1.
Riga
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Riga is the capital and the largest city of Latvia. With 696,593 inhabitants, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, the city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Rigas territory covers 307.17 square kilometres and lies one and ten metres above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member, Rigas historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden, Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, and the 2006 IIHF Mens World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Unions office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities, another theory could be that Riga was named after Riege, the German name for the River Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava. The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbour 15 km upriver from the mouth of the Daugava — the site of todays Riga — has been recorded, as Duna Urbs and it was settled by the Livs, an ancient Finnic tribe. Riga began to develop as a centre of Viking trade during the early Middle Ages, Rigas inhabitants occupied themselves mainly with fishing, animal husbandry, and trading, later developing crafts. German traders began visiting Riga, establishing a nearby outpost in 1158, along with German traders also arrived the monk Meinhard of Segeberg to convert the Livonian pagans to Christianity. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity had already arrived in Latvia more than a century earlier, Meinhard settled among the Livs, building a castle and church at Ikšķile, upstream from Riga, and established his bishopric there. The Livs, however, continued to practice paganism and Meinhard died in Ikšķile in 1196, in 1198, the Bishop Berthold arrived with a contingent of crusaders and commenced a campaign of forced Christianization. Berthold was killed soon afterwards and his forces defeated, pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians. Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig of Uthlede, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Albert landed in Riga in 1200 with 23 ships and 500 Westphalian crusaders. In 1201, he transferred the seat of the Livonian bishopric from Ikšķile to Riga, the year 1201 also marked the first arrival of German merchants in Novgorod, via the Dvina. To defend territory and trade, Albert established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1202, open to nobles, in 1207, Albert started on fortification of the town. Emperor Philip invested Albert with Livonia as a fief and principality of the Holy Roman Empire, until then, it had been customary for crusaders to serve for a year and then return home
2.
Latvia
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Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The country has a seasonal climate. Latvia is a parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014, Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and 9 are cities. Latvians and Livs are the people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language, Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans, Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population has brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918, however, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II. The peaceful Singing Revolution, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule and it ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and it used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes, henry of Latvia coined the Latinisations of the countrys name, Lettigallia and Lethia, both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the name in Romance languages from Letonia. Around 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals, by 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia, Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians, as well as the Livonians speaking a Finnic language
3.
European Capital of Culture
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The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension. An international panel of experts is in charge of assessing the proposals of cities for the title according to criteria specified by the European Union. Consequently, the beneficial socio-economic development and impact for the city are now also considered in determining the chosen cities. The European Capital of Culture programme was called the European City of Culture and was conceived in 1983, by Melina Mercouri. Mercouri believed that at the time, culture was not given the attention as politics and economics. The European City of Culture programme was launched in the summer of 1985 with Athens being the first title-holder, during the German presidency of 1999, the European City of Culture programme was renamed the European Capital of Culture. 1 A new framework makes it possible for a city in a country or potential candidate for EU membership to hold the title every third year as of 2021. This will be selected through a competition, meaning that cities from various countries may compete with each other. Association for Tourism and Leisure Education
4.
Sibiu
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Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 147,245. Located some 215 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, now the capital of Sibiu County, between 1692 and 1791 and 1849–65 Sibiu was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania, until 1920 it belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Sibiu is one of the most important cultural centres of Romania and was designated the European Capital of Culture for the year 2007, formerly the centre of the Transylvanian Saxons, the old city of Sibiu was ranked as Europes 8th-most idyllic place to live by Forbes in 2008. The city administers the Păltiniș ski resort, in the 14th century, it was already an important trade centre. In 1376, the craftsmen were divided in 19 guilds, Sibiu became the most important ethnic German city among the seven cities that gave Transylvania its German name Siebenbürgen. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the city became the second-, the first Romanian-owned bank had its headquarters here, as did the ASTRA. Starting from the 1950s and until after 1990, most of the citys ethnic Germans emigrated to Germany, among the roughly 2,000 who have remained is Klaus Johannis, the current President of Romania. Sibiu is situated near the center of Romania at 45. 792784°N24. 152069°E /45.792784,24.152069. The northern and eastern limits of Sibiu are formed by the Târnavelor Plateau, the Cibin river as well as some smaller streams runs through Sibiu. The geographical position of Sibiu makes it one of the most important transportation hubs in Romania with important roads, the following districts are part of Sibiu. Some were villages annexed by the city but most were built as the city developed and increased its surface, the Southern part, including the ASTRA National Museum Complex and the Zoo, also falls within the city limits. Sibius climate is continental with average temperatures of 8 to 9 °C. The average rainfall is 627 l/m2, and there are about 120 days of hard frost annually, as of 2011 census data, Sibiu has a population of 147,245, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2002 census, making it the 14th-largest city in Romania. The ethnic breakdown was as follows, Romanians 95. 9% Hungarians 1. 6% Germans 1. 1% Roma 0. 4% Today, protestants and Roman Catholics represent about 5% of the population. When he was elected mayor in 2000, he was the first German mayor of a city in Romania since World War II, Johannis was overwhelmingly reelected in 2004 and 2008 and his party gained an absolute majority in the city council in that year. The German Forum also won the elections for mayor in the second- and third-most important towns in Sibiu county, Mediaș and Cisnădie, Sibiu is an important economic hub for Romania, with a high rate of foreign investments. It is also an important hub for the manufacturing of components and houses factories belonging to ThyssenKrupp Bilstein-Compa, Takata, Continental. Other local industries are machine components, textiles, agro-industry, the city also contains Romanias second-largest stock exchange, the Sibiu Stock Exchange
5.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
6.
Beirut Central District
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The Beirut Central District or Centre Ville is the name given to Beirut’s historical and geographical core, the “vibrant financial, commercial, and administrative hub of the country. ”At the heart of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut Central District is an area thousands of years old, traditionally a focus of business, finance, culture and leisure. It is situated on the northern coast and is easily accessible from all parts of the city. This includes the adjacent Beirut Seaport and Rafik Hariri International Airport, major roads converge on it or from boundaries to the east, south and west, or line its 1.5 km long seafront to the north. Ever since, Beirut Central District has evolved into an integrated business, the Heritage trail is a pedestrian circuit in the citys historic core and the traditional Beirut city center. The trail connects the main sites, places of historic interest, monuments. The Heritage Trail is planned to start and end at the City History Museum on the ancient Tell Area, the trail is divided into four major sections, First Route, The first route in the heritage trail covers the ancient archaeological Tell Area. The future site museum will display remains from the Tell area, a sinuous underground path guides visitors through Canaanite, Phoenician-Persian, Hellinistic, Roman, Byzantine and Medieval ages. etc. The route will also stroll along the streets of Maarad leading up to the Grand Theater historic building and numerous stone churches. Third Route, This segment of the pedestrian circuit revolves largely around the Roman Baths Garden, fourth Route, The fourth route in the Heritage trail lies substantially within the Beirut Souks area. This route contains the Phoenician-Persian quarter, Roman-Byzantine findings, part of the Medieval moat, some mosaics, remains, or arcades will be integrated into the new buildings. Other points of interest along the route are the Zawiyat Ibin Iraq shrine, Majidiyya Mosque, the Shoreline Walk is a proposes sequence of connected spaces which form part of the reconstruction of the Beirut city centre. The city was known for its rocky shoreline Cornice, with its avenues of palms and cafés. Areas have been preserved and demolished by the new master plan, whilst the remediated landfill is set to become a new district. Rather than leave the old coastline land-locked and redundant, it was decided to create a route that straddled the old. The ‘Shoreline Walk’ is placed between the topography and rationalised medieval street layout of the old city, and the engineered grid of the new land-filled area. Research revealed the evolution of Beiruts coastline, the first Phoenician settlers arrived in 1220 BC, followed by Romans in 64 BC, Mamluks in 1291 AD, Ottomans in 1516 and the French in 1918. Successive civilisations adjusted the coastline to create harbors that brought wealth to the city, along the Shoreline Walk five squares provide areas to pause and relax, Harbour Square, All Saints Square, Shoreline Gardens, Zeytoune Square and Santiyeh Garden. Research into each space revealed remnants of the character of the city that had been forgotten or destroyed
7.
Lebanon
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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent, the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, in the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion, however, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918, following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L, the name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
8.
Khmer Empire
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The Khmer Empire, officially the Angkor Empire, the predecessor state to modern Cambodia, was a powerful Hindu-Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia. The empire, which out of the former kingdoms of Funan and Chenla. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, in present-day Cambodia, which was the site of the city during the empires zenith. Satellite imaging has revealed that Angkor, during its peak in the 11th to 13th centuries, was the largest pre-industrial urban centre in the world, the beginning of the era of the Khmer Empire is conventionally dated to 802 CE. In this year, King Jayavarman II had himself declared chakravartin on Phnom Kulen, the empire ended with the fall of Angkor in the 15th century. The history of Angkor as the area of settlement of the historical kingdom of Kambujadesa is also the history of the Khmer kingdom from the 9th to the 13th centuries. From Kambuja itself — and so also from the Angkor region — no written records have survived other than stone inscriptions, according to Sdok Kok Thom inscription, circa 781 Indrapura was the first capital of Jayavarman II, located in Banteay Prei Nokor, near todays Kompong Cham. He then moved his court northwest to Mahendraparvata, far north from the great lake of Tonle Sap. At that ceremony Prince Jayavarman II was proclaimed a universal monarch or God King and he declared himself Chakravartin, in a ritual taken from the Indian-Hindu tradition. Thereby he not only became the divinely appointed and therefore uncontested ruler, at that time, Sailendras allegedly ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia, around the Mekong delta. The first pieces of information on Jayavarman II came from the K.235 stone inscription on a stele in Sdok Kok Thom temple, Isan region, dating to 1053. It recounts two and a half centuries of service members of the temples founding family provided for the Khmer court. This classical theory was revisited by scholars, such as Claude Jacques and Michael Vickery. Moreover, Jayavarmans political career began at Vyadhapura in eastern Cambodia, finally, many early temples on Phnom Kulen shows both Cham and Javanese influences, even if their asymmetric distribution seems typically khmer. He thereby laid the foundation of Angkor, which was to arise some 15 km to the northwest, Jayavarman II died in the year 835 and he was succeeded by his son Jayavarman III. Jayavarman III died in 877 and was succeeded by Indravarman I, the successors of Jayavarman II continually extended the territory of Kambuja. Indravarman I managed to expand the kingdom without wars, and he began extensive building projects, thanks to the wealth gained through trade, foremost were the temple of Preah Ko and irrigation works. Indravarman I developed Hariharalaya further by constructing Bakong circa 881, Bakong in particular bears striking similarity to the Borobudur temple in Java, which strongly suggests that it served as the prototype for Bakong
9.
Pre Rup
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Pre Rup is a Hindu temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built as the state temple of Khmer king Rajendravarman and dedicated in 961 or early 962. It is a mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction. The temple’s name is a modern one meaning turn the body. This reflects the belief among Cambodians that funerals were conducted at the temple. Located just south of the East Baray, or eastern reservoir, Pre Rup is aligned on an axis with the East Mebon temple. The East Mebon was also a creation of the reign of Rajendravarman, Pre Rups extensive laterite and brick give it a pleasing reddish tone that is heightened by early morning and late afternoon sunlight. The temple has a square lay-out and two perimeter walls, the outer enclosure is a platform bounded by a laterite wall,117 meters N-S by 127 meters E-W. A laterite causeway gives entry from the east, unfortunately, a modern road cuts across it, the four external gopuras are cross-shaped, having a central brick section and a sandstone vestibule on both sides. To either side inside the gate is a group of three towers aligned north to south. One of the towers appears to have never built or to have been dismantled later, however they are later additions. Further ahead, through another gate, libraries lie to either side of the walkway on the second platform, just before the entrance there is a stone cistern, but scholars believe it was a basement for a Nandi bronze statue rather than being used for cremation ceremonies. There is also a series of long distinct galleries running along each side, the final squared pyramid, measuring 50 m at its base, rises in three steep tiers a dozen metres in height to a 35 m square platform at the summit. The lowest tier is symmetrically surrounded by 12 small shrines, at the top, five towers are arranged in a quincunx, one at each corner of the square and one in the center. Deities carved as bas-reliefs stand guard at either side of the central tower’s eastern door, the southwest tower once contained a statue of Lakshmi, the northwest tower a statue of Uma, the southeast tower a statue of Vishnu and the northeast tower a statue of Shiva. The last one has an inscription on doorjambs that dates from Jayavarman VI and is the proof of his reign at Angkor. Pre Rup was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, and it is located on a former shivaite ashram. Dumarçay, Jacques, Royère, Pascal, Smithies, Michael, Kähler, Hans, Arps, Ben, Spuler, Bertold, Altenmüller, cambodian Architecture, Eight to Thirteenth Century. The Monuments of the Angkor Group, M. A. Sullivans photos of Pre Rup on Bluffton University website
10.
Great Mosque of Kairouan
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The Great Mosque of Kairouan, also known as the Mosque of Uqba, is one of the most important mosques in Tunisia, situated in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Kairouan. The Great Mosque of Kairouan is one of the most impressive and largest Islamic monuments in North Africa and this vast space contains a hypostyle prayer hall, a huge marble-paved courtyard and a massive square minaret. In addition to its prestige, the Mosque of Uqba is one of the masterpieces of both architecture and Islamic art. Under the Aghlabids, huge works gave the mosque its present aspect, the fame of the Mosque of Uqba and of the other holy sites at Kairouan helped the city to develop and repopulate increasingly. The university, consisting of scholars who taught in the mosque, was a centre of both in Islamic thought and in the secular sciences. Its role can be compared to that of the University of Paris in the Middle Ages, with the decline of the city of Kairouan from the mid 11th century, the centre of intellectual thought moved to the University of Ez-Zitouna in Tunis. Located in the north-east of the medina of Kairouan, the mosque is in the district of Houmat al-Jami. This location corresponded originally to the heart of the fabric of the city founded by Uqba ibn Nafi. But because of the nature of the land, crossed by several tributaries of the wadis. Then there are the upheavals of Kairouan following Hilalians invasions in 449 AH, for all these reasons, the mosque is not any more situated in the center of the medina, and is thereby positioned on the extremity, near the walls. The building is a vast irregular quadrilateral, longer from the side than on the opposite side. It covers a area of 9000 m2. More than a role, the buttresses and towers full serve more to enhance the stability of the mosque built on a soil subject to compaction. At the foundation of Kairouan in 670, the Arab general and conqueror Uqba Ibn Nafi chose the site of his mosque in the center of the city, near the headquarters of the governor. Around 690, shortly after its construction, the mosque was destroyed during the occupation of Kairouan by the Berbers and it was rebuilt by the Ghassanid general Hasan ibn al-Numan in 703. In view of its expansion, he pulled down the mosque and it was under his auspices that the construction of the minaret began. In 774, a new reconstruction accompanied by modifications and embellishments took place under the direction of the Abbasid governor Yazid Ibn Hatim, under the rule of Aghlabid sovereigns, Kairouan was at its apogee, and the mosque profited from this period of stability and prosperity. In 836, Ziadet-Allah I reconstructed the mosque once more, this is when the acquired, at least in its entirety
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