Situated at a strategic point along the Silk Route, at the crossroads of trade as well as religious, cultural and intellectual influences, the 492 cells and cave sanctuaries in Mogao are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art. Source: UNESCO TV / © NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai
Culture,Immovable Culture Heritage,Tourism
The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse is a historic building located in St Andrews that serves as the headquarters of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A). The foundation stone for the building was laid on the 13th of July 1853 by R&A member John Whyte Melville, and the building was completed 11 months later in 1854. The clubhouse overlooks the 1st tee and the 18th green of the iconic Old Course at St Andrews. The famous balcony near the top of the building is the site of the infamous past Open Champions gathering event that occurs when the Open Championship is hosted by St Andrews. For many years, the R&A clubhouse has been an iconic structure for the game of golf and it will continue to be revered by golfers for many years to come.
The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse Front View
This image depicts the front view of the Royal and Ancient clubhouse at St Andrews.
Suzhou is located in the water town of the south of the Yangtze River, and the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, China are collectively known as Suzhou Classical Gardens. Many of these gardens are included in the World Heritage Site. Whether they were designed and built by literati or dignitaries, the gardens were meticulously designed and constructed with great care and skill. These factors greatly contributed to the development of Suzhou's gardens. In terms of the survival of Suzhou's gardens, from the magnificent Liuzheng Garden and Humble Administrator's Garden to the small gardens of a hill and a ravine, there are not only a large number of gardens, but also a good number of them. Most of these gardens are located in the city, especially in the area between Gate of Heaven and Guanqian Street, followed by Northeast Street. Among the remaining gardens in Suzhou, private gardens account for almost 90% of the total number of gardens, except for the Pavilion of Surging Waves, a famous pavilion, a few ancestral halls and Buddhist temples. The Pavilion of Surging Waves dates back to the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Lion Grove to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the rest, such as the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Art Garden, to the middle and end of the Ming Dynasty. What really impresses people about Suzhou's classical gardens is not only the beauty of the mountains, water, plants and buildings themselves, but also their relationship with each other.
Pavilion of Surging Waves of Classical Gardens of Suzhou
This Chinese shadow puppet is illustrative of the ornate detail that goes into the figures.
Four of America's most significant presidents - George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson – stand prominently in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Lakota Sioux, a tribe native to the area, believed the Black Hills, where Mount Rushmore was built, to be holy, and they still do. The monument, which was developed by a South Dakota historian to include the faces of both Native American and western pioneer heroes, irrevocably transformed the landscape. [1] Mount Rushmore was scanned with a laser in May of 2010. This virtual experience was made possible by 3D data collected at Mt. Rushmore as part of a cooperation between CyArk, a non-profit devoted to digitally conserving the world's cultural monuments, Historic Environment Scotland, the Glasgow School of Art, and the US National Park Service. For several weeks, experienced capture teams scanned and photographed Mt. Rushmore and most of the surrounding park, either from the ground or hung from ropes—it was an endeavour that, at least in its intricacy, mimicked the original sculpting process. The project aimed to establish the understanding about how the mountain was sculpted, the 3D model was paired with an interview with Blaine Kourtemayer, Assistant Chief of Interpretation. Using the data gathered on the field, CyArk made resources available on a dedicated section in their website. The Website contains, EXIHBIT section which has all the information explaining the legacy, Historic context of Mount Rushmore. Exhibit section has the very vital information on preservation of the sculptures. Along with how the digitalization of the park is done. CyArk compiled a well structured digital guided tour of the park and Unstructured virtual tour of park. Most intriguing part of the project is the 3D Model of the park, which is highly detailed and these models are made available on the website with complete freedom of exploration on all the direction and scale.
Finnish sauna culture is an intangible cultural heritage inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020. As told by UNESCO, the sauna is an inseparable part of Finnish culture, present in songs, mythology, as well as everyday life and customs. A telling sign of the prominence and importance of the sauna for Finns is that there are around 3.3 million saunas and only 5.5 million inhabitants in Finland. In practice this means most homes have their own sauna, and some families may have multiple. The sauna has traditionally been a place to clean oneself, but also to relax and find inner peace. As UNESCO puts it, the sauna has traditionally been considered as a sacred space – a ‘church of nature’. The act of enjoying the sauna involves something called ‘löyly’ in Finnish. Löyly is the act of throwing water onto a pile of hot stones placed on top of the stove. Many different kinds of saunas exist, including electric, smoke, and infra-red. The most traditional version is however one heated by wood. Depending on one’s liking, a traditional sauna is heated to anywhere from 70°C to even 120°C.
Hazelius, A.I. (1881): Det inre af en badstuga.
A depiction of the inside of a Finnish "bath-hut" by Hazelius, A.I. in 1881.
The Petäjävesi Old Church is a Lutheran log church built between 1763 and 1765. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994 for exemplifying traditional wooden church architecture of the Nordic countries. The church is located on a peninsula at Lake Solikkojärvi in central Finland. According to UNESCO, the construction of the church was led by local master builder Jaakko Leppänen, after which it was taken care of and improved by relatives such as the grandson Erkki Leppänen in 1821. About the church’s characteristics UNESCO writes that it is “representative of the architectural tradition of wooden churches in northern Europe”. What adds to the uniqueness of the church is the masterful appliance of traditional log construction techniques of the local peasantry. Today the church is a popular tourist destination as well as a functional Lutheran church in the summer.
The Petäjävesi Old Church as seen on a sunny fall day.
Suomenlinna is a sea fortress off the coast of Helsinki, Finland. Building of the fortress first began in 1748 when Finland was under Swedish rule. Its purpose was to strengthen Sweden’s defences in the Baltic Sea after Sweden had suffered areal losses to the Russian Empire in years prior. The long history of Suomenlinna can be divided into three distinct eras. Between 1748 and 1808 both Finland and the fortress were under Swedish rule. In 1808, however, Sweden lost the fortress to the Russian Empire in the Russo-Swedish war. Between 1808 and 1918 Finland and the fortress were therefore occupied and ruled by the Russian Imperial Government. During the Russian era Suomenlinna was poorly taken care of due to lack of funding but the fortress continued to serve as a strategic location in the defence of its new masters. With the Russian Revolution and Finland’s independence efforts taking place in 1917, Suomenlinna entered its third era to date as the newly founded Finnish Government took over Suomenlinna in 1918. Today, Suomenlinna is an important historical site, popular tourist destination, and has been on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1991. Modern Suomenlinna is also the home to around 800 permanent residents.
Yellowstone National Park is a nearly 3,500-sq.-mile wilderness recreation area atop a volcanic hot spot. Mostly in Wyoming, the park spreads into parts of Montana and Idaho too. Yellowstone features dramatic canyons, alpine rivers, lush forests, hot springs and gushing geysers, including its most famous, Old Faithful. It's also home to hundreds of animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope.
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially the Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes, the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion. While Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years, aside from visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid-19th century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. Management and control of the park originally fell under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of the Interior, the first Secretary of the Interior to supervise the park being Columbus Delano. However, the U.S. Army was eventually commissioned to oversee management of Yellowstone for a 30-year period between 1886 and 1916. In 1917, administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service, which had been created the previous year. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance, and researchers have examined more than a thousand archaeological sites. Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 sq mi (8,983 km2), comprising lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly-intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone. In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Aerial photo of Kustaanmiekka from the south
Aerial photo of the southern end of the Suomenlinna Sea Fortress.
Gunung Leuser National Park is a national park covering 7,927 km² in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, straddling the border of North Sumatra provinces, a fourth portion and three-fourths portion, respectively.
Sri Harmandar Saheb Ji, commonly known as The Golden Temple situated in Amritsar, Punjab is the holy place for Sikhs. Amritsar means the 'pool of the nectar of immortality. The name comes from the Sarovar(pool) around the Golden Temple. The city of Amritsar was built around this pool which was excavated in 1577. Initiated by the fifth guru of Sikhs, Guru Arjan Sahib, the architecture of Sri Harmandar Saheb Ji became the central place of worship for Sikhs and its construction began in 1581. The Temple was first covered in gold in 1830 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh with 162kg of gold in 7 to 9 layers. Further, between 1995 to 1999, the temple was covered by more than 500kg of gold in 24 layers by skilled artists.
Gunung Leuser National Park is a national park covering 7,927 km2 in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, straddling the border of North Sumatra provinces, a fourth portion and three-fourths portion, respectively. The national park, settled in the Barisan mountain range, is named after Mount Leuser (3,119 m), and protects a wide range of ecosystems. An orangutan sanctuary at Bukit Lawang is located within the park. Together with Bukit Barisan Selatan and Kerinci Seblat National Parks, it forms a World Heritage Site, the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.
Virunga National Park is a national park in the Albertine Rift Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1925. In elevation, it ranges from 680 m in the Semliki River valley to 5,109 m in the Rwenzori Mountains.
Kesi is a type of Chinese silk tapestry weaving technique that first appeared during the Tang dynasty (618 -907) under Sogdians and the Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia (Kares, 2008). The technique became popular and widely adopted in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 – 1279), reaching its popularity peak in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Kesi has been known as the 'silk silt tapestry', a textile that depicts animals, flowers, and human figures in very fine detail by translating paintings into the fabric, with lightness and clarity of pattern retained. From a distance, kesi appeared to be paintings; as a viewer moves closer, she will see the investment of labour appearing in a three-dimensional appearance, with textured brushstrokes expressed.
Panel with a Phoenix and Birds in a Rock Garden
This medallion was a badge for a civil official of the third rank in the Ming dynasty. Originally square, it has been cut, perhaps to serve as the cover for a round box. Ming-dynasty rank badges were usually woven or embroidered as part of an official’s robe; later, in the Qing dynasty, separate badges were applied to their garments.
The eight treasures at the top of this panel, which are auspicious motifs derived from Buddhism, reinforce the meaning of the main image—a phoenix surrounded by smaller birds, symbolizing a virtuous monarch or leader welcomed by followers. This massive panel was hung over a wall to demonstrate the owner’s power and luxury, reflected in the rich colors and extraordinary craftsmanship.
The mandarin duck corresponds to the seventh rank of civil officials. By the end of the seventeenth century, Qing dynasty norms had developed and taken hold in the iconography of rank badges. At that time the animals and birds on badges were depicted looking at a sun disk, said to represent the emperor. It is seen in the upper right of this badge.
Gold thread accentuates the eyes and single curved horn of this spotted deerlike animal, and the flamelike emanations coming off its body announce its supernatural status. It runs through an abstracted landscape with clouds overhead and a low groundline.
Textile with Aquatic Birds and Recumbent Animal
The free arrangement of animals on a rhythmic background of geometric leafs is typical of Eastern Central Asian textiles of the eleventh to the thirteenth century. The design is also seen on Chinese tapestries of the period. A similar example was excavated from the burial pagoda of a Buddhist monk, Haiyun (1203–1257), in Beijing, attesting to the strong ties between Chinese and Central Asian textiles at the time.
Scroll Cover with Animals, Birds, and Flowers
A classic example of Song tapestry, this elegant scroll cover resembles a famous uncut piece (now in Liaoning Provincial Museum, China). This tapestry entered the Museum’s collection as the handscroll cover for the masterpiece Old Trees, Level Distance by Guo Xi (ca. 1020–ca. 1090). The placement of the animals in the pattern illustrates a strong connection with tapestries from Central Asia, which may have served as the source for the introduction of the tapestry technique to China.
Blue and White Porcelain meaning blue flowers in Chinese, is one of the most famous porcelain in China. It was first founded in the Tang dynasty, its technology came to maturity in the Yuan dynasty and reach its peak in the Qing dynasty. Blue and White Porcelain not only loved by Chinese people but also were popular in the world. In ancient times, Blue and White Porcelain was exported to many countries, stunning the world with its high quality and exotic aesthetics. Many countries imitated it to create their own porcelain, and in ancient Europe, it was equivalent to gold and be collected as artwork. Blue and White Porcelain had its influence on the whole world thus needed to be promoted and persevered.
Blue and white jar Jingdezhen 1271 1368.jpg
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris sur l'Île de la Cité à Paris, France.
Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, which means “our lady of Paris” in French, is located in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The building started in the 12th century and spent 300 years to its completion, it was considered one of the best French Gothic architectures in the world and one of the most notable monuments in all of Europe. Inside the Notre Dame Cathedral, there are lots of precious collections of artwork on display, and many historical events took place here. For example, Henry VI was made king of France here in 1431; Napoleon was crowned emperor inside Notre Dame in 1804, and Joan of Arc, was beatified by Pope Pius X there in 1909. It has witnessed French history for over 800 years and is now still being used for Sunday Mass of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ancient Olympia, Greece. Photo taken with Nokia N8 (12 Megapixel).
The Archaeological Site of Olympia was located in the Ilia region in the west of the Peloponnese, a valley of the Alpheios River. This site was built in honor of the Greek God Zeus from the 10th century BC (World Heritage Journeys, n.d.). It includes the principal temples of Zeus and Hera, athletic premises for the preparation of the Olympic Games, and other ancient sanctuaries, buildings, and monuments (Visit Greece, n.d.). The famous sporting event, The Olympic Games was originated from here. In 1989 this site was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its historical importance to human beings
Weifang World Kite Museum (Chinese: 潍坊世界风筝博物馆) is a museum in the Kuiwen District of Weifang, China. First opened in 1989, it has twelve galleries with models and kites from China's ancient past to modern times and kites from around the world. Weifang is renowned as the "World Capital of Kites". -- Wikipedia
Bharatanatyam is a major Hindu form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. The Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni and Abhinaya Darpana (Mirror of Gesture) by Nandikeshvara are considered to be the original sources one of Bharatanatyam (an Indian classical dance form). The dance form is also briefly mentioned in Kannada text Manasollasa written by Someshwara III. It has flourished in the temples and courts of southern India since ancient times.[1][2][3] It is one of eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms and it expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, collectively Hinduism.
This is an image of a girl dancing in the Indian Classical Dance form Bharatanatyam
Hagia Sophia (Turkish: Ayasofya; Koinē Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, romanized: Hagía Sophía; Latin: Sancta Sophia, lit. 'Holy Wisdom'), officially known as the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (Turkish: Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi)[3] and formerly as the Church of Holy Wisdom (Greek: Ναός της Αγίας του Θεού Σοφίας, romanized: Naós tis Ayías tou Theoú Sofías),[4] is a Late Antique place of worship in Istanbul, designed by the Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.[5] Built in 537 as the patriarchal cathedral of the imperial capital of Constantinople, it was the largest Christian church of the eastern Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire) and the Eastern Orthodox Church, except during the Latin Empire from 1204 to 1261, when it temporarily became a Roman Catholic cathedral. In 1453, after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, it was converted into a mosque. In 1935, the Republic of Turkey established it as a museum. In 2020, it was reconverted into a mosque.
Al-Aḥsāʾ (Arabic: الْأَحْسَاء, al-ʾAhsā), also known as al-Ḥasāʾ (الْحَسَاء) or Hajar (هَجَر), is a traditional oasis historical region in eastern Saudi Arabia whose name is used by the Al-Ahsa Governorate, which makes up much of that country's Eastern Province. The oasis is located about 60 km (37 mi) inland from the coast of the Persian Gulf. Al-Ahsa Oasis composed four main cities two and 22 villages. Two of these four main cities are Al-Mubarraz and Al-Hofuf, which are two of the 15 largest cities in Saudi Arabia.
Immovable Culture Heritage,Movable Cultural Heritage
This is a picture taken by a user on their Nokia phone in 2007
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is located on the west side of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, between 33rd Street to the south and 34th Street to the north. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York. The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna. Bethlehem Engineering Corporation originally intended to build a 25-story office building on the Waldorf–Astoria site. The company's president paid $100,000 of the $1 million down payment required to start construction on the building was then unable to secure additional funding. Hence, the land was resold to Empire State Inc. The company announced the construction of an 80-story building on the site, to be taller than any other buildings in existence to the public in August 1929. The Empire State Building officially opened on May 1, 1931, forty-five days ahead of its projected opening date, and eighteen months from the start of construction.
This file has been extracted from another file: Empire State Building, New York, NY.jpg
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula—to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay hence many wanted to build a bridge to connect San Francisco to Marin County. Although San Francisco was the largest American city still served primarily by ferry boats. Because it did not have a permanent link with communities around the bay, the city's growth rate was below the national average. Back then, experts said that ferocious winds and blinding fogs would prevent construction and operation. As a result, the proposal of the construction of the bridge was not made until 1916. Today, the bridge is the biggest attraction and landmark in the city of San Francisco.
This is the picture of Golden Gate Bridge, taken at vista point in San Francisco.
This is the picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken at vista point in San Francisco.
This is a photo of a monument in Taiwan identified by the ID DA09602000348.
The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. Several walls were built from as early as the 7th century BC, with selective stretches later joined together by Qin Shi Huang (220–206 BC). Apart from defense, other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. The frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses. Collectively, they stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, from the present-day Sino–Russian border in the north to Tao River (Taohe) in the south; along an arc that roughly delineates the edge of the Mongolian steppe. Today, the defensive system of the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history.