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Showing posts with label Top 100 wonders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Top 100 wonders. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Teotihuacan - Mexico
Teotihuacán was the largest urban center in pre-Columbian America and, in the
hey-day of its existence, one of the three largest cities in the world, rivaling Rome
in Europe and Beijing in Asia. It is located in the Valley of Mexico, a highland basin
on the Mexican plateau which was centered on a large, shallow lake known as
the "Lake of the Moon", about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of modern Mexico City.
The city was founded about 150 B.C. by refugees from the ancient "Olmec"
ceremonial center of Cuicuilco, which lay near the southwestern edge of the lake.
An eruption of the volcano Xitle had sent the residents of Cuicuilco fleeing around
the lake to the northeast, where they laid out their new metropolis according to
a meticulously gridded "grand design". When archaeologists began seriously
excavating the site in the 1960's, they found that the entire city and its environs
had been oriented along axes that varied 15.5º from the cardinal points. Thus, the
the principal thoroughfare of the city -- called by the Aztecs "The Street of the
Dead" -- began at the Pyramid of the Moon and ran south-southwestward along an
azimuth (i.e., compass bearing) of 195.5º, or 15.5º west of south. (See photograph
above.) All major structures, such as the gigantic Pyramid of the Sun (seen in the
middle background of the photograph above and from its western front in the
photograph below), and all cross-streets were aligned at right angles to this in turn,
meaning that they were oriented to an azimuth of 285.5º, or 15.5º north of west.
Visitors to the museum at Teotihuacán are informed that the city owes its
layout to the azimuth at which the suns sets on the days that it passes directly
overhead at the site, namely July 26 and May 18. Yet, when the sunset azimuths
are calculated for those dates, it will quickly be seen that they occur at 290.7º
and not 285.5º as the city master-plan itself reveals!
In 1975, when I put my students to work calculating what "sunset" the city's
orientation actually commemorated, they were quick to come up with an answer
that proved immensely exciting -- August 13th, "the day the world began"
according to the ancient Mesoamericans! Here, on the Plateau of Mexico, city-
planners had built a ceremonial center with a configuration commemorating a date whose
calendrical importance had first been recognized 1000 km (600 miles) away to
the south more than a millenium earlier. And, in addition, they had located the
city with such precision that it was also aligned to the highest mountain in
all of Mexico at sunrise on the winter solstice --Citlaltépetl, or Orizaba (5700 m,
or 18,700 ft. in elevation). To be sure, a low ridge obscures the mountain from
the direct view of anyone standing atop the Pyramid of the Sun, but the alignment
is so exact that in a paper published in 1978 I hypothesized that a "relay station"
of sorts must have been constructed on the intervening ridge to alert the priests
of the solsticial sunrise. In January, 1993, with the help of a GPS (i.e., global position-
ing system) receiver I managed to confirm that such a "station" had in fact existed.
hey-day of its existence, one of the three largest cities in the world, rivaling Rome
in Europe and Beijing in Asia. It is located in the Valley of Mexico, a highland basin
on the Mexican plateau which was centered on a large, shallow lake known as
the "Lake of the Moon", about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of modern Mexico City.
The city was founded about 150 B.C. by refugees from the ancient "Olmec"
ceremonial center of Cuicuilco, which lay near the southwestern edge of the lake.
An eruption of the volcano Xitle had sent the residents of Cuicuilco fleeing around
the lake to the northeast, where they laid out their new metropolis according to
a meticulously gridded "grand design". When archaeologists began seriously
excavating the site in the 1960's, they found that the entire city and its environs
had been oriented along axes that varied 15.5º from the cardinal points. Thus, the
the principal thoroughfare of the city -- called by the Aztecs "The Street of the
Dead" -- began at the Pyramid of the Moon and ran south-southwestward along an
azimuth (i.e., compass bearing) of 195.5º, or 15.5º west of south. (See photograph
above.) All major structures, such as the gigantic Pyramid of the Sun (seen in the
middle background of the photograph above and from its western front in the
photograph below), and all cross-streets were aligned at right angles to this in turn,
meaning that they were oriented to an azimuth of 285.5º, or 15.5º north of west.
Visitors to the museum at Teotihuacán are informed that the city owes its
layout to the azimuth at which the suns sets on the days that it passes directly
overhead at the site, namely July 26 and May 18. Yet, when the sunset azimuths
are calculated for those dates, it will quickly be seen that they occur at 290.7º
and not 285.5º as the city master-plan itself reveals!
In 1975, when I put my students to work calculating what "sunset" the city's
orientation actually commemorated, they were quick to come up with an answer
that proved immensely exciting -- August 13th, "the day the world began"
according to the ancient Mesoamericans! Here, on the Plateau of Mexico, city-
planners had built a ceremonial center with a configuration commemorating a date whose
calendrical importance had first been recognized 1000 km (600 miles) away to
the south more than a millenium earlier. And, in addition, they had located the
city with such precision that it was also aligned to the highest mountain in
all of Mexico at sunrise on the winter solstice --Citlaltépetl, or Orizaba (5700 m,
or 18,700 ft. in elevation). To be sure, a low ridge obscures the mountain from
the direct view of anyone standing atop the Pyramid of the Sun, but the alignment
is so exact that in a paper published in 1978 I hypothesized that a "relay station"
of sorts must have been constructed on the intervening ridge to alert the priests
of the solsticial sunrise. In January, 1993, with the help of a GPS (i.e., global position-
ing system) receiver I managed to confirm that such a "station" had in fact existed.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Forbidden City - China
Forbidden City - China
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace for twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was first built throughout 14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the empeor. Hence its name 'The Purple Forbidden City', usually 'The Forbidden City'.
Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat and a 10-meter-high wall are more than 8,700 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the east and west gates is 750 meters. There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the curtain wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside.
Our Tour Group in front of Hall of Supreme Harmony
Our Tour Group in front of
Hall of Supreme Harmony
The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world-wide.
Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor (Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Di) of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in 1420, and then the capital city was moved from Nanjing to Beijing the next year. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces.
Ancient Chinese people displayed their very considerable skills in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example. It has an 8.6 meters wide base reducing to 6.66 meters wide at the top. The angular shape of the wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it. The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites. These incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace for twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was first built throughout 14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the empeor. Hence its name 'The Purple Forbidden City', usually 'The Forbidden City'.
Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. Surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat and a 10-meter-high wall are more than 8,700 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. The distance between these two gates is 960 meters, while the distance between the east and west gates is 750 meters. There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the curtain wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside.
Our Tour Group in front of Hall of Supreme Harmony
Our Tour Group in front of
Hall of Supreme Harmony
The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world-wide.
Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor (Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Di) of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in 1420, and then the capital city was moved from Nanjing to Beijing the next year. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces.
Ancient Chinese people displayed their very considerable skills in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example. It has an 8.6 meters wide base reducing to 6.66 meters wide at the top. The angular shape of the wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it. The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites. These incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Victoria Falls
In the world of great waterfalls the grand Victoria Falls of South Africa has truly stolen away the lime light from the last many years. It has been one of the major tourist
Victoria Falls
attractions of South Africa. People just love to view the exotic and spectacular natural beauty of these great falls. Most of the tourists from all across the world enjoy their vacations with their family members in the lapse of these huge water curtains. The great Victoria Falls of South Africa are one of the Seven Wonders of the World today.
These great waterfalls are located on the Zambezi River which lies in the Southern Africa. The grand Zambezi River lies between the two countries of South Africa and they are Zambia and Zimbabwe. These great waterfalls are also known as “Mosi-Oa-Tunya” by the local residents of South Africa which literally means the Smoke of the Thunders. The chilled water of the great Victoria Falls from a height of 1200 meters which make this water fall one of the highest waterfalls of the world. The water dances like a Ballet Dancer and falls from the top with a pretty good speed.
The water falls also includes the weathered rock pieces which crumble down into the Zambezi Gorge below. The falling water of these extremely gigantic curtains creates a cloudy atmosphere and a foggy appearance at a height of 450 meters above the sea level. This foggy view can be clearly observed by the tourists at a distance of 40 kms away from these falls and it mainly attracts the tourists towards itself.
The tourists can enjoy the mesmerizing splendor and beauty of these falls throughout the year. The temperature is mostly humid and moderate which is best suited to attract a large no of tourists towards its attractiveness. The cascading chilled water of these waterfalls depends on the amount of rain fall which took place throughout the year and it also depends on the catchment area of the River Zambezi. As the catchment area of Zambezi River expands, the amount of water in the river also increases.
These exotic waterfalls offer many attractions to the tourists like water surfing, river rafting and river boarding. The Victoria Falls along with the nearby landscapes have been declared as the world heritage site. It is really a captivating destination where you can seriously enjoy a couple of days and make your vacations memorable.
Victoria Falls
attractions of South Africa. People just love to view the exotic and spectacular natural beauty of these great falls. Most of the tourists from all across the world enjoy their vacations with their family members in the lapse of these huge water curtains. The great Victoria Falls of South Africa are one of the Seven Wonders of the World today.
These great waterfalls are located on the Zambezi River which lies in the Southern Africa. The grand Zambezi River lies between the two countries of South Africa and they are Zambia and Zimbabwe. These great waterfalls are also known as “Mosi-Oa-Tunya” by the local residents of South Africa which literally means the Smoke of the Thunders. The chilled water of the great Victoria Falls from a height of 1200 meters which make this water fall one of the highest waterfalls of the world. The water dances like a Ballet Dancer and falls from the top with a pretty good speed.
The water falls also includes the weathered rock pieces which crumble down into the Zambezi Gorge below. The falling water of these extremely gigantic curtains creates a cloudy atmosphere and a foggy appearance at a height of 450 meters above the sea level. This foggy view can be clearly observed by the tourists at a distance of 40 kms away from these falls and it mainly attracts the tourists towards itself.
The tourists can enjoy the mesmerizing splendor and beauty of these falls throughout the year. The temperature is mostly humid and moderate which is best suited to attract a large no of tourists towards its attractiveness. The cascading chilled water of these waterfalls depends on the amount of rain fall which took place throughout the year and it also depends on the catchment area of the River Zambezi. As the catchment area of Zambezi River expands, the amount of water in the river also increases.
These exotic waterfalls offer many attractions to the tourists like water surfing, river rafting and river boarding. The Victoria Falls along with the nearby landscapes have been declared as the world heritage site. It is really a captivating destination where you can seriously enjoy a couple of days and make your vacations memorable.
Posted in: Top 100 wonders
