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Kinabalu Park, in the State of Sabah on the northern end of the island of Borneo, is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. It has a very wide range of habitats, from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain forest, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations. It has been designated as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia and is exceptionally rich in species with examples of flora from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, as well as pan-tropical flora.
December 30, 2018 - "Karnak is located just few Km North of Luxor, and is arguably Egypt’s greatest monument bar the Pyramids.
Built on a gigantic scale, the site covers in total more than 245 acres and is the largest ancient religious site on the planet. It took a total of 1300 years to build and has been attracting pilgrims (and now tourists) for more than 4000 years.
Unable to comprehend its construction as anything other than divine, the ancient Egyptians called the site ‘Ipet Isut’ meaning ‘perfect of palaces’.
The construction of Karnak begun during the middle kingdom, but reached its Zenith during the new Kingdom as the God Amun rose to absolute power in the region. When wars were waged in Ancient Egypt it was seen as the battle between one deity and another for supremacy. Thus Gods were able to rise and fall like kings.
During the height of its power, Karnak presided over 65 villages, 433 gardens, 85 ships, and more than 80,000 workers and slaves.
The site includes three separate temple complexes, the largest and most revered being the Precinct of Amun. Large enough to accommodate 10 cathedrals, the precinct comprises of a sacred lake, several temples, chapels, a court, a festival hall and famously, the great Hypostyle Hall – a towering forest of ancient columns.
The site was once connected to the Luxor Temple - 3Km to the South - by an avenue flanked with sphinxes. Although some of them remain, most are buried beneath the edifices of the modern city." Text from the following website: www.alternativeegypt.com/Luxor/Karnak-Temple.html
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Believed to be the longest herbaceous borders in the country – and possibly in the world – our Great Broad Walk Borders stretch out in a rainbow of colour.
At more than 320 metres, the borders offer an adventure for the senses – with fresh fragrances, dazzling flower beds and feathery grasses in a joyful display that evolves with the seasons.
Originally designed as an impressive promenade to the Palm House, the borders were replanted in 2016. Arranged in themes across eight large circular beds, they showcase a spectacular range of plant families – ideal inspiration for your own garden.
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These two colossi were found unfinished - one was broken and one was never erected - at Tabo on Argo Island, south of Kerma. Because they were not finished, the royal names don’t appear on the statues’ backpillars where they usually are inscribed in hieroglyphs. This could be the Pharoah's father.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The Extension of the natural listing of a United Nations World Heritage property of Jungfrau - Aletsch - Bietschhorn (first inscribed in 2001), expands the site to the east and west, bringing its surface area up to 82,400 ha., up from 53,900. The site provides an outstanding example of the formation of the High Alps, including the most glaciated part of the mountain range and the largest glacier in Eurasia. It features a wide diversity of ecosystems, including successional stages due particularly to the retreat of glaciers resulting from climate change. The site is of outstanding universal value both for its beauty and for the wealth of information it contains about the formation of mountains and glaciers, as well as ongoing climate change. It is also invaluable in terms of the ecological and biological processes it illustrates, notably through plan succession. Its impressive landscape has played an important role in European art, literature, mountaineering and alpine tourism / We continue up Route 6 for less than a mile to the Interlaken Ost Train Station, also known as Interlaken East, the city’s main Railway Station; the other being Interlaken West, a mere 1 mile apart. This terminus is for the cogwheel train to Jungfraujoch, the 3,466 m peak in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, is one of the most sought-after experiences. To reach the peak you not only get to enjoy the magnificent Jungfrau region near Interlaken, but also experience the Jungfraubahn, Europe’s highest-altitude railway. The train climbs up the mountain at this amazing elevation on a slope that sometimes reaches 25 degrees. Quite impressive if you think about it. A cogwheel a/k\a rack railway, rack-and-pinion railway or cog railway, is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail. This allows the trains to operate on steep grades above 10%, which is the maximum for friction-based rail. Most rack railways are mountain railways, although a few are transit railways or tramways built to overcome a steep gradient in an urban environment. The first cog railway was the Middleton Railway between Middleton and Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, U.K, where the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, ran in 1812. This used a rack and pinion system designed and patented in 1811 by John Blenkinsop. The first mountain cog railway was the Mount Washington Cog Railway in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, which carried its first fare-paying passengers in 1868. The track was completed to reach the summit of Mount Washington in 1869. The first mountain rack railway in continental Europe was the Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn on Mount Rigi in Switzerland, which opened in 1871. Both lines are still running.
Inside of the royal precinct of Ambohimanga ("blue hill"). North of Antananarivo. Classified by UNESCO.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
After defeating the Portuguese, the Dutch added Middleburg Bastion to improve its defence against seaborne threats from the Malacca Straits.
This charming building, thought to be a holiday retreat, overlooks a large rectangular pool, used for swimming. Once a year, it is filled with water for the Timkat celebration. After the water is blessed by the bishop, hundreds of people jump in - this baptism is seen as an important renewal of faith.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The ruins of Spiš Castle in eastern Slovakia form one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe. The castle is situated above the town of Spišské Podhradie and the village of Žehra, in the region known as Spiš. It was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1993 (together with the adjacent locations of Spišská Kapitula, Spišské Podhradie and Žehra). This is one of the biggest European castles by area (41 426 m²).
The south gate of Angkor Thom is the best preserved. It is approached from outside via a causeway that extends about fifty meters across a moat. On each side of the causeway are railings fashioned with 54 stone figures engaged in the performance of a famous Hindu story: the myth of the Churning of the Ocean. On the left side of the moat, 54 'devas' (guardian gods) pull the head of the snake 'Shesha' while on the right side 54 'asuras' (demon gods) pull the snake's tail in the opposite direction. In this myth, the body of the snake is wrapped around the central mountain—Mt. Meru—perhaps corresponding here to the Bayon temple at the center of the site. In any case, the myth relates that as the Devas pulled the snake in one direction and the gods pushed in the other, the ocean began to churn and precipitate the elements. By alternating back and forth, the ocean was 'milked', forming the earth and the cosmos anew.
One of the most beautiful structures in Croatia is the Sponza Palace. It has, over the centuries, been Ragusa's customs house, their mint, treasury, and armory.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
I traveled to India for the first time to present a keynote at the 3rd Global Conference on Emerging Trends for Business Librarianship, November 21-22, 2017 at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, India. We did some sightseeing on our last day in India and visited the amazing Rani ki vav stepwell near Patan, north of Ahmedabad. I am so very glad that I made it here. From the Wikipedia page, "Rani ki vav, or Ran-ki vav (Queen’s step well) was constructed during the rule of the Chaulukya dynasty. It is generally assumed that it was built in the memory of Bhima I (r. c. 1022–1064) by his widowed queen Udayamati and probably completed by Udayamati and Karna after his death. A reference to Udayamati building the monument is in Prabandha Chintamani, composed by the Jain monk Merunga Suri in 1304 AD." The term vav is Gujarati for stepwell. Pictures from Thursday November 23, 2017.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are 121 hectares[1] of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. Kew is also the name of the organisation that runs Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place gardens in Sussex. It is an internationally important botanical research and education institution with 700 staff and an income of £56 million for the year ended 31 March 2008, as well as a visitor attraction receiving almost 2 million visits in that year.[2] The gardens are a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Created in 1759,[3] the gardens celebrated their 250th anniversary in 2009.
The Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is responsible for the world's largest collection of living plants. The organisation employs more than 650 scientists and other staff. The living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is the one of the largest in the world, has over 7 million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. The Kew site includes four Grade I listed buildings and 36 Grade II listed structures in an internationally significant landscape.[4]
In July 2003, the gardens were put on the list of World Heritage Sites[3] by UNESCO.
December 28, 2018 - On the ascent to see one of the architectural highlights of Petra - Ad-Deir (Monastery).
May 15, 2019 - "The project, known as Taliesin—Welsh for “shining brow”—consisted of a house with a living room, kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, sitting room, and garden; studio with a workroom and small apartment; and service wing with stalls for horses, a garage, space designated for carriages and cows, and a milk room. It was located close to other projects Wright designed for members of his family, including the Romeo and Juliet tower (1897); Hillside Home School (1902); and Tan-y-deri (1907), the house Wright built for his sister, Jane Porter.
Like the suburban Prairie-style residences of his early career, Taliesin featured hipped roofs, overhanging eaves, broad chimneys, an open floor plan, and bands of casement windows. The rolling topography of Southern Wisconsin allowed Wright to expand upon his earlier experiments linking site and structure. Here Wright responded to the natural landscape by building Taliesin around a hill top. The architect wrote, “I knew well that no house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and home should live together each the happier for the other.” Indeed, Taliesin was situated to create picturesque views of distant hills and valleys, as well as nearby landscaped gardens. The multiple facets of its hipped roofs appear to follow the contours of the landscape, and Wright chose to build with limestone and other materials native to the area.
Taliesin’s living quarters were tragically destroyed when a disgruntled employee set fire to the property and killed Mamah Borthwick, her two children, and four others on August 15, 1914. Wright subsequently rebuilt the structure, and it was incorporated into a larger estate that is now open to the public." Previous text from the following website: flwright.org/researchexplore/wrightbuildings/taliesin
The largest known cave system in the world, the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, as of 2022, has 426 miles of documented passages, and sits beneath the ground in Mammoth Cave National Park, established in 1941, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, the only designation in the state of Kentucky. The park is also an International Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1990, and an International Dark Sky Park, designated in 2021. The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System formed in Mississippian Limestone rock underneath a Big Clifty Sandstone cap, which has formed several stable arched passages of varying sizes from the intrusion of water into the rock layers, with the less porous sandstone cap preventing water intrusion at most locations, which have kept the caverns beneath intact and stable for eons. The water that passes through the cave system drains into the adjacent Green River, and has continuously eroded deeper into the rock along with the river. The cave is home to endemic species of organisms that have adapted to the dark conditions within the cave system. The cave system was known to indigenous people, whom mined gypsum from the walls of the caves and explored the caves, with human remains, signs of human activity, and artifacts from their presence in the cave. The cave became known to European settlers in the 1790s, and it started being mined by Valentine Simon for saltpeter to create gunpowder in 1798, with the mining activities intensifying around the time of the War of 1812, and becoming an industrial-scale operation under the ownership of Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, whom used slave labor to exploit the cave’s resources. In 1838, with the decline in value of saltpeter, the cave was sold to Franklin Gorin, whom operated the cave as a tourist attraction, but was sold to Doctor John Croghan the following year. Under Gorin and Croghan, Black slaves served as tour guides for visitors, with Stephen Bishop being the most notable of these guides. Bishop made many maps of the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, and was the first known person to cross Bottomless Pit and discover the River Styx and Mammoth Dome on the other side. Croghan attempted to run a Tuberculosis Hospital within the cave in 1842-1843, believing the stable temperatures and air would assist patients, but this was short lived. In 1886, the Mammoth Cave Railroad was built between Park City and the historic Mammoth Cave Hotel, which operated until 1931. The caves were mapped more accurately by German visitor Max Kämper in 1908, whom mapped the surface topography and used instruments to document the cave, allowing for the opening of new entrances to the caverns from the surface and being the most accurate maps of the caves until the 1960s. Sadly, this was not appreciated by the Croghan family, whose historic cavern entrance was threatened in status by these maps, and Kämper returned to Germany, where he died as a soldier during World War I’s Battle of the Somme in 1916. Starting in the 1920s, the land around the caves was purchased by the private Mammoth Cave National Park Association, with the park being officially authorized in 1926. Between 1933 and 1942, the park’s landscape was reforested and infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal. Between 1954 and 1972, the cave system was further explored, culminating in the connection between the longer Flint Ridge System and wider Mammoth Cave being found, making it the longest known cave system in the world. Today, the park sees about half a million visitors annually, and contains the majority of the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave system, with some portions of the system extending east of the park’s boundaries under privately-owned land.