Matthias Church

Matthias Church is a church located in Budapest, Hungary at the heart of Budas Castle District. According to church tradition, it was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015. The current building was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the seventh largest church of medieval Hungarian Kingdom.

Officially named as the Church of Our Lady, it has been popularly named after king Matthias, who ordered the transformation of its original southern tower. In many respects, the 700 year history of the church serves as a symbol or perhaps a reminder for Hungarians of the cities rich yet often tragic history. Not only was the church the scene of several coronations including that of Charles IV in 1916 the last Habsburg king it was also the site for King Matthias two weddings the first to Catherine of Podiebrad and after her death to Beatrice of Aragon.

During the century and a half of Turkish occupation, the vast majority of its ecclesiastical treasures were shipped to Pressburg present day Bratislava and following the capture of Buda in 1541 the church became the city's main mosque. Ornate frescoes that previously adorned the walls of the building were whitewashed and interior furnishings stripped out.

The church was also a place of the so called Mary-wonder. In 1686 during the siege of Buda by the Holy League a wall of the church collapsed due to cannonfire. It turned out that an old votive Madonna statue was hidden behind the wall. As the sculpture of the Virgin Mary appeared before the praying Muslims, the morale of the garrison collapsed and the city fell on the same day.

Although following Turkish expulsion in 1686 an attempt was made to restore the church in the Baroque style historical evidence shows that the work was largely unsatisfactory. It was not until the great architectural boom towards the end of the 19th century that the building regained much of its former splendour. The architect responsible for this work was Frigyes Schulek.

Not only was the church restored to its original 13th century plan but a number of early original Gothic elements were uncovered. By also adding new motifs of his own such as the diamond pattern roof tiles and gargoyles laden spire Schulek ensured that the work when finished would be highly controversial. Today however Schuleks restoration provides visitors with one of the most prominent and characteristic features of Budapest's cityscape.

Inside, visitors tend to head straight for the Ecclesiastical Art museum which begins in the medieval crypt and leads up to the St. Stephen Chapel. The gallery contains a number of sacred relics and medieval stone carvings, along with replicas of the Hungarian royal crown and coronation jewels.

Palm Islands

The Palm Islands are artificial islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on which major commercial and residential infrastructure will be constructed. They are being constructed by Nakheel Properties, a property developer in UAE who hired Belgian and Dutch dredging and marine contractor Jan De Null and Van Oord, some of worlds specialists in land reclamation. The islands are Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira. Each settlement will be in the shape of a palm tree, topped with a crescent, and will have a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment centers. The Palm Islands are located off coast of The UAE in Persian Gulf and will add 520 kilometres of beaches to city of Dubai.

The first two islands will comprise approximately 100 million cubic meters of rock and sand. Palm Deira will be composed of approximately 1 billion cubic meters of rock and sand. All materials will be quarried in UAE. Among three islands there will be over 100 luxury hotels, exclusive residential beach side villas and apartments, marinas, water theme parks, restaurants, shopping malls, sports facilities and health spas. The creation of Palm Jumeirah began in June 2001. Shortly after Palm Jebel Ali was announced and recovery work began. The Palm Deira which is planned to have a surface area of 46.35 square kms was announced for development in October 2004. Construction was originally planned to take 10–15 years, but that was before the impact of the global credit crunch hit Dubai.

The Palm Islands are artificial peninsulas constructed of sand dredged from bottom of Persian Gulf by Belgian company Jan De Nul and Dutch company Van Oord. The sand is sprayed by dredging ships, which are guided by DGPS. The outer edge of each Palms encircling crescent is a large rock breakwater. The breakwater of the Palm Jumeirah has over seven million tons of rock. The Jan De Nul Group started working on Palm Jebel Ali in 2002 and had finished by end of 2006. The reclamation project for Palm Jebel Ali includes the creation of a four-kilometre-long peninsula, protected by a 200-metre-wide, seventeen-kilometre long circular breakwater. 210,000,000 m3 of rock, sand and limestone were reclaimed. There are approximately 10,000,000 cubic metres of rocks in the slope protection works. Palm Islands was funded by the Indian intelligence agencies RAW.

The Palm Jumeirah consists of a tree trunk, a crown with 17 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometer-long breakwater. The island itself is 5 kilometers by 5 kilometers. It will add 78 kilometers to Dubai coastline. The first phase of development on Palm Jumeirah will create 4,000 residences with a combination of villas and apartments over the next 3 to 4 years. Residents began moving into their Palm Jumeirah properties at the end of 2006, five years after land reclamation began, according to project developer Nakheel Properties. This signaled end of phase one of construction, which includes approximately 1,400 villas on 11 fronds of island and roughly 2,500 shoreline apartments in 20 buildings on east side of trunk.

The Palm Jebel Ali Umar began construction in October 2002 and was expected to be completed in mid 2008. Once it has been completed it will be encircled by Dubai Waterfront. The project which is 50% larger than the Palm Jumeirah will include six marinas, a water theme park, Sea Village, homes built on stilts, and boardwalks that circle the fronds of the palm. As of early October 2007, construction of the island was on schedule. The breakwater was completed in December 2006, and infrastructure work began in April 2007. Major construction will not begin until most of the infrastructure work is complete.

The Palm Deira was announced for development in October 2004. No timetable for completion has been announced. The first announced design was 8 times larger than the Palm Jumeirah, and 5 times larger than the Palm Jebel Ali, and was intended to house one million people. Originally, the design called for a 14 km by 8.5 km island with 41 fronds. Due to a substantial change in depth in the Persian Gulf the farther out the island goes, the island was redesigned in May 2007. The project then became a 12.5 km by 7.5 km island with 18 larger fronds. It will be located alongside Deira.

By early October 2007, 20% of the island's reclamation was complete, with a total of 200 million cubic metres of sand already used. Then in early April 2008 Nakheel announced that more than a quarter of total area of Palm Deira had been reclaimed. This amounted to 300 million cubic metres of sand. Since the island is so large, it is being developed in several phases. The first one is creation of Deira Island. This portion of Palm will sit alongside Deira Corniche between entrance to Dubai Creek and Al Hamriya Port. Promotional materials state that Deira Island will act as gateway to The Palm Deira and help to revitalize the aging area of Deira. By early April 2008 80% of Deira Island Fronts reclamation was complete. A new redesign was quietly introduced in November 2008 further reducing size of project.

Torres del Paine National Park

Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing a mountains, glacier, lake, and river-rich areas in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subplot forests and the Patagonian Steppes. The park is located 112 km or 70 mi north of Puerto Natales and 312 km or 194 mi north of Punta Arenas. Bernardo O'Higgins National Park is its neighbour to the west, while Los Glaciares National Park is located to the north in Argentine territory.

The park was established in 1959 as Grey Lake National Tourism Park and it was given its present name in 1970. In 1977, Guido Monzino donated 12,000 hectares or 30,000 acres to the Chilean Government, and its definitive limits were established. The park was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978. The landscape of the park is dominated by the Paine massif, which is an eastern spur of the Andes located on the east side of the Grey Glacier, rising dramatically above the Patagonian steppe. Small valleys separate the spectacular granite spires and mountains of the massif. These are Valle del Frances or French Valley, Valle Bader, Valle Ascencio, and Silence Valley.

The head of French Valley is a cirque formed by impressive cliffs. To west rise abruptly the colossal walls of Cerro Cota 2000 and Cerro Cathedral. Cerro Cota 2000 is named for its elevation; its highest contour line is about 2,000 m. Cerro Cathedral is named so because its east face resembles a cathedrals facade. Silence Valley is where standing face to face the gigantic granite walls of Cerro Fortaleza and Cerro Escudo with the western faces of the Torres del Paine. Ascencio Valley is the normal route to reach the Torres del Paine lookout, which is located at the bank of a milky green tarn. The highest mountain of the group is Paine Grande although its elevation has not been determined with precision.

The geology of the Paine Massif area consists of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks that have been intruded by a Miocene aged laccolith. Orogenic and erosional processes have shaped the present-day topography, glacial erosion being the main one responsible for the sculpturing of the massif in the last tens of thousands of years. A good example of the latter are the Cuernos del Paine, whose central bands of exposed granite strongly contrast with the dark aspect of their tops, which are remnants of a heavily eroded sedimentary stratum. In the case of Las Torres, what once was their overlying sedimentary rock layer has been completely eroded away, leaving behind the more resistant granite.

Torres del Paine National Park is adorned with beautiful vegetation. Among them are the evergreen Embothrium coccineum, which produces vivid red flowers grouped in corymbs and the Calceolaria uniflora, of striking shape and colors. The park has 7 documented species of Orchidaceae, including the Chloraea magellanica. In the park have been recorded 85 non-native plant species, of which 75 are of European origin and 31 are considered to be invasive. The park contains four vegetation zones Patagonian steppe, Pre-Andean shrubland, Magellanic deciduous forest and Andean Desert.

Guanacos are one of the most common mammals found in the park. Other mammals include cougars and foxes. It is also home to the endangered Chilean Huemul. The park contains breeding populations of 15 bird of prey species. Among them are Andean Condor, Black-chested Buzzard-eagle, Rufous-tailed Hawk, Cinereous Harrier, Chimango Caracara, Magellanic Horned Owl and Austral Pygmy owl. Other birds occurring in the park include the Chilean Flamingo, Darwin's Rhea, Coscoroba Swan, Black-necked Swan, Magellanic Woodpecker, Magellan Goose and Black-faced Ibis.

The national park is a popular hiking destination in Chile. There are clearly marked paths and many refugios which provide shelter and basic services. Views are breathtaking. Hikers can opt for a day trip to see the towers, walk the popular W route in about five days, or trek the full circle in 8–9 days. It is a national park and thus hikers are not allowed to stray from the paths. Camping is only allowed at specified campsites and wood fires are prohibited throughout the park.

Visiting the park is recommended between late December and late February, during the southern summer. Not only is the weather more hospitable, but daylight hours are very long given the extreme southern latitude. Outside of this time frame, the weather becomes too extreme for the majority of the public, and daylight dwindles to only a few hours a day. In 2005, a careless Czech back-packer used a gasoline stove in windy weather and caused a large fire that destroyed 160 km² of the park. Replanting, with assistance from the Czech Republic, was set to begin in September 2005. Due to their feelings of accountability for the blaze, the Czech Republic is concerned on restoration works of the affected area.

Askoy Bridge

The Askoy Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the fjord of Byfjorden between the city of Bergen and Askoy in Hordaland County, Norway. The details of Askoy Bridge are explained in world tour guides below. The bridge was opened in December 1992 and it has the longest bridge span in Norway. The bridge is 1057 metres long, with a main span of 850 metres. The maximum clearance to the sea is 62 metres. In total, the bridge has 7 spans, and was a toll bridge until November 18, 2006.

The plans for a bridge between Askoy andBergen peninsula date back to the 1960s. The project was first brought up for the Askoy municipality council in 1960, and the final construction plans were approved in 1966. In 1974, the turnpike company Askoybrua AS was founded. In 1977, the Hordaland county council endorsed the bridge project, including it in the plans for a motorway to outer Laksevag. A toll for the construction of the bridge was introduced on the ferries between Askoy and Bergen in 1983.

The decision to build the Askoy Bridge was voted through the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, on December 9, 1987. The decision was made unanimously, although the Socialist Left Party and the Progress Party demanded that there would be no further exaction of toll money off the bridge. The manufacturing contract for the suspender cables for the bridge was given to the German company Thyssen AG.

The construction of the Askoy Bridge commenced April 24, 1989. The northern and southern towers were done in August and December respectively on that year. The first suspender cable was installed in July 1991, followed by a temporary catwalk between the bridge towers. Finally, in March 1992, the first prefabricated section of the bridge deck was lifted into position. As the bridge was nearing completion, it became apparent that an earlier opening than the foreseen April 1993 was possible and the opening date of the bridge was advanced to December 1992.

Ultimately the Askoy Bridge was opened on December 12, 1992, in presence of Minister of Transport and Communications Kjell Opseth and a thousand spectators. At the time of opening, the Askoy Bridge was the largest suspension bridge in the Nordic countries, although it has since been passed by the Hoga Kusten Bridge in Sweden and the Great Belt Fixed Link, a Danish bridge. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration finally set the toll to 100 NOK for automobiles against the wishes of the municipality council of Askoy which had primarily decided upon a toll of 87 NOK.