<p>Salamis  is an ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus, at the mouth of the river Pedieos, 6 km north of modern Famagusta. According to tradition, the founder of Salamis was Teucer, son of Telamon, who could not return home after the Trojan war because he had failed to avenge his brother Ajax.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>The earliest archaeological finds go back to the eleventh century BC (Late Bronze Age III). The copper ores of Cyprus made the island an essential node in the earliest trade networks, and Cyprus was a source of the orientalizing cultural traits of mainland Greece at the end of the Greek Dark Ages, hypothesized by Walter Burkert in 1992. Children&#39;s burials in Canaanite jars indicate a Phoenician presence. A harbour and a cemetery from this period have been excavated. The town is mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions as one of the kingdoms of Iadnana (Cyprus). In 877 an Assyrian army reached the Mediterranean shores for the first time. In 708 the city-kings of Cyprus paid homage to Sargon II of Assyria (Burkert). The first coins were minted in the 6th century BC, following Persian prototypes.</p><br>
<p>Cyprus was under the control of the Assyrians at this time but the city-states of the island enjoyed a relative independence as long as they paid their tribute to the Assyrian king. This allowed the kings of the various cities to accumulate wealth and power. Certain burial customs observed in the "royal tombs" of Salamis relate directly to Homeric rites, such as the sacrifice of horses in honor of the dead and the offering of jars of olive oil. Some scholars have interpreted this phenomenon as the result of influence of the Homeric Epics in Cyprus. Most of the grave goods come from the Levant or Egypt.</p><br>
<p>According to the foundation myth, the founder of Salamis is said to be Teucer, son of Telamon, who could not return home after the Trojan war because he had failed to avenge his brother Ajax. There is however some evidence that the area had been occupied long before the alleged arrival of Mycenaeans (at Enkomi) and the town of Salamis was developed as a replacement when Engkomi was isolated from the sea. There is otherwise little direct evidence to support the foundation myth.</p><br>
<h3>In the Greek period</h3><br>
<p>In the 11th century BC, the town was confined to a rather small area around the harbour but soon expanded westwards to occupy the area, which today is covered by forest. The cemetery of Salamis covers a large area from the western limits of the forest to the Monastery of St. Barnabas to the west, to the outskirts of the village of Ayios Serghios to the north, and to the outskirts of Enkomi village to the south. It contains tombs dating from the 9th century BC down to the Early Christian period. The earlier tombs are within the forest area, near the boundary of the early town.</p><br>
<p>Though Salamis maintained direct links with the Near East during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, there were bonds with the Aegean as well. One royal tomb contained a large amount of Greek Geometric pottery and this has been explained as the dowry of a Greek princess who married into the royal family of Salamis. Greek pottery was also found in tombs of ordinary citizens. At this time the Greeks were embarking on an eastward expansion by founding colonies in Asia Minor and Syria; Salamis must have served as an intermediate station; it has even been suggested that Cypriots helped the Greeks in their venture.</p><br>
<h3>Resistance to Persian rule</h3><br>
<p>In 450 BC, Salamis was the site of a simultaneous land and sea battle between Athens and the Persians. (This is not to be confused with the earlier Battle of Salamis in 480 BC between the Greeks and the Persians at Salamis in Attica.)</p><br>
<p>The history of Salamis during the early Archaic and Classical periods is reflected in the narrations of the Greek historian Herodotus and the much later speeches of the Greek orator Isocrates. Salamis was afterwards besieged and conquered by Artaxerxes III. Under King Evagoras (411-374 BC) Greek culture and art flourished in the city and it would be interesting one day when the spade of the archaeologist uncovers public buildings of this period. A monument, which illustrates the end of the Classical period in Salamis, is the tumulus, which covered the cenotaph of Nicocreon, one of the last kings of Salamis, who perished in 311 BC. On its monumental platform were found several clay heads, some of which are portraits, perhaps of members of the royal family who were honoured after their death on the pyre.</p><br>
<p>Marguerite Yon (archaeologist) claims that "Literary texts and inscriptions suggest that by the Classical period, Kition was one of the principal local powers, along with its neighbor Salamis."</p><br>
<h3>Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire</h3><br>
<p>After Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, Ptolemy I of Egypt ruled the island of Cyprus. He forced Nicocreon, who had been the Ptolemaic governor of the island, to commit suicide in 311 BC, because he did not trust him any more. In his place came king Menelaus, who was the brother of the first Ptolemy. Nicocreon is supposed to be buried in one of the big tumuli near Enkomi. Salamis remained seat of the governor.</p><br>
<p>In 306 BC, Salamis was the site of a naval battle between the fleets of Demetrius I of Macedon and Ptolemy I of Egypt. Demetrius won the battle and captured the island.</p><br>
<p>In Roman times, Salamis was part of the Roman province of Cilicia. The seat of the governor was relocated to Paphos. The town suffered heavily during the Jewish rising of AD 116–117. Although Salamis ceased to be the capital of Cyprus from the Hellenistic period onwards when it was replaced by Paphos, its wealth and importance did not diminish. The city was particularly favoured by the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian, who restored and established its public buildings.</p><br>
<h3>In the Roman and Byzantine periods</h3><br>
<p>The "cultural centre" of Salamis during the Roman period was situated at the northernmost part of the city, where a gymnasium, theatre, amphitheatre, stadium and public baths have been revealed.</p><br>
<p>There are baths, public latrines (for 44 users), various little bits of mosaic, a harbour wall, a Hellenistic and Roman agora and a temple of Zeus that had the right to grant asylum. Byzantine remains include the basilica of Bishop Epiphanos (AD 367–403). It served as the metropolitan church of Salamis. St. Epiphanios is buried at the southern apse. The church contains a baptistry heated by hypocausts. The church was destroyed in the 7th century and replaced by a smaller building to the south.</p><br>
<p>There are very extensive ruins. The theatre, and the gymnasium have been extensively restored. Numerous statues are displayed in the central court of the gymnasium most of which are headless. While a statue of Augustus originally belonged here, some columns and statues originally adorned the theatre and were only brought here after an earthquake in the 4th century. The theatre is of Augustean date. It could house up to 15.000 spectators but was destroyed in the 4th century.</p><br>
<p>The town was supplied with water by an aquaeduct from Kyhrea, destroyed in the 7th century. The water was collected in a large cistern near the Agora. The necropolis of Salamis covers ca. 7 km² to the west of the town. It contains a museum showing some of the finds. Burials date from the geometric to the Hellenistic period. The best known burials are the so-called Royal-Tombs, containing chariots and extremely rich grave gifts, including imports from Egypt and Syria. A tomb excavated in 1965 by the French Mission of the University of Lyon brought to light an extraordinary wealth of tomb-gifts, which also attest trade relations with the Near East.</p><br>
<h3>Christianity</h3><br>
<p>In what is known as the "First Missionary Journey", Paul the apostle and the Cypriot-born Barnabas made Salamis their first destination, landing there after heading out from Antioch of Syria. There they proclaimed Christ in the Jewish synagogues before proceeding through the rest of the island (Acts 13:1-5). Tradition says that Barnabas preached in Alexandria and Rome, and was stoned to death at Salamis in about 61 CE. He is considered the founder of the Church of Cyprus. His bones are believed to be located in the nearby monastery named after him.</p><br>
<p>Several earthquakes led to the destruction of Salamis at the beginning of the 4th century. The town was rebuilt under the name of Constantia by Constantius II (337–361) and became an Episcopal seat, the most famous occupant of which was Saint Epiphanius. Emperor Constantius II helped the Salaminians not only for the reconstruction of their city but also he helped them by relieving them from paying taxes for a short period and thus the new city, rebuilt on a smaller scale, was named Constantia. The silting of the harbour led to a gradual decline of the town. Salamis was finally abandoned during the Arab invasions of the 7th century after destructions by Muawiyah I. The inhabitants moved to Arsinoë (Famagusta).</p><br>
<h2>Excavations</h2><br>
<p>Archaeological excavations at the site began in the late nineteenth century under the auspices of the Cyprus Exploration Fund. Many of these finds are now in the British Museum in London.</p><br>
<p>Excavations at Salamis started again in 1952 and were in progress until 1974. Before the Turkish invasion there was much archaeological activity there; one French Mission was excavating at Enkomi, another at Salamis and the Department of Antiquities was busy almost throughout the year with repairs and restorations of monuments and was engaged in excavations at Salamis. After the Turkish invasion the international embargo has prevented the continuation of the excavations. The site and the museums are maintained by the antiquities service. Important archaeological collections are kept in the St. Barnabas monastery. In the District Archaeological Museum there are marble statues from the gymnasium and the theatre of Salamis, Mycenaean pottery and jewellery from Enkomi and other objects representative of the rich archaeological heritage of the whole district.</p><br>
<p>The public buildings uncovered at the city site of Salamis date to the post-Classical period. The Temple of Zeus Salaminios, whose cult was established, according to tradition, by Teucer himself, must have existed since the foundation of the city; the extant remains date to the late Hellenistic period. Early excavators discovered in the esplanade of the Temple of Zeus an enormous marble capital carved on each side with a caryatid figure standing between the foreparts of winged bulls. Now in the British Museum&#39;s collection, the function of the capital remains unclear, although it does indicate influence from Achaemenid art and is consequently dated to between 300 and 250 BC.</p><br>
<p>Caesarea Maritima  is an Israeli National Park in the Sharon plain, including the ancient remains of the coastal city of Caesarea.</p><br>
<p>The city and harbor were built under Herod the Great during c. 22–10 BC near the site of a former Phoenician naval station known as Stratonos pyrgos (Στράτωνος πύργος)."Founded in the years 22-10 or 9 B.C. by Herod the Great, close to the ruins of a small Phoenician naval station named Strato&#39;s Tower (Stratonos Pyrgos, Turns Stratonis), which flourished during the 3d to 1st c. B.C. This small harbor was situated on the N part of the site. Herod dedicated the new town and its port (limen Sebastos) to Caesar Augustus.</p><br>
<p>During the Early Roman period Caesarea was the seat of the Roman procurators of the province of Judea. Vespasian, proclaimed emperor at Caesarea, raised it to the rank of Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta, and later Alexander Severus raised it to the rank of Metropolis Provinciae Syriae Palestinae." A. Negev, "CAESAREA MARITIMA Palestine, Israel" in: Richard Stillwell et al. (eds.), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (1976).</p><br>
<p>It later became the provincial capital of Roman Judea, Roman Syria Palaestina and Byzantine Palaestina Prima provinces. The city was populated throughout the 1st to 6th centuries CE and became an important early center of Christianity during the Byzantine period, but was mostly abandoned following the Muslim conquest of 640. It was re-fortified by the Crusaders, and finally slighted by the Mamluks in 1265.</p><br>
<p>The name Caesarea (Καισάρεια) was adopted into Arabic as Qaysaria قيسارية. The location was all but abandoned in 1800. It was re-developed into a fishing village by Bosniak Muslim immigrants after 1884, and into a modern town of after 1940, in 1977 incorporated as the municipality of Caesarea (Hebrew Kesariya קיסריה) within Israel&#39;s Haifa District, about halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa.</p><br>
<p>The ruins of the ancient city, on the coast just about 2 km south of modern Caesarea, were excavated in the 1950s and 1960s and the site was incorporated into a new national park in 2011.</p><br>
<h2>Classical era</h2><br>
<h3>Foundation</h3><br>
<p>The site of the former Phoenician naval station was awarded to Herod the Great in 30 BC.</p><br>
<p>Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. He went on to build a large port and a city, which he named in honour of his patron Caesar Augustus.</p><br>
<p>In the year AD 6, Caesarea became the civilian and military capital of Iudaea Province and the official residence of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix, and prefect Pontius Pilatus.</p><br>
<p>This city is the location of the 1961 discovery of the Pilate Stone, the only archaeological item that mentions the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, by whose order Jesus was crucified..</p><br>
<p>Studying the historical Jesus: evaluations of the state of current research by Bruce Chilton, Craig A. Evans 1998 page 465 It is likely that Pilate used it as a base, and only went to Jerusalem when needed.</p><br>
<h3>Roman Judea</h3><br>
<p>The city was described in detail by the 1st-century Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.</p><br>
<p>Josephus describes the harbor as being as large as the one at Piraeus, the major harbor of Athens. Remains of the principal buildings erected by Herod and the medieval town are still visible today, including the city walls, the castle and a Crusader cathedral and church. Caesarea grew rapidly, becoming the largest city in Judea, with an estimated population of 125,000 over an urban area of 3.7 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>According to Josephus, the outbreak of the Jewish revolt of AD 66 was provoked by Greeks of a certain merchant house in Caesarea sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue.</p><br>
<p>According to Josephus, Caesarea was the scene in AD 26 of a major act of civil disobedience to protest Pilate&#39;s order to plant eagle standards on the Temple Mount of Jerusalem.</p><br>
<p>The emperor Vespasian raised its status to that of a Colonia, with the name Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea.</p><br>
<p>In AD 70, after the Jewish revolt was suppressed, games were held here to celebrate the victory of Titus. Many Jewish captives were brought to Caesarea Maritima; Kasher (1990) claims that 2,500 captives were "slaughtered in gladiatorial games".</p><br>
<p>After the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, Caesarea became the provincial capital of the Judaea Province, before the change of name to Syria Palaestina in 135, in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt.</p><br>
<p>Caesarea was one of four Roman colonies for veterans in the Syria-Phoenicia region.</p><br>
<p>Caesarea is mentioned in the 3rd century Mosaic of Rehob, with respect to its non-Jewish population.</p><br>
<h3>Sebastos harbor</h3><br>
<p>When it was built in the 1st century BC, Sebastos Harbor ranked as the largest artificial harbor built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m. King Herod built the two jetties of the harbor between 22 and 15 BC, and in 10/9 BC he dedicated the city and harbor to Caesar (sebastos is Greek for Augustus). The pace of construction was impressive considering size and complexity. The breakwaters were made of lime and pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m pozzolana from Pozzuoli, Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the 500 meter long on the south and the 275 meter long on the north. A shipment of this size would have required at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each. Herod also had 12,000 m of kurkar quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana.</p><br>
<p>Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms for the placement of concrete underwater. One technique was to drive stakes into the ground to make a box and then fill it with pozzolana concrete bit by bit. Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out to sea because of the watertight space between the inner and outer walls. Once it was floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners. The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime mortar and kurkar rubble until it rose above sea level.</p><br>
<p>On the southern breakwater, barge construction was used. The southern side of Sebastos was much more exposed than the northern side, requiring sturdier breakwaters. Instead of using the double planked method filled with rubble, the architects sank barges filled with layers of pozzolana concrete and lime sand mortar. The barges were similar to boxes without lids, and were constructed using mortise and tenon joints, the same technique used in ancient boats, to ensure they remained watertight. The barges were ballasted with 0.5 meters of pozzolana concrete and floated out to their position. With alternating layers, pozzolana based and lime based concretes were hand placed inside the barge to sink it and fill it up to the surface.</p><br>
<p>At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive harbors of its time. It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbors and served as an important commercial harbor in antiquity, rivaling Cleopatra’s harbor at Alexandria. Josephus wrote: “Although the location was generally unfavorable, contended with the difficulties so well that the solidity of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed finished off without impediment.” However, there were underlying problems that led to its demise. Studies of the concrete cores of the moles have shown that the concrete was much weaker than similar pozzolana hydraulic concrete used in ancient Italian ports. For unknown reasons, the pozzolana mortar did not adhere as well to the kurkar rubble as it did to other rubble types used in Italian harbors. Small but numerous holes in some of the cores also indicate that the lime was of poor quality and stripped out of the mixture by strong waves before it could set. Also, large lumps of lime were found in all five of the cores studied at Caesarea, which shows that the mixture was not mixed thoroughly. However, stability would not have been seriously affected if the harbor had not been constructed over a geological fault line that runs along the coast. Seismic action gradually took its toll on the breakwaters, causing them to tilt down and settle into the seabed. Also, studies of seabed deposits at Caesarea have shown that a tsunami struck the area sometime during the 1st or 2nd century. Although it is unknown if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbor, it is known that by the 6th century the harbor was unusable and today the jetties lie more than 5 meters underwater.</p><br>
<h3>Early Christian center</h3><br>
<p>According to the Acts of the Apostles, Caesarea was first introduced to Christianity by Philip the Deacon, who later had a house there in which he gave hospitality to Paul the Apostle. It was there that Peter the Apostle came and baptized Cornelius the Centurion and his household, the first time Christian baptism was conferred on Gentiles. Paul&#39;s first missionary journey. When newly converted Paul the Apostle was in danger in Jerusalem, the Christians there accompanied him to Caesarea and sent him off to his native Tarsus. He visited Caesarea between his second and third missionary journeys, and later, as mentioned, stayed several days there with Philip the Deacon. Later still, he was a prisoner there for two years before being sent to Rome.</p><br>
<p>In the 3rd century, Origen wrote his Hexapla and other exegetical and theological works while living in Caesarea. The Nicene Creed may have originated in Caesarea.</p><br>
<p>The Apostolic Constitutions says that the first Bishop of Caesarea was Zacchaeus the Publican, followed by Cornelius (possibly Cornelius the Centurion) and Theophilus (possibly the address of the Gospel of Luke).</p><br>
<p>The first bishops considered historically attested are those mentioned by the early church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, himself a bishop of the see in the 4th century.</p><br>
<p>He speaks of a Theophilus who was bishop in the 10th year of Commodus (c. 189), of a Theoctistus (216–258), a short-lived Domnus and a Theotecnus, and an Agapius (?–306). Among the participants in the Synod of Ancyra in 314 was a bishop of Caesarea named Agricolaus, who may have been the immediate predecessor of Eusebius, who does not mention him, or who may have been bishop of a different Caesarea. The immediate successors of Eusebius were Acacius (340–366) and Gelasius of Caesarea (367–372, 380–395). The latter was ousted by the semi-Arian Euzoius between 373 and 379. Lequien gives much information about all of these and about later bishops of Caesarea.</p><br>
<p>Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem still has a metropolitan see in Caesarea, currently occupied by metropolitan Basilios Blatsos, since 1975.</p><br>
<p>The Latin archbishopric of Caesarea in Palestina was made a Roman Catholic titular see in 1432 (Zweder van Culemborg).</p><br>
<p>Melkite Catholic Church also consider Caesarea a titular see.</p><br>
<h3>Theological library</h3><br>
<p>Through Origen and especially the scholarly presbyter Pamphilus of Caesarea, an avid collector of books of Scripture, the theological school of Caesarea won a reputation for having the most extensive ecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 manuscripts: Gregory Nazianzus, Basil the Great, Jerome and others came to study there. The Caesarean text-type is recognized by scholars as one of the earliest New Testament types. The collections of the library suffered during the persecutions under the Emperor Diocletian, but were repaired subsequently by bishops of Caesarea. It was noted in the 6th century, but Henry Barclay Swete was of the opinion that it probably did not long survive the capture of Caesarea in 640, though a modern historian might attribute more destruction to its previous capture by the Sassanids (in 614).</p><br>
<h3>Byzantine period</h3><br>
<p>Caesarea became the capital of the new province of Palaestina Prima in 390.</p><br>
<p>As the capital of the province, Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after the destruction in the year 70.</p><br>
<p>In 451, however, the Council of Chalcedon established Jerusalem as a patriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees.</p><br>
<p>Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell to</p><br>
<p>Sassanid Persia in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, in 614, and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625, but was lost for good to the Muslim conquest in 640.</p><br>
<p>The fall of the city was allegedly the result of the betrayal of a certain Yusef, who conducted a party of troops of Muawiyah into the city.</p><br>
<p>The city appears to have been partially destroyed upon its conquest.</p><br>
<p>The 7th-century Coptic bishop John of Nikiû, claims "the horrors committed in the city of Caesarea in Palestine", while the 9th-century historian Al-Baladhuri merely states that the city was "reduced".Meyers, 1999, p..</p><br>
<p>( trans. Philip Khuri Hitti, 1916).</p><br>
<p>The archaeological stratum representing the destruction is analyzed in Cherie Joyce Lentzen, The Byzantine/Islamic Occupation of Caesarea Maritima as Evidenced Through the Pottery (Drew University 1983), noted by Meyer 1999:381 note 23. See also: Al-Baladhuri, 1916, pp. -219.</p><br>
<h2>Later history</h2><br>
<h3>Arab rule</h3><br>
<p>The former Palaestina Prima was now administered as Jund Filastin, with the capital first at Ludd and then at Ramla.</p><br>
<p>Al-Biladhuri (d. 892) mentions Qaysaria as one of ten cities captured in the conquest of Palestine.</p><br>
<p>The city likely remained inhabited for some time under Arab rule, during the 7th and 8th century, albeit with much reduced population. Archaeological evidence shows a clear destruction layer identified with the conquest of 640, followed by some evidence of renewed settlement in the early Umayyad period.</p><br>
<p>It appears that the harbour remained in use for some time, but it was allowed to silt up and it was unusable by the 9th century.</p><br>
<p>By the 11th century, it appears that the town had once again been developed into a fortified city. Writing in 1047, Nasir-i-Khusraw describes it as "a fine city, with running waters, and palm-gardens, and orange and citron trees. Its walls are strong, and it has an iron gate. There are fountains that gush out within the city". This is in agreement with William of Tyres description of the Crusaders siege in 1101, mentioning catapults and siege engines used against the city fortifications.</p><br>
<h3>Crusades</h3><br>
<p>Caesarea was re-taken by Baldwin I in the wake First Crusade, in 1101.</p><br>
<p>Michael the Syrian records that the city was "devastated upon its capture",</p><br>
<p>William of Tyre (10.15) describes the use of catapults and siege towers, and states that the city was taken in an assault after fifteen days of siege and given over to looting and pillaging. He also mentions (10.16) the discovery of a "vessel of the most green colour, in the shape of a serving dish" (vas coloris viridissimi, in modum parapsidis formatum) which the Genuese thought to be made of emerald, and accepted as their share of the spoils. This refers to the hexagonal bowl known as the Sacro Catino in Italian, which was brought to Genoa by Guglielmo Embriaco and was later identified as the Holy Chalice.Marica, Patrizia, Museo del Tesoro Genoa, Italy (2007), 7&ndash;12.</p><br>
<p>The Sacro Catino is a hexagonal bowl made from Roma-era green glass, some 9 cm high and 33 cm across. It was seized and taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1805, and it was damaged when it was returned to Genoa in 1816. The object was not immediately identified as the Holy Grail. William of Tyre states that was still claimed to be made of emerald by the Genoese in his day, some 70 years later, the implication being that emerald was thought to have miraculous properties of their own in medieval lore (Unde et usque hodie transeuntibus per eos magnatibus, vas idem quasi pro miraculo solent ostendere, persuadentes quod vere sit, id quod color esse indicat, smaragdus.) The first explicit claim identifying the bowl with the Holy Grail (the vessel used in the Last Supper) is found in the Chronicon by Jacobus de Voragine, written in the 1290s. Juliette Wood, (2012).</p><br>
<p>Caesarea was incorporated as a lordship (dominion) within the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Latin See of Caesarea was established, with ten archbishops listed for the period 1101&ndash;1266 (treated as titular see from 1432&ndash;1967).</p><br>
<p>Archbishop Heraclius attended the Third Lateran Council in 1179.</p><br>
<p>Saladin retook the city in 1187; it was recaptured by the Crusaders in 1191.</p><br>
<p>In 1251, Louis IX of France fortified the city, ordering the construction of high walls (parts of which are still standing) and a deep moat.</p><br>
<p>The city was finally lost in 1265, when it fell to the Mamluks, who destroyed it completely to prevent its re-emergence as a fortress, in line with their practice in other formerly-Crusader coastal cities.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman era</h3><br>
<p>Caesarea lay in ruins until the nineteenth century, when the village of Qisarya (قيسارية, the Arabic name for Caesarea) was established in 1884 by Bushnaks (Bosniaks) – immigrants from Bosnia, who built a small fishing village on the ruins of the Crusader fortress on the coast.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology and reconstruction</h2><br>
<p>Archaeological excavations in the 1950s and 1960s uncovered remains from many periods, in particular, a complex of Crusader fortifications and a Roman theatre. Other buildings include a temple dedicated to Caesar; a hippodrome rebuilt in the 2nd century as a more conventional theater; the Tiberieum, which has a limestone block with a dedicatory inscription. This is the only archaeological find with an inscription mentioning the name "Pontius Pilatus&quot a double aqueduct that brought water from springs at the foot of Mount Carmel; a boundary wall; and a 200 ft (60 m) wide moat protecting the harbour to the south and west. The harbor was the largest on the eastern Mediterranean coast.</p><br>
<p>The main church, an octagonal martyrion, was built in the 6th century and sited directly upon the podium that had supported a Roman temple, as was a widespread Christian practice. The Martyrion was richly paved and surrounded by small radiating enclosures. Archaeologists have recovered some foliate capitals that included representations of the Cross. The site, used by Herod for his pagan temple, then reconsecrated as a church, would in time be re-occupied, this time by a mosque.</p><br>
<p>An elaborate government structure contained a basilica with an apse, where magistrates would have sat, for the structure was used as a hall of justice, as fragments of inscriptions detailing the fees that court clerks might claim attest. A well-preserved 6th-century mosaic gold and colored glass table patterned with crosses and rosettes was found in 2005.</p><br>
<p>In 1962, a team of Israeli and American archaeologists discovered in the sand of Caesarea Maritima three small fragments of one Hebrew stone inscription bearing the partial names of places associated with the priestly courses (the rest of which had been reconstructed), dated to the third-fourth centuries. The uniqueness of this discovery is that it shows the places of residence in Galilee of the priestly courses, places presumably resettled by Jews after the Great Jewish Revolt under Hadrian.</p><br>
<p>Since 2000 the site of Caesarea Maritima is included in the "Tentative List of World Heritage Places" of the UNESCO.</p><br>
<p>Klazomenai  or Clazomenae was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia and a member of the Ionian League. It was one of the first cities to issue silver coinage. Its ruins are now located in the modern town Urla near Izmir in Izmir Province, Turkey.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Klazomenai is located in modern Urla (Vourla in Greek) on the western coast of Anatolia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of İzmir, at about 20 miles west of İzmir. The city was originally located on the mainland, but probably during the early fifth-century Ionian Revolt from the Persians, it was moved to an island just off the coast, which Alexander the Great eventually connected to the mainland with a causeway. The location of the city-around a harbour, backed by a coastal plain and low hills to the south provided a number of locations for settlement, and as such, settlements did shift from location to location over time. This can be shown by the island of Karantina, located to the north of the settlement area-which became settled at certain points in the history of Klazomenai.</p><br>
<h2>Mythology</h2><br>
<p>A silver coin minted in Klazomenai shows the head of Apollo, the principal god of the city. According to myth, swans drew the chariot in which Apollo every year flew south from his winter home in the land of the Hyperboreans. But Klazomenai was also home to large numbers of swans, and it is thought that the verb klazo was used to describe the call of the wild birds. The swan on the obverse is both an attribute of Apollo and a pun on the name Klazomenai.</p><br>
<h2>Ancient times</h2><br>
<p>Though not in existence before the arrival of the Ionians in Asia, its original founders were largely settlers from Phlius and Cleonae. It stood originally on the isthmus connecting the mainland with the peninsula on which Erythrae stood; but the inhabitants, alarmed by the encroachments of the Persians, removed to one of the small islands of the bay, and there established their city. This island was connected with the mainland by Alexander the Great by means of a pier, the remains of which are still visible.</p><br>
<p>Clazomenae was attacked by the Lydian king Alyattes II in the 6th century. During the 5th century it was for some time subject to the Athenians, but about the middle of the Peloponnesian War (412 BC) it revolted. After a brief resistance, however, it again acknowledged the Athenian supremacy, and repelled a Lacedaemonian attack. In 387 BC Klazomenai and other cities in Asia were taken over by Persia, but the city continued to issue its own coins.</p><br>
<p>The philosopher Anaxagoras (c. 510 – 428 BC), often styled "Anaxagoras of Clazomenae", was born in Clazomenae, as was the earlier philosopher Hermotimus of Clazomenae.</p><br>
<p>Under the Romans, Clazomenae was included in the province of Asia, and enjoyed an immunity from taxation.</p><br>
<p>Clazomenae early became a Christian bishopric. Its bishop, Eusebius took part in the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Another, Macarius, participated in the Council of Constantinople (869), which is seen within the Catholic Church as the eighth ecumenical council. Although still documented at the end of the 14th century, it is no longer a residential bishopric. Accordingly, Clazomenae is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The site of Liman Tepe, which lies near an old harbour contains very important Bronze Age excavations, the most prominent and remarkable of which is the amount of varying archaic burial sites, as well as evidence of the practises associated with them close by. One possible explanation for this is that these sites were used by different social groups within society.</p><br>
<p>The city was famous for production and exports of olive oil and its painted terracotta sarcophagi, which are the finest monuments of Ionian painting in the 6th century BC.</p><br>
<p>A large painted terracotta sarcophagus and lid, together weighing about 2 tonnes, were discovered in the vicinity of Klazomenai in the late nineteenth century. An ancient Greek work dating to about 500 BC, the funerary objects depict war scenes, chariot racing, hunting as well as geometric patterns throughout and are now in the British Museum&#39;s collection.</p><br>
<p>It was also prized for its variety of garum.</p><br>
<h2>Ancient olive press</h2><br>
<p>Olive oil extraction installation (işlik) dating back to the third quarter of the 6th century BC uncovered in Klazomenai is the only surviving example of a level and weights press from an ancient Greek city and precedes by at least two centuries the next securely datable earliest presses found in Greece. It was restored and reconstructed in 2004–2005 through collaboration between Ege University, a Turkish olive-oil exporter and a German natural building components company, as well as by local artisans, on the basis of the clearly visible millstone with a cylindrical roller and three separation pits. The olive oil obtained turned out to be quite a success in business terms as well. The reconstructed olive oil press is located on the original mainland site of Klazomenai, at 38&deg;21&prime;40.4&Prime;N latitude, 26&deg;46&prime;13.3&Prime;E longitude.</p><br>
<h2>Financial pioneers</h2><br>
<p>In an event noted by Aristotle, Klazomenians also appear as financial pioneers in economic history, for having used one commodity (olive oil), in an organized manner and on a city-scale, to purchase another (wheat), with interests refundable on the value of the first. Around 350 B.C., suffering from a shortage of grain and scarcity of funds, the rulers of the city passed a resolution calling on citizens who had stores of olive oil to lend to the city at interest. The loan arranged, they hired vessels and sent them to ports of exportation of grain and bought a consignment on the pledged security of the value of the oil.</p><br>
<p>The island of Delos , near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are among the most extensive in the Mediterranean; ongoing work takes place under the direction of the French School at Athens and many of the artifacts found are on display at the Archaeological Museum of Delos and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.</p><br>
<p>Delos had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. From its Sacred Harbour, the horizon shows the three conical mounds (image below) that have identified landscapes sacred to a goddess in other sites: one, retaining its Pre-Greek name Mount Kynthos, is crowned with a sanctuary of Zeus.</p><br>
<p>Established as a culture center, Delos had an importance that its natural resources could never have offered. In this vein Leto, searching for a birthing-place for Artemis and Apollo, addressed the island:</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Investigation of ancient stone huts found on the island indicate that it has been inhabited since the 3rd millennium BCE. Thucydides identifies the original inhabitants as piratical Carians who were eventually expelled by King Minos of Crete. By the time of the Odyssey the island was already famous as the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis (although there seems to be some confusion of Artemis&#39; birthplace being either Delos or the island of Ortygia). Indeed, between 900 BCE and 100 CE, sacred Delos was a major cult centre, where Dionysus is also in evidence as well as the Titaness Leto, mother of the above-mentioned twin deities. Eventually acquiring Panhellenic religious significance, Delos was initially a religious pilgrimage for the Ionians.</p><br>
<p>A number of "purifications" were executed by the city-state of Athens in an attempt to render the island fit for the proper worship of the gods. The first took place in the 6th century BCE, directed by the tyrant Pisistratus who ordered that all graves within sight of the temple be dug up and the bodies moved to another nearby island. In the 5th century BCE, during the 6th year of the Peloponnesian war and under instruction from the Delphic Oracle, the entire island was purged of all dead bodies. It was then ordered that no one should be allowed to either die or give birth on the island due to its sacred importance and to preserve its neutrality in commerce, since no one could then claim ownership through inheritance. Immediately after this purification, the first quinquennial festival of the Delian games were celebrated there.</p><br>
<p>After the Persian Wars the island became the natural meeting-ground for the Delian League, founded in 478 BCE, the congresses being held in the temple (a separate quarter was reserved for foreigners and the sanctuaries of foreign deities.) The League&#39;s common treasury was kept here as well until 454 BCE when Pericles removed it to Athens.</p><br>
<p>The island had no productive capacity for food, fiber, or timber, with such being imported. Limited water was exploited with an extensive cistern and aqueduct system, wells, and sanitary drains. Various regions operated agoras (markets).</p><br>
<p>Strabo states that in 166 BCE the Romans converted Delos into a free port, which was partially motivated by seeking to damage the trade of Rhodes, at the time the target of Roman hostility. In 167 or 166 BCE, after the Roman victory in the Third Macedonian War, the Roman Republic ceded the island of Delos to the Athenians, who expelled most of the original inhabitants. Roman traders came to purchase tens of thousands of slaves captured by the Cilician pirates or captured in the wars following the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire. It became the center of the slave trade, with the largest slave market in the larger region being maintained here.</p><br>
<p>The Roman destruction of Corinth in 146 BCE allowed Delos to at least partially assume Corinths role as the premier trading center of Greece. However, Delos commercial prosperity, construction activity, and population waned significantly after the island was assaulted by the forces of Mithridates VI of Pontus in 88 and 69 BCE, during the Mithridatic Wars with Rome. Before the end of the 1st century BCE, trade routes had changed; Delos was replaced by Puteoli as the chief focus of Italian trade with the East, and as a cult-centre too it entered a sharp decline. Due to the inadequate natural soruces of food and water, and the above history, unlike other Greek islands, Delos did not have an indigenous, self-supporting community of its own. As a result, in later times it was uninhabited.</p><br>
<p>Since 1872 the École française d&#39;Athènes ("French School of Athens") has been excavating the island, the complex of buildings of which compares with those of Delphi and Olympia. In 1990, UNESCO inscribed Delos on the World Heritage List, citing it as the "exceptionally extensive and rich" archaeological site which "conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port".</p><br>
<h2>Landmarks</h2><br>
<p>The small Sacred Lake in its circular bowl, now intentionally left dry by the island&#39;s caretakers to suppress disease spreading bacteria, is a topographical feature that determined the placement of later features.</p><br>
<p>The Minoan Fountain was a rectangular public well hewn in the rock, with a central column; it formalized the sacred spring in its present 6th century BCE form, reconstructed in 166 BCE, according to an inscription. Tightly-laid courses of masonry form the walls; water can still be reached by a flight of steps that fill one side.</p><br>
<p>There are several market squares. The Hellenistic Agora of the Competaliasts by the Sacred Harbour retains the postholes for market awnings in its stone paving. Two powerful Italic merchant guilds dedicated statues and columns there.</p><br>
<p>The Temple of the Delians, dedicated to Apollo, is a classic example of the Doric order. (A pen-and-wash reconstruction of the temple is illustrated at the Doric order article.) Beside the temple once stood a colossal Kouros of Apollo, only parts of which remain extant. Dating to the 6th Century BCE, parts of the upper torso and pelvis remain in situ, a hand is kept at the local museum and a foot in the British Museum.</p><br>
<p>The Terrace of the Lions, also dedicated to Apollo by the people of Naxos shortly before 600 BCE. It originally had nine to twelve squatting, snarling marble guardian lions along the Sacred Way; one is inserted over the main gate to the Venetian Arsenal. The lions create a monumental avenue comparable to Egyptian avenues of sphinxes. (There is a Greek sphinx in the Delos Museum.) Today only seven of the original lions remain.</p><br>
<p>The Oikos of the Naxians (House of the Naxians) first quarter of 6th century BCE: a long hall with one central ionic colonnade, a west porch tristyle in antis and an east marble prostasis of the middle of the 6th century BCE.</p><br>
<p>The meeting hall of the Poseidoniasts of Beirut housed an association of merchants, warehousemen, shipowners and innkeepers during the early years of Roman hegemony, late 2nd century BCE. To their protective triad of Baal/Poseidon, Astarte/Aphrodite and Eshmun/Asklepios, they added Roma.</p><br>
<p>The platform of the Stoivadeion dedicated to Dionysus bears a statue of the god of wine and the life-force. On either side of the platform, a pillar supports a colossal phallus, the symbol of Dionysus. The southern pillar, which is decorated with relief scenes from the Dionysiac circle, was erected around 300 BCE to celebrate a winning theatrical performance. The statue of Dionysus was originally flanked by those of two actors impersonating Paposilenoi (conserved in the Archaeological Museum of Delos). The marble theatre is a rebuilding of an older one, undertaken shortly after 300 BCE.</p><br>
<p>The Doric Temple of Isis was built on a high over-looking hill at the beginning of the Roman period to venerate the familiar trinity of Isis, the Alexandrian Serapis and Anubis.</p><br>
<p>The Temple of Hera&#39;, circa 500 BCE, is a rebuilding of an earlier Heraion on the site.</p><br>
<p>The House of Dionysus&#39; is a luxurious 2nd century private house named for the floor mosaic of Dionysus riding a panther.</p><br>
<p>The House of the Dolphins is similarly named from its atrium mosaic, where erotes ride dolphins; its Phoenician owner commissioned a floor mosaic of Tanit in his vestibule.</p><br>
<p>The Delos Synagogue, the oldest synagogue known today.</p><br>
<h2>Current population</h2><br>
<p>The 2001 Greek census reported a population of 14 inhabitants on the island. The island is administratively a part of the municipality of Mýkonos.</p><br>
<p>Xanthos  was the name of a city in ancient Lycia, the site of present-day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey, and of the river on which the city is situated. The ruins of Xanthus are on the south slopes of a hill, the ancient acropolis, located on the northern outskirts of the modern city, on the left bank of the Xanthus, which flows beneath the hill. A single road, Xantos yolu, encircles the hill and runs through the ruins.</p><br>
<p>Xanthos is the Greek appellation of Arñna, a city originally speaking the Lycian language. The Hittite and Luwian name of the city is given in inscriptions as Arinna (not to be confused with the Arinna near Hattusa). Xanthos is a Greek name, acquired during its Hellenization. The Romans called the city Xanthus, as all the Greek -os suffixes were changed to -us in Latin. Xanthos was a center of culture and commerce for the Lycians, and later for the Persians, Greeks and Romans who in turn conquered the city and occupied the adjacent territory. As Xanthus, the former Byzantine bishopric remains a Latin Catholic titular see. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, the region became Turkish. The ancient city had long since been abandoned.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Trojan War heroes and Lycian leaders Glaucus and Sarpedon are described in the Iliad as coming from the land of the Xanthos River. In the same text, Achilles&#39; immortal, talking horse is named Xanthos. Xanthus is mentioned by numerous ancient Greek and Roman writers. Strabo notes Xanthos as the largest city in Lycia.</p><br>
<h3>Under the Persian Empire</h3><br>
<p>Both Herodotus and Appian describe the conquest of the city by Harpagus on behalf of the Persian Empire, in approximately 540 BC. According to Herodotus, the Persians met and defeated a small Lycian army in the flatlands to the north of the city. After the encounter, the Lycians retreated into the city which was besieged by Harpagus. The Lycians destroyed their own Xanthian acropolis, killed their wives, children, and slaves, then proceeded on a suicidal attack against the superior Persian troops. Thus, the entire population of Xanthos perished but for 80 families who were absent during the fighting.</p><br>
<p>During the Persian occupation, a local leadership was installed at Xanthos, which by 520 BC was already minting its own coins. By 516 BC, Xanthos was included in the first nomos of Darius I in the tribute list.</p><br>
<p>Xanthos fortunes were tied to Lycias as Lycia changed sides during the Greco-Persian Wars. Archeological digs demonstrate that Xanthos was destroyed in approximately 475 BC-470 BC; whether this was done by the Athenian Kimon or by the Persians is open to debate. As we have no reference to this destruction in either Persian or Greek sources, some scholars attribute the destruction to natural or accidental causes. Xanthos was rebuilt after the destruction and in the final decades of the 5th century BC, Xanthos conquered nearby Telmessos and incorporated it into Lycia.</p><br>
<p>The prosperity of Lycia during the Persian occupation is demonstrated by the extensive architectural achievements in Xanthos, particularly the many tombs, culminating in the Nereid Monument.</p><br>
<h3>Conquest by Alexander the Great</h3><br>
<p>Reports on the citys surrender to Alexander the Great differ: Arrian reports a peaceful surrender, but Appian claims that the city was sacked. After Alexanders death, the city changed hands among his rival heirs; Diodorus notes the capture of Xanthos by Ptolemy I Soter from Antigonos.</p><br>
<h3>Roman and Byzantine rule</h3><br>
<p>Appian, Dio Cassius, and Plutarch each report that city was once again destroyed in the Roman Civil Wars, circa 42 BC, by Brutus, but Appian notes that it was rebuilt under Mark Antony. Remains of a Roman amphitheater remain on the site. Marinos reports that there was a school of grammarians at Xanthos in late antiquity. Xanthus was in the Roman province of Lycia, in the civil Diocese of Asia.</p><br>
<h2>Ecclesiastical history</h2><br>
<h3>Bishopric</h3><br>
<p>Xanthus was important enough in the Roman province of Lycia to become a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archbishopric of provincial capital Myra, in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>Three of its bishops are historically documented :</p><br>
<p>Macedon, participant in the First Council of Constantinople in 381</p><br>
<p>Athanasius, signed in 458 the letter of the episcopate of Lycia to Byzantine emperor Leo I the Thracian after Coptic mobs lynched Patriarch Proterius of Alexandria</p><br>
<p>Giorgius, participant in the Council in Trullo in 692.</p><br>
<h3>Titular see</h3><br>
<p>The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Titular bishopric of Xanthus (Latin) / Xanto (Curiate Italian) / Xanthien(sis) (Latin adjective).</p><br>
<p>It is vacant, having had a single incumbent, not of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank but archiepiscopal :</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop: Bruno Bernard Heim (Swiss) (1961.11.09 – death 2003.03.18), as papal diplomat and heraldist (also author): Apostolic Delegate to Scandinavia (1961.11.09 – 1969.05.07), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Finland (1966 – 1969.05.07), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Egypt (1969.05.07 – 1973.07.16), Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain (1973.07.16 – 1982), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Great Britain (1982 – retired 1985) and on emeritate When asked where Xanthus was, Heim would jokingly reply: "Most of it is now in the British Museum".</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>As the center of ancient Lycia and the site of its most extensive antiquities, Xanthos has been a mecca for students of Anatolian civilization since the early 19th century. Many important artefacts were found at the city. Two tombs, the Nereid Monument and the Tomb of Payava, are now exhibited in the British Museum. The Harpy Tomb is still located in the ruins of the city. A sanctuary of Leto called the Letoon is located on the outskirts of the city to the southwest. The Xanthian Obelisk and the Letoon trilingual are two trilingual stelae which were found in the city and the Letoon. The site has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.</p><br>
<p>The archeological excavations and surface investigations at Xanthos have yielded many texts in Lycian and Greek, including bilingual texts that are useful in the understanding of Lycian. One monument, the Xanthian Obelisk, is a trilingual recording an older Anatolian language conventionally called Milyan language.</p><br>
<h2>The River Xanthos</h2><br>
<p>Strabo reports the original name of the river as Sibros or Sirbis. During the Persian invasion the river is called Sirbe which means "yellow" like the Greek word "xanthos", which also means yellow. The river usually has a yellow hue because of the soil in the alluvial base of the valley. Today the site of Xanthos overlooks the modern Turkish village of Kınık. Once over 500 m long, the Roman Kemer Bridge crossed the upper reaches of the river near the present-day village of Kemer. The modern Turkish name of the river is Eşen Çayı.</p><br>
<p>A Greek legend is that the river was created by the birth pangs of Leto, whose temple, at the Letoon, is on the west bank of the river a few kilometers south of Xanthos. The Letoon has been excavated in the 20th century, and has yielded numerous Lycian, Greek, and Aramaic texts. A notable trilingual text, known as the Letoon trilingual, in all three languages was found and has been found to contain a reference to King Artaxerxes. The Letoon has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h2>Other uses</h2><br>
<p>In the literary Troy Series by author David Gemmell, the Xanthos is the largest ship ever built, belonging to the series&#39; main character, Helikaon.</p><br>
<p>Belukha Mountain , located in the Katun Mountains, is the highest peak of the Altai Mountains in Russia.</p><br>
<p>It is part of the World Heritage Site entitled Golden Mountains of Altai.</p><br>
<p>Located in the Altai Republic, Belukha is a three-peaked mountain massif that rises along the border of Russia and Kazakhstan, just a few dozen miles north of the point where this border meets with the border of China. There are several small glaciers on the mountain, including Belukha Glacier. Of the two peaks, the eastern peak (4,506 m, 14,784 ft.) is higher than the western peak (4,440 m, 14,567 ft.).</p><br>
<p>Belukha was first climbed in 1914 by the Tronov brothers. Most ascents of the eastern peak follow the same southern route as that taken in the first ascent. Though the Altai is lower in elevation than other Asian mountain groups, it is very remote, and much time and planning are required for its approach.</p><br>
<h2>Belukha Glacier</h2><br>
<p>A team of scientists, traveled to this remote glacier in the summer of 2001 to assess the feasibility of studying the glacier and extracting ice cores at the site. A Swiss-Russian team also worked on the glacier in 2001. Research was carried out from 2001 to 2003; glaciological observations were made, and both shallow cores and cores to bedrock were extracted and analyzed (Olivier and others, 2003; Fujita and others, 2004). Based on tritium analysis to date, the deeper cores may contain as much as 3–5,000 years of climatic and environmental records.</p><br>
<h2>Access</h2><br>
<p>Since 2008, one is required to apply for a special border zone permit in order to be allowed into the area (if travelling independently without using an agency). Foreigners should apply for the permit to regional FSB border guard office two months before the planned date.</p><br>
<p>The Strait of Messina  is the narrow passage between the eastern tip of Sicily  and the western tip of Calabria  in the south of Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south, within the central Mediterranean. At its narrowest point, between Torre Faro and Villa San Giovanni, it is 3.1 km wide. At the town of Messina it is 5.1 km wide. The strait&#39;s maximum depth is about .</p><br>
<p>The strait has strong tidal currents that create a unique marine ecosystem. A natural whirlpool in the northern portion of the strait has been linked to the Greek legend of Scylla and Charybdis. In some circumstances, the mirage of Fata Morgana can be observed when looking at Sicily from Calabria. With its bottleneck shape, it is also a compulsory point of transit of the migration of many bird species.</p><br>
<p>In 1957, a 220 kV overhead power line was built across the Strait of Messina. Its pylons are among the highest in the world. This power line has since been replaced by a submarine power cable, but the pylons remain and are protected as historical monuments (see Pylons of Messina).</p><br>
<h2>Bird migration</h2><br>
<p>The Strait of Messina is a focal point of transit of the migrations of birds that every year use to cross it, mainly to breed in north Europe, driven for thousands of miles by their sense of orientation. Due to this form of bottleneck more than 300 species are recorded in the area that is a major European hot spot for raptors with a record of 35.000 in a spring. Between them the Honey Buzzard and the Marsh Harrier are the most frequent, species like Bonelli&#39;s Eagle and Egyptian Vulture are less frequent but regular. In the coastal salt lakes of the Strait of Messina species like Glossy Ibis, Flamingos and Black-winged Stilt use to stop to rest. The site is also favorable to observe the storks. The monte Dinnammare and the other Peloritani mountains overlooking the Strait are a natural theater for the birdwatching of these spectacular flights.</p><br>
<h2>Marine life</h2><br>
<p>Due to the peculiar hydrogeological conditions the Strait of Messina has high levels of biodiversity and multiple endemic species. In its waters there is a strong presence of deep sea fish like the Sloane&#39;s viperfish which, due to the particular and peculiar currents of the strait, are occasionally found stranded on the shore at sunrise. The strait is also an important point of migration of many species of fish in the Mediterranean Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Ferries</h2><br>
<p>A ferry service connects Messina on Sicily with the mainland at Villa San Giovanni, which lies several kilometers north of the large city of Reggio Calabria; the ferries hold the cars (carriages) of the mainline train service between Palermo and Naples. There is also a hydrofoil service between Messina and Reggio Calabria.</p><br>
<h2>Planned Messina Bridge</h2><br>
<p>For decades, the possibility of building a bridge across the Messina Strait has been under discussion. In 2006, under Prime Minister Romano Prodi the project was cancelled. On 6 March 2009, however, as part of a massive new public works program, Silvio Berlusconi&#39;s government announced that plans to construct the Messina Bridge had been fully revived, pledging €1.3 billion as a contribution to its estimated cost of €6.1 billion Some 3.3 km long and 60 m wide, the bridge would be supported by two 382 m pillars, each higher than the Empire State Building, and accommodate six freeway lanes, a railway (for up to 200 trains a day), and two walkways.</p><br>
<p>Supporters perceive the bridge as a huge job-creation scheme and a boost for tourism to the island. Opponents see it as an ecological disaster, a structure at risk due to especially strong winds and earthquakes (the area having an intense seismic record), and a boon for Sicilian and Calabrian organized crime. Berlusconi claimed in 2009 that work would be completed by 2016 although in February 2013, the project was cancelled again.</p><br>
<p>Amarna  is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty, and abandoned shortly after his death . The name for the city employed by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten  in English transliteration. Akhetaten means "Horizon of the Aten".</p><br>
<p>The area is located on the east bank of the Nile River in the modern Egyptian province of Minya, some 58 km south of the city of al-Minya, 312 km south of the Egyptian capital Cairo and 402 km north of Luxor. The city of Deir Mawas lies directly west across from the site of Amarna. Amarna, on the east side, includes several modern villages, chief of which are el-Till in the north and el-Hagg Qandil in the south.</p><br>
<p>The area was also occupied during later Roman and early Christian times; excavations to the south of the city have found several structures from this period.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The name Amarna comes from the Beni Amran tribe that lived in the region and founded a few settlements. The ancient Egyptian name was Akhetaten.</p><br>
<p>(This site should be distinguished from Tell Amarna in Syria, a Halaf period archaeological tell.)</p><br>
<p>English Egyptologist, Sir John Gardner Wilkinson visited Amarna twice in the 1820s and identified it as Alabastron, following the sometimes contradictory descriptions of Roman-era authors Pliny (On Stones) and Ptolemy (Geography), although he was not sure about the identification and suggested Kom el-Ahmar as an alternative location.</p><br>
<h2>City of Akhetaten</h2><br>
<p>The area of the city was effectively a virgin site, and it was in this city that the Akhetaten described as the Aten&#39;s</p><br>
<p>"seat of the First Occasion, which he had made for himself that he might rest in it."</p><br>
<p>It may be that the Royal Wadi&#39;s resemblance to the hieroglyph for horizon showed that this was the place to found the city.</p><br>
<p>The city was built as the new capital of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, dedicated to his new religion of worship to the Aten. Construction started in or around Year 5 of his reign (1346 BC) and was probably completed by Year 9 (1341 BC), although it became the capital city two years earlier. To speed up construction of the city most of the buildings were constructed out of mud-brick, and white washed. The most important buildings were faced with local stone.</p><br>
<p>It is the only ancient Egyptian city which preserves great details of its internal plan, in large part because the city was abandoned after the death of Akhenaten, when Akhenatens son, King Tutankhamun, decided to leave the city and return to his birthplace in Thebes (modern Luxor). The city seems to have remained active for a decade or so after his death, and a shrine to Horemheb indicates that it was at least partially occupied at the beginning of his reign, if only as a source for building material elsewhere. Once it was abandoned it remained uninhabited until Roman settlement began along the edge of the Nile. However, due to the unique circumstances of its creation and abandonment, it is questionable how representative of ancient Egyptian cities it actually is. Amarna was hastily constructed and covered an area of approximately 8 mi of territory on the east bank of the Nile River; on the west bank, land was set aside to provide crops for the citys population. The entire city was encircled with a total of 14 boundary stelae detailing Akhenaten&#39;s conditions for the establishment of this new capital city of Egypt.</p><br>
<p>The earliest dated stele from Akhenatens new city is known to be Boundary stele K which is dated to Year 5, IV Peret (or month 8), day 13 of Akhenatens reign. (Most of the original 14 boundary stelae have been badly eroded.) It preserves an account of Akhenatens foundation of this city. The document records the pharaohs wish to have several temples of the Aten to be erected here, for several royal tombs to be created in the eastern hills of Amarna for himself, his chief wife Nefertiti and his eldest daughter Meritaten as well as his explicit command that when he was dead, he would be brought back to Amarna for burial. Boundary stela K introduces a description of the events that were being celebrated at Amarna:</p><br>
<p>This text then goes on to state that Akhenaten made a great oblation to the god Aten "and this is the theme which is illustrated in the lunettes of the stelae where he stands with his queen and eldest daughter before an altar heaped with offerings under the Aten, while it shines upon him rejuvenating his body with its rays."</p><br>
<h3>Site and plan</h3><br>
<p>Located on the east bank of the Nile, the ruins of the city are laid out roughly north to south along a "Royal Road", now referred to as "Sikhet es-Sultan". The Royal residences are generally to the north, in what is known as the North City, with a central administration and religious area and the south of the city is made up of residential suburbs.</p><br>
<h4>North City</h4><br>
<p>If one approached the city of Amarna from the north by river the first buildings past the norther boundary stele would be the North Riverside Palace. This building ran all the way up to the waterfront and was likely the main residence of the Royal Family. Located within the North City area is the Northern Palace, the main residence of the Royal Family. Between this and the central city, the Northern Suburb was initially a prosperous area with large houses, but the house size decreased and became poorer the further from the road they were.</p><br>
<h4>Central City</h4><br>
<p>Most of the important ceremonial and administrative buildings were located in the central city. Here the Great Temple of the Aten and the Small Aten Temple were used for religious functions and between these the Great Royal Palace and Royal Residence were the ceremonial residence of the King and Royal Family, and were linked by a bridge or ramp. Located behind the Royal Residence was the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh, where the Amarna Letters were found.</p><br>
<p>This area was probably the first area to be completed, and had at least two phases of construction.</p><br>
<h4>Southern suburbs</h4><br>
<p>To the south of the city was the area now referred to as the Southern Suburbs. It contained the estates of many of the city&#39;s powerful nobles, including Nakhtpaaten (Chief Minister), Ranefer, Panehesy (High Priest of the Aten) and Ramose (Master of Horses). This area also held the studio of the sculptor Thutmose, where the famous bust of Nefertiti was found in 1912.</p><br>
<p>Further to the south of the city was Kom el-Nana, an enclosure, usually referred to as a sun-shade, and was probably built as a sun-temple., and then the Maru-Aten, which was a palace or sun-temple originally thought to have been constructed for Akhenaten&#39;s queen Kiya, but on her death her name and images were altered to those of Meritaten, his daughter.</p><br>
<h4>City outskirts</h4><br>
<p>Surrounding the city and marking its extent, the Boundary Stelae (each a rectangle of carved rock on the cliffs on both sides of the Nile) describing the founding of the city are a primary source of information about it.</p><br>
<p>Away from the city Akhenatens Royal necropolis was started in a narrow valley to the east of the city, hidden in the cliffs. Only one tomb was completed, and was used by an unnamed Royal Wife, and Akhenatens tomb was hastily used to hold him and likely Meketaten, his second daughter.</p><br>
<p>In the cliffs to the north and south of the Royal Wadi, the nobles of the city constructed their Tombs.</p><br>
<h2>Life in ancient Amarna/Akhetaten</h2><br>
<p>Much of what is known about Amarna&#39;s founding is due to the preservation of a series of official boundary stelae (13 are known) ringing the perimeter of the city. These are cut into the cliffs on both sides of the Nile (10 on the east, 3 on the west) and record the events of Akhetaten (Amarna) from founding to just before its fall.</p><br>
<p>To make the move from Thebes to Amarna, Akhenaten needed the support of the military. Ay, one of Akhenatens principal advisors, exercised great influence in this area because his father Yuya had been an important military leader. Additionally, everyone in the military had grown up together, they had been a part of the richest and most successful period in Egypts history under Akhenaten&#39;s father, so loyalty among the ranks was strong and unwavering. Perhaps most importantly, "it was a military whose massed ranks the king took every opportunity to celebrate in temple reliefs, first at Thebes and later at Amarna."</p><br>
<h3>Religious life</h3><br>
<p>While the reforms of Akhenaten are generally believed to have been oriented towards a sort of monotheism, this may be rather oversimplifying to state than monolatrism. Archaeological evidence shows other deities were also revered, even at the centre of the Aten cult – if not officially, then at least by the people who lived and worked there.</p><br>
<p>.at Akhetaten itself, recent excavation by Kemp (2008: 41-46) has shown the presence of objects that depict gods, goddesses and symbols that belong to the traditional field of personal belief. So many examples of Bes, the grotesque dwarf figure who warded off evil spirits, have been found, as well as of the goddess-monster, Taweret, part crocodile, part hippopotamus, who was associated with childbirth. Also in the royal workmen’s village at Akhetaten, stelae dedicated to Isis and Shed have been discovered (Watterson 1984: 158 and 208).</p><br>
<h2>Amarna art-style</h2><br>
<p>The Amarna art-style broke with long-established Egyptian conventions. Unlike the strict idealistic formalism of previous Egyptian art, it depicted its subjects more realistically. These included informal scenes, such as intimate portrayals of affection within the royal family or playing with their children, and no longer portrayed women as lighter coloured than men. The art also had a realism that sometimes borders on caricature.</p><br>
<p>While the worship of Aten was later referred to as the Amarna heresy and suppressed, this art had a more lasting legacy.</p><br>
<h2>Rediscovery and excavation</h2><br>
<p>The first western mention of the city was made in 1714 by Claude Sicard, a French Jesuit priest who was travelling through the Nile Valley, and described the boundary stela from Amarna. As with much of Egypt, it was visited by Napoleons corps de savants in 1798–1799, who prepared the first detailed map of Amarna, which was subsequently published in Description de lÉgypte between 1821 and 1830.</p><br>
<p>After this European exploration continued in 1824 when Sir John Gardiner Wilkinson explored and mapped the city remains. The copyist Robert Hay and his surveyor G. Laver visited the locality and uncovered several of the Southern Tombs from sand drifts, recording the reliefs in 1833. The copies made by Hay and Laver languish largely unpublished in the British Library, where an ongoing project to identify their locations is underway.</p><br>
<p>The Prussian expedition led by Richard Lepsius visited the site in 1843 and 1845, and recorded the visible monuments and topography of Amarna in two separate visits over a total of twelve days, using drawings and paper squeezes. The results were ultimately published in Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien between 1849 and 1913, including an improved map of the city. Despite being somewhat limited in accuracy, the engraved Denkmäler plates formed the basis for scholastic knowledge and interpretation of many of the scenes and inscriptions in the private tombs and some of the Boundary Stelae for the rest of the century. The records made by these early explorers teams are of immense importance since many of these remains were later destroyed or otherwise lost.</p><br>
<p>In 1887 a local woman digging for sebakh uncovered a cache of over 300 cuneiform tablets (now commonly known as the Amarna Letters). These tablets recorded select diplomatic correspondence of the Pharaoh and were predominantly written in Akkadian, the lingua franca commonly used during the Late Bronze Age of the Ancient Near East for such communication. This discovery led to the recognition of the importance of the site, and lead to a further increase in exploration.</p><br>
<p>Between 1891 and 1892 Alessandro Barsanti discovered and cleared the kings tomb (although it was probably known to the local population from about 1880). Around the same time Sir Flinders Petrie worked for one season at Amarna, working independently of the Egypt Exploration Fund. He excavated primarily in the Central City, investigating the Great Temple of the Aten, the Great Official Palace, the Kings House, the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh and several private houses. Although frequently amounting to little more than a sondage, Petries excavations revealed additional cuneiform tablets, the remains of several glass factories, and a great quantity of discarded faience, glass and ceramic in sifting the palace rubbish heaps (including Mycenaean sherds). By publishing his results and reconstructions rapidly, Petrie was able to stimulate further interest in the sites potential.</p><br>
<p>The copyist and artist Norman de Garis Davies published drawn and photographic descriptions of private tombs and boundary stelae from Amarna from 1903 to 1908. These books were republished by the EES in 2006.</p><br>
<p>In the early years of the 20th century (1907 to 1914) the Deutsche Orientgesellschaft expedition, led by Ludwig Borchardt, excavated extensively throughout the North and South suburbs of the city. The famous bust of Nefertiti, now in Berlin&#39;s Ägyptisches Museum, was discovered amongst other sculptural artefacts in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose. The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 terminated the German excavations.</p><br>
<p>From 1921 to 1936 an Egypt Exploration Society expedition returned to excavation at Amarna under the direction of T.E. Peet, Sir Leonard Woolley, Henri Frankfort, Stephen Glanville and John Pendlebury. Mary Chubb served as the digs administrator. The renewed investigations were focused on religious and royal structures.</p><br>
<p>During the 1960s the Egyptian Antiquities Organization (now the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities) undertook a number of excavations at Amarna.</p><br>
<p>Exploration of the city continues to the present, currently under the direction of Barry Kemp (Emeritus Professor in Egyptology, University of Cambridge, England) (until 2006, under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Society and now with the ). In 1980 a separate expedition led by Geoffrey Martin described and copied the reliefs from the Royal Tomb, later publishing its findings together with objects thought to have come from the tomb. This work was published in 2 volumes by the EES.</p><br>
<p>From 2005 to 2013, the Amarna Project excavated at a cemetery of private individuals, close to the southern tombs of the Nobles.</p><br>
<p>Knidos or Cnidus  was an ancient Greek city of Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side of the Sinus Ceramicus, now known as Gulf of Gökova. By the 4th century BC, Knidos was located at the site of modern Tekir, opposite Triopion Island. But earlier, it was probably at the site of modern Datça .</p><br>
<p>It was built partly on the mainland and partly on the Island of Triopion or Cape Krio. The debate about it being an island or cape is caused by the fact that in ancient times it was connected to the mainland by a causeway and bridge. Today the connection is formed by a narrow sandy isthmus. By means of the causeway the channel between island and mainland was formed into two harbours, of which the larger, or southern, was further enclosed by two strongly built moles that are still in good part entire.</p><br>
<p>The extreme length of the city was little less than a mile, and the whole intramural area is still thickly strewn with architectural remains. The walls, both of the island and on the mainland, can be traced throughout their whole circuit; and in many places, especially round the acropolis, at the northeast corner of the city, they are remarkably perfect.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Knidos was a Hellenic city of high antiquity. According to Herodotus&#39; Histories) (I.174), the Cnidians were Lacedaemonian colonists; however, the presence of demiurges there argues for foundation or later influence by other Doric Greeks, possibly Argives. Diodorus Siculus (Bibliotheca Historica 5.53) claimed that Cnidus was founded by both Lacedaemonians and Argives. Along with Halicarnassus (present day Bodrum, Turkey) and Kos, and the Rhodian cities of Lindos, Kamiros and Ialyssos it formed the Dorian Hexapolis, which held its confederate assemblies on the Triopian headland, and there celebrated games in honour of Apollo, Poseidon and the nymphs.</p><br>
<p>The city was at first governed by an oligarchic senate, composed of sixty members, and presided over by a magistrate; but, though it is proved by inscriptions that the old names continued to a very late period, the constitution underwent a popular transformation. The situation of the city was favourable for commerce, and the Knidians acquired considerable wealth, and were able to colonize the island of Lipara, and founded a city on Corcyra Nigra in the Adriatic. They ultimately submitted to Cyrus, and from the battle of Eurymedon to the latter part of the Peloponnesian War they were subject to Athens. During the hellenistic age, Knidos boasted a medical school; however, the theory that this school already existed at the beginning of the classical age is an unwarranted extrapolation.</p><br>
<p>In their expansion into the region, the Romans easily obtained the allegiance of Knidians, and rewarded them for help given against Antiochus III the Great by leaving them the freedom of their city.</p><br>
<p>During the Byzantine period there must still have been a considerable population: for the ruins contain a large number of buildings belonging to the Byzantine style, and Christian sepulchres are common in the neighbourhood.</p><br>
<p>Eudoxus, the astronomer, Ctesias, the writer on Persian history, and Sostratus, the builder of the celebrated Pharos at Alexandria, are the most remarkable of the Knidians mentioned in history. Artemidorus, a minor character in the Shakespeare play “Julius Caesar”, was also from Knidos.</p><br>
<p>Bishop Ioannes of Cnidus took part in the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and was one of the signatories of the letter that in 458 the bishops of the Roman province of Caria, to which Cnidus belonged, wrote to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian after the murder of Proterius of Alexandria. Bishop Evander was at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 and Bishop Stauratius at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. No longer a residential bishopric, Cnidus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.</p><br>
<h2>Excavation history</h2><br>
<p>The first Western knowledge of the site was due to the mission of the Dilettante Society in 1812, and the excavations executed by C. T. Newton in 1857–1858.</p><br>
<p>The agora, the theatre, an odeum, a temple of Dionysus, a temple of the Muses, a temple of Aphrodite and a great number of minor buildings have been identified, and the general plan of the city has been very clearly made out. The most famous statue by Praxiteles, the Aphrodite of Knidos, was made for Cnidus. It has perished, but late copies exist, of which the most faithful is in the Vatican Museums.</p><br>
<p>In a temple enclosure Newton discovered the fine seated statue of Demeter of Knidos, which he sent back to the British Museum, and about three miles south-east of the city he came upon the ruins of a splendid tomb, and a colossal figure of a lion carved out of one block of Pentelic marble, ten feet in length and six in height, which has been supposed to commemorate the great naval victory, the Battle of Cnidus in which Conon defeated the Lacedaemonians in 394 BC. The Knidos Lion is now displayed under the roof of the Great Court in the British Museum.</p><br>
<p>Machu Picchu  is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 2,430 m above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru, above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 km northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows.</p><br>
<p>Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.</p><br>
<p>Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues.</p><br>
<p>Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>In the Quechua language, machu means "old" or "old person", while pikchu means "peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base that ends in sharp peaks", hence the name of the site means "old peak".</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Machu Picchu was built around 1450-1460. Its construction appears to date to the period of the two great Inca rulers, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438–71) and Túpac Inca Yupanqui (1472–93). There is a consensus among archaeologists that Pachacutec ordered the construction of the royal estate for himself, most likely after his successful military campaign. Though Machu Picchu is considered to be a "royal" estate, surprisingly, the estate would not have been passed down in the line of succession. It was only used for approximately 80 years before being abandoned seemingly due to destruction of the Spanish Conquests in other parts of the Inca Empire. It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travellers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area.</p><br>
<h3>Daily Life of Machu Picchu as a Royal Estate</h3><br>
<p>During its use as a royal estate, it is estimated that no more than 750 people lived there at a time, most people being support staff (yanaconas, yana) who lived there permanently. Though the estate belonged to Pachacutec, religious specialists and temporary specialized workers (mayocs) lived there as well, most likely for the ruler&#39;s well-being and enjoyment. During the harsher season, staff dropped down to around a hundred servants and a few religious specialists focused only on maintenance.</p><br>
<p>Studies show that according to their skeletal remains, most people who lived there were immigrants from diverse backgrounds. They lacked the chemical markers and osteological markers they would have if they had been living there their whole lives. Instead, there was bone damage from various species of water parasites indigenous to different areas of Peru. There were also varying osteological stressors and varying chemical densities suggesting varying long term diets characteristic of specific regions that were spaced apart. These diets are composed of varying levels of maize, potatoes, grains, legumes, and fish, but the overall most recent short-term diet for these people composed of less fish and more corn. This suggests that several of the immigrants were from more coastal areas and moved to Machu Picchu where corn was a larger portion of food intake. The skeletal remains found at Machu Picchu are also unique in their level of natural bone damage from laborious activities. Most people found at the site had lower levels of arthritis and bone fractures found in most sites of the Inca Empire. Inca individuals that have arthritis and bone fractures are typically those who performed heavy physical labor (such as the Mit&#39;a) and/or served in the Inca military.</p><br>
<p>Not only people were suspected to have immigrated to Machu Picchu, there were several animal bones found that were not native to the site. Most animal bones found were from llamas and alpacas. These animals naturally live in altitudes of 14000 ft above sea level rather than the mere 8000 ft Machu Picchu rests on. Most likely, these animals were brought in from the Puna region for meat consumption and for their pelts. Guinea pigs were also found at the site in special burial caves, suggesting that they were at least used for funerary rituals as it was common throughout the Inca Empire to use them for sacrifices and meat. Six dogs were also recovered from the site. Due to their placements among the human remains, it is believed that they served as companions of the dead.</p><br>
<h3>Agriculture</h3><br>
<p>Studies have shown that much of the farming done at Machu Picchu was done on the hundreds of man-made terraces there. These terraces were a work of considerable engineering, built to ensure good drainage and soil fertility while also protecting the mountain itself from erosion and landslides. However, the terraces were not perfect, as studies of the land show that there were landslides that happened during the construction of Machu Picchu. It can still be seen where the terraces were shifted by landslides and then stabilized by the Inca as they continued to build around the area.</p><br>
<p>It is estimated that the area around the site has received more than 72 inches of rain per year since A.D. 1450, which was more than needed to support crop growth there. Because of the large amount of rainfall at Machu Picchu, it was found that irrigation was not needed for the terraces. The terraces received so much rain that they were built specifically to allow for ample drainage of the extra water. Excavation and soil analyses done by Kenneth Wright in the 90&#39;s showed that the terraces were built in layers, with a bottom layer of larger stones covered by loose gravel. On top of the gravel was a layer of mixed sand and gravel packed together, with rich topsoil covering all of that. It was proven that the topsoil was probably moved from the valley floor to the terraces because it was much more rich than the soil higher up the mountain.</p><br>
<p>However, it has been found that the terrace farming area makes up only about 12 acres of land, and a study of the soil around the terraces showed that what was grown there was mostly corn and potatoes, which was not enough to support the 750+ people living at Machu Picchu. Therefore, when studies were done on the food that the Incas ate at Machu Picchu, it was found that much of what they ate was imported to the area from the surrounding valleys and farther.</p><br>
<h3>Encounters</h3><br>
<p>Although it was located only about 80 km from the Inca capital in Cusco, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu and so did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. The conquistadors had notes of a place called Piccho, although no record of a Spanish visit exists. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu.</p><br>
<p>Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle overgrew the site, and few outside the immediate area knew of its existence. The site may have been discovered and plundered in 1867 by a German businessman, Augusto Berns. Some evidence indicates that German engineer J. M. von Hassel arrived earlier. Maps show references to Machu Picchu as early as 1874.</p><br>
<p>In 1911 American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham travelled the region looking for the old Inca capital and was led to Machu Picchu by a local farmer. Bingham brought Machu Picchu to international attention and organized another expedition in 1912 to undertake major clearing and excavation. He returned in 1914 and 1915 to continue with excavation.</p><br>
<p>In 1981, Peru declared an area of 325.92 km&sup2; surrounding Machu Picchu a "Historic Sanctuary". In addition to the ruins, the sanctuary includes a large portion of the adjoining region, rich with the flora and fauna of the Peruvian Yungas and Central Andean wet puna ecoregions.</p><br>
<p>In 1983, UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization".</p><br>
<h3>First American expedition</h3><br>
<p>Bingham was a lecturer at Yale University, although not a trained archaeologist. In 1909, returning from the Pan-American Scientific Congress in Santiago, he traveled through Peru and was invited to explore the Inca ruins at Choqquequirau in the Apurímac Valley. He organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition in part to search for the Inca capital, which was thought to be the city of Vitcos. He consulted Carlos Romero, a historian in Lima who showed him helpful references and Father Calancha’s Chronicle.</p><br>
<p>Armed with this information the expedition went down the Urubamba River. En route Bingham asked local people to show them Inca ruins. By the time they camped at Mandor Pampa, with Huayna Picchu 2000 feet above them on the opposite bank, they had already examined several ruins, but none fit the descriptions of Vitcos.</p><br>
<p>At Mandor Pampa, Bingham asked farmer and innkeeper Melchor Arteaga if he knew of any nearby ruins. Arteaga said he knew of excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu. The next day, 24 July, Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a log bridge and up the Huayna Picchu mountain. At the top of the mountain they came across a small hut occupied by a couple of Quechua, Richarte and Alvarez, who were farming some of the original Machu Picchu agricultural terraces that they had cleared four years earlier. Alvarez&#39;s 11-year-old son, Pablito, led Bingham along the ridge to the main ruins.</p><br>
<p>The ruins were mostly covered with vegetation except for the cleared agricultural terraces and clearings used by the farmers as vegetable gardens. Because of the vegetation Bingham was not able to observe the full extent of the site. He took preliminary notes, measurements and photographs, noting the fine quality of Inca stonework of several principal buildings. Bingham was unclear about the original purpose of the ruins, but decided that there was no indication that it matched the description of Vitcos.</p><br>
<p>The expedition continued down the Urubamba and up the Vilcabamba Rivers examining all the ruins they could find. Guided by locals Bingham rediscovered and correctly identified the site of the old Inca capital, Vitcos (then called Rosaspata), and the nearby temple of Chuquipalta. He then crossed a pass and into the Pampaconas Valley where he found more ruins heavily buried in the jungle undergrowth at Espíritu Pampa, which he named "Eromboni Pampa". As was the case with Machu Picchu, the site was so heavily overgrown that Bingham could only note a few of the buildings. In 1964, Gene Savoy further explored the ruins at Espiritu Pampa and revealed the full extent of the site, identifying it as Vilcabamba Viejo where the Incas fled after the Spanish drove them from Vitcos.</p><br>
<p>On the return of the expedition up the Urubamba River, Bingham sent two men to clear and map the site he referred to as Machu Picchu. As Bingham failed to identify the ruins at Espiritu Pampa as Vilcabamba Viejo, he erroneously theorized that Machu Picchu was Vilcabamba Viejo. Machu Picchu features spectacular workmanship and a dramatic site, while Vilcabamba was built while the short-lived remnant Neo-Inca State was being vanquished by the Spanish; it was built quickly and features crude workmanship.</p><br>
<p>Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 under the sponsorship of Yale University and National Geographic and with full support of Peruvian President Leguia. The expedition undertook a four-month clearing of the site with local labor, which was expedited with the support of the Prefect of Cuzco. Excavation started in 1912 with further excavation undertaken in 1914 and 1915. Bingham focused on Machu Picchu because of its fine Inca stonework and well-preserved nature, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. None of Bingham&#39;s several hypotheses explaining the site held up. During his studies, he carried various artifacts back to Yale. One prominent artifact was a set of 15th-century, ceremonial Incan knives made from bismuth bronze; they are the earliest known artifact containing this alloy.</p><br>
<p>Although local institutions initially welcomed the exploration, they soon accused Bingham of legal and cultural malpractice. Rumors arose that the team was stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through Bolivia. (In fact, Bingham removed many artifacts, but openly and legally; they were deposited in the Yale University Museum. Bingham was abiding by the 1852 Civil Code, the code stated that "archaeological finds generally belonged to the discoverer, except when they had been discovered on private land." (Batievsky 100) ) Local press perpetuated the accusations, claiming that the excavation harmed the site and deprived local archaeologists of knowledge about their own history. Landowners began to demand rent from the excavators. By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu, locals had formed coalitions to defend their ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions.</p><br>
<h3>Human sacrifice and mysticism</h3><br>
<p>Little information describes human sacrifices at Machu Picchu, though many sacrifices were never given a proper burial, and their skeletal remains succumbed to the elements. However, there is evidence that retainers were sacrificed to accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Machu Picchu lies in the southern hemisphere, 13.164 degrees south of the equator. It is 80 km northwest of Cusco, on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu, located about 2,430 m above mean sea level, over 1,000 m lower than Cusco, which has an elevation of 3,600 m. As such, it had a milder climate than the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in South America, one of the most visited tourist attractions in Latin America and the most visited in Peru.</p><br>
<p>Machu Picchu has wet and dry seasons, with the majority of annual rain falling from October through to April.</p><br>
<p>Machu Picchu is situated above a bow of the Urubamba River, which surrounds the site on three sides, where cliffs drop vertically for 450 m to the river at their base. The area is subject to morning mists rising from the river. The location of the city was a military secret, and its deep precipices and steep mountains provided natural defenses. The Inca Bridge, an Inca grass rope bridge, across the Urubamba River in the Pongo de Mainique, provided a secret entrance for the Inca army. Another Inca bridge was built to the west of Machu Picchu, the tree-trunk bridge, at a location where a gap occurs in the cliff that measures 6 m. It could be bridged by two tree trunks, but with the trees removed, there was a 570 m fall to the base of the cliffs.</p><br>
<p>The city sits in a saddle between the two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there. The hillsides leading to it were terraced, to provide more farmland to grow crops, and to steepen the slopes that invaders would have to ascend. The terraces reduced soil erosion and protected against landslides. Two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu cross the mountains back to Cusco, one through the Sun Gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Both could be blocked easily, should invaders approach along them.</p><br>
<h2>Site</h2><br>
<h3>Layout</h3><br>
<p>The site is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector, and into an upper town and a lower town. The temples are in the upper town, the warehouses in the lower.</p><br>
<p>The architecture is adapted to the mountains. Approximately 200 buildings are arranged on wide parallel terraces around an east-west central square. The various compounds, called kanchas, are long and narrow in order to exploit the terrain. Sophisticated channeling systems provided irrigation for the fields. Stone stairways set in the walls allowed access to the different levels across the site. The eastern section of the city was probably residential. The western, separated by the square, was for religious and ceremonial purposes. This section contains the Torreón, the massive tower which may have been used as an observatory.</p><br>
<p>Located in the first zone are the primary archaeological treasures: the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows. These were dedicated to Inti, their sun god and greatest deity.</p><br>
<p>The Popular District, or Residential District, is the place where the lower-class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses.</p><br>
<p>The royalty area, a sector for the nobility, is a group of houses located in rows over a slope; the residence of the amautas (wise persons) was characterized by its reddish walls, and the zone of the ñustas (princesses) had trapezoid-shaped rooms. The Monumental Mausoleum is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. It was used for rites or sacrifices.</p><br>
<p>The Guardhouse is a three-sided building, with one of its long sides opening onto the Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock. The three-sided style of Inca architecture is known as the wayrona style.</p><br>
<p>In 2005 and 2009, the University of Arkansas made detailed laser scans of the entire site and of the ruins at the top of the adjacent Huayna Picchu mountain. The scan data is available online for research purposes.</p><br>
<h3>Intihuatana stone</h3><br>
<p>The Intihuatana stone is one of many ritual stones in South America. These stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. The name of the stone (perhaps coined by Bingham) derives from Quechua language: inti means "sun", and wata-, "to tie, hitch (up)". The suffix -na derives nouns for tools or places. Hence Intihuatana is literally an instrument or place to "tie up the sun", often expressed in English as "The Hitching Post of the Sun". The Inca believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. The stone is situated at 13°9&#39;48" S. At midday on 11 November and 30 January, the sun stands almost exactly above the pillar, casting no shadow. On 21 June, the stone casts the longest shadow on its southern side, and on 21 December a much shorter shadow on its northern side.</p><br>
<h3>Inti Mach'ay and the Royal Feast of the Sun</h3><br>
<p>Inti Mach&#39;ay is a special cave used to observe the Royal Feast of the Sun. This festival was celebrated during the Incan month of Qhapaq Raymi. It began earlier in the month and concluded on the December solstice. On this day, noble boys were initiated into manhood by an ear-piercing ritual as they stood inside the cave and watched the sun rise.</p><br>
<p>Architecturally, Inti Machay is the most significant structure at Machu Picchu. Its entrances, walls, steps and windows are some of the finest masonry in the Incan Empire. The cave also includes a tunnel-like window unique among Incan structures, which was constructed to only allow sunlight into the cave during several days around the December solstice. For this reason, the cave was inaccessible for much of the year. Inti Machay is located on the eastern side of Machu Picchu, just north of the "Condor Stone." Many of the caves surrounding this area were prehistorically used as tombs, yet there is no evidence that Mach&#39;ay was a burial ground.</p><br>
<h3>Construction</h3><br>
<p>The central buildings use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar.</p><br>
<p>The section of the mountain where Machu Picchu was built provided various challenges that the Incas solved with local materials. One issue was the seismic activity due to two fault lines. It made mortar and similar building methods nearly useless. Instead, the Inca mined stones from the quarry at the site, lined them up and shaped them to fit together perfectly, stabilizing the structures. Inca walls have many stabilizing features: doors and windows are trapezoidal, narrowing from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and outside corners were often tied together by "L"-shaped blocks; walls are offset slightly from row to row rather than rising straight from bottom to top.</p><br>
<p>Heavy rainfall required terraces and stone chips to drain rain water and prevent mud slides, landslides, erosion and flooding. Terraces were layered with stone chips, sand, dirt and top soil, to absorb water and prevent it from running down the mountain. Similar layering protected the large city center from flooding. Multiple canals and reserves provide water throughout the city that could be supplied to the terraces for irrigation and to prevent erosion and flooding.</p><br>
<p>The Incas never used wheels in a practical way, although its use in toys shows that they knew the principle. Its use in engineering may have been limited due to the lack of strong draft animals, steep terrain and dense vegetation. The approach to moving and placing the enormous stones remains uncertain, probably involving hundreds of men to push the stones up inclines. A few stones have knobs that could have been used to lever them into position; after which they were generally sanded away, with a few overlooked.</p><br>
<h3>Roads and transportation</h3><br>
<p>The Inca road system included a route to the Machu Picchu region. The people of Machu Picchu were connected to long-distance trade, as shown by non-local artifacts found at the site. For example, Bingham found unmodified obsidian nodules at the entrance gateway. In the 1970s, Burger and Asaro determined that these obsidian samples were from the Titicaca or Chivay obsidian source, and that the samples from Machu Picchu showed long-distance transport of this obsidian type in pre-Hispanic Peru.</p><br>
<p>Thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu each year. They congregate at Cusco before starting on the one-, two-, four- or five-day journey on foot from Kilometer 82 (or 77 or 85, four/five-day trip) or Kilometer 104 (one/two-day trip) near the town of Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley, walking up through the Andes to the isolated city.</p><br>
<h2>Threats</h2><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, both cultural and natural. Since its discovery in 1911, growing numbers of tourists visit the site yearly, reaching 400,000 in 2000. As Peru&#39;s most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually exposed to economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants and a bridge to the site. Many people protested the plans, including Peruvians and foreign scientists, saying that more visitors would pose a physical burden on the ruins. A no-fly zone exists above the area. UNESCO is considering putting Machu Picchu on its List of World Heritage in Danger.</p><br>
<p>During the 1980s a large rock from Machu Picchu&#39;s central plaza was moved to a different location to create a helicopter landing zone. In the 1990s, the government prohibited helicopter landings. In 2006, a Cusco-based company, Helicusco, sought approval for tourist flights over Machu Picchu. The resulting license was soon rescinded.</p><br>
<p>Authorities have struggled to maintain tourist safety. Tourist deaths have been linked to altitude sickness, floods and hiking accidents. UNESCO received criticism for allowing tourists at the location given high risks of landslides, earthquakes and injury due to decaying structures.</p><br>
<p>Nude tourism is a recent trend, to the dismay of Peruvian officials. In several incidents, tourists were detained for posing for nude pictures or streaking across the site. Perus Ministry of Culture denounced these acts for threatening Perus cultural heritage. Cusco&#39;s Regional Director of Culture increased surveillance to end the practice.</p><br>
<h3>January 2010 evacuation</h3><br>
<p>In January 2010, heavy rain caused flooding that buried or washed away roads and railways to Machu Picchu, trapping more than 2,000 locals and more than 2,000 tourists, later airlifted out. Machu Picchu was temporarily closed, reopening on 1 April 2010.</p><br>
<h3>Entrance restrictions</h3><br>
<p>In July 2011, the Dirección Regional de Cultura Cusco (DRC) introduced new entrance rules to the citadel of Machu Picchu. The tougher entrance rules attempted to reduce the effect of tourism. Entrance was limited to 2,500 visitors per day, and the entrance to Huayna Picchu (within the citadel) was further restricted to 400 visitors per day, in two time slots, at 7 and 10 AM.</p><br>
<p>In May 2012, a team of UNESCO conservation experts called upon Peruvian authorities to take "emergency measures" to further stabilize the site’s buffer zone and protect it from damage, particularly in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which had grown rapidly.</p><br>
<h3>Cultural artifacts: Dispute between Peru and Yale University</h3><br>
<p>In 1912, 1914 and 1915, Bingham removed thousands of artifacts from Machu Picchu—ceramic vessels, silver statues, jewelry and human bones—and took them to Yale University for further study, supposedly for 18 months. Yale instead kept the artifacts until 2012, arguing that Peru lacked the infrastructure and systems to care for them. Eliane Karp, an anthropologist and wife of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, accused Yale of profiting from Perus cultural heritage. Many of the articles were exhibited at Yales Peabody Museum.</p><br>
<p>In 2006, Yale returned some pieces but kept the rest, claiming this was supported by federal case law of Peruvian antiquities. On 19 September 2007, the Courant reported that Peru and Yale had agreed on the return of the artifacts. The agreement included a joint traveling exhibition and construction of a new museum and research center in Cusco advised by Yale. Yale acknowledged Perus title to all the objects, but would share rights with Peru in the research collection, part of which would remain at Yale for continuing study. On 21 November 2010, Yale agreed to return the disputed artifacts. The third and final batch of artifacts was delivered November 2012. The artifacts are permanently exhibited at La Casa Concha ("The Shell House") close to Cuscos colonial center. Owned by the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco, La Casa Concha also features a study area for local and foreign students.</p><br>
<h2>In media</h2><br>
<p>The 1955 film Secret of the Incas by Paramount Pictures with Charlton Heston and Ima Sumac was filmed on location at Cusco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed on site. Five hundred indigenous people were hired as extras in the film.</p><br>
<p>The opening sequence of the 1972 film Aguirre, the Wrath of God was shot in the Machu Picchu area and on the stone stairway of Huayna Picchu.</p><br>
<p>Machu Picchu was featured prominently in the 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries, a biopic based on the 1952 youthful travel memoir of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.</p><br>
<p>The NOVA television documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" presents an elaborate documentary on the mysteries of Machu Picchu.</p><br>
<p>Contemporary multimedia artist Kimsooja used Macchu Picchu as the primary setting for the first episode of her film series Thread Routes, shot in 2010.</p><br>
<p>The song "Kilimanjaro" from the 2010 South Indian Tamil film Enthiran was filmed in Machu Picchu. The sanction for filming was granted only after direct intervention from the Indian government.</p><br>
<h2>Panoramic views</h2><br>
<p>Dodona  in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BCE according to Herodotus. The earliest accounts in Homer describe Dodona as an oracle of Zeus. Situated in a remote region away from the main Greek poleis, it was considered second only to the oracle of Delphi in prestige.</p><br>
<p>Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas and the region where the Hellenes originated. The oracle was first under the control of the Thesprotians before it passed into the hands of the Molossians. It remained an important religious sanctuary until the rise of Christianity during the Late Roman era.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>During classical antiquity, according to various accounts, priestesses and priests in the sacred grove interpreted the rustling of the oak (or beech) leaves to determine the correct actions to be taken. According to a new interpretation, the oracular sound originated from bronze objects hanging from oak branches and sounded with the wind blowing, similar to a wind chime.</p><br>
<p>According to Nicholas Hammond, Dodona was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess (identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia, but here called Dione) who was joined and partly supplanted in historical times by the Greek deity Zeus.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>Although the earliest inscriptions at the site date to c. 550–500 BCE, archaeological excavations conducted for more than a century have recovered artifacts as early as the Mycenaean era, many now at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, and some in the archaeological museum at nearby Ioannina.</p><br>
<p>Cult activity at Dodona was already established in some form during the Late Bronze Age (or Mycenaean period). Archaeologists also have found Illyrian dedications and objects that were received by the oracle during the 7th century BCE. Until 650 BCE, Dodona was a religious and oracular centre mainly for northern tribes: only after 650 BCE did it become important for the southern tribes.</p><br>
<p>Zeus was worshipped at Dodona as "Zeus Naios" or "Naos" (god of the spring below the oak in the temenos or sanctuary, cf. Naiads) and as "Zeus Bouleus" (Counsellor). According to Plutarch, the worship of Jupiter (Zeus) at Dodona was set up by Deucalion and Pyrrha, presumably after the Flood.</p><br>
<p>The earliest mention of Dodona is in Homer, and only Zeus is mentioned in this account. In the Iliad (circa 750 BCE), Achilles prays to "High Zeus, Lord of Dodona, Pelasgian, living afar off, brooding over wintry Dodona" (thus demonstrating that Zeus also could be invoked from a distance). No buildings are mentioned, and the priests (called Selloi) slept on the ground with unwashed feet. No priestesses are mentioned in Homer.</p><br>
<p>The oracle also features in another passage involving Odysseus, giving a story of his visit to Dodona. Odysseus&#39;s words "bespeak a familiarity with Dodona, a realization of its importance, and an understanding that it was normal to consult Zeus there on a problem of personal conduct."</p><br>
<p>The details of this story are as follows. Odysseus says to the swineherd Eumaeus (possibly giving him a fictive account) that he (Odysseus) was seen among the Thesprotians, having gone to inquire of the oracle at Dodona whether he should return to Ithaca openly or in secret (as the disguised Odysseus is doing). Odysseus later repeats the same tale to Penelope, who may not yet have seen through his disguise.</p><br>
<p>According to some scholars, Dodona was originally an oracle of the Mother Goddess attended by priestesses. She was identified at other sites as Rhea or Gaia. The oracle also was shared by Dione (whose name simply means "deity"). By classical times, Dione was relegated to a minor role elsewhere in classical Greece, being made into an aspect of Zeus&#39;s more usual consort, Hera — but never at Dodona.</p><br>
<p>Many dedicatory inscriptions recovered from the site mention both "Dione" and "Zeus Naios".</p><br>
<p>According to some archaeologists, not until the 4th century BCE, was a small stone temple to Dione added to the site. By the time Euripides mentioned Dodona (fragmentary play Melanippe) and Herodotus wrote about the oracle, the priestesses appeared at the site.</p><br>
<h3>Classical Greece</h3><br>
<p>Though it never eclipsed the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, Dodona gained a reputation far beyond Greece. In the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, a retelling of an older story of Jason and the Argonauts, Jason&#39;s ship, the "Argo", had the gift of prophecy, because it contained an oak timber spirited from Dodona.</p><br>
<p>In c. 290 BCE, King Pyrrhus made Dodona the religious capital of his domain and beautified it by implementing a series of construction projects (i.e. grandly rebuilt the Temple of Zeus, developed many other buildings, added a festival featuring athletic games, musical contests, and drama enacted in a theatre). A wall was built around the oracle itself and the holy tree, as well as temples to Dione and Heracles.</p><br>
<p>In 219 BCE, the Aetolians, under the leadership of General Dorimachus, invaded and burned the temple to the ground. During the late 3rd century BCE, King Philip V of Macedon (along with the Epirotes) reconstructed all the buildings at Dodona. In 167 BCE, Dodona was destroyed by the Romans (led by Aemilius Paulus), but was later rebuilt by Emperor Augustus in 31 BCE. By the time the traveller Pausanias visited Dodona in the 2nd century CE, the sacred grove had been reduced to a single oak. In 241 CE, a priest named Poplius Memmius Leon organized the Naia festival of Dodona. In 362 CE, Emperor Julian consulted the oracle prior to his military campaigns against the Persians.</p><br>
<p>Pilgrims still consulted the oracle until 391-392 CE when Emperor Theodosius closed all pagan temples, banned all pagan religious activities, and cut down the ancient oak tree at the sanctuary of Zeus. Although the surviving town was insignificant, the long-hallowed pagan site must have retained significance for Christians given that a Bishop Theodorus of Dodona attended the First Council of Ephesus in 431 CE.</p><br>
<h2>Herodotus</h2><br>
<p>Herodotus (Histories 2:54–57) was told by priests at Egyptian Thebes in the 5th century BCE "that two priestesses had been carried away from Thebes by Phoenicians; one, they said they had heard was taken away and sold in Libya, the other in Hellas; these women, they said, were the first founders of places of divination in the aforesaid countries." The simplest analysis of the quote is: Egypt, for Greeks as well as for Egyptians, was a spring of human culture of all but immeasurable antiquity. This mythic element says that the oracles at the oasis of Siwa in Libya and of Dodona in Epirus were equally old, but similarly transmitted by Phoenician culture, and that the seeresses – Herodotus does not say "sibyls" – were women.</p><br>
<p>Herodotus follows with what he was told by the prophetesses, called peleiades ("doves") at Dodona:</p><br>
<p>In the simplest analysis, this was a confirmation of the oracle tradition in Egypt. The element of the dove may be an attempt to account for a folk etymology applied to the archaic name of the sacred women that no longer made sense and the eventual connection with Zeus, justified by a tale told by a priestess. Was the pel- element in their name connected with "black" or "muddy" root elements in names like "Peleus" or "Pelops"? Is that why the doves were black?</p><br>
<p>Herodotus adds:</p><br>
<p>Thesprotia, on the coast west of Dodona, would have been available to the seagoing Phoenicians, whom readers of Herodotus would not have expected to have penetrated as far inland as Dodona.</p><br>
<h2>Strabo</h2><br>
<p>According to Strabo, the oracle was founded by the Pelasgi:</p><br>
<p>This oracle, according to Ephorus, was founded by the Pelasgi. And the Pelasgi are called the earliest of all peoples who have held dominion in Greece.</p><br>
<p>The site of the oracle was dominated by Mount Tomaros, the area being controlled by the Thesprotians and then the Molossians:</p><br>
<p>In ancient times, then, Dodona was under the rule of the Thesprotians; and so was Mount Tomaros, or Tmaros (for it is called both ways), at the base of which the temple is situated. And both the tragic poets and Pindaros have called Dodona Thesprotian Dodona. But later on it came under the rule of the Molossoi.</p><br>
<p>According to Pindar, the prophecies were originally uttered by men:</p><br>
<p>At the outset, it is true, those who uttered the prophecies were men (this too perhaps the poet indicates, for he calls them “hypophetae” and the prophets might be ranked among these), but later on three old women were designated as prophets, after Dione also had been designated as temple-associate of Zeus.</p><br>
<p>Pindar also reports as uncertain the story that the predecessor of Dodona oracle was located in Thessaly:</p><br>
<p>...the temple was transferred from Thessaly, from the part of Pelasgia which is about Scotussa (and Scotussa does belong to the territory called Thessalia Pelasgiotis), and also that most of the women whose descendants are the prophetesses of today went along at the same time; and it is from this fact that Zeus was also called “Pelasgian.”</p><br>
<p>In a fragment of Pindar we find the following:</p><br>
<p>Among the Thesprotians and the Molossians old women are called "peliai" and old men "pelioi," as is also the case among the Macedonians; at any rate, those people call their dignitaries "peligones" (compare the gerontes among the Laconians and the Massaliotes). And this, it is said, is the origin of the myth about the pigeons in the Dodonaean oak-tree.</p><br>
<h2>Other commentaries</h2><br>
<p>According to Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb, the epithet Neuos of Zeus at Dodona primarily designated "the god of streams, and, generally, of water". Jebb also points out that Achelous, as a water deity, received special honours at Dodona. The area of the oracle was quite swampy, with lakes in the area and reference to the "holy spring" of Dodona may be a later addition.</p><br>
<p>Jebb mostly follows Strabo in his analysis. Accordingly, he notes that the Selloi, the prophets of Zeus, were also called tomouroi, which name derived from Mount Tomares. Tomouroi was also a variant reading found in the Odyssey.</p><br>
<p>According to Jebb, the Peleiades at Dodona were very early, and preceded the appointment of Phemonoe, the prophetess at Delphi. The introduction of female attendants probably took place in the fifth century. The timing of change is clearly prior to Herodotus (5th century BC), with his narrative about the doves and Egypt.</p><br>
<p>Aristotle (Meteorologica, 1.14) places Hellas in the parts about Dodona and the Achelous and says it was inhabited by "the Selloi, who were formerly called Graikoi, but now Hellenes."</p><br>
<p>The alternative reading of Selloi is Helloi. Aristotle clearly uses "Dodona" as the designation of the whole district in which the oracle was situated. Thus, according to some scholars, the origin of the words "Hellenes" and "Hellas" was from Dodona. Also, the word "Greece" may have been derived from this area.</p><br>
<p>Eleusis  is a town and municipality in West Attica, Greece. It is situated about 18 km northwest from the centre of Athens. It is located in the Thriasian Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Eleusis are Mandra and Magoula, while Aspropyrgos is to the northeast.</p><br>
<p>Eleusis is the seat of administration of West Attica regional unit. It is the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the birthplace of Aeschylus. Today, Eleusis is a major industrial centre, with the largest oil refinery in Greece as well as the home of the Aeschylia Festival, the longest-lived arts event in Attica Region.</p><br>
<p>On 11 November 2016 Eleusis was named the European Capital of Culture for 2021.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Elefsina was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following two former municipalities, that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Elefsina</p><br>
<p>Magoula</p><br>
<p>The municipality has an area of 36.589 km, the municipal unit 18.455 km.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Ancient Eleusis</h3><br>
<p>Eleusis was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, or the Mysteries of Demeter and Kore, which became popular in the Greek speaking world as early as 600 BC, attracted initiates during Roman Empire before declining mid-late 4th century AD. These Mysteries revolved around a belief that there was a hope for life after death for those who were initiated. Such a belief was cultivated from the introduction ceremony in which the hopeful initiates were shown a number of things including the seed of life in a stalk of grain. The central myth of the Mysteries was Demeter&#39;s quest for her lost daughter (Kore the Maiden, or Persephone) who had been abducted by Hades. It was here that Demeter, disguised as an old lady who was abducted by pirates in Crete, came to an old well where the four daughters of the local king Keleos and his queen Metaneira (Kallidike, Kleisidike, Demo and Kallithoe) found her and took her to their palace to nurse the son of Keleos and Metaneira, Demophoon. Demeter raised Demophoon, anointing him with nectar and ambrosia, until Metaneira found out and insulted her. Demeter arose insulted, and casting off her disguise, and, in all her glory, instructed Meteneira to build a temple to her. Keleos, informed the next morning by Metaneira, ordered the citizens to build a rich shrine to Demeter, where she sat in her temple until the lot of the world prayed to Zeus to make the world provide food again.</p><br>
<h3>Modern Elefsina</h3><br>
<p>Today, the city has become a suburb of Athens, to which it is linked by the Motorway 6 and Greek National Road 8. Eleusis is nowadays a major industrial area, and the place where the majority of crude oil in Greece is imported and refined. The largest refinery is located on the west side of town.</p><br>
<p>There is a military airport a few kilometers east of Eleusis. Eleusis Airfield played a crucial role in the final British evacuation during the 1941 Battle of Greece, as recounted by Roald Dahl in his autobiography Going Solo.</p><br>
<p>Eleusis is home to the football club Panelefsiniakos F.C., and the basketball club Panelefsiniakos B.C.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) weather station of Eleusis has an average maximum July temperature of 33.0°C (1958-2001 HNMS) The Eleusis phenomenon is not yet completely understood; however, factors of geomorphology, warm water masses in the summer and warm winds might be responsible for its summer climate. According to Kassomenos and Katsoulis (2006), based on 12 years of data (1990–2001), the industrialization of west Attica, where at least 40% of the industrial activity of the country is concentrated, could be the cause of the warm climate of the zone. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Eleusis has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.</p><br>
<h3>European temperature record</h3><br>
<p>Eleusis is one of the two Athenian suburbs (the other one is Tatoi) with the highest ever officially recorded temperature in Europe according to the World Meteorological Organization of 48.0°C (118.4°F), on 10 July 1977, by the use of minimum-maximum thermometers.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<h2>Sports</h2><br>
<p>Eleusis hosts the multi-sport club Panelefsiniakos with successful sections in football and basketball. Other historical club of Eleusis is Iraklis Eleusis, founded in 1928.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Aeschylus (c. 525 BC/524 BC – c. 456 BC/455 BC), playwright and veteran of the Battle of Marathon</p><br>
<p>Stelios Kazantzidis (1931–2001), singer</p><br>
<p>Orestis Laskos (1908–1992), director, screenwriter and actor</p><br>
<p>Vangelis Liapis (1914–2008), scholar and folklorist</p><br>
<p>Theodoros Pangalos (1938– ), politician</p><br>
<p>Ioannis Kalitzakis (1966- ), footballer</p><br>
<p>Vulcano  is a small volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 25 km north of Sicily and the southernmost of the eight Aeolian Islands. It is 21 km&sup2; in area, rises to 501 m above sea level, and contains several volcanic centres, including one of four active non-submarine volcanoes in Italy.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Romans used the island mainly for raw materials, harvesting wood and mining alum and sulfur. This was the principal activity on the island until the end of the 19th Century.</p><br>
<p>When the Bourbon rule collapsed in 1860 a British man named James Stevenson bought the northern part of the island, built a villa, reopened the local mines and planted vineyards for grapes that would later be used to make Malmsey wine. Stevenson lived on Vulcano until the last major eruption on the island, in 1888. The eruption lasted the better part of two years, by which time Stevenson had sold all of his property to the local populace, and never returned to the island. The villa is still intact.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The volcanic activity in the region is largely the result of the northward-moving African Plate meeting the Eurasian Plate. There are three volcanic centres on the island:</p><br>
<p>At the southern end of the island are old stratovolcano cones, Monte Aria (501 m), Monte Saraceno (481 m) and Monte Luccia (188 m), which have partially collapsed into the Il Piano Caldera.</p><br>
<p>The most recently active centre is the Gran Cratere at the top of the Fossa cone, the cone having grown in the Lentia Caldera in the middle of the island, and has had at least 9 major eruptions in the last 6000 years.</p><br>
<p>At the north of the island is Vulcanello (123 m), connected to the rest of it by an isthmus which is flooded in bad weather. It emerged from the sea during an eruption in 183 BC as a separate islet. Occasional eruptions from its three cones with both pyroclastic flow deposits and lavas occurred from then until 1550, the last eruption creating a narrow isthmus connecting it to Vulcano.</p><br>
<p>Vulcano has been quiet since the eruption of the Fossa cone on 3 August 1888 to 1890, which deposited about 5 m of pyroclastic material on the summit. The style of eruption seen on the Fossa cone is called a Vulcanian eruption, being the explosive emission of pyroclastic fragments of viscous magmas caused by the high viscosity preventing gases from escaping easily. This eruption of Vulcano was carefully documented at the time by Giuseppe Mercalli. Mercalli described the eruptions as "...Explosions sounding like a cannon at irregular intervals..." As a result, vulcanian eruptions are based on this description. A typical vulcanian eruption can hurl blocks of solid material several hundreds of metres from the vent. Mercalli reported blocks from the 1888-1890 eruption fell in the sea between Vulcano and Lipari, several were photographed by him or his assistants that had fallen on the island of Vulcano.</p><br>
<p>Volcanic gas emissions from this volcano are measured by a multi-component gas analyzer system, which detects pre-eruptive degassing of rising magmas, improving prediction of volcanic activity.</p><br>
<h2>Biology</h2><br>
<p>Since Vulcano island has volcanic activity, this island is a place where thermophiles and hyperthermophiles are likely to be found. In fact, the hyperthermophilic archaea Pyrococcus furiosus was described for the first time when it was isolated from sediments of this island by Gerhard Fiala and Karl Stetter.</p><br>
<h2>Mythology</h2><br>
<p>The Ancient Greeks named the island Therassía (Θηρασία) and Thérmessa (Θέρμεσσα, source of heat). The island appeared in their myths as the private workshop of the Olympian god Hephaestus, protector of the blacksmiths; he owned another two at Etna and Olympus. Strabo also mentions Thermessa as sacred place of Hephaestus (ἱερὰ Ἡφαίστου), but it is not clear if it was a third name for the island, or just an adjective.</p><br>
<p>Similarly the Romans believed that Vulcano was the chimney of the god Vulcan&#39;s workshop and therefore named the island after him. The island had grown due to his periodic clearing of cinders and ashes from his forge. The earthquakes that either preceded or accompanied the explosions of ash were considered to be due to Vulcan making weapons for Mars and his armies to wage war.</p><br>
<h2>Trivia</h2><br>
<p>Between 1949 and 1950 in Vulcano and on the island of Salina, the film "Vulcano" directed by director William Dieterle was filmed. Played by Anna Magnani and Rossano Brazzi, the film was produced by Panaria Film by Prince Francesco Alliata to go out in theaters on February 2nd, 1950. The crew also participated in the ethos and photographer Fosco Maraini.</p><br>
<p>An asteroid is dedicated to the island, 4464 Vulcano.</p><br>
<p>The island of Vulcano is also present in Part 2 of JoJo&#39;s Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki and is the scene of the final clash between the protagonist Joseph Joestar and the antagonist Kars, leader of the Pillar Men.</p><br>
<p>According to US attorney and writer Richard Paul Roe, the comedy The Tempest by William Shakespeare is set on the island of Vulcano.</p><br>
<p>Patmos  is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea, most famous for being the location of both the vision of and the writing of the Christian Bible&#39;s Book of Revelation.</p><br>
<p>One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,998 and an area of 34.05 km&sup2;. The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 m above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi (pop. 44), Marathos (pop. 5), and several uninhabited islets, has a total population of 3,047 (2011 census) and a combined land area of 45.039 km². It is part of the Kalymnos regional unit.</p><br>
<p>Patmos&#39; main communities are Chora (the capital city), and Skala, the only commercial port. Other settlements are Grikou and Kampos. The churches and communities on Patmos are of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The mayor of Patmos is Gregory Stoikos.</p><br>
<p>Patmos is mentioned in the Book of Revelation. The book&#39;s introduction states that its author, John, was on Patmos when he was given (and recorded) a vision from Jesus. Early Christian tradition identified this writer as John the Apostle, though some modern scholars are uncertain, and thus call him the less specific "John of Patmos".</p><br>
<p>Because of the Book of Revelation, Patmos has a long history as a destination for Christian pilgrimage. Visitors can see the cave where John is said to have received his Revelation (the Cave of the Apocalypse), and several monasteries on the island are dedicated to Saint John.</p><br>
<p>In 1999, the island&#39;s historic center Chora, along with the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse, were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The monastery was founded by Saint Christodulos. Patmos is also home to the Patmian School, a notable Greek seminary.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>The birth of Patmos according to Greek mythology</h3><br>
<p>According to a legend in Greek mythology, the island&#39;s original name was "Letois", after the goddess and huntress of deer Artemis, daughter of Leto. It was believed that Patmos came into existence thanks to her divine intervention.</p><br>
<p>The myth tells how Patmos existed as an island at the bottom of the sea. Artemis frequently paid visits to Caria, the mainland across the shore from Patmos, where she had a shrine on Mount Latmos. There she met the moon goddess Selene, who cast her light on the ocean, revealing the sunken island of Patmos.</p><br>
<p>Selene was always trying to get Artemis to bring the sunken island to the surface and hence to life. Selene finally convinced Artemis, who, in turn, gained her brother Apollo&#39;s help to persuade Zeus to allow the island to arise from the sea.</p><br>
<p>Zeus agreed, and the island emerged from the water. The sun dried up the land and brought life to it. Gradually, inhabitants from the surrounding areas, including Mount Latmos, settled on the island and named it "Letois" in honour of Artemis.</p><br>
<h3>History from the Classical period to the present</h3><br>
<p>Patmos is seldom mentioned by ancient writers. Therefore, very little can be conjectured about the earliest inhabitants. In the Classical period, the Patmians prefer to identify themselves as Dorians descending from the families of Argos, Sparta and Epidaurus, further mingling with people of Ionian ancestry.</p><br>
<p>During the 3rd century BC, in the Hellenistic period, the settlement of Patmos acquired the form of an acropolis with an improved defence through a fortification wall and towers.</p><br>
<p>Patmos is mentioned in the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible. The book&#39;s introduction states that its author, John, was on Patmos when he was given (and recorded) a vision from Jesus. Early Christian tradition identified this writer John of Patmos as John the Apostle. As such, Patmos is a destination for Christian pilgrimage. Visitors can see the cave where John is said to have received his Revelation (the Cave of the Apocalypse), and several monasteries on the island are dedicated to Saint John.</p><br>
<p>After the death of John of Patmos, possibly around 100, a number of Early Christian basilicas were erected on Patmos. Among these was a Grand Royal Basilica in honour of Saint John, built c. 300–350 at the location where the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian stands today.</p><br>
<p>Early Christian life on Patmos, however, barely survived Muslim raids from the 7th to the 9th century. During this period, the Grand Basilica was destroyed. In the 11th century, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos gave Christodoulos the complete authority over the island of Patmos, as well as the permission to build a monastery on the island. The construction of the monastery started in 1101. It was under rule of Republic of Venice between 1207 and 1340 and then Knights Hospitaller between 1340 and 1522.</p><br>
<p>Population was expanded by infusions of Byzantine immigrants fleeing the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, and Cretan immigrants fleeing the fall of Candia in 1669.</p><br>
<p>The island was controlled by the Ottoman Empire for many years, but it enjoyed certain privileges, mostly related to tax-free trade by the monastery as certified by Ottoman imperial documents held in the Library. Ottoman rule in Patmos ("Batnaz" in Ottoman Turkish) was interrupted by initially Venetian occupation during Candian War between 1659 and 1669, then Russian occupation during Orlov Revolt between 1770 and 1774 and finally during Greek War of Independence.</p><br>
<p>In 1912, in connection with the Italo-Turkish War, the Italians occupied all the islands of the Dodecanese (except Kastellorizo), including Patmos. The Italians remained there until 1943, when Nazi Germany took over the island.</p><br>
<p>In 1945, the Germans left and the island of Patmos remained autonomous until 1948, when it, together with the rest of the Dodecanese Islands, joined the independent Greece.</p><br>
<h3>21st century</h3><br>
<p>In September 2008, the municipality of Patmos refused landing to a group of undocumented refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq. On the weekend of September 19, 2008, about 134 refugees were rescued at sea. The refugees were taken to Patmos, the nearest municipality, for processing and care. The administration refused them permission to land. Eventually they were sent to the island of Leros where they were processed and given humanitarian aid. Local authorities justified their action by contrasting it to alleged practices elsewhere in the EU: "Malta sinks their boats and Italy lets them drown", local leaders claimed.</p><br>
<p>Forbes magazine, in 2009, named Patmos "Europe&#39;s most idyllic place to live", writing that "Patmos has evolved over the centuries but has not lost its air of quiet tranquility, which is one reason why people that know it return again and again".</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Patmos is situated off the west coast of Turkey and the continent of Asia. It is one of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex. It is further west than its nearby neighboring islands.</p><br>
<p>It contains an area of 34.05 km&sup2;. The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 m above sea level.</p><br>
<p>Patmos&#39; main communities are Chora (the capital city) and Skala, the only commercial port. Other settlements are Grikou and Kampos.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>Christian pilgrims frequently visit due to the island&#39;s connection with the prophet John and the writing of the book of revelations.</p><br>
<h2>Health</h2><br>
<p>For emergencies, Patmos has a medical centre, with several medical doctors on the premises. When residents require hospitalization beyond the first aid care, they are airlifted out of the island by helicopter (on emergencies) to nearby ones or, if the weather permits, they are transported by the ferry.</p><br>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2><br>
<h3>Ferry</h3><br>
<p>The Island of Patmos has regular ferry service, which connects it to the following ports: Agathonissi Island, Mykonos Island, Paros Island, Piraeus (the main port of Athens), Pythagoreio and Karlovassi on Samos Island, Syros Island, Leros Island, Naxos Island, Arkoi, Lipsi Island, Symi Island and Rhodes Island.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>John of Patmos, author of the Book of Revelation</p><br>
<p>Patriarch Jeremias III of Constantinople</p><br>
<p>Patriarch Neophytus VI of Constantinople</p><br>
<p>Patriarch Jacob of Alexandria</p><br>
<p>Emmanuil Xanthos, founder of Filiki Eteria</p><br>
<h2>International relations</h2><br>
<h3>Twin towns — Sister cities</h3><br>
<p>Patmos is twinned with:</p><br>
<p>Grottaferrata, Italy</p><br>
<p>Glastonbury, United Kingdom</p><br>
<p>The Palace of Fontainebleau or Château de Fontainebleau, located 55 km southeast of the centre of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence for the French monarchs from Louis VII to Napoleon III. It is now a national museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Medieval palace (12th century)</h3><br>
<p>The earliest record of a fortified castle at Fontainebleau dates to 1137. It became a favorite residence and hunting lodge of the Kings of France because of the abundant game and many springs in the surrounding forest. it took its name from one of the springs, the fountain de Bliaud, located now in the English garden, next to the wing of Louis XV. It was used by King Louis VII, for whom Thomas Becket consecrated the chapel in 1169; by Philip Augustus; by Louis IX, or Saint Louis, who built a hospital and a convent, the Couvent des Trinitaires, next to the castle; and by Philippe le Bel, who was born and died in the castle.</p><br>
<h3>Renaissance Château of Francis I (1528–1547)</h3><br>
<p>In the 15th century some modifications and embellishments were made to the castle by Isabeau of Bavaria, the wife of King Charles VI, but the medieval structure remained essentially intact until the reign Francis I (1494–1547). He commissioned the architect Gilles le Breton to build a palace in the new Renaissance style, recently imported from Italy. Le Breton preserved the old medieval donjon, where the King&#39;s apartments were located, but incorporated it into the new Renaissance-style Cour Ovale, or oval courtyard, built on the foundations of the old castle. It included monumental Porte Dorée, as its southern entrance. as well as a monumental Renaissance stairway, the portique de Serlio, to give access the royal apartments on the north side.</p><br>
<p>Beginning in about 1528, Francis constructed the Gallery Francis I, which allowed him to pass directly from his apartments to the chapel of the Trinitaires. He brought the architect Sebastiano Serlio from Italy, and the Florentine painter Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino, to decorate the new gallery. Between 1533 and 1539 Rosso Fiorentino filled the gallery with murals glorifying the King, framed in stucco ornament in high relief, and lambris sculpted by the furniture maker Francesco Scibec da Carpi. Another Italian painter, Francesco Primaticcio from Bologna, ("Primatice" to the French), joined later in the decoration of the palace. Together their style of decoration became known as the first School of Fontainebleau. This was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France.</p><br>
<p>In about 1540, Francis began another major addition to the chateau. Using land on the east side of the chateau purchased from the order of the Trinitaires, he began to build a new square of buildings around a large courtyard. It was enclosed on the north by the wing of the Ministers, on the east by the wing of Ferrare, and on the south by a wing containing the new gallery of Ulysees. The chateau was surrounded by a new park in the style of the Italian Renaissance garden, with pavilions and the first grotto in France. Primaticcio created more monumental murals for the gallery of Ulysses.</p><br>
<h3>Château of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici (1547–1570)</h3><br>
<p>Following the death of Francis I, King Henry II decided to continue and expand the chateau. The King and his wife chose the architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant to do the work. They extended the east wing of the lower court, and decorated it with the first famous horseshoe-shaped staircase. In the oval court, they transformed the loggia planned by Francois into a Salle des Fétes or grand ballroom with a coffered ceiling. Facing the courtyard of the fountain and the fish pond, they designed a new building, the Pavillon des Poeles, to contain the new apartments of the King. The decoration of the new ballroom and the gallery of Ulysses with murals by Primaticcio and sculptured stucco continued, under the direction of the Mannerist painters Primaticcio and Niccolò dellAbbate. At Henris orders, the Nymphe de Fontainebleau was installed at the gateway entrance of Château dAnet, the primary domain of Henris primary mistress Diane de Poitiers (the original bronze lunette is now in the Louvre, with a replica in place).</p><br>
<p>Following the death of Henry II in a jousting accident, his widow, Catherine de&#39; Medici, continued the construction and decoration of the château. She named Primaticcio as the new superintendent of royal public works. He designed the section known today as the wing of the Belle Cheminée, noted for its elaborate chimneys and its two opposing stairways. In 1565, as a security measure due to the Wars of Religion, she also had moat dug around the château to protect it against attack.</p><br>
<h3>Château of Henry IV (1570–1610)</h3><br>
<p>King Henry IV made more additions to the château than any King since Francis I. He extended the oval court toward the west by building two pavilions, called Tiber and Luxembourg. Between 1601 and 1606, he remade all the façades around the courtyard, including that of the chapel of Saint-Saturnin, to give the architecture greater harmony. On the east side, he built a new monumental gateway with a dome, called the porte du Baptistère. Between 1606 and 1609, he built a new courtyard, called the Cour des Offices or the Quartier Henry IV, to provide a place for the kitchens and residences for court officials. Two new galleries, the Galerie de Diane de Poitiers and the Galerie des Cerfs, were built to enclose the old garden of Diane. He also added a large Jeu de paume, or indoor tennis court, the largest such court existing in the world.</p><br>
<p>A "second school of Fontainebleau" of painters and decorators went to work on the interiors. The architect Martin Fréminet created the ornate chapel of the Trinity, while the painters Ambroise Dubois and Toussaint Dubreuil created a series of heroic paintings for the salons. A new wing, named for its central building, &#39;La Belle Cheminée, was built next to the large fish pond.</p><br>
<p>Henry IV also devoted great attention to the park and gardens around the Chateau. The garden of the Queen or garden of Diane, created by Catherine de Medici, with the fountain of Diane in the center, was located on the north side of the palace. Henry IVs gardener, Claude Mollet, trained at Château d&#39;Anet, created a large parterre of flower beds, decorated with ancient statues and separated by paths into large squares. The fountain of Diana and the grotto were made by Tommaso Francini, who may also have designed the Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Garden for Marie de Medici. On the south side, Henry created a park, planted with pines, elms and fruit trees, and laid out a grand canal 1200 meters long, sixty years before Louis XIV built his own grand canal at Versailles.</p><br>
<h3>Château from Louis XIII through Louis XVI</h3><br>
<p>King Louis XIII was born and baptized in the Château, and continued the works begun by his father. He completed the decoration of the chapel of the Trinity, and assigned the court architect Jean Androuet du Cerceau to reconstruct the horseshoe stairway earlier designed by Philibert Delorme on the courtyard that had become known as the Cour de Cheval Blanc. After his death, his widow, Anne of Austria, redecorated the apartments within the Wing of the Queen Mothers (Aile des Reines Mères) next to the Court of the Fountain, designed by Primatrice.</p><br>
<p>King Louis XIV spent more days at Fontainebleau than any other monarch; he liked to hunt there every year at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. He made few changes to the exterior of the château, but did build a new apartment for his companion, Madame de Maintenon, he demolished the old apartments of the baths under the Gallery of Francis I to create new apartments for the royal princes, and he made some modifications to the apartments of the King. The architect Jules Hardouin-Mansard built a new wing alongside the Gallerie des Cerfs and the Gallerie de Diane to provide more living space for the Court. He did make major changes in the park and gardens; he commissioned André Le Nôtre and Louis Le Vau to redesign the large parterre into a French formal garden. He destroyed the hanging garden which Henry IV had built next to the large fish pond, and instead built a pavilion, designed by Le Vau, on a small island in the center of the pond.</p><br>
<p>Louis XIV signed the Edict of Fontainebleau at the Château on 22 October 1685, revoking the policy of tolerance towards Protestants begun by Henry IV. Louis welcomed many foreign guests there, including the former Queen Christina of Sweden, who had just abdicated her crown. While a guest in the Château on 10 November 1657, Christina suspected her master of horse and reputed lover, the Marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi, of betraying her secrets to her enemies. Her servants chased him through the halls of the Château and stabbed him to death. Louis XIV came to see her at the Château, did not mention the murder, and allowed her to continue her travels.</p><br>
<p>On May 19–20, 1717, during the Regency following the death of Louis XIV, the Russian Czar Peter the Great was a guest at Fontainebleau. A hunt for stags was organized for him, and a banquet. Officially the visit was a great success. but in the memoirs published later by members of the delegation, it appears that Peter disliked the French style of hunting, and that he found the Château too small, compared with the other royal French residences. The routine of Fontainebleau also did not suit his tastes; he preferred beer to wine (and brought his own supply with him) and he liked to get up early, unlike the French Court.</p><br>
<p>The renovation projects of Louis XV were more ambitious than those of Louis XIV. To create more lodging for his enormous number of courtiers In 1737–38 the King built a new courtyard, called the Cour de la Conciergerie or the Cour des Princes, to the east of the Gallerie des Cerfs. On the Cour du Cheval Blanc, the wing of the Gallery of Ulysees was torn down and gradually replaced by a new brick and stone building, built in stages in 1738–1741 and 1773–74, extending west toward the Pavilion and grotto of the pines.</p><br>
<p>Between 1750 and 1754, the King commissioned the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build a new wing along the Cour de la Fontaine and the fish pond. The old Pavilion des Poeles was demolished and replaced by the Gros Pavilion, built of cream-colored stone. Lavish new apartments were created inside this building for the King and the Queen. The new meeting room for the Royal Council was decorated by the leading painters of the day, including François Boucher, Carle Vanloo, Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre and Alexis Peyrotte. A magnificent small theater was created on the first floor of the wing of the Belle Cheminée.</p><br>
<p>King Louis XVI also made additions to the château to create more space for his courtiers. A new building was constructed alongside the Gallery of Francis I; it created a large new apartment on the first floor, and a number of small apartments on the ground floor, but also blocked the windows on the north side of the Gallery of Francis I. The apartments of Queen Marie-Antoinette were redone, a Turkish-style salon was created for her in 1777, a room for games in 1786–1787, and a boudoir in the arabesque style. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette made their last visit to Fontainebleau in 1786, on the eve of the French Revolution.</p><br>
<h3>Château during the Revolution and the First Empire</h3><br>
<p>During the French Revolution the Château did not suffer any significant damage, but all the furniture was sold at auction. The buildings were occupied by the Central School of the Department of Seine-et-Marne, until 1803, when Napoleon I installed a military school there. As he prepared to become Emperor, Napoleon wanted to preserve as much as possible the palaces and protocol of the Old Regime. He chose Fontainebleau as the site of his historic 1804 meeting with Pope Pius VII, who had travelled from Rome to crown Napoleon Emperor. Napoleon had a suite of rooms decorated for the Pope, and had the entire chateau refurnished and decorated. The bedroom of the Kings was transformed into a throne room for Napoleon. Apartments were refurnished and decorated for the Emperor and Empress in the new Empire style. The Cour du Cheval Blanc was renamed the Cour d&#39;Honneur, or Courtyard of Honor. One wing facing the courtyard, the Aile de Ferrare, was torn down and replaced with an ornamental iron fence and gate, making the façade of the Palace visible. The gardens of Diane and the gardens of the Pines were replanted and turned into an English landscape garden by the landscape designer Maximillien-Joseph Hurtault.</p><br>
<p>Napoleons visits to Fontainebleau were not frequent, because he was occupied so much of the time with military campaigns. Between 1812 and 1814, the château served as a very elegant prison for Pope Pius VII. Napoleon 5 November 1810, the chapel of the Chateau was used for the baptism of Napoleons nephew, the future Napoleon III, with Napoleon serving as his godfather, and the Empress Marie-Louise as his godmother.</p><br>
<p>Napoleon spent the last days of his reign at Fontainebleau, before abdicating there on 4 April 1814, under pressure from his marechals, Ney, Berthier, and Lefebvre. On 20 April, after failing in an attempt to commit suicide, he gave an emotional farewell to the soldiers of the Old Guard, assembled in the Court of Honor. Later, during the One Hundred Days, he stopped there on 20 March 1815.</p><br>
<p>In his memoires, written while in exile on Saint Helena, he recalled his time at Fontainebleau; “…the true residence of Kings, the house of the centuries. Perhaps it was not a rigorously architectural palace, but it was certainly a place of residence well thought out and perfectly suitable. It was certainly the most comfortable and happily situated palace in Europe.”</p><br>
<h3>Château during the Restoration and the reign of Louis-Philippe (1815–1848)</h3><br>
<p>Following the restoration of the Monarchy, Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X each stayed at Fontainebleau, but neither made any major changes to the palace. Louis-Philippe was more active, both restoring some rooms and redecorating others in the style of his period. The Hall of the Guards and Gallery of Plates were redecorated in a Neo-Renaissance style, while the Hall of Columns, under the ballroom, was remade in a neoclassical style. He added new stained glass windows, made by the royal manufactory of Sèvres.</p><br>
<h3>Château during the Second Empire</h3><br>
<p>Emperor Napoleon III, who had been baptized at Fountainebleau, resumed the custom of long stays at Fontainebleau, particularly during the summer. Many of the historic rooms, such as the Gallerie des Cerfs, were restored to something like their original appearance, while the private apartments were redecorated to suit the tastes of the Emperor and Empress. Numerous guest apartments were squeezed into unused spaces of the buildings. The old theater of the palace, built in the 18th century, was destroyed by a fire in the wing of the Belle Cheminée 1856. Between 1854 and 1857 the architect Hector Lefuel built a new theater in the style of Louis XVI.</p><br>
<p>On the ground floor of the Gros Pavilion, The Empress Eugénie built a small but rich museum, containing gifts from the King of Siam in 1861, and works of art taken during the pillage of the Summer Palace in Beijing. It also featured paintings by contemporary artists, including Franz Xaver Winterhalter, and the sculptor Charles Henri Joseph Cordier. Close by, in the Lous XV wing, the Emperor established his office, and the Empress made her Salon of Lacquer. These were the last rooms created by the royal residents of Fontainebleau. In 1870, during the Franco-German War, the Empire fell, and the Château was closed.</p><br>
<h3>Château from the Third Republic to the present day</h3><br>
<p>During the Franco-Prussian War, the palace was occupied by the Prussians on 17 September 1870, and briefly used as an army headquarters by Frederic Charles of Prussia from March 1871. Following the war, two of the buildings became the home of the advanced school of artillery and engineering of the French Army, which had been forced to leave Alsace when the province was annexed by Germany. It was occasionally used as a residence by the Presidents of the Third Republic, and to welcome state guests. including King Alexander I of Serbia (1891), King George I of Greece (1892) Leopold II of Belgium (1895). and King Alphonse XIII of Spain (1913). It also received a visit by the last survivor of its royal residents, the Empress Eugenie, on 26 June 1920.</p><br>
<p>The façades the major buildings received their first protection by classification as historic monuments on 20 August 1913. In 1923, following the First World War, it became home of the Écoles d&#39;Art Américaines, schools of art and music, which still exist today. In 1927 it became a national museum. Between the wars the upper floors of the wing of the Belle Cheminée, burned in 1856, were rebuilt by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, it was occupied by the Germans on 16 June 1940, and occupied until 10 November, and again from 15 May to the end of October 1941. Following the war, part of the Chateau became a headquarters of the Allied Forces Central Europe, under NATO, until 1966.</p><br>
<p>The general restoration of the Chateau took place between 1964 and 1968 under President Charles DeGaulle and his Minister of Culture, Andre Malraux. It was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. In 2006, the Ministry of Culture purchased the royal stables, and began their restoration.</p><br>
<p>Beginning in 2007, restoration began of the theater of the Chateau, created by Napoleon III during the Second Empire. The project was funded by the government of Abu-Dhabi, and in exchange the theater was renamed for Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan. It was inaugurated on 30 April 2014.</p><br>
<p>On 1 March 2015, the Chinese Museum of the Chateau was robbed by professional thieves. They broke in at about six in the morning, and, despite alarms and video cameras, in seven minutes stole about fifteen of the most valuable objects in the collection, including the replica of the crown of Siam given by the Siamese government to Napoleon III, a Tibetan mandala, and an enamel chimera from the reign of the Quianlong rulers (1736–1795).</p><br>
<h2>Grand Apartments</h2><br>
<h3>Gallery of Francis I</h3><br>
<p>The Gallery of Francis I is one of the first and finest examples of Renaissance decoration in France. It was originally constructed in 1528 as a passageway between the apartments of the King with the oval courtyard and the chapel of the convent Trinitaires, but in 1531 Francis I made it a part of his royal apartments, and between 1533 and 1539 it was decorated by artists and craftsmen from Italy, under the direction of the painter Rosso Fiorentino, or Primatice, in the new Renaissance style. The lower walls of the passage were the work of the master Italian furniture maker Francesco Scibec da Carpi; they are decorated with the coat of arms of France and the salamander, the emblem of the King. The upper walls are covered by frescoes framed in richly sculpted stucco. The frescoes used mythological scenes to illustrate the virtues of the King.</p><br>
<p>On the side of gallery with windows, the frescoes represent Ignorance Driven Out; The Unity of the State; Cliobis and Biton; Danae; The Death of Adonis; The Loss of Perpetual Youth; and The Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithes.</p><br>
<p>On the side of the gallery facing the windows, the frescoes represent: A Sacrifice; The Royal Elephant; The Burning of Catane; The Nymph of Fontainebleau (painted in 1860–61 by J. Alaux to cover a former entry to the gallery); The Sinking of Ajax;The Education of Achilles and The Frustration of Venus.</p><br>
<h3>Ballroom</h3><br>
<p>The ballroom was originally begun as an open passageway, or loggia, by Francis I. In about 1552 King Henry II closed it with high windows and an ornate coffered ceiling, and transformed it into a room for celebrations and balls. The H, the initial of the King, is prominent in the decor, as well as figures of the crescent moon, the symbol of Henry&#39;s mistress Diane de Poitiers.</p><br>
<p>At the western end is a monumental fireplace, decorated with bronze statues originally copied from classical statues in Rome. At the eastern end of the room is a gallery where the musicians played during balls. The decor was restored many times over the years. The floor, which mirrors the design of the ceiling, was built by Louis-Philippe in the first half of the 19th century.</p><br>
<p>The frescoes on the walls and pillars were painted beginning in 1552 by Nicolo dell&#39;Abate, following drawings by Primatice. On the garden side of the ballroom, the represent: The Harvest; Vulcan forging weapons for Love at the request of Venus; Phaeton begging the sun to let him drive his chariot; and Jupiter and Mercury at the home of Philemon and Baucis.</p><br>
<p>The frescoes on the side of the Oval Courtyard represent: The feast of Bacchus; Apollo and the Muses on Mount Parnassus; The Three Graces dancing before the gods; The wedding feast of Thetis and Peleus.</p><br>
<p>A fresco behind the gallery of musicians shows musicians of the period performing.</p><br>
<h3>St. Saturnin's Chapels</h3><br>
<p>Behind the ballroom, there is St. Saturnins Chapel. The lower chapel was originally built in the 12th century, but was destroyed and completely rebuilt under Francis I. The windows made in Sèvres were installed during the Louis Philippes period and were designed by his daughter Marie, an artist herself. The upper chapel was the royal chapel decorated by Philibert de l&#39;Orme. The ceiling, made in the same style as the ballroom, ends with a dome.</p><br>
<h3>Room of the Guards</h3><br>
<p>A room for the guards was always located next to the royal bedchambers. The Salle des Gardes was built during the reign of Charles IX. Some traces of the original decor remain from the 1570s, including the vaulted ceiling and a frieze of military trophies attributed to Ruggiero d&#39;Ruggieri. In the 19th century Louis Philippe turned the room into a salon and redecorated it with a new parquet floor of exotic woods echoing the design of the ceiling, and a monumental fireplace (1836), which incorporates pieces of ornament from demolished rooms from 15th and early 16th century. The bust of Henry IV, attributed to Mathieu Jacquet, is from that period, as are the two figures on either side of the fireplace. The sculpted frame around the bust, by Pierre Bontemps, was originally in the bedchamber of Henry II. The decorations added by Louis Philippe include a large vase decorated with Renaissance themes, made by the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in 1832. During the reign of Napoleon III, the hall was used as a dining room.</p><br>
<h3>Stairway of the King</h3><br>
<p>The stairway of the King was installed in 1748 and 1749, in the space occupied during the reign of Francis I by the bedroom of Anne de Pisseleu, the Duchess of Étampes, a favorite of the King. It was designed by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, who used many decorative elements from the earlier room, which had originally been decorated by Primatice. The upper portion of the walls is divided into panels, oval and rectangular, with scenes representing the love life of Alexander the Great. The paintings are framed by large statues of women by Primatice. The eastern wall of the room was destroyed during the reconstruction, and was replaced during the reign of Louis Philippe in the 19th century with paintings by Abel de Pujol.</p><br>
<h3>Queen's bedroom</h3><br>
<p>All of the Queens and Empresses of France from Marie de Medici to the Empress Eugènie, slept in the bedchamber of the Queen. The ornate ceiling over the bed was made in 1644 by the furniture-maker Guillaume Noyers for the Dowager Queen Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV, and bears her initials. The room was redecorated by Marie Leszczynska, the Queen of Louis XV in 1746–1747. The ceiling of the alcove, the decoration around the windows and the wood panelling were made by Jacques Vererckt and Antoine Magnonais in the rocaille style of the day. The decoration of the fireplace dates to the same period.</p><br>
<p>The doors have an arabesque design, and were made for Marie-Antoinette, as were the sculpted panels over the doors, installed in 1787. The bed was also made specially for Marie Antoinette, but did not arrive until 1797, after the Revolution and her execution. it was used instead by Napoleon&#39;s wives, the Empress Josephine and Marie-Louise of Austria.</p><br>
<p>The walls received their ornamental textile covering, with a design of flowers and birds, in 1805. It was restored in 1968–1986 using the original fabric as a model. The furniture in the room all dates to the First Empire. The balustrade around the bed was originally made for the throne room of the Tuileries Palace in 1804. The armchairs with a sphinx pattern, the consoles and screen and the two chests of drawers were placed in the room in 1806.</p><br>
<h3>Boudoir of Marie-Antoinette</h3><br>
<p>The boudoir next to the Queen&#39;s bedroom was created for Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1786, and permitted the Queen to have a measure of privacy. The room is the best surviving example of the decorative style just before the French Revolution, inspired by ancient Roman models, with delicately painted arabesques, cameos, vases, antique figures and garlands of flowers against a white background, framed by gilded and sculpted woodwork.</p><br>
<p>The room was made for the Queen by the same team of artists and craftsmen who also made the game room; the design was by the architect; the wood panelling was sculpted by Laplace, and painted by Michel-Hubert Bourgeois and Louis-François Touzé. Eight figures of the Muses were made in plaster by Roland; the ornate mantle of the fireplace was made by Jacques-François Dropsy, and decorated with glided bronze works by Claude-Jean Pitoin. The mahogany parquet floor, decorated with the emblems of the Queen, was made by Bernard Molitor, and finished in 1787. The painted ceiling, by Jean-Simon Berthélemy, shows Aurora with a group of angels.</p><br>
<p>The furnishings were designed for the room by Jean-Henri Riesener, using the finest materials available; mother of pearl, gilded bronze, brass, satin and ebony. Some of the original furnishings remain, including the cylindrical desk and the table, which were made between 1784 and 1789. The two armchairs are copies of the originals made by Georges Jacob which are now in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, while the footstool is the original.</p><br>
<h3>Throne Room of Napoleon (former bedroom of the King)</h3><br>
<p>In 1808 Napoleon decided to install his throne in the former bedroom of the Kings of France from Henry IV to Louis XVI, on the exact place where the royal bed had been. Under the Old Regime, the King&#39;s bed was a symbol of royal authority in France and was saluted by courtiers who passed by it. Napoleon wanted to show the continuity of his Empire with the past monarchies of France. The majority of the carved wood ceiling, the lower part of the wood panelling, and the doors date to the reign of Louis XIII. The ceiling directly over the throne was made at the end of the reign of Louis XIV. Louis XV created the portion of the ceiling directly over the throne, a new chimney, sculpted wooden medallions near the fireplace, the designs over the doors, and the fine carved woodwork facing the throne (1752–54). He also had the ceiling painted white and gilded and decorated with mosaics, to match the ceiling of the bedroom of the Queen.</p><br>
<p>Napoleon added the standards with his initial and the Imperial eagle. The decoration around the throne was originally designed in 1804 by Jacob-Desmalter for the Palace of Saint-Cloud, and the throne itself came from the Tuileries Palace.</p><br>
<p>The chimney was originally decorated with a portrait of Louis XIII painted by Philippe de Champaigne, which was burned in 1793 during the French Revolution. Napoleon replaced it with a portrait of himself, by Robert Lefèvre. In 1834, King Louis-Philippe took down Napoleon&#39;s picture and replaced with another of Louis XIII, from a painter of the school of Champaigne,</p><br>
<h3>Council Chamber</h3><br>
<p>The Council Chamber, where the Kings and Emperors met their closest advisors, was close to the Throne Room. It was originally the office of Francis I, and was decorated with painted wooden panels showing following designs of Primatice, the virtues and the heroes of antiquity. The room was enlarged under Louis XIV, and the decorator, Claude Audran, followed the same theme. The room was entirely redecorated between 1751 and 1754 by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, with arcades and wooded panels showing the virtues, and allegories of the seasons and the elements, painted by Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre and Carle van Loo. The painter Alexis Peyrotte added another series of medallions on the upper walls depicting floral themes, the sciences and arts. The five paintings on the vaulted ceiling were the work of François Boucher, and show the seasons and the sun beginning his journey and chasing away the night. A half-rotonda on the garden side of the room was added by Louis XV in 1773, with a painted ceiling by Lagrenée depicting Glory surrounded by his children.</p><br>
<p>The room was used as a council chamber by Napoleon I, and the furnishings are from that time. The armchairs at the table for the ministers are by Marcion (1806) and the folding chairs for advisors are by Jacob-Desmalter (1808).</p><br>
<h3>Apartment of the Pope and of the Queen-Mothers</h3><br>
<p>The apartment of the Pope, located on the first floor of the wing of the Queen Mothers and of the Gros Pavillon, takes its name from the 1804 visit of Pope Pius VII, who stayed there on his way to Paris to crown Napoleon I the Emperor of France. He stayed there again, involuntarily, under the close supervision of Napoleon from 1812 to 1814.</p><br>
<p>Prior to that, beginning in the 17th century it was the residence of the Queen Mothers Marie de&#39; Medici and Anne of Austria. It was also the home of the Grand Dauphin, the oldest son of Louis XIV. In the 18th century it was used by the daughters of Louis XV, and then by the Count of Provence, the brother of Louis XVI. During the First Empire it was used by Louis, the brother of Napoleon, and his wife Queen Hortense, the daughter of the Empress Josephine. During the reign of Louis-Philippe, it was used by his eldest son, the Duke of Orleans. During the Second Empire, it was occupied by Stephanie de Bade, the adopted niece of Napoleon I. It was restored in 1859–1861, and used thereafter for guests of high rank. It was originally two apartments, which were divided or joined over the years depending upon its occupants.</p><br>
<p>The Salon de Reception was the anteroom to the bedroom of Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII and mother of Louis XIV. It features a gilded and sculpted ceiling divided into seven compartments, representing the sun and the known planets, along with smaller compartments for military trophies; it was created in 1558 by Ambroise Perret for the bedroom of Henry II in the pavilion des Poeles, a section of the Château that was later destroyed. Anne had it moved to the room and decorated with her own emblems, including a pelican. The wood paneling in the room is probably from the same period.</p><br>
<p>The decor of the bedroom dates largely to the 1650s; it includes grotesque paintings in compartments on the ceiling, attributed to Charles Errard; richly carved wood paneling featuring oak leaves and puti; and paintings over the doors of Anne of Austria costumed as Minerva and Marie-Therese of Austria costumed as Abundance, both painted by Gilbert de Sève. The bedroom was modified in the 18th century by the addition of a new fireplace (about 1700) and sculptured borders of cascades of flowers around the mirrors added in 1784. During the Secone Empire, painted panels imitating the style of the 17th century were added above the mirrors and between the mirrors and the doors.</p><br>
<h3>Gallery of Diana</h3><br>
<p>The Gallery of Diana, an eighty-meter (242.4 feet) long corridor now lined with bookcases, was created by Henry IV at the beginning of the 17th century as a place for the Queen to promenade. The paintings on the vaulted ceiling, painted beginning in 1605 by Ambroise Dubois and his workshop, represented scenes from the myth of Diana, goddess of the Hunt. At the beginning of the 19th century, the gallery was in ruins. In 1810 Napoleon decided to turn it into a gallery devoted the achievements of his Empire. A few of the paintings still in good condition were removed and put in the Gallery of Plates. The architect Hurtault designed a new plan for the gallery, inspired by the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, featuring paintings on the ceiling illustrating the great events of Napoleon&#39;s reign. By 1814 the corridor had been rebuilt and the decorative painted frames painted by the Moench and Redouté, but the cycle of paintings on the Empire had not been started, when Napoleon fell from power.</p><br>
<p>Once the monarchy was restored, King Louis XVIII had the gallery completed in a neoclassical style. A new series of the goddess Diana was done by Merry-Joseph Blondel and Abel de Pujol, using the painted frames prepared for Napoleon&#39;s cycle. Paintings were also added along the corridor, illustrating the history of the French monarchy, painted in the Troubador style of the 1820s and 1830s, painted by a team of the leading academic painters. Beginning in 1853, under Napoleon III, the corridor was turned into a library and most of the paintings were removed, with the exception of a large portrait of Henry IV on horseback by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse. The large globe near the entrance of the gallery, placed there in 1861, came from the office of Napoleon in the Tuileries Palace.</p><br>
<h2>Apartments of Napoleon</h2><br>
<p>The old apartment included a dressing room (cabinet de toilette), study, library, and bath.</p><br>
<h3>Emperor's bedroom</h3><br>
<p>Beginning in 1808, Napoleon had his bedroom in the former dressing room of the King. From this room, using a door hidden behind the drapery to the right of the bed, Napoleon could go directly to his private library or to the offices on the ground floor.</p><br>
<p>Much of the origin decor was unchanged from the time of Louis XVI; the fireplaces, the carved wooden panels sculpted by Pierre-Joseph LaPlace and the sculpture over the door by Sauvage remained as they were. The walls were painted with Imperial emblems in gold on white by Frederic-Simon Moench. The bed, made especially for the Emperor, was the summit of the Empire style; it was crowned with an imperial eagle and decorated with allegorical sculptures representing Glory, Justice, and Abundance. The Emperor had a special carpet made by Sallandrouze in the shape of the cross of the Legion of Honor; the branches of the cross alternate with symbols of military and civilian attributes. The chairs near the fireplace were specially designed, with one side higher than the other, to contain the heat from the fire while allowing the occupants to see the decorations of the fireplace. The painting on the ceiling of the room was added later, after the downfall of Napoleon, by Louis XVII. Painted by Jean-Baptiste Regnault, it is an allegory representing The clemency of the King halting justice in its course.</p><br>
<p>The study was a small room designated as Napoleon&#39;s work room. In 1811 he added the camp bed, similar to the bed he used on his military campaigns, so he could rest briefly during a long night of work.</p><br>
<p>The salon of the Emperor was simply furnished and decorated. It was in this room, on the small table on display, that the Emperor signed his abdication in 1814.</p><br>
<h2>Theatre</h2><br>
<p>Concerts, plays and other theatrical productions were a regular part of court life at Fontainebleau. Prior to the reign of Louis XV these took place in different rooms of the palace, but during his reign a theatre was built in the Belle-Cheminée wing. It was rebuilt by the architect Gabriel, but was destroyed by a fire in 1856. It had already been judged too small for the court of Napoleon III, and a new theatre had been begun in 1854 at the far eastern end of the wing of Louis XIV. It was designed by architect Hector Lefuel in the style of Louis XVI, and was inspired by the opera theatre at the palace of Versailles and that of Marie-Antoinette at the Trianon Palace. The new theatre, with four hundred seats arranged in a parterre, two balconies and boxes in a horseshoe shape, was finished in 1856. It has the original stage machinery, and many of the original sets, including many transferred from the old theatre before the fire of 1856.</p><br>
<p>The theatre was closed after the end of the Second Empire and was rarely used. A restoration began in 2007, funded with ten million Euros by the government of Abu-Dhabi. In exchange, the theatre was renamed for Sheik Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan. It was inaugurated on 30 April 2014. The theatre can be visited, but it no longer can be used for plays because some working parts of the theater, including the stage, were not included in the restoration.</p><br>
<h2>Chinese Museum</h2><br>
<p>The Chinese Museum, on the ground floor of the Gros Pavillon close to the pond, was among the last rooms decorated within the Chateau while it was still an imperial residence. In 1867, the Empress Eugenie had the rooms remade to display her personal collection of Asian art, which included gifts given to the Emperor by a delegation sent by the King of Siam in 1861, and other objects taken during the destruction and looting of the Old Summer Palace near Beijing by a joint British-French military expedition to China in 1860.</p><br>
<p>The objects displayed in the antechamber include two royal palanquins given by the King of Siam, one designed for a King and the other (with curtains) for a Queen. Inside the two salons of the museum, some of the walls are covered with lacquered wood panels in black and gold, taken from 17th century Chinese screens, along with specially designed cases to display antique porcelain vases. Other objects on display include a Tibetan stupa containing a Buddha taken from the Summer Palace in China; and a royal Siamese crown given to Napoleon III. The salons are lavishly decorated with both Asian and European furnishings and art objects, including silk-covered furnishings and Second Empire sculptures by Charles Cordier and Pierre-Alexandre Stonework. The room also served as a place for games and entertainment; an old bagatelle game and a mechanical piano from that period are on display.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the Chinese Museum, the Empress created a small office in 1868, the Salon of Lacquerware, which also decorated with lacquered panels and Asian art objects, on the ground floor of the Louis XV wing, not far from the office of the Emperor. This was the last room decorated before the fall of the Empire, and the eventual transformation of the Chateau into a museum.</p><br>
<h2>Chapel of the Trinity</h2><br>
<p>The Chapel of the Trinity was built at the end of the reign of Francis I to replace the old chapel of the convent of the Trinitaires. It was finished under Henry II, but was without decoration until 1608, when the painter Martin Freminet was commissioned to design frescoes for the ceiling and walls. The sculptor Barthèlemy Tremblay created the vaults of the ceiling out of stucco and sculpture. The paintings of Freminet in the central vaults depict the redemption of Man, from the appearance of God to Noah at the launching of the Ark (Over the tribune) to the Annunciation. They surrounded these with smaller paintings depicting the ancestors of the Virgin Mary, the Kings of Judah, the Patriarchs announcing the coming of Christ, and the Virtues. Between 1613 and 1619 Freminet and Tremblay added paintings in stucco frames between the windows on the sides of the chapel, depicting the life of Christ. Freminet died in 1619 and work did not resume until 1628.</p><br>
<p>The Trinity chapel, like Sainte-Chapelle in Paris other royal chapels, had an upper section or tribune, where the King and his family sat, with a separate entrance; and a lower part, where the rest of the Court was placed. Beginning in 1628, the side chapels were decorated with iron gates and carved wood panelling, and the Florentine sculptor Francesco Bordoni began work on the marble altar. The figure to the left depicts Charlemagne, with the features of Henry II, while the figure on the right depicts Louis IX, or Saint Louis, with the features of Louis XIII, his patron. Bordoni also designed the multicolored marble pavement before the altar and the on the walls of the nave.</p><br>
<p>In 1741, the royal tribune was enlarged, while ornate balconies of wrought iron were added between the royal tribune and the simpler balconies used by the musicians and those who chanted the mass. In 1779, under Louis XVI, the frescoes of Freminet illustrating the life of Christ, which had deteriorated with time, were replaced by new paintings on the same theme. The paintings were done in the same style by about a dozen painters from the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.</p><br>
<p>Under Napoleon, the old tabernacle of the chapel, which had been removed during the Revolution, was replaced by a new one designed by the architect Maximilien Hurtault. Beginning in 1824, the chapel underwent a program of major renovation and restoration that lasted for six years. The twelve paintings of the life of Christ were removed, as well as the gates to the side chapels. During the Second Empire, the wood panelling of side chapels was replaced. The restoration was not completed until the second half of the 20th century, when the twelve paintings, which had been scattered to different museums, were brought together again and restored in their stucco frames. Between 1772 and 1774, a small organ made by François-Henri Cilquot was installed on the left side of the chapel, near the altar.</p><br>
<p>On 5 September 1725, the chapel was the setting for the wedding of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska. Napoleon III was baptized there on 4 November 1810, and Ferdinand-Philippe d&#39;Orleans, the son of éKing Louis-Philippe, was married there to Helene de Mecklembourg Schwerin on 30 May 1837.</p><br>
<h2>Gardens and the park</h2><br>
<p>From the time of Francis I, the palace was surrounded by formal gardens, representing the major landscaping styles of their periods; the French Renaissance garden, inspired by the Italian Renaissance gardens; the French formal garden, the favorite style of Louis XIV; and, in the 18th and 19th century, the French landscape garden, inspired by the English landscape garden.</p><br>
<h3>Garden of Diana</h3><br>
<p>The Garden of Diana was created during the reign of Henry IV; it was the private garden of the King and Queen, and was visible from the windows of their rooms. The fountain of Diana was originally in the center of garden, which at that time was enclosed by another wing, containing offices and later, under, Louis XIV, an orangerie. That building, and another, the former chancellery, were demolished in the 19th century, doubling the size of the garden. From the 17th until the end of the 18th century, the garden was in the Italian and then the French formal style, divided by straight paths into rectangular flower beds, flower beds, centered on the fountains, and decorated with statues, ornamental plants and citrus trees in pots. It was transformed during the reign of Napoleon I into a landscape garden in the English style, with winding paths and trees grouped into picturesque landscapes, and it was enlarged during the reign of Louis-Philippe. it was opened to the public after the downfall of Napoleon III.</p><br>
<p>The fountain in the center was made by Tommaso Francini, the master Italian fountain-maker, whose work included the Medici Fountain in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. The bronze statue of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, with a young deer, was made by the Keller brothers in 1684 for another royal residence, at Marly. It is a copy of an antique Roman statue, Diana of Versailles, which was given by the Pope to King Henry IV, and which is now in the Louvre. The original statue of the fountain, made by Barthelemy Prieur in 1602, can be seen in the Gallery of the Cerfs inside the palace. The sculptures of hunting dogs and deer around the fountain were made by Pierre Biard.</p><br>
<h3>Carp pond, English garden, grotto and spring</h3><br>
<p>The large pond next to the palace, with a surface of four hectares, was made during the reign of Henry IV, and was used for boating parties by members of the Court, and as a source of fish for the table and for amusement. Descriptions of the palace in the 17th century tell of guests feeding the carp, some of which reached enormous size, and were said to be a hundred years old. The small octagonal house on an island in the center of the lake, Pavillon de l&#39;Ètang, was added during the reign of Louis XIV, then rebuilt under Napoleon I, and is decorated with his initial.</p><br>
<p>The English garden also dates back to the reign of Henry IV. In one part of the garden, known as the garden of pines, against the wing of Louis XV, is an older structure dating to Francis I; the first Renaissance-style grotto to be built in a French garden, a rustic stone structure decorated with four statues of Atlas. Under Napoleon, his architect, Maximilien-Joseph Hurtault, turned this part of the garden into an English park, with winding paths and exotic trees, including the catalpa, tulip trees, the sophora, and cypress trees from Louisiana, and with a picturesque stream and antique boulders. The garden features two 17th century bronze copies of ancient Roman originals, the Borghese gladiator and the Dying Gladiator. A path leads from the garden through a curtain of trees to the spring which gave its name to the palace, next to a statue of Apollo.</p><br>
<h3>Parterre and canal</h3><br>
<p>On the other side of the chateau, one the site of the garden of Francis I, Henry IV created a large formal garden, or parterre Along the axis of the parterre, he also built a grand canal 1200 meters long, similar to one at the nearby chateau of Fleury-en-Biere. Between 1660 and 1664 the chief gardener of Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre, and Louis Le Vau rebuilt the parterre on a grander scale, filling it with geometric designs and path bordered with boxwood hedges and filled with colorful flowerbeds. They also added a basin, called Les Cascades, decorated with fountains, at the head of the canal. LeNotre planted shade trees along the length of the canal, and also laid out a wide path, lined with elm trees, parallel to the canal.</p><br>
<p>The fountains of Louis XIV were removed after his reign. More recently, the Cascades were decorated with works of sculpture from the 19th century. A large ornamental fountain was installed in the central basin in 1817. A bronze replica of an ancient Roman statue, "The Tiber", was placed in the round basin in 1988. It replaced an earlier statue from the 16th century which earlier had decorated the basin. Two statues of sphinxes by Mathieu Lespagnandel, from 1664, are placed near the balustrade of the grand canal.</p><br>
<h2>Art and decoration - the School of Fontainebleau</h2><br>
<p>During the late French Renaissance, the decoration of the Palace of Fontainebleau engaged some of the finest artists and craftsmen from Italy and France, including The style of painting and decoration they created became known as the School of Fontainebleau, and covered a period from about 1530 until about 1610. It helped form the French version of Northern Mannerism.</p><br>
<p>In 1531, the Florentine artist Rosso Fiorentino, having lost most of his possessions at the Sack of Rome in 1527, was invited by Francis I to work on the interior of the palace. In 1532 he was joined by another Italian artist, Francesco Primaticcio (from Bologna). Rosso died in France in 1540. On the advice of Primaticcio, Niccolò dellAbbate (from Modena) was invited to France in 1552 by Françoiss son Henri II. Other notable artists included:</p><br>
<p>Juste de Juste (c.1505–1559) Franco-Italian sculptor and etcher</p><br>
<p>Luca Penni (c.1500/1504–1556) (Italian)</p><br>
<p>Francesco Scibec da Carpi (died c.1557) Italian furniture maker</p><br>
<p>Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1570) Sculptor, goldsmith, silversmith</p><br>
<p>The works of this "first school of Fontainebleau" are characterized by the extensive use of stucco (moldings and picture frames) and frescos, and an elaborate (and often mysterious) system of allegories and mythological iconography. Renaissance decorative motifs such as grotesques, strapwork and putti are common, as well as a certain degree of eroticism. The figures are elegant and show the influence of the techniques of the Italian Mannerism of Michelangelo, Raphael and especially Parmigianino. Primaticcio was also directed to make copies of antique Roman statues for the king, thus spreading the influence of classical statuary. Many of the works of Rosso, Primaticcio and dell&#39;Abate have not survived; parts of the Chateau were remodelled at various dates. The paintings of the group were reproduced in prints, mostly etchings, which were apparently produced initially at Fontainebleau itself, and later in Paris. These disseminated the style through France and beyond, and also record several paintings that have not survived.</p><br>
<p>From 1584 to 1594, during the Wars of Religion work inside the palace was abandoned. Upon his ascension to the throne, Henri IV undertook a renovation of the Fontainebleau buildings using a group of artists: the Flemish born Ambroise Dubois (from Antwerp) and the Parisians Toussaint Dubreuil and Martin Fréminet. They are sometimes referred to as the "second school of Fontainebleau". Their late mannerist works, many of which have been lost, continue in the use of elongated and undulating forms and crowded compositions. Many of their subjects include mythological scenes and scenes from works of fiction by the Italian Torquato Tasso and the ancient Greek novelist Heliodorus of Emesa. Second School of Fontainebleau (from 1594). The important artists of the second school were:</p><br>
<p>Ambroise Dubois (c.1542–1614) (Flemish born)</p><br>
<p>Toussaint Dubreuil (c.1561–1602)</p><br>
<p>Martin Fréminet (1567–1619)</p><br>
<p>The mannerist style of the Fontainebleau school influenced French artists (with whom the Italians worked) such as the painter Jean Cousin the Elder, the sculptors Jean Goujon and Germain Pilon, and, to a lesser degree, the painter and portraitist François Clouet the son of Jean Clouet. The Fontainebleau style combined allegorical paintings in moulded plasterwork where the framing was treated as if it were leather or paper, slashed and rolled into scrolls and combined with arabesques and grotesques. Fontainebleau ideals of female beauty are Mannerist: a small neat head on a long neck, exaggeratedly long torso and limbs, small high breasts—almost a return to Late Gothic beauties. The new works at Fontainebleau were recorded in refined and detailed engravings that circulated among connoisseurs and artists. Through the engravings by the "School of Fontainebleau" this new style was transmitted to other northern European centres, Antwerp especially, and Germany, and eventually London.</p><br>
<p>While Louis XIV spent more time at Fontainebleau than any other monarch, he made most of his modifications to gardens, rather than the interiors and decor. In the 18th century, interiors underwent major change in style. Between 1750 and 1754, the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel built a new residential wing and new apartments for Louis XV and the Queen. The most famous artists of the period, including Francois Boucher, Carle Vanloo, Alexis Peyrotte and Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre were commissioned to paint works for the Council Chamber. Louis XVI continued the decoration iwork, particularly in the Turkish cabinet (1777) and the game room and boudoir of the Queen, in an arabesque style. (1786–1787), up to the eve of the Revolution. Fontainebleau offers many of the best examples of interior design at the end of the Old Regime.</p><br>
<p>Napoleon I wished to continue the traditional grandeur of the monarchy, and had the palace completely refurnished. He created a new suite of rooms with the symbols and style of the Empire, and transformed the former King&#39;s bedroom into his throne room. It is the only throne room in France which is still in its original state with its original furniture. The rooms Napoleon used at Fontainebleau are among the best existing examples of the Empire style.</p><br>
<h2>Museum of Napoleon I</h2><br>
<p>The Museum of Napoleon I was created in 1986 in the wing on the right side of the Court of Honor, where the apartments of the princes of the First Empire had been located. It includes a gallery of portraits of members of Napoleons family, medals and decorations, several costumes worn during Napoleons coronation as Emperor, and a gold leaf from the crown he wore during the coronation; a large collection of porcelain and decorative objectives from the Imperial dining table, and a cradle, toys, and other souvenirs from the Emperor&#39;s son, the King of Rome. It also has a collection of souvenirs from his military campaigns, including a recreation of his tent and its furnishings and practical items which he took with him on his campaigns.</p><br>
<p>The Central Valley is a flat valley that dominates the geographical center of the USA state of California. It is 40 to 60 mi wide and stretches approximately 450 mi from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. It covers approximately 18,000 square miles, about 11% of California&#39;s total land area . The valley is bounded by the Sierra Nevada to the east and the Coast Ranges to the west.</p><br>
<p>It is California&#39;s single most productive agricultural region and one of the most productive in the world, providing more than half of the fruits, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States. More than 7 million acres (28,000 km) of the valley are irrigated via an extensive system of reservoirs and canals. The valley also has many major cities, including the state capital Sacramento; as well as Redding, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield.</p><br>
<p>The Central Valley watershed comprises 60,000 square miles, or over a third of California. Its three main drainage systems are the Sacramento Valley in the north, which receives well over 20 in of rain annually; the drier San Joaquin Valley in the south, and the Tulare Basin and its semi-arid desert climate at the southernmost end. The Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems drain their respective valleys and meet to form the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a large expanse of interconnected canals, stream beds, sloughs, marshes and peat islands. The waters of the Tulare Basin essentially never flow to the ocean (with the exception of Kings River waters diverted northward for irrigation), though they are connected by man-made canals to the San Joaquin and could drain there again naturally if they were ever to rise high enough.</p><br>
<p>The valley encompasses all or parts of 18 Northern California counties: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, El Dorado, Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced, Placer, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Yuba, Yolo, and the Southern California county of Kern.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The Central Valley is commonly known to residents simply as "the Valley". Older names include "the Great Valley", a name still often seen in scientific references (e.g. Great Valley Sequence), and "Golden Empire", a booster name which is still referred to by some organizations (e.g. Golden Empire Transit, Golden Empire Council, etc.).</p><br>
<h2>Boundaries and population</h2><br>
<p>The Central Valley is outlined by the Cascade, Sierra Nevada, and Tehachapi mountain ranges on the east, and the California Coast Ranges and San Francisco Bay on the west. The broad valley floor is carpeted by vast agricultural regions, and dotted with numerous population centers.</p><br>
<p>Subregions and their counties commonly associated with the valley include:</p><br>
<p>North Sacramento Valley (Shasta, Tehama, Glenn, Butte, Colusa)</p><br>
<p>Sacramento Metro (Sacramento, El Dorado, Sutter, Yuba, Yolo, Placer)</p><br>
<p>North San Joaquin (San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced)</p><br>
<p>South San Joaquin (Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Kern County)</p><br>
<p>There are four main population centers in the Central Valley, each roughly equidistant from the next, from south to north: Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, and Redding. While there are many communities large and small between these cities (see below), these four cities act as hubs for regional commerce and transportation.</p><br>
<h3>Metropolitan areas</h3><br>
<p>About 7.2 million people live in the Central Valley today, and it is the fastest growing region in California.</p><br>
<p>There are 12 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) and 1 Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA) in the Central Valley. Below, they are listed by MSA and μSA population. The largest city is Fresno, followed by the state capital, Sacramento. The following metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas listed from largest to smallest:</p><br>
<p>Sacramento Metropolitan Area (2,527,123)</p><br>
<p>Fresno Metropolitan Area (930,450)</p><br>
<p>Bakersfield Metropolitan Area (839,361)</p><br>
<p>Stockton Metropolitan Area (696,214)</p><br>
<p>Modesto Metropolitan Area (518,522)</p><br>
<p>Visalia-Porterville Metropolitan Area (449,253)</p><br>
<p>Merced Metropolitan Area (259,898)</p><br>
<p>Chico Metropolitan Area (220,266)</p><br>
<p>Redding Metropolitan Area (177,774)</p><br>
<p>Yuba City Metropolitan Area (167,497)</p><br>
<p>Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Area (153,765)</p><br>
<p>Madera Metropolitan Area (152,925)</p><br>
<p>Red Bluff Micropolitan Area (63,601)</p><br>
<h2>Landforms</h2><br>
<p>The flatness of the valley floor contrasts with the rugged hills or gentle mountains that are typical of most of California&#39;s terrain. The valley is thought to have originated below sea level as an offshore area depressed by subduction of the Farallon Plate into a trench further offshore. The San Joaquin Fault is a notable seismic feature of the Central Valley.</p><br>
<p>The valley was enclosed by the uplift of the Coast Ranges, with its original outlet into Monterey Bay. Faulting moved the Coast Ranges, and a new outlet developed near what is now San Francisco Bay. Over the millennia, the valley was filled by the sediments of these same ranges, as well as the rising Sierra Nevada to the east; that filling eventually created an extraordinary flatness just barely above sea level; before California&#39;s massive flood control and aqueduct system was built, the annual snow melt turned much of the valley into an inland sea.</p><br>
<p>The one notable exception to the flat valley floor is Sutter Buttes, the remnants of an extinct volcano just to the northwest of Yuba City, which is 44 mi north of Sacramento.</p><br>
<p>Another significant geologic feature of the Central Valley lies hidden beneath the delta. The Stockton Arch is an upwarping of the crust beneath the valley sediments which extends southwest to northeast across the valley.</p><br>
<p>The Central Valley lies within the California Trough physiographic section, which is part of the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn is part of the Pacific Mountain System.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>The "Central Valley grassland" is the Nearctic temperate and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrub lands ecoregion which was once a diverse grassland containing areas of desert grassland (at the southern end), prairie, savanna, riverside woodland, marsh, several types of seasonal vernal pools, and large lakes such as now-dry Tulare Lake (the largest lake in the United States west of the Mississippi), Buena Vista Lake and Kern Lake. However, much of the Central Valley environment has been removed or altered by human activity including the introduction of exotic plants, especially grasses. The oak woodlands and chaparral that fringe the valley have been categorized as the California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.</p><br>
<p>The wetlands have been the target of rescue operations to restore areas nearly destroyed by agriculture.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>The dominant grass of the valley was Nassella pulchra mixed with other species, but today only 1% of the grassland in the valley is original and intact. Grassland flowers include California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), lupins, and purple owl&#39;s clover (Castilleja exserta) which can still be seen, especially in Antelope Valley in the Tehachapi hills. Riverside trees include willows, western sycamore (Platanus racemosa), box elder (Acer negundo), Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), and the endemic valley oak (Quercus lobata).</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>The Central Valley was once home to large populations of pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana), elk including the endemic tule elk subspecies (Cervus elaphus nannodes), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), California ground squirrels, gophers, mice, hare, rabbits and kangaroo rats, along with their predators including the San Joaquin kit fox which is now an endangered subspecies surviving on the hillsides of the San Joaquin Valley. The wetlands of the Valley were an important habitat for wintering waterbirds and migrating birds of other kinds. Reptiles and amphibians of the valley include the endemic San Joaquin coachwhip snake (Masticophis flagellum ruddocki), blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila), Gilbert&#39;s skink (Eumeces gilberti) and the western aquatic garter snake (Thamnophis couchii). There are also a number of endemic invertebrates. The Central Valley is also home to a wide variety of endemic fish species, including the Sacramento Pikeminnow, Sacramento Perch, Sacramento Blackfish, and Sacramento Splittail, among others.</p><br>
<h3>Threats and preservation</h3><br>
<p>Agriculture, especially the creation of grazing land, and the draining of lakes and rivers have radically altered the habitats of the Valley. Most of the grassland has been overtaken by new species, most of the vernal pools have been drained or otherwise destroyed with only those on the higher slopes remaining, the marshland has mostly been drained too, and the riverbank woodlands have nearly all been affected.</p><br>
<p>The Great Valley Grasslands State Park preserves an example of the native grass habitat in the valley, while oak savanna habitats remain near Visalia. There are areas of wetland and riverside woodland in the north especially on the Sacramento River system including the Nature Conservancy&#39;s Cosumnes River Preserve just south of Sacramento, Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area, and other patches in the delta area. Remaining vernal pools include Pixley National Wildlife Refuge between Tulare, California and Bakersfield and Jepson Prairie Preserve in the delta. There are large blocks of desert scrubland in the southern San Joaquin Valley and in the Carrizo Plain which is just outside the valley but has a similar landscape.</p><br>
<p>All these patches of natural habitat are disconnected and this is particularly damaging for wildlife that is used to migrating along the rivers of the valley, birds such as warblers and cuckoos, and reptiles and amphibians. Meanwhile, clearance and alteration are ongoing.</p><br>
<h3>Health</h3><br>
<p>The valley gives its name to Valley Fever which is primarily a disease of the lungs that is common in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is caused by the fungus Coccidioides immitis, which grows in soils in areas of low rainfall, high summer temperatures, and moderate winter temperatures. These fungal spores become airborne when the soil is disturbed by winds, construction, or farming. This illness frequently takes many weeks or months to resolve. Occasionally Valley Fever is life-threatening and even fatal.</p><br>
<p>Additionally, Central Valley farm laborers are often unable to afford or physically access healthy foods, which is a form of food insecurity.</p><br>
<p>Residents of the Central Valley also experience risk of contamination from pesticides when living in proximity of application sites.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<h3>Tule fog</h3><br>
<p>Tule fog is a thick ground fog that settles along the length of the Great Central Valley. Tule fog forms during the late fall and winter (California&#39;s rainy season) after the first significant rainfall. The official time frame for tule fog to form is from November 1 to March 31. This phenomenon is named after the tule grass wetlands (tulares) of the Central Valley. Accidents caused by the tule fog are the leading cause of weather-related casualties in California.</p><br>
<h3>Statistics for selected cities</h3><br>
<h2>Hydrography</h2><br>
<p>Two major river systems drain and define the two parts of the Central Valley. The Sacramento River, along with its tributaries the Feather River and American River, flows southwards through the Sacramento Valley for about 447 mi. In the San Joaquin Valley, the San Joaquin River flows roughly northwest for 365 mi, picking up tributaries such as the Merced River, Tuolumne River, Stanislaus River and Mokelumne River. The Central Valley watershed encompasses over a third of California at 60,000 square miles, with 46 percent draining into the Sacramento River, 26 percent into the San Joaquin, and 27 percent into Tulare Lake.</p><br>
<p>In the south part of the San Joaquin Valley, the alluvial fan of the Kings River and another one from Coast Ranges streams have created a divide and resultantly the currently dry Tulare basin of the Central Valley, into which flow four major Sierra Nevada rivers, the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern. This basin, usually endorheic, formerly filled during heavy snowmelt and spilled out into the San Joaquin River. Called Tulare Lake, it is usually dry nowadays because the rivers feeding it have been diverted for agricultural purposes.</p><br>
<p>The rivers of the Central Valley converge in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a complex network of marshy channels, distributaries and sloughs that wind around islands mainly used for agriculture. Here the freshwater of the rivers merges with tidewater, and eventually reach the Pacific Ocean after passing through Suisun Bay, San Pablo Bay, upper San Francisco Bay and finally the Golden Gate. Many of the islands now lie below sea level because of intensive agriculture, and have a high risk of flooding, which would cause salt water to rush back into the delta, especially when there is too little fresh water flowing in from the Valley.</p><br>
<p>The Sacramento River carries far more water than the San Joaquin, with an estimated 22 e6acre.ft of virgin annual runoff, as compared to the San Joaquin&#39;s approximately 6 e6acre.ft. Intensive agricultural and municipal water consumption has reduced the present rate of outflow to about 17 e6acre.ft for the Sacramento and 3 e6acre.ft for the San Joaquin; however, these figures still vary widely from year to year. Over 25 million people, living both in the valley and in other regions of the state, rely on the water carried by these rivers.</p><br>
<h3>Engineering</h3><br>
<p>Runoff from the Sierra Nevada flows into the Central Valley and provides one of the largest water resources of California. The Sacramento River is the second largest river to empty into the Pacific from the Continental United States, behind only the Columbia River and greater than the Colorado River. Combined with the fertile and expansive area of the Central Valley&#39;s floor, the Central Valley is ideal for agriculture.</p><br>
<p>Today, the Central Valley is one of the most productive growing regions of the United States. But to enable this, water control was needed to prevent rivers from overflowing during the spring snowmelt while drying up in the summer and autumn. As a result, many large dams, including Shasta Dam, Oroville Dam, Folsom Dam, New Melones Dam, Don Pedro Dam, Friant Dam, Pine Flat Dam and Isabella Dam, were constructed on rivers entering the Central Valley, many part of the Central Valley Project. These dams have had a profound impact on the physical, economic, cultural, and ecological state of Central Valley: for example, enabling development of its vast agricultural resources but leading to the loss of the Chinook salmon.</p><br>
<p>Post-World War II demand for urban development in California&#39;s urban areas, most notably the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles/Inland Empire/San Diego, required water resources to support it. Moreover, rapid development of agriculture in the southern Central Valley required far more water than available locally. The Feather River in the Sacramento Valley was looked to as a water source, leading to public financing of the California State Water Project. This transports water to the southern San Joaquin Valley and vast urban lands south of the Tehachapi Mountains.</p><br>
<p>Runoff from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers is intercepted in the delta by the state Department of Water Resources through a series of massive pumps, which divert water into the California Aqueduct that runs south along the entire length of the San Joaquin Valley.</p><br>
<p>In parallel, pumps operated by the Bureau of Reclamation divert water into the Delta Mendota Canal.</p><br>
<p>The flow of the Sacramento River is further supplemented by a tunnel from the Trinity River (a tributary of the Klamath River, northwest of the Sacramento Valley) near Redding. Cities of the San Francisco Bay Area, also needing great amounts of water, built aqueducts from the Mokelumne River and Tuolumne River that run east to west across the middle part of the Central Valley.</p><br>
<h3>Flooding</h3><br>
<p>Most lowlands of the Central Valley are prone to flooding, especially in the old Tulare Lake, Buena Vista Lake, and Kern Lake rivers. The Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers originally flowed into these seasonal lakes, which would expand each spring to flood large parts of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Due to the construction of farms, towns and infrastructure in these lakebeds while preventing them from flooding with levee systems, the risk of floods damaging properties increased greatly.</p><br>
<p>The Great Flood of 1862 was the worst flood that the Central Valley has experienced in recorded history, flooding most of the valley and putting some places as much as 20 feet under water.</p><br>
<p>Major public works projects beginning in the 1930s sought to reduce the amount of snowmelt flooding by the building of large dams. In 2003, it was determined that Sacramento had both the least protection against and nearly the highest risk of flooding. Congress then granted a $220 million loan for upgrades in Sacramento County.</p><br>
<p>Other counties in the valley that face flooding often are Yuba, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>The Central Valley has been home to many Country, Funk, Jazz, Soul, Nu metal, and Doowop musicians. The Valley has many influences in American music mainly through the “Bakersfield Sound,” the “Doowop Era” of the 1950s and 1960s, through the "R&B," music scene of the 1980s’ and also through the Bakersfield Rap Music Scene often referred to as: Indie Hip Hop, Central California Hip Hop, West Coast Rap, Underground Rap, or Central Valley Hip Hop.</p><br>
<p>The Central Valley is known for many famous musicians from Country, R&B, and Doowop to Jazz & Funk artist such as: Buck Owens, Korn, Merle Haggard, Billy Mize, Red Simpson, The Maddox Brothers and Rose, The Paradons, The Colts and the Sons of the San Joaquin. The Central Valley is also home to many west coast bands from Bakersfield, Modesto, Stockton, and Fresno to as far as Sacramento bands.</p><br>
<p>The Central Valley also houses many rappers, DJs’, and R&B Hip Hop artist such as: DRS, C-BO, Brotha Lynch, T-Nutty, Planet Asia, X-Raided, The Def Dames, Marvaless, Fashawn, Blackalicious, Mozzy and many more.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Agriculture is the primary industry in most of the Central Valley. A notable exception to the predominance of agriculture has been the Sacramento area, where the large and stable workforce of government employees helped steer the economy away from agriculture. Despite state hiring cutbacks and the closure of several military bases, Sacramento&#39;s economy has continued to expand and diversify and now more closely resembles that of the nearby San Francisco Bay Area. Primary sources of population growth are people migrating from the San Francisco Bay Area seeking lower housing costs, as well as immigration from Asia, Central America, Mexico, Ukraine and the rest of the former Soviet Union.</p><br>
<h2>Ethnography</h2><br>
<p>After English and Spanish, Hmong is the third most commonly spoken language in the Central Valley.</p><br>
<h2>Agriculture</h2><br>
<p>The Central Valley is one of the worlds most productive agricultural regions. More than 230 crops are grown there. On less than 1 percent of the total farmland in the United States, the Central Valley produces 8 percent of the nations agricultural output by value: $43.5 billion USD in 2013. Its agricultural productivity relies on irrigation from both surface water diversions and groundwater pumping from wells. About one-sixth of the irrigated land in the USA is in the Central Valley.</p><br>
<p>Virtually all non-tropical crops are grown in the Central Valley, which is the primary source for a number of food products throughout the United States, including tomatoes, almonds, grapes, cotton, apricots, and asparagus.</p><br>
<p>There are 6,000 almond growers that produced more than 1.8 million tonnes in 2013, about 60 percent of the world&#39;s supply.</p><br>
<p>The top four counties in agricultural sales in the USA are in the Central Valley (2007 Data). They are Fresno County (#1 with $3.731 billion in sales), Tulare County (#2 with $3.335 billion), Kern County (#3 with $3.204), and Merced County (#4 with $2.330 billion).</p><br>
<p>Early farming was concentrated close to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where the water table was high year round and water transport more readily available, but subsequent irrigation projects have brought many more parts of the valley into productive use. For example, the Central Valley Project was formed in 1935 to redistribute and store water for agricultural and municipal purposes with dams and canals. The even larger California State Water Project was formed in the 1950s and construction continued throughout the following decades.</p><br>
<h3>National Farmworkers Association (NFWA)</h3><br>
<p>It was in the Central Valley, especially in and around Delano, that farm labor leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta organized Mexican American grape pickers into a union in the 1960s, the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA), in order to improve their working conditions.</p><br>
<h2>Social issues</h2><br>
<p>Due to the agricultural industry&#39;s large presence in the Valley, there is concern from environmentalists about the pesticide drift and leaching in the Central Valley of California.</p><br>
<h3>San Joaquin Valley congestion</h3><br>
<p>Since the 1980s, Bakersfield, Porterville, Fresno, Visalia, Tracy, Modesto and many other towns and cities have exploded in both area and population, as housing values along the coast increased. Many people from Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area relocated to growing San Joaquin Valley suburbs in search of more affordable housing while retaining employment outside the Valley. This has led to traffic congestion between their Valley residences and their Bay Area employment with accompanying air pollution. Air pollution became a principal environmental and health concern as long ago as the 1960s, and resulted in the establishment of the California Air Resources Board in 1967.</p><br>
<h2>Highways and infrastructure</h2><br>
<p>Highways Interstate 5 and CA 99 run, roughly parallel, north-south through the valley, meeting at only its south end. The Insterstate 80 Business Loop connects the two highways at their closest point. Interstate 80 crosses it northeast-southwest from Rocklin to Vacaville.</p><br>
<p>The state water project&#39;s Oroville Dam in the Sacramento Valley provides water and power for the California Aqueduct in the San Joaquin Valley. The aqueduct runs from Clifton Court Forebay in the Delta southwards across the Transverse Ranges. The federal (Central Valley Project) includes numerous facilities between Shasta Dam in the north to Bakersfield in the south. Pacific Gas and Electric, Western Area Power Administration, and Southern California Edison have interconnected electric transmission systems connecting the north and south ends of the Central Valley (examples include Path 15, Path 26, and Path 66).</p><br>
<p>BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway) and Union Pacific Railroad both have railway lines in the Central Valley. The BNSF Bakersfield Subdivision runs from Bakersfield to Calwa, four miles (6 km) south of Fresno. From Calwa the BNSF Stockton Subdivision continues to Port Chicago, west of Antioch. The Union Pacific Railroad Martinez Subdivision runs from Port Chicago through Martinez, Richmond and Emeryville to Oakland. The UP&#39;s Fresno Subdivision runs from Stockton to Bakersfield and traffic passes through a large and historical yard in Roseville before heading to Oregon or Nevada. Amtrak operates six daily San Joaquins trains over these lines. California High-Speed Rail, linking northern and southern California, broke ground in the Central Valley in 2015.</p><br>
<p>Oak Island is a 57 hectare privately owned island in Lunenburg County on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. The tree-covered island is one of about 360 small islands in Mahone Bay and rises to a maximum of 11 metres above sea level. The island is located 200 metres from shore and connected to the mainland by a causeway and gate. The island is best known for various theories about possible buried treasure or historical artifacts, and the associated exploration.</p><br>
<h2>Oak Island</h2><br>
<p>The nearest community is the rural community of Western Shore which faces the island, while the nearest town is Chester. The earliest European residents of the area were French fishermen who, by the 1750s, had built a few houses on the future site of Chester. Following the Expulsion of the Acadians during the Seven Years&#39; War, the British government of Nova Scotia enacted a series of measures to encourage settlement of the area by the European-descended New Englanders. Land was made available to settlers in 1759 through the Shorham grant. Chester was officially founded that same year.</p><br>
<p>A large part of Oak Island was granted to the Monro, Lynch, Seacombe and Young families around the same time as the establishment of Chester. The first major group of settlers arrived in the Chester area from Massachusetts in 1761. The following year, Oak Island was officially surveyed and divided into 32 four-acre lots. In the early days of British settlement, the Island was known locally as "Smith&#39;s Island," after an early settler of the area named Edward Smith. Cartographer Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres renamed the Island "Gloucester Isle" in 1778. Shortly thereafter, the locally used name "Oak Island" was officially adopted for the Island. Early residents included Edward Smith in the 1760s and Anthony Vaughn Sr. in the early 1770s. In 1784, the government made additional land grants, this time to former soldiers, which included parts of Oak Island.</p><br>
<p>In 1965, Robert Dunfield constructed a causeway from the western end of the island to Crandall&#39;s Point on the mainland.</p><br>
<p>Oak Island Tours now owns 78% of the island. The remaining 22% of the island is owned by private parties. There are two permanent homes and two cottages occupied part-time on the island.</p><br>
<h2>The Oak Island mystery</h2><br>
<p>There have been documented treasure hunts, investigations and excavations on Oak Island since the 1850s. There are many theories about what, if anything, might be buried or concealed there. Areas of interest on the island with regard to treasure hunters include a location known as the Money Pit, a formation of boulders called Nolans Cross, the beach at Smiths Cove, and a triangle-shaped swamp. The Money Pit area has been repeatedly excavated; critics argue that there is no treasure and that the Money Pit is a natural phenomenon.</p><br>
<p>More than fifty books have been published recounting the island&#39;s history and exploring competing theories. Several works of fiction have been based upon the Money Pit, including The Money Pit Mystery, Riptide, The Hand of Robin Squires, and Betrayed: The Legend of Oak Island.</p><br>
<p>On January 5, 2014, the History Channel began airing The Curse of Oak Island, a documentary series about a group of modern treasure hunters led and funded by two brothers, Rick and Marty Lagina, who purchased the majority of Oak Island in 2006.</p><br>
<p>Cyzicus  was an ancient town of Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peninsula , a tombolo which is said to have originally been an island in the Sea of Marmara only to be connected to the mainland in historic times either by artificial means or an earthquake.</p><br>
<p>The site of Cyzicus, located on the Erdek and Bandırma roads, is protected by Turkey&#39;s Ministry of Culture.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The city was said to have been founded by Pelasgians from Thessaly, according to tradition at the coming of the Argonauts; later it received many colonies from Miletus, allegedly in 756 BC, but its importance began only after the Peloponnesian War, when the decay of Athens and Miletus set in. Alcibiades defeated the Lacedaemonians there (410 BC). Eudoxus of Cnidus had a school at Cyzicus and went with his pupils to Athens, visiting Plato, and then returned to Cyzicus, where he died 355 B.C. The era of Olympiads in Cyzicus was reckoned from 135 or 139.</p><br>
<p>Owing to its advantageous position it speedily acquired commercial importance, and the gold staters of Cyzicus were a staple currency in the ancient world till they were superseded by those of Philip of Macedon. Its unique and characteristic coin, the cyzicenus, was worth 28 drachmae.</p><br>
<p>During the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) Cyzicus was subject to the Athenians and Lacedaemonians alternately. In the naval Battle of Cyzicus in 410 during the Peloponnesian War, an Athenian fleet routed and completely destroyed a Spartan fleet. At the peace of Antalcidas (387 BC), like the other Greek cities in Asia, it was made over to Persia. Alexander the Great later captured it from the Persians in 334 BC and was later claimed to be responsible for the land bridge connecting the island to the mainland.</p><br>
<p>The history of the town in Hellenistic times is closely connected with that of the Attalids of Pergamon, with whose extinction it came into direct relations with Rome. Cyzicus was held for the Romans against King Mithridates VI of Pontus who besieged it with 300,000 men in 74 BC, but it withstood him stoutly, and the siege was raised by Lucullus: the loyalty of the city was rewarded by an extension of territory and other privileges. The Romans favored it and recognized its municipal independence. Cyzicus was the leading city of Northern Mysia as far as Troas.</p><br>
<p>Under Tiberius, it was incorporated into the Roman Empire but remained the capital of Mysia (afterwards, Hellespontus) and became one of the great cities of the ancient world.</p><br>
<p>Cyzicus was captured temporarily by the Arabs led by Muawiyah I in AD 675. It appears to have been ruined by a series of earthquakes beginning in 443, with the last in 1063. Although its population was transferred to Artake before the 13th century when the peninsula was occupied by the Crusaders, in 1324 the metropolitan of Cyzicus was one of three sees in Anatolia which was able to contribute a temporary annual subsidy to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Following its conquest by the Ottomans it underwent hard times. From a point between 1370 and 1372 until 1387, the metropolitan was empty; Speros Vryonis speculates this was due to financial difficulties. Later in the 14th century, the sees of Chalcedon and certain patriarchal possessions in Bithynia and Hellespont were bestowed on the metropolitan of Cyzicus.</p><br>
<p>In the Ottoman era, it was part of the kaza of Erdek in the province of Brusa.</p><br>
<h2>Ecclesiastical history</h2><br>
<p>Cyzicus, as capital of the Roman province of Hellespontus, was its ecclesiastical metropolitan see. In the Notitiae Episcopatuum of Pseudo-Epiphanius, composed in about 640, Cyzicus had 12 suffragan sees; Abydus, Baris in Hellesponto (between Sariköy and Biga), Dardanus, Germa in Hellesponto (ruins of Germaslu, Kirmasti, Girmas), Hadrianotherae (Uzuncia yayla), Ilium, Lampsacus, Miletopolis, Oca, Pionia (Avcılar), Poemanenum (Eskimanias), Troas. The province also included two autocephalous archiepiscopal sees: Parium and Proconnesus.</p><br>
<h3>Residential bishops</h3><br>
<p>Cyzicus had a catalogue of bishops beginning with the 1st century; Michel Le Quien (I, 747) mentions fifty-nine. A more complete list is found in Nicodemos, in the Greek "Office of St. Emilian" (Constantinople, 1876), 34-36, which has eighty-five names. Of particular importance are the famous Arian theologian Eunomius of Cyzicus; Saint Dalmatius; bishops Proclus and Germanus, who became Patriarchs of Constantinople; and Saint Emilian, a martyr in the 8th century. Another saint who came from Cyzicus, Saint Tryphaena of Cyzicus, is the patron saint of the city. Gelasius, a historian of Arianism, who wrote about 475, was born at Cyzicus.</p><br>
<p>George Kleidas, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in ca. 1253–61</p><br>
<p>Theodore Skoutariotes, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in ca. 1277</p><br>
<p>Daniel Glykys, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1285–89</p><br>
<p>Methodius, Metropolitan of Cyzicus from 1289</p><br>
<p>Niphon I, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1310–14, was Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1303–10</p><br>
<p>Athanasios, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1324–47</p><br>
<p>Theodoretos, proedros of Cyzicus in 1370–72</p><br>
<p>Sebasteianos, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1381–86</p><br>
<p>Matthew I, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1397–1410, was Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1387–97</p><br>
<p>Theognostos, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1399–1405</p><br>
<p>Makarios, Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1409</p><br>
<p>Metrophanes II, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1440–43, was Metropolitan of Cyzicus in 1436–40</p><br>
<p>Cyril IV, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1711–13, was Metropolitan of Cyzicus before that</p><br>
<p>Cyzicus remained a metropolitan see of the Greek Orthodox Church until the 1923 Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations emptied it of Greek Orthodox faithful, whether they spoke Greek or Turkish. The last bishop of the see died in 1932. Today it is a titular metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.</p><br>
<h3>Catholic titular see</h3><br>
<p>Since 1885, the Catholic Church lists Cyzicus as a titular see. of the highest (Metropolitan) rank, but vacant since 1974. Titular metropolitans were:</p><br>
<p>John Baptist Lamy (1885.08.18 – 1888.02.13)</p><br>
<p>William Benedict Scarisbrick, O.S.B. (1888.09.08 – 1908.05.07)</p><br>
<p>José María Cázares y Martínez (1908.04.29 – 1909.03.31)</p><br>
<p>Johannes Fidelis Battaglia (1909.07.03 – 1913.09.10)</p><br>
<p>Simeón Pereira y Castellón (1913.12.02 – 1921.01.29)</p><br>
<p>Giacomo Sereggi (1921.10.14 – 1922.04.11)</p><br>
<p>Giuseppe Moràbito (1922.07.04 – 1923.12.03)</p><br>
<p>Antal Papp (1924.07.14 – 1945.12.24)</p><br>
<p>Manuel Marilla Ferreira da Silva (1949.05.29 – 1974.11.23)</p><br>
<h2>Monuments</h2><br>
<p>The site amid the marshes of Balkiz Serai is known as Bal-Kiz and entirely uninhabited, though under cultivation. The principal extant ruins are the walls, dating from the fourth century, which are traceable for nearly their whole extent, and the substructures of the temple of Hadrian, the ruins of a Roman aqueduct and a theatre.</p><br>
<p>The picturesque amphitheatre, intersected by a stream, was one of the largest in the world. Construction for the amphitheatre began in the middle of the first century C.E until the end of the third century C.E. Its diameter was nearly 500 ft and it is located specifically at these coordinates 27.884552&deg;N latitude, 40.398213&deg;E longitude within the region of Cyzicus. Of this magnificent building, sometimes ranked among the seven wonders of the ancient world, thirty-one immense columns still stood erect in 1444. These have since been carried away piecemeal for building purposes.</p><br>
<p>Colossal foundations of a temple dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian are still visible: the columns were 21.35 metres high (about 70 feet), while the highest known elsewhere, those at Baalbek in Syria are only 19.35 metres (about 63 feet).</p><br>
<p>The monuments of Cyzicus were used by the Byzantine emperor Justinian as a quarry for the building of his Saint Sophia cathedral, and were still exploited by the Ottomans.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Androsthenes of Cyzicus, 200 BC, accompanied King Antiochus III the Great to India.</p><br>
<p>Eudoxus of Cyzicus, 130 BC, navigator and explorer.</p><br>
<p>Proclus of Constantinople, appointed metropolitan of Cyzicus in 5th century but never functioned as such; patriarch of Constantinople and important figure in the development of Christology</p><br>
<p>Germanus of Constantinople, early eighth century metropolitan of Cyzicus and later Patriarch of Constantinople and early iconophile theologian</p><br>
<p>Gelasius of Cyzicus, 5th century ecclesiastical writer.</p><br>
<p>Adrastus of Cyzicus, a mathematician cited by Augustine of Hippo</p><br>
<p>Theophanes the Confessor, who began his formal religious life at the Polychronius Monastery, located near Cyzicus.</p><br>
<p>Lala, a female painter and sculptor, known as Lala from Cyzicus.</p><br>
<p>Messene , officially Ancient Messene, is a local community  of the municipal unit  Ithomi, of the municipality  of Messini within the regional unit  of Messenia in the region  of Peloponnese, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided. Before 2011 it held the same position in the administrative hierarchy, according to Law 2539 of 1997, the Kapodistrias Plan, except that Ithomi was an independent municipality and Ancient Messene was a local division  within it.</p><br>
<p>Most of the area of Ancient Messene contains the ruins of the large classical city-state of Messene refounded by Epaminondas in 369 BC, after the battle of Leuctra and the first Theban invasion of the Peloponnese. Epaminondas invited the return to their native land of all the families that had gone into exile from Messenia during its long struggle with and servitude under the military state of Sparta, now finished as a conquering state. This new Messene, today&#39;s Ancient Messene, was constructed over the ruins of Ithome, an ancient city originally of Achaean Greeks, destroyed previously by the Spartans and abandoned for some time.</p><br>
<p>Currently the substantial ruins are a major historical attraction. Much of it has been archaeologically excavated and partly restored or preserved for study and public viewing, as well as for various events. The site was never totally abandoned. The small village of Mavromati occupies what was the upper city around the fountain called klepsydra. Administrative structure and population figures refer primarily to it.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Archaia Messene is located 25 km north of Kalamata and 60 km east of Pylos.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The main ancient source on Messene is the Guide to Greece of Pausanias, who visited there between 155 and 160 AD.</p><br>
<p>Excavation of the site began in 1828 in connection with the French Morea Expedition during the Greek War of Independence. The French left in 1833; meanwhile, only exploratory excavation had been performed. The current excavator, Petros Themelis, who received permission to dig from the Council of Athens Archaeological Society in 1986, suggests that systematic excavation of the site was first undertaken by George Oikoumenos of the Athens Archaeological Society in 1895. Since then a number of noted archaeologists have made contributions, not the least the current excavator. A museum of their extensive finds has been constructed within the old city walls.</p><br>
<p>This site was awarded a European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award in 2011.</p><br>
<h3>Bronze Age Messana</h3><br>
<p>During the Bronze Age the palace at Pylos controlled Messenia politically and economically. A Linear B tablet from there, PY Cn 3, mentions a region called Mezana in local Mycenaean Greek (Linear B: 𐀕𐀼𐀙, me-za-na), from which groups of men named from places in the Peloponnesus each contributed one ox (Linear B: 𐀦𐀃, qo-o; also denoted by the BOS ideogram, i.e. 𐀘) to an official, possibly a priest in the Zeus-sanctuary, named *Diwijeus (Linear B: 𐀇𐀹𐀋𐀸, di-wi-je-we; the word could be, instead of an anthroponym, an adjective meaning "priest in the Zeus-sanctuary"). These groups were members of the coast-watchers, a military or quasi-military unit that presumably were stationed to guard various locations on the coast. Their failure is attested by the burning of Pylos a few months later by assailants unknown from the sea. The watchers include some Olumpiaioi (Olympians) from Orumanthos (Mt. Erymanthos). John Bennet expressed the opinion that by Mezana is meant Messana, a Mycenaean Greek form of Messene. He supposed that the region around Ithome would already have had that name, to be reutilized by Epaminondas a thousand years later.</p><br>
<h3>Messene restored by the Thebans</h3><br>
<h4>Reconstitution of the city</h4><br>
<p>After the defeat of the Spartan army at the Battle of Leuctra in Boeotia, 371 BC, the helots of Messenia revolted yet again against their Spartan overlords. This time the victorious general, Epaminondas, entered the Peloponnesus with an international army of Boeotians, Argives and Messenians living abroad. Epaminondas resolved to support an independent Peloponnesus by building three fortified cities, Megalopolis and Mantinea in Arcadia and Messene in Messenia.</p><br>
<p>After all due care to obtain omens from the gods, make sacrifices and invite the spirits of past rulers and heroes to live in Messene, including Queen Messene, Epaminondas invited construction engineers and artisans from anywhere to join him. In 85 days the combined armies and exiles guided by the engineers and artisans had complete the walled city of Messene over the site of the previous Ithome. The city included within its walls Mt. Ithome and enough agricultural land and spring captures to withstand a siege indefinitely. The policy was justified almost immediately. After the departure of the Theban army the Spartans attempted to retake Messenia, which then allied itself with the Macedonians. This time the long struggle with Sparta was brought to a final end by the Macedonian conquest of Greece.</p><br>
<p>After the departure of the allies the new city and the fate of Messenian independence were left in the hands of the Messenian exiles, who had returned primarily from Sicily and North Africa. Apparently they had maintained a transitory community in exile, or diaspora, for some 300 years. They spoke a Doric dialect. Pausanias reports, "even to this day they preserve it in its purity better than anywhere else in the Peloponnese." As the Arcadians are known to have spoken a dialect closely related to Mycenaean Greek, the exiles restored were not from the original Achaean refugees of the return of the Heracleidae, but were the Doricised population that developed in the 7th century BC under the subsequently dispossessed Heraclid dynasty of Messene.</p><br>
<h4>Fortified wall</h4><br>
<p>Messene was surrounded by a circuit wall 9 km long, 7 m — 9 m high. It was fortified by 30 square or horseshoe-shaped guard towers (and probably barracks) with doors admitting passage to a protected walkway on top of the wall. The wall was pierced by two main gates flanked by protective structures and rectangular in shape with a lintel of a single, massive beam of limestone. Through the Arcadia Gate to the north ran and still runs the main road north (to Arcadia), currently from Mavromati. As Mavromati is the location of the major spring capture, klepsydra, it was probably first stop for travellers to the city. From there a road runs over the ridge adjoining Mounts Ithome and Eva to the Laconia Gate, similar to the Arcadia Gate. The wall runs straight up the ridge but does not encompass Mount Eva. Today the next stop on the road is the monastery, Mone Voulkanou, set into the lower southeast flank of Mounts Eva.</p><br>
<h4>Public buildings and monuments</h4><br>
<p>Pausanias has left us a description of the city (iv. 3 1?33), its chief temples and statues, its springs, its market-place and gymnasium, the Asclepieion, its place of sacrifice, the tomb of the hero Aristomenes and the temple of Zeus Ithomatas on the summit of the acropolis with a statue by the famous Argive sculptor Ageladas, originally made for the Messenian helots who had settled at Naupactus at the close of the third Messenian War.</p><br>
<p>The other buildings which can be identified are the theatre, the stadium, the council chamber or Bouleuterion, and the propylaeum of the market, while on the shoulder of the mountain are the foundations of a small temple, probably that of Artemis Laphria.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Alcaeus (3rd century BC), author of epigrams</p><br>
<p>Aristocles (1st century AD), peripatetic philosopher</p><br>
<p>Damophon (2nd century BC), sculptor</p><br>
<p>Euhemerus (4th century BC), mythographer</p><br>
<p>Usedom  is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided since 1945 between Germany and Poland. It is the second biggest Pomeranian island after Rügen.</p><br>
<p>It is situated north of the Szczecin Lagoon (Polish: Zalew Szczeciński; German: Stettiner Haff) estuary of the River Oder. About 80% of the island belongs to the German district of Vorpommern-Greifswald in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The eastern part and the largest city on the island, Świnoujście (German: Swinemünde), are part of the Polish West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The island&#39;s total area is 445 km&sup2; (the German part 373 km&sup2 the Polish part 72 km&sup2;). Its population is 76,500 (German part 31,500; Polish part 45,000).</p><br>
<p>With an annual average of 1906 sunshine hours, Usedom is the sunniest region of both Germany and Poland, and it is also the sunniest island in the Baltic Sea, hence its nickname "Sun Island" (Sonneninsel, Wyspa Słońca).</p><br>
<p>The island has been a tourist destination since the Gründerzeit in the 19th century, and features resort architecture. Seaside resorts include Zinnowitz and the Amber Spas in the west, the Kaiserbad and Świnoujście in the east.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island is separated from the neighbouring island of Wolin to the east by the Strait of Świna (German: Swine), which is the main route connecting Szczecin Bay with the Pomeranian Bay, a part of the Baltic Sea. The strait between the island and the mainland is called the Peenestrom; it is a downstream extension of the valley of the Peene river, which flows into the westernmost part of the Stettin Lagoon. The island is mostly flat, partly covered by marshes.</p><br>
<p>Geographical features include a number of lakes:</p><br>
<p>The largest town on the island is Świnoujście (Swinemünde), which has a population of 41,500. Another town, Usedom, gives its name to the island. The largest town in the German part is Heringsdorf (from 2005 to 2006 called Dreikaiserbäder, literally "Three Emperor Spas").</p><br>
<p>There are many seaside resorts on the Baltic Sea coast, including Zinnowitz and Koserow in the west &ndash; and the three Imperial Spas Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf, and Bansin forming a town, as well as neighbouring Świnoujście in the east of Usedom.</p><br>
<p>The hinterland is called Achterland, referring to the Achterwasser lagoon (Rear Waters). It is characterized by unspoilt forests, lagoon landscapes, and hills, as well as calm villages such as Loddin and Balmer See with its golf course.</p><br>
<p>Main economic activities include tourism, health and life sciences, retail, agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry, food processing, and timber production.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Settled since the Stone Age, the area was probably inhabited by Germanic Rugians, before the Polabian Slavs moved in during the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. Around the island, Wendish/Scandinavian trade centres such as Vineta/Jomsborg and Menzlin were established. In 1128 the Slavic Pomeranian Duke Wartislaw I was converted to Christianity through the efforts of Otto of Bamberg. In 1155 the Premonstratensians established a monastery in Grobe, generally known as Usedom Abbey, which in 1309 was moved to the village of Pudagla. In the meantime, a Cistercian nunnery was founded in Krummin and soon almost the whole island was in the possession of one or the other of the ecclesiastical orders. During the Reformation, ownership passed to the Slavic dukes of Pomerania, who took over the island.</p><br>
<p>During the Thirty Years&#39; War, on June 26, 1630, the Swedish Army under King Gustavus Adolphus landed in the village of Peenemünde, located on the Peenestrom strait. Usedom was annexed by Sweden after the war for almost a century, until in 1720 it was sold for 2 million thalers to Prussian King Frederick William I. In 1740 Frederick the Great of Prussia developed a seaport in Swinemünde.</p><br>
<p>The small village of Peenemünde came to prominence again during World War II. The Luftwaffe tested missiles and rockets, including the V-1 and V-2 nearby. Germany used thousands of slave laborers on Usedom during World War II.</p><br>
<p>In 1945 the eastern part of the island, together with the city and port of Swinemünde (now Świnoujście), was assigned to Poland under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference, and the surviving German inhabitants of the town were expelled to the west. The territory was repopulated with Poles, most of whom had been expelled by the Soviets from what had been eastern Poland.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>The Isle of Usedom is one of Germany&#39;s major holiday and recreation areas due to its beaches, its natural environment, and seaside towns such as Zinnowitz and Heringsdorf, which have been frequented by the German and international nobility as well as the general public. St. Peter Church in Benz is featured in the works of several artists, including the German-American painter Lyonel Feininger who spent summer vacations on the island from 1909 to 1921. Hotels and bed and breakfast establishments are available on both sides of the German-Polish border. In addition to the coastline, the hinterland features nature reserves, castles, lakes and historic villages. Points of interest include:</p><br>
<p>Usedom Botanical Gardens, Mellenthin, a botanical garden</p><br>
<p>Karnin Lift Bridge, a technical monument to the former bridge over the Peenestrom.</p><br>
<p>Dannenfeldt Mausoleum</p><br>
<p>Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8 acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, that was owned by Elvis Presley. It is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the vast Whitehaven community, about 9 miles  from Downtown and less than four miles  north of the Mississippi border. It currently serves as a museum. It was opened to the public on June 7, 1982. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, and declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006. Graceland is the second most-visited house in America with over 650,000 visitors a year; second only to the White House.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Graceland Farms was originally owned by Stephen C. Toof, founder of S.C. Toof & Co., the oldest commercial printing firm in Memphis, who was previously the pressroom foreman of the Memphis newspaper, the Memphis Daily Appeal. The "grounds" (before the mansion home was built in 1939) was named after Toof&#39;s daughter, Grace. She inherited the farm/grounds from her father in 1894. After her death, the property was passed down to her niece Ruth Moore, a Memphis socialite, who together with her husband, Dr. Thomas Moore, built a 10,266 ft&sup2; Colonial Revival style mansion in 1939.</p><br>
<p>After Elvis Presley began his musical career, he purchased a $40,000 home for himself and his family at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis, TN. As his fame grew, especially after his appearances on television, the number of fans that would congregate outside the house multiplied. Presley&#39;s neighbors, most of whom were happy to have a celebrity living nearby, soon came to find the constant gathering of fans and journalists a nuisance. After several complaints, Presley decided it was necessary for him to move to a property more suitable.</p><br>
<p>In early 1957, Presley gave his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, a $100,000 budget, and asked them to find a "farmhouse" type property to purchase. At the time, Graceland was located several miles beyond Memphis&#39; main urban area.</p><br>
<p>After Gladys died in 1958, Vernon remarried to Dee Stanley in 1960, and the couple lived at Graceland for a time. There was some discord between Elvis and his stepmother Dee at Graceland however, and Elaine Dundy said "that Vernon had settled down with Dee where Gladys had once reigned, while Dee herself – when Elvis was away – had taken over the role of mistress of Graceland so thoroughly as to rearrange the furniture and replace the very curtains that Gladys had approved of." This was too much for the singer who still loved his late mother deeply. One afternoon, "a van arrived... and all Dees households goods, clothes, improvements, and her own menagerie of pets, were loaded on... while Vernon, Dee and her three children went by car to a nearby house on Hermitage until they finally settled into a house on Dolan Drive which ran alongside Elvis&#39; estate."</p><br>
<p>According to Mark Crispin Miller, Graceland became for Presley "the home of the organization that was himself, was tended by a large vague clan of Presleys and deputy Presleys, each squandering the vast gratuities which Elvis used to keep his whole world smiling." The author adds that Presleys father Vernon "had a swimming pool in his bedroom", that there "was a jukebox next to the swimming pool, containing Elvis favorite records" and that the singer himself "would spend hours in his bedroom, watching his property on a closed-circuit television." According to the singer&#39;s cousin, Billy Smith, Presley spent the night at Graceland with Smith and his wife Jo many times: "we were all three there talking for hours about everything in the world! Sometimes he would have a bad dream and come looking for me to talk to, and he would actually fall asleep in our bed with us." Priscilla Beaulieu also lived at Graceland for five years before she and Elvis wed in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 1, 1967. Their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, and spent the first years of her life on the estate until her parents divorced in 1972, and she moved to California with her mother. Every year around Christmas, Lisa Marie Presley and all her family would go to Graceland to celebrate Christmas together. Lisa Marie often goes back to Graceland for visits.</p><br>
<p>When he would tour, staying in hotels, "the rooms would be remodeled in advance of his arrival, so as to make the same configurations of space as he had at home – the Graceland mansion. His furniture would arrive, and he could unwind after his performances in surroundings which were completely familiar and comforting," the room in question, The Jungle Room being "an example of particularly lurid kitsch."</p><br>
<p>On August 16, 1977, Presley died in the bathroom at Graceland allegedly of a heart attack. Elvis Presley lay in state in a 900-pound copper-lined coffin just inside the foyer while over 3,500 of Elvis mourning fans passed by to pay their respects. A private funeral with 200 mourners was held on August 18, 1977 in the house, with the casket placed in front of the stained glass doorway of the music room. Graceland continued to be occupied by members of the family until the death of Elvis aunt Delta in 1993, who had moved in at Elvis invitation after her husbands death.</p><br>
<p>Elvis&#39; daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited the estate in 1993 when she turned 25.</p><br>
<p>Presley, his parents Gladys & Vernon Presley, and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley are buried on the property in the Meditation Garden. A memorial gravestone for Presley&#39;s stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon, is also at the site.</p><br>
<p>Graceland was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991 and designated a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006 Graceland was the first site related to rock and roll to be entered in the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<h3>Exterior</h3><br>
<p>Constructed at the top of a hill, in a grove of oaks, with rolling pastures surrounding, the house designed by Memphis architectural firm, Furbringer and Erhmanis, is a two-story, five bay residence in the Colonial Revival style with a side-facing gabled roof covered in asphalt shingles, a central two-story projecting pedimented portico, and one-story wings on its north and south sides. Attached to the wing is an additional one-story stuccoed wing that originally housed a four-car garage. There are two chimneys; one on the north exterior side wall, and a second chimney that rises through the roof ridge on the south side of house. The front and side facades of the central block are veneered with tan Tishomingo limestone from Mississippi, and its rear wall is stuccoed, as are the one-story wings. Front facade fenestration at the first floor includes 12-over-12 double-hung windows set in arched openings with wooden panels above the windows, and six-over-six double-hung windows at the second floor. Four stone steps, flanked by two large lions, ascend from the driveway to the two-story central projecting portico containing four Corinthian columns with capitals modeled after James Stuart&#39;s conjectural porticos for the "Tower of the Winds" in Athens. Its pediment has dentils and a central, small, leaded oval window. The columns at the corners of the portico are matched by pilasters on the front facade. The doorway has a broken arched pediment, full entablature, and engaged columns. Its transom and sidelights contain elaborate, colorful stained glass. Above the main entrance is a window with a shallow iron balcony.</p><br>
<h3>Interior</h3><br>
<h4>First floor</h4><br>
<p>Graceland is 17,552 ft&sup2; and has a total of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms. To the right of the Entrance Hall, through an elliptical-arched opening with classical details, is the Living Room, with the adjoining Music Room behind a doorway framed by vivid large peacocks set in stained glass. The Music Room has a black baby grand piano and a 1950s style TV. The Living Room contains a 15 ft white sofa against the wall overlooking the front yard. To the left is a white fireplace. The painting that was Elvis last Christmas present from his father, Vernon, hangs in this room. Also displayed are photographs of Elvis parents Vernon and Gladys, Elvis and Lisa Marie. Adjacent to the Living Room is a bedroom that was occupied by Elvis&#39; parents. The walls, carpet, dresser, and queen size bed are bright white with the bed draped in a velvet-looking dark purple bedspread. The bedroom also has an en-suite full bathroom done in pink.</p><br>
<p>To the left of the Entrance Hall, mirroring the Living Room is the Dining Room. The room features rounded curio cabinets in the north end corners of the room, and black marble flooring in the center of the room, with carpet around the perimeter. Connected to the Dining Room is the Kitchen that was not open to the public until 1995, as Elvis&#39; aunt Delta used it until her death in 1993.</p><br>
<h4>Second floor</h4><br>
<p>The Entrance Hall contains a white staircase leading to the second floor of the house with a wall of reflective mirrors. The floor features Elvis bedroom at the southwest corner that connects to his dressing room and bath room in the northwest corner. His daughter Lisa Maries bedroom is in the northeast corner, and a bedroom in the southeast corner served as Elvis&#39; private personal office. The second floor is not open to visitors out of respect for the Presley family and partially to avoid any improper focus on the bathroom which was the site of his death. The floor has been untouched since the day Elvis died and is rarely seen by non-family members.</p><br>
<h4>Basement / TV and billiard rooms</h4><br>
<p>The TV room in the basement is where Elvis often watched three television sets at once, and was within close reach of a wet bar. The TV rooms west wall is painted with Elvis 1970s logo of a lightning bolt and cloud with the initials TCB, for taking care of business in a flash. The south wall has three built-in television sets, a stereo, and cabinets for Elvis record collection. Opposite of the TV room is the billiard room; Elvis, an avid billiards player, bought the pool table in 1960 and had the walls and ceiling covered with 350–400 yards of pleated cotton fabric after the two basement rooms were remodeled in 1974. To this day, the pool table sports a tear in one of the corners, reportedly the result of a failed trick shot by one of Elvis friends.</p><br>
<h2>Estate</h2><br>
<p>After purchasing the property Presley spent in excess of $500,000 carrying out extensive modifications to suit his needs including a pink Alabama fieldstone wall surrounding the grounds that has several years&#39; worth of graffiti from visitors, who simply refer to it as "the wall", a wrought-iron front gate, designed and built by Abe Sauer, that was shaped like a book of sheet music, with green colored musical notes and a silhouette of Elvis. Presley also installed a kidney shaped swimming pool and a racquetball court.</p><br>
<p>The racquetball court is reminiscent of an old country club, furnished in dark leather and a functional bar. There is a sunken sitting area with the ever-present stereo system found throughout Graceland, as well as the dark brown upright piano upon which Elvis played for what were to be his last songs, Willie Nelsons "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and The Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody". Reports conflict about which one was the last song. The sitting area has a floor-to-ceiling shatterproof window designed to watch the many racquetball games that took place here when Elvis was alive. In the early hours of the morning Elvis died he, his girlfriend Ginger Alden, his first cousin Billy Smith and Billy&#39;s wife Jo played a game of racquetball ending the game with the song on the piano before Elvis walked into the main house to wash his hair and go to bed. Today the two story court has been restored to the way it was when Elvis used the building.</p><br>
<p>One of Presleys better known modifications was the addition of the Meditation Garden, designed and built by architect Bernard Grenadier, that was used by Elvis to reflect on any problems or situations that arose during his life. It is also where he, his parents, and grandmother, Minnie Mae Hood Presley, are buried. A small stone memorializes Elvis twin brother Jesse Garon who died at birth.</p><br>
<p>Elsewhere on the estate is a small white building that served as his fathers office; an old smokehouse that housed Elvis shooting range; and a fully functional stable of horses.</p><br>
<h2>Tourist destination</h2><br>
<p>After Elvis Presleys death in 1977, Vernon Presley served as executor of his estate. Upon his death in 1979, he chose Priscilla to serve as the estate executor for Elvis only child, Lisa Marie who was only 11. Graceland itself cost $500,000 a year in upkeep, and expenses had dwindled Elvis and Priscillas daughter Lisa Maries inheritance to only $1 million. Taxes were due on the property, those and other expenses due came to over $500,000. Faced with having to sell Graceland, Priscilla examined other famous houses/museums, and hired a CEO, Jack Soden, to turn Graceland into a moneymaker. Graceland was opened to the public on June 7, 1982. Priscillas gamble paid off; after only a month of opening Gracelands doors the estate made back all the money it had invested. Priscilla Presley became the chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, or EPE, stating at that time she would do so until Lisa Marie reached 21 years of age. The enterprises fortunes soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over $100 million.</p><br>
<p>An annual procession through the estate and past Elvis grave is held on the anniversary of his death. Known as Elvis Week, it includes a full schedule of speakers and events, including the only Elvis Mass at St. Pauls Church, the highlight for many Elvis fans of all faiths, and for many years, an Elvis Art exhibit in Graceland Plaza, where fans honored Elvis with creative artworks. (see Larry Keeter (January 2005). "Elvis Art." "Elvis International Forum."). The 20th Anniversary in 1997 had several hundred media groups from around the world that were present resulting in the event gaining its greatest media publicity. The largest gathering assembled on the 25th anniversary in 2002 with one estimate of 40,000 people in attendance, despite the heavy rain.</p><br>
<p>For many of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Graceland each year, the visit takes on a quasi-religious perspective. They may plan for years to journey to the home of the ‘King’ of rock and roll. On site, headphones narrate the salient events of Elvis’s life and introduce the relics that adorn the rooms and corridors. The rhetorical mode is hagiographic, celebrating the life of an extraordinary man, emphasizing his generosity, his kindness and good fellowship, how he was at once a poor boy who made good, an extraordinary musical talent, a sinner and substance abuser, and a religious man devoted to the Gospel and its music. At the meditation garden, containing Elvis’s grave, some visitors pray, kneel, or quietly sing one of Elvis’s favorite hymns. The brick wall that encloses the mansion&#39;s grounds is covered with graffiti that express an admiration for the singer as well as petitions for help and thanks for favors granted.</p><br>
<p>The Graceland grounds include a new exhibit complex, Elvis Presleys Memphis, which includes a new car museum, Presley Motors, which houses Elvis Pink Cadillac. The complex features new exhibits and museums, as well as a studio for Sirius Satellite Radios all-Elvis Presley channel. The services subscribers all over North America can hear Presley&#39;s music from Graceland around the clock. Not far away his two planes Lisa Marie (a Convair 880) and Hound Dog II (a Lockheed JetStar) are on display. The jets are owned by Graceland and are on permanent display at Graceland.</p><br>
<p>In early August 2005, Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the business side of her father&#39;s estate. She kept the Graceland property itself, as well as the bulk of the possessions found therein, and she turned over the management of Graceland to CKX, Inc., an entertainment company (on whose board of directors Priscilla Presley sits) that also owns 19 Entertainment, creator of the American Idol TV show.</p><br>
<p>Graceland Holdings LLC, led by managing partner Joel Weinshanker, is the majority owner of EPE. Lisa Marie Presley retains a 15% ownership in the company.</p><br>
<p>Lisa Marie Presley retains 100% sole personal ownership of Graceland Mansion itself and its over 13-acre original grounds and her fathers personal effects - meaning costumes, wardrobe, awards, furniture, cars, etc. She has made the mansion property and her fathers personal effects permanently available for tours of Graceland and for use in all of EPE&#39;s operations.</p><br>
<p>In May 2016, Graceland welcomed its 20 millionth visitor.</p><br>
<h2>Notable visitors</h2><br>
<p>Paul Simon visited Graceland in the early 80s and afterwards wrote a song which became the title track of his hit album Graceland.</p><br>
<p>On June 30, 2006, when US President George W. Bush hosted Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for a tour of the mansion, it became one of a few residences on American soil other than an Embassy, the White House, or any of the other Presidential retreats to have hosted a joint-visit by a sitting US president and a head of a foreign government. (Koizumi, who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006, is an avid Elvis Presley fan and even shares Presley&#39;s January 8 birthday. Presley would be 7 years older than Koizumi.)</p><br>
<p>On August 6, 2010, Prince Albert II, the Principality of Monacos Head of State, and his fiancée Charlene Wittstock, on a vacation tour of the United States, also toured Graceland. Albert explained: "If youre on a summer holiday, youve got to come at this time of year. Ive always wanted to come to Graceland. Charlene and my friends wanted to be here today for this visit, Elvis touched our lives as well and the lives of so many people. We wanted to pay our respects and see what this place was all about."</p><br>
<p>On May 26, 2013, Sir Paul McCartney visited Graceland, and left a guitar pick on Elvis&#39;s grave, and said, "so Elvis can play in heaven."</p><br>
<p>Prince William and Prince Harry, while in Memphis for a friend&#39;s wedding, visited Graceland on May 2, 2014. They were joined by their cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie for a private tour of the estate. After the tour, a staff member was quoted as saying, "It is pretty special to have a future king take time to come visit The King".</p><br>
<p>The home has also been visited by HRH the Princess of Yugoslavia, former President Jimmy Carter, the sitting Ambassadors of India, China, Korea and Israel to the United States, as well as several Governors, members of the US Congress and at least two Nobel Prize winners, singer Bob Dylan and the former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, who visited it on 10 October 2001. See link below for a complete list.</p><br>
<p>https://www.graceland.com/elvis/celebrityvisitors.aspx</p><br>
<h2>The name or reference of "Graceland" use in pop culture</h2><br>
<p>The title of Paul Simons album Graceland as well as its title track were inspired by Elvis home, the latter describing Graceland as a holy place through its lyrics. The song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1987.</p><br>
<p>The song "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn features Graceland prominently; in the second verse, he references Graceland and the Jungle Room. This song was later covered by Cher and Lonestar among others.</p><br>
<p>The film 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a group of criminals who plan to rob a casino during an international Elvis week, and to make it easier, they are all disguised as Elvis impersonators.</p><br>
<p>The film Finding Graceland starring Harvey Keitel with Johnathon Schaech, as Keitel being an impersonator who claims to be the actual real Elvis after Schaech picks him up as a hitch-hiker trying to get a ride to Memphis.</p><br>
<p>While touring across the United States, the band members in the rock music "mockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap gather around Elvis Presley&#39;s grave at Graceland and sing a verse of "Heartbreak Hotel" a cappella in three-part harmony.</p><br>
<p>Graceland was one of the tourist stops for the fan bus in Depeche Mode 101. The fans expressed severe disinterest in visiting the location, calling it "boring." On the commentary track in the 2003 DVD re-release, Martin Gore expresses disappointment at this, citing Elvis Presley as one of his musical influences.</p><br>
<p>Giannutri is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Tuscany, Italy; it is the southernmost island of the Tuscan Archipelago and it is a frazione of the comune of Isola del Giglio in the Province of Grosseto.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Giannutri was known as Dianium by the Romans and Artemisia, Αρτεμησία by the Greeks; it has a crescent moon shape which forms the Gulf of Spalmatoio and is placed at 16 km south east from the Isola del Giglio and 17.6 km from Porto Ercole. The island has a coastal perimeter of 11 km, is stretched approximately 2.8 km from Punta del Capo Rosso to Punta Secca (north-south) and 2 km from Punta San Francesco to Punta della Salvezza (west-east). The soil is calcareous and has a rocky and rugged coasts with inlets and caves mainly in the southern part interrupted only by two beaches called Cala dello Spalmatoio (on the north-east) and Cala Maestra (on the north-west) where are the dockings. The island landscape has three hills: Poggio del Cannone (83 m) and Monte Mario (78 m) in the northern part and Poggio Capel Rosso (93 m), the highest, in the southern where is the lighthouse.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>The island’s flora is prevalently a high macchia mediterranea in the northern part which become garrigue in the southern. Plants as arbutus, Myrtus, pistacia lentiscus, mock privet, Mediterranean buckthorn, juniperus phoenicea and limonium sommierianum knew only on Isola del Giglio and Montecristo, grow up on the island. The mild climate has favoured the growth of plants such as euphorbia, palm trees and wild orchids. The marine flora is abundant in sponges, madreporaria, black coral and red coral.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The island, as all that of the Tuscan Archipelago, is a place where the bird migration take a stop along their seasonal movement from North to South. The Audouins gull, Puffinus yelkouan, Black-eared wheatear, Marmoras warbler and European shag are common on the island.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Giannutri was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historiae and by the Latin geographer Pomporio Mela in his Dechorographia. The island was inhabited by Romans of which are the vestiges of a magnificent Roman villa, remained locked for almost 15 years and reopened on July 2, 2015.</p><br>
<p>Giannutri was abandoned for mysterious reasons from the 3rd century until 805 when Charlemagne donated to the Tre Fontane Abbey some lands, including the island which returned to be inhabited by cenobitic monks and some hermits.</p><br>
<p>In the following centuries the Island was assigned by emphyteusis to the Aldobrandeschi family of Sovana in 1269, to the Orsini of Pitigliano on June 15, 1410 and to Siena on August 12, 1452 by Pope Nicholas V award.</p><br>
<p>The island changed several times of rule: Spanish, French and German and for sometimes became refuge of pirates and Saracens until the Treaty of Lunéville which assigned Giannutri to the Kingdom of Etruria in 1801, afterward to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany till the Italian unification in 1861.</p><br>
<p>In 1806 a small military garrison was sent on the island. On 10 May 1809, a landing party from and HMS Halcyon landed on the Pianosa and Giannutri. The landing party destroyed the enemy forts and captured about 100 prisoners during four hours of fighting. British losses were one marine killed and one wounded.</p><br>
<p>The Minister of Finances Quintino Sella, with a Royal decree, donated the island to the Comune of Giglio in 1865 in order to settle a farm.</p><br>
<p>In 1908 the Comune sold the island to the family Ruffo della Scaletta which remained the owner until the death of the Prince Rufo. In the 1960s and 1970s the real estate investing transformed radically the island; in a few years an holiday resort at Cala Spalmatoio and many houses scattered through the island were built. The Società Porto Romano declared bankruptcy and the numerous owners of the houses were obliged to form a society, called Libero Consorzio Giannutri, in order to administer the island.</p><br>
<h2>Roman villa</h2><br>
<p>Villa Domizia, also known as Villa Domitia was built probably in the 1st or 2nd century by the Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus who was the owner of the island. The Villa is placed in the central part of the island on an height, close to Punta Scaletta and Cala Maestra; the Villa and its annexes are under the control of Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage.</p><br>
<p>The rooms employed as residence and the others were disposed on the highest level accessible by stairs; on the same level was a terrace from which to watch the Argentario coast. In the back of the residential quarter are the remains of a long building, with 8 rooms aligned, likely used by the monks as convent and since then called Conventaccio.</p><br>
<p>The Villa is connected to Cala Maestra through a set of stairs. The Calidarium, formed by a rectangular room from whose walls passed the warm air, was placed halfway between the Villa and Cala Maestra and was richly adorned with marbles and mosaic floor. The Romans built a small harbour and a wharf at Cala Maestra cutting the rock in order to have more space. The Villa was provided with a cistern to collect the rain water since the island is lack of springs; the water produced today by a desalination plant is collected in the same cistern. In the 1980s a short grassy airstrip was built and used for a short time at Punta San Francesco, later was abandoned.</p><br>
<h2>National Park</h2><br>
<p>The island and adjacent sea environs are within the Arcipelago Toscano National Park and marine sanctuary. The island is mainly privately owned, with some areas owned by Italy’s Ministry of the Environment it is involved in the Coastal Area Management Programme issued by Ministry of the Environment.</p><br>
<h2>Punta Rossa lighthouse</h2><br>
<p>Giannutri lighthouse was built in 1883; it is placed on Punta Capel Rosso height (61 m) in the southernmost part. The lighthouse is a one-story building with an hexagonal plant tower 9 metres high, on the south side, with balcony and lantern; the house and the tower are painted in white and red stripes. The lighthouse, operated by Marina Militare with the identification number 2184 E.F, is active and fully automated, has a solar power unit and emits a single white flash in a five seconds period visible up to 13 nautical miles.</p><br>
<p>Samothrace   is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is 17 km long and is 178 km&sup2; in size and has a population of 2,859 . Its main industries are fishing and tourism. Resources on the island include granite and basalt. Samothrace is one of the most rugged Greek islands, with Mt. Saos and its tip Fengari rising to 1,611 m.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>Samothrace was not a state of any political significance in ancient Greece, since it has no natural harbour and most of the island is too mountainous for cultivation: Mount Fengari (literally Mt. Moon) rises to 1,611 m. It was, however, the home of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, site of important Hellenic and pre-Hellenic religious ceremonies. Among those who visited this shrine to be initiated into the island cult were Lysander of Sparta, Philip II of Macedon and Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, father-in-law of Julius Caesar.</p><br>
<p>The ancient city, the ruins of which are called Palaeopoli ("old city"), was situated on the north coast. Considerable remains still exist of the ancient walls, which were built in massive Cyclopean style, as well as of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, where mysterious rites (Samothracian Mysteries) took place which were open to both slaves and free people (similar to the Eleusinian Mysteries). Demetrios of Skepsis mention the Samothracian Mysteries.</p><br>
<p>The traditional account from antiquity is that Samothrace was first inhabited by Pelasgians and Carians, and later Thracians. At the end of the 8th century BC the island was colonised by Greeks from Samos, from which the name Samos of Thrace, that later became Samothrace; however, Strabo denies this. The archaeological evidence suggests that Greek settlement was in the sixth century BC.</p><br>
<p>The Persians occupied Samothrace in 508 BC, it later passed under Athenian control, and was a member of the Delian League in the 5th century BC. It was subjugated by Philip II, and from then till 168 BC it was under Macedonian suzerainty. With the battle of Pydna Samothrace became independent, a condition that ended when Vespasian absorbed the island in the Roman Empire in AD 70.</p><br>
<p>During the Roman and particularly the imperial period, thanks to the interest of the Roman emperors, the radiation of the sanctuary of the Great Gods surpassed Greek borders and Samothrace became international religious center where pilgrims flocked from all over the Roman world. Apart from the famous sanctuary, decisive role in the great development of Samothrace played also her two ports from which passed the sea road Troas – Macedonia. Furthermore, an important role played as well her possessions in Perea, which were conceded by the Romans at least during the imperial period, as evidenced by inscriptions of the 1st AD century.</p><br>
<p>The Book of Acts in the Christian Bible records that the Apostle Paul, on his second missionary journey outside of Palestine, sailed from Troas to Samothrace and spent one night there on his way to Macedonia.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages to Modern era</h3><br>
<p>St. Theophanes died in Samothrace in 818. The Byzantines ruled until 1204, when Venetians took their place, only to be dislodged by a Genoan family in 1355, the Gattilusi. The Ottoman Empire conquered it in 1457 and it was called Semadirek in Turkish; an insurrection against them by the local population during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1831) led to the massacre of 1,000 inhabitants. The island came under Greek rule in 1913 following the Balkan Wars. It was occupied temporarly by Bulgaria during the Second World War, from 1941 to 1944.</p><br>
<h3>Today</h3><br>
<p>The modern port town of Kamariotissa is on the north-west coast and provides ferry access to and from points in northern Greece such as Alexandroupoli and Kavala. There is no commercial airport on the island. Other sites of interest on the island include the ruins of Genoese forts, the picturesque Chora (literally village) and Paliapoli (literally Old Town), and several waterfalls.</p><br>
<h2>Landmarks</h2><br>
<p>The island&#39;s most famous site is the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, Greek Hieron ton Megalon Theon; the most famous artifact of which is the 2.5-metre marble statue of Nike, now known as the Winged Victory of Samothrace, dating from about 190 BC. It was discovered in pieces on the island in 1863 by the French archaeologist Charles Champoiseau, and is now—headless—in the Louvre in Paris.</p><br>
<h2>Communities</h2><br>
<p>Alonia (pop. 291 in 2011)</p><br>
<p>Ano Karyotes (22)</p><br>
<p>Ano Meria (57)</p><br>
<p>Dafnes (16)</p><br>
<p>Kamariotissa (1,069)</p><br>
<p>Kato Karyotes (41)</p><br>
<p>Katsampas (15)</p><br>
<p>Lakkoma (317)</p><br>
<p>Makrylies (12)</p><br>
<p>Palaiopoli (36)</p><br>
<p>Potamia (6)</p><br>
<p>Profitis Ilias (189)</p><br>
<p>Samothrace/Samothraki (653)</p><br>
<p>Therma (106)</p><br>
<p>Xiropotamos (29)</p><br>
<h2>Province</h2><br>
<p>The province of Samothrace (Επαρχία Σαμοθράκης) was one of the provinces of the Evros Prefecture. It had the same territory as the present municipality. It was abolished in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The website SCP Foundation contains an article which mentions the fictional country of "Eastern Samothrace", supposedly located on the Anatolian Peninsula that also controls certain islands in the Aegean Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Nikolaos Fardys (1853-1901), scholar</p><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal  is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan , to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 42 acre complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.</p><br>
<p>Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (USA $827 million). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.</p><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the worlds heritage". Described by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as "the tear-drop on the cheek of time", it is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of Indias rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts 7–8 million visitors a year. In 2007, it was declared a winner of the New7Wonders of the World (2000–2007) initiative.</p><br>
<h2>Inspiration</h2><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess who died giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The imperial court documenting Shah Jahan&#39;s grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrate the love story held as the inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1643 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished about five years later.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture and design</h2><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayuns Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulahs Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan&#39;s own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.</p><br>
<h3>Tomb</h3><br>
<p>The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. It is a large, white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.</p><br>
<p>The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an unequal eight-sided structure that is approximately 55 m on each of the four long sides. Each side of the iwan is framed with a huge pishtaq or vaulted archway with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level.</p><br>
<p>The most spectacular feature is the marble dome that surmounts the tomb. The dome is nearly 35 m high which is close in measurement to the length of the base, and accentuated by the cylindrical "drum" it sits on which is approximately 7 m high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome or amrud (guava dome). The top is decorated with a lotus design which also serves to accentuate its height. The shape of the dome is emphasised by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners, which replicate the onion shape of the main dome. The dome is slightly asymmetrical. Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial which mixes traditional Persian and Hindustani decorative elements.</p><br>
<p>The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of gilded bronze in the early 19th century. This feature provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif whose horns point heavenward.</p><br>
<p>The minarets, which are each more than 40 m tall, display the designer&#39;s penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minarets—a traditional element of mosques, used by the muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The chattris all share the same decorative elements of a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. The minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.</p><br>
<h3>Exterior decorations</h3><br>
<p>The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes, the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.</p><br>
<p>Throughout the complex are passages from the Qur&#39;an that comprise some of the decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that the passages were chosen by Amanat Khan.</p><br>
<p>The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you." The calligraphy was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq. Shah Jahan conferred the title of "Amanat Khan" upon him as a reward for his "dazzling virtuosity". Near the lines from the Qur&#39;an at the base of the interior dome is the inscription, "Written by the insignificant being, Amanat Khan Shirazi." Much of the calligraphy is composed of florid thuluth script made of jasper or black marble inlaid in white marble panels. Higher panels are written in slightly larger script to reduce the skewing effect when viewed from below. The calligraphy found on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is particularly detailed and delicate.</p><br>
<p>Abstract forms are used throughout, especially in the plinth, minarets, gateway, mosque, jawab and, to a lesser extent, on the surfaces of the tomb. The domes and vaults of the sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms. Herringbone inlays define the space between many of the adjoining elements. White inlays are used in sandstone buildings, and dark or black inlays on the white marbles. Mortared areas of the marble buildings have been stained or painted in a contrasting colour which creates a complex array of geometric patterns. Floors and walkways use contrasting tiles or blocks in tessellation patterns.</p><br>
<p>On the lower walls of the tomb are white marble dados sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of the carvings. The dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and levelled to the surface of the walls.</p><br>
<h4>Interior decoration</h4><br>
<p>The interior chamber of the Taj Mahal reaches far beyond traditional decorative elements. The inlay work is not pietra dura, but a lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones. The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, although only the door facing the garden to the south is used. The interior walls are about 25 m high and are topped by a "false" interior dome decorated with a sun motif. Eight pishtaq arches define the space at ground level and, as with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a second pishtaq about midway up the wall. The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas, and each balcony&#39;s exterior window has an intricate screen or jali cut from marble. In addition to the light from the balcony screens, light enters through roof openings covered by chattris at the corners. The octagonal marble screen or jali bordering the cenotaphs is made from eight marble panels carved through with intricate pierce work. The remaining surfaces are inlaid in delicate detail with semi-precious stones forming twining vines, fruits and flowers. Each chamber wall is highly decorated with dado bas-relief, intricate lapidary inlay and refined calligraphy panels which reflect, in miniature detail, the design elements seen throughout the exterior of the complex.</p><br>
<p>Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves. Hence, the bodies of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan were put in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right, towards Mecca. Mumtaz Mahals cenotaph is placed at the precise centre of the inner chamber on a rectangular marble base of 1.5 by. Both the base and casket are elaborately inlaid with precious and semiprecious gems. Calligraphic inscriptions on the casket identify and praise Mumtaz. On the lid of the casket is a raised rectangular lozenge meant to suggest a writing tablet. Shah Jahans cenotaph is beside Mumtazs to the western side, and is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wifes, but reflects the same elements: a larger casket on a slightly taller base precisely decorated with lapidary and calligraphy that identifies him. On the lid of the casket is a traditional sculpture of a small pen box.</p><br>
<p>The pen box and writing tablet are traditional Mughal funerary icons decorating the caskets of men and women respectively. The Ninety Nine Names of God are calligraphic inscriptions on the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Other inscriptions inside the crypt include, "O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious... ". The tomb of Shah Jahan bears a calligraphic inscription that reads; "He travelled from this world to the banquet-hall of Eternity on the night of the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab, in the year 1076 Hijri."</p><br>
<h3>Garden</h3><br>
<p>The complex is set around a large 300 m square charbagh or Mughal garden.</p><br>
<p>The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. Halfway between the tomb and gateway in the centre of the garden is a raised marble water tank with a reflecting pool positioned on a north-south axis to reflect the image of the mausoleum. The raised marble water tank is called al Hawd al-Kawthar in reference to the "Tank of Abundance" promised to Muhammad.</p><br>
<p>Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees labeled according to common and scientific names and fountains. The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by Babur, the first Mughal emperor. It symbolises the four flowing rivers of Jannah (Paradise) and reflects the Paradise garden derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning walled garden. In mystic Islamic texts of the Mughal period, Paradise is described as an ideal garden of abundance with four rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south and east.</p><br>
<p>Most Mughal charbaghs are rectangular with a tomb or pavilion in the centre. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, is located at the end of the garden. With the discovery of Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden" on the other side of the Yamuna, the interpretation of the Archaeological Survey of India is that the Yamuna river itself was incorporated into the garden&#39;s design and was meant to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise. Similarities in layout and architectural features with the Shalimar Gardens suggests both gardens may have been designed by the same architect, Ali Mardan. Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including abundant roses, daffodils, and fruit trees. As the Mughal Empire declined, the Taj Mahal and its gardens also declined. By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire controlled more than three-fifths of India, and assumed management of the Taj Mahal. They changed the landscaping to their liking which more closely resembled the formal lawns of London.</p><br>
<h3>Outlying buildings</h3><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal complex is bordered on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls; the side facing the river is open. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahans other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtazs favourite servant.</p><br>
<p>The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumental structure built primarily of marble, and reminiscent of the Mughal architecture of earlier emperors. Its archways mirror the shape of the tomb&#39;s archways, and its pishtaq arches incorporate the calligraphy that decorates the tomb. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs like those found in the other sandstone buildings in the complex.</p><br>
<p>At the far end of the complex are two grand red sandstone buildings that mirror each other, and face the sides of the tomb. The backs of the buildings parallel the western and eastern walls. The western building is a mosque and the other is the jawab (answer), thought to have been constructed for architectural balance although it may have been used as a guesthouse. Distinctions between the two buildings include the jawabs lack of a mihrab (a niche in a mosques wall facing Mecca), and its floors of geometric design whereas the floor of the mosque is laid with outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. The mosque&#39;s basic design of a long hall surmounted by three domes is similar to others built by Shah Jahan, particularly the Masjid-i Jahān-Numā, or Jama Masjid, Delhi. The Mughal mosques of this period divide the sanctuary hall into three areas comprising a main sanctuary and slightly smaller sanctuaries on either side. At the Taj Mahal, each sanctuary opens onto an expansive vaulting dome. The outlying buildings were completed in 1643.</p><br>
<h2>Construction</h2><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal is built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the centre of Agra in exchange for the land. An area of roughly 3 acre was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage, and levelled at 50 m above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble to form the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it would take years to dismantle.</p><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty-eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.</p><br>
<p>According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site and teams of twenty or thirty oxen pulled the blocks on specially constructed wagons. An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to a large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.</p><br>
<p>The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab, and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion". Construction of the mausoleum itself was essentially completed by 1643 while work continued on the outlying buildings. Estimates of the cost of construction vary due to difficulties in estimating costs across time. The total cost has been estimated to be about 32 million Indian rupees, which is around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US) based on 2015 values.</p><br>
<h2>Later days</h2><br>
<p>Abdul Hamid Lahauri in his book Badshahnama refers to Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara, meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb.</p><br>
<p>Soon after the Taj Mahals completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahans death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife. In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked the Taj Mahal, the two chandeliers, one of agate and another of silver, which were hung over the main cenotaph, were taken away by them, along with the gold and silver screen. Kanbo, a Mughal historian, said the gold shield which covered the 15 ft finial at the top of the main dome was also removed during the Jat despoliation.</p><br>
<p>By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiselled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodelled with British-style lawns that are still in place today.</p><br>
<h2>Threats</h2><br>
<p>In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force. During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffolding were again erected to mislead bomber pilots.</p><br>
<p>More recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of the Yamuna River including acid rain due to the Mathura Oil Refinery, which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives. The pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400 km&sup2; area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place.</p><br>
<p>Concerns for the tomb&#39;s structural integrity have recently been raised because of a decline in the groundwater level in the Yamuna river basin which is falling at a rate of around 5 ft per year. In 2010, cracks appeared in parts of the tomb, and the minarets which surround the monument were showing signs of tilting, as the wooden foundation of the tomb may be rotting due to lack of water. Although it has been pointed out by politicians, that the minarets are designed to tilt slightly outwards, to prevent them crashing on top of the tomb in the event of an earthquake. In 2011, it was reported that some predictions indicated that the tomb could collapse within 5 years.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than 2 million visitors in 2001, which had increased to about 7–8 million in 2014.</p><br>
<p>The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was originally constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.</p><br>
<p>The grounds are open from 06:00 to 19:00 weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan. For security reasons only five items—water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies&#39; purses—are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.</p><br>
<h2>Myths</h2><br>
<p>Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument. A longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble as a Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river. The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveller who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in Moonlight Garden, Mahtab Bagh, seemed to support this legend. However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discoloured white stones that had turned black. A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Moonlight Garden. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan&#39;s obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.</p><br>
<p>No evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings. No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentincks biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentincks fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort.</p><br>
<p>Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette.</p><br>
<p>In 2000, Indias Supreme Court dismissed P. N. Oaks petition to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal. In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who says that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.</p><br>
<p>A theory that the Taj Mahal was designed by an Italian, Geronimo Vereneo, held sway for a brief period after it was first promoted by Henry George Keene in 1879 who went by a translation of a Spanish work Itinerario, (The Travels of Fray Sebastian Manrique, 1629-1643). Another theory that a Frenchman, Austin of Bordeaux designed the Taj was promoted by William Henry Sleeman based on the work of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. These idea were revived by Father Hosten and discussed again by E.B. Havell and served as the basis for subsequent theories and controversies.</p><br>
<p>Lemnos  is a Greek island in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina. At 477.583 km², it is the 8th-largest island of Greece.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Lemnos is mostly flat (hence its more than 30 sand beaches), but the west, and especially the northwest part, is rough and mountainous. The highest point is Mount Skopia at the altitude of 430 m. The chief towns are Myrina, on the western coast, and Moudros on the eastern shore of a large bay in the middle of the island. Myrina (also called Kastro, meaning "castle") possesses a good harbour, which is in the process of being upgraded through construction of a west-facing sea wall. It is the seat of all trade carried on with the mainland. The hillsides afford pasture for sheep, and Lemnos has a strong husbandry tradition, being famous for its Kalathaki Limnou (PDO), a cheese made from sheep and goat milk and melipasto cheese, and for its yogurt. Fruit and vegetables that grow on the island include almonds, figs, melons, watermelons, tomatoes, pumpkins and olives. The main crops are wheat, barley, sesame; in fact Lemnos was Constantinople&#39;s granary during Byzantine times. Lemnos also produces honey (from thyme-fed bees), but, as is the case with most products of a local nature in Greece, the produced quantities are little more than simply sufficient for the local market. Muscat grapes are grown widely, and are used to produce an unusual table wine that is dry yet has a strong Muscat flavor. Since 1985 the variety and quality of Lemnos wines have increased greatly.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The climate in Lemnos is mainly Mediterranean. Winters are generally mild, but there will be a snowfall occasionally. Strong winds are a feature of the island, especially in August and in winter time, hence its nickname "the wind-ridden one" (in Greek, Ανεμόεσσα). The temperature is typically 2 to 5 degrees Celsius less than in Athens, especially in summertime.</p><br>
<h2>Mythic Lemnos</h2><br>
<p>For ancient Greeks, the island was sacred to Hephaestus, god of metallurgy, who—as he tells himself in Iliad I.590ff—fell on Lemnos when Zeus hurled him headlong out of Olympus. There, he was cared for by the Sinties, according to Iliad, or by Thetis (Apollodorus, Bibliotheke I:3.5), and there with a Thracian nymph Cabiro (a daughter of Proteus) he fathered a tribe called the Kaberoi. Sacred initiatory rites dedicated to them were performed in the island.</p><br>
<p>Hephaestus&#39; forge, which was located on Lemnos, as well as the name Aethaleia, sometimes applied to it, points to its volcanic character. It is said that fire occasionally blazed forth from Mosychlos, one of its mountains. The ancient geographer Pausanias relates that a small island called Chryse, off the Lemnian coast, was swallowed up by the sea. All volcanic action is now extinct.</p><br>
<p>The earliest inhabitants are said to have been a Thracian tribe, whom the Greeks called Sintians, "robbers". The name Lemnos is said by Hecataeus to have been applied in the form of a title to Cybele among the Thracians. The worship of Cybele was characteristic of Thrace, where it had spread from Asia Minor at a very early period. Hypsipyle and Myrina (the name of one of the chief towns) are Amazon names, which are always connected with Asiatic Cybele-worship.</p><br>
<p>According to the epitome of the Bibliotheke traditionally attributed to Apollodorus (Epitome I:9), when Dionysus found Ariadne abandoned on Naxos, he brought her to Lemnos and there fathered Thoas, Staphylus, Oenopion, and Peparethus. Pliny the Elder in his Natural History (xxxvi. 13) speaks of a remarkable labyrinth in Lemnos, which has not been identified in modern times.</p><br>
<p>According to a Hellenic legend, the women were all deserted by their husbands for Thracian women, and in revenge they murdered every man on the island. From this barbarous act, the expression Lemnian deeds became proverbial among the Hellenes. According to Apollonius of Rhodes&#39; Argonautica the Argonauts landing soon after found only women in the island, ruled by Hypsipyle, daughter of the old king Thoas. From the Argonauts and the Lemnian women were descended the race called Minyans, whose king Euneus, son of Jason and Hypsipyle, sent wine and provisions to the Achaeans at Troy. According to later Greek historians, the Minyans were expelled by a Pelasgian tribe who came from Attica.</p><br>
<p>The historical element underlying these traditions is probably that the original Thracian people were gradually brought into communication with the Greeks as navigation began to unite the scattered islands of the Aegean; the Thracian inhabitants were technologically primitive in comparison with the Greek mariners.</p><br>
<p>In another legend, Philoctetes was left on Lemnos by the Greeks on their way to Troy; and there he suffered ten years agony from his wounded foot, until Odysseus and Neoptolemus induced him to accompany them to Troy. According to Sophocles, he lived beside Mount Hermaeus, which Aeschylus makes one of the beacon points to flash the news of Troys downfall home to Argos.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory</h3><br>
<p>The ruins of the oldest human settlement in the Aegean Islands found so far have been unearthed in archaeological excavations on Lemnos by a team of Greek, Italian and American archaeologists at the Ouriakos site on the Louri coast of Fyssini in Moudros municipality. The excavation began in early June 2009 and the finds brought to light, consisting mainly of high quality stone tools, are from the Epipaleolithic Period, indicating a settlement of hunters and gatherers and fishermen of the 12th millennium BC.</p><br>
<p>A rectangular building with a double row of stepped seats on the long sides, at the southwest side of the hill of Poliochne, dates back to the Early Bronze Age and was possibly used as a kind of Bouleuterion.</p><br>
<p>In August and September 1926, members of the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens conducted trial excavations on the island. The overall purpose of the excavations was to shed light on the island&#39;s "Etrusco-Pelasgian" civilization. The excavations were conducted on the site of the city of Hephaistia (i. e., Palaiopolis) where the Pelasgians, according to Herodotus, surrendered to Miltiades of Athens. There, a necropolis (ca. 9th–8th centuries BC) was discovered, revealing bronze objects, pots, and over 130 ossuaries. The ossuaries contained distinctly male and female funeral ornaments. Male ossuaries contained knives and axes whereas female ossuaries contained earrings, bronze pins, necklaces, gold-diadems, and bracelets. The decorations on some of the gold objects contained spirals of Mycenaean origin, but had no Geometric forms. According to their ornamentation, the pots discovered at the site were from the Geometric period. However, the pots also preserved spirals indicative of Mycenaean art. The results of the excavations indicate that the Early Iron Age inhabitants of Lemnos could be a remnant of a Mycenaean population and, in addition, the earliest attested reference to Lemnos is the Mycenaean Greek ra-mi-ni-ja, "Lemnian woman", written in Linear B syllabic script. Professor Della Seta reports:</p><br>
<p>The lack of weapons of bronze, the abundance of weapons of iron, and the type of the pots and the pins gives the impression that the necropolis belongs to the ninth or eighth century B.C. That it did not belong to a Greek population, but to a population which, in the eyes of the Hellenes, appeared barbarous, is shown by the weapons. The Greek weapon, dagger or spear, is lacking: the weapons of the barbarians, the axe and the knife, are common. Since, however, this population … preserves so many elements of Mycenaean art, the Tyrrhenians or Pelasgians of Lemnos may be recognized as a remnant of a Mycenaean population.</p><br>
<h3>Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>Homer speaks as if there were one town in the island called Lemnos. In Classical times there were two towns, Myrina (also called Kastro) and Hephaistia, which was the chief town. Coins from Hephaestia are found in considerable number, and various types including the goddess Athena with her owl, native religious symbols, the caps of the Dioscuri, Apollo, etc. Few coins of Myrina are known. They belong to the period of Attic occupation, and bear Athenian types. A few coins are also known which bear the name of the whole island, rather than of either city.</p><br>
<p>A trace of the Lemnian language is found on a 6th-century inscription on a funerary stele, the Lemnos stele. Lemnos later adopted the Attic dialect of Athens.</p><br>
<p>Coming down to a better authenticated period, it is reported that Lemnos was conquered by Otanes, a general of Darius Hystaspis. But soon (510 BC) it was reconquered by Miltiades the Younger, the tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese. Miltiades later returned to Athens and Lemnos was an Athenian possession until the Macedonian empire absorbed it.</p><br>
<p>In 197 BC, the Romans declared it free, but in 166 BC gave it over to Athens which retained nominal possession of it until the whole of Greece was made a province of the Roman Republic in 146 BC. After the division of the Roman Empire in 395, Lemnos passed to the Byzantine Empire.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages</h3><br>
<p>As a province of the Byzantine Empire, Lemnos belonged to the theme of the Aegean Sea, and was a target of Saracen raids in the 10th century and of Seljuk raids in the 11th century. Following the dissolution and division of the Empire after the Fourth Crusade, Lemnos (known by Westerners as Stalimene) was apportioned to the Latin Empire, and given as a fief to the Navigajoso family under the Venetian (or possibly of mixed Greek and Venetian descent) megadux Filocalo Navigajoso. Filocalo died in 1214, and was succeeded by his son Leonardo and his daughters, who partitioned the island into three fiefs between them. Leonardo retained the title of megadux of the Latin Empire and half the island with the capital, Kastro, while his sisters and their husbands received one quarter each with the fortresses of Moudros and Kotsinos. Leonardo died in 1260 and was succeeded by his son Paolo Navigajoso, who resisted Byzantine attempts at reconquest until his death during a siege of the island by the Byzantine admiral Licario in 1277. Resistance continued by his wife, but in 1278 the Navigajosi were forced to capitulate and cede the island back to Byzantium.</p><br>
<p>During the last centuries of Byzantium, Lemnos played a prominent role: following the loss of Asia Minor, it was a major source of food, and it played an important role in the recurring civil wars of the 14th century. As the Ottoman threat mounted in the 15th century, possession of Lemnos was demanded by Alfonso V of Aragon in exchange for offering assistance to the beleaguered Byzantines, while the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, offered it to the Genoese captain Giustiniani Longo, if the Ottoman besiegers were driven off. Dorino I Gattilusio, the ruler of Lesbos, also acquired Lemnos as his fief shortly before the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman period</h3><br>
<p>Following the Fall of Constantinople, and thanks to the intercession of Michael Critobulus, the Dorino I Gattilusios possession of Lemnos (and Thasos) was recognized by Sultan Mehmed II, in exchange for an annual tribute of 2,325 gold coins. When Dorino died in 1455, his son and successor Domenico was only granted for Lemnos, however. Mehmed granted a special legal charter (kanun-name) to Lemnos, Imbros, and Thasos, at this time, later revised by Selim I in 1519. In 1457, the island was captured by a Papal fleet under Cardinal Ludovico Scarampi Mezzarota. Pope Callixtus III hoped to establish a new military order on the island, which controlled the exit of the Dardanelles, but nothing came of it as Ismail Bey soon recovered Lemnos for the Sultan.</p><br>
<p>In 1464, during the First Ottoman–Venetian War, Lemnos and other former Gattilusi possessions were seized by the Venetians, but were returned to the Ottomans by the 1479 Treaty of Constantinople. In the aftermath, the Kapudan Pasha, Gedik Ahmed, repaired the island&#39;s fortifications and brought in settlers from Anatolia. At this time, the administration of the island was also reformed and brought in line with Ottoman practice, with a governor (voevoda), judge (kadi), and elders (kodjabashis) heading the local Greek inhabitants. In the late 16th century, Lemnos is recorded, along with Chios, as "the only prosperous island of the Archipelago". It had 74 villages, of which 3 were inhabited by Turkish Muslims.</p><br>
<p>In July 1656, during the Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War, the Venetians captured the island again following a major victory over the Ottoman fleet. The Ottomans under Topal Mehmed Pasha recovered it barely a year later, on 15 November 1657, after besieging the capital of Kastro for 63 days. In 1770, Kastro was besieged again for 60 days by Count Orlov during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774. The fortress had just surrendered when an attack by the Ottoman fleet on the Russian vessels in Mudros Bay forced the Russians to withdraw (24 October 1770). The famous Sufi poet Niyazi Misri was exiled here for several years during the late 17th century.</p><br>
<p>Under Ottoman rule, Lemnos initially belonged to the sanjaks of Gallipoli or Mytilene under the Eyalet of the Archipelago, but was constituted as a separate sanjak in the reforms of the mid-19th century, at the latest by 1846. Abolished in 1867, it was re-formed in 1879 and existed until the islands capture by the Greeks in 1912. It comprised the islands of Lemnos (Limni in Turkish), Agios Efstratios (Bozbada), Imbros (Imroz) and Tenedos (Bozcaada). The French scholar Vital Cuinet, in his 1896 work La Turquie dAsie, recorded a population of 27,079, of which 2,450 were Muslims and the rest Greek Orthodox.</p><br>
<h3>Modern period</h3><br>
<p>On 8 October 1912, during the First Balkan War, Lemnos became part of Greece. The Greek navy under Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis took it over without any casualties from the occupying Turkish Ottoman garrison, who were returned to Anatolia. Peter Charanis, born on the island in 1908 and later a professor of Byzantine history at Rutgers University recounts when the island was occupied and Greek soldiers were sent to the villages and stationed themselves in the public squares. Some of the children ran to see what Greek soldiers looked like. ‘‘What are you looking at?’’ one of them asked. ‘‘At Hellenes,’’ the children replied. ‘‘Are you not Hellenes yourselves?’’ a soldier retorted. ‘‘No, we are Romans."</p><br>
<p>Moudros Bay became a forward anchorage for the Greek fleet, which enabled it to keep watch on the Dardanelles and prevent a foray by the Ottoman Navy into the Aegean. The Ottomans&#39; two attempts to achieve this were beaten back in the battles of Elli and Lemnos. Thus the Ottomans were prevented from supplying and reinforcing their land forces in Macedonia by sea, a critical factor in the success of the Balkan League in the war.</p><br>
<p>During World War I, the Allies in early 1915 used the island to try to capture the Dardanelles Straits, some 50 km away. This was done chiefly by the British and largely through the enthusiasm of Winston Churchill. The harbour at Moudros was put under the control of British Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, who was ordered to prepare the then largely unused harbour for operations against the Dardanelles.</p><br>
<p>The harbour was broad enough for British and French warships, but lacked suitable military facilities, which was recognized early on. Troops intended for Gallipoli had to train in Egypt; and the port found it difficult to cope with casualties of the ill-starred Gallipoli campaign. The campaign was called off in evident failure at the close of 1915. Moudros&#39; importance receded, although it remained the Allied base for the blockade of the Dardanelles during the war. The town of Lemnos, Victoria, Australia, established in 1927 as a soldier settlement zone for returning First World War soldiers, was named after the island. There are three Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries on the island, the first one for the 352 Allied soldiers in Portianou, the second one for the 148 Australian and 76 New Zealander soldiers in the town of Moudros and the third one for the Ottoman soldiers (170 Egyptian and 56 Turkish soldiers).</p><br>
<p>In late October 1918, the armistice between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies was signed at Moudros.</p><br>
<p>After the Red Army victory in the Russian Civil War, many Kuban Cossacks fled the country to avoid persecution from the Bolsheviks. A notable evacuation point was the Greek island of Lemnos where 18,000 Kuban Cossacks landed, though many later died of starvation and disease. Most left the island after a year.</p><br>
<p>Today the island of Lemnos (Limnos) has about 30 villages and settlements. The province includes the island of Agios Efstratios to the southwest which has some exceptional beaches and one of the two deserts in Europe (the other being Błędów Desert in Poland).</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The present municipality of Lemnos was formed on the merger of the following four former municipalities, each of which became municipal units, following the 2011 local government reform:</p><br>
<p>Atsiki</p><br>
<p>Moudros</p><br>
<p>Myrina</p><br>
<p>Nea Koutali</p><br>
<p>Lemnos and the smaller island of Agios Efstratios previously formed part of Lesbos Prefecture. In 2011, the prefecture was abolished and Lemnos and Agios Efstratios now form Lemnos Regional Unit. Lemnos Province, abolished in 2006, comprised the same territory as the present regional unit.</p><br>
<h3>Subdivisions</h3><br>
<p>The municipal units of Atsiki, Moudros, Myrina and Nea Koutali are subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):</p><br>
<p>Atsiki</p><br>
<p>Agios Dimitrios</p><br>
<p>Atsiki (Atsiki, Propouli)</p><br>
<p>Dafni</p><br>
<p>Karpasi</p><br>
<p>Katalakko</p><br>
<p>Sardes</p><br>
<p>Varos (Varos, Aerolimin)</p><br>
<p>Moudros</p><br>
<p>Fisini (Fisini, Agia Sofia)</p><br>
<p>Kalliopi</p><br>
<p>Kaminia (Kaminia, Voroskopos)</p><br>
<p>Kontopouli (Kontopouli, Agios Alexandros, Agios Theodoros)</p><br>
<p>Lychna (Lychna, Anemoessa)</p><br>
<p>Moudros (Moudros, Koukonisi)</p><br>
<p>Panagia (Panagia, Kortisonas)</p><br>
<p>Plaka</p><br>
<p>Repanidi (Repanidi, Kotsinos)</p><br>
<p>Roussopouli</p><br>
<p>Romano</p><br>
<p>Skandali</p><br>
<p>Myrina</p><br>
<p>Myrina (Myrina, incl. Androni)</p><br>
<p>Thanos (Thanos, Paralia Thanous)</p><br>
<p>Kaspakas (Kaspakas, Agios Ioannis, Gali, Limenaria)</p><br>
<p>Kornos (Kornos, Psylloi)</p><br>
<p>Platy (Platy, Paralia Plateos, Plagisos Molos)</p><br>
<p>Nea Koutali</p><br>
<p>Angariones</p><br>
<p>Kallithea</p><br>
<p>Kontias</p><br>
<p>Livadochori (Livadochori, Poliochni)</p><br>
<p>Nea Koutali</p><br>
<p>Pedino (Neo Pedino, Palaio Pedino, Vounaria)</p><br>
<p>Portianou</p><br>
<p>Tsimandria</p><br>
<h2>Socio-economic data</h2><br>
<p>In 2001 the island had 12,116 regular dwellings, of which 65% were stone-built, and 90.2% had pitched roofs made of red tiles (source: 18.3.2001 Census, National Statistical Service of Greece).</p><br>
<p>The island&#39;s economically active population in 2001 was 6,602. Of them, 12% were employers, 20.5% self-employed, 55.3% wage-earners, 7.1% unpaid, auxiliary family members, and 5.1% did not declare line of occupation. Of the economically active population, 17.9% worked in agriculture, 5.3% in light manufacturing, 11% in construction, 6.7% in hotels & restaurants, and the rest in other lines of business (source: 2001 Census, National Statistical Service of Greece).</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>The only airport is Lemnos International Airport, 18 km east of Myrina. The island is well served by ferries from Piraeus (Athens), Laurium, Thessaloniki and Kavala.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Alcamenes (5th century BC); sculptor</p><br>
<p>Ilias Iliou (1904 – 1985); politician, leader of United Democratic Left</p><br>
<p>Rallis Kopsidis (1929 - 2010); painter, writer</p><br>
<p>Antonis Diamataris (1950); Editor and Publisher of Ethnikos Kirikas/The National Herald</p><br>
<p>Stelios Roccos (1965), musician, singer</p><br>
<p>George Roumeliotis (1964), astrophysicist and data scientist</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Lemnos serves as the inspiration for the fictional island nation of "Altis" in the 2013 PC video game ARMA 3 by Czech developers Bohemia Interactive. Despite Altis being scaled down to only 75% of Lemnos size, and featuring in a storyline set in the 2030s, the layout of the islands landscape, roads and settlements closely resembles that of its real-life counterpart and several of Lemnos&#39; landmarks, such as the fortress at Myrina, the theatre at Hephaistia and the windmills near Kontias, are recreated in the game.</p><br>
<p>Early in ArmA 3s development, its storyline was to take place on Lemnos itself, but a shift in direction led to the fictionalisation of the setting. The games depiction of Lemnos led to controversy when two Bohemia Interactive employees were arrested under charges of spying, while holidaying on the island in September 2012. The pair were detained for 129 days before being released on bail.§</p><br>
<p>A big part of ANZAC Girls (Australian TV Series from 2014) take place in Lemnos, following the story of Australian nurses during the Gallipoli campaign.</p><br>
<p>Some scenes in the popular Korean drama Descendants of the Sun were shot in Lemnos.</p><br>
<p>The Portage Lakes are a group of glacial kettle lakes and reservoirs in Northeast Ohio. The name comes from an old Indian portage path that connected the Cuyahoga River flowing north to Lake Erie and the Tuscarawas River, a tributary of the Muskingum River, which flows south to the Ohio River. This proved advantageous for the Indians and early settlers as navigation from Lake Erie to the Ohio was possible with only an eight-mile portage. Portage Lakes State Park lies at one of the highest points of the state and on a major watershed divide in Ohio. Some water from the lakes reaches Lake Erie and some flows to the Ohio River.</p><br>
<p>There is an unincorporated community named Portage Lakes in Summit County, near 41&deg;00&prime;26&Prime;N latitude, 081&deg;31&prime;37&Prime;W longitude Elevation: 1,053 ft, in the area.</p><br>
<p>The area became an important trading post for settlers and Indians. It was a recognized landmark during the War of 1812, serving as a rendezvous point of American troops. The old Indian portage path was part of the ancient boundary between the Six Nations and the Western Indians.</p><br>
<p>The city of Akron was laid out in 1825 and was first settled by Irish laborers and others working on the Ohio and Erie Canal. Once the canal was completed, the town flourished. Several important industries brought prosperity to the area including stoneware potteries, sewer pipe manufacturing, the match industry and, most recently, the tire and rubber industry. At one time, the Blue Diamond Match Company in Akron used three million board feet (7,000 m³) of white pine lumber per year for the manufacture of its matches.</p><br>
<p>Several of the Portage Lakes were built as feeder reservoirs for the canals to maintain the required depth of 4 ft. The lakes were used for this purpose until the canals were abandoned in 1913. The lakes were then used to meet the water needs of the local industries. Some portions of the remnant canals in the Akron area can still be boated.</p><br>
<p>The Ohio Department of Public Works maintained the canal lands for recreational purposes until 1949 when the Portage Lakes were transferred to the newly formed Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation.</p><br>
<h2>Watershed</h2><br>
<h3>Lakes</h3><br>
<p>East Reservoir</p><br>
<p>West Reservoir</p><br>
<p>Turkeyfoot Lake</p><br>
<p>Rex Lake</p><br>
<p>Mud Lake</p><br>
<p>Nimisila Reservoir</p><br>
<p>Miller Lake</p><br>
<p>Dollar Lake</p><br>
<p>Long Lake</p><br>
<p>North Reservoir</p><br>
<p>Grape Lake</p><br>
<p>Hower Lake</p><br>
<p>Nesmith Lake</p><br>
<p>Cithaeron or Kithairon  is a mountain and mountain range about 10 mi  long, in central Greece. The range is the physical boundary between Boeotia in the north and Attica in the south. It is mainly composed of limestone and rises to 4,623 ft . the northeast side of the range is formed by the mountain Pastra.</p><br>
<p>The range was the scene of many events in Greek mythology and was especially sacred to Dionysus. In Euripides&#39;s Bacchae, Dionysus carries out his dances and rites with his bacchants, his priestesses, on Cithaeron. Oedipus was exposed on the mountain, while Actaeon and Pentheus were both dismembered on its slopes. It was also the place where Heracles hunted and killed the Lion of Cithaeron.</p><br>
<p>In historic times, the mountain acted as a backdrop to the Battle of Plataea of 479 BC and was the scene of much skirmishing before the battle itself. In later times fortifications were built both at Plataea and Erythrai as the mountain formed the disputed natural border between Athens and Thebes.</p><br>
<p>The people of Plataea also personified the mountain as their primal king: "But the Plataeans know of no king except Asopus and Cithaeron before him, holding that the latter gave his name to the mountain, the former to the river". (Pausanias )</p><br>
<p>Side  is an ancient Greek city on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, a resort town and one of the best-known classical sites in the country. It lies near Manavgat and the village of Selimiye, 78 km from Antalya in the province of Antalya.</p><br>
<p>It is located on the eastern part of the Pamphylian coast, which lies about 20 km east of the mouth of the Eurymedon River. Today, as in antiquity, the ancient city is situated on a small north-south peninsula about 1 km long and 400 m across.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Strabo and Arrian both record that Side was founded by Greek settlers from Cyme in Aeolis, a region of western Anatolia. This most likely occurred in the 7th century BC. Its tutelary deity was Athena, whose head adorned its coinage.</p><br>
<p>Dating from the tenth century B.C., its coinage bore the head of Athena (Minerva), the patroness of the city, with a legend. Its people, a piratical horde, quickly forgot their own language to adopt that of the aborigines.</p><br>
<p>Possessing a good harbour for small-craft boats, Sides natural geography made it one of the most important places in Pamphylia and one of the most important trade centres in the region. According to Arrian, when settlers from Cyme came to Side, they could not understand the dialect. After a short while, the influence of this indigenous tongue was so great that the newcomers forgot their native Greek and started using the language of Side. Excavations have revealed several inscriptions written in this language. The inscriptions, dating from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, remain undeciphered, but testify that the local language was still in use several centuries after colonisation. Another object found in the excavations at Side, a basalt column base from the 7th century BC and attributable to the Neo-Hittites, provides further evidence of the sites early history. The name Side may be Anatolian in origin, meaning pomegranate.</p><br>
<p>Next to no information exists concerning Side under Lydian and Persian sovereignty.</p><br>
<h3>Alexander the Great</h3><br>
<p>Alexander the Great occupied Side without a struggle in 333 BC. Alexander left only a single garrison behind to occupy the city. This occupation, in turn, introduced the people of Side to Hellenistic culture, which flourished from the 4th to the 1st century BC. After Alexanders death, Side fell under the control of one of Alexanders generals, Ptolemy I Soter, who declared himself king of Egypt in 305 BC. The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Side until it was captured by the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC. Yet, despite these occupations, Side managed to preserve some autonomy, grew prosperous, and became an important cultural centre.</p><br>
<p>In 190 BC a fleet from the Greek island city-state of Rhodes, supported by Rome and Pergamum, defeated the Seleucid King Antiochus the Great&#39;s fleet, which was under the command of the fugitive Carthaginian general Hannibal. The defeat of Hannibal and Antiochus the Great meant that Side freed itself from the overlord-ship of the Seleucid Empire. The Treaty of Apamea (188 BC) forced Antiochus to abandon all European territories and to cede all of Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains to Pergamum. However, the dominion of Pergamum only reached de facto as far as Perga, leaving Eastern Pamphylia in a state of uncertain freedom. This led Attalus II Philadelphus to construct a new harbour in the city of Attalia (the present Antalya), although Side already possessed an important harbour of its own. Between 188 and 36 BC Side minted its own money, tetradrachms showing Nike and a laurel wreath (the sign of victory).</p><br>
<p>In the 1st century BC, Side reached a peak when the Cilician pirates established their chief naval base and a centre for their slave-trade.</p><br>
<h3>Romans</h3><br>
<p>The consul Servilius Vatia defeated these brigands in 78 BC and later the Roman general Pompey in 67 BC, bringing Side under the control of Rome and beginning its second period of ascendancy, when it established and maintained a good working relationship with the Roman Empire.</p><br>
<p>Emperor Augustus reformed the state administration and placed Pamphylia and Side in the Roman province of Galatia in 25 BC, after the short reign of Amyntas of Galatia between 36 and 25 BC. Side began another prosperous period as a commercial centre in Asia Minor through its trade in olive oil. Its population grew to 60,000 inhabitants. This period would last well into the 3rd century AD. Side also established itself as a slave-trading centre in the Mediterranean. Its large commercial fleet engaged in acts of piracy, while wealthy merchants paid for such tributes as public works, monuments, and competitions as well as the games and gladiator fights. Most of the extant ruins at Side date from this period of prosperity.</p><br>
<p>Side was the home of Eustathius of Antioch, of the philosopher Troilus, of the fifth-century ecclesiastical writer Philip; of the famous lawyer Tribonian.</p><br>
<h3>Decline</h3><br>
<p>Side began a steady decline from the 4th century on. Even defensive walls could not stop successive invasions of highlanders from the Taurus Mountains. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Side experienced a revival, and became the seat of the Bishopric of Eastern Pamphylia. Arab fleets, nevertheless, raided and burned Side during the 7th century, contributing to its decline. The combination of earthquakes, Christian zealots and Arab raids, left the site abandoned by the 10th century, its citizens having emigrated to nearby Antalya.</p><br>
<p>In the 12th century, Side temporarily established itself once more as a large city. An inscription found on the site of the former ancient city shows a considerable Jewish population in early Byzantine times. However, Side was abandoned again after being sacked. Its population moved to Antalya, and Side became known as Eski Adalia Old Antalya and was buried.</p><br>
<h3>Ecclesiastical history</h3><br>
<p>As capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Prima, Side was ecclesiastically the metropolitan see. The earliest known bishop was Epidaurus, presiding at the Synod of Ancyra, 314. Others are John, fourth century; Eustathius, 381; Amphilochius, 426-458, who played an important part in the history of the time; Conon, 536; Peter, 553; John, 680-692; Mark, 879; Theodore, 1027-1028; Anthimus, present at the synod held at Constantinople in 1054; John, then counsellor to the Emperor Michael VII Ducas, presided at a council on the worship of images, 1082; Theodosius and his successor Nicetas, twelfth century. John, present at a synod at Constantinople in 1156. The Notitiae Episcopatuum continued to mention Side as a metropolis of Pamphylia until the thirteenth century. It does not appear in the "Notitia" of Andronicus III. From other documents we learn that in 1315 and for some time previous to that, Sidon had bishops of its own — the Bishop of Sinope was called to the position, but was unable to leave his own diocese; this call was repeated in 1338 and 1345. In 1397 the diocese was united with that of Attalia; in 1400 the Metropolitan of Perge and Attalia was at the same time the administrator of Side.</p><br>
<p>No longer a residential see, Side is today included in the Catholic Church&#39;s list of titular sees.</p><br>
<h2>Ruins</h2><br>
<p>The great ruins are among the most notable in Asia Minor. They cover a large promontory where a wall and a moat separate it from the mainland. During medieval times, the wall and moat were repaired and the promontory houses a wealth of structures.</p><br>
<p>There are colossal ruins of a theatre complex, the largest of Pamphylia, built much like a Roman amphitheatre that relies on arches to support the sheer verticals. The Roman style was adopted because Side lacked a convenient hillside that could be hollowed out in the usual Greek fashion more typical of Asia Minor. The theatre is less preserved than the theatre at Aspendos, but it is almost as large, seating 15,000–20,000 people. With time and the shifting of the earth, the scena wall has collapsed over the stage and the proscenium is in a cataract of loose blocks. It was converted into an open-air sanctuary with two chapels during Byzantine times (5th or 6th century).</p><br>
<p>The well-preserved city walls provide an entrance to the site through the Hellenistic main gate (Megale Pyle) of the ancient city, although this gate from the 2nd century BC is badly damaged. Next comes the colonnaded street, whose marble columns are no longer extant; all that remains are a few broken stubs near the old Roman baths. The street leads to the public bath, restored as a museum displaying statues and sarcophagi from the Roman period. Next is the square agora with the remains of the round Tyche and Fortuna temple (2nd century BC), a periptery with twelve columns, in the middle. In later times it was used as a trading centre where pirates sold slaves. The remains of the theatre, which was used for gladiator fights and later as a church, and the monumental gate date back to the 2nd century. The early Roman Temple of Dionysus is near the theatre. The fountain gracing the entrance is restored. At the left side are the remains of a Byzantine Basilica. A public bath has also been restored.</p><br>
<p>The remaining ruins of Side include three temples, an aqueduct, and a nymphaeum. Side&#39;s nymphaeum &ndash; a grotto with a natural water supply dedicated to the nymphs &ndash; was an artificial grotto or fountain building of elaborate design.</p><br>
<p>There is also a virtually unknown, but expansive site, up in the Taurus foothills, several miles inland, known locally as Seleucia. Virtually unknown to the outside world and not represented on the internet at all, it is the Roman garrison, built by Marc Anthony, to support the city of Side. It covers at least a couple of square miles and is almost completely unexcavated, apart from two weeks in 1975, when the Turkish government funded two weeks of excavations. The site was, apparently, finally abandoned in the 7th century, when an earthquake caused the spring which fed the site with water to dry up completely. Many of the buildings are in remarkably good shape, particularly since, due to the lack of available stone, a significant quantity of the sites stonework contains egg and gravel based concrete blocks.</p><br>
<p>Turkish archaeologists have been excavating Side since 1947 and intermittently continue to do so.</p><br>
<h2>Today</h2><br>
<p>In 1895 Turkish Muslim refugees from Crete moved to the ruined town and called it Selimiye. Today, Side has become a popular holiday destination and is experiencing a revival.</p><br>
<p>It was a popular spot for watching the solar eclipse of March 29, 2006.</p><br>
<p>Salamis , is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile  off-coast from Piraeus and about 16 km west of Athens. The chief city, Salamina, lies in the west-facing core of the crescent on Salamis Bay, which opens into the Saronic Gulf. On the Eastern side of the island is its main port, Paloukia, in size second in Greece only to Piraeus, the port of Athens.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The traditional etymology of Salamis derives it from the eponymous nymph Salamis, the mother of Cychreus, the legendary first king of the island. A more modern theory considers "Salamis" to come from the root sal salt and -amis middle; thus Salamis would be the place amid salt water. Some scholars connect it to the Semitic root Š-L-M health, safety, peace, because of the well-sheltered harbor.</p><br>
<p>From at least the 13th century until the 19th century, the town, the island, and the bay of Salamis were called Koulouri (Κουλούρι), presumably because it was round like the bread called koulouri. The ancient name was revived in the 19th century. The name Koulouri is still used informally for the town.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Salamis is mentioned in Homer&#39;s writings.</p><br>
<p>Salamis was probably first colonised by Aegina and later occupied by Megara, but became an Athenian possession in the time of Solon or Peisistratos, following the war between Athens and Megara around 600 BC. According to Strabo, the ancient capital was at the south of the island; in classical times it was to the east, on the Kamatero Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Salamis; in modern times it is on the west.</p><br>
<p>According to Homer&#39;s Iliad, Salamis took part in the Trojan War with twelve ships under the leadership of Ajax (Aias).</p><br>
<p>Salamis island is known for the Battle of Salamis, the decisive naval victory of the allied Greek fleet, led by Themistocles, over the Persian Empire in 480 BC. It is said to be the birthplace of Ajax and Euripides, the latter&#39;s birth being popularly placed on the day of the battle. In modern times, it is home to Salamis Naval Base, headquarters for the Hellenic Navy.</p><br>
<p>The oldest known counting board was discovered on Salamis Island in 1899. It is thought to have been used by the Babylonians in about 300 BC and is more of a gaming board rather than a calculating device. It is marble, about 150 x, and has carved Greek symbols and parallel grooves.</p><br>
<p>During the German invasion of Greece in World War II, the harbor was bombed by the Luftwaffe on April 23, 1941, sinking the Greek battleships and.</p><br>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s, during the military junta period, changes in land legislation allowed the subdivision of land plots. This opened the island to massive unplanned and unregulated urban and suburban development, including many weekend homes, especially along the northern and eastern coasts. The lack of corresponding investment in infrastructure, combined with heavy industry, has led to sea and beach pollution on this side of the island. There are, however, ongoing initiatives such as help from the European Union’s Cohesion Fund toward improving sewerage by 2008.</p><br>
<p>An oil spill occurred off the coast of Salamis Island in September 2017.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Salamis has an area of 36 square miles; its highest point is Mavrovouni at 1,325 ft. A significant part of Salamis Island is rocky and mountainous. On the southern part of the island a pine forest is located, which is unusual for western Attica. Unfortunately, this forest is often a target for fires. While the inland inhabitants are mainly employed within the agricultural sector, the majority of Salamis inhabitants work in maritime occupations (fishing, ferries, and the islands shipyards) or commute to work in Athens. The maritime industry is focused on the north-east coast of the island at the port of Paloukia (Παλούκια), where ferries to mainland Greece are based, and in the dockyards of Ampelakia and the north side of the Kynosoura peninsula.</p><br>
<p>Salamis Island is very popular for holiday and weekend visits from the Athens and Piraeus area; its population rises to 300,000 in peak season of which c. 31,000 are permanent inhabitants. This supports a strong service industry sector, with many cafes, bars, ouzeries, tavernas and consumer goods shops throughout the island. On the south of the island, away from the port, there are a number of less developed areas with good swimming beaches including those of Aianteio, Maroudi, Perani, Peristeria, Kolones, Saterli, Selenia and Kanakia.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>Salamis Island belongs to the Islands regional unit of the Attica region. Since the 2011 local government reform the island is administered as one municipality. Before, the island was divided into two municipalities, that became municipal units at the reform:</p><br>
<p>Salamina</p><br>
<p>Ampelakia</p><br>
<p>In the municipal unit of Salamina, which has a land area of 80.992 km² and a 2011 census population of 31,776, the chief population centre is the city of Salamina (also called Salamis, Salamis City or Koulouris, pop. 25,888 in 2011), consisting of the districts Alonia, Agios Minas, Agios Dimitrios, Agios Nikolaos, Boskos, Nea Salamina, Tsami and Vourkari. Its second-largest town is Aiánteio (pop. 5,888). In the municipal unit of Ampelakia, which has a land area of 15.169 km² and a population of 7,507, the largest towns are Ampelakia (pop. 4,998) and Selinia (2,509).</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<p>As of the mid-20th century, the majority of the inhabitants were Arvanite; a thing that changed during the past 20 years due to settlement of a lot of Athenians on the island to the degree that nowadays Arvanites are a fraction of the population, living mainly in Salamina town, Ampelakia and Moulki (Aianteion). The island is known in Arvanitika as Κȣλλȣρι ("Koullouri").</p><br>
<h2>Villages in the municipal unit of Salamina</h2><br>
<h3>Paloukia</h3><br>
<p>Paloukia (Greek: Παλούκια, population 1,695) is located in the northeast of the island. Many ferryboats, fishing vessels and port police craft dock in this harbor. Paloukia is the base for the port police department of Salamina.</p><br>
<p>Most visitors who come to Salamina first arrive at Paloukia via ferryboats that run between Paloukia and Perama or Piraeus.</p><br>
<p>The area is adjacent to the Salamis Naval Base (in Greek Nafstathmos), which is a major base of the Hellenic Navy.</p><br>
<h3>Aianteio</h3><br>
<p>Aianteio (Greek: Αιάντειο, population 4,860 as of March 16, 2011) is a large village in the southwestern part of Salamis Island and is named after Ajax, "King of the Salamis", from Homer&#39;s Iliad. The village was known as Moulki (Μούλκι) until 1915. In the region, there are churches from the 11th and 12th centuries such as Saint John and Saint Dimitrios.</p><br>
<p>Interesting places to visit are:</p><br>
<p>the oldest church in the island, Saint John the "Kalyvitis", which dates back to the 10th century and has remarkable hagiographies</p><br>
<p>the monastery of Saint Nicolas which dates back to the 18th century and is situated in a forest.</p><br>
<h3>Batsi</h3><br>
<p>Batsi (Greek: Μπατσί) is a little community (population 212) in the north of Salamis, in the municipality of Salamis, located at the foot of a piney mountain, about 6 to 8 km east of Megara.</p><br>
<p>In the mountain, there is a cave of archeological interest that has not been investigated yet. In the winter there are few tourists; it is more popular with vacationers from Athens during the summer months.</p><br>
<h3>Kaki Vigla</h3><br>
<p>Kaki Vigla (Greek: Κακή Βίγλα) is a small community (population 236) located at the south of Salamis Island, near Aianteio.</p><br>
<p>The beaches of Kaki Vigla are relatively clean and the area has pine and olive trees near the shore.</p><br>
<h3>Agios Georgios</h3><br>
<p>A new village, founded in 1960.</p><br>
<h3>Peristeria</h3><br>
<p>Peristeria (Greek: Περιστέρια, population 456) is a small village in the southeast of the island 45 km from Salamis City. It took its name from the bird of peace, the dove (Greek: περιστέρι), because it is a calm, peaceful and isolated place, away from the cars and from noise. Another interpretation says that its name may be derived from the doves which were living and had nests in the area.The area has a marina, which has yachts and fishing boats. The beaches of Peristeria are the cleanest of Salamis. The village is near the Cave of Euripides, associated with the famous ancient playwright.</p><br>
<h3>Psili Ammos</h3><br>
<p>Psili Ammos (Greek: Ψιλή Άμμος, population 271), which means Fine Sand is so named because it is covered with sand. The area is located at the northwest of the island opposite of Elefsina. In the area there is one of the oldest landmarks, the chantry of Saint Grigorios (Saint Gregory).</p><br>
<h3>Steno</h3><br>
<p>Steno (Greek: Στενό, population 985), which means Narrow in Greek, is a small community in the northwest of Salamis Island. The area is separated from Fanaromeni Monastery by a hill with shrubs and pine trees. The area is adjacent to the bay of Agios Georgios. Steno has wide and well-planned roads.</p><br>
<h3>Vasilika</h3><br>
<p>Vasilika (Greek: Βασιλικά, population 4,264) which means Royal is a big village located in the northwest of the island. Vasilika is the third largest area in Salamis by population after Salamis City and Aianteio. Vasilika has a sandy large beach apt for swimming.</p><br>
<h3>Xeno</h3><br>
<p>Xeno (Greek: Ξένο "foreign", population 786) is located in the northwest corner of the island. The area was so named because the first residents were not from Salamis but from nearby Piraeus.</p><br>
<h2>Villages in the municipal unit of Ampelakia</h2><br>
<h3>Kynosoura</h3><br>
<p>Kynosoura (Greek: Κυνόσουρα) (Greek: κυνός-ουρά "dog&#39;s tail") is a small peninsula located in the east of the island. The name probably comes from the shape of the peninsula, long and thin and pointed at the end. In the south are a few houses (population 69). In the north are the remains of an ancient tumulus thought to be the burial site of Greek warriors in the Battle of Salamis. Nearby is a dockyard, which constructs and fixes ships including oil tankers and containers.</p><br>
<h3>Selinia</h3><br>
<p>Selinia (Greek: Σελήνια, population 2.523) is a resort located a few kilometers southeast of Salamis city. Selinia once was the weekend resort of many Athenians due to its proximity to Piraeus and Athens. Selinia also features restaurants and taverns</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<h3>Education</h3><br>
<p>Salamis island has eleven primary schools (ten public and one private), four high schools, and four lycees. The majority of students are proficient in school, and the pupils (above 13 years) usually have acquired diplomas and certificates in English, in French, or in German such as ECCE, FCE, CPE, and ECPE. Many students from Salamis island also possess many computer skills. Many students also study abroad in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the pupils went to Italy for studies since it was close to Greece.</p><br>
<h3>Recreational areas</h3><br>
<p>In Salamis Bay, a visitor can find many bars, cafeterias, beaches, and shops. The main cafeterias and bars are based in Agios Nikolaos, which is located in the western suburbs of Salamis city. The district is named for the church. Taverns and inns, which are located throughout the island, feature local food and dishes. The shops—which sell appliances, computers, clothing, souvenirs, and vehicles—are opened from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays; from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m to 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays.</p><br>
<h3>Sports</h3><br>
<p>Salamis island has four football teams: Aias (Ajax) Salaminas, Ampelakiakos F.C., A.E. Salaminas and Salaminomachoi.</p><br>
<h3>Local newspapers and magazines</h3><br>
<p>Salamina-Press</p><br>
<p>30 Imeres tis Salaminas (30 Days of Salamina)</p><br>
<p>Anatropes (Tippings)</p><br>
<p>Apopsi (Opinion)</p><br>
<p>Athlitikoi Palmoi (Athletic Vibrations)</p><br>
<p>I Enotita tis Salaminas (The Unity of Salamis)</p><br>
<p>I Nea Salamina (The New Salamis)</p><br>
<p>I Foni tis Salaminas (The Voice of Salamis)</p><br>
<p>Neo Ithos tis Salaminas (New Morale of Salamis)</p><br>
<p>Palmos tis Salaminas (Pulse of Salamis)</p><br>
<p>Politis me dikaioma (Citizen With Rights)</p><br>
<p>Salaminiaki Protoporia (Salaminian Vanguard)</p><br>
<p>Sports Week Salamina</p><br>
<h2>Landmarks</h2><br>
<h2>Noted people</h2><br>
<h3>Mythological and ancient people</h3><br>
<p>Ajax the Great, the legendary king of Salamis island, son of Telamon and half-brother of Teucer</p><br>
<p>Cychreus, the first king of Salamis Island</p><br>
<p>Euripides, tragedian (480 BC – 406 BC)</p><br>
<p>Moerocles, orator (4th century BC)</p><br>
<p>Telamon, the king of Salamis Island, father of Ajax the Great and Teucer</p><br>
<p>Teucer, the half-brother of Ajax the Great, son of Telamon, warrior of Trojan War, and founder of the city-state of Salamis, Cyprus.</p><br>
<h3>Modern people</h3><br>
<p>Georgios Karaiskakis (c. 1780–1827), Greek War of Independence hero, is buried on Salamis.</p><br>
<p>Polychronis Lempesis (1848–1913), painter</p><br>
<p>Memos Mpegnis (1974- ), actor</p><br>
<p>Dimitrios Mpogris (1890–1964), playwright</p><br>
<p>Giorgos Papasideris (1902–1977), country singer, composer and lyricist</p><br>
<p>Angelos Sikelianos (1884–1951), poet and playwright, whose cottage was near the Monastery of Faneromeni.</p><br>
<h2>Twin towns / sister cities</h2><br>
<p>Salamis Island is twinned with Famagusta, Cyprus (1998)</p><br>
<p>Uruk  was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the dried-up, ancient channel of the Euphrates River, some 30 km east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.</p><br>
<p>Uruk is the type site for the Uruk period. Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid 4th millennium BC.</p><br>
<p>At its height c. 2900 BC, Uruk probably had 50,000–80,000 residents living in 6 km&sup2; of walled area; making it the largest city in the world at the time. The legendary king Gilgamesh, according to the chronology presented in the Sumerian king list, ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. The city lost its prime importance around 2000 BC, in the context of the struggle of Babylonia with Elam, but it remained inhabited throughout the Seleucid and Parthian periods until it was finally abandoned shortly before or after the Islamic conquest.</p><br>
<p>The site of Uruk was visited in 1849 by William Kennett Loftus who led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854, and had identified it as "Erech", known as "the second city of Nimrod".</p><br>
<p>The Arabic name of Babylonia, al-ʿIrāq, is thought to be derived from the name Uruk, via Aramaic (Erech) and possibly Middle Persian (Erāq) transmission.</p><br>
<h2>Prominence</h2><br>
<p>In myth and literature, Uruk was famous as the capital city of Gilgamesh, hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is also believed Uruk is the biblical Erech (Genesis 10:10), the second city founded by Nimrod in Shinar.</p><br>
<h3>Uruk period</h3><br>
<p>In addition to being one of the first cities, Uruk was the main force of urbanization and state formation during the Uruk period, or Uruk expansion (4000–3200 BC). This period of 800 years saw a shift from small, agricultural villages to a larger urban center with a full-time bureaucracy, military, and stratified society. Although other settlements coexisted with Uruk, they were generally about 10 hectares while Uruk was significantly larger and more complex. The Uruk period culture exported by Sumerian traders and colonists had an effect on all surrounding peoples, who gradually evolved their own comparable, competing economies and cultures. Ultimately, Uruk could not maintain long-distance control over colonies such as Tell Brak by military force.</p><br>
<h3>Geographic factors</h3><br>
<p>Geographic factors underpin Uruks unprecedented growth. The city was located in the southern part of Mesopotamia, an ancient site of civilization, on the Euphrates river. Through the gradual and eventual domestication of native grains from the Zagros foothills and extensive irrigation techniques, the area supported a vast variety of edible vegetation. This domestication of grain and its proximity to rivers enabled Uruks growth into the largest Sumerian settlement, in both population and area, with relative ease.</p><br>
<p>Uruk&#39;s agricultural surplus and large population base facilitated processes such as trade, specialization of crafts and the evolution of writing. Evidence from excavations such as extensive pottery and the earliest known tablets of writing support these events. Excavation of Uruk is highly complex because older buildings were recycled into newer ones, thus blurring the layers of different historic periods. The topmost layer most likely originated in the Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC) and is built on structures from earlier periods dating back to the Ubaid period.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>According to the Sumerian king list, Uruk was founded by the king Enmerkar. Though the king-list mentions a king of Eanna before him, the epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta relates that Enmerkar constructed the House of Heaven (Sumerian: e2-anna; Cuneiform: E2.AN) for the goddess Inanna in the Eanna District of Uruk. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh builds the city wall around Uruk and is king of the city.</p><br>
<p>Uruk went through several phases of growth, from the Early Uruk period (4000–3500 BC) to the Late Uruk period (3500–3100 BC). The city was formed when two smaller Ubaid settlements merged. The temple complexes at their cores became the Eanna District and the Anu District dedicated to Inanna and Anu, respectively. The Anu District was originally called Kullaba (Kulab or Unug-Kulaba) prior to merging with the Eanna District. Kullaba dates to the Eridu period when it was one of the oldest and most important cities of Sumer. There are different interpretations about the purposes of the temples. However, it is generally believed they were a unifying feature of the city. It also seems clear that temples served both an important religious function and state function. The surviving temple archive of the Neo-Babylonian period documents the social function of the temple as a redistribution center.</p><br>
<p>The Eanna District was composed of several buildings with spaces for workshops, and it was walled off from the city. By contrast, the Anu District was built on a terrace with a temple at the top. It is clear Eanna was dedicated to Inanna from the earliest Uruk period throughout the history of the city. The rest of the city was composed of typical courtyard houses, grouped by profession of the occupants, in districts around Eanna and Anu. Uruk was extremely well penetrated by a canal system that has been described as, "Venice in the desert." This canal system flowed throughout the city connecting it with the maritime trade on the ancient Euphrates River as well as the surrounding agricultural belt.</p><br>
<p>The original city of Uruk was situated southwest of the ancient Euphrates River, now dry. Currently, the site of Warka is northeast of the modern Euphrates river. The change in position was caused by a shift in the Euphrates at some point in history, and may have contributed to the decline of Uruk.</p><br>
<h3>Archaeological levels of Uruk</h3><br>
<p>Archeologists have discovered multiple cities of Uruk built atop each other in chronological order.</p><br>
<p>Uruk XVIII Eridu period (c 5000 BC); the founding of Uruk</p><br>
<p>Uruk XVIII-XVI Late Ubaid period (4800–4200 BC)</p><br>
<p>Uruk XVI-X Early Uruk period (4000–3800 BC)</p><br>
<p>Uruk IX-VI Middle Uruk period (3800–3400 BC)</p><br>
<p>Uruk V-IV Late Uruk period (3400–3100 BC); The earliest monumental temples of Eanna District are built</p><br>
<p>Uruk III Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC); The 9 km city wall is built</p><br>
<p>Uruk II</p><br>
<p>Uruk I</p><br>
<h3>Eanna district</h3><br>
<p>The Eanna district is historically significant as both writing and monumental public architecture emerge here during Uruk periods VI-IV. The combination of these two developments places Eanna as arguably the first true city and civilization in human history. Eanna during period IVa contains the earliest examples of cuneiform writing and possibly the earliest writing in history. Although some of these cuneiform tablets have been deciphered, difficulty with site excavations has obscured the purpose and sometimes even the structure of many buildings.</p><br>
<p>The first building of Eanna, Stone-Cone Temple (Mosaic Temple), was built in period VI over a preexisting Ubaid temple and is enclosed by a limestone wall with an elaborate system of buttresses. The Stone-Cone Temple, named for the mosaic of colored stone cones driven into the adobe brick façade, may be the earliest water cult in Mesopotamia. It was ritually demolished in Uruk IVb period and its contents interred in the Riemchen Building.</p><br>
<p>In the following period, Uruk V, about 100 m east of the Stone-Cone Temple the Limestone Temple was built on a 2 m high rammed-earth podium over a pre-existing Ubaid temple, which like the Stone-Cone Temple represents a continuation of Ubaid culture. However, the Limestone Temple was unprecedented for its size and use of stone, a clear departure from traditional Ubaid architecture. The stone was quarried from an outcrop at Umayyad about 60 km east of Uruk. It is unclear if the entire temple or just the foundation was built of this limestone. The Limestone temple is probably the first Inanna temple, but it is impossible to know with certainty. Like the Stone-Cone temple the Limestone temple was also covered in cone mosaics. Both of these temples were rectangles with their corners aligned to the cardinal directions, a central hall flanked along the long axis flanked by two smaller halls, and buttressed façades; the prototype of all future Mesopotamian temple architectural typology.</p><br>
<p>Between these two monumental structures a complex of buildings (called A-C, E-K, Riemchen, Cone-Mosaic), courts, and walls was built during Eanna IVb. These buildings were built during a time of great expansion in Uruk as the city grew to 250 hectares and established long distance trade, and are a continuation of architecture from the previous period. The Riemchen Building, named for the brick shape called Riemchen by the Germans, is a memorial with a ritual fire kept burning in the center for the Stone-Cone Temple after it was destroyed. For this reason, Uruk IV period represents a reorientation of belief and culture. The facade of this memorial may have been covered in geometric and figural murals. The Riemchen bricks first used in this temple were used to construct all buildings of Uruk IV period Eanna. The use of colored cones as a façade treatment was greatly developed as well, perhaps used to greatest effect in the Cone-Mosaic Temple. Composed of three parts: Temple N, the Round Pillar Hall, and the Cone-Mosaic Courtyard, this temple was the most monumental structure of Eanna at the time. They were all ritually destroyed and the entire Eanna district was rebuilt in period IVa at an even grander scale.</p><br>
<p>During Eanna IVa, the Limestone Temple was demolished and the Red Temple built on its foundations. The accumulated debris of the Uruk IVb buildings were formed into a terrace, the L-Shaped Terrace, on which Buildings C, D, M, Great Hall, and Pillar Hall were built. Building E was initially thought to be a palace, but later proven to be a communal building. Also in period IV, the Great Court, a sunken courtyard surrounded by two tiers of benches covered in cone mosaic, was built. A small aqueduct drains into the Great Courtyard, which may have irrigated a garden at one time. The impressive buildings of this period were built as Uruk reached its zenith and expanded to 600 hectares. All the buildings of Eanna IVa were destroyed sometime in Uruk III, for unclear reasons.</p><br>
<p>The architecture of Eanna in period III was very different from what had preceded it. The complex of monumental temples was replaced with baths around the Great Courtyard and the labyrinthine Rammed-Earth Building. This period corresponds to Early Dynastic Sumer c 2900 BC, a time of great social upheaval when the dominance of Uruk was eclipsed by competing city-states. The fortress-like architecture of this time is a reflection of that turmoil. The temple of Inanna continued functioning during this time in a new form and under a new name, The House of Inanna in Uruk (Sumerian: e2-inanna unu-ga). The location of this structure is currently unknown.</p><br>
<h3>Anu district</h3><br>
<p>The great Anu district is older than the Eanna district; however, few remains of writing have been found here. Unlike the Eanna district, the Anu district consists of a single massive terrace, the Anu Ziggurat, dedicated to the Sumerian sky god An. Sometime in the Uruk III period the massive White Temple was built atop of the ziggurat. Under the northwest edge of the ziggurat an Uruk VI period structure, the Stone Temple, has been discovered.</p><br>
<p>The Stone Temple was built of limestone and bitumen on a podium of rammed earth and plastered with lime mortar. The podium itself was built over a woven reed mat called giparu, a word which originally referred a reed mat used ritually as a nuptial bed but took on the meaning as the source of abundance which radiated upward into the structure. The structure of the Stone Temple further develops some mythological concepts from Enuma Elish, perhaps involving libation rites as indicated from the channels, tanks, and vessels found there. The structure was ritually destroyed, covered with alternating layers of clay and stone, then excavated and filled with mortar sometime later.</p><br>
<p>The Anu Ziggurat began with a massive mound topped by a cella during the Uruk period (ca. 4000 BC), and was expanded through 14 phases of construction. These phases have been labeled L to A3 (L is sometimes called X). The earliest phase used architectural features similar to PPNA cultures in Anatolia: a single chamber cella with a terazzo floor beneath which bucrania were found. In phase E, corresponding to the Uruk III period (ca. 3000 BC), the White Temple was built. The White Temple could be seen from a great distance across the plain of Sumer, as it was elevated 21m and covered in gypsum plaster which reflected sunlight like a mirror. For this reason it is believed the White Temple is a symbol of Uruk&#39;s political power at the time. In addition to this temple the Anu Ziggurat had a monumental limestone-paved staircase, which was used in religious processions. A trough running parallel to the staircase was used to drain the ziggurat.</p><br>
<h3>Uruk into late Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>Although it had been a thriving city in Early Dynastic Sumer, especially Early Dynastic II, Uruk was ultimately annexed to the Akkadian Empire and went into decline. Later, in the Neo-Sumerian period, Uruk enjoyed revival as a major economic and cultural center under the sovereignty of Ur. The Eanna District was restored as part of an ambitious building program, which included a new temple for Inanna. This temple included a ziggurat, the House of the Universe (Cuneiform: E2.SAR.A) to the northeast of the Uruk period Eanna ruins. The ziggurat is also cited as Ur-Nammu Ziggurat for its builder Ur-Nammu. Following the collapse of Ur (c 2000 BC), Uruk went into a steep decline until about 850 BC when the Neo-Assyrian Empire annexed it as a provincial capital. Under the Neo-Assyrians and Neo-Babylonians, Uruk regained much of its former glory. By 250 BC, a new temple complex the Head Temple (Akkadian: Bīt Reš) was added to northeast of the Uruk period Anu district. The Bīt Reš along with the Esagila was one of the two main centers of Neo-Babylonian astronomy. All of the temples and canals were restored again under Nabopolassar. During this era, Uruk was divided into five main districts: the Adad Temple, Royal Orchard, Ištar Gate, Lugalirra Temple, and Šamaš Gate districts.</p><br>
<p>Uruk, now known as Orchoë to the Greeks, continued to thrive under the Seleucid Empire. During this period, Uruk was a city of 300 hectares. In 200 BC, the Great Sanctuary (Cuneiform: E2.IRI12.GAL, Sumerian: eš-gal) of Ishtar was added between the Anu and Eanna districts. When the Seleucids lost Mesopotamia to the Parthians in 141 BC, Uruk again entered a period of decline from which it never recovered. The decline of Uruk may have been in part caused by a shift in the Euphrates River. By 300 AD, Uruk was mostly abandoned, and by c 700 AD it was completely abandoned.</p><br>
<h2>Political history</h2><br>
<p>"In Uruk, in southern Mesopotamia, Sumerian civilization seems to have reached its creative peak. This is pointed out repeatedly in the references to this city in religious and, especially, in literary texts, including those of mythological content; the historical tradition as preserved in the Sumerian king-list confirms it. From Uruk the center of political gravity seems to have moved to Ur." —Oppenheim</p><br>
<p>Uruk played a very important part in the political history of Sumer. Starting from the Early Uruk period, exercising hegemony over nearby settlements. At this time (c 3800 BC), there were two centers of 20 hectares, Uruk in the south and Nippur in the north surrounded by much smaller 10 hectare settlements. Later, in the Late Uruk period, its sphere of influence extended over all Sumer and beyond to external colonies in upper Mesopotamia and Syria. Uruk was prominent in the national struggles of the Sumerians against the Elamites up to 2004 BC, in which it suffered severely; recollections of some of these conflicts are embodied in the Gilgamesh epic, in the literary and courtly form that has come down to us.</p><br>
<p>The recorded chronology of rulers over Uruk includes both mythological and historic figures in five dynasties. As in the rest of Sumer, power moved progressively from the temple to the palace. Rulers from the Early Dynastic period exercised control over Uruk and at times over all Sumer. In myth, kingship was lowered from heaven to Eridu then passed successively through five cities until the deluge which ended the Uruk period. Afterwards, kingship passed to Kish at the beginning of the Early Dynastic period, which corresponds to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Sumer. In the Early Dynastic I period (2900–2800 BC), Uruk was in theory under the control of Kish. This period is sometimes called the Golden Age. During the Early Dynastic II period (2800–2600 BC), Uruk was again the dominant city exercising control of Sumer. This period is the time of the First Dynasty of Uruk sometimes called the Heroic Age. However, by the Early Dynastic IIIa period (2600–2500 BC) Uruk had lost sovereignty, this time to Ur. This period, corresponding to the Early Bronze Age III, is the end of the First Dynasty of Uruk. In the Early Dynastic IIIb period (2500–2334 BC), also called the Pre-Sargonic period (referring to Sargon of Akkad), Uruk continued to be ruled by Ur.</p><br>
<h3>Early dynastic, Akkadian, and Neo-Sumerian rulers of Uruk</h3><br>
<p>Mesh-ki-ang-gasher; son of the god Utu and founder of Uruk who received kingship from the 1st Dynasty of Kish</p><br>
<p>Enmerkar</p><br>
<p>Lugalbanda</p><br>
<p>Dumuzid, the Fisherman</p><br>
<p>Gilgamesh</p><br>
<p>Ur-Nungal, Udul-kalama, La-ba&#39;shum, En-nun-tarah-ana, Mesh-he, Melem-ana, Lugal-kitun; little is known of these rulers, the final ruler was overthrown by Mesannepada of Ur, thus ending the first dynasty</p><br>
<p>Enshakushanna; re-established kingship over Sumer, however following his death kingship passed to Eannatum of Lagash</p><br>
<p>Lugal-kinishe-dudu, Argandea, Lugal-ure; served as ensi of Uruk under the 1st Dynasty of Lagash</p><br>
<p>Lugalzagesi (2296–2271 BC); originally of Umma, he made Uruk his new capital after conquering all Sumer</p><br>
<p>Ur-ningin, Ur-gigir, Kuda, Puzur-ili; served as ensi of Uruk under the Akkadian Empire</p><br>
<p>Utu-hengal (2119–2112 BC); an ensi of Uruk who overthrew the Gutians and briefly ruled Sumer until he was defeated by Ur-Nammu of Ur, thus ending the final dynasty of Uruk.</p><br>
<p>In 2009, two different copies of an inscription were put forth as evidence of a 19th-century BC ruler of Uruk named Naram-sin</p><br>
<p>Uruk continued as principality of Ur, Babylon, and later Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Parthian Empires. It enjoyed brief periods of independence during the Isin-Larsa period, under kings such as (possibly) Ikūn-pî-Ištar (c. 1800 BC), Sîn-kāšid, his son Sîn-irībam, his son Sîn-gāmil, Ilum-gāmil, brother of Sîn-gāmil, Etēia, Anam, ÌR-ne-ne, who was defeated by Rīm-Sîn I of Larsa in his year 14 (c. 1740 BC), Rīm-Anum and Nabi-ilīšu. The city was finally destroyed by the Arab invasion of Mesopotamia and abandoned c. 700 AD.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>Uruk has the first monumental constructions in architectural history. Much of Near Eastern architecture can trace its roots to these prototypical buildings. The structures of Uruk are cited by two different naming conventions, one in German from the initial expedition, and the English translation of the same. The stratigraphy of the site is complex and as such much of the dating is disputed. In general, the structures follow the two main typologies of Sumerian architecture, Tripartite with 3 parallel halls and T-Shaped also with three halls, but the central one extends into two perpendicular bays at one end. The following table summarizes the significant architecture of the Eanna and Anu Districts. Temple N, Cone-Mosaic Courtyard, and Round Pillar Hall are often referred to as a single structure; the Cone-Mosaic Temple.</p><br>
<p>It is clear Eanna was dedicated to Inanna symbolized by Venus from the Uruk period. At that time, she was worshipped in four aspects as Inanna of the netherworld (Sumerian: inanna-kur), Inanna of the morning (Sumerian: inanna-hud2), Inanna of the evening (Sumerian: inanna-sig), and Inanna (Sumerian: inanna-NUN). The names of four temples in Uruk at this time are known, but it is impossible to match them with either a specific structure and in some cases a deity.</p><br>
<p>sanctuary of Inanna (Sumerian: eš-inanna)</p><br>
<p>sanctuary of Inanna of the evening (Sumerian: eš-inanna-sig)</p><br>
<p>temple of heaven (Sumerian: e2-an)</p><br>
<p>temple of heaven and netherworld (Sumerian: e2-an-ki)</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The site, which lies about 50 mile northwest of ancient Ur, is one of the largest in the region at around 5.5 km&sup2; in area. The maximum extent is 3 km north/south, and 2.5 km east/west. There are three major tells within the site, the Eanna district: Bit Resh (Kullaba), and Irigal.</p><br>
<p>The location of Uruk was first scouted by William Loftus in 1849. He excavated there in 1850 and 1854. By Loftus&#39; own account, he admits that the first excavations were superficial at best, as his financiers forced him to deliver large museum artifacts at a minimal cost. William K. Loftus, Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and Susiana,</p><br>
<p>Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and Susiana: With an Account of Excavations at Warka, the "Erech" of Nimrod, and Shush, "Shushan the Palace" of Esther, in 1849–52, Robert Carter & Brothers, 1857 Warka was also scouted by archaeologist Walter Andrae in 1902.</p><br>
<p>From 1912 to 1913, Julius Jordan and his team from the German Oriental Society discovered the temple of Ishtar, one of four known temples located at the site. The temples at Uruk were quite remarkable as they were constructed with brick and adorned with colorful mosaics. Jordan also discovered part of the city wall. It was later discovered that this 40 to 50 ft high brick wall, probably utilized as a defense mechanism, totally encompassed the city at a length of 9 km. Utilizing sedimentary strata dating techniques, this wall is estimated to have been erected around 3000 BC.</p><br>
<p>The GOS returned to Uruk in 1928 and excavated until 1939, when World War II intervened. The team was led by Jordan until 1931, then by A. Nöldeke, Ernst Heinrich, and H. J. Lenzen.Ernst Heinrich, Kleinfunde aus den archaischen Tempelschichten in Uruk,</p><br>
<p>Harrassowitz, Leipzig 1936 (German)</p><br>
<p>The German excavations resumed after the war and were under the direction of Heinrich Lenzen from 1953 to 1967. He was followed in 1968 by J. Schmidt, and in 1978 by R.M. Boehmer. In total, the German archaeologists spent 39 seasons working at Uruk. The results are documented in two series of reports:</p><br>
<p>Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk (ADFU), 17 volumes, 1912–2001 (titles listed at the German Archaeological Institute )</p><br>
<p>Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka, Endberichte (AUWE), 25 volumes, 1987–2007 (titles listed at the German Archaeological Institute )</p><br>
<p>Most recently, from 2001 to 2002, the German Archaeological Institute team led by Margarite Van Ess, with Joerg Fassbinder and Helmut Becker, conducted a partial magnetometer survey in Uruk. In addition to the geophysical survey, core samples and aerial photographs were taken. This was followed up with high-resolution satellite imagery in 2005.</p><br>
<p>Clay tablets have been found at Uruk with Sumerian and pictorial inscriptions that are thought to be some of the earliest recorded writing, dating to approximately 3300 BC. These tablets were deciphered and include the famous Sumerian King List, a record of kings of the Sumerian civilization. There was an even larger cache of legal and scholarly tablets of the Seleucid period, that have been published by Adam Falkenstein and other German epigraphists.</p><br>
<p>Beveled rim bowls were the most common type of container used during the Uruk period. They are believed to be vessels for serving rations of food or drink to dependent laborers. The introduction of the fast wheel for throwing pottery was developed during the later part of the Uruk period, and made the mass production of pottery simpler and more standardized.</p><br>
<h3>Artifacts</h3><br>
<p>The Mask of Warka, also known as the Lady of Uruk and the Sumerian Mona Lisa, dating from 3100 BC, is one of the earliest representations of the human face. The carved marble female face is probably a depiction of Inanna. It is approximately 20 cm tall, and may have been incorporated into a larger cult image. The mask was looted from the National Museum of Iraq during the fall of Baghdad in April 2003. It was recovered in September 2003 and returned to the museum.</p><br>
<p>Nippur  was among the most ancient of Sumerian cities. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind," ruler of the cosmos, subject to An alone. Nippur was located in modern Nuffar in Afak, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Nippur never enjoyed political hegemony in its own right, but its control was crucial, as it was considered capable of conferring the overall "kingship" on monarchs from other city-states. It was distinctively a sacred city, important from the possession of the famous shrine of Enlil.</p><br>
<p>According to the Tummal Chronicle, Enmebaragesi, an early ruler of Kish, was the first to build up</p><br>
<p>this temple.</p><br>
<p>His influence over Nippur has also been detected archaeologically. The Chronicle lists successive early Sumerian rulers who kept up intermittent ceremonies at the temple: Aga of Kish, son of Enmebaragesi; Mesannepada of Ur; his son Meskiang-nunna; Gilgamesh of Uruk; his son Ur-Nungal; Nanni of Ur and his son Meskiang-nanna. It also indicates that the practice was revived in Neo-Sumerian times by Ur-Nammu of Ur, and continued until Ibbi-Sin appointed Enmegalana high priest in Uruk (c. 1950 BC).</p><br>
<p>Inscriptions of Lugal-Zage-Si and Lugal-kigub-nidudu, kings of Uruk and Ur respectively, and of other early pre-non-Semitic rulers, on door-sockets and stone vases, show the veneration in which the ancient shrine was then held, and the importance attached to its possession, as giving a certain stamp of legitimacy. On their votive offerings, some of these rulers designate themselves as ensis, or governors.</p><br>
<h3>Pre-Sargonic era</h3><br>
<p>Originally a village of reed huts in the marshes, Nippur was especially prone to devastation by flooding or fire. For some reason, settlement persisted at the same spot, and gradually the site rose above the marshes—partly from the accumulation of debris, and partly through the efforts of the inhabitants. As the inhabitants began to develop in civilization, they substituted, at least in the case of their shrine, mud-brick buildings instead of reed huts. The earliest age of civilization, the "clay age", is marked by crude, hand-made pottery and thumb-marked bricks - flat on one side, concave on the other, gradually developing through several fairly marked stages. The exact form of the sanctuary at that period cannot be determined, but it seems to have been connected with the burning of the dead, and extensive remains of such cremation are found in all the earlier, pre-Sargonic strata. There is evidence of the succession on the site of different peoples, varying somewhat in their degrees of civilization. One stratum is marked by painted pottery of good make, similar to that found in a corresponding stratum in Susa, and resembling early Aegean pottery more closely than any later pottery found in Sumer.</p><br>
<p>This people gave way in time to another, markedly inferior in the manufacture of pottery, but apparently superior as builders. In one of these earlier strata, of very great antiquity, there was discovered, in connection with the shrine, a conduit built of bricks in the form of an arch. At some point, Sumerian inscriptions began to be written on clay, in an almost linear script. The shrine at this time stood on a raised platform, and apparently contained a ziggurat.</p><br>
<h3>Akkadian, Ur III, and Old Babylonian periods</h3><br>
<p>Late in the 3rd millennium BC, Nippur was conquered and occupied by the Semitic rulers of Akkad, or Agade, and numerous votive objects of Sargon, Rimush, and Naram-Sin testify to the veneration in which they also held this sanctuary. Naram-Sin rebuilt both the Ekur temple and the city walls, and in the accumulation of debris now marking the ancient site, his remains are found about half way from the top to the bottom. One of the few instances of Nippur being recorded as having its own ruler comes from a tablet depicting a revolt of several Mesopotamian cities against Naram-Sin, including Nippur under Amar-enlila. The tablet goes on to relate that Naram-Sin defeated these rebel cities in nine battles, and brought them back under his control. The Weidner tablet (ABC 19) suggests that the Akkadian Empire fell as divine retribution, because of Sargon&#39;s initiating the transfer of "holy city" status from Nippur to Babylon.</p><br>
<p>This Akkadian occupation was succeeded by an occupation during the third dynasty of Ur, and the constructions of Ur-Nammu, the great builder of temples, are superimposed immediately upon those of Naram-Sin. Ur-Nammu gave the temple its final characteristic form. Partly razing the constructions of his predecessors, he erected a terrace of bricks, some 12 m high, covering a space of about 32,000 m². Near the northwestern edge, towards the western corner, he built a ziggurat of three stages of dry brick, faced with kiln-fired bricks laid in bitumen. On the summit stood, as at Ur and Eridu, a small chamber, the special shrine or abode of the god. Access to the stages of the ziggurat, from the court beneath, was by an inclined plane on the south-east side. To the north-east of the ziggurat stood, apparently, the House of Bel, and in the courts below the ziggurat stood various other buildings, shrines, treasure chambers, and the like. The whole structure was oriented with the corners toward the cardinal points of the compass.</p><br>
<p>Ur-Nammu also rebuilt the walls of the city on the line of Naram-Sin&#39;s walls. The restoration of the general features of the temple of this, and the immediately succeeding periods, has been greatly facilitated by the discovery of a sketch map on a fragment of a clay tablet. This sketch map represents a quarter of the city to the east of the Shatt-en-Nil canal. This quarter was enclosed within its own walls, a city within a city, forming an irregular square, with sides roughly 820 m long, separated from the other quarters, and from the country to the north and east, by canals on all sides, with broad quays along the walls. A smaller canal divided this quarter of the city itself into two parts. In the south-eastern part, in the middle of its southeast side, stood the temple, while in the northwest part, along the Shatt-en-Nil, two great storehouses are indicated. The temple proper, according to this plan, consisted of an outer and inner court, each covering approximately 8 acres (32,000 m²), surrounded by double walls, with a ziggurat on the north-western edge of the latter.</p><br>
<p>The temple continued to be built upon or rebuilt by kings of various succeeding dynasties, as shown by bricks and votive objects bearing the inscriptions of the kings of various dynasties of Ur and Isin. It seems to have suffered severely in some manner at or about the time the Elamites invaded, as shown by broken fragments of statuary, votive vases and the like, from that period. At the same time it seems to have won recognition from the Elamite conquerors, so that Rim-Sin I, the Elamite king of Larsa, styles himself "shepherd of the land of Nippur." With the establishment of the Babylonian empire, under Hammurabi, early in the 2nd millennium BC, the religious as well as the political centre of influence was transferred to Babylon, Marduk became lord of the pantheon, many of Enlils attributes were transferred to him, and Ekur, Enlils temple, was to some extent neglected.</p><br>
<h3>Later history</h3><br>
<p>Under the succeeding Kassite dynasty, shortly after the middle of the 2nd millennium, Ekur was restored once more to its former splendour, several monarchs of that dynasty built upon and adorned it, and thousands of inscriptions, dating from the time of those rulers, have been discovered in its archives. After the middle of the 12th century BC follows another long period of comparative neglect, but with the conquest of Babylonia by the Assyrian king Sargon II, at the close of the 8th century BC, we meet again with building inscriptions, and under Ashurbanipal, about the middle of the 7th century BC, we find Ekur restored with a splendour greater than ever before, the ziggurat of that period being 58 by 39 m. After the fall of the Neo Assyrian Empire Ekur appears to have gradually fallen into decay, until finally, in the Seleucid period, the ancient temple was turned into a fortress. Huge walls were erected at the edges of the ancient terrace, the courts of the temple were filled with houses and streets, and the ziggurat itself was curiously built over in a cruciform shape, and converted into an acropolis for the fortress. This fortress was occupied and further built upon until the close of the Parthian period, about AD 250; but under the succeeding rule of the Sassanids it in its turn fell into decay, and the ancient sanctuary became, to a considerable extent, a mere place of sepulture, only a small village of mud huts huddled about the ancient ziggurat continuing to be inhabited. It appears that the city was the seat of an Assyrian Church of the East Christian bishopric as late as the 8th century AD.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>Nippur was situated on both sides of the Shatt-en-Nil canal, one of the earliest courses of the Euphrates, between the present bed of that river and the Tigris, almost 160 km southeast of Baghdad. It is represented by the great complex of ruin mounds known to the Arabs as Nuffar, written by the earlier explorers Niffer, divided into two main parts by the dry bed of the old Shatt-en-Nil (Arakhat). The highest point of these ruins, a conical hill rising about 30 m above the level of the surrounding plain, northeast of the canal bed, is called by the Arabs Bint el-Amiror "prince&#39;s daughter."</p><br>
<p>Nippur was first excavated, briefly, by Sir Austen Henry Layard in 1851.</p><br>
<p>Full scale digging was begun by an expedition from the University of Pennsylvania. The work involved four seasons of excavation between 1889 and 1900 and was led by John Punnett Peters, John Henry Haynes, and Hermann Volrath Hilprecht.</p><br>
<p>Nippur was excavated for 19 seasons between 1948 and 1990 by a team from the Oriental Institute of Chicago, joined at times by the</p><br>
<p>University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the American Schools of Oriental Research.</p><br>
<p>As at Tello, so at Nippur, the clay archives of the temple were found not in the temple proper, but on an outlying mound. South-eastward of the temple quarter, without the walls above described, and separated from it by a large basin connected with the Shatt-en-Nil, lay a triangular mound, about 7.5 m in average height and 52.000 m² in extent. In this were found large numbers of inscribed clay tablets (it is estimated that upward of 40,000 tablets and fragments have been excavated in this mound alone), dating from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC onward into the Persian period, partly temple archives, partly school exercises and text-books, partly mathematical tables, with a considerable number of documents of a more distinctly literary character.</p><br>
<p>Almost directly opposite the temple, a large palace was excavated, apparently of the Seleucid period, and in this neighborhood and further southward on these mounds large numbers of inscribed tablets of various periods, including temple archives of the Kassite and commercial archives of the Persian period, were excavated. The latter, the "books and papers" of the house of Murashu, commercial agents of the government, throw light on the condition of the city and the administration of the country in the Persian period, the 5th century BC. The former give us a very good idea of the administration of an ancient temple. The whole city of Nippur appears to have been at that time merely an appendage of the temple. The temple itself was a great landowner, possessed of both farms and pasture land. Its tenants were obliged to render careful accounts of their administration of the property entrusted to their care, which were preserved in the archives of the temple. We have also from these archives lists of goods contained in the temple treasuries and salary lists of temple officials, on tablet forms specially prepared and marked off for periods of a year or less.</p><br>
<p>On the upper surface of these mounds was found a considerable Jewish town, dating from about the beginning of the Arabic period onward to the 20th century AD, in the houses of which were large numbers of incantation bowls. Jewish names, appearing in the Persian documents discovered at Nippur, show, however, that Jewish settlement at that city dates in fact from a much earlier period.</p><br>
<h2>Drehem</h2><br>
<p>Drehem or ancient Puzrish-Dagan, a suburb of Nippur, is the best known city of the so-called redistribution centers of the Neo Sumerian period of Mesopotamian history. It is located some 10 kilometers south of Nippur. Witnessed by thousands of cuneiform tablets,</p><br>
<p>livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) of the state was centralized at Drehem and redistributed to the temples, its officials and the royal palaces of Sumer.</p><br>
<p>The temples of nearby Nippur, the religious capital of the Neo Sumerian culture, were the main destinations of the livestock. The city was founded by Shulgi, king of Ur. Some of its cuneiform archives are at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.</p><br>
<p>Île dOléron is an island off the Atlantic coast of France , on the southern side of the Pertuis dAntioche strait.</p><br>
<p>It is the second largest island of Metropolitan France, after Corsica.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In the 7th and 8th century, the island, along with Ré, formed the Vacetae Insulae or Vacetian Islands, according to the Cosmographia. Vaceti being another name for the Vascones, the reference is evidence to Basque (Gascon) settlement or control of the islands by that date.</p><br>
<p>It was at Oléron in about 1152 to 1160 that Eleanor of Aquitaine introduced the first maritime or admiralty laws in that part of the world: the Rolls of Oleron. In 1306, Edward I of England granted the island to his son, Edward II, as part of the Duchy of Aquitaine.</p><br>
<p>On 20 March 1586, the island was taken by Agrippa d&#39;Aubigné.</p><br>
<p>During the Second World War, the island was occupied by German forces and fortified. It was liberated by Free French Forces in an amphibious assault code named Operation Jupiter on 29 April 1945. The French cruiser Duquesne fired 550 heavy shells at the German artillery batteries. The garrison surrendered on the following day.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island has an area of about 174 km. It is a fertile and well cultivated island on the Atlantic coast of France, that is on the Bay of Biscay.</p><br>
<p>The climate is generally mild (maritime temperate) with sufficient but not excessive rainfall, but with probably from 3 to 15 days of intense heat in the summer months of July and August, mostly grouped.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>Administratively, the island belongs to the Charente-Maritime département, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine région. The island is divided into 8 communes:</p><br>
<p>La Brée-les-Bains</p><br>
<p>Le Château-d&#39;Oléron</p><br>
<p>Dolus-d&#39;Oléron</p><br>
<p>Le Grand-Village-Plage</p><br>
<p>Saint-Denis-d&#39;Oléron</p><br>
<p>Saint-Georges-d&#39;Oléron (includes Boyardville)</p><br>
<p>Saint-Pierre d&#39;Oléron</p><br>
<p>Saint-Trojan-les-Bains</p><br>
<p>The island has about 22,000 inhabitants.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Since 1966, the island has been connected to the mainland by a road bridge. With a length of 2,862 m (9,390 ft) between abutments, it was the longest bridge in France at the time of construction. It is now the third one, after the Saint-Nazaire bridge and the Île de Ré bridge. It has been toll-free since 1991.</p><br>
<p>On the island itself, the easiest way to get around is by car or by bicycle. During the last ten years, a network of 110 kilometers of bicycle paths have been built. These bicycle lanes are mostly car-free.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>As a large Atlantic island only 3 kilometres off the Aquitanian coast of France, Oléron is a popular tourist destination. Several companies operate boat trips from the towns of Boyardville and Saint-Denis to the nearby Ile d&#39;Aix, La Rochelle, and past the Fort Boyard. The port towns are frequently visited by tourists, especially the village of La Cotiniere. This village is the base for a hundred trawlers who sell their fish every day at 05:00 and 16:00h. La Cotiniere was the first fishing port in the department of Charente-Maritime, and the 8th of France.</p><br>
<p>The Fulton Opera House, also known as the Fulton Theatre or simply The Fulton, is a League of Regional Theatres class C regional theater located in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is reportedly the oldest working theatre in the United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.</p><br>
<h2>Building</h2><br>
<p>Fulton Hall is named after Robert Fulton (1765-1815), Lancaster Countys steam engine pioneer, and it is his likeness that is portrayed in the statue on the front facade. This statue is a replica of the original wooden statue, which has since been restored and now resides on display inside the interior lobby. The building itself was built on the foundation of Lancasters pre-Revolutionary jail. In 1763, a vigilante gang known as the Paxton Boys massacred the Conestoga Indians being held there for their protection. This was a monumental event throughout the colonies and became the subject matter for the first plays ever written on American soil - "A Dialogue Between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot About the Killing the Indians at Cannestogoe and Lancaster" and "The Paxton Boys, a Farce". The exterior wall of the jail courtyard is now the back wall of the theatre.</p><br>
<p>Christopher Hager, a Lancaster merchant and civic leader, commissioned the renowned Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan (who later designed the Lancaster County Courthouse) to create a building that would serve as a community center for meetings, lectures, concerts, and theatrical performances. The building was erected in 1852.</p><br>
<p>The Fulton Theatre was later modified by noted theatrical architect Edwin Forrest Durang, is one of only three theatres recognized as National Historic Landmarks (the others are the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia and the Goldenrod Showboat in St. Louis, Missouri).</p><br>
<p>The 1959 production of Our Town, starring Jeanne Clemson, marked that first time that a live theater production had been performed at the Fulton Opera House in thirty years.</p><br>
<h2>Operation</h2><br>
<p>A founding member of the (LHAT), the Fulton is operated by the Fulton Theatre Company, a non-profit organization.</p><br>
<p>As the Fulton is run on a non-profit basis, it depends on a variety of grants, corporate sponsorship, and private donations to accomplish its mission. The Fulton is an Equity House, operating under agreement with the Actor&#39;s Equity Association and the Union for Professional Actors and Stage Managers (which essentially means that its actors and production team are paid per collective bargaining agreements, as opposed to non-equity actors who are not paid per collective bargaining agreements or volunteers) and employs members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the United Scenic Artists. The Fulton is also a member of ASSITEJ, the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People.</p><br>
<p>The Fulton Theatre is home to six mainstage productions per year including previous productions of Disneys Newsies, In The Heights, Agatha Christies The Mousetrap, some of which are world premier originals (critically acclaimed Lightning Rod, 2005); four family series productions, including the Fultons own Twas the Night Before Christmas, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, the Musical, and other theatre for young audiences productions; and four studio series productions, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Disgraced, along with other riveting productions like Venus in Fur, Veronicas Room and Other Desert Cities. Although most casting takes place in New York City, regional auditions are also held. While many of The Fultons regulars are Lancaster County natives who are delighted at the chance to return home to perform, nearly all quickly fall in love with the "Grand Old Lady" and her charm.</p><br>
<p>In addition to providing a place of employment for professional actors, the Fulton Theatre Company is a complete production facility which employs full-time carpenters, electricians, scenic artists, painters, composers, lighting and sound technicians. Most set pieces and costumes are created in-house or at an adjacent workshop, and makeup, hair, and wigs are created by a full-time designer. The Fulton also maintains a costume shop which provides access to professional quality costumes and props to schools, community theatre companies, and other organizations throughout the region. Its marketing department maintains a website that allows users to browse theatre history, check audition times, and purchase tickets. All posters and print materials, including production programs, are cataloged and archived by the Lancaster Historical Society.</p><br>
<p>Many famous actors have appeared at the Fulton. In December 1930 Basil Rathbone appeared as Christian St. Obin in A Kiss of Importance. Peter Weir&#39;s film, "," starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, much of which represents the lifestyle of the Amish,</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>The Evolution of the Fulton Opera House</h3><br>
<p>A Fascinating Reflection of the History of American Theatre.</p><br>
<p>Christopher Hager, a Lancaster merchant and civic leader, had a dream—to create a building that would serve as a community center for meetings, lectures, concerts, and theatrical performances. He commissioned the renowned Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan (who later designed the Lancaster County Courthouse) to create this building, which was erected in 1852. Named Fulton Hall, after the county’s steam engine pioneer, Robert Fulton, it was built on the foundation of Lancaster’s pre-Revolutionary jail, where in 1763, a vigilante gang known as the “Paxtang Boys” massacred the last of the Conestoga Indians being held there for their protection. This was a monumental event throughout the colonies and became the subject matter for the first plays ever written on American soil – A Dialogue Between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot About the Killing the Indians at Cannestogoe and Lancaster and The Paxton Boys, a Farce. The exterior wall of the jail courtyard is now the back wall of the theatre. The first musical concert at Fulton Hall was by violinist Ole Bull and 9-year-old soprano Adelina Patti, to raise money for a settlement of Scandinavians in Potter County. Mark Twain and Horace Greeley were among the lecturers who came to Fulton Hall, and theatrical performances included Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In 1856, the hall was sold to Blasius Yecker, a harness worker, and Hilaire Zaepfel, a hotelkeeper. They enlarged the stage and added new seats and ventilating devices to attract larger traveling productions and audiences. Thirteen years later, Zaepfel sold his interest to Yecker, who initiated a major renovation following the Civil War. Architect Edwin Forrest Durang (a descendant of America’s first actor, John Durang, a Lancaster native) lowered the auditorium, added space for stage rigging, constructed a proscenium arch extending 21 feet above the stage, and added the first balcony. According to old photographs, the name was changed to “Yecker’s Fulton Opera House” at this time. The grand opening, on October 2, 1873, was a performance of Othello, benefiting widows and orphans of the Civil War. Famous performers who subsequently graced the stage were Maude Adams, John Drew, Lily Langtry, and Modejeska.</p><br>
<p>Yecker’s son Charles took over the Fulton in 1903 and commissioned local architect C. Emlen Urban to redesign the interior in neo-classic style. Performance space was again enlarged and eight box seats were added, as well as the second balcony or “Peanut Gallery” which was fashioned with wooden benches, plus the grand staircase and foyers that still exist today. The Fulton subsequently played host to Sarah Bernhardt, Goerge M. Cohan, and a production of Ben Hur, complete with a live chariot race. The Fulton was considered the Queen of the Roadhouses. After 1910, movies began to pull audiences away from live theatre attendance, and with fewer traveling shows available, Yecker instituted his own stock company. By 1920, these shows included burlesque, which led to a Lancaster group called The Law and Order Society to have Yecker arrested for “exhibiting immoral shows.” He sold the building, which eventually came under the ownership of Ralph W. Coho, who began showing rerun movies, interspersed with a few stage shows. In 1931, Ethel Barrymore appeared in a play called The Love Duel, and the Drama Club of Lancaster presented an amateur production of George Kelly’s The Torch Bearers. The newer theatres on North Queen Street were drawing audiences with first run movies, and as the years went by, the Fulton became a second-rate movie house, its stage empty of performers. In the early 1950’s, a writer named Eugene Burr wrote an article for the New York theatre Playbill suggesting that the Fulton become a memorial to actor John Durang. Readers sent copies to Joe Kingston, the entertainment editor of the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, who launched a campaign to restore the theatre as a home for local productions, musical events, and touring companies, organizing a “grand reopening” celebration on the occasion of the Fulton’s 100th anniversary to stir interest. In 1957, new management repositioned the theatre as an art movie house, with occasional stage performances. Over the next few years, a local production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town with Victor Jorre as guest star, and a traveling production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge starring Luther Adler were presented. Plans for a season of summer theatre were announced, and most importantly a group of interested citizens began to raise money to purchase the building as a not-for-profit foundation. The Fulton Opera House Foundation was formed in 1963 with Nathaniel E. Hager, whose great grandfather had founded Fulton Hall, as its president, and a Board of community leaders. A purchase price of $55,000 was negotiated, and fund-raising began for the purchase and renovation.</p><br>
<p>The Foundation began presenting a few first-run movies to bring in money, such as The Sound of Music and Thunderball. As repainting of the interior began, they also produced a few stage shows, including How to Succeed in Business and The Odd Couple, and hosted performances by the Lancaster Opera Workshop. The Fulton also became the performing home of the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, and an annual musical presented by the Lancaster Kiwanis Club. In 1969, a community theatre group, Actors Company of Pennsylvania, began presenting musicals and plays on the Fulton stage. This was also the year that the theatre was designated a National Historic Landmark. By now the Fulton was totally committed to being a performing arts center for the community, with no more movies! Through the 70’s and 80’s, as the Fulton continued to rent the stage to community groups, it began producing shows of its own, eventually becoming a professional regional theatre in association with Actor’s Equity Association in 1983. It also created The Theatre for Young Audiences program, which is today the most extensive touring program of its kind in Pennsylvania. In 1989, the Fulton Board launched The Landmark Campaign to raise the funds to restore the theatre to its original Victorian elegance, while adding new office and lobby facilities, better seating, new dressing rooms, a flexible studio theatre, and enhanced technical facilities. After shutting down in January 1995 for the reconstruction, the Fulton lit up again on October 14, 1995 with a Gala Reopening performance of the Stephen Sondheim musical, Company. To further strengthen its position as a production company, the Fulton merged with the Actors’ Company of Pennsylvania beginning with its 1995-96 season. This merger helped to clarify the theatre’s focus on production and out-reach programs.</p><br>
<p>The Fulton is enjoying continued growth as it builds its reputation as a producer of professional, exciting theatre – award-winning favorites, classic plays, and World Premieres of commissioned work – while continuing to serve other performing arts groups such as the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and Opera Lancaster. We believe that Christopher Hager would be proud to see how his dream survived and prospered. A historic landmark. A contemporary theatre. The Fulton Opera House is one of only eight theatres in the United States recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Located on the first block of North Prince Street in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, it combines the elegance of Victorian architecture with the amenities and technical resources of a modern theatre. A $9.5 million renovation and expansion project initiated by the Fulton Opera House Board of Trustees was completed in 1995. In addition to restoring the splendor of the interior, new facilities were added for the comfort and convenience of the audience, to expand office space, and to make state-of-the-art improvements to the theatre itself. The construction of an annex adjacent to the original building allowed for the addition of a new two-story atrium lobby, new office space on the third floor, and an elevator serving all levels. A previously acquired building on the South side was remodeled to include a new box office and additional restrooms. The ground level below the stage now provides group and individual dressing rooms, an assembly area with kitchen facilities, a wardrobe room, and a large orchestra pit. The reconfigured auditorium area, with 684 seats, has orchestra seating on the first level, a second level mezzanine, and third level gallery seating. In addition to the four orchestra and balcony boxes near the stage, there are now accessible boxes at the rear of the theatre, as well as other accessible seating areas. New sound and light booths control updated technical systems, including a sound system for the hearing impaired and a View-Via-Headphones system for the visually impaired. For smaller productions, the fourth level of the building features a 100-seat flexible studio theatre that also serves as a rehearsal hall. Special attention has been paid to preserving and enhancing the historical integrity of the architectural features. The new box office rests behind the facade of an earlier version. The wooden statue of Robert Fulton, that originally adorned the front of the building, is restored and displayed in the lobby. The exterior statue is a replica of the original.</p><br>
<h3>Fulton Theatre Timeline</h3><br>
<p>1737-BLOODY BEGINNINGS -Before this site was a theatre, it was the site of Lancaster’s pre-Revolutionary jail. This was the site where, on December 28, 1763, a vigilante gang known as the “Paxtang Boys” massacred the last of the Conestoga Indians being held there for their protection. This was a monumental event throughout the colonies and became the subject matter for the first plays ever written on American soil – A Dialogue Between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot About the Killing the Indians at Cannestogoe and Lancaster and The Paxton Boys, a Farce. The exterior wall of the jail courtyard still exists as the back wall of the theatre.</p><br>
<p>1852-THE HALL IS BUILT -Christopher Hager, a Lancaster merchant and civic leader, had a dream: to create a building that would serve as a community center for meetings, lectures, concerts, and theatrical performances. The Fulton Theatre was built on the foundation of Lancaster’s pre-Revolutionary jail. He commissioned the renowned Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan (who later designed the Lancaster County Courthouse) to create this building. It was named Fulton Hall, after the county’s steam engine pioneer, Robert Fulton.</p><br>
<p>1856-1904-THE FULTON CONTINUES TO GROW -The hall was sold to Blasius Yecker, a harness worker, and Hilaire Zaepfel, a hotelkeeper. Thirteen years later, Zaepfel sold his interest to Yecker, who initiated a major renovation following the Civil War. Edward Forrest Durang, descendant of America’s first actor Lancaster-born John Durang, and ancestor of modern playwright Christopher Durang, remodels the interior into a true performance venue. The grand opening was on October 2nd, 1873. They put on a performance of Othello, benefiting widows and orphans of the Civil War. It was then that the building took the name “Fulton Opera House.” Starting in 1903, Yecker’s son, Charles, took over the Fulton and commissioned local architect C. Emlen Urban to redesign the interior in neo-classic style.</p><br>
<p>1952-THE GRAND OLD LADY OF PRINCE STREET -As the years went by, the Fulton became a second-rate movie house, its stage empty of performers. In the early 1950’s, a campaign was launched to restore the theatre as a home for local productions, musical events, and touring companies. A “grand reopening” celebration was organized on the occasion of the Fulton’s 100th anniversary to stir interest, dubbing the venerable building “The Grand Old Lady of Prince Street.” Despite efforts surrounding the 100th anniversary, business was dismal and the Fulton was fixtured for movies. In October of 1957, the Fulton reopens as the Fulton Art Theatre and a new movie screen is installed.</p><br>
<p>1962-FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE -Concerned citizens saved the Fulton Opera House from the wrecking ball by raising money to purchase the building as a not-for-profit foundation, creating the Fulton Opera House Foundation. This was formed with Nathaniel E. Hager, whose great grandfather had founded Fulton Hall, and returned the venue to Christopher Hager’s initial desire to be established for the community. In 1983, the Actor’s Equity Association recognized the Fulton as a professional regional theatre.</p><br>
<h2>Secrets of the Theatre</h2><br>
<p>A Point on the Underground Railroad -Two formerly enslaved women of African descent, living in freedom in Lancaster County, were seized by bounty hunters as runaways. They were held in the prison on a temporary basis, pending transport to Southern states. They were secretly released by an unlikely co-conspirator: the County’s chief law enforcement officer, Sheriff David “Dare-Devil Dave” Miller (1795-1858). This colorful character was a humanitarian and an avid horseman who suppressed race riots against African Americans in Columbia, PA. Miller’s secret release of the women was documented in a 2008 report to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, earning the Fulton Opera House the designation as a site with an authentic connection to the Underground Railroad.</p><br>
<p>Site of the Conestoga Indian Massacre -On December 28, 1763, the massacre of the Conestoga Indians occurred on this site. On December 14, 1763, about fifty armed colonists from Paxton (near modern Harrisburg) rode into Conestoga. In a dawn attack they burned the homes and murdered the six Indians they found. The Indians who had been away from the village at the time of the attack sought refuge there, where city officials locked them inside, supposedly the most defensible building in town. On December 27, the Paxton Boys returned, broke in and murdered the fourteen Indian men, women, and children.</p><br>
<p>Armory and Hospital in the Civil War -Fulton Hall hosted occasional performance during the Civil War, while the Lancaster Fencibles used the building as an armory, and the home guard drilled there. After the Battle of Gettysburg, it briefly served as a hospital for wounded soldiers.</p><br>
<h2>Did You Know</h2><br>
<p>After 1910, movies began to pull audiences away from live theatre attendance, and with fewer traveling shows available, the Fulton instituted its own stock company. By 1920, these shows included burlesque, which led to a Lancaster group called The Law and Order Society to have then owner, Charles Yecker, arrested for “exhibiting immoral shows.”</p><br>
<p>The Fulton Opera House is one of only eight theatres in the United States recognized as a National Historic Landmark. It was recognized in 1969.</p><br>
<p>The first musical concert at Fulton Hall was by violinist Ole Bull and 9-year-old soprano Adelina Patti, to raise money for a settlement of Scandinavians in Potter County.</p><br>
<p>Since its inception, some of the brightest stars of theatre, music and film have appeared on its stage, including Sarah Bernhardt, Mark Twain, Horace Greeley (Famous Newspaper Editor and Presidential Candidate in 1872), Debbie Reynolds, Lily Tomlin, Lionel Barrymore, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, W.C. Fields, George M. Cohan, Treat Williams and Lancaster’s own Jonathan Groff. Theatrical performances included Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.</p><br>
<h2>Home for the Haunts</h2><br>
<p>Marie Cahill, The Woman in White -Several actors and stagehands reported seeing a woman in a white dress hovering around the bottom of an old, wooden spiral staircase or at the top of them stage right. A stagehand from Gettysburg, PA, saw her and asked what her name was. She said “Marie.” Researchers discovered that an actress named Marie Cahill had performed many times at the Fulton. She was born when the Fulton Hall became the Fulton Opera House, and died when the theater started showing movies. Perhaps Marie is still waiting for her big break.</p><br>
<p>Our Stage Hand, The Whistler -A carpenter working in a stairwell that had been closed off for many years suddenly ran screaming from the theatre and onto Prince Street. When asked what was wrong, he said that a man in a light colored suit, wearing brown shoes and a straw hat walked up to him and asked for a cigarette – then he just disappeared right before his eyes. He refused to return to the theatre to finish working on the renovation. Other theatre employees have since reported sightings of the specter, and some actors claim that strange whistling and clapping coming from backstage caused them to miss a line.</p><br>
<p>The Grandfather Ghost in the Gallery -Prior to the 1905 renovation, the gallery was closed to the public because of building codes. Movie projector and follow-spot operators were only permitted in the area. A Millersville University professor was running the spotlights for a show when she noticed an older gentleman sitting in the benches. At intermission she asked if the gentleman was given permission to sit up there. The gentleman only pointed out the young actress in the first act and cited her as his granddaughter that he had come to see. After the show ended, the older gentleman was gone. The spot operator went backstage and ran into the actress. The operator said she had seen her grandfather and hoped he enjoyed the show. The girl responded, “Both my grandfathers are dead.” The actress also said her grandfathers had never seen her perform. The spot operator replied, “Maybe one has now.” And left it at that.</p><br>
<h2>Current Season</h2><br>
<h3>MAINSTAGE SERIES</h3><br>
<p>Little Shop of Horrors, The Musical ǀ September 19, 2017 - October 15, 2017</p><br>
<p>CAST: Gina Naomi Baez*, Galyana Castillo*, Patrice Covington*, Hillary Fisher, Nathaniel Hackmann*, Donovan Hoffer*, Michael Iannucci*</p><br>
<p>Ben Liebert*, Nia Marché, Frank J. Paul*, Shea Renne*, Christine Sherrill*, Lilly Tobin*, Joseph Torello*</p><br>
<p>A Christmas Story, The Musical ǀ November 14, 2017 - December 31, 2017</p><br>
<p>CAST: Joey Abramowicz*, Alisia Alvarez, Grant Bailey, Andrew Berlin*, Lanene Charters*, Jeffery Coon*, Hannah Flam, Cole Gable, Sara Gallo,</p><br>
<p>Chase Jennings Gray, Gavin Scott Haas, Nathaniel Hackmann*, Gabrielle Harker*, Ryan Kimbark, Andrew Kindig*, Stephanie Maloney*,</p><br>
<p>Evan Mayer*, Lindsay O&#39;Neil*, Will Porter*, Annalise Prentiss, Audra Qualley, Jared Thomas Roberts, Tony Romero*, Ariana Stambugh,</p><br>
<p>Madelyn Whitcraft, Timmy Woodward JR.</p><br>
<p>Agatha Christies The Mousetrap&#39; ǀ January 16, 2018 - February 11, 2018</p><br>
<p>Guys and Dolls ǀ March 6, 2018 - March 31, 2018</p><br>
<p>Million Dollar Quartet ǀ April 17, 2018 - May 20, 2018</p><br>
<p>Hunchback of Notre Dame ǀ June 5, 2018 - July 22, 2018</p><br>
<h3>ELLEN ARNOLD GROFF STUDIO SERIES</h3><br>
<p>Sleuth ǀ October 3, 2017 - October 29, 2017</p><br>
<p>CAST: Warren Kelly*, Michael Zlabinger*</p><br>
<p>The Irish... and How They Got That Way ǀ January 23, 2018 - February 18, 2018</p><br>
<p>Blackbird ǀ April 3, 2018 - April 22, 2018</p><br>
<p>Red ǀ May 8, 2018 - May 27, 2018</p><br>
<h3>EICHMANN FAMILY SERIES</h3><br>
<p>The Nutcracker ǀ November 25, 2017 - December 23, 2017</p><br>
<p>CAST: Emily Bailey, Joshua Bellamy*, Melissa Blatherwick*, Kevin Faraci*, Randall Frizado*, Nicole Hackmann, Gabrielle Harker*, Donovan Hoffer*,</p><br>
<p>Andrew Kindig*, Evan Mayer*, StephanieJo Wise*</p><br>
<p>The Three Little Pigs ǀ March 17, 2018 - March 31, 2018</p><br>
<p>The Emperors New Clothes&#39; ǀ April 28, 2018 - May 19, 2018</p><br>
<p>Aladdin ǀ June 16, 2018 - July 21, 2018</p><br>
<h2>2016/2017 Season</h2><br>
<h3>MAINSTAGE SERIES</h3><br>
<p>Billy Elliot: The Musical ǀ September 20, 2016 - October 16, 2016</p><br>
<p>Disneys Beauty and the Beast&#39; ǀ November 8, 2016 - December 31, 2016</p><br>
<p>Irving Berlins Annie Get Your Gun&#39; ǀ January 24, 2017 - February 19, 2017</p><br>
<p>In the Heights ǀ March 17, 2017 - April 2, 2017</p><br>
<p>Always...Patsy Cline ǀ April 18, 2017 - May 21, 2017</p><br>
<p>Disneys Newsies&#39; ǀ June 6, 2017 - July 27, 2017</p><br>
<h3>ELLEN ARNOLD GROFF STUDIO SERIES</h3><br>
<p>Veronicas Room&#39; ǀ October 11, 2016 - October 30, 2016</p><br>
<p>Disgraced ǀ February 21, 2017 - March 12, 2017</p><br>
<p>4,000 Days ǀ May 16, 2017 - June 4, 2017</p><br>
<h3>EICHMANN FAMILY SERIES</h3><br>
<p>Twas The Night Before Christmas&#39; ǀ November 19, 2016 - December 17, 2016</p><br>
<p>Alice in Wonderland ǀ February 4, 2017 - February 18, 2017</p><br>
<p>James and the Giant Peach ǀ April 29, 2017 - May 20, 2017</p><br>
<p>Big, The Musical ǀ June 17, 2017 - July 22, 2017</p><br>
<p>Cyrene  was an ancient Greek and Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya. It was the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times. Located nearby is the ancient Necropolis of Cyrene.</p><br>
<p>Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar uplands. The city was named after a spring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo. It was also the seat of the Cyrenaics, a famous school of philosophy in the 4th century BC, founded by Aristippus, a disciple of Socrates. It was then nicknamed the "Athens of Africa".</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Summary of the founding of Cyrene, as told in Herodotus</h3><br>
<p>Grinus, son of Aesanius a descendant of Theras, and king of the island of Thera, had visited the Oracle and offered a hecatomb to the Oracle on sundry matters. The Oracle had offered the advice to found a new city in Libya. Many years had passed and the advice was not taken, and Thera had succumbed to a horrific drought and all of the crops and trees had perished. They again sent to Delphi and were reminded that the Oracle had said several years before to settle in the country of Libya, but this time she specifically said to found a settlement in the land of Cyrene. Not knowing how to get to Libya they sent a messenger to Crete to find someone to lead them on their journey. They found a dealer in purple dyes named Corobius. He had once traveled to an island across from Libya called Platea. Grinus and Corobius sailed to Platea, when they reached their destination they left Corobius with months of supplies and Grinus went back to Thera to collect men to settle the newly made colony. After two years of settling the colony they had little success and went back to the Oracle to get advice. The Oracle had repeated her advice to move directly to the country of Libya instead of across from Libya. So they moved to a place called Aziris. They settled there for six years, and were very successful until the Libyans visited the settlement of Aziris to convince the people to move further inland. They were swayed by the Libyans to move and settled into what is now Cyrene. The current king of that time Battus reigned for 40 years, until he passed on and his son, Arcesilaus, took over and reigned for 16 years, with no more or less population change until the Oracle had told the third king, another Battus, to bring Greek citizens to the settlement and with that expansion the Libyans had lost a lot of land surrounding Cyrene.</p><br>
<h3>Greek period</h3><br>
<p>According to Greek tradition, Cyrene was founded in 631 BC as a settlement of Greeks from the island of Thera, traditionally led by Battus I, at a site 10 mi from its associated port, Apollonia (Marsa Sousa). Traditional details concerning the founding of the city are contained in Herodotus&#39; Histories IV. Cyrene promptly became the chief town of ancient Libya and established commercial relations with all the Greek cities, reaching the height of its prosperity under its own kings in the 5th century BC. Soon after 460 BC it became a republic. In 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War, Cyrene supplied Spartan forces with two triremes and pilots. After the death of Alexander the Great of Macedon (323 BC), the Cyrenian republic became subject to the Ptolemaic dynasty.</p><br>
<p>Ophelas, the general who occupied the city in Ptolemy Is name, ruled the city almost independently until his death, when Ptolemys son-in-law Magas received governorship of the territory. In 276 BC Magas crowned himself king and declared de facto independence, marrying the daughter of the Seleucid king and forming with him an alliance in order to invade Egypt. The invasion was unsuccessful and in 250 BC, after Magas&#39; death, the city was reabsorbed into Ptolemaic Egypt. Cyrenaica became part of the Ptolemaic empire controlled from Alexandria, and became Roman territory in 96 BC when Ptolemy Apion bequeathed Cyrenaica to Rome. In 74 BC the territory was formally transformed into a Roman province.</p><br>
<h3>Roman period</h3><br>
<p>In 74 BC Cyrene was created a Roman province; but, whereas under the Ptolemies the Jewish inhabitants had enjoyed equal rights, they were allegedly increasingly oppressed by the now autonomous and much larger Greek population. Tensions came to a head in the insurrection of the Jews of Cyrene under Vespasian (73 AD, the First Roman-Jewish War) and especially Trajan (117 AD, the Kitos War). This revolt was quelled by Marcius Turbo, but not before huge numbers of civilians had been brutally massacred by the Jewish rebels. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the Jewish rebellion left Libya so depopulated to such an extent that a few years later new colonies had to be established there by the emperor Hadrian just to maintain the viability of continued settlement.</p><br>
<p>Plutarch in his work De mulierum virtutibus ("On the Virtues of Women") describes how the tyrant of Cyrene, Nicocrates, was deposed by his wife Aretaphila of Cyrene around the year 50 BC</p><br>
<p>The famous "Venus of Cyrene", a headless marble statue representing the goddess Venus, a Roman copy of a Greek original, was discovered by Italian soldiers here in 1913. It was transported to Rome, where it remained until 2008, when it was returned to Libya. A large number of Roman sculptures and inscriptions were excavated at Cyrene by Captain Robert Murdoch Smith and Commander Edwin A. Porcher during the mid nineteenth century and can now be seen in the British Museum. They include the Apollo of Cyrene and a unique bronze head of an African man.</p><br>
<h3>Christianity</h3><br>
<p>Christianity is reputed from its beginning to have links with Cyrene. All three synoptic Gospels mention a Simon of Cyrene as having been forced to help carry the cross of Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles there is mention of people from Cyrene being in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. According to the tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church, its founder, Saint Mark was a native of Cyrene and ordained the first bishop of Cyrene. The Roman Martyrology mentions under 4 July a tradition that in the persecution of Diocletian a bishop Theodorus of Cyrene was scourged and had his tongue cut out. Earlier editions of the Martyrology mentioned what may be the same person also under 26 March. Letter 67 of Synesius tells of an irregular episcopal ordination carried out by a bishop Philo of Cyrene, which was condoned by Athanasius. The same letter mentions that a nephew of this Philo, who bore the same name, also became bishop of Cyrene. Although Cyrene was by then ruined, a bishop of Cyrene name Rufus was at the Robber Council of Ephesus in 449. And there was still a bishop of Cyrene, named Leontius, at the time of Greek Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria (580-607).</p><br>
<p>Known Bishops of the town, then include:</p><br>
<p>Saint Luke by tradition</p><br>
<p>Theodoro (fl 302)</p><br>
<p>Filo I (fl 370 circa)</p><br>
<p>Filo II (fl 370 circa)</p><br>
<p>Rufo (fl449)</p><br>
<p>Leontius (fl 600 circa)</p><br>
<p>No longer a residential bishopric, Cyrene is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. The Greek Orthodox Church has also treated it as a titular see.</p><br>
<h3>Decline</h3><br>
<p>Cyrenes chief local export through much of its early history was the medicinal herb silphium, used as an abortifacient; the herb was pictured on most Cyrenian coins. Silphium was in such demand that it was harvested to extinction; this, in conjunction with commercial competition from Carthage and Alexandria, resulted in a reduction in the citys trade. Cyrene, with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), remained an important urban center until the earthquake of 262, which damaged the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephon in Cyrene. After the disaster, the emperor Claudius Gothicus restored Cyrene, naming it Claudiopolis, but the restorations were poor and precarious. Natural catastrophes and a profound economic decline dictated its death, and in 365 another particularly devastating earthquake destroyed its already meager hopes of recovery. Ammianus Marcellinus described it in the 4th century as a deserted city, and Synesius, a native of Cyrene, described it in the following century as a vast ruin at the mercy of the nomads. Ultimately, the city fell under Arab conquest in 643, by which time little was left of the opulent Roman cities of Northern Africa; the ruins of Cyrene are located near the modern village of Shahhat.</p><br>
<h2>Philosophy</h2><br>
<p>Cyrene contributed to the intellectual life of the Greeks, through renowned philosophers and mathematicians. Philosophy flourished at the Cyrenaican plateau, the School of Cyrene, known as Cyrenaics developed here, a minor Socratic school founded by Aristippus who was friend with Socrates, though according to some accounts it was the grandson of Aristippus with the same name. Cyrene was the birthplace of Eratosthenes, who later went to Alexandria. Statues of philosophers, poets, and The Nine Muses, and a bust of Demosthenes were found in Cyrene.</p><br>
<p>Others included, Aristippus successor and daughter Arete, Callimachus, Carneades, Ptolemais of Cyrene, and Synesius, a bishop of Ptolemais in the 4th century AD.</p><br>
<h2>Cyrene in the Bible</h2><br>
<p>Cyrene is referred to in the deuterocanonical book 2 Maccabees. The book of 2 Maccabees itself is said by its author to be an abridgment of a five-volume work by a Hellenized Jew by the name of Jason of Cyrene who lived around 100 BC.</p><br>
<p>Cyrene is also mentioned in the New Testament. A Cyrenian named Simon carried the cross of Christ (Mark 15:21 and parallels). See also Acts 2:10 where Jews from Cyrene heard the disciples speaking in their own language in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost; 6:9 where some Cyrenian Jews disputed with a disciple named Stephen; 11:20 tells of Jewish Christians originally from Cyrene who (along with believers from Cyprus) first preached the Gospel to non-Jews; 13:1 names Lucius of Cyrene as one of several to whom the Holy Spirit spoke, instructing them to appoint Barnabas and Saul (later Paul) for missionary service.</p><br>
<h2>Present</h2><br>
<p>Cyrene is now an archeological site near the village of Shahhat. One of its more significant features is the temple of Apollo which was originally constructed as early as 7th century BC. Other ancient structures include a temple to Demeter and a partially unexcavated temple to Zeus There is a large necropolis approximately 10 km between Cyrene and its ancient port of Apollonia. Since 1982, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<p>In 2005, Italian archaeologists from the University of Urbino discovered 76 intact Roman statues at Cyrene from the 2nd century AD. The statues remained undiscovered for so long because “during the earthquake of 375 AD, a supporting wall of the temple fell on its side, burying all the statues. They remained hidden under stone, rubble and earth for 1,630 years. The other walls sheltered the statues, so we were able to recover all the pieces, even works that had been broken."</p><br>
<p>Beginning in 2006, Global Heritage Fund, in partnership with the Second University of Naples (SUN, Italy), the Libyan Department of Antiquities, and the Libyan Ministry of Culture, has been working to preserve the ancient site through a combination of holistic conservation practices and training of local skilled and unskilled labor.</p><br>
<p>Apart from conducting ongoing emergency conservation on a theater inside the Sanctuary of Apollo through the process of anastylosis, the GHF-led team is in the process of developing a comprehensive master site management plan.</p><br>
<p>In 2007 Muammar Gaddafis son planned safeguarding Libyas archaeological sites and to prevent overdevelopment of Mediterranean coastlines.</p><br>
<p>In May 2011, a number of objects excavated from Cyrene in 1917 and held in the vault of the National Commercial Bank in Benghazi were stolen. Looters tunnelled into the vault and broke into two safes that held the artefacts which were part of the so-called Benghazi Treasure. The whereabouts of these objects are currently unknown.</p><br>
<p>In 2017 UNESCO added Cyrene to its List of World Heritage in Danger.</p><br>
<h2>Notable residents</h2><br>
<p>Aristippus (c. 435 - c. 356 BCE), philosopher and founder of the Cyrenaic School.</p><br>
<p>Callimachus (310/305 - 240 BCE), poet, critic, and scholar at the Library of Alexandria</p><br>
<p>Eratosthenes (276 - 194 BCE), mathematician, geographer, astronomer; librarian at the Library of Alexandria. First to calculate the circumference of the Earth.</p><br>
<p>Eugammon (fl. 6th century BCE), epic poet</p><br>
<p>Lacydes (3rd century BC), philosopher</p><br>
<p>Theodorus (c. 5th century BC), mathematician</p><br>
<p>Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings is the home of the Parliament of Canada and has architectural elements of national symbolic importance. Parliament Hill attracts approximately 3 million visitors each year. Law enforcement on parliament hill and in the parliamentary precinct is the responsibility of the Parliamentary Protective Service .</p><br>
<p>Originally the site of a military base in the 18th and early 19th centuries, development of the area into a governmental precinct began in 1859, after Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital of the Province of Canada. Following a number of extensions to the parliament and departmental buildings and a fire in 1916 that destroyed the Centre Block, Parliament Hill took on its present form with the completion of the Peace Tower in 1927. Since 2002, an extensive $1 billion renovation and rehabilitation project has been underway throughout all of the precinct&#39;s buildings; work is not expected to be complete until after 2020.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early</h3><br>
<p>Parliament Hill is a limestone outcrop with a gently sloping top that was originally covered in primeval forest of beech and hemlock. For hundreds of years, the hill served as a landmark on the Ottawa River for First Nations and, later, European traders, adventurers, and industrialists, to mark their journey to the interior of the continent. After Ottawa—then called Bytown—was founded, the builders of the Rideau Canal used the hill as a location for a military base, naming it Barrack Hill. A large fortress was planned for the site, but was never built, and by the mid 19th century the hill had lost its strategic importance.</p><br>
<h3>Choice as a parliamentary precinct</h3><br>
<p>In 1858, Queen Victoria selected Ottawa as the capital of the Province of Canada, and Barrack Hill was chosen as the site for the new parliament buildings, given its prominence over both the town and the river, as well as the fact that it was already owned by the Crown. On 7 May, the Department of Public Works issued a call for design proposals for the new parliament buildings to be erected on Barrack Hill, which was answered with 298 submitted drawings. After the entries were narrowed down to three, Governor General Sir Edmund Walker Head was approached to break the stalemate, and the winners were announced on August 29, 1859.</p><br>
<p>The Centre Block, departmental buildings, and a new residence for the governor general were each awarded separately, the team of Thomas Fuller and Chilion Jones, under the pseudonym of Semper Paratus, winning the prize for the first category with their Victorian High Gothic scheme of a formal, symmetrical front facing a quadrangle, and a more rustic, picturesque back facing the escarpment overlooking the Ottawa River. The team of Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver, under the pseudonym of Stat nomen in umbra, won the prize for the second category, which included the East and West Blocks. These proposals were selected for their sophisticated use of Gothic architecture, which was thought to remind people of parliamentary democracys history, would contradict the republican Neoclassicism of the United States capital, and would be suited to the rugged surroundings while also being stately. $300,000 was allocated for the main building, and $120,000 for each of the departmental buildings.</p><br>
<h3>Development into a national heart</h3><br>
<p>Ground was broken on December 20, 1859, and the first stones laid on April 16 of the following year, and Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), laid the cornerstone of the Centre Block on September 1. The construction of Parliament Hill became the largest project undertaken in North America to that date. However, workers hit bedrock earlier than expected, necessitating blasting in order to complete the foundations, which had also been altered by the architects in order to sit 5.25 m deeper than originally planned. By early 1861, Public Works reported that $1,424,882.55 had been spent on the venture, leading to the site being closed in September and the unfinished structures covered in tarpaulins until 1863, when construction resumed following a commission of inquiry.</p><br>
<p>Two years later, the unfinished site hosted a celebration of Queen Victorias birthday, further cementing the areas position as the central place for national outpouring. The site was still incomplete when three of the British North American colonies (now the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) entered Confederation in 1867, with Ottawa remaining the capital of the new country. Within four years Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and the North-West Territories (now Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) were added and, along with the associated bureaucracy, the first three required representation be added in parliament. Thus, the offices of parliament spread to buildings beyond Parliament Hill even at that early date.</p><br>
<p>The British military gave a nine-pound naval cannon to the British army garrison stationed in Ottawa in 1854. It was purchased by the Canadian government in 1869 and fired on Parliament Hill for many years as the "Noonday Gun".</p><br>
<p>By 1876, the structures of Parliament Hill were finished, along with the surrounding fence and gates. However, the grounds had yet to be properly designed; Governor General the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava sent chief architect Thomas Scott to New York City to meet with Calvert Vaux and view Central Park. Vaux completed a layout for the landscape of Parliament Hill, including the present day driveways, terraces, and main lawn, while Scott created the more informal grounds to the sides of and behind the buildings. In 1901 they were the site of both mourning for, and celebration of, Queen Victoria, when the Queens death was mourned in official ceremonies in January of that year, and when, in late September, Victorias grandson, Prince George, Duke of Cornwall (later King George V), dedicated the large statue that stands on the hill in the late queen&#39;s honour.</p><br>
<h3>Fire, rebuilding, and beyond</h3><br>
<p>Fire destroyed the Centre Block on February 3, 1916. Despite the ongoing war, the original cornerstone was re-laid by Governor General Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, on September 1, 1916; exactly fifty-six years after his brother, the future King Edward VII, had first set it. Eleven years later, the new tower was completed and dedicated as the Peace Tower, in commemoration of the Canadians who had lost their lives during the First World War.</p><br>
<p>Thereafter, The Hill hosted a number of significant events in Canadian history, including the first visit of the reigning Canadian sovereign&mdash;King George VI, with his consort, Queen Elizabeth&mdash;to his parliament, on May 19, 1939. VE Day was marked with a huge celebration on May 8, 1945, the first raising of the country&#39;s new national flag took place on February 15, 1965, the centennial of Confederation was celebrated on July 1, 1967, and the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was marked on October 18, 1977. The Queen was back on Parliament Hill on April 17, 1982, to issue a royal proclamation of the enactment of the Constitution Act that year.</p><br>
<p>In April 1989, a Greyhound Lines bus with 11 passengers on board travelling to New York City from Montreal was hijacked by an armed man and driven onto the lawn in front of the Centre Block. A standoff with police ensued and lasted eight hours; though three shots were fired, there were no injuries. After a second incident in September 1996 where an individual forcibly drove his car into the Centre Block doors and proceeded to attack RCMP officers standing guard, it was decided in the interests of national security that Parliament Hill, which up to that time had been open to limited public traffic on the lower lawn, would be restricted to government and media vehicles only.</p><br>
<p>Crowds marked the beginning of the third millennium with a large ceremony on the quadrangle and the "largest single vigil" ever seen in the nations capital took place in 2001, when 100,000 people gathered on the main lawn to honour the victims of the September 11 attacks on the United States that year. The following year, Queen Elizabeth IIs Golden Jubilee was marked on October 13, as was her Diamond Jubilee on February 6 (Accession Day) 2012.</p><br>
<p>On October 22, 2014, several shooting incidents occurred around Parliament Hill. A gunman, after fatally shooting a Canadian Army soldier mounting the ceremonial guard at the National War Memorial, moved to the Centre Block of the parliament buildings. There, he was killed in a shootout with RCMP officers and the Sergeant-At-Arms, Kevin Vickers. The gunman also injured one House of Commons constable, who was shot in the foot.</p><br>
<h2>Grounds and name</h2><br>
<p>The 88,480 m&sup2; area, maintained by the National Capital Commission, is named by the Parliament of Canada Act as Parliament Hill and defined as resting between the Ottawa River on the north, the Rideau Canal on the east, Wellington Street on the south, and a service road (Kent Street) near the Supreme Court on the west. The south front of the property is demarcated by a Victorian High Gothic wrought iron fence, named the Wellington Wall and in the centre of which, on axis with the Peace Tower to the north, sits the formal entrance to Parliament Hill: the Queen&#39;s Gates, forged by Ives & Co. of Montreal. At each southern corner of the quadrangle are also smaller gates for every-day access.</p><br>
<p>The main outdoor area of The Hill is the quadrangle, formed by the arrangement of the parliament and departmental buildings on the site, and laid out in a formal garden fashion. This expanse is the site of major celebrations, demonstrations, and traditional shows, such as the changing of the guard, or the annual Canada Day celebrations. To the sides of the buildings, the grounds are set in the English garden style, dotted with statues, memorials, and, at the northwest corner, a Carpenter Gothic structure called the Summer Gazebo, a 1995 reconstruction of an earlier gazebo, Summer House, built for the Speaker of the House of Commons in 1877 by Thomas Seton Scott and demolished in 1956. Beyond the edges of these landscaped areas, the escarpment remains in its natural state.</p><br>
<p>Though Parliament Hill remains the heart of the parliamentary precinct, expansion beyond the bounded area described above began in 1884, with the construction of the Langevin Block across Wellington Street. After land to the east, across the canal, was purchased by private interests (to build the Château Laurier hotel), growth of the parliamentary infrastructure moved westward along Wellington, with the erection in the 1930s of the Confederation and Justice Buildings on the north side, and then further construction to the south. By the 1970s, the Crown began purchasing other structures or leasing space deeper within the downtown, civic area of Ottawa. In 1973, the Crown expropriated the entire block between Wellington and Sparks Streets with the intent of constructing a south block for Parliament Hill. However, the government dropped this proposal and instead, constructed more office space in Hull, Quebec, such as the Terrasses de la Chaudière and Place du Portage.</p><br>
<p>In 1976, the Parliament Buildings and the grounds of Parliament Hill were each designated as National Historic Sites of Canada, given their importance as the physical embodiment of the Canadian government and as the focal point of national celebrations.</p><br>
<p>The Parliament of Canada Act renders it illegal for anyone to name any other area or establishment within the National Capital Region as Parliament Hill, as well as forbidding the production of merchandise with that name on it. Any violation of this law is punishable on summary conviction.</p><br>
<h2>Parliament buildings</h2><br>
<p>The parliament buildings are three edifices arranged around three sides of Parliament Hills central lawn, the use and administration of the spaces within each building overseen by the speakers of each chamber of the legislature. The Centre Block has the Senate and Commons chambers, and is fronted by the Peace Tower on the south facade, with the Library of Parliament at the buildings rear. The East and West Blocks each contain ministers and senators offices, as well as meeting rooms and other administrative spaces. Gothic Revival has been used as the unifying style of all three structures, though the Centre Block is a more modern Gothic Revival, while the older East and West Blocks are of a Victorian High Gothic.</p><br>
<p>This collection is one of the worlds most important examples of the Gothic Revival style; while the buildings manner and design are unquestionably Gothic, they resemble no building constructed during the Middle Ages. The forms were the same, but their arrangement was uniquely modern. The parliament buildings also departed from the Medieval models by integrating a variety of eras and styles of Gothic architecture, including elements from Britain, France, the Low Countries, and Italy, all in three buildings. In his 1867 Hand Book to the Parliamentary and Departmental Buildings, Canada, Joseph Bureau wrote</p><br>
<p>The style of the Buildings is the Gothic of the 12th and 13th Centuries, with modifications to suit the climate of Canada. The ornamental work and the dressing round the windows are of Ohio sandstone. The plain surface is faced with a cream-coloured sandstone of the Potsdam formation, obtained from Nepean, a few miles from Ottawa. The spandrils of the arches, and the spaces between window-arches and the sills of the upper windows, are filled up with a quaint description of stonework, composed of stones of irregular size, shape and color, very neatly set together. These with the Potsdam red sandstone employed in forming the arches over the windows, afford a pleasant variety of color and effect, and contrast with the general masses of light coloured sandstone, of which the body of the work is composed.</p><br>
<p>The sculptural ornament is overseen by the Dominion Sculptor. Five people have held the position since its creation in 1936: Cléophas Soucy (1936–50), William Oosterhoff (1949–62), Eleanor Milne (1962–93), Maurice Joanisse (1993–2006) and Phil R. White (2006–present).</p><br>
<p>The only structure on Parliament Hill to have been purposefully demolished was the old Supreme Court building, which stood behind the West Block and housed the Supreme Court of Canada between 1889 and 1945. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, there were proposals to demolish other parliamentary precinct buildings, including the Library of Parliament and West Block for new structures, and the East Block for parking, but none of these plans were adopted. Instead, renovations were undertaken to the East Block, beginning in 1966.</p><br>
<p>In 2002, an extensive $1 billion renovation project began across the parliamentary precinct, specifically focusing on masonry restoration, asbestos removal, vehicle screening, parking, electrical and mechanical systems, and improved visitors facilities. The Library of Parliament and Peace Tower, as well as some exterior areas of masonry on the Centre Block have so far been completed, though focus has shifted to the West Block due to its rapidly deteriorating cladding. In 2018, when the Centre Block is slated to be closed for five years to carry out an extensive interior restoration and upgrade, the inner courtyard of the newly renovated West Block will be enclosed and fitted with a temporary chamber for the House of Commons while the Senate will be temporarily relocated down Wellington St. in The Government Conference Centre. Restoration of the East block is set to commence upon completion of Centre Blocks restoration.</p><br>
<h2>Statues and monuments</h2><br>
<p>Most of the statues on Parliament Hill are arranged behind the three parliamentary buildings, with one outside of the main fence.</p><br>
<p>A number of other monuments are distributed across the hill, marking historical moments or acting as memorials for larger groups of people.</p><br>
<p>Mount Tahan , at 2,187 m, is the highest point in Peninsular Malaysia. It is located within the Taman Negara national forest, in the state of Pahang. The mountain is part of the Tahan Range in the Tenasserim Hills and is popular with local climbers.</p><br>
<p>In the Malay language, ‘gunung’ means ‘mountain’, while ‘tahan’ means ‘endure’. Thus, the name of the mountain suggests that a certain level of physical endurance is required to conquer it. Gunung Tahan is considered by many to be one of the toughest treks in Peninsular Malaysia.</p><br>
<h2>Trails</h2><br>
<p>There are three trails to the summit, commonly referred to as:</p><br>
<p>1) Kuala Tahan-Kuala Tahan</p><br>
<p>2) Merapoh-Kuala Tahan or Kuala Tahan-Merapoh</p><br>
<p>3) Merapoh-Merapoh</p><br>
<p>The Kuala Tahan classic trail is the oldest and most scenic trail. A return trip on this trail typically takes seven days. Climbers have to trek across undulating ridges and make several river crossings before finally reaching the foot of the mountain to make the final ascent. Climbers without adequate physical fitness or training are not advised to attempt Gunung Tahan.</p><br>
<p>The other two trails are from Merapoh (Sungai Relau). The Merapoh-Merapoh trail is significantly shorter than the other two. A return trip on the Merapoh trail takes 3–4 days. A traverse from Kuala Tahan to Merapoh (or the other way around) takes around 5 days.</p><br>
<h2>Temperature</h2><br>
<p>Mount Tahan can be very cold in night. In December to January, its temperature can be from 4 °C to 18 °C. And in June to September, its temperature can be from 7 °C to 27 °C. Frost can sometimes appear at the summit.</p><br>
<p>Table Mountain  is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. The mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National Park. Table Mountain is home to large array of fauna and flora, most of which is endemic.</p><br>
<h2>Features</h2><br>
<p>The main feature of Table Mountain is the level plateau approximately 3 km from side to side, edged by impressive cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devils Peak to the east and by Lions Head to the west, forms a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town. This broad sweep of mountainous heights, together with Signal Hill, forms the natural amphitheatre of the City Bowl and Table Bay harbour. The highest point on Table Mountain is towards the eastern end of the plateau and is marked by Maclear&#39;s Beacon, a stone cairn built in 1865 by Sir Thomas Maclear for trigonometrical survey. It is 1,086 m above sea level, and about 19 m higher than the cable station at the western end of the plateau.</p><br>
<p>The cliffs of the main plateau are split by Platteklip Gorge ("Flat Stone Gorge"), which provides an easy and direct ascent to the summit and was the route taken by António de Saldanha on the first recorded ascent of the mountain in 1503.</p><br>
<p>The flat top of the mountain is often covered by orographic clouds, formed when a south-easterly wind is directed up the mountain&#39;s slopes into colder air, where the moisture condenses to form the so-called "table cloth" of cloud. Legend attributes this phenomenon to a smoking contest between the Devil and a local pirate called Van Hunks. When the table cloth is seen, it symbolizes the contest.</p><br>
<p>Table Mountain is at the northern end of a sandstone mountain range that forms the spine of the Cape Peninsula that terminates approximately 50 km to the south at the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Immediately to the south of Table Mountain is a rugged "plateau" at a somewhat lower elevation than the Table Mountain Plateau (at about 1000 m), called the "Back Table". The "Back Table" extends southwards for approximately 6 km to the Constantia Nek-Hout Bay valley. The Atlantic side of the Back Table, is known as the Twelve Apostles, which extends from Kloof Nek (the saddle between Table Mountain and Lions Head) to Hout Bay. The eastern side of this portion of the Peninsulas mountain chain, extending from Devil&#39;s Peak, the eastern side of Table Mountain (Erica and Fernwood Buttresses), and the Back Table to Constantia Nek, does not have single name, as on the western side. It is better known by the names of the conservation areas on its lower slopes: Groote Schuur Estate, Newlands Forest, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cecilia Park, and Constantia Nek.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The upper approximately 600 m portion of the 1 km high table-topped mountain, or mesa, consists of 450-510 million years old (Ordovician) rocks belonging to the two lowermost layers of the Cape Fold Mountains. The uppermost, and younger of the two layers, consists of extremely hard quartzitic sandstone, commonly referred to as "Table Mountain Sandstone" (TMS), or "Peninsula Formation Sandstone" (as it is known as at present), which is highly resistant to erosion and forms characteristic steep grey crags. The 70 m thick lower layer, known as the "Graafwater Formation", consists of distinctively maroon colored mudstones, which were laid down in much thinner horizontal strata than the Table Mountain Sandstone strata above it. The overlying TMS probably arose in deeper water, either as a result of subsidence, or a rise in the sea level. The Graafwater rocks rest on the basement consisting of Cape Granite. Devil&#39;s Peak, Signal Hill, the City Bowl and much of the "Cape Flats", however, rest on heavily folded and altered phyllites and hornfelses known informally as the Malmesbury shales. The Cape Granite and Malmesbury shales form the lower, gentler slopes of the Table Mountain range on the Cape Peninsula. They are of late Precambrian age, pre-dating the "Graafwater rocks" by at least 40 million years.</p><br>
<p>The basement rocks are not nearly as resistant to weathering as the TMS, but significant outcrops of the Cape Granite are visible on the western side of Lions Head, and elsewhere on the Peninsula (especially below Chapmans Peak Drive, and The Boulders near Simon&#39;s Town). The weathered granite soil of the lower slopes of the Peninsula Mountain range are more fertile than the nutrient-poor soils derived from TMS. Most of the vineyards found on the Cape Peninsula are therefore found on these granitic slopes of the Table Mountain range.</p><br>
<p>The mountain owes it table-top flatness to the fact that it is a syncline mountain, meaning that it once was the bottom of a valley (see diagram on the right). The anticline, or highest point of the series of folds that Table Mountain was once part of, lay to the east, but that has been weathered away, together with the underlying softer Malmesbury shale and granite basement, to form the "Cape Flats". The "Cape Flats" form the isthmus that connects the Cape Peninsula to the Mainland. The Fold Mountains reappear as the Hottentots-Holland Mountain range on the mainland side of the "Cape Flats". What has added to the mountains table-top flatness is that it consists entirely of the very hard, lower layer of the Table Mountain Sandstone Formation. Originally this was topped by a thin glacial tillite layer, known as the Pakhuis Formation (see the diagram above, left), above which was the upper layer of Table Mountain Sandstone. Both these layers, but especially the tillite layer, are softer than the lower layer of Table Mountain Sandstone. When these softer layers eroded away, like a cream-topping on a cake, they left a very hard, flat erosion-resistant quartzitic sandstone platform behind which, today, forms Table Mountains top.</p><br>
<p>Table Mountain is the northernmost end of a 50 km long, and roughly 6–10 km wide, Cape Fold Mountain range that forms the back bone of the Cape Peninsula, stretching from the Cape of Good Hope in the south to Table Mountain and its flanking Devils Peak (to the east) and Lions Head-Signal Hill (to the west) in the north. Table Mountain forms the highest point of this range. The range runs parallel to the other Cape Fold Mountain ranges on the mainland to the east.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>Table Mountain and the Back Table have an unusually rich biodiversity. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape fynbos. The main vegetation type is endangered Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, but critically endangered Peninsula Granite Fynbos, Peninsula Shale Renosterveld and Afromontane forest occur in smaller portions on the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Table Mountains vegetation types form part of the Cape Floral Region protected areas. These protected areas are a World Heritage Site, and an estimated 2,285 species of plants are confined to Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula range, of which a great proportion, including many species of proteas, are endemic to these mountains and valleys and can be found nowhere else. Of the 2,285 species on the Peninsula 1,500 occur in the 57 km area comprising Table Mountain and the Back Table, a number at least a large as all the plant species in the whole of the United Kingdom. It is a very showy orchid that blooms from January to March on the Table Mountain Sandstone regions of the mountain. Although they are quite widespread on the Back Table, the best (most certain, and close-up) place to view these beautiful blooms is in the "Aqueduct" off the Smuts Track, halfway between Skeleton Gorge and Maclears Beacon.</p><br>
<p>Remnant patches of indigenous forest persist in the wetter ravines. However, much of the indigenous forest was felled by the early European settlers for fuel for the lime kilns needed during the construction of the Castle. The exact extent of the original forests is unknown, though most of it was probably along the eastern slopes of Devil&#39;s Peak, Table Mountain and the Back Table where names such as Rondebosch, Kirstenbosch, Klassenbosch and Witteboomen survive (in Dutch "bosch" means forest; and "boomen" means trees). Hout Bay (in Dutch "hout" means wood) was another source of timber and fuel as the name suggests. In the early 1900s commercial pine plantations were planted on these slopes all the way from the Constantiaberg to the front of Devil’s Peak, and even on top of the mountains, but these have now been largely cleared allowing fynbos to flourish in the regions where the indigenous Afromontane forests have not survived, or never existed.</p><br>
<p>Fynbos is a fire adapted vegetation, and providing fires are not too frequent, regular or intense, they are important drivers of fynbos diversity. Regular fires have dominated fynbos for at least the past 12 000 years largely as a result of human activity. In 1495 Vasco da Gama named the South African coastline Terra de Fume because of the smoke he saw from numerous fires. This was originally probably to maintain a productive stock of edible bulbs (especially watsonians) but intervals of 10–15 years between fires are considered to promote the proliferation of the larger Protea species, a rare local colony of which, the Aulax umbellata (Family: Proteaceae), was wiped out on the Peninsula by more frequent fires, as have been the silky-haired pincushion, Leucospermum vestitum, the red sugarbush, Protea grandiceps and Burchells sugarbush, Protea burchellii, although a stand of a dozen or so plants has recently been "rediscovered" in the saddle between Table Mountain and Devils Peak. Some bulbs may similarly have become extinct as a result a too rapid sequence of fires. The fires that occur on the mountains today are still largely due to unregulated human activity. Fire frequency is therefore a matter of chance rather than conservation.</p><br>
<p>Despite intensive conservation efforts the Table Mountain range has the highest concentration of threatened species of any continental area of equivalent size in the world. The non-urban areas of the Cape Peninsula (mainly on the mountains and mountain slopes) have suffered particularly under a massive onslaught of invasive alien plants for well over a century, with perhaps the worst invader being the cluster pine, partly because it was planted in extensive commercial plantations along the eastern slopes of the mountains, north of Muizenberg. Considerable efforts have been made to control the rapid spread of these invasive alien trees. Other invasive plants include black wattle, blackwood, Port Jackson and rooikrans (All Australian members of the acacia family), as well as several Hakea species and bramble.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The most common mammal on the mountain was the dassie (the South African name, from Afrikaans, pronounced "dussy"), or rock hyrax. Between about 2000 and 2004 (no one is certain about the exact year or years) their numbers suddenly plummeted for unknown reasons. They used to cluster around the restaurant at the upper cable station, near areas where tourists discarded or (inadvisably supplied) food. The population crash of the dassies was in all probability responsible for the decline in the Verreauxs eagle population on the Peninsula, which is believed to have consisted of 3 breeding pairs during the period 1950 to 1990, with only 2 pairs, maximally, ever having been reported to fledge a chick each in any given year. With the commencement of formal monitoring in 1993, two breeding pairs were recorded on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain in 2004: one below the upper cable station at the western end of Table Mountain, in Blinkwater Ravine, the other on the cliffs below Noordhoek Peak. The nest near the cable station was abandoned in 2006, leaving only the Noordhoek pair, which continued to fledge chicks reasonably regularly till 2013, at which point one member of the pair disappeared. From 2013 till January 2017 only a single Verreauxs Eagle, presumed to be a female, remained on the Peninsula. She continued to maintain the nest under Noordhoek Peak, but seemed unable to attract a mate. But in early 2017 a pair of eagles was seen by at least 7 independent observers during the course of 10 days (27 January - 5 February). It remains to be seen whether they will breed later in the year. Dassies are an important part the Verreauxs eagles prey on the Peninsula. (See Foot note)</p><br>
<p>Table Mountain is also home to porcupines, mongooses, snakes, lizards, tortoises, and a rare endemic species of amphibian that is only found on Table Mountain, the Table Mountain ghost frog. The last lion in the area was shot circa 1802. Leopards persisted on the mountains until perhaps the 1920s but are now extinct locally. Two smaller, secretive, nocturnal carnivores, the rooikat (caracal) and the vaalboskat (also called the vaalkat or Southern African wildcat) were once common in the mountains and the mountain slopes. The rooikat continues to be seen on rare occasions by mountaineers but the status of the vaalboskat is uncertain. The mountain cliffs are home to several raptors species, apart from the Verreaux&#39;s eagle. They include the jackal buzzard, booted eagle (in summer), African harrier-hawk, peregrine falcon and the rock kestrel. In 2014 there were four pairs of African fish eagles on the Peninsula, but they nest in trees generally as far away from human habitation and activity as is possible on the Peninsula. Their numbers in 2017 is unknown.</p><br>
<p>Up until the late 1990s baboons occurred on all the mountains of the Peninsula, including the Back Table immediately behind Table Mountain. Since then they have abandoned Table Mountain and the Back Table, and only occur south of Constantia Nek. They have also abandoned the tops of many of the mountains, in favor of the lower slopes, particularly when these were covered in pine plantations which seemed to provide them with more, or higher quality food than the fynbos on the mountain tops. However these new haunts are also within easy reach of Cape Town&#39;s suburbs, which brings them into conflict with humans and dogs, and the risk of traffic accidents. There are now (2014) a dozen troops on the Peninsula, varying in size from 7 to over 100 individuals, scattered on the mountains from the Constantiaberg to Cape Point. The baboon troops are the subject of intense research into their physiology, genetics social interactions and habits. In addition, their sleeping sites are noted each evening, so that monitors armed with paint ball guns can stay with the troop all day, to ward them off from wandering into the suburbs. From when this initiative was started in 2009 the number of baboons on the Peninsula has increased from 350 to 450, and the number of baboons killed or injured by residents has decreased.</p><br>
<p>Himalayan tahrs, fugitive descendants of tahrs that escaped from Groote Schuur Zoo in 1936, used to be common on the less accessible upper parts of the mountain. As an exotic species, they were almost eradicated through a culling programme initiated by the South African National Parks to make way for the reintroduction of indigenous klipspringers. Until recently there were also small numbers of fallow deer of European origin and sambar deer from southeast Asia. These were mainly in the Rhodes Memorial area but during the 1960s they could be found as far afield as Signal Hill. These animals may still be seen occasionally despite efforts to eliminate or relocate them.</p><br>
<p>On the lower slopes of Devil&#39;s Peak, above Groote Schuur Hospital an animal camp bequeathed to the City of Cape Town by Cecil John Rhodes has been used in recent years as part of the Quagga Project. The quagga used to roam the Cape Peninsula, the Karoo and the Free State in large numbers, but were hunted to extinction during the early 1800s. The last quagga died in an Amsterdam zoo in 1883. In 1987 a project was launched by Reinhold Rau to back-breed the quagga, after it had been established, using mitochondrial DNA obtained from museum specimens, that the quagga was closely related to the plains zebra, and on 20 January 2005 a foal considered to be the first quagga-like individual because of a visible reduced striping, was born. These quagga-like zebras are officially known as Rau quaggas, as no one can be certain that they are anything more than quagga look-alikes. The animal camp above Groote Schuur Hospital has several good looking Rau quaggas, but they are unfortunately not easily seen except from within the game camp, which is quite large and undulating, and the animals are few. The animal camp is not open to the public.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Prehistoric inhabitation of the district is well attested (see for example the article on Fish Hoek). About 2000 years ago the Khoikhoi migrated towards the Cape Peninsula from the north, displacing the San and bringing with them their herds of cattle and sheep. It was the Khoikhoi who were the dominant local tribe when the Europeans first sailed into Table Bay.</p><br>
<p>António de Saldanha was the first European to land in Table Bay. He climbed the mighty mountain in 1503 and named it Taboa do Cabo (Table of the Cape, in his native Portuguese). The great cross that the Portuguese navigator carved into the rock of Lion&#39;s Head is still traceable.</p><br>
<p>In 1796, during the British occupation of the Cape, Major-General Sir James Craig ordered three blockhouses to be built on Table Mountain: the Kings blockhouse, Duke of York blockhouse (later renamed Queens blockhouse) and the Prince of Wales blockhouse. Two of these are in ruins today, but the King&#39;s blockhouse is still in good condition. and easily accessible from the Rhodes Memorial.</p><br>
<p>Between 1896 and 1907, five dams, the Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and Victoria reservoirs, were opened on the Back Table to supply Cape Towns water needs. A ropeway ascending from Camps Bay via Kasteelspoort ravine was used to ferry materials and manpower (the anchor points at the old top station can still be seen). There is a well-preserved steam locomotive from this period housed in the Waterworks Museum at the top of the mountain near the Hely-Hutchinson dam. It had been used to haul materials for the dam across the flat top of the mountain. Cape Towns water requirements have since far outpaced the capacity of the dams and they are no longer an important part of the water supply.</p><br>
<p>Arguments for a national park on the Cape Peninsula, centred on Table Mountain, began in earnest in the mid-1930s. Following a big fire in 1986, the Cape Times started a save the mountain campaign, and in 1989 the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment (CPPNE) area was established. However, environmental management was still bedeviled by the fragmented nature of land ownership on the Peninsula. Following another big fire in 1991, Attorney General Frank Kahn was appointed to reach consensus on a plan for rationalizing management of the CPPNE. In 1995, Prof. Brian Huntley recommended that SANParks be appointed to manage the CPPNE, with an agreement signed in April 1998 to transfer around 39,500 acres to SANParks. On 29 May 1998, then-president Nelson Mandela proclaimed the Cape Peninsula National Park. The park was later renamed to the Table Mountain National Park.</p><br>
<p>Fires are common on the mountain. The most recent major fires include those of January 2006, which burned large amounts of vegetation and resulted in the death of a tourist (a charge of arson and culpable homicide was laid against a British man who was suspected of starting the blaze), and March 2015.</p><br>
<p>In November 2011, Table Mountain was named one of the new seven wonders according to votes received, but the official result of the new natural wonders are still to be presented to the world by the New7Wonders of the World.</p><br>
<h2>Cableway</h2><br>
<p>The Table Mountain Cableway takes passengers from the lower cable station on Tafelberg Road, about 302 m above sea level, to the plateau at the top of the mountain, at 1067 m. The upper cable station offers views overlooking Cape Town, Table Bay and Robben Island to the north, and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south.</p><br>
<p>Construction of the cableway was first started in 1926, and the cableway was officially opened in 1929. In 1997, the cableway was extensively upgraded, and new cars were introduced carrying 65 instead of 25 passengers. The new cars give a faster journey to the summit, and rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving a panoramic view over the city.</p><br>
<p>The top cable station offers viewpoints, curio shops, a restaurant and walking trails of various lengths.</p><br>
<h2>Activities</h2><br>
<h3>Hiking on Table Mountain</h3><br>
<p>Sir George Everest visited the Cape in 1820 and inspected the site of La Cailles measurements in Cape Town, he suggested to Maclear that the gravitational effect of Table Mountain could have caused a miscalculation of the curvature of the meridian. This was based on Everests experience in the Himalayas. Taking this factor into account Maclear established the curvature of the Southern Hemisphere was in fact the same as that of the Northern Hemisphere. </p><br>
<p>Hiking on Table Mountain is popular amongst locals and tourists, and a number of trails of varying difficulty are available. Because of the steep cliffs around the summit, direct ascents from the city side are limited. Platteklip Gorge, a prominent gorge up the centre of the main table, is a popular and straightforward direct ascent to the summit. Par for the course is about 2.5 hours but is done between 1–3 hours depending on one&#39;s fitness level. This route is very hot in summer, as it is located on the north facing slope of the mountain, with almost no shade along the 600 m climb from Tafelberg Road to the Table Mountain plateau.</p><br>
<p>Longer routes to the summit go via the Back Table, a lower area of Table Mountain to the south of the main, northern, plateau (which constitutes "Table Mountain" as seen from the Cape Town City Centre and Table Bay). From the Southern Suburbs side, the Nursery Ravine and Skeleton Gorge routes start at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. The route via Skeleton Gorge to Maclear&#39;s Beacon is known as Smuts Track in memory of Jan Smuts, who was a keen hiker. The Bridle Path, or Jeep Track, makes a more gradual ascent from Constantia Nek along the road used to service the dams on Back Table. There are many other paths in popular walking areas on the lower slopes of the mountain accessed from Constantia Nek, Cecilia Park, Kirstenbosch, Newlands Forest and Rhodes Memorial.</p><br>
<p>On the Atlantic side, the most popular ascent is Kasteelspoort, a gorge overlooking Camps Bay, but there are a few others, but not as many as on the east side of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>There is a popular "Contour Path" that runs from Constantia Nek, and then, in succession, above Cecilia Park, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Newlands Forest, and from there, above Groote Schuur Estate, past the Kings Blockhouse, at the north-east corner of Devils Peak, immediately below the Mowbray Ridge cliffs, to the front of Devils Peak and the north face of Table Mountain, ending at the bottom of Kloof Corner Ridge at the western end of the Table Mountain cliffs. It starts at Constantia Nek at 250 m, but immediately gradually climbs to around 320 m at Angelas Memorial and the look-out point above Cecilia Park. It then undulates down and up again at about this elevation as far the north-western corner of Kirstenbosch, when the path suddenly climbs quite steeply to 470 m to the scree (or Dassieklip) below the cliffs of Fernwood Buttress. It then descends again to 350 m, only to ascend again to 400 m, 1 km later. It remains at this level, as a true contour path, to the Kings Blockhouse, and from there, eventually, to Tafelberg Road (at 400 m). From the Kings Blockhouse it is possible to choose a footpath that will lead to the "upper contour path" which traverses the front (north face) of Devil&#39;s Peak and Table Mountain at 500 m, to just beyond the Lower Cable Station. From there it is possible, from either contour path, to join up with the "Pipe Track" which starts from Kloof Nek, and then runs at an elevation of about 300 m, below the cliffs of the Twelve Apostles, on the Atlantic side of the mountain range as far as the Oudekraal Ravine, where the path goes up the ravine to join the "Apostles Path" on top of the Back Table at an elevation of 685 m. There are innumerable paths which join the contour path from below (at least five from Kirstenbosch alone), and somewhat fewer that join it from above.</p><br>
<p>On top of the mountain, and particularly on the Back Table, there is an extensive network of well marked footpaths offering hiking opportunities over a wide variety of terrains, and distances which can be covered in 30 minutes to several hours (or even all day if so desired). Good maps of all the routes are available at bookshops and outdoor recreation stores, which hikers are advised to use, as dense mist and cold weather (or extreme heat) can descend without warning at any time of the year.</p><br>
<p>The Hoerikwaggo Trails were four hiking trails on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain ranging from two to six days, operated by South African National Parks (SANPARKS) between the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Cape Point. Today (2017) the trails can no longer be undertaken with an official SANPARKS guide, and only four of the original accommodation facilities are operational (the Overseer&#39;s Cottage on the Back Table, the Orange Kloof Tented Camp, the Slangkop Tented Camp and the Smitswinkel Tented Camp). These camps are "self-catering", each with communal ablution facilities, with large communal kitchen/lounge areas, fully equipped for 12 persons. SANPARKS arranges for luggage and provisions to be transported to the operational cottages and tented camps, so that the hikers can ascend the mountain unencumbered by heavy backpacks.</p><br>
<p>The original inhabitants of the area, the Khoekhoen and San tribes, called Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo – "sea mountain". The four Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo hiking trails were called the People&#39;s Trail, Table Mountain Trail, Orangekloof Hiking Trail and Top to Tip Trail.</p><br>
<h3>Rock climbing</h3><br>
<p>Rock climbing on Table Mountain is a very popular pastime. There are well-documented climbing routes of varying degrees of difficulty up the many faces of the mountain. The main climbs are located on cliffs below the upper cable station. No bolting can be done here and only traditional climbing is allowed. Commercial groups also offer abseiling from the upper cable station.</p><br>
<h3>Caving</h3><br>
<p>Most of the world&#39;s important caves occur in limestone but Table Mountain is unusual in having several large cave systems that have developed in sandstone. The biggest systems are the Wynberg Caves, located on the Back Table, not far from the Jeep Track, in ridges overlooking Orange Kloof and Hout Bay.</p><br>
<h3>Mountain biking</h3><br>
<p>The slopes of Table Mountain have many jeep tracks that allow mountain biking. The route to the Block House is a popular route for bike riding. Plum Pudding Hill is the name of a very steep jeep track. Bike riders should follow the directional signs on display for mountain bike riders.</p><br>
<h2>"Mensa" constellation</h2><br>
<p>Table Mountain is the only terrestrial feature to give its name to a constellation: Mensa, meaning The Table. The constellation is seen in the Southern Hemisphere, below Orion, around midnight in mid-July. It was named by the French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille during his stay at the Cape in the mid-18th century.</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<h2>Foot note</h2><br>
<p>The North Frisian Islands are the Frisian Islands off the coast of North Frisia.</p><br>
<p>Geographically, the islands are divided into two groups, viz. a southern group in Germany and a northern group in Denmark. However, culturally and linguistically, the Danish islands are usually not reckoned as being part of North Frisia, since they are not inhabited by native speakers of the North Frisian language. Occasionally, the remote island of Heligoland is also included in this group for reasons of administrative convenience, despite not being located in the Wadden Sea, since the island is home to its own unique dialect of Frisian.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>After the Frisian and Danish colonisation of the islands in the 8th century, the Frisian-populated hundreds (between Eiderstedt and Sylt) became the Uthlande. The North Frisians in the Uthlande were ruled directly by the Danish king and were known as Königsfriesen or "King&#39;s Frisians". Only later did the Uthlande transfer to the Duchy of Schleswig, with the exception of small Danish royal enclaves. Part of Rømø was also ruled by the Schleswig duke. After the German-Danish wars, the islands from Nordstrand to Rømø became Prussian in 1866. After the referendum in 1920, the current border between the islands of Sylt and Rømø was fixed.</p><br>
<p>A good and thorough overview of the life, work, languages, costumes and customs of the island Frisians is portrayed by the Carl Haeberlin Frisian Museum in Wyk auf Föhr.</p><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<p>There are four larger islands and ten tiny islets. The names of the large islands are Sylt, Föhr, Amrum, and Pellworm. The islets are called Halligen. In medieval times the present-day peninsula Nordstrand and Pellworm as well as the Halligen were part of the large island of Strand. This island was torn to pieces in a disastrous storm tide in 1634.</p><br>
<p>Sylt (Sölring North Frisian: Söl; Sild) is the largest of the North Frisian Islands, consisting of about 100 km². It is accessible by a causeway called the Hindenburgdamm; this causeway is only accessible to trains. In the summer months the island is crowded with tourists, including those who have a preference for nudism. Sylts image is that of a meeting point for the jet-set. The main town on the island is Westerland. The northern end of Sylt, the Ellenbogen ("elbow"), is Germanys northernmost point. Lager Sylt, the Nazi concentration camp on Alderney was named after the island.</p><br>
<p>Compared with Sylt, Föhr (Fering North Frisian: Feer; Før) is a relatively silent island. Its area is 82 km². Sixteen old hamlets are scattered over the island, some of which already existed in the 13th century. The main town is Wyk on the south eastern shore. Wyk is a popular German seaside resort. There is no bridge or causeway connecting Föhr and the mainland; so ferries are the only connection. The ferry port, the harbour and Föhr marina are in Wyk.</p><br>
<p>Amrum (Öömrang North Frisian: Oomram) is only 20 km², but it is popular with tourists, though less crowded than Sylt. The western half of the island features a beach 12 km in length and 1 km in width. The villages are situated on the eastern shore, with Wittdün being the most important of them.</p><br>
<p>Pellworm (North Frisian Polweerm; Mooring North Frisian: Pälweerm; Pelvorm) and the peninsula of Nordstrand (Mooring: Nordströön) are the remains of the submerged island of Strand. The main town of this sunken island was Rungholt, thought to be the largest town in the surrounding area, but it was totally destroyed and submerged by a storm in 1362, 272 years before another storm destroyed Strand itself. Nordstrand has an area of 49 km², Pellworm 37 km².</p><br>
<p>Smaller remains of Strand are the ten islets called Halligen. The houses on these tiny islets are built on artificial hills. In a storm tide only these hills rise above the sea, while the remainder of the islet is flooded. The names of the Halligen are Nordmarsch-Langeness, Norderoog, Süderoog, Nordstrandischmoor, Oland, Südfall, Gröde-Appelland, Hooge, Habel and the Hamburger Hallig.</p><br>
<p>West off the Halligen, three drying sand banks form the so-called North Frisian Barrier Islands: Japsand, Norderoogsand and Süderoogsand.</p><br>
<p>Iztaccíhuatl  , is a 5,230 m dormant volcanic mountain in Mexico located on the border between the State of Mexico and Puebla. It is the nation&#39;s third highest, after Pico de Orizaba 5,636 m and Popocatépetl 5,426 m.</p><br>
<p>The name "Iztaccíhuatl" is Nahuatl for "White woman", reflecting the four individual snow-capped peaks which depict the head, chest, knees and feet of a sleeping female when seen from east or west.</p><br>
<p>Iztaccíhuatl lies to the north of Popocatépetl, to which it is connected by the high altitude Paso de Cortés. Depending on atmospheric conditions the dormant volcano is visible much of the year from Mexico City some 70 km to the northwest.</p><br>
<p>The first recorded ascent was made in 1889, though archaeological evidence suggests the Aztecs and previous cultures climbed it previously. It is the lowest peak containing permanent snow and glaciers in Mexico.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The summit ridge of the massive 450 km3 volcano is a series of overlapping cones constructed along a NNW-SSE line to the south of the Pleistocene Llano Grande caldera. Andesitic and dacitic Pleistocene and Holocene volcanism has taken place from vents at or near the summit. Areas near the El Pecho summit vent are covered in flows and tuff beds post-dating glaciation approximately 11 ka (thousand years ago). The most recent vents are located at El Pecho and a depression at 5,100 m along the summit ridge midway between that summit and Los Pies.</p><br>
<h2>Legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl</h2><br>
<p>In Aztec mythology, Iztaccíhuatl was a princess who fell in love with one of her fathers warriors, Popocatépetl. The emperor sent Popocatépetl to war in Oaxaca, promising him Iztaccíhuatl as his wife when he returned (which Iztaccíhuatls father presumed he would not). Iztaccíhuatl was falsely told Popocatépetl had died in battle, and believing the news, she died of grief. When Popocatépetl returned to find his love dead, he took her body to a spot outside Tenochtitlan and kneeled by her grave. The gods covered them with snow and changed them into mountains. Iztaccíhuatl&#39;s mountain is called "White Woman" (from the nahuatl iztac "white" and cihuatl "woman") because it resembles a woman lying on her back, and is often covered with snow. (The peak is sometimes nicknamed La Mujer Dormida ("The Sleeping Woman".) Popocatépetl became an active volcano, raining fire on Earth in blind rage at the loss of his beloved.</p><br>
<h2>Elevation</h2><br>
<p>Iztaccihuatl is usually listed at 5,286 m. SRTM data and the Mexican national mapping survey assert that a range of 5220 to 5230 m is more accurate. The Global Volcanism Program cites 5,230 m.</p><br>
<p>Popocatépetl  is an active stratovolcano, located in the states of Puebla, Mexico, and Morelos, in Central Mexico, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. At 5,426 m it is the second highest peak in Mexico, after Citlaltépetl  at 5,636 m.</p><br>
<p>It is linked to the Iztaccihuatl volcano to the north by the high saddle known as the Paso de Cortés.</p><br>
<p>Popocatépetl is 70 km southeast of Mexico City, from where it can be seen regularly, depending on atmospheric conditions. Until recently, the volcano was one of three tall peaks in Mexico to contain glaciers, the others being Iztaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba. In the 1990s, the glaciers such as Glaciar Norte (North Glacier) greatly decreased in size, partly due to warmer temperatures but largely due to increased volcanic activity. By early 2001, Popocatépetl&#39;s glaciers were gone; ice remained on the volcano, but no longer displayed the characteristic features of glaciers such as crevasses.</p><br>
<p>Lava erupting from Popocatépetl has historically been predominantly andesitic, but it has also erupted large volumes of dacite. Magma produced in the current cycle of activity tends to be a mixture of the two.</p><br>
<h2>Toponymy</h2><br>
<p>The name Popocatépetl comes from the Nahuatl words popōca "it smokes" and tepētl "mountain", meaning Smoking Mountain. The volcano is also referred to by Mexicans as El Popo. The alternate nickname Don Goyo comes from the mountain&#39;s association in the lore of the region with San Gregorio (St. Gregory), "Goyo" being a nickname-like short form of Gregorio.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 400 x wide crater. The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris avalanche deposits covering broad areas south of the volcano. The modern volcano was constructed to the south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone. Three major plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 AD, have occurred from Popocatépetl since the mid Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano.</p><br>
<p>According to paleomagnetic studies, the volcano is about 730,000 years old. The elevation at the peak is 5,450 m. The volcano is cone shaped with a diameter of 25 km at its base. The crater is elliptical with an orientation northeast-southwest. The walls of the crater vary from 600 to 840 m in height. Popocatépetl is currently active after being dormant for about half of last century. In 1991 the volcano&#39;s activity increased and since 1993 smoke can be seen constantly emanating from the crater.</p><br>
<h3>Eruptions</h3><br>
<p>Popocatépetl is the most active volcano in Mexico, having had more than 15 major eruptions since the arrival of the Spanish in 1519.</p><br>
<p>A violent VEI-6 eruption in the mid-to late first century CE may have caused the large migrations that settled Teotihuacan, according to DNA analysis of teeth and bones.</p><br>
<p>A major eruption occurred in 1947.</p><br>
<p>On December 21, 1994, the volcano spewed gas and ash, which was carried as far as 25 km away by prevailing winds. The activity prompted the evacuation of nearby towns and scientists to begin monitoring for an eruption.</p><br>
<p>In December 2000, tens of thousands of people were evacuated by the government, based on the warnings of scientists. The volcano then made its largest display in 1,200 years.</p><br>
<p>On December 25, 2005, the volcano&#39;s crater produced an explosion which ejected a large column of smoke and ash about 3 km into the atmosphere and expulsion of lava.</p><br>
<p>In January and February 2012, scientists observed increased volcanic activity at Popocatépetl. On January 25, 2012, an ash explosion occurred on the mountain, causing much dust and ash to contaminate the atmosphere around it.</p><br>
<p>On April 19, 2012, there were reports of superheated rock fragments being hurled into the air by the volcano. Ash and water vapor plumes were reported 15 times over 24 hours.</p><br>
<p>On Wednesday May 8, 2013, at 7:28 p.m. local time, Popocatépetl erupted again with a high amplitude tremor that lasted and was recorded for 3.5 hours. It began with plumes of ash that rose 3 km into the air and began drifting west at first, but later began to drift east-southeast, covering areas of the villages of San Juan Tianguismanalco, San Pedro Benito Juárez and the City of Puebla in smoke and ash. Explosions from the volcano itself subsequently ejected fragments of fiery volcanic rock to distances of 700 m from the crater.</p><br>
<p>On July 4, 2013, due to several eruptions of steam and ash for at least 24 hours, at least six USA airlines canceled more than 40 flights into and out of Mexico City and Toluca airports that day.</p><br>
<p>During 27 August–September 2014, CENAPRED reported explosions, accompanied by steam-and-gas emissions with minor ash and ash plumes that rose 800-3,000 m above Popocatépetl&#39;s crater and drifted west, southwest, and west-southwest. On most nights incandescence was observed, increasing during times with larger emissions. On 1 September partial visibility due to cloud cover was reported. On 29 and 31 August the Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) reported discrete ash emissions.</p><br>
<p>On January 7, 2015, CENAPRED reported that ash from recent explosions coats the snow on the volcano&#39;s upper slopes.</p><br>
<p>On March 28, 2016, an ash column 2,000 metres high was released, prompting the establishment of a 12-kilometer "security ring" around the summit.</p><br>
<p>On 3 April 2016, Popocatépetl erupted, spewing lava, ash and rock.</p><br>
<p>Eruptions continued in August 2016, with four discrete blasts on August 17.</p><br>
<p>On November 10, 2017 at 7:25 local time</p><br>
<p>This volcano is monitored by the Deep Earth Carbon Degassing Project.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first Spanish ascent of the volcano was made by an expedition led by Diego de Ordaz in 1519. The early-16th-century monasteries on the slopes of the mountain are a World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h2>Picture gallery</h2><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The 1966 Merrie Melodies cartoon Snow Excuse is set on Popocatepetl.</p><br>
<p>Pachacamac  is an archaeological site 40 km southeast of Lima, Peru in the Valley of the Lurín River. The site was first settled around A.D. 200 and was named after the "Earth Maker" creator god Pacha Kamaq. The site flourished for about 1,300 years until the Spanish invaded. Pachacamac covers about 600 hectares of land.</p><br>
<h2>Pacha Kamaq God</h2><br>
<p>Pacha Kamaq (Earth-Maker) was considered the creator god by the people who lived in this part of Peru before the Inca conquest. The Inca took him into their pantheon, but was not an equal of Viracocha; Virachocha was seen as being more powerful.</p><br>
<p>The myths that survive of Pacha Kamaq are sparse and confused: some accounts, for example, identify him as Manco Cápacs cowardly brother Ayca, while others say that he, Manco Cápac and Viracocha were the sole three sons of Inti, the sun god. Another story says that he made the first man and the first woman, but forgot to give them food – and when the man died and the woman prayed over Pachacamacs head to his father Inti to make her the mother of all the peoples of earth, Pachacamac was furious. One by one, as the children were born, he tried to kill them – only to be beaten and to be thrown into the sea by her hero-son Wichama, after which he gave up the struggle and contented himself by becoming the supreme god of fish.</p><br>
<h2>Pyramids of Pachacamac</h2><br>
<p>In the 1890s archaeologists first began exploring Pachacamac. They found many enormous buildings and burials that had been previously looted. The first (sacred) section of the site includes temples of religious significance and a large cemetery. The second section includes several buildings which are mainly secular pyramids. In this complex of buildings were mud-brick stepped pyramids with ramps and plazas. These buildings were dated between the late 1300s and the mid-1400s.</p><br>
<p>The three most famous pyramids are all found in the first sacred section. These are the Painted Temple, the Temple of the Sun, and the Old Temple of Pachacamac.</p><br>
<p>Peter Eekhout is an archaeologist who studied and excavated the site of Pachacamac. According to Eekhout, "For decades most scholars thought the pyramids (from the second section) were religious "embassies" that housed delegations from far-off communities who came to worship, bring tribute, and make offerings to Pachacamac". However, Eekhout came to a different conclusion after his work at the site. Eekhout and his team found that the structures lacked the features that characterized religious centers of the time. He concluded that the structures were used as palaces for the Ychsma (EESH-ma) lords who ruled Pachacamac.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of the Sun</h3><br>
<p>The Temple of the Sun (seen below) is 30,000m squared in size and is in the shape of a trapezoid. It has the common step pyramid architecture which forms terraces around the structure. This temple has been dated to the time of Inca control over Pachacamac. Even though there is no concrete proof, some archaeologists believe human sacrifices may have taken place at this the Temple. Sacrifices of women and children were found in an Inca cemetery within a portion of the structure. Burial goods found with the sacrifices point to the sacrifices originating from coastal societies. Unfortunately archaeologists are limited in their knowledge of this site because the Temple of the Sun and many other pyramids at Pachacamac have been irreversibly damaged by looting and the El Niño weather phenomenon.</p><br>
<h3>Other Structures</h3><br>
<p>Most of the common buildings and temples were built c. 800-1450 CE, shortly before the arrival and conquest by the Inca Empire.</p><br>
<h3>Grave Sites</h3><br>
<p>Archaeologists had uncovered multiple grave sites. Each site may date back to different time periods of Pachacamac&#39;s history, and these grave sites are located in different parts of the city. In the Southeastern part of the city in the Temple of Inti (The Inca Sun God), archeologists had found a cemetery that was set apart for the mamacuna (Virgins for the Sun), women who had important status. These women wove textiles for priests, and brewed corn beer which was used in Inca festivals. The women were sacrificed in the highest ritual; they had been strangled with cotton garrote, and some women still had the cotton twisted around their neck. They were wrapped in fine cloth and they were buried in stone tombs and each have been surround by offering found in the highlands of Peru area such as coca, quinoa, and cayenne peppers. In 2012, Belgian archeologists found a 1000 year old tomb in front of the Pachacamac containing over 80 skeletons and mummies, many of which were infants. The tomb contained offerings such as ceramic vessels, copper and gold alloy objects, wooden masks, and dogs and guinea pigs.</p><br>
<h2>Outside influences</h2><br>
<p>The Huari (c. 600-800 CE) reconstructed the city, probably using it as an administrative center. A number of Huari-influenced designs appear on the structures and on the ceramics and textiles found in the cemeteries of this period. After the collapse of the Huari empire, Pachacamac continued to grow as a religious center. The majority of the common architecture and temples were built during this stage (c. 800-1450 CE).</p><br>
<p>The Inca Empire invaded Pachacamac and took over the site around 1470. For the Inca, Pachacamac was extremely important to religion as well as an important administration center. When the Inca started their conquest, they had their own creation god, Viracocha. However, out of respect for the religion of their conquered people, the Inca entered Pacha Kamaq into their religion, but Pacha Kamaq and Viracocha were not equals, Viracocha was believed to be more powerful. Still, Pachacamac was allowed an unusual amount of independence from the Inca Empire</p><br>
<p>By the time the Tawantinsuyu (Inca Empire) invaded the area, the valleys of the Rímac and Lurín had a small state which the people called Ichma. They used Pachacamac primarily as a religious site for the veneration of the Pacha Kamaq, the creator god. The Ichma joined the Incan Empire along with Pachacamac. The Inca maintained it as a religious shrine and allowed the Pachacamac priests to continue functioning independently of the Inca priesthood. This included the oracle, whom the Inca presumably consulted. The Inca built five additional buildings, including a temple to the sun on the main square.</p><br>
<p>Archaeologists believe pilgrims may have played a part in life at Pachacamac for a couple thousand years before the Inca claimed the site as part of their empire.</p><br>
<h2>Spanish Invasion</h2><br>
<p>At sites like Pachacamac, the Spanish used local resentment of the Inca as a tactic for overthrowing Inca rule.</p><br>
<p>After the Battle of Cajamarca, Francisco Pizarro sent his brother Hernando Pizarro, and fourteen horsemen, to Pachacamac to collect its gold riches. According to Cieza, the priests learned of the Spanish defilement of the Cuzco temple, and "ordered the virgin mamaconas to leave the Temple of the Sun from where - as well as from the Temple of Pachacamac - they say they removed more than four hundred cargas of gold. They hid it in secret places, and it has not appeared to this day, nor will it appear, except by chance, because all those who knew about it and hid it, as well as those ordered it, are dead." Hernando departed Cajamarca on 5 Jan. 1533, and returned on 14 April 1533, after defiling the temple. On the return trip through the Jauja Valley, Hernando received the surrender of Chalcuchimac.</p><br>
<p>"In a few years the walls of the temple were pulled down by the Spanish settlers, who found there a convenient quarry for their own edifices."</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Pachacamac was the name of the ship that carried the abducted Professor Calculus in The Seven Crystal Balls of The Adventures of Tintin. In the next book, Prisoners of the Sun, Pachacamac was the name of the Sun god worshiped by an ancient Incan tribe still active in South America. In the sixth book, The Broken Ear, a wooden head of Pachacamac is exhibited in the museum of Ethnography in Brussels.</p><br>
<p>A character in the video game Sonic Adventure is named Pachacamac after the ancient ruin.</p><br>
<p>Pachacamac was also the name of the main villain in Juken Sentai Gekiranger vs. Boukenger, a crossover direct-to-video movie.</p><br>
<p>West German group Alphaville included a song named "Girl from Pachacamac" in their 2003 album CrazyShow.</p><br>
<p>Sark  is an island in the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population of about 600. Sark  has an area of 2.10 square miles.</p><br>
<p>Sark is one of the few remaining places in the world where cars are banned from roads and only tractors and horse-drawn vehicles are allowed. In 2011, Sark was designated as a Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and geology</h2><br>
<p>Sark consists of two main parts, Greater Sark, located at about 49&deg;25&prime;N latitude, 2&deg;22&prime;W longitude, and Little Sark to the south. They are connected by a narrow isthmus called La Coupée which is 300 ft long and has a drop of 330 ft on each side. Protective railings were erected in 1900; before then, children would crawl across on their hands and knees to avoid being blown over the edge. There is a narrow concrete road covering the entirety of the isthmus that was built in 1945 by German prisoners of war under the direction of the Royal Engineers. Due to its isolation, the inhabitants of Little Sark had their own distinct form of Sercquiais, the native Norman dialect of the island.</p><br>
<p>The highest point on Sark is 374 ft above sea level. A windmill, dated 1571, is found there, the sails of which were removed during World War I. This high point is named Le Moulin, after the windmill. The location is also the highest point in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Little Sark had a number of mines accessing a source of galena. At Port Gorey, the ruins of silver mines may be seen. Off the south end of Little Sark are the Venus Pool and the Adonis Pool, both natural swimming pools whose waters are refreshed at high tide.</p><br>
<p>The whole island is extensively penetrated at sea level by natural cave formations that provide unique habitats for many marine creatures, notably sea anemones, some of which are only safely accessible at low tide.</p><br>
<p>Sark is made up mainly of amphibolite and granite gneiss rocks, intruded by igneous magma sheets called quartz diorite. Recent (1990–2000) geological studies and rock age dating by geologists from Oxford Brookes University shows that the gneisses probably formed around 620–600 million years ago during the Late Pre-Cambrian Age Cadomian Orogeny. The quartz diorite sheets were intruded during this Cadomian deformation and metamorphic event.</p><br>
<p>All the Sark rocks (and those of the nearby Channel Islands of Guernsey and Alderney) formed during geological activity in the continental crust above an ancient subduction zone. This geological setting would have been analogous to the modern-day subduction zone of the Pacific Ocean plate colliding and subducting beneath the North and South American continental plate.</p><br>
<p>Sark also exercises jurisdiction over the island of Brecqhou, only a few hundred feet west of Greater Sark. It is a private island, but it has recently been opened to some visitors. Since 1993, Brecqhou has been owned by David Barclay, one of the Barclay brothers who are co-owners of The Daily Telegraph. They contest Sark&#39;s control over the island. However, the candidates endorsed by their various business interests on the Island failed to win any seats in the elections held in 2008 and 2010.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Etymology</h3><br>
<p>The etymology of Sark is unknown. However, Richard Coates has suggested that in the absence of a Proto-Indo-European etymology it may be worthwhile looking for a Proto-Semitic source for the name. This is because the British Isles were likely repopulated from the Iberian Peninsula following the last Ice Age. He proposes a comparison between the probable root of Sark, *Sarg-, and Proto-Semitic *śrq "redden; rise (as of the sun); east", noting Sark&#39;s position as the easternmost island of the Guernsey group.</p><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>In ancient times, Sark was almost certainly occupied by the Veneti. These people were subdued by the Roman Empire about 56 BC and the island annexed. After the Roman retreat during the fifth century AD, Sark was probably an outpost of one or other Breton-speaking kingdoms until 933, when it became part of the Duchy of Normandy. Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the island was united with the Crown of England. In the thirteenth century, the French pirate Eustace the Monk, having served King John, used Sark as a base of operations.</p><br>
<p>During the Middle Ages, the island was populated by monastic communities. By the 16th century, however, the island was uninhabited and used by pirates as a refuge and base. In 1565, Helier de Carteret, Seigneur of St. Ouen in Jersey, received letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I granting him Sark as a fief in perpetuity on condition that he kept the island free of pirates and occupied by at least forty men who were of her English subjects or swore allegiance to the Crown. This he duly did, leasing 40 parcels of land (known as "Tenements") at a low rent to forty families, mostly from St. Ouen, on condition that a house was built and maintained on each parcel and that "the Tenant" provided one man, armed with a musket, for the defence of the island. The 40 tenements survive to this day, albeit with minor boundary changes. A subsequent attempt by the families to endow a constitution under a bailiff, as in Jersey, was stopped by the Guernsey authorities who resented any attempt to wrest Sark from their bailiwick.</p><br>
<h3>Recent history</h3><br>
<p>In 1844, desperate for funds to continue the operation of the silver mine on the island, the incumbent Seigneur, Ernest le Pelley, obtained Crown permission to mortgage Sark&#39;s fief to local privateer John Allaire. After the company running the mine went bankrupt, le Pelley was unable to keep up the mortgage payments and, in 1849, his son Pierre Carey le Pelley, the new Seigneur, was forced to sell the fief to Marie Collings for a total of £1,383 (£6,000 less the sum borrowed and an accumulated interest of £616.13s).</p><br>
<p>During World War II, the island, along with the other Channel Islands, was occupied by German forces between 1940 and 1945. German military rule on Sark began on 4 July 1940, the day after the Guernsey Kommandant Major Albrecht Lanz and his interpreter and chief of staff Major Maas visited the island to inform the Dame and Seigneur (Sibyl and Robert Hathaway) of the new regime. British Commandos raided the island several times, Operation Basalt during the night of 3–4 October 1942, captured a prisoner and Hardtack 7, was a failed British landing in December 1943. Sark was finally liberated on 10 May 1945, a full day after Guernsey.</p><br>
<p>André Gardes</p><br>
<h4>Invasion attempt</h4><br>
<p>In August 1990, an unemployed French nuclear physicist named André Gardes armed with a semi-automatic weapon attempted an invasion of Sark. The night Gardes arrived, he put up two posters declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. The following day he started a solo foot patrol in front of the manor in battle-dress with weapon in hand. While Gardes was sitting on a bench waiting for noon to arrive, the islands volunteer connétable approached the Frenchman and complimented him on the quality of his weapon. Gardes then proceeded to change the guns magazine, at which point he was tackled to the ground, arrested, and given a seven-day sentence which he served in Guernsey. Gardes attempted a comeback the following year, but was intercepted in Guernsey.</p><br>
<h4>Transition to new system of government</h4><br>
<p>Until 2008, Sarks parliament (Chief Pleas) was a single chamber consisting of 54 members, comprising the Seigneur, the Seneschal, 40 owners of the Tenements and 12 elected deputies. A change to the system was advocated largely by the Barclay brothers, who had purchased an island within Sarks territorial waters in 1993 Their premise was that a change was necessary to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights though it was suggested that their objection was more likely at odds with certain property tax requirements and primogeniture laws affecting their holdings. The old system was described as feudal and undemocratic because the Tenants were entitled to sit in Chief Pleas as of right.</p><br>
<p>On 16 January 2008 and 21 February 2008, the Chief Pleas approved a law to reform Chief Pleas as a 30-member chamber, with 28 members elected in island-wide elections, one hereditary member (the Seigneur) and one member (the Seneschal) appointed for life. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom approved the Sark law reforms on 9 April 2008. The first elections under the new law were held in December 2008 and the new chamber first convened in January 2009.</p><br>
<p>Some Sark residents have complained that the new system is not democratic and have described the powers the new law granted to the Seneschal, an unelected member whose term the new law extended to the duration of his natural life, as imperial or dictatorial. The Court of Appeal has indeed ruled his powers to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and his powers are subject to further legal challenges on these grounds.</p><br>
<p>In 2012 the BBC Today programme reported on local disquiet about the influence on the island of David and Frederick Barclay, the billionaire brothers who own The Daily Telegraph. The New Yorker magazine further illustrated the ongoing and escalating tensions between the Barclays and some of the longer-term residents. In 2017 Private Eye also reported on the situation, following the Barclays&#39; decision to close their vineyard and a number of hotels and shops they own on Sark.</p><br>
<h4>Dark Sky Community status</h4><br>
<p>In January 2011, the International Dark-Sky Association designated Sark as Europe&#39;s first Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world. This designation recognises that Sark is sufficiently clear of light pollution to allow naked-eye astronomy. Although Sark was aided in its achievement by its location, its historic ban on cars and the fact that there is no public lighting, it was also necessary for local residents to make adjustments, such as re-siting lights, to cut the light pollution.</p><br>
<p>Following an audit in 2010 by the IDA the designation was made in January 2011. The award is significant in that Sark is the first island community to have achieved this; other Dark-Sky Places have, up to now, been mainly uninhabited areas, and IDA chairman Martin Morgan-Taylor commended Sark residents for their effort. After the designation in 2011, Sark Astronomy Society worked to secure funds for an astronomical observatory on the island. In October 2015 Sark&#39;s observatory was officially opened by Dr Marek Kukula, public astronomer from the Royal Observatory Greenwich.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>Sark was considered the last feudal state in Europe. Together with the other Channel Islands, it is the last remnant of the former Duchy of Normandy still belonging to the Crown. Sark belongs to the Crown in its own right and has an independent relationship with the Crown through the Lieutenant Governor in Guernsey. Formally, the Seigneur holds it as a fief from the Crown, reenfeoffing the landowners on the island with their respective parcels. The political consequences of this construction were abolished in recent years, particularly in the reform of the legislative body, Chief Pleas, which took place in 2008.</p><br>
<p>Although geographically located within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, Sark is fiscally entirely separate from it and has been granted its own UN country code (680) to assist in identifying this fact to the world at large. Together with the islands of Alderney and Guernsey, Sark from time to time approves Bailiwick of Guernsey legislation, which, subject to the approval of all three legislatures, applies in the entire Bailiwick.</p><br>
<p>Legislation cannot be made which applies on Sark without the approval of the Chief Pleas, although recently Chief Pleas has been delegating a number of Ordinance making powers to the States of Guernsey. Such powers are, however, in each case subject to dis-application, or repeal, by the Chief Pleas. By long standing custom, Sark&#39;s criminal law has been made by the States of Guernsey, and this custom was put on a statutory basis in Section 4 of the Reform (Sark) Law, 2008, by which Sark delegates criminal law making power to the States of Guernsey.</p><br>
<h3>Seigneur</h3><br>
<p>Christopher Beaumont is the current and twenty-third Seigneur of Sark, inheriting the seigneury in 2016.</p><br>
<p>The Seigneur of Sark was, before the constitutional reforms of 2008, the head of the feudal government of the Isle of Sark (in the case of a woman, the title was Dame). Many of the laws, particularly those related to inheritance and the rule of the Seigneur, had changed little since they were enacted in 1565 under Queen Elizabeth I. The Seigneur retained the sole right on the island to keep pigeons and was until 2008 the only person allowed to keep an unspayed dog. In 2008, the latter privilege was abolished (on the proposal of political opponents of the Barclay brothers) because it did not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.</p><br>
<h3>Seneschal</h3><br>
<p>Until 2013, the Seneschal of Sark was the head of the Chief Pleas. Since 1675, he has also been the judge of the island (between 1583 and 1675, judicial functions were exercised by five elected Jurats and a Juge). The Seneschal is appointed by the Seigneur; or, nowadays, formally, by an Appointment Committee, consisting of the Seigneur and two other members appointed by the Seigneur. In 2010, following the decision of the English Court of Appeal, the Chief Pleas decided to split the dual role of the Seneschal. Thus, from 2013, the Chief Pleas elects its own President, who presides in almost all cases. Only when the Chief Pleas elects a President, the Seneschal still acts as its chairman.</p><br>
<p>The complete list of all the Seneschal of Sark from 1675 is as follows:</p><br>
<p>Pierre Gibault (15/7/1675-1680)</p><br>
<p>Thomas de Beauvoir (1680–1683)</p><br>
<p>Phillipe Dumeresq (1683–1702)</p><br>
<p>Jean Payne (1702–1707)</p><br>
<p>Philippe de Carteret (1707–1744)</p><br>
<p>Henri de Carteret (1744–1752)</p><br>
<p>Phillipe le Masurier (1752–1777)</p><br>
<p>Henri le Masurier (1777–1785)</p><br>
<p>Amice le Couteur (1785–1808)</p><br>
<p>Jean le Couteur (1808–1812)</p><br>
<p>Jean Falle (1812–1830)</p><br>
<p>Elie le Masurier (1830–1841)</p><br>
<p>Philippe Guille (1841–1851)</p><br>
<p>Thomas Godfray (1851–1876)</p><br>
<p>William de Carteret (1876–1881)</p><br>
<p>Abraham Baker (1881–1891)</p><br>
<p>Thomas Godfray (1891–1920)</p><br>
<p>Kenneth Campbell (1920–1922)</p><br>
<p>Ashby Taylor (1922–1925)</p><br>
<p>Frederick de Carteret (1925–1937)</p><br>
<p>William Carré (1937–1945)</p><br>
<p>William Baker (1945–1969)</p><br>
<p>Bernard Jones (1969–1979)</p><br>
<p>Hilary Carré (1979–1985)</p><br>
<p>Lawrence Philip de Carteret (1985–2000)</p><br>
<p>Reginald J. Guille (2000–2013)</p><br>
<p>Jeremy la Trobe-Bateman (from 27 February 2013 – )</p><br>
<h3>Tenants</h3><br>
<p>Pursuant to the royal letters patent, the Seigneur was to keep the island inhabited by at least 40 armed men. Therefore, from his lands, 39 parcels or tenements, each sufficient for one family, were subdivided and granted to settlers, the Tenants. Later, some of these parcels were dismembered, and parts of the Seigneurial land were sold, creating more parcels.</p><br>
<p>Originally each head of a parcel-holding family had the right to vote in Chief Pleas, but in 1604 this right was restricted to the 39 original tenements required by the Letters Patent, the so-called Quarantaine Tenements (quarantaine: French for a group of forty). The newer parcels mostly did not have the obligation to bear arms. In 1611 the dismemberment of tenements was forbidden, but the order was not immediately followed.</p><br>
<p>In Sark, the word tenant is used (and often pronounced as in French) in the sense of feudal landholder rather than the common English meaning of lessee. Originally, the word referred to any landowner, but today it is mostly used for a holder of one of the Quarantaine Tenements.</p><br>
<h3>Chief Pleas</h3><br>
<p>Chief Pleas (Chefs Plaids; Sercquiais: Cheurs Pliaids) is the parliament of Sark. It consists of 28 members (Conseillers), elected for a period of office of 4 years. In addition, the Seigneur and an elected President are counted as members; but they have no right to vote. The periods of office are shifted, with the period of half the Conseillers starting in the middle of the periods of the other half. Thus, every second year, 14 Conseillers are elected for the coming four years. In the elections, the 14 candidates receiving most votes are elected. The Prévôt, the Greffier, and the Treasurer also attend but are not members; the Treasurer may address Chief Pleas on matters of taxation and finance.</p><br>
<p>However, if there are not more willing candidates than the numbers of positions to fill (including any casual vacancies), then all candidates are declared elected, without any actual election necessary. This happened both in the 2014 and the 2016 elections to the Chief Pleas.</p><br>
<p>Until 2008, the Chief Pleas consisted of the tenants, and 12 deputies of the people as the only representation of the majority, an office introduced in 1922. The Seigneur and the Seneschal (who presided) were also members of Chief Pleas.</p><br>
<p>Since 2000, Chief Pleas was working on its own reform, responding to internal and international pressures. On 8 March 2006 by a vote of 25–15 Chief Pleas voted for a new legislature of the Seigneur, the Seneschal, 14 elected landowners and 14 elected non-landowners. But it was made plain by the British Lord Chancellor Jack Straw that this option was not on the table. Offered two options for reform involving an elected legislature, one fully elected, one with a number of seats reserved for elected Tenants, 56% of the inhabitants expressed a preference for a totally elected legislature. Following the poll, Chief Pleas voted on 4 October 2006 to replace the 12 Deputies and 40 Tenants in Chief Pleas by 28 Conseillers elected by universal adult suffrage. This decision was suspended in January 2007 when it was pointed out to Chief Pleas that the 56% versus 44% majority achieved in the opinion poll did not achieve the 60% majority required for the constitutional change. The decision was replaced by the proposal that Chief Pleas should consist of 16 Tenants and 12 Conseillers both elected by universal adult suffrage from 2008 to 2012 and that a binding referendum should then decide whether this composition should be kept or replaced by 28 Conseillers. This proposal was rejected by the Privy Council and the 28 Conseiller option was reinstated in February 2008 and accepted by Privy Council in April 2008.</p><br>
<p>In 2003, Chief Pleas voted to vary the long-standing ban on divorce in the island by extending to the Royal Court of Guernsey power to grant divorces.</p><br>
<p>Bailiwick of Guernsey Laws and United Kingdom Acts of Parliament can (the latter as also in the case of all the other Channel Islands) be extended to Sark with the consent of Chief Pleas. In practice, Sark does not make its own criminal laws; the responsibility for making criminal law is formally delegated to the States of Guernsey by Section 4(3) of the Reform (Sark) Law 2008.</p><br>
<h3>Officers</h3><br>
<p>The executive officers on the island are:</p><br>
<p>The Seneschal (Chief Judge, formerly also President of Chief Pleas) and Deputy</p><br>
<p>The Prevôt (Sheriff of the Court and of Chief Pleas) and Deputy</p><br>
<p>The Greffier (Clerk) and Deputy</p><br>
<p>The Treasurer (Finances) and Deputy</p><br>
<p>The Connétable (or Constable) is the senior of two police officers and police administrator and the Vingtenier is the junior police officer.</p><br>
<p>The Seneschal, Prevôt, and Greffier are chosen by the Seigneur, while the Treasurer, Constable and Vingtenier are elected by Chief Pleas.</p><br>
<p>The list of current Officers of the Island of Sark:</p><br>
<p>Seneschal – Jeremy la Trobe-Bateman</p><br>
<p>Deputy Seneschal – Ewan de Carteret</p><br>
<p>Prevôt – Kevin Neil Adams</p><br>
<p>Deputy Prevôt –</p><br>
<p>Greffier – Trevor John Hamon</p><br>
<p>Deputy Greffier – John Hamon (father of Trevor John Hamon)</p><br>
<p>Treasurer – Wendy Kiernan</p><br>
<p>Constable – Glenn Williams</p><br>
<p>Vingtenier – Paul Burgess</p><br>
<p>President of Chief Pleas – Arthur Rolfe</p><br>
<h3>Clameur de Haro</h3><br>
<p>Among the old laws of the Channel Islands is the old Norman custom of the Clameur de haro. Using this legal device, a person can obtain immediate cessation of any action he considers to be an infringement of his rights. At the scene, he must, in front of witnesses, recite the Lord&#39;s Prayer in French and cry out "Haro, Haro, Haro! À mon aide mon Prince, on me fait tort!" ("Haro, Haro, Haro! To my aid, my Prince! I am being wronged!"). It should then be registered with the Greffe Office within 24 hours. All actions against the person must then cease until the matter is heard by the Court. The last Clameur recorded on Sark was raised in June 1970 to prevent the construction of a garden wall.</p><br>
<h3>Periodicals</h3><br>
<p>Since 2009, a local resident on Sark has set up a weekly online newspaper called The Sark Newspaper (earlier: The Sark Newsletter). The publisher is a former longtime employee of the super-rich Barclay brothers who own the small neighbouring island of Brecqhou. The publication has compared the local government of Sark "to fascist Germany in the 1930s". In 2014, over 50 residents of Sark filed complaints with the police against accusations made by the paper.Since 2011, a quarterly magazine called Sark Life, which promotes a positive view of the island and welcomes contributions, is published by the Sark-based publishing company Small Island Publishing.</p><br>
<h2>Sercquiais</h2><br>
<p>Sercquiais (Sarkese, or sometimes called Sark-French) is a dialect of the Norman language still spoken by older inhabitants of the island. Its use has declined in recent years due to a large influx of people who have moved to Sark.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>Sarks economy depends primarily on tourism and financial services. Sark has no company registry and relies on Guernseys financial services commission.</p><br>
<h3>Taxation</h3><br>
<p>Sark is fiscally autonomous from Guernsey, and consequently has control over how it raises taxes. There are no taxes on income, capital gains or inheritances. There is also no VAT charged on goods and services, but import duties (Impôts) are charged on some goods brought onto the island at around 70–75% of Guernsey rates. However, the island does levy a Personal Capital Tax, a Property Tax, a Poll Tax ("Landing Tax") on visitors coming to the island, and a Property Transfer Tax (PTT) on residential properties when they are sold.</p><br>
<p>The island has its own tax assessor (in 2016, this remained Simon de Carteret), who collects the Property Tax, PTT, and the Personal Capital Tax (direct tax). Currently, the Personal Capital Tax ranges from a minimum of £300, to a maximum of £6,400 or 0,3% per annum (whichever is the lower). In 2014, there were 5 taxpayers who paid the maximum amount of £6,400 (PCT and Property Tax combined), and 6 who paid zero tax. Residents over the age of 69 do not pay the PCT. If a resident chooses not to declare the value of their personal assets, they can elect to pay a flat-rate under the Forfait method.</p><br>
<p>In 2006, Property Transfer Tax replaced the feudal Treizième. This used to be calculated by dividing the purchase price of any of the 30 tenements or 40 freehold properties on Sark by 13. The proceeds from doing this were then paid directly to the Seigneur. When the Treizième was abolished, the Chief Pleas introduced an indexed-linked pension of £28,000 per year, payable to the Seigneur.</p><br>
<p>An individual is considered to be a resident for tax purposes if they have remained on the island for at least 91 days in any tax year.</p><br>
<h3>Sark Company Registry</h3><br>
<p>Sark has no company registry, and no company law. In January 2017, a private organisation called the "Sark Company Registry" was set up. However the initiative was opposed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.</p><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>Sark generally follows the education system of England though this is not strictly adhered to.</p><br>
<p>Sark has one school, the Sark School, which takes residents from the ages of 4 to 15. School is divided into 4 classes. Class 1 takes children from the ages of 4 to 7 (reception to year 2), class 2 caters for 7- to 10-year-olds (year 3 to year 5), class 3 has 10- to 14-year-olds (year 6 to year 9) and the older children attend class 4 (years 10 and 11). Pupils wishing to obtain a GCSE or A-level qualification often finish their education in Guernsey or in England. Since 2006, however, a limited number of GCSEs have been offered to pupils at Sark School.</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<p>Notes:</p><br>
<p>1274 data from census taken before black death</p><br>
<p>1821–1971 data from 1971 Bailwick of Guernsey report.</p><br>
<p>2008 data represents only eligible voters</p><br>
<p>2012 data represents only those who signed for electoral roll. Total is estimated.</p><br>
<h3>Demography</h3><br>
<h4>Population by gender and movements</h4><br>
<p>Resident population on Sark by gender and residence at one and five-yearly intervals.</p><br>
<p>Data from the 1971 Bailwick of Guernsey report.</p><br>
<h4>Population by birthplace and visitors</h4><br>
<p>Data from the 1971 Bailwick of Guernsey report.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>The Isle of Sark Shipping Company operates small ferries from Sark to St Peter Port, Guernsey. The service takes 45 minutes for the 9 mi crossing. A high-speed passenger ferry is operated in summer by the French company Manche Iles Express to Jersey. A 12-passenger boat, the Lady Maris II, operates regular services to Alderney.</p><br>
<p>The island is a car-free zone where the only vehicles allowed are horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, tractors, and battery-powered buggies or motorised bicycles for elderly or disabled people. Passengers and goods arriving by ferry from Guernsey are transported from the wharf by tractor-pulled vehicles. To the dismay of residents, large tractors, which produce even more noise and dust than cars of the same size, have proliferated in recent years.</p><br>
<p>There is no airport on Sark, and flight over Sark below 2400 ft is prohibited by the Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Guernsey) Regulations 1985 (Guernsey 1985/21). The closest airports are Guernsey Airport and Jersey Airport. Sark lies directly in line of approach to the runway of Guernsey airport, however, and low-flying aircraft regularly fly over the island.</p><br>
<h2>Religion</h2><br>
<p>In common with the other Channel Islands, Sark is attached to the Anglican diocese of Winchester.</p><br>
<p>Sark has an Anglican church (St. Peters, built 1820) and a Methodist church. John Wesley first proposed a mission to Sark in 1787. Jean de Quetteville of Jersey subsequently began preaching there, initially in a cottage at Le Clos à Geon and then at various houses around Sark. Preachers from Guernsey visited regularly, and in 1796, land was donated by Jean Vaudin, leader of the Methodist community in Sark, for the construction of a chapel, which Jean de Quetteville dedicated in 1797. In the mid-1800s there was a small Plymouth Brethren assembly. Its most notable member was the classicist William Kelly (1821–1906). Kelly was then the tutor to the Seigneurs children.</p><br>
<p>Supported by the evidence of the names of the tenements of La Moinerie and La Moinerie de Haut, it is believed that the Seigneurie was constructed on the site of the monastery of Saint Magloire. Magloire had been Samson of Dols successor as bishop of Dol, but retired and founded a monastery in Sark where he died in the late sixth century. According to the vita of Magloire, the monastery housed 62 monks and a school for the instruction of the sons of noble families from the Cotentin. Magloires relics were venerated at the monastery until the mid-ninth century when Viking raids rendered Sark unsafe, and the monks departed for Jersey, taking the relics with them.</p><br>
<h2>Law enforcement</h2><br>
<p>Despite having its own legislative assembly, Sark voluntarily submits to Guernsey in matters of criminal law. For matters of routine law enforcement and policing the island relies upon the States of Guernsey Police Service. Sark has a small police station and jail, with two (rarely used) cells available. The island has no full-time police officers permanently stationed on it, but has access to police services in three principal ways: firstly through the activity of a volunteer special constable on the island (there has been a resident volunteer constable since before the formal policing agreement with Guernsey first began); secondly through the designation of a member of the Guernsey Neighbourhood Policing Team as a dedicated point of contact for Sark authorities; thirdly by means of regular visits and patrols by Guernsey-based officers who cross to Sark on the passenger ferry service.</p><br>
<h2>Emergency services</h2><br>
<p>A resident doctor provides healthcare on Sark, and is available to attend accidents and emergencies. The Sark Ambulance Service operates two tractor-drawn ambulances, and is able to treat casualties and transport them to the harbour for transfer onto the Guernsey marine ambulance launch, Flying Christine III, operated by Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service. A small ambulance station houses the two ambulances.</p><br>
<p>Fire and rescue services are provided by an independent and volunteer service established in 1958. Originally named Sark Fire Brigade, it is now known as the Sark Fire and Rescue Service. The services operates two pump tenders and an all-purpose trailer; all three appliances are drawn by tractors owing to the ban on other motor vehicles on Sark. The original fire station was a large garage. Today the service operates from a large purpose-built fire station on La Chasse Marette.</p><br>
<p>Lifeboat services are provided by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution from the Guernsey lifeboat station, supported by the RNLI stations on Jersey and Alderney.</p><br>
<h2>Sport</h2><br>
<p>Participation in sport tends towards individual sports rather than team sports, but the population supports a cricket team, a rugby union team and a football team. Sark competes in the biennial Island Games in which the Sark football team has participated. The annual Sark to Jersey Rowing Race is contested by teams from both bailiwicks. Carl Hester, who was born in Sark, won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Individual and Team Dressage events. A Sark post box was painted gold to celebrate the event.</p><br>
<h2>Sark in media</h2><br>
<p>There are many examples of media taking Sark as an inspiration or setting.</p><br>
<h3>Norman literature</h3><br>
<p>Although there is no record of literature about Sark in Sercquiais, Guernésiais and Jèrriais literature has included writing about Sark; for example by such authors as Edwin John Luce, Thomas Grut, George F. Le Feuvre, and Denys Corbet.</p><br>
<h3>English literature</h3><br>
<p>Algernon Swinburne wrote a poem, In Sark, which appears in the collection A Century of Roundels.</p><br>
<p>Arthur Conan Doyle&#39;s Sir Nigel (1906) includes a sub-plot where Black Simon of Norwich, a man at arms travelling with Sir Nigel Loring to war, obtains permission from Sir Robert Knolles to go ashore to Sark under cover of darkness. He takes his friend the archer Samkin Alward with him and beheads the (so-called) King of Sark in payment of a wager.</p><br>
<p>John Oxenham wrote Carette of Sark (1907) and his 1910 novel A Maid of the Silver Sea uses the mines of Little Sark as its setting.</p><br>
<p>The novel Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake, best known for the Gormenghast series, is set on Sark. The book has been adapted for radio and television. The TV series, filmed on Sark, starred Derek Jacobi and Judy Parfitt, and featured a number of islanders. Sark may also have been a crucial inspiration for Peake while writing Gormenghast (he lived on the island at some point in his life).</p><br>
<p>Dame of Sark, the memoirs of the 21st Seigneur Sibyl Mary Hathaway, who was present during the German occupation, were made into a play and television drama of the same name. Dame Sibyl also wrote Maid of Sark, an historical romance published in 1939; set in the sixteenth Century, it incorporates events related to the defence of the island against the Bretons.</p><br>
<p>The novel Appointment with Venus by Jerrard Tickell is set on the fictional island of Armorel, which is presumed to be based on Sark. The 1951 film of the book used Sark as a principal location.</p><br>
<p>Sarah Caudwell&#39;s The Sirens Sang of Murder (1989) is partly set in Sark.</p><br>
<p>The 2016 novel Iron Chamber of Memory by John C. Wright is set on Sark.</p><br>
<h3>French literature</h3><br>
<p>Maurice Leblancs novel LÎle aux Trente Cercueils (translated in English as The Secret of Sarek) features an island called Sarek, off the coast of Brittany, and bears obvious similarities to Sark. In the story, gentleman-thief Arsène Lupin rescues Véronique d&#39;Hergemont from a local superstition requiring the death of thirty women to appease vengeful spirits.</p><br>
<h3>In music</h3><br>
<p>Irish musician, composer and singer Enyas 2015 album Dark Sky Island was inspired by Sarks designation as the first dark sky island. Certain songs on the album, the title track especially, explore the stars, skies and nature.</p><br>
<h3>Television</h3><br>
<p>The 1986 television adaptation of Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake and starring Derek Jacobi was filmed on the island. The original short story is also set on Sark.</p><br>
<p>Sark featured in the 6th episode of the fourth series of The New Statesman, The Irresistible Rise of Alan B&#39;Stard and also in the Jersey-based television detective series Bergerac.</p><br>
<p>Part of the seventh episode of the second series of World War II television drama Enemy at the Door takes place in Sark. La Coupée features in a number of scenes.</p><br>
<p>Sark, and in particular the Gouliot Caves, features in episode 8 of series 3 of the BBC television series Coast.</p><br>
<p>Sark was featured in Episode 3 of the 2009 ITV television series Islands of Britain, presented by Martin Clunes; islanders involved in the programme included Alan Blythe (Constable) and Rossford de Carteret.</p><br>
<p>Sark was featured on the ITV2 programme Holiday Showdown where one family chose Sark as their holiday destination.</p><br>
<p>In episode 2 of the 2009 ITV mini-series Collision, Guy Pearson (played by Nicholas Farrell) says, "Im moving to the Channel Islands: Sark. No cars on Sark, itll be heaven."</p><br>
<p>In John Shuttleworth&#39;s Southern Softies (2009), John and his crew cannot find anywhere to stay on the island.</p><br>
<p>Series 7 and 8 of the BBC television series An Island Parish follows the Anglican priest and Methodist minister on Sark.</p><br>
<h3>In video games</h3><br>
<p>Recently, Sark was added to the milsim Arma 3 in an update to a World War Two modification, Iron Front. The island is made to scale and is fully explorable.</p><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons  is a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of Old Red Sandstone peaks which lie to the south of Brecon. Sometimes referred to as "the central Beacons" they include South Wales&#39; highest mountain, Pen y Fan. The range forms the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park , a designation which also encompasses ranges both to the east and the west of "the central Beacons". This much wider area is also commonly referred to as "the Brecon Beacons", and it includes the Black Mountains to the east as well as the similarly named but quite distinct Black Mountain to the west. The highest peaks include Fan Brycheiniog to the west and Pen y Fan in the central part. They share the same basic geology as the central range, and so exhibit many similar features, such as the north-facing escarpment and glacial features such as lakes and cwms  below the escarpment. They all fall within the border of the national park.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons range, in its narrower sense comprises six main peaks: from west to east these are: Corn Du, 873 m, Pen y Fan, the highest peak, 886 m, Cribyn, 795 m, Fan y Big, 719 m, Bwlch y Ddwyallt, 754 m, and Waun Rydd 769 m. These summits form a long ridge, and the sections joining the first four form a horseshoe shape around the head of the Taf Fechan, which flows away to the southeast. To the northeast of the ridge, interspersed with long parallel spurs, are four cwms, four round-headed valleys or cirques; from west to east these are Cwm Sere, Cwm Cynwyn, Cwn Oergwm and Cwm Cwareli.</p><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons are said to be named after the ancient practice of lighting signal fires (beacons) on mountains to warn of attacks by invaders.</p><br>
<p>The round of the Taf Fechan skyline forms a ridge walk commonly known as the Beacons Horseshoe.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The area was inhabited during the Neolithic and the succeeding Bronze Age, the most obvious legacy of the latter being the numerous burial cairns which adorn the hills of the centre and west of the National Park. There are especially good examples of round barrows on Fan Brycheiniog, Pen y Fan and Corn Du. The former was excavated in 2002–4 and the ashes in the central cist dated to about 2000 BC using radiocarbon dating. A wreath of meadowsweet was likely placed in the burial.</p><br>
<p>Over twenty hillforts were established in the area during the Iron Age. The largest, and indeed the largest in South Wales, were the pair of forts atop y Garn Goch near Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire – y Gaer Fawr and y Gaer Fach – literally "the big fort" and "the little fort". The forts are thought to have once been trading and political centres.</p><br>
<p>When the Romans came to Wales in 43 AD, they stationed more than 600 soldiers in the area. Y Gaer, near the town of Brecon was their main base. During the Norman Conquest many castles were erected throughout the park. One of the most famous is Carreg Cennen Castle but there are many more. Brecon Castle is of Norman origin.</p><br>
<p>There are many old tracks which were used over the centuries by drovers to take their cattle and geese to market in England. The drovers brought back gorse seed, which they sowed to provide food for their sheep.</p><br>
<p>The area played a significant role during the Industrial Revolution as various raw materials including limestone, silica sand and ironstone were quarried for transport southwards to the furnaces of the industrialising South Wales Valleys.</p><br>
<h2>The Brecon Beacons National Park</h2><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons are one of four ranges of mountains and hills in South Wales which make up the Brecon Beacons National Park. The National Park was established in 1957, the third of the three Welsh parks after Snowdonia in 1951 and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in 1952.</p><br>
<h2>Mountain rescue</h2><br>
<p>Mountain rescue in south Wales is provided by five volunteer groups, with the police having overall command. In serious situations they are aided by RAF helicopters from RAF Chivenor or RAF Valley. The five groups are:</p><br>
<p>CBMRT – Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team</p><br>
<p>BMRT – Brecon Mountain Rescue Team</p><br>
<p>LMRT – Longtown Mountain Rescue Team based in the east</p><br>
<p>WBMSART – Western Beacons Mountain Search and Rescue Team</p><br>
<p>SARDA South Wales – Search and Rescue Dog Association covering South and Mid Wales</p><br>
<p>The groups are funded primarily by donations. Their work is not restricted to mountain rescue – they frequently assist the police in their search for missing or vulnerable people in the community.</p><br>
<h2>Military training</h2><br>
<p>The Brecon Beacons are used for training members of the UK armed forces and military reservists. The Army’s Infantry Battle School is located at Brecon, and the Special Air Service (SAS) use the area to test the fitness of applicants. In July 2013 three soldiers died from overheating or heatstroke on an SAS selection exercise. An army captain had been found dead on Corn Du earlier in the year after training in freezing weather for the SAS.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis  was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . It is situated 60 km northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars Province, Iran. The earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. It exemplifies the Achaemenid style of architecture. UNESCO declared the ruins of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The English word Persepolis is derived from Greek Persépolis (Περσέπολις), a compound of Pérsēs (Πέρσης) and pólis (πόλις), meaning "the Persian city" or "the City of the Persians".</p><br>
<p>To the ancient Persians, the city was known as Pārsa (𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿), which is also the word for "Persia" (more accurately, the region of Persis).</p><br>
<p>Because Persians of Late Antiquity believed Jamshid, an Iranian mythological figure, built its monuments, since the time of the Sasanian period (224–651 AD) the site has been known as Takht-e-Jamshid (تخت جمشید, literally "Throne of Jamshid").</p><br>
<p>Another modern Persian name for the site was Chel Menar (چهل منار), also transliterated as Chehel Menar and Chilminar, which means "having many columns."</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Persepolis is near the small river Pulvar, which flows into the Kur River.</p><br>
<p>The site includes a 125,000 square meter terrace, partly artificially constructed and partly cut out of a mountain, with its east side leaning on Rahmet Mountain. The other three sides are formed by retaining walls, which vary in height with the slope of the ground. Rising from 5-13 metres on the west side was a double stair. From there, it gently slopes to the top. To create the level terrace, depressions were filled with soil and heavy rocks, which were joined together with metal clips.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. André Godard, the French archaeologist who excavated Persepolis in the early 1930s, believed that it was Cyrus the Great who chose the site of Persepolis, but that it was Darius I who built the terrace and the palaces.</p><br>
<p>Since, to judge from the inscriptions, the buildings of Persepolis commenced with Darius I, it was probably under this king, with whom the scepter passed to a new branch of the royal house, that Persepolis became the capital of Persia proper. As the residence of the rulers of the empire, however, a remote place in a difficult alpine region was far from convenient. The country&#39;s true capitals were Susa, Babylon and Ecbatana. This accounts for the fact that the Greeks were not acquainted with the city until Alexander the Great took and plundered it.</p><br>
<p>Darius Is constructions at Persepolis was carried out parallel to those of the Palace of Susa. According to Gene R. Garthwaite, the Susa Palace served as Darius model for Persepolis. Darius I ordered the construction of the Apadana and the Council Hall (Tripylon or the "Triple Gate"), as well as the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, Xerxes I. Further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the Achaemenid Empire. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Greek historian Ctesias, mentioned that Darius I&#39;s grave was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes.</p><br>
<p>Around 519 BC, construction of a broad stairway was begun. The stairway was initially planned to be the main entrance to the terrace 20 metres above the ground. The dual stairway, known as the Persepolitan Stairway, was built symmetrically on the western side of the Great Wall. The 111 steps measured 6.9 metres wide, with treads of 31 cm and rises of 10 cm. Originally, the steps were believed to have been constructed to allow for nobles and royalty to ascend by horseback. New theories, however, suggest that the shallow risers allowed visiting dignitaries to maintain a regal appearance while ascending. The top of the stairways led to a small yard in the north-eastern side of the terrace, opposite the Gate of All Nations.</p><br>
<p>Grey limestone was the main building material used at Persepolis. After natural rock had been leveled and the depressions filled in, the terrace was prepared. Major tunnels for sewage were dug underground through the rock. A large elevated water storage tank was carved at the eastern foot of the mountain. Professor Olmstead suggested the cistern was constructed at the same time that construction of the towers began.</p><br>
<p>The uneven plan of the terrace, including the foundation, acted like a castle, whose angled walls enabled its defenders to target any section of the external front. Diodorus Siculus writes that Persepolis had three walls with ramparts, which all had towers to provide a protected space for the defense personnel. The first wall was 7 metres tall, the second, 14 metres and the third wall, which covered all four sides, was 27 metres in height, though no presence of the wall exists in modern times.</p><br>
<h3>Destruction</h3><br>
<p>After invading Achaemenid Persia in 330 BC, Alexander the Great sent the main force of his army to Persepolis by the Royal Road. He stormed the "Persian Gates", a pass through modern-day Zagros Mountains. There Ariobarzanes of Persis successfully ambushed Alexander the Great&#39;s army, inflicting heavy casualties. After being held off for 30 days, Alexander the Great outflanked and destroyed the defenders. Ariobarzanes himself was killed either during the battle or during the retreat to Persepolis. Some sources indicate that the Persians were betrayed by a captured tribal chief who showed the Macedonians an alternate path that allowed them to outflank Ariobarzanes in a reversal of Thermopylae. After several months, Alexander allowed his troops to loot Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Around that time, a fire burned "the palaces" or "the palace". Scholars agree that this event, described in historic sources, occurred at the ruins that have been now re-identified as Persepolis. From Stolze&#39;s investigations, it appears that at least one of these, the castle built by Xerxes I, bears evident traces of having been destroyed by fire. The locality described by Diodorus Siculus after Cleitarchus corresponds in important particulars with the historic Persepolis, for example, in being supported by the mountain on the east.</p><br>
<p>It is believed that the fire which destroyed Persepolis started from Hadish Palace, which was the living quarters of Xerxes I, and spread to the rest of the city. It is not clear if the fire was an accident or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the second Persian invasion of Greece. Many historians argue that while Alexander&#39;s army celebrated with a symposium, they decided to take revenge against the Persians. In that case, it would be a combination of the two.</p><br>
<p>The Book of Arda Wiraz, a Zoroastrian work composed in the 3rd or 4th century, describes Persepolis&#39; archives as containing "all the Avesta and Zend, written upon prepared cow-skins, and with gold ink," that were destroyed. Indeed, in his Chronology of the Ancient Nations, the native Iranian writer Biruni indicates unavailability of certain native Iranian historiographical sources in post-Achaemenid era, especially during the Parthian Empire. He adds, " burned the whole of Persepolis as revenge to the Persians, because it seems the Persian King Xerxes had burnt the Greek City of Athens around 150 years ago. People say that, even at the present time, the traces of fire are visible in some places."</p><br>
<p>Paradoxically, the event that caused the destruction of these texts may have resulted in the preservation of the Persepolis Administrative Archives, which might otherwise have been lost over time to natural and man-made events. According to archaeological evidence, the partial burning of Persepolis did not affect what are now referred to as the Persepolis Fortification Archive tablets, but rather may have caused the eventual collapse of the upper part of the northern fortification wall that preserved the tablets until their recovery by the Oriental Institute&#39;s archaeologists.</p><br>
<h3>After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire</h3><br>
<p>In 316 BC, Persepolis was still the capital of Persia as a province of the great Macedonian Empire (see Diod. xix, 21 seq., 46; probably after Hieronymus of Cardia, who was living about 326). The city must have gradually declined in the course of time. The lower city at the foot of imperial city might have survived for a longer time; but the ruins of the Achaemenids remained as a witness to its ancient glory. It is probable that the principal town of the country, or at least of the district, was always in this neighborhood.</p><br>
<p>About 200 BC, the city of Estakhr, five kilometers north of Persepolis, was the seat of the local governors. From there, the foundations of the second great Persian Empire were laid, and there Estakhr acquired special importance as the center of priestly wisdom and orthodoxy. The Sasanian kings have covered the face of the rocks in this neighborhood, and in part even the Achaemenid ruins, with their sculptures and inscriptions. They must themselves have been built largely there, although never on the same scale of magnificence as their ancient predecessors. The Romans knew as little about Estakhr as the Greeks had known about Persepolis, despite the fact that the Sasanians maintained relations for four hundred years, friendly or hostile, with the empire.</p><br>
<p>At the time of the Muslim invasion of Persia, Estakhr offered a desperate resistance. It was still a place of considerable importance in the first century of Islam, although its greatness was speedily eclipsed by the new metropolis of Shiraz. In the 10th century, Estakhr dwindled to insignificance, as seen from the descriptions of Estakhri, a native (c. 950), and of Al-Muqaddasi (c. 985). During the following centuries, Estakhr gradually declined, until it ceased to exist as a city.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeological research</h2><br>
<p>Odoric of Pordenone passed through Persepolis on his way to China in 1320. In 1474, Giosafat Barbaro visited the ruins of Persepolis, which he incorrectly thought were of Jewish origin. António de Gouveia from Portugal wrote about cuneiform inscriptions following his visit in 1602. His first written report on Persia, the Jornada, was published in 1606.</p><br>
<p>In 1618, García de Silva Figueroa, King Philip III of Spain&#39;s ambassador to the court of Abbas I, the Safavid monarch, was the first Western traveler to correctly identify the ruins of Persepolis as the location of Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Pietro Della Valle visited Persepolis in 1621, and noticed that only 25 of the 72 original columns were standing either due to vandalism or natural processes. The Dutch traveler Cornelis de Bruijn visited Persepolis in 1704.</p><br>
<p>Cornelis de bruijn persepolis.JPGSketch of Persepolis from 1704by Cornelis de Bruijn.</p><br>
<p>Drawing of perspolis 1713 by Gérard Jean-Baptiste (1671-1716).JPGDrawing of Persepolis in 1713by Gérard Jean-Baptiste.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis T Chipiez.jpgDrawing of the Tacharaby Charles Chipiez.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis Reconstruction Apadana Chipiez.jpgThe Apadana by Charles Chipiez.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis Reconstruction Apadana Toit Chipiez.JPEGApadana detail by Charles Chipiez.</p><br>
<p>The fruitful region was covered with villages till the frightful devastation in the 18th century; and even now it is, comparatively speaking, well cultivated. The Castle of Estakhr played a conspicuous part as a strong fortress, several times, during the Muslim period. It was the middlemost and the highest of the three steep crags which rise from the valley of the Kur, at some distance to the west or northwest of the necropolis of Naqsh-e Rustam.</p><br>
<p>French voyagers Eugène Flandin and Pascal Coste are among the first to provide not only a literary review of the structure of Persepolis, but also to create some of the best and earliest visual depictions of its structure. In their publications in Paris, in 1881 and 1882, titled Voyages en Perse de MM. Eugene Flanin peintre et Pascal Coste architect, the authors provided some 350 ground breaking illustrations of Persepolis. French influence and interest in Persias archaeological findings would not end until time of Reza Shah, where such distinguished figures as André Godard helped create Irans first heritage museum.</p><br>
<p>Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, a variety of amateur digging occurred at the site, in some cases on a large scale.</p><br>
<p>The first scientific excavations at Persepolis were carried out by Ernst Herzfeld and Erich Schmidt representing the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. They conducted excavations for eight seasons, beginning in 1930, and included other nearby sites.</p><br>
<p>Herzfeld believed the reasons behind the construction of Persepolis were the need for a majestic atmosphere, a symbol for their empire, and to celebrate special events, especially the Nowruz. For historical reasons, Persepolis was built where the Achaemenid dynasty was founded, although it was not the center of the empire at that time.</p><br>
<p>Excavations of plaque fragments hint at a scene with a contest between Herakles and Apollo, dubbed A Greek painting at Persepolis.</p><br>
<h3>Architecture</h3><br>
<p>Persepolitan architecture is noted for its use of wooden columns. Architects resorted to stone only when the largest cedars of Lebanon or teak trees of India did not fulfill the required sizes. Column bases and capitals were made of stone, even on wooden shafts, but the existence of wooden capitals is probable.</p><br>
<p>The buildings at Persepolis include three general groupings: military quarters, the treasury, and the reception halls and occasional houses for the King. Noted structures include the Great Stairway, the Gate of All Nations, the Apadana, the Hall of a Hundred Columns, the Tripylon Hall and the Tachara, the Hadish Palace, the Palace of Artaxerxes III, the Imperial Treasury, the Royal Stables, and the Chariot House.</p><br>
<h2>Ruins and remains</h2><br>
<p>Ruins of a number of colossal buildings exist on the terrace. All are constructed of dark-grey marble. Fifteen of their pillars stand intact. Three more pillars have been re-erected since 1970. Several of the buildings were never finished. F. Stolze has shown that some of the mason&#39;s rubbish remains.</p><br>
<p>Since the time of Pietro Della Valle, it has been beyond dispute that these ruins represent the Persepolis captured and partly destroyed by Alexander the Great.</p><br>
<p>Behind the compound at Persepolis, there are three sepulchers hewn out of the rock in the hillside. The facades, one of which is incomplete, are richly decorated with reliefs. About 13 km NNE, on the opposite side of the Pulvar River, rises a perpendicular wall of rock, in which four similar tombs are cut at a considerable height from the bottom of the valley. Modern-day Iranians call this place Naqsh-e Rustam ("Rustam Relief"), from the Sasanian reliefs beneath the opening, which they take to be a representation of the mythical hero Rostam. It may be inferred from the sculptures that the occupants of these seven tombs were kings. An inscription on one of the tombs declares it to be that of Darius I, concerning whom Ctesias relates that his grave was in the face of a rock, and could only be reached by the use of ropes. Ctesias mentions further, with regard to a number of Persian kings, either that their remains were brought "to the Persians," or that they died there.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis Apadana Eastern Stairway Triangle.jpgA bas-relief at Persepolis, representing a symbol in Zoroastrianism for Nowruz.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis stairs of the Apadana relief.jpgA bas-relief from the Apadana depicting Armenians bringing their famous wine to the king.</p><br>
<p>Achaemenid plaque from Persepolis.JPGAchaemenid plaque from Persepolis, kept at the National Museum, Tehran.</p><br>
<p>Mad-5223.jpgRelief of a Median man at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>National Meusem Darafsh 6 (54).JPGObjects from Persepolis kept at the National Museum, Tehran.</p><br>
<h3>Gate of All Nations</h3><br>
<p>The Gate of All Nations, referring to subjects of the empire, consisted of a grand hall that was a square of approximately 25 m in length, with four columns and its entrance on the Western Wall. There were two more doors, one to the south which opened to the Apadana yard and the other opened onto a long road to the east. Pivoting devices found on the inner corners of all the doors indicate that they were two-leafed doors, probably made of wood and covered with sheets of ornate metal.</p><br>
<p>A pair of lamassus, bulls with the heads of bearded men, stand by the western threshold. Another pair, with wings and a Persian Head (Gopät-Shäh), stands by the eastern entrance, to reflect the power of the empire.</p><br>
<p>The name of Xerxes I was written in three languages and carved on the entrances, informing everyone that he ordered it to be built.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis 24.11.2009 11-17-28.jpgA lamassu at the Gate of All Nations.</p><br>
<p>Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpgRuins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Detail-The Great Double Staircase at Persepolis (4669487623).jpgThe Great Double Staircase at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Персеп.jpgBas-relief on the staircase of the palace.</p><br>
<h3>The Apadana</h3><br>
<p>Darius I built the greatest palace at Persepolis on the western side of platform. This palace was called the Apadana. The King of Kings used it for official audiences. The work began in 518 BC, and his son, Xerxes I, completed it 30 years later. The palace had a grand hall in the shape of a square, each side 60 m long with seventy-two columns, thirteen of which still stand on the enormous platform. Each column is 19 m high with a square Taurus (bull) and plinth. The columns carried the weight of the vast and heavy ceiling. The tops of the columns were made from animal sculptures such as two-headed lions, eagles, human and Cows, Because cows are symbols of fertility and abundance in ancient Iran. The columns were joined to each other with the help of oak and cedar beams, which were brought from Lebanon. The walls were covered with a layer of mud and stucco to a depth of 5 cm, which was used for bonding, and then covered with the greenish stucco which is found throughout the palaces.</p><br>
<p>At the western, northern and eastern sides of the palace, there were three rectangular porticos each of which had twelve columns in two rows of six. At the south of the grand hall, a series of rooms were built for storage. Two grand Persepolitan stairways were built, symmetrical to each other and connected to the stone foundations. To protect the roof from erosion, vertical drains were built through the brick walls. In the four corners of Apadana, facing outwards, four towers were built.</p><br>
<p>The walls were tiled and decorated with pictures of lions, bulls, and flowers. Darius ordered his name and the details of his empire to be written in gold and silver on plates, which were placed in covered stone boxes in the foundations under the Four Corners of the palace. Two Persepolitan style symmetrical stairways were built on the northern and eastern sides of Apadana to compensate for a difference in level. Two other stairways stood in the middle of the building. The external front views of the palace were embossed with carvings of the Immortals, the Kings&#39; elite guards. The northern stairway was completed during the reign of Darius I, but the other stairway was completed much later.</p><br>
<p>The reliefs on the staircases allow one to observe the people from across the empire in their traditional dress, and even the king himself, "down to the smallest detail".</p><br>
<p>Apadana palace persepolis.JPGRuins of the Apadana, Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Medes and Persians at eastern stairs of the Apadana, Persepolis.JPGDepiction of united Medes and Persians at the Apadana, Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Persian column.jpgRuins of the Apadana&#39;s columns.</p><br>
<p>Stylized Trees and Flowers on the Apadana Staircase (Best Viewed Size "Large") (4688859421).jpgDepiction of trees and lotus flowers at the Apadana, Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Figures on the Apadana Staircase (Best Viewed Size "Large") (4688678112).jpgDepiction of figures at the Apadana.</p><br>
<h3>The Throne Hall</h3><br>
<p>Next to the Apadana, second largest building of the Terrace and the final edifices, is the Throne Hall or the Imperial Army&#39;s Hall of Honor (also called the Hundred-Columns Palace). This 70x70 square meter hall was started by Xerxes I and completed by his son Artaxerxes I by the end of the fifth century BC. Its eight stone doorways are decorated on the south and north with reliefs of throne scenes and on the east and west with scenes depicting the king in combat with monsters. Two colossal stone bulls flank the northern portico. The head of one of the bulls now resides in the Oriental Institute in Chicago.</p><br>
<p>At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes I, the Throne Hall was used mainly for receptions for military commanders and representatives of all the subject nations of the empire. Later, the Throne Hall served as an imperial museum.</p><br>
<h3>Other palaces and structures</h3><br>
<p>Other palaces included the Tachara, which was built under Darius I, and the Imperial treasury, which was started by Darius I in 510 BC and finished by Xerxes I in 480 BC. The Hadish Palace of Xerxes I occupies the highest level of terrace and stands on the living rock. The Council Hall, the Tryplion Hall, the Palaces of D, G, H, storerooms, stables and quarters, the unfinished gateway and a few miscellaneous structures at Persepolis are located near the south-east corner of the terrace, at the foot of the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Persepolis 06.jpgRuins of the Tachara, Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Zoomorphic Capital (4679068036).jpgZoomorphic griffin capital at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Perspolis.jpgBull capital at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Tachara, Persepolis.jpgRuins of the Tachara, Persepolis.</p><br>
<h3>Tombs</h3><br>
<p>It is commonly accepted that Cyrus the Great was buried in Pasargadae, which is mentioned by Ctesias as his own city. If it is true that the body of Cambyses II was brought home "to the Persians," his burying place must be somewhere beside that of his father. Ctesias assumes that it was the custom for a king to prepare his own tomb during his lifetime. Hence, the kings buried at Naghsh-e Rostam are probably Darius I, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I and Darius II. Xerxes II, who reigned for a very short time, could scarcely have obtained so splendid a monument, and still less could the usurper Sogdianus. The two completed graves behind the compound at Persepolis would then belong to Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III. The unfinished tomb, a kilometer away from the city, is debated to who it belongs. It is perhaps that of Artaxerxes IV, who reigned at the longest two years, or, if not his, then that of Darius III (Codomannus), who is one of those whose bodies are said to have been brought "to the Persians." Since Alexander the Great is said to have buried Darius III at Persepolis, then it is likely the unfinished tomb is his.</p><br>
<p>Another small group of ruins in the same style is found at the village of Haji Abad, on the Pulvar River, a good hour&#39;s walk above Persepolis. These formed a single building, which was still intact 900 years ago, and was used as the mosque of the then-existing city of Estakhr.</p><br>
<h3>Ancient texts</h3><br>
<p>The relevant passages from ancient scholars on the subject are set out below:</p><br>
<p>There is, however, one formidable difficulty. Diodorus Siculus says that the rock at the back of the palace containing the royal sepulchers is so steep that the bodies could be raised to their last resting-place only by mechanical appliances. This is not true of the graves behind the compound, to which, as F. Stolze expressly observes, one can easily ride up. On the other hand, it is strictly true of the graves at Naqsh-e Rustam. Stolze accordingly started the theory that the royal castle of Persepolis stood close by Naqsh-e Rustam, and has sunk in course of time to shapeless heaps of earth, under which the remains may be concealed.</p><br>
<h2>Modern events</h2><br>
<p>In 1971, Persepolis was the main staging ground for the 2,500 Year Celebration of the Persian Empire under the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. It included delegations from foreign nations in an attempt to advance the Iranian culture and history.</p><br>
<h3>The controversy of the Sivand Dam</h3><br>
<p>Construction of the Sivand Dam, named after the nearby town of Sivand, began on 19 September 2006. Despite 10 years of planning, Iran&#39;s Cultural Heritage Organization was not aware of the broad areas of flooding during much of this time, and there is growing concern about the effects the dam will have on the surrounding areas of Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Many archaeologists worry that the dam&#39;s placement between the ruins of Pasargadae and Persepolis will flood both. Engineers involved with the construction deny this claim, stating that it is impossible, because both sites sit well above the planned waterline. Of the two sites, Pasargadae is considered the more threatened.</p><br>
<p>Archaeologists are also concerned that an increase in humidity caused by the lake will speed Pasargadae&#39;s gradual destruction. However, experts from the Ministry of Energy believe this would be negated by controlling the water level of the dam reservoir.</p><br>
<h2>Museums (outside Iran) that display material from Persepolis</h2><br>
<p>A number of bas-reliefs from Persepolis are kept at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. There is also a collection from Persepolis at the British Museum. The Persepolis bull at the Oriental Institute is one of the universitys most prized treasures, but it is only one of several objects from Persepolis on display at the University of Chicago. New York Citys Metropolitan Museum houses objects from Persepolis, as does the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Pennsylvania. The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon and the Louvre of Paris hold objects from Persepolis as well.</p><br>
<p>Forgotten Empire Exhibition, (Room 5).1.JPGForgotten Empire Exhibition, the British Museum.</p><br>
<p>The British Museum, Room 5-Persepolis Bas-relief.jpgForgotten Empire Exhibition, the British Museum.</p><br>
<p>UC Oriental Institute Persian collection item 12.JPGPersepolitan gold objects, kept at the Oriental Institute.</p><br>
<p>UC Oriental Institute Iranian artifacts ancient 10.JPGPersepolitan rosette rock relief, kept at the Oriental Institute.</p><br>
<p>Louvre-Museum-Objects-from-Persepolis-Photo-by-Pejman-Akbarzadeh-Persian-Dutch-Network.jpgObjects from Persepolis, kept at the Louvre.</p><br>
<h2>Aerial views</h2><br>
<p>ABCDEF-1.jpgAerial view of the ruined monuments at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Persépolis, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 70.jpgAerial view of the ruined monuments at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Iran 2007 089 Persepolis (1731647591).jpgAerial view of the ruined monuments at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Takhtejamshid 1234.jpgAerial view of the ruined monuments at Persepolis.</p><br>
<p>Ostia Antica is a large archeological site, close to the modern suburb of Ostia, that was the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, which is approximately 30 km to the northeast. "Ostia"  is a derivation of "os", the Latin word for "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome&#39;s seaport, but due to silting the site now lies 3 km from the sea. The site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive mosaics.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Origins</h3><br>
<p>Ostia may have been Rome&#39;s first colonia. According to the legend Ancus Marcius, the semi-legendary fourth king of Rome, first destroyed Ficana, an ancient town that was only 17 km from Rome and had a small harbour on the Tiber, and then proceeded with establishing the new colony 10 km further west and closer to the sea coast. An inscription seems to confirm the establishment of the old castrum of Ostia in the 7th century BC. The oldest archaeological remains so far discovered date back to only the 4th century BC. The most ancient buildings currently visible are from the 3rd century BC, notably the Castrum (military camp); of a slightly later date is the Capitolium (temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva). The opus quadratum of the walls of the original castrum at Ostia provide important evidence for the building techniques that were employed in Roman urbanization during the period of the Middle Republic.</p><br>
<h3>Civil wars</h3><br>
<p>Ostia was a scene of fighting during the period of the civil wars between Gaius Marius and Sulla during the 1st century BC. In 87 BC, Marius attacked the city in order to cut off the flow of trade to Rome. Forces led by Cinna, Carbo and Sertorius crossed the Tiber at three points before capturing the city and plundering it. After his victory here, Marius moved on to attack and capture Antium, Aricia and Lanuvium to further destroy the foodstores of Rome.</p><br>
<h3>Sacking by pirates</h3><br>
<p>In 68 BC, the town was sacked by pirates. During the sack, the port was set on fire, the consular war fleet was destroyed, and two prominent senators were kidnapped. This attack caused such panic in Rome that Pompey the Great arranged for the tribune Aulus Gabinius to rise in the Roman Forum and propose a law, the lex Gabinia, to allow Pompey to raise an army and destroy the pirates. Within a year, the pirates had been defeated.</p><br>
<p>The town was then re-built, and provided with protective walls by the statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero.</p><br>
<h3>Imperial Ostia</h3><br>
<p>The town was further developed during the first century AD under the influence of Tiberius, who ordered the building of the town&#39;s first Forum. The town was also soon enriched by the construction of a new harbor on the northern mouths of the Tiber (which reaches the sea with a larger mouth in Ostia, Fiumara Grande, and a narrower one near to the current Fiumicino International Airport). The new harbor, not surprisingly called Portus, from the Latin for "harbor," was excavated from the ground at the orders of the emperor Claudius. This harbor became silted up and needed to be supplemented later by a harbor built by Trajan finished in the year 113 AD; it has a hexagonal form, in order to reduce the erosive forces of the waves. Moreover, it must be noted that at a relatively short distance, there was also the harbor of Civitavecchia (Centum Cellae). These elements took business away from Ostia itself and began its commercial decline.</p><br>
<p>Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; in particular, a famous lighthouse. The popularity of the Cult of Mithras is evident in the discovery of eighteen mithraea. Archaeologists have also discovered the public latrinae, organised for collective use as a series of seats that allow us to imagine today that their function was also a social one. Ostia had a large theatre, many public baths, numerous taverns and inns and a firefighting service. Ostia also contained the Ostia Synagogue, the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe; it created a stir when it was unearthed in 1960-61.</p><br>
<h3>Late-Roman and sub-Roman Ostia</h3><br>
<p>Ostia grew to 50,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century, reaching a peak of some 100,000 inhabitants in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.</p><br>
<p>Ostia became an episcopal see as early as the 3rd century AD, the cathedral (titulus) of Santa Aurea being located on the burial site of St. Monica, mother of Augustine; she died in an inn in the town. In time, naval activities became focused on Portus instead. A slow decline began in the late Roman era around the time of Constantine I, with the town ceasing to be an active port and instead becoming a popular country retreat for rich aristocrats from Rome itself.</p><br>
<p>The city was mentioned by St. Augustine when he passed there in the late 4th century. The poet Rutilius Namatianus reported the lack of maintenance of the city ports in 414 AD.</p><br>
<p>With the end of the Roman Empire, Ostia fell slowly into decay, and was finally abandoned in the 9th century due to the repeated invasions and sackings by Arab pirates, including the Battle of Ostia, a naval battle in 849 between Christians and Saracens; the remaining inhabitants moved to Gregoriopolis.</p><br>
<h3>Sacking and excavation</h3><br>
<p>A "local sacking" was carried out by Baroque architects, who used the remains as a sort of marble storehouse for the palazzi they were building in Rome. Soon after, foreign explorers came in search of ancient statues and objects. The Papacy started organizing its own investigations with Pope Pius VII; under Benito Mussolini massive excavations were undertaken from 1939 to 1942 during which several remains, particularly from the republican period, were brought to the light. The first volume of the official series Scavi di Ostia appeared in 1954; it was devoted to a topography of the town by Italo Gismondi and after a hiatus the research still continues today. Though untouched areas adjacent to the original excavations were left undisturbed awaiting a more precise dating of Roman pottery types, the "Baths of the Swimmer", named for the mosaic figure in the apodyterium, were meticulously excavated, in 1966–70 and 1974–75, in part as a training ground for young archaeologists and in part to establish a laboratory of well-understood finds as a teaching aid. It has been estimated that two thirds of the ancient town were uncovered. In 2014, a geophysical survey using magnetometry, among other techniques, revealed the existence of a boundary wall on the north side of the Tiber enclosing an unexcavated area of the city containing three massive warehouses.</p><br>
<h2>Modern Day</h2><br>
<p>The excavated site of Ostia Antica is open to the public as a tourist attraction. A number of finds from the excavation are housed on-site in the Museo Ostiense, as well as dining and other facilities. The Theatre is also occasionally used for cultural events.</p><br>
<h2>Media</h2><br>
<p>Ostia was featured in the novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God, both written by British novelist Robert Graves. The novels include scenes set at Ostia spanning from the reign of Augustus to the reign of Claudius, including the departure of Agrippa to Syria and Claudius&#39;s reconstruction of the harbour. In the 1976 television series, Ostia was frequently mentioned but never actually seen.</p><br>
<p>Ostia features in A War Within: The Gladiator by Nathan D. Maki. After an assassination attempt on Emperor Commodus the protagonists Antonius and Theudas escape by clinging to a barge on the Tiber, reaching Ostia, and stowing away on a trireme heading north to Ravenna.</p><br>
<p>Ostia appears briefly towards the end of the Roman Empire section of the 1981 comedy film History of the World, Part I, where the main characters board a galleon (bearing the El Al logo) bound for Judaea. In the film, however, Ostia is only ever referred to as simply "the port".</p><br>
<p>Ostia is mentioned several times in the 2005 HBO/BBC historical drama series Rome.</p><br>
<p>Ostia is mentioned in the 2000 film Gladiator, when the protagonist, Maximus, learns that his army is camped at Ostia and awaiting orders.</p><br>
<p>One of the wonders buildable in the "Rise and fall of the Roman Empire" mod for Sid Meier&#39;s Civilization III is called the "Portus Ostiae"</p><br>
<p>Ostia is the name of the Magic World&#39;s lost kingdom and the location of the gladiatorial games in the manga series Negima!.</p><br>
<p>Ostia is the name of the most important city in the also fictional Lycian Alliance, in the Fire Emblem series.</p><br>
<p>Ostia is mentioned in several novels in the Lindsey Davis Marcus Didius Falco series.</p><br>
<p>Ostia is featured in the film Rome Adventure from 1962.</p><br>
<p>Erythrae or Erythrai  later Litri, was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of the port of Cyssus , on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of Erythrae, at an equal distance from the mountains Mimas and Corycus, and directly opposite the island of Chios. It is recorded that excellent wine was produced in the peninsula. Erythrae was notable for being the seat of the Erythraean Sibyl. The ruins of the city are found north of the town Ildırı in the Çeşme district of Izmir Province, Turkey.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>According to Pausanias (Paus. 7.3.7), Erythrae was founded by Cretan settlers under the leadership of Erythrus the Red, son of Rhadamanthus, and at the same time inhabited by Lycians, Carians, and Pamphylians. At a later period came Knopos (Strab. 14.633), son of Codrus, with an Ionian colony, whence the city is sometimes called Cnopopolis. The city did not lie exactly on the coast, but some little distance inland, and had a harbor on the coast named Cissus (Livy, 36.43).</p><br>
<p>In the 7th century BC as an Ionian city of Asia Minor, Erythrae was a member of the Pan-Ionian League. Sometime during the 7th century Erythrae fought a war against the neighbouring island of Chios. (Herodotus 1.18). The city gained fame as a producer of millstone during the period of tyrannical rule.</p><br>
<p>Erythrae was never a large city, it sent only eight ships to the Battle of Lade. The Erythraeans were for a considerable time subject to the supremacy of Athens, but towards the close of the Peloponnesian War they threw off their allegiance to that city. After the battle of Cnidus, however, they received Conon, and paid him honours in an inscription, still extant.</p><br>
<p>Erythrae was the birthplace of two prophetesses (sibyls) --one of whom, Sibylla, is mentioned by Strabo as living in the early period of the city; the other, Athenais, lived in the time of Alexander the Great. The Erythraean Sibyl presided over the Apollonian oracle.</p><br>
<p>About 453 BC Erythrae, refusing to pay tribute, seceded from the Delian League. A garrison and a new government restored the union, but late in the Peloponnesian War (412 BC) it revolted again with Chios and Clazomenae.</p><br>
<p>Later it was allied alternately with Athens and Persia. About the middle of the 4th century BC the city became friendly with Mausolus: in an inscription found on the site he is called a benefactor of Erythrae. About the same time the city signed a treaty with Hermias, Tyrant of Assus and Atarneus, based on reciprocal aid in the event of war.</p><br>
<p>In 334 BC the city regained its freedom through Alexander the Great who, according to Pliny (HN 5.116) and Pausanias (2.1.5), planned to cut a canal through the peninsula of Erythrae to connect Teos bay with the gulf of Smyrna.</p><br>
<p>When Alexander returned to Memphis in April 331 BC, envoys from Greece were waiting for him, saying that the oracles at Didyma and Erythrae, which had been silent for a long time, had suddenly spoken and confirmed that Alexander was the son of Zeus. The timing proves that Alexander was already thinking that he was of a more than human nature when he entered Greece: after all, the people of Didyma and Erythrae can never have known that Alexander was recognized as the son of Ra and wanted to be called son of Zeus.</p><br>
<p>Erythrae was later associated with Pergamum and with Rome, and after the death of Attalos III in 133 BC, when the Pergamene kingdom was bequeathed to the Romans, it flourished as a free city ("civitas libera") attached to the Roman province of Asia.</p><br>
<p>At this time, Erythrae was renowned for its wine, goats, timber, and millstones, as well as its prophetic sibyls, Herophile and Athenais.</p><br>
<p>In the Roman period the city was plundered and its importance faded after the earthquakes of that region in the 1st century AD.</p><br>
<p>The city experienced a revival of some sorts under the later Roman Empire and into the Byzantine period. Bishops are attested from 431 to 1292, and an archon, a minor governor, was based in the city in the 9th and 10th centuries.</p><br>
<h2>Recent times</h2><br>
<p>From the mid-18th century until the early 20th century, Litri was a considerable place and port, extending from the ancient harbour to the acropolis. It attracted smaller coasting steamers, and there was an active trade with Chios and Smyrna (modern day Izmir).</p><br>
<h2>Remains</h2><br>
<p>The archaeological site is situated within the settlement zone of the present-day Turkish village of Ildırı. The site was explored in depth in the 1960s by Professor Ekrem Akurgal, leading to precious discoveries, but has been left somewhat unattended since. The ruins include well-preserved Hellenistic walls with towers, of which five are still visible. The acropolis (280 ft) has a theatre on its northern slope, and eastwards lie many remains of Byzantine buildings.</p><br>
<p>Priene  was an ancient Greek city of Ionia  at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about 6 km north of the then course of the Maeander  River, 67 km from ancient Anthea, 15 km from ancient Aneon and 25 km from ancient Miletus. It was built on the sea coast, overlooking the ocean on steep slopes and terraces extending from sea level to a height of 380 m above sea level at the top of the escarpment. Today, after several centuries of changes in the landscape, it is an inland site. It is located at a short distance west of the modern village Güllübahçe Turun in the Söke district of Aydın Province, Turkey.</p><br>
<p>Priene possessed a great deal of famous Hellenistic art and architecture. The citys original position on Mount Mycale has never been discovered; however, it is believed that it was a peninsula possessing two harbours. Priene never held a great deal of political importance due to the citys size, as it is believed around 4 to 5 thousand inhabitants occupied the region. The city was arranged into four districts, firstly the political district which consisted of the bouleuterion and the prytaneion, the cultural district containing the theatre, the commercial where the agora was located and finally the religious district which contained sanctuaries dedicated to Zeus and Demeter and most importantly the Temple of Athena.</p><br>
<h2>Historical geography</h2><br>
<h3>Earliest cities</h3><br>
<p>The city visible on the slopes and escarpment of Mycale was constructed according to plan entirely within the 4th century BCE. It was not the original Priene, which had been a port city situated at the then mouth of the Maeander River. This location caused insuperable environmental difficulties for it due to slow aggradation of the riverbed and progradation in the direction of the Aegean Sea. Typically the harbour would silt over and the population find itself living in pest-ridden swamps and marshes. The underlying causes of the problem are that the Maeander flows through a slowly subsiding rift valley creating a drowned coastline and that human use of the previously forested slopes and valley denudes the countryside and accelerates erosion. The sediments are progressively deposited in the trough at the mouth of the river, which migrates westward and more than compensates for the subsidence.</p><br>
<p>Physical remains of the original Priene have not yet been identified, because, it is supposed, they must be under many feet of sediment, the top of which is now valuable agricultural land. Knowledge of the average rate of progradation is the basis for estimating the location of the city, which was moved every few centuries to renew its utility as a port. The Greek city (there may have been unknown habitations of other ethnicities, as at Miletus) was founded by a colony from the ancient Greek city of Thebes in the vicinity of ancient Aneon at about 1000 BCE. At about 700 BCE a series of earthquakes provided the opportunity for a move to within 8 km of its 4th century BCE location. At about 500 BCE the city moved again to a few km away at the port of Naulochos.</p><br>
<h3>4th century BCE city</h3><br>
<p>At about 350 BCE the Persian-empire satrap, Mausolus (a Carian) planned a magnificent new city on the steep slopes of Mycale, where it would be, it was hoped, a permanent deep-water port (similar to the many Greek island cities, which seem to delight in being located on and up seaside escarpments). Construction had begun when the Macedonians took the region from the Persian Empire and Alexander the Great personally assumed responsibility for the move. He and Mausolus intended to make Priene a model city. He offered to pay for construction of the Temple of Athena to designs of the noted architect Pytheos, if it would be dedicated by him, which it was, in 323 BCE; the dedicatory inscription is in the British Museum. The leading citizens were quick to follow suit: most of the public buildings were constructed at private expense and are inscribed with the names of the donors.</p><br>
<p>The ruins of the city are generally conceded to be the most spectacular surviving example of an entire ancient Greek city intact except for the ravages of time. It has been studied since at least the 18th century and still is. The city was constructed of marble from nearby quarries on Mycale and wood for such items as roofs and floors. The public area is laid out in a grid pattern up the steep slopes, drained by a system of channels. The water distribution and sewer systems survive. Foundations, paved streets, stairways, partial door frames, monuments, walls, terraces can be seen everywhere among toppled columns and blocks. No wood has survived. The city extends upward to the base of an escarpment projecting from Mycale. A narrow path leads to the acropolis above.</p><br>
<h3>Later years</h3><br>
<p>Despite the expectations of the population Priene lasted only a few more centuries as a deep-water port. In the 2nd century CE Pausanias reports that the Maeander already had silted over the inlet in which Myus stood and that the population had abandoned it for Miletus.</p><br>
<p>While Miletus was apparently still open then, according to recent geoarchaeological research Priene had already lost the port and open connection to the sea in about the 1st century BCE. Very likely, its merchants had preceded the people of Myus to Miletus. By 300 CE the entire Bay of Miletus, except for Lake Bafa, was silted in.</p><br>
<p>Today Miletus is many miles from the sea and Priene stands at the edge of a fertile plain, now a checkerboard of privately owned fields. A Greek village remained after the population decline and was joined by a Turkish population after the 12th century CE. In the 13th century CE Priene was known as Sampson in Greek after the biblical hero Samson (Samsun Kale, "Samsons Castle" in Turkish). In 1204, Sabas Asidenos, a local magnate, established himself as the citys ruler, but soon had to recognize the rule of the Empire of Nicaea. The area remained under Byzantine control until the late 13th century.</p><br>
<p>By 1923 whatever Greek population remained was expelled in the population exchange between Greece and Turkey and shortly after the Turkish population moved to a more favourable location, which they called Güllü Bahçe, "rose garden", the old Greek settlement partly still in use, today with the name Gelebeç or Kelebeş. The tourist attraction of Priene is accessible from there.</p><br>
<h2>Contemporary geography</h2><br>
<h3>Territory</h3><br>
<p>In the 4th century BCE Priene was a deep-water port with two harbours overlooking the Bay of Miletus and somewhat further east the marshes of the Maeander Delta. Between the ocean and steep Mycale agricultural resources were limited although Priene&#39;s territory probably did include a part of the Maeander Valley. Claiming much of Mycale it had borders on the north with Ephesus and Thebes, a small state on Mycale.</p><br>
<p>Priene was a small city-state of only 6000 persons living in a constrained space of only 15 hectare. The walled area had an extent of 20 hectare to 37 hectare. The population density of its residential district has been estimated at 166 persons per hectare living in about 33 homes per hectare (13 per acre) arranged in compact city blocks. The entire space within the walls offered not much more space and privacy: the density was 108 persons per hectare. All the public buildings were within walking distance, except that walking must have been an athletic event due to the vertical components of the distances.</p><br>
<h3>Society</h3><br>
<p>Priene was a wealthy city, as the plenitude of fine urban homes in marble and the private dedications of public buildings suggests, not to mention the personal attentions of Mausolus and Alexander the Great. One third of them had indoor toilets, a rarity in a society typically featuring public banks of outdoor seats in urban environments, side by side, an arrangement for which the flowing robes of the ancients were suitably functional. Indoor plumbing requires more extensive water supply and sewage systems. Priene&#39;s location was appropriate in that regard; they captured springs and streams on Mycale, brought them in by aqueduct to cisterns and piped or channeled from there to houses and fountains. Most Greek cities, such as Athens, required visits to the public fountains (the work of domestic servants), but the upper third of Prieneian society had access to indoor water.</p><br>
<p>The source of Ionian wealth was maritime activity; Ionia had a reputation among the other Greeks for being luxurious, against which practices the intellectuals, such as Heraclitus often railed.</p><br>
<h3>Government</h3><br>
<p>Although the stereotyped equation of wealth with aristocracy may have applied early in Priene&#39;s history, in the 4th century BCE it was a democracy. State authority resided in a body called the Πριηνείς (Priēneis), "the Prieneian people", who issued all decrees and other public documents in their name. The coins minted at Priene featured the helmeted head of Athena on the obverse and a meander pattern on the reverse, one coin also displaying a dolphin and the legend ΠΡΙΗ for ΠΡΙΗΝΕΩΝ (Priēneōn), "of the Prieneians." These symbols express a self-view of the Prieneians as a maritime democracy aligned with Athens but located in Asia.</p><br>
<p>The mechanism of democracy was similar to but simpler than that of the Athenians (who had a many times greater population). An assembly of citizens met periodically to render major decisions placed before them. The day-to-day legislative and executive business was conducted by a boulē, or city council, which met in a bouleuterion like a small theatre with a wooden roof. The official head of state was a prytane. He and more specialized magistrates were elected periodically. And yet, as at Athens, not all the population was franchised. For example, the property rights and tax responsibilities of a non-Prieneian section of the population living in the countryside, the pedieis, "plainsmen", were defined by law. They were perhaps, an inheritance from the days when Priene was in the valley.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Although the exact truth is not known, Priene was said to have been first settled by Ionians under Aegyptus, a son of Belus and grandson of King Codrus, in the 11th century BCE. After successive attacks by Cimmerians, Lydians under Ardys II, and Persians, it survived and prospered under the direction of its "sage," Bias, during the middle of the 6th century BC. Cyrus captured it in 545 BC; but it was able to send twelve ships to join the Ionic Revolt (499 BC-494 BC).</p><br>
<p>Priene was a member of the Athenian dominated Delian League in the 5th century BC and in 387 BC came under Persian dominance again until Alexander the Greats conquest. Disputes with Samos, and the troubles after Alexanders death, brought Priene low, and Rome had to save it from the kings of Pergamon and Cappadocia in 155.</p><br>
<p>Orophernes, the rebellious brother of the Cappadocian king, who had deposited a treasure there and recovered it by Roman intervention, restored the temple of Athena as a thank-offering. Under Roman and Byzantine dominion Priene had a prosperous history. It passed into Muslim hands late in the 13th century.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeological excavations and current state</h2><br>
<p>The ruins, which lie in successive terraces, were the object of missions sent out by the English Society of Dilettanti in 1765 and 1868, and were thoroughly laid open by Theodor Wiegand (1895–1899) for the Berlin Museum. The city, as refounded at a new site in the 4th century, was laid out on a rectangular scheme. The steep area faces south, the acropolis rising nearly 200 m behind it. The city was enclosed by a wall 2 m thick with towers at intervals and three principal gates.</p><br>
<p>On the lower slopes of the acropolis was a sanctuary of Demeter. The town had six main streets, about 6 m wide, running east and west and fifteen streets about 3 m wide crossing at right angles, all being evenly spaced; and it was thus divided into about 80 insulae. Private houses were apportioned eight to an insula. The systems of water-supply and drainage can easily be discerned. The houses present many analogies with the earliest Pompeian. In the western half of the city, on a high terrace north of the main street and approached by a fine stairway, was the temple of Athena Polias, a hexastyle peripteral structure in the ionic order built by Pytheos, the architect of the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halikarnassos, one of the seven wonders. Under the basis of the statue of Athena were found in 1870 silver tetradrachms of Orophernes, and some jewellery, probably deposited at the time of the Cappadocian restoration.</p><br>
<p>An ancient Priene Synagogue with carved images of the menorah has also been discovered.</p><br>
<p>Around the agora, the main square crossed by the main street, is a series of halls. The municipal buildings, buleuterion and prytaneion lie north of the Agora, further in the north the Upper Gymnasium with Roman baths, and the well preserved Hellenistic theatre but all, like all the other public structures, more or less in the centre of the plan. Temples of Asclepius and the Egyptian Gods Isis, Serapis and Anubis have been laid bare. At the lowest point on the south, within the walls, was the large stadium, connected with a gymnasium of Hellenistic times.</p><br>
<p>See also</p><br>
<p>Society of Dilettanti, Ionian Antiquities (1821), vol. ii.</p><br>
<p>Th. Wiegand and H. Schrader, Priene (1904)</p><br>
<p>on inscriptions (360) see Hiller von Gaertringen, Inschriften von Priene (Berlin, 1907), with collection of ancient references to the city</p><br>
<p>The Han River or Hangang is a major river in South Korea and the fourth longest river on the Korean peninsula after the Amnok , Tuman , and Nakdong rivers. The river begins as two smaller rivers in the eastern mountains of the Korean peninsula, which then converge near Seoul, the capital of the country.</p><br>
<p>The Han River and its surrounding area have played an important role in Korean history. The Three Kingdoms of Korea strove to take control of this land, where the river was used as a trade route to China (via the Yellow Sea). However, the river is no longer actively used for navigation, because its estuary is located at the borders of the two Koreas, barred for entrance by any civilian.</p><br>
<p>The river serves as a water source for over 12 million Koreans. In July 2000, the US military admitted to having dumped toxic chemicals in the river, causing protests.</p><br>
<p>Currently, the lower stretches of the Han river are lined with pedestrian walkways, bicycle paths, public parks and restaurants, particularly in Seoul. In a 2011 survey conducted by Seoul Development Institute of 800 residents and 103 urban planning and architectural experts, 51.3 percent of residents and 68.9 percent of experts voted the river the second most scenic location in the city, following Mount Namsan in the top spot.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Han is formed by the confluence of the Namhan River (South Han River), which originates in Mount Daedeok, and the Bukhan River (North Han River), which originates on the slopes of Kumgang Mountain in North Korea. The River flows through Seoul and then merges with the Rimjin River shortly before it flows into the Yellow Sea. The two major branches of the river, the Namhan River and the Bukhan River, come together at Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi province, at which point it is referred to as the Han River. It then passes through Seoul and continues on to the Yellow Sea. Broad tidal flats can be found at the mouth of the Han River, where it meets the sea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone that divides South and North Korea.</p><br>
<p>The total length of the Han River is approximately 494 km.</p><br>
<p>Although it is not a long river, the lower Han is remarkably broad for such a relatively short river. Within Seoul city limits, the river is more than 1 km wide. Prior to the construction of a number of major dams, the river was known for its huge coefficient of river regime (ratio between the maximum and minimum amount of flow) of 1:390. (For comparison, The Thames and the Rhine have coefficients of 1:8 and 1:18, respectively.)</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The Namhangang (Namhan meaning "South Han" and gang meaning "river") is sometimes, but not always, referred to as the "Han" in South Korea. The term "South Han" is understood irrespective of which side of the border one stands.</p><br>
<p>Even though "Namhan" and "Bukhan" are homophones with the acronyms Namhan (남한; "South Korea") and Bukhan (북한; "North Korea"), used commonly in South Korea, this is a mere coincidence. The hanja for the Han River is not ("Korea") but (Chinese). The reason behind this is because the meaning of the native Korean "han" (한), in this instance meaning "great" "large" "wide", was transliterated into Hanja with the character also meant "large", thus showing the reason why the river used the word instead of. It is also easily mistaken with the use of in Seoul&#39;s older name, "漢城" where does not refer to Chinese people, but refers to the idea of Seoul being the "walled city on the Han".Korean rarely use 漢 because 韓 and 漢 sound the same "han" but the meaning is 韓(han한Korean),not han chinese.</p><br>
<p>Han River has been called by different names through the course of Korean history. During the period of the Han Commanderies on the peninsula and the early part of the three kingdom&#39;s period the river was often referred to as the Daesu (대수; 帶水; "the Regional Waters"). The state of Goguryeo called it the Arisu (아리수; 阿利水; "The Gainful Waters"). Baekje called it the Ungniha (욱리하; 郁里河; "Fragrant Mile River"), while the kingdom of Silla termed it the Iha (이하; 泥河; "Muddy River").</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Han River has played a central role in Korean history from the earliest times. The kingdom of Baekje was the first to lay claim to the Han River, recognizing its strategic significance, as a primary waterway linking the central western region of the peninsula with the Yellow Sea as well as for the river&#39;s fertile alluvial banks, a relative rarity on the mountainous peninsula. Namhan Fortress, located south of Seoul, is posited as an early capital of Baekje. It was not long before the region near the effluence of the Han River with the Yellow Sea, around present day Seoul, became a bone of contention between Baekje and the rising kingdom of Goguryeo. During the reign of its King Jangsu (r. 413-491) Goguryeo wrested the western terminus of the Han River from its rival Baekje. The ensuing decades would see a tug of war over the region until 551 when Baekje, in an alliance with Silla, confirmed its control over the Han River basin. But this alliance was not to last, and in 553 Silla broke its alliance with Baekje to seize control of the entire river as part of its bid for domination of the peninsula.</p><br>
<p>With the demise of both Baekje and Goguryeo and then the unification of the peninsula under Silla in 668, the Han River entered its long era as a "Korean river", first under the control of Unified Silla (668-918), then of the succeeding Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), and finally as part of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). During the Joseon period the Han River achieved new prominence as the primary waterway of the new Korean capital of Seoul, then called Hanyang.</p><br>
<p>During the Korean war the South Korean military destroyed the Han Bridge.</p><br>
<p>The Han River now belongs largely to the Republic of Korea, or South Korea, with its effluence in the Yellow Sea a few nautical miles from North Korea (though some of the rivers tributaries are in North Korea). During the first few decades of South Koreas existence the Han River became a byword for pollution, as burgeoning industry and an impoverished populace used it as a convenient spillway for industrial and urban refuse. Though it no longer plays a central role in commerce or transportation it is a prime fixture in the life of the South Korean capital and in the last decade has become the focus of government sponsored environmental efforts to clean it up and transform it into an ecological jewel of the capital. During the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the Han River was the site of the Olympic rowing regatta.</p><br>
<p>There have been fears, such as the 1986 Water Panic in South Korea, that North Korea could attack Seoul by releasing a flood from the upstream dam.</p><br>
<p>In July 2000, the US military admitted to dumping 20 gallons (75.7 liters) of the highly toxic chemical formaldehyde in the river from one of their bases in Seoul. As the river serves as a drinking source for some 12 million Koreans, Koreans launched large protests and accused the US military of ignoring South Korea&#39;s environmental regulations. Activists lobbed toy rockets—filled with water from the river—into the main US Army base. The political party Green Party Korea had earlier accused the US of dumping nearly 60 gallons of the toxic chemical into the river, and said that "... if people are exposed to the chemical for a long period of time, it could cause lung cancer dissolved into water, it could kill fish and other aquatic creatures."</p><br>
<p>From 2009 the Lee Myung Bak administration resuscitated a project to dig a canal linking the Han River with the Yellow Sea at Incheon. This eighteen kilometer Ara Canal was completed in 2011 and now links the Han River near Gimpo in Seoul to Incheon. It can accommodate both large container and passenger vessels.</p><br>
<h2>Tributaries of the Han</h2><br>
<p>Tributaries are listed in order from the mouth of the Han to the source. Subtributaries are listed accordingly.</p><br>
<p>Gongneungcheon (곡능천)</p><br>
<p>Najinhacheon (나진하천)</p><br>
<p>Changneungcheon (창능천)</p><br>
<p>Anyangcheon (안양천)</p><br>
<p>Dorimcheon (도림천)</p><br>
<p>Jungnangcheon (중랑천)</p><br>
<p>Cheonggyecheon (청계천)</p><br>
<p>Tancheon (탄천)</p><br>
<p>Yangjaecheon (양재천)</p><br>
<p>Yeosucheon (여수천)</p><br>
<p>Bundangcheon (분당천)</p><br>
<p>Pungdeokcheon (풍덕천)</p><br>
<p>Gyeongancheon (경안천)</p><br>
<p>Neungwoncheon (능원천)</p><br>
<p>Yangjicheon (양지천)</p><br>
<p>Unhakcheon (운학천)</p><br>
<p>Bukhan River (북한강)</p><br>
<p>Munhocheon (문호천)</p><br>
<p>Hongcheon River (홍천강)</p><br>
<p>*Sandaecheon (산대천)</p><br>
<p>*Deoksancheon (덕산천)</p><br>
<p>**Seongjeoncheon (성전천)</p><br>
<p>*Yasidaecheon (야시대천)</p><br>
<p>Gapyeongcheon (가평천)</p><br>
<p>Soyang River (소양강)</p><br>
<p>Sanaecheon (사내천)</p><br>
<p>*Yongdamcheon (용담천)</p><br>
<p>Magunaemeo (마구내머)</p><br>
<p>*Mahyeoncheon (마현천)</p><br>
<p>*Bongocheon (봉오천)</p><br>
<p>Namhan River (남한강)</p><br>
<p>Sinnaegaeul (신내개울)</p><br>
<p>*Heukcheon (흑천)</p><br>
<p>Yongdamcheon (용담천)</p><br>
<p>Bokhacheon (복하천)</p><br>
<p>*Jukdangcheon (죽당천)</p><br>
<p>*Pyogocheon (표고천)</p><br>
<p>*Gwanricheon (관리천)</p><br>
<p>Yanghwacheon (양화천)</p><br>
<p>Geumdangcheon (금당천)</p><br>
<p>Cheongmicheon (청미천)</p><br>
<p>*Gyecheon (계천)</p><br>
<p>**Ungcheon (웅천)</p><br>
<p>Seom River (섬강)</p><br>
<p>*Iricheon (이리천)</p><br>
<p>Mokmicheon (목미천)</p><br>
<p>Hwangsancheon (환산천)</p><br>
<p>Guryongcheon (구룡천)</p><br>
<p>Yeongdeokcheon (영덕천)</p><br>
<p>Daejeoncheon (대전천)</p><br>
<p>Dalcheon (달천)</p><br>
<p>*Yodocheon (요도천)</p><br>
<p>Dong River (동강)</p><br>
<h2>Bridges over the lower Han</h2><br>
<p>A total of 27 bridges cross the Han River in Seoul National Capital Area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon), South Korea, are,</p><br>
<p>From the west to the east</p><br>
<p>Ilsan Bridge; 일산대교</p><br>
<p>Gimpo Bridge; 김포대교</p><br>
<p>Haengju Bridge; 행주대교</p><br>
<p>Banghwa Bridge; 방화대교</p><br>
<p>Magok Railway Bridge; 마곡철교</p><br>
<p>Gayang Bridge; 가양대교</p><br>
<p>Seongsan Bridge; 성산대교</p><br>
<p>Yanghwa Bridge; 양화대교</p><br>
<p>Dangsan Railway Bridge; 당산철교</p><br>
<p>Seogang Bridge; 서강대교</p><br>
<p>Mapo Bridge; 마포대교</p><br>
<p>Wonhyo Bridge; 원효대교</p><br>
<p>Hangang Railway Bridge; 한강철교</p><br>
<p>Hangang Bridge; 한강대교</p><br>
<p>Dongjak Bridge; 동작대교</p><br>
<p>Banpo Bridge with Jamsu Bridge; 반포대교와 잠수교</p><br>
<p>Hannam Bridge; 한남대교</p><br>
<p>Dongho Bridge; 동호대교</p><br>
<p>Seongsu Bridge; 성수대교</p><br>
<p>Yeongdong Bridge; 영동대교</p><br>
<p>Cheongdam Bridge; 청담대교</p><br>
<p>Jamsil Bridge; 잠실대교</p><br>
<p>Jamsil Railway Bridge; 잠실철교</p><br>
<p>Olympic Bridge; 올림픽대교</p><br>
<p>Cheonho Bridge; 천호대교</p><br>
<p>Gwangjin Bridge; 광진교</p><br>
<p>Gangdong Bridge; 강동대교</p><br>
<p>Paldang Bridge; 팔당대교</p><br>
<h2>Subways crossing Han River</h2><br>
<p>Seoul Subway Line 1 (Yongsan~Noryangjin)</p><br>
<p>Seoul Subway Line 2 (Gangbyeon~Jamsillaru, Dangsan~Hapjeong)</p><br>
<p>Seoul Subway Line 3 (Oksu~Apgujeong)</p><br>
<p>Seoul Subway Line 4 (Ichon~Dongjak)</p><br>
<p>Seoul Subway Line 5 (Yeouinaru~Mapo, Gwangnaru~Cheonho)</p><br>
<p>Seoul Subway Line 7 (Ttukseom Resort~Cheongdam)</p><br>
<p>Airport Railroad (Gimpo International Airport~Digital Media City)</p><br>
<p>Bundang Line (Apgujeongrodeo~Seoul Forest)</p><br>
<p>In 2017, Line 8 will open to extension that will cross the Han River.</p><br>
<p>In 2018 the Shinbundang Line will cross Han River by a tunnel beneath the riverbed.</p><br>
<h2>In media</h2><br>
<p>The Han River features as a location in several movies, notable films include:</p><br>
<p>The Host, in which the Wonhyo Bridge plays an important part. It is about a monster living along the Han river casting fear amongst the citizens of Seoul by attacking and eating them alive.</p><br>
<p>Castaway on the Moon, in which Bamseom (Bam island) is the island the main character finds himself stranded on.</p><br>
<p>Inchon, which includes the destruction of the Hangang Bridge.</p><br>
<p>The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer , because of severe climate abnormalities that caused average global temperatures to decrease by 0.4–0.7 °C . This resulted in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere.</p><br>
<p>Evidence suggests that the anomaly was predominantly a volcanic winter event caused by the massive 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies (the largest eruption in at least 1,300 years after the extreme weather events of 535–536), perhaps exacerbated by the 1814 eruption of Mayon in the Philippines. The Earth had already been in a centuries-long period of global cooling that started in the 14th century. Known today as the Little Ice Age, it had already caused considerable agricultural distress in Europe. The Little Ice Age&#39;s existing cooling was exacerbated by the eruption of Tambora, which occurred near the end of the Little Ice Age.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The Year Without a Summer was an agricultural disaster. Historian John D. Post has called this "the last great subsistence crisis in the Western world". The climatic aberrations of 1816 had the greatest effect on most of New England, Atlantic Canada, and parts of western Europe.</p><br>
<h3>North America</h3><br>
<p>In the spring and summer of 1816, a persistent "dry fog" was observed in parts of the eastern United States. The fog reddened and dimmed the sunlight, such that sunspots were visible to the naked eye. Neither wind nor rainfall dispersed the "fog". It has been characterized as a "stratospheric sulfate aerosol veil".</p><br>
<p>The weather was not in itself a hardship for those accustomed to long winters. The real problem lay in the weather&#39;s effect on crops and thus on the supply of food and firewood. At higher elevations, where farming was problematic in good years, the cooler climate did not quite support agriculture. In May 1816, In Cape May, New Jersey, frost was reported five nights in a row in late June, causing extensive crop damage.</p><br>
<p>Many commented on the phenomenon. Sarah Snell Bryant, of Cummington, Massachusetts, wrote in her diary, "Weather backward."</p><br>
<p>At the Church Family of Shakers near New Lebanon, New York, Nicholas Bennet wrote in May 1816, "all was froze" and the hills were "barren like winter". Temperatures went below freezing almost every day in May. The ground froze on June 9. On June 12, the Shakers had to replant crops destroyed by the cold. On July 7, it was so cold, everything had stopped growing. The Berkshire Hills had frost again on August 23, as did much of the upper northeast.</p><br>
<p>A Massachusetts historian summed up the disaster:</p><br>
<p>Severe frosts occurred every month; June 7th and 8th snow fell, and it was so cold that crops were cut down, even freezing the roots.... In the early Autumn when corn was in the milk it was so thoroughly frozen that it never ripened and was scarcely worth harvesting. Breadstuffs were scarce and prices high and the poorer class of people were often in straits for want of food. It must be remembered that the granaries of the great west had not then been opened to us by railroad communication, and people were obliged to rely upon their own resources or upon others in their immediate locality.</p><br>
<p>In July and August, lake and river ice was observed as far south as northwestern Pennsylvania. Frost was reported as far south as Virginia on August 20 and 21. Rapid, dramatic temperature swings were common, with temperatures sometimes reverting from normal or above-normal summer temperatures as high as 95 °F (35 °C) to near-freezing within hours. Thomas Jefferson, retired from the presidency and farming at Monticello, sustained crop failures that sent him further into debt. On September 13, a Virginia newspaper reported that corn crops would be one half to two-thirds short and lamented that "the cold as well as the drought has nipt the buds of hope". A Norfolk, Virginia newspaper reported:</p><br>
<p>It is now the middle of July, and we have not yet had what could properly be called summer. Easterly winds have prevailed for nearly three months past... the sun during that time has generally been obscured and the sky overcast with clouds; the air has been damp and uncomfortable, and frequently so chilling as to render the fireside a desirable retreat.</p><br>
<p>Regional farmers did succeed in bringing some crops to maturity, but corn and other grain prices rose dramatically. The price of oats, for example, rose from 12¢ per bushel ($0/m³) in 1815 (equal to $ today) to 92¢ per bushel ($/m³) in 1816 ($ today). Crop failures were aggravated by an inadequate transportation network: with few roads or navigable inland waterways and no railroads, it was expensive to import food.</p><br>
<h3>Europe</h3><br>
<p>Cool temperatures and heavy rains resulted in failed harvests in Britain and Ireland. Families in Wales traveled long distances begging for food. Famine was prevalent in north and southwest Ireland, following the failure of wheat, oat, and potato harvests. In Germany, the crisis was severe; food prices rose sharply. With the cause of the problems unknown, people demonstrated in front of grain markets and bakeries, and later riots, arson, and looting took place in many European cities. It was the worst famine of 19th-century Europe.</p><br>
<p>The effects were widespread and lasted beyond the winter. In western Switzerland, the summers of 1816 and 1817 were so cool that an ice dam formed below a tongue of the Giétro Glacier high in the Val de Bagnes. Despite engineer Ignaz Venetz&#39;s efforts to drain the growing lake, the ice dam collapsed catastrophically in June 1818.</p><br>
<h3>Asia</h3><br>
<p>In China, the cold weather killed trees, rice crops, and even water buffalo, especially in the north. Floods destroyed many remaining crops. The monsoon season was disrupted, resulting in overwhelming floods in the Yangtze Valley. In India, the delayed summer monsoon caused late torrential rains that aggravated the spread of cholera from a region near the Ganges in Bengal to as far as Moscow.</p><br>
<p>In Japan, still exercising caution after the cold weather related Great Tenmei famine of 1782-1788, the cold damaged crops, but no crop failures were reported, and there were adverse effects on population.</p><br>
<h2>Causes</h2><br>
<p>The aberrations are now generally thought to have occurred because of the April 5–15, 1815, Mount Tambora volcanic eruption on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. The eruption had a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) ranking of 7, a colossal event that ejected at least 100 km3 of material. It was the world&#39;s largest eruption since the Hatepe eruption in AD 180.</p><br>
<p>Other large volcanic eruptions (with VEIs at least 4) around this time were:</p><br>
<p>1809, The 1808/1809 mystery eruption (VEI 6) in the southwestern Pacific Ocean</p><br>
<p>1812, La Soufrière on Saint Vincent in the Caribbean</p><br>
<p>1812, Awu in the Sangihe Islands, Dutch East Indies</p><br>
<p>1813, Suwanosejima in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan</p><br>
<p>1814, Mayon in the Philippines</p><br>
<p>These eruptions had built up a substantial amount of atmospheric dust. As is common after a massive volcanic eruption, temperatures fell worldwide because less sunlight passed through the stratosphere.</p><br>
<p>According to a 2012 analysis by Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature, the 1815 Tambora eruption caused a temporary drop in the Earth&#39;s average land temperature of about 1 °C. Smaller temperature drops were recorded from the 1812–1814 eruptions.</p><br>
<p>This period also occurred during the Dalton Minimum (a period of relatively low solar activity), specifically Solar Cycle 6, which ran from December 1810 to May 1823. May 1816 in particular had the lowest sunspot number (0.1) to date since record keeping on solar activity began. The lack of solar irradiance during this period was exacerbated by atmospheric opacity from volcanic dust.</p><br>
<h2>Effects</h2><br>
<p>As a result of the series of volcanic eruptions, crops in the aforementioned areas had been poor for several years; the final blow came in 1815 with the eruption of Tambora. Europe, still recuperating from the Napoleonic Wars, suffered from food shortages. Food riots broke out in the United Kingdom and France, and grain warehouses were looted. The violence was worst in landlocked Switzerland, where famine caused the government to declare a national emergency. Huge storms and abnormal rainfall with flooding of Europe&#39;s major rivers (including the Rhine) are attributed to the event, as is the August frost. A major typhus epidemic occurred in Ireland between 1816 and 1819, precipitated by the famine caused by the Year Without a Summer. An estimated 100,000 Irish perished during this period. A BBC documentary, using figures compiled in Switzerland, estimated that the fatality rates in 1816 were twice that of average years, giving an approximate European fatality total of 200,000 deaths.</p><br>
<p>New England also experienced major consequences from the eruption of Tambora. The corn crop in New England failed. Corn was reported to have ripened so poorly that no more than a quarter of it was usable for food. The crop failures in New England, Canada, and parts of Europe also caused the price of wheat, grains, meat, vegetables, butter, milk, and flour to rise sharply.</p><br>
<p>The eruption of Tambora caused Hungary to experience brown snow. Italy&#39;s northern and north-central region experienced something similar, with red snow falling throughout the year. The cause of this is believed to have been volcanic ash in the atmosphere.</p><br>
<p>In China, unusually low temperatures in summer and fall devastated rice production in Yunnan, resulting in widespread famine. Fort Shuangcheng, now in Heilongjiang, reported fields disrupted by frost and conscripts deserting as a result. Summer snowfall or otherwise mixed precipitation was reported in various locations in Jiangxi and Anhui, located at around 30°N. In Taiwan, which has a tropical climate, snow was reported in Hsinchu and Miaoli, and frost was reported in Changhua.</p><br>
<h3>Cultural effects</h3><br>
<p>High levels of tephra in the atmosphere led to unusually spectacular sunsets during this period, a feature celebrated in the paintings of J. M. W. Turner. This may have given rise to the yellow tinge predominant in his paintings such as Chichester Canal circa 1828. Similar phenomena were observed after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, and on the West Coast of the United States following the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.</p><br>
<p>The lack of oats to feed horses may have inspired the German inventor Karl Drais to research new ways of horseless transportation, which led to the invention of the draisine or velocipede. This was the ancestor of the modern bicycle and a step toward mechanized personal transport.</p><br>
<p>The crop failures of the "Year without a Summer" may have helped shape the settling of the "American Heartland", as many thousands of people (particularly farm families who were wiped out by the event) left New England for western New York and the Northwest Territory in search of a more hospitable climate, richer soil, and better growing conditions. Indiana became a state in December 1816 and Illinois two years later. British historian Lawrence Goldman has suggested that this migration into the Burned-over district of New York was responsible for the centering of the anti-slavery movement in that region.</p><br>
<p>According to historian L. D. Stillwell, Vermont alone experienced a decrease in population of between 10,000 and 15,000, erasing seven previous years of population growth.</p><br>
<p>In June 1816, "incessant rainfall" during that "wet, ungenial summer" forced Mary Shelley, John William Polidori, and their friends to stay indoors at Villa Diodati overlooking Lake Geneva for much of their Swiss holiday. They decided to have a contest to see who could write the scariest story, leading Shelley to write Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus and Lord Byron to write "A Fragment", which Polidori later used as inspiration for The Vampyre — a precursor to Dracula. In addition, Lord Byron was inspired to write the poem "Darkness", by a single day when "the fowls all went to roost at noon and candles had to be lit as at midnight".</p><br>
<p>Justus von Liebig, a chemist who had experienced the famine as a child in Darmstadt, later studied plant nutrition and introduced mineral fertilizers.</p><br>
<h2>Comparable events</h2><br>
<p>Toba catastrophe 70,000 to 75,000 years ago</p><br>
<p>The 1628–1626 BC climate disturbances, usually attributed to the Minoan eruption of Santorini</p><br>
<p>The Hekla 3 eruption of about 1200 BC, contemporary with the historical Bronze Age collapse</p><br>
<p>The Hatepe eruption (sometimes referred to as the Taupo eruption), around AD 180</p><br>
<p>Extreme weather events of 535–536 have been linked to the effects of a volcanic eruption, possibly at Krakatoa, or Ilopango in El Salvador.</p><br>
<p>The Heaven Lake eruption of Paektu Mountain between North Korea and the People&#39;s Republic of China, in 969 (± 20 years), is thought to have had a role in the downfall of Balhae.</p><br>
<p>The 1257 Samalas eruption of Mount Rinjani on the island of Lombok in 1257</p><br>
<p>An eruption of Kuwae, a Pacific volcano, has been implicated in events surrounding the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.</p><br>
<p>An eruption of Huaynaputina, in Peru, caused 1601 to be the coldest year in the Northern Hemisphere for six centuries (see Russian famine of 1601–1603); 1601 consisted of a bitterly cold winter, a cold, frosty, late (possibly nonexistent) spring, and a cool, wet summer.</p><br>
<p>An eruption of Laki, in Iceland, caused thousands of fatalities in Europe, 1783–84.</p><br>
<p>The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa caused average Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures to fall by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F).</p><br>
<p>The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 led to odd weather patterns and temporary cooling in the United States, particularly in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast. An unusually mild winter was followed by an unusually cool, wet summer and a cold, early autumn in 1992. Enhanced rainfall occurred across the West Coast of the United States, particularly California, during the 1991–92 and 1992–93 rainy seasons, and the American Midwest experienced elevated levels of rainfall, and consequent major flooding, during the spring and summer of 1993.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>American Murder Song, a musical project by Terrance Zdunich and Saar Hendelman, uses the "Year Without a Summer" as a backdrop for a collection of murder ballads.</p><br>
<p>Vari  is a suburban town and former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 22.633 km.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>It lies at the southwestern end of the Mesogeia plain and the southeast shoulder of the Hymettus mountain, near the Saronic Gulf coast. Greek National Road 91 connects Vari with Athens and Sounio. Vari&#39;s beach is located in an area called Varkiza, a fishing village that joined the municipality of Vari, in 1997. This particular beach has won the blue flag many years in the past, including 2009.</p><br>
<p>After 1 January 2011 Vari joined Voula and Vouliagmeni, according to Kallikratis regulations, in a joined municipality. Grigoris Kasidokostas is the new mayor elected at 14 November 2010 for the new joined municipality. The ancient deme of Anagyrous was situated here.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
