1.
Saluting Battery (Valletta)
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The Saluting Battery is an artillery battery in Valletta, Malta. It was constructed in the 16th century by the Order of Saint John, on or near the site of an Ottoman battery from the Great Siege of Malta. The battery forms the lower tier of St. Peter & Paul Bastion of the Valletta Land Front, located below the Upper Barrakka Gardens and overlooking Fort St. Angelo and the rest of the Grand Harbour. The Saluting Battery was mainly used for firing gun salutes and signals. The battery remained a military installation until its guns were removed by the British in 1954. It was restored and opened to the public in the early 21st century, the origins of the Saluting Battery go back to the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. During the siege, Ottoman forces mounted cannon on the Sciberras Peninsula to bombard the Order of Saint John in Fort St. Angelo. One of the batteries was located close to where the Saluting Battery is now, since the area is on high ground and has clear views of St. Angelo. In 1566, after the siege was lifted, the city of Valletta was founded, St. Peter & Paul Bastion began to be built in the same year, and was finished in 1570. The bastion has an artillery platform, from which guns could be mounted to command the full length and depth of the Grand Harbour. The Saluting Battery was built on the platform, while a loggia. During the Orders rule in Malta, the battery was used for military and ceremonial purposes. By the late 18th century, the battery was armed with sixteen 12-pounder bronze cannon that fired stone spherical shots. Soon after the British occupied Malta in 1800, the three daily gun signals began to be fired from the Saluting Battery instead of Saint James Cavalier, when the battery was undergoing maintenance, the shots were fired from Fort St Angelo on the opposite side of the harbour. In 1824, the loggia and garden on the platform above the Saluting Battery were opened to the public as the Upper Barrakka Gardens, by 1848, the battery was armed with four 12-pounder guns. Over the next few years, the armament was significantly increased, in 1854, Lascaris Battery was built adjoining St. Peter & Paul Bastion, below the Saluting Battery. In the 1860s, another 24-pounder was added, bringing the guns to eleven. In 1886, howitzers were replaced by RML 64-pounder guns, while the 32-pounders were removed, in the 1890s, all the armament was replaced with eleven 32-pounder Muzzle Loaders, which were used for saluting purposes only
2.
Saint John's Co-Cathedral
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St Johns Co-Cathedral is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral in Valletta, Malta, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1572 and 1577, having been commissioned by Grand Master Jean de la Cassière as the Conventual Church of Saint John. The church was designed by the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, who designed several of the prominent buildings in Valletta. In the 17th century, its interior was redecorated in the Baroque style by Mattia Preti, the interior of the church is considered to be one of the finest examples of high Baroque architecture in Europe. St. Johns Co-Cathedral was commissioned in 1572 by Jean de la Cassière and it was initially named, in the Italian common language of the time, as Chiesa Conventuale di San Giovanni Battista. The church was designed by the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, who was responsible for the construction of many important buildings in Valletta. However Cassar still took decisions over the design and made modifications. Once St. Johns was completed in 1577, it became the new church of the Order instead of St. Lawrences Church in the Orders former headquarters Birgu. Construction of the oratory and sacristy began in 1598, during the magistracy of Martin Garzez, for the first century of its existence, the churchs interior was modestly decorated. However, in the 1660s, Grand Master Raphael Cotoner ordered the redecoration of the interior so as to rival the churches of Rome, Calabrian artist Mattia Preti was in charge of the embellishment, and effectively completely transformed the interior in the Baroque style. In 1748, Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena built annexes on the side of the cathedral, St. Johns remained the conventual church of the Order until the latter was expelled from Malta with the French occupation in 1798. Over time, the church grew to prominence with the archbishops cathedral at Mdina. In the 1820s, the Bishop of Malta was allowed to use St Johns as an alternative see, in 1831, Sir Walter Scott called the cathedral a magnificent church, the most striking interior ever seen. Later on in the 19th century, Giuseppe Hyzler, a leader of the Nazarene movement, removed some of the Baroque art of the cathedral, the cathedrals exterior was slightly damaged by aerial bombardment in 1941, during World War II, barely escaping total destruction. The contents of the cathedral had been transferred elsewhere before the bombardment, the cathedral was restored between the late 1980s and the early 1990s. In 2001, the St. Johns Co-Cathedral Foundation was set up to administer and conserve the cathedral, the sides of the cathedral were restored between 2008 and 2010, and a complete restoration of the exterior began to be carried out in July 2014. This restoration is being directed by architect Jean Frendo and eight restorers, restoration of the central part of the façade was completed in September 2015, and the project is expected to be ready in 2017. Today, the cathedral is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Malta, the cathedrals exterior is built in the Mannerist style typical of its architect Girolamo Cassar
3.
Fortifications of Valletta
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The fortifications of Valletta are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications which surround the capital city of Valletta, Malta. The first fortification to be built was Fort Saint Elmo in 1552, modifications were made throughout the following centuries, with the last major addition being Fort Lascaris which was completed in 1856. Most of the fortifications largely intact today. The fortifications were well known throughout Europe by the 17th century, in an 1878 book, Valletta was described as one of the best fortified in the world. Today, Vallettas fortifications are regarded as the most important of the fortifications of Malta, the construction of a fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula was first proposed in 1524, when the Order of St. John sent a commission to inspect the Maltese Islands. Back then, the fortification on the peninsula was a militia watchtower built by the Aragonese in 1488. The tower was strengthened in 1533, but the city was not built since the Order focused on building the fortifications of Birgu. In 1551, an Ottoman force briefly attacked Malta, and then sacked Gozo and captured Tripoli, and as a result, in 1552, the Aragonese watchtower was demolished and Fort Saint Elmo was built in its place. The fort played a significant role in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 and it eventually fell after a month of fierce fighting. The knights held out in Birgu and Senglea until a relief force arrived, after the Order emerged victorious from the siege, it received financial support from Europe, which was used to construct the new capital city on the Sciberras Peninsula. The Italian engineer Francesco Laparelli was sent by the Pope to design the citys fortifications, laparellis original design consisted of a bastioned enceinte, with nine cavaliers and a ditch. The city was to be designed along a plan, and was to include a naval arsenal. The citys first stone was laid by Grand Master Jean de Valette on 28 March 1566, the city walls were among the first structures to be built within the city, and were largely complete by the 1570s. Some changes were made to the design while the city was being constructed, Fort St. Elmo, which had been severely damaged in the 1565 siege, was also rebuilt and integrated in the city walls. The city of Valletta officially became the city of Malta. By the end of the 16th century, Valletta was the largest settlement in Malta, the northern end of the peninsula, including Fort St. Elmo, was also enclosed in a bastioned enceinte in the late 1680s to prevent a landing from the sea. Despite the modifications, it was realized that the walls of Valletta were not strong enough to withstand a long siege, in 1635, construction of the Floriana Lines commenced, enclosing Vallettas land front. The Floriana Lines were also modified until the 18th century, later on, the suburb of Floriana developed in the area between the Floriana Lines and the Valletta Land Front, and it is now a town in its own right
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Malta
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Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease
6.
Regions of Malta
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Malta is subdivided into 5 regions. Three regions were created by the Local Councils Act of 1993. Two of the regions were split into smaller ones by Act No, XVI of 2009, and now there are five regions. Each region has a Regional Committee, which consists of a Regional President, a Vice President, Local councils of Malta Districts of Malta NUTS of Malta ISO 3166-2, MT
7.
South Eastern Region
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The South Eastern Region is one of five regions of Malta. The region includes the part of the main island of Malta. The region borders the Central and Southern Regions and it was created by the Act No. XVI of 2009 out of part of Malta Xlokk, South Eastern Region includes parts of the South Eastern and Southern Harbour Districts. Peters The current South Eastern Regional Committee is made up of
8.
Districts of Malta
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Malta is subdivided in districts of localities in order to administer the country in regions rather than locality. The districts have no significance as the local councils provide the first-tier divisions of the country. There are 6 districts, used for purposes and which are, in turn, grouped into 3 regions, Gozo, Malta Majjistral. Each district consists of a number of localities, the Northern Harbour District, Western District and Northern District together form the North Western Region. The South Eastern District and Southern Harbour District together form the South Eastern Region, the Gozo and Comino District is a Region in its own right. The Southern Harbour District forms part of Malta Xlokk and it contains 14 local councils including the capital Valletta and the cities of Birgu, Cospicua, Senglea and Żabbar, with the largest locality being Żabbar while the smallest one is Xgħajra. The total population of the District is 81,834, while total area is 26.1 km2 and it is the second largest district by population and the fifth largest by area. It contains 13 local councils including the city of Qormi, with the largest locality being Birkirkara while the smallest one is Ta Xbiex, the total population of the District is 131,938, while total area is 24.1 km2. It is the largest district by population and the smallest by area, Birkirkara Il-Gżira Il-Ħamrun L-Imsida Pembroke Tal-Pietà Ħal Qormi San Ġiljan San Ġwann Santa Venera Tas-Sliema Is-Swieqi Ta Xbiex The South Eastern District forms part of Malta Xlokk. It contains 11 local councils including the city of Żejtun, with the largest locality being Marsaskala while the smallest one is Ħal Safi, the total population of the District is 66,060, while total area is 54.3 km2. It is the fourth largest district by population and area. Birżebbuġa Ħal Għaxaq Il-Gudja Ħal Kirkop Marsaskala Marsaxlokk L-Imqabba Il-Qrendi Ħal Safi Iż-Żejtun Iż-Żurrieq The Western District forms part of Malta Majjistral and it contains 10 local councils including the cities of Mdina, Siġġiewi and Żebbuġ, with the largest locality being Żebbuġ while the smallest one is Mdina. The total population of the District is 54,315, while total area is 72.5 km2 and it is the fifth largest district by population and the second largest by area. ĦAttard Ħal Balzan Ħad-Dingli L-Iklin Ħal Lija L-Imdina L-Imtarfa Ir-Rabat Is-Siġġiewi Ħaż-Żebbuġ The Northern District forms part of Malta Majjistral and it contains 6 local councils but no cities, with the largest locality being St. Pauls Bay while the smallest one is Għargħur. The total population of the District is 70,580, while total area is 73.6 km2 and it is the third largest district by population and the largest by area. Ħal Għargħur Il-Mellieħa L-Imġarr Il-Mosta In-Naxxar San Pawl il-Baħar The Gozo and it contains 14 local councils including the city of Victoria. This is also the largest locality while the smallest one is Għasri, the total population of the District is 37,288, while total area is 68.7 km2. It is the smallest district by population and the third largest by area, il-Belt Valletta, Archbishop Street Tel,22943101 Il-Furjana, St. Anne Str Tel,21236719 Pinto Police, Valletta Waterfront Tel,21226828 Headquarters in Valletta, the capital city of Malta
9.
Jean Parisot de Valette
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Fra Jean Parisot de Valette was a French nobleman and 49th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 21 August 1557 to his death in 1568. As a Knight Hospitaller, joining the order in the Langue de Provence, Grandmaster La Valette did not live to see Valletta completed as he died at the age of 74 and was followed by Grandmaster Pietro De Monte. Jean Parisots grandfather, Bernard de Valette, was a Knight and Kings Orderly, Jean Parisot was a distant cousin of Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, first Duke of Épernon. In his history of the Order of St. Little else is known about de Valettes early life, De Valette joined the Order when he was 20 years old in around 1514, and he never returned to France or his family estates from that day on. After the loss of Rhodes, the Order was granted the Maltese Islands, in 1537 Valette became Governor of Tripoli, where he tried to restore order within the vulnerable city. In 1538 he was imprisoned in the Gozo prison for 4 months after attacking a man, in 1541 Valette was involved in a naval battle against Abd-ur-Rahman Kust Aly, in which he was wounded and his galley, the San Giovanni, was captured. De Valette was taken as a slave for a year by Barbary pirates under the command of Turgut Reis but was later freed during an exchange of prisoners. In 1554 he was elected Captain General of the Orders galleys and this was a great honour to the Langue of Provence, as throughout most of the Orders history, the position of Grand Admiral was usually held by a Knight Grand Cross of the Italian Langue. In fact both sides had extremely talented sailors, De Valette was described by Abbe de Branthome as being a very handsome man, speaking several languages fluently including Italian, Spanish, Greek, Arabic and Turkish. In 1557, upon the death of Grand Master Claude de la Sengle, in 1560 he formed an alliance with the Habsburg Empire to reconquer Tripoli, but the expedition resulted in a Christian defeat at the Battle of Djerba. Despite this the Orders galleys were able to rescue several other Christian vessels, and later on in his reign, De Valette greatly strengthened the Orders navy. The battle saw the fall of Fort St. Elmo after about a month of fighting, but the Order managed to hold out in Birgu and Senglea until a relief force arrived. As a result of the Orders victory he gained much prestige in Europe and this has been attributed to his sense of modesty and his humility as a warrior monk. After the great siege, he commissioned the construction of the new city of Valletta in 1566, Valletta remains the Maltese capital to this day. De Valette suffered a stroke while praying in a chapel and died soon after on 21 August 1568, De Valette never saw the completed city of Valletta. His tomb can be found in the Crypt of the Conventual Church of the Order, documentary evidence has been found by Bonello that proves Barthélemy was legitimatized in 1568 by a decree of King Charles IX of France. Claims have also put forth that de Valette had at least another daughter, Isabella Guasconi. Isabella later married a Florentine gentleman Stefano Buonaccorsi, but he murdered her on 31 July 1568, after the murder Buonaccorsi escaped the islands with Isabellas wealth and was never heard from again
10.
Floriana
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Floriana, also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014, Floriana is named after Pietro Paolo Floriani, an Italian military engineer who designed the Floriana Lines, the line of fortifications surrounding the town. In Maltese, the town is called Il-Floriana by the local council, however, it is popularly known as Il-Furjana, and the latter is regarded as the official name by the National Council for the Maltese Language. The towns original name was Borgo Vilhena after Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena. The name Borgo Vilhena is now used as a title, just like Valletta has the title Città Umilissima, the origins of Floriana go back to 1636, when construction of the Floriana Lines commenced. The line of fortifications was built outside the fortifications of Valletta as a defensive line for the capital city. The lines were named after Pietro Paolo Floriani, the Italian military engineer who had designed them, the fortifications were partially defensible by 1640, but construction and modifications continued throughout the 17th and 18th century, being fully completed in the 1720s. The area between the Floriana Lines and the Valletta Land Front began to be built up in 1724, the Assoċjazzjoni Sport Floriana, or Floriana Sports Association, sponsors a number of sports in the town, as well as hosting the Floriana Supporters Club. Saint Publius is one of the saints of Malta and also the patron saint of Floriana. The Archipresbyteral Church of Floriana is dedicated to Saint Publius, traditionally acclaimed as the first Bishop of Malta, according to tradition, Publius received the Apostle Paul during his shipwreck on the island as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles 28, 1–10. Being Maltese makes St. Publius the first Maltese saint and this explains the devotion which St. Publius enjoys around Malta, one finds various chapels and statues scattered around the Maltese Islands which date back to hundreds of years. Pjazza Emm. S. Tonna Pjazza San Kalċidonju Triq il-Konservatorju Triq il-Mall Triq il-Miratur Triq is-Suq Triq l-Argotti Triq l-Iljun Triq l-Isqof M. The National Audit Office along with the Department of Contracts and the Malta Environment, the Floriana Local Council was established in 1993 along with Maltas other local councils to administer the town. It is located at Emmanuel S. Tonna Square, the annual Isle of MTV music festival has been held in Floriana since 2007. Vilhena Band Club was founded in 1874, the first musical director of the band was Mro. Giuseppe Borg, and the first president of the Society was Baldassare Portanier, kevin Borg a Maltese singer and Swedish Idol 2008 winner was born in the town. He moved to Arvidsjaur, Sweden in late 2007 to live with his girlfriend and was soon cast as a contestant on the Swedish Idol series, St. Publius Parish Church, Triq Sarria Floriana Local Council, Pjazza Emanuel S
11.
Nationalist Party (Malta)
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The Nationalist Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Malta. It is one of two major political parties in Malta, along with the governing Labour Party. The presence of Italian refugees from the Risorgimento gave the party a liberal constitutionalist character in the Partys early days, the General Council is made up of delegates and representatives from the other Party structure, the largest number being delegates elected by the Sectional Committees. The Executive Council is made up of the Partys highest officials, representatives of the General Council, Parliamentary Groups, Sectional Committees, the Administrative Council is made up of Party officials and deals with Party organisation. The Party is organised geographically in Sectional Committees which are organised in District Fora with special provisions applying for Party organisation in Gozo. The Parliamentary Group and the College of Local Councillors bring together the Partys elected representatives in parliament, the Partys branches include youth, womens, seniors, workers and entrapreneurs sections. link Communications. Fortunato Mizzi, who was a lawyer at the time, strongly opposed these reforms, and in 1880, he set up the Partito Anti-Riformista. He and his followers also wanted a constitution for the island, as the one imposed at the time had been granted by governor Richard Moor OFerrall in 1849. This was because the governor was to appoint more members to the council of government than there were to be elected by the voters, against the Anti-Reform Party stood the Reform Party, founded by Sigismondo Savona in 1879. The Reform Party was in favour of the reforms being imposed. In 1886, Fortunato Mizzi, together with Gerald Strickland, went to London to demand a new constitution for the islands and this constitution was granted in 1887, and added more elected members to the council of government that official members. During the next few years, the party was divided between abstentionists and anti-abstentionists and this practice of abstentionism led to the 1887 constitution being withdrawn, and in 1903, a new one was given instead, similar to that of 1887. The two groups contested the first legislative elections of 1921 but in separate constituencies so as not to each others chances. However, after elections the UPM, which emerged as the largest Party in the Legislative Assembly, the parties again contested the 1924 elections separately although this time they did form a coalition, eventually merging in 1926 under the old name of Nationalist Party. It lost its first elections as a re-unified Party in 1927 to the Compact, a constitutional crisis, resulting from a dispute between the Church and the Constitutional Party, meant that elections were suspended in 1930. They were held again in 1932 when the Nationalists emerged victorious, however, the Nationalists did not last long in government. The Nationalists received what could have been their coup de grâce during the War, in the following 1950 elections, a very damaging split occurred in the ranks of the governing Labour Party resulting in two parties, the Malta Labour Party and the Malta Workers Party. Enrico Mizzi was sworn in as Prime Minister, but died three months in December
12.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
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Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
14.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
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Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
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Religion in Malta
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The predominant religion in Malta is Roman Catholicism. The Constitution of Malta establishes Catholicism as the religion and it is also reflected in various elements of Maltese culture. Maltas patron saints are St Paul, St Publius and St Agatha, the Assumption of Mary known as Santa Marija is the Special patron of the Maltese Islands. This means that if the provisions of article 2 and are in conflict with the rights guaranteed under article 40, with regards to religious instruction in public schools for example, students may opt to decline participation in Catholic religious lessons. Malta was the last European country to introduce divorce in October 2011 after voting in a referendum on the earlier in the year. Furthermore, Malta has also repealed vilification of religion as a crime in July 2016, abortion is illegal in all circumstances. Over the years some loopholes permitted individuals to circumvent the ban for limited time periods, according to a Eurobarometer Poll held in 2005, 95% of respondents from Malta said that they believe there is a God. In a report published in 2006, it was reported that 52. 6% of Maltese attended Sunday mass in 2005, hence, Sunday mass attendance has dropped annually by 1% since 1982. According to Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Sunday mass attendance dropped further to roughly 40% by 2015, zghazagh Azzjoni Kattolika, Catholic children and youth organization, member of Fimcap Pope John Paul II made three pastoral visits to Malta, twice in 1990 and once in 2001. In his last visit he beatified three Maltese, George Preca, Nazju Falzon and Adeodata Pisani, in April 2010, Pope Benedict XVI also visited Malta in the celebration of the anniversary of 1950 years of the shipwreck of Paul in Malta. Most congregants at the local Protestant churches are not Maltese, many British retirees live in the country, in 2008, the seven congregations of Jehovahs Witnesses reported 569 active adherents, with an annual Memorial attendance of 1120. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Bible Baptist Church, the Evangelical Alliance of Malta has seven churches and two organizations that are affiliated, with about 400 members between them. There is one Greek Catholic church, which also hosts Russian Orthodox services a few times a year, there are nearly 100 Hindu families in Malta that practise their own Hindu religion. There is one Muslim mosque and a Muslim faith school, of the estimated 3,000 Muslims in Malta, approximately 2,250 are foreigners, approximately 600 are naturalized citizens, and approximately 150 are native-born Maltese. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is also present, zen Buddhism and the Baháí Faith also have about 40 members
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Saint Dominic
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Saint Dominic, also known as Dominic of Osma and Dominic of Caleruega, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán, was a Castilian priest and founder of the Dominican Order. Dominic is the saint of astronomers. Dominic was born in Caleruega, halfway between Osma and Aranda de Duero in Old Castile, Spain and he was named after Saint Dominic of Silos, who is said to be the patron saint of hopeful mothers. The Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos lies a few north of Caleruega. In the earliest narrative source, by Jordan of Saxony, Dominics parents are named Felix Guzman and Juanna of Aza. This story drew resonance from the fact that his order became known, after his name, as the Dominican order, Dominicanus in Latin which a play on words interpreted as Domini canis, Dog of the Lord. Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and an uncle who was an archbishop. The failure to name his parents is not unusual, since Jordan wrote a history of the Orders early years, a later source, still of the 13th century, also gives their names as Juana and Felix. Nearly a century after Dominics birth, a local author asserted that Dominics father was vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo. The travel narrative of Pero Tafur, written circa 1439, states that Dominics father belonged to the family de Guzmán, Dominics mother, Jane of Aza, was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1828. Dominic was educated in the schools of Palencia where he devoted six years to the arts, in 1191, when Spain was desolated by famine, young Dominic gave away his money and sold his clothes, furniture and even precious manuscripts to feed the hungry. Dominic reportedly told his fellow students, Would you have me study off these dead skins. In 1194, around age twenty-five, Dominic joined the Canons Regular in the canonry in the Cathedral of Osma, following the rule of Saint Augustine. In 1203 or 1204 he accompanied Diego de Acebo, the Bishop of Osma, on a mission for Alfonso VIII, King of Castile. The envoys traveled to Denmark via Aragon and the south of France, the marriage negotiations ended successfully, but the princess died before leaving for Castile. However, even Dominic managed only a few converts among the Cathari, in 1215, Dominic established himself, with six followers, in a house given by Peter Seila, a rich resident of Toulouse. He subjected himself and his companions to the rules of prayer and penance. In the same year, the year of the Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic and Foulques went to Rome to secure the approval of the Pope, Innocent III
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel
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Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and they built in the midst of their hermitages a chapel which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the Lady of the place. Our Lady of Mount Carmel was adopted in the 19th century as the saint of Chile. Traditionally, Mary is said to have given the Scapular to an early Carmelite named Saint Simon Stock, the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated on 16 July. The solemn liturgical feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was probably first celebrated in England in the part of the 14th century. Its object was thanksgiving to Mary, the patroness of the Carmelite Order, the institution of the feast may have come in the wake of the vindication of their title Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Cambridge, England in 1374. The Latin poem Flos Carmeli first appears as the sequence for this Mass, the Carmelite Order was the only religious order to be started in the Crusader States. In the 13th century, some of its people migrated west to England, setting up a chapter and this formed part of the Carmelite habit after 1287. In Stocks vision, Mary promised that those who died wearing the scapular would be saved, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is known to many Catholic faithful as the scapular feast, associated with the Brown Scapular of the Carmelite order. This is a devotional sacramental signifying the wearers consecration to Mary and this tradition grew gradually, as did the liturgical cult of St. Simon. The latter has been documented in Bordeaux, where Stock died, from the year 1435, in Ireland and England, from 1458, historians have long questioned whether Stock had the vision of Mary and the scapular. Although Simon Stock was never canonized, his feast day was celebrated in the church. In 1642, a Carmelite named Fr, john Cheron published a document which he said was a 13th-century letter written by Saint Simon Stocks secretary, Peter Swanington. Since the early 20th century, historians have concluded that this letter was forged, but Stocks vision was long embraced by many promoters of the scapular devotion. The forged Swanington letter claimed that 16 July 1251 was the date of the vision, Vatican II resulted in scrutiny of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as that of Saint Simon Stock, because of the historical uncertainties about the origins. The liturgies were revised and, in the 21st century, neither, even in the Carmelite proper, the Carmelite convent of Aylesford, England, was restored and a relic of Saint Simon Stock was placed there in 1951. The saints feast is celebrated in the dedicated to him. In addition, Carmen and María del Carmen have been given names for girls in Spanish-speaking countries
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Paul the Apostle
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Paul the Apostle, commonly known as Saint Paul, and also known by his native name Saul of Tarsus was an apostle who taught the gospel of the Christ to the first century world. He is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age, in the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences, according to writings in the New Testament, Paul was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem. He was struck blind but, after three days, his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus, and Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah, approximately half of the book of Acts deals with Pauls life and works. Fourteen of the books in the New Testament have traditionally been attributed to Paul. Seven of the epistles are undisputed by scholars as being authentic, Pauline authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews is not asserted in the Epistle itself and was already doubted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It was almost unquestioningly accepted from the 5th to the 16th centuries that Paul was the author of Hebrews, but that view is now almost universally rejected by scholars. The other six are believed by scholars to have come from followers writing in his name. Other scholars argue that the idea of an author for the disputed epistles raises many problems. Today, Pauls epistles continue to be roots of the theology, worship, and pastoral life in the Catholic and Protestant traditions of the West. Augustine of Hippo developed Pauls idea that salvation is based on faith, martin Luthers interpretation of Pauls writings influenced Luthers doctrine of sola fide. The main source for information about Pauls life is the material found in his epistles, however, the epistles contain little information about Pauls past. The book of Acts recounts more information but leaves several parts of Pauls life out of its narrative, such as his probable, some scholars believe Acts also contradicts Pauls epistles on multiple accounts, in particular concerning the frequency of Pauls visits to the church in Jerusalem. It has been assumed that Sauls name was changed when he converted from Judaism to Christianity. His Jewish name was Saul, perhaps after the biblical King Saul, a fellow Benjamite, according to the Book of Acts, he inherited Roman citizenship from his father. As a Roman citizen, he bore the Latin name of Paul—in biblical Greek, Παῦλος. It was quite usual for the Jews of that time to have two names, one Hebrew, the other Latin or Greek. Jesus called him Saul, Saul in the Hebrew tongue in the book of Acts, later, in a vision to Ananias of Damascus, the Lord referred to him as Saul, of Tarsus
20.
Augustine of Hippo
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Augustine of Hippo was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia, Augustine is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions, according to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine established anew the ancient Faith. In his early years, he was influenced by Manichaeism. After his baptism and conversion to Christianity in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and perspectives. Believing that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin, when the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material Earthly City. His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview, the segment of the Church that adhered to the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustines On the Trinity. Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Christian Church, and he is also the patron of the Augustinians. His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death, Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists and Lutherans, consider him to be one of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation. Lutherans, and Martin Luther in particular, have held Augustine in preeminence, Luther himself was a member of the Order of the Augustinian Eremites. In the East, some of his teachings are disputed and have in the 20th century in particular come under attack by such theologians as John Romanides, but other theologians and figures of the Eastern Orthodox Church have shown significant appropriation of his writings, chiefly Georges Florovsky. The most controversial doctrine surrounding his name is the filioque, which has been rejected by the Orthodox Church, other disputed teachings include his views on original sin, the doctrine of grace, and predestination. Nevertheless, though considered to be mistaken on some points, he is considered a saint. In the Orthodox Church his feast day is celebrated on 28 August and he was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. Augustine was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions, Augustine was born in the year 354 AD in the municipium of Thagaste in Roman Africa. His mother, Monica or Monnica, was a devout Christian, in his writings, Augustine leaves some information as to the consciousness of his African heritage
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World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
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Capital city
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A capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city that encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective government. In some jurisdictions, including countries, the different branches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the capital and the seat of government, which is in another place. The word capital derives from the Latin caput, meaning head, in several English-speaking states, the terms county town, county seat, and borough seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In unitary states, subnational capitals are known as administrative centres. The capital is often, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent, historically, the major economic centre of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or federation. Examples are Ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, Ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Changan, Ancient Cusco, Madrid, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna, and Berlin. Some of these cities are or were also religious centres, e. g. Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem, Ancient Babylon, Moscow, Belgrade, Paris, and Peking. A capital city that is also the economic, cultural. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal, traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, e. g. Nanking by Shanghai, Quebec City by Montreal, and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its city, as occurred at Babylon. Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no legal designation as such, for example Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Paris, are located in or near them. In Canada, there is a capital, while the ten provinces. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil, and Australia all have capital cities, for example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. In Australia, the capital cities is regularly used, to refer to the aforementioned state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra and Darwin. Abu Dhabi is the city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent countries, such as the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Denmark, the national capitals of Germany and Russia, the Stadtstaat of Berlin and the Federal City of Moscow, are also constituent states of both countries in their own right
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Malta (island)
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Malta is the largest of the three major islands that constitute the Maltese archipelago. It is sometimes referred to as Valletta for statistical purposes to distinguish the island from the entire country. Malta is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea directly south of Italy, the island is 27 kilometres long and 14.5 kilometres wide, with a total area of 246 square kilometres. The capital is Valletta, largest locality is Birkirkara, the island is made up of many small towns, which together form one Larger Urban Zone with a population of 409,259. The landscape is characterised by low hills with terraced fields, humans have inhabited Malta since about 5200 BC, when stone age hunters or farmers arrived from Sicily. Early Neolithic settlements were discovered in areas and also in caves. Around 3500 BC, a culture of megalithic temple builders then either supplanted or arose and they built some of the oldest existing, free-standing structures in the world in the form of megalithic temples such as those at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra. After 2500 BC, Malta was depopulated but soon became the home of Bronze Age settlers and they built first fortifications in Malta. Malta was later ruled by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, the island then became part of the Kingdom of Sicily until it was given to the Order of Saint John along with Gozo and Tripoli in 1530. In 1565, the Order and the Maltese withstood a major Ottoman invasion which became known as the Great Siege of Malta, the Order ruled Malta for over 250 years and built many great pieces of architecture, including the capital city Valletta. In 1798 the French under Napoleon occupied Malta and ruled from 1798-1800, napoleons stay lasted from 12–18 June when he resided at Palazzo Parisio in Valletta. The French remained until the Maltese rebelled against their rule, in 1800, the British took control over Malta and the island initially became a British protectorate, and a colony a couple of years later. The British ruled for about 150 years and Malta became independent in 1964, ten years later the State of Malta became the Republic of Malta. Malta joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the Euro four years later, Malta is the largest island in an archipelago in the central Mediterranean, some 80 km south of the Italian island of Sicily across the Malta Channel. Malta is located east of its sister islands of Gozo and Comino and it lies on the Malta plateau, a shallow shelf formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa that became isolated as sea levels rose after the last Ice Age. Malta is therefore situated in the zone between the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbours. The landscape consists of low hills with terraced fields, the highest point in Malta is Ta Dmejrek, at 253 m, near Dingli. Although there are small rivers at times of high rainfall
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Marsamxett Harbour
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Marsamxett Harbour, historically also referred to as Marsamuscetto, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It is located to the north of the larger Grand Harbour, the harbour is generally more dedicated to leisure use than the Grand Harbour. The harbour mouth faces north east and is bounded to the north by Dragut Point and its northwest shore is made up of the towns of Sliema, Gżira and Ta Xbiex. The harbour then extends inland to Pietà and Msida, off Gżira lies Manoel Island, now connected to the mainland by a bridge. The south eastern shore of the harbour is formed by the Sciberras peninsula, which is covered by the town of Floriana. At its tip lies the 16th century Fort Saint Elmo, the Sciberras peninsula divides Marsamxett from the larger parallel natural harbour, Grand Harbour. Along its partner the Grand Harbour, Marsamxett lies at the centre of gently rising ground, development has grown up all around the twin harbours and up the slopes so that the whole bowl is effectively one large conurbation. Much of Maltas population lives within a three kilometer radius of Floriana and this is now one of the most densely populated areas in Europe. The harbours and the surrounding areas make up Maltas Northern and Southern Harbour Districts, together, these districts contain 27 of 68 local councils. They have a population of 213,722 which make up over 47% of the population of the Maltese islands. In 1551, Ottomans landed at Marsamxett and marched upon the Grand Harbour and this skirmish was followed by an unsuccessful attack against Mdina, and successful sacking of Gozo and conquest of Tripoli. After this attack, Fort Saint Elmo was built to guard both Marsamxett and the Grand Harbour, a much larger Ottoman invasion came in 1565, in the Great Siege of Malta. During the siege, the Ottoman fleet was based at Marsamxett, during the attack, the Ottoman admiral Dragut was killed by stray gunfire. The siege was lifted and the Order and the Maltese emerged victorious. A new city was constructed on the Sciberras Peninsula, and was named Valletta after the Grandmaster who commissioned it, the suburb of Floriana was later built outside the city, and it has now developed into a town in its own right. In 1592, a quarantine hospital was built on Manoel Island. It was dismantled a year later, but a permanent Lazzaretto was built in its place in 1643, between 1723 and 1733, Fort Manoel was built on Manoel Island, while Fort Tigné was built on Tigné Point in 1793. British barracks were built on Tigné Point, but these have since been demolished
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Grand Harbour
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The Grand Harbour, also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since at least Phoenician times, the natural harbour has been greatly improved with extensive docks and wharves, and has been massively fortified. The harbour mouth faces north east and is bounded to the north by Saint Elmo Point and its north west shore is formed by the Sciberras peninsula, which is largely covered by the city of Valletta and its suburb Floriana. This peninsula also divides Grand Harbour from a second parallel natural harbour, the main waterway of Grand Harbour continues inland almost to Marsa. The harbour has been described as Maltas greatest geographic asset, with its partner harbour of Marsamxett, Grand Harbour lies at the centre of gently rising ground. Development has grown up all around the harbours and up the slopes so that the whole bowl is effectively one large conurbation. Much of Maltas population lives within a three kilometer radius of Floriana and this is now one of the most densely populated areas in Europe. The harbours and the surrounding areas make up Maltas Northern and Southern Harbour Districts, together, these districts contain 27 of 68 local councils. They have a population of 213,722 which make up over 47% of the population of the Maltese islands. The Maltese islands have a history, mainly due to its strategic location and natural harbours. The Grand Harbour has in fact been used since prehistoric times, megalithic remains have been found on the shores of the Grand Harbour. The Kordin Temples, the earliest of which date back to around 3700 BC, another megalithic structure possibly existed underwater off Fort Saint Angelo, but this can no longer be seen. Punic and Roman remains were found on the shores of the harbour. By the 12th and 13th centuries, the Castrum Maris had been built in what is now Birgu and it might have been built instead of ancient buildings, possibly Phoenician or Roman temples, or an Arab fortress. In 1283, the Battle of Malta was fought at the entrance of the Grand Harbour, aragonese forces defeated a larger Angevin force and captured 10 galleys. The Grand Harbour was the base for the Order of Saint John for 268 years and they settled in the city of Birgu and improved its fortifications, including rebuilding the Castrum Maris as Fort Saint Angelo. In July 1551, Barbary corsairs and Ottoman forces raided Malta and they landed at Marsamxett and marched upon the Grand Harbour, but did not attack as they found the town of Birgu too well fortified to attack. Although this attempt was unsuccessful, the Ottoman force later managed to sack Gozo, after the attack, Fort Saint Elmo and Fort Saint Michael were built to better protect the harbour in any future attacks
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Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
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Knights Hospitaller
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It was headquartered variously in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, until it became known by its current name. Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thoms order and it regained strength during the early 19th century as it redirected itself toward religious and humanitarian causes. In 1834, the order, by this time known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, acquired new headquarters in Rome, in 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1005, Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital, in 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno in Italy were given permission by the Caliph Ali az-Zahir of Egypt to rebuild the hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital, which was built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist and it was served by the Order of Saint Benedict. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem, under his successor, Raymond du Puy de Provence, the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Initially the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order extended to providing pilgrims with an armed escort. Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became military without losing its charitable character. Raymond du Puy, who succeeded Gerard as Master of the Hospital in 1118, organised a militia from the orders members, in 1130, Pope Innocent II gave the order its coat of arms, a silver cross in a field of red. The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land, frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185. The statutes of Roger de Moulins deal only with the service of the sick, the order numbered three distinct classes of membership, the military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service. In 1248 Pope Innocent IV approved a military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their armour, they wore a red surcoat with a cross emblazoned on it. Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars, at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers held seven great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The two largest of these, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch, were the Krak des Chevaliers, the property of the Order was divided into priories, subdivided into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanderies. As early as the late 12th century the order had begun to achieve recognition in the Kingdom of England, as a result, buildings such as St Johns Jerusalem and the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham, near Dublin, after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291, the Knights were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on 15 August 1310, after four years of campaigning
28.
Baroque architecture
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It was characterized by new explorations of form, light and shadow, and dramatic intensity. Baroque architecture and its embellishments were on the one hand more accessible to the emotions and on the other hand, the new style manifested itself in particular in the context of the new religious orders, like the Theatines and the Jesuits who aimed to improve popular piety. The architecture of the High Roman Baroque can be assigned to the reigns of Urban VIII, Innocent X and Alexander VII. Dissemination of Baroque architecture to the south of Italy resulted in variations such as Sicilian Baroque architecture or that of Naples. To the north, the Theatine architect Camillo-Guarino Guarini, Bernardo Vittone and Sicilian born Filippo Juvarra contributed Baroque buildings to the city of Turin and the Piedmont region. A synthesis of Bernini, Borromini and Cortona’s architecture can be seen in the late Baroque architecture of northern Europe which paved the way for the more decorative Rococo style. During the 17th century, Baroque architecture spread through Europe and Latin America, michelangelos late Roman buildings, particularly St. Peters Basilica, may be considered precursors to Baroque architecture. Colonialism required the development of centralized and powerful governments with Spain and France, the initial mismanagement of colonial wealth by the Spaniards bankrupted them in the 16th century, recovering only slowly in the following century. While this was good for the industries and the arts, the new wealth created an inflation. Rome was known just as much for its new sumptuous churches as for its vagabonds, one of the first Roman structures to break with the Mannerist conventions exemplified in the Gesù, was the church of Santa Susanna, designed by Carlo Maderno. The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, central massing, there is an incipient playfulness with the rules of classic design, but it still maintains rigor. These concerns are more evident in his reworking of Santa Maria della Pace. Probably the most well known example of such an approach is Saint Peters Square, the piazza, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is formed principally by two colonnades of free standing columns centred on an Egyptian obelisk. Berninis own favourite design was his church of SantAndrea al Quirinale decorated with polychome marbles. His secular architecture included the Palazzo Barberini based on plans by Maderno, Berninis rival, the architect Francesco Borromini, produced designs that deviated dramatically from the regular compositions of the ancient world and Renaissance. His building plans were based on geometric figures, his architectural forms were unusual and inventive. Borrominis architectural spaces seem to expand and contract when needed, showing some affinity with the style of Michelangelo. A later work, the church of SantIvo alla Sapienza, displays the same playful inventiveness and antipathy to the flat surface, following the death of Bernini in 1680, Carlo Fontana emerged as the most influential architect working in Rome
29.
Mannerism
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Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, lasting until about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style began to replace it. Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century, stylistically, Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo. Where High Renaissance art emphasizes proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, Mannerism exaggerates such qualities, Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. Mannerism favors compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting, Mannerism in literature and music is notable for its highly florid style and intellectual sophistication. The definition of Mannerism and the phases within it continue to be a subject of debate among art historians, for example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature and music of the 16th and 17th centuries. The term is used to refer to some late Gothic painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530. Mannerism also has been applied by analogy to the Silver Age of Latin literature, the word mannerism derives from the Italian maniera, meaning style or manner. Like the English word style, maniera can either indicate a type of style or indicate an absolute that needs no qualification. Vasari was also a Mannerist artist, and he described the period in which he worked as la maniera moderna, james V. Mirollo describes how bella maniera poets attempted to surpass in virtuosity the sonnets of Petrarch. This notion of bella maniera suggests that artists thus inspired looked to copying and bettering their predecessors, in essence, bella maniera utilized the best from a number of source materials, synthesizing it into something new. As a stylistic label, Mannerism is not easily defined, “High Renaissance” connoted a period distinguished by harmony, grandeur and the revival of classical antiquity. The term Mannerist was redefined in 1967 by John Shearman following the exhibition of Mannerist paintings organised by Fritz Grossmann at Manchester City Art Gallery in 1965. The label “Mannerism” was used during the 16th century to comment on social behaviour, however, for later writers, such as the 17th-century Gian Pietro Bellori, la maniera was a derogatory term for the perceived decline of art after Raphael, especially in the 1530s and 1540s. From the late 19th century on, art historians have used the term to describe art that follows Renaissance classicism. By the end of the High Renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis, no more difficulties, technical or otherwise, remained to be solved. The young artists needed to find a new goal, and they sought new approaches, at this point Mannerism started to emerge. The new style developed between 1510 and 1520 either in Florence, or in Rome, or in both cities simultaneously and this period has been described as a natural extension of the art of Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Michelangelo from an early age had developed a style of his own, one of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and subsequent artists attempted to imitate it
30.
Neoclassical architecture
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Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro, Neoclassical architecture is still designed today, but may be labelled New Classical Architecture for contemporary buildings. In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is referred to as Classicism. Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were influenced by the drawings and projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée, the many graphite drawings of Boullée and his students depict spare geometrical architecture that emulates the eternality of the universe. There are links between Boullées ideas and Edmund Burkes conception of the sublime, the baroque style had never truly been to the English taste. The most popular was the four-volume Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell, the book contained architectural prints of famous British buildings that had been inspired by the great architects from Vitruvius to Palladio. At first the book featured the work of Inigo Jones. Palladian architecture became well established in 18th-century Britain, at the forefront of the new school of design was the aristocratic architect earl, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, in 1729, he and William Kent, designed Chiswick House. This House was a reinterpretation of Palladios Villa Capra, but purified of 16th century elements and this severe lack of ornamentation was to be a feature of the Palladianism. In 1734 William Kent and Lord Burlington designed one of Englands finest examples of Palladian architecture with Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the main block of this house followed Palladios dictates quite closely, but Palladios low, often detached, wings of farm buildings were elevated in significance. This classicising vein was also detectable, to a degree, in the Late Baroque architecture in Paris. This shift was even visible in Rome at the redesigned façade for S, by the mid 18th century, the movement broadened to incorporate a greater range of Classical influences, including those from Ancient Greece. The shift to neoclassical architecture is conventionally dated to the 1750s, in France, the movement was propelled by a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and was influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The style was adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden. A second neoclassic wave, more severe, more studied and more consciously archaeological, is associated with the height of the Napoleonic Empire, in France, the first phase of neoclassicism was expressed in the Louis XVI style, and the second in the styles called Directoire or Empire. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine II the Great in St. Petersburg, indoors, neoclassicism made a discovery of the genuine classic interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum. These had begun in the late 1740s, but only achieved an audience in the 1760s
31.
Modern architecture
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Modern architecture or modernist architecture is a term applied to a group of styles of architecture which emerged in the first half of the 20th century and became dominant after World War II. The revolution in materials came first, with the use of cast iron, plate glass, the cast plate glass process was invented in 1848, allowing the manufacture of very large windows. The Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton at the Great Exhibition of 1851 was an example of iron and plate glass construction, followed in 1864 by the first glass. These developments together led to the first steel-framed skyscraper, the ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago, the iron frame construction of the Eiffel Tower, then the tallest structure in the world, captured the imagination of millions of visitors to the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition. French industrialist François Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete, in 1853 Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure, a four story house in the suburbs of Paris. Another important technology for the new architecture was electric light, which reduced the inherent danger of fires caused by gas in the 19th century. This break with the past was particularly urged by the architectural theorist, for each function its material, for each material its form and its ornament. This book influenced a generation of architects, including Louis Sullivan, Victor Horta, Hector Guimard, at the end of the 19th century, a few architects began to challenge the traditional Beaux Arts and Neoclassical styles that dominated architecture in Europe and the United States. The Glasgow School of Art 1896-99) designed by Charles Rennie MacIntosh, had a facade dominated by large bays of windows. The Art Nouveau style was launched in the 1890s by Victor Horta in Belgium and Hector Guimard in France, it introduced new styles of decoration, based on vegetal and floral forms. In 1903-1904 in Paris Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage began to use reinforced concrete, previously used for industrial structures. Between 1910 and 1913, Auguste Perret built the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, because of the concrete construction, no columns blocked the spectators view of the stage. Otto Wagner, in Vienna, was another pioneer of the new style, in his book Moderne Arkchtekture he had called for a more rationalist style of architecture, based on modern life. Wagner declared his intention to express the function of the building in its exterior, the reinforced concrete exterior was covered with plaques of marble attached with bolts of polished aluminum. The interior was purely functional and spare, an open space of steel, glass. The Viennese architect Adolf Loos also began removing any ornament from his buildings and his Steiner House, in Vienna, was an example of what he called rationalist architecture, it had a simple stucco rectangual facade with square windows and no ornament. The fame of the new movement, which known as the Vienna Secession spread beyond Austria. Josef Hoffmann, a student of Wagner, constructed a landmark of early modernist architecture and this residence, built of brick covered with Norwegian marble, was composed of geometric blocks, wings and a tower
32.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
33.
Royal Opera House, Valletta
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The Royal Opera House, also known as the Royal Theatre, was an opera house and performing arts venue in Valletta, Malta. It was designed by the English architect Edward Middleton Barry and was erected in 1866, in 1873 its interior was extensively damaged by fire but was eventually restored by 1877. The theatre received a hit from aerial bombing in 1942 during World War II. Prior to its destruction, it was one of the most beautiful, the design of the building was entrusted to Edward Middleton Barry, the architect of Covent Garden Theatre, and the classic design plan was completed by 1861. The original plans had to be altered because the streets on the sides of the theatre had not been taken into consideration. This resulted in a terrace being added on the side of Strada Reale designed by Maltese architects, the building of the 206 feet by 112 feet site started in 1862, after what was the Casa della Giornata was demolished. After four years, the Opera House, with a capacity of 1,095 and 200 standing, was ready for the official opening on 9 October 1866. The theatre was not to last long, on 25 May 1873, the exterior of the theatre was undamaged but the interior stonework was calcified by the intense heat. It was decided to rebuild the theatre, and after the issuing of tenders for the work and a lot of arguing whether the front had to be changed or not, the theatre was ready. On 11 October 1877, after four and a half years from the fire. Some 65 years later, tragedy struck the Royal Opera House again, On the evening of Tuesday, April 7,1942, the next morning a people hardened by aerial bombing inspected the remains of their national theatre. The portico and the auditorium were a heap of stones, the roof a gaping hole of twisted girders, the rear end starting half way from the colonnade was however intact. The remaining structures were levelled down as a safety precaution, all that remained of the Opera House were the terrace and parts of the columns. In 1953 six renowned architects submitted designs for the new theatre, the Committee chose Zavellani-Rossis project and recommended its acceptance by Government subject to certain alterations. The project ground to a halt on Labours re-election, contending that it was not in a position to spend so much money on a theatre when so many other projects needed attention. Although a provision of 280,000 pounds for the reconstruction of the theatre had been made in the 1955-56 budget, by 1957 the project had been shelved and after 1961 all references to the theatre in the countrys development plans were omitted. In the 1980s contact was made with the renowned architect Renzo Piano to design a building to be constructed on site as well as the rehabilitiation of the entrance of the city. Piano submitted the plans which were approved by the Government in 1990, in 1996 the incoming Labour Government announced that reconstruction of the site into a commercial and cultural complex together with an underground car park would be Maltas millennium project
34.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
35.
Bastion
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A bastion is an angular structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly at the corners. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks with fire from the flanks being able to protect the wall and also the adjacent bastions. It is one element in the style of fortification dominant from the mid 16th to mid 19th centuries, Bastion fortifications offered a greater degree of passive resistance and more scope for ranged defense in the age of gunpowder artillery compared with the medieval fortifications they replaced. By the middle of the 15th century, artillery pieces had become powerful enough to make the traditional medieval round tower, during the Eighty Years War Dutch military engineers developed the concepts further lengthening the faces and shortening the curtain walls of the bastions. To augment this change they placed v shaped outworks in front of the bastions, Bastions differ from medieval towers in a number of respects. Bastions are lower than towers and are normally of similar height to the adjacent curtain wall, the height of towers, although making them difficult to scale, also made them easy for artillery to destroy. A bastion would normally have a ditch in front, the side of which would be built up above the natural level then slope away gradually. This glacis shielded most of the bastion from the cannon while the distance from the base of the ditch to the top of the bastion meant it was still difficult to scale. In contrast to late medieval towers, bastions were flat sided rather than curved. This eliminated dead ground making it possible for the defenders to fire upon any point directly in front of the bastion, Bastions also cover a larger area than most towers. This allows more cannons to be mounted and provided space for the crews to operate them. Surviving examples of bastions are usually faced with masonry, unlike the wall of a tower this was just a retaining wall, cannonball were expected to pass through this and be absorbed by a greater thickness of hard-packed earth or rubble behind. The top of the bastion was exposed to fire. If a bastion was successfully stormed, it could provide the attackers with a stronghold from which to further attacks. Some bastion designs attempted to minimise this problem and this could be achieved by the use of retrenchments in which a trench was dug across the rear of the bastion, isolating it from the main rampart. Various kinds of bastions have been used throughout history, solid bastions are those that are filled up entirely, and have the ground even with the height of the rampart, without any empty space towards the centre. Void or hollow bastions are those that have a rampart, or parapet, only around their flanks and faces, so that a void space is left towards the centre. The ground is so low, that if the rampart is taken, no retrenchment can be made in the centre, but what will lie under the fire of the besieged
36.
Curtain wall (fortification)
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A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two towers of a castle, fortress, or town. In medieval castles, the area surrounded by a curtain wall, the outermost walls with their integrated bastions and wall towers together make up the enceinte or main defensive line enclosing the site. In earlier designs of castle and town, the walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult. Evidence for curtain walls or a series of walls surrounding a town or fortress can be found in the sources from Assyria. Some notable examples are ancient Lachish and Buhen, enceinte Curry, Anne, Hughes, Michael, eds. The Popular Encyclopedia, or, Conversations Lexicon, I, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London, Blackie & Son, p.444
37.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
Malta
Order of Saint John 1566–1798
French Republic 1798–1800
Protectorate of Malta 1800–1813
Crown Colony of Malta 1813–1964
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