Tuesday, May 22, 2018
MALAYSIA - Prime Minister Office's in Putrajaya
The six-story Prime Minister Office's Complex in Putrajaya is made up of three wings, the main dome of glaxed mosaic is surrounded by four small domes, signifying Malay and Islamic elements.
Thanks to Ally for the card.
Friday, May 18, 2018
PHILIPPINES - Barasoain Church
Barasoain Church (also known as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish) is a Roman Catholic church built in 1630 in Malolos City. Bulacan. Having earned the title as the Cradle of Democracy in the East,, the most important religious building in the Philippines, and the site of the First Philippine Republic, the church is proverbial for its historical importance among Filipinos. Founded by Augustinian Missionaries in 1859, the church is also renowned for its architectural design and internal adornments. The original church was burned during the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution however it was renovated.
CHINA - The Potala Palace
The Potala Palace (Tibetan: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, Wylie: pho brang Potala) in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China was the residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. It is now a museum and World Heritage Site.
The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The 5th Dalai Lama started its construction in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel (died 1646), pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa. It may overlay the remains of an earlier fortress called the White or Red Palace on the site, built by Songtsen Gampo in 637.
The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. (more than 16 ft) thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen stories of buildings—containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues—soar 117 metres (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 m (about 1,000 ft) in total above the valley floor. Tradition has it that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet". Chokpori, just to the south of the Potala, is the soul-mountain (Wylie: bla ri) of Vajrapani, Pongwari that of Manjusri, and Marpori, the hill on which the Potala stands, represents Avalokiteśvara.
CANADA - Highway 22
Highway 22, Alberta. The rolling Rocky Mountain foothills provide a scenic backdrop to the beautiful drive along Alberta's Cowboy trail. Thanks to Karla for the card.
INDIA - Taj Mahal, Agra
The Taj Mahal meaning "Crown of the Palace") is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658), to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (U.S. $827 million). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.
POLAND - Torun
Thanks to Aga for the card.
Toruń is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population was 202,591 as of June 2016. Previously it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–98) and the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1921–45). Since 1999, Toruń has been a seat of the self-government of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and, as such, is one of its two capitals (together with Bydgoszcz). The cities and neighboring counties form the Bydgoszcz–Toruń twin city metropolitan area.
Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland, with the first settlement dated back to the 8th century and later having been expanded in 1233 by the Teutonic Knights. Over centuries, it was the home for people of diverse backgrounds and religions. At one point, the city was considered the most modern cultural and technological centre in Medieval Europe. From 1264 until 1411 Toruń was part of the Hanseatic League and by the 17th century it was one of the elite trading points, which greatly affected the city's architecture ranging from Brick Gothic to Mannerism and Baroque. In the early-modern age, the city was a royal city of Poland, it was also considered one of four largest cities of Poland, after the partitions of Poland it was part of Prussia and later on the German Empire. After Poland declared independence in 1918, Toruń was reincorporated into Polish territory, and, during World War II, as one of few cities in the country, it sustained no damage. This allowed the Old Town to be fully preserved with its iconic central marketplace.
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