Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, it is bordered to the west by the 1st arrondissement; to the north by the 3rd, to the east by the 11th and 12th, and to the south by the Seine and the 5th. The 4th arrondissement contains the Renaissance-era Paris City Hall. It also contains the Renaissance square of Place des Vosges, the overtly modern Pompidou Centre and the lively southern part of the medieval district of Le Marais, which today is known for being the gay district of Paris (while the more quiet northern part of Le Marais is contained inside the 3rd arrondissement). The eastern parts of the Île de la Cité (including Notre-Dame de Paris) as well as the Île Saint-Louis are also included within the 4th arrondissement. The 4th arrondissement is known for its little streets, cafés, and shops but is regarded as expensive and congested. It is desirable for those insisting on old buildings and multi-cultural exposure. read more…
Situated principally on the right bank of the River Seine, it also includes the west end of the Île de la Cité. The arrondissement is one of the oldest in Paris, the Île de la Cité having been the heart of the city of Lutetia, conquered by the Romans in 52 BC, while some parts on the right bank (including Les Halles included) date back to the early Middle Ages. It is the least populated of the city’s arrondissements and one of the smallest by area, a significant part of which is occupied by the Louvre Museum and the Tuileries Gardens. Much of the remainder of the arrondissement is dedicated to business and administration. read more…
Neuwerk (3 km², 39 inhabitants) is a Wadden Sea island on the German North Sea coast and a homonymous quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough Hamburg-Mitte. It is located northwest of Cuxhaven, between the Weser and Elbe estuaries, the distance to Hamburg’s center is about 120 km. read more…
Pillnitz is a city quarter in the east of Dresden, Germany. The best known sight of this quarter is the Japanese-styled chateau. The quarter is situated in the east of Dresden, a rather long way from the inner city. It can be reached by bus, ship, walking along the river or by bicycle. The park around the castle was founded in 1539 by building the castle church. In 1693 Elector John George IV of Saxony acquired the palace as a present to his mistress Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz. Both died in the following years and in 1706 John George’s brother Augustus II the Strong passed the facilities as a gift to Anna Constantia of Brockdorff, one of his numerous women, only to retract it after Anna Constantia had fled to Berlin in 1715. read more…
Schloss Moritzburg is a Baroque castle in the municipality of Moritzburg in the German state of Saxony, about 13 km (8.1 mi) northwest of the Saxon capital Dresden. read more…
Gottorf Castle is a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig, Germany. It is the ancestral home of the Holstein-Gottorp branch of the House of Oldenburg. It is situated on an island in the Schlei, about 40 km from the Baltic Sea. It was first settled as an estate in 1161 as the residence of Bishop Occo of Schleswig when his former residence was destroyed. The Danish Duke of Schleswig acquired it through a purchase in 1268, and in 1340 it was transferred to the Count of Holstein at Rendsburg of the House of Schauenburg. The manor later, through maternal inheritance, became the possession of Christian I of Denmark, the first Danish monarch from the House of Oldenburg, in 1459. read more…
The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards. The city of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park.This forest is now home to many endangered species of Europe and many people are trying to keep the forest safe from hunters and loggers. The palace introduced to France the Italian Mannerist style in interior decoration and in gardens, and transformed them in the translation. The French Mannerist style of interior decoration of the 16th century is known as the “Fontainebleau style”: it combined sculpture, metalwork, painting, stucco and woodwork, and outdoors introduced the patterned garden parterre. The Fontainebleau style combined allegorical paintings in moulded plasterwork where the framing was treated as if it were leather or paper, slashed and rolled into scrolls and combined with arabesques and grotesques. Fontainebleau ideals of female beauty are Mannerist: a small neat head on a long neck, exaggeratedly long torso and limbs, small high breasts—almost a return to Late Gothic beauties. The new works at Fontainebleau were recorded in refined and detailed engravings that circulated among connoisseurs and artists. Through the engravings by the “School of Fontainebleau” this new style was transmitted to other northern European centres, Antwerp especially, and Germany, and eventually London. read more…
