unhistorical:

UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Malbork Castle

Unlike the rest of the European World Heritage Sites we’ve covered (so far), Poland’s famous brick castle did not begin as a monastery, but as a fortress. It was built (with the name Marienburg) by the Teutonic Order, a military order of German crusaders, in the late 13th century, though it was not until September of 1309 that the castle attained some importance and underwent a significant expansion that lasted for nearly half a century. It was that year that Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, moved his office to Malbork after Pope Clement V issued the Papal Bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, authorizing Christian monarchs to arrest Templars and seize their property. Under Feuchtwangen, new moats, defensive walls, and cathedrals were added, and the castle was divided into three sections - the High, Middle, and Low. Architecturally, it is a prime example of the medieval Gothic style, as well as the Brick Gothic style, which is prevalent throughout Northern Europe. It is also the largest brick castle in the world.

In 1457, Polish forces captured Malbork, whereafter court officials took control of the castle and converted it partly into residences for Polish royalty. The Jesuits also controlled the site in the 17th and 18th centuries until 1772 after the partition of Poland, when the city of Malbork became part of the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussian officials used the castle as military barracks and as a hospital throughout the Napoleonic Wars. The rediscovery of the castle’s Teutonic history piqued the interest of the Prussian people, and construction/restoration began once more.

During the Third Reich era, Adolf Hitler’s Hitler-Jugend (both the boy’s and girl’s wings) sometimes traveled to Malbork, and high-ranking Nazi officials sometimes held celebrations inside the castle. German soldiers even took military vows here, before heading off to the eastern front. Towards the end of the war, however, invading Russian forces destroyed a large number of the buildings, including the newly-restored cathedral. In 1997, Malbork was named a UNESCO Heritage Site.

This is awesome. 

vincaro:

Misty morning by flower_bee on Flickr.

gotraveling:

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia

Lake Baikal in Siberia is the oldest and deepest lake in the world. It is estimated to be almost 30 million years old and 745 meters deep. WOW! It is also one of the clearest lakes and holds roughly about 20% of the world’s unfrozen surface freshwater. It is also home to over 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of these species are found no where else in the world! Because of all these amazing features Lake Baikal was declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Much like the Great Blue Hole I find Lake Baikal very eerie and mysterious. It has been around for so long and it is so deep, I mean, what really lurks down there…. Guess I’ll have to wait and see!

First Photo by: Slavophile

Second Photo by: stealthtractor (sourced)

 Third and Fourth Photo by: Duiken Redactie

Palace of Versailles, France

“The Palace of Versailles was the principal residence of the French kings from the time of Louis XIV to Louis XVI. Embellished by several generations of architects, sculptors, decorators and landscape architects, it provided Europe with a model of the ideal royal residence for over a century.” — unesco.org

(source: lighoutwanderlust)

Porto, Portugal

“The historic centre of is a townscape of high aesthetic value, with evidence of urban development from the Roman, medieval, and Almadas periods. The rich and varied civil architecture of the historic centre expresses the cultural values of succeeding periods - Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neoclassical and modern. The active social and institutional tissue of the town ensures its survival as a living historic centre. Military, commercial, agricultural, and demographic interests converged here to shelter a population capable of building the city. It is a collective work, not accomplished at a particular moment but the result of successive contributions. One of the most relevant aspects of Oporto is its scenic character, resulting from the complexity of the landform, the harmonious articulation of its roads, and the dialogue with the river. It also represents a successful interaction between the social and geographical environments.” — unesco.org

(flickr: ©miguel valle de figueiredo)

Summer Palace, Beijing, China

“Between 1750 and 1764 the Qing Emperor Qianlong created the Garden of Clear Ripples (Summer Palace), extending the area of the lake and carrying out other improvements based on the hill and its landscape. During the Second Opium War (1856-60) the garden and its buildings were destroyed by the allied forces. Between 1886 and 1895 it was reconstructed by Emperor Guangxu and renamed the Summer Palace, for use by Empress Dowager Cixi. It was damaged in 1900 by the international expeditionary force during the suppression of the Boxer Rising and restored two years later. It became a public park in 1924.”

(flickr: Stuck in Customs)

Agra Fort, India 

“Near the gardens of the Taj Mahal stands the important 16th-century Mughal monument known as the Red Fort of Agra. This powerful fortress of red sandstone encompasses, within its 2.5-km-long enclosure walls, the imperial city of the Mughal rulers. It comprises many fairy-tale palaces, such as the Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas; and two very beautiful mosques.” — unesco.org

(flickr: youngrobv Rob&Ale)

More of the wonderful creatures on Galapagos.

(flickr: Tristan27)

Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, Aberta, Canada

“In 1932 Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada) was combined with the Glacier National Park (Montana, United States) to form the world’s first International Peace Park. Situated on the border between the two countries and offering outstanding scenery, the park is exceptionally rich in plant and mammal species as well as prairie, forest, and alpine and glacial features.” — unesco.org

(flickr: JLMphoto)

I LOVE THIS! 

Also taken in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. 

(flickr: Gregor Samsa)

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Velasco Province, Bolivia

“The National Park is one of the largest (1,523,000 ha) and most intact parks in the Amazon Basin. With an altitudinal range of 200 m to about 1,000 m, it contains a rich mosaic of habitat types from cerrado savannah and forest to upland evergreen Amazonian forests. The park boasts an evolutionary history dating back over a billion years to the Precambrian. Located on the border with Brazil, the site includes a large section of the Huanchaca Plateau and surrounding lowlands. There are rugged cliffs in the northern, western and southern sides of the plateau, with several valleys and steep slopes in its eastern side. Several rivers have their sources on the plateau and form spectacular waterfalls. The largest river in the area is the Iténez, which marks the border with Brazil, to the north of the park, and the Paraguá River dominates the lowlands to the west.” — unesco.org

More of the Canadian Rocky Mountains Park

(flickr: Walt K)

Canadian Rocky Mountains Park, British Columbia & Alberta, Canada

“Renowned for their scenic splendor, the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks are comprised of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks and Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine and Hamber provincial parks. Together, they exemplify the outstanding physical features of the Rocky Mountain Biogeographical Province. Classic illustrations of glacial geological processes — including icefields, remnant valley glaciers, canyons and exceptional examples of erosion and deposition — are found throughout the area. The Burgess Shale Cambrian and nearby Precambrian sites contain important information about the earth’s evolution.” — unesco.org

(flickr: Jim Boud)

Stone Town of Zanzibar

“The Stone Town of Zanzibar is a fine example of the Swahili coastal trading towns of East Africa. It retains its urban fabric and townscape virtually intact and contains many fine buildings that reflect its particular culture, which has brought together and homogenized disparate elements of the cultures of Africa, the Arab region, India, and Europe over more than a millennium.” — unesco.org

(flickr: Statue of the Slavery monument in Zanzibar Stone Town, Tanzania by Eric Lafforgue)

Gorgeous bird of Galapagos Island, Ecuador

I shared this photo by Tristan awhile back on my first post of Galapagos. These colors are just amazing.

(flickr: Tristan27)