1.
Plaza Mayor, Salamanca
–
The Plaza Mayor in Salamanca, Spain is a large plaza located in the center of Salamanca, used as a public square. It was built in the traditional Spanish baroque style and is a gathering area. It is lined by restaurants, ice cream parlors, tourist shops, jewelry stores and it is considered the heart of Salamanca and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful plazas in Spain. Construction of the began in 1729 and was completed in 1755. Felipe the V ordered the construction of the plaza to be used for bullfighting and was designed by the Churriguera family in sandstone and it had been used for bullfighting up until the mid-19th century, one hundred years after being completed. The construction began in two phases, the first was between 1729 and 1735 and the second was between 1750 and 1755, the first phase was built under the direction of Alberto Churriguera while the second phase was built under the direction of Manuel de Larra Churriguera, his nephew. Finally, Andrés Garcia de Quiñones built the City Hall, in 1988, UNESCO declared the old city of Salamanca a World Heritage Site. Today, there is a placed in the center of the plaza marking its significance to boast the plazas baroque-style beauty. Salamanca is known as La Dorada, The Golden City because of the glow of its sandstone buildings, the plaza is an irregular square and none of its facades measure the same height. The plazas walls have three floors above its ground level except for the main facade portion. The plaza has 6 entrances leading to different streets from opposite areas of the plaza and it features 88 arches raised on stout pillars and is decorated medallions on its many spandrels. The plaza also has 247 balconies of which now belong to private residents, the city hall is also located on this side of the plaza, also built in the baroque style with 5 granite arches and a steeple. Vantage Point Plaza Plaza Mayor, Valladolid Plaza Mayor, Madrid Salamanca Plaza Mayor information La Plaza Mayor de Salamanca en el punto de mira report by the Citizens Association Defense Heritage
2.
Coffeehouse
–
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment which primarily serves hot coffee, related coffee beverages, tea, and other hot beverages. Some coffeehouses also serve cold beverages such as iced coffee and iced tea, many cafés also serve some type of food, such as light snacks, muffins, or pastries. Coffeehouses range from owner-operated small businesses to multinational corporations. A coffeehouse may share some of the characteristics of a bar or restaurant. Many coffee houses in the Middle East and in West Asian immigrant districts in the Western world offer shisha, espresso bars are a type of coffeehouse that specializes in serving espresso and espresso-based drinks. Since the development of Wi-Fi, coffeehouses with this capability have also become places for patrons to access the Internet on their laptops, a coffeehouse can serve as an informal club for its regular members. As early as the 1950s Beatnik era and the 1960s folk music scene, coffeehouses have hosted singer-songwriter performances, coffeehouses in Mecca became a concern as places for political gatherings to the imams, who banned them, as well as the drink, for Muslims between 1512 and 1524. In 1530, the first coffeehouse was opened in Damascus and not long there were many coffeehouses in Cairo. About that year, a fellow called Hakam from Aleppo and a wag called Shams from Damascus came to the city, they opened a large shop in the district called Tahtakale. Various legends involving the introduction of coffee to Istanbul at a Kiva Han in the late 15th century circulate in culinary tradition, resembling checkers, hopscotch, and chess, are played. In addition, mollas, dervishes, and poets take turns telling stories in verse or in prose, the narrations by the mollas and the dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous not to pay attention to them. No one is forced to give up his game or his conversation because of it. It often happens that two or three people talk at the time, one on one side, the other on the opposite, and sometimes one will be a preacher. The most common English spelling, café, is the French, Portuguese and Spanish spelling, thus the spelling cafe has become very common in English-language usage throughout the world, especially for the less formal, i. e. greasy spoon variety. The Italian spelling, caffè, is sometimes used in English. In southern England, especially around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was often altered to /ˈkæf/. The English words coffee and café both descend from the Italian word for coffee, caffè—first attested as caveé in Venice in 1570— and in turn derived from the Arabic qahuwa. The Arabic term qahuwa originally referred to a type of wine but after the ban by Mohammed
3.
Salamanca
–
Salamanca is a city in northwestern Spain that is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the community of Castile and León. The city lies on several hills by the Tormes River and its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is one of the most important university cities in Spain, Salamanca attracts thousands of international students, generating a diverse environment. It is situated approximately 200 kilometres west of the Spanish capital Madrid and 80 km east of the Portuguese border, with its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca. In the 3rd century BC, Hannibal laid siege to the city, with the fall of the Carthaginians to the Romans, the city of Helmantica, as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman Hispania due to its favorable location. Salamanca lay on a Roman road, known as the Vía de la Plata and its Roman bridge dates from the 1st century, and was a part of this road. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Alans established in Lusitania, later the city was conquered by the Visigoths and included in their territory. The city was already an episcopal see, and signatures of bishops of Salamanca are found in the Councils of Toledo, Salamanca surrendered to the Moors, led by Musa bin Nusair, in the year 712 AD. For years, this area between the south of Duero River and the north of Tormes River, became the battlefield between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslim Al-Andalus rulers. The constant fighting of the Kingdom of León first, and the Kingdom of Castile and León later against the Caliphate depopulated Salamanca, after the battle of Simancas the Christians resettled this area. After the capture of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 1085, raymond of Burgundy, instructed by his father-in-law Alfonso VI of León, led a group of settlers of various origins in 1102. Soon it became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe, during the 16th century, the city reached its height of splendour. During that period, the University of Salamanca hosted the most important intellectuals of the time, in 1551, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered an inquiry to find out if the science of Andreas Vesalius, physician and anatomist, was in line with Catholic doctrine. Vesalius came to Salamanca that same year to appear before the board and was acquitted, Salamanca suffered the general downturns of the Kingdom of Castile during the 17th century, but in the 18th century it experienced a rebirth. In this period, the new baroque Cathedral and main square were finished, the battle which raged that day is famous as a defining moment in military history, many thousands of men were slaughtered by cannon fire in the space of only a few short hours. During the devastating Spanish Civil War the city went over to the Nationalist side and was used as the de facto capital. The Nationalists soon moved most of the departments to Burgos. Like much of fervently Catholic and largely rural Leon and Old Castile regions, Salamanca was a supporter of the Nationalist side
4.
Town square
–
A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, piazza, plaza, most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets, music concerts, political rallies, and other events that require firm ground. Being centrally located, town squares are surrounded by small shops such as bakeries, meat markets, cheese stores. At their center is often a fountain, well, monument, many of those with fountains are actually called fountain square. In urban planning, a city square or urban square is an open area in a city. Red Square in Moscow was originally used as a marketplace and later became the stage for Soviet military parades. Similarly, Beijings Tiananmen Square was the scene of both communist parades and anti-government protests, john-F. -Kennedy-Platz was the site of the West Berlin town hall and John F. Kennedys famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech. New York Citys Times Square as well as Bryant Park, Washington, D. C. s National Mall, trafalgar Square in London does the same for the United Kingdom. Saint Peters Square in Vatican City, the enclave within Rome. Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto is a renowned and famous square in Canada, nathan Phillips Square is a popular square in front of Torontos landmark City Hall. Hviezdoslavovo námestie is one of the squares in Bratislava and a centre of a social life. Dam Square in Amsterdam for the Netherlands, Main Market Square in Kraków, Market Place in Warsaw and Wrocław Main Square for Poland. The City Hall Square, Copenhagen for Denmark, praça do Comércio, in Lisbon, Portugal, was formerly known as the Terreiro do Paço. It was destroyed after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake but was rebuilt, the symmetrical buildings around the square hold government bureaus and ministries. Wenceslas Square is one of the city squares in the New Town of Prague. In Mainland China, Peoples Square is a designation for the central town square of modern Chinese cities. These squares are the site of government buildings, museums and other public buildings, the probably best-known and largest such square in China is Tienanmen Square. The German word for square is Platz, which also means Place and these have been focal points of public life in towns and cities from the Middle Ages to today
5.
Spanish Civil War
–
Ultimately, the Nationalists won, and Franco then ruled Spain for the next 36 years, from April 1939 until his death in November 1975. Sanjurjo was killed in an accident while attempting to return from exile in Portugal. The coup was supported by units in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, Pamplona, Burgos, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Cádiz, Córdoba. However, rebelling units in some important cities—such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Málaga—did not gain control, Spain was thus left militarily and politically divided. The Nationalists and the Republican government fought for control of the country, the Nationalist forces received munitions and soldiers from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, while the Republican side received support from the Communist Soviet Union and leftist populist Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, operated a policy of non-intervention. The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west and they also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of the war. Those associated with the losing Republicans were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists, with the establishment of a dictatorship led by General Franco in the aftermath of the war, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime. The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired, organized purges occurred in territory captured by Francos forces to consolidate the future regime. A significant number of killings took place in areas controlled by the Republicans, the extent to which Republican authorities took part in killings in Republican territory varied. The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain and those in favour of reforming Spains government vied for political power with conservatives, who tried to prevent reforms from taking place. Some liberals, in a tradition that had started with the Spanish Constitution of 1812, sought to limit the power of the monarchy of Spain, the reforms of 1812 did not last after King Ferdinand VII dissolved the Constitution and ended the Trienio Liberal government. Twelve successful coups were carried out between 1814 and 1874, until the 1850s, the economy of Spain was primarily based on agriculture. There was little development of an industrial or commercial class. The land-based oligarchy remained powerful, a number of people held large estates called latifundia as well as all the important government positions. In 1868 popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon, two distinct factors led to the uprisings, a series of urban riots and a liberal movement within the middle classes and the military concerned with the ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873 Isabellas replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy, abdicated owing to increasing pressure. After the restoration of the Bourbons in December 1874, Carlists and Anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy, alejandro Lerroux, Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party, helped bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia, where poverty was particularly acute
6.
Miguel de Unamuno
–
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essay was The Tragic Sense of Life, and his most famous novel was Abel Sánchez, The History of a Passion, Miguel de Unamuno was born in Bilbao, a port city of Basque Country, the son of Félix de Unamuno and Salomé Jugo. As a young man, he was interested in the Basque language, the contest was finally won by the Basque scholar Resurrección María de Azkue. Unamuno worked in all genres, the essay, the novel, poetry, and theater. Unamuno would have preferred to be a professor, but was unable to get an academic appointment. Instead he became a Greek professor, in 1901 Unamuno gave his well-known conference on the scientific and literary inviability of the Basque. According to Azurmendi, Unamuno went against the Basque language once his political views changed along his reflection on Spain, in addition to his writing, Unamuno played an important role in the intellectual life of Spain. He served as rector of the University of Salamanca for two periods, from 1900 to 1924 and 1930 to 1936, during a time of social and political upheaval. Unamuno was removed from his two university chairs by the dictator General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1924, over the protests of other Spanish intellectuals. He lived in exile until 1930, first banished to Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, his house there is now a museum, from Fuerteventura he escaped to France, as related in his book De Fuerteventura a Paris. After a year in Paris, Unamuno established himself in Hendaye, Unamuno returned to Spain after the fall of General Primo de Riveras dictatorship in 1930 and took up his rectorship again. It is said in Salamanca that the day he returned to the University, as Fray Luis de León had done in the same place in 1576, after four years of imprisonment by the Inquisition. It was as though he had not been absent at all, after the fall of Primo de Riveras dictatorship, Spain embarked on its Second Republic. He was a candidate for the small intellectual party Agrupación al Servicio de la República and he always was a moderate and refused all political and anticlerical extremisms. Thus he initially welcomed Francos revolt as necessary to rescue Spain from the excesses of the Second Republic, however, the harsh tactics employed by the Francoists in the struggle against their republican opponents caused him to oppose both the Republic and Franco. He called the cry of the elite armed forces group named La Legión—Long live death. —repellent. One historian notes that his address was an act of moral courage. Shortly afterwards, Unamuno was effectively removed for a time from his university post
7.
Pool (cue sports)
–
An obsolete term for pool is six-pocket. There are hundreds of pool games, some of the more well known include eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool, one-pocket, and bank pool. There are also hybrid games combining aspects of both pool and carom billiards, such as American four-ball billiards, cowboy pool, and bottle pool. The OxfordDictionaries. com definition no longer provides the obsolete meaning found in the print edition. With one black ball and a cue ball on a table with pockets. Pool is played on a six pocket table, modern pool tables generally range in size from 3.5 feet by 7 feet, to 4.5 feet by 9 feet. The balls range from 2.25 inches in diameter to 2.375 inches in diameter, under the WPA/BCA equipment specifications, the weight may be from 5.5 to 6 oz. with a diameter of 2.25 in. Modern cue sticks are generally 58.5 inches long for pool while cues prior to 1980 were designed for straight pool and had a length of 57.5 inches. By comparison, carom billiards cues are shorter with larger tips. In the United States, the most commonly played game is eight-ball, in the United Kingdom the game is commonly played in pubs, and it is competitively played in leagues on both sides of the Atlantic. The most prestigious tournaments including the World Open are sponsored and sanctioned by the International Pool Tour, Rules vary widely from place to place. Pool halls in North America are increasingly settling upon the World Pool-Billiard Association International Standardized Rules, but tavern eight-ball, typically played on smaller, coin-operated tables and in a winner keeps the table manner, can differ significantly even between two venues in the same city. The growth of local, regional and national amateur leagues may alleviate this confusion eventually, Nine-ball uses only the 1 through 9 balls and cue ball. It is a game, The player at the table must make legal contact with the lowest numbered ball on the table or a foul is called. The game is won by pocketing the nine ball. Nine-ball is the predominant professional game, though as of 2006–2008 there have been suggestions that this may change. There are many local and regional tours and tournaments that are contested with nine-ball, the World Pool-Billiard Association and its American affiliate, the Billiard Congress of America, publish the World Standardized Rules. The European professional circuit has instituted rules changes to make it difficult to achieve a legal break shot
8.
Atrium (architecture)
–
In architecture, an atrium is a large open air or skylight covered space surrounded by a building. Atria were a feature in Ancient Roman dwellings, providing light. Modern atria, as developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries, are several stories high and having a glazed roof or large windows. Atria are a design feature because they give their buildings a feeling of space. The atrium has become a key feature of buildings in recent years. Atria are popular with building users, building designers and building developers, users like atria because they create a dynamic and stimulating interior that provides shelter from the external environment while maintaining a visual link with that environment. Designers enjoy the opportunity to new types of spaces in buildings. Fire control is an important aspect of contemporary atrium design due to criticism that poorly designed atria could allow fire to spread to a buildings upper stories more quickly. The Latin word atrium referred to the central court from which enclosed rooms led off. The impluvium was a shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch rainwater from the roof, some surviving examples are beautifully decorated. The opening in the ceiling above the pool called for some means of support for the roof, as the centrepiece of the house, the atrium was the most lavishly-furnished room. Also, it contained the chapel to the ancestral spirits. The term was used for a variety of spaces in public and religious buildings, mostly forms of arcaded courtyards. Byzantine churches were often entered through such a space, the 19th century brought the industrial revolution with great advances in iron and glass manufacturing techniques. Courtyards could then have horizontal glazing overhead, eliminating some of the elements from the space. One of the public spaces at Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, is called The Atrium and is a street-like space, five storeys high with glazed walls. The structure and glazing pattern follow the system of fractals used to arrange the panels on the rest of the facades at Federation Square, as of 2016, the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, has the worlds tallest atrium at 590 feet. The Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada, has the largest atrium in the world at 29 million cubic feet, cavaedium Courtyard Quadrangle Roth, Leland M. Understanding Architecture, Its Elements History and Meaning
9.
Merchant
–
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people to earn a profit. A merchant historically was anyone involved in business as long as industry, commerce, the status of the merchant has varied during different periods of history and among different societies. There are two types of merchant, A wholesale merchant is a wholesaler who operates in the chain between produce and retail merchant, typically dealing in large quantities of goods, some wholesale merchants only organize the movement of goods rather than move the goods themselves. A retail merchant or retailer, sells merchandise to end-users or consumers, a shop-keeper is a retail merchant. Merchants have existed as long as business, industry, trade, a merchant class characterized many pre-modern societies. Open air, public markets were known in ancient Babylonia and Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Phonecia and these markets typically occupied a place in the towns centre. Surrounding the market, skilled artisans, such as metal-workers and leather workers and these artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, but also prepared goods for sale on market days. In ancient Greece markets operated within the agora, and in ancient Rome the forum, the nature of direct selling centred around transactional exchange, where the goods were on open display, allowing buyers to evaluate quality directly through visual inspection. Relationships between merchant and consumer were minimal, the Phoenicians plied their ships across the Mediterranean, becoming a major trading power by 9th century BCE. The Phoenicians imported and exported wood, textiles, glass and produce such as wine, oil, dried fruit and their trading skills necessitated a network of colonies along the Mediterranean coast, stretching from modern day Crete through to Tangiers and onto Sardinia. The Phoenicians not only traded in goods, but were also instrumental in transporting the trappings of culture. The Phoenicians extensive trade networks necessitated considerable book-keeping and correspondence, in around 1500 BCE, the Phoenicians developed a phonetic alphabet which was much easier to learn that the pictographic scripts used in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Phoenician traders and merchants were responsible for spreading their alphabet around the region. Phoenician inscriptions have been found in sites at a number of former Phoenician cities and colonies around the Mediterranean, such as Byblos. The Romans defined merchants or traders in a narrow sense. Merchants were those who bought and sold goods while landowners who sold their own produce were not considered to be merchants, being a landowner was a respectable occupation. On the other hand, the trade of merchant was not considered respectable, although they may have lacked high social standing, merchants in ancient Rome often made handsome profits. Umbricius Scauras, for example, was a manufacturer and trader of fish sauce in Pompeii and his villa, situated in one of the wealthier districts of Pompeii, was very large and ornately decorated in a show of substantial personal wealth
10.
Alfonso XIII of Spain
–
Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. Alfonso was monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year, Alfonsos mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902. With the political failure of the dictatorship, Alfonso impelled a return to the democratic normality with the intention of regenerating the regime, nevertheless, it was abandoned by all political classes, as they felt betrayed by the kings support of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. He left Spain voluntarily after the elections of April 1931. In exile, he retained his claim to the throne until 1941. Buried in Rome, his remains were not transferred until 1980 to the Pantheon of the Kings in the monastery of El Escorial, Alfonso was born in Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885. The French newspaper Le Figaro described the king in 1889 as the happiest. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his 16th birthday, during the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. When he came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls, by 1905, Alfonso was looking for a suitable consort. On a state visit to the United Kingdom, he stayed at Buckingham Palace with King Edward VII, there he met Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the Scottish-born daughter of Edwards youngest sister Princess Beatrice, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He found her attractive, and she returned his interest, there were obstacles to the marriage. Victoria was a Protestant, and would have to become a Catholic, Victorias brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50 percent chance that Victoria was a carrier of the trait. Victoria was willing to change her religion, and her being a carrier was only a possibility. Maria Christina was eventually persuaded to drop her opposition, in January 1906 she wrote an official letter to Princess Beatrice proposing the match. Victoria met Maria Christina and Alfonso in Biarritz, France, later that month, in May, diplomats of both kingdoms officially executed the agreement of marriage. Alfonso and Victoria were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906, with British royalty in attendance, including Victorias cousins the Prince, the wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on Alfonso and Victoria by Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral. As the wedding procession returned to the palace, he threw a bomb from a window which killed or injured several bystanders and members of the procession, on 10 May 1907, the couples first child, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, was born
