Tag: tower

Little Ease, the torture cell in the London Tower.

Adam

In 1534, a man and a woman were stopped a step away from the exit door of Tower Hill in London by a group of night guards. The man was their colleague, John Bawd, and the woman was Alice Tankerville, a convicted thief and a prisoner. So ended the Tower’s first known escape attempt by a woman. But Alice’s accomplice and admirer, the guard John Bawd, was destined to enter the Tower record books too: he is the first known occupant of a peculiar torture cell used during the reigns…

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Tokyo Skytree: an incredible view from 451 meters high!

Anya016

Tokyo Skytree, is a broadcasting and telecommunications tower in Tokyo, and at a height of 634 metres, it was the world’s second tallest structure, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It was inaugurated on May 22, 2012, and it is also the world’s tallest freestanding tower, exceeding the height of Tokyo Tower, previously the city’s tallest structure, by 301 metres. The major role of Tokyo Skytree is to transmit electric waves in a stable manner free from influences of super tall buildings that have been increasing every year. The area…

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Crecchio Castle, history, legends and Byzantines!

Anya016

The castle, of Norman-Swabian origin, was built around a watchtower around the 11th-12th centuries. The original tower, called “normanna” and “dell’ulivo”, part of a territorial defensive system, was visually connected with other towers in the surround, like the Mucchia tower (on the coast) and with the city of Lanciano and Guardiagrele inside. To it are linked many legends related to the cruelty of one of its owners who, ruling these places with terror, beheaded its opponents on the highest tower, that of sighting. The tower became a symbol of terror…

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Phare du Four

Anya016

The Four channel runs along the end of the Léon and avoids the bypass west of the archipelago of Molène and Ouessant. Shortcut useful but dangerous, it was for a long time very imperfectly indicated. In the early 1860s, the Nautical Commission approved the construction of a lighthouse at each end of the channel and the first recognition took place in June 1862. The “roche du Four”, a granite block a block of granite 25 meters in diameter and a height of 11.50 meters with at the top, is the…

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Cap Fréhel and its lighthouses.

Anya016

Cap Fréhel is a peninsula in Côtes-d’Armor, in France, in the northern Brittany region, which extends from the Côte d’Émeraude to the Golfe de Saint-Malo. Despite no towns or villages are situated on the peninsula (all the undulating terrain is covered in moorland and marshes, which make it difficult to construct any structure), there are two lighthouses, one from the 17th century and the other one from 1950, located at the tip of it. The peninsula is surrounded in the major part by cliffs, which make it difficult to access…

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Roccascalegna: history and legends from the medieval castle in the heart of Abruzzo.

Anya016

Roccascalegna is a small town situated at 455 meters above sea level, in a valley right of the Rio Secco, a tributary of the Aventino river, in the inner mountains of the province of Chieti, midway between the mountains and the sea; its 1400 inhabitants are called roccolani. In all likelihood, the founders of Roccascalegna were the Longobards who, since 600 AD, permanently occupied the actual Molise and southern Abruzzo, after having descended from northern Italy. Consequence of this was the alignment of the Byzantine garrisons on the shores of…

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The mysterious Tower of Claudius in Faqra, Lebanon.

Ivan

This curious ruins of a monumental tower in the heart of Lebanese mountains, on the main road leading to the town and ski resort of Faraya, still today makes crazy the archeologists. In the same road there are also a myriad of other small archeological sites, but archaeologists aren’t certain about the original purposes of this temple on Mount Lebanon. The ruins of the stone structure (one of four altars in the surrounding area) were once part of either a tower? A tomb? Or a temple? The building now is…

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The ruins of Choustník castle, history and legends.

Adam

There are, of course, some legends linked to the Choustník castle, located in the South of Czech Republic. Perhaps the most popular is about the origin of the castle. A beautiful and brave magician fell in love with the daughter of Emperor Bedrich Rudobrad. The Princess returned his love, but the Emperor was contrary to their love. The lovers therefore fled, and after a long travel they settled in the region of Tábor and built a castle. After a while the emperor forgot his anger and went to look for…

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The lookout tower on the Petřín hill of Prague: the little sister of Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Adam

The Petřín Lookout Tower (Petřínská Rozhledna), where tourists can see one of the most beautiful view of Prague, was built as part of the Jubilee Exhibition in 1891 inspired by the Eiffel Tower. In fact, when in 1889 the members of the Czech Tourist Club visited the world exhibition in Paris, they were so impressed by the view of the famous Eiffel Tower, that they decided to create a similar dominant above the capital of Czech Republic. It was decided that a five-time smaller imitation of the Eiffel Tower would…

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A small trip down the three towers of San Marino, Guaita, Cesta and Montale.

Pavel

This time we speak about the Three Towers of San Marino a group of towers, located on the three peaks of Monte Titano and depicted on both the national flag and coat of arms. The first Tower, the Guaita, is the first Tower built in San Marino and the most famous, and dates back to the 11th century. Over the years it was enlarged and rebuilt numerous times, and achieved utmost splendour in the XV century during the war that San Marino fought and win against the Malatesta Family from…

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