1238 MALDIVES - Vivanta by Taj Coral Reef resort on North Male Atoll

Located in the Indian Ocean–Arabian Sea area, Maldives consists of a double chain of twenty-six atolls, oriented north-south, that lie between Minicoy Island and the Chagos Archipelago. Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with maximum and average natural ground levels of only 2.4m and 1.5m above sea level, respectively. More than 80 per cent of the country's land is composed of coral islands which rise less than one metre above sea level. One of these atolls is Malé, which consists of two separate atolls: North Malé Atoll and South Malé Atoll. North Malé Atoll (Male'atholhu Uthuruburi) is of irregular shape, is 58 km long, and contains about 50 islands (including the capital Malé). There are also sandbanks, coral patches, innumerable farus and submerged shoals (called "haa" in Dhivehi). The general depths of the interior are between 46 and 64m. The bottom is sandy. There are numerous passages on all sides. Seen from space it is considered one of the most beautiful atolls on the planet. Practically all uninhabited islands of this Atoll became tourist resorts during the two final decades of the 20th century.

1237 POLAND (Mazovia) - Presidential Palace in Warsaw

Located on the Krakowskie Przedmieście, one of the best known and most prestigious streets of Poland's capital, not far from Historic Centre of Warsaw (an UNESCO WHS since 1980) the Presidential Palace is the elegant classicist latest version of a building that has stood on this site since 1643. For its first 175 years, the palace was the private property of several aristocratic families, in 1791 it hosted the authors and advocates of the Constitution, and in 1818 it began its ongoing career as a governmental structure, when it became the seat of the Viceroy of the Polish (Congress) Kingdom under Russian occupation.

1236 VIETNAM (Northwest) - The pig market in Sa Pa

Located in Lào Cai Province in northwest Vietnam, close to the border with China, at 380 km north-west of Hanoi, Sa Pa is a quiet mountain town and home to a great diversity of ethnic minority peoples. Besides the Kinh (Viet) people (15%) there are mainly 5 ethnic groups in Sapa: Hmong 52%, Dao 25%, Tay 5%, Giay 2% and a small number of Xa Pho. Approximately 7,000 live in Sapa, the other 36,000 being scattered in small communes throughout the district with the same name.

1152-1154, 1234, 1235 NETHERLANDS (Aruba) - The map of Aruba

Located about 1,600km west of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea and 27km north of the coast of Venezuela, Aruba forms, together with Bonaire and Curaçao, a group referred to as the ABC islands. On the other hand, Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Netherlands Antilles or the Dutch Caribbean. It is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with the Netherlands (which comprises not only the European land, but also Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba), Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

 

A generally flat, it lies outside the hurricane belt, and, unlike much of the Caribbean region, has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. It has white sandy beaches on the western and southern coasts of the island, relatively sheltered from fierce ocean currents. The population is estimated to be 80% mixed Black/White/Caribbean Amerindian and 20% other ethnicities, and the Arawak heritage is stronger on Aruba than on most Caribbean islands. The official languages are Dutch and - since 2003 - Papiamento, a language derived from African and Portuguese languages with some influences from American Indian languages, English, Dutch and Spanish.

Aruba's first inhabitants were Caquetíos Amerinds from the Arawak tribe, who migrated there from Venezuela, and Europeans first learned of it following the explorations by Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso de Ojeda. Because it had low rainfall, it was not considered profitable for the plantation system and the economics of the slave trade. Since 1636, it has been under Dutch administration, which left the Arawaks to farm and graze livestock, and used the island as a source of meat for other Dutch possessions in the Caribbean.

Aruba has one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region, its economy being dominated by tourism, gold mining, phosphate mining, aloe export, and petroleum refining. About three quarters of its gross national product is earned through tourism or related activities. The capital and largest city of Aruba is Oranjestad (Orange Town), located on the southern coast near the western end of the island. The town was built around Fort Zoutman shortly after it was built in 1796, and was named in 1820 after the first King Willem van Oranje-Nassau (William of Orange-Nassau) - the first heir to the Dutch House of Orange.

 

1230 JORDAN (Amman) - King Abdullah I Mosque

Completed in 1989 as a memorial by the late King Hussein (r. 1952-1999) to his grandfather, Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, Emir of Transjordan between 1921 and 1946, and king of Jordan since 1946 until 1951, this unmistakable blue-domed mosque can house up to 7000 worshippers inside, and another 3000 in the courtyard area. This is the only mosque in Amman that openly welcomes non-Muslim visitors. The cavernous, octagonal prayer hall doesn’t have any pillars, yet it’s capped by a massive dome, 35m in diameter. The inscriptions quote verses from the Quran.

1229 UNITED KINGDOM (Cayman Islands) - Here are Cayman Islands

Located in the western Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory which comprises three islands: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Until the 17th century the islands weren't inhabited than by pirates, refugees and deserters. England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, as a result of the Treaty of Madrid of 1670. Following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s.

1229 AUSTRALIA - Koala

According to biologist Stephen Jackson: "If you were to take a straw poll of the animal most closely associated with Australia, it's a fair bet that the koala would come out marginally in front of the kangaroo".In 1997 e.g. about 75 percent of European and Japanese visitors to Australia placed the koala at the top of their list of animals to see. Factors that contribute to the koala's popularity in nowadays include its childlike body proportions and teddy bear-like face, even if early European settlers in Australia considered the koala to be a prowling sloth-like animal with a "fierce and menacing look".

0409, 1228 CHINA (Beijing) - Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang (UNESCO WHS)

0409 Imperial Palaces in winter

Posted on 10.12.2012 and 17.09.2014
Built between 1406 and 1420 by a million of workers, Zijin Cheng (literally Purple Forbidden City), served for almost 500 years as the home of emperors - 14 of the Ming Dynasty and 10 of the Qing Dynasty - as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.  It's located in the middle of Beijing and covers 720,000 m2 (a rectangle with 961m from north to south and 753m from east to west), on which there is 980 surviving buildings with 8,886 bays of rooms (9,999 including antechambers). It is surrounded by a 7.9m high wall and a 6m deep by 52m wide moat. The walls are 8.62m wide at the base, tapering to 6.66m at the top. At the four corners of the wall sit towers with intricate roofs boasting 72 ridges, reproducing the Pavilion of Prince Teng and the Yellow Crane Pavilion as they appeared in Song Dynasty paintings. These towers are the most visible parts of the palace to commoners outside the walls. In the postcards is (I believe) the northwest corner tower.

1228 Imperial Palaces in summer

The legend say that Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, ordered the chief project commander to build four fine corner towers, each with 9 girders, 18 posts and 72 ridges. The chief project commander gathered all the carpenters together and gave them three months to fulfill that complicated and delicate mission. A carpenter met an old man selling grasshoppers and bought a grasshopper cage for relief. To his surprise, the cage had 9 girders, 18 posts and 72 ridges so the problem was solved. The Forbidden City is part of the site Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

0118, 1227 CROATIA - The map and the flag of the country

 

Posted on 07.02.2012 and 17.09.2014

When Croatia has separated from Yugoslavia and it has declared independence, I thought that its territory's shape (as the jaws of a crocodile - isn't at all a political allusion) will be very difficult to defend. And probably so it's, but the war of four years that followed proved that this mission isn't impossible to accomplish. The upper "jaw" is Slavonia (closely linked with the Croatia itself in the last thousand years), and the lower "jaw" is Dalmatia. In fact the present border between Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina (located between "jaws") is, with certain approximation, the boundary which separated, for centuries, Austrian Empire and Ottoman Empire.

The area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period, fossils of Neanderthals being unearthed in northern Croatia, with the most famous and the best presented site in Krapina. The Iron Age left traces of the early Illyrian Hallstatt culture and the Celtic La Tène culture. Much later, the region was settled by Liburnians and Illyrians, the first Greek colonies were established on the islands of Korčula, Hvar and Vis. In 9 AD the territory became part of the Roman Empire. Emperor Diocletian built a large palace in Split when he retired in AD 305. The period ends with Avar and Croat invasions in the first half of the 7th century and destruction of almost all Roman towns. Tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom, which retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries. Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102, and in 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the throne.

1226 UNITED STATES (Pennsylvania) - Gettysburg National Military Park

The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, which involved the largest number of casualties of the entire Civil War, and is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee's attempt to invade the North. The GNMP properties include most of the Gettysburg Battlefield, many of the battle's support areas during the battle (e.g., reserve, supply, & hospital locations), and several other non-battle areas associated with the battle's "aftermath and commemoration", including the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Many of the park's 43,000 American Civil War artifacts are displayed in the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center.

1225 SUDAN (Khartoum) - Masjid Al-Nilin in Omdurman

Built in the 1970s, during the Nimeiry era, in Omdurman,  the second largest city in Sudan, on the western banks of the Nile river, just opposite to the confluence of the two Niles and the capital, Khartoum, Masjid Al-Nilin (or The Mosque of the two Niles) is one of the fine architectural religious venues in the country. The idea and the design was a graduation project ambitious students from the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the University of Khartoum. It was the first building praises in Sudan of aluminum and breakers without columns raise the ceiling as it is related to land directly completely Kalsdf. The world's known boxer Muhammad Ali attended the opening ceremony of the mosque.

1221 FRANCE (French Polynesia) - Sunset on Moorea Island

Moorea is an island of volcanic origin in French Polynesia (an overseas collectivity of France, located in the South Pacific Ocean), one of the Windward Islands, part of the Society Islands, 17km northwest of much more known Tahiti. The true spelling of Moorea is Mo'ore'a, which means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian. From above, the shape of the island vaguely resembles a heart, with its two nearly symmetrical bays opening to the north side of the island. It has about 16km in width from the west to the east, and its highest point is Mount Tohi'e'a, which dominates the vista from the two bays and can be seen from Tahiti. Because of its stunning scenery and accessibility to Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, the island is visited by many western tourists, being especially popular as a honeymoon destination.

0103, 0377, 1220 PORTUGAL (Lisbon) - Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon (UNESCO WHS)

0103 Monastery of the Hieronymites in Lisbon

Posted on 06.11.2012, 21.01.2012, 13.09.2014
In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal established a global empire (the first in history), becoming the world's major economic, political and military power. Most of the Portuguese expeditions left from Lisbon, which has become one of the richest cities in Europe. Standing at the entrance to its harbour, the Hieronymites Monastery, exemplifies Portuguese art at its best, and the nearby Belém Tower, is a reminder of the great maritime discoveries that laid the foundations of the modern world. Both constructions were erected at the peak of Portugal's territorial expansion and of its economic and cultural flowering.

0377 Tower of Belém in Lisbon (1)

 

In 1496, Manuel I the Fortunate requested to the Holy See a authorisation to build a large monastery on the banks of the Tagus, just outside Lisbon, but the construction of the Hieronymites Monastery (or Jerónimos Monastery) began only in 1501, being completed 100 years later. Huge amounts of money was spend for this project, more accurate a sizeable part of Vintena da Pimenta, a 5% levy on income from trade with Africa and the Orient, or the equivalent of 70 kg of gold per year. Replacing a church dedicated to Santa Maria de Belém, it has a façade that extends for more than 300m, and is one of the most prominent monuments of the Manueline-style architecture.

1220 Tower of Belém in Lisbon (2)

One of the main king's reasons for building this monastery was his desire to have a pantheon for the Avis-Beja dynasty, of which he was the first monarch. Manuel chose the Order of St. Jerome, or Hieronymites, to occupy the monastery. Their role, amongst other things, was to pray for the soul of the monarch and provide spiritual assistance to the seafarers and navigators who departed from the Restelo shorefront to discover new worlds. This religious community occupied the monastic spaces until 1833, when religious orders were dissolved in Portugal and the monastery was vacated.

1219 CHINA (Hong Kong) - The old market

In nowadays one of the most densely populated areas in the world, Hong Kong was before the First Opium War (1839-1842) little more than a backwater of about 20 villages and hamlets, inhabited by fishers at the mercy of typhoons and pirates. After the British settlement the entrepôt of Victoria City (now Central and Western District), the local population increased substantially, and as a result began to appear tong lau (Chinese tenement), designed for both residential and commercial uses, similar in style and function to the shophouses of Southeast Asia. The ground floor portion was reserved for commercial use, mostly for small businesses like pawnshops and food vendors. The upper floors were residential use and catered to Chinese residents, with apartments and small balconies.

1218 RUSSIA (Saint Petersburg) - Palace Square - part of Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments (UNESCO WHS)

1218 Saint Petersburg - The Alexander Column in Palace Square

Palace Square (Dvortsovaya Ploshchad), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg. There many significant events took place, including the Bloody Sunday massacre and parts of the October Revolution of 1917. The earliest building on the square, the Baroque white-and-azure Winter Palace of the Russian tsars, gives the square its name. Although the adjacent buildings are designed in the Neoclassical style, they perfectly match the palace.

0349, 1217 INDIA (Uttar Pradesh) - Agra Fort (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 01.10.2012 and 06.09.2014
Located about 2.5 km northwest of Taj Mahal, near its gardens, the Agra Fort, also known as the Lal Qila, Fort Rouge or Qila-i-Akbari, was built by Akbar the Great (1542-1605), the grandson of Babur, the first Mughal Emperor, direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother. Akbar found there a brick fort, became a ruin after it changed several times the owner during the previous half century. He didn’t like half-measures, so named Agra the capital of its empire and completely rebuilt the fort with red sandstone from Barauli area in Rajasthan. To the construction worked 1,444,000 builders, for eight years, completing it in 1573. Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar, records that 5000 buildings were built inside the Agra Fort, in Bengali and Gujarati style, but only 30 have survived till today, on the southeastern side. Shah Jahan, Akbar's grandson, who built Taj Mahal, was the one who given to the fort the today's shape. At the end of his life, he was restrained here by his son, and he died in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with a view of the Taj Mahal.

The fort is actually a walled city, with a semicircular shape, like a bow, its chord being parallel to the river Yamuna. Double ramparts have massive circular bastions at intervals, with battlements, embrasures, machicolations and string courses. It is  surrounded by a 12m deep moat and has four gates, of which two are notable: the Delhi Gate and the Lahore Gate (also known as the Amar Singh Gate), the only one through which is entering today. A wooden drawbridge linking the Delhi Gate and the mainland, over the moat, and inside is placed an inner gateway called Hathi Pol (Elephant Gate), guarded by two life-sized stone elephants. The drawbridge, slight ascent, and 90-degree turn between the outer and inner gates, make the entrance impregnable.