<p>Shkhara , is the highest point in the nation of Georgia. Located in the Svaneti region along the Russian frontier, Shkhara lies 88 km north of the city of Kutaisi, Georgias second largest city. The summit lies in the central part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range, to the south-east of Mount Elbrus, Europes highest mountain. Shkhara is the third highest peak in the Caucasus, just behind Dykh-Tau.</p><br>
<p>Shkhara is the high point and the eastern anchor of a massif known as the Bezingi (or Bezengi) Wall, a 12 km long ridge. It is a large, steep peak in a heavily glaciated region, and presents serious challenges to mountaineers. Its north face (on the Russian side) is 1,500 m high and contains several classic difficult routes. The significant subsummit Shkhara West, 5,068 m, is a climbing objective in its own right, and a traverse of the entire Bezingi Wall is considered "Europe&#39;s longest, most arduous, and most committing expedition."</p><br>
<p>The peak was first climbed in 1888 via the North East Ridge route, by the British/Swiss team of U. Almer, J. Cockin and C. Roth. This route is still one of the easier and more popular routes on the mountain. The first complete traverse of the Bezingi Wall was in 1931, by the Austrians K. Poppinger, K. Moldan, and S. Schintlmeister.</p><br>
<p>Tell Brak  was an ancient city in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located in the Upper Khabur region, near the modern village of Tell Brak, 50 kilometers north-east of Al-Hasaka city, Al-Hasakah Governorate. The city&#39;s original name is unknown. During the second half of the third millennium BC, the city was known as Nagar and later on, Nawar.</p><br>
<p>Starting as a small settlement in the seventh millennium BC, Tell Brak evolved during the fourth millennium BC into one of the biggest cities in Upper Mesopotamia, and interacted with the cultures of southern Mesopotamia. The city shrank in size at the beginning of the third millennium BC with the end of Uruk period, before expanding again around c. 2600 BC, when it became known as Nagar, and was the capital of a regional kingdom that controlled the Khabur river valley. Nagar was destroyed around c. 2300 BC, and came under the rule of the Akkadian Empire, followed by a period of independence as a Hurrian city-state, before contracting at the beginning of the second millennium BC. Nagar prospered again by the 19th century BC, and came under the rule of different regional powers. In c. 1500 BC, Tell Brak was a center of Mitanni before being destroyed by Assyria c. 1300 BC. The city never regained its former importance, remaining as a small settlement, and abandoned at some points of its history, until disappearing from records during the early Abbasid era.</p><br>
<p>Different peoples inhabited the city, including the Halafians, Semites and the Hurrians. Tell Brak was a religious center from its earliest periods; its famous Eye Temple is unique in the Fertile Crescent, and its main deity, Belet-Nagar, was revered in the entire Khabur region, making the city a pilgrimage site. The culture of Tell Brak was defined by the different civilizations that inhabited it, and it was famous for its glyptic style, equids and glass. When independent, the city was ruled by a local assembly or by a monarch. Tell Brak was a trade center due to its location between Anatolia, the Levant and southern Mesopotamia. It was excavated by Max Mallowan in 1937, then regularly by different teams between 1979 and 2011, when the work stopped due to the Syrian Civil War.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The original name of the city is unknown; Tell Brak is the current name of the tell. East of the mound lies a dried lake named "Khatuniah" which was recorded as "Lacus Beberaci" (the lake of Brak) in the Roman map Tabula Peutingeriana. The lake was probably named after Tell Brak which was the nearest camp in the area. The name "Brak" might therefore be an echo of the most ancient name.</p><br>
<p>During the third millennium BC, the city was known as "Nagar", which might be of Semitic origin and mean a "cultivated place". The name "Nagar" ceased occurring following the Old Babylonian period, however, the city continued to exist as Nawar, under the control of Hurrian state of Mitanni. Hurrian kings of Urkesh took the title "King of Urkesh and Nawar" in the third millennium BC; although there is general view that the third millennium BC Nawar is identical with Nagar, some scholars, such as Jesper Eidem, doubt this. Those scholars opt for a city closer to Urkesh which was also called Nawala/Nabula as the intended Nawar.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early settlement</h3><br>
<p>The earliest period A, is dated to the proto Halaf culture c. 6500 BC, when a small settlement existed. Many objects dated to that period were discovered including the Halaf pottery. By 5000 BC, Halaf culture transformed into Northern Ubaid, and many Ubaid materials were found in Tell Brak. Excavations and surface survey of the site and its surroundings, unearthed a large platform of patzen bricks that dates to late Ubaid, and revealed that Tell Brak developed as an urban center slightly earlier than better known cities of southern Mesopotamia, such as Uruk.</p><br>
<h3>The first city</h3><br>
<p>In southern Mesopotamia, the original Ubaid culture evolved into the Uruk period. The people of the southern Uruk period used military and commercial means to expand the civilization. In Northern Mesopotamia, the post Ubaid period is designated Late Chalcolithic / Northern Uruk period, during which, Tell Brak started to expand.</p><br>
<p>Period Brak E witnessed the building of the citys walls, and Tell Brak expansion beyond the mound to form a lower town. By the late 5th millennium BC, Tell Brak reached the size of c. 55 hectares. Area TW of the tell (Archaeologists divided Tell Brak into areas designated with Alphabetic letters. See the map for Tell Braks areas) revealed the remains of a monumental building with two meters thick walls and a basalt threshold. In front of the building, a sherd paved street was discovered, leading to the northern entrance of the city.</p><br>
<p>The city continued to expand during period F, and reached the size of 130 hectares. Four mass graves dating to c. 3800–3600 BC were discovered in the surroundings of the tell, and they suggest that the process of urbanization was accompanied by internal social stress, and an increase in the organization of warfare. The first half of period F (designated LC3), saw the erection of the Eye Temple, which was named for the thousands of small alabaster "Eye idols" figurines discovered in it. Those idols were also found in area TW.</p><br>
<p>Interactions with the Mesopotamian south grew during the second half of period F (designated LC4) c. 3600 BC, and an Urukean colony was established in the city. With the end of Uruk culture c 3000 BC, Tell Brak&#39;s Urukean colony was abandoned and deliberately leveled by its occupants. Tell Brak contracted during the following periods H and J, and became limited to the mound. Evidence exists for an interaction with the Mesopotamian south during period H, represented by the existence of materials similar to the ones produced during the southern Jemdet Nasr period. The city remained a small settlement during the Ninevite 5 period, with a small temple and associated sealing activities.</p><br>
<h3>Kingdom of Nagar</h3><br>
<p>Around c. 2600 BC, a large administrative building was built and the city expanded out of the tell again. The revival is connected with the Kish civilization, and the city was named "Nagar". Amongst the important buildings dated to the kingdom, is an administrative building or temple named the "Brak Oval", located in area TC. The building have a curved exterior wall reminiscent of the Khafajah "Oval Temple" in central Mesopotamia. However, aside from the wall, the comparison between the two buildings in terms of architecture is difficult, as each building follows a different plan.</p><br>
<p>The oldest references to Nagar comes from Mari and tablets discovered at Nabada. However, the most important source on Nagar come from the archives of Ebla. Most of the texts record the ruler of Nagar using his title "En", without mentioning a name. However a text from Ebla mentions Mara-Il, a king of Nagar; thus, he is the only ruler known by name for pre-Akkadian Nagar and ruled a little more than a generation before the kingdom&#39;s destruction.</p><br>
<p>At its height, Nagar encompassed most of the southwestern half of the Khabur Basin, and was a diplomatic and political equal of the Eblaite and Mariote states. The kingdom included at least 17 subordinate cities, such as Hazna, and most importantly Nabada, which was a city-state annexed by Nagar, and served as a provincial capital. Nagar was involved in the wide diplomatic network of Ebla, and the relations between the two kingdoms involved both confrontations and alliances. A text from Ebla mention a victory of Eblas king (perhaps Irkab-Damu) over Nagar. However, a few years later, a treaty was concluded, and the relations progressed toward a dynastic marriage between princess Tagrish-Damu of Ebla, and prince Ultum-Huhu, Nagars monarch&#39;s son.</p><br>
<p>Nagar was defeated by Mari in year seven of the Eblaite vizier Ibriums term, causing the blockage of trade routes between Ebla and southern Mesopotamia via upper Mesopotamia. Later, Eblas king Isar-Damu concluded an alliance with Nagar and Kish against Mari, and the campaign was headed by the Eblaite vizier Ibbi-Sipish, who led the combined armies to victory in a battle near Terqa. Afterwards, the alliance attacked the rebellious Eblaite vassal city of Armi. Ebla was destroyed approximately three years after Terqa&#39;s battle, and soon after, Nagar followed in c. 2300 BC. Large parts of the city were burned, an act attributed either to Mari, or Sargon of Akkad.</p><br>
<h3>Akkadian period</h3><br>
<p>Following its destruction, Nagar was rebuilt by the Akkadian empire, to form a center of the provincial administration. The city included the whole tell and a lower town at the southern edge of the mound. Two public buildings were built during the early Akkadian periods, one complex in area SS, and another in area FS. The building of area FS included its own temple and might have served as a caravanserai, being located near the northern gate of the city. The early Akkadian monarchs were occupied with internal conflicts, and Tell Brak was temporarily abandoned by Akkad at some point preceding the reign of Naram-Sin. The abandonment might be connected with an environmental event, that caused the desertification of the region.</p><br>
<p>The destruction of Nagars kingdom created a power vacuum in the Upper Khabur. The Hurrians, formerly concentrated in Urkesh, took advantage of the situation to control the region as early as Sargons latter years. Tell Brak was known as "Nawar" for the Hurrians, and kings of Urkesh took the title "King of Urkesh and Nawar", first attested in the seal of Urkesh&#39;s king Atal-Shen.</p><br>
<p>The use of the title continued during the reigns of Atal-Shens successors, Tupkish and Tish-Atal, who ruled only in Urkesh. The Akkadians under Naram-Sin incorporated Nagar firmly into their empire. The most important Akkadian building in the city is called the "Palace of Naram-Sin", which had parts of it built over the original Eye Temple. Despite its name, the palace is closer to a fortress, as it was more of a fortified depot for the storage of collected tribute rather than a residential seat. The palace was burned during Naram-Sins reign, perhaps by a Lullubi attack, and the city was burned toward the end of the Akkadian period c. 2193 BC, probably by the Gutians.</p><br>
<h3>Post-Akkadian kingdom</h3><br>
<p>The Akkadian period was followed by period N, during which Nagar was the center of an independent Hurrian dynasty, evidenced by the discovery of a seal, recording the name of king Talpus-Atili of Nagar, who ruled during or slightly after the reign of Naram-Sins son Shar-Kali-Sharri. The view that Tell Brak came under the control of Ur III is refused, and evidence exists for a Hurrian rebuilding of Naram-Sins palace, erroneously attributed by Max Mallowan to Ur-Nammu of Ur. Period N saw a reduction in the city&#39;s size, with public buildings being abandoned, and the lower town evacuated. Few short lived houses were built in area CH during period N, and although greatly reduced in size, archaeology provided evidence for continued occupation in the city, instead of abandonment.</p><br>
<h3>Foreign rule and later periods</h3><br>
<p>During period P, Nagar was densely populated in the northern ridge of the tell. The city came under the rule of Mari, and was the site of a decisive victory won by Yahdun-Lim of Mari over Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria. Nagar lost its importance and came under the rule of Kahat in the 18th century BC.</p><br>
<p>During period Q, Tell Brak was an important trade city in the Mitanni state. A two-story palace was built c. 1500 BC in the northern section of the tell, in addition to an associated temple. However, the rest of the tell was not occupied, and a lower town extended to the north but is now all but destroyed through modern agriculture. Two Mitannian legal documents, bearing the names of kings Artashumara and Tushratta, were recovered from the city, which was destroyed between c.1300 and 1275 BC, in two waves, first at the hands of the Assyrian king Adad-Nirari I, then by his successor Shalmaneser I.</p><br>
<p>Little evidence of an occupation on the tell exists following the destruction of the Mitannian city, however, a series of small villages existed in the lower town during the Assyrian periods. The remains of a Hellenistic settlement were discovered on a nearby satellite tell, to the northwestern edge of the main tell. However, excavations recovered no ceramics of the Parthian-Roman or Byzantine-Sasanian periods, although sherds dating to those periods are noted. In the middle of the first millennium AD, a fortified building was erected in the northeastern lower town. The building was dated by Antoine Poidebard to the Justinian era (sixth century AD), on the basis of its architecture. The last occupation period of the site was during the early Abbasid Caliphate&#39;s period, when a canal was built to provide the town with water from the nearby Jaghjagh River.</p><br>
<h2>Society</h2><br>
<h3>People and language</h3><br>
<p>The Halafians were the indigenous people of Neolithic northern Syria, who later adopted the southern Ubaidian culture. Contact with the Mesopotamian south increased during the early and middle Northern Uruk period, and southern people moved to Tell Brak in the late Uruk period, forming a colony, which produced a mixed society. The Urukean colony was abandoned by the colonist toward the end of the fourth millennium BC, leaving the indigenous Tell Brak a much contracted city. The pre-Akkadian kingdom&#39;s population was Semitic, and spoke its own East Semitic dialect of the Eblaite language used in Ebla and Mari. The Nagarite dialect is closer to the dialect of Mari rather than that of Ebla.</p><br>
<p>No Hurrian names are recorded in the pre-Akkadian period, although the name of prince Ultum-Huhu is difficult to understand as Semitic. During the Akkadian period, both Semitic and Hurrian names were recorded, as the Hurrians appears to have taken advantage of the power vacuum caused by the destruction of the pre-Akkadian kingdom, in order to migrate and expand in the region. The post-Akkadian period Tell Brak had a strong Hurrian element, and Hurrian named rulers, although the region was also inhabited by Amorite tribes. A number of the Amorite Banu-Yamina tribes settled the surroundings of Tell Brak during the reign of Zimri-Lim of Mari, and each group used its own language (Hurrian and Amorite languages). Tell Brak was a center of the Hurrian-Mitannian empire, which had Hurrian as its official language. However, Akkadian was the region&#39;s international language, evidenced by the post-Akkadian and Mitannian eras tablets, discovered at Tell Brak and written in Akkadian.</p><br>
<h3>Religion</h3><br>
<p>The findings in the Eye Temple indicate that Tell Brak is among the earliest sites of organized religion in northern Mesopotamia. It is unknown to which deity the Eye Temple was dedicated, and the "Eyes" figurines appears to be votive offerings to that unknown deity. Michel Meslin hypothesized that the temple was the center of the Sumerian Innana or the Semitic Ishtar, and that the "Eyes" figurines were a representation of an all-seeing female deity.</p><br>
<p>During the pre-Akkadain kingdoms era, Hazna, an old cultic center of northern Syria, served as a pilgrimage center for Nagar. The Eye Temple remained in use, but as a small shrine, while the goddess Belet-Nagar became the kingdoms paramount deity. The temple of Belet-Nagar is not identified but probably lies beneath the Mitannian palace. The Eblaite deity Kura was also venerated in Nagar, and the monarchs are attested visiting the temple of the Semitic deity Dagon in Tuttul. During the Akkadian period, the temple in area FS was dedicated to the Sumerian god Shakkan, the patron of animals and countrysides. Tell Brak was an important religious Hurrian center, and the temple of Belet-Nagar retained its cultic importance in the entire region until the early second millennium BC.</p><br>
<h3>Culture</h3><br>
<p>Northern Mesopotamia evolved independently from the south during the Late Chalcolithic / early and middle Northern Uruk (4000–3500 BC). This period was characterized by a strong emphasis on holy sites, among which, the Eye Temple was the most important in Tell Brak. The building containing "Eyes" idols in area TW was wood paneled, whose main room had been lined with wooden panels. The building also contained the earliest known semi columned facade, which is a character that will be associated with temples in later periods.</p><br>
<p>By late Northern Uruk and especially after 3200 BC, northern Mesopotamia came under the full cultural dominance of the southern Uruk culture, which affected Tell Brak&#39;s architecture and administration. The southern influence is most obvious in the level named the "Latest Jemdet Nasr" of the Eye Temple, which had southern elements such as cone mosaics. The Uruk presence was peaceful as it is first noted in the context of feasting; commercial deals during that period were traditionally ratified through feasting. The excavations in area TW revealed feasting to be an important local habit, as two cooking facilities, large amounts of grains, skeletons of animals, a domed backing oven and barbequing fire pets were discovered. Among the late Uruk materials found at Tell Brak, is a standard text for educated scribes (the "Standard Professions" text), part of the standardized education taught in the 3rd millennium BC over a wide area of Syria and Mesopotamia.</p><br>
<p>The pre-Akkadian kingdom was famed for its acrobats, who were in demand in Ebla and trained local Eblaite entertainers. The kingdom also had its own local glyptic style called the "Brak Style", which was distinct from the southern sealing variants, employing soft circled shapes and sharpened edges. The Akkadian administration had little effect on the local administrative traditions and sealing style, and Akkadian seals existed side by side with the local variant. The Hurrians employed the Akkadian style in their seals, and Elamite seals were discovered, indicating an interaction with the western Iranian Plateau. Tell Brak provided great knowledge on the culture of Mitanni, which produced glass using sophisticated techniques, that resulted in different varieties of multicolored and decorated shapes. Samples of the elaborate Nuzi ware were discovered, in addition to seals that combine distinctive Mitannian elements with the international motifs of that period.</p><br>
<h4>Wagons</h4><br>
<p>Seals from Tell Brak and Nabada dated to the pre-Akkadian kingdom, revealed the use of four-wheeled wagons and war carriages. Excavation in area FS recovered clay models of equids and wagons dated to the Akkadian and post-Akkadian periods. The models provide information about the types of wagons used during that period (2350–2000 BC), and they include four wheeled vehicles and two types of two wheeled vehicles; the first is a cart with fixed seats and the second is a cart where the driver stands above the axle. The chariots were introduced during the Mitanni era, and none of the pre-Mitanni carriages can be considered chariots, as they are mistakenly described in some sources.</p><br>
<h2>Government</h2><br>
<p>The first city had the characteristics of large urban centers, such as monumental buildings, and seems to have been ruled by a kinship based assembly, headed by elders. The pre-Akkadian kingdom was decentralized, and the provincial center of Nabada was ruled by a council of elders, next to the kings representative. The Nagarite monarchs had to tour their kingdom regularly in order to assert their political control. During the early Akkadian period, Nagar was administrated by local officials. However, central control was tightened and the number of Akkadian officials increased, following the supposed environmental event that preceded the construction of Naram-Sins palace. The post-Akkadian Nagar was a city-state kingdom, that gradually lost its political importance during the early second millennium BC, as no evidence for a king dating to that period exists.</p><br>
<h3>Rulers of Tell Brak</h3><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Throughout its history, Tell Brak was an important trade center; it was an enterpot of obsidian trade during the Chalcolithic, as it was situated on the river crossing between Anatolia, the Levant and southern Mesopotamia. The countryside was occupied by smaller towns, villages and hamlets, but the city&#39;s surroundings were empty within three kilometers. This was probably due to the intensive cultivation in the immediate hinterland, in order to sustain the population. The city manufactured different objects, including chalices made of obsidian and white marble, faience, flint tools and shell inlays. However, evidence exists for a slight shift in production of goods toward manufacturing objects desired in the south, following the establishment of the Uruk colony.</p><br>
<p>Trade was also an important economic activity for the pre-Akkadian kingdom of Nagar, which had Ebla and Kish as major partners. The kingdom produced glass, wool, and was famous for breeding and trading in the Kunga, a hybrid of a donkey and a female onager. Tell Brak remained an important commercial center during the Akkadian period, and was one of Mitanni&#39;s main trade cities. Many objects were manufactured in Mitannian Tell Brak, including furniture made of ivory, wood and bronze, in addition to glass. The city provided evidence for the international commercial contacts of Mitanni, including Egyptian, Hittite and Mycenaean objects, some of which were produced in the region to satisfy the local taste.</p><br>
<h3>Equids</h3><br>
<p>The Kungas of pre-Akkadian Nagar were used for drawing the carriages of kings before the domestication of the horse, and a royal procession included up to fifty animals. The kungas of Nagar were in great demand in the Eblaite empire; they cost two kilos of silver, fifty times the price of a donkey, and were imported regularly by the monarchs of Ebla to be used as transport animals and gifts for allied cities. The horse was known in the region during the third millennium BC, but was not used as a draught animal before c. 18th century BC.</p><br>
<h2>Site</h2><br>
<h3>Excavations</h3><br>
<p>Tell Brak was excavated by the British archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, husband of Agatha Christie, in 1937 and 1938. The artifacts from Mallowans excavations are now preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, National Museum of Aleppo and the British Museums collection; the latter contain the Tell Brak Head dating to c. 3500–3300 BC.</p><br>
<p>A team from the Institute of Archaeology of the University of London, led by David and Joan Oates, worked in the tell for 14 seasons between 1976 and 1993. After 1993, excavations were conducted by a number of filed directors under the general guidance of David (until 2004) and Joan Oates. Those directors included Roger Matthews (in 1994–1996), for the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research of the University of Cambridge; Geoff Emberling (in 1998–2002) and Helen McDonald (in 2000–2004), for the British Institute for the Study of Iraq and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2006, Augusta McMahon became field director, also sponsored by the British Institute for the Study of Iraq. A regional archaeological field survey in a 20 km radius around Brak was supervised by Henry T. Wright (in 2002–2005). Many of the finds from the excavations at Tell Brak are on display in the Deir ez-Zor Museum. The most recent excavations took place in the spring of 2011, but archaeological work is currently suspended due to the ongoing Syrian Civil War.</p><br>
<h3>Syrian Civil War</h3><br>
<p>According to the Syrian authorities, the camp of archaeologists was looted, along with the tools and ceramics kept in it. The site changed hands between the different combatants, mainly the Kurdish People&#39;s Protection Units and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In early 2015, Tell Brak was taken by the Kurdish forces after light fighting with the Islamic State.</p><br>
<p>The Napa Valley Opera House is a theatre in Napa, California, USA. It opened on February 13, 1880 with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan&#39;s HMS Pinafore. At the time, the town had a population of 5,000 people. The original owner was George Crowey and Charles Levansaler managed the facility.</p><br>
<p>The building was designed in the Italianate style by Newsom and Newsom, renowned architects of the 19th century, who also built the Carson Mansion in Eureka, California, in addition to many public and private buildings throughout the State. Construction of the theater featuring a stained glass skylight, brass chandeliers and a curved staircase leading to the balcony started in 1879. The building had stores and restaurants on the first floor while the stage occupied the second and third floor. The floor of the auditorium was uniquely constructed with a flat floor in order to accommodate local dances and pageants. The theater had an advertising curtain where local businesses were promoted.</p><br>
<h2>Early days</h2><br>
<p>During the height of vaudeville, the theatre flourished with the presentation of music and variety acts. In 1896 John L. Sullivan fought an exhibition match and John Philip Sousa brought his brass band to the venue. In 1905, following her debut in San Francisco, Luisa Tetrazzini performed on stage and in the same year, Jack London read from his works.</p><br>
<p>The theatre closed in 1914 due to damage from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the decline of vaudeville, and the advent of film. During the following seventy years, the building was used for a variety of commercial purposes.</p><br>
<h2>Revival and restoration</h2><br>
<p>The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 however it was not until 1985 that a non-profit group was set up to restore the theatre. In 1997 Robert Mondavi and his wife Margrit issued a challenge grant of $2.2 million to spur the theatre&#39;s reconstruction towards the total cost of $13.7 million for the project.</p><br>
<h2>Reopening</h2><br>
<p>The bottom floor of the building was converted to an intimate venue with seating for 200 people. It was named the Cafe Theatre and it opened in June 2002 with a performance by jazz singer Dianne Reeves.</p><br>
<p>The larger upstairs venue opened on July 31, 2003 with an opening night performance by Rita Moreno followed by a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan&#39;s HMS Pinafore, the same show that opened the original venue 123 years prior</p><br>
<p>The upstairs theatre has seating for an audience of 500, modern lighting and sound system with an orchestra pit large enough for 40 musicians. The venue now hosts several headline entertainment acts every month including plays, musical performances and dance.</p><br>
<p>In June 2011, the City Council of Napa voted to grant a $1.5 million forgivable loan to help retire the $3.4 million debt remaining on the facility. Funds for the grant came from existiing redevelopment funds that had not been committed to other projects. The terms of the loan included several conditions that would benefit the city and its citizens by allowing the city to use the building for up to 24 days per year at cost and requiring the facility to be rented twice per year to nonprofit organizations at a discounted rate. By 2011, the facility was booking over 100 events per year with a goal of increasing this number to 200 events.</p><br>
<p>In August 2011, the Board of Directors hired Peter Williams as the new Executive / Artistic Director. He came to Napa from Yoshis jazz club in Oakland where he was Artistic Director from May 1999 until July 2011. Peter Williams left City Winery in May 2014 to move back to booking Yoshis San Francisco, which was sold to new owners</p><br>
<p>After a $2.5 Million renovation, Michael Dorf&#39;s 300 seat venue, City Winery, opened on April 10, 2014.</p><br>
<p>City Winery ceased operating the venue in late 2015.</p><br>
<p>Kopaonik  is a mountain in the central part of Serbia and the largest mountain range in the country. The highest point is the Pančić&#39;s Peak with 2,017 m.</p><br>
<p>Kopaonik is a major ski resort in Serbia is the largest in Southeast Europe. There are 25 ski lifts with capacity of 32,000 skiers per hour.</p><br>
<p>The central part of the Kopaonik plateau was declared a national park in 1981 which today covers an area of 121.06 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Stretching for 75 km in the north-south direction, between the rivers of Lab and Sitnica on the south and Jošanica on the north, Kopaonik is the largest and longest mountain range in Serbia. It belongs to the region of Raška. The Kopaonik mountain massif (Kopaoničke planine) includes the mountains of Kopaonik, Željin, Goč and Stolovi. The Pančić&#39;s Peak, with 2,017 m, is the highest point of the mountain.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The snow season lasts from November to May, while there are around 200 sunny days.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Due to its rich mines, Kopaonik was originally named Silver Mountain (Srebrna planina) and that name was also used by the Romans, Venetians and Ottomans. Its current name, originally Kopalnik, is also connected to the ore mining as it comes from kopati, Serbian for digging.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Kopaonik has a rich historical heritage. Oldest findings are from the Paleolithic and already show that local people used metals. Localities include Bela Stena, Veliki Krš and Jasova Bačija. Neolithic remains were discovered on the localities of Gornji Kaznovići (Rosulja and Lug), Greblje, Tomovićko Brdo and the Neolithic range of Beglučka.</p><br>
<p>The mining fully developed during the Classical antiquity. The Romans began to dig the first proper mines and to build the surrounding settlements. The remains from this period include the archaeo-metallurgic complex Zajačak and the locality of Dobrinac in Rvati. Dobrinac originates from the 3rd or 4th century AD and it was the administrative center of the mining and metallurgic operations on the western slope of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>The area remained an important mining center in the Middle Ages and by the 14th century it became the main mining area of Serbia. Emperor Dušan visited the Silver Mountain in August 1336. In 1412 despot Stefan Lazarević granted the Law on mines which mentions the mines of gold, silver, iron, copper, lead and zinc in the area. By that time, the mountain already hosted the colonies of Saxons, Kotorans and Ragusians. Besides old churches and monasteries like Đurđevi stupovi, Studenica monastery, Sopoćani and Gradac Monastery, there are also several early and medieval fortresses locally, built by Serbian dynasties. The nearest Serbian medieval castle is Maglič.</p><br>
<p>During the Ottoman period, from the 15th century, the mining gradually ceased, but they developed the thermal springs, building Turkish baths. Remains of one are found in modern spa of Jošanička Banja.</p><br>
<p>First scientific exploration of the mountains flora came in 1836-38 when the geologist Ami Boué visited the mountain. He made a collection of Kopaoniks plant life which is today kept in the Imperial Natural History Museum in Vienna. Botanist Josif Pančić gave the greatest scientific contribution to the plant life on Kopaonik. In 1851 he explored the mountain for the first time, followed by another 18 expeditions.</p><br>
<p>During World War II the Yugoslav Partisans were active in the region.</p><br>
<p>With territorial reorganization in the mid-1950s, the southern parts of Kopaonik were to be ceded from NR Serbia to its autonomous province Kosovo and Metohija. In 1959, Leposavić was incorporated into the province.</p><br>
<p>In Pančićs honor, marking the 100th anniversary of his first expedition, the highest point was renamed from Milans Peak (Milanov vrh) to Pančić&#39;s Peak in 1951. A mausoleum was built on the peak and the remains of Pančić and his wife were reinterred in it. They were buried in the coffins made of Serbian spruce, which Pančić discovered.</p><br>
<h2>National Park</h2><br>
<h3>Geography</h3><br>
<p>In 1981, due to its location, climate, rich forests, variety of herbs, and area for holiday and recreation, 121.06 km&sup2; of the range were proclaimed a national park.</p><br>
<p>The national park is situated on a relatively flat region, at an altitude of about 1,700 m. This central Kopaonik plateau is called Suvo Rudište. It is surrounded by mountain peaks. To the north and northwest of this plateau stretches Banjski Kopaonik, which is the location of Jošanička Banja spa, whose strong springs&#39; waters reach the temperature of 88 &deg;C. Directly below the Suvo Rudište plateau starts the valley of the Samokovska River, with its steep run, numerous rapids, falls and gorges. Kopaonik has over 200 sunny days annually and over 160 days covered by snow. There is also the Jelovarnik falls, one of the highest in Serbia.</p><br>
<p>Kopaonik has several excellent natural lookouts: Suvo Rudište, Gobelja, Karaman, Kukavica, Vučak and Treska. On a clear day, a distant mountains in Montenegro, Bulgaria and Albania can be observed.</p><br>
<p>There are 13 localities within the park which are declared a strict nature reserves: Barska Reka, Bele Stene, Vučak, Gobelja, Duboka, Jankove Bare, Jelak, Jelovarnik, Kozje Stene, Mrkonje, Metođe, Samokovska Reka and Suvo Rudište.</p><br>
<p>Soil erosion is a threat as there is a lot of logging and deforestation in the park.</p><br>
<h3>Wildlife</h3><br>
<h4>Plant life</h4><br>
<p>Kopaoniks flora has a large number of autochthonous plant species (Balkan beech, fir, spruce, yew, several kinds of maple, pine and oak). Deciduous forests and native coniferous woodland make up most of the forested land in the park. There are also forests of willow, poplar, common hornbeam, durmast oak and Turkey oak. In total, there are 1,600 plant species in the park, out of which 200 grow only on Kopaonik. It also includes over 200 species of fungi. Special value of Kopaonik in terms of biological diversity is that 11.9% of the high mountain endemic species in the Balkans inhabits the mountain. Endemic species which grow only on Kopaonik include Kopaoniks houseleek, Kopaoniks violet and Pančićs bittercress. Other endemites include sea thrift, Balkan docks (Rumex balcanicus), Pancicia serbica, Blečić&#39;s columbine (Aquilegia blecicii), Bosnian marsh orchid, Bulgarian achillea (Achillea bulgarica), Alyssum, aconite and Yugoslav bell (Edrianthus jugoslavicus).</p><br>
<p>There are several "botanical monuments" in the park. Those are trees which are very old, large in size and still vital. Among them are the fir "of the hundred elbows" in Samokovska Reka, a spruce in Gobeljska Reka and three mountain sycamores in Kriva Reka.</p><br>
<h4>Animal life</h4><br>
<p>The fauna is also diverse but its concentration varies, depending on the quality of the habitat.</p><br>
<p>An endemic butterfly, the Balkan postman, lives on the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Kopaonik has 175 species of birds, including the protected ones like woodpecker and thrush. Other species include rock partridge, scops owl, red-backed shrike and wood lark.</p><br>
<p>Major representatives of the mammalian fauna are wild boar and wild cat.</p><br>
<h2>Ski resort</h2><br>
<p>Kopaonik is the largest centre of winter tourism in Serbia. Sports and recreation are key factors to the tourism of Kopaonik. Kopaonik is mainly a destination for skiing and snowboarding. There are various other activities as well, such as tennis. There are several hotels, one hostel, cafes, bars and night clubs.</p><br>
<p>It has 27 ski lifts, with 75 km of ski slopes for all categories. Currently under construction is a gondola that is planned to connect Brzece and the ski resort.</p><br>
<p>The duration and quality of snowfall and skiing grounds have attracted an increasing number of guests. Kopaonik has mild winters with high levels of snowfall.</p><br>
<p>There are on average about 200 sunny days annually with 160 days covered with snow.</p><br>
<p>There is also a music Big Snow Festival from March 23 to March 29 every year. The festival gathers international reggae, jazz and electronic music performers.</p><br>
<p>The ski resort has a Snow Park for extreme skiers and snowboarders. The park has expanses of grassland, forests composed of a variety of tree species, beauty spots, and river gorges. The snow blanket lasts a long time on this mountain and there are favorable conditions for the expansion of winter tourism there.</p><br>
<p>The tourist resort on the Kopaonik includes hotels, rest houses, chairlifts, ski slopes, spa&#39;s, and other tourist facilities.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Kopaonik is well-connected with the main transport routes in Serbia. The central part of Kopaonik with the tourist center and ski slopes are linked with the Ibar highway, and the nearest international airport is in Niš. A public helioport is located in a military base half a mile north of the resort.</p><br>
<p>Darkesville is an unincorporated community in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States. Established in 1791, Darkesville has been nationally recognized as a historic district.</p><br>
<p>A post office and school (now closed) once operated in Darkesville.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Darkesville lies between Inwood and Martinsburg along USA Route 11. The community&#39;s elevation is 531 feet (162 m), and it is located at about 39&deg;22&prime;25&Prime;N latitude, 78&deg;1&prime;30&Prime;W longitude (39.3738500, -78.0248602).</p><br>
<p>Middle Creek flows through the center of Darkesville.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Established by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on December 7, 1791 on the property of James Buckells, Darkesville is named for William Darke, a Virginia military officer who had his headquarters in the community. Historically, Darkesville has been known by various names and a wide variety of spellings. An 1895 atlas showed the community as "Buckletown", and later variants included "Buckellstown", "Buckels Town", "Buckelstown", "Buckle Town" and "Bucklestown", all referring to the entrepreneurial James Buckles (1732-1796) who contributed land and laid out the town in 1790. "James Town" and "Locke" have also been applied to the community. Its current name has also been spelled "Darkes" and "Darkville".</p><br>
<h2>Historic district</h2><br>
<p>In 1980, the community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Darkesville was recognized for its historic architecture, which includes approximately twenty-five buildings constructed as log cabins in 1810 or earlier.</p><br>
<p>First Ladies National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in Canton, Ohio. During her residency in Washington, D.C. Mary Regula, wife of Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, spoke regularly about the nation’s First Ladies. Recognizing the paucity of research materials available she created a board to raise funds and for a historian to assemble a comprehensive bibliography on American First Ladies. From these inspirations came a National First Ladies’ Library, established in 1996 and First Ladies National</p><br>
<p>Historic Site.</p><br>
<p>The site was established in 2000 to commemorate all the United States First Ladies and comprises two buildings: the Ida Saxton McKinley Historic Home and the Education & Research Center.</p><br>
<p>Tours start at the Education & Research Center, located one block north of the Saxton McKinley house on Market Avenue. The 1895 building, formerly the City National Bank Building, was given to the National First Ladies’ Library in 1997.</p><br>
<p>The first floor features a theater, a large exhibit and meeting space and a small library room with a collection of books that replicates First Lady Abigail Fillmores collection for the first White House Library. The centers second floor is home to the main National First Ladies&#39; Library. Other floors contain conference rooms, storage and office space.</p><br>
<p>The Ida Saxton McKinley Historic Home preserves the home of Ida McKinley, the wife of USA President William McKinley. The brick Victorian house, built in 1841 and modified in 1865, is furnished in the style of the Victorian era. Costumed docents provide tours, and exhibits focus on President and Mrs. McKinley, photos of First Ladies, and Victorian decorations.</p><br>
<p>Admission to the First Ladies National Historic Site includes both the exhibits in the Education & Research Center and a guided tour of the Ida Saxton McKinley Historic Home. Reservations for the house tour are recommended due to limits on tour size. Reservations are required for groups of 6 or more.</p><br>
<p>The site is operated by the National First Ladies&#39; Library in a partnership agreement with the National Park Service and managed by Cuyahoga Valley National Park.</p><br>
<p>Lake Monger  is a large urban wetland on the Swan Coastal Plain in suburban, Western Australia nestled between the suburbs of Leederville, Wembley and Glendalough.</p><br>
<p>Located less than 5 km from the city of Perth and situated alongside the Mitchell Freeway, it runs approximately north-west to south-east towards the Swan River and consists of 70 hectare of mainly open shallow water with an island of 1.3 hectare in the south-west corner. The 110 hectare of lake and the surrounding parklands are known as the Lake Monger Reserve.</p><br>
<p>The lake is used extensively for recreation and is a major tourist attraction with up to 12,000 visitors per week. Activities include bird watching and exercise.</p><br>
<p>A 3.8 km paved walking/cycling track encircles the lake which takes about 50 Minutes to traverse by foot at Normal waking speed. Ample car parking, playground equipment and barbecue facilities are also provided.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The indigenous Noongar people of the south-western region call the area Keiermulu which translates to the home fires or camp, or Lake Galup or Lake Kalup.</p><br>
<p>After European settlement, it became known as either Large Lake or Triangle Lake (based on its roughly triangular shape) before being named Monger&#39;s Lake in 1831. In April 1932 it was changed to its current name of Lake Monger.</p><br>
<h2>Pre-European history</h2><br>
<p>Little is known about the use of the lake by the Noongars prior to the British settlement other than the area was known to be within the area inhabited by those people. Given its geographical features, it could have been used regularly as a significant camping and hunting site with black swans and other wildfowl as well as turtles, frogs, gilgies and mudfish hunted as food.</p><br>
<p>Associated with the lake is the Wagyl, part of Noongar mythology. The myth describes the track of a serpent being, who in his journey towards the sea, deviates from his route and emerges from the ground which gives rise to Lake Monger. The lake and a significant part of the reserve are registered with the Department of Indigenous Affairs as an Aboriginal heritage site of historic and mythological significance to the Aboriginal people.</p><br>
<h2>History since 1832</h2><br>
<h3>Perth wetlands</h3><br>
<p>The lake was originally part of a series of freshwater wetlands running north from the Swan River along the coastal plain for approximately 50 km. Lake Monger was grouped with the Georgiana Lake and Lake Sutherland (both near Mitchell Freeway, near Sutherland and Newcastle streets) and Herdsman Lake and together the area made up what was known as The Great Lakes District.</p><br>
<p>European settlement led to many of the wetlands areas being drained for land reclamation to take advantage of the fertile soil for farming enterprises, and for expansion of parks and recreation areas. Lake Monger and Herdsman Lake are the last two major wetlands remaining close to the city. The City of Perth itself sits on an area of reclaimed wetlands. It is thought that between 49% and 80% of the wetlands on the coastal plain have been drained, filled or cleared since 1832.</p><br>
<p>Other lakes and swamps in the immediate northern vicinity of the early Perth township were Lake Kingsford (site of the current Perth railway station), Lake Irwin (Perth Entertainment Centre) and further north were Stones Lake (Perth Oval), Lake Poullet (First Swamp, part of what is now Birdwood Square), Lake Thomson (Mews Swamp, between Lake, Brisbane and Beaufort streets) and Lake Henderson (parts of what is now Robertson Park and Dorrien Gardens). Further north still lay Second Swamp (Bulwer Street, east of Lake Street), Third Swamp (Hyde Park) and Three Island Lake and Smiths Lake (now Charles Veryard Reserve). Many of these lakes formed a natural interconnected drainage system which found its way into the Swan River at East Perth through Claise Brook.</p><br>
<p>In 1833, water draining from Lakes Kingsford, Irwin, Sutherland and Henderson was used to drive a water-driven mill located in Mill Street.</p><br>
<h3>Timeline</h3><br>
<p>In 1829, a British expedition established the Swan River Colony and in 1830, Lake Monger was the site of a minor skirmish between white settlers and a Noongar man by the name of Midgegooroo.</p><br>
<p>By 1832, the lands around the lake had been subdivided into eight lots: a southern one was acquired by John Henry Monger and described as 200 acres of Perthshire Location Ae abutting Lake Monger. William H. Leeder took up adjoining land grants at Perthshire Locations Ac and Ad, to which he later added Locations 1, Ax and Ay. This area is now known as the suburb of Leederville.</p><br>
<p>From 1850 to 1868, the arrival of convicts swelled the population and market gardening on the northern side of the city expanded to meet the greater demand for food. By the 1870s, "Perth was surrounded by gardens in a fan which spread from Cole’s garden in the east to Leeder’s in the west".</p><br>
<p>On 9 August 1874 John Herold (54) and his stepson George Wansbrough (11) drowned when their flat-bottomed boat capsized. Herold was heard telling Wansbrough to be careful of how he moved, lest he capsize the boat, shortly before they disappeared. (The Inquirer & Commercial News 12 Aug 1874.)</p><br>
<p>On 16 February 1876 Mary Anne Costello (a student at the Convent School) drowned while bathing on a school picnic. Another girl who was bathing with her was rescued.</p><br>
<p>On 5 December 1876, Jemmy, an aboriginal, drowned after wading into the river to retrieve a duck he&#39;d shot.</p><br>
<p>In December 1894, young schoolboy Michael John Maley was found dead at the base of a tree near the lake by his brother. It was supposed he&#39;d been birds-nest gathering, climbed the tree and lost his hold. He died from internal injuries.</p><br>
<p>On 21 October 1901 Louisa Heathorn (37) and Francis George Hatch (26) both drowned whilst boating together.</p><br>
<p>In 1902, the Leederville Council appointed a board under the Parks and Reserves Act 1896 to manage the lake.</p><br>
<p>In 1909, construction of a drain was completed which connected the lake with the Swan River and which allowed the water level to be managed. This drain still operates today.</p><br>
<p>In 1912, the lake had an area of 111 hectare.</p><br>
<p>On 26 May 1917 Frederick George Ribbins (7) drowned at the lake while playing with a friend.</p><br>
<p>On 19 October 1918 Wilfred Grenville Carstairs (2 and a half) drowned when he fell from a small jetty and tumbled into the water. His sister jumped in to try and save him but soon got into difficulties herself and was rescued in the nick of time.</p><br>
<p>In the 1920s, the lake and surrounding areas, mainly to the west and south were still being used as a campsite by Noongars and providing food.</p><br>
<p>On 3 April 1920 Frederick Robert Blakemore (11) drowned whilst canoeing alone.</p><br>
<p>From the early 1920s, the newly formed City of Perth started acquiring land which was until then being used as Chinese market gardens and dairies for conversion into public parks and recreation areas. This included land mainly around the eastern side of the lake. By 1928 the gardeners were gone and by 1930, 50 hectare of land had been bought by the Council to be developed as part of the Lake Monger Reserve.</p><br>
<p>In August 1929 a newborn baby was found drowned in the lake, wrapped in two nightdresses.</p><br>
<p>After many years of delays due to lack of funds, silt dredging works commenced in May 1932 to reclaim 20 hectare of the mainly swampland.</p><br>
<p>By June 1933, 110,000 tons of silt had been pumped, allowing 4.8 hectares of land to be reclaimed. Much of the fringing vegetation was removed and replaced with lawns. The southern shore of the lake was developed with a kiosk, bathing sheds, boat house and a T-shaped jetty. A swim-through on the lake was held as part of the celebrations, as well as a canoe race involving Leederville, Wembley and Mount Hawthorn Boy Scouts and a series of bonfires. The lake was used extensively for picnicking, yachting, swimming and fishing. Some areas of the lake were further dredged to improve yachting.</p><br>
<p>As well as the dredging silt, reclamation was assisted by the dumping of rubbish and raw sewage from nightsoil collectors on the north-eastern side. By 1936 the water quality had deteriorated badly and reports of nuisance chironomids (midges) were being made.</p><br>
<p>On 2 February 1937 Keith William McNamara (10) drowned when playing near the bank of the lake. It was thought he slipped from the narrow.</p><br>
<p>On 25 September 1937 Robert Edward Richards (9) drowned while playing in an improvised canoe. Efforts to retrieve his body were handicapped by the rubbish which had been dumped into the lake and by the dirtiness of the water.</p><br>
<p>On 27 August 1939 Reginald Frederick Rowles (16), drowned when his small canvas boat was hit by a squall and capsized. He was with Arnold Noack (16), who managed to swim partway to shore where he was rescued.</p><br>
<p>After the drowning of Reginald Rowles, so soon after the drownings of Richards and McNamara, boating was prohibited on Lake Monger, and swimming discouraged.</p><br>
<p>Despite this, on 4 January 1946 Dorothea June Bubbles Mullane (12) drowned while bathing in the lake.</p><br>
<p>On 3 October 1953 Laurie Bell Ball (53) drowned. It was said the deceased had been depressed at the time and there were no suspicious circumstances.</p><br>
<p>Between 1950 and 1964, a 1.8 m deep sanitary landfill in the north and north-eastern parts of the lake reclaimed further wetlands. This was covered by 60 cm of clean soil.</p><br>
<p>On 21 January 1954 Frank Howard Middleton (5) drowned when he moved away from boys who were throwing mud at him. He ventured into deep water and sank.</p><br>
<p>On 23 June 1954 Charles James (75) drowned himself in the lake.</p><br>
<p>In the late 1950s, a comprehensive plan for the lake was drawn up as part of Gordon Stephenson&#39;s 1955 Plan for the Metropolitan Region, Perth and Fremantle and which saw the provision of land within the reserve set aside for the Mitchell Freeway, which was built in the 1970s.</p><br>
<p>In the 1960s a small island was created in the south-western corner to act as a bird refuge.</p><br>
<p>On 17 August 1963 Jonathan David Hunt (13) drowned while paddling an upturned car hood from a wrecked car with a friend (on another car hood). The friends improvised canoe sank so he hopped onto Hunts, which also sank and both ended up in the water. The friend was rescued and revived and it was only then realised Hunt was missing. Hunt&#39;s body was retrieved the next day.</p><br>
<p>In 2006, a local school discovered hundreds of dead fish around the shore of the lake. It was discovered that residents living near the lake were using fertilizer containing phosphorus on their lawns. This fertilizer went into drains, polluting the lake.</p><br>
<p>In 2008, heavy rains caused the north west section to flood, creating a small cove and several small islands and spits.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>A reed island was constructed in the 1960s to provide a summer refuge for birds. 38 species of birds have been sighted including black swans, cormorants, spoonbills and pelicans.</p><br>
<p>The lake also supports southwestern snake-necked turtles, large skinks, and two species of frogs. Fish common to the lake are all introduced species including goldfish, carp, mosquito fish and English perch.</p><br>
<p>Vegetation in the 1800s comprised swampland trees; Melaleuca rhaphiophylla, Banksia littoralis, and Eucalyptus rudis. Xanthorrhoea (blackboy), rushes, wattle and tea tree were the common flora, but with land reclamation, rushes were removed to plant lawns and construct sandy beaches. None of the banksia and few paperbarks remain and trees are now generally confined to a narrow strip surrounding the shoreline, mainly on the northern and eastern sides.</p><br>
<p>Beni Hammad Fort, also called Al Qala of Beni Hammad  is a fortified palatine city in Algeria. Now in ruins, in the 11th century, it served as the first capital of the Hammadid dynasty. It is in the Hodna Mountains northeast of MSila, at an elevation of 1,418 m, and receives abundant water from the surrounding mountains. Beni Hammad Fort is near the town of Maadid , about 225 km southeast of Algiers, in the Maghreb.</p><br>
<p>In 1980, it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and described as "an authentic picture of a fortified Muslim city".</p><br>
<p>The town includes a 7 km long line of walls. Inside the walls are four residential complexes, and the largest mosque built in Algeria after that of Mansurah. It is similar in design to the Grand Mosque of Kairouan, with a tall minaret, 20 m.</p><br>
<p>Excavations have brought to light numerous terracotta, jewels, coins and ceramics testifying to the high level of civilization under the Hammadid dynasty. Also among the artifacts discovered are several decorative fountains using the lion as a motif. The remains of the emir&#39;s palace, known as Dal al-Bahr, include three separate residences separated by gardens and pavilions.</p><br>
<h2>Dar al-Bahr, the Lake Palace</h2><br>
<p>The Dar al-Bahr palace was named for its rectangular pool, which measured 67 by. A ramp at one end of the pool was used to launch boats. References to nautical displays in this pool appear in the accounts of contemporary visitors. The pool was surrounded by a portico, and accessed through a monumental entrance on the east side. West of the pool was an elevated terrace and courtyard with gardens. Outside the walls of the palace complex, gardens extended east-to-west across the city, and to a depth of nearly 100 m. The gardens have not yet been explored by archeologists, although ornamental fountains have been discovered.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The fortress was built in 1007 by Hammad ibn Buluggin, the son of Buluggin ibn Ziri, the founder of Algiers. The city became the capital of the Hammadid Berbers, and sustained a siege from the Zirid in 1017. In 1090 it was abandoned under the menace of the Banu Hilal, and was partly destroyed by the Almohads in 1152.</p><br>
<p>Fremont Older Open Space Preserve is a 739 acre regional park located in Santa Clara County, California and operated by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. The preserve contains 14.7 miles  of hiking trails, nearly all open to equestrians and bicycles. The area has been owned by the district since 1975.</p><br>
<p>The preserve is named after San Francisco newspaper editor Fremont Older, a previous owner. Older and his wife, Cora, purchased the then-200 acre property for $10,000 in 1912. They built a house there in 1914, where the Olders lived until their deaths, Fremont in 1935 and Cora in 1968. The house, known as Woodhills, has an unusual architectural style which incorporates both the shingle style and the then-developing modern movement.</p><br>
<p>The house was condemned at the time the district purchased the property, and was to be demolished. However, in 1979, newspaper publisher Mort Levine lobbied the district to save the house. The district agreed to lease it to Levine for 25 years at $1 per year. Levine and his wife spent $350,000 and the next 12 years renovating the house, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now their private residence, but is open to docent led tours each spring.</p><br>
<p>Notable locations in the park include Hunters Point, a 900 ft. (275 m) bald hilltop which is locally known for its sweeping views of the south Bay Area as well as Maisies Peak (the highest point in the preserve) and Garrod Farms.</p><br>
<p>The preserve contains many miles of trails and connects with other nearby locations, such as Stevens Creek County Park and Montebello Open Space Preserve.</p><br>
<p>Becharof Lake is a 37 mi long lake on the Alaska Peninsula. It is located 23 mi south-east of Egegik, in the Aleutian Range. It is the second largest lake in Alaska after Iliamna Lake. It ranks eighth on list of largest lakes of the United States by volume and fourteenth on list of largest lakes of the United States by area.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Russian navigator Dmitry Bocharov of the Imperial Russian Navy explored at Kodiak, Alaska, in 1788, and returned to Alaska in 1791. In late spring 1791, Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, chief manager of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company in Russian America, ordered Bocharov to explore the northwest shore of the Alaska Peninsula. His orders directed him to seek a portage across the peninsula near Kodiak. Twenty to thirty men crewed two 30 ft walrus-skin-covered open boats under his command. They sailed and paddled from Unalaska Island along the northwest shore of the Alaska Peninsula as far as Bristol Bay via Egegik Bay. In search of a portage, he traveled up the Egegik River into a large inland lake. This lake now bears his name with an Americanized spelling: Becharof Lake. He probed the lake to its most eastern extent in the summer of 1791. After making a portage from the easternmost point of the lake to the North Pacific Ocean, he returned to Kodiak and reported his findings to Baranov.</p><br>
<p>The Russian Hydrological Department published the name "Oz(ero) Ugashek" on Chart 1455 in 1852.</p><br>
<p>The Alaska Purchase of 1867 transferred the territory from the Russian Empire to the United States of America. Naturalist William Healey Dall of the Smithsonian Institution, later Acting Assistant to the United States Coast Survey, named the lake in 1868.</p><br>
<p>Teshekpuk Lake is a 22 mi-wide lake on the Arctic coast of the USA state of Alaska, South of Pitt Point, 12 mi East of Harrison Bay, 80 mi East of Point Barrow.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Its name comes from the Iñupiaq language, as recorded by Rochfort Maguire as Tasok-poh in 1854, and reported to mean "big enclosed coastal water" or "big coastal lake".</p><br>
<p>Also known as:</p><br>
<p>Lake Teshekpuk</p><br>
<p>Tasekpuk Lake</p><br>
<p>Tasirkpuk Lake</p><br>
<p>Tasyukpun</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>Teshekpuk Lake is the largest lake in Arctic Alaska, the largest thermokarst lake in the world. Fish species in the lake include broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus), Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus ), Burbot (Lota lota ), Arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis ), lake trout(Salvelinus namaycush ), Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma ), Chinook salmon(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and chum salmon(Oncorhynchus keta). The region provides habitat to a variety of arctic wildlife, including the Teshekpuk Lake Caribou Herd (64,000 animals), and large numbers of shorebirds and migratory waterfowl. The Teshekpuk Lake Observatory was established by the USA Geological Survey, National Science Foundation and other partners to study impacts of climate change on the arctic environment.</p><br>
<p>In July 2007, a study reported that the disappearance of sea ice near Teshekpuk Lake is causing rapid erosion in the marshy, wildlife-rich area. In some places, the sea has pushed in half a mile and salt water has contaminated freshwater lakes. According to the study, migratory birds, caribou and other wildlife populations have lost habitat, and the sparse human infrastructure along the coastline has been damaged. According to Stan Senner, executive director of Audubon Alaska, "The area (Teshekpuk Lake) is one of the most important areas in the entire Arctic, and I don&#39;t just mean in Arctic Alaska...It is simply the most important goose-molting area in the Arctic."</p><br>
<h3>Drilling controversy</h3><br>
<p>On January 11, 2006, the USA Department of the Interior (DOI) approved oil and gas drilling on approximately 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) of land in and around Teshekpuk Lake on Alaska&#39;s North Slope within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Up to 90,000 geese congregate in this area in summer to undergo wing molt, and up to 46,000 caribou use the area for both calving and migration. Some environmental groups contested the DOI decision to allow drilling. The decision stipulated that no surface drilling would be allowed on land considered crucial for molting geese or caribou, and a maximum of 2,100 acres (8.5 km²) in seven different zones could be permanently disturbed on the surface.</p><br>
<p>On September 25, 2006, the USA District Court for the District of Alaska issued a decision that removed the wildlife habitat around Teshekpuk Lake from an oil and gas lease sale that was held on September 27. The court found that the USA governments environmental analysis had violated federal environmental laws. The ruling struck down the Interior Departments leasing plan for the area, prohibiting the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from leasing more than 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) around the lake. Prior to the decision, led by a coalition of environmental organizations and Alaskan Natives, USA citizens sent over 300,000 comments to the Secretary of Interior and the CEO of ConocoPhillips.</p><br>
<p>Environmentalists and the region&#39;s Iñupiat have also cited the impacts of global climate change as a reason to oppose drilling in land near Teshekpuk Lake.</p><br>
<p>Desroches Island or Île Desroches is the main island of the Amirante Islands, part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.</p><br>
<p>It is located 227 km southwest of Victoria, Seychelles. It is 5.5 km long and has a land area of 4.027 km. Along its circumference of 13 km is a beach of fine sand. Conservation on the island is managed by Island Conservation Society.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was named L’ile des Roches in 1771 by la Biolière, commander of the French vessel "L’Etoile du Matin" in honour of François Julien des Roches (Chevalier des Roches),the Governor of Île de France (now Mauritius) and Île Bourbon (now Réunion) from 1767 to 1772.</p><br>
<p>It was explored by the Chevalier de la Billioère in 1771. The British had originally named it Wood Island because of its dense tree vegetation. The island was an important producer of copra.</p><br>
<p>in 1835 the first settlement was established</p><br>
<p>Along with the remaining Amirante Islands, Desroches had been a part of the Seychelles since it became a separate colony in 1909. On November 8, 1965, the United Kingdom split Desroches from the Seychelles to become part of the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory together with Farquhar, Aldabra and the Chagos Archipelago, but returned it to the Seychelles with the first two. The purpose was to allow the construction of a military base for the mutual benefit of the United Kingdom and the United States. On June 23, 1976, Desroches was returned to Seychelles as a result of it attaining independence.</p><br>
<p>on 1972, a tourist lodge was built on the island, on Lodge Beach.</p><br>
<p>on 1988, the Lodge changed hands to MK resorts which renovated it to a Luxury resort with 20 rooms.</p><br>
<p>on 2005, the resort was sold to Collins Properties which renovated it and added a spa</p><br>
<p>in 2008 Island Conservation Society opened a Conservation Centre at Desroches. Turtle monitoring, bird monitoring and island rehabilitation projects were implemented and an endowment fund established to provide funds to protect the environment.</p><br>
<p>The LUX managed resort was expanded to 60 rooms in 2008</p><br>
<p>in 2016 the resort was sold to Four Seasons hotels.</p><br>
<p>Four Seasons are adding more rooms in Lodge beach, but the Madame Zabre Beach units are sold as residential buildings, and a new neighborhood will be formed in this area by 2017.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>It is located 36 km east of the Amirantes Bank, and separated from it by water over 1,300 m deep. It lies on the southern edge of a reef of atoll character. At the northern edge of the atoll are the Shark Rocks, with least depths between 3 to 6 m. The island is fringed by a drying reef which extends 1.6 km offshore from the northeastern extremity and 0.8 km from the southwestern extremity. The island is low and is covered with coconut palms and tall hardwood trees. A deep channel, about 1.6 km wide, leads into the lagoon. The least depth in the channel is 18.3 m, and it crosses the atoll in a position about 11 km northwest of Desroches.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>Desroches has a population of about 100. The Collins group hotel formerly had 30 rooms in the south (former location of Desroches Island Resort), built in 1988, and 1 presidential villa at Madame Zabre Beach</p><br>
<p>There is a lighthouse on the northeast end, at Helene point, of the Desroches Island.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>The island belongs to Outer Islands District.</p><br>
<p>Being an island with a small population, there are not any government buildings or services. For many services, people have to go to Victoria, which is a difficult task.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>The island is bisected by a 1,372 m long paved airstrip in the southern part (IATA code DES, ICAO code FSDA). The island has regular service aircraft from Mahé.</p><br>
<h2>Economics</h2><br>
<p>The inhabitants on the island are engaged mainly in tourism, and in very small scale farming and fishing which are mainly for the island consumption.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>In 2007, Island Conservation Society opened a conservation center on the island, employing full-time staff.</p><br>
<p>There are no endemic land birds, only introduced species. Around the hotel and village there are populations of house sparrows and zebra doves and in the woods Madagascar fodies and the more retiring grey francolin. Much of the island is covered in coconut trees but well-wooded pockets of forest remain. The long, encircling beach and beach-crest of Desroches are of national importance for both green turtle and hawksbill turtle, particularly on the south and northeast coasts. The only known endemic of the Amirantes, a species of cockroach Delosia ornata, is found here.</p><br>
<p>Small numbers of wedge-tailed shearwaters breed despite the presence of rats.</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>Dougga or Thugga  is a Romano-Berber city in northern Tunisia, included in a 65 hectare archaeological site.</p><br>
<p>UNESCO qualified Dougga as a World Heritage Site in 1997, believing that it represents “the best-preserved Roman small town in North Africa”. The site, which lies in the middle of the countryside, has been protected from the encroachment of modern urbanisation, in contrast, for example, to Carthage, which has been pillaged and rebuilt on numerous occasions.</p><br>
<p>Thugga’s size, its well-preserved monuments and its rich Numidian-Berber, Punic, ancient Roman and Byzantine history make it exceptional. Amongst the most famous monuments at the site are a Libyco-Punic Mausoleum, the capitol, the theatre, and the temples of Saturn and of Juno Caelestis.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The archaeological site is located 4.6 kilometres SSW of the modern town of Téboursouk, on a plateau with an uninhibited view of the surrounding plains in the Oued Khalled. The slope on which Dougga is built rises to the north and is bordered in the east by the cliff known as Kef Dougga. Further to the east, the ridge of the Fossa regia, a ditch and boundary made by the Romans after the destruction of Carthage, indicates Dougga’s position as a point of contact between the Punic and Berber worlds.</p><br>
<p>The site offers a high degree of natural protection, which helps to explain its early occupation.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Douggas history is best known from the time of the Roman conquest, even though numerous pre-Roman monuments, including a necropolis, the mausoleum, and temples have been discovered during archaeological digs. These monuments are an indication of the sites importance before the arrival of the Romans.</p><br>
<h3>Origins</h3><br>
<p>According to Gabriel Camps, the Numidian name for the city is TBGG, which derives from the Libyan word TBG (to protect). This toponym evidently derives from the site&#39;s location atop an easily defensible plateau.</p><br>
<p>The city appears to have been founded in the 6th century BC. Some historians believe that Dougga is the city of Tokaï, Tokae (Τοκαί in Ancient greek), which was captured by a lieutenant of Agathocles at the end of the 4th century BC; Diodorus Siculus described that city as "a city of beautiful grandeur".</p><br>
<p>Dougga was in any case an early and important human settlement. Its urban character is evidenced by the presence of a necropolis with dolmens, the most ancient archaeological find at Dougga, a sanctuary dedicated to Ba&#39;al Hammon, neo-Punic steles, the mausoleum, architectural fragments and a temple dedicated to Masinissa, the remains of which were found during archaeological excavations. Even though our knowledge of the city before the Roman conquest remains very limited, recent archaeological finds have revolutionised the image that we had of this period.</p><br>
<p>The identification of the temple dedicated to Masinissa beneath the forum disproved Louis Poinssots theory that the Numidian city stood on the plateau but that it was separate from the newer Roman settlement. The temple, which was erected in the tenth year of Micipsas reign, 139 BC, is 14 metres long and 6.3 metres wide. It proves that the area around the forum was already built upon before the arrival of the Roman colonists. A building dating to the 2nd century BC has also been discovered nearby. Similarly, Dougga&#39;s mausoleum is not isolated but stands within an urban necropolis.</p><br>
<p>Recent finds have disproved earlier theories about the so-called "Numidian walls". The walls around Dougga are in fact not Numidian; they are part of the city&#39;s fortifications erected in Late Antiquity. Targeted digs have also proven that what had been interpreted as two Numidian towers in the walls are in fact two funeral monuments from the Numidian era reused much later as foundations and a section of defences.</p><br>
<p>The discovery of Libyan and Punic inscriptions at the site provoked a debate on the administration of the city at the time of the Kingdom of Numidia. The debate - about the interpretation of epigraphic sources - focussed on the question of whether the city was still under Punic influence or whether it was increasingly Berber. Local Berber institutions distinct from any form of Punic authority arose from the Numidian period onwards, but Gabriel Camps notes that Punic shofets were still in place in several cities, including Dougga, during the Roman era, which is a sign of continuing Punic influence and the preservation of certain elements of Punic civilisation well after the fall of Carthage.</p><br>
<h3>Gradual integration of the city</h3><br>
<p>The Romans granted Dougga the status of an indigenous city (civitas) following their conquest of the region.</p><br>
<p>The creation of the colony of Carthage during the reign of Augustus complicated Dougga&#39;s institutional status. The city was included in the territory (pertica) of the Roman colony, but around this time, a pagus of Roman colonists also arose alongside the existing settlement. For two centuries, the site was thus governed by two civic and institutional bodies - the city with its peregrini and the pagus with its Roman citizens, both of which had Roman civic institutions - magistrates and a council (ordo) of decurions for the city, a local council from the end of the 1st century AD, and local administrators for the pagus, who were legally subordinated to the distant but powerful colony of Carthage.</p><br>
<p>Over time, the Romanisation of the city brought the two communities closer together. Notable members of the peregrini increasingly adopted Roman culture and behaviour, became Roman citizens, and the councils of the two communities began to take decisions in unison. The increasing closeness of the communities was facilitated at first by their geographic proximity - there was no physical distinction between their two settlements - and then later by institutional arrangements. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the city was granted Roman law; from this moment onward, the magistrates automatically received Roman citizenship and the rights of the city&#39;s inhabitants became similar to those of the Roman citizens. During the same era, the pagus won a certain degree of autonomy from Carthage; it was able to receive bequests and administer public funds.</p><br>
<p>Nonetheless, it was not until 205 AD, during the reign of Septimius Severus, that the two communities came together as one municipium, made “free” (see below) while Carthage’s pertica was reduced. The city was supported by the euergetism of its great families of wealthy individuals, which sometimes reached exorbitant levels, while its interests were successfully represented by appeals to the emperors. Dougga’s development culminated during the reign of Gallienus, when it obtained the status of a Roman colony with the title Colonia Licinia Septimia Aurelia Alexandriana Thuggensis. Dougga’s monuments attest to its prosperity in the period from the reign of Diocletian to that of Theodosius I, but it fell into a sort of stupor from the 4th century AD; Christianity only left minimal traces in the city.</p><br>
<h3>Dougga’s “liberty”</h3><br>
<p>From 205 CE, when the civitas and the pagus fused as one municipium, Dougga bore the title Municipium Septimium Aurelium Liberum Thugga; each of these terms has a particular significance.</p><br>
<p>Septimium and Aurelium are references to the names of the municipium’s “founders” (conditores) (Septimius Severus and Caracalla, whose Latin title was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus); the granting of a new legal status to Dougga was equated to the foundation of a new city.</p><br>
<p>The significance of the term Liberum is not immediately clear. The term appears in the titles of a certain number of other municipia also founded at the same time: Thibursicum Bure, Aulodes and Thysdrus. Several interpretations of its meaning have been suggested. According to Alfred Merlin and Louis Poinssot, the term derives from the name of the god Liber, in whose honour a temple was erected at Dougga. The epithet Liberum would thus follow the same pattern as Frugifer and Concordia, which appear in the title of Thibursicum Bure. Thibursicum Bure is however an exception to the rule; the titles of the other municipia including the term Liberum do not include the names of any divinities, and this hypothesis has therefore been abandoned. Liberum is thus a reference to libertas (liberty). This interpretation is confirmed by an inscription found at Dougga that honours Alexander Severus as the conservator libertatis (the preserver of liberty).</p><br>
<p>It is however also unclear exactly what form this liberty took. Jules Toutain is of the opinion that this is a designation for a particular type of municipium - free cities where the Roman governor did not have the right to control the municipal magistrates. There is however no evidence that Dougga enjoyed exceptional legal privileges of the type associated with certain free cities such as Aphrodisias in Asia Minor. Paul Veyne has thus suggested that Dougga’s libertas is nothing but an expression of the concept of liberty without any legal meaning; obtaining the status of a municipium had freed the city of its subjugation and enabled it to adorn itself with the ornamenta libertatis. The city’s liberty was celebrated just as its dignity was extolled; Emperor Probus is conservator libertatis et dignitatis (the preserver of liberty and dignity). Jacques Gascou, in line with Paul Veyne’s interpretation, describes the situation thus: “Liberum, in Thugga’s title, is a term with which the city, which had waited a long time for the status of a municipium, is happy to flatter itself”.</p><br>
<p>Despite Gascou’s conclusion, efforts have been made more recently to identify concrete aspects of Dougga’s liberty. Claude Lepelley believes on the one hand that this must be a reference to the relations between the city and Rome and on the other hand that the term can cover a range of diverse privileges of differing degrees. It is known that the territory of Carthage, to which the Dougga pagus belonged until 205 CE, enjoyed such privileges: the inhabitants of the pagus even sent an appeal during Trajan’s reign to defend the immunitas perticae Carthaginiensium, the (fiscal) immunity of the territory of Carthage. The Dougga civitas had not been granted this concession, and the fusion of pagus with the civitas meant that the citizens of the pagus risked losing their enviable privilege. The liberty of the municipia founded during the reign of Septimius Severus could thus be a reference to the fiscal immunity made possible by and the region’s great wealth and by the emperor’s generosity to each municipium at the time of its fusion. During the reign of Gallienus, a certain Aulus Vitellius Felix Honoratus, a well-known individual in Dougga, made an appeal to the emperor “in order to assure the public liberty”. Claude Lepelley believes that this is an indication that the city’s privilege had been called into question, although Dougga appears to have been at least partially able to preserve its concessions, as evidenced by an inscription to the honour of “Probus, defender of its liberty”.</p><br>
<p>According to Michel Christol though, this interpretation overly restricts the meaning of the word libertas. In Christol’s view, it is important not to forget that the emperor’s decision in 205 must have been taken in response to a request made by the civitas and must have taken account of the relations that already existed between it and the pagus. It was the autonomy that the civitas had achieved during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and the granting of Roman law that raised the spectre of a fusion of the two communities, which would without a doubt have provoked a certain unease in the pagus. The inhabitants of the pagus would have expressed “concern or even refusal when faced with the pretensions of their closest neighbours”. This would explain the honour that the pagus attributed to Commodus (conservator pagi, protector of the pagus) &#39;.</p><br>
<p>For Michel Christol, the term Liberum must be understood in this context and in an abstract sense. This liberty derives from belonging to a city and expresses the end of the civitas’ dependence, “the elevation of a community of peregrini to the liberty of Roman citizenship”, which also served to placate the fears of the inhabitants of the pagus and to open the door to a later promotion, to the status of a colony. This promotion took place in 261 CE, during the reign of Gallienus, following an appeal from Aulus Vitellius Felix Honoratus in Michel Christol’s version of events. Thereafter, the defence of the libertas publica was not a question of defending a privilege at risk, but of requesting the “ultimate liberty” (summa libertas) - the promotion to the status of a colony. Michel Christol also points out the abstract character of terms such as libertas or dignitas; despite their abstract use, they are references to concrete and unique events.</p><br>
<h2>General layout</h2><br>
<p>The city as it exists today consists essentially of remains from the Roman era dating for the most part to the 2nd and 3rd century CE. The Roman builders had to take account both of the site’s particularly craggy terrain and of earlier constructions, which led them to abandon the normal layout of Roman settlements, as is also particularly evident in places such as Timgad.</p><br>
<p>Recent archaeological digs have confirmed the continuity in the city’s urban development. The heart of the city has always been at the top of the hill, where the forum replaced the Numidian agora. As Dougga developed, urban construction occupied the side of the hill, so that the city must have resembled “a compact mass”, according to Hédi Slim</p><br>
<p>Early archaeological digs concentrated on public buildings, which meant that private buildings tended at first to be uncovered at the ends of the trenches dug for this purpose. Later, trenches were cut with the purpose of exposing particularly characteristic private buildings.</p><br>
<h3>Numidian residence</h3><br>
<p>Traces of a residence dating to the Numidian era have been identified in the foundations of the temple dedicated to Liber. Although these traces are very faint, they served to disprove the theories of the first archaeologists, including Louis Poinssot, that the Roman and pre-Roman settlements were located on separate sites. The two settlements evidently overlapped.</p><br>
<h3>The trifolium villa</h3><br>
<p>This residence, which dates to the 2nd or 3rd century CE, stands downhill from the quarters that surround the forum and the principal public monuments in the city, in an area where the streets are winding.</p><br>
<p>The trifolium villa, named after a clover-shaped room that was without a doubt used as a triclinium, is the largest private house excavated so far at Dougga. The house had two storeys, but there is almost nothing left of the upper storey. It stands in the south of the city, halfway up the hill. The house is particularly interesting because of the way in which it is built to align with the lay of the land; the entrance hall slopes down to a courtyard around which the various rooms were arranged.</p><br>
<h3>The market</h3><br>
<p>The market dates from the middle of the 1st century CE. It took the form of a square 35.5 metres by 28 metres in size, surrounded by a portico and shops on two sides. The northern side had a portico, while an exedra occupied the southern side. The exedra probably housed a statue of Mercury.</p><br>
<p>In order to compensate for the natural incline of the ground on which the market stands, its builders undertook significant earthworks. These earthworks have been dated as being amongst the oldest Roman constructions, and their orientation vis-à-vis the forum seems to suggest that they were not built on any earlier foundations. The modern-day location of the remains from the market near the forum should however not be misunderstood as indicating a link between the two. The market was almost completely destroyed during the construction of the Byzantine fort. It was excavated in 1918-1919.</p><br>
<h3>Licinian Baths</h3><br>
<p>The Licinian Baths are quite interesting for having much of its original walls intact, as well as a long tunnel used by the slaves working at the baths. Also, from the baths are some fine views over the valley beyond.</p><br>
<p>The baths were donated to the city by the Licinii family in the 3rd century. They were primarily used as winter baths.</p><br>
<p>Look especially out for the frigidarium which has triple arcades at both ends and large windows with great views over the valley.</p><br>
<h2>Funerary structures</h2><br>
<h3>Dolmens</h3><br>
<p>The presence of dolmens in North Africa has served to stoke historiographic debates that have been said to have ideological agendas. The dolmens at Dougga have been the subject of archaeological digs, which have also uncovered skeletons and ceramic models.</p><br>
<p>Although it is difficult to put a date on the erection of the dolmens, as they were in use until the dawn of the Christian era, it seems likely that they date from at least 2000 years BCE. Gabriel Camps has suggested that a link to Sicily. He has made the same suggestion for the “haouanet” tombs found in Algeria and Tunisia.</p><br>
<h3>Numidian bazina tombs</h3><br>
<p>A type of tomb unique to the Numidian world has been discovered at Dougga. They are referred to as bazina tombs or circular monument tombs.</p><br>
<h3>Punic-Libyan Mausoleum</h3><br>
<p>The Mausoleum of Ateban is one of the very rare examples of royal Numidian architecture. There is another in Sabratha in Libya. Some authors believe that there is a link with the funeral architecture in Anatolia and the necropolises in Alexandria from the 3rd and 2nd century BCE.</p><br>
<p>This tomb is 21 metres tall and was built in the 2nd century BCE. A bilingual inscription installed in the mausoleum mentioned that the tomb was dedicated to Ateban, the son of Iepmatath and Palu. In 1842, Sir Thomas Reade, the British consul in Tunis seriously damaged the monument while removing this inscription. This bilingual Punic-Libyan Inscription, now held at the British Museum, made it possible to decode the Libyan characters. It has only recently been established that the inscription was originally located on one side of a fake window on the podium. According to the most recent research, the names cited in the inscription are only those of its architect and of representatives of the different professions involved in its construction. The monument was built by the inhabitants of the city for a Numidian prince; some authors believe that it was intended for Massinissa</p><br>
<p>The monument owes its current appearance to the work of French archaeologist Louis Poinssot, who essentially reconstructed it from pieces that were left lying on the ground.</p><br>
<p>The tomb is accessed via a pedestal with five steps. On the northern side of the podium (the lowest of three levels in the monument), there is an opening to the funeral chamber that is closed with a stone slab. The other sides are decorated with fake windows and four Aeolic pilasters. The second level is made up of a temple-like colonnade (naiskos); the columns on each side are Ionic. The third level is the most richly decorated of all: in addition to pilasters similar to those on the lowest level, it is capped with a pyramid. Some elements of carved stone have also survived.</p><br>
<h3>Roman sepulchres</h3><br>
<p>Although work has in the past been undertaken to uncover the Roman sepulchres, today they have been reclaimed in part by olive trees.</p><br>
<p>The different necropolises mark the zones of settlement at Dougga. There are five areas that have been identified as necropolises: the first in the northeast, around the Temple of Saturn and the Victoria Church, the second in the northwest, a zone which also encompasses the dolmens on the site, the third in the west, between the Aïn Mizeb and Aïn El Hammam cisterns and to the north of the Temple of Juno Caelestis, the fourth and the fifth in the south and the south-east, one around the mausoleum and the other around Septimius Severus’ triumphal arch.</p><br>
<h3>Hypogeum</h3><br>
<p>The hypogeum is a half-buried edifice from the 3rd century CE. It was erected in the middle of the oldest necropolis, which was excavated in 1913. The hypogeum was designed to house funeral urns in small niches in the walls; at the time of its discovery, it contained sarcophagi, which suggests that it was in use for a long time.</p><br>
<h2>Political monuments</h2><br>
<h3>Triumphal arches</h3><br>
<p>Dougga still contains two Triumphal arches, which are in different states of disrepair.</p><br>
<p>Septimius Severus’s arch, which is heavily damaged, stands close to the mausoleum and on the route leading from Carthage to Théveste. It was erected in 205 CE.</p><br>
<p>Alexander Severus’s arch, which dates from 222-235, is relatively well preserved, despite the loss of its upper elements. It is equidistant from the capitol and the Temple of Juno Caelestis. Its arcade is four metres tall.</p><br>
<p>A third triumphal arch, dating from the Tetrarchy, has been completely lost.</p><br>
<h3>Forum</h3><br>
<p>The city forum, which is 924 m² in size is small. It is better preserved in some places than others, because the construction of the Byzantine fort damaged a large section of it. The capitol, which stands on an area surrounded by porticos, dominates its surroundings by virtue of its imposing appearance. The “square of the Rose of the Winds” (which is named after a decorative element) seems more like an esplanade leading to the Temple of Mercury, which stands on its northern side, than an open public space. The city’s curia and a tribune for speeches probably also stood here.</p><br>
<p>Long ago, archaeologists believed that Roman settlement at Dougga occurred ex nihilo. This suggestion has been contradicted by the discovery of a sanctuary dedicated to Massinissa amongst the substructures to the rear of the capitol.</p><br>
<h2>Recreational facilities</h2><br>
<h3>Theatre</h3><br>
<p>Theatres were a fundamental element of the monumental make-up of a city from the reign of Augustus.</p><br>
<p>The theatre, which was built in 168 or 169 CE, is one of the best preserved examples in Roman Africa. It could seat 3500 spectators, even though Dougga only had 5000 inhabitants. It was one of a series of imperial buildings constructed over the course of two centuries at Dougga which deviate from the classic “blueprints” only inasmuch as they have been adapted to take account of the local terrain. Some minor adjustments have been made and the local architects had a certain freedom with regard to the ornamentation of the buildings.</p><br>
<p>A dedication engraved into the pediment of the stage and on the portico the dominates the city, recalls the building&#39;s commissioner, P. Marcius Quadratus, who "built for his homeland with his own denarii&quot the dedication was celebrated with "scenic representations, distributions of life, a festival and athletic games".</p><br>
<p>The theatre is still used for performances of classic theatre, particularly during the festival of Dougga, and conservation work has been carried out on it.</p><br>
<h3>Auditorium</h3><br>
<p>The site known as the auditorium is an annex of the Temple of Liber, which probably served for the initiation of novices. Despite its modern appellation, the auditorium was not a site for spectacles; only its form suggests otherwise. It measures 20 by 20.</p><br>
<h3>Circus</h3><br>
<p>The city has a circus designed for chariot racing, but it is barely visible nowadays. Originally, the circus consisted of nothing more than a field; an inscription in the temple in honour of Caracalla’s victory in Germany notes that the land was donated by the Gabinii in 214 and describes it as an ager qui appellatur circus (field that serves as a circus) ). In 225 though, the site was prepared and the circus was constructed. It was financed by the magistrates (duumviri and aedile) after they had promised to do so following in response to a request from the entire population of the city. The circus was built to take the maximum possible advantage of the surrounding landscape, in reflection of an understandable need to limit costs in a medium-sized city with limited resources, but certainly also out of desire to finish the construction works as quickly as possible, given that magistrates’ mandates were limited to one year. The construction was nonetheless expected to have “a certain magnitude”; at 393 metres long with a spina 190 metres long and 6 metres wide, the circus is quite extraordinary in Roman Africa. The circus marks Dougga out as one of the most important cities in the province, alongside Carthage, Thysdrus, Leptis Magna, Hadrumet et Utica. The donation of the land for the pleasure of the general populace (ad voluptatem populi) and its development following a request from the entire population (postulante universo populo) are a reminder of the importance of spectacles in the social life of Roman cities and the demand for popular entertainment.</p><br>
<h3>Amphitheatre</h3><br>
<p>The question of whether there was an amphitheatre at Dougga has not been conclusively answered. Traditionally, a large elliptic depression to the northwest of the site has been interpreted as the site of an amphitheatre. Archeologists have however become much more cautious on this subject.</p><br>
<h3>Baths</h3><br>
<p>Three Roman baths have been completely excavated at Dougga; a fourth has so far only been partially uncovered. Of these four baths, one (“the bath of the house to the west of the Temple of Tellus”) belongs to a private residence, two, the Aïn Doura bath and the bath known for a long time as the “Licinian bath”, were, judging by their size, open to the public, while the nature of the last bath, the bath of the Cyclopses, is more difficult to interpret.</p><br>
<h4>Bath of the Cyclopses</h4><br>
<p>During the excavation of the Bath of the Cyclopses, a mosaic of cyclopses forging Jupiter’s thunderbolts was uncovered. It is now on display at the Bardo National Museum, where several very well preserved latrines are also on display. The building has been dated to the 3rd century CE on the basis of a study of the mosaic.</p><br>
<p>The size of the building (its frigidarium is less than 30 m²) has led some experts to believe that it was a private bath, but the identification of a domus in the immediate vicinity has proven difficult. The “trifolium villa” is quite distant, and the closest ruins are hard to identify as they have not been well preserved. Yvon Thébert therefore suggests that the bath served the local quarter.</p><br>
<h4>Antonian or Licinian Bath</h4><br>
<p>The Antonian Bath, which dates from the 3rd century CE, was known as the Licinian Bath (after emperor Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus) and has several storeys. Louis Poinssot’s identification of the bath as dating to Gallienus’ reign on the basis of incomplete inscriptions and Dougga’s prosperity at this time has been called into question by recent research, conducted in particular by Michel Christol. Christol has suggested that the bath dates from the reign of Caracalla; this thesis has since been confirmed by an analysis of inscriptions. Others have even suggested that the bath dates from the reign of the Severan dynasty, because of a particularity which became common a century later in the west: the columns in the northwest peristyle feature daises bearing arches.</p><br>
<p>The bath was later used for the production of olive oil at an unknown date.</p><br>
<p>The symmetrical building is medium-sized, with an area of 1700 m² excluding the palaestra, of which 175 m² are taken up by the frigidarium.</p><br>
<h4>Aïn Doura Bath</h4><br>
<p>In the immediate vicinity of Aïn Doura is a partially excavated complex that could turn out to be the largest bath in the city. On the basis of the mosaics that have been found here, it has been suggested that the bath dates from the end of the 2nd century or the start of the 3rd century CE, and that the mosaic décor was renewed in the 4th century CE.</p><br>
<p>The complex remains largely unexposed, but it seems, according to Yvon Thébert, that it has a symmetrical design, of which only a section of the cold rooms has been excavated.</p><br>
<h4>The bath of the house to the west of the Temple of Tellus</h4><br>
<p>This bath, measuring 75 m², which can be accessed from the house and from the street, was uncovered at the start of the 20th century. The archaeological analysis of the bath’s relationship with the house in which it is located has led Yvon Thébert to suggest that it was a later addition to the original construction but he does not propose a date for this event.</p><br>
<h2>Religious edifices</h2><br>
<p>There is archaeological or epigraphic evidence for more than twenty temples at Dougga; a significant number for a small city. There are archaeological remains and inscriptions proving the existence of eleven temples, archaeological remains of a further eight, and inscriptions referring to another fourteen. This abundance of religious sites is the result in particular of the philanthropy of wealthy families.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Massinissa</h3><br>
<p>The Temple of Massinissa is located on the western flank of the capital. The first archaeologists believed that the remains of the temple were a monumental fountain, even though an inscription proving the existence of a sanctuary to the deceased Numidian king was discovered in 1904. This inscription has been dated to 139 BCE, during the reign of Micipsa.</p><br>
<p>The remains are similar to those of the temple in Chemtou and are evidence of the fact that the political centre of the Roman city was in the same place as the Hellenic agora. The stone remains found in this area seem to belong to several different structures; the exact location of the sanctuary is still open to debate.</p><br>
<p>Although it is believed that the sanctuary set Massinissa on par with a god, this is debated by some experts. Stéphane Gsell believes that a temple to the king would reflect a continuation of eastern and Hellenic practices; Gabriel Camps builds on this hypothesis, pointing out the lack of any antique sources testifying to anything more than simple expressions of respect by a people vis-à-vis its king. According to Camps, the temple is only a memorial, a site belonging to a funeral cult. Its construction ten years into Micipsa’s reign can be explained by its political symbolism: Micipsa, sole ruler after the death of his brothers Gulussa and Mastanabal, was affirming the unity of his kingdom around the person of the king.</p><br>
<h3>The capitol</h3><br>
<p>The capitol is a Roman temple from the 2nd century CE, principally dedicated to Rome’s protective triad: Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno Regina et Minerva Augusta. It has a secondary dedication to the wellbeing of the emperors Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius; judging by this reference, the capitol must have been completed in 166-167 CE.</p><br>
<p>Thomas d’Arcos identified the capitol as a temple of Jupiter in the 17th century. It was the object of further research at the end of the 19th century, led in particular by the doctor Louis Carton in 1893. The walls, executed in opus africanum style, and the entablature of the portico were restored between 1903 and 1910. Claude Poinssot discovered a crypt beneath the cella in 1955. The most recent works were carried out by the Tunisian Institut national du patrimoine between 1994 and 1996.</p><br>
<p>The capitol is exceptionally well preserved, which is a consequence of its inclusion in the Byzantine fortification. A series of eleven stairs lead up to the front portico. The temple front’s Corinthian columns are eight metres tall, on top of which is the perfectly preserved pediment. The pediment bears a depiction of emperor Antoninus Pius’s elevation to godhood. The emperor is being carried by an eagle.</p><br>
<p>The base of the cella still features alcoves for three statues. The middle alcove houses a colossal statue of Jupiter.</p><br>
<p>The discovery of the head of a statue of Jupiter has led Claude Poinssot to suggest that the crypt dates from the period of Christianity’s triumph over the old religions. Sophie Saint-Amans does not exclude the possibility that the crypt was built at the same time as the Byzantine citadel, of which the forum and capitol formed the nerve centre.</p><br>
<p>The construction of the capitol at Dougga occurred at the same time as the construction of other monuments of the same type elsewhere in North Africa, which Pierre Gros explains as a consequence of the greater proximity of the imperial cult and the cult of Jupiter.</p><br>
<p>Near the capitol are the “square of the Rose of the Winds” – which is named after a compass rose that is engraved on the floor – and the remains of the Byzantine citadel, which reused a section of the ruins after the city’s decline.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Mercury</h3><br>
<p>The Temple of Mercury is also dedicated to Tellus. It faces towards the market; between the two lies the “square of the Rose of the Winds”. The temple is largely in ruins. It has three cellae but no courtyard. The sanctuary, which can be accessed via a series of four stairs, stands on a faded podium. It was excavated and shored up between 1904 and 1908.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of August Piety</h3><br>
<p>The small Temple of August Piety was built during the reign of Hadrian. It was financed through the philanthropy of a certain Caius Pompeius Nahanius. The temple faces the “square of the Rose of the Winds”. Part of the vestibule survives. Behind the temple, on the foundations of the Temple of Fortuna, Venus Concordia and Mercury, stands a mosque. The mosque is the last remnant of the little village that existed on the site until the creation of New Dougga.</p><br>
<p>Thomas d’Arcos identified the temple in 1631 thanks to an inscription that was still in situ at the time. The podium is relatively low (1-1.5 metres); it can be ascended by a series of seven stairs on the southern side.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Minerva</h3><br>
<p>The first Temple of Minerva at Dougga was a gift of the patron of the civitas at the end of the 1st century CE, but the more important site dedicated to this divinity is a building which features a temple and an area surrounded by a portico dating from the reign of Antoninus Pius. It was financed through the philanthropy of a priestess of the imperial cult, Iulia Paula Laenatiana. The building was designed to take advantage of the slope on which it stands; the podium is at the level of the roof of the portico and the temple in the strict sense of the word is located outside the surrounding building. The stairs providing access to the temple accentuates the inaccessible nature of the divinity.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Caracalla's Victory in Germany</h3><br>
<p>The Temple of Caracallas Victory in Germany is the only edifice dedicated to the imperial cult to have been located precisely at Dougga. Fragments of an inscription on the temples lintel were discovered in 1835, but the temple was not identified until 1966. It features a nymphaeum that dates to the reign of Commodus.</p><br>
<p>The temple, which is relatively narrow, has an unusual design. It is 41.5 metres long and 14.2 metres wide, and is situated beside the road that descends from the forum to the Aïn Doura Bath. The temple is associated with a triumphal arch over the road. The temple can be accessed via a semi-circular staircase; in each corner of the courtyard in front of the staircase is a reservoir for rain water. The cella inside the sanctuary features six lateral niches which are designed to hold the bases of statues of Apollo, Liber, Neptune, Mercury and of two other gods that can no longer be identified.</p><br>
<p>The temple can be seen from afar, but passers-by can only see the cella, the foundations of which are decoratively rusticated. Seven columns are spaced along the cella, linking to the lateral door, which opens onto the staircase. The tetrastyle temple is built in Tuscan order in antis. The temple&#39;s design is unusual inasmuch as temples of the imperial cult are generally Corinthian and located in the middle of a vast courtyard with a portico; the Tuscan order was thus quite rare in the provinces.</p><br>
<p>The temple therefore bears witness to a desire to construct something that was different from other such buildings, doubtless in response to the constraints created by the terrain. The dedication in the temple sheds light on its construction: the inscription, which has been very precisely dated to 214 CE, consecrates the temple to the personification of victory, Victoria, here specifically in connection with the emperor’s campaigns in Germany, for the welfare of Caracalla and of his mother Iulia Domna.</p><br>
<p>The text recalls the military projects of the son of Septimius Severus and their celebration within the context of the imperial cult. This inscription also explains that the temple was constructed at a cost of 100,000 sestertii on the wishes of a great lady of Dougga named Gabinia Hermiona after her death. Besides the generosity of this act of philanthropy, her will foresaw the holding of an annual banquet for the ordo decurionum to be financed by her inheritors on the anniversary of the dedication of the temple. At the same time, Gabinia Hermiona bequeathed the land for the circus “for the pleasure of the people”.</p><br>
<p>The temple occupied what was doubtlessly one of the last free spaces in the vicinity of the forum. The temple’s benefactor preferred this site in the city centre to those that she owned in the outskirts: the site of the circus or the site where the Temple of Celeste was later built. Gabinia’s family, one of the richest in Dougga, was well placed within Carthage’s notables and maintained its power at Dougga, even during the reduction of the local aristocracy in the 3rd century. The terms of Gabinia’s will provide evidence of her concern that the family should endure - the annual banquet would keep alive the memory of the family’s generosity and emphasise its sociability, while the circus would provide for the pleasure of the most humble of the city’s inhabitants.</p><br>
<p>At the end of the 4th century CE, the Temple of Caracalla&#39;s Victory in Germany was transformed into a church. The reservoirs in the courtyard were filled in order to provide space for the faithful, while pulpits were added to the cella. The decoration of the cella was also modified.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Pluto</h3><br>
<p>Pluto receives particular honour at Dougga as the city’s patron divinity, as demonstrated by the Genius Thuggae.</p><br>
<p>It is possible that the Temple of Pluto is located near Septimius Severus’ triumphal arch in an area of the city that has only been partially excavated as yet, but this hypothesis is not very firm and is based on the discovery of a bust in a courtyard, which has been dated by Claude Poinssot to the 2nd or 3rd century CE. The associated building was excavated in the 1960s but little is known about the manner in which the excavation was conducted and the stabilisation work carried out at the site. A cella with just one niche has been discovered on a podium in the middle of a courtyard and the altar has also been preserved.</p><br>
<p>An architectural study was carried out between 2000 and 2002, but it did not lead to any excavation work.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Saturn</h3><br>
<p>Saturn was the successor of the Punic Baal Hammon and was the attendant (paredros) of Tanit or Juno Caelestis. During the Roman era, the city of Dougga had at least two sanctuaries dedicated to Saturn. The evidence for the existence of one of the two derives mostly from inscriptions found in the city. The second temple, which is the one commonly known as the Temple of Saturn at Dougga, has been excavated. The remains of this temple, which are less significant than those of the capitol or the Temple of Juno Caelestis, are of particular interest because of their location. The ruins lie atop a promontory that overlooks the rich cereal valley of the Oued Khalled, 160 metres from the theatre and outside the bounds of the city. During the excavation works, remains of a temple of Baal Hammon, particularly favissae (ritual ditches) containing ex-votos, were discovered. The Roman temple thus replaced an indigenous sanctuary that dated back at least to the 2nd century BCE. This sanctuary consisted essentially of a wide open space designed to receive ex-votos and sacrifices. It was covered over to facilitate the construction of the Temple of Saturn, the ruins of which can still be seen today.</p><br>
<p>The Roman temple was built during the reign of Septimius Severus. It consists of three cellae, a courtyard with a portico, and a vestibule. Water from the temple roof was collected in cisterns. An inscription provides details about the temple’s construction: it was erected using funds bequeathed in the testament of a notable local resident named Lucius Octavius Victor Roscianus at a cost of at least 150000 sestertii, which seems expensive but may be explained by the extent of the earthworks required to give the temple a solid foundation; these works nonetheless seem to have proven insufficient as work to restore and shore up the edifice appear to have been carried out before it finally fell into ruin.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Juno Caelestis</h3><br>
<p>The Temple of Juno Caelestis, which was built on the outskirts of the city, was described in the 17th century CE, and excavated in the 1890s. Significant restoration work was undertaken between 1904 and 1914, and new studies were carried out between 1999 and 2002.</p><br>
<p>The temple is dedicated to Juno Caelestis, the successor of the Punic god Tanit. Its well-preserved temenos is demarcated by a wall, a large section of which has been very well preserved. The court is only partially tiled and has two symmetrical doors. A portico with 25 bays runs along the circular section of the temenos. The portico is topped with a frieze depicting the construction of the temple.</p><br>
<p>The temple in the strict sense of the word stands on a high podium that can be accessed via a series of eleven steps. It is a Corinthian hexastyle peripteros. The pediment features a dedication to Alexander Severus. The cella has been completely lost.</p><br>
<p>The temple, which was erected between 222 and 235 CE, was paid for by a certain Q. Gabinius Rufus Felix, who donated inter alia two silver statues of Juno Caelestis that cost 35000 sestertii.</p><br>
<p>The temenos, which is 52 metres in diameter, is reminiscent of a crescent moon, the symbol of Juno Caelestis.</p><br>
<h3>Domus Lachebia (Dar Lacheb)</h3><br>
<p>The purpose of the edifice known as Dar Lacheb (the "House of Lacheb", or "Domus Lachebia" in Latin) has not been clearly identified. Sophie Saint-Amans believes that it is a sanctuary dedicated to Aesculapius, which accords with Claude Poinssot’s hypothesis that it is a temple.</p><br>
<p>Dar Lacheb was excavated at the end of the 19th century by Louis Carton and has not been the subject of further works since 1912. A house that was built nearby re-using antique remains was destroyed at the start of the 20th century.</p><br>
<p>Dar Lacheb was built between 164 and 166 CE, at the same era as the capitol, which is 50 metres away. The entrance to the building has been perfectly preserved, as has one of the columns of the entrance porch. The interior consists of a courtyard that was once surrounded with a portico. To the south is the cella of a temple that has been entirely destroyed.</p><br>
<h3>Victoria Church</h3><br>
<p>The Victoria Church, which stands in the northeast of the site, below the Temple of Saturn, is the only Christian building that has been so far excavated at Dougga. At the end of the 4th century CE or at the start of the 5th century, the Christian community erected the unusually designed little church in a pagan cemetery. The small hypogeum is located nearby.</p><br>
<h2>Ancient Bishopric</h2><br>
<p>During antiquity Thugga was also the seat of an ancient Bishopric. The Bishopric was founded during the Roman Empire and survived through the arian Vandal and Orthodox Byzantine empires, only ceasing to function with the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. The diocese was re-founded in name at least in the 20th century and it remains today a titular see of the Roman Catholic church.</p><br>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2><br>
<h3>Cisterns and aqueducts</h3><br>
<p>Dougga has two networks of cisterns, in the north and in the west, one of which is particularly well preserved. An aqueduct leading to the city, located a short distance from the well-preserved cisterns, is amongst the best preserved examples of this type of structure on the territory of modern-day Tunisia.</p><br>
<p>The six cisterns of Aïn El Hammam, situated close to the Temple of Juno Caelestis, have a total capacity of 6000 m³ but are in ruins. They were fed by a spring 12 kilometres away and an aqueduct constructed during the reign of Commodus and restored in the last quarter of the 4th century CE.</p><br>
<p>This site is still used once annually for a festival celebrating Mokhola, who was a female saint and benefactor of Moroccan origin according to local oral tradition The veneration of Mokhola is accompanied with animal sacrifices. It has been shown that this tradition has pagan origins; the object of veneration was originally the spring, known as fons moccolitanus</p><br>
<p>The second network of cisterns, the cisterns of Aïn Mizeb, is very well preserved. Located close to the Temple of Minerva, these eight domed reservoirs can hold 9000 m³ and feature a basin into which they decant. The cisterns are fed by a spring located 200 metres away connected via an underground aqueduct.</p><br>
<p>A final network of secondary cisterns is located in the vicinity of the Aïn Doura Bath, in the south-west of the site.</p><br>
<h3>Streets</h3><br>
<p>Dougga’s streets are not laid out as prescribed by the normal theoretical model of a Roman settlement – around a cardo and a decumanus – as a result of the city’s unique design.</p><br>
<p>The centre of the city was probably paved; the streets resembled meandering lanes. The city had sewers, as is evidenced by the access stones that are still in place in the streets. At the foot of the hill, there are traces of streets joining with the main road from Carthage to Theveste</p><br>
<h2>Discoveries made at Dougga</h2><br>
<p>The site at Dougga has offered up numerous works or art, many of which have been removed and placed in museums, most notably the Bardo National Museum in Tunis.</p><br>
<h3>Works in situ</h3><br>
<p>Few works of art have been left in situ, with the exception of a sculpture of a togatus at the “square of the Rose of the Winds” and a number of mosaics, including those in the building known as the house of Venus and in particular at the Aïn Doura Bath. This is a consequence of the discovery of Dougga’s works of art at a time when archaeological sites were robbed of their treasures and abandoned after a dig. This approach has made it possible to preserve a certain number of mosaics with their colours intact; other mosaics that were uncovered but not removed have suffered due to their exposure to the elements.</p><br>
<p>A proposal to construct a museum on the site is being studied. It would serve in particular to house recent discoveries and those yet to be made.</p><br>
<h3>Works at the Bardo National Museum</h3><br>
<h4>Statues</h4><br>
<p>A number of heads of emperors have been discovered during the digs at the site. Amongst these, the portrait of Lucius Verus is particularly noteworthy: he is depicted with a generous head of hair, a full beard and a vivacity that makes it one of the most significant statues yet discovered in Roman Africa. This African masterpiece was realised in marble from Carrara and still has traces of colour amongst the hairs.</p><br>
<p>The museum also houses a togatus that dates from the 3rd century CE. It depicts an aged man, who has a short beard and is dressed in a toga. It seems certain that this is a later work of art reflective of the contemporary taste in art.</p><br>
<h4>Mosaics</h4><br>
<p>The butler’s mosaic dating from the middle of the 3rd century CE features a drinking scene. Two characters are serving two others, who are much smaller, from amphoras on their shoulders. The two amphoras bear the letters PIE (“Drink!” in Ancient Greek) and ZHCHC (“You will live” in Ancient Greek). The amphora bearers are flanked by another two characters, one of whom is carrying another amphora, the other of whom is carrying a branch of laurel and a basket of roses. This depiction is a greeting to all guests and a promise of hospitality. The same is true of another mosaic held at the museum which bears the phrase Omnia tibi felicia (May everything please you).</p><br>
<p>The mosaic of the victorious charioteer is younger than these works. It dates from the second half of the 4th century CE, and features the phrase Eros omnia per te (Eros everything for you). The depiction of the charioteer shows great attention to realism, as do the depictions of the horses, two of which are named Amandus and Frunitus after their characters. The horses are arranged symmetrically; such symmetries were very popular at the time. The charioteer is holding a whip, a crown made of branches and a palm branch. The starting blocks of the circus can be seen in the background. This work of art was found in a private residence and it appears that it must be interpreted as a monument donated by the owner celebrating the victory of a charioteer named Eros.</p><br>
<p>The Ulysses mosaic is a work inspired by the Odyssey: the Greek hero is seen standing on a boat that is decorated with a human head and a palm branch and that has two sails and a battering ram. Ulysses’s hands are tied to the main mast so that he will not succumb to the fatal charm of the sirens’ music. Ulysses’s companions are seated around him, their ears blocked with wax as described in the legend. Three sirens stand at the base of a rocky crag. They are depicted with the bust of a woman, but with the wings and legs of a bird. One of them holds a flute, the second a lyre, while the third, who does not carry an instrument, is believed to be the singing siren. In front of Ulysses’s boat, there is a small barque with a fisherman holding a lobster, the depiction of which is over-sized. The mosaic has been dated to around 260-268 CE; it was discovered in the “house of Ulysses and the pirates”.</p><br>
<p>The mosaic Neptune and the pirates originates from the same peristyle as the preceding work. It depicts the punishment of pirates on the Tyrrhenian Sea, merging themes linked to Dionysus and more common marine themes. The god is standing, ready to throw his spear. He is supported by a maenad, a satyr and aged Silenus, who is holding the ship’s rudder. A leopard is attacking one of the pirates, who are transformed into dolphins as soon as they recognise the divine nature of their adversary. To the left, genii have boarded another ship, while to the right, fishermen are attempting to catch an octopus with a net.</p><br>
<p>Mohamed Yacoub attributes a protective function to these two scenes, a means of invoking fate, a practice which is probably based on Hellenic tradition.</p><br>
<p>The mosaic of the cyclopses forging Jupiter’s thunderbolts from the floor of a frigidarium depicts three cyclopses: Brontes, Steropes and Pyracmon (Arges). They are depicted naked, forging Jupiter’s thunderbolts, which Vulcan, seated in front of them, is holding on an anvil. This last element has been lost. The mosaic dates to the end of the 3rd century CE and was discovered in the Bath of the Cyclopses.</p><br>
<h3>Works held in other museums</h3><br>
<p>The bilingual inscription from the mausoleum taken by British Consul Read is held by the British Museum. The inscription shows the same text in both the Punic language and the Libyan language.</p><br>
<h2>Rediscovery and future of the site</h2><br>
<p>The city appears to have experienced an early decline, as evidenced by the relatively poor remains from the Christian era. The Byzantine era saw the area around the forum transformed into a fort; several important buildings were destroyed in order to provide the necessary materials for its construction. Dougga was however never completely abandoned, and for a long time, it was the site of a village populated by the descendents of the city’s former inhabitants, as is evidenced by the small mosque situated in the Temple of August Piety and the small bath dating to the Aghlabid period on the southern flank of the forum.</p><br>
<p>The first Western visitors to have left eyewitness accounts of the ruins reached the site in the 17th century. This trend continued in the 18th century and at the start of the 19th century. The best-preserved monuments, including the mausoleum, were described and, at the end of this period, were the object of architectural studies.</p><br>
<p>The establishment of the French Protectorate in Tunisia in 1881 led to the creation of a national antiquities institute (Institut national du patrimoine), for which the excavation of the site at Dougga was a priority from 1901, parallel to the works carried out at Carthage. The works at Dougga concentrated at first on the area around the forum; other discoveries ensured that there was an almost constant series of digs at the site until 1939. Alongside these excavations, work was conducted to restore the capitol, of which only the front and the base of the wall of the cella were still standing, and in particular between 1908 and 1910 to restore the mausoleum.</p><br>
<p>After independence, other buildings were excavated, including the Temple of Caracalla’s victory in Germany. During the same period, the last inhabitants of the site were evicted and relocated to a village located on the plain several kilometres from the antique site, which is named New Dougga. In 1991, the decision was taken to make the site into a national archaeological park. A cooperative scientific programme aims in particular to promote the study of the inscriptions at the site and the pagan temples. In 1997, Dougga was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.</p><br>
<p>Despite its importance and its exceptional state, Dougga remains off the beaten track for many tourists (the site receives around 50000 visitors per year). In order to make it more attractive, the construction of an on-site museum is being considered, while the Institut national du patrimoine has established a website presenting the site and the surrounding region. For the time being, visitors with sufficient time can appreciate Dougga, not only because of its many ruins, but also for its olive groves, which give the site a unique ambiance.</p><br>
<p>The Fedchenko Glacier  is a large glacier in the Yazgulem Range, Pamir Mountains, of north-central Gorno-Badakhshan province, Tajikistan. The glacier is long and narrow, currently extending for 77 km and covering over 700 km&sup2;. It is the longest glacier in the world outside of the polar regions. The maximum thickness of the glacier is 1,000 m, and the volume of the Fedchenko and its dozens of tributaries is estimated at 144 km3&mdash;about a third the volume of Lake Erie.</p><br>
<h2>Path and location</h2><br>
<p>The glacier follows a generally northward path to the east of the 6,595 m Garmo Peak. The glacier begins at an elevation of 6,200 m above sea level, and eventually melts and empties into the Balandkiik River near the border with Kyrgyzstan at an elevation of 2,909 m. Its waters eventually feed down the Muksu, Surkhob, Vakhsh, and Amu Darya rivers into the Aral Sea.</p><br>
<p>To the west is the Academy of Sciences Range, Mount Garmo, Ismoil Somoni Peak, Peak Korzhenevskaya and the headwaters of the Vanj River and Yazgulyam River. To the south is Independence Peak and to the east Gorbunov Peak (6,025 meters). To the north is Altyn Mazar.</p><br>
<h2>Discovery</h2><br>
<p>The glacier was discovered in 1878 but not fully explored until 1928 by a German-Soviet expedition under Willi Rickmer Rickmers. It is named after Alexei Pavlovich Fedchenko, a Russian explorer (but not discoverer of the glacier). In 1910-1913 the glacier expanded and moved forward by 800–1000 m, blocking up the Balyandlik River the following year. It continued to recede between 1928-1960, stopping its inflows such as the Kosinenko, Ulugbeck, Alert and several others.</p><br>
<p>Gibson Lake is a lake in Georgian Bay Township, District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. It is located 45 minutes north of the city of Barrie, and is accessed by Hwy 400 interchange # 174, just north of Six Mile Lake. Gibson Lake borders on the Wahta Mohawk Territory. The lake is 7 km long, and flows into Georgian Bay via the Gibson River. The lake comprises two sections with the narrows connecting the North end to the South end. The southern areas of the lake are popular with cottagers from southern Ontario. The first cottagers purchased property here in the 1950s when the land was originally subdivided. There are presently 200 families on the lake with an increasing number of permanent residents. The north-east side of the lake is dominated by the Sahanatien Native Mohawk reserve which has seen much development in recent years. Many of the cottages on the north-east side are built on land leased from Wahta Mohawk families, and accessed by privately maintained roads.</p><br>
<p>On February 7, 2005 Chief Blaine Commandant of the Wahta Mohawks, the Honourable Andy Scott, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and the Honourable Michael Bryant, Ontario Minister Responsible for Native Affairs announced the settlement of a land claim dating back to 1918. The settlement consisted of approximately $9.7 million in financial compensation plus 8,300 acres (3,300 hectares) of provincial Crown land, which Canada has agreed to set aside as reserve land, subject to the terms and conditions of its Additions to Reserves Policy. The lands to be transferred to the First Nation under the settlement are located adjacent to the existing Wahta Mohawk Territory (the Gibson Reserve). All property owners rights of access to their land, along with public roads and public access to nearby lakes, are protected under the settlement. All affected interests were consulted extensively during the negotiation process. The settlement of this claim allowed the continuation of upgrading Highway 400 to 4 lanes, giving cottagers on Gibson Lake easier access to the lake.</p><br>
<p>Gibson Lake contains a small island where a yearly picnic festival and regatta takes place on the first weekend of August. Prizes and trophies for winners of swimming, canoeing, and tubing competitions are sponsored by the Gibson Lake Cottage Association.</p><br>
<p>Established in 2008, the Gibson Lake Winter Classic is an annual ice hockey tournament held on the Lake.</p><br>
<p>The area contains many different types of flora and fauna, including black bear, deer, moose, fox, raccoon, beaver, martin, chipmunks, swans, hummingbirds, loons, blue herons, ducks, salamanders, and numerous types of freshwater fish. It is also located in a cranberry growing region.</p><br>
<p>Residents and cottagers have expressed concerns and objections regarding proposed logging in the wetlands and species-at-risk habitat in the Six Mile Lake and Gibson Lake, Township of Georgian Bay, District of Muskoka area.</p><br>
<p>The Georgian Bay area is habitat for more reptiles than any other place in Canada. Most of these species are at risk. Objectors state that there should be no logging in this area, which is home for the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, eastern hog-nosed snake, fox snake, Blandings turtle, stink pot turtle, all threatened species both provincially and federally and the endangered spotted turtle just to name a few.</p><br>
<p>Peoria Lake is a section of the Illinois River between Peoria in Peoria County, Illinois and East Peoria in Tazewell County, Illinois. The oldest section of Peoria, the largest city on the river, lies at its shores.</p><br>
<p>The lake is formed by a broadening of the Illinois River, and was first mentioned by the Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette expedition in 1674. Several important Native American settlements were located close to it, like the main villages of the Kickapoo and Potawatomi tribes. Prior to European colonization, the lake was called Pimitoui ("Fat Lake").</p><br>
<p>From a modern perspective, the lake runs from just south of the McClugage Bridge (US 24/US 150/War Memorial Drive) to the Murray Baker Bridge (Interstate 74). The larger Upper Peoria Lake flows into the lake on its north side.</p><br>
<p>The lake is currently a regional tourist attraction, and is used for practice of many watersports. It is also the usual site for the City of Peoria&#39;s Fourth of July fireworks display.</p><br>
<p>The Jacumba Mountains are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges system, located in eastern San Diego County, Southern California, near the USA border with Mexico.</p><br>
<p>The mountain range lies in a northwest-southeasterly direction, east of the In-Ko-Pah Mountains, and north of Interstate 8. The range is approximately 11.5 mi long, and Table Mountain at the southeast end of the range is located about 3 mi northeast of the town of Jacumba.</p><br>
<p>The Jacumba Mountains reach an elevation of 4,512 ft at Jacumba Peak, near the southern end of the chain.</p><br>
<p>The Tierra Blanca Mountains and the Sawtooth Mountains are to the northwest, and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park due north. The Coyote Mountains lie to the northeast. The Volcanic Hills area lies on the northeast flank of the range.</p><br>
<p>The Gulf of Anadyr, or Anadyr Bay , is a large bay on the Bering Sea in far northeast Siberia.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The bay is roughly rectangular and opens to the southeast. The corners are (clockwise from the south) Cape Navarin (another source says the adjacent Cape Thaddeus), Anadyr Estuary, Kresta Bay and Cape Chukotsky on the Chukchi Peninsula. It is about 250 miles (400 km) across. A long gravel bar runs along the northeast shore for about 45 mi east from Kresta Bay. The Gulf of Anadyr is covered with ice normally 10 months a year. Whales such as Bowhead and Gray may appear close to shores.</p><br>
<h2>Civilization</h2><br>
<p>The town of Anadyr, the administrative centre of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, is located on the Anadyr Estuary. Provideniya, on Komsomolskaya Bay (formerly Emma Harbor; a branch of Provideniya Bay), and Egvekinot, on Kresta Bay are the next largest coastal settlements.</p><br>
<p>Blakely Island in San Juan County, Washington is the sixth largest island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, United States, encompassing a land area of 16.852 km² . It is separated from Cypress Island to the east by Rosario Strait. The population was 56 persons as of the 2000 census.</p><br>
<p>There is no public ferry service to Blakely Island. Access is only by boat or private ferry, arriving at the marina at the northern tip of the island. There is also a private airstrip for the exclusive use of property owners. The only services available on Blakely Island are at a general store and cafe, located at the marina and open seasonally. Seattle Pacific University runs a 967-acre biological field station on Blakely Island.</p><br>
<p>Blakely Island was named by Charles Wilkes during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842, in honor of Johnston Blakeley, a naval commander during the War of 1812. Thatcher bay, on the island&#39;s east coast, was the site of seasonal Samish tribal villages and, during the territorial period, the mill town of Thatcher, Washington. In 2014, toxic creosote pilings left over from earlier habitation were removed from the waters of Thatcher bay.</p><br>
<p>The island is hilly and heavily forested, with few maintained roads or paths. There are two freshwater lakes, Horseshoe Lake and Spencer Lake, at the center of the island. A freshwater creek, Spencer creek, flows from Spencer Lake into Thatcher Bay.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Matua  is an uninhabited volcanic island near the center of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean, 16 km across Golovnin Strait from Raikoke. Its name is derived from the Ainu language, from “hellmouth”.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Hunting and fishing parties of the Ainu have long visited Matua, but the island had no permanent habitation at the time of European contact. It appears on an official map showing the territories of the Matsumae Domain, a feudal domain of Edo period Japan dated 1644, and the Tokugawa shogunate officially confirmed these holdings in 1715. Some early European documents refer to the island as Raukoke.</p><br>
<p>The Empire of Russia claimed sovereignty over the island, which initially passed to Russia under the terms of the Treaty of Shimoda (1855), but reverted to the Empire of Japan per the Treaty of Saint Petersburg along with the rest of the Kuril islands. Japan formerly administered Matua as part of Shimushiru District of Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaidō.</p><br>
<p>During World War II the Imperial Japanese Army had what is believed to be a roughly east-west oriented airfield, which hosted the IJNAS&#39;s 553rd Kōkūtai, equipped with Aichi D3A Val dive bombers, located on this island, with the active runway potentially of some 1.33 kilometer (4,360 ft) length, believed to be located on its southernmost areas. The island was garrisoned by 7000-8000 men of the 41st Independent Mixed Regiment, 6th Independent Tank Company, and supporting units. During 1944 the US Army Air Forces intermittently bombed the Japanese facilities on the island and ships of the United States Navy shelled it. The Americans sank several Japanese cargo vessels near the island or while at harbor. On June 1, 1944, a Japanese shore-battery on Point Tagan sank the American submarine. During the Soviet Battle of the Kuril Islands in the last weeks of World War II, the Japanese garrison surrendered to the Red Army without resistance (August 1945).</p><br>
<p>After World War II the island came under the control of the Soviet Union, and Soviet Border Troops manned the former Japanese military facilities. With the withdrawal of Soviet military forces following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the island became uninhabited. The Russian Federation administers it as part of the Sakhalin Oblast. In 2016 some two hundred Russian officials and technical experts made an expedition to the island, part of a plan to rehabilitate the derelict 1.2 km Soviet airfield and establish a new naval and logistical forward military base</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Matua is roughly oval, with a length of 11 km with a width of 6.5 km, and an area of 52 km&sup2;. The island is a complex stratovolcano with two main peaks.</p><br>
<p>Sarychev Peak (влк.Сарычева, 芙蓉山; Fuyōzan, also known as Matsuwa-Fuji) in the northwest of the island is one of the most active volcanoes of the Kuril Islands. The central cone has a 250 m wide, very steep-walled crater with a jagged rim, rising to a height of 1,496 m. Lava flows descending on all sides of the peak forms capes along the coast. Eruptions have been recorded since the 1760s, including 1878–1879, 1923, 1930, 1946, 1960, 1976, 1981, 1987, 1989 and 2009, with the largest in 1946 which produced pyroclastic flows that reached the sea. The 2009 eruption was large enough to affect air traffic between Asia and North America.</p><br>
<p>The much smaller peak to the south, 天蓋山; Tengaizan has a height of 127 m.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Although it is located at the same latitude as Paris or Seattle, the Oyashio current on the western flank of the Aleutian Low gives Matua a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) that is close to a polar climate (ET). Unlike the quintessential subarctic climate of Siberia or Mongolia, however, Matua has very heavy precipitation as rain, snow and fog. It also has much milder winters than corresponding latitudes in Manchuria: the mean temperature of the coldest month in Matua is &minus;6.1 &deg;C as against &minus;17.8 &deg;C in Qiqihar in Heilongjiang. Seasonal lag, like in all the Kuril Islands, is a major feature of the climate, with August being the mildest month and February the coldest.</p><br>
<p>Sarychev Peak (вулкан Сарычева, Vulkan Sarycheva, variants: 芙蓉山 Fuyō Mountain,</p><br>
<p>Fuyō-san,</p><br>
<p>Fuyō-yama,</p><br>
<p>Fuyo-zan,</p><br>
<p>Huyō San, 松輪富士 Matsuwa-fuji),</p><br>
<p>is a stratovolcano covering almost the entirety of Matua Island in the Kuril Islands, Russia. It is a young, highly symmetrical stratovolcanic cone.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The peak was named after admiral Gavril Sarychev of the Imperial Russian Navy.</p><br>
<h2>2009 eruption</h2><br>
<p>The volcano erupted June 11-21, 2009, sending out ash plumes. As the volcano is near some of the main air routes between East Asia and North America, there was some disruption to air traffic.</p><br>
<p>During an early stage of the eruption, on June 12, 2009, the International Space Station passed overhead and astronauts were able to photograph the event.</p><br>
<p>Sarychev Peak previously erupted in 1760, 1805, 1879, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1946, 1954, 1960, 1965, 1976, 1986 and 1989.</p><br>
<p>Semo La is a mountain pass situated in Coqên County, Ngari Prefecture in the central part of Tibet and gives access to the Changtang region. It is found on the so-called Northern Route, north of Raka and south of Town of Coqên in Central Tibet. Travellers use this route as an alternative access route to western Tibet and Mount Kailash, especially when mud makes access by the more southern route difficult.</p><br>
<p>The road crossing the pass was once an old unsurfaced track travelled only by a weekly bus and trucks heading west to avoid the boggy parts of the south of the country. The construction of paved road through the pass, Tibet Provincial Road S206, was finished in late 2015.</p><br>
<h2>Elevation</h2><br>
<p>The height according to Tibet Department of Transportation is 5,565 m, however, the signage at the road rounded it up to 5,566 m. In 2005, a Catalan cartographic expedition certified the height to be 5,565.1 m.</p><br>
<p>At 5,565 m, Semo La may be the highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world. It is the highest that has been measured accurately. Khardung La, up to now was thought to be the world record holder at 5,602 m, in reality, according to modern surveys it measures 5,359 m, 243 m less than previously thought. There are other passes that may be higher but have yet to be surveyed properly and may not reasonably be considered "motorable".</p><br>
<p>Blennerhassett Island, an island on the Ohio River below the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, is located near Parkersburg in Wood County, West Virginia, USA.</p><br>
<p>Historically, Blennerhassett Island was occupied by American Indians. Nemacolin, chief of the Delaware Nation made it his last home, dying in 1767. European Americans knew it as Backus Island, naming it for Elijah Backus who purchased it in 1792 in the wave of westward settlement following the American Revolutionary War.</p><br>
<p>In 1798 Harman Blennerhassett, a figure in the Aaron Burr "treason" conspiracy, purchased the east end of the island with his wife Margaret Agnew and it became known by their name. Their residence, Blennerhassett House, where Burr and Blennerhassett are alleged to have plotted treason against the United States in the Burr Conspiracy, burned to the ground in 1811. That area has been designated the Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park and the island was named for him.</p><br>
<p>The Staple Bend Tunnel, about 4 mi east of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in a town called Mineral Point, was constructed between 1831 and 1834 for the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Construction began on April 12, 1831. This tunnel, at 901 ft in length, was the first railway tunnel constructed in the United States. It is rock bored and stone lined.</p><br>
<p>Finished in June 1833, the Staple Bend tunnel was advertised as the first railroad tunnel in the United States. It was the third tunnel of any kind built in the USA the first two tunnels were for other canals in Pennsylvania.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Work began on November 21, 1831, and often occurred during inclement conditions. The men were paid $13 per month plus room and board for 12-hour days, 6 days per week. Workers chipped and blasted 901 ft of solid rock to make the tunnel.</p><br>
<p>Approximately 14,900 cubic yards of bedrock was removed using black powder blasting. This was done by drilling 3 ft-long holes and packing them with powder. Drilling one typical hole took up to three hours of hard effort using a three-man crew. Nine to ten holes, each 1 in in diameter and 36 in in length, were made before blasting. 1 lb of explosive powder wrapped in paper was pushed into each hole, tamped down, punctured with a sharp needle, and a fuse added. Fuses were lit with explosions to occur at mealtime. Workers would eat while the dust settled; then get to work cleaning (mucking) the tunnel. Of the 36-inch hole drilled only 18 in, or half of the hole, was blasted.</p><br>
<p>The tunnel grew about 18 in each day, with both sides moving toward the center. On December 21, 1832, the workmen broke through the final barrier and connected the two ends of the tunnel. There was much celebration with speeches and toasts. The full tunnel excavation was completed in April 1833.</p><br>
<p>The ends of the Staple Bend Tunnel were lined with cut stone for safety. Rock and dirt might fall due to rain or other weather, or from the effects of the portage railroad going through the tunnel. The fancy entrances to the tunnel were to impress the travelers and the general public. The style was described as a "Roman Revival style with low relief lintel supported by Doric pilasters on each side." Of the total $37,498.85 spent, nearly half was to build the fancy entrance ways. Although it is believed no workers was killed during the construction of the Tunnel, a prominent Cambria County citizen by the name of Rowland Humphreys was killed in the tunnel on or about June 12, 1852, as he was walking next to a train and was crushed to death by shifting cargo from one of the cars. After a few years of operation, the Allegheny Portage Railroad, including the tunnel, was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857.</p><br>
<h2>After the Portage</h2><br>
<p>In 1907, Henry Storey wrote that the east entrance facade of the tunnel had been removed for building purposes. He gave no indication of a date or the building on which the stones were used. The west entrance facade remains and has been restored to its former grandeur.</p><br>
<p>After the demise of the old Portage Railroad the tunnel had other uses. Neither the "new Portage" nor the Pennsylvania Railroad used the tunnel. It was instead a popular carriage route until the Johnstown Flood in 1889. Afterward, flood damage and other concerns made the tunnel a less desirable driving spot although local residents continued to visit, and even go courting at the tunnel until the 1940s.</p><br>
<p>In the 1940s a concrete liner was added to the east portal of the tunnel and large water lines as well as a water vault structure were built. The Manufacturer&#39;s Water Company closed the tunnel to the public and the water lines were used by Bethlehem Steel.</p><br>
<p>The tunnel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994, and in 2001 became part of the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service. Rock bolts, shoring posts, and other reinforcements were added as well as a thin mortar between the historic blocks.</p><br>
<p>Margerie Glacier is a 21 mi long tidewater glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska, United States within the boundaries of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The glacier begins on the southern slopes of Mount Root, elevation 12,860 ft, on the AlaskaCanada border flowing southeast down the valley, then turning to the northeast toward its terminus in Tarr Inlet. Margerie Glacier is one of the most active and frequently-visited glaciers in Glacier Bay, which was declared a National Monument in 1925, a National Park and Preserve in 1980, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and a World Heritage Site in 1992. While most of the tidewater glaciers in the park have been receding over the last several decades, Margerie Glacier has become stable, neither growing nor receding, while Johns Hopkins Glacier is advancing.</p><br>
<p>Margerie Glacier extends upstream for a length of 21 mi from Tarr Inlet to its source on the southern slopes of Mount Root.</p><br>
<p>In 1750, Glacier Bay was a massive single glacier but due to higher average temperatures and lower average snowfall amounts over the last several centuries it has been transformed into what is now a 65 mi fjord with many smaller glaciers. Margerie Glacier is located at the extreme northwestern end of the bay and is situated perpendicular to the Grand Pacific Glacier.</p><br>
<p>Glacier Bay and its many glaciers are approachable only by air and water as there are no roads in the park. The steep dropoff of Margerie Glacier&#39;s terminus allows cruise ships and smaller park tour boats to anchor nearby providing close-up views of ice calving.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Margerie Glacier is named after French geologist and geographer Emmanuel de Margerie who visited the area in 1913. When John Muir first visited the bay in 1879 the ice had retreated 48 mi into the bay.</p><br>
<p>The glaciers in Glacier Bay are remnants of a general ice advancethe Little Ice Agethat began about 4,000 years ago. This advance is not comparable to continental glaciation that occurred during the Wisconsin Ice Age of the Pleistocene epoch. About 1750, the Little Ice Age reached its maximum stage and a general recession of glaciers began. Ice flows have been recorded at Margerie Glacier at 2,000 ft per year or 6 ft per day. The advance was reduced to a rate of 30 ft per year or about 1 in per day until 1998 when some degree of recession was recorded as the northern part of the terminus formed a small embayment, while the southern part continued advancing at 1 ft per year. In the 1990s, Margerie Glacier was attached to the Grand Pacific Glacier; however, it has since detached from the Grand Pacific which is receding, with debris from a moraine left behind in the gap between the glaciers.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>Margerie Glacier is categorized as a tidewater glacier, one of eleven remaining in the park, with eight in the bay and three on the Pacific Ocean coastal area of the park. A tidewater glacier is one whose terminus encounters seawater at least at high tide, if not at all tide levels. Margerie Glacier and six other glaciers have termini that are fully submerged at all tide levels. Margerie Glacier has a total height of 350 ft of which 250 ft rises above the water level and 100 ft is beneath the water surface. Freshwater upwellings emerge from the central area of the glacier&#39;s terminus, generated by meltwater streams running underneath the glacier. Such areas attract sea birds which feed on the fish that can be found there.</p><br>
<p>In a study of the bedrock geology and mineral resources of Glacier Bay, out of 17 areas classified as containing mineral deposits, Margerie Glacier has been identified as containing copper deposits.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Margerie Glacier is a part of the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve whichwith its combination of tidewater glaciers, coastlines, fjords, rivers and lakesprovides widely varying landscapes and seascapes that support 333 vascular plant taxa, 274 bird species, 160 fish species, 41 mammal species, and 3 amphibian species. Arctic terns and gulls nest in the rocks of Margerie Glacier. As this glacier calves, it disturbs the krill and small fish, thus making it an ideal spot for birds. Humpback whales and grizzly bears are also sometimes seen near this glacier.</p><br>
<p>Grand Pacific Glacier is a 25-mile  long glacier in British Columbia and Alaska. It begins in Glacier Bay National Park in the St. Elias Mountains, 7 miles  southwest of Mount Hay, trends east into the Grand Pacific Pass area of British Columbia, and then southeast to the head of Tarr Inlet at Alaska-Canada boundary, 68 miles  west of Skagway.</p><br>
<h2>National Park Service Information</h2><br>
<p>In 2004 Grand Pacific Glacier was about 2 mi wide at the terminus, averaging about 150 ft high at the ice face, up to 60 ft deep at the waterline and over 35 mi long. Much of the ice margin was then grounded at low tide; the calving section probably reached a water depth of only 30 -. The ice cliff was estimated to be 60 ft high where it was grounded, but about 150 ft and up to 180 ft high where it calved into Tarr Inlet. Behind the terminus, the ice may thicken to 900 ft or more. The western two thirds of the ice in the terminus of the Grand Pacific Glacier originate from the tributary Ferris Glacier, and flowed about 1,500 ft per year or about 4 ft per day. This latter estimate was based on measurements of aerial photographs taken between 1988 and 1990 and may be</p><br>
<p>higher than 2004 rates based on the fact that the ice had been thinning over the last 7 years or so. The eastern portion of Grand</p><br>
<p>Pacific Glacier moved only about 150 - per year based on GPS measurements made by the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in 1998-1999. It had advanced at a rate of about 60 ft per year for the last several decades, but it reached a maximum position when it joined Margerie Glacier around 1992. In 2004 those glaciers were no longer together due to recession of the Grand Pacific margin. A small stream flowed between the two termini. The eastern edge was then receding at about 30 - per year and showed significant thinning and closure of crevasses. In about 1996, an embayment began to form in the center of Grand Pacific’s terminus. Since then, the center of the ice cliff began to calve more rapidly and was slowly receding at perhaps 30 ft or less per year. In 2004 the CRREL anticipated that retreat would accelerate as the embayment enlarged and the depth at the waterline increased. In such a scenario, retreat was likely to continue until the terminus reaches a position where it will become grounded above mean tide. The grounded western edge of the glacier was also slowing receding and thinning. Rock debris from landslides and medial moraines cover much of this side of the glacier and extends across almost two-thirds of the ice face. Where this rock debris is more than an inch thick, it insulates the ice, slows melting and results in a thicker ice mass than where the ice is clean. In many areas on the glacier, the debris is more than 3 ft thick.</p><br>
<p>Yale Glacier is a 20-mile-long  glacier in the USA state of Alaska. It begins between Mount Cardozo and Mount Einstein and trends southwest to Yale Arm of College Fjord, 47 miles  west of Valdez. It was named for Yale University by members of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Yale Glacier is 20 miles long. Its width varies from a mile and a quarter to two miles. In its lower portion, the glacier slopes at the rate of 600 to 700 feet per mile, attaining an elevation of 2500 feet three miles and a half from the front, and ascending gradually to 6000 or 7000 foot cirques east of Mt. Glenn. The Yale Glacier, though wider at the terminus, is probably not as long as the Harvard. It terminates in the Yale Arm of College Fiord, with an unusually irregular front, the south side of the glacier extending \\ miles further down the fiord than the north side. This terminal cliff is between 200 and 300 feet high. There are well-marked lateral moraines, but no medial moraines. In the absence of a number of large tributaries which supply quantities of ice, and lateral moraines that become medials, Yale Glacier differs very decidedly from Harvard Glacier. The distant tributaries are rather small glaciers cascading from extensive neve fields on the mountain slopes. In the lower part of the glacier there are not many tributaries on the northwestern side, contrasting with a considerable number which descend on the southeasternside from the snowfields and cirques about Mt. Castner and other mountains between College Fiord and Unakwik Inlet.</p><br>
<p>Applegates map of Yale Glacier in 1887 shows it terminating somewhere between College Point and the present stand; but since he did not approach the glacier nearer than 12 miles, about the same as Vancouver did in 1794, it is impossible to draw any conclusions from these early maps concerning the behavior of Yale Glacier prior to 1898. From a photograph taken by Mendenhall in the latter part of April, 1898, it is evident that the rock ledges were exposed beneath the middle of the ice front and the eastern half exhibited "the rough pinnacled front of a still-advancing stream. Its western front is of dead-white ice." On this same occasion, Castner went on snowshoes some distance up the margin of the Yale Glacier, which may perhaps show that it was then less severely crevassed than in 1910 when traveling upon its surface was impossible. Glenn gives a vivid description of Yale and Harvard glaciers as he saw them in 1898 from College Fiord. "The day was dry and clear. Directly in our front was the most imposing sight we had yet seen—I might add more imposing than any we saw during the season. Glistening in the sun were two large glaciers, which we named the Twin Glaciers, t the pair being separated by a short ridge or hogback that runs down to salt water. In front of the one on our right the sea ice extended for over 3 miles, while in front of the other this sea ice extended at least twice that distance. This ice was covered with snow several feet in depth. We soon discovered that it would bear up the weight of a man and that we could make no headway against it with the boat. Each of these glaciers is what is termed live or working&#39; glaciers. The front of each was an almost perpendicular mass of ice, from which immense pieces were constantly breaking off and falling into the sea with a great roaring noise, due principally to the action of the tides."</p><br>
<p>The map of Yale Glacier by Gannett, the description by Gilbert, and the photographs by other members of the Harriman Expedition in 1899 show clearly that in all major features of position Yale Glacier had at that time assumed the general conditions which prevailed in 1910. The rock ledges beneath the center of the glacier are seen in the photographs, and Gilbert indicates that there were barren zones at the margins. He explains the dirty ice near the northwestern side of the glacier as follows: "A blackening, west of the middle, by glacial drift suggests that a rock knob may lie near the surface, ready to develop into a nunatak or island if the glacier shall diminish." The photographs and descriptions by Grant in 1905 and 1909, and the map by Higgins in the latter year show that Yale Glacier maintained essentially the same conditions during the decade following 1899. The narrowness of the barren zones in 1909 leads Grant to conclude that the eastern margin was slightly farther advanced in that year than in 1898 and 1899. In 1910, Yale Glacier was advancing strongly. The advance had covered most of the barren zone along the southeastern margin, though some still remained in places. Near the terminus the entire marginal barren zone was covered by ice, and bushes were being overridden, but in front of the glacier there were rock slopes bare of vegetation. Bordering part of the glacier margin was a push moraine of till, bowlders and wood, and there were also some peat rolls. The presence of recently overturned bushes lying on the winters snow, proves that the advance was in progress during the spring of 1910. The northwestern margin of Yale Glacier was also advancing rapidly. At the waters edge the glacier terminated on beach and alluvial fan gravels in part undisturbed; but above tide level there was a gravel push moraine including some tree trunks. Farther back along this margin practically all the former barren zone had been overridden, and the glacier was destroying thickets of alder and willow bushes from 10 to 33 years old. The relationship to snow banks proves that part of this advance had taken place during the preceding autumn or early winter.</p><br>
<p>Sierra Madrona is a mountain range of the Sierra Morena, Spain. It is located in Ciudad Real Province, in the region of Castile-La Mancha as well as the Córdoba and Jaén provincial limits, Andalusia.</p><br>
<p>Its highest peak, 1,332 m high Bañuela, is the highest point of the whole Sierra Morena system. Other notable summits are Dormideros 1,328 m, Corral de Borros 1,312 m, Abulagoso 1,301 m and Rebollera 1,161 m.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Sierra Madrona is a massif composed of a series of subranges including Sierra de Quintana, Sierra de Hornilleros, Sierra de Navalmanzano, Sierra de la Garganta and Sierra del Nacedero. They are aligned in a NW-SE direction and are separated by narrow valleys. The range is bounded by the Robledillo river valley and Sierra de la Solana and Umbria de Alcudia in the North, the Montoro river valley in the East, by the smooth hills of Sierra de Andújar, Sierra Quiteria and Los Pedroches in the South, and by the Yeguas River valley in the West.</p><br>
<p>The range is mostly covered in shrubland and is named after the madroño or madroña, the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) which is abundant in the area. The easiest route to reach it is to drive from Andújar or Puertollano.</p><br>
<p>The cave paintings of Peña Escrita and La Batanera are located in caves within the range area.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>Geologically the range is made up of Paleozoic schist, slate and quartzite, as well as greywacke and sandstone. Structurally the range comprises a succession of wide anticlines and synclines in a Hercynian WNW-ESE direction.</p><br>
<p>Jebel Al Mebrah  is a 1727 m  tall mountain in the United Arab Emirates . It is located in the Hajar Mountains near {{coord|25|38|54|N|56|7|45|E}}. Jebel Al Mebrah has a prominence of around 300 m from its parent peak, Jebel Qihwi, which is on the other side of the border in Musandam, Oman. The highest point in the UAE is Jebel Jais  at about 1910 m just across the border from Jebel Jais, also in Musandam, meaning that Jebel Al Mebrah is not the highest point but the highest peak in the UAE.</p><br>
<p>A military station is located on the summit making the peak out of access, however, an asphalt road has been built up from wadi Tawian to within 400 m of the military station, around 100 m (328 feet) below, with many villages along the sides and tracks continuing further into the mountains.</p><br>
<p>Beth-Zur  is a biblical site of historic and archaeological importance in the mountains of Hebron in southern Judea, now part of the West Bank. Beth Zur is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible and the writings of the Roman Jewish historian Josephus. The Battle of Beth-Zur took place here in 164 BCE.</p><br>
<p>Beth-Zur has been identified with the site of Khirbet et-Tubeiqa, near Khirbet Burj as-Sur.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The name Beth-Zur means "house of rock" or (less likely) "house of the god Zur". A person names Beth Zur is mentioned in.</p><br>
<h2>Location and biblical mention</h2><br>
<p>Beth-Zur is mentioned in Joshua as being near Halhul and Gedor, in the Judean hill country. Rehoboam is credited with its fortification. The Prophet Nehemiah is said to have been the ruler of a half district of the same name. The historian, Josephus, places the distance between Beth-zur and Beit Zechariah at 70 stadia.</p><br>
<h2>Bronze Age to Persian period</h2><br>
<p>O.R. Sellers, excavating at Khirbet et-Tubeiqa in 1957, discovered that the site was first settled at the end of the third millennium BCE, and was fortified, like many other Canaanite cities, during the Middle Bronze Age IIB in the 18th-17th centuries BCE. The settlement continued into the Iron Age, and a rare coin inscribed "the governor Hezekiah" attests to the existence of Beth-Zur during the Persian period.</p><br>
<h2>Hellenistic period</h2><br>
<p>Betsoura, as the Greeks called the town, reached a peak of prosperity during the Hellenistic period. A citadel was built at Betsoura during the 3rd century BCE, when a series of wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt rocked the region.</p><br>
<p>In 164 BC, during the Maccabean wars, the Battle of Beth-Zur was fought here. The site’s importance lay in its strategic location on a hilltop dominating the highway, preventing the approach of a hostile army from the Valley of Elah to the Judean plateau. Josephus describes Beth-Zur as the mightiest stronghold in Judea.</p><br>
<p>The battle was the confrontation between the Seleucid Greek general Lysias and the Maccabees, led by Judas Maccabeus, resulting in the defeat of Lysias and his forces. This victory was followed by the recapture of Jerusalem by the Maccabees. The key to the battle was the exploitation of the natural terrain and fortifications.</p><br>
<p>Once victorious, Judas rebuilt the old Middle Bronze Age ramparts and the more recent citadel. The fortified town then changed hands repeatedly until regaining the peaceful character lost during the Maccabean Wars, under the reign of John Hyrcanus (r. 134-104). However, by 100 BCE the town had been fully abandoned.</p><br>
<h2>Byzantine period</h2><br>
<p>Beth-Zur was inhabited in the lifetimes of Eusebius (260/265–339/340), who mentions it as the village of Bethsoro (Onomasticon 52:2), and of Jerome.</p><br>
<h2>Crusader period</h2><br>
<p>Khirbet Burj as-Sur, the medieval site at Beth-Zur, has the Palestine grid coordinates 1594.1104. The ruins of a tower stand near the main road between Jerusalem and Hebron, approximately 4 miles north of Hebron. The western wall, the most visible remnant of the building, is standing to a height of 9.5 m. Beithsur or Bethsura, as the Crusaders called Beth-Zur, was given in 1136 to the Hospitallers by the lord of Hebron.</p><br>
<p>Strathallan is the strath of the Allan Water in Scotland. The strath stretches north and north-east from Stirling through Bridge of Allan, Dunblane and Blackford to Auchterarder in Perth and Kinross. Strathallan is also the name for one of the wards in the Perth and Kinross Council area, electing three councillors under the Single Transferable Vote system.</p><br>
<p>From 2015 Strathallan Castle, traditional seat of the Viscount Strathallan, has hosted the T in the Park music festival which was forced to move from its previous site at Balado airfield due to safety concerns.</p><br>
<p>The main A9 road from central Scotland to the north of the country runs the length of Strathallan, as does the former Caledonian Railway line from Stirling to Perth and beyond.</p><br>
<p>Strathallan School, an independent boarding and day school, was originally located in Bridge of Allan but relocated away from the area to Forgandenny, Perth in 1920.</p><br>
<p>Strathallan won the Scottish school u16 cup in 2017 with Jamie Gibson (sweaty Betty) scoring in the last minute to beat George watsons</p><br>
<p>Sognsvann  is a 3.3 km circumference lake just north of Oslo, Norway.</p><br>
<p>Lying just within the greenbelt around Oslo, the lake is a popular recreational area, used as a camping, picnicking and bathing destination for the residents of Oslo during the summer, as well as a cross-country skiing, skating and ice fishing destination in the winter. The trail around it is used for walking or jogging all year. Every year in August, swimming and running take part in Sognsvann as part of the Oslo Triathlon. Cycling around the lake is prohibited due to large number of people covering this road on foot. Disabled access is good to and around the lake.</p><br>
<p>Part of the lake&#39;s popularity stems from its easy access from Oslo; Sognsvann station, located on the south end of the lake, is the final stop on line 5 on the Oslo Metro.</p><br>
<p>Svartkulp ("The black pool"), a small forest lake which is one of three nudist beaches in Oslo, lies a few hundred meters to the east of Sognsvann. The geographical center of Oslo municipality and county lies in the middle of this pool.</p><br>
<p>Lake Amatitlán  is a volcanic lake in south-central Guatemala, fairly close to Guatemala City. It lies in the central highlands, 1,186 m  above sea level. Its maximum depth is 33 m  and an average of 18 m . The lake is 11 km  long and 3 km  wide; with an area of 15.2 km&sup2; and a water volume of 0.286 cubic kilometers.</p><br>
<p>The lake&#39;s primary inflow is the Villalobos River, and the lake is drained by the Michatoya River, an important tributary of the María Linda River. The town of Amatitlán is situated at the head of the Michatoya river. A dam with a railway on top was constructed at the narrowest point, thus effectively dividing the lake into two water bodies with different physical, chemical and biological characteristics: a north-western and a south-eastern basin.</p><br>
<p>The lake is used as a water source, for navigation and transportation, sightseeing and tourism (10,000 visitors annually), recreation (swimming, sport-fishing, water skiing, yachting) and fisheries.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>As of 1850, the lake was used as a bathing lake and a resort area in the spring. Nearby hot springs were also popular with visitors.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>In the mid 19th century, the lake was plentiful with crawfish, sardines, and other seafood. The seafood was captured and sold for the local region, as seafood was rarely imported into the area.</p><br>
<h2>Pollution</h2><br>
<p>Amatitlán lakes catchment area includes Guatemala City. Each year large quantities of untreated sewage, industrial waste and a staggering 500,000 tons of sediment are carried into the lake through the Villalobos River. This has contributed to high levels of pollution of the lakes water, and an accelerated eutrophication and siltation. This has seriously affected the lake&#39;s former function as a source of drinking water and irrigation, and reduced its recreational functions.</p><br>
<p>In early 2015, the Lake Amatitlan Authority commission granted a contract to the Israeli company M. Tarcic Engineering Ltd. for 137.8 million quetzals, to purchase 93 000 liters of an alleged decontaminant that it would apply to Lake Amatitlán. However, after complains and legal action from scientists, academia, politicians and environmentalists who questioned the Israeli company contract, then vicepresident Roxana Baldetti suspended the project on 30 March 2015 and froze both the payment to the company and any decontaminant pouring into the lake. Furthermore, Baldetti was forced to resign in early May 2015 due to the La Linea corruption case and was sent to prison on 21 August 2015.</p><br>
<p>Amatitlan1897.jpg1897</p><br>
<p>Amatitlan1900.jpgEarly 20th century</p><br>
<p>Lagoamatitlan.jpgLake model in «La Aurora» zoo in Guatemala City, ca. 1925.</p><br>
<p>Mangere Inlet is an arm of the Manukau Harbour, the southwestern of the two harbours of Auckland, New Zealand and itself an arm of the Tasman Sea. The inlet lies between the two cities of Auckland City and Manukau City and has a size of 6.6 km and a catchment of 34.5 km, being considered to extend to just west of Onehunga . However, the inlet also acts as a natural sedimentation sink, thus being especially at risk of contamination.</p><br>
<p>It is surrounded by the suburbs of Te Papapa, Southdown, Westfield, Otahuhu, Mangere East, Favona, and Mangere Bridge. The narrowest point on the Auckland isthmus is at Otahuhu, where the coast of the Mangere Inlet is a mere 1200 m from the Otahuhu Creek, which ultimately feeds into the Hauraki Gulf.</p><br>
<p>The Mangere Bridge crosses the western end of the inlet where it joins the main body of the Manukau Harbour. At this point the inlet is about 750 m wide. The Waikaraka Cycleway also travels along the northern shoreline of the inlet.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Portage Road is the location of one of the overland routes between the two harbours (and thus the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea), where the Maori would beach their waka (canoes) and drag them overland to the other coast, thus avoiding having to paddle around Cape Reinga. This made the area of immense strategic importance in both pre-European times and during the early years of European occupation.</p><br>
<p>In the 1850s, after settlement by Europeans, the areas around the inlet had become the agricultural centre of Auckland. Later industrial expansion westwards from the new railway line at Westfield led to increasing discharges of contaminants into the inlet.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>The inlet is highly man-modified, with three embayments at the inlets of historic streams having been lost along the northern shore, to a significant degree for use as landfills, and a loss of tidal inundation to the Hopua volcanic crater forming the Onehunga Basin further west. Ann’s Creek in the north-east still has a short section of open stream remaining in the north-east. Land reclamation in the 1960s for the Westfield Rail Yards also reduced the inlet in the east, while the southern shore is less modified.</p><br>
<p>The area is generally known for relatively muddy, sedimented waters, which seem to predate human occupation of the area. Mangrove swamp fringes are present around most of the shoreline, becoming less common west of Mangere Bridge.</p><br>
<p>For many years the many industries, from meatworks and abattoirs, to phosphate fertiliser works and other factories located here were discharging large amounts of untreated waste into the Manukau Harbour. This had a detrimential effect on the ecology of the harbour which at the turn of the 20th century had been a popular and attractive place to swim, sail, fish and gather shellfish. During the 1950s, the decomposition of organic wastes (including from residential areas and facilities like Middlemore Hospital into the mud flats led to sulphate reduction under anaerobic conditions - leading to complaints about hydrogen sulphide smells, and blackening of lead paint in the areas around the inlet. From 1962, the Mangere sewage works removed many of the household and industrial wastes that were previously discharged and led to significant improvements. As of 2008, a number of coastal protection zones had been established around the shores of the inlet.</p><br>
<p>However, industrial sewage mixed with stormwater overflows, and other contamination still leads to above-average traces of toxins like pesticides, insecticides, PCBs and copper in the mussels and oysters sampled by testing.</p><br>
<p>In the discussions around Stadium New Zealand, constructing the new venue over the eastern shoreline of the inlet was mooted by several architects as a potential alternative to the Auckland CBD location. They considered that the site would be far enough away from residential areas to suit the need for a large and busy multi-use stadium, but would also be able to be accessed easily by public transport (trains) and cars, more so than the CBD location. However, the idea failed to get public traction.</p><br>
<p>Aranuka is an atoll of Kiribati, located just north of the equator, in the Gilbert Islands. It has an area of 11.6 km&sup2; and a population of 1,057 in 2010. By local tradition, Aranuka is the central island of the Gilbert group.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Aranuka is an atoll with a triangular shape, predominantly formed by two large islands, Buariki and Takaeang, which is the other inhabited islet that lies 7.68 mi west of mainland Aranuka. Both islets are unusually large for an atoll of this size. These islands are connected by long sandbanks on the northern side and an underwater reef crest on the southern side which also has a wide pass to the lagoon in the centre.</p><br>
<p>There is only one road that runs alongside the lagoon-side of the island where villages are located and a network of access and feeder roads running from the main road to other parts of the island. These pathways generally are wide enough to accommodate pushbikes and motorbikes but not big trucks. All villages are located on the lagoon side on both sides of the main road, easily accessed by walking, with bicycles, motorbikes and trucks.</p><br>
<p>Aranuka has a lagoon, but this is not so rich in shellfish. There is a passage into the lagoon, available for the boats in moderate weather, through the middle of the reef on the southwestern side of the atoll. There are several dangerous points in the passage where tidal streams can be very strong. Aranuka is known for its old stand of Rhyzophora stylosa mangroves that have grown as tall as coconut trees and are now a breeding site for birds. These mangroves can be found towards the northern end of mainland Aranuka.</p><br>
<h3>Villages</h3><br>
<p>The island of Aranuka had only three villages since its first establishment. In 1978, Baurua village was established with only a few inhabitants, less than 10 houses, making a total of 4 recognized villages now for Aranuka. The current populations of the villages are:</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Aranuka is by tradition the island in the middle of Kiribati and the location for the formation and separation of all the islands of Kiribati which was first started by the God of our Ancestors, Nareau. That is why Aranuka was formerly named and known as Ananuka – the middle of it.</p><br>
<p>Thomas Gilbert and John Marshall, sailing in the First Fleet vessels Charlotte and Scarborough, were the first Europeans to describe visiting Aranuka, in June 1788.</p><br>
<p>The island was surveyed in 1841 by the US Exploring Expedition.</p><br>
<p>At some point between 1860 and the late 1880s, the islands of Aranuka and Kuria were conquered by Tenkoruti (King Karotu), the paramount chief of Abemama, when a former ruler (Ten Temea) of Kuria and Aranuka gave up these two islands to King Karotu from Abemama and left for Maiana, another of the Gilbert group. They were then ruled by Tenkoruti&#39;s nephew, Tem Binoka.</p><br>
<p>Aranuka Post Office opened around 1924.</p><br>
<h2>Visiting Aranuka</h2><br>
<p>Aranuka is an island of unique natural beauty, with white unspoiled sandy beaches and sparkling blue waters as well as being the only island in Kiribati to have tall mangrove trees with heights of more than 15 m. The uninhabited islets of the island also provide the world class swimming and snorkeling spots for visitors.</p><br>
<p>Aranuka Airport is situated near the northern tip of Buariki, and is served by two flights a week from South Tarawa, which also link to Kuria. Charter boat services are also available.</p><br>
<p>Accommodation is provided by the Island Council guesthouse.</p><br>
<p>Nether Alderley Mill is a 16th-century watermill located in Congleton Road , to the south of the village of Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England. It is owned by the National Trust, and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is a unique example of a triple overshot waterwheel system, two of which are in working order. It is one of only four virtually complete corn mills in Cheshire.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The earliest reference to the mill is in 1290, but this was replaced by the present mill in the 16th century. None of this mill&#39;s original machinery has survived. The present mill was the manorial mill of the Stanley family. The machinery was replaced in 1850 and in 1871. The Trust restored the mill into working order in 1967–70.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture and machinery</h2><br>
<p>The mill is constructed in buff-pink ashlar sandstone, and has a long cat-slide roof of Kerridge stone-slate. Its plan is rectangular. The roof weighs about 200 tons, and is carried in an Elizabethan oak frame. The rear wall of the mill forms the dam for the lake supplying the water for the mill; this also acts as a moat for Alderley Old Hall. The water drives two overshot wheels of 12 ft and 13 ft diameter. Each operates separately, forming in effect two distinct mills with its own machinery, the water passing from the upper wheel to the lower one.</p><br>
<p>Vavau is the island group of one large island  and 40 smaller ones in Tonga. It is part of Vavaʻu District which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition the Maui god fished up both Tongatapu and Vavau but put a little more effort into the former. Vavau rises 204 m above sea level at Mount Talau. The capital is Neiafu, which is the fifth largest city in Tonga, situated at the Port of Refuge .</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Myths and legends</h3><br>
<p>In Polynesia it is explained that the islands were created by the god Maui, who caught the bottom of the sea with his magic hook, fished up and left on the sea surface what became the islands of Vavau. In total there are 70 islands, of which 17 are inhabited, spread over six districts.</p><br>
<h3>Recorded history</h3><br>
<p>Don Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa, commanding Spanish frigate Princesa was the first European to come to Vavau, on 4 March 1781. He charted Vava&#39;u as Martín de Mayorga who was the Viceroy of New Spain at the time. Captain James Cook knew about the islands a decade before, but the people in Haʻapai told him it would be no good for him to go there as there was no harbour. Apparently they did not want him to go there, and Cook heeded their advice anyway.</p><br>
<p>But Mourelle found excellent anchoring, of which he was in desperate need after having failed on Fonualei (Bitterness island) and Late, and he gave the spot the name Port of Refuge. But his original Port of Refuge was the bay on the west coast of the main island, near Longomapu. In 1793 Alessandro Malaspina visited for a month, following up on Mourelle and claiming the islands for Spain.</p><br>
<p>Tuʻi Tonga George Tupou I instituted the Vavaʻu Code in Vavau in 1839.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Vavau group measures about 21 km from east to west and 25 km from north to south. Vavau had 14,922 inhabitants at the 2001 census, of which 4,051 lives in the capital Neiafu. The islands in Vavaʻu District outside of Vavaʻu Group are uninhabited. The main island of ’Utu Vava’u is 97 km&sup2, the second largest island in Tonga.</p><br>
<p>Vava&#39;u is a coral reef with superior oblique in the north up to 200 m high cliffs. On the south side of the island group, it is dissolved into many small islands and waterways. The largest of these waterways, the fjord-like Ava Pulepulekai channel extends 11 km inland from the harbor of Neiafu, the capital.</p><br>
<p>’Utu Vava’u island is a raised platform of coral cliffs on the north coast and a low and irregular coastline south that opens in a complex network of channels, bays and islands forming one of the best protected natural harbors in the Pacific.</p><br>
<p>’Utu Vava’u is also home to the ʻEneʻio Botanical Garden, Tonga&#39;s only botanical garden.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Vavau has a much warmer climate than the rest of Tonga except the Niuas, a group of islands furthest to the north. Because of the island&#39;s warm climate and fertile soil, Vavau is a haven for vanilla and pineapple growers as well as other tropical fruits.</p><br>
<h2>Governors</h2><br>
<p>Hon. Fulivai – The Noble Fulivai was appointed as Governor of Vavau in July 2011.</p><br>
<p>Hon. Sione Laumanuʻuli Luani was Governor until he died suddenly on 12 May 2010.</p><br>
<p>Hon. Samisoni Fonomanu Tuiafitu was appointed Acting Governor of Vavaʻu in 1988 and then Governor of Vavaʻu in 1991. He died on 4 October 2005.</p><br>
<p>HRH Fatafehi Tuʻipelehake was Governor from 1952 until 1965.</p><br>
<p>Hon. ʻAkauʻola Siosateki Tonga Veikune Faletau was Governor from 1936 until 1939 before becoming Minister of Police from 1939 until 1952.</p><br>
<p>HRH Viliami Tungī Mailefihi was Governor from 1912 until 1918.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Due to its scenic beauty Vavau is particularly popular with sailors and other tourists and is one of the most important tourism sites in Tonga. From May to October, the Port of ’Utu Vava’u welcomes sailing boats from all over the world to dive with birthing humpback whales and explore underwater caves.</p><br>
<p>Tourism, agriculture and fishing are the main sources of income of the population. The vanilla grown here is considered one of the best in the world. Moreover, even giant clams and pearls are cultured.</p><br>
<p>Bigeh  is an island and archaeological site situated along the Nile River in historic Nubia, and within the Aswan Governorate of southern Egypt. The island has been situated in the reservoir of the Old Aswan Dam, since the dam&#39;s initial completion in 1902.Canay Ozden, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00033790.2013.808378#.UgMgFW3pwTk The Pontifex Minimus: William Willcocks and Engineering British Colonialism, p. 196, Annals of Science, 2013. DOI:</p><br>
<p>10.1080/00033790.2013.808378</p><br>
<h2>Ancient Egypt</h2><br>
<p>It was formerly an island in the First Cataract of the Nile River, and its fortification controlled the access to ancient Upper Egypt and Nubia. It is a World Heritage Site, located close to Philae and Agilkia Islands and their ancient archaeological sites in the reservoir.</p><br>
<p>Bigeh island was sacred to the ancient Egyptians. There was a belief that Osiris was buried on the island.</p><br>
<p>The god Thoth bore the epithets of "Great and Splendid God in Bigeh" and "He that Pacifies the Nsr.t in Bigeh". It is thought that there may have been a Temple of Thoth on the island.</p><br>
<p>Gawthorpe Hall is an Elizabethan country house on the banks of the River Calder, in the civil parish of Ightenhill in the Borough of Burnley, Lancashire, England. Its estate extends into Padiham, with the Stockbridge Drive entrance situated there. Since 1953 it has been designated a grade I listed building. The hall is financed and run by the National Trust in partnership with Lancashire County Council. In 2015 the Hall was given £500,000 funding from Lancashire County Council for vital restoration work needed on the south and west sides of the house.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Gawthorpe Hall&#39;s origins are in a pele tower, a strong fortification built by the Shuttleworths in the 14th century as a defence against invading Scots. The Shuttleworths occupied Shuttleworth Hall near Hapton from the 12th century. The Elizabethan house was dovetailed around the pele tower from plans drawn up by Richard Shuttleworth but carried out after his death by his brother the Reverend Lawrence Shuttleworth. The foundation stone was laid on 26 August 1600. The architect is not recorded, but the house is generally attributed to Robert Smythson.</p><br>
<p>In 1604 Richard Stone, from Carr House in Bretherton, imported Irish panel boards and timber and stored 1,000 pieces in the tithe barn at Hoole until they were needed.</p><br>
<p>The mottoes of the Kay-Shuttleworths are Prudentia et Justitia (Prudence and Justice – Shuttleworth) and Kynd Kynn Knawne Kepe (Kind Friends Know and Keep – Kay). Mottoes are found in the front porch and around the top of the tower. The initials KS, Kay-Shuttleworth occur in decoration throughout the house, on the front door and plaster roundels on the ceiling in the main dining room.</p><br>
<p>An early occupant was Colonel Richard Shuttleworth (MP), who inherited it in about 1607 from his uncle. Colonel Shuttleworth was High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1637, Member of Parliament for Preston (1640 to 1648 and 1654 to 1659) and commander of the Parliamentarian Army of the Blackburn Hundred during the Civil War. After his death Gawthorpe was leased to tenants, the Shuttleworths preferring to live at Forcett Hall near Richmond.</p><br>
<p>After Forcett was sold the Shuttleworths returned to Gawthorpe. In 1818 barrister, Robert Shuttleworth died and his daughter Janet inherited the estate at an early age. Her mother remarried and remained at Gawthorpe to protect her inheritance. In 1842 Janet married Sir James Kay of Rochdale, who adopted the surname Kay-Shuttleworth and commissioned Sir Charles Barry to carry out restoration and improvements to the house in the 1850s. Sir James was made a baronet in 1849 and served as High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1864. Charlotte Brontë, a family friend visited the house. In 1953 Charles Kay-Shuttleworth, 4th Baron Shuttleworth, left Gawthorpe to live at Leck Hall near Kirby Lonsdale and in 1970, after the death of Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth, Gawthorpe was gifted to the National Trust.</p><br>
<p>The National Trust described the hall as "an Elizabethan gem in the heart of industrial Lancashire". Nicholas Cooper described the hall&#39;s plan as an early example in which the main stair is immediately accessible from the main entrance, a feature that became standard. The hall has a collection of 17th and 18th century portraits on permanent loan from the National Portrait Gallery and is notable for its textiles, collected by the last resident family member Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth, about a fifth of which is on display.</p><br>
<h2>House</h2><br>
<h3>Porch</h3><br>
<p>The porch was rebuilt by Sir Charles Barry in 1851 who replaced the round-headed archway over the door with a four-centred arch on columns set on raised plinths and installed a three-light mullioned window above it to create a tile-floored vestibule. A stone plaque displaying the Shuttleworth, (three weavers shuttles) Kay and Kay-Shuttleworths arms carved by Thomas Hurdeys in 1605 was retained. The Kay motto was inscribed on the outside of the door lintel and the Shuttleworths on the inside. The doors decorative ironwork was designed by Pugin and made by Hardmans of Birmingham in 1851 at a cost of £17 1s 6d. The interior is decorated with a carved stone panel bearing Sir James Kay-Shuttleworths arms and two ceremonial sheriffs javelins and a black oak sword-chest dated to about 1500.</p><br>
<h3>Entrance hall</h3><br>
<p>The entrance hall was extended at its east end and reordered when the 17th-century mezzanine bedroom, a low-ceilinged pantry and the buttery were removed in the 1850s. The fireplace&#39;s stone over-mantel was used in the vestibule. The fireplace was given a marble surround, incorporating family initials in 1856 and an iron grate with lions-head dampers was supplied in 1852. A Renaissance-style panelled and arcaded openwork wooden screen was constructed in 1851 by William Horne. Oak panelling was installed framing two internal windows between which is a Jacobean panel and above it was a gallery for family portraits.</p><br>
<p>An Edwardian photograph shows the hall with a billiard table, upholstered bobbin-turned chairs, two wicker chairs and a Glastonbury armchair. The entrance hall was converted into a kitchen in 1945. The archway blocked, the screen dismantled, panelling removed and an internal window made into a serving hatch. Only the fireplace and geometrical ceiling were left intact. The room was later made into a study. In 1986 the screen was reconstructed, surviving woodwork re-installed and missing pieces re-carved and some stonework was repaired.</p><br>
<p>Portraits from the mid 17th century, include four on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, commemorating Roundheads imprisoned in Windsor Castle. There are portraits of Lord and Lady Derby, and of their contemporaries. Furniture includes a hutch cupboard inlaid with holly and bog oak from 1630 on a late 17th-century cupboard, two panel-back carved armchairs and a blanket chest. An ornate eight-day bracket clock from about 1725 is signed by Louis Mynuel.</p><br>
<h3>Great Hall</h3><br>
<p>The 17th century Great Hall was used for formal dinners, performing plays, music and dancing and from 1816 became the family dining room. It was refurnished after restoration by Barry in 1852. Its galleried entrance screen was built by Thomas Hurdeys, Hugh Sandes and Cornelius Towndley in 1604-05. Above its doorways is the date 1605 and the initials of Hugh Shuttleworth and his sons - Richard, Lawrence and Thomas. By 1850 the gallery was unsafe and shored up with pillars. An 18th-century over-mantel mirror, from the drawing room, was cut up to provide panels. Barry&#39;s 1851 carved stone chimney piece is superimposed on a wider 17th-century fireplace with an elliptical arch. Its sides are concealed with oak panelling and wall benches. The over-mantel has the Kay-Shuttleworth coat of arms, flanked by shields of Shuttleworth, Kay, and their wives - Fleetwood Barton, Jane Kirke, Catherine Clark and Mary Holden. The cast-iron fire grate and andirons were made in 1852 and the encaustic tiles in 1880.</p><br>
<p>Barry intended to retain its 1605 plaster ceiling but replaced it with a design reproducing the old pattern in an enriched form. In May 1852 red flock wallpaper designed to simulate 16th-century Italian velvets was supplied from J. G. Crace & Co. It survived until the 1960s and in 1987 new wallpaper was reprinted from the original "Rutland blocks", using distempered colours. Wool and silk brocade curtains by Crace have a pattern based on 15th-century Italian figured silk velvets devised by Pugin in 1844.</p><br>
<p>An 1850s Renaissance style trestle table was supplied by Crace. Two alabaster models by G Andreoni of Pisa representing the Baptistry and church of Santa Maria della Spina were purchased by Blanche Kay-Shuttleworth in about 1880. An oak dining table with turned legs was made in 1881 by Gillows of Lancaster and the twist-turned oak dining chairs may also be by them. A carved oak Charles II armchair is one of a pair made in Yorkshire in 1808 with seat panels in petitpoint floral work. The trestle fire screen has an embroidered panel. The mid-19th-century Feraghan carpet is of the same date, style and manufacture as one shown in N. F. Greens 1884 watercolour.</p><br>
<p>The hall contains portraits of Sir Thomas Aylesbury painted in about 1642 by William Dobson, James Harrington and Nathaniel Highmore.</p><br>
<h3>Drawing Room</h3><br>
<p>Robert Shuttleworth changed the medieval "dyning chamber" into a drawing room retaining its Jacobean panelling and plasterwork. The Italian Renaissance-style inlaid panelling with arabesques in semicircular arcading by the craftsmen who made the entrance screen, was started in 1603 and took a year to complete. The panellings cornice supports a frieze and ceiling by Francis and Thomas Gunby. The friezes contains a grotesque in which human, half-human and animal figures are entwined with fruiting stems and foliage. The ceiling is decorated with vines and oak branches in the spaces between strapwork ribbing. The plaster work took five months to complete in 1605. The fireplace arch was renewed by Barry in 1851 retaining the l7th-century hearthstone and stone fender and has a cast-iron gothic fire grate, designed by Pugin. Its andirons have armorial plates and wrought brass finials.The overmantel is dated 1604 above the Shuttleworth arms.</p><br>
<p>Of the Victorian furnishings and decoration, the bright green curtains were replaced by silk and linen brocatelle, re-woven from a fragment of material found in the house, with a pattern of stylised pomegranates and pineapples. A mid-19th-century blue and red Mahal carpet produced by Ziegler & Co. is a replacement and a Shirvan hearthrug dates from the 19th century. Portraits of Sir Ughtred and Lady Kay-Shuttleworth from1884 are by John Collier.</p><br>
<h2>Garden and grounds</h2><br>
<p>The small ornamental garden was laid out on a terrace overlooking the River Calder at the rear of the house by Charles Barry. The semicircular terrace wall is Grade II listed. The course of the river was diverted away from Gawthorpe Hall in the 19th century because of pollution and again diverted to accommodate an open cast coal scheme north of the river in Padiham in the 1960s.</p><br>
<p>Other listed buildings associated with the hall are the Great Barn (built 1602–04), the old farmhouse (1605–06, now used as the estate offices), the game larder, the coach house (1870), and the lodges and gateways on Habergham and Stockbridge drives (both c.1849).</p><br>
<p>Burnley F.C. have trained at a centre in the grounds since the 1950s.</p><br>
<p>Gawthorpe is one of the trailheads of the Brontë Way, a 43 mi long-distance footpath that crosses the South Pennines to Haworth, continuing to Oakwell Hall, Birstall, West Yorkshire.</p><br>
<p>The Heraion of Samos was a large sanctuary to the goddess Hera, in the southern region of Samos, Greece, 6 km southwest of the ancient city, in a low, marshy river basin near the sea. The Late Archaic Heraion of Samos was the first of the gigantic free-standing Ionic temples, but its predecessors at this site reached back to the Geometric Period of the 8th century BC, or earlier. The site of temple&#39;s ruins, with its sole standing column, was designated a joint UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the nearby Pythagoreion in 1992.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The core myth at the heart of the cult of Hera at Samos is that of her birth. According to the local tradition, the goddess was born under a lygos tree (Vitex agnus-castus, the "chaste-tree"). At the annual Samian festival called the Toneia, the "binding", the cult image of Hera was ceremonially bound with lygos branches. The tree still featured on the coinage of Samos in Roman times.</p><br>
<p>Many construction phases are known, identified in part through fragments of roof tiles, the first phase dating to the 8th century BC. The first temple, the Hekatompedos, was roughly 100 ft long and narrow; it consisted of three walls and an interior central line of columns to support a roof structure. A much larger temple was built by the architects Rhoikos and Theodoros ca. 570-550 BC. The temple stood opposite the cult altar of Hera in her walled and gated temenos. It was a dipteral temple, that is with a portico of columns two deep, which surrounded it entirely (peripteral). It had a deep square-roofed pronaos in front of a closed cella. Cella and pronaos were divided into three equal aisles by two rows of columns that marched down the pronaos and through the temple. The result was that Hera was worshipped in a temple fitted within a stylized grove of columns, eight across and twenty-one deep. The columns stood on unusual torus bases that were horizontally fluted. The Rhoikos temple "must have had central significance for the development of monumental Ionic architecture", Helmut Kyrieleis observes.</p><br>
<p>Unfortunately it stood for only about a decade before it was destroyed, probably by an earthquake. After the destruction of the "Rhoikos temple", an even larger one was built approximately 40 m to the west. This temple had the largest known floor plan of any Greek temple and is known as the "Polycrates Temple", named after a tyrant of Samos. One of the giant statues from the Heraion survives in the Samos Archaeological Museum. Construction continued into the Roman period, but this Heraion was never wholly finished. Instead, the cult image was housed in Roman imperial times in a smaller structure to the east, which remained in use until the Theodosian edicts of 391 forbade pagan observance. A Christian church occupied the Roman site, employing stone taken from the Roman Heraeum.</p><br>
<h3>Destruction</h3><br>
<p>The Heraion served as a quarry through Byzantine times, so that it was eventually dismantled to the very foundations. Little information has survived in literary sources. Pausanias missed Samos in his Periegesis of Greece. Scattered mentions by Herodotus do not provide a satisfactory substitute. With the exception of the open-air altar and the great temple no other feature of the temenos is mentioned in a classical source.</p><br>
<h3>Archaeology</h3><br>
<p>The first Westerner to visit the site was Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, commissioned by Louis XIV to travel in the East and report his findings. Tournefort visited Samos in 1704, and published his drawings of the ruins as engravings. Massive siltation deposits obscured, yet protected the site from amateur tinkering in the 18th and 19th centuries. Reedbeds and thorny brakes of blackberry canes provided daunting cover, and the water table, risen since Antiquity, discouraged trench-digging at the same time that it preserved wooden materials in anoxic strata. Thus the first preliminary archaeological excavations were delayed until 1890-92, under the direction of P. Kavvadias and Th. Sophoulis, from Athens, and the full extent of the third temples foundations were not revealed until Theodor Wiegands campaign of 1910-14. Rubble demonstrated that there had been a previous temple.</p><br>
<p>In 1925 German archaeologists from the German Archaeological Institute at Athens began again at the site; work that was interrupted by the Second World War commenced again in 1951. The site has been minutely described in a series of volumes in German under the general title Samos, which were edited to a high standard, establishing a chronology against which the wide range of votive objects deposited at the Heraion from the 8th century onward can be compared. Helmut Kyrieleis and Hermann J. Kienast took charge of the excavations in 1976.</p><br>
<h2>Further reading</h2><br>
<p>Barletta, Barbara A. (2001). The Origins of the Greek Architectural Orders. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</p><br>
<p>Farmakonisi  is a small Greek island and community of the Dodecanese, in the Aegean Sea, Greece. It lies in the middle between the chain of the Dodecanese islands in the west, and the coast of Asia Minor  in the east. To the north of it are the island of Agathonisi, to the west the islands of Leipsoi, Patmos and Leros, and to the south the islands of Kalymnos and Pserimos. It forms part of the municipality of Leros, and had a 2001 census population of 74 inhabitants, while in the 2011 census the population dropped to 10 inhabitants. Prominent historical monuments on the island include the church of Agios Georgios  and the nearby ruins of an ancient Roman temple.</p><br>
<p>Farmakonisi is 1.48 square miles wide.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>In Antiquity, the island was known as Pharmakousa (Φαρμακοῡσα, Pharmacusa) and took its name from pharmaceutical herbs that were growing on it. Alternative names for it are Pharmakos, whence it is known as Farmaco in Italian. It is known as Bulamaç in Turkish.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In ancient times, Hippocrates used to visit Farmakonisi to gather pharmaceutical herbs.</p><br>
<p>Plutarch in his Parallel Lives tells that the young Julius Caesar, while traveling to Asia Minor, was kidnapped by pirates and held prisoner there 38 days. During his imprisonment he promised them that, if he were freed, he would have all of them killed. After having paid a ransom twice as high as his kidnappers claimed (since he said that the required amount was too low for someone like himself), and having been freed, he organized a fleet and maintained his promise, crucifying all of them.</p><br>
<p>In modern times, the islet -dependent from Leros- was occupied in 1912 by the Kingdom of Italy during the Italo-Turkish war and, after being part of the Italian Islands of the Aegean, was ceded from Italy to Greece in 1947.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>Since 2011, as part of the Kallikratis Plan, the island is part of the municipality of Leros.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>Farmakonisi was notable since the ancient times for its very rich flora with several species of herbs growing on the island&#39;s surface. The flora is dominated by cedar, while cereals were growing in the small plateau of the island in past times.</p><br>
<p>The Swellies  is a stretch of the Menai Strait in North Wales. The most popular use of the name is for the stretch between the Britannia Bridge and the Menai Bridge.</p><br>
<p>It is notable for its difficulty in safely navigating its shoals and rocks due to the whirlpools and surges that are the result of the tides washing around the island of Anglesey at different speeds. There are several small islands in The Swellies, the largest of which are Church Island (Welsh: Ynys Dysilio) and Ynys Gored Goch (Red Weir Island in English but also known as Whitebait Island).</p><br>
<p>Swellies is the most treacherous section of the Menai Strait. A medieval document quoted in the book &#39;The Menai Strait&#39; 2003 (also published in Welsh under the title &#39;Y Fenai&#39; 2002) by Gwyn Pari Huws and Terry Beggs (Gwasg Gomer Press) states: In that arm of the see that departeth between this island Mon and North Wales is a swelowe that draweth to schippes that seileth and sweloweth hem yn, as doth Scylla and Charybdis - therefore we may nouzt seile by this swalowe but slily at the full see.</p><br>
<p>Prospect Place, also known as Trinway Mansion and Prospect Place Mansion, is a 29-room mansion built by abolitionist George Willison Adams  in Trinway, Ohio, just north of Dresden in 1856. Today, it is the home of the non-profit G. W. Adams Educational Center, Inc. The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Ohio Underground Railroad Association&#39;s list of Underground Railroad sites.</p><br>
<p>This home featured many new and, for the time, revolutionary innovations. It had indoor plumbing which included a copper tank cistern on the second floor which pressurized water throughout the house. Two coal stoves had copper tanks (under pressure from the cistern system) which heated water and allowed the home to have both hot and cold running water service.</p><br>
<p>This is the second house to stand on the same foundation. The first house was destroyed by an arson-related fire shortly after its completion. The mansion was rebuilt after the fire, with modern fire stopping added to it. The interior walls of the current house are solid brick, and there is a two-inch layer of mortar between the first and second floors of the house to block fire.</p><br>
<p>Prospect Place also featured a unique refrigeration system to cool milk, cheese, butter, etc. A primitive form of "air conditioning" was created by bringing cool basement air into the living quarters during the summer months via ducts in the outside walls.</p><br>
<h2>George Willison Adams</h2><br>
<p>Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1800 to George Beal Adams and his wife Anna Turner, George Willison Adams (or G.W. as he was called) was one of thirteen children. His father was a plantation owner who gave up his land and home to move away from the slaveholding South. The family migrated to southeastern Ohio in 1808, freed their slaves and settled in Madison Township, Muskingum County near the town of Dresden, Ohio.</p><br>
<p>Like his father, G. W. Adams became a strong abolitionist. He and his brother, Edward, ran an Underground Railroad "station" from their mill at what later became known as Adams Mills, Ohio.</p><br>
<p>G. W. Adams was once a member of the Ohio General Assembly.</p><br>
<p>Together with several other prominent citizens he formed a stock company to build a suspension bridge across the Muskingum river near Dresden. When the other members of the company became fearful that the plan was not feasible and that they would lose their money, Adams built the bridge at his own expense, his nephew, George Copeland, being the engineer. The bridge was conducted as a toll bridge for several years before Adams eventually sold the bridge to the county commissioners for one-third of the original building cost of the bridge.</p><br>
<p>Later in life, Adams was the President of the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad. He directed construction of the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad. His land holdings totaled 14,500 acre with the Prospect Place Mansion in the center of his plantation.</p><br>
<p>G. W. Adams was an important figure in Ohio politics, the Underground Railroad and regional development of the southeastern Ohio area. His importance in these areas was a criterion used to include the Prospect Place Mansion on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>G. W. Adams was married twice. He married Clarissa Hopkins Shaff (1824–1853) in 1845. They had four children together—Edward Adams, Anna T. Adams Cox, Mary Adams and Elizabeth Adams Endicott. After the death of his first wife, he married Mary Jane Robinson (1832–1915) in 1855. They had six children together—Sophia Adams, James R. Adams, John J. Adams, Charles W. Adams, Jessie Adams Huggins and Florence Adams. G. W. Adams died on August 31, 1879 at the age of 79. He is buried in Dresden Cemetery in Dresden, Muskingum County, Ohio.</p><br>
<h3>Underground Railroad operation</h3><br>
<p>The Underground Railroad operation conducted by G. W. Adams and his brother, Edward, was a huge undertaking. The brothers operated a flouring mill on the Ohio and Erie Canal and owned warehouses, a boat yard and cooper shops in Dresden, Ohio. When men from the Adams company would take flour to New Orleans, Louisiana, they would return with refugees (runaway slaves) beneath the decks of their boats.</p><br>
<p>It is also known that in 1856 Adams donated money to the American Colonization Society.</p><br>
<h2>Recent history</h2><br>
<p>The mansion passed through the Adams-Cox family to George Cox, a grandson of G. W. Adams, who owned the property until the 1960s. In 1969 the home was sold to a distant relative of George Cox, Eugene Cox. Eugene operated a gravel mining company, the Cox Gravel Company, which proceeded to mine the remaining 275 acres associated with the estate. Coxs wife Peggy convinced him to purchase the Edward Adams home in Adams Mills, Ohio, as well. The Cox family lived at the Adams Mills home until Eugenes death in the 1990s.</p><br>
<p>While the Cox Gravel Company owned the Prospect Place mansion, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The deterioration of the mansion increased due to lack of maintenance and vandalism. The interior of the building was all but gutted by thieves and vandals. The estate was scheduled to be demolished in 1988. Local businessman Dave Longaberger purchased the house to prevent its destruction.</p><br>
<p>Dave Longaberger installed a new roof on the structure and increased security with the intention of restoring the home as a future Longaberger Company headquarters building. Upon choosing to construct the current headquarters of the Longaberger Basket Company in Newark, Ohio, he placed the mansion restoration project on hold.</p><br>
<p>Dave Longaberger died of cancer in the 1990s. The Longaberger Company continued to maintain security on the property until 2001 when the great-great-grandson of G. W. Adams and Longaberger relative, George J. Adams, purchased the home with the goal of finishing the restoration.</p><br>
<p>George J. Adams had investors for the project, to include adaptive reuse with a restaurant in the building. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the investors backed out.</p><br>
<p>Adams created a non-profit, the G. W. Adams Education Center, Inc., which has owned the building since 2005. The educational center has continued the restoration.</p><br>
<p>The building is allegedly haunted and was featured in an episode of Ghost Hunters on the SyFy Channel in April 2008. It was also featured on Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel on January 1, 2010.</p><br>
<h3>G. W. Adams Educational Center</h3><br>
<p>Currently headquartered at Prospect Place Mansion, the G. W. Adams Educational Center, Inc., was founded in 2003 by George Jeffrey Adams, a descendant of G.W. Adams. The center operates as a historical and educational resource center for the southeastern Ohio area. The primary focus of the center is the history of the mansion, restoration of the estate, and providing educational activities and seminars which relate to the 19th century and thing about the rail road to Underground Railroad and Civil Rights in America.</p><br>
<p>Comana was a city of Cappadocia  and later Cataonia . The Hittite toponym Kummanni is considered likely to refer to Comana, but the identification is not considered proven. Its ruins are at the modern Turkish village of, Tufanbeyli district, Adana Province.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>According to ancient geographers, Comana was situated in Cappadocia (and later Cataonia). Another epithet for the city, found in inscriptions, is Hieropolis sacred city, owing to a famous temple of the Syrian Moon goddess Enyo or, in the local language: Ma (cf. Men, the moon goddess of Caria). Strabo and Julius Caesar visited it; the former enters into long details about its position in a deep valley on the Sarus (Seihoun) river. The temple and its fame in ancient times as the place where the rites of Ma-Enyo, a variety of the great west Asian nature-goddess, were celebrated with much solemnity. The service was carried on in a sumptuous temple with great magnificence by many thousands of hieroduli (temple slaves). To defray expenses, large estates had been set apart, which yielded a more than royal revenue. The city, a mere apanage of the temple, was governed directly by the chief priest, who was always a member of the reigning Cappadocian family, and took rank next to the king. The number of persons engaged in the service of the temple, even in Strabo&#39;s time, was upwards of 6000, and among these, to judge by the names common on local tomb-stones, were many Persians. Under the Romans the temple was reassigned to Bellona and Lycomedes established as high priest. Emperor Caracalla, made Comana a Roman colony, and the temple-city received honors from later emperors down to the official recognition of Christianity. Comana Chryse, or the golden, appears from one of the Novellae of Justinian (Nov. 31. c. 1), to distinguish it from the Comana in Pontus. It was in the division which he named the Third Armenia, and which, he observes, contained Melitene, near the Euphrates.</p><br>
<p>There was a tradition that Orestes, with his sister, brought from Tauric Scythia the sacred rites of this temple, which were those of Tauropolos Artemis. Here Orestes deposited the hair that he cut from his head to commemorate the end of his sufferings (ἡ πένθιμος κόμη), and hence, according to a folk etymology of the Greeks, came the name of the place, Comana. And in later times, to make the name suit the story better, as it was supposed, it was changed to ἡ Κόμανα. (Eustath. ad Dionys. v. 694; Procop. Persic. i. 17.)</p><br>
<p>The city minted coins in antiquity that bear the epigraphs Col. Aug. Comana, and Col. Iul. Aug. Comanenoru or Comainoru.</p><br>
<p>The site lies at Şarköy or Şar (once usually transcribed Shahr), a village in the Anti-Taurus on the upper course of the Sarus (Sihun), mainly Armenian, but surrounded by later settlements of Avshar Turkomans and Circassians. The place has derived importance both in antiquity and now from its position at the eastern end of the main pass of the western Anti-Taurus range, the Kuru Çay, through which passed the road from Caesarea-Mazaca (modern Kayseri) to Melitene (modern Malatya), converted by Septimius Severus into the chief military road to the eastern frontier of the empire. The extant remains at Şar include a theatre on the left bank of the river, a fine Roman doorway and many inscriptions; but the exact site of the great temple has not been satisfactorily identified. There are many traces of Severus&#39;s road, including a bridge at Kemer, and an immense number of milestones, some in their original positions, others reused in cemeteries.</p><br>
<h2>Ecclesiastical history</h2><br>
<p>It remains a Roman Catholic titular see of Asia Minor. St. Basiliscus was put to death at Comana and was buried there; according to Palladius, the historian of St. Chrysostom, he was bishop of the city, but this is very doubtful. Its bishop, Elpidius, was present at the First Council of Nicaea, in 325. Leontius, a semi-Arian, held the see in the time of the Emperor Jovian. Bishop Heraclius appeared at the Council of Chalcedon in 451: Comana was then a suffragan of Melitene, the metropolis of Armenia Secunda; since then it figures as such in most of the Notitiae episcopatuum to the twelfth century. Two other bishops are known: Hormizes, or Mormisdas, about 458 (letter to the Emperor Leo; see also Photius, Biblioth., Cod. 51) and Theodorus at the Fifth Ecumenical Council, in 553.</p><br>
<p>The ruins of Comana are visible ten miles north-west of Guksun (Cocussus), in the Ottoman vilayet of Adana (Lequien, I, 447; William Mitchell Ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor).</p><br>
<h2>Homonymous dioceses</h2><br>
<p>Another episcopal see named Comana, suffragan of Neocaesarea, was situated in Pontus Polemoniacus; it had also a temple of Ma and was surnamed Hierocaesarea Caesars sacred &#39;. It was captured by Sulla, 83 B.C. Six bishops are mentioned by Lequien (I, 517); the first is St. Alexander the Charcoal-Seller, consecrated by St. Gregory the Wonder-Worker. This town became modern Gomenek, or Gomanak, a village south-west of Neocaesarea (Niksar), in the Ottoman vilayet of Sivas.</p><br>
<p>Lequien (I, 1009) gives another Comana in Pamphylia Prima, suffragan of Side; the true name is Conana. Zoticus, who lived at the time of Montanus, was bishop of Conana in Pamphylia or of Comama in Pontus, not of Comana in Cappadocia. Cosmas of Conana appeared at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680. Conana became modern Gunen, in the Ottoman vilayet of Adana.</p><br>
<h2>Sources and references</h2><br>
<p></revision></p><br>
<p>The River Loughor  in Carmarthenshire, Wales has its source at an underground lake at the Black Mountain and emerges at the surface from Llygad Llwchwr which translates from the Welsh as "eye of the Loughor". It flows past Ammanford and Hendy in Carmarthenshire and Pontarddulais in Swansea. The river divides Carmarthenshire from Swansea for much of its course and it separates Hendy from Pontarddulais at the point where the river becomes tidal. The Loughor meets the sea at its estuary near the town of Loughor where it separates the south coast of Carmarthenshire from the north coast of the Gower Peninsula. Among its tributaries is the River Amman, which joins the Loughor near Pantyffynnon. The area of the catchment is some 262 km .</p><br>
<p>In the 18th century, the river was a noted salmon and sea trout river. Fish from the river was then carried on ponies to be sold at Swansea Market. The fishing declined in the 19th century due to increasing pollution from industrialisation.</p><br>
<p>Carmarthenshire County Council is currently undertaking studies into the possibility of constructing a barrage across the River Loughor upstream from the Loughor bridges.</p><br>
<h2>Estuary</h2><br>
<p>The Loughor Estuary (aka Burry inlet or Burry estuary, from the small Burry River which enters on the Gower side near its mouth) is the region of the waterway below the road and rail bridges at Loughor, where it turns abruptly from a southerly to a westerly direction towards Carmarthen Bay. The Afon Lliw empties into the estuary just below the Loughor bridges. This region almost completely empties at low tide, exposing extensive sandy areas supporting a thriving cockle industry.</p><br>
<p>On the south side of the inlet, the gathering and processing of cockles (Cerastoderma edule) contributes significantly to the economy of the villages of Crofty, Llanmorlais and Penclawdd. Anyone can take a bucket of cockles for their personal use, but the commercial fishery is restricted to a relatively small number of licence holders. Cockle density fluctuates from year to year; the estuary is also an internationally important location for waders and other wildfowl, which has led to demands from cocklers for the control of oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), which feed on cockles.</p><br>
<p>The estuary cuts through the southern part of a once-important coalfield. Llanelli, on its north shore, was noted for its tinplate industry, whilst Penclawdd, on the south side, smelted copper from ore shipped in from Anglesey. Both required ready access to the Bristol Channel via Carmarthen Bay. The main channel has fluctuated from side to side of the estuary in the past; in the late 19th century, the Llanelli Port Authority obtained legislation permitting the construction of a training wall intended to confine it to the north side of the estuary; unfortunately, this merely dissipated the currents, accelerating the silting-up not only of the entrance to Llanelli North Dock but also of the Penclawdd anchorage. The wall has since been breached in several places.</p><br>
<p>A later influence on the physical environment was the planting of cordgrass (Spartina anglica) to claim grazing land at the western end of the Gower side during the 1930s. This vigorous grass has since spread in a wide band all along the south side, forming the basis of a salt-marsh supporting the grazing of sheep, ponies and cattle.</p><br>
<p>The estuary is partly closed off by Whiteford Point, which extends from Llanmadoc in Gower towards Burry Port and Cefn Sidan in Carmarthenshire. This is now a National Nature Reserve maintained by the National Trust and the Countryside Council for Wales (ex Nature Conservancy) and is an area of sand dunes supporting several rare species. Just off the tip of the point is one of the few remaining cast-iron lighthouses, long since disused and in need of preservation.</p><br>
<p>During World War II several gun batteries were established to both the east and west of Penclawdd, where gun-barrels were calibrated and shells (of various types including high-explosive and mustard gas) were fired across the salt marsh towards Whiteford Point; quantities of unwanted munitions were also buried on the seaward side of this point. The area is regularly swept by the Royal Navy&#39;s bomb disposal team, although few shells are now recovered. Persistent rumours that anthrax biological warfare shells were tested against sheep in the estuary were finally substantiated in a reply to a parliamentary question from the late Tony Banks in January 1987. In the 1960s, the Ministry of Defence proposed to move its main artillery and explosives testing facility at Foulness, at the mouth of the River Thames, to a site between Burry Port and Kidwelly, which was already used in a very sporadic way as an air-to-ground rocket range. The intention was to make way for a planned third London airport. The proposal was vigorously resisted locally and was dropped when another airport site was agreed.</p><br>
<p>Lake Abijatta is an alkaline lake in Ethiopia. It lies in the Main Ethiopian Rift valley south of Addis Ababa, in the Abijatta-Shalla National Park.</p><br>
<h2>Overview</h2><br>
<p>According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the lake is 17 kilometers long and 15 km wide, with a surface area of 205 square kilometers. It has a maximum depth of 14 meters and is at an elevation of 1,573 meters.</p><br>
<p>Along the northeastern corner of this lake are a number of hot springs, which are important both as a tourist attraction and to the local inhabitants.</p><br>
<p>Additionally, there is a soda ash operation on the shores of this lake, which produces 20,000 tons of sodium carbonate. Proven reserves at Lake Abijata, as well as the neighboring Shala and Chitu lakes, exceed 460 million tons.</p><br>
<p>Flamingoes are also found at the lake.</p><br>
<p>Trickey Pond is a pond in the USA State of Maine. At its deepest, it is 55 ft deep. The lack of serious pollution in the area contributes to the pond&#39;s remarkably good water clarity. At most points in the pond, the entire depth can be seen.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Trickey Pond is located between Sebago Cove and Brandy Pond, both in the town of Naples. Although there are outlets of water into Sebago Cove and Sebago Lake which flow continuously, the pond has no visible inlets, suggesting Trickey has some active springs. There are two access points: one at the north end, one at the south. Trickey Pond is also home to Camp Skylemar, a summer camp for boys. The camp&#39;s waterfront includes swimming lanes, a large inflatable iceberg, waterskiing, wakeboarding, kayaking, and canoeing.</p><br>
<h2>Size</h2><br>
<p>The pond is only 311 acre, with a depth of less than 60 ft. In late summer, the near-surface temperature is roughly 75 &deg;F, while the bottom temperature is about 50 &deg;F.</p><br>
<h2>Naming</h2><br>
<p>Earlier in the 20th century, the body of water was referred to as Wenonah Pond. The girl&#39;s camp, located on the eastern shore, was named and founded during this period. By the late 1960s, the pond was referred to as Trickey pond as private lots were sold on the western banks. The reason for the name change is unknown.</p><br>
<p>The name can be found as a family name in the Gorham/ Windham area. The family established the first sawmill in the area.</p><br>
<p>Check the Gorham historical society.</p><br>
<h2>Fish</h2><br>
<p>The species of fish in the lake, when last surveyed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 1996, are</p><br>
<p>Salmon</p><br>
<p>Lake trout</p><br>
<p>Brook trout</p><br>
<p>Splake</p><br>
<p>Rainbow smelt</p><br>
<p>Smallmouth bass</p><br>
<p>Largemouth bass</p><br>
<p>Yellow perch</p><br>
<p>Chain pickerel</p><br>
<p>Minnows</p><br>
<p>Golden shiner</p><br>
<p>White sucker</p><br>
<p>Hornpout</p><br>
<p>Banded killifish</p><br>
<p>Sunfish</p><br>
<p>Sculpin</p><br>
<p>American Eel</p><br>
<p>Moneron Island,  is a small island located off Sakhalin Island.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Moneron has an area of about 30 km&sup2; and a highest point of 429 m. It is approximately 7.2 km long (N/S axis) by 5.5 km wide, and is located 41 nmi from Sakhalin&#39;s port of Nevelsk and about 24 nmi directly southwest of Sakhalin Island itself at the northeastern end of the Sea of Japan. It is the only landmass in the whole Tatar Straits. It has no permanent population.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was known as Todomoshiri ("island of sea lions") by its original Ainu inhabitants. It came under the daimyo of Matsumae clan in the 18th century and got its current European name from a visit of the French navigator La Perouse, who named it Moneron after Paul Mérault Monneron, the chief engineer of his expedition. Latterly, the Japanese named it Kaibatō (海馬島), which was a Sinicized rendition of its Ainu name, but it reverted to its European name after Japan&#39;s defeat in World War II and its occupation by the Soviet Union.</p><br>
<h3>KAL 007</h3><br>
<p>Korean Air Flight 007, with 269 passengers and crew, spiraled around Moneron Island twice during the final phase of its controlled 12-minute descent after being struck by a single air-to-air missile launched at it on September 1, 1983 from a Sukhoi Su-15, for straying into restricted Soviet airspace. Its precise position and final distance from the island are disputed.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna and flora</h2><br>
<p>The island is a popular place for diving and for birds. Surrounded by steep cliffs and rocky islets, it is a haven for sea birds. The warm Tsushima Current brings abundant marine life to the surrounding waters and species normally found much further south abound.</p><br>
<p>In 2006, infrastructure was constructed to allow tourists to visit the island. The facilities are operated by the Moneron National Park, which is the first marine national park in Russia.</p><br>
<p>Kourion  or Latin: Curium, was an important ancient city-state on the southwestern coast of Cyprus. The acropolis of Kourion, located 1.3 km southwest of Episkopi and 13 km west of Limassol, is located atop a limestone promontory nearly one hundred metres in height along the coast of Episkopi Bay. The Kourion archaeological area lies within the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and is managed by the Cyprus Department of Antiquity.</p><br>
<p>Kourion is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Paphos.</p><br>
<p>Many impressive remains have been excavated and can be seen today.</p><br>
<h2>History of Kourion</h2><br>
<h3>Early History of the area</h3><br>
<p>The earliest occupation within the Kouris River valley is the hilltop settlement of Sotira-Teppes, located 9 km northwest of Kourion. This settlement dates to the Ceramic Neolithic period (circa 5500 – 4000 BC). Another Ceramic Neolithic hilltop settlement has been excavated at Kandou-Koupovounos on the east bank of the Kouris River. In the Chalcolithic period (3800–2300 BC) settlement shifted to the site of Erimi-Pamboules near the village of Erimi. Erimi-Pamboules was occupied from the conclusion of the Ceramic Neolithic through the Chalcolithic period (3400–2800 BC).</p><br>
<p>Occupation in the Early Cypriot period (circa 2300–1900 BC) is uninterrupted from the preceding Chalcolithic period, with occupation continuing along the Kouris River Valley and the drainages to the west. Sotira-Kaminoudhia, located to the northwest of Sotira-Teppes, on the lower slope of the hill, was settled. It dates from the Late Chalcolithic to EC (Early Cypriot) I (ca 2400 – 2175 BC). In the ECIII-LC (Late Cypriot) IA (ca. 2400 – 1550 BC) a settlement was established 0.8 km east of Episkopi at Episkopi-Phaneromeni. The Middle Cypriot (1900–1600 BC) is a transitional period in the Kouris River Valley. The settlements established during the MC flourished into urban centres in the Late Cypriot II-III, especially Episkopi-Bamboula.</p><br>
<p>In the Late Cypriot I-III (1600–1050 BC) the settlements of the Middle Cypriot period developed into a complex urban centre within the Kouris Valley, which provided a corridor in the trade of Troodos copper, controlled through Alassa and Episkopi-Bamboula. In the MCIII-LC IA a settlement was occupied at Episkopi-Phaneromeni. Episkopi-Bamboula, located on a low hill 0.4 km west of the Kouris and east of Episkopi, was an influential urban centre from the LC IA-LCIII. The town flourished in the 13th century BC before being abandoned c.1050 BC.</p><br>
<h3>Kingdom of Kourion</h3><br>
<p>The Kingdom of Kourion was established in the Cypro-Geometric period (1050-750 BC) though the occupational centre remains unidentified.</p><br>
<p>Although Cyprus came under Assyrian rule, in the Cypro-Archaic period (750–475 BC) the Kingdom of Kourion was among the most influential of Cyprus. Damasos is recorded (as Damasu of Kuri) as king of Kourion on the prism (672 BC) of Esarhaddon from Nineveh.</p><br>
<p>Between 569 and ca. 546 BC Cyprus was under Egyptian administration.</p><br>
<p>In 546 BC Cyrus I of Persia extended Persian authority over the Kingdoms of Cyprus, including the Kingdom of Kourion. During the Ionian Revolt (499–493 BC), Stasanor, king of Kourion, aligned himself with Onesilos, king of Salamis, the leader of a Cypriot alliance against the Persians. In 497 Stasanor betrayed Onesilos in battle against the Persian general Artybius, resulting in a Persian victory over the Cypriot poleis and the consolidation of Persian control of Cyprus.</p><br>
<p>In the Classical Period (475–333 BC) the earliest occupation of the acropolis was established, though the primary site of settlement is unknown. King Pasikrates of Kourion is recorded as having aided Alexander the Great in the siege of Tyre in 332 BC. Pasikrates ruled as a vassal of Alexander but was deposed in the struggles for succession amongst the diadochi. In 294 BC the Ptolemies consolidated control of Cyprus, and Kourion came under Ptolemaic governance.</p><br>
<h3>Roman History</h3><br>
<p>In 58 BC the Roman Council of the Plebs (Consilium Plebis) passed the Lex Clodia de Cyprus, annexing Cyprus to the province of Cilicia and bringing it under Roman rule. Between 47 and 31 BC, Cyprus was returned to Ptolemaic rule under Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII, reverting to Roman rule after the defeat of Antony. In 22 BC, Cyprus was separated from the province of Cilicia, being established as a Senatorial province under a proconsul.</p><br>
<p>Kourion reached the climax of its influence in the Roman and Late Roman periods. The city is mentioned by several ancient authors including: Ptolemy (v. 14. § 2), Stephanus of Byzantium, Hierocles, and Pliny the Elder. It was among the most prominent cities of Cyprus, the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates being a Pan-Cypriot sanctuary alongside the Temple of Zeus Salaminos at Salamis and Aphrodite at Kata Paphos.</p><br>
<p>During the persecutions of Diocletian, Philoneides, the Bishop of Kourion, was martyred. In 341 AD,the Bishop Zeno was instrumental in the Council of Ephesus in asserting the independence of the Cypriot church.</p><br>
<p>In the later-4th century (c. 365/70) Kourion was hit by five strong earthquakes within a period of eighty years, as can be seen by the archaeological remains throughout the site, and suffered near total destruction. In the early-5th century Kourion was reconstructed, the reconstruction including the construction of the ecclesiastical complex on the western side of the acropolis. In 649 the Arab raids resulted in the destruction of the acropolis, after which the centre of occupation was relocated to Episkopi, 2.0 km northeast of the acropolis. Episkopi was named for the seat of the Bishop (Episcopus).</p><br>
<h2>History of excavations</h2><br>
<p>The site of Kourion was identified in the 1820s by Carlo Vidua. In 1839 and 1849, respectively, Lorenzo Pease and Ludwig Ross identified the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates to the west of the acropolis. In 1874–5, Luigi Palma di Cesnola, then American and Russian consul to the Ottoman government of Cyprus, extensively looted the cemetery of Ayios Ermoyenis and the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates. Between 1882 and 1887 several unauthorized private excavations were conducted prior to their illegalization by British High Commissioner, Sir Henry Bulwer in 1887.</p><br>
<p>In 1895 the British Museum conducted the first quasi-systematic excavations at Kourion as part of the Turner Bequest Excavations. P. Dikaios of the Department of Antiquities conducted excavations in the Kaloriziki Cemetery in 1933.</p><br>
<p>Between 1934 and 1954, G. McFadden, B.H. Hill and J. Daniel conducted systematic excavations at Kourion for the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania. Following the death of G. McFadden in 1953, the project and its publication stalled. The excavations of the Early Christian Basilica on the acropolis were continued by A.H.S. Megaw from 1974–9.</p><br>
<p>The Cyprus Department of Antiquities has conducted numerous excavations at Kourion including: M. Loulloupis (1964–74), A. Chritodoulou (1971–74), and D. Christou (1975–1998). Between 1978 and 1984 D. Soren conducted excavations at the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, and on the acropolis between 1984 and 1987. D. Parks directed excavations within the Amathus Gate Cemetery between 1995 and 2000. The Amathus Gate cemetery was excavated by D. Parks between 1995 and 2000.</p><br>
<p>Since 2012 the Kourion Urban Space Project, under the direction of T.W. Davis of the Charles D. Tandy Institute of Archaeology, has excavated on the acropolis.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeological remains</h2><br>
<p>The majority of the archaeological remains within the Kourion Archaeological Area date to the Roman and Late Roman/Early Byzantine periods. The acropolis and all archaeological remains within the area are managed and administered by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities and are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h3>The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates</h3><br>
<p>The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, located 1.7 km west of the acropolis, was a Pan-Cypriot sanctuary, third in importance only to the Sanctuaries of Zeus Salaminos and Paphian Aphrodite.</p><br>
<p>The earliest archaeological evidence indicates that the sanctuary was established in the late-8th century BC, the sanctuary being dedicated to "the God," apparently unassociated with Apollo. In the late 4th and early 3rd century BC, Classical Greek and Hellenistic architecture was introduced and the sanctuary was dedicated to Apollo Hylates. Most of the present remains were constructed in the 1st century and early 2nd century with the construction first of the:</p><br>
<p>Sacred street</p><br>
<p>Circular monument</p><br>
<p>The temple</p><br>
<p>Palaestra</p><br>
<p>Then under Trajan it was completed with the:</p><br>
<p>Baths</p><br>
<p>South portico.</p><br>
<p>The temple was abandoned in the late 4th century after an earthquake.</p><br>
<h3>The Theatre</h3><br>
<p>The theatre of Kourion was excavated by the University Museum Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania between 1935 and 1950. The theatre was constructed into the northern slope of the defile descending to the Amathus Gate, thus utilizing the slope of the hill to partially support the weight of the seating in the cavea. This architectural arrangement in typical throughout theatres of the Eastern Mediterranean.</p><br>
<p>The theatre was initially constructed on a smaller scale in the late-second century BC. The theatre was repaired in the late-first century BC, likely following the earthquake of 15 BC. The theatre&#39;s stage was seemingly reconstructed in 64/65 AD by Quintus Iulius Cordus, the proconsul. The theatre received an extensive renovation and enlargement under Trajan in 111 AD, bringing the theatre to its presently preserved extent. Between 214 and 217 AD, the theatre was modified to accommodate gladiatorial games and venationes but it was restored to its original form as a theatre after 250 AD. The theatre was abandoned in the later-fourth century AD, likely the result of successive seismic events, the earthquake of 365/70 perhaps resulting in its abandonment. The enlarged cavea of the Roman phases could have accommodated an audience of as many as 3,500. The stage building (scaenae frons) is preserved only in its foundations, though this would have originally obscured the view of the Mediterranean to the south. The present remains of the theatre have been restored extensively. The theatre is one of the venues for the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama.</p><br>
<h3>House of Achilles</h3><br>
<p>The House of Achilles, located at the northwestern extent of the acropolis, at the southern end of a saddle connecting the acropoline promontory to the hills to the north and west. It was located outside the walls, which has been partially exposed immediately to the south, and near the proposed site of the Paphos Gate.</p><br>
<p>The House of Achilles was constructed in the early-fourth century AD. The structure is arrayed around a central peristyle courtyard with fragmentarily preserved mosaic pavements in the northeastern portico. The most important mosaic depicts the unveiling of Achilles’ identity by Odysseus in the court of Lycomedes of Skyros when his mother, Thetis, had hidden him there amongst the women so that he might not be sent to war against the Trojans. In another room, a mosaic depicting Thetis bathing Achilles for the first time has been fragmentarily preserved. In yet another room a fragmentary mosaic depicts the Rape of Ganymede. Though it has been tentatively identified as a private-house, it may have functioned as a public reception hall.</p><br>
<h3>House of the Gladiators</h3><br>
<p>The so-called House of the Gladiators is located south and east of the House of Achilles. The structure dates to the late-third century AD. The structure has been interpreted as an elite-private residence, or perhaps more probably as a public palaestra. The later identification is supported by the absence of many rooms appropriate for living spaces and that the structure was entered from the east through the attached bath complex. The main wing of the structure is arranged around a central peristyle courtyard, the northern and eastern porticos of which possess preserved mosaic pavements depicting gladiatorial combats. The eastern portico of the atrium contains two panels depicting gladiators in combat, the only such mosaics in Cyprus.</p><br>
<h3>The Forum, the Nymphaeum and the Forum Baths</h3><br>
<p>The forum of Kourion was constructed in the late-2nd or early-3rd centuries, an constituted the centre of Kourion&#39;s public life. The forum consisted of a central pavement with colonnaded porticoes set along its east, north and southern sides. The eastern portico measured 65m in length and 4.5 m wide, with a colonnade facing the courtyard, and a wall forming frontage of shops to the west. The northern portico provided access to a monumnetal nymphaeum and a bath complex thermae constructed around the nymphaeum. The nymphaeum, measuring 45x15m was constructed in 1st century and renovated during the reign of Trajan (98–117) at which time the baths were constructed around it, along the northern side of the agora.</p><br>
<p>The Forum Baths, constructed on the east and west of the nymphaeum, and north and northeast of the forum, were constructed in the early-4th century following the final renovation of the nymphaeum. The baths were divided into east and west wings by the nymphaeum. The eastern baths were arranged around a central corridor which opened onto a sudatorium, a caldarium, and a tepidarium to the north. The western baths possessed a series of axially aligned baths along the northwest wall of the nymphaeum.</p><br>
<p>The forum, the nymphaeum, and the baths destroyed in the earthquakes of the mid-4th century and were subsequently reoccupied. The nymphaeum was reconstructed as a three-aisled basilica, with apses along the south wall. It was temporarily used as a church between c.370 and 410 during the construction of the nearby episcopal precinct. In the early-5th century the western portico was renovated to allow an entrance to the ecclesiastical precinct to the west. The structural elements of the porticoes were extensively reused in the construction of the episcopal precinct.</p><br>
<h3>Classical Greek Pyramidal structure</h3><br>
<p>Beneath the foundations of the baths the base of a large pyramidal structure dating from the late Classical period (350-325 BC) have been discovered consisting of huge stone blocks. These are the earliest remains found in Kourion.</p><br>
<h3>The Stadium</h3><br>
<p>The impressive stadium of Kourion, located 0.5 km west of the acropolis and 1.1 km east of the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, was constructed during the Antonine period (c. 138–180). The stadium was 187m in length with a starting line marked by two circular stone posts, set wide enough to accommodate eight runners. The free-standing curved seating structure enclosed the dromos on its south, west and north sides and measured 217 m long and 17 m wide. In its entirety the stadium measured 229 m in length and 24 m in width. This structure consisted of seven rows of seating supported by a 6m thick ashlar wall. Seating was probably accessed by stairs set at 10m intervals along the exterior of the structure. The dromos was accessed by gaps in the structure in the middle of the north and south sides, and at the centre of its curved western end. This structure provided sufficient seating for approximately 6,000 spectators. The stadium was abandoned in later-half of the 4th century. It remains the only excavated stadium in Cyprus.</p><br>
<h3>The Baths and House of Eustolios</h3><br>
<p>The House and Baths of Eustolios, situated on the crest of the southern cliffs immediately above the theatre, was constructed in the late-4th century over the remains of a structure destroyed in the mid-4th century. In the early years of the 5th century, seemingly immediately after the completion of the house, a bathing complex was constructed along the northern side of the house. The household and bath annex on the northern side contains more than thirty rooms. The complex was entered from the west, the visitor passing into a rectangular forecourt. A salutatory inscription in the vestibule beyond the forecourt reads, "Enter for the good luck of the house." Rooms were arranged north and south of this forecourt and the vestibule, including a peristyle courtyard to the south at its eastern extent. The southern peristyle was arranged around a central pool and is the centrepiece of the household, its porticoes adorned with elaborate mosaics. A mosaic inscription in the eastern portico identifies the building as Eustolios, who built the structure to alleviate the suffering of the populace of Kourion, presumably in response to the earthquakes of the mid-to-late 4th century. The inscription identifies Eustolios as a Christian, concluding, “this house is girt by the much venerated signs of Christ.” The accompanying iconography includes figural depictions of fish and birds (grey goose, guinea hen, falcon, partridge and pheasant).</p><br>
<p>The bathing complex is arranged around a central rectangular hall and included a frigidarium with an antechamber, a tepidarium, and a caldarium. The frigidarium is paved with a figural mosaic depicting a personification of Ktisis (Creation) holding an architect&#39;s ruler.</p><br>
<p>The complex remained in use until its destruction in the mid-7th century. The household was probably constructed as an private elite-residence, but was converted into a publicly-accessible bathing facility in the early-fifth century.</p><br>
<h3>Aqueducts</h3><br>
<p>Though the whole area is very arid today, the city clearly had a good water supply in Roman times as evidenced at least by the Nymphaea and large public and private baths, and also by the many pipes on the site.</p><br>
<p>Colonel Joseph S. Last showed that two springs fed the city through separate aqueducts from near Sotira (the smaller source) 11 km distant and Souni (the larger source) at 20 km distant which were both carried in terracotta pipes.</p><br>
<h3>Episcopal Precinct and Cathedral of Kourion</h3><br>
<p>The episcopal precinct of Kourion, located along the crest of the cliffs immediately southwest of the forum, was constructed at the beginning of the 5th century and renovated successively in the 6th century CE. This monoapsidal, three-aisled basilica, constructed on an east-west orientation, comprised the seat (cathedra) of the Bishop of Kourion. The aisles were separated from the nave by colonnades of twelve columns set on plinths. The central nave&#39;s eastern terminus ended in a semicircular hemidomed apse with a synthronon. The basilica was magnificently appointed according to its importance within the ecclesiastical structure of Cypriot Christianity. The walls were revetted in white marble. The eastern extent of the aisles allowed access to sacristies. The altar was enclosed within a chancel screen, and covered within a four-posted baldachin. The aisles were paved in opus sectile while the nave was paved with polychrome mosaics.</p><br>
<p>The complex included a barthex arrayed along the facade of the basilica and a peristyle atria arrayed both west and north of the narthex. This northern atrium provided access alternately to the episcopal palace to its west or to the baptistery to the east, situated north of the basilica along with a diakoinon and cathechumena. The precinct was destroyed during the Arab raids of the 7th century, after which the seat of the Bishop of Kourion was moved inland where the village of Episkopi was established.</p><br>
<h3>The Northwestern Basilica</h3><br>
<p>In the late-5th century, a Christian tri-apsidal, three-aisled basilica was constructed on the height northwest of the acropolis on the northern side of the road between the acropolis to the southeast and the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates. In Classical antiquity this site may have been a sanctuary dedicated to Demeter and Kore, as evidenced by a dedicatory inscription found on the site. The basilica was constructed on an easterly orientation. The central nave and aisles were paved with marble slabs. The central apse possessed a synthronon for the clergy, with the chancel set apart from the nave by marble screens and an opus sectile pavement. The basilica was accessed through a colonnaded peristyle courtyard and narthex west of the basilica. This atrium was entered from the north and south. The peristyle courtyard was centred upon a rectangular cistern. Also accessed off the narthex and atrium were two catechumenon, flanking the basilica to the north and south, and a diakoinon to the north. The basilica was abandoned during the Arab raids of the mid-7th century.</p><br>
<h3>The Early Christian Harbor Basilica</h3><br>
<p>In the early-6th century, an early Christian basilica was constructed at the base of the southwestern bluffs, below the acropolis, near the western extent of the unexcavated harbor area. The church was a tri-apsidal, three-aisled basilica that measured approximately 27.5 m in length and 14 m in width on its exterior. It was oriented with the altar facing southeast. The central nave measured approximately 25 m including the apse, and 5.5 m wide, with the flanking aisles being 2.75 m in width. The colonnades supporting the clerestory ceiling of the nave consisted of six corinthian columns. The eastern ends of the aisles and nave terminated in half-domes adorned with mosaics. The chancel was paved with opus sectile while the nave and aisles were paved in mosaics. A peristyle atrium was arrayed west of the basilica, with a baptistery opening off the northern portico, and access to the basilica complex being controlled through the southern portico. The peristyle courtyard was centered upon a well. A catechumena was arrayed along the southern aisle of the basilica and was accessed from the southeast corner of the atrium. The basilica was abandoned in the mid-7th century, a date likely correlating to the earliest Arab raids on coastal Cypriot cities.</p><br>
<h2>Paragliding</h2><br>
<p>Kourion is a major paragliding site in Cyprus and is flyable on most days of the year. Many pilots from all over Cyprus and visitors to the island use the area as a launching spot.</p><br>
<p>The Cave of the Trois-Frères is a cave in southwestern France famous for its cave paintings. It is located in Montesquieu-Avantès, in the Ariège département.</p><br>
<p>The cave is named for the three sons of Comte Bégouen who discovered it in 1914. (In French: trois frères means "three brothers".) The drawings of the cave were made famous in the publications of the Abbé Henri Breuil. The cave art appears to date to approximately 13,000 BC.</p><br>
<p>The painting, known as "The Sorcerer" is the "most famous and enigmatic human figure" with the features of several different animals, whose exact characteristics remain a matter of debate.</p><br>
<p>Engravings featuring what appear to be several birds and a cave grasshopper were found on a fragment of bison bone at the junction of Trois-Frères with the Grotte dEnlène. The grasshopper was portrayed with such fidelity that the insects species has been determined. It is thought to be the earliest known representation of an insect.</p><br>
<p>A variety of engraved animals are found on the cave walls, including lions, owls, and bison. Of particular note is a horse overlaid with claviform (club-like) symbols, and an apparently speared brown bear vomiting blood.</p><br>
<p>Aside from the "Sorcerer", other human-like figures can be seen at Trois-Frères, such as the man-bison, and a character known as the "small sorcerer" who appears to be playing a nose-flute. Also of interest is an etched representation of a 59cm long phallus that follows the contours of the cave walls.</p><br>
<h2>Tuc d'Audoubert</h2><br>
<p>The Tuc dAudoubert was discovered by the three teenage brothers in 1912. The galleries are situated on three levels; the River Volp flows through the lowest, the middle contains decorated galleries known as the La Salle Nuptiale and La Galerie des Gravures, while the upper has further decoration in La Chatière and Salle des Talons and finishes in the Salle des Bisons. In 2013 the Tracking in Caves-project tested experience based reading of prehistoric footprints by specialised trackers of Ju/hoansi San with great success.</p><br>
<p>The Salle des Bisons contains two masterfully modeled bison, which were sculpted in clay with a stone spatula-like tool and the artist&#39;s fingers. The pair are among the largest and finest surviving prehistoric sculptures.</p><br>
