Historical places in your town!...

[Everest My Lord]

]Hi everyone,

Almost all of us are joining to 'english-test.net' from different countries. Even if we are coming from the same countries, still we are living in different cities or towns. So everyone has got something different.

Could you please introduce us one important historical place of your town? What is its name? When did they built it? By whom? What are the most important/significant specifications of it?

Regards,

[Everest My Lord]

My friends,

I am living in Istanbul since I was born but the first inhabitants of Istanbul are older than 10.000 years. During these long years, Istanbul saw many different civilizations and now it is carrying several relics of several civilizations as cultural haritages.

One of the magnificent historical constructions of Istanbul is the 'Basilica Cistern'. We call it as ‘Yerebatan Sarayi’ in Turkish which means ‘Sunken Palace’ beacuse it is placed totally underground.

Basilica Cistern is really a very important historical heritage not only for Turkey but also for the world. It was built during the reign of Justinian I (527-565) to supply water to some parts of the city. With its great architecture, Basilica Cistern has an extraordinary mystical atmosphere.

The Cistern is laid on an area of almost 10.000 square meters and has a capacity to store 100.000 tons of water. While building this Cistern, they used totally 336 columns as 28 columns in 12 rows. Almost all columns are identically cylinder shaped but their capitals are changing. The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic style, with the exception of a few Doric style with no engravings. This cistern is surrounded by a firebrick wall with a thickness of 4 meters and covered with special substances in order to make it waterproof. The Cistern’s water was provided from the Belgrade Woods which is 20 km outside of city by extraordinary aqueducts of Emperor Justinian.

All the columns were repaired in 1960s and right now, it is one of the most popular places for everyone to see in my town. You can see a picture of it below. Look at carefully and please see the relief of ceiling on the surface of the water at the basement.

[Hoangtien]

Hi,
My name is Tien Tran. I'm from Vietnam. I've been living in Ha Noi city since I was born. Ha Noi is the capital of Viet Nam and is a beautiful city, too. Ha Noi has many historical places. One of those is Turtle Tower (Tháp Rùa). It lies on the centre lake of Ha Noi - Guom Lake.



Turtle Tower is very beautiful.
First, The beauty of Turtle Tower is ancient. It is the witness for the sacred war of Vietnam. For over thirty years of the war, hundreds people of two side: Vietnam and America died around Turtle Tower. So that today I could laugh and walk freely in the road. Now, when I go sight-seeing at Guom Lake, I can see tamarind leaves quiver in the light breeze and recall the magnanimous days.

Second, Turtle Tower is the symbol of Ha Noi. The words "Turtle Tower" go into almost songs of Ha Noi. Example: Nho ve Ha Noi, Chieu Ho Guom, Ho Guom chieu thu... May I rewrite an extract of Nho ve Ha Noi that all Vietnamese people know?
Ôi nhớ Hồ Gươm xanh thắm
Nơi Tháp Rùa nghiêng soi bóng
Thành cũ Thăng Long hồn nước non thiêng
Còn lắng đâu đây dấu xưa oai hùng
And Turtle Tower go into many pictrures and arts of Ha Noi.

Finally, I want to talk about the Turtle Tower in winter. You will be abashed if you see winter Turtle Tower's sight. The grace is vague in the fog. That sight agitate hundreds artists.

And if you ask me when did they built it or by whom, I don't know. I heard that a Chinese family came and built it, but it's unbelievable. The only I know is it is built long times ago and it become a symbol of Ha Noi forever.

[Alem]

hello
my name is alem and i am from ethiopia.today i want to tell you about one historical place but first i would like to thank "Everest my lord" for raising this idea and sharing us a story about yerebatan sarayi( basilica cistern).and also i want to thank Tien Tran for sharing us a story about Tháp Rùa (Turtle Tower ).i really liked both stories.

i was born in the capital city of Ethiopia,Addis Ababa and i am living there. but since "Everest my lord" asked me about my profile picture today i will tell you about that.
the picture in my profile is a photo of ancient church which is found in the town called lalibela.
Lalibela is found in the northern part of Ethiopia and is home to one of the world's most amazing sites: 11 rock-hewn churches, each carved entirely out of a single block of granite rock with its roof at ground level.

The town of Lalibela was originally known as Roha. It was renamed after the 12th-century King Lalibela, who built these extraordinary churches. Lalibela was a member of the Zagwe dynasty, which had seized the Ethiopian throne around 1000 AD.
Each church was created by first carving out a wide trench on all four sides of the rock, then painstakingly chiseling out the interior. The largest church is 40 feet high, and the labor required to complete such a task with only hammers and chisels is astounding.
Popular legend has it that angels came every night to pick up where the workmen had left off. One of the churches, Bete Maryam(church of saint virgin Marry), contains a stone pillar on which King Lalibela wrote the secrets of the buildings' construction. It is covered with old cloths and only the priests may look on it.

The roofs of the Lalibela churches are level with the ground and are reached by stairs descending into narrow trenches. The churches are connected by tunnels and walkways and stretch across sheer drops. The interior pillars of the churches have been worn smooth by the hands of supplicating worshipers.

There are 11 rock-cut churches at Lalibela, the most spectacular of which is Bete Giorgis (church of saint George).(the one in my profile picture )it is Located on the western side of the cluster of churches, it is cut 40 feet down and its roof forms the shape of a cross.i visited lalibela when i was a university student and its really amazing i couldn't believe my own eyes.by the way these churchs are recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage and they still give religious service.

[Alem]

more pictures of lalibela

and

[Cinderella6188]

when I saw this title, the very first place I thougt about is Sword Lake (or Ho Guom in Vietnamese). And I finally found that one of our member here who comes from Vietnam also mentioned this beautiful historical place. Thank you, Hoangtien!
All I want to say is that Sword Lake and Turtle Tower is the most famous place in Hanoi - the capital of Vietnam. We, Vietnamese people, especially Hanoians, are very proud of it. So if you guys have a chance to visit Vietnam, you should spend time walking around this lake to discover the its hidden beauty.
Thanks.

[Everest My Lord]

Hi Alem;

Thank you so much. I didn't know about it. They are totally new and very interesting information for me. It is certainly unique.

Everest

[Everest My Lord]

[Hoangtien]

There is the reason why it's called Sword Lake.
" Hundreds years ago, Ming of Chinese came and began to invade Dai Viet, where is Vietnam now. Ming's army defeated Mac Dynasty of Vietnam. Ming killed thoudsands Dai Viet's people. Ming was very cruel. During the war, a war-lord of Dai Viet, Le Loi command his army to against Ming.
One day, Le Than - a fishing man, went around the lake where he would go fishing and happened to see a big turtle floating on the surface of the lake. The turtle holded a sword in its mouth. Yes, the turtle wanted to gave Le Than the sword. After that, Le Than joined in Le Loi's army and gave Le Loi the sword. With the sword, Le Loi's army came to the victory and defeated Ming.
A day of peace, Le Loi then was the King of Dai Viet came to the lake again where Le Than got the sword. He saw a big turtle floating and asking him to give back the sword. Le Loi did exactly what the turtle asked. And he named the lake "Sword Lake" to express his deep gratitute. "

[Happytofita]

Here is a place in Kenitra, Morocco:





Here is a view from the sky:





An interesting location, isn't it?

The sad thing is that I do not know much knowledge about it. I live a bit far from it. But that's not an excuse. Whether I live far or close, I still live in the same city. I really should know more about it, it just goes with the territory.

[Teymur]

napoleon said that.if the world was a single country istanbul would be its capital

[Everest My Lord]

Hi Happytofita;

Don't you know even its name? You can tell us at least what it is. It looks like interesting. May be later you can find out and read about it in your own language and then you can tell us about it in English at the Forum. We will all appreciate to learn from you.

Thanks again

[Everest My Lord]

Hi Hoangtien;

Thank you for information about Sword lake!..

[Everest My Lord]

RUMELI FORTRESS of ISTANBUL

The Rumeli Hisari (Fortress) is taking part at the European side of the Bosphorus and built by Fatih Sultan Mehmet (The Conqueror - Ottoman Empire) in 1452. Fortress was erected on the narrowest part of Bosphorus. It was completed only in 90 days. Fatih the Conqueror chose that point because on the other side of Bosphorus there was another and smaller Fortress named Anadolu Fortress. His aim was to totally controll trades via Bosphorus by these two Fortresses.

Rumeli Fortress has the biggest fortress towers in the world. It had been seriously damaged due to an eartquake in 1509 but repaired immediately in the following years.

Now, Fortress is a open air museum and a concert hall/theater. Of course it is an amazing cultural heritage of us and it can fasciate you everytime but especially in the Spring time it has a different beauty because in the Spring time 'Judas Trees' are starting to bloom with their wonderful colour. The Blooms of Judas Trees are in a special colour which is known as ‘royal purple’, ‘imperial purple’ or ‘Triyan purple’. This colour was the symbol of the Istanbul.

You can see the perfect mixture of green, imperial purple and blue sea together from the Fortresses in Istanbul (Second picture)

Best Regards,