HAGIA SOPHIA

Hagia Sophia (Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία; "Holy Wisdom", Turkish: Ayasofya, Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia) is a former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in 1520.

The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 AD on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had both been destroyed by riots). It was designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 50 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly 1000 years.

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features - such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside - were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the secular Republic of Turkey.

For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia served as a model for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istanbul), the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque.

Although it is sometimes referred to as Saint Sophia (Greek for wisdom), the Greek name in full is Church of the Holy Wisdom of God Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας - and it was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom of God rather than a specific saint named Sophia.

CHARLES IV, HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR

Charles IV (German: Karl IV, Czech: Karel IV., Hungarian: IV. Károly; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378), born Wenceslaus, of the House of Luxembourg, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1355 until his death.
He was the eldest son and heir of John the Blind, from whom he inherited Luxembourg and Bohemia on 26 August 1346. He was elected King of Germany (rex Romanorum) in opposition to Louis IV on 11 July that year and crowned on 26 November in Bonn. In 1349, he was elected (17 June) and crowned (25 July) King of Germany without opposition. In 1355 he was crowned King of Italy on 6 January and Holy Roman Emperor on 5 April. With his coronation as King of Burgundy, delayed until 4 June 1365. he became the personal ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire.

DANCING HOUSE

The Dancing House (Czech: Tančící dům) is the nickname given to an office building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The construction started in 1994 and was finished in 1996.
The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time. Czech president Václav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity.
Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - the house vaguely resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous.
On the roof is a French restaurant with magnificent views of the city. The building's other tenants include several multinational firms. (The plans for a cultural center were not realized.) Because it is situated next to a very busy road it depends on forced air circulation, making the interior somewhat less pleasant for its occupants. http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/dancinghouse

PRAGUE STATE OPERA

Prague State Opera (Czech: Státní opera Praha), is an opera and ballet company in Prague, Czech Republic, and is one of the most important companies in the Europe. Until 1945 it was named the New German Theatre where great musicians of the world music history as Gustav Mahler, Alexander Zemlinsky, Georg Széll, Richard Strauss, Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Lilli Lehmann, Maria Jeritza, Leo Slezak and others performed.

The opera house history 1888–2006
The history of the Theatre building that has born the name Prague State Opera since 1 April 1992, and whose past has always stood in the shadow of the National Theatre (unjustly, though on the whole understandably in the Czech capital) began to be written in the second half of the nineteenth century. At that time the Czech lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and there was a large German minority living in Prague. The birth of a magnificent Czech Theatre – National Theatre – in the year 1883 indirectly created a longing among the Prague German community, too, for a great theatre. On 4 February 1883 the Deutscher Theatreverein was founded with the initial goal of raising funds. The plans were elaborated by the well-established Viennese firm Fellner & Helmer, this time in co-operation with Karl Hasenauer, the architect who designed Vienna’s Burgtheater. The implementation of the project was entrusted to Prague architect Alfons Wertmüller who accomplished his task with flying colours within the span of the next twenty months and handed over the building to the commissioners in a fully operational condition. Thanks to its spacious auditorium and the rich neo-rococo décor Neues deutsches Theatre (New German Theatre) belongs to the most beautiful opera houses in Europe. http://www.opera.cz

VERIA, MACEDONIA, GREECE

Veria (officially transliterated as Veroia, Greek Βέροια or Βέρροια - Véria) is a city in Greece. It is a commercial center of Greek Macedonia, the capital of the prefecture of Imathia, the province of Imathia and the seat of a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church. Veria is on the site of the ancient city of Beroea (called Berea in some translations of the Bible), which was prominent from the 4th century BC and part of the Kingdom of Macedon. Part of Rome from 168 BC, both Paul and Silas preached there in AD 54 or 55 (see Bereans). Diocletian made the large and populous city one of two capitals of the Roman Province of Macedonia, and it was one of the earliest cities to become the seat of a bishop. Invaded by Slavs, it was conquered by the Ottomans in 1361, who named it Kara Ferye. It was incorporated into the Greek state in 1912.
Veria since the 1980s is bypassed and is linked by the superhighway linking to GR-1. GR-4/Via Egnatia runs through Veria and also the road to Edessa. It is located NE of Kozani, S of Edessa, SW of Thessaloniki, NW of Katerini, WNW of Athens and N of Larissa.( Copyright Photos Pantelidis Vasilios )http://www.veria.gr/

VIA EGNATIA (MODERN ROAD)

Egnatia Odos (Greek Εγνατία Οδός) is a major highway, still under construction, that runs 670 km (416 miles) from the Greek-Turkish border on the Evros river to the western Greek port of Igoumenitsa. The project to build the road began in the 1990s and as of 2007 it is about 68% complete[citation needed]. Its present route comprises most of Greek National Road 2.
The route traverses the mountainous Greek regions of Epirus and Macedonia, crossing the Pindos and Vermion mountains, which have posed formidable engineering challenges. When completed, its full length will include 76 tunnels (with a combined length of 99 km / 61.5 miles) and 1,650 bridges. It is a closed highway with sophisticated electronic surveillance measures, SCADA controls for the lighting/tunnel ventilation and advanced vehicle collision absorption measures
Part of its length, a section of about 360 km (223 miles) from Evros to Thessaloniki, parallels the ancient Roman Via Egnatia, which ran from modern Durrës in Albania to Theassaloniki and thence to Byzantium (now Istanbul, Turkey). The project has therefore been dubbed a modern Via Egnatia (in Greek, Egnatia Odos / Εγνατία Οδός). However, the parallel is not exact; the original Via Egnatia was much longer (1,120 km / 696 miles) and its western section, from Thessaloniki to the Adriatic Sea, ran much further north than the modern road.
The project has raised concerns for the survival of nearby sites of ecological and archaeological significance. The construction of the Pindos stretch (i.e. from Grevena to Ioannina) was delayed due to environmental concerns about the destruction of the habitat of the endangered brown bear. However, a new routing was proposed in 2003, and now this part is expected to be complete in 2008.
In addition to the main highway, three perpendicular auxiliary highways are under construction connecting the highway to important cities, ports and airports of Macedonia.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be about 5.9 billion euros by the time of its completion in 2009, making it probably the most ambitious and expensive public project ever to have taken place in modern Greece. It is a key route in the trans-European road network and forms part of European route E90.http://www.egnatia.gr/flash/en/index.html

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR IN ATHENS

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Introduced in 1970, it highlights the political and interpersonal struggles of Judas Iscariot and Jesus. The action largely follows the canonical gospels' accounts of the last weeks of Jesus's life, beginning with Jesus and his followers arriving in Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion. Twentieth-century attitude and sensibilities as well and contemporary slang pervade the lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the political depiction of the events. Stage and film productions accordingly feature many intentional anachronisms.A large part of the plot focuses on the character of Judas who is depicted as a secular socialist, a conflicted, tragic figure who is not satisfied with what he views as Jesus's lack of planning, and with relatively recent claims of his divinity.

http://www.jcs.pair.com/

CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU

Centre Georges Pompidou (constructed 1971–1977 and known as the Pompidou Centre in English) is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the IVe arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles and the Marais. It houses the Bibliothèque publique d'information, a vast public library, and the Musée National d'Art Moderne. Because of its location, the Centre is known locally as Beaubourg. It is named after Georges Pompidou, who was president of France from 1969 to 1974, and was opened on January 31, 1977. The building was designed by architect Richard Rogers, whose design was not very popular at first. However, under the guidance of its first director, Pontus Hultén, it quickly became a noted attraction in Paris.
http://www.centrepompidou.fr

LOUVRE PYRAMID

Louvre Pyramid is the large metal and glass pyramid which serves as the main entrance to the Musée du Louvre and has in the meantime become a landmark for the city of Paris.
Commissioned by the French president François Mitterrand, it was built in 1989 by the architect I. M. Pei from New York, who was responsible for the design of the Miho Museum in Japan among others. The structure, which was constructed entirely with glass segments, reaches a height of 20.6 meters (about 70 feet); its square base has sides of 35 meters (115 feet). It consists of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments.http://www.louvre.fr

EIFFEL TOWER

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel) is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris, France. It is the tallest structure in Paris and possibly the most recognized monument in the world. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, it is the most visited monument in the world; 6,428,441 people visited the tower in 2005 and more than 200,000,000 since its construction. Including the 24 m (78.7 ft) antenna, the structure is 324 m (1063 ft) high (since 2000), which is about 81 stories. In 1902, it was struck by lightning, which meant that 100 metres of the top had to be reconstructed and the lights illuminating the tower had to be replaced, as they were damaged by the high energy of the lightning.
At the time of its construction in 1887, the tower replaced the Washington Monument as the world's tallest structure, a title it retained until 1930, when New York City's Chrysler Building (319 m/1046.58 ft tall) was completed (today, the Eiffel Tower is taller than the Chrysler Building). The tower is now the fifth-tallest structure in France. The Eiffel Tower is the tallest structure in Paris, with the second-tallest being the Tour Montparnasse (210 m/689 ft) and it will soon be the Tour AXA (225.11 m/738.5 ft).
The structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7300 tons. There are 1660 steps (360 to the first level, another 359 to the second). It is not possible for the public to reach the summit via the stairs, lifts are required beyond the second platform. Lift tickets may be purchased at the base or either platform. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18cm, due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. The tower also sways 6-7cm in the wind.
Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50/60 tons of three graded tones of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. On occasion, the color of the paint is changed — the tower is currently painted a shade of brownish-gray. However, the tower is actually painted three different colors in order to make it look the same color. The colors change from dark to light from top to bottom, but it looks the same because of the background (the sky being light and the ground being dark). On the first floor, there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the color to use for a future session of painting. The co-architects of the Eiffel Tower are Emile Naugier, Maurice Koechlin and Stephen Sauvestre. http://www.tour-eiffel.fr

DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTER

The Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is a business complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, built by H.H. Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum. The complex is comprised of the original tower (built in 1979), eight exhibition halls, the Dubai International Convention Centre, and residential apartments. The 39-story office tower stands 184 metres (604 feet) tall and a majority of the floors are let commercially. At the time it was built, it was the tallest building in Dubai. http://www.dwtc.com

JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS DUBAI

The Emirates Towers Hotel, also referred to as Emirates Tower Two is a 56-floor five-star business hotel in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The hotel includes 40 luxury suites and is operated by the Jumeirah International Group. Connected with 54-floor Emirates Office Tower by a retail boulevard they form what is commonly referred to as the Emirates Towers complex. At a structural height of 305 m (1,014 ft) Emirates Towers Hotel is the smaller of the two of the sister towers but still ranks as the 24th tallest currently-standing structure in the world and one of the tallest hotels in the world. Construction was completed on April 15, 2000.

http://www.jumeirahemiratestowers.com

GREEK SUNSET

BOSPHORUS BRIDGE ISTANBUL

The Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge (Turkish: Boğaziçi Köprüsü or 1. Boğaziçi Köprüsü) is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: Boğaziçi). The bridge is located between Ortaköy (European side) and Beylerbeyi (Asian side). It is a gravity anchored suspension bridge with steel pylons and inclined hangers. The aerodynamic deck is hanging on zigzag steel cables. It is 1,560 m long with a deck width of 39 m. The distance between the towers (main span) is 1,074 m (World rank: 13th) and their height over road level is 105 m. The clearance of the bridge from sea level is 64 m. It was the 4th longest suspension bridge in the world when completed in 1973, and the longest outside the United States of America.

IMEROVIGLI SANTORINI

SIGHISOARA SINAIA ROMANIA

SKOPELOS GREECE

VALLEY SENALES ITALY

The Senales lake is located in the Italian Alps near to the Austrian borders. Its altimeter is about 1800 meters above sea level.The Senales lake is a very big with wonderfull water colours. It is used for watering and for water sports.

VALLEY SENALES ITALY

This is a photo from the Senales Valley in Italy. Even in the summer, there exists snow and many ski racing teams go there for training. It is saisd that the ice there is one of the best in Europe. The cabin which takes you to the chalet starts at the 2062 meters above sea level and reaches the 3212.

THE GRAND FINAL EUROVISION ATHENS 2006

Finnish band Lordi may be the winners of the 51st Eurovision, but Greece was the one that stole the limelight.

EUROVISION ATHENS 2006

METEORA GREECE

METEORA GREECE

The Meteora (Greek: Μετέωρα, "suspended rocks" or "suspended in the air") is the largest and most important complex of monasteries in all of Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The monasteries are built on spectacular natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Peneios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The Meteora is home to six monasteries and is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Although it is unknown when Meteora was established, as early as the 11th century CE hermit monks were believed to be living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks. By the late 11th or early 12th century a rudimentary monastic state had formed called the Skete of Stagoi and was centered around the church of Theotokos (mother of God), which still stands today.The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. Although more than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the 14th century, only six remain today. These six are: 'Great Meteoron (or Transfiguration), Varlaam, St. Stephen, Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas Anapausas and Rousanou.
In the 1920s, steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. Of the six monasteries now inhabited, five are male, one female. Each monastery has fewer than 10 inhabitants and is visited by many tourists. The Agia Triada (Greek: Αγία Τριάδα, "Holy Trinity") monastery was used in the final scenes of the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. http://www.meteora-greece.com

METEORA GREECE

SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GREECE

SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GREECE

SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GREECE

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. This configuration can only occur during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. In ancient times, and in some cultures today, solar eclipses are attributed to mythical properties. Total solar eclipses can be frightening events for people unaware of their astronomical nature, as the Sun suddenly disappears in the middle of the day and the sky darkens in a matter of minutes. However, the spiritual attribution of solar eclipses is now largely disregarded.
Total solar eclipses are very rare events for any given place on Earth because totality is only seen where the Moon's umbra touches the Earth's surface. A total solar eclipse is a spectacular natural phenomenon and many people consider travel to remote locations in order to observe one. The 1999 total eclipse in Europe, said by some to be the most-watched eclipse in human history, helped to increase public awareness of the phenomenon. This was illustrated by the number of people willing to make the trip to witness the 2005 annular eclipse and the 2006 total eclipse. The next solar eclipse takes place on September 11, 2007, while the next total solar eclipse will occur on August 1, 2008.http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html

FREEZING BLACK SEA

  

FREEZING BLACK SEA

  

FREEZING BLACK SEA

  

FREEZING BLACK SEA

  

ROMANIA-MOLDOVA

  

  

  

ROMANIA-MOLDOVA

  

ROMANIA

  

ROME