Category Archives: Structures, History and Countries

Hagia Sophia

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Hagia Sophia

Nothing can tear down Hagia Sophia.

  • Hagia Sophia is a building located in Turkey’s city of Istanbul, in Europe, initially built as an Eastern Orthodox church, and the UNESCO World Heritage Convention included it as part of the ‘Historic Areas of Istanbul’ World Heritage Site in 1985.
  • ‘Hagia Sophia’ translates as ‘holy wisdom’, and it is also known as the ‘Church of the Holy Wisdom’ in English, as well as ‘Sancta Sophia’ in Latin and ‘Ayasofya’ in Turkish.
  • Two churches were previously constructed on the site of Hagia Sophia, in 360 and later in 415, however both were destroyed by arson due to riots.
  • The third and existing Hagia Sophia building was built from early 532 until late 537, under orders of Emperor Justinian I, and in excess of ten thousand people are said to have contributed their work to the construction of the church.
  • Hagia Sophia is made primarily of stone and brick, with marble low relief work and pillars common throughout the building.
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Hagia Sophia
Image courtesy of Dennis Jarvis/Flickr
  • A dome tops the construction of Hagia Sophia, which spans 31 metres (102 feet) in diameter, and the dome has been reconstructed or renovated on a number of occasions, which has caused its originally spherical shape to be a little skewed.
  • A number of disasters have been inflicted onto Hagia Sophia, particularly during its earlier years, from earthquakes to fires, though the current building has survived over 1400 years.
  • Hagia Sophia was used as an imperial mosque from 1453, and in 1935 it was turned into a museum after orders by the then Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
  • The paintings, mosaics, and other artwork in Hagia Sophia have become increasingly jeopardised by water from leaks, as well as increased humidity.
  • Hagia Sophia reaches a total height of 55 metres (180 feet) and has the base dimensions of 73 by 82 metres (240 by 270 feet).
Bibliography:
Hagia Sophia, 2015, Encyclopaedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/topic/Hagia-Sophia
Hagia Sophia, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 2015, Sacred Destinations, http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia

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Potala Palace

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Potala Palace

Potala Palace is quite high up.

  • Potala Palace is a historic Buddhist building located on Red Mountain, Red Hill, or Marpo Ri as it is known, in Tibet’s Lhasa, in Asia.
  • The construction of the Potala Palace began in 1645, taking three years to build the outside structure, and it was completed in the 1690s.
  • Potala Palace was created due to the recommendation of the adviser of the Head of State and fifth Dalai Lama, Lozang Gyatso, and it was suggested that the location would be advantageous for political reasons.
  •  A smaller palace originated on the site of Potala Palace, which was built in the 600s, while sections of the older building are still evident in some parts.
  • The UNESCO World Heritage Convention designated Potala Palace a World Heritage Site in 1994, which was expanded to include other surrounding historical buildings in 2000 and 2001.
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Potala Palace
Image courtesy of Will De Freitas/Flickr
  • Since 2003, numbers of tourists that can enter Potala Palace each day have been limited, so as to reduce damage to the building, however it remains a popular tourist attraction.
  • Potala Palace is split into two differently purposed buildings, or palaces, as they are called – one for general living and one for religious purposes, marked via white and red colours respectively, and known as Potrang Karpo (White Palace) and Potrang Marpo (Red Palace).
  • Potala Palace extends to an area of more than 130,000 square metres (1.4 million square feet) and is 110 metres (161 feet) in height.
  • To prevent destruction caused by earthquakes, the base of Potala Palace is said to have been reinforced with copper during the original construction.
  • The palace, officially ‘Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace’, has been known as ‘Bùdálā Gōng’ in Pinyin, and the name ‘Potala’ is a reference to a sacred mountain in India.
Bibliography:
Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa, 2015, UNESCO World Heritage Convention, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/707
Potala Palace, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potala_Palace

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Brooklyn Bridge

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Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge was a stepping stone in the world of bridge building.

  • Brooklyn Bridge is a neo-gothic styled cable suspension and cable-stayed bridge located in the United State’s New York City, connecting the areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
  • Brooklyn Bridge is 25.9 metres (85 feet) in width and reaches 1.825 kilometres (1.134 miles) in length, and was initially the longest suspension bridge on earth.
  • The building of Brooklyn Bridge began in 1869, as one of the first bridges of its kind, and it is made of steel, granite, limestone and concrete, while the latter materials were primarily used for the bridge pillars.
  • John Augustus Roebling, a civil engineer who emigrated from Germany years before, designed Brooklyn Bridge, but he died before construction commenced.
  • After the death of John Roebling, his son, Washington Roebling, became the engineer for the construction of Brooklyn Bridge, however Washington became incapacitated from caisson disease, a decompression sickness that forced him to be restricted to viewing the work from his apartment window, and as a result, he directed his wife Emily to oversee much of the onsite work.
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Brooklyn Bridge
Image courtesy of keith.bellvay/Flickr
  • ‘Brooklyn Bridge’ has also been known as ‘East River Bridge’ and ‘New York and Brooklyn Bridge’ in its history.
  • The 24 May 1883 marked the official opening of Brooklyn Bridge, which was crossed by 150,300 people on the occasion, including the then US President Chester Arthur and the then New York Mayor Franklin Edson.
  • The construction of Brooklyn Bridge cost approximately US$15.5 million, which converts to almost 380 million US dollars in 2015, and major renovations began on the bridge in 2010, which are expected to be completed in 2016, in response to the deficient standard of the bridge, graded in a previous inspection.
  • Many of those who worked on Brooklyn Bridge were immigrants, with more than 24 people reaching their death throughout the construction, while some worked underwater in airtight containers and many of these workers came away with caisson disease.
  • Brooklyn Bridge reaches a height of 84.3 metres (276.5 feet) from the average East River water level that it spans, and there is approximately 41.1 metres (135 feet) between the water and the base of the bridge.
Bibliography:
Brooklyn Bridge, 2015, History, http://www.history.com/topics/brooklyn-bridge
Brooklyn Bridge, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge

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Lascaux Cave

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Lascaux Cave

Lascaux Cave contains a past of mysteries.

  • Lascaux Cave, also known simply as ‘Lascaux’, is a group of connected caves located in the Vézère Valley in France’s region of Aquitaine, in Europe.
  • Lascaux Cave is famous for its cave artwork that is believed to have been created more than 15,000 years ago, in the late Stone Age.
  • The UNESCO World Heritage Convention declared the Lascaux Cave a World Heritage Site in 1979, as part of a group of prehistoric sites and caves in the area.
  • Lascaux Cave was accidentally discovered in September 1940 by Marcel Ravidat and his friends, who were in their late teens at the time.
  • Approximately 600 drawings and 1500 engravings can be found in Lascaux Cave, featuring patterns, and human and animal depictions, in colours of red, black, yellow, violet and brown.
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Part of Lascaux Cave
Image courtesy of Bayes Ahmed/Flickr
  • Lascaux Cave was opened publicly from 1948 to 1963, and later, and nearby, much of the cave and paintings were meticulously replicated over a period of 12 years, to make what is known as Lascaux II, which was opened in 1983 and is visited by thousands of people each year.
  • The meaning of the Lascaux Cave paintings is disputed, and some proposed theories include that they are documentations of life and hunting, or they are religious metaphors.
  • The paintings of Lascaux Cave are endangered by constantly growing mould and deterioration, and the cave was closed from public view in 1963, due to increased carbon dioxide levels from visitors, and the lighting and air conditioning system has also contributed to the problem.
  • Paintings and engravings were not the only artefacts found in Lascaux Cave, as bones, tools and other objects were also discovered.
  • The small original opening into Lascaux Cave was enlarged to make an entrance that was easily accessible to visitors, however, this changed the airflow in the cave, which contributed to the deterioration of some of the paintings.
Bibliography:
Lascaux, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux
Lascaux (ca. 15,000 B.C.), 2015, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lasc/hd_lasc.htm
Lascaux cave paintings discovered, 2015, History, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lascaux-cave-paintings-discovered
Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley, 2015, UNESCO World Heritage Convention, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/85

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Parícutin

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Parícutin

Parícutin is an example of prehistory in its modern time.

  • Parícutin is an unusually recent, cone-shaped volcano, and it is classified as dormant and found in Mexico’s state of Michoacán in southern North America.
  • ‘Parícutin’ is also known as ‘Volcán de Parícutin’, named after the nearby village which it decimated, and it is categorised as a cinder or scoria cone volcano.
  • The height of Parícutin rises 424 metres (1391 feet) above ground, and its peak sits at 2800 metres (9,186 feet) above sea level.
  • The formation of the Parícutin volcano began in 1943, and was witnessed burgeoning from the ground on a private corn farm, reaching a height of 30 to 50 metres (98.5 to 164 feet) in one day, and to date, it is perhaps the most recent volcano to be created.
  • Parícutin’s eruption lasted from February 1943 to early 1952, while hundreds of earthquakes, rumblings and tremors occurred before and during the eruption.
Paricutin, Volcano, Mountain, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Mexico, Middle, Extinct
Parícutin
Image courtesy of A C/Flickr
  • The creation of Parícutin was highly important in the field of volcanology, as the phenomena allowed the whole process of the formation of a cinder cone volcano to be chronicled for the first time.
  • Although the Parícutin eruption occurred during World War II, it did not damper the world wide enthusiasm of the eruption, and it was even used as a background for the 1947 film Captain from Castile.
  • A total area of 233 square kilometres (90 square miles) was damaged or devastated by the Parícutin eruption, and five communities were affected, two of which were destroyed by lava, while the taller parts of a church building are still visible above the hardened lava.
  • Volcanic lightning was created due to the Parícutin eruption, which caused the three and only fatalities of the nine year event.
  • Parícutin is popularly visited by tourists, and can only be reached directly via horse or by trekking, both of which require a guide.
Bibliography:
O’Brien J, Parícutin, n.d, Creation Ministries, http://creation.com/mount-paricutin
Parícutin, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin
Paricutin: The Volcano in the Cornfield, 2012, Musuem of Unnatural Mystery, http://www.unmuseum.org/7wonders/paricutin.htm

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Belize Barrier Reef

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Belize Barrier Reef

Beautiful Belize Barrier Reef.

  • Belize Barrier Reef is a very large coral reef located off the coast of Central America’s country of Belize, and the reef notably contains the largest blue hole known on Earth, the Great Blue Hole.
  • ‘Belize Barrier Reef’ is officially known as the ‘Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System’, and the area is a significant marine ecosystem that also includes considerable quantities of mangroves.
  • The second largest coral reef on Earth and largest reef of the northern hemisphere is Belize Barrier Reef, and it covers an area of 963 square kilometres (372 square miles), and is approximately 300 kilometres (186 miles) in length.
  • Belize Barrier Reef was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, and later marked as endangered in 2009, mostly due to illegal hunting, fishing and timber removal.
  • Species discovered in the vicinity of Belize Barrier Reef include 65 coral species, 350 species of mollusc, more than 500 fish species, as well as numerous other species; while it is said that 90 percent of the reef’s total number of species have not yet been discovered.
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Part of Belize Barrier Reef
Image courtesy of Heath Alseike/Flickr
  • Belize Barrier Reef is the home to seven designated and protected reserves, 450 sand islands known as ‘cays’, plus three ring shaped reefs known as ‘atolls’.
  • Hurricanes, shipping, over-fishing, tourism, pollution and coral bleaching are all believed to be primary factors that continue to endanger the Belize Barrier Reef.
  • The native Mayan people used Belize Barrier Reef as a source of food, especially during 300BC to 900AD, and some of the cays were used as burial sites for the indigenous population.
  • Belize Barrier Reef is popularly visited by tourists for its prized snorkelling and scuba diving attractions, with more than 128,000 tourists visiting the reef annually.
  • Many bird species can be found in the area of the Belize Barrier Reef, as well as vulnerable or endangered species like the American crocodile, a number of turtle species, and the West Indian manatee.
Bibliography:
Belize Barrier Reef, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_Barrier_Reef
Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, 2015, UNESCO World Heritage Convention, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/764
Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, Belize, n.d, The Encyclopedia of Earth, http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150471/

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