mercredi 30 janvier 2013

12 of the World's Most Fascinating Ruins

Machu Picchu (Peru)

Machu Picchu (Peru)
The most famous of all the Inca ruins, Machu Picchu appears to be suspended between two mountains and is often enshrouded in mist. It can't be seen from the Urubamba Valley below and is an enchanting place, especially considering that the Incas didn't even have the use of the wheel when they built it.

Machu Picchu was built in the mid 15th century, but since its existence was not recorded by the Spanish Conquistadors who ramsacked the region in the 1530s, we don't really know what its purpose was. Many of the ruins incorporate ceremonial features, so it could possibly have been a religious sanctuary. It's likely that the place was already deserted by the time of the Spanish invasion, as otherwise it would have been mentioned in their reports of the Inca civilization.

The Inca had no system of writing and left no written records, so archaeologists have been left to piece together bits of evidence as to why Machu Picchu was built, what purpose it served, and why it was so quickly vacated.
(Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3 | Photo)


Babylon (Iraq)

Babylon (Iraq)
Some 90 kilometres south of modern Bagdhad lies the ruins of ancient Babylon, the original name of which, "bab-ili", may be translated as "the Gate of the Gods". For the world at large, Babylon ranks as one of the most famous cities of antiquity, reknowned alike for its refinement, beauty and magnificence. In classical times, the city walls of Babylon were spoken of with admiration and astonishment, while her "Hanging Gardens" were accounted one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

As a centre of culture and government, it flourished for about fifteen centuries, from the arrival of the Amorites ca. 1850 B.C. down to Alexander the Great, who died there in 322 B.C. One of the best known of the city's early rulers was the great law-giver, Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.). (Link | Photo)


Palenque (Mexico)

Palenque (Mexico)
The ruins of Palenque are among the most important Mayan archaeological sites in all of Mexico and Central America. Set on a ledge overlooking the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, Palenque recedes into the dense tropical forest of the foothills of the Tumbala mountains of Chiapas, Mexico.

Although analysis of pottery shards demonstrates that the area was occupied by 100 b.c., most of the buildings we see today were constructed between the 6th to 10th centuries a.d.

The greatest ruler of this city-state was Pacal, who took power in 603 a.d. and commenced a construction boom of architecturally innovative buildings that lasted through and beyond his 68-year reign. One of the most impressive projects was a complex called the Palace. The walls and roofs are covered with stucco carvings depicting the ceremonies and activities of rulers and gods, giving modern observers insight into the lives and beliefs of the Mayans. Another magnificent structure, the Temple of the Inscriptions, contains tablets of glyphs recounting the ancestral history of long ago rulers. The true reward of a trip to Palenque is to revel in the mystery of the unanswerable questions that arise as he meanders through the ruins in morning mists that swirl around the ancient structures. Only 34 of perhaps 500 buildings have been excavated. (Link 1 | Link 2 | Photo)




Ruins of Ayutthaya (Thailand)

Ruins of Ayutthaya (Thailand)
Ayutthaya, whose name means “undefeatable” in Sanskrit, may not be as popular as Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket but it's one of the many places in Thailand that's frequented by tourists who want to see its world-reknowned ruins.

In its heyday, Ayutthaya was a bustling metropolis of international repute, whose progress, according to historians, rivaled even Europe's capitals at the time. So prosperous was the kingdom that her neighbor Burma (now Myanmar) coveted her, so the Burmese army burned and sacked the city. Today, only the debris of the empire's glory remains, forming part of what is now known as the Ayutthaya Historical Park, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. (Link | Photo)


The Colosseum (Italy)

The Colosseum (Italy)
One of the greatest works of Roman architecture and perhaps the most recognized ruin in the world, the Colosseum or Roman Coliseum --originally the Flavian Amphitheatre-- is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire.

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. About 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games.

Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined due to damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and its breakthrough achievements in earthquake engineering. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession around the various levels of the amphitheatre. (Link)


Tikal Ruins (Guatemala)

Tikal Ruins (Guatemala)
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in northern Guatemala. This amazing site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park, and in 1979 was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tikal was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. Though monumental architecture at the site dates from the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 to 900 AD, during which time the site dominated the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica, such as central Mexican center of Teotihuacan. There is also evidence that Tikal was even conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century.

Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site's abandonment by the end of the 10th century. (Link 1 | Link 2 | Photo)


Chichén Itzá Ruin (Mexico)

Chichén Itzá Ruin (Mexico)
A large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization, Chichen Itza is located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, Mexico.

It was a major regional focal point in the northern Mayan lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called “Mexicanized” and reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Mayan styles more as the result of cultural diffusion. (Link)


The Parthenon (Greece)

The Parthenon (Greece)
Greek goddess Athena's temple, the Parthenon was built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and Athenian democracy, and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of restoration and reconstruction (Link | Photo)


Jesuitical Ruins of Trinidad (Paraguay)

Jesuitical Ruins of Trinidad (Paraguay)
Located about 25 km away from Encarnacion, on the route to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, is one of the most interesting and suggestive ruins of the 8 missions in Paraguay.

Trinidad was founded by natives that came from the mission of San Carlos. Its main architects were fathers Juan Bautista Prímoli of Milan and the Catalan Jose Grimau. Uncompleted, this mission had one of the larges and prettiest churches of all missions, according to descriptions by travelers of that period.

After crossing the nave of the old church, you can see an impressive view of the frieze high on the altar wall, entirely decorated on the very stone, with a sequence of angels in baroque postures and their instruments. The two doors giving access to the sacristies are worth mentioning: the columns with disproportionate capitals and a triple row of leaves supporting the frieze with two lateral pillars and a sculptural motif in the center.

On the west side are the ruins of the tower and a long chapel. The tower, with a square base, reminds us of a fort tower and it is not known whether it was a belfry, an observation tower, or both at the same time. The chapel was probably used while the main church was being built. One of the sacristies also holds a small museum with local items (in original colors) and a scale model of the mission. It was declared Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO in 1993. (Link | Photo 1 | Photo 2)


Copan Ruins (Honduras)

Copan Ruins (Honduras)
A Mayan capital from the 400s to the 800s, Copan is one of the largest and most impressive of all the Mayan centers discovered so far. It consists of pyramids, temples and 21 stone pillars, or stelae, with exquisite carved likenesses of ancient Copan kings. Although Tikal in Guatemala is the largest known Mayan site and is easier to get to, Copan shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in the Mayan civilization. (Link)


Palmyra Ruins (Syria)

Palmyra Ruins (Syria)
In the heart of Syrian Desert it is hidden Palmyra, often described as the bride of the desert. Its magnificent remains tell of a heroic history during the reign of Queen Zenobia. The Oasis, as it is sometimes called, is located near a hot-water spring called Afqa, which makes it an ideal halt for caravans moving between Iraq and Al-Sham (present day Syria, Lebanon, Holy Land and Jordan), trading in silk from China to the Mediterranean.

Palmyra's strategic location and prosperity attracted the interest of the Romans, who took control of the city in the first century AD. The destiny of the great kingdom of Palmyra was no better than that of its queen: Zenobia was defeated and taken captive to Rome, fettered in chains of gold where she poisoned herself, while the city fell prey to looting and destruction. Archaeologists are still working on excavations there in order to uncover the queen's palace, which was destroyed by Romans and replaced by a military camp. (Link | Photo)


Talisay City (Philippines)

Talisay City (Philippines)
Talisay City in the Philippines features a mansion built by a sugar magnate at the turn of the last century that not once, but twice, was destroyed in the Second World War in order to prevent Japanese forces from using it. Once on their way out of the Philippines, the USAAF bombed and strafed the home, and Philippines rebels burned it down to keep it from falling into Japanese hands. (Link)

mardi 29 janvier 2013

10 Most Breathtaking Gardens in the World

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation – Scotland

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation – Scotland
Open to the public only one day a year, the Garden of Cosmic Speculation takes science and maths as its inspiration. Quite simply, there isn't another garden like it in the world. The garden was set up by Charles Jencks, together with his late wife Maggie Keswick and is located at Portrack House near Dumfries. That's in Scotland, by the way! It was set up in 1989 without the usual ideas people have when they create a garden. Horticultural displays very much take second place in this garden. Instead, it is designed with ideas in mind - and to provoke thought (or at least speculation) about the very nature of things.
(Link)


Keukenhof Gardens – The Netherlands

Keukenhof Gardens – The Netherlands
An unprecedented wealth of spectacular floral displays planted in endless varieties, alternated with beautiful works of art. Keukenhof is unique, world famous and has been one of the most popular destinations in the Netherlands. The garden is home to 7 million tulips, which includes special hybrids that have been or are being developed. In fact, Keukenhof's pride and joy is the truly awe-inspiring Russian black tulip Baba Yaga. (Link)


Suan Nong Nooch – Thailand

Suan Nong Nooch – Thailand
This incredible park is situated in Pattaya, Thailand. It is popular among tourists because of stunningly beautiful landscapes and marvellous views. Everything there seems to be from a fairy-tale. It is full of Thai style houses, villas, banquet halls, restaurants and swimming pools. A vast 600 acres area was bought by Mr. Pisit and Mrs. Nongnooch in 1954, this land was predicted to be a fruit plantation, but, Mrs. Nongnooch made a trip abroad and came back with a firm decision to create there a tropical garden of ornamental plants and flowers.

In 1980 it was opened to the public and got an official name "Suan Nong Nooch." Suan means "garden," since it is a place where everybody concerned can get acquainted with Thai Culture and Cultural Shows. More than 2,000 visitors go there everyday. This garden always looks as it does today. Also, it is a conservation place for many plants and palms. (Link)




Versailles – France

Versailles – France
Probably the world's most famous garden, it was built for Louis XIV and designed by Andre Le Notre. The laying out of the gardens required enormous work. Vast amounts of earth had to be shifted to lay out the flower beds, the Orangerie, the fountains and the Canal, where previously only woods, grasslands and marshes were. The earth was transported in wheelbarrows, the trees were conveyed by cart from all the provinces of France and thousands of men, sometimes whole regiments, took part in this vast enterprise. (Link)


Jardim Botânico de Curitiba – Brazil

Jardim Botânico de Curitiba – Brazil
Also known as the "Jardim Botânico Fanchette Rischbieter," the Botanical Garden of Curitiba is a garden located in the city of Curitiba, the capital of the state of Paraná, and the biggest city in southern Brazil. It is the major tourist attraction of the city, and it houses part of the campus of the Federal University of Paraná. Opened in 1991, Curitiba's trademark botanical garden was created in the style of French gardens. Once at the portal of entry, extensive gardens in the French style in the midst of fountains may be seen, as well as waterfalls and lakes, and the main greenhouse of 458 square meters, which shelters in its interior, copies of characteristic plants from tropical regions. It rolls out its carpet of flowers to the visitor's right at the entrance. This garden occupies 240.000 m² in area. The principal greenhouse, in an art nouveau style with a modern metallic structure, resembles the mid-19th century Crystal Palace in London. The Botanic Museum, which provides a national reference collection of native flora, attracts researchers from all over the world. It includes many botanic species from the moist Atlantic Forests of eastern Brazil. (Link)


Butchart Gardens – Canada

Butchart Gardens – Canada
Butchart Gardens is one of the most famous gardens in the world which is counted among the best of the best. It's no less than a heaven out there at Butchart Gardens located in British Columbia. The breathtaking views will keep you stunned for some time when you first visit the Butchart Gardens. Spread over an area of 50 acres, the Butchart Gardens is placed near Victoria on Vancouver Island. There's never a dull season at Butchart Gardens, which keeps itself vibrating all throughout the year from the summers to the chilly winters. (Link)


Yuyuan Garden – China

Yuyuan Garden – China
Yuyuan Garden is believed to be built in the Ming Dynasty more than 400 years ago. Built in traditional Chinese style with numerous rock and tree garden areas, ponds, dragon-lined walls and numerous doorways and zigzagging bridges separating the various garden areas and pavilions. In the past over 400 years, Yuyuan was restored and reopened several times. Because of the downfall of the Pan's family after Pan Yunduan's death, Yuyuan was slowly out of use and was once in a mess. Although later the garden was renovated by the local rich people, several civil wars in the mid-19th century caused huge damage. In 1956, after Shanghai's liberation, the city government rebuilt the garden and recovered its elegance and beauty. Yuyuan Garden was at last reopened to the public in 1961. (Link)


Shalimar Garden – Pakistan

Shalimar Garden – Pakistan
The Shalimar Garden is a Persian garden and it was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Lahore, modern day Pakistan. Construction began in 1641 A.D. (1051 A.H.) and was completed the following year. The project management was carried out under the superintendence of Khalilullah Khan, a noble of Shah Jahan's court, in cooperation with Ali Mardan Khan and Mulla Alaul Maulk Tuni. The Shalimar Garden is laid out in the form of an oblong parallelogram, surrounded by a high brick wall, which is famous for its intricate fretwork. The gardens measure 658 meters north to south and 258 meters east to west. In 1981, Shalimar Gardens was included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Lahore Fort, under the UNESCO Convention concerning the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage sites in 1972. (Link)


Minneapolis Sculpture Garden – Minnesota, US

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden – Minnesota, US
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is one of Minnesota's crown jewels and its centerpiece, the Spoonbridge and Cherry, has become a Minnesota icon. Claes Oldenburg best known for his ingenious, oversized renditions of ordinary objects, and Coosje van Bruggen, his wife and collaborator, had already created a number of large-scale public sculptures, including the Batcolumn in Chicago, when they were asked to design a fountain-sculpture for the planned Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The spoon had appeared as a motif in a number of Oldenburg's drawings and plans over the years, inspired by a novelty item (a spoon resting on a glob of fake chocolate) he had acquired in 1962. Eventually the utensil emerged--in humorously gigantic scale--as the theme of the Minneapolis project. Van Bruggen contributed the cherry as a playful reference to the Garden's formal geometry, which reminded her of Versailles and the exaggerated dining etiquette Louis XIV imposed there. (Link)


Ryōan-ji – Japan

Ryōan-ji – Japan
Ryoan-ji Temple - Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto is famous for its Zen garden. Ryoan-ji Temple is considered to be one of the most notable examples of the "dry-landscape" style. Some say Ryoan-ji Temple garden is the quintessence of Zen art, and perhaps the single greatest masterpiece of Japanese culture. This Japanese temple is surrounded by low walls, an austere arrangement of fifteen rocks sits on a bed of white gravel. No one knows who laid out this simple garden, or precisely when, but it is today as it was yesterday, and tomorrow it will be as it is today. Behind the simple temple that overlooks the rock garden is a stone washbasin called Tsukubai said to have been contributed by Tokugawa Mitsukuni in the 17th century. It bears a simple but profound four-character inscription: "I learn only to be contented." (Link)

10 Most Unique Lakes of our World

Plitvice Lakes (Croatia): Sixteen Lakes interconnected by Spectacular Waterfalls

The Plitvice Lakes are a series of sixteen lakes interconnected by spectacular waterfalls, set in a deep woodland and populated by deers, bears, wolves, boars and rare bird species. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colours change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.

Plitvice Lakes - Croatia



Boiling Lake (Dominica): A Flooded Fumarole

Boiling Lake - Dominica
The Boiling Lake is situated in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica's World Heritage site. It is a flooded fumarole, or hole in the earth’s surface, 10.5 km east of Roseau, Dominica, on the Caribbean. It is filled with bubbling greyish-blue water that is usually enveloped in a cloud of vapor. The lake is approximately 60 m across.




Red Lagoon (Bolivia): Red (algae) + White (borax)

Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) - Bolivia
The Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, close to the border with Chile. The lake contains borax islands, whose white color contrasts nicely with the reddish color of its waters, caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae.


Five-Flower Lake (China): Beautiful Multi-Coloured Lake with Fallen Tree Trunks

Five-Flower Lake - China
The Wuhua Hai, or Five-Flower Lake, is the signature of the Jiuzhaigon National Park in China. The lake is a shallow multi-coloured lake whose bottom is littered with fallen tree trunks. The water is so clear that you can see the trunks clearly. The water comes in different shares of turquoise, from yellowish to green, to blue. It is located at an elevation of 2472 meters, below Panda Lake and above the Pearl Shoal Waterfall.


Dead Sea (Israel and Jordan): Lowest Point on Earth

Dead Sea - Israel and Jordan
The Dead Sea is a salt lake situated between Israel and the West bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 420 meters (1,378 ft) below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 330 m (1,083 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also the world's second saltiest body of water, after Lake Assal in Djibouti, with 30 percent salinity. It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish and boats cannot sail. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometers (42 mi) long and 18 kilometers (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers.


Lake Baikal (Russia): Deepest and Oldest Lake in the World

Lake Baikal - Russia
Lake Baikal is located in Southern Siberia in Russia, and it's also known as the "Blue Eye of Siberia". It contains more water than all the North American Great Lakes combined. At 1,637 meters (5,371 ft), Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, holding approximately twenty percent of the world's total fresh water. However, Lake Baikal contains less than one third the amount of water as the Caspian Sea which is the largest lake in the world. Lake Baikal was formed in an ancient rift valley and therefore is long and crescent-shaped with a surface area (31,500 km²) slightly less than that of Lake Superior or Lake Victoria. Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. At more than 25 million years old, it is the oldest lake in the world.


Lake Titicaca (Bolivia and Peru): World's Highest Navigable Lake

Lake Titicaca - Bolivia and Peru
Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It sits 3,812 m (12,500 ft) above sea level making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water it is also the largest lake in South America. Lake Titicaca is fed by rainfall and meltwater from glaciers on the sierras that abut the Altiplano.


Caspian Sea (Russia): World's Largest Lake

Caspian Sea - Russia
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake or largest inland body of water in the world, and accounts for 40 to 44 percent of the total lacustrine waters of the world. With a surface area of 394,299 km² (152,240 mi²), it has a surface area greater than the next six largest lakes combined.


Crater Lake (USA): its waters are considered one of the World's Most Clearest

Crater Lake - Oregon - USA
Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in Oregon; due to several unique factors, most prominently that it has no inlets or tributaries, the waters of Crater Lake are considered one of the world's most clearest. The lake partly fills a nearly 4,000 foot (1,220 m) deep caldera that was formed around 5,677 (± 150) BC by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. Its deepest point has been measured at 1,949 feet (594 m) deep, making it the deepest lake in the United States, and the ninth deepest in the world.


Lake Karachay (Russia): Most Polluted Spot on Earth

Lake Karachay - Russia
Lake Karachay is a small lake in the southern Ural mountains in western Russia. Starting in 1951 the Soviet Union used Karachay as a dumping site for radioactive waste from Mayak, the nearby nuclear waste storage and reprocessing facility, located near the town of Ozyorsk. According to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Worldwatch Institute on nuclear waste, Karachay is the "most polluted spot" on Earth. The lake accumulated some 4.44 exabecquerels (EBq) of radioactivity, including 3.6 EBq of Caesium-137 and 0.74 EBq of Strontium-90. For comparison, the Chernobyl disaster released from 5 to 12 EBq of radioactivity, however this radiation is not concentrated in one location.