Recently, the Committee decided to open up to new categories such as cultural landscapes and routes, industrial heritage (for example, this year, Ivrea, the industrial city of the 20th century, in Italy), deserts, marine sites coastal and small island sites, so that the list is more diverse and more representative of World Heritage. The sites proposed for inscription must meet at least one of the ten selection criteria, such as, for example, representing a masterpiece of human creative genius, testifying to an exchange of influences during History, to bear exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a living or extinct civilization, or else to represent natural phenomena of exceptional beauty and aesthetic importance or, of course, to be eminently representative examples of ecological and biological processes … Italy is the country with the largest number (54), followed by China (53), Spain (47), France (44), Germany (44), and finally, Mexico (35).
China: Fanjingshan, a very rare ecosystemSouth Korea: the Sansa, mountain Buddhist monasteriesFrance: the Chaine des Puys Tectonic High Place – Limagne FaultIndonesia: Heritage of the Ombilin coal mine in SawahluntoAustralia: Budj Bim Cultural LandscapeColombia: Chiribiquete National Park and “The Maloca of the Jaguars”Czech Republic: Landscape of breeding and training of ceremonial carriage horses in Kladruby nad LabemChina: Archaeological ruins of the city of LiangzhuTurkey: Göbekli Tepe and its mysterious templeLaos: Xieng Khouang Megalithic Jar Sites – Plain of JarsBurkina Faso: Ancient iron metallurgy sitesDenmark: Aasivissuit-Nipisat, Inuit hunting groundsAzerbaijan: Historic Center of Sheki with the Khan’s PalaceOman: the ancient city of QalhatIndia: City of Jaipur, RajasthanSouth Africa: the mountains of Barberton MakhonjwaBahrain: Tombs of the Dilmun cultureCanada: Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’piGermany: the border archaeological complex of Hedeby and the DanevirkeJapan: Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Set: Ancient Japanese Burial MoundsSpain: the caliphal city of Medina AzaharaSpain: Cultural Landscape of Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran CanariaItaly: The Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and ValdobbiadeneIran: The Sasanian Archaeological Landscape of the Fars RegionMexico: the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley and its original habitat in MesoamericaThe 20th Century Architectural Works of Frank Lloyd WrightIraq: BabylonMyanmar: BaganUnited Kingdom: Jodrell Bank ObservatoryCzech Republic: Mining region Erzgebirge/KrušnohoříPoland: Prehistoric striped flint mining region of KrzemionkiPortugal: Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in BragaKorea: Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian AcademiesPortugal: Mafra Royal Building – Palace, Basilica, Convent, Cerco Garden and Hunting Park (Tapada)Russia: Churches of the Pskov School of ArchitectureIceland: Vatnajökull National Park – the dynamic nature of fire and iceChina: Migratory bird sanctuary along the coastline of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai GulfFrance: French Southern Lands and SeasBrazil: Paraty and Ilha Grande – culture and biodiversity
Imagine yourself in a place between Canada and Russia and suddenly, for just 30 seconds, the moon appears in all its splendor and disappears before your eyes. But even more impressive, for just 5 seconds, a total eclipse of the sun happens right after.
Unprecedented and spectacular! Video filmed in real-time.
It is the so-called perigee, a point in the orbit of a star around the Earth, where the proximity of the Moon is so evident that, suddenly, we perceive the great speed at which the Earth is moving.
The Moon is seen from the Arctic Circle, between Russia and Canada, only for a few seconds, but it’s worth watching. It’s a spectacular sight.
It looks like the Moon is going to collide with Earth…
Wonders of modern architectureThe Cybertecture Egg – Mumbai, IndiaGrand Lisbon – Macau, ChinaBullring & Grand Central – Birmingham, United KingdomBMW Welt – Munich, GermanyMoPOP Museum (Museum of Pop Culture) – Seattle, USAMumbai Convention Centre – Mumbai, IndiaSage Gateshead – Gateshead, United KingdomUSAFA Cadet Chapel – Colorado, USAUniversum Bremen – Bremen, GermanyFuji TV Building – Tokyo, Japan30 St. Mary Axe aka The Gherkin – London, United KingdomLotus Temple – Delhi, IndiaNational Centre of the Performing Arts – Beijing, ChinaBanknote Building – Kaunas, LithuaniaPalais Bulles – Cannes, FranceThe Auditorio de Tenerife “Adán Martín” – Canary Islands, SpainThe Seashell House – Isla Mujeres, MexicoTorre Galatea – Figueres, SpainCurve House – Sopot, PolandTerracotta House – Leyva, ColombiaCathedral of Brasília – Brasilia, BrazilCape Romano Dome House – Florida, USAEarth House – Lostorf, SwitzerlandThe Eden Project – Cornwall, United KingdomChapel of the Holy Cross – Arizona, USADruzhba Holiday Center Hall – Yalta, RussiaPalais Idéal du Facteur Cheval – Hauterives, FranceOlympic Stadium – Montreal, CanadaNational Library of Republic of Belarus – Minsk, BelarusWonderWorks Pigeon Froge – Tennesse, USASteam World Museum – Gramado, BrazilThe Piano Building – Huainan, ChinaGreat Mosque of Djenné – Djenné, MaliChang Building aka Elephant Building – Bangkok, ThailandThe Dancing House aka Fred and Ginger – Prague, Czech RepublicKunsthaus Graz: Contemporary Art – Graz, AustriaLa Tête Carrée – Nice, FranceCasa do Penedo – Fafe, PortugalRipley’s Believe it or Not – Ontario, CanadaSnail House – Sofia, BulgariaHouse Attack – Vienna, AustriaHằng Nga Guesthouse – Da Lat, VietnamHabitat 67 – Montreal, CanadaSutyagin House – Anchangelsk, RussiaCube House – Rotterdam, NetherlandsHeliodyssee: Grand Four Solaire of Odeillo – Odeillo, FrançaFlintstone House – California, USARobert Harvey Oshatz – Oregon, USABunker House – Illinois, USABeijing National Stadium aka Bird’s Nest – Beijing, ChinaEND…
Breathtaking buildings, where architecture meets its zenith… But this is just a glimpse of architecture zenith in the World.
Prague Siroka 96Prague, Czech RepublicDragon Door at Krumlov House, CzechiaBrewery street in PragueArt Nouveau – Maison ‘aux Grenouilles – Bielsko Biała – PolognePena Palace, Sintra, PortugalPortal of the Monastery of Batalha, Batalha, Leiria, PortugalJeronimos monastery Lisbon – PortugalGdansk , PolandPolandPoland.Art Nouveau Door – Krakow, PolandGdansk, PolandBucharest, RomaniaBucharest, Romania Latvia~Riga.Art Deco Door – Ystad, SwedenHelsinki , FinlandCopenhagen, Denmark. It’s more than a piece of wood-jaw drops.Viking Door, Stockholm, SwedenDresden, Saxony, GermanyArt Nouveau door-BerlinHamburg , GermanyArt Nouveau in BrusselsDen Haag, HollandCanterbury. England built in 1647Wirksworth, EnglandDublin, IrelandLouvre door, ParisParis at 29 Avenue a few steps from the Eiffel TowerANGELS GUARD THEE. Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.Venice, ItalyNaples, ItalyPistoia, ItalyLa Spezia, Liguria, ItalyLa Spezia, Liguria, ItalyBarcelona , Roger de Llúria 010Barcelona – Tapioles 012Art nouveau door, casa Reus, SpainMilan, ItalyBlue Door, Venice, ItalyCrete, GreeceIstanbulBeyazıt, IstanbulArt Nouveau door in Istanbul, TurkeyTurkeyBalat, IstanbulGreen Door IstanbulKabardinka, RussiaKremlin of Ryaza, RussianDacha carved doors, RussiaDoor in RussiaStaraya Ladoga, RussiaDoors in Rostov, RussiaKhiva, UzbekistanTatarstan, RussiaChina.Shanghai, ChinaChinaChina Wrought Iron, Iron Door …Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, IndiaBlue door in Pushkar, Rajasthan, IndiaMonkey Temple’ (Swayambunath Stupa), Kathmandu, NepalBali, the Asian Art MuseumRoyal door, Bangkok,Sing Buri, ThailandThailandPutrajaya MalaysiaPersian entranceIntricate Door, Jerusalem, IsraelIn Israel there is a city of blue-doors and a history touching upon some of the greatest Jewish mystical schools.Jaffa, İsrailCairo, EgyptThere are big doors and small doors. Wisdom is knowing which one to take, when. In Tunis, TunisiaDogon people of MaliDogon door, MaliAfrica , Dogon door, MaliTaroudant, MoroccoFez, MoroccoYoruba people of northern Ekiti Region of NigeriaHarbel, LiberiaBell Tower Door Westminster School Atlanta GAMain Door, Mission San Jose, San Antonio, TexasSanta-Fe,-New-Mexico,-USASan Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, MexicoPuebla, MexicoMedellin Colombia.Havana, Cuba
The islands where the USA and Russia meet, and the East becomes West!
The Diomede Islands on the horizon
Two continents, two countries
Two cultures, two regimes
There is a place in the world where the territories of the United States and Russia are less than 4 km away, but any route between them will be 24 hours apart…
Location of the Diomede Islands, lost between 2 continents.
We are talking about the unknown and isolated Diomede Islands, in the Bering Strait, the inhospitable sea portion that separates Alaska from the far east of Asia, where probably the first inhabitants of America crossed into these lands.
In Little Diomede, its inhabitants squeeze themselves on the steep slope
North American territory!
The two islands, known as Big Diomede and Little Diomede, are separated by a strip of water of only 4 km, which is frozen during a good part of the year, allowing the passage on foot between them. The curious thing is that Big Diomede is the most easterly point in Russia, and Little Diomede is the most western point in the United States.
Cold War, a period to be forgotten
During the Cold War period, the natives who inhabited the islands before Russian or American colonization were not allowed to move between the islands, nor to exchange any type of information, in the area that became known as “Ice Curtain”.
The village of Little Diomede, with only 170 inhabitants
After the end of World War II, all the natives of the Russian island of Big Diomede were transferred to the mainland, and the archipelago maintained a small settlement only on the North American island of Little Diomede, which today has about 170 inhabitants, in one of the locations most isolated on the planet.
Detail of Little Diomede. It doesn’t look pleasant
What makes the place even more curious is that exactly between the two islands the “International Date Line” passes, creating a time zone of no less than 24 hours in a distance that is so small that it is so visual.
The International Date Line runs right between the islands
In 1987, an emblematic event brought small islands to the headlines around the world. American swimmer Lynne Cox crossed the little more than 3,700 meters that separate the sister islands, in a gesture of approximation between the superpowers that were striving to strengthen ties that had been so long apart.
Today, in times of peace, there are several projects to create monuments that would symbolize peace between the two countries. In a recent contest, a project called “Bridge of Memory”, linking the two islands, was among the champions, in what would be the first link between America and Asia after tens of thousands of years.
Bridge project between the islands, known as “Bridge the Memory”Project Detail. A fantastic engineering work for few to know.
Umberto Eco, in his novel “L’isola del giorno prima” explores the idiosyncrasies of living in Diomede very well…
Umberto Eco wrote about the weather
[…] Midnight on Friday, here on the ship, it is midnight on Thursday on the island. […] If you travel from America to Asia, you lose a day; if, in the opposite direction, you travel, you win one day: that is why Daphne [the ship] traveled the way of Asia, and you, stupid, the way of America. You are now a day older than me! It’s not funny? […]
Avanpost or The Blackout (english translation) of this sci-fi Russian movie!
I will tell you, it’s worth a shoot at this one. It has a lot of Hollywood reminiscences in it, blockbuster type, but it gets a cool twist towards the end!
Russian Mother Takes Magical Pictures Of Her Two Kids With Animals On Her Farm
These wonderful photographs by Elena Shumilova plunge the viewer into a beautiful world that revolves around two boys and their adorable dog, cat, duckling and rabbit friends. Taking advantage of natural colors, weather conditions and her enchanting surroundings, the gifted Russian artist creates cozy and heartwarming photography that will leave you amazed.
The boys in the photographs are the photographer’s sons and the animals belong to the farm she runs. “I largely trust my intuition and inspiration when I compose photos.”
Estranged Blog 