Diocese
The word diocese is derived from the Greek term dioikesis meaning "administration". Today, when used in an ecclesiastical sense, it refers to the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. In the organization of the Roman Empire, the subdivided provinces were administratively associated in a larger unit, the diocese. After Christianity was given legal status in 313, the Churches began to organize themselves into dioceses based on provinces, not on the larger regional imperial districts; the dioceses were smaller than the provinces since there were more bishops than governors. Christianity was declared the Empire's official religion by Theodosius I in 380. Constantine I in 318 gave litigants the right to have court cases transferred from the civil courts to the bishops; this situation must have hardly survived Julian, 361-363. Episcopal courts are not heard of again in the East until 398 and in the West in 408; the quality of these courts were low, not above suspicion as the bishop of Alexandria Troas found out that clergy were making a corrupt profit.
Nonetheless, these courts were popular. Bishops had no part in the civil administration until the town councils, in decline, lost much authority to a group of'notables' made up of the richest councilors and rich persons exempted from serving on the councils, retired military, bishops post-450 A. D; as the Western Empire collapsed in the 5th century, bishops in Western Europe assumed a larger part of the role of the former Roman governors. A similar, though less pronounced, development occurred in the East, where the Roman administrative apparatus was retained by the Byzantine Empire. In modern times, many dioceses, though subdivided, have preserved the boundaries of a long-vanished Roman administrative division. For Gaul, Bruce Eagles has observed that "it has long been an academic commonplace in France that the medieval dioceses, their constituent pagi, were the direct territorial successors of the Roman civitates."Modern usage of'diocese' tends to refer to the sphere of a bishop's jurisdiction.
This became commonplace during the self-conscious "classicizing" structural evolution of the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century, but this usage had itself been evolving from the much earlier parochia, dating from the formalized Christian authority structure in the 4th century. Most archdioceses are metropolitan sees. A few are suffragans of a metropolitan are directly subject to the Holy See. While the terms "diocese" and "episcopal see" are applicable to the area under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of any bishop, a bishop in charge of an archdiocese thereby holds the rank of archbishop. If the title of archbishop is granted on personal grounds to a diocesan bishop, his diocese does not thereby become an archdiocese; as of January 2019, in the Catholic Church there are 2,886 regular dioceses: 1 papal see, 645 archdioceses and 2,240 dioceses in the world. In the Eastern rites in communion with the Pope, the equivalent unit is called an eparchy; the Eastern Orthodox Church calls dioceses episkopē in the Greek tradition and eparchies in the Slavic tradition.
After the English Reformation, the Church of England retained the existing diocesan structure which remains throughout the Anglican Communion. The one change is that the areas administered under the Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop of York are properly referred to as dioceses, not archdioceses: they are the metropolitan bishops of their respective provinces and bishops of their own diocese and have the position of archbishop. Certain Lutheran denominations such as the Church of Sweden do have individual dioceses similar to Roman Catholics; these dioceses and archdioceses are under the government of a bishop. Other Lutheran bodies and synods that have dioceses and bishops include the Church of Denmark, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Evangelical Church in Germany, the Church of Norway. From about the 13th century until the German mediatization of 1803, the majority of the bishops of the Holy Roman Empire were prince-bishops, as such exercised political authority over a principality, their so-called Hochstift, distinct, considerably smaller than their diocese, over which they only exercised the usual authority of a bishop.
Some American Lutheran church bodies such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have a bishop acting as the head of the synod, but the synod does not have dioceses and archdioceses as the churches listed above. Rather, it is divided into a middle judicatory; the Lutheran Church - International, based in Springfield, presently uses a traditional diocesan structure, with four dioceses in North America. Its current president is Archbishop Robert W. Hotes; the Church of God in Christ has dioceses throughout the United States. In the COGIC, most states are divided into at least three or more dioceses that are each led by a bishop; these dioceses are called "jurisdictions" within COGIC. In the Latter Day Saint movement, the term "bishopric" is used to describe the bishop himself, together with his two counselors, not the ward or congregation of which a bishop has charge. In the United Methodist Church, a bishop is given oversight over a geographical area called an episcopal area; each episcopal area contains one or more an
World Trade Center (Brussels)
The World Trade Center of Brussels, Belgium is a complex of skyscrapers at the corner of Albert II Boulevard and Simon Bolivar Boulevard in the Northern Quarter central business district of Brussels. Its three towers are among the tallest buildings in Belgium; the complex was planned to have eight towers, all around the corner of Albert II Boulevard and Simon Bolivar Boulevard. The two of these at the southeast corner of the intersection became the Proximus Towers and the two at the northeast the North Galaxy Towers. Of the remaining four, two were built in the 1970s, one was built across the street in the 1980s, the fourth was never built. In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, hundreds of Belgians formed a hand-in-hand human chain around the Trade Center in tribute
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style that flourished in Europe during the High and Late Middle Ages. It was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. Originating in 12th-century France, it was used for cathedrals and churches, until the 16th century, its most prominent features included the use of the rib vault and the flying buttress, which allowed the weight of the roof to be counterbalanced by buttresses outside the building, giving greater height and more space for windows. Another important feature was the extensive use of stained glass, the rose window, to bring light and color to the interior. Another feature was the use of realistic statuary on the exterior over the portals, to illustrate biblical stories for the illiterate parishioners; these technologies had all existed in Romanesque architecture, but they were used in more innovative ways and more extensively in Gothic architecture to make buildings taller and stronger. The first notable example is considered to be the Abbey of Saint-Denis, near Paris, whose choir and facade were reconstructed with Gothic features.
The choir was completed in 1144. The style appeared in some civic architecture in northern Europe, notably in town halls and university buildings. A Gothic revival began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th century Europe and continued for ecclesiastical and university structures, into the 20th century. Gothic architecture was known during the period as opus francigenum, The term "Gothic architecture" originated in the 16th century, was very negative, suggesting barbaric. Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in his 1550 Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style, in the introduction to the Lives he attributed various architectural features to "the Goths" whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome, erecting new ones in this style; the Gothic style originated in the Ile-de-France region of northern France in the first half of the 12th century. A new dynasty of French Kings, the Capetians, had subdued the feudal lords, had become the most powerful rulers in France, with their capital in Paris.
They allied themselves with the bishops of the major cities of northern France, reduced the power of the feudal abbots and monasteries. Their rise coincided with an enormous growth of the population and prosperity of the cities of northern France; the Capetian Kings and their bishops wished to build new cathedrals as monuments of their power and religious faith. The church which served as the primary model for the style was the Abbey of St-Denis, which underwent reconstruction by the Abbot Suger, first in the choir and the facade, Suger was a close ally and biographer of the French King, Louis VII, a fervent Catholic and builder, the founder of the University of Paris. Suger remodeled the ambulatory of the Abbey, removed the enclosures that separated the chapels, replaced the existing structure with imposing pillars and rib vaults; this created higher and wider bays, into which he installed larger windows, which filled the end of the church with light. Soon afterwards he rebuilt the facade, adding three deep portals, each with a tympanum, an arch filled with sculpture illustrating biblical stories.
The new facade was flanked by two towers. He installed a small circular rose window over the central portal; this design became the prototype for a series of new French cathedrals. Sens Cathedral was the first Cathedral to be built in the new style. Other versions of the new style soon appeared in Noyon Cathedral; the Gothic style was adapted by some French monastic orders, notably the Cistercian order under Saint Bernard of Clairvaux It was used in an austere form without ornament at the new Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay and the church of Clairvaux Abbey, whose site is now occupied by a French prison. The new style was copied outside the Kingdom of France in the Duchy of Normandy. Early examples of Norman Gothic included Coutances Cathedral. Through the rule of the Angevin dynasty, the new style was introduced to England and spread from there to Low Countries, Spain, northern Italy and Sicily; the Gothic style did not replace the Romanesque everywhere in Europe. The Late Romanesque continued to flourish in the Holy Roman Empire under the Hohenstaufens and Rhineland.
From the end of the 12th century until the middle of the 13th century, the gothic style spread from the Île-de-France to appear in other cities of northern France. New structures in the style included Chartres Cathedral; the early type of rib vault used of Saint Denis and Notre Dame, with six parts, was modified to four parts, making it simpler and stronger. Amiens and Chartres were among the first to use the flying buttress. At Reims, the buttresses were given greater weight and strength by the addition of heavy stone pinnacles on top; these were decorated with statues of ange
Madou Plaza Tower
Madou Plaza Tower is a high-rise building in Brussels. It was renovated between 2002 and 2006 and taken over by the European Commission, it is located on the Small Ring, in the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, at 1 Place Madouplein. It hosts the Commission's Directorate-General for Competition; the 33 story core of Madou was built in just over a month and has been compared as a smaller version of the MetLife Building in New York City. There is a high voltage transformer in the basement for power, along with a 1360 kW emergency generator added during renovation. Two lifts connect to the parking garage. During the 2002-6 renovation, the building's height was increased from 112m to 120 m and office space was increased by 10,000m² to 40,000m², requiring the building to be reshaped and strengthened; the renovation won the MIPIM Award 2006 in the ‘Refurbished Office Buildings’ category. The European Commission bought the building on 13 March 2006 inaugurating it on 19 April when its 1500 employees moved in.
Based in Madou, as of 2007, were the Directorates-General for Communication and Education and Culture and the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation. Staff were based on the Axa-building on square Schuman, to be demolished. Since late 2012 it has hosted the Directorate-General for Competition. European commission Berlaymont building Charlemagne building Convent Van Maerlant Breydel building Brussels and the European Union Institutional seats of the European Union Madou Plaza, Emporis News: European Commission moves to Madou Plaza, Emporis Tour Madou Plaza Nicolas Janberg's: Structure Madou Plaza, Glass Steel and Stone Official opening of Madou Plaza Tower, new EC building, European Commission Gallery: The Madou Tower, Office of the Obscure Passages – before and after images EUROPEAN COMMISSION: MADOU TOWER PHENOMENON BRINGS BRUSSELS FOLK CLOSER TO EUROPE. Goliath
Landshut
Landshut is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria, it is the seat of the surrounding district, has a population of more than 70,000. Landshut is the largest city in Lower Bavaria, followed by Passau and Straubing, Eastern Bavaria's second biggest city. Owing to its characteristic coat of arms, the town is often called "City of the three Helmets". Furthermore, the town is popularly known for a full-tilt medieval festival. Due to its proximity and easy access to Munich and the Franz Josef Strauss International Airport, Landshut became a powerful and future-oriented investment area; the town is one of the richest industrialized towns in Bavaria and has East Bavaria's lowest unemployment rate. Landshut lies in the centre of Lower Bavaria, is part of the Alpine foothills; the River Isar runs through the city centre. Landshut is about 72 kilometres northeast of Munich.
The city of Landshut and Trausnitz castle were founded in 1204 by Duke Louis I. Landshut was a Wittelsbach residence by 1231, in 1255, when the duchy of Bavaria was split in two, Landshut became the capital of Lower Bavaria. Duke Henry XVI was the first of the three famous rich dukes who ruled Bayern-Landshut in the 15th century; the wedding of Duke George with the Polish Princess Royal Jadwiga Jagiellon in 1475 was celebrated in Landshut with one of the most splendid festivals of the Middle Ages. After his death and the Landshut War of Succession, Bavaria-Landshut was reunited with Bavaria-Munich. Louis X, Duke of Bavaria built the Landshut Residence 1537–1543 after his visit to Italy. Louis built the first Renaissance palace constructed north of the Alps after the Palazzo Te in Mantua. William V, Duke of Bavaria ordered to upgrade Trausnitz Castle from a gothic fortification into a renaissance complex when he lived in Landshut as crown prince for ten years until 1579. Afterwards Landshut lost most of its importance until the University of Ingolstadt was moved to Landshut in 1800.
But in 1826 the university was transferred to Munich. In 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, the city was taken and plundered by Swedish forces under the command of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. During World War II, a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp was located in the city to provide slave labour for local industry; the U. S. Army maintained facilities in Landshut, including Pinder Kaserne and a dependent housing area, until 1968. Since the opening of Munich Airport close to Landshut in 1992, the town has become an attractive business location; the town is of national importance because of its predominantly Gothic architecture within the historic town centre Trausnitz Castle and the Church of Saint Martin featuring the world's tallest brick tower. Among other Gothic architecture are the churches of St. Jodok and Holy Spirit, but the Town Hall and the Ländtor, the only still existing gate of the medieval fortification. Landshut is known for a festival celebrated every four years called the Landshuter Hochzeit, commemorating the 1475 marriage of George of Bavaria and Jadwiga Jagiellon.
The renaissance era produced in particular the decorated inner courtyard of the Trausnitz Castle and the ducal Landshut Residence in the inner town. Baroque churches are represented by the Jesuit church St. Ignatius, the Dominican church St. Blasius and the church of St. Joseph; the medieval churches of the Seligenthal convent and of the Cistercians were redesigned in baroque style. Many old middle-class houses of the past in the Old Town still represent the history of the town from the Gothic times to the Neo-Classicism. There are regular regional train connections to Munich, Passau and Hof. Stadttheater Kleines Theater Theater Nikola Kinoptikum – repertory cinema Kinopolis Landshut – Multiplex cinema Burgtheater/Kühlhauskino Skulpturenmuseum im Hofberg Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg – Indoor Ice hockey arena used by the Landshut Cannibals Sparkassen-Arena – Mainly used for concerts and fairs Grieserwiese – Giant parking area located between Wittstraße and the bank of the river Isar used for the annual Frühjahrs- und Bartlmädult BMW Dräxlmaier Group Deutsche Telekom ebmpapst LFoundry, a semiconductor fab owned by Renesas and before by Hitachi) Schott Glass Vishay Karstadt de:Pöschl TabakThere are two nuclear power plants located 14 km away from Landshut, Isar I and Isar II.
Landshut is twinned with: Ulrich Füetrer and painter Ludwig Feuerbach, philosopher Friedrich Feuerbach and philosopher Gustav Tiedemann, officer Carl du Prel, philosopher and occultist Karl Tanera, officer of the Bavarian Army and author Max Slevogt, graphician Otto Kissenberth, fighter pilot in World War I Hermann Erhardt, actor Max Schäfer, football player- and trainer Marlene Neubauer-Woerner, sculptor Josef Deimer and Lord mayor of Landshut from 1970-2014 David Elsner, professional ice hockey player Tom Kühnhackl, professional ice hockey player Roman Herzog, President of Germany from 1994 to 1999 Honorary Citizen as well Klaus Auhuber, ice hockey player Albert Sigl, author Gerhard Tausche and author Gerd Truntschka, ice hockey player Martin Bayerstorfer, politician Alex Holzwarth, dru
Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are attended by dignitaries such as politicians and businessmen; the actual shovel used during the groundbreaking is a special ceremonial shovel, sometimes colored gold, meant to be saved for subsequent display and may be engraved. The term groundbreaking, when used as an adjective, may mean being or making something that has never been done, seen, or made before. Builders' rites Topping out Cornerstone Publicity stunt Ribbon cutting ceremony Media related to Ground-breaking ceremonies at Wikimedia Commons
Sacred architecture
Sacred architecture is a religious architectural practice concerned with the design and construction of places of worship or sacred or intentional space, such as churches, stupas and temples. Many cultures devoted considerable resources to places of worship. Religious and sacred spaces are amongst the most impressive and permanent monolithic buildings created by humanity. Conversely, sacred architecture as a locale for meta-intimacy may be non-monolithic and intensely private and non-public. Sacred and holy structures evolved over centuries and were the largest buildings in the world, prior to the modern skyscraper. While the various styles employed in sacred architecture sometimes reflected trends in other structures, these styles remained unique from the contemporary architecture used in other structures. With the rise of Abrahamic monotheisms, religious buildings became centres of worship and meditation; the Western scholarly discipline of the history of architecture itself follows the history of religious architecture from ancient times until the Baroque period, at least.
Sacred geometry and the use of sophisticated semiotics such as signs and religious motifs are endemic to sacred architecture. Sacred or religious architecture is sometimes called sacred space. Architect Norman L. Koonce has suggested that the goal of sacred architecture is to make "transparent the boundary between matter and mind and the spirit." In discussing sacred architecture, Protestant minister Robert Schuller suggested that "to be psychologically healthy, human beings need to experience their natural setting—the setting we were designed for, the garden." Meanwhile, Richard Kieckhefer suggests that entering into a religious building is a metaphor for entering into spiritual relationship. Kieckhefer suggests that sacred space can be analyzed by three factors affecting spiritual process: longitudinal space emphasizes the procession and return of sacramental acts, auditorium space is suggestive of proclamation and response, new forms of communal space designed for gathering and return depend to a great degree on minimized scale to enhance intimacy and participation in worship.
Sacred architecture spans a number of ancient architectural styles including Neolithic architecture, ancient Egyptian architecture and Sumerian architecture. Ancient religious buildings temples, were viewed as the dwelling place, the temenos, of the gods and were used as the site of various kinds of sacrifice. Ancient tombs and burial structures are examples of architectural structures reflecting religious beliefs of their various societies; the Temple of Karnak at Thebes, Egypt was constructed across a period of 1300 years and its numerous temples comprise what may be the largest religious structure built. Ancient Egyptian religious architecture has fascinated archaeologists and captured the public imagination for millennia. Around 600 BCE the wooden columns of the Temple of Hera at Olympia were replaced by stone columns. With the spread of this process to other sanctuary structures a few stone buildings have survived through the ages. Greek architecture preceded Roman periods. Since temples are the only buildings which survive in numbers, most of our concept of classical architecture is based on religious structures.
The Parthenon which served as a treasury building as well as a place for veneration of deity, is regarded as the greatest example of classical architecture. Indian architecture is related to the history and religions of the time periods as well as to the geography and geology of the Indian subcontinent. India was crisscrossed by trading routes of merchants from as far away as Siraf and China as well as weathering invasions by foreigners, resulting in multiple influences of foreign elements on native styles; the diversity of Indian culture is represented in its architecture. Indian architecture comprises a blend of ancient and varied native traditions, with building types and technologies from West, Central Asia, Europe. Buddhist architecture developed in South Asia beginning in the third century BCE. Two types of structures are associated with early Buddhism: stupas. Viharas were temporary shelters used by wandering monks during the rainy season, but these structures developed to accommodate the growing and formalized Buddhist monasticism.
An existing example is at Nalanda. The initial function of the stupa was the safe-guarding of the relics of the Buddha; the earliest existing example of a stupa is in Sanchi. In accordance with changes in religious practice, stupas were incorporated into chaitya-grihas; these reached their highpoint in the first century BCE, exemplified by the cave complexes of Ajanta and Ellora. The pagoda is an evolution of the Indian stupa, marked by a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in China, Korea and other parts of Asia. Buddhist temples were developed rather and outside South Asia, where Buddhism declined from the early centuries CE onwards, though an early example is that of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar; the architectural structure of the stupa spread across Asia, taking on many diverse forms as details specific to different regions were incorporated into the overall design. It was spread to China and the Asian region by Araniko, a Nepali architect in the early 13th century for Kublai Khan.
Hindu temple architecture is based on Sthapatya Veda and many other ancient religio
