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.

(Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

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.

CloseUp@Mound Spring. Upon emerging from ground, the supersaturated alkaline flow precipitates carbonate as travertine as its pH increases (as a result of degassing of carbon dioxide in the solution).

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

Interior view of the ceiling of the Treasury of Atreus.

A farm house surrounded by trees, at Seiser Alm (Italian: Alpe di Siusi), the largest high-altitude Alpine meadow (German: Alm) in Europe, located in the western part of the Dolomites mountains, in South Tyrol, northern Italy.

© All rights reserved. You may not use this photo in website, blog or any other media without my explicit permission.

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.

Hallstatt, Upper Austria, is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter See (a lake).

Hallstatt is known for its production of salt, dating back to prehistoric times, and gave its name to the Hallstatt culture, a culture often linked to Celtic, Proto-Celtic, and pre-Illyrian peoples in Early Iron Age Europe, c.800–450 BC. Some of the earliest archaeological evidence for the Celts was found in Hallstatt.

Six dark statues of lions in ferruginous sandstone line the path to the museum. They were found in Basa, south-east of Meroe. They represent the lion-god Apademak - the main deity of the local pantheon.

The Tripitaka Koreana (lit. Goryeo Tripitaka) or Palman Daejanggyeong ("Eighty-Thousand Tripitaka") is a Korean collection of the Tripitaka (Buddhist scriptures, and the Sanskrit word for "three baskets"), carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century. It is the world's most comprehensive and oldest intact version of Buddhist canon in Hanja script, with no known errors or errata in the 52,382,960 characters which are organized in over 1496 titles and 6568 volumes. Each wood block measures 70 centimeters in width and 24 centimeters in length. The thickness of the blocks range from 2.6 to 4 centimeters and each weighs about three to four kilograms. The work is stored in Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple in South Gyeongsang province, in South Korea.

HISTORY

The name "Goryeo Tripitaka" comes from "Goryeo", the name of Korea from the 10th to the 14th centuries. It served as reference for the edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon.

The Tripitaka Koreana was first carved in 1087 during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. The act of carving the woodblocks was considered to be a way of bringing about a change in fortune by invoking the Buddha's help.

The original set of woodblocks were destroyed by fire during the Mongol invasions of Korea in 1232, when Goryeo's capital was moved to Ganghwa Island during nearly three decades of Mongol incursions, although scattered parts of its prints still remain. To once again implore divine assistance with combating the Mongol threat, King Gojong thereafter ordered the revision and re-creation of the Tripitaka; the carving took 16 years, from 1236 to 1251, with support from the Choe House and involving monks from both the Seon and Gyo schools. This second revision is usually what is meant by the Tripitaka Koreana. In 1398, it was moved to Haeinsa, where they have remained housed in four buildings.

EVALUATION

The Tripitaka Koreana is the 32nd national treasure of Korea, and the Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the depository for Tripitaka Koreana, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UNESCO committee describes the Tripitaka Koreana as one of the "most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world." Not only is the work invaluable, it is also aesthetically valuable and shows a high quality of workmanship.

The historical value of the Tripitaka Koreana comes from the fact that it is the most complete and accurate extant collection of Buddhist treatises, laws, and scriptures. The compilers of the Korean version incorporated older Northern Song Chinese, Khitan, Goryeo versions and added content written by respected Korean monks. Scholars can get an idea of the older Chinese and Khitan versions of the Tripitaka from the Korean version today. The quality of the wood blocks are attributed to the National Preceptor Sugi who carefully checked the Korean version for errors. Because of the accuracy of the Tripitaka Koreana, the Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese versions of the Tripitaka are based on this Korean version.

Each block is made of birch wood from the southern islands of Korea and was treated to prevent the decay of the wood. They were soaked in sea water for three years, then cut, then boiled in salt water. Then, the blocks were placed in the shade and exposed to the wind for three years at which point they were finally be ready to be carved. After each block was carved, it was covered in a poisonous lacquer to keep insects away and was framed with metal to prevent warping.

Every block was inscribed with 23 lines of text with 14 characters per line, Therefore, each block, counting both sides, contained a total of 644 characters. The consistency of the style, and some sources, suggests that a single man carved the entire collection but it is now believed that a team of thirty men did the job.

Coronation crown is in the center with globus cruciger on the right.

View from atop the acropolis of Mycenae.

interior view of the Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon.

Apedemak appears as a supreme god of the Kushite kingdom shortly after the shift of the royal burial ground from the Napatan region to the south, to Meroe, in the early 3rd century BCE. His local origin is alluded to in the inscriptions at his temple at Musawwarat, where Apedemak is referred to as the Lord of Musawwarat and neighbouring Naqa. Here he holds his signum in front of him in his left hand, and his bow and arrows in his right hand.

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.

Stone construction.

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.

An oil painting of Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, in Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

© All rights reserved. You may not use this photo in website, blog or any other media without my explicit permission.

Sacred City of Kandy

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandy

キャンディ／スリランカ

撮影：河野利彦（2014/01）

Dar al-Horra es un palacio nazarí situado en el barrio del Albaicín de Granada, Andalucía. Se construyó en el siglo XV, sobre un palacio zirí anterior, del siglo XI.

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.

Seen at Jatiluwih Rice Terrace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

September 16, 2016 - Exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Machu Picchu, Peru.

The Tripitaka Koreana (lit. Goryeo Tripitaka) or Palman Daejanggyeong ("Eighty-Thousand Tripitaka") is a Korean collection of the Tripitaka (Buddhist scriptures, and the Sanskrit word for "three baskets"), carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century. It is the world's most comprehensive and oldest intact version of Buddhist canon in Hanja script, with no known errors or errata in the 52,382,960 characters which are organized in over 1496 titles and 6568 volumes. Each wood block measures 70 centimeters in width and 24 centimeters in length. The thickness of the blocks range from 2.6 to 4 centimeters and each weighs about three to four kilograms. The work is stored in Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple in South Gyeongsang province, in South Korea.

HISTORY

The name "Goryeo Tripitaka" comes from "Goryeo", the name of Korea from the 10th to the 14th centuries. It served as reference for the edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon.

The Tripitaka Koreana was first carved in 1087 during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. The act of carving the woodblocks was considered to be a way of bringing about a change in fortune by invoking the Buddha's help.

The original set of woodblocks were destroyed by fire during the Mongol invasions of Korea in 1232, when Goryeo's capital was moved to Ganghwa Island during nearly three decades of Mongol incursions, although scattered parts of its prints still remain. To once again implore divine assistance with combating the Mongol threat, King Gojong thereafter ordered the revision and re-creation of the Tripitaka; the carving took 16 years, from 1236 to 1251, with support from the Choe House and involving monks from both the Seon and Gyo schools. This second revision is usually what is meant by the Tripitaka Koreana. In 1398, it was moved to Haeinsa, where they have remained housed in four buildings.

EVALUATION

The Tripitaka Koreana is the 32nd national treasure of Korea, and the Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the depository for Tripitaka Koreana, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UNESCO committee describes the Tripitaka Koreana as one of the "most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world." Not only is the work invaluable, it is also aesthetically valuable and shows a high quality of workmanship.

The historical value of the Tripitaka Koreana comes from the fact that it is the most complete and accurate extant collection of Buddhist treatises, laws, and scriptures. The compilers of the Korean version incorporated older Northern Song Chinese, Khitan, Goryeo versions and added content written by respected Korean monks. Scholars can get an idea of the older Chinese and Khitan versions of the Tripitaka from the Korean version today. The quality of the wood blocks are attributed to the National Preceptor Sugi who carefully checked the Korean version for errors. Because of the accuracy of the Tripitaka Koreana, the Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese versions of the Tripitaka are based on this Korean version.

Each block is made of birch wood from the southern islands of Korea and was treated to prevent the decay of the wood. They were soaked in sea water for three years, then cut, then boiled in salt water. Then, the blocks were placed in the shade and exposed to the wind for three years at which point they were finally be ready to be carved. After each block was carved, it was covered in a poisonous lacquer to keep insects away and was framed with metal to prevent warping.

Every block was inscribed with 23 lines of text with 14 characters per line, Therefore, each block, counting both sides, contained a total of 644 characters. The consistency of the style, and some sources, suggests that a single man carved the entire collection but it is now believed that a team of thirty men did the job.

Fresco detail

November - December 2014.

Holiday in Morocco.

The 11th century caravanserai and fortified city has been used in a number of movies including 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Gladiator'and 'Jewel of the Nile'.

Built on FalkenauIsland at Kaub as a toll station in the 1300s with a five-sided tower and defensive six-sided white walls. The island was used by Blüchers 60,000 troops to cross the Rhine in pursuit of Napoleon on NewYearsNight 1813-14.

The ksar, a group of earthen buildings surrounded by high walls, is a traditional pre-Saharan habitat. The houses crowd together within the defensive walls, which are reinforced by corner towers. Ait-Ben-Haddou, in Ouarzazate province, is a striking example of the architecture of southern Morocco.

whc.unesco.org/en/list/444

The snowed High Atlas frames the background.

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.

Machu Picchu in Peru a UNESCO World Heritage Site

whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=274

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.

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.

whc.unesco.org/en/list/1012