Wander Lord

Interesting on art, nature, people, history

Category Archive: Countries and cities

Venice – pearl of the Adriatic

Venice - pearl of the Adriatic

Venice – pearl of the Adriatic

If not the Huns and Germanic tribes’ invasion of northern Italy in the V-VI centuries there wouldn’t be great Venice. The barbarians forced local residents to flee the islands of the Adriatic Sea lagoon and start a new life there. The patriarch took the church treasures and moved to the island. March 25, 421 is considered as the date of foundation of Venice. It had passed different stages in its development – was the Venetian Republic, the Republic of St. Mark. Today it is a unique architectural masterpiece, the world’s only city-museum on the water.
It was not easy to live on the islands. The sea gave the fish, that could be sold, but it was necessary to develop commercial sea lanes. People had to build houses, bridges, boats, ships. Soon, hardworking Venetians gained a reputation as active and rich people.
In X-XII centuries Venice became a merchant republic. In the XV century its wealth increased, the number of residents reached nearly 200 thousand people.
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Congo – Two Countries One Name

Congo - Two Countries One Name

Congo – Two Countries One Name

As long as 25,000 years ago, people began to live in the forests of the Congo River basin in west-central Africa.
Today the Congo basin contains two countries separated by the Congo River. Both of the countries are called Congo. Congo (Brazzaville) is officially known as the Republic of the Congo. Congo (Kinshasa) is officially called the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In 1483 the Portuguese arrived in the kingdom called Kongo. By the late 1800s other European countries had become interested in the Congo region. King Leopold II of Belgium claimed the region, which he called the Congo Free State, in 1885. In 1908 the Belgian Parliament took over the land, which it renamed the Belgian Congo. The local people didn’t win their independence until 1960. In September 1960 the army’s chief of staff, Joseph Mobutu, took control of the country.
Congo has a tropical climate that is warm and humid with heavy rainfall occurring mainly from March through June.
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Jericho – ancient city

Joshua and the walls of Jericho

Joshua and the walls of Jericho

The Bible tells us that Joshua, following the instructions of God, together with the Israeli army laid siege to the city of Jericho. The Israelites carried the Ark of the Covenant around the city walls and the priests blew the trumpets, and then the Israelites screamed all together. So, the walls of Jericho fell down, and they took the city… Since ancient times, there is an expression “the trumpets of Jericho” to describe a very loud sound that can destroy.
At the end of the XIX century German archaeologist and the Protestant Professor Ernst Sellin, who studied the biblical text, went to the Jordan Valley, which was 10 km to the northwest of the Dead Sea, and began to dig. After a few years of hard work he was able to pull out from the darkness of millennia evidence of the existence of the city. He found walls, towers, shards of crockery. He was the first to prove that there was once a town which was not only the oldest, but the story in the Bible about it was true.
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Vatican City – The Smallest State

Vatican City - The Smallest State

Vatican City – The Smallest State

Vatican City is the smallest fully independent state in the world. Its area is only 0.44 square kilometers. It stands on the banks of the Tiber River in Italy and is surrounded by the city of Rome. Vatican City is also called the Holy See. Vatican is inside the city of Rome. The Leonine Wall forms the enclave’s western and southern boundaries. Only around 1000 people (95% are men) live in Vatican City, but millions of Roman Catholics from all over the world travel each year to visit it. All the inhabitants of the Vatican have citizenship of the country where they were born.
The Vatican palace is the official home of the pope, the head of the Roman Catholic church. It contains the pope’s apartments, museums, a library, and the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is best known for Michelangelo’s paintings on its ceiling showing scenes from the Old Testament in the Bible.
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Kingdom of Cambodia – exotic country

Kingdom of Cambodia – exotic country

Kingdom of Cambodia – exotic country

Kingdom of Cambodia is the Southeast Asian country which has long served as a battleground between various countries and political groups. Cambodia is bordered by Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The country has a tropical climate with a rainy season and a dry season.
The Khmer ethnic group makes up about 85 percent of the population. More than 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Cambodia’s main products are clothing and textiles, leather, foods, rubber goods, and logs.
Buddhism is the main religion.
People have lived in what is now Cambodia for at least 6,000 years. The most famous of Cambodia’s ancient kingdoms was the powerful Khmer Empire. They constructed the famous temples of Angkor Wat in the 1100s.
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Kizhi – wooden pearl of Russia

Kizhi – wooden pearl of Russia

Kizhi – wooden pearl of Russia

Kizhi is an island in the northern part of Lake Onega in Karelia. There is an amazing beauty complex of Kizhi Pogost here. Pogost is a number of villages around a single center. True masterpiece of ancient wooden architecture is considered to be the 22-domed Transfiguration Church, built without the use of nails.
It was built in 1714, during the Great Northern War (1700-1721) between Russia and Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea. Russia wanted to gain a foothold on the shores of the Baltic.
In 1714, Russian fleet under the command of Peter I in the peninsula Hanko was managed to defeat the Swedish squadron, and took all 10 enemy ships.
It was the first major naval victory in the history of the Russian Navy. For the northern lands of Russia, including Karelia, winning the Northern War meant a significant removal of the country’s borders to the Baltic shores. To celebrate the victory the inhabitants of the northern part of Lake Onega decided to build the Church of the Transfiguration. Now it is one of the most recognizable symbols of Russia.
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Moscow – old and beautiful city

Moscow – old and beautiful city

Moscow – old and beautiful city

Moscow is the capital of Russia and one of the ten largest cities in the world. In Russia and Europe, it is the largest city by population – more than 12 million people live here.
Moscow like Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Its history begins with the Kremlin, the historical centre of the capital, its heart and site of both living history and an ensemble of masterpieces of Russian architecture. There are twenty towers.
The Tainitsky (Secret) Tower is the oldest. Inside the Tower which was built in 1485, there was a secret well to get water from the Moskva River during long sieges.
The melodious chimes of the Spassky (Saviour’s) Tower has become the symbol of Moscow. It was built in 1491 by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari.
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