1.
Damour
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Damour is a Lebanese Christian town that is 24 km south of Beirut, part of Greater Beirut. The name of the town is derived from the name of the Phoenician god Damoros who symbolized immortality, the city is located in one of the few flat areas of the Lebanese coast. It is built to the north of the river, the ancient Tamyrus and it is surrounded by plantations of bananas and vegetable crops. It has an area of 10.1 km2, the Beirut-Tyre Highway separates the plantations. Now dismantled, the track is a stopover, now, there exist 6 churches in Damour, of which Notre-Dame de Damour and St Élias are the biggest. We also find three other chapels, including Sainte Thècle, St Michel, which was the first church in Damour, St Maroun under reconstruction and these 6 churches are all Maronite Churches. Before the Lebanese Civil War, Damour had another Catholic Church, because Damour is one of the few cities of the Lebanese coast having a sand beach, and since it is ten minutes from Beirut, Damour attracts tourists and especially water sports enthusiasts. Thus several restaurants, coffees and snacks are located along the beach, there are also a few restaurants at the edges of the Damour river. Emir Fakhreddine the Great had a great interest in Damour, in the 19th century, Damour was the a flourishing center of the Chouf region. Its plain was then planted with mulberry and had twelve large manufacturing companies, ten thousand workers and technicians worked in the natural silk industry. The city has a fascination for the Lebanese worker and attracts the largest majority of the natives in the Sahel region. During the last centuries, Damour was located on the axis of fighting. In 1302, after the mamelouks took Arwad Island, on 8 June the same year, the Cypriots landed on the Damour River. A battle took place between the Emir Fakhr al - Din Abdel - Hamid bin Jamaluddin Altnokhi, his brother the Emir Shams al - Din Abdullah accompanied by an army of Muslims against the Cypriot, the battle was won by Crusaders. Fakhr Din Emir was killed, while his brother Shams al - Din fell hostage and he was released after five days for a ransom of three thousand dinars tyriens. In May 1860, Druze forces committed a massacre of the people, during the nights of the first world war, inhabitants met the armoured French cruiser Jeanne dArc sailors and received medicines, food and other needed supplies. In 1941, Damour was the French administrative capital, the city being a strategic crossing point on the road to Beirut,21 July 1941, was the place of one of the battles that affected Lebanon during World War II Syria-Lebanon Campaign. Australian troops, progressing towards the North along the coast, took Damour, held by the French Foreign Legion, a cease-fire was concluded at the end of the battle
2.
Geneva
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
3.
Fashion design
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Fashion design is the art of application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social attitudes, and has varied over time, Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories such as bracelets and necklace. Because of the required to bring a garment onto the market. Fashion designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing and they consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a range and combinations of materials to work with. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear falls within a range of conventional styles. Some clothes are made specifically for an individual, as in the case of haute couture or bespoke tailoring, today, most clothing is designed for the mass market, especially casual and every-day wear are called ready to wear. Fashion designers may work full-time for one house, as in-house designers. They may work alone or as part of a team, freelance designers work for themselves, selling their designs to fashion houses, directly to shops, or to clothing manufacturers. The garments bear the buyers label, some fashion designers set up their own labels, under which their designs are marketed. Some fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients, other high-end fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-end fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends, most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of mens, womens, and childrens fashions for the mass market. Fashion designers work in different ways, some sketch their ideas on paper, while others drape fabric on a dress form. Finally, a garment is made up and tested on a model to make sure it is an operational outfit. Fashion design is considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments that he created. Before the former draper set up his maison couture in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, worths success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done. The term couturier was in fact first created in order to describe him, while all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 is considered as fashion design. It was during this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments, the images were shown to clients, which was much cheaper than producing an actual sample garment in the workroom
4.
Milan
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Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
5.
Lace
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Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Originally linen, silk, gold, or silver threads were used, now lace is often made with cotton thread, although linen and silk threads are still available. Manufactured lace may be made of synthetic fiber, a few modern artists make lace with a fine copper or silver wire instead of thread. The word lace is from Middle English, from Old French las, noose, strin, from Vulgar Latin *laceum, from Latin laqueus, noose, probably akin to lacere, there are many types of lace, classified by how they are made. These include, Needle lace, such as Venetian Gros Point, is using a needle. This is the most flexible of the lace-making arts, while some types can be made more quickly than the finest of bobbin laces, others are very time-consuming. Some purists regard needle lace as the height of lace-making, the finest antique needle laces were made from a very fine thread that is not manufactured today. Cutwork, or whitework, is constructed by removing threads from a woven background. Bobbin lace, as the name suggests, is made with bobbins, the bobbins, turned from wood, bone, or plastic, hold threads which are woven together and held in place with pins stuck in the pattern on the pillow. The pillow contains straw, preferably oat straw or other such as sawdust, insulation styrofoam. Chantilly lace is a type of bobbin lace, tape lace makes the tape in the lace as it is worked, or uses a machine- or hand-made textile strip formed into a design, then joined and embellished with needle or bobbin lace. Knotted lace includes macramé and tatting, tatted lace is made with a shuttle or a tatting needle. Crocheted lace includes Irish crochet, pineapple crochet, and filet crochet, knitted lace includes Shetland lace, such as the wedding ring shawl, a lace shawl so fine that it can be pulled through a wedding ring. Machine-made lace is any style of lace created or replicated using mechanical means, chemical lace, the stitching area is stitched with embroidery threads that form a continuous motif. Afterwards, the areas are removed and only the embroidery remains. The stitching ground is made of a water-soluble or non-heat-resistant material, the origin of lace is disputed by historians. An Italian claim is a will of 1493 by the Milanese Sforza family, a Flemish claim is lace on the alb of a worshiping priest in a painting about 1485 by Hans Memling. But since lace evolved from techniques, it is impossible to say that it originated in any one place
6.
Swarovski Crystal
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Swarovski is an Austrian producer of crystal headquartered in Wattens, Austria.6 billion euros. Daniel Swarovski was born in northern Bohemia and his father was a glass cutter who owned a small glass factory. It was there that the young Swarovski served an apprenticeship, becoming skilled in the art of glass-cutting, in 1892 he patented an electric cutting machine that facilitated the production of crystal glass. In 1895, Swarovski financier Armand Kosman and Franz Weis founded the Swarovski company, originally known as A. Kosman, the company established a crystal cutting factory in Wattens, Tyrol, to take advantage of local hydroelectricity for the energy-intensive grinding processes Daniel Swarovski patented. Nadja Swarovski, the founders granddaughter, is a member of the Swarovski executive board. The Swarovski Crystal range includes crystal glass sculptures and miniature, jewelry and couture, home decor and it is best known for its small animal figurines, which have loyal and longstanding collectors and fans. All sculptures are marked with a logo, the original Swarovski logo was an edelweiss flower, which was replaced by an S. A. L. Logo, which was replaced with the current swan logo in 1988. To create crystal glass that lets light refract in a rainbow spectrum, for example, Aurora Borealis, or AB, gives the surface a rainbow appearance. Other coatings are named by the company, including Crystal Transmission, Volcano, Aurum, coatings may be applied to only part of an object, others are coated twice, and thus are designated AB 2X, Dorado 2X, etc. In 2004 Swarovski released Xilion, a copyrighted cut designed to optimise the brilliance of Roses, the Swarovski Group includes Tyrolit, Swareflex, Signity, and Swarovski Optik. In 2014, Tristan da Cunha issued a five crown Christmas coin where the reverse has a small Swarovski crystal set in the guiding star behind a picture of one of the magi. Swarovski have created a line of liquid and solid perfumes, the company runs a crystal-themed museum, Swarovski Kristallwelten at its original Wattens site. The Crystal Worlds Centre is fronted by a head, the mouth of which is a fountain. The grass-covered Crystal Worlds Centre houses exhibitions related to, or inspired by, Swarovski work was exhibited at Asias Fashion Jewellery & Accessories Fair based on the concept of a single continuous beam of fragmented light travelling through a crystal. Swarovski Crystal-based animal and other figurines, ornaments and fashion accessories, atelier Swarovski Fashion and jewellery designers. Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren designed a 2014 fall collection, Swarovski Crystal Palace Avant-garde lighting and design Swarovski Professional Crystal elements produced by Swarovski Swarovski Kristallwelten Museum, Art and Entertainment. Swarovski Lighting Finished lighting products and solutions with crystal for architecture, Tyrolit A manufacturer of bonded grinding and cut-off wheels
7.
Pearl
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A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as a conulariid. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate. in minute crystalline form, the ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been valued as gemstones. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, the most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls, cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of their iridescence is usually very poor and is easily distinguished from that of genuine pearls. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelry and they have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines and paint formulations. Whether wild or cultured, gem-quality pearls are almost always nacreous and iridescent, however, almost all species of shelled mollusks are capable of producing pearls of lesser shine or less spherical shape. The English word pearl comes from the French perle, originally from the Latin perna meaning leg, nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially significant, are primarily produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams. A nacreous pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell, natural pearls, formed without human intervention, are very rare. Cultured pearls are formed in pearl farms, using human intervention as well as natural processes, saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oysters in the family Pteriidae. Freshwater pearls grow within certain species of mussels in the order Unionida. The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection, refraction, the thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, in addition, pearls can be dyed yellow, green, blue, brown, pink, purple, or black. The very best pearls have a metallic mirror-like luster, because pearls are made primarily of calcium carbonate, they can be dissolved in vinegar. Calcium carbonate is susceptible to even a weak acid solution because the crystals of calcium carbonate react with the acid in the vinegar to form calcium acetate. Freshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look quite similar, but they come from different sources, Freshwater pearls form in various species of freshwater mussels, family Unionidae, which live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. These freshwater pearl mussels occur not only in hotter climates, most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China
8.
Embroidery
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Embroidery is the handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate materials such as, pearls, beads, quills. Today, embroidery is most often seen on caps, hats, coats, blankets, dress shirts, denim, stockings, Embroidery is available with a wide variety of thread or yarn color. The process used to tailor, patch, mend and reinforce cloth fostered the development of sewing techniques, indeed, the remarkable stability of basic embroidery stitches has been noted, It is a striking fact that in the development of embroidery. There are no changes of materials or techniques which can be felt or interpreted as advances from a primitive to a later, on the other hand, we often find in early works a technical accomplishment and high standard of craftsmanship rarely attained in later times. The art of embroidery has been found world-wide and several examples have been found. Works in China have been dated to the Warring States period, depending on time, location and materials available, embroidery could be the domain of a few experts or a wide-spread, popular technique. This flexibility led to a variety of works, from the royal to the mundane, in 18th century England and its colonies, samplers employing fine silks were produced by the daughters of wealthy families. Embroidery was a marking a girls path into womanhood as well as conveying rank. Conversely, embroidery is also an art, using materials that were accessible to nonprofessionals. Examples include Hardanger from Norway, Merezhka from Ukraine, Mountmellick embroidery from Ireland, Nakshi kantha from Bangladesh and West Bengal, many techniques had a practical use such as Sashiko from Japan, which was used as a way to reinforce clothing. Embroidery was an important art in the Medieval Islamic world, the 17th century Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi called it the craft of the two hands. Because embroidery was a sign of social status in Muslim societies. Craftsmen embroidered items with gold and silver thread, Embroidery cottage industries, some employing over 800 people, grew to supply these items. Taste for fine material has become general, and the drapery of embroidered fabrics used at feasts surpasses every description. The development of embroidery and its mass production came about in stages in the Industrial Revolution. The earliest machine embroidery used a combination of machine looms and teams of women embroidering the textiles by hand and this was done in France by the mid-1800s. The manufacture of machine-made embroideries in St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland flourished in the half of the 19th century
9.
Beirut
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Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been done but in 2007 estimates ranged from more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million as part of Greater Beirut. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanons Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the countrys largest and it is one of the oldest cities in the world, inhabited more than 5,000 years ago. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters dating from the 15th century BC, the Beirut River runs south to north on the eastern edge of the city. Beirut is Lebanons seat of government and plays a role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Badaro, Rue Verdun, Hamra. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beiruts cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction, identified and graded for accountancy, advertising, banking/finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. In May 2015, Beirut was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz. Beirut I, or Minet el Hosn, was listed as Beyrouth ville by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orent, the site was discovered by Lortet in 1894 and discussed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900. The flint industry from the site was described as Mousterian and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, Beirut II, or Umm el Khatib, was suggested by Burkhalter to have been south of Tarik el Jedideh, where P. E. Gigues discovered a Copper Age flint industry at around 100 metres above sea level, the site had been built on and destroyed by 1948. Beirut III, Furn esh Shebbak or Plateau Tabet, was suggested to have located on the left bank of the Beirut River. Burkhalter suggested that it was west of the Damascus road, although this determination has been criticized by Lorraine Copeland, P. E. Gigues discovered a series of Neolithic flint tools on the surface along with the remains of a structure suggested to be a hut circle. Auguste Bergy discussed polished axes that were found at this site. The area was covered in red sand that represented Quaternary river terraces, the site was found by Jesuit Father Dillenseger and published by fellow Jesuits Godefroy Zumoffen, Raoul Describes and Auguste Bergy. Collections from the site were made by Bergy, Describes and another Jesuit, a large number of Middle Paleolithic flint tools were found on the surface and in side gullies that drain into the river. They included around 50 varied bifaces accredited to the Acheulean period, some with a lustrous sheen, Henri Fleisch also found an Emireh point amongst material from the site, which has now disappeared beneath buildings. Levallois flints and bones and similar material were found amongst brecciated deposits. The area has now built on
