Mechelen in Belgium

12 April 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Palace of the Great Council - the Belfry tower and the Laekenhall - today part of the Town Hall © Viktorhauk

Palace of the Great Council – the Belfry tower and the Laekenhall – today part of the Town Hall © Viktorhauk

Mechelen is a Dutch-speaking city and municipality in the province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper, some quarters at its outskirts, the hamlets of Nekkerspoel (adjacent) and Battel (a few kilometers away), as well as the villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen. The Dijle flows through the city, hence the term ‘Dijlestad’ (“City on the river Dijle”).   read more…

Porvoo on Porvoonjoki river

11 April 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Main Square with Porvoo Museum, the former town hall © kallerna/cc-by-sa-4.0

Main Square with Porvoo Museum, the former town hall © kallerna/cc-by-sa-4.0

Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century. Porvoo was given city rights around 1380, even though according to some sources the city was founded in 1346. The old city of Porvoo was formally disestablished and the new city of Porvoo founded in 1997 when the city of Porvoo and the Rural municipality of Porvoo were consolidated.   read more…

Bergen in Norway

2 April 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

Bergen Panorama from Mount Fløyen © Espt123

Bergen Panorama from Mount Fløyen © Espt123

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of 261,500. Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of 386,600. Bergen is located in the county of Hordaland on the south-western coast of Norway. It is an important cultural hub in its region, recognized as the unofficial capital of Western Norway and sometimes also referred to as the Atlantic coast capital of Norway. The city was one of nine European cities honoured with the title of European Capital of Culture in the Millennium year.   read more…

Theme Week Gascony – Auch

28 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

Armagnac Tower and Auch Cathedral © Chrwalker/cc-by-sa-3.0

Armagnac Tower and Auch Cathedral © Chrwalker/cc-by-sa-3.0

Auch is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Midi-Pyrénées, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony.   read more…

Olinda on the Atlantic Ocean

28 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

historical center © flickr.com - Prefeitura de Olinda/cc-by-2.0

historical center © flickr.com – Prefeitura de Olinda/cc-by-2.0

Olinda is a historic and one of the oldest cities in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, located on the country’s northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, just north of Recife and south of Paulista. It has a population of 397,000 people and is one of the best-preserved colonial cities in Brazil.   read more…

Newfoundland and Labrador

21 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  < 1 minute

Government House - St Johns © Jcmurphy

Government House – St Johns © Jcmurphy

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country’s Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, with a combined area of 405,212 square kilometres (156,500 sq mi). As of 2011, the province’s population is 514,536. Approximately 92 percent of the province’s population resides on the Island of Newfoundland (including its associated smaller islands), of which more than half live on the Avalon Peninsula.   read more…

Theme Week Swiss – St. Gallen, gate to Appenzellerland

21 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  11 minutes

Housing in the Abby quarter © Filzstift

Housing in the Abby quarter © Filzstift

St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration (with around 160,000 inhabitants) and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. The town mainly relies on services for its economic base. The main tourist attraction is the Abbey of St. Gall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its renowned library contains books which date to the 9th century. The city has good transport links to the rest of the country and to neighbouring Germany and Austria. It also functions as the gate to the Appenzell Alps.   read more…

Theme Week Italian Riviera – Cinque Terre

11 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  7 minutes

Cinque Terre map © Krigh

Cinque Terre map © Krigh

The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia. “The Five Lands” is composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all part of the Cinque Terre National Park (Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre) and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   read more…

The historic port city of Genoa

3 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Grand Hotel Miramare © Twice25 & Rinina25

Grand Hotel Miramare © Twice25 & Rinina25

Genoa is a city and a major seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city proper has a population of 609,000, while its urban agglomeration consists of 718,896 inhabitants. Finally, the coastal metropolitan area that snakes in the central section of Liguria is estimated to have a population of about 878,000. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba (“the Superb one”) due to its glorious past and impressive landmarks. Part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List (UNESCO) in 2006. The city’s rich art, music, gastronomy, architecture and history, allowed it to become the 2004’s EU Capital of Culture. Genoa, which represents the southern access to the sea of Italy’s industrial north-west basin, is the country’s largest seaport and one of the main manufacturing and commercial hubs. The city, since the 19th century, hosts massive shipyards, oil refineries and steelworks, while its solid financial sector dates back to the Middle Ages. The Bank of Saint George is among the oldest in the world, as it was founded in 1407, playing an important role in the city’s prosperity from the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS and Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone.   read more…

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