The Skyscraper Museum is an architecture museum located in Battery Park City in New York City and founded in 1996. As the name suggests, the museum focuses on high-rise buildings as “products of technology, objects of design, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence.” Before moving to the current and permanent location in Battery Park City in 2004, the museum was a nomadic institution, holding pop-up exhibitions in donated spaces around Lower Manhattan since 1996. read more…
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy’s border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste and throughout history it has been influenced by its location at the crossroads of Germanic, Latin, Austro-Hungarian and Slavic cultures. In 2009, it had a population of about 205,000 and it is the capital of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trieste province. Trieste was one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1382 until 1918. In the 19th century, it was the most important port of one of the Great Powers of Europe. As a prosperous seaport in the Mediterranean region, Trieste became the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). In the fin-de-siecle period, it emerged as an important hub for literature and music. However, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Trieste’s union to Italy after World War I led to some decline of its “Mittel-European” cultural and commercial importance. Enjoying an economic revival during the 1930s and throughout the Cold War, Trieste was an important spot in the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs. Today, the city is in one of the richest regions of Italy, and has been a great centre for shipping, through its port (Port of Trieste), shipbuilding and financial services. read more…
Heron Island is a coral cay located near the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 80 km north-east of Gladstone, Queensland and 460 km north-north-west of the state capital Brisbane. The island is situated on the leeward (western) side of Heron Reef, a fringing platform reef of significant biodiversity, supporting around 900 of the 1,500 fish species and 72% of the coral species found on the Great Barrier Reef. read more…
Kecskemét is a city in the central part of Hungary. It is the 8th largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country’s third-largest city, Szeged, 86 kilometers (53 miles) from both of them and almost equal distance from the two big rivers of the country, the Danube and the Tisza. It is the northern of two centers of the Hungarian Southern Great Plain region; the southern center is Szeged, the seat of Csongrád county. read more…
Beauvais is a city approximately 79 kilometres (49 mi) by highway north of central Paris, in the northern French region of Picardie. It currently has a population of over 60,000 inhabitants. Beauvais lies at the foot of wooded hills on the left bank of the Thérain at its confluence with the Avelon. Its ancient ramparts have been destroyed, and it is now surrounded by boulevards, outside of which run branches of the Thérain. In addition, there are spacious promenades in the north-east of the town. The industry of Beauvais comprises, besides the state manufacture of tapestry, which dates from 1664, the manufacture of various kinds of cotton and woollen goods, brushes, toys, boots and shoes, and bricks and tiles. Market-gardening flourishes in the vicinity and an extensive trade is carried on in grain and wine. read more…
Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Governorate. In 2007, it had a population of 20,000. The city was occupied by Jordan from 1949 to 1967, and has been held under Israeli occupation since 1967; administrative control was handed over to the Palestinian Authority in 1994. It is believed to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Jericho is located 258 metres (846 ft) below sea level in an oasis in Wadi Qelt in the Jordan Valley. The nearby spring of Ein es-Sultan produces 3.8 m3 (1,000 gallons) of water per minute, irrigating some 10 square kilometres (2,500 acres) through multiple channels and feeding into the Jordan River, 10 kilometres (6 mi) away. The constant sunshine, rich alluvial soil, and abundant water from the spring have always made Jericho an attractive place for settlement. read more…
The Isle of Man, otherwise known simply as Mann, is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor, but its foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the British Government. Although the United Kingdom does not usually intervene in the island’s domestic matters, its “good government” is ultimately the responsibility of the Crown (that is, in practice, the Government of the United Kingdom). read more…
