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Bruges

April 26th 2012 01:07
photography in Bruge, belgium
City Hall

Bruges (Brugge) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country.

Bell tower in Brugge
Bell Tower (Belfry)

The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (meaning "Brugge aan Zee" or "Bruges on Sea"). The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of which around 20,000 live in the historic centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km˛ and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.
view from the Bruge bell tower
View from atop the Belfry


Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".

Bruges has most of its medieval architecture intact, many of which are notable, including the Church of Our Lady, whose brick spire reaches 122.3 m (401.25 ft), making it one of the world's highest brick towers/buildings. The sculpture Madonna and Child, which can be seen in the transept, is believed to be Michelangelo's only sculpture to have left Italy within his lifetime.
Bruges' most famous landmark is its 13th-century belfry, housing a municipal carillon comprising 48 bells. The city still employs a full-time carillonneur, who gives free concerts on a regular basis.
Church of Our Lady tower in Bruge
Church of Our Lady Tower

Other famous buildings in Bruges include:
• The Beguinage
• The Basilica of the Holy Blood (Dutch: Heilig-Bloedbasiliek). The relic of the • Holy Blood, which was brought to the city after the Second Crusade by • Thierry of Alsace, is paraded every year through the streets of the city. More than 1,600 inhabitants take part in this mile-long religious procession, many dressed as medieval knights or crusaders.
• The modern Concertgebouw ("Concert Building")
• The Old St-John's Hospital
• The Saint Salvator's Cathedral
• The Groeningemuseum
• The City Hall on the Burg square
• The Provincial Court (Provinciaal Hof)
• The preserved old city gateways: the Kruispoort, the Gentpoort, the Smedenpoort and the Ezelpoort. The Dampoort, the Katelijnepoort and the Boeveriepoort are gone.
Canals of Brugge
Canals of Bruge

Bruges also has a very fine collection of medieval and early modern art, including the world-famous collection of Flemish Primitives. Various masters, such as Hans Memling and Jan van Eyck, lived and worked in Bruges.


*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Bruges.


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Posted By: Ian - Category: cityscape
   


Chania

February 29th 2012 01:31
Chaniá, also transliterated Chania, Hania, and Xania, older form Chanea and Venetian Canea, Ottoman Turkish Hanya) is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north coast of the island, about 70 km (43 mi) west of Rethymno and 145 km (90 mi) west of Heraklion.
View over Chania Crete
View over Chania from the lookout.

The official population of the municipal unit (the former municipality) is 55,838, while its metropolitan area has 91,985 inhabitants. This consists of the city of Chania along with 7 towns and villages: Mournies (pop. 6,390), Souda (pop. 5,330), Nerokouros (pop. 4,175), Daratsos (pop. 3,287), Perivolia (pop. 3,065), Galatas (pop. 2,131) and Vamvakopoulo (pop. 1,769).
old venetian harbour in Chania Crete
Old Venetian Harbour

The city enjoys a typical Mediterranean climate, with sunny dry summers and mild rainy winters. During the period between April and October, clear-sky weather is almost an everyday feature. The atmosphere is always warm, but fierce heat waves (temperatures above 38 °C) are not very common, since the prevailing Etesian winds ("Meltemia") blow from northern directions and pleasantly moderate the conditions.
Chania Old Town
Old Town

Despite being heavily bombed during World War II, Chania's Old Town is considered the most beautiful urban district on Crete, especially the crumbling Venetian harbour. The main square of the Old Town (next to the west end of Kasteli) is the Eleftherios Venizelos Square ("Syntrivani"). It is the heart of the touristic activities in the area.
Agora Market in Chania
Chania Agora Market

The modern part of Chania is where most locals live and work. It is less traditional than the old town, but there are still areas of charming beauty or of some historical interest. The oldest district (early 18th century) of the modern city is Nea Hora (meaning "New Town") which is located beyond the west end of the old town. It is a developing area, but also a very picturesque one, with narrow old lanes leading to a small fishing harbour
travel in Chania

The cultural background of Chania is very rich, first of all due to the town's long history and its interaction with many diverse civilizations in the past. Furthermore the location of Crete (immediately connected to Athens, situated between Europe, Asia and Africa) as well as the cosmopolitan atmosphere that tourism creates, have generally kept the town up-to-date with modern advances in art and knowledge. Currently, there are several museums, art galleries, theatre and music groups, educational and research institutions within the city.
Hania lighthouse at night
Lighthouse at night

Two main sources of wealth in Chania are agriculture and tourism. A big portion of the city's residents (not necessarily farmers) own from few to many decares of agricultural land where several plants are being cultivated, the most popular ones being olive trees and citrus. Other important products include wine, avocados, dairy etc.




*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Chania.
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Elafonisi

January 11th 2012 05:49
Elafonisi Beach

Elafonisi (Greek: "deer island") is an island located close to the southwestern corner of the mediterranean island of Crete, of which it is administratively a part, in the regional unit of Chania. When the weather is fine it is possible to walk to the island through the shallow water. The island is a protected nature reserve.
Elafonisi Crete

It is a popular and beautiful beach to visit during the tourist season.
Beautiful water at Elafonisi

On the mainland the 17th century monastery of Chrysoskalitissa is approximately 5 km from the island.

Despite it's beauty Elafonisi has seen some unfortunate events in the past.

At the highest point on the island there is a plaque that commemorates a tragic event. On Easter sunday of 24 April 1824 several hundred Greeks, mostly women and children, were killed on Elafonisi by Ottoman soldiers. To avoid advancing Ottoman troops, forty armed men had taken refuge on the island with women, children and old folk where they were waiting for a ship to take them to the Ionian Islands. The Ottoman soldiers had decided to camp on the beach opposite the island. One of their horses walked along the shallow water to the island and the people hiding on the island were discovered. According to several sources there were between 640 and 850 people in total, most of whom were killed and the remaining survivors were sold in to slavery in Egypt
Images of Elafonisi

A large wooden cross commemorates a shipwreck from 22 February 1907. It was an Austrian Lloyd passenger steamer, called the Imperatrix. Due to strong northwest winds 38 people died in a lifeboat that tried to reach the shore. They were all buried on the island. The Imperatrix still lies on the seabed in front of the island's cliffs and was the reason that a lighthouse was built on an island hilltop.
The lighthouse was destroyed during the Second World War by the occupying German troops.
Information on Elafonisi Greece



*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Elafonisi.
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Gate To Hell

November 25th 2011 02:21
natural gas gate to hell

Derweze (Turkmen language: The Gate, also known as Darvaza) is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Karakum desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat.
Darvaza inhabitants are mostly Turkmen of the Teke tribe, preserving a half-nomadic lifestyle.
gate to hell in Derweze

The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971, geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 70 metres (230 ft). To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn it off. Geologists had hoped the fire would use all the fuel in a matter of days, but the gas still burns 40 years later. Locals have dubbed the cavern "The Door to Hell".
door to hell. Turkmenistan

Next to capturing the gas, flaring is safer and friendlier to the environment than releasing the methane into the atmosphere, as methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas and considered to have a high global warming potential of 72 (averaged over 20 years) or 25 (averaged over 100 years).
Turkmenistan plans to increase its production of natural gas. In April 2010, the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed, or other measures be taken to limit its influence on the development of other natural gas fields in the area.





*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Derweze.
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St. George's Chapel

September 30th 2011 06:42
St George's Chapel is the place of worship at Windsor Castle in England, United Kingdom. It is both a royal peculiar and the chapel of the Order of the Garter. The chapel is governed by the Dean and Canons of Windsor.
The chapel is located in the Lower Ward of the castle, which is one of the principal residences of Queen Elizabeth II.
st georges windsor

Members of the order meet at Windsor Castle every June for the annual Garter Service. After lunch in the State Apartments in the Upper Ward of the Castle they process on foot, wearing their robes and insignia, down to St George's Chapel where the service is held. If any new members have been admitted to the Order they are installed at the service. After the service, the members of the order return to the Upper Ward by carriage or car.
inside st georges chapel

The order once enjoyed frequent services at the chapel, but, after becoming infrequent in the 18th century, were discontinued after 1805. The ceremony was revived in 1948 by King George VI for the 600th anniversary of the founding of the Order, and has since become an annual event.
st georges chapel upper

After their installation, members are each assigned a stall in the chapel choir above which his or her heraldic devices are displayed.
A member's sword is placed below a helm which is decorated with a mantling and topped by a crest, coronet or crown. Above this, a member's heraldic banner is flown emblazoned with his or her arms. A much smaller piece of brass ("stall plate") is attached to the back of the stall displaying its member's name, arms and date of installation.
st georges windsor

On a member's death, the sword, helm, mantling, crest, coronet or crown, and banner are removed. A ceremony marking the death of the late member must be held before the stall can be assigned to anyone else. This ceremony takes place in the chapel, during which the Military Knights of Windsor carry the banner of the deceased member and offer it to the Dean of Windsor, who places it on the altar.
windsor st georges chapel

The stall plates, however, are not removed; rather, they remain permanently affixed somewhere about the stall, so the stalls of the chapel are festooned with a colourful record of the members throughout history.


*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
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Windsor Castle

September 28th 2011 06:27
windsor castle

Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it has been used by a succession of monarchs and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe.
the windsor castle

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Satellites Orbiting Earth

September 26th 2011 06:18
A satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon.

History's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Since then, thousands of satellites have been launched into orbit around the Earth; also some satellites, notably space stations, have been launched in parts and assembled in orbit. Artificial satellites originate from more than 50 countries and have used the satellite launching capabilities of ten nations


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Wearing Bees

September 21st 2011 06:44
The Guinness Book of Records includes a category for "most pounds of bees worn on the body," which is currently held by American animal trainer Mark Biancaniello. Biancaniello successfully wore 350,000 bees, weighing just over 87 pounds, during a 1998 broadcast of the Guinness World Records: Primetime television show.
A 2005 attempt to break the record by Irish beekeeper Philip McCabe, who was to wear a full one hundred pounds of bees, failed when only 60 pounds of bees landed on his body.

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Miskin Manor

September 19th 2011 07:00
Miskin Manor in Wales

Miskin Manor is a Victorian manor house built in 1864 in a Tudor style, situated in the village of Miskin in Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. The estate was owned by the Williams family including Rhys Rhys-Williams for many years who were descended from the Welsh bard David Williams. Today the manor is used as a hotel and venue for wedding receptions.

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Storm Chasing

September 19th 2011 02:29
Ryan McGinnis is a storm chaser and photographer who lives in Nebraska; he has no formal training in photography.

He's been fascinated with storms all his life and now lives his childhood dreams of storm chasing


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