Posts tagged: World Heritage Site

Delphi, the city of Temples and the Oracle

Delphi is an ancient Greek city, known for its archaeological sites and the important role played for centuries as the site of the Oracle of Delphi, a temple dedicated to the Greek god Apollo. Now Delphi has become a tourist city.

Delphi is a city full of history. The city is full of temples dedicated to Greek gods of classical times, with hundreds of archaeologists working on the foundations of the city thousands of years ago.

The city, now a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for their discovery and importance of the culture of ancient Greece, is one of the cities with the best views in the country, about 188 kilometers from Athens. The temple of Apollo is undoubtedly the most important temple both historically and culturally in the city. They say it was the same god Zeus decided to put the temple on the site. This temple was formerly the most important and certainly majestic temple of his time in the region, while chairing the view from his mountain. Here came the oracles and prophets to consult the priestess status issues.

Mount Parnassus, where now the temple of Apollo and the Oracle is full of tourists who want to discover the magic that is felt and lived here for hundreds of years. During that time, thousands of people came to this site for slaughtering animals and ask the elder questions varied, and many of the valuable gifts have been conserved until today.

In the territory of Mount Parnassus can still find the stadium where the Pythian Games were celebrated, some sports games are held every four years, and this stage is considered the best preserved of the entire country. Nearby is the ancient theater, where he represented the works of the time, and the Omphalos, a monument near the oracle that Zeus himself considered to be the center, the navel of the world.

At the foot of Mount Parnassus is the great Archaeological Museum of Delphi, a unique collection of objects recovered by archaeologists. The collection includes some of the stone tablets that were used to write requests to the Oracle, and thousands of jewelry and valuables that were donated to the temple for thousands of years.

The Aldabra Island, the Lagoon and the Sea

Aldabra Island is one of the most beautiful islands of the Seychelles. This curious island is the most picturesque and a popular destination for photographers and nature lovers.

Aldabra Island in thousands of shows we can find the true nature of the region. The island is actually one of the largest coral atolls surfaces, in whose center is one of the largest lagoons in the world. Therefore, the circular island gives the impression that earth is a circle in the middle of a sea in the middle of a tropical ocean. The beauty of the region is enough to leave you breathless and in love with this little paradise on earth.

The island is famous for preserving one of the most interesting ecosystems. Thousands of species of wildlife roam the island, and even some animals are unique. This island is the last natural habitats for giant Aldabra tortoises, of which there are still about 150,000, who coincidentally is considered the unofficial symbol of all the Seychelles. The island was even proclaimed “the only living natural museum” by the renowned biologist Sir Julian Huxley, and the island was well preserved until, in 1991, finally opened to the public. The island is also a World Heritage Site.

Aldabra Island is the ideal place for those who are interested in diving or snorkeling, for biologists and ornithologists and naturalists and photographers. Here one can stroll around the island, swimming in the enormous gap that lies within the island, see the curious and almost unique in the world “coral trees and swim in the clear waters of the tropical ocean. Moreover, one can see thousands of animals, including Aldabra tortoises like the green turtle and hawksbill turtles, fish such as barracuda and others in their natural habitat. To reach the island, one must hire a boat for tourists and visitors from the biggest island of Seychelles, Mahé, and you can surf the Indian Ocean to reach this gem of the ocean.

The Natural Landscapes of Karelia and Khizi

Karelia is a region that lies between two Nordic countries, Russia and Finland. The region is noted for its stunning natural landscapes filled with forests and lakes.

Karelia has access to both the White Sea and the Gulf of Finland. Here are two of the largest lakes in Europe, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega.

The republic of Karelia is located in the Russian part of Karelia. This region has its own language, like Finnish, and an ancient culture.

Some of the highlights of the region include some traditional villages and towns. Pegrema is an abandoned village that is located on the shores of Lake Onega. The old wooden houses are still standing. All these houses are made of hardwood, and its windows have views over the beautiful lake. There is even a small chapel dating from 1770.

This region is also the famous island of Kizhi. The island, located near Lake Onega, is quite small but notable for its unusual architecture and open-air museum. This can be seen in Kizhi Pogost, some churches dating from the seventeenth century. In the 1950s, some structures that were previously scattered throughout the region were transported to the city to keep them.

The open-air museum of Kizhi was opened in 1951. There are Kizhi Pogost and 87 structures, all built without nails, using hardwood on a stone base. Therefore, the region now has more than 80 wooden structures and is a sort of outdoor museum, and was recently named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Kizhi Pogost a historical site dating from the seventeenth century. All buildings are wood and were built without using a single nail. Emphasize the two main structures.

The first church is the church, or Tserkov Preobrazheniya Gospodnya is considered a summer church, since there is no heating. The altar of this unique wooden church dates from 1714. Inside the church there are about 102 icons, and the oldest dating from the seventeenth century. This church has 22 domes and is about 37 meters high.

The second church is known as Pokrovskaya Tserkov, and is considered the winter church, because here there is heating, which allowed celebrating Mass during the colder months. This church was first rebuilt when a fire wiped out all the original structures in the seventeenth century. This church, 32 feet high, has nine domes and not a single nail.

There is also a bell tower was built in 1862 on the ruins of the old bell tower. The tower is 30 meters high and was rebuilt twice more since the wood was deteriorating rapidly.

The Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus fourteenth century is also located within the Pogost, and is one of the oldest churches in the country. Formerly, the church was part of the Murom Monastery.

There are still remnants of the old wall that was built in the seventeenth century to protect the region from Polish and Swedish invasion. Party was rebuilt last century. The wall is located near the two oldest churches, and the bell tower. At the entrance of the wall is a big tower.

In the Museum there are several exhibitions on the ancient icons of saints, which date from the XVI and XIX. Some galleries display everyday objects that were used from the sixteenth century, in addition to old drawings and photographs that represent both the more traditional side as the most modern Khizhi and the region.

Kizhi is located near Kem. Kem is a small historic town of Karelia is situated on the banks of the Kern River and the White Sea. In this charming town with beautiful scenery are also several wooden structures that date from centuries past. Kem Cathedral stands dating from the early eighteenth century and is full of elaborate seventeenth-century icons.

On the island of Kizhi is also home to several species of birds, fish and animals. There are great forests full of different types of trees, and landscapes from the small nearby islands are breathtaking.

The lands of the region are used for agriculture, but even today retain some of the farms as part of the open-air museum. Other activities typical of the region are making hand-made wooden toys and production of jewelry and handmade embroideries.