2470 GUINEA - Achiote (Bixa orellana)

Achiote (Bixa orellana) is a shrub originating from the tropical region of the Americas, but it has spread to many parts of the world. It is grown easily and quickly in frost-free regions, from sub-tropical to tropical climates, and sheltered from cool winds. It prefers year-round moisture, good drainage, and moderately fertile soil in full sun or partial shade. It is a tall shrub to small evergreen tree 6-10m high. It bears clusters of 5cm bright white to pink flowers, resembling single wild roses, appearing at the tips of the branches.

1669, 2469 ROMANIA (Constanţa) - Costineşti

2469 Costineşti

Posted on 15.06.2015, 17.04.2016
Located on the shore of the Black Sea, about 30km south of Constanţa, Costineşti is a resort mostly frequented by youngsters. The settlement overlaps on the site of a small Greek colony called Parthenopolis. In the Middle Ages it was known as Stratoni in the time of the Byzantines, then Mangeapunar in the time of the Ottomans, with a modest population of Greek fishermen (and, later, Lipovans) and Mocans and Tatars shepherds. Between 1840 and 1940 the village was also populated by so-called Dobrujan Germans, who named it Büffelbrunnen.

1669 Costineşti - The Obelisk

The name Costineşti was taken from Emil Costinescu (landowner and politician of the late 19th century). In the 1960s it appears on the map as Dezrobirea (The Emancipation). In Costineşti, tourism started in the 1920s, with amateur of fishing and of archaeological research, but it began to flourish since 1949, with the inauguration of the first camp for Pioneers. Ten years later was opened the international students' camp, several hundred blue tents placed along the seafront. Soon, it evolved from a fishing village into a summer destination, popular especially among students.

2468 MALTA - Knights of Malta

Considered the most important of all the Roman Catholic military orders, both for the extent of its area and for its duration, The Order of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem (Latin: Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), known as Hospitallers of Jerusalem until 1309, Knights of Rhodes from 1309 till 1522, and Knights of Malta since 1530, become in 1834 the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which is even today a sovereign subject of international law, headquartered in Palazzo Malta in Rome.

2467 UNITED STATES (California) - Alcatraz Island

Located in the San Francisco Bay, 2.0km offshore from San Francisco, Alcatraz Island is a small island which was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1868), and a federal prison from 1933 until 1963. Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of aboriginal people from San Francisco who were part of a wave of Native activism across the nation with public protests through the 1970s. In 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area.

2466 ROMANIA (Constanţa) - 2 Mai

2 Mai (May 2) is a village on the shore of the Black Sea, approximately 50 km south of Constanţa, between Mangalia and Vama Veche. The village was founded by Mihail Kogălniceanu in 1887 under the name Două Mai. Its first inhabitants were Russians from Bucharest, Iaşi and Galaţi. Later Lipovans from Tulcea County and Romanians from Argeş County settled here. The name comes from the day 2 May 1864, when Alexandru Ioan Cuza dissolved the legislative assembly of the Romanian United Principalities to promote its reforms.

2465 FRANCE (Saint Martin) - Baie de l'Embouchure

Located on the northern French part of the island of Saint Martin, at south of Orient Beach, Baie de l'Embouchure, also known as Coconut Grove or Le Galion, is one of the calmest beaches on the island and is a great place to learn to windsurf. Can still be seen the remains of the Le Galion Hotel, which was once one of the, or the most exclusive hotels on the french side of the island. A plan to completely rebuild the hotel back in the 90's ran into local politics and the plan was abandoned.

2077, 2464 CAMEROON - Bamileke people

2077 A Bamileke dancer with
an elephant mask

Posted on28.11.2015, 16.04.2016
Dominant in Cameroon's West and Northwest Regions, the Bamileke are part of the Semi-Bantu (or Grassfields Bantu) ethnic group. Although are regrouped under several groups, each under the guidance of a chief or fon, they have the same ancestors and share the same history, culture, and languages (from the Bantoid branch of the Niger-Congo language family). They are very dynamic and have a great sense of entrepreneurship.

2464 A Bamileke hut.

The Bamileke, whose origins trace to Egypt, migrated to what is now northern Cameroon between the 11th and 14th centuries. In the 17th century they migrated further south and west to avoid being forced to convert to Islam, but also to resist enslavement. Today, a majority of peoples within this people cluster are Christians. Their settlements follow a well-organized and structured pattern. Houses of family members are often grouped together, often surrounded by small fields.

2462 MALAYSIA (Penang) - The Malayan Railway Building in George Town

Wisma Kastam, originally known as the Federated Malay States Railway Station, and later the Malayan Railway Building, is one of the most prominent heritage buildings along the Weld Quay waterfront of George Town. It was built at the turn of the 20th century following land reclamation that extended the shoreline outward. Before it was built, the shoreline was somewhere between Beach Street and what is today Victoria Street. There would be piers going out into the sea, and steps (called ghauts) extending down into the water. China Street makes a straight line from the Kuan Yin Teng Temple, allowing for an uninterrupted view of the sea from the temple.

2461 UNITED STATES (Illinois) - Soldier Field in Chicago

Soldier Field is an American football stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, opened in 1924 as Municipal Grant Park Stadium, and renamed in 1925, as a memorial to U.S. soldiers who had died in combat. Its is best known as the home field of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), who began play there in 1971. Beginning in 2016 it will be the second-oldest stadium in the league when the Los Angeles Rams begin playing temporarily at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which opened a year earlier.

2460 POLAND (Lower Silesia) - Wrocław

Located on the  Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, at roughly 40km north from the Sudeten Mountains, Wrocław is the historical capital of Silesia. In the 10th century, the Bohemian duke Vratislaus I founded here a Bohemian stronghold, Vratislavia, probably named after the duke's name. In 990, Duke  Mieszko I of Poland conquered Silesia including Wroclaw. The chronicle Gesta principum Polonorum, written in 1112-1116, named Wrocław, along with Kraków and Sandomierz, as one of the three capitals of the Polish Kingdom.

2459 FRANCE (Grand Est) - The Route of the Fortifications

 

Located at the crossroads of Germanic world and the Latin world, the Ardennes, named after the Celtic word for deep forest, is dotted with the witnesses of a tumultuous and fascinating history. It is hard to believe that these benign landscapes of wooded hills, looped by the Meuse and Semoy rivers, has seen so many bloody battles down the centuries. The Route of the Fortifications follows the trade routes from the Middle Ages, through places where not rarely was played the fate of Europe.

2430 SINGAPORE (Central Region) - Marina Bay Sands

2430 Marina Bay Sands by night

Opened in 2010, Marina Bay Sands is billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property. Fronting Marina Bay in Singapore, the resort was designed by Moshe Safdie, who says it was initially inspired by card decks. In addition to the casino, other key components of the plan are three hotel towers with 2,500 rooms and suites, an ArtScience Museum and a convention centre. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark and a 150m infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67m.

2458 UNITED STATES (Georgia) - The Decapod No 208

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-10-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement, popular mainly in Europe, particularly in Germany and in Russia, was often named Decapod, especially in the United States. Here were built the first such locomotives in 1867, but the first boost in the number of Decapods occurred when Russia ordered approximately 1,200 during WWI.

2390, 2457 UNITED STATES (New York) - Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

2390 Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (1)

Posted on 19.03.2016, 13.04.2016
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the largest art museum in the United States, and among the most visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments. The main building, on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the world's largest art galleries by area. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture and artifacts from Medieval Europe.

2457 Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (2)

The museum first opened on February 20, 1872, housed in a building located at 681 Fifth Avenue. In 1880, after a brief move to the Douglas Mansion at 128 West 14th Street, the Museum opened to the public at its current site on Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. The architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould designed the initial Ruskinian Gothic structure, the west facade of which is still visible in the Robert Lehman Wing. The building has since expanded greatly, and the various additions, built as early as 1888, now completely surround the original structure.

1036, 2456 MONGOLIA - The Traditional Naadam festival (UNESCO ICH)

1036 Camp of Naadam in Mongolia

Posted on 17.03.2014, 12.04.2016
Naadam (literally "games") is a traditional festival in Mongolia (but also in China, in areas in which live Mongols), termed locally Eriin gurvan naadam (the three games of men), which exist, probably, for centuries. The biggest festival (Naadam of the Country) is held in the capital Ulan Bator during the National Holiday from July 11-13, in the National Sports Stadium. It begins with an elaborate ceremony featuring dancers, athletes, horse riders, and musicians, after that follows the competitions in the three games, directly linked with the lifestyles of the Mongols: Bökh (Mongolian wrestling), horse racing and archery.

2456 Bökh (Mongolian wrestling)

 

Bökh (which means "durability") is the most important of the Mongolian culture's historic "Three Manly Skills". Genghis Khan considered it to be an important way to keep his army in good physical shape and combat ready. There are several different versions: Mongolian, Buryatian, Oirat and Inner Mongolian. The goal of a match is to get your opponent to touch his upper body, knee or elbow to the ground. There are no weight classes, age limits, or time limits in a match. The rank of a wrestler can only be attained during the Naadam festival, and is determined by the number of rounds won, being held for life.

2454, 2455 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912)

2454 Portrait of Ion Luca Caragiale

Ion Luca Caragiale was short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist but before all this, and primarily, playwright, the greatest in Romanian language and literature. Doesn't exist in Romania theater plays more often staged than those of Caragiale, and doesn't exist Romanian who may not be able to recognize some catchphrases from his plays, entered in folklore, because even today, after more than a century, they are equally alive and relevant as when they were first presented. His characters live among us, true archetypes socio-professional, and their shortcomings are perennial and recognizable.

2455 "Ion Luca Caragiale" Museum in Ploieşti

Born on February 13 1852 into a family of Greek descent in the village of Haimanale, Prahova County (the present-day I. L. Caragiale commune, Dâmboviţa County), Caragiale was educated in Ploieşti, which he considered his hometown. In 1870 he moved to Bucharest, where, among other, he worked as prompt at the National Theater, whose manager will become later, and which today bears his name. Ion Luca made his literary debut in 1873, at the age of 21, but he writed its first play in 1878, O noapte furtunoasă, which was staged in early January 1879 by the National Theater.

2453 PHILIPPINES (Cordillera Administrative Region) - Hanging coffins in Sagada

Sagada is nestled in a valley at the upper end of the Malitep tributary of the Chico River, in the Central Cordillera Mountains, enveloped between the main Cordillera Ranges and the Ilocos Range. Perhaps for lack of transportation and willing guides, few conquistadors set foot in Sagada during the Spanish Era, and a Spanish Mission was not founded until 1882. As a result, it is one of a few places that has preserved its indigenous culture with little Spanish influence.

2452 ROMANIA (Botoşani) - Images of Botoşani

2452 Botoşani: 1. Mihai Eminescu Park; 2. The historic center;
3. Uspenia Church; 4. The City Hall.

Located in northern Moldavia, at the junction of several commercial roads, Botoşani was between the 14th century and the 70s of the 19th century, a thriving center of trade and handicraft production, so in 1861 it was the third city of the United Principalities being surpassed only by Bucharest and Iaşi. After 1870 the city lost its importance, becoming an end of a secondary railway line. Between 1968 and 1992 experienced a new period of development, accompanied by a rapid population growth to the historical maximum of 126,145 inhabitants recorded in 1992.

2451 AUSTRIA (Upper Austria) - The Town Square of Steyr in interwar period

2451 The Town Square of Steyr in interwar period

Situated in the Traunviertel region, with the two rivers Steyr and Enns flowing through it and meeting near the town centre beneath Lamberg Castle and St Michael's Church, Steyr is an ancient town which celebrated the anniversary of 1,000 years in 1980. In 11th and 12th centuries the Otakar dynasty controlled the iron mining at Erzberg and made their residence at Steyr a centre of medieval courtly culture and Middle High German poetry.

2450 UNITED STATES (Utah) - Zion National Park

The prominent feature of the Zion National Park is Zion Canyon, which is 24km long and up to 800m deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park's unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. The river was the largest force in cutting the canyon, mostly by flash floods, as the average flow of the river is very light.