Theme Week Belarus – Homiel

26 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Regional Drama Theater © Alexander Sokolov/cc-by-sa-3.0

Regional Drama Theater © Alexander Sokolov/cc-by-sa-3.0

Homiel or Gomel is the administrative centre of Gomel Region and the second-most populous city of Belarus with 526,872 inhabitants (2015 census). Homiel is situated in the southeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the river Sozh, 302 km (188 mi) south-east of Minsk, 534 km (332 mi) east of Brest, 171 km (106 mi) south of Mogilev, 237 km (147 mi) west of Bryansk and 111 km (69 mi) north of Chernihiv. The terrain on which the city as a whole is built, is flat. On the right bank of the river, it is a gradually decreasing plain water-glacial and fluvial terrace of the Sozh river. The left bank is a low-lying alluvial plain. The highest elevation of 144 meters above sea level is found at the northern outskirts of Homiel, the lowest elevation of 115 m at the water boundary Sozh river. Novobelitskiy district, which is located on the left bank of the river (i.e., towards the south), has elevations averaging of 10–15 meters lower than the northern and central parts of the city. On the left bank of the Sozh many kilometers of beaches can be found.   read more…

Ariel in Palestine

22 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  11 minutes

Ariel University Center © Ori~

Ariel University Center © Ori~

Ariel is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the central West Bank, Palestine, part of the Israeli-occupied territories, approximately situated between 17 kilometres (11 mi) and 22 kilometres (14 mi) east of the Green Line, and 34 kilometres (21 mi) west of the Jordan River, Jordan‘s western border. Ariel is adjacent to the Palestinian National Authority town of Salfit and southwest of Nablus. It is approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Petah Tikva, and 42 kilometres (26 mi) east of Tel Aviv to which it is connected by the Highway 5 and 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of Jerusalem, to which it is connected by Highway 60. Ariel was first established in 1978 and its population was 20,540 in 2019, composed of veteran and young Israelis, English-speaking immigrants, and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, with an additional influx of above 10,000 students from Ariel University. It is the fourth largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, after Modi’in Illit, Beitar Illit, and Ma’ale Adumim. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. Ariel’s jurisdiction spans 14,677 dunams (14.677 km²; 5.667 sq mi), and borders the Palestinian towns and villages Salfit, Marda and Iskaka. According to B’Tselem, within Ariel’s municipal area there are several enclaves of privately owned Palestinian land, whose owners are not allowed access to them.   read more…

City of Ur in Iraq

20 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  11 minutes

Ziggurat of Ur © Kaufingdude/cc-by-sa-3.0

Ziggurat of Ur © Kaufingdude/cc-by-sa-3.0

Ur was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern “Tell el-Muqayyar” in south Iraq‘s Dhi Qar Governorate. Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now well inland, on the south bank of the Euphrates, 16 kilometres (9.9 miles) from Nasiriyah in modern-day Iraq. The city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded in written history as a city-state from the 26th century BC, its first recorded king being Mesannepada.   read more…

Brest in Belarus

18 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Monument of Courage in Brest Fortress © Alexxx Malev/cc-by-sa-4.0

Monument of Courage in Brest Fortress © Alexxx Malev/cc-by-sa-4.0

Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk, is a city (population 350,600 in 2019) in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish city of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It is the capital city of the Brest Region.   read more…

Old New Synagogue in Prague

11 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

© Øyvind Holmstad/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Øyvind Holmstad/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Old New Synagogue (Czech: Staronová synagoga), also called the Altneuschul, situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe’s oldest active synagogue. It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave design. Completed in 1270 in gothic style, it was one of Prague‘s first gothic buildings. A still older Prague synagogue, known as the Old Synagogue, was demolished in 1867 and replaced by the Spanish Synagogue.   read more…

Theme Week Lithuania – Kėdainiai

25 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

City Hall and Monument of Radziwiłł © Algirdas/cc-by-sa-3.0

City Hall and Monument of Radziwiłł © Algirdas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kėdainiai is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located 51 km (32 mi) north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population as of 2020 is 23,667. Its old town dates to the 17th century. The city is the administrative centre of the Kėdainiai District Municipality. The geographical centre of the Lithuanian Republic is in the nearby village of Ruoščiai, located in the eldership of Dotnuva.   read more…

Theme Week Lithuania – Šiauliai

23 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

Hill of Crosses © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hill of Crosses © Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-3.0

Šiauliai is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 99,462. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Šiauliai located in eastern part of the northern plateau, Mūša, Dubysa and Venta River divide. Distance of 210 kilometres (130 miles) to Vilnius, Kaunas – 142 km (88 mi), Klaipėda – 161 km (100 mi), Riga – 128 km (80 mi), Kaliningrad – 250 km (155 mi).   read more…

Theme Week Lithuania – Jonava

22 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Library © Bearas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Library © Bearas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Jonava is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of c. 30,000. It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, 30 km (19 mi) north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas International Airport. Achema, the largest fertilizer factory in the Baltic states, is located nearby. The city is sometimes called “the capital of midsummer holiday” (lithuanian: Joninės).   read more…

Theme Week Lithuania – Trakai

21 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  15 minutes

Užutrakis Manor © Karmen media/cc-by-sa-3.0

Užutrakis Manor © Karmen media/cc-by-sa-3.0

Trakai is a historic city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies 28 kilometres (17 miles) west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. Trakai is the administrative centre of Trakai district municipality. The town covers 497.1 square kilometres (191.9 square miles) of area and, according to 2007 estimates, is inhabited by 5,357 people. A notable feature of Trakai is that the town was built and preserved by people of different nationalities. Historically, communities of Karaims, Tatars, Lithuanians, Russians, Jews and Poles lived here.   read more…

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