Weymouth

As one of the UK's most beautiful seaside resorts, and blessed with one of its sunniest and warmest climates, Weymouth offers a huge amount of activities and attractions to offer people of all ages. A gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Jurassic Coast, Weymouth offers the perfect base for exploring the beautiful county of Dorset, one of the UK's most picturesque counties. Weymouth hosted the sailing in the 2012 UK Olympic Games.

Weymouth with music 

The Victoria Rooms. Comprising the world renowned School of Music.

The Victoria Rooms, also known as the Vic Rooms, houses the University of Bristol's music department in Clifton, Bristol, England, on a prominent site at the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. The building, originally assembly rooms, was designed by Charles Dyer and was constructed between 1838 and 1842 in Greek revival style, and named in honour of Queen Victoria, who had acceded to the throne in the previous year. An eight column Corinthian portico surmounts the entrance, with a classical relief sculpture designed by Musgrave Watson above. The construction is of dressed stonework, with a slate roof. A bronze statue of Edward VII, was erected in 1912 at the front of the Victoria Rooms, together with a curved pool and several fountains with sculptures in the Art Nouveau style.

Bristol Cathedral

Bristol Cathedral — official dedication The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity — is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. Founded in 1140, it became the seat of the bishop and cathedral of the new Diocese of Bristol in 1542.

Brief History

From the Twelfth Century this has been a place of daily prayer, and an extraordinary building, created for the glory of god.

Bristol Cathedral is one of England's great medieval churches. It originated as an Augustinian Abbey, founded c. 1140 by prominent local citizen, Robert Fitzharding, who became first Lord Berkeley.  The transepts of the church date from this period, but its most vivid remains can be seen in the Chapter House and Abbey Gatehouse.  The Chapter House is a stunning Romanesque gem dating from c. 1160, one of the most important buildings of its era in the country, with stone walls decorated with a series of intricate, patterned, carvings.  It is still used for important community events and can be hired out for corporate entertaining and candlelit dinners - see more.  The exquisite Elder Lady Chapel was added to the church in c.1220 and includes some beautiful features - watch out for the carvings of beasts playing at being people.

The main glory of the Cathedral is its east end, described by the famous architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as 'superior to anything else built in England and indeed in Europe at the same time'. This is one of the finest examples in the world of a medieval 'hall church', with the vaulted ceilings in the nave, choir, and aisles all at the same height.   This creates a lofty and light space with extraordinary vaults that seem to stand on tiptoe on little bridges; amazing 'starburst' recesses line the walls beneath, and some contain the tombs of the Berkeley family. For more information about the Berkeley Family, past and present,

In the 1530s the medieval nave was being rebuilt, but it was never finished because Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1539.  The buildings might have been lost at this point but Henry began to create a series of 'New Foundation' Cathedrals, and Bristol was included in 1542 - possibly due to successful lobbying from the citizens of the most important trading city after London. The church, like other cathedrals created at this time, was then rededicated, in this case to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Other surviving features include the baroque organ casing, which houses the organ built by Renatus Harris in 1685.
For the next three hundred years the Cathedral functioned without a nave, but in 1868 noted architect, G.E. Street, created a fine replacement in a Gothic Revival design.  The work was completed by J. L. Pearson who added the French Rayonnant-style west front with twin bell towers, and a magnificent series of furnishings which included a stone screen at the entrance to the choir, a reredos (or screen behind the high altar), and the pulpit.  These were done in a grand and distinctive style in keeping with the original medieval features.  Twentieth century enrichments include the organ, one of the finest in the country (sustantially dating to 1907), windows from the 1940s and 50s by Arnold Robinson, some commemorating the roles people played in war time, and the abstract window in the north choir ailse on the theme of the Trinity, designed by Keith New and installed in 1965.

virtual tour Bristol cathedral 

Peles Castle in Romania

Peleș Castle is a Neo-Renaissance castle in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, in Prahova County, Romania, on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1914. Its inauguration was held in 1883.

King Carol I of Romania (1839–1914), under whose reign the country gained its independence, first visited the site of the future castle in 1866 and fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. In 1872, the Crown purchased 1,300 square kilometres (500 sq mi) of land near the Piatra Arsă River. The estate was named the Royal Estate of Sinaia. The monarchy commissioned the construction of a royal hunting preserve and summer retreat on the property, and the foundation was laid for Peleș Castle on 22 August 1873. Several auxiliary buildings were built simultaneously with the castle: the guards' chambers, the Economat Building, the Foişor hunting lodge, the royal stables, and a power plant. Peleș became the world's first castle fully powered by locally produced electricity.
The first three design plans submitted for Peleș were copies of other palaces in Western Europe, and King Carol I rejected them all as lacking originality and being too costly. German architect Johannes Schultz (1876–1883) won the project by presenting a more original plan, something that appealed to the King's taste: a grand palatial alpine villa combining different features of classic European styles, mostly following Italian elegance and German aesthetics along Renaissance lines. Works were also lead by architect Carol Benesch. Later additions were made between 1893 and 1914 by the Czech architect Karel Liman, who designed the towers, including the main central tower, which is 66 metres (217 ft) in height. The Sipot Villa, which served as Liman's headquarters during the construction, was built later on. Liman would supervise the building of the nearby Pelişor Chateau (1889–1903,
the future residence of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania), as well as of King Ferdinand's villa in the Royal Sheepfold Meadow.
The cost of the work on the castle undertaken between 1875 and 1914 was estimated to be 16,000,000 Romanian lei in gold (approx. US$ 120 million today). Between three and four hundred men worked on the construction. Queen Elisabeth of the Romanians, during the construction phase, wrote in her journal.

 

Monaster sw. Archanioła Michała w Bulgarii

Za twórców pierwszych monasterów na tym terenie uznaje się pustelników bułgarskich żyjących w VI/VII w n.e. W tym czasie wybudowane zostały klasztorne cele zamieszkiwane przez ascetów.

Lata 1218-1235 okazały się przełomowe dla historii Iwanowa. Na polecenie Joachima, późniejszego patriarchy Drugiego Państwa Bułgarskiego, zbudowano pierwszy kompleks klasztorny – Monaster pw. Archanioła Michała. Wykuto go w wapiennej skale i ozdobiono freskami, przedstawiającymi fundatorów klasztoru: Carów Bułgarii Iwana Aleksandra i jego syna Iwana Aleksandra II.

Przez ok. 400 lat monaster działał bardzo prężnie. Obok istniejącej tzw. Zasypanej Cerkwi, czyli głównej świątyni klasztoru, której ściany zdobiły malowidła z wizerunkami carów, powstało wiele nowych obiektów takich jak kaplice i cele dla mnichów. W okresie świetności, kompleks klasztorny składał się z 40 wykutych w skale cerkwi oraz około 300 innych obiektów sakralnych.

dolphinarium Varna in Bulgaria

Jezdziedz z Madary w Bulgarii

Jeździec z Madary (bułg. Мадарски конник) – średniowieczny relief naskalny, wpisany w 1979 r. na listę światowego dziedzictwa UNESCO. Jest jedynym zabytkiem tego rodzaju w Europie. Znajduje się w pobliżu wsi Madara we wschodniej Bułgarii (okolice Szumenu). Relief, wykuty w pionowej skale na wysokości ok. 23 m przedstawia jeźdźca oraz biegnącego za nim psa; jeździec włócznią przeszywa lwa, który leży pod przednimi nogami konia. Wyobrażenie jeźdźca jest bardzo realistyczne i pozbawione w zasadzie zbędnych szczegółów. Cały relief jest przykładem wczesnobułgarskiej sztuki średniowiecznej.
Powstanie reliefu wiąże się z imieniem bułgarskiego chana Terweła, i odnosi do początków VIII wieku.
Płaskorzeźba ta przypomina triumfalne sceny reliefowe znane z irańskiej (czy szerzej: środkowoazjatyckiej) tradycji artystycznej. Greckie inskrypcje znajdujące się wokół reliefu opowiadają o czynach władców bułgarskich (Terweła, Kormisosza oraz Omurtaga) i ważnych wydarzeniach w okresie między VIII a IX wiekiem. Inskrypcje oraz drobne detale, utrwalone na reliefie potwierdzają datowanie zabytku oraz protobułgarskie pochodzenie reliefu. Ze względu na postępującą erozję zabytku (relief został wykuty w piaskowcu), w Madarze prowadzi się aktualnie prace konserwatorskie i zabezpieczające.

The view from Clifton Suspension Bridge

The Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol

The world famous Clifton Suspension Bridge was designed by the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, although he never lived to see his creation finished in 1864.
Work actually began in 1831, but the project was dogged with political and financial difficulties, and by 1843, with only the towers completed, the project was abandoned. Brunel died aged only 53 in 1859, but the Clifton Suspension Bridge was completed as his memorial. Designed in the early 19th century for light horse drawn traffic, it still meets the demands of 21st century commuter with 11-12,000 vehicles crossing it every day.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge’s spectacular setting on the cliffs of the Avon Gorge has made it the defining symbol of Bristol, drawing thousands of visitors a year just to stroll across for views of the ancient Avon Gorge, elegant Clifton and the magnificent city beyond.

 lifton Suspension Bridge – most wiszący nad rzeką Avon w zachodniej Anglii, wybudowany na granicy dzielnicy Bristolu Clifton (stąd nazwa) i hrabstwa Somerset. Składa się z dwóch wież oraz szeregu konstrukcji wiszących. Jest symbolem miasta Bristol. Most otwarto w 1864 roku, już po śmierci głównego inżyniera oraz projektanta Isambarda Brunela.