaiyodo.

Series: RevolTech.

Scale: 1/12 scale.

Material: ABS and PVC.

Release Date: Sept 2010.

 

*Note: Pics not by us. It's just for reference.

This is an action figure collected by my BB or me.

More in My Collection Corner.

I've down scaled this to fit on flickr's default display better. Still looks good! Actual left and actual right are full 1920x1080 video for each eye. This was shot in Hawai with one of the very few rigs in existance. The thing can take a person up to 60 feet in the air and allow them to fly for miles, accompanied by a robot jet ski, running the water pump. It was shot at 160th for better 3D detail. (make this big for

full effect in cross view)

The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind. Amphitheatre

The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The ludi (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times.

 

The round façade of the building was originally composed of white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, but after a major earthquake in 1117, which almost completely destroyed the structure's outer ring, except for the so-called "ala", the stone was quarried for re-use in other buildings. Nevertheless it impressed medieval visitors to the city, one of whom considered it to have been a labyrinth, without ingress or egress. Ciriaco d'Ancona was filled with admiration for the way it had been built and Giovanni Antonio Panteo's civic panegyric De laudibus veronae, 1483, remarked that it struck the viewer as a construction that was more than human. Musical theatre

The first interventions to recover the arena's function as a theatre began during the Renaissance. Some operatic performances were later mounted in the building during the 1850s, owing to its outstanding acoustics.

 

And in 1913, operatic performances in the arena commenced in earnest due to the zeal and initiative of the Italian opera tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the impresario Ottone Rovato. The first 20th-century operatic production at the arena, a staging of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, took place on 10 August of that year, to mark the birth of Verdi 100 years before in 1813. Musical luminaries such as Puccini and Mascagni were in attendance. Since then, summer seasons of opera have been mounted continually at the arena, except in 1915â18 and 1940â45, when Europe was convulsed in war.

 

Nowadays, at least four productions (sometimes up to six) are mounted each year between June and August. During the winter months, the local opera and ballet companies perform at the L'Accademia Filarmonica.

 

Modern-day travellers are advised that admission tickets to sit on the arena's stone steps are much cheaper to buy than tickets giving access to the padded chairs available on lower levels. Candles are distributed to the audience and lit after sunset around the arena.

 

Every year over 500,000 people see productions of the popular operas in this arena.[3] Once capable of housing 20,000 patrons per performance (now limited to 15,000 because of safety reasons), the arena has featured many of world's most notable opera singers. In the post-World War II era, they have included Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi and Renata Tebaldi among other names. A number of conductors have appeared there, too. The official arena shop has historical recordings made by some of them available for sale.

 

The opera productions in the Verona Arena had not used any microphones or loudspeakers until an electronic sound reinforcement system was installed in 2011.

 

In recent times, the arena has also hosted several concerts of international rock and pop bands, among which Laura Pausini, Pink Floyd, Alicia Keys, One Direction, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Deep Purple, The Who, Dire Straits, Mike Oldfield, Rod Stewart, Sting, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, Björk, Muse, Paul McCartney, Jamiroquai, and Whitney Houston.

 

In 1981, 1984 and 2010 it hosted the podium and presentation of the Giro d'Italia with thousands packing the arena to watch the prizes being handed out.

 

The 2011 Bollywood film Rockstar directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Ranbir Kapoor with music composed by Academy Award winner A.R.Rahman opens and closes with musical concerts shot here.

 

On 26 March 2013, Paul McCartney confirmed a show at the venue as part of his 2013 Tour. The show is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 25 June 2013.

British-Irish boy band One Direction performed on 19 May 2013 as part of their Take Me Home Tour

Piazza Bra , or simply the Bra (a name derived from a corruption of the term "Braida", which in turn derives from the Lombard breit , or "off"), is the largest square in Verona , located in its center historian .

 

The square of Piazza Bra began to turn into only the first half of the sixteenth century , when the architect Michele San Micheli concluded the palace of Honorij : this building was to delimit the western side of the square of the future, as well as to establish a correct outlook on the ' Arena . The first attempt to transform the clearing dirt road instead of walking, however, was the mayor Alvise Mocenigo, who wanted to create a meeting place for the rising bourgeoisie Verona: he was able to inaugurate the first part of the Liston , a paved sidewalk that lines connecting the Bra Corso Porta Nuova in Via Mazzini , in 1770. La Gran Guardia , begun by the Venetians in the seventeenth century and completed by the Austrians in the ' Nineteenth Century , went to delimit the southern side of the square, while in 1836 the architect Giuseppe Barbieri designed the eastern edge, where a hospital were demolished, some houses and a church, which was built in place of the Gran Guardia Nuova , better known as Palazzo Barbieri. This, initially used as a barracks by the Austrians, became, as a result of ' annexation of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy , the seat of the municipality of the City of Verona.

 

History

Origins

In Roman times , the place where you would then open the Bra was outside the city and yet away from the main roads. It is only since the first century AD, when it was built the ' amphitheater in the Roman Empire, better known as the Arena of Verona , who came to define the northern edge of what centuries later would become one of the main squares of Verona. In 305 the Emperor Galerius , during a short stay in the city, he opened a door along the walls which was built in 265 by the Emperor Gallienus , which surrounded the Arena went thus creating a first connection between the city and the place where later would be born Bra.

 

The square, however, began to abbozzarsi only in the Middle Ages: the walls of the city was enlarged at that point between 1130 and 1153, going to close so that piece of land that later would become, coming to have the size of a square. Those areas between the walls and the Roman city walls were called braide, from the Lombard breit ; the braida that could match the current Bra in the twelfth century was far more extensive than at the edge of the square today.

 

A door that the Braida along the city walls is already mentioned in a document dated 1257, but later his place was taken by the gates of the Bra , probably due to the Visconti and to the Venetians : the first arch is dated to the late fourteenth century and the second to the second half of the fifteenth century. The clock that is located between the two arches of the gates of the Bra was a gift of Count Antonio Nogarola made ââin 1871: it was installed with the dials is visible from one side on the other walls. The clock was inaugurated on June 2, 1872 and refurbished in 1879 because of its vagueness.

 

Development

Piazza Bra after the arrangement of the central gardens

Piazza Bra in the mid-twentieth century.

The Bra began to be defined as a square only in the first decade of the seventeenth century, when they started on the south side of the factories Gran Guardia and the seat of the ' Accademia Filarmonica of Verona . In conjunction with the factory della Gran Guardia became the leveling the square as possible, and also create some gradients to regulate the flow of stormwater, operation up to that time never practiced because the space was used by stonemasons, that here, as well as work, abandoning the resulting material, and because the clearing was used for the discharge of material from construction in progress in the area.

 

For others, one hundred and fifty years the space was in clay, in fact, only in 1770 the foundations were laid of Liston will of the mayor Alvise Mocenigo. On March 13, 1782 Francis Menegatti presented a project to the final lastricamento of Liston that the City Council approved and, after this surgery, the bra became the favorite place for afternoon walks in place of Piazza dei Signori . Goethe , in his essay Journey to Italy , describes enjoyed the arrival carriage with ladies and gentlemen, and said that the sunset loitered along the rim of the amphitheater enjoying the most beautiful views of the city. I insole and down on the pavement off the Bra 'walked a multitude of people .

 

The square was smoothed more times: in 1808 he was entrusted with the task of remaking the Liston architect Luigi Trezza and in 1820 excavations were carried out along the Arena, in order to bring to light the basis of the same, as it was buried about two feet because of the sediments that were deposited after the numerous floods that had undergone the city. He also opted for a lowering of the average level of Bra about 70 centimeters along a line slightly inclined from the Gran Guardia At Arena, lowering the share of Liston.

 

Plan of Bra in a drawing by Giuseppe Barbieri

As for the lighting, until the eighteenth century the bra at night was totally immersed in the dark; only in the nineteenth century were installed lights in oil and gas lighting in 1845, so that the Liston also became a place for evening strolls. Then important for the conformation of the square today, is the accommodation in the central part of the garden Bra occurred in 1873: the central gardens were created with three circles forming a triangle with a central fountain.

Between 1884 and 1951 the square was affected by the rails of the tramway town .

 

Events

It is interesting to read the description of Liston of an astonished reporter of the magazine Esperia in an article of 1837:

 

" ... the audience is walking the plank of 'Veronesi, extended space, which is located in a few cities: here business people are dining and comforting conversation, idleness is recreated, and the beautiful flock there to get tributes of glances and sighs of their worshipers ... and many cafes offer brilliant and sufficient acceptance to the numerous meetings that there agree. Street musicians and improvisers, unpleasant indeed, but the liveliness of the inhabitants always well received, breaking the monotony of chatter; and the music of the military garrison increase much fun. Very pleasing to the eye is in the summer thousands of people of both sexes, and before sitting under the porch; and a more active crowd by constantly prowling the paths formed by the rows of seats, and now dispense with a bow, and now dwell near some nice, vibrate envious compliments and words of hope and voting ... while the beautiful turn cautious gaze looking at the confused teeming with ill-concealed impatience, greeting or stop most expensive among the happy meeting ... "

In the past, however, the Bra was used for uses other than those described well by this reporter: in particular, after the twelfth century it was included in the city walls it was used for the wood, hay, straw and cattle, so that in ancient documents is called the Bra cattle market. More often is cited as the parade ground, as was the case here the review of the troops from the beginning of the Venetian rule, which is why this was one of the points of conflict between the French and Venetian soldiers during the Veronese Easters in 1797 . Starting from 1633, after the approval of the Venetian Senate for the creation of an exhibition of goods in the city, there were held two annual fairs fifteen days each, which continued to be held until one of them was destroyed by fire October 28, 1712, and then restored in another place, it was established only in 1822, a new exhibition, which would last in Piazza Bra for twenty years.

 

Fair in very old custom is instead to Saint Lucia : it takes place every year from 11 to 13 December, but do not know its origins. Legend has it that, probably in the communal, an epidemic broke out in the city that struck my eyes, it was so that the Veronese decided to make a pilgrimage to the church of Saint Lucia (no longer exists): the children, who did not want to participate , were persuaded to return with the promise that they would find the shoes filled with gifts. The miracle occurred, and since then the fair is held to coincide with the feast of Saint Lucia.

 

The comet of Verona during a night snowfall

During the Christmas season takes place within the Arena arches dell ' Arena, the International Festival of the Nativity , an event born in 1984 from the mind of Alfredo Troisi , along with the comet symbol of the event, from the reservoir from the Arena, go to dive in Bra. Over the years the star has taken on meanings and values ââare independent of the review of the nativity, as to be appreciated by itself. This architecture-sculpture was designed by architect and designer Rinaldo Olivieri : his intuition came to looking at a map of the city, characterized by two large voids, one of the auditorium and that of the square in front of the Arena. It was from this impression that he was born an ideal line, a huge arch that connects the Arena with the urban space, an arc of light and steel from the Temple of the music goes to fall and explode among citizens.

Vishnu (/ˈvɪʃnuː/; Sanskrit: Viṣṇu) is a popular Hindu deity, the Supreme God of Vaishnavism (one of the three principal denominations of Hinduism) and one of the three supreme deities (Trimurti) of Hinduism. He is also known as Lord Narayana and Lord Hari. As one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, He is conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector" within the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the divinity.

 

In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu is usually described as having dark complexion of water-filled clouds and as having four arms. He is depicted as a blue being, holding a padma (lotus flower) in the lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in the lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in the upper left hand and the discus weapon Sudarshana Chakra in the upper right hand.

 

Adherents of Hinduism believe Vishnu's eternal and supreme abode beyond the material universe is called Vaikuntha, which is also known as Paramdhama, the realm of eternal bliss and happiness and the final or highest place for liberated souls who have attained Moksha. Vaikuntha is situated beyond the material universe and hence, cannot be perceived or measured by material science or logic. Vishnu's other abode within the material universe is Ksheera Sagara (the ocean of milk), where he reclines and rests on Ananta Shesha, (the king of the serpent deities, commonly shown with a thousand heads). In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatars, the most famous of whom are Rama and Krishna.

 

The Puranabharati, an ancient text, describes these as the dashavatara, or the ten avatars of Vishnu. Among the ten described, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future as Lord Kalki, at the end of Kali Yuga, (the fourth and final stage in the cycle of yugas that the world goes through). These incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales; the avatars and their stories show that gods are indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and inconceivable. The Bhagavad Gita mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate Dharma, to vanquish those negative forces of evil that threaten dharma, and also to display His divine nature in front of all souls.

 

The Trimurti (three forms) is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer, preserver or protector and Shiva the destroyer or transformer." These three deities have also been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", all having the same meaning of three in One. They are the different forms or manifestation of One person the Supreme Being or Narayana/Svayam Bhagavan.

 

Vishnu is also venerated as Mukunda, which means God who is the giver of mukti or moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirths) to his devotees or the worthy ones who deserve salvation from the material world.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The traditional explanation of the name Vishnu involves the root viś, meaning "to settle" (cognate with Latin vicus, English -wich "village," Slavic: vas -ves), or also (in the Rigveda) "to enter into, to pervade," glossing the name as "the All-Pervading One". Yaska, an early commentator on the Vedas, in his Nirukta, (etymological interpretation), defines Vishnu as viṣṇur viṣvater vā vyaśnoter vā, "one who enters everywhere". He also writes, atha yad viṣito bhavati tad viṣnurbhavati, "that which is free from fetters and bondages is Vishnu".

 

Adi Shankara in his commentary on the Sahasranama states derivation from viś, with a meaning "presence everywhere" ("As he pervades everything, vevesti, he is called Vishnu"). Adi Shankara states (regarding Vishnu Purana, 3.1.45): "The Power of the Supreme Being has entered within the universe. The root viś means 'enter into'." Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu Sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: "The root vis means to enter. The entire world of things and beings is pervaded by Him and the Upanishad emphatically insists in its mantra 'whatever that is there is the world of change.' Hence, it means that He is not limited by space, time or substance. Chinmayananda states that, that which pervades everything is Vishnu."

 

SACRET TEXTS - SHRUTI & SMRITI

Shruti is considered to be solely of divine origin. It is preserved as a whole, instead of verse by verse. It includes the four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda) the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads with commentaries on them.

 

Smṛti refers to all the knowledge derived and inculcated after Shruti had been received. Smrti is not 'divine' in origin, but was 'remembered' by later Rishis (sages by insight, who were the scribes) by transcendental means and passed down through their followers. It includes the Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana which are Sattva Puranas. These both declare Vishnu as Para Brahman Supreme Lord who creates unlimited universes and enters each one of them as Lord of Universe.

 

SHRUTI

 

VAISHNAVA CANON

The Vaishnava canon presents Vishnu as the supreme being, rather than another name for the Sun God, who also bore the name Suryanarayana and is considered only as a form of Vishnu.

 

VEDAS

In the Yajur Veda, Taittiriya Aranyaka (10-13-1), Narayana suktam, Lord Narayana is mentioned as the supreme being. The first verse of Narayana Suktam mentions the words "paramam padam", which literally mean "highest post" and may be understood as the "supreme abode for all souls". This is also known as Param Dhama, Paramapadam, or Vaikuntha. Rig Veda 1:22:20a also mentions the same "paramam padam". This special status is not given to any deity in the Vedas apart from Lord Vishnu/Narayana.[citation needed] Narayana is one of the thousand names of Vishnu as mentioned in the Vishnu Sahasranama. It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of - and beyond - the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. This illustrates the omnipresent characteristic of Vishnu. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called "Preserver of the universe".

 

Vishnu is the Supreme God who takes manifest forms or avatars across various ages or periods to save humanity from evil beings, demons or Asuras. According to the extant Hindu texts and traditions, Lord Vishnu is considered to be resident in the direction of the "Makara Rashi" (the "Shravana Nakshatra"), which is about coincident with the Capricorn constellation. In some of the extant Puranas, and Vaishnava traditions, Vishnu's eye is considered to be situated at the infinitely distant Southern Celestial Pole.

 

Following the defeat of Indra and his displacement as the Lord of Heaven or Swarga, Indra asks Lord Vishnu for help and thus Lord Vishnu takes his incarnations or avatars to Earth to save mankind, thus showing his position as Supreme God to all of creation.

 

In the Puranas, Indra frequently appears proud and haughty. These bad qualities are temporarily removed when Brahma and/or Shiva give boons to Asuras or Rakshasas such as Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu and Ravana, who are then able to defeat Indra in wars between Devas and Asuras. The received boons often made Asuras virtually indestructible.

 

Indra has no option but to seek help from Vishnu. Indra prays before Vishnu for protection and the Supreme Lord obliges him by taking avatars and generating himself on Earth in various forms, first as a water-dweller (Matsya, fish), then as an amphibious creature (Kurma avatar or Tortoise), then as a half-man-half-animal (Varaha the pig-faced, human-bodied Lord, and Narasimha the Lord with lion's face and claws and a human body). Later, Vishnu appears as human beings (Vamana the short-heighted person), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and finally as Kalki for performing his task of protecting his devotees from demons and anti-religious entities.

 

Vishnu's supremacy is attested by his victories over those very powerful entities. It is further attested by the accepted iconography and sculptures of Vishnu in reclining position as producing Brahma emerging from his navel. Brahma the creator is thus created in turn by Vishnu out of his own person. Instead Vishnu takes various avatars to slay or defeat those demons. But it is to be noted that Vishnu also provided boons to Akupresura, a bear faced demon who was destroyed by Lord Shiva.

 

Vishnu's actions lowered Indra's ranking among Hindu deities and led to the ascendancy of Vishnu.

 

Few temples are dedicated to the Sun or Suryanarayana, nor indeed Indra, nor does Indra figure largely in the Hindu religion.

 

Indra is almost completely absent from the deities considered as the chief or most important deity.

 

RIGVEDA

In the Rigveda, Vishnu is mentioned 93 times. He is frequently invoked alongside other deities, especially Indra, whom he helps in killing Vritra and with whom he drinks Soma. His distinguishing characteristic in the Vedas is his association with light. Two Rigvedic hymns in Mandala 7 are dedicated to Vishnu. In 7.99, Vishnu is addressed as the god who separates heaven and earth, a characteristic he shares with Indra.

 

The Rig Veda describes Vishnu as younger brother to Indra as Vamana. In Vaishnava canon the 'Vishnu' who is younger brother to Indra is identified as Vamana, Avatar of Vishnu, hence referred to as Vishnu by Vaishnavites. Vishnu is the Supreme God who lives in the highest celestial region, contrasted against those who live in the atmospheric or terrestrial regions. Vishnu is content with mere prayer, unlike almost all of the other gods who receive sacrificial offerings such as Havis, which is given using clarified butter, or Soma. Later foreign translators have view that Vedas place Indra in a superior position to Vishnu's Avatar of Vamana but in fact Vamana helps Indra by restoring his Kingdom.

 

An alternate translation is provided by Wilson according to Sayana:

 

When Thy (younger brother) Viṣṇu (Vamana) by (his) strength stepped his three paces, then verily thy beloved horses bore thee. (Rigveda 8:12:27)

 

Wilson mentions Griffith's possible translation as a footnote. However the following verse from Rigveda renders the above translation by Wilson more probable.

 

Him whose three places that are filled with sweetness, imperishable, joy as it may list them, Who verily alone upholds the threefold, the earth, the heaven, and all living creatures. (Rig veda 1:154:4)

 

Wilson offers an alternate translation for Rigveda 10:113:2:

 

Viṣṇu offering the portion of Soma, glorifies by his own vigor that greatness of his. Indra, the lord of heaven, with the associated gods having slain Vritra, became deserving of honour. (Rigveda 10:113:2)

 

This verse sees Vishnu as one who is glorified by his own strength, while Indra became deserving of honor after having slain Vritra only in association with other gods.

 

However Vishnu's praise for other gods does not imply worship. Wilson translates:

 

Viṣṇu, the mighty giver of dwellings praises thee, and Mitra and Varuna; the company of Maruts imitates thee in exhilaration. (Rigveda 8:15:9) (page 280)

 

The following verses show categorically Vishnu as distinguished from other gods in Rigveda.

 

He who presents (offering) to Viṣṇu, the ancient, the creator, the recent, the self-born; he who celebrates the great birth of that mighty one; he verily possessed of abundance, attains (the station) that is to be sought (by all). (Rigveda 1:156:2) (page 98)

 

No being that is or that has been born, divine Viṣṇu, has attained the utmost limit of thy magnitude, by which thou hast upheld the vast and beautiful heaven, and sustained the eastern horizon of Earth.(Rigveda 7:99:2) (page 196)

 

The divine Viṣṇu, the best of the doers of good deeds, who came to the pious instituter of rite (Indra), to assist (at its celebration), knowing (the desires of the worshiper), and present at the three connected period (of worship), shows favor to the Arya, and admits the author of the ceremony to a share of the sacrifice. (Rigveda 1:156:5) (page 99)

 

Jan Gonda, the late Indologist, states that Vishnu, although remaining in the background of Indra's exploits, contributes by his presence, or is key to Indra's success. Vishnu is more than a mere companion, equal in rank or power to Indra, or sometime the one who made Indra's success possible.

 

Descriptions of Vishnu as younger to Indra are found in only the hymns to Indra, but in a kathenotheism religion like that of the Rigveda, each god, for a time, is supreme in the mind of the devotee.

 

In the Rig Vedic texts, the deity or god referred to as Vishnu is the Sun God, who also bears the name 'Suryanarayana'. By contrast, the 'Vishnu' referred to in 'Vishnu Purana', 'Vishnu Sahasranamam' and 'Purusha Sooktham' is Lord Narayana, the Consort of Lakshmi. Vaishnavites make a further distinction by extolling the qualities of Vishnu by highlighting his differences from other deities such as Shiva,[citation needed] Brahma or Surya.

 

THREE STEPS

Hymn 7.100 refers to the celebrated 'three steps' of Vishnu (as Trivikrama) by which he strode over the universe and in three places planted his step. The 'Vishnu Suktam' (RV 1.154) says that the first and second of Vishnu's strides (those encompassing the earth and air) are visible to men and the third is in the heights of heaven (sky). This last place is described as Vishnu's supreme abode in RV 1.22.20:

 

The princes evermore behold / that loftiest place where Vishnu is / Laid as it were an eye in heaven.(trans. Griffith)

 

Griffith's "princes" are the sūri, either "inciters" or lords of a sacrifice, or priests charged with pressing the Soma. The verse is quoted as expressing Vishnu's supremacy by Vaishnavites.

 

Though such solar aspects have been associated with Vishnu by tradition as well as modern-scholarship, he was not just the representation of the sun, as he moves both vertically and horizontally.

 

In hymns 1.22.17, 1.154.3, 1.154.4 he strides across the earth with three steps, in 6.49.13, 7.100.3 strides across the earth three times and in 1.154.1, 1.155.5,7.29.7 he strides vertically, with the final step in the heavens. The same Veda also says he strode wide and created space in the cosmos for Indra to fight Vritra. By his stride he made dwelling for men possible, the three forming a symbolic representation of the dwelling's all-encompassing nature. This nature and benevolence to men were Vishnu's enduring attributes. As the triple-strider he is known as Trivikrama and as Urukrama, for the strides were wide.

 

BRAHMANAS

The Brahmanas are commentaries on the Vedas and form part of the Shruti literature. They are concerned with the detail of the proper performance of rituals. In the Rigveda, Shakala Shakha: Aitareya Brahmana Verse 1 declares: agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus, tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā - Agni is the lowest or youngest god and Vishnu is the greatest and the highest God.

 

The Brahmanas assert the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, addressing him as "Gajapati", the one whom all sacrifices are meant to please. Lord Vishnu accepts all sacrifices to the demigods and allots the respective fruits to the performer In one incident, a demonic person performs a sacrifice by abducting the Rishis (sages), who meditate by constantly chanting God's name. The sacrifice is meant to destroy Indra. But the rishis, who worship Indra as a demigod, alter one pronunciation of the Veda Mantra, reversing the purpose of the sacrifice. When the fruit of the sacrifice is given and the demon is on the verge of dying, he calls to Vishnu, whom he addresses as Supreme Godhead and "the father of all living entities including himself".

 

Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 mentions Vishnu as the Supreme God. But in the Vaishnava canon, in different ages, with Vishnu in different avatars, his relationship with the asuras or demons, was always adversarial. The asuras always caused harm, while the sages and devas or celestial beings, did penance and called to Vishnu for protection. Vishnu always obliged by taking an avatar to vanquish the asuras. In the Vaishnava canon, Vishnu never gave or granted any boons to the asuras, distinguishing him from the gods Shiva and Brahma, who did. He is the only God called upon to save good beings by defeating or killing the asuras.

 

Sayana writes that in Aitareya Brahmana 1:1:1 the declaration agnir vai devānām ava mo viṣṇuḥ paramus,tadantareṇa sarvā anyā devatā does not indicate any hierarchy among gods. Even in Rigveda Samhita, avama and parama are not applied to denote rank and dignity, but only to mark place and locality.

 

In Rigveda 1:108:9,: yadindrāghnī avamasyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ madhyamasyāṃ paramasyāmuta sthaḥ | i.e., in the lowest place, the middle (place), and the highest (place). Agni, the fire, has, among the gods, the lowest place; for he resides with man on the earth; while the other gods are either in the air, or in the sky. Vishnu occupies the highest place. The words avama and parama are understood as 'First' and 'Last' respectively. To support this claim, Sayana adduces the mantra (1,4. As'val. Sr. S. 4, 2), agnir mukham prathamo devathanam samathanam uttamo vishnur asit, i.e., Agni was the first of the deities assembled, (and) Vishnu the last.

 

In the Kausitaki Brahmana (7.1) Agni is called Aaradhya (instead of avama), and Visnu parardha(instead of parama),i.e., belonging to the lower and higher halves (or forming the lower and higher halves). The Vishnu Purana gives tremendous importance to the worship of Vishnu and mentions that sacrifices are to begin only with both the lighting of fire or 'Agni', pouring of sacrificial offerings to Vishnu in 'Agni' so that those offerings reach and are accepted by Vishnu. Worship of Vishnu through Yajnas (or Homams) and other rituals, will not achieve the desired result if Agni's role is neglected.

 

Muller says "Although the gods are sometimes distinctly invoked as the great and the small, the young and the old (Rig veda 1:27:13), this is only an attempt to find the most comprehensive expression for the divine powers, and nowhere is any of the gods represented as the subordinate to others. It would be easy to find, in the numerous hymns of the Veda, passages in which almost every single god is represented as supreme and absolute."

 

However this notion is not completely correct as per the following verses, which shows Rigveda describe one or more gods as subject to other god(s).

 

Him whose high law not Varuna nor Indra, not Mitra, Aryaman, nor Rudra breaketh, Nor evil-hearted fiends, here for my welfare him I invoke, God Savitar, with worship. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

I invite to this place, with reverential salutations, for my good, that divine Savita, whose functions neither Indra, nor Varun.a, nor Mitra nor Aryaman nor Rudra nor the enemies (of the gods), impede. (Rigveda 2.038.09)

 

SMRITI

 

VISHNU SMRITI

The Vishnu Smṛti, is one of the later books of the Dharmashastra tradition of Hinduism and the only one that focuses on the bhakti tradition and the required daily puja to Vishnu, rather than the means of knowing dharma. It is also known for its handling of the controversial subject of the practice of sati (self-immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre). The text was composed by an individual or group. The author(s) created a collection of the commonly known legal maxims that were attributed to Vishnu into one book, as Indian oral culture began to be recorded more formally.

 

BHAGAVATA PURANA

Vishnu is the only Bhagavan as declared in the Bhagavata 1:2:11 in the verse: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate, translated as "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-dual substance as Brahman, Paramātma and Bhagavan."

 

VISHNU PURANA

In the Vishnu Purana (6:5:79) the personality named Parashara Rishi defines six bhagas:

 

aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ

jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣannāḥ bhaga itīṇganā

 

Jiva Gosvami explains the verse in Gopala Champu (Pūrva 15:73) and Bhagavata Sandarbha 46:10:

 

jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-vīrya-tejām.sy aśeṣataḥ

bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ

 

"The substantives of the word bhagavat (bhagavat-śabda-vācyāni) are unlimited (aśeṣataḥ) knowledge (jñāna), energies (śakti), strength (bala), opulence (aiśvarya), heroism (vīrya), splendor (tejas), without (vinā) objectionable (heyair) qualities (guṇādibhiḥ)."

 

SANGAM LITERATURE

Tamil Sangam literature (300BCE to 500CE) mentions mAyOn, or the dark one, as the supreme deity who creates, sustains and destroys the universe. Paripadal 3 describes the glory of Thirumal in the most superlative terms.

 

Paripadal by kaduvan iLaveyinanAr:

 

"thIyinuL theRal nI poovinuL naaRRa nI kallinuL maNiyu nI sollinuL vaaymai aRaththinuL anbu nI maRaththinuL mainthu nI vEthaththu maRai nI boothaththu madhalu nI vencudar oLiyu nI thingaLuL aLiyu nI anaiththu nI anaiththinut poruLu nI"

 

The last line states that Lord Vishnu is the supreme deity who is the inner controller (Antaryamin) of the entire universe. This is one of the Lord's glories, which is first mentioned in Vedas and later propounded by Alwars in Prabhandams and Sri Vaishnavaite Acharyas in various commentaries

 

The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple and Vishnu, Lakshmi is mentioned in Tamil works of literature of the Sangam era, including the epic Silapadikaram (book 11, lines 35–40):

 

āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ

 

pāyaṟ paḷḷip palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum

 

On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest.

 

THEOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

The actual number of Vishnu's auspicious qualities is countless, although his six most-important "divine glories" are:

 

Jnana (Omniscience); defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously;

Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara which means unchallenged rule over all;

Shakti (Power or Energy), the capacity to make the impossible possible;

Bala (Strength), the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue;

Virya (Vigour), the power to retain immateriality as the Supreme Spirit or Being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations;

Tejas (Splendor), which expresses self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by spiritual effulgence.

 

Other important qualities attributed to Vishnu are Gambhirya (inestimatable grandeur), Audarya (generosity), and Karunya (compassion). Natya Shastra lists Vishnu as the presiding deity of the Sṛngara rasa.

 

The Rigveda says: Vishnu can travel in three strides. The first stride is the Earth. The second stride is the visible sky. The third stride cannot be seen by men and is the heaven where the gods and the righteous dead live. (This feature of three strides also appears in the story of his avatar Vamana/Trivikrama.) The Sanskrit for "to stride" is the root kram; its reduplicated perfect is chakram (guņa grade) or chakra (zero-grade), and in the Rigveda he is called by epithets such as vi-chakra-māņas = "he who has made 3 strides". The Sanskrit word chakra also means "wheel". That may have suggested the idea of Vishnu carrying a chakra.

 

FIVE FORMS

In Shree Vaishnavism, another school dating from around the 10th century AD, Vishnu assumes five forms:

 

In the Para Form, Para is the highest form of Vishnu found only in Sri Vaikunta also called Moksha, along with his consort Lakshmi, (and Bhumi Devi and Nila devi, avatars of Lakshmi) and surrounded by liberated souls like Ananta, Garuda, and a host of Muktas (liberated souls).

In the Vyuha form, Vishnu assumes four forms, which exercise different cosmic functions and controls activities of living beings.

In the Vibhava form, Vishnu assumes various manifestations, called Vibhavas, more popularly known as Avataras from time to time, to protect the virtuous, punish evil-doers and re-establish righteousness.

In the Antaryami; "Dwelling within" or "Suksma Vasudeva" form, Vishnu exists within the souls of all living beings and in every substance.

In the Arcavatara or Image manifestation, Vishnu is visible and therefore easily approachable by devotees since Para, Vyuha, Vibhava and Antaryami forms can only be imagined or meditated upon because they are beyond our reach. Such images can be

Revealed by Vishnu, for example, a self-manifested (Swayambhu) icon (murti), e.g. The Mahavishnu Temple at Tirunelli, The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, The Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, etc.; or

Installed by Devas or celestial beings such as such as Guruvayur Temple installed by Vayu; or

Installed by humans, and consecrated according to Vaishnava Agama shastras or scriptures such as Lord Jagannatha of Jagannath Temple (Puri) at Puri.

 

RELATIONS WITH OTHER DEITIES

 

SHIVA

The three gods of the Trimurti clan are inseparable and in harmony in view of their common vision and universal good. They are perfectly ideal in all respects.

 

Both Asuras and Devas played supportive roles in this story by keeping company with Vishnu in his incarnated forms. Hanuman is a vanara who is completely dedicated to Rama. He gives Vishnu company and obeys his command, while playing an important part in Rama's life. He is regarded in Vaishnava canon because it is through blessings that Hanuman is born. Thus, Hanuman, Vishnu's constant companion, with his idol appearing temples of Rama, Krishna and Narasimha, i.e. all of Vishnu's avatars, is considered by Vaishnavas.

 

Syncretic forces produced stories in which the two deities were shown in cooperative relationships and combined forms. Harihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara). This dual form, which is also called Harirudra, is mentioned in the Mahabharata.

 

LAKSHMI

Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth (also known as Maya). The Samvit (the primary intelligence/dark matter) of the universe is Vishnu, while the other five attributes emerge from this samvit and hence Maya or dark energy of the universe is Lakshmee is his ahamata, activity, or Vishnu's Power. This power of God, Maya or Shakti, is personified and has multiple names: Shree, Lakshmi, Maya, Vishnumaya or Mahamaya. She is said to manifest as Kriyashakti, (Creative Activity) and Bhutishakti (Creation). This world requires Vishnu's creativity. He therefore needs Lakshmi to always be with Him. Her various avatars as Lord Vishnu's consorts are Varahavatar (Bhoodevi) or Bhoomi, Ramavatar Seeta, Krishnavatar Rukmini)

 

SARASWATI & GANGA

According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Lord Vishnu had three wives Lakshmi, Saraswati and Ganga. Due to their constant quarrelsome nature among them. Once Ganga tried to be close with Vishnu, this rebuked Saraswati but Lakshmi tried to pacify them but faced a curse rather. As per the curse, Lakshmi to appear as Tulasi. Sarawati cursed Ganga to run as a river in the world and Saraswati was cursed to run as a river in the netherworld. After this, Lord Vishnu transformed and became Brahma and Shiva to pacify Saraswati and Ganga.

 

GARUDA

Vishnu's mount (Vahana) is Garuda, the eagle. Vishnu is commonly depicted as riding on his shoulders.

 

ICONOGRAPHY

According to various Puranas, Vishnu is the ultimate omnipresent reality and is shapeless and omnipresent. However, a strict iconography governs his representation, whether in pictures, icons, or idols:

 

He has four arms and is male: The four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. His physical existence is represented by the two arms in the front, while the two arms at the back represent his presence in the spiritual world. The Upanishad Gopal Uttartapani describes the four arms.

The Shreevatsa mark is on his chest, symbolizing his consort Lakshmi.

He wears the auspicious "Kaustubha" jewel around his neck and a garland of vaijayanti flowers (Vanamala). Lakshmi dwells in this jewel, on Vishnu's chest.

A crown adorns his head: The crown symbolizes his supreme authority. This crown sometimes includes a peacock feather, borrowing from his Krishna-avatar.

He wears two earrings: The earrings represent inherent opposites in creation — knowledge and ignorance; happiness and unhappiness; pleasure and pain.

He rests on Ananta, the immortal and infinite snake.

 

Vishnu is always to be depicted holding four attributes:

 

A conch shell or Shankha, named Panchajanya, is held by the upper left hand. It represents Vishnu's power to create and maintain the universe. Panchajanya represents the five elements or Panchabhoota – water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. It also represents the five airs or Pranas that are within the body and mind. The conch symbolizes that Vishnu is the primeval Divine sound of creation and continuity. It also represented as Om. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna avatara states that of sound vibrations, 'He is Om'.

The Chakra, a sharp, spinning, discus-like weapon, named "Sudarshana", is held by the upper right hand. It symbolizes the purified spiritualized mind. The name Sudarshana is derived from two words – Su, which means good, superior, and Darshana, which means vision or sight; together. The Chakra represents destruction of ego in the awakening and realization of the soul's original nature and god, burning away spiritual ignorance and illusion, and developing higher spiritual vision and insight to realize god.

A mace or Gada, named "Kaumodaki", is held by the lower right hand. It symbolizes that Vishnu's divine power is the source of all spiritual, mental and physical strength. It also signifies Vishnu's power to destroy materialistic or demonic tendencies (Anarthas) that prevent people from reaching god. Vishnu's mace is the power of the Divine within us to spiritually purify and uplift us from our materialistic bonds.

A lotus flower or Padma is held by the lower left hand. It represents spiritual liberation, Divine perfection, purity and the unfolding of Spiritual consciousness within the individual. The lotus opening its petals in the light of the Sun is indicative of the expansion and awakening of our long dormant, original spiritual consciousness in the light of god. The lotus symbolizes that god is the power and source from which the universe and the individual soul emerges. It also represents Divine Truth or Satya, the originator of the rules of conduct or Dharma, and Divine Vedic knowledge or Jnana. The lotus also symbolizes that Vishnu is the embodiment of spiritual perfection and purity and that He is the wellspring of these qualities and that the individual soul must seek to awaken these intrinsic Divine qualities from Vishnu by surrendering to and linking with Him.

 

To this may be added, conventionally, the vanamaala flower garland, Vishnu's bow (Shaarnga/Kodand) and his sword Nandaka. A verse of the Vishnu Sahasranama stotram states;vanamālī gadhī shārngī shanki chakri cha nandaki / shrīmān nārāyaņo vişņo vāsudevo abhirakşatu//; translation: Protect us Oh Lord Narayana who wears the forest garland,who has the mace, conch, sword and the wheel. And who is called Vishnu and the Vasudeva.

 

In general, Vishnu's body is depicted in one of the following three ways:

 

Standing on a lotus flower, often with Lakshmi, his consort, beside him on a similar pedestal.

Reclining on the coiled-up thousand-hooded Shesha Naga, with Lakshmi seated at his feet; the assemblage rests on the "Kshira Sagar" (ocean of milk). In this representation, Brahma is depicted as sitting on a lotus that grows out of Vishnu's navel.

Riding on the back of his eagle mount, known as Garuda. Another name for Garuda is "Veda atma"; Soul of the Vedas. The flapping of his wings symbolizes the power of the Divine Truth of Vedic wisdom. Also the eagle represents the soul. Garuda carrying Vishnu symbolizes the soul or jiva atma carrying the Super soul or Param atma within it.

 

AVATARS

Ten avatars (dashavatara) of Vishnu are the most prominent: Apart from the most prominent incarnations there are believed to more.

 

The most commonly believed incarnations of Vishnu are:

 

Matsya, the fish that kills Damanaka to save the vedas and also saves Manu from a great flood that submerges the entire Earth.

Kurma, the turtle that helps the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.

Varaha, the boar that rescues the Earth and kills Hiranyaksha.

Narasimha, the half-lion half human, who defeats the demon Hiranyakashipu.

Vamana, the dwarf that grows into a giant to save the world from King Bali.

Parashurama, "Rama of the battle axe", a sage who appeared in the Treta Yuga. He killed Kartavirya Arjuna's army and clan and then killed all the kshatriyas 21 times.

Rama, the prince and king of Ayodhya who killed the Demon King Raavan.

Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, who takes part in the Mahabharata epic. Krishna is worshipped as the Supreme Avatar of Vishnu (Supreme Personality of Godhead) in Gaudiya-Vaishnava philosophy.

Buddha, the ninth avatar of Vishnu.

Kalki, the tenth Avatar of Vishnu and said to be the harbinger of the end Kali Yuga. This avatar of Vishnu is yet to come.

 

Some versions of the above list include Hayagreeva among the Dashavataras while some include Buddha as ninth avatar of Vishnu. Another 22 avatars are given in Chapter 3, Canto 1 of the Bhagavata Purana, although it states that "the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water".

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

SIKHISM

Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism mentions Vishnu, one verse goes:

 

The true Vaishnaav, the devotee of Vishnu, is the one with whom God is thoroughly pleased. He dwells apart from Maya. Performing good deeds, he does not seek rewards. Spotlessly pure is the religion of such a Vaishnaav; he has no desire for the fruits of his labors. He is absorbed in devotional worship and the singing of Kirtan, the songs of the Lords Glory. Within his mind and body, he meditates in remembrance on the Lord of the Universe. He is kind to all creatures. He holds fast to the Naam, and inspires others to chant it. O Nanak, such a Vaishnaav obtains the supreme status.

 

BUDDHISM

While some Hindus consider Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, Buddhists in Sri Lanka venerate Vishnu as the custodian deity of Sri Lanka and protector of Buddhism. Lord Vishnu is also known as upulvan, or uthpala varna, meaning "Blue Lotus coloured". Some postulates that Uthpala varna was a local deity who later merged with Vishnu while another belief is that Uthpala Varna was an early form of Vishnu before he became a supreme deity in Puranic Hinduism. According to Chronicles "Mahawamsa", "Chulawamsa" and folklore in Sri Lanka, Buddha himself handed over the custodianship to Vishnu. Others believe that Buddha entrusted this task to Sakra(Indra) and Sakra delegated this task of custodianship to god Vishnu. In contrary to vedic Hinduism, in assimilation of Hindu god Vishnu into Sinhalese Buddhism, Vishnu becomes a mortal being and a Bodhisattva aspiring Buddhahood. Additionally, Vishnu is considered as the god of home and hearth representing mercy, goodness, order and stability. Many Buddhist and Hindu shrines are dedicated to Vishnu in Sri Lanka. In addition to specific Vishnu "Kovils" or "devalayas", all Buddhist temples necessarily house shrine rooms (Devalayas) closer to the main Buddhist shrine dedicated to Vishnu. John Holt in his groundbreaking study examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Vishnu within the contexts of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture. He then explores the role and rationale of medieval Sinhala kings in assimilating Visnu into Sinhala Buddhism. According to Holt the veneration of Vishnu in Sri Lanka is evidence of a remarkable ability, over many centuries, to reiterate and reinvent culture as other ethnicities have been absorbed into their own. Though the Vishnu cult in Ceylon was formally endorsed by Kandyan kings in early 1700s, Holt states that vishnu images and shrines are among conspicuous ruins in the medieval capital Polonnaruwa. In Buddhist mythology, when Vishnu failed to traverse the universe in three steps, he was given the title "Ardha Vishnu (Half-Vishnu)" and when Vishnu banished demons from the Vaishali (Vishala)in India, he became "Mulu Vishnu or Whole Vishnu". The extreme significance of god Vishnu in Sinhala society is reflected in recitals of the traditional "Offerings to dwarfs and crossing the door frame (bahirwayanta dola pideem saha uluwahu peneema)" that starts with Sri Vishnu invocation.In the recitals,mentioning of the aspiring Buddhahood of Vishnu which is of prime importance to Buddhists and wishes for him to live five thousand and more years highlight the central role of Vishnu in the psyche of Sri Lankan Buddhists.

 

OTHERS

James Freeman Clarke, Richard Leviton, James Cowles Prichard, and others have noted the similarities between Vishnu and Ancient Egyptian God Horus.

 

During an excavation in an abandoned village of Russia in the Volga region, archaeologist Alexander Kozhevin excavated an ancient idol of Vishnu. The idol dates from between the 7th and 10th centuries. In the interview Kozhevin, stated that, "We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research"

 

THOUSAND NAMES OF VISHNU

Vishnu's many names and followers are collected in the Vishnu Sahasranama, (Vishnu's thousand names) from within the larger work Mahabharata. The character Bheeshma recites the names before Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, praising him (Vishnu) as the supreme god. These Sahasranama are regarded as the essence of all Vedas by followers of Vaishnavism, who believe sincere chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama results in spiritual well-being and a greater awareness of God.

 

The names are generally derived from the Anantakalyanagunas (meaning: infinite auspicious attributes).

 

According to the Siddhartha-samhita there are twenty-four forms of Lord Vishnu. The twenty-four forms are

 

Vasudeva

Sankarshana

Pradyumna

Anirudha

Keshava

Narayana

Madhava

Govinda

Vishnu

Madhusudana

Trivikrama

Vamana

Sridhara

Hrishikesha

Padmanabha

Damodara

Purushottama

Achyuta

Narasimha

Janardana

Hari

Krishna

Adhokshaja

 

Upulvan, Uthpala Varna - In Sri Lanka, Vishnu is also referred to as Upulvan ( Blue Lotus Coloured)

 

WIKIPEDIA

Doll's house miniature food handmade in 12th scale available to buy from my website www.dollhousekitchen.com

or

www.etsy.com/shop/sarahmaloney

Malév Hungarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154B2

Registration: HA-LCV

Manufacturer: Herpa - Wings Collection (Yesterday Series)

Item number: 553667

Scale: 1/200

 

Length: 23.95cm

Wingspan: 18.77cm

Height: 5.7cm

 

Official webpage of the item (Herpa)

 

Information from Herpa's webpage:

"In Hungary, the era of the Soviet-dominated aviation ended in 2001, when the last TU-154 once again took off for a sightseeing flight. Malév had commissioned twelve examples of the TU-154B-2 from 1973, among them this airplane with the registration HA-LCV, which was the last to be added to the fleet in 1982" (Herpa.de)

It is found in sections 1 and 2 of Beauharnois generating station. Taking its name from the American engineer James Bicheno Francis (1815-1892), it is the most used turbine in Hydro-Québec's production fleet. The water arrives all around the wheel, pushes the blades, then goes towards the axis of the turbine. It then flows through the aspirator located under the turbine.

 

Beauharnois Generating Station - Interpretive Centre; Beauharnois, Quebec.

Just finished weathering this HO Scale SD45M (SDP45).

SP SD45P 8695. Also called SD45M's. 8695 was built in August 1970 for the Eire Lakawana as 3662. Then into Conrail as 6900 before heading to the leasing company VMV as 6690. In 1993 it was overhauled by Morrison Knudsen as part of a contract with SP to provide 133 SD40M-2's. Morrison Knudsen used 30 SD40's, 97 SD45's and 6 SDP45's as the basis for these locomotives. These SDP45's from EL never had a steam generator for passenger service. EL wanted a locomotive with a 5000 gallon fuel tank which required the longer frame of the SDP45.

Scale 1/25

[Two unidentified soldiers in Union artillery shell jackets with shoulder scales and slouch hats in front of painted backdrop showing military camp]

 

[between 1861 and 1865]

 

1 photograph : quarter-plate tintype, hand-colored ; 12.1 x 9.5 cm (case)

 

Notes:

Title devised by Library staff.

Case: Leather floral circle design with scroll embellishments.

Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2010; (DLC/PP-2010:105).

 

Subjects:

United States.--Army--People--1860-1870.

Soldiers--Union--1860-1870.

Military uniforms--Union--1860-1870.

Backdrops--1860-1870.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military personnel--Union.

 

Format: Group portraits--1860-1870.

Portrait photographs--1860-1870.

Tintypes--Hand-colored--1860-1870.

 

Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

 

Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

 

Part Of: Ambrotype/Tintype filing series (Library of Congress) (DLC) 2010650518

Liljenquist Family collection (Library of Congress) (DLC) 2010650519

 

More information about this collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj

 

Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.27146

 

Call Number: AMB/TIN no. 2293

  

This 3/4 frontal photo shows the Marklin Maxi PRR Gondola with paint and weathering added. A wood plank real wood floor, distressed and heavily weathered, was added. Special feature shows captured WWII German V-2 rocket loaded into scratch-built wood cradle being shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground for evaluation.

 

Model Number/Name: MARKLIN MAXI GONDOLA(PRR)w/Captured German WWII V-2 Rocket

Scale: 1/32 scale

OEM: Marklin Maxi

Photo No.9727

 

www.modelcrafters.com

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National award recognizes Army family’s service

 

By Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern

 

LANDSTUHL, Germany – The first morning light creeps through Tawny Campbell’s window as she turns her bedroom light on, keeping her eyes closed in prayer.

 

Her thoughts for the Almighty mesh into a silent conversation with her husband, Sgt. Joe Campbell, an Army flight medic serving in Afghanistan – his second combat tour. She clings to her necklace pendant – a Scottish thistle that reminds her of Joe and their traditional Scottish wedding 10 years earlier.

 

“Who can I serve today? How can I make a difference in someone’s life? What can I do for you, Joe?” Tawny whispers. “Something to make it easier, something I can do here.”

 

Her daughters, Ceilidha and Rhynli, are waking up. She reminds them they are stuffing gift bags for deployed Soldiers with Project Rudolph – one of three charities that the Campbell family manages. Operation Angel gifts bring cheer to the wounded, sick and injured troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Project Portrait offers military families portraits prior to deployments and baby photos for mothers who deliver while their spouse is deployed.

 

For their efforts, the National Military Family Association recently named the Campbell family as the Army Family of the Year. On Dec. 7, they were stateside to accept the award. Even Joe got a break from his tour in Afghanistan to attend.

 

“We’re just the figurehead of a larger group of people who support us and support Soldiers,” Tawny said. “It’s not our name, it’s our volunteering. For those who volunteer, this recognition is just as much for them as it for us.”

 

The award program recognizes “strong military families who embrace their service to the nation, are role models in their community, and understand that together they are stronger,” according to the association website. A friend from Fort Benning, Ga. nominated the Campbells, whose commitment to serving the military goes back several years.

 

Joe and Tawny, both from small towns in Idaho, met in high school. In 2001, after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, Joe’s National Guard unit was protecting a Utah chemical depot. That Christmas, while Joe voluntarily took guard duty for a friend, a first sergeant in a Santa suit delivered Joe his first Red Cross package. Inside was a letter from a boy, Nathan, thanking him for serving.

 

“Joe kept that letter. It meant a lot to him,” Tawny said. “We know the power of a hand-written letter at Christmas.”

 

By 2006, Joe was on active duty in Landstuhl. It was their first Christmas overseas, away from family, Tawny said. One early winter afternoon, while driving past the Burger King on Ramstein Air Base, the spirit of giving crept into their car. Tawny blurted out an idea.

 

“Let’s hand out gift bags at the air terminal,” she said.

“How will we do that,” Joe asked, shooting her a puzzled look.

 

“Well figure it out,” she said.

 

That year they passed out a hundred bags to troops at the Ramstein passenger terminal. Now, Project Rudolph is a full-scale operation, with the power of family bridging the Atlantic to support the effort.

 

Tawny’s brother Ian, back home in Idaho, made it his Eagle Scout project. Her parents, Ray and Cheri Archibald, now run the stateside operation. This year, her parents oversee the preparation of 7,000 bags for troops.

 

Even while deployed, Joe helps to pass out bags in Afghanistan as he did during a previous 15-month tour in Iraq. Days are often very busy for Soldiers serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment, a U.S. Army helicopter unit that provides medical evacuation for coalition forces.

 

Joe’s mornings also begin in prayer. He’ll look over scriptures while snacking from a care package Tawny sent. One morning, Joe’s stocking medical supplies. On another, he’s helping to rescue wounded comrades from the battlefield. To troops, the Joe’s unit is known as “Dustoff”—a nickname that goes back to the early days of Vietnam.

 

When medical evacuations missions arise, rotors on the UH-60 Blackhawk pound through the air with an urgency that can mean life or death. On one recent mission, Joe’s crew was off to Marjah, where patrolling Marines came across a young boy injured in a motorcycle accident. Joe helped open the boy’s airway while flying to the hospital. After quick re-supply, his air ambulance was once again aloft – back to Marjah to pick up an Afghan interpreter with an infected gunshot wound.

 

Three thousand miles away, back at the Ramstein Air Base food court, Tawny oversees volunteers stuffing Project Rudolph gift bags. Nearby, kids color Christmas scenes onto brown lunch bags. Each decorated bag then gets a handwritten note, a little bit of candy and a hand-made ornament. When the bag-stuffing morning is over, 700 bags are ready to ship.

 

By Christmas, 15,000 bags will be in the hands of troops as far away as Kyrgyzstan. Others will go to military bases in Kuwait, Iraq, Djibouti, Diego Garcia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

 

As Project Rudolph gift bags make their way to deployed troops, Operation Angel gifts bring cheer to the wounded, sick and injured undergoing treatment in Landstuhl. More than once, Tawny and her daughters met someone who was evacuated from an Afghan battlefield by Sgt. Joe Campbell.

 

“It shows the power of a family,” Tawny said. “He helps to heal them, physically. We help by healing their hearts.

He gives them bandages. We give them smiles.”

 

In September, Ceilidha spent time cheering up a Soldier who was shot in Iraq. Afterward, he gave Ceilidha his Purple Heart medal. Tawny insisted he take it back.

 

“No, it’s just a medal,” the Soldier told Tawny. “Every time I close my eyes I think about being shot. I spent a time with you and your daughter and I haven’t thought about it once. That means more.”

 

Interactions like that motivate Tawny and her girls to continue. Ceilidha might break out a deck of cards or read from her favorite book, Shel Silverstein’s “Where The Sidewalk Ends.” A Marine once gave her his rank, but she’s glad to just see troops smile, Ceilidha said.

“I like to do service,” Ceilidha said. “It gives me a warm feeling inside.”

 

Raised among charity projects, the girls don’t know the holidays any other way, a fact that Tawny loves. Christmas is spent at the hospital, visiting patients. So is every Thanksgiving, Easter and Veterans Day, Tawny said.

 

“As a family, you can go out and do these things,” Tawny said. “Serve as a family.”

 

U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern site

 

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Koziar's Christmas Village is a seasonal attraction located in Jefferson Township, near Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., approximately 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Reading. Christmas Village utilizes approximately one half million Christmas lights and other decorative effects in a presentation that has repeatedly been listed among the top tourist attractions in Pennsylvania and the top Christmas displays in the United States.

 

The Christmas Village property was originally known as Spring Lake Dairy Farm, a working dairy farm. William M. Koziar began decorating his rural property for Christmas in 1948. The display was created for the enjoyment of Koziar's wife, Grace, and four children and initially centered on the house and barn. However, the display became increasingly elaborate and grew to incorporate the lake, walkways, trees, and fences. Over time the private display became a popular local attraction, known as "The Christmas House," and traffic on the nearby road was sometimes snarled by passersby stopping to view the display. Eventually, visitors were admitted to the premises and Koziar paved a former wheat field to provide parking. Initially, the dairy farm remained active, and the Koziars had to wait until after the cows were milked to turn on the lights, as there was not enough power for the milking machines and the lights to operate simultaneously. Many of the dioramas are housed in former chicken coops and display toys, clothes and other belongs of the Koziars' children and grandchildren. In 2008 Koziar's Christmas Village celebrated its sixtieth anniversary. It remains a family-owned attraction, currently operated by the Koziars' daughters, and several current employees are second- and third-generation associates.

 

Christmas Village features the elaborately illuminated home and barn of the Koziar family, as well as numerous smaller buildings. Upon entrance, visitors are greeted by costumed characters Rudolph, Frosty, and the Village's own Buddy the Bear. A marked pathway leads visitors among the illuminated buildings and other displays. Children may visit Santa Claus at his headquarters on Santa Claus Lane. There are several large dioramas depicting scenes such as Christmas Beneath the Sea, Christmas in the Jungle, Santa's Post Office, and Christmas in Other Lands. There are a number of displays featuring cut-out representations of characters from popular comic strips, animated films and fairy tales, as well as manger scenes, presentations of the biblical story of the Nativity, and tellings of seasonal stories such as A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker. The Village also includes a recreation of the Valley Forge encampment and a G gauge outdoor train layout that encompasses most of the barnyard. The "Kissing Bridge" has been the site of several marriage proposals, engagements and weddings. In addition, there are several indoor features, including an extensive H0 scale model train layout and sales area, as well as shops selling souvenirs, Christmas decorations, refreshments, and other seasonal items.

 

Perhaps the most dramatic feature of the Village is the first glimpse one sees of the display. Most visitors approach the property from the east, via Christmas Village Road. Being farm country the surrounding area is sparsely inhabited and, after dark, sparsely lit. The terrain blocks the view of the Village until the road crests a hill just a few hundred feet to the east of the display, at which point the entire Village is suddenly visible, reflected in the lake. As of late 2010 the Christmas Village website features a virtual recreation of this experience as a part of its home page.

 

Christmas Village has been named Best Outdoor Christmas Display in the World by Display World magazine. It has also been given the "Award of Excellence" by the Pennsylvania Travel Council as a top travel attraction in the state. A twilight image of Christmas Village was used as jacket art for the book Christmas in America: A Photographic Celebration of the Holiday Season by Peter Guttman, published in 2007 by Skyhorse Publishing and now in its second edition. Christmas Village has been featured frequently by local media, as well as by national and international outlets.

 

Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koziar%27s_Christmas_Village

 

www.koziarschristmasvillage.com/

 

Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano located in Virunga mountains in Congo. It is 3470 m high in elevation and it contains the world's largest lava lake. The lake is in the center of 2000 meters vide crater; it is about 220 meters in diameter, 600 meters deep and it contains unusually fluid, low viscosity lava, whose temperature is 1315 C.

The lake is very dynamic, it changes in depth constantly and it overflowed (erupted) 34 times since 1882, the last time in 2002 when it killed 245 people in nearby Goma.

Me and Eric, an Norwegian dude whom I have meet earlier that day, arrived at the top of the volcano at around 3 pm, after 6 hours of hard paced climbing. Since there are hundreds of rebels hiding and operating in this area, we moved fast and were accompanied by dozen of heavily armed rangers.

When we arrived to the summit, the visibility was zero, the whole top quarter of the volcano was covered in cloud. We could hear and feel low frequency rumbling of the churning lava and smell sulphur, by the lake itself was totally hidden.

At about 10 pm the clouds suddenly cleared and the lava lake emerged in all its magnificent beauty.

These photos can't possibly depict the awesome scale, the energy and visual impact that this incredible lava lake has on one's senses. It size is enormous, it has surface area of 7 football fields.

I was sitting there for hours, watching the hypnotizing dance of incandescent molten rock, while black, cooler lava spots constantly evolve and change shape like miniature tectonic plates. Once, as a child, somebody gave me an book about the formation of the Earth, and on its cover there was an artist's depiction of how the Earth must have looked shortly after its formation. It surface looked exactly as the surface of this lava lake.

I never got to see the lake in the day time, because around 4 am the clouds returned and again completely covered the summit. In the morning we had tea and some food and started our descent back to Goma.

 

In December 1899, the fighting in South Africa moved into a second stage.[1] The earlier phase of the campaign had been characterised by the British Army's use of large-scale conventional infantry forces which suffered heavy casualties in engagements with highly mobile Boer forces. In response, the British launched a series of counter-offensives that managed to secure the main population centres in South Africa, divorcing the Boers from their supply base. In response, the Boers began a guerrilla warfare campaign. Operating in small groups, Boer commandos attacked columns of troops and supply lines, carrying out sniping, ambushing and launching raids on isolated garrisons and supply depots.[1]

 

Following the lifting of the siege of Mafeking, to supply forces operating in the area and to serve as a way point on the route between Rustenburg and Zeerust,[2] the British had situated a supply dump near Brakfontein Drift along the Elands River, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Pretoria.[3] By mid-1900, the supplies that were located at Elands River included over 1,500 horses, mules or cattle, a quantity of ammunition, food and other equipment worth over 100,000 pounds, and over 100 wagons.[4] As the supplies were vulnerable to Boer raids, a garrison, spread across several positions, had been established.[5]

 

The main position was at a farm located about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away from the river, occupying a position on a small ridge while two smaller positions were established on hills to the south, closer to the river, which were later called Zouch's Kopje and Butters' Kopje.[5] The position was bracketed by two creeks – the Brakspruit to the north and the Doornspruit to the south – which flowed west into the river. A telegraph line ran through the farm along the Zeerust–Rustenburg road, which crossed the river at a fjord about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of the farm.[6] While the ground to the north, south and west of the position dropped to the river where the Reit Valley opened towards Zeerust 50 kilometres (31 mi) away, the ground to the east of the farm rose towards a high point which came to be known as Cossack Post Hill and which was used by the garrison defending the post to send messages to Rustenburg – 70 kilometres (43 mi) away – using a heliograph.[7]

 

Prelude

 

On 3 August, an 80-wagon supply convoy arrived at Elands River from Zeerust, where they were to wait for their escort, a column of 1,000 men from the New South Wales Imperial Bushmen along with some South African irregulars commanded by General Frederick Carrington to arrive from Mafeking.[2] Desperate for supplies, Boer forces decided to attack the garrison with the view to securing the supplies located there.[5] Prior to the battle commencing, the garrison had received intelligence warning them of the attack. As a result, some actions were taken to fortify the position, with a makeshift defensive perimeter being established utilising stores and wagons to create barricades.[5] Little attempt had been made, however, to dig-in as the ground around the position was hard and there was a lack of digging equipment amongst the garrison.[8]

 

The garrison defending the Elands River post consisted of about 500 men.[5] The majority of this force were Australians, with 105 being from New South Wales and 141 from Queensland along with 42 Victorians, nine from Western Australia and two from Tasmania. In addition to these there were 201 men from Rhodesia along with three Canadians and three British. Together they were commanded by a British officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hore. The only fire support that the garrison possessed was a single Maxim machine-gun and an antiquated 7-pounder screw gun, for which there was little ammunition.[5] In addition to the military garrison, there were also a number of civilians staying at the farm. These consisted of several Africans working in various roles including as porters, drivers, or runners and also about 30 European settlers who, because of their support for the British, were being evacuated from the area.[4] Against this, the Boer force, consisting of between 2,000 to 3,000 men drawn from the Rustenburg, Wolmaransstad and Marico commandos,[8] under the command of Generals Koos de la Rey and Hermanus Lemmer, possessed six 12-pounder field guns for indirect fire, and three pom-poms, which could provide rapid direct fire support.[5]

 

Battle of Elands River, 4–16 August 1900.

 

After surrounding the garrison during the night while they were occupied entertaining themselves singing around their campfires,[2] the Boers' attack began early on 4 August after the garrison had been stood down for breakfast. A couple of rifle shots from the riverbed announced the commencement of the attack. They were followed by an intense artillery barrage from the guns that the Boers had moved into position around the farm.[8] One pom-pom and a 12-pounder engaged one of the outposts from the south-west from behind an entrenched position about 3,000 yards (2,700 m) away on the opposite side of the river, while the main position was engaged from three guns positioned to the east along with a Maxim gun, snipers, a pom-pom and an artillery piece in multiple positions to the north-west about 2,000 yards (1,800 m) away. A third position, about 4,300 yards (3,900 m), consisting of an artillery piece and a pom-pom, engaged the garrison from high ground overlooking the river to the west.[9] In response, the crew of the defenders' screw gun returned fire, destroying a farmhouse from where some of the Boers were firing, however, the gun fell silent soon after when it jammed.[10] Unanswered, the Boer barrage devastated the oxen from the supply convoy and killed almost all of the 1,500 horses, mules and cattle in the garrison.[2] Those that remained alive were set free due to concerns that they would stampede.[10] In addition, the telegraph line was destroyed, while a considerable amount of stores were destroyed and a number of casualties were inflicted upon the defenders.[5]

 

In an effort to silence the guns, a small party of Queenslanders under Lieutenant James Annat, sallied over 200 yards (180 m) to put in an attack on one of the Boer pom-pom positions, forcing its crew to pack up their weapon and withdraw.[10][11] Nevertheless, the other guns remained in action and the barrage continued throughout the day, before easing as night fell. Following this, the defenders used the brief respite to begin digging in,[2] using their bayonets, and to clear away the dead animals.[10]

 

The following morning, 5 August, the Boer gunners continued the shelling, but this time the effects were limited by the defences that had been dug the night before.[2] Later that day, the relief column that the garrison had been waiting for was ambushed by a Boer force under Lemmer's command about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the position and, although their casualties were light, consisting of only 17 wounded, they were forced to withdraw.[5] They later destroyed supplies at Groot Marico, Zeerust and Ottoshoop, so that they would not fall into Boer hands.[2] When it became apparent that their relief had been turned back, the Boer commander, de la Rey, seeking a way to end the siege before another relief force could be sent,[12] ordered his men to cease fire and sent a messenger to the garrison calling upon them to surrender; his opposite number, however, rejected the offer and as a result the attack resumed and was subsequently continued throughout the night.[2] Nevertheless, the defenders continued to improve their position, constructing stone sangars and digging their fighting pits deeper.[5] Wood, salvaged from wagons that had been destroyed in the barrage, was used to provide overhead protection to the defenders' positions, several of which were linked with an underground tunnel.[12] Due to the lack of shells, once they had repaired it, the defenders were only able to use their own artillery piece for counter-battery fire sparingly.[11]

 

After the initial heavy barrage, on the third day of the siege the Boer gunners eased their rate of fire when it became apparent that they were destroying some of the supplies that were trying to capture. Nevertheless, the Boers maintained small arms fire on the defenders, keeping them fixed in their defences during the intense heat of the day; the heat served to have a secondary impact upon the garrison, speeding up the decomposition of the dead animals, the smell of which was considerable.[5] There was no water source within the main camp, so to secure water for the garrison, patrols under the command of a Rhodesian officer, Captain Sandy Butters,[2] who commanded the southern-most outpost at Butters' Kopje, were sent out at night to collect it from the Elands River, about 800 metres (870 yd) away.[3] During a number of these sallies, fire was exchanged and the party had to fight their way back.[2] Attempts were made by the Boers to take the kopje to the south of the Doornspruit on two nights – 6 and 7 August – in an effort to cut off the defenders' supply of water, however, Rhodesians, under the command of Butters, helped by supporting fire from the Zouch's Kopje near the creek's confluence with the river, repulsed both attacks.[12]

  

After the siege had been in place for a week, de la Rey again called upon the garrison to surrender.[5] Hore, who had been suffering from malaria,[8] had become ill by this time and command had effectively passed to an Australian, Major Walter Tunbridge from the Queensland Mounted Infantry.[3] In order to demonstrate the respect with which he held the defence that the garrison had put up, de la Rey offered them safe passage to British lines and was even prepared to allow the officers to retain their revolvers so that they could leave the battlefield with dignity.[5] Once again, however, the offer was rejected,[13] and Hore is reputed to have stated: "I cannot surrender. I am in command of Australians who would cut my throat if I did."[11]

 

As the fighting continued, the British made a second attempt to relieve the garrison, dispatching a force of about 2,000 men under Colonel Robert Baden-Powell from Rustenburg on 6 August. Baden-Powell, despite having a superior force, delayed just 8 miles (13 km) from Rustenburg and only a third of the way to Elands River and failed to scout the situation. By midday, Baden-Powell turned back to Rustenburg without orders and sent messages claiming to have heard gun fire moving westward and suggesting the garrison must have been evacuated to the west by Carrington. Based on the reports provided by Carrington upon his return, the British commanders in Pretoria and Mafeking were under the impression, notably from Baden-Powell's messages, that the garrison had surrendered and, as a result, when Baden-Powell's force was about 30 kilometres (19 mi) away from the besieged Elands River garrison at Brakfontein, Lord Roberts ordered Baden-Powell and the rest of General Ian Hamilton's force at Rustenburg to return to Pretoria.[2] On 7 August, Roberts learned that Carrington had failed to evacuate the Elands River garrsion.[14]

 

The siege continued, however, the size of the Boer force surrounding the garrison dwindled as their attention was drawn by attacks on nearby farms by members of the Kgatla tribe. As a result, the weight of fire that the Boers brought down on the outpost also decreased before finally it ceased altogether.[15] In response, the defenders sent patrols out to scout the Boer positions and small raiding parties were also sent out at night.[5] These raids failed to determine that the Boers were retreating and as a result, instead of seizing the initiative the defenders remained largely tied to their defences, thinking that the Boers were attempting a ruse to draw them out. It was not a ruse, though, and finally only about 200 men from the Wolmaransstad commando remained around the farm.[15]

 

On 13 August, the British commanders learned that the garrison was still holding out when they intercepted a message that was being passed between Boer commanders via a runner.[2][9] Two days later 10,000 men under the command of Lord Kitchener, set out towards Elands River. As they approached, de la Rey, realising that he was faced by a superior force, decided to withdraw what remained of his force.[9] That evening, a message was sent through to Hore by four Western Australians from a force under Beauvoir De Lisle,[15] and Kitchener's column arrived the following day, on 16 August.[9]

 

Aftermath[edit]

 

Casualties for the defenders amounted to 12 soldiers killed and 36 wounded.[9] In addition, four African porters were killed and 14 were wounded, and one "loyalist" European settler was wounded.[16] Of the 12 soldiers that were killed, eight were Australians.[17] Although the behaviour of the defending troops was not beyond reproach, with some of them becoming drunk during the siege,[17] the commander of the relieving force, Lord Kitchener, told the garrison upon his arrival that their defence had been "remarkable" and that only "...Colonials could have held out in such impossible circumstances".[17] The garrison's performance was also later lauded by Jan Smuts, who was at the time a senior Boer commander, describing the defenders as "...heroes who in the hour of trial...[had risen]...nobly to the occasion".[9] The battle has been described by historian Chris Coulthard-Clark as being "...perhaps the most notable action involving Australians in South Africa".[9] The writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who served in a British field hospital at Bloemfontein during 1900 and who later published a series of accounts of the conflict, also highlighted the significance of the battle.[11]

 

For their actions during the siege, the Rhodesian commander, Captain Sandy Butters, was invested with the Distinguished Service Order, as was Captain Albert Duka, a medical officer from Queensland. Three soldiers – Corporal Robert Davenport and Troopers Thomas Borlaise and William Hunt – received the Distinguished Conduct Medal.[16] Borlaise, who had been a miner before enlisting, received his medal for the role he had played in improving the position's defences,[18] while Davenport received the award for rescuing two wounded men under fire.[10]

 

The battle had a number of strategic implications also. Not only did the difficulty that the British have in relieving the garrison serve to boost the morale of the Boers, which had been flagging due to earlier reverses, but the act of doing so drew forces away from cordon that was being set up by the British to capture Christiaan De Wet,[2] who subsequently managed to escape through the Magaliesberg.[15] The fighting would continue and over a year later, on 17 September 1901, another battle was fought along the Elands River at Modderfontein farm,[19] where a Boer force under Smuts and Deneys Reitz overwhelmed a detachment of the 17th Lancers and raided their camp for supplies.[20]

 

This stand at Brakfontein on the Eland River appears to have been one of the finest deeds of arms of the war. Australians have been so split up during the campaign that though their valour and efficiency were universally recognised, they had no single large exploit which they could call their own. But now they can point to Elands River as proudly as the Canadians at Paardeberg...they were sworn to die before the white flag would wave above them. And so fortune yielded, as fortune will when brave men set their teeth...when the ballad makers of Australia seek for a subject, let them turn to Elands River, for there was no finer fighting in the war.

 

—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,

The Brihadeshwara Temple at Thanjavur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. It is an important example of Tamil architecture achieved during the Chola dynasty. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples".

 

This is one of the largest temples in India and one of India's most prized architectural sites. Built by emperor Raja Raja Chola I and completed in 1010 AD. Brihadeshwara Temple, also popularly known as the 'Big Temple', turned 1000 years old in 2010.

 

Thanjavur Periya Kovil stands amidst fortified walls that were probably added in the 16th century. The vimana (or temple tower) is 66 m high and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The Kumbam (Kalasha or Chikharam, the apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is carved out of a single rock and it weighs around 80 tons. There is a big statue of Nandi (sacred bull), carved out of a single rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet long and 13 feet high. The entire temple structure is made out of granite, the nearest sources of which are close to Tiruchirappalli, about 60 km to the west of Thanjavur.

 

HISTORY

The temple had its foundations laid out by the Tamil emperor Arulmozhivarman, popularly called Rajaraja Chola I,

 

in 1002 CE, as the first of the great Tamil Chola building projects.

 

The Brihadeshwarar Temple was built to grace the throne of the Chola empire in compliance to a command given to him in his dream. The scale and grandeur is in the Chola tradition. An axial and symmetrical geometry rules the temple layout. Temples from this period and the following two centuries are an expression of the Tamils (Chola) wealth, power and artistic expertise. The emergence of such features as the multifaceted columns with projecting square capitals signal the arrival of the new Chola style.

 

The Brihadeshwarar Temple was built to be the royal temple to display the emperor's vision of his power and his relationship to the universal order. The temple was the site of the major royal ceremonies such as anointing the emperor and linking him with its deity, Shiva, and the daily rituals of the deities were mirrored by those of the king. It is an architectural example showcasing the pure form of the Dravida type of temple architecture and representative of the Chola Empire ideology and the Tamil civilisation in Southern India. The temple "testify to the brilliant achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting."

 

CONSTRUCTION

The wish to build a mammoth temple like this is said to have occurred to Raja Raja while he stayed at Sri Lanka as an emperor.

 

The esteemed architect and engineer of the temple was Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan as stated in inscriptions found at the temple. The temple was built per ancient texts called Vaastu Shastras and Agamas. He is the ancient ancestor of the doyan of Vaastu Vedic architecture, the late Dr. V. Ganapti Sthapati of Chennai and Mahabalipurim (architect of the 133' granite Thiruvalluvar statue at the tip of south India). Members of his family still live and practice the ancient art and science. The American University of Mayonic Science and Technology was initiated by Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati to perpetuate the same form of architectural principles used by Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan to build the Brihadeeswarar temple. The temple was built using a measure of 1 3/8-inch called an angula (24 units equalling 33 inches called a hasta, muzam, or kishku). This is the same measure found in ancient Lothal and other sites in the Indus Valley dating back 4000 - 6000 years. This same measure is used to build structures compliant with the Vaastu Shastras and Agamas today. While some builders use a different measure this is considered a standard due to its antiquity.

 

This temple is the first building fully built by granite and finished within 5yrs [1004AD – 1009AD]. The solid base of the temple raises about 5 metres, above which stone deities and representatives of Shiva dance. The huge kalasam or Vimanam (top portion of the shrine) is believed to weigh 81.28 tonnes of single stone block and was raised to its present height by dragging on an inclined plane of 6.44 km. The big Nandi (bull), weighing about 20 tonnes is made of a single stone and is about 2 m in height, 6 m in length and 2.5 m in width. The presiding deity of lingam is 3.7m tall. The prakaram (outer precincts of the temple) measures 240m by 125m. The outer wall of the upper storey is carved with 81 dance karanas – postures of Bharathanatyam, the classical dance of Tamil Nadu. The shrine of Goddess was added by Pandyas during the 13th century, Subramanya Shrine by Vijayanagara rulers and the Vinayaka shrine was renovated by Maratha rulers.

 

TEMPLE COMPLEX

The temple complex sits on the banks of a river that was channelled to make a moat around the complex's outer walls, the walls being built like a fortress. The complex is made up of many structures that are aligned axially. The complex can be entered either on one axis through a five-story gopuram or with a second access directly to the huge main quadrangle through a smaller free-standing gopuram. The massive size of the main Vimanam (Shikhara) is ca. 60 meters high, with 16 elaborately articulated stories, and dominates the main quadrangle. Pilaster, piers, and attached columns are placed rhythmically covering every surface of the Vimanam.

 

The gopuram of the main entrance is 30 m high, smaller than the vimana. It is unusual in the dravidian architecture where the gopurams are generally the main towers and taller than the vimana.

 

MAIN TEMPLE

A first rectangular surrounding wall, 270 m by 140 m, marks the outer boundary. The main temple is in the center of the spacious quadrangle composed of a sanctuary, a Nandi, a pillared hall and an assembly hall (mandapas), and many sub-shrines. The most important part of the temple is the inner mandapa which is surrounded by massive walls that are divided into levels by sharply cut sculptures and pilasters providing deep bays and recesses. Each side of the sanctuary has a bay emphasising the principle cult icons. The karuvarai, a Tamil word meaning the interior of the sanctum sanctorum, is the inner most sanctum and focus of the temple where an image of the primary deity, Shiva, resides. Inside is a huge stone linga. The word Karuvarai means "womb chamber" from Tamil word karu for foetus. Only priests are allowed to enter this inner-most chamber.

 

In the Dravida style, the Karuvarai takes the form of a miniature vimana with other features exclusive to southern Indian temple architecture such as the inner wall together with the outer wall creating a pradakshina around the garbhagriha for circumambulation (pradakshina). The entrance is highly decorated. The inside chamber housing the image of the god is the sanctum sanctorum, the garbhagriha. The garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total equilibrium and harmony as it is representative of a microcosm of the universe. In the center is placed the image of the deity. The royal bathing-hall where Rajaraja the great gave gifts is to the east of the hall of Irumudi-Soran.

 

The circumambulation winds around the massive lingam in the garbhagriha and is repeated in an upper story, presenting the idea that Chola Empire freely offered access to the gods.

 

The inner mandapa leads out to a rectangular mandapa and then to a twenty-columned porch with three staircases leading down. Sharing the same stone plinth is a small open mandapa dedicated to Nandi, Shiva's sacred bull mount.

 

TEMPLE DEITIES

The "moolavar" or prime deity of the Brihadeeswarar Temple is Shiva. All deities, particularly those placed in the niches of the outer wall (Koshta Moorthigal) like Dakshinamurthy, Surya, Chandra are of huge size. The Brihadiswarar temple is one of the rare temples which has idols for "Ashta-dikpaalakas" (Guardians of the directions) – Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera, Īśāna – each of whom was originally represented by a life-sized statue, approximately 6 feet tall, enshrined in a separate temple located in the respective direction. (Only Agni, Varuṇa, Vāyu and Īśāna are preserved in situ.)

 

ADJOINING STRUCTURES

Surrounding the main temple are two walled enclosures. The outer wall is high, defining the temple complex area. Here is the massive gopuram or gateway mentioned above. Within this a portico, a barrel vaulted gorpuram with over 400 pillars, is enclosed by a high wall interspersed with huge gopurams axially lined up to the main temple.

 

FEATURES

Another widely held belief is that the shadow of the gopuram (pyramidal tower usually over the gateway of a temple) never falls on the ground. The temple is said to be made up of about 130,000 tons of granite. The Kumbam itself, a 60 ton granite stone carved in one piece, on top of the main gopuram is believed to have been taken to the top by creating an inclined slope to the height of 66m to the top of the gopuram. The prevailing belief is that a mud-slope, which starts at about three miles from the temple site, from Thirukoilore (birthplace of Raja raja's mother) near Sri Virateshvara swamy temple. Elephants might have been used to drag the stone up the slope. This was claimed to be the only part of the gopuram, which does not cast a shadow that fall on the ground, at least not within the temple premises.

 

MURALS

The temple has Chola frescoes on the walls around the sanctum sanctorum potryaing Shiva in action, destroying demonic forts, dancing and sending a white elephant to transport a devotee to heaven. These frescoes were discovered in the 1940s and portray the mythological episodes of the journey of Saint Sundarar and the Chera King to heaven, the battle scene of Tripurantaka (Lord Siva) with Asuras (demons). The Chola artists have proved their mettle by portraying even the Asura women with a sense of beauty. Some of the paintings in the sanctum sanctorum and the walls in the passage had been damaged because of the soot that had deposited on them. Owing to the continuous exposure to smoke and soot from the lamps and burning of camphor in the sanctum sanctorum over a period of centuries certain parts of the Chola paintings on the circumambulatory passage walls had been badly damaged. The Tanjore Nayak kings replaced them with a few paintings of their own, about 400 years ago. The Archaeological Survey of India, for the first time in the world, used its unique de-stucco process to restore 16 Nayak paintings, which were superimposed on 1000-year-old Chola frescoes. These 400-year-old paintings have been mounted on fibre glass boards, displayed at a separate pavilion.

 

TEMPLE PERSONNEL

The temple was consecrated in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I & in 2010 a celebration commemorated the temple's thousandth anniversary. The temple maintained a staff of 1000 people in various capacities with 400 being temple dancers Besides the Brahmin priests, these included record-keepers, musicians, scholars, and craftsman of every type as well as housekeeping staff. In those days the temple was a hub of business activities for the flower, milk, oil, and ghee merchants, all of whom made a regular supply of their respective goods for the temple for its poojas and during festival seasons. Moreover as evidenced by the inscriptions that found in the compound wall of this temple, the temple had always been serving as a platform for the dancers who excelled in the traditional dance form of Bharatnatyam. vallamuthu minnadi generation worshipped this temple.

 

MILLENNIUM CELEBRATIONS

Built in the year 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola in Thanjavur, Brihadeeswarar Temple popularly known as the 'Big Temple' turned 1000 years old in September 2010. To celebrate the 1000th year of the grand structure, the state government and the town held many cultural events. It was to recall the 275th day of his 25th regal year (1010 CE) when Raja Raja Chola (985–1014 CE) handed over a gold-plated kalasam (copper pot or finial) for the final consecration to crown the vimana, the 59.82-metre tall tower above the sanctum.

 

BHARATHANATYAM YAJNA

To mark the occasion, the state government organised a Bharathanatyam Yajna, classical dance show under noted dancer Padma Subramaniam. It was jointly organised by the Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India (ABHAI) and the Brhan Natyanjali Trust, Thanjavur. To mark the 1000th year anniversary of the building, 1000 dancers from New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Singapore, Malaysia and the US danced in concert to the recorded 11 verses of divine music Thiruvichaippa (ninth of Thirumurai) composed by Karuvur Thevar (the guru of Raja Raja Chola) named Tiruvisaippa. The small town turned into a cultural hub for two days beginning 26 September 2010 as street performers and dancers performed throughout the town.

 

WIKIPEDIA

LAKE KIVU

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Lake Kivu

 

Coordinates 2°0′S 29°0′ECoordinates: 2°0′S 29°0′E

Type Rift Valley lakes, Meromictic

Primary outflows Ruzizi River

Catchment area 2,700 km2 (1,000 sq mi)

Basin countries Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Max. length 89 km (55 mi)[1]

Max. width 48 km (30 mi)[1]

Surface area 2,700 km2 (1,040 sq mi)[1]

Average depth 240 m (787 ft)

Max. depth 480 m (1,575 ft)

Water volume 500 km3 (120 cu mi)

Surface elevation 1,460 m (4,790 ft)

Islands Idjwi

Settlements Goma, Congo

Bukavu, Congo

Kibuye, Rwanda

Cyangugu, Rwanda

Lake Kivu with Goma in the background

 

Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika. The name comes from kivu which means "lake" in some Bantu languages, just like the words tanganyika or nyanza.[citation needed]

 

Contents

 

1 History

2 Geography

3 Chemistry

3.1 Methane extraction

4 Biology and fisheries

5 See also

6 References

 

History

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

People on the shore at Gisenyi

 

The first European to visit the lake was German Count Adolf von Götzen in 1894. Since then it has been caught up in the conflict between Hutu and Tutsi people in Rwanda, and their allies in DR Congo, which led to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and the First and Second Congo Wars. Lake Kivu gained notoriety as a place where many of the victims of the genocide were dumped.

Geography

 

The lake covers a total surface area of some 2,700 km2 (1,040 sq mi) and stands at a height of 1,460 metres (4,790 ft) above sea level. Some 1 370 km2 or 58% of the lake's waters lie within DRC borders. The lake bed sits upon a rift valley that is slowly being pulled apart, causing volcanic activity in the area, and making it particularly deep: its maximum depth of 480 m (1,575 ft) is ranked eighteenth in the world.

 

The world's tenth-largest inland island, Idjwi, lies in Lake Kivu, as does the tiny island of Tshegera, which also lies within the boundaries of Virunga National Park; while settlements on its shore include Bukavu, Kabare, Kalehe, Sake, and Goma in Congo, and Gisenyi, Kibuye, and Cyangugu in Rwanda.

Chemistry

 

Lake Kivu is a fresh water lake and, along with Cameroonian Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, is one of three that experience limnic eruptions. Around the lake, geologists found evidence of massive biological extinctions about every thousand years, caused by outgassing events. The trigger for lake overturns in Lake Kivu's case is unknown, but volcanic activity is suspected. The gaseous chemical composition of exploding lakes is unique to each lake; in Lake Kivu's case, methane and carbon dioxide due to lake water interaction with a volcano. The amount of methane is estimated to be 65 cubic kilometers (if burnt over one year, it would give an average power of about 100 gigawatts for the whole period). There is also an estimated 256 cubic kilometers of carbon dioxide. The water temperature is 24°C, and the pH level is about 8.6.[2] The methane is reported to be produced by microbial reduction of the volcanic CO2.[3] The risk from a possible Lake Kivu overturn is catastrophic, dwarfing other documented lake overturns at Lakes Nyos and Monoun, because of the approximately two million people living in the lake basin.

 

Cores from the Bukavu Bay area of the lake reveal that the bottom has layered deposits of the rare mineral monohydrocalcite interlain with diatoms, on top of sapropelic sediments with high pyrite content. These are found at three different intervals. The sapropelic layers are believed to be related to hydrothermal discharge and the diatoms to a bloom which reduced the carbon dioxide levels low enough to precipitiate monohydrocalcite.[4]

 

Scientists hypothesize that sufficient volcanic interaction with the lake's bottom water that has high gas concentrations would heat water, force the methane out of the water, spark a methane explosion, and trigger a nearly simultaneous release of carbon dioxide.[5][6] The carbon dioxide would then suffocate large numbers of people in the lake basin as the gases roll off the lake surface. It is also possible that the lake could spawn lake tsunamis as gas explodes out of it.[7][8]

 

The risk posed by Lake Kivu began to be understood during the analysis of more recent events at Lake Nyos. Lake Kivu's methane was originally thought to be merely a cheap natural resource for export, and for the generation of cheap power. Once the mechanisms that caused lake overturns began to be understood, so did awareness of the risk the lake posed to the local population.

 

An experimental vent pipe was installed at Lake Nyos in 2001 to remove gas from the deep water, but such a solution for the much larger Lake Kivu would be considerably more expensive. No plan has been initiated to reduce the risk posed by Lake Kivu.[dubious – discuss] The approximately 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in the lake is a little under 2 percent of the amount released annually by human fossil fuel burning. Therefore the process of releasing it could potentially have costs beyond building and operating the system.

Methane extraction

Methane extraction platform.

 

Lake Kivu has recently been found to contain approximately 55 billion cubic metres (1.94 trillion cubic feet) of dissolved biogas at a depth of 300 metres (1,000 ft). Until 2004, extraction of the gas was done on a small scale, with the extracted gas being used to run boilers at a brewery, the Bralirwa brewery in Gisenyi.[9][10] As far as large-scale exploitation of this resource is concerned, the Rwandan government has negotiated with a number of parties to produce methane from the lake.

 

In 2011 ContourGlobal, a U.S. based energy company focused on emerging markets, secured project financing to initiate a large-scale methane extraction project. The project will be run through a local Rwandan entity called KivuWatt, using an offshore barge platform to extract, separate, and clean the gasses obtained from the lake bed before pumping purified methane via an underwater pipeline to on-shore gas engines. Stage one of the project aims to build and supply three "gensets" along the lake shore, totaling 25MW of electrical capacity. Initial project operations are scheduled to commence in 2012.[11] In addition to managing gas extraction, KivuWatt will also manage the electrical generation plants and on-sell the electrical power to the Rwandan government under the terms of a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). This allows KivuWatt to control a vertically integrated energy offering from point of extraction to point of sale into the local grid. Extraction is said to be cost-effective and relatively simple because once the gas-rich water is pumped up, the dissolved gases (primarily carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and methane) begin to bubble out as the water pressure gets lower. This project is expected to increase Rwanda's energy generation capability by as much as 20 times, and will enable Rwanda to sell electricity to neighboring African countries.[10] The firm was awarded the 2011 Africa Power deal of the year for innovation in the financing arrangements it obtained from various sources for the KivuWatt project. [12] .[13]

 

A problem associated with the prevalence of methane is that of mazuku.

Biology and fisheries

Fishing boats on Lake Kivu, 2009.

Reflection of the sky on Lake Kivu

 

The fish fauna in Lake Kivu is relatively poor with 28 species, including four introduced species.[14] The natives are the Lake Rukwa minnow (Raiamas moorii), four species of Barbus (B. altianalis, B. apleurogramma, B. kerstenii and B. pellegrini), an Amphilius catfish, two Clarias catfish (C. liocephalus and C. gariepinus), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and 15 endemic Haplochromis cichlids.[14] The introduced species are three cichlids, the longfin tilapia (Oreochromis macrochir), O. leucostictus and redbreast tilapia (Coptodon rendalli), and a clupeid, the Lake Tanganyika sardine, Limnothrissa miodon.[14]

 

The exploitable stock of the Lake Tanganyika sardine was estimated at 2000–4000 tons per year.[15] It was introduced to Lake Kivu in the late 1959 by a Belgian Engineer A. Collart. At present, Lake Kivu is the sole natural lake in which L. miodon, a sardine originally restricted to Lake Tanganyika, has been introduced initially to fill an empty niche. Prior to the introduction, no planktivorous fish was present in the pelagic waters of Lake Kivu. In the early 1990s, the number of fishers on the lake was 6,563, of which 3,027 were associated with the pelagic fishery and 3,536 with the traditional fishery. Widespread armed conflict in the surrounding region from the mid-1990s resulted in a decline in the fisheries harvest.[16]

 

Following this introduction, the sardine has gained substantial economic and nutritional importance for the lakeside human population but from an ecosystem standpoint, the introduction of planktivorous fish may result in important modifications of plankton community structure. Recent observations showed the disappearance during the last decades of a large grazer, Daphnia curvirostris, and the dominance of mesozooplankton community by three species of cyclopoid copepod: Thermocyclops consimilis, Mesocyclops aequatorialis and Tropocyclops confinis.[17][18]

 

The first comprehensive phytoplankton survey was released in 2006.[19] With an annual average chlorophyll a in the mixed layer of 2.2 mg m-3 and low nutrient levels in the euphotic zone, the lake is clearly oligotrophic. Diatoms are the dominant group in the lake, particularly during the dry season episodes of deep mixing. During the rainy season, the stratified water column, with high light and lower nutrient availability, favour dominance of cyanobacteria with high numbers of phototrophic picoplankton.[19][20][21][22] The actual primary production is 0.71 g C m-2 d-1 (~ 260 g C m-2 y-1).[23]

 

A study of evolutionary genetics showed that the cichlids from lakes in northern Virunga (e.g., Edward, George, Victoria) would have evolved in a "proto-lake Kivu", much older than the intense volcanic activity (20,000-25,000 years ago) which cut the connection.[24] The elevation of the mountains west of the lake (which is currently the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, one of the largest reserves of eastern lowland (or Grauer's) gorillas in the world), combined with the elevation of the eastern rift (located in eastern Rwanda) would be responsible for drainage of water from central Rwanda in the actual Lake Kivu. This concept of "proto-lake Kivu" was challenged by lack of consistent geological evidence,[25] although the cichlid's molecular clock suggests the existence of a lake much older than the commonly cited 15,000 years.

 

Lake Kivu is the home of four species of freshwater crab, including two non-endemics (Potamonautes lirrangensis and P. mutandensis) and two endemics (P. bourgaultae and P. idjwiensis).[26] Among Rift Valley lakes, Lake Tanganyika is the only other with endemic freshwater crabs.[26]

A very large and magnificent monument against the south wall of the nave, originally under the north arch of the south transept but removed to its present position in 1867. It consists of a panelled altar tomb on which are recumbent effigies of a man and wife, the former in armour with a long cloak and ruff. At the feet of the woman's figure is a kneeling figure of a daughter at prayer-desk and facing east. On either side of the tomb is a large obelisk with ball finial and spike and standing on a panelled pedestal. Behind the effigies is a wall canopy with two round arches with coffered soffits having cherub-head keystones and supporting an entablature with the cornice brought forward on four shaped brackets. The back of the arched recesses has carved enrichment, two inscribed tablets and two shields of arms and in the middle spandrel a cartouche of arms. Above the cornice is a centre-piece with carved pilasters and an achievement of arms; flanking the centre-piece are cartouches with shields of arms.

 

Arms:

 

(i) (Argent) two gimel bars sable between three spread-eagles sable (Spencer).

 

(ii) The same.

 

(iii) Quarterly, I, sable a leopard argent; 2, sable three roses argent; 3, azure a cheveron or between three falcons' heads razed or; 4, gules three pales or within a border or charged with roundels sable.

 

(iv) As (i).

 

(v) (i) impaling (iii).

 

(vi) As (iii).

 

Crests: (a) a falcon rising; (b) a lion's head razed.

 

In the left-hand recess behind the recumbent effigies:

 

Hic sitvs est Ioannes Spencer

Eqves avratvs, civis, & senator

Londinensis, eivsdemq civitatis

prætor anno d'ni mdxciiii

qvi ex Alicia Bromfeldia

vxore vnicam reliqvit filiam

Elizabeth Gvilielmo Baroni

Compton envptam, obiit 3o

die martii anno salvtis mdcix

 

In the right-hand recess:

 

Socero bene merito

Gvilielmvs baro Compton

gener posvit

 

An inscription at the foot of the male effigy records the fact that the tomb originally stood in the northern arch of the south transept, and was removed to its present position, restored and repaired in 1867 by Charles, 3rd Marquis of Northampton.

 

"Survey of London: volume 9: The parish of St Helen, Bishopsgate, part I (1924)" by Minnie Reddan and Alfred W. Clapham.

 

*

 

SPENCER, Sir JOHN (d. 1610), lord mayor of London, was the son of Richard Spencer of Waldingfield in Suffolk. He came to London, and was so successful as a merchant that he became known as ‘Rich Spencer.’ His trade with Spain, Turkey, and Venice was very large (State Papers, Spanish, 1568–79 p. 590, Dom. 1591–4 p. 59), and he was accused in 1591 of engrossing, with two other merchants, the whole trade with Tripoli (ib. p. 67). This lends some justification for the charge made in a little book ‘written by D. Papillon, Gent,’ that Spencer became by the practice of merchandise ‘extraordinary rich, but it was by falsifying and monopolising of all manner of commodities’ (Vanity of the Lives and Passions of Men, 1651, p. 48). The same writer relates the story of a plot by a pirate of Dunkirk, with twelve of his crew, to carry off Spencer and hold him to ransom for over 50,000l. Leaving his shallop with six of his men in Barking Creek, he came with the other six to Islington, intending to seize the merchant on his way to his country house at Canonbury, which Spencer had purchased of Thomas, lord Wentworth, in 1570. The plot was frustrated by Spencer's detention that night on important business in the city. Queen Elizabeth is said to have visited him at Canonbury in 1581 (Nichols, Hist. of Canonbury House, 1788, p. 12).

 

Spencer was a member of the Cloth workers' Company, and was elected alderman of Langbourn ward on 9 Aug. 1587. He served the office of sheriff in 1583–4, and that of lord mayor in 1594–5. During his shrievalty he was engaged in hunting down papists in Holborn and the adjoining localities, and had to justify before the council the committal of A. Bassano and other of her majesty's musicians (State Papers, Dom. 1581–90, pp. 198, 202). On entering upon his mayoralty at the close of 1594 great scarcity prevailed, and Spencer sent his precept to the city companies to replenish their store of corn at the granaries in the Bridge House for sale to the poor. He stoutly resisted a demand by Admiral Sir John Hawkins for possession of the Bridge House for the use of the queen's navy and baking biscuits for the fleet (Welch, Hist. of the Tower Bridge, p. 99).

 

He kept his mayoralty at his town residence in Bishopsgate Street, the well-known Crosby Place, which he had purchased in a dilapidated state from the representatives of Antonio Bonvisi, and restored at great cost. In this sumptuous mansion during the course of 1604 Spencer entertained both the Duc de Sully (then M. de Rosny), while ambassador to England, and the youngest son of the Prince of Orange, with Barnevelt and Fulke, who came on a mission from Holland (Stow, Survey of London, 1755, i. 435). Towards the close of his mayoralty he boldly asserted the city's right, which it was feared the crown would invade, to freely elect a recorder. Before the close of his mayoralty Spencer received the honour of knighthood.

 

By his wife, Alice Bromfield, Spencer had an only child, Elizabeth, who in 1598 was sought in marriage by William, second lord Compton (afterwards first Earl of Northampton). Spencer strongly disapproved of the match, but Compton's influence at court enabled him to procure Spencer's imprisonment in the Fleet in March 1599 for ill-treating his daughter (State Papers, Dom. 1598–1601, p. 169). The young lady was ultimately carried off by her lover from Canonbury House in a baker's basket. The marriage quickly followed, but the alderman naturally declined to give his daughter a marriage portion. When, in May 1601, his daughter became a mother, he showed no signs of relenting (ib. 1601–3, p. 45). But some reconciliation apparently took place soon afterwards, it is said, through the interposition of Elizabeth. In May 1609 Spencer refused to contribute to an aid for James I on behalf of the young Prince Henry (ib. 1603–10, p. 508); he also delayed his contribution of 200l. to the amount subscribed by the Clothworkers' Company to the Ulster settlement, which had to be paid by his executors (Remembrancia, p. 172). Spencer was president of St. Bartholomew's Hospital from 1603 to his death.

 

He died, at an advanced age, on 3 March 1609–10, and his widow only survived him till 27 March. He was buried on 22 March, and Dame Alice on 7 April, in his parish church of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, where a fine monument exists to his memory. His funeral was on a most sumptuous scale (Winwood, State Papers, iii. 136). His fortune was variously estimated at from 500,000l. to 800,000l., and the splendid inheritance is said for the time to have turned the brain of his son-in-law, Lord Compton. Among other estates, he was possessed of the manors of Brooke Hall, Bower Hall, and Bocking, which he obtained from the queen on 1 Aug. 1599. True to the last to his parsimonious principles, Spencer left none of his immense wealth to objects of public benevolence or utility.

 

*

 

In the 16th century there had been a tendency to depict armour in a slightly fanciful, manneristic way. It was during the 16th century that wearing armour on the battlefield gradually lost popularity, and so did the realistic depiction of it. Still, realistically depicted armour as well as the more fanciful style lived happily together.

Sir John wears plain, functional armour of the early 17th century. It looks like a mixture of both styles: the overall silhouette is correct, every single piece of armour he wears was actually worn, but the shape of most pieces is quite crude, the carver hasn't paid much attention to detail.

  

Realistically depicted armour in a 17th century effigy can be seen in Maastricht www.flickr.com/photos/roelipilami/1476883118/in/set-72157...

And an example of the fanciful style in a Belgian effigy: www.flickr.com/photos/roelipilami/1475764991/in/set-72157...

The club layout is only a few miles from the Port of Houston where there are numerous oil refineries, petrochemical plants, and container loading and unloading cranes. Naturally the club had to include these on their layout. I know one girl who is a locomotive engineer with the Port Terminal Railway Association and another who works in the huge Shell refinery that occupies an entire square mile. Neither are model railroaders. Another friend from the old N Crowd is a CAD engineering tech who designs oil refinery and petrochemical equipment. She may have done some of the work on some sections of this layout before she moved away from Houston.

 

Originally the N Crowd was an NTrak modular club from the late 1970's through the '90's. A few years ago they moved to a sectional format that doesn't necessarily follow NTrak specs for interchangeable modules. My home layout during the years 1979-95 used a combination of NTrak modules and custom sections. I sometimes attended N Crowd meetings in the early days and worked on some of the mountain scenery in the '80's. My work hours and National Guard commitments prevented me from being a really active member, but my Santa Fe home layout drew its inspiration from the N Crowd layout.. I took this photo on the Fall Layout Tour on December 4, 2011.

at Railay East, Krabi, Thailand. It's not a very clear shot of the rock climber (in red shirt, white pants) but I wanted to show this popular activity in the Krabi area.

Салют-C = Salyut-S, means Salute

Manufactured by Arsenal Factory, Kiev, Ukraine, USSR.

Model: 1980, (produced between 1972-1980, quantity 30.000)

Medium format SLR film camera, film 120 roll, picture size 6x6cm

Lens: Arsenal Vega-12 B 90mm f/2.8, Salyut B mount (Hasselblad type),

semi-automatic, interchangeable, filter thread 58mm, serial no.801181

Aperture: f/2.8 - f/22, setting ring and scale on the lens

Focus range: 0.6 - 10m, +inf.

Focusing: Fresnel ground glass screen, via the ring and scale on the lens

Lens relese: a button on left front side of the camera

** The shutter must be released before changing lenses to prevent damage to the lens

Shutter: horizontal focal plane metallic curtain, speeds: 30 -1 /1000, + B

setting: combined with cocking knob, push-out and turn the knob clockwise only

** When changing shutter speeds, to prevent damage to the shutter system, the shutter must be cocked firstly

Cocking knob: also winds the film, on the right side of the camera

** When cocking and film winding there are some odd noises, this is normal

Shutter release: a knob on the right front side of the camera, w/ cable release socket

Frame counter: advance type, auto reset, small window, on the right side of the Film magazine

Warning signal windows: for shutter cock/release, and film non exposed/exposed, red or white, two, on the magazine and on the body, in foremost of the counter

Viewfinder: Waist level finder w/ a magnifying loop, interchangable

Mirror: not instant-return

Flash PC socket: left side of the camera, w/ X and FP settings dial, synch. 1/30

Exposure meter: none

Memory dial: a lid, on the back side of the film magazine

Red window: for checking the film advance, under the memory dial

Back cover: as a Film magazine, interchangable,

Dark-slide: metallic, the slot is on the left side of the camera

**Dark-slide must be removed for cocking the shutter

**Dark-slide must be in its place for removing of the film magazine

Film loading: via a special sliding-off part from the Film magazine, removing by a pop-up semi-circle lever, on the left side of the magazine;

**Winding to the first frame: by turning the semi-circle pop-up lever right side of the film magazine

** Install the newly loaded film magazine when the shutter cocked and dark-slide in its place only

Re-winding: by winding knob, pull-out and turn

Tripod sockets: two, old type 3/8'', on the bottom of the camera

Strap buttons

Serial no. 8002892 (stamped on the back side of the body, first two digits of the serial number indicate the production year)

+ LENS

Manufactured by Carl Zeiss Jena, Dresden, former East Germany

Model: produced between 1967-70

aus Jena S (Sonnar) 180mm f/2.8

aperture: f/2.8-f/32

focus range: 1.7-40m +inf, w/DOF scale

serial no. 1262450

The East German Zeiss lenses made for export, were marked from 1954 with different engravings. There was a trademark trial between Stuttgart and Dresden Carl Zeiss Jenas and finally Dresden left to use Carl Zeiss name.

The brand name Carl Zeiss Jena is replaced by C.Z. Jena or Jena or aus Jena.

The lens names Biotar, Biometar, Sonnar, Tessar, Triotar were replaced by the letter B, Bm, S, T, Tr.

+original strap

First models of Salyut were probably the near copies of Hasselblad 1600. Salyut-S is the very modified model of the first Salyut.

Kiev-80 cameras are the export type of Salyut-S with a new name plate.

The Salyut was the first attempt by the Soviet camera industry to produce a sophisticated SLR medium format camera.. The Soviets claimed that both the Hasselblad and the Salyut were derived from a Nazi prototype, however none of these supposed forerunners have ever been seen so this origin is dubious.

These cameras were very expensive at 400 Rubles, which represented 6 months salary to the average Soviet citizen.

more info: Fotoua by Alexander Komarov, Communist cameras by Nathan Dayton, Matt Denton

 

The University Of Lincoln's which is located alongside Brayford Pool in Lincoln, Lincolnshire.

 

The University brings in high-profile individuals from all over the world to speak at our prestigious Great Minds public lecture series. Our students, staff and members of the public benefit from guest lectures by Visiting Professors and Lecturers recognised as leaders in their field, some of whom teach on our courses.

 

It was developed from a number of educational institutions in Hull including the Hull School of Art (1861), the Hull Technical Institute (1893), the Roman Catholic teacher-training Endsleigh College (1905), the Hull Central College of Commerce (1930), and Kingston upon Hull College of Education (1913). These institutions merged in 1976 to form Hull College of Higher Education, with a change of name to Humberside College of Higher Education in 1983 when it absorbed several courses in fishing, food and manufacturing based in Grimsby.

 

In 1992 it was one of the many institutions in the UK to become full universities as, briefly, the University of Humberside, growing to 13,000 students by 1993.

 

The cathedral city of Lincoln was without its own university, so the University of Humberside was approached to develop a new campus to the south west of the city centre, overlooking the Brayford Pool. The University was renamed the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside in January 1996, taking in its first 500 Lincoln students in September 1996, intending to grow to about 4,000 Lincoln based students within four years.

 

Opened by Queen Elizabeth II, the University's main campus in Lincoln was the first new city centre campus to be built in the UK for decades. More than £150 million has been invested in the Brayford Pool campus, transforming a city centre brownfield site, revitalising the area and attracting investment from the retail, leisure and property sectors. Economists estimate that the University has created at least 3,000 new jobs within Lincoln and that it generates more than £250 million every year for the local economy – doubling previous local economic growth rates.

 

The consolidation involved the University acquiring Leicester-based De Montfort University's schools in Lincolnshire: the Lincoln School of Art and Design in uphill Lincoln, and the Lincolnshire School of Agriculture's sites at Riseholme, Caythorpe and Holbeach. Caythorpe was later closed permanently and its activities moved to Riseholme. Courses held in Grimsby were also moved to Lincoln around this time.

 

In 2012 all Further Education provision was transferred from Riseholme College to Bishop Burton College. Bishop Burton College are now responsible for the Riseholme College to the north of the city.

 

Throughout the late-1990s, the University's sites in Hull were considerably scaled down as the focus shifted towards Lincoln. In 2001 this process was taken a step further when the decision was made to move the administrative headquarters and management to Lincoln and to sell the Cottingham Road campus in Hull, the former main campus, to its neighbour, the University of Hull; the site is now the home of the Hull York Medical School. Until 2012 the University maintained a smaller campus, the Derek Crothall Building, in Hull city centre. A smaller campus and student halls on Beverley Road, Hull, were also sold for redevelopment.

 

Last month's highlight: Macquarie's instructions to James Meehan for the laying out of the Five Townships of Windsor, Richmond, Pitt town, Wilberforce and Castlereagh dated 26 December 1810. Notice Macquarie's attention to detail in the instructions: he sets a regular width for the streets and the assignment of land to be used for the Church, School, Gaol and Guard house. He even gives directions as to the type of

dwelling houses which may be built.

 

» Lachlan Macquarie Gallery

 

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Instructions given to James Meehan for the laying out of the Five Townships

 

Secretary’s Office Sydney

26th December 1810

 

Sir

 

His Excellency the Governor deeming it expedient/in

order to guard against any misunderstanding on your part/to commit

the Instructions which He has already given you verbally on the

subjects of the New Townships now about to be finally, laid out and

for the further purpose of your explaining the same to all persons

concerned, so that at any future period, no doubt as to His

Excellency’s intentions may be started, has instructed me to convey

His directions to you to proceed immediately, to Windsor, where you

are to apply for, and receive from Mr Cox the Chief Magistrate, the

Several Returns of the Settlers Names who are desirous of forming

their future Residences within the said New Townships

 

So soon as you have received those Returns, you

are with the least possible delay, to commence the business of

laying out in a clear and distinct manner the Several Town-

Ships of Windsor, Richmond, Pitt town, Wilberforce and Castlereagh

in which duty you are to require the assistance of Mr Evans, the

Deputy Surveyor. These Townships are to be established on the

High Grounds already surveyed and allotted for those purposes by His

Excellency, the Governor on the several Commons within the respective

Districts to which these Townships are to be attached As a

General guide to you in the execution of this very important business

you

56

You are principally, to observe and follow the subsequent Rules

and Orders in the marking out the several Townships and

allotments for the Settlers who mean to reside therein

1st You are mark out the several Townships by

regular lines accurately defined, and the streets

to be laid out are to be 66 feet wide – those streets

running lengthways thro’ the Town are to be parallel

to, and 8 chains distant from each other – these streets

are also to be intersected by others crossing them at

right angles, which streets are to be the same

width with the others, but are to be laid out 12

chains apart from each other, and are also to be in

parallel directions

2 In the Center of each Town or Township you

are to assign a Square Space of Ground containing

396 feet on each side for the purpose of erecting a

Church, a School House, a Gaol and Guard House in

and you are to set apart 2 acres of Ground on the

rear of the central square for a Burial ground, with

an expection in this particular with regard to Windsor

and Richmond, instructions for which will be

noticed herein.

3 The Townships are to be laid out in regular

Allotments for the future Inhabitants in the

Following proportions. Viz.

Allotment

For settlers holding Farms less than 30 1½ Acres

For

57

Allotment

For settlers holding Farms of 30 and less than 50 Acres 2 acres

Do [Ditto] Do [Ditto] of 50 and less than 100 Do [Ditto] 3 Do [Ditto]

Do [Ditto] Do [Ditto] of 100 acres and upwards 4 Do [Ditto]

4 But as there is not a sufficiency of unappropriated Land

in the Township of Windsor to make the allotments equally

great as the foregoing whilst that which is disposable

becomes of course the more valuable, you are to make

the distribution of it accordingly to the following scale

namely

Allotment

For Settlers holding Farms less than 30 acres ¾ acre

Do [Ditto] Do of 30 and less than 50 Acres 1 Do

Do [Ditto] Do of 50 and less than 100 do 1½ Do

Do [ Ditto] Do of 100 acres and Upwards 2 Do

 

The main streets or those which run lengthways in Windsor

are to be parallel and 5 Chains asunder, and the

Streets at right angles with them or running cross-

ways are to be 12 Chains apart and throughout paral-

lel to each other the Width of the Streets to be 66 feet as

in the other Townships Fifty acres of Ground are to

be reserved for small Town allotments for the accom-

modation of Tradesmen which Ground is to commence

from Rickaby’s, Mr Marsden’s and Thomas’s farms

and to extend thence to the Farms on the South Creek

The allotments to be reserved for the settlers who have

Farms on the Banks of the River are to commence

at the termination of the 50 Acres reserved for the

Tradespeople Every Person holding a Farm on the

Bank of the River which is liable to the Floods, is to

have an allotment assigned him, whether his Land

is

58

is held by Grant or Lease from the Government or by Purchase

or Lease from the original Grantee It is however to be

clearly understood in this place that such allotments are

never to be sold or alienated independent of the Farms for

the security of which they are now first to be granted, nor is

any Person whatever who holds Land on the River to get

an allotment in a District Township but that wherein

his Farm is situated to which he is to be exclusively attached

and limited.

5 You are also to number the Farms on the banks of

the Hawkesbury and Nepean which are subject to the floods

in the same order they are placed on the Chart Viz

No 1, 2, 3 and so on for their entire number and

corresponding numbers for the Town allotment are to be

given to the settlers, paying due attention to the proportions

already prescribed When this duty is performed you are to

make out a complete register off all the allotments thus

assigned in order that it may be referred to in any Cases

of dispute which may in future arise respecting them.

6 The dwelling houses to be erected in the several Town-

ships by the settlers are to be either made of Brick or

weather boarded, to have Brick chimneys and to roofed

with shingles each house is to contain not less than two

apartments, with a glazed window in each room and

the side walls are not to less than 9 feet high A

Plan of such dwelling houses with suitable offices will be

left with each District Constable to which every Settler in

the erection of his house and office must conform as

already

59

already prescribed in His Excellency’s address to the settlers under

the Head of General and Government Orders dated the 15th

instant and you are to take pains to making this

injunction perfectly understood

7 You are also to locate a Glebe of 400 acres of Land

for the present and future use Chaplains resident at

Windsor the situation to be a convenient and

eligible one within that Township or in the town-

ship of Richmond, but you are by all means to avoid

marking it out in any situation whereby it might

prove injurious or inconvenient for the Farms on

the Banks of the River, either by its shutting up or

excluding their free communication between their Farms

so sealed and the Town Common assigned for the

grazing of their cattle. Neither is the Glebe to extend

nearer than one mile to the Towns of Windsor or

Richmond.

8 The Burial Grounds for the Townships of Windsor and

Richmond, and the Grounds whereon it is intended to

erect the Churches and School houses are to be con-

sidered as exceptions to the rules laid down in the 2nd

Paragraph of these Instructions, and are to be marked

out for them as the Governor has already directed

9 In any cases not provided for in these present in-

structions, you are to be guided by the verbal directions

which you have already received from His Excellency,

the Governor, and you are by all means to impress

These His Excellency’s Instructions on every person

who

60

who may feel an interest therein

I am Sir

Your Ob H ble Servt

[Obedient Humble Servant]

 

Signed Jno Thos Campbell

Secy

 

[John Thomas Campbell

Secretary]

 

James Meehan

Actg Pl Surveyor

[Acting Principal]

Sydney

The Verona Arena (Arena di Verona) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy, which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind. Amphitheatre

The building itself was built in AD 30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls. The ludi (shows and games) staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times.

 

The round façade of the building was originally composed of white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, but after a major earthquake in 1117, which almost completely destroyed the structure's outer ring, except for the so-called "ala", the stone was quarried for re-use in other buildings. Nevertheless it impressed medieval visitors to the city, one of whom considered it to have been a labyrinth, without ingress or egress. Ciriaco d'Ancona was filled with admiration for the way it had been built and Giovanni Antonio Panteo's civic panegyric De laudibus veronae, 1483, remarked that it struck the viewer as a construction that was more than human. Musical theatre

The first interventions to recover the arena's function as a theatre began during the Renaissance. Some operatic performances were later mounted in the building during the 1850s, owing to its outstanding acoustics.

 

And in 1913, operatic performances in the arena commenced in earnest due to the zeal and initiative of the Italian opera tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the impresario Ottone Rovato. The first 20th-century operatic production at the arena, a staging of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, took place on 10 August of that year, to mark the birth of Verdi 100 years before in 1813. Musical luminaries such as Puccini and Mascagni were in attendance. Since then, summer seasons of opera have been mounted continually at the arena, except in 1915â18 and 1940â45, when Europe was convulsed in war.

 

Nowadays, at least four productions (sometimes up to six) are mounted each year between June and August. During the winter months, the local opera and ballet companies perform at the L'Accademia Filarmonica.

 

Modern-day travellers are advised that admission tickets to sit on the arena's stone steps are much cheaper to buy than tickets giving access to the padded chairs available on lower levels. Candles are distributed to the audience and lit after sunset around the arena.

 

Every year over 500,000 people see productions of the popular operas in this arena.[3] Once capable of housing 20,000 patrons per performance (now limited to 15,000 because of safety reasons), the arena has featured many of world's most notable opera singers. In the post-World War II era, they have included Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi and Renata Tebaldi among other names. A number of conductors have appeared there, too. The official arena shop has historical recordings made by some of them available for sale.

 

The opera productions in the Verona Arena had not used any microphones or loudspeakers until an electronic sound reinforcement system was installed in 2011.

 

In recent times, the arena has also hosted several concerts of international rock and pop bands, among which Laura Pausini, Pink Floyd, Alicia Keys, One Direction, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Deep Purple, The Who, Dire Straits, Mike Oldfield, Rod Stewart, Sting, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, Björk, Muse, Paul McCartney, Jamiroquai, and Whitney Houston.

 

In 1981, 1984 and 2010 it hosted the podium and presentation of the Giro d'Italia with thousands packing the arena to watch the prizes being handed out.

 

The 2011 Bollywood film Rockstar directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Ranbir Kapoor with music composed by Academy Award winner A.R.Rahman opens and closes with musical concerts shot here.

 

On 26 March 2013, Paul McCartney confirmed a show at the venue as part of his 2013 Tour. The show is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 25 June 2013.

British-Irish boy band One Direction performed on 19 May 2013 as part of their Take Me Home Tour

Piazza Bra , or simply the Bra (a name derived from a corruption of the term "Braida", which in turn derives from the Lombard breit , or "off"), is the largest square in Verona , located in its center historian .

 

The square of Piazza Bra began to turn into only the first half of the sixteenth century , when the architect Michele San Micheli concluded the palace of Honorij : this building was to delimit the western side of the square of the future, as well as to establish a correct outlook on the ' Arena . The first attempt to transform the clearing dirt road instead of walking, however, was the mayor Alvise Mocenigo, who wanted to create a meeting place for the rising bourgeoisie Verona: he was able to inaugurate the first part of the Liston , a paved sidewalk that lines connecting the Bra Corso Porta Nuova in Via Mazzini , in 1770. La Gran Guardia , begun by the Venetians in the seventeenth century and completed by the Austrians in the ' Nineteenth Century , went to delimit the southern side of the square, while in 1836 the architect Giuseppe Barbieri designed the eastern edge, where a hospital were demolished, some houses and a church, which was built in place of the Gran Guardia Nuova , better known as Palazzo Barbieri. This, initially used as a barracks by the Austrians, became, as a result of ' annexation of Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy , the seat of the municipality of the City of Verona.

 

History

Origins

In Roman times , the place where you would then open the Bra was outside the city and yet away from the main roads. It is only since the first century AD, when it was built the ' amphitheater in the Roman Empire, better known as the Arena of Verona , who came to define the northern edge of what centuries later would become one of the main squares of Verona. In 305 the Emperor Galerius , during a short stay in the city, he opened a door along the walls which was built in 265 by the Emperor Gallienus , which surrounded the Arena went thus creating a first connection between the city and the place where later would be born Bra.

 

The square, however, began to abbozzarsi only in the Middle Ages: the walls of the city was enlarged at that point between 1130 and 1153, going to close so that piece of land that later would become, coming to have the size of a square. Those areas between the walls and the Roman city walls were called braide, from the Lombard breit ; the braida that could match the current Bra in the twelfth century was far more extensive than at the edge of the square today.

 

A door that the Braida along the city walls is already mentioned in a document dated 1257, but later his place was taken by the gates of the Bra , probably due to the Visconti and to the Venetians : the first arch is dated to the late fourteenth century and the second to the second half of the fifteenth century. The clock that is located between the two arches of the gates of the Bra was a gift of Count Antonio Nogarola made ââin 1871: it was installed with the dials is visible from one side on the other walls. The clock was inaugurated on June 2, 1872 and refurbished in 1879 because of its vagueness.

 

Development

Piazza Bra after the arrangement of the central gardens

Piazza Bra in the mid-twentieth century.

The Bra began to be defined as a square only in the first decade of the seventeenth century, when they started on the south side of the factories Gran Guardia and the seat of the ' Accademia Filarmonica of Verona . In conjunction with the factory della Gran Guardia became the leveling the square as possible, and also create some gradients to regulate the flow of stormwater, operation up to that time never practiced because the space was used by stonemasons, that here, as well as work, abandoning the resulting material, and because the clearing was used for the discharge of material from construction in progress in the area.

 

For others, one hundred and fifty years the space was in clay, in fact, only in 1770 the foundations were laid of Liston will of the mayor Alvise Mocenigo. On March 13, 1782 Francis Menegatti presented a project to the final lastricamento of Liston that the City Council approved and, after this surgery, the bra became the favorite place for afternoon walks in place of Piazza dei Signori . Goethe , in his essay Journey to Italy , describes enjoyed the arrival carriage with ladies and gentlemen, and said that the sunset loitered along the rim of the amphitheater enjoying the most beautiful views of the city. I insole and down on the pavement off the Bra 'walked a multitude of people .

 

The square was smoothed more times: in 1808 he was entrusted with the task of remaking the Liston architect Luigi Trezza and in 1820 excavations were carried out along the Arena, in order to bring to light the basis of the same, as it was buried about two feet because of the sediments that were deposited after the numerous floods that had undergone the city. He also opted for a lowering of the average level of Bra about 70 centimeters along a line slightly inclined from the Gran Guardia At Arena, lowering the share of Liston.

 

Plan of Bra in a drawing by Giuseppe Barbieri

As for the lighting, until the eighteenth century the bra at night was totally immersed in the dark; only in the nineteenth century were installed lights in oil and gas lighting in 1845, so that the Liston also became a place for evening strolls. Then important for the conformation of the square today, is the accommodation in the central part of the garden Bra occurred in 1873: the central gardens were created with three circles forming a triangle with a central fountain.

Between 1884 and 1951 the square was affected by the rails of the tramway town .

 

Events

It is interesting to read the description of Liston of an astonished reporter of the magazine Esperia in an article of 1837:

 

" ... the audience is walking the plank of 'Veronesi, extended space, which is located in a few cities: here business people are dining and comforting conversation, idleness is recreated, and the beautiful flock there to get tributes of glances and sighs of their worshipers ... and many cafes offer brilliant and sufficient acceptance to the numerous meetings that there agree. Street musicians and improvisers, unpleasant indeed, but the liveliness of the inhabitants always well received, breaking the monotony of chatter; and the music of the military garrison increase much fun. Very pleasing to the eye is in the summer thousands of people of both sexes, and before sitting under the porch; and a more active crowd by constantly prowling the paths formed by the rows of seats, and now dispense with a bow, and now dwell near some nice, vibrate envious compliments and words of hope and voting ... while the beautiful turn cautious gaze looking at the confused teeming with ill-concealed impatience, greeting or stop most expensive among the happy meeting ... "

In the past, however, the Bra was used for uses other than those described well by this reporter: in particular, after the twelfth century it was included in the city walls it was used for the wood, hay, straw and cattle, so that in ancient documents is called the Bra cattle market. More often is cited as the parade ground, as was the case here the review of the troops from the beginning of the Venetian rule, which is why this was one of the points of conflict between the French and Venetian soldiers during the Veronese Easters in 1797 . Starting from 1633, after the approval of the Venetian Senate for the creation of an exhibition of goods in the city, there were held two annual fairs fifteen days each, which continued to be held until one of them was destroyed by fire October 28, 1712, and then restored in another place, it was established only in 1822, a new exhibition, which would last in Piazza Bra for twenty years.

 

Fair in very old custom is instead to Saint Lucia : it takes place every year from 11 to 13 December, but do not know its origins. Legend has it that, probably in the communal, an epidemic broke out in the city that struck my eyes, it was so that the Veronese decided to make a pilgrimage to the church of Saint Lucia (no longer exists): the children, who did not want to participate , were persuaded to return with the promise that they would find the shoes filled with gifts. The miracle occurred, and since then the fair is held to coincide with the feast of Saint Lucia.

 

The comet of Verona during a night snowfall

During the Christmas season takes place within the Arena arches dell ' Arena, the International Festival of the Nativity , an event born in 1984 from the mind of Alfredo Troisi , along with the comet symbol of the event, from the reservoir from the Arena, go to dive in Bra. Over the years the star has taken on meanings and values ââare independent of the review of the nativity, as to be appreciated by itself. This architecture-sculpture was designed by architect and designer Rinaldo Olivieri : his intuition came to looking at a map of the city, characterized by two large voids, one of the auditorium and that of the square in front of the Arena. It was from this impression that he was born an ideal line, a huge arch that connects the Arena with the urban space, an arc of light and steel from the Temple of the music goes to fall and explode among citizens.

Hanoi; Vietnamese: Hà Nội is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts and 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam. It was eclipsed by Huế, the imperial capital of Vietnam during the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802–1945), but Hanoi served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954. From 1954 to 1976, it was the capital of North Vietnam, and it became the capital of a reunified Vietnam in 1976, after the North's victory in the Vietnam War.

 

The city lies on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi is 1,760 km north of Ho Chi Minh City and 120 km west of Hai Phong city.

 

October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city. The Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural is a 4 km ceramic mosaic mural created to mark the occasion.

 

NAMES

Hanoi (河內) has had many names throughout history. During the Chinese occupation of Vietnam, it was known first as Long Biên, then Tống Bình (宋平, "Song Peace") and Long Đỗ (龍肚, "Dragonbelly"). In 866, it was turned into a citadel and named Đại La (大羅, "Big Net"). During the Lê dynasty, Hanoi was known as Đông Kinh (東京, "Eastern Capital"); this gave the name to Tonkin.

 

HISTORY

Pre-Thăng Long period

Hanoi has been inhabited since at least 3000 BC. The Cổ Loa Citadel in Dong Anh district served as the capital of the Âu Lạc kingdom founded by the Shu emigrant Thục Phán after his 258 BC conquest of the native Văn Lang.

 

In 197 BC, Âu Lạc Kingdom was annexed by Nanyue, which ushered in more than a millennium of Chinese domination. By the middle of the 5th century, in the center of ancient Hanoi, the Liu Song Dynasty set up a new district (縣) called Songping (Tong Binh), which later became a commandery (郡), including two districts Yihuai (義懷) and Suining (綏寧) in the south of the Red River (now Từ Liêm and Hoài Đức districts) with a metropolis (the domination centre) in the present inner Hanoi. By the year 679, the Tang dynasty changed the region's name into Annan (Pacified South), with Songping as its capital.

 

In order to defeat the people’s uprisings, in the later half of the 8th century, Zhang Boyi (張伯儀), a Tang dynasty viceroy, built Luocheng (羅城, La Thanh or La citadel, from Thu Le to Quan Ngua in present-day Ba Dinh precinct). In the earlier half of the 9th century, it was further built up and called Jincheng (金城, Kim Thanh or Kim Citadel). In 866, Gao Pian, the Chinese Jiedushi, consolidated and named it Daluocheng (大羅城, Dai La citadel, running from Quan Ngua to Bach Thao), the then-largest citadel of ancient Hanoi.

 

Thăng Long, Đông Đô, Đông Quan, Đông Kinh

In 1010, Lý Thái Tổ, the first ruler of the Lý Dynasty, moved the capital of Đại Việt to the site of the Đại La Citadel. Claiming to have seen a dragon ascending the Red River, he renamed the site Thăng Long (昇龍, "Soaring Dragon") - a name still used poetically to this day. Thăng Long remained the capital of Đại Việt until 1397, when it was moved to Thanh Hóa, then known as Tây Đô (西都), the "Western Capital". Thăng Long then became Đông Đô (東都), the "Eastern Capital."

 

In 1408, the Chinese Ming Dynasty attacked and occupied Vietnam, changing Đông Đô's name to Dongguan (Chinese: 東關, Eastern Gateway), or Đông Quan in Sino-Vietnamese. In 1428, the Vietnamese overthrew the Chinese under the leadership of Lê Lợi, who later founded the Lê Dynasty and renamed Đông Quan Đông Kinh (東京, "Eastern Capital") or Tonkin. Right after the end of the Tây Sơn Dynasty, it was named Bắc Thành (北城, "Northern Citadel").

During Nguyễn Dynasty and the French colonial period

In 1802, when the Nguyễn Dynasty was established and moved the capital to Huế, the old name Thăng Long was modified to become Thăng Long (昇龍, "Soaring Dragon"). In 1831, the Nguyễn emperor Minh Mạng renamed it Hà Nội (河内, "Between Rivers" or "River Interior"). Hanoi was occupied by the French in 1873 and passed to them ten years later. As Hanoï, it became the capital of French Indochina after 1887.

 

DURING TWO WARS

The city was occupied by the Japanese in 1940 and liberated in 1945, when it briefly became the seat of the Viet Minh government after Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independence of Vietnam. However, the French returned and reoccupied the city in 1946. After nine years of fighting between the French and Viet Minh forces, Hanoi became the capital of an independent North Vietnam in 1954.

 

During the Vietnam War, Hanoi's transportation facilities were disrupted by the bombing of bridges and railways. These were all, however, promptly repaired. Following the end of the war, Hanoi became the capital of a reunified Vietnam when North and South Vietnam were reunited on July 2, 1976.

 

MODERN HANOI

On May 29, 2008, it was decided that Hà Tây Province, Vĩnh Phúc Province's Mê Linh District and 4 communes of Lương Sơn District, Hòa Bình Province be merged into the metropolitan area of Hanoi from August 1, 2008. Hanoi's total area then increased to 334,470 hectares in 29 subdivisions with the new population being 6,232,940., effectively tripling its size. The Hanoi Capital Region (Vùng Thủ đô Hà Nội), a metropolitan area covering Hanoi and 6 surrounding provinces under its administration, will have an area of 13,436 square kilometres with 15 million people by 2020

 

Hanoi has experienced a rapid construction boom recently. Skyscrapers, popping up in new urban areas, have dramatically changed the cityscape and have formed a modern skyline outside the old city. In 2015, Hanoi is ranked # 39 by Emporis in the list of world cities with most skyscrapers over 100 m; its two tallest buildings are Hanoi Landmark 72 Tower (336m, tallest in Vietnam and second tallest in Southeast Asia after Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers) and Hanoi Lotte Center (272m, also second tallest in Vietnam)

 

GEOGRAPHY

LOCATION - TOPOGRAPHY

Hanoi is located in northern region of Vietnam, situated in the Vietnam’s Red River delta, nearly 90 km away from the coastal area. Hanoi contains three basic kind of terrain, which are the delta area, the midland area and mountainous zone. In general, the terrain is gradually lower from the north to the south and from the west to the east, with the average height ranging from 5 to 20 meters above the sea level. The hills and mountainous zones are located in the northern and western part of the city. The highest peak is at Ba Vi with 1281 m, located in the western part of the region.

 

CLIMATE

Hanoi features a warm humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) with plentiful precipitation. The city experiences the typical climate of northern Vietnam, with 4 distinct seasons. Summer, from May until August, is characterized by hot and humid weather with abundant rainfall. September to October is fall, characterized by a decrease in temperature and precipitation. Winter, from November to January, is dry and cool by national standards. The city is usually cloudy and foggy in winter, averaging only 1.5 hours of sunshine per day in February.

 

Hanoi averages 1,680 millimetres of rainfall per year, the majority falling from May to September. There are an average of 114 days with rain.

 

The average annual temperature is 23.6 °C with a mean relative humidity of 79%. The highest recorded temperature was 42.8 °C on May 1926 while the lowest recorded temperature was 2.7 °C on January 1955.

 

ADMINISTRATIVES DIVISIONS

Hà Nội is divided into 12 urban districts, 1 district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. When Ha Tay was merged into Hanoi in 2008, Hà Đông was transformed into an urban district while Sơn Tây degraded to a district-leveled town. They are further subdivided into 22 commune-level towns (or townlets), 399 communes, and 145 wards.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

Hanoi's population is constantly growing (about 3.5% per year), a reflection of the fact that the city is both a major metropolitan area of Northern Vietnam, and also the country's political centre. This population growth also puts a lot of pressure on the infrastructure, some of which is antiquated and dates back to the early 20th century.

 

The number of Hanoians who have settled down for more than three generations is likely to be very small when compared to the overall population of the city. Even in the Old Quarter, where commerce started hundreds of years ago and consisted mostly of family businesses, many of the street-front stores nowadays are owned by merchants and retailers from other provinces. The original owner family may have either rented out the store and moved into the adjoining house or moved out of the neighbourhood altogether. The pace of change has especially escalated after the abandonment of central-planning economic policies and relaxing of the district-based household registrar system.

 

Hanoi's telephone numbers have been increased to 8 digits to cope with demand (October 2008). Subscribers' telephone numbers have been changed in a haphazard way; however, mobile phones and SIM cards are readily available in Vietnam, with pre-paid mobile phone credit available in all areas of Hanoi.

 

ECONOMY

Hanoi has the highest Human Development Index among the cities in Vietnam. According to a recent ranking by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hanoi will be the fastest growing city in the world in terms of GDP growth from 2008 to 2025. In the year 2013, Hanoi contributed 12.6% to GDP, exported 7.5% of total exports, contributed 17% to the national budget and attracted 22% investment capital of Vietnam. The city's nominal GDP at current prices reached 451,213 billion VND (21.48 billion USD) in 2013, which made per capita GDP stand at 63.3 million VND (3,000 USD). Industrial production in the city has experienced a rapid boom since the 1990s, with average annual growth of 19.1 percent from 1991–95, 15.9 percent from 1996–2000, and 20.9 percent during 2001–2003. In addition to eight existing industrial parks, Hanoi is building five new large-scale industrial parks and 16 small- and medium-sized industrial clusters. The non-state economic sector is expanding fast, with more than 48,000 businesses currently operating under the Enterprise Law (as of 3/2007).

 

Trade is another strong sector of the city. In 2003, Hanoi had 2,000 businesses engaged in foreign trade, having established ties with 161 countries and territories. The city's export value grew by an average 11.6 percent each year from 1996–2000 and 9.1 percent during 2001–2003. The economic structure also underwent important shifts, with tourism, finance, and banking now playing an increasingly important role. Hanoi's business districts are traditionally Hoàn Kiếm and the neighborhood; and a newly developing Cầu Giấy and Từ Liêm in the western part.

 

Similar to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi enjoys a rapidly developing real estate market. The current most notable new urban areas are central Trung Hoa Nhan Chinh, Mỹ Đình, the luxurious zones of The Manor, Ciputra and Times City.

 

Agriculture, previously a pillar in Hanoi's economy, has striven to reform itself, introducing new high-yield plant varieties and livestock, and applying modern farming techniques.

 

Together with economic growth, Hanoi's appearance has also changed significantly, especially in recent years. Infrastructure is constantly being upgraded, with new roads and an improved public transportation system.

 

LANDMARKS

As the capital of Vietnam for almost a thousand years, Hanoi is considered one of the main cultural centres of Vietnam, where most Vietnamese dynasties have left their imprint. Even though some relics have not survived through wars and time, the city still has many interesting cultural and historic monuments for visitors and residents alike. Even when the nation's capital moved to Huế under the Nguyễn Dynasty in 1802, the city of Hanoi continued to flourish, especially after the French took control in 1888 and modeled the city's architecture to their tastes, lending an important aesthetic to the city's rich stylistic heritage. The city hosts more cultural sites than any other city in Vietnam, and boasts more than 1,000 years of history; that of the past few hundred years has been well preserved.

 

OLD QUARTER

The Old Quarter, near Hoàn Kiếm Lake, has the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. At the beginning of the 20th century the city consisted of only about 36 streets, most of which are now part of the old quarter. Each street then had merchants and households specializing in a particular trade, such as silk or jewelry. The street names nowadays still reflect these specializations, although few of them remain exclusively in their original commerce. The area is famous for its small artisans and merchants, including many silk shops. Local cuisine specialties as well as several clubs and bars can be found here also. A night market (near Đồng Xuân Market) in the heart of the district opens for business every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening with a variety of clothing, souvenirs and food.

 

Some other prominent places are: The Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu), site of the oldest university in Vietnam 1010; One Pillar Pagoda (Chùa Một Cột); Flag Tower of Hanoi (Cột cờ Hà Nội). In 2004, a massive part of the 900-year-old Hanoi Citadel was discovered in central Hanoi, near the site of Ba Đình Square.

 

LAKES

A city between rivers built from low land, Hanoi has many scenic lakes and is sometimes called "city of lakes." Among its lakes, the most famous are Hoàn Kiếm Lake, West Lake, and Bay Mau Lake (inside Thongnhat Park). Hoan Kiem Lake, also known as Sword Lake, is the historical and cultural center of Hanoi, and is linked to the legend of the magic sword. West Lake (Hồ Tây) is a popular place for people to spend time. It is the largest lake in Hanoi and there are many temples in the area. The lakeside road in the Nghi Tam - Quang Ba area is perfect for bicycling, jogging and viewing the cityscape or enjoying lotus ponds in the summer. The best way to see the majestic beauty of a Westlake sunset is to view it from one of the many bars around the lake, especially the Sofitel Plaza rooftop bar.

 

COLONIAL HANOI

Under French rule, as an administrative centre for the French colony of Indochina, the French colonial architecture style became dominant, and many examples remain today: the tree-lined boulevards (e.g. Phan Dinh Phung street) and its many villas and mansions, Grand Opera House, State Bank of Vietnam (formerly The Bank of Indochina), Presidential Palace (formerly the Palace of the Governor-General of French Indochina), St. Joseph's Cathedral, and the historic Hotel Metropole. Many of the colonial structures are an eclectic mixture of French and traditional Vietnamese architectural styles, such as the National Museum of Vietnamese History, the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts and the old Indochina Medical College. Gouveneur-Général Paul Doumer (1898-1902) played a crucial role in colonial Hanoi's urban planning. Under his tenure there was a major construction boom.

 

Critical historians of empire have noted that French colonial rule imposed a system of white supremacy on the city. Vietnamese subjects supplied labor and tax revenue, but the privileges and comforts of the city went to the white population. French efforts at rat eradication revealed some of the colonial city's racial double-standards.

 

MUSEUMS

Hanoi is home to a number of museums:

- National Museum of Vietnamese History

- Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts

- Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

- Vietnam Museum of Revolution

- Hỏa Lò Prison (Hanoi Hilton)

- Ho Chi Minh Museum

- Hanoi Contemporary Arts Centre

- Vietnam Military History Museum

- Hanoi Museum

 

TOURISM

Hanoi is a very picturesque city, the leafy metropolis sometimes dubbed the "Paris of Asia." With its tree-fringed boulevards, more than two dozen lakes and thousands of French colonial-era buildings, Hanoi is a popular tourist attraction and one of only a few Asian capitals to retain its historic charm amid rapid modernization and population growth.

  

In 2015, Hanoi ranks #4 in TripAdvisor's list of the World's Best Destinations (Travellers' Choice).

 

And Hanoi is the most affordable international destination in TripAdvisor's annual TripIndex report. Created to help travelers plan and budget their summer holiday, the TripIndex looks at the average cost of a three-night trip in 60 key tourist cities around the world.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

A variety of options for entertainment in Hanoi can be found throughout the city. Modern and traditional theaters, cinemas, karaoke bars, dance clubs, bowling alleys, and an abundance of opportunities for shopping provide leisure activity for both locals and tourists. Hanoi has been named one of the top 10 cities for shopping in Asia by Water Puppet Tours. The number of art galleries exhibiting Vietnamese art has dramatically increased in recent years, now including galleries such as "Nhat Huy" of Huynh Thong Nhat.

 

A popular traditional form of entertainment is Water puppetry, which is shown, for example, at the Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre."

 

CUISINE

Hanoi has rich culinary traditions. Many of Vietnam's most famous dishes, such as phở, chả cá, bánh cuốn and cốm are believed to have originated in Hanoi. Perhaps most widely known is Phở - a simple rice noodle soup often eaten as breakfast at home or at street-side cafes, but also served in restaurants as a meal. Two varieties dominate the Hanoi scene: Phở Bò, containing beef, and Phở Gà, containing chicken.

 

Vietnam's national dish phở has been named as one of the Top 5 streetfoods in the world by globalpost.

 

Hanoi has a number of restaurants whose menus specifically offer dishes containing dog, snake and various species of insects. Insect-inspired menus can be found at a number of restaurants in Khuong Thuong village, Hanoi. The signature dishes at these restaurant are those containing processed ant-eggs, often in the culinary styles of Thai people or Vietnam's Muong and Tay ethnic people.

 

EDUCATION

Hanoi, as the capital of French Indochina, was home to the first Western-style universities in Indochina, including: Indochina Medical College (1902) - now Hanoi Medical University, Indochina University (1904) - now Hanoi National University (the largest), and École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine (1925) - now Hanoi University of Fine Art.

 

After the Communist Party took control over Hanoi in 1954 with support from the Soviet Union, many new universities were built, among them, Hanoi University of Technology, still the largest technical university in Vietnam. Recently ULIS (University of Languages and International Studies) was rated as one of the top universities in Southeast Asia for languages and language studies at the undergraduate level. Other universities that are not part of Vietnam National University or Hanoi University include Hanoi School for Public Health and Hanoi School of Agriculture.

 

Hanoi is the largest centre of education in Vietnam. It is estimated that 62% of the scientists in the whole country are living and working in Hanoi. Admissions to undergraduate study are through entrance examinations, which are conducted annually and open for everyone (who has successfully completed his/her secondary education) in the country. The majority of universities in Hanoi are public, although in recent years a number of private universities have begun operation. Thăng Long University, founded in 1988, by some Vietnamese mathematics professors in Hanoi and France is the first private university in Vietnam. Because many of Vietnam's major universities are located in Hanoi, students from other provinces (especially in the northern part of the country) wishing to enter university often travel to Hanoi for the annual entrance examination. Such events usually take place in June and July, during which a large number of students and their families converge on the city for several weeks around this intense examination period. In recent years, these entrance exams have been centrally coordinated by the Ministry of Education, but passing marks are decided independently by each university.

 

Although there are state owned kindergartens, there are also many private ventures that serve both local and international needs. Pre-tertiary (elementary and secondary) schools in Hanoi are generally state run, but there are also some independent schools. Education is equivalent to the K–12 system in the US, with elementary school between grades 1 and 5, middle school (or junior high) between grades 6 and 9, and high school from grades 10 to 12.

 

TRANSPORT

Hanoi is served by Noi Bai International Airport, located in the Soc Son District, approximately 15 km north of Hanoi. The new international terminal (T2), designed and built by Japanese contractors, opened in January 2015 and is a big facelift for Noibai International Airport. In addition, a new highway and the new Nhat Tan cable-stay bridge connecting the airport and the city center opened at the same time, offering much more convenience than the old road (via Thanglong bridge). Taxis are plentiful and usually have trip meters, although it is also common to agree on the trip price before taking a taxi from the airport to the city centre.

 

Hanoi is also the origin or departure point for many Vietnam Railways train routes in the country. The Reunification Express (tàu Thống Nhất) runs from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City from Hanoi station (formerly Hang Co station), with stops at cities and provinces along the line. Trains also depart Hanoi frequently for Hai Phong and other northern cities. The Reunification Express line was established during French colonial rule and was completed over a period of nearly forty years, from 1899 to 1936. The Reunification Express between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City covers a distance of 1,726 km and takes approximately 33 hours. As of 2005, there were 278 stations on the Vietnamese railway network, of which 191 were located along the North-South line.

 

The main means of transport within Hanoi city are motorbikes, buses, taxis, and a rising number of cars. In recent decades, motorbikes have overtaken bicycles as the main form of transportation. The increased number of motorcycles can cause gridlock. To minimize this and the negative consequences for the environment and health, the local government is trying to increase public transportation. Public buses run on many routes and fares can be purchased on the bus, with very cheap prices (30 cents for a journey where a taxi might cost $10).

 

There are 2 metro lines under construction in Hanoi now. The first one is expected to be operational in 2016, the second in 2018

 

Persons on their own or traveling in a pair who wish to make a fast trip around Hanoi to avoid traffic jams or to travel at an irregular time or by way of an irregular route often use "xe ôm" (literally, "hug bike"). Motorbikes can also be rented from agents within the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Jeron Classic Motors began to develop a series of miniature ¼-scale cars and engines in the mid 1990’s. Only a few of the cars were sold before the company closed its doors forever and all remaining inventory was sold at auction. Twelve engines were built from the inventory parts by Bennie Vreeman in the Netherlands. One engine was a running model that burned methanol on glow ignition, while the remaining eleven were built for display only. This engine was completed as a running model in 2009 for the Miniature Engineering Museum. It burns methanol, on glow ignition and it is equipped with two oil pumps for dry sump lubrication. All six carburetors function and are linked together for smooth operation.

 

See Our Model Engine Collection at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/sets/72157602933346098/

 

Visit Our Photo Sets at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/sets

 

Courtesy of Paul and Paula Knapp

Miniature Engineering Museum

www.engine-museum.com

Dusk settles on Carlos Gonzalez Torrez's crops that are giving him education and experience at the Agricultural Land Based Training Association (ALBA); who receives assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Farm Service Agency (FSA); he is a 2015 graduate of their Farmer Education Course (PEPA) and is now in his third of five (possible) incubator years where he rents farm land, currently 4.35 acres of ALBAâs 100 acre facility in Salinas, Ca., on Nov. 14, 2018.

  

The Agricultural Land Based Training Association (ALBA) is a training program that helps low income farmworkers and others learn how to become farmers. New farmers begin with a series of classroom courses and on-hands training, and graduate to farming their own piece of land on the farm. Eventually these new graduates hope to become successful farmers.

 

ALBAâs Farmer Education and Enterprise Development (FEED) Program educates and trains new farmer-entrepreneurs to plan, launch, and establish viable organic farm businesses or advance their careers. To accomplish this, ALBA has 100 acres of organic land, an experienced team with diverse expertise, and a hands-on, 5-year farmer development program. FEED is comprised of three main components:

 

1.The Farmer Education Course (PEPA) is a one year, bilingual, 300-hour curriculum featuring classroom instruction and field-based training, readying participants to launch an organic farm business.

 

2.The Organic Farm Incubator allows course graduates to launch their farm on ALBAâs land. Starting at ½ acre, farmers gradually scale up to 5 acres over 4 years under ALBAâs supervision before transitioning to fully independent farming.

 

3.ALBA Organics, aggregates, markets and ships participantsâ products to growing markets around California. Doing so gives farmers access to clients that would otherwise be out of reach and allows them to focus on growing and business management in their initial years.

 

For more information about PEPA please see www.albafarmers.org/programs/

 

Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) is the USDAâs focal point for the nationâs farmers and ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. FPAC agencies implement programs designed to mitigate the significant risks of farming through crop insurance services, conservation programs and technical assistance, and commodity, lending, and disaster programs. The FPAC team includes, Farm Service Agency (FSA) (www.fsa.usda.gov/), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/site/national/home/), and Risk Management Agency (RMA) (www.rma.usda.gov/).

 

Farm Service Agency (FSA) is equitably serving all farmers, ranchers, and agricultural partners through the delivery of effective, efficient agricultural programs for all Americans. FSA is a customer-driven agency with a diverse and multi-talented work force, dedicated to achieving an economically and environmentally sound future for American Agriculture. The vision is to be a market-oriented, economically and environmentally sound American agriculture delivering an abundant, safe, and affordable food and fiber supply while sustaining quality agricultural communities.

  

Here, FSA works with non-profit organizations such as ALBA to provide program information and outreach to beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers and limited income farmers. ALBA works with a unique farmer base of nontraditional, diverse and beginning farmers.

   

FSA staff has worked with ALBA for many years in the following ways:

   

1. Provide classroom training to new ALBA students at the ALBA farm during their regular coursework. FSA provides training on:

 

a. How to apply for a farm loan and prepare a cash flow statement.

 

b. How to apply for FSA programs that help with risk management on the farm, such as the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) or other regional crop insurance options.

 

c. How to apply for Disaster Assistance through FSA in case of an adverse weather event or other emergency.

   

2. FSA has provided micro loans, operating loans and ownership loans to help ALBA farmers become independent and successful in their operations. FSA has provided Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) payments to these farmers.

   

3. FSA has provided bookkeeping training courses to ALBA students, on farm tours, and has helped students apply for USDA scholarships to attend agricultural conferences and other trainings.

   

4. FSA has referred ALBA farmers to NRCS for help with resource management issues.

   

âThese farmers are the future face of American Agriculture. It is so important for FSA to help them get a strong start in ensuring the success of their operations, said FSA County Executive Director Vivian Soffa. Carlos will need support when he graduates from ALBA and hopefully FSA will be able to assist him with his capital needs when he is farming on his own in this very competitive agriculture market. Familiarity with FSAâs programs at the beginning of a new farmerâs endeavor may be the difference between success and failure.â

 

For more information please see www.usda.gov.

 

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.

1/12th scale sculpture of Aoki's Shave Ice located in Haleiwa, Oahu, HI. 24" x 21.5" x 8". Business closed in November of 2013 due to area redevelopment. Building torn down in November 2014. So sad to lose such a great, and beloved, "Mom and Pop" storefront.

 

If you would like to see more of my work, please follow these links...

www.newyorkstorefronts.com

  

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/29/nyregion/album-sto...

 

abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles...

 

www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/09/secr...

 

vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2013/09/new-work-from-randy...

 

ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/09/10/its_a_small_world.php

 

gothamist.com/2013/09/10/photos_amazing_miniaturized_nyc_...

 

laist.com/2013/09/25/river_cats.php

 

This mecha was inspired by three things: one aspect was my faint interest for the Ma.K universe and its original mecha designs. Then there was the inspiration through the KV-2X walking tank from MiG Productions, which looks impressive but which I never liked for its (IMHO) poor technical design. And then there was the fact that I got hold of a box with collectible Melusine combat suits in 1:35 scale. There were so many of them, I seriously considered a diorama - but at 1:35 scale only a few Ma.K mecha designs are actually available as a kit. Hasegawa's Nutcracker tank would have been an option - but it was too big for my taste and the space available. So, traditional scratch-building was the only valid option!

 

This was also the starting point for a model and diorama for a model kit contest of a German SF modelers' internet forum (much like starshipmodelers.com). At this early project stage I had the idea of an urban PKA mass scene, rushing forward between ruins with the support of a small armored vehicle, soemthinmg like the Gladiator. Consequently, I wanted a (small) tank for an urban or tight setting, and keep the construction as compact and simple as possible. Four legs were a must, and I wanted to use a single stock kit for the hull. Elements for both requirements were found after long research!

 

The hull comes mostly from a 1:35 scale Hotchkiss H-39 tank. By the way, I love French tank designs from the pre-WWII era, because they most of them have a very unique and almost organic look to them, due to their cast steel hulls. The H-39 is no excemption, and this smooth look makes it IMHO quite suitable for the Ma.K universe and Kow yokoyama's design without much modification. I found a H-39 from Trumpeter, a good base for my project.

 

The legs come from a walking tank from the Japanese 'Junk Tank Rock' series of models - scratch-built tanks like Kow Yokoyama's design. The TACO-34M 'Beetle' donated its complete four legs, and with little modification some parts from this resin kit's original hull found their way onto my Krampus design.

 

Assembly rather followed "look and feel" than a true conversion plan. At an early stage I found that the typical "small tank" look of the hull had to go, and that the hull was too long for the original Beetle Tank's leg assembly. Instead of elongating the legs I decided to shorten the hull, making it even more compact. About 1.5cm were taken away from the front, and the glacis plate elongated to form a rather vertical front. This stubby look moved the turret relatively forward, which resulted in a nice and different look. For reference: in real life, the tank's hull would just be about 3.5m in length! A really tiny tank - anyone remember the 'Bonaparte' tank from Masamune Shirow's "Dominion" maga series? This could be a close relative...

 

During assembly, a lot of spare parts went into the kit, to much to make a list. But among others, many generic parts from a HO scale "Roof Details" Set from Cornerstone Modulars found their way on and into the kit. Most of the newly-built engine bulk was constructed from these parts.

 

The Melusine figures came already painted in a winter livery. Being the design benchmark for the diorama, the Krampus would receive a similar finish. Overall, the paint scheme looks much like a German Luftwaffe Dark Green from WWII, with light grey and/or white painted on top of it, plus yellow-orange markings.

 

To match this look, the Krampus was sprayed all-over in dark olive green (RAL 6003, "Olivgrün"), with some lighter shades sprayed lightly onto the top sides and dark olive drab from below - but this can hardly be discerned at all.

Next, decals were applied (from the scratch box).

On top of that and around the decals, light grey was painted with a flat brush, leaving free edges and areas which would be difficult to reach by 1/35 scale hands under field conditions. This was done twice, with Humbrol's 28 and 196 and with different brush sizes. The idea was to create an improvised and weathered look, with the dark green shimmering through. This effect would later be enhanced through a coat of snow and more weathering with black and earth colors. The stripe markings on the hull and legs were painted by hand, too, with a mix of yellow and orange, emulating the Melusine suits' OOB contrast stripes.

 

After a coat of matte varnish, the snow coating followed. As per usual, I used white joint mortar (plaster is too grayish and becomes yellow over time, as it absorbs up humidity!), rinsed through a fine mesh onto the kit which was sprayed with water.

From above, only a thin coat of fresh snow should be seen, but the legs and lower body rather clogged with dirt and snow, as if the Krampus had been walking through deep snow for some time. This was achived through more of the same joint mortar, just mixed up with a bit of water (so it would remain grainy) and real "dirt", scavenged from balcony flower pots ;)

When dry, the stuff sticks well to the kit's surface and can even stand being touched, but some hair spray and more matte varnish sealed everything in place.

 

As final step, the legs were assembled onto the hull and hydraulich tubes installed, and final painting details like some metal and rust or the commando cupola's visors were added. Finally, the Krampus was ready for action!

 

I will admit that this kit is not the most complicated one, compared to a truly scratch-built item. But matching two carefully selected basic kits yielded an IMHO nice and plausible model, and due to the time pressure of the model kit contest where it would take part in, I am pretty satisfied, esp. with more work ahead with the diorama and the tuning of about six Melusine figures...

Lovebytes - Digital Spring

 

Live performances by Bruce Gilbert, R/S, Russell Haswell

Sound Installation by Jana Winderen

Sat 24 March 7-10.30pm

Channing Hall, 45 Surrey Street, Sheffield. S1 2LG

 

An evening of extreme electronic music, collaboration and improvisation curated by Sheffield artists Mark Fell and Mat Steel and featuring Bruce Gilbert, Russell Haswell, and R/S (Peter Rehberg and Marcus Schmickler), plus access to a multichannel installation by Jana Winderen.

 

Jana Winderen is one of the world's foremost field recording artists. She talked about her work in the Upper Chapel at 3pm 24 March. This was a free event.

 

Jana Winderen is an artist, educated in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College in London, and with a background in mathematics and chemistry from the University in Oslo. Since 1993, she has worked as an artist, curator and producer. She currently lives and works in Oslo.

 

Jana Winderen researches hidden depths with the latest technology. Her work reveals the complexity and strangeness of the unseen world beneath. The audio topography of the oceans and the depth of ice crevasses is brought to the surface. She is concerned with finding sound from hidden sources, like blind field recording.

 

Artist Statement:

 

"I like the immateriality of a sound work, and the openness it can have for both associative and direct experience and sensory perception. I have been occupied with finding sounds from unseen sources of sound, like blind field recordings. Over the last seven years, I have collected recordings made by hydrophones, from rivers, shores and the ocean in Asia, Europe and America, from glaciers in Greenland, Iceland and Norway. In the depths of the oceans there are invisible but audible soundscapes about which we are largely ignorant, even if the oceans cover 70% of our planet. I am also experimenting with different types of microphones to collect sounds which are not obviously recognisable, but give room for broader, more imaginative readings or sounds that are unreachable for the human senses. I use these sounds as source material for composition in a live environment or to create installations, currently also for film, radio, CD, MC and vinyl productions."

 

Bruce Gilbert is perhaps best known as co-founder of post-punk legends Wire. Following their end in 1980, Gilbert demonstrated a long-standing interest in electronic and experimental music that saw him form Dome (with Graham Lewis) and yielded such classic solo albums as This Way and The Shivering Man (reissued last year by Peter Rehberg's Editions Mego, 25 years after their first appearance). Along with reissues and solo projects in recent years, Gilbert has been active with collaborative performances alongside Mika Vainio, and is planning further new material.

 

R/S is the electronic music duo of Peter Rehberg and Marcus Schmickler. In 2011 they released 'USA', the duo's second full length release on PAN, a follow-up to their 2007 'One (Snow Mud Rain)' on Erstwhile Records.

 

Peter Rehberg performs throughout the world, and has participated in many of the major festivals associated with electronic music, through both solo performances and duets with Stephen O'Malley (KTL) and Marcus Schmickler (R/S), as well as projects such as Fenn O'Berg and Peterlicker. In addition to his roles as mentor to many artists and label curator of Editions Mego, Rehberg has also collaborated with interdisciplinary artists such as choreographer Gisele Vienne and writer Dennis Cooper (Kindertotenlieder; I Apologize, Jerk, This Is How You Will Disappear).

 

Marcus Schmickler is a Cologne-based composer, musician and producer of modern classical, electronic and computer music. He is also known for his work with Pluramon. In addition, he works in various collaborative projects - most notably with synth wiz Thomas Lehn. More recently, he has developed an interest in an epistemic dialog with the sciences, resonating in sonifications of astrophysical data, and translating recent mathematical discoveries into the sonic. His music's gleaming, impenetrable surfaces, labyrinthine constructions and opacity suck up all the air in the room - as well as your headspace.

 

Russell Haswell has exhibited visual artwork at Sadie Coles HQ, London; TN Probe, Tokyo; Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague; Kunsthalle, Vienna; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centre Regional d'Art Contemporian, Bricks & Kicks Gallery, Vienna; Galerie Poo Poo, London; Museo d'Art Moderne, Paris; Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London; Kate Bernard Gallery, London; Independent Art Space, London and Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.

 

He has given solo audio presentations at major Art and Music festivals and events, in art galleries, concert halls and rock venues in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxemburg, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and USA. Including occasional live collaborations with Masami Akita, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Florian Hecker, Zbigniew Karkowski, Toshiji Mikawa [INCAPACITANTS], Peter Rehberg, Yasunao Tone, Ilpo & Mika Vanio [PAN_SONIC], WHITEHOUSE, and Hard Disc Jockey [HDJ] duos with Richard D James [Aphex Twin].

 

A second edition of the 8 track compact disc catalogue 'Live Salvage 1997 - 2000' (Honorable Mention, Digital Music's, Prix Ars Electronica.) has been reissued by Mego.. In 2008, a second volume, 'Second Live Salvage', was also released by Editions Mego as a double 12" vinyl set. In 2011, a third volume, 'IN IT: Immersive Live Salvage', was also released by Editions Mego as a Surround sound DVD (DTS & DOLBY 5.1) and vinyl LP (UHJ Ambisonic format) set.

 

Haswell released the Compact Disc 'Wild Tracks' (Editions Mego) in 2009: a collection of raw recordings, originally intended for film and other media projects. A double Compact Disc, 'VALUE + BONUS', was released by NO FUN Productions in mid 2010.

 

An ongoing collaboration (2003 +) with Florian Hecker working on Iannis Xenakis' graphic-input 'UPIC Music Composing System' is one project: the recorded results have been presented in the form of multi channel electroacoustic diffusion sessions, for example for the Frieze Art Fair. These events use surround sound and laser lighting to create an immersive multi-sensory environment. Mego, Warner Classical, and Warp records have released Haswell & Hecker recordings.

 

'satanstornade', a collaboration between Masami Akita & Russell Haswell, was published by Warp Records on compact disc and vinyl. It was awarded "Record cover of the month", Vice UK.

 

'MiniDisc' by Gescom, (Distinction, Digital Musics, Prix Ars Electronica.) The worlds first 'independent' label released 'MiniDisc' A collaboration between Russell Haswell, Rob Brown and Sean Booth of Autechre, has been reissued by OR on Compact Disc in 2007.

 

Haswell was also a curator at P.S.1/MOMA, Contemporary Art Centre, New York. Responsible for large-scale exhibition curating and hanging, as well as curating a weekly (summer months only) outdoor music event, WARM UP.

 

In 2005 and 2006 he curated two London based 'All Tomorrow's Parties' club events, entitled 'Easy to Swallow', intended for the broad-minded, the events showcased Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Yasunao Tone + Hecker, Mark Stewart and the Maffia, Aphex Twin, Whitehouse, Surgeon + Regis Present: British Murder Boys, Lee Dorrian (ex- Napalm Death & Cathedral), Pita, Earth, Autechre, Robert Hood (ex-Underground Resistance). Both events sold out!

 

In November 2009 he curated 'LISTEN' at Aldeburgh Snape Maltings Concert House with Chris Watson, Bernie Krause and Tony Myatt, presenting their works on a 360° 'high-order' ambisonic surround sound system.

 

Haswell recently curated part of the audio program for "The Morning Line Istanbul 2010' project, European Capital of Culture 2010. Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-B A21), working with Artists/Composers: Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Peter Zinovieff, Jana Winderen, and Yasunao Tone. These works were presented again in Vienna, 2011.

 

Haswell has contributed to Frieze Magazine articles on Japanese noise, computer music software and Peter Halley.

 

www.haswellstudio.com/

 

Lovebytes 2012 - Digital Spring

A Festival of Art, Science and Technology

22-24 March

Sheffield UK

 

www.lovebytes.org.uk

Mike Psiaki’s Ecto recolored to it’s first apperance in the original Ghostbusters movie.

 

This is my favourite movie car, maybe even favourite car of all times, and when I heard that it’s happening I almost passed out. This version was built even before the official car was all done, and I was tinkering with it for many months, swapping bricks, adding the stuff like the windscreen that wasn’t even avaliable as a prototype when I put it together for the first time, changing the chassis that somewhat dissapears on the white car, and makes the black one look like it’s dragging it’s belly over the floor and tons of other stuff. I didn’t bother changing the doors to how they open on the real car from the first movie, also because I like the look of it when all doors are open.

 

Of course I painted bricks again, which is meanwhile somewhat a standard for my builds, most noticably a bunch of silver elements, which was mostly dictated by the fact that the grey “chrome” looked dumb against the primered spots, and the corners of the front wings, that don’t come in either grey or black. Bit there might be other things aswell, I just don’t think about it anymore, and don’t let such things like avaliability of a brick in certain color stop me from “having” a certain model on my shelf.

 

As for the design of the official set, I wasn’t as involved as I’d like, also because I was doing the Batwing while Mike developed this one, so what I did mostly is whine and complain alot about the proportions, tailfins, the front window and whatnot, providing pictures and acting as a technical advisor, especially because I owned the six window sedan version of the Cadillac that Ecto is built out of.

 

The result is, in my opinion, the most accuarte rendition of a real car in LEGO yet. Yes, this is the best looking LEGO car to date, and the best version of a Ecto 1, out of bricks regardless of scale or who did it. One would be hard pressed to be able to make this set any better, and my small additions don’t make much difference either.

 

I added three pics of the car without the rust stickers, as I see that 9 out of 10 people simply can’t imagine that one can leave them off, and some pics comparing it with the Mustang, just to show that they are roughly in the same scale. Yes, the Miller-Meteor is huge.

Where to even start.

 

start: 'hey babe, let's go camping. somewhere. not on a campground. in Oregon.'

 

And so we did. After asking several people on flickr, and several real people [it's well known flickr people are automated fabrications of your imagination], we still had no clue where to head. So I did the obvious. I opened Google maps, selected terrain, blindfolded myself, spun my chair 10 times and pointed. What I ended up with was the Oregon coast. Perfect. In Oregon, much like a mustache to an upper lip, lush forests grow right down to beaches. Amazing beaches. So, we hit Freddy Meyers, corralled the dogs and packed up the car. Way too much. Neither of us had been back country camping before, and our overabundance of gear, beer and food was testament to this. We had less stuff driving cross country. We hit the sunset highway and headed West through some gorgeous wilderness towards our final destination, Cape Meares. Mind you, this was at 9pm. Luckily, the Oregon summer holds the sun high till 10 and twilight seems to linger some time after. So, we had at least 1hr to find a trail, unpack the car, scamp through woods, haul our gear, get the pups, and setup shop that would lay claim to the next 3 nights. After a manic'd panic'd dimly lit search we decided upon a trail through a wildlife refuge. Why a wildlife refuge? It was dark, and time to do this. Tonto.

 

Besides, what wildlife with human predation lives on a beach?

 

Black bears. 2 bear cubs to be exact. That's who. And their mom. Their angry, overprotective, I'll maim you just for being within one mile of my cubs mother, whom we met at 9am the next morning. Thankfully we had already had our morning coffee, steeped to perfection over flame. So yea, the dogs charged the two bear cubs who shimmed up a 70 ft tree with all the grace of a black bear cub scaling a giant tree. It was impressive to say the least. I had my camera with me, and even pointed it to my eye. However, I couldn't push the shutter. Unlike my Yosemite bear cub experience, where there were many people around, I didn't take a photo. Instead, instinct kicked in and I knew we were in trouble. The dogs charging the cubs, and the fact the we couldn't see the mother, but knew she was close told us we should turn around, and jet. And so we did. The dogs thankfully heeded my calls and followed us as we ran back up the trail. manic'd panic'd I handed Lis my camera and wielded my Nepalese knife, ready to do battle. This was 100 yards from our chosen site. Needless to say, it was time to pack up our stuff and find another home, away from the bear family. And so we did. With a quickness. This would be the 4th trip up/down the quarter mile trail with our gear, as it took two trips each way to gather it all. Our cooler was heavy. Swollen with ice.

 

This story is in no way meant to take away from the the night spent in a sweet location, enjoying a nice campfire in a woods overlooking the ocean. The dogs running round the site. It sprinkled but the awe inspiring tree canopy kept us dry. We could even hear the waves from our tent.

 

Which led us to our next destination. We thought we'd up the wave anti by camping right on the beach. And so we did.

 

We setup shop on Netarts Beach, on a tip we got from a waitress in a coffee shop in a tiny coastal town. The beach was at the end of a dead end road called Happy Camp. This would surely bode well for us, no?

 

No. It actually didn't... Bode well... At all. What the waitress neglected to tell us was that the beach assumed the role of the ocean bottom during high tide. As in, when high tide comes, you should be off this beach. So, after an amazing day, a giant campfire, scenery to die for [punny] we settled into our tent. The waves were roaring. Seriously loud. Their gusto to be overtaken only by the constant barrage of fireworks being shot off the dune cliffs above us. This was all well and good for the first half hour, but 4 hours of firebombs bursting 10 feet over your tent tends to make one feel as though they are in The Ardennes circa 1945. The dogs were scared. Understatement. They were pissing their pants. I mean our tent. We don't make them wear pants. Lis would though, if she could. Thankfully the shelling was a blessing in disguise as it kept us awake. Until 2am. Which came in handy when I looked out the tent door and shined my mag light. The water was near. Near like 4 feet. Correction, the Singularity is near, the icy cold ocean was on us. It was time to go. Again. This time with a severe quickness. Our tent was as far back as a tent can go. We were up against a cliff face. The only way out was left. So, at 2am in the pitch dark we packed. We packed like rats. Did I mention it was raining out? We packed as much as we could for one trip off the beach. We sadly had to leave some stuff behind, like the 200lb cooler full of melted ice. And my mini grill. Our apologies to environmentalites. We had to go. Fast. The walk back down the beach was no walk on the beach. The sand was gone. Underwater. We had to skirt the cliff face on rocks. With gear hanging off of us like rented mules. Raining. 2 dogs with the look of fear in their eyes. Sidenote: I always though that if stranded somewhere, desperate, I'd want one thing with me. My dog. I change my mind. They're like kids in this situation. Baggage. At this point its time to interject with a word about my wife. She's strong. Stronger than I've thought. She did this. Without bitching once. Without crying. Without concern for herself. She carried at least 60lbs of gear on her back across a quarter mile stretch of soaking wet beach rocks with the ocean surf taunting 4 feet from her feet. Pinned against a cliff face! Now thats a wife. It's who I want with me.

 

We made it. Obviously. The two hour ride back to Portland at 3am was sublimely painful.

 

From my pics you can see the beauty we saw. It was an amazing 4th. A lot happened in 24 hours. It's good to get this down on 'paper'. It was breathtaking. Ridiculous. Gorgeous. Dangerous.

 

It was living Life. Full.

 

details

The exploitation rights for this text are the property of the Vienna Tourist Board. This text may be reprinted free of charge until further notice, even partially and in edited form. Forward sample copy to: Vienna Tourist Board, Media Management, Invalidenstraße 6, 1030 Vienna; media.rel@wien.info. All information in this text without guarantee.

Author: Andreas Nierhaus, Curator of Architecture/Wien Museum

Last updated January 2014

Architecture in Vienna

Vienna's 2,000-year history is present in a unique density in the cityscape. The layout of the center dates back to the Roman city and medieval road network. Romanesque and Gothic churches characterize the streets and squares as well as palaces and mansions of the baroque city of residence. The ring road is an expression of the modern city of the 19th century, in the 20th century extensive housing developments set accents in the outer districts. Currently, large-scale urban development measures are implemented; distinctive buildings of international star architects complement the silhouette of the city.

Due to its function as residence of the emperor and European power center, Vienna for centuries stood in the focus of international attention, but it was well aware of that too. As a result, developed an outstanding building culture, and still today on a worldwide scale only a few cities can come up with a comparable density of high-quality architecture. For several years now, Vienna has increased its efforts to connect with its historical highlights and is drawing attention to itself with some spectacular new buildings. The fastest growing city in the German-speaking world today most of all in residential construction is setting standards. Constants of the Viennese architecture are respect for existing structures, the palpability of historical layers and the dialogue between old and new.

Culmination of medieval architecture: the Stephansdom

The oldest architectural landmark of the city is St. Stephen's Cathedral. Under the rule of the Habsburgs, defining the face of the city from the late 13th century until 1918 in a decisive way, the cathedral was upgraded into the sacral monument of the political ambitions of the ruling house. The 1433 completed, 137 meters high southern tower, by the Viennese people affectionately named "Steffl", is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture in Europe. For decades he was the tallest stone structure in Europe, until today he is the undisputed center of the city.

The baroque residence

Vienna's ascension into the ranks of the great European capitals began in Baroque. Among the most important architects are Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. Outside the city walls arose a chain of summer palaces, including the garden Palais Schwarzenberg (1697-1704) as well as the Upper and Lower Belvedere of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1714-22). Among the most important city palaces are the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene (1695-1724, now a branch of the Belvedere) and the Palais Daun-Kinsky (auction house in Kinsky 1713-19). The emperor himself the Hofburg had complemented by buildings such as the Imperial Library (1722-26) and the Winter Riding School (1729-34). More important, however, for the Habsburgs was the foundation of churches and monasteries. Thus arose before the city walls Fischer von Erlach's Karlskirche (1714-39), which with its formal and thematic complex show façade belongs to the major works of European Baroque. In colored interior rooms like that of St. Peter's Church (1701-22), the contemporary efforts for the synthesis of architecture, painting and sculpture becomes visible.

Upgrading into metropolis: the ring road time (Ringstraßenzeit)

Since the Baroque, reflections on extension of the hopelessly overcrowed city were made, but only Emperor Franz Joseph ordered in 1857 the demolition of the fortifications and the connection of the inner city with the suburbs. 1865, the Ring Road was opened. It is as the most important boulevard of Europe an architectural and in terms of urban development achievement of the highest rank. The original building structure is almost completely preserved and thus conveys the authentic image of a metropolis of the 19th century. The public representational buildings speak, reflecting accurately the historicism, by their style: The Greek Antique forms of Theophil Hansen's Parliament (1871-83) stood for democracy, the Renaissance of the by Heinrich Ferstel built University (1873-84) for the flourishing of humanism, the Gothic of the Town Hall (1872-83) by Friedrich Schmidt for the medieval civic pride.

Dominating remained the buildings of the imperial family: Eduard van der Nüll's and August Sicardsburg's Opera House (1863-69), Gottfried Semper's and Carl Hasenauer's Burgtheater (1874-88), their Museum of Art History and Museum of Natural History (1871-91) and the Neue (New) Hofburg (1881-1918 ). At the same time the ring road was the preferred residential area of mostly Jewish haute bourgeoisie. With luxurious palaces the families Ephrussi, Epstein or Todesco made it clear that they had taken over the cultural leadership role in Viennese society. In the framework of the World Exhibition of 1873, the new Vienna presented itself an international audience. At the ring road many hotels were opened, among them the Hotel Imperial and today's Palais Hansen Kempinski.

Laboratory of modernity: Vienna around 1900

Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06) was one of the last buildings in the Ring road area Otto Wagner's Postal Savings Bank (1903-06), which with it façade, liberated of ornament, and only decorated with "functional" aluminum buttons and the glass banking hall now is one of the icons of modern architecture. Like no other stood Otto Wagner for the dawn into the 20th century: His Metropolitan Railway buildings made ​​the public transport of the city a topic of architecture, the church of the Psychiatric hospital at Steinhofgründe (1904-07) is considered the first modern church.

With his consistent focus on the function of a building ("Something impractical can not be beautiful"), Wagner marked a whole generation of architects and made Vienna the laboratory of modernity: in addition to Joseph Maria Olbrich, the builder of the Secession (1897-98) and Josef Hoffmann, the architect of the at the western outskirts located Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904) and founder of the Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstätte, 1903) is mainly to mention Adolf Loos, with the Loos House at the square Michaelerplatz (1909-11) making architectural history. The extravagant marble cladding of the business zone stands in maximal contrast, derived from the building function, to the unadorned facade above, whereby its "nudity" became even more obvious - a provocation, as well as his culture-critical texts ("Ornament and Crime"), with which he had greatest impact on the architecture of the 20th century. Public contracts Loos remained denied. His major works therefore include villas, apartment facilities and premises as the still in original state preserved Tailor salon Knize at Graben (1910-13) and the restored Loos Bar (1908-09) near the Kärntner Straße (passageway Kärntner Durchgang).

Between the Wars: International Modern Age and social housing

After the collapse of the monarchy in 1918, Vienna became capital of the newly formed small country of Austria. In the heart of the city, the architects Theiss & Jaksch built 1931-32 the first skyscraper in Vienna as an exclusive residential address (Herrengasse - alley 6-8). To combat the housing shortage for the general population, the social democratic city government in a globally unique building program within a few years 60,000 apartments in hundreds of apartment buildings throughout the city area had built, including the famous Karl Marx-Hof by Karl Ehn (1925-30). An alternative to the multi-storey buildings with the 1932 opened International Werkbundsiedlung was presented, which was attended by 31 architects from Austria, Germany, France, Holland and the USA and showed models for affordable housing in greenfield areas. With buildings of Adolf Loos, André Lurçat, Richard Neutra, Gerrit Rietveld, the Werkbundsiedlung, which currently is being restored at great expense, is one of the most important documents of modern architecture in Austria.

Modernism was also expressed in significant Villa buildings: The House Beer (1929-31) by Josef Frank exemplifies the refined Wiener living culture of the interwar period, while the house Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1926-28, today Bulgarian Cultural Institute), built by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein together with the architect Paul Engelmann for his sister Margarete, by its aesthetic radicalism and mathematical rigor represents a special case within contemporary architecture.

Expulsion, war and reconstruction

After the "Anschluss (Annexation)" to the German Reich in 1938, numerous Jewish builders, architects (female and male ones), who had been largely responsible for the high level of Viennese architecture, have been expelled from Austria. During the Nazi era, Vienna remained largely unaffected by structural transformations, apart from the six flak towers built for air defense of Friedrich Tamms (1942-45), made ​​of solid reinforced concrete which today are present as memorials in the cityscape.

The years after the end of World War II were characterized by the reconstruction of the by bombs heavily damaged city. The architecture of those times was marked by aesthetic pragmatism, but also by the attempt to connect with the period before 1938 and pick up on current international trends. Among the most important buildings of the 1950s are Roland Rainer's City Hall (1952-58), the by Oswald Haerdtl erected Wien Museum at Karlsplatz (1954-59) and the 21er Haus of Karl Schwanzer (1958-62).

The youngsters come

Since the 1960s, a young generation was looking for alternatives to the moderate modernism of the reconstruction years. With visionary designs, conceptual, experimental and above all temporary architectures, interventions and installations, Raimund Abraham, Günther Domenig, Eilfried Huth, Hans Hollein, Walter Pichler and the groups Coop Himmelb(l)au, Haus-Rucker-Co and Missing Link rapidly got international attention. Although for the time being it was more designed than built, was the influence on the postmodern and deconstructivist trends of the 1970s and 1980s also outside Austria great. Hollein's futuristic "Retti" candle shop at Charcoal Market/Kohlmarkt (1964-65) and Domenig's biomorphic building of the Central Savings Bank in Favoriten (10th district of Vienna - 1975-79) are among the earliest examples, later Hollein's Haas-Haus (1985-90), the loft conversion Falkestraße (1987/88) by Coop Himmelb(l)au or Domenig's T Center (2002-04) were added. Especially Domenig, Hollein, Coop Himmelb(l)au and the architects Ortner & Ortner (ancient members of Haus-Rucker-Co) ​​by orders from abroad the new Austrian and Viennese architecture made a fixed international concept.

MuseumQuarter and Gasometer

Since the 1980s, the focus of building in Vienna lies on the compaction of the historic urban fabric that now as urban habitat of high quality no longer is put in question. Among the internationally best known projects is the by Ortner & Ortner planned MuseumsQuartier in the former imperial stables (competition 1987, 1998-2001), which with institutions such as the MUMOK - Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig, the Leopold Museum, the Kunsthalle Wien, the Architecture Center Vienna and the Zoom Children's Museum on a wordwide scale is under the largest cultural complexes. After controversies in the planning phase, here an architectural compromise between old and new has been achieved at the end, whose success as an urban stage with four million visitors (2012) is overwhelming.

The dialogue between old and new, which has to stand on the agenda of building culture of a city that is so strongly influenced by history, also features the reconstruction of the Gasometer in Simmering by Coop Himmelb(l)au, Wilhelm Holzbauer, Jean Nouvel and Manfred Wehdorn (1999-2001). Here was not only created new housing, but also a historical industrial monument reinterpreted into a signal in the urban development area.

New Neighborhood

In recent years, the major railway stations and their surroundings moved into the focus of planning. Here not only necessary infrastructural measures were taken, but at the same time opened up spacious inner-city residential areas and business districts. Among the prestigious projects are included the construction of the new Vienna Central Station, started in 2010 with the surrounding office towers of the Quartier Belvedere and the residential and school buildings of the Midsummer quarter (Sonnwendviertel). Europe's largest wooden tower invites here for a spectacular view to the construction site and the entire city. On the site of the former North Station are currently being built 10,000 homes and 20,000 jobs, on that of the Aspangbahn station is being built at Europe's greatest Passive House settlement "Euro Gate", the area of ​​the North Western Railway Station is expected to be developed from 2020 for living and working. The largest currently under construction residential project but can be found in the north-eastern outskirts, where in Seaside Town Aspern till 2028 living and working space for 40,000 people will be created.

In one of the "green lungs" of Vienna, the Prater, 2013, the WU campus was opened for the largest University of Economics of Europe. Around the central square spectacular buildings of an international architect team from Great Britain, Japan, Spain and Austria are gathered that seem to lead a sometimes very loud conversation about the status quo of contemporary architecture (Hitoshi Abe, BUSarchitektur, Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, NO MAD Arquitectos, Carme Pinós).

Flying high

International is also the number of architects who have inscribed themselves in the last few years with high-rise buildings in the skyline of Vienna and make St. Stephen's a not always unproblematic competition. Visible from afar is Massimiliano Fuksas' 138 and 127 meters high elegant Twin Tower at Wienerberg (1999-2001). The monolithic, 75-meter-high tower of the Hotel Sofitel at the Danube Canal by Jean Nouvel (2007-10), on the other hand, reacts to the particular urban situation and stages in its top floor new perspectives to the historical center on the other side.

Also at the water stands Dominique Perrault's DC Tower (2010-13) in the Danube City - those high-rise city, in which since the start of construction in 1996, the expansion of the city north of the Danube is condensed symbolically. Even in this environment, the slim and at the same time striking vertically folded tower of Perrault is beyond all known dimensions; from its Sky Bar, from spring 2014 on you are able to enjoy the highest view of Vienna. With 250 meters, the tower is the tallest building of Austria and almost twice as high as the St. Stephen's Cathedral. Vienna, thus, has acquired a new architectural landmark which cannot be overlooked - whether it also has the potential to become a landmark of the new Vienna, only time will tell. The architectural history of Vienna, where European history is presence and new buildings enter into an exciting and not always conflict-free dialogue with a great and outstanding architectural heritage, in any case has yet to offer exciting chapters.

A visit to the National Trust property that is Penrhyn Castle

 

Penrhyn Castle is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, in the form of a Norman castle. It was originally a medieval fortified manor house, founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In 1438, Ioan ap Gruffudd was granted a licence to crenellate and he founded the stone castle and added a tower house. Samuel Wyatt reconstructed the property in the 1780s.

 

The present building was created between about 1822 and 1837 to designs by Thomas Hopper, who expanded and transformed the building beyond recognition. However a spiral staircase from the original property can still be seen, and a vaulted basement and other masonry were incorporated into the new structure. Hopper's client was George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, who had inherited the Penrhyn estate on the death of his second cousin, Richard Pennant, who had made his fortune from slavery in Jamaica and local slate quarries. The eldest of George's two daughters, Juliana, married Grenadier Guard, Edward Gordon Douglas, who, on inheriting the estate on George's death in 1845, adopted the hyphenated surname of Douglas-Pennant. The cost of the construction of this vast 'castle' is disputed, and very difficult to work out accurately, as much of the timber came from the family's own forestry, and much of the labour was acquired from within their own workforce at the slate quarry. It cost the Pennant family an estimated £150,000. This is the current equivalent to about £49,500,000.

 

Penrhyn is one of the most admired of the numerous mock castles built in the United Kingdom in the 19th century; Christopher Hussey called it, "the outstanding instance of Norman revival." The castle is a picturesque composition that stretches over 600 feet from a tall donjon containing family rooms, through the main block built around the earlier house, to the service wing and the stables.

 

It is built in a sombre style which allows it to possess something of the medieval fortress air despite the ground-level drawing room windows. Hopper designed all the principal interiors in a rich but restrained Norman style, with much fine plasterwork and wood and stone carving. The castle also has some specially designed Norman-style furniture, including a one-ton slate bed made for Queen Victoria when she visited in 1859.

 

Hugh Napier Douglas-Pennant, 4th Lord Penrhyn, died in 1949, and the castle and estate passed to his niece, Lady Janet Pelham, who, on inheritance, adopted the surname of Douglas-Pennant. In 1951, the castle and 40,000 acres (160 km²) of land were accepted by the treasury in lieu of death duties from Lady Janet. It now belongs to the National Trust and is open to the public. The site received 109,395 visitors in 2017.

  

Grade I Listed Building

 

Penrhyn Castle

  

History

 

The present house, built in the form of a vast Norman castle, was constructed to the design of Thomas Hopper for George Hay Dawkins-Pennant between 1820 and 1837. It has been very little altered since.

 

The original house on the site was a medieval manor house of C14 origin, for which a licence to crenellate was given at an unknown date between 1410 and 1431. This house survived until c1782 when it was remodelled in castellated Gothick style, replete with yellow mathematical tiles, by Samuel Wyatt for Richard Pennant. This house, the great hall of which is incorporated in the present drawing room, was remodelled in c1800, but the vast profits from the Penrhyn slate quarries enabled all the rest to be completely swept away by Hopper's vast neo-Norman fantasy, sited and built so that it could be seen not only from the quarries, but most parts of the surrounding estate, thereby emphasizing the local dominance of the Dawkins-Pennant family. The total cost is unknown but it cannot have been less than the £123,000 claimed by Catherine Sinclair in 1839.

 

Since 1951 the house has belonged to the National Trust, together with over 40,000 acres of the family estates around Ysbyty Ifan and the Ogwen valley.

 

Exterior

 

Country house built in the style of a vast Norman castle with other later medieval influences, so huge (its 70 roofs cover an area of over an acre (0.4ha)) that it almost defies meaningful description. The main components of the house, which is built on a north-south axis with the main elevations to east and west, are the 124ft (37.8m) high keep, based on Castle Hedingham (Essex) containing the family quarters on the south, the central range, protected by a 'barbican' terrace on the east, housing the state apartments, and the rectangular-shaped staff/service buildings and stables to the north. The whole is constructed of local rubblestone with internal brick lining, but all elevations are faced in tooled Anglesey limestone ashlar of the finest quality jointing; flat lead roofs concealed by castellated parapets. Close to, the extreme length of the building (it is about 200 yards (182.88m) long) and the fact that the ground slopes away on all sides mean that almost no complete elevation can be seen. That the most frequent views of the exterior are oblique also offered Hopper the opportunity to deploy his towers for picturesque effect, the relationship between the keep and the other towers and turrets frequently obscuring the distances between them. Another significant external feature of the castle is that it actually looks defensible making it secure at least from Pugin's famous slur of 1841 on contemporary "castles" - "Who would hammer against nailed portals, when he could kick his way through the greenhouse?" Certainly, this could never be achieved at Penrhyn and it looks every inch the impregnable fortress both architect and patron intended it to be.

 

East elevation: to the left is the loosely attached 4-storey keep on battered plinth with 4 tiers of deeply splayed Norman windows, 2 to each face, with chevron decoration and nook-shafts, topped by 4 square corner turrets. The dining room (distinguished by the intersecting tracery above the windows) and breakfast room to the right of the entrance gallery are protected by the long sweep of the machicolated 'barbican' terrace (carriage forecourt), curved in front of the 2 rooms and then running northwards before returning at right-angles to the west to include the gatehouse, which formed the original main entrance to the castle, and ending in a tall rectangular tower with machicolated parapet. To the right of the gatehouse are the recessed buildings of the kitchen court and to the right again the long, largely unbroken outer wall of the stable court, terminated by the square footmen's tower to the left and the rather more exuberant projecting circular dung tower with its spectacularly cantilevered bartizan on the right. From here the wall runs at right-angles to the west incorporating the impressive gatehouse to the stable court.

 

West elevation: beginning at the left is the hexagonal smithy tower, followed by the long run of the stable court, well provided with windows on this side as the stables lie directly behind. At the end of this the wall turns at right-angles to the west, incorporating the narrow circular-turreted gatehouse to the outer court and terminating in the machicolated circular ice tower. From here the wall runs again at a lower height enclosing the remainder of the outer court. It is, of course, the state apartments which make up the chief architectural display on the central part of this elevation, beginning with a strongly articulated but essentially rectangular tower to the left, while both the drawing room and the library have Norman windows leading directly onto the lawns, the latter terminating in a slender machicolated circular corner tower. To the right is the keep, considerably set back on this side.

Interior

 

Only those parts of the castle generally accessible to visitors are recorded in this description. Although not described here much of the furniture and many of the paintings (including family portraits) are also original to the house. Similarly, it should be noted that in the interests of brevity and clarity, not all significant architectural features are itemised in the following description.

 

Entrance gallery: one of the last parts of the castle to be built, this narrow cloister-like passage was added to the main block to heighten the sensation of entering the vast Grand Hall, which is made only partly visible by the deliberate offsetting of the intervening doorways; bronze lamp standards with wolf-heads on stone bases. Grand Hall: entering the columned aisle of this huge space, the visitor stands at a cross-roads between the 3 principal areas of the castle's plan; to the left the passage leads up to the family's private apartments on the 4 floors of the keep, to the right the door at the end leads to the extensive service quarters while ahead lies the sequence of state rooms used for entertaining guests and displayed to the public ever since the castle was built. The hall itself resembles in form, style and scale the transept of a great Norman cathedral, the great clustered columns extending upwards to a "triforium" formed on 2 sides of extraordinary compound arches; stained glass with signs of the zodiac and months of the year as in a book of hours by Thomas Willement (completed 1835). Library: has very much the atmosphere of a gentlemen’s London club with walls, columned arches and ceilings covered in the most lavish ornamentation; superb architectural bookcases and panelled walls are of oak but the arches are plaster grained to match; ornamental bosses and other devices to the rich plaster ceiling refer to the ancestry of the Dawkins and Pennant families, as do the stained glass lunettes above the windows, possibly by David Evans of Shrewsbury; 4 chimneypieces of polished Anglesey "marble", one with a frieze of fantastical carved mummers in the capitals. Drawing room (great hall of the late C18 house and its medieval predecessor): again in a neo-Norman style but the decoration is lighter and the columns more slender, the spirit of the room reflected in the 2000 delicate Maltese gilt crosses to the vaulted ceiling. Ebony room: so called on account of its furniture and "ebonised" chimneypiece and plasterwork, has at its entrance a spiral staircase from the medieval house. Grand Staircase hall: in many ways the greatest architectural achievement at Penrhyn, taking 10 years to complete, the carving in 2 contrasting stones of the highest quality; repeating abstract decorative motifs contrast with the infinitely inventive figurative carving in the newels and capitals; to the top the intricate plaster panels of the domed lantern are formed in exceptionally high relief and display both Norse and Celtic influences. Next to the grand stair is the secondary stair, itself a magnificent structure in grey sandstone with lantern, built immediately next to the grand stair so that family or guests should not meet staff on the same staircase. Reached from the columned aisle of the grand hall are the 2 remaining principal ground-floor rooms, the dining room and the breakfast room, among the last parts of the castle to be completed and clearly intended to be picture galleries as much as dining areas, the stencilled treatment of the walls in the dining room allowing both the provision of an appropriately elaborate "Norman" scheme and a large flat surface for the hanging of paintings; black marble fireplace carved by Richard Westmacott and extremely ornate ceiling with leaf bosses encircled by bands of figurative mouldings derived from the Romanesque church of Kilpeck, Herefordshire. Breakfast room has cambered beam ceiling with oak-grained finish.

 

Grand hall gallery: at the top of the grand staircase is vaulted and continues around the grand hall below to link with the passage to the keep, which at this level (as on the other floors) contains a suite of rooms comprising a sitting room, dressing room, bedroom and small ante-chamber, the room containing the famous slate bed also with a red Mona marble chimneypiece, one of the most spectacular in the castle. Returning to the grand hall gallery and continuing straight on rather than returning to the grand staircase the Lower India room is reached to the right: this contains an Anglesey limestone chimneypiece painted to match the ground colour of the room's Chinese wallpaper. Coming out of this room, the chapel corridor leads to the chapel gallery (used by the family) and the chapel proper below (used by staff), the latter with encaustic tiles probably reused from the old medieval chapel; stained and painted glass by David Evans (c1833).

 

The domestic quarters of the castle are reached along the passage from the breakfast room, which turns at right-angles to the right at the foot of the secondary staircase, the most important areas being the butler's pantry, steward's office, servants' hall, housekeeper's room, still room, housekeeper's store and housemaids' tower, while the kitchen (with its cast-iron range flanked by large and hygienic vertical slabs of Penrhyn slate) is housed on the lower ground floor. From this kitchen court, which also includes a coal store, oil vaults, brushing room, lamp room, pastry room, larder, scullery and laundry are reached the outer court with its soup kitchen, brewhouse and 2-storey ice tower and the much larger stables court which, along with the stables themselves containing their extensive slate-partitioned stalls and loose boxes, incorporates the coach house, covered ride, smithy tower, dung tower with gardeners' messroom above and footmen's tower.

 

Reasons for Listing

 

Included at Grade I as one of the most important large country houses in Wales; a superb example of the relatively short-lived Norman Revival of the early C19 and generally regarded as the masterpiece of its architect, Thomas Hopper.

  

Clocks - went up a tower and they had thousands of clocks all over the place!

  

Harrison's Garden

 

An installation of over 5000 clocks creates an imagined landscape in the derelict 'unloved' rooms of the keep.

  

You needed a token to go up here, and only a certain number of people were allowed up here at each time.

There's nothing wrong with finishing up Pickup-a-Plenty with yellow... it takes all kinds to make a world.

 

1:64 M2 Machines:

1956 Ford F-100

Goldenglow Yellow

Auto-Trucks Release 19

 

2020 Rides & Refreshments & Reptiles

Pickups-a-Plenty 2020

Wild Waters Aquarium & Convention Center

Reptile Rescue

City of Mystic Beach

 

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Olympus M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II R

 

Can't get enough Rides & Refreshments Shows?

R&R 2019-2020

From press reports

 

China's sole aircraft carrier arrived in Hong Kong for the first time on Friday 7 July in a display of military might less than a week after a high-profile visit by President Xi Jinping. The vessel set off from Qingdao, in China's east, on 25 June.

 

President Xi's trip marked 20 years since Hong Kong was handed back to China by Britain, and analysts said it left little doubt that Beijing viewed the city as a destabilising hotbed of unacceptable political dissent.

 

His three-day visit culminated in a 30-minute speech warning that any challenge to Beijing's control over the city crossed a "red line", seen as a salvo against a new wave of activists calling for self-determination or independence, concepts intolerable to Beijing.

 

President Xi also inspected a parade of Chinese troops on 30 June at the city's biggest military parade in the past two decades, where helicopters and armoured vehicles were displayed.

 

The 305 metre-long Liaoning, a secondhand Soviet ship built nearly 30 years ago and commissioned by the People’s Liberation Army Navy in 2012, arrived in Hong Kong at around 7.30am local time. The hull was built nearly 30 years ago for the Soviet navy, but the ship was never completed.

 

The ship’s journey from a Ukrainian shipyard to the Chinese navy was hardly routine. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, construction was halted in 1992 and the carrier was put up for sale. It then took six years before a Chinese businessman purchased it for US$20m, saying he planned to tow it to Macau and open a floating hotel and casino.

 

But the purchase and story were a cover, with the ship eventually delivered to the Chinese navy in 2002. The military spent the next decade refitting and upgrading the ship, and it was declared combat ready in 2015. China launched its first domestically built carrier in April 2017 but it will not be operational until 2020.

  

The Chinese Navy is said to be building a force with "blue-water capability," able to operate in oceans around the world in a similar way to the US. China is rapidly increasing its military budget, currently the second largest in the world, raising spending by 7% in 2017.

 

China's aircraft carriers lag behind the capabilities of their US counterparts. Sam Roggeveen, a senior fellow at Sydney's Lowy Institute said both of China's carriers were technologically outdated.

 

"They still have what they call the ski jump, which is the 15-degree incline at the front of the ship ... to give aircraft more lift," he said.

 

"The reason that's important is that it's very much a second-best solution for launching aircraft off a carrier. The Americans use what's called a catapult, which slings aircraft off at much higher speeds.”

 

China's national defence ministry contradicted itself over the purpose of the flotilla’s visit, first saying it was part of a “routine training mission”, and later announcing it was organised to mark 20 years since the People’s Liberation Army entered the city at the end of British rule.

Some observers believe that the port call – which started on 7 July, the anniversary of the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge incident marking the start of full-scale war between China and Japan – was intended to serve the purpose of national education, and that the opening of the carrier to the public was “soft publicity” to impress Hongkongers with China’s military might.

Some saw the naval convoy as underlining President Xi’s hardline message.

“The Liaoning’s visit is an escalation of Beijing’s efforts to squeeze Hong Kong and is meant to show that the military has a role in safeguarding the Chinese government’s interests in Hong Kong,” said Willy Lam, a politics professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“The unsubtle message is that if there is any mass protests or things get out of hand, Beijing will not hesitate to call upon soldiers to quell any perceived rebellion against the Communist party.”

Yvonne Chiu, assistant professor in the department of politics at the University of Hong Kong, said sailing the Liaoning into Hong Kong's harbor was partly a political gesture.

 

"It shows to Hong Kong and the rest of the world that Hong Kong is very much part of China," Chiu said.

 

"There's no quicker way of whipping up some nationalist sentiment and pride than to rally around a big military symbol," Chiu said.

 

"It's an ongoing concern about whether Hong Kong people are sufficiently patriotic, so rallying around an aircraft carrier, it can only help."

 

UK and US officials have expressed concern over receding freedoms in Hong Kong and the creeping influence of the Chinese officials over the local government. The show of military might served to “remind the west that Beijing is in control and will use whatever means to crush efforts to undermine China’s sovereignty”, Lam said.

 

Xi put on a display of martial might during his visit, presiding over the largest military parade since the UK handed the city back to China in 1997. The parade and aircraft carrier visit is highly significant and the Chinese garrison in the city typically keeps a low profile, rarely seen on the streets in uniform.

 

The Liaoning was escorted by two guided-missile destroyers, a guided-missile frigate and two corvettes from Hong Kong’s naval garrison, along with 20 police launches and dozens of government marine vessels clearing a path.

 

Authorities set up a temporary no-fly zone in the area where the Liaoning was berthed near the city's Tsing Ma suspension bridge.

J-15 fighter jets sat on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning.

 

Hong Kong’s leader, chief executive Carrie Lam, welcomed the flotilla at the city’s main naval base, saying she hoped the visit would instill a sense of patriotism among an increasingly divided society.

 

“I believe this can let citizens experience the country’s military development, especially the development of the naval force,” Lam said.

 

“This will greatly enhance Hong Kong citizens’ understanding and recognition of the country.”

 

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Brady, (right) decontamination readiness noncommissioned officer with the 115th Maintenance Company, Utah National Guard, assists emergency room nurses at Exempla St. Joseph Hospital with decontaminating a mock victim during a natural-disaster training scenario decontamination exercise, at Exempla St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, Colo., July 23, 2013, as part of the 2013 Vigilant Guard exercise. Vigilant Guard, hosted by the Colorado National Guard, is a large-scale, multi-state, multi-agency exercise focused on inter-agency coordination in preparation for emergencies and catastrophic events in Colorado. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Zach Sheely/RELEASED)

In the September/October 2022 issue of Sing Tao (星島) eliteGen I visit three of Scale Hospitality's newer projects in the Entertainment District. Head downtown to check out this trio of restaurants from casual contemporary Spanish fare to a modern French wine bar or the lush fresh catch fresh from the Eastern Seaboard that are sure to satisfy.

 

Bar Chica

Lapinou

Pink Sky

 

Learn more on pp: 80-87:

epaper.singtao.ca/flippingbook/toronto/elite/2022/2022090...

or online here: elitegen.singtao.ca/food-drink/iconink-and-scale-hospital...

After leaving Haddon Hall we stopped off at Caudwell's Mill Craft Centre. It was a flour mill powered by water.

 

At Rowsley is a unique, grade II* listed historic roller flour mill. Powered by water from the river Wye, one or more mills have stood on this site for at least 400 years. The present mill was built in 1874 by John Caudwell and run as a family business for over a century.

 

The mill was purchased by a charitable trust and has been operated by them for over forty years.

 

At Caudwell’s Mill, grain was milled by the same process used at the giant modern mills which now provide most of the flour for our bread, but here production was on a scale and at a speed that is both easier to understand and which did not damage the flour.

 

mill interiorThe mill is a complete fascinating automatic ‘machine’ on four floors and usually runs daily. Most of the machinery is earlier than 1914 and is still driven by belts (often leather) and pulleys from line shafts. Elevators and Archimedean screws abound. The wheat enters the first roller mill, then the “grist” produced is “elevated” to the top floor where it enters the first plansifter. From there the graded product is passed to more roller mills and the process continued. The 22 pairs of roller mills, two purifiers and the four plansifters ensured the flour was fine enough to be sold to bakers.

 

The mill was originally powered by two water wheels which drove 8 pairs of millstones in the flour mill and 3 pairs in the provender (animal feed) mill. After the installation of the roller mills the water wheels did not provide enough power and water turbines replaced the water wheels. Initially a 35 HP “Trent” turbine was installed in 1887 to drive the flour mill. This was still not powerful enough for the new plant and a “Francis” turbine of 80 HP replaced it in 1914 driving the flour mill via a line shaft in the cellar. Driving the provender (animal feed) mill and most of the wheat cleaning plant is a 50 HP “Little Giant” installed in 1898, which, now generates the electricity used in the mill.

 

There are numerous displays, descriptions and hands-on models throughout the mill to make your visit enjoyable and informative. It is ideal to show children those fascinating mechanical features not to be seen elsewhere and to explore how wheat is turned into flour.

 

The mill shop sells over 25 types of flour and 8 types of oat product in sizes from 1 kg to 25 kg, together with yeast and biscuits.

  

Grade II* listed building.

 

Caudwells Mill, Rowsley

  

In the entry for:

 

SK 26 NE ROWSLEY BAKEWELL ROAD

(south side)

 

5/171 Caudwells Mill

2.12.77

 

GV II

 

The grade shall be amended to read:

 

SK 26 NE ROWSLEY BAKEWELL ROAD

(south side)

 

5/171 Caudwells Mill

2.12.77

 

GV II*

 

------------------------------------

 

PARISH OF ROWSLEY BAKEWELL ROAD

SK 26 NE

5/171 (South Side)

2.12.77 Caudwells Mill

GV II

Flour mill. Built in 1874, bridging a broad mill race. Rock

faced and plain sandstone. Welsh slate roof. A rectangular

block of seven bays on the long side. Three storeys. The east

elevation has various brick and timber lean-to additions not of

special interest. Otherwise windows with iron frame fixed pane

glazing, stone lintels and sills. Twin semi-circular arches

over the mill race. The centre part of the east elevation is

raised with a 'clerestory', which houses the exhaust system. The

gable end to north has a projecting enclosed hoist and large

lean-to timber and corrugated iron canopy forming the loading

shed. The west side has regular spacing of iron framed windows

under stone lintels, except one enlarged window under an RSJ.

To the south west a lean-to corrugated iron and timber structure

not of special interest. The south gable end has a lower gabled

bay with a single window to each floor. The internal

construction is largely of timber, but with cast iron columns to

the ground floor to support the original millstones on the first

floor. The timber floors are butted with iron tongues. The

mill is driven internally by an American 'Little Giant' turbine

installed in 1898, and a Francis twin turbine installed in 1914.

The machinery dates mostly from 1914. The south end of the

building contains the wheat washing cleaning and provender mill

and storage facilities. The flour mill section is at the north

end. On the second floor are sifters dating from 1914. On the

first floor are two purifiers dating from 1932 and on the ground

floor are the roller mills dating mostly from 1905.

  

Listing NGR: SK2557365743

  

This text is a legacy record and has not been updated since the building was originally listed. Details of the building may have changed in the intervening time. You should not rely on this listing as an accurate description of the building.

 

Source: English Heritage

 

Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence.

  

mill machinery seen outside the mill entrance.