-JeRaSh, JoRdAn-

JeRaSh, JoRdAn

Map of Jerash, Jordan

• Jerash, located 48 km north of Amman and nestled in a quiet valley among the mountains of Gilead, is the grandeur of Imperial Rome being one of the largest and most well preserved sites of Roman architecture in the World outside Italy.

• To this day, its paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, handsome theaters, spacious public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls pierced by towers and gates remain in exceptional condition.

• The history of Jerash is a blend of the Greco-Roman world of the Mediterranean basin and the ancient traditions of the Arab Orient.

• The name of the city itself reflects this interaction. The earliest Arabic/Semitic inhabitants named their village Garshu.

• The Romans later Hellenised the former Arabic name into Gerasa, and at the end of the 19th century, the Arab and Circassian inhabitants of the small rural settlement transformed the Roman Gerasa into the Arabic Jerash.

• It was not until the days of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC that Jerash truly began to develop into a sizeable town. But it was during the period of Roman rule that Jerash, then known as Gerasa, enjoyed its golden age.

• The first known historical reference to Jerash dates back to the 2nd or early 1st century BC. This reference is attributed to Josephus, a historian from the Holy Land, who referred to it as the the place to which Theodorus, the tyrant of Philadelphia, removed his treasure for safe keeping in the Temple of Zeus.
  

• Shortly afterward, Theodorus lost Jerash to Alexander Jannceus, a religious priest. Soon after Rome took control of Syria, Emperor Pompey, in 63 BC, named conquered Jerash as one of the great cities of the Decapolis League.

• This brought great economic benefits to Jerash and trade flourished with the Nabataean Empire based in Petra.

• In 106 AD, Emperor Trajan annexed the wealthy Nabataean Kingdom and formed the province of Arabia. This brought even greater trading riches pouring into Jerash, which enjoyed a burst of construction activity.

• Granite was brought from as far away as Egypt, and old temples were rebuilt according to the latest architectural fashion.

• By the middle of the 5th century, Christianity had become the major religion of the region and numerous churches were constructed in Jerash under the Byzantines. Many churches were constructed of stones taken from pagan temples - and the remains of several can be seen today.

• The last church was built in 611, but it all went downhill from there. The city was invaded by Persians in 614, captured by Muslims in 635 and badly damaged by several earthquakes in the 8th century.

• In 720, Caliph Yazid II decreed that "all images and likenesses in his dominions, of bronze and of wood and of stone and of pigments, should be destroyed." Obedience to this command can be seen in the mosaics of some of Jerash's churches, such as that of St. John the Baptist.

• But others, already so ruined that their mosaics were not visible (such as the Church of Sts. Cosmos and Damianus), escaped the destruction.

The Cathedral, Jerash.

The large Roman theater of Jerash.

The stage of South Theater, Jerash.

The oval plaza and other ruins of Jerash, with the modern city behind.

Side view of the Oval Plaza

The Colonnaded (Cardo) Street.

Byzantine church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian.

Mosaic floor in Sts. Cosmas and Damian.

The main Roman road, the Cardo Maximus.

-PeTrA, JoRdAn-

-PeTrA-

Petra was founded along the ancient trade routes between Arabia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea. Petra means "rock" in Greek, fitting for a town literally carved out of sandstone desert cliffs. It is located about three hours south of Amman, the capital of Jordan, and was founded by a nomadic Arab tribe known as the Nabataeans several centuries before Christ's birth.

The Nabataeans were renowned for their great skills in trade, agriculture, engineering, and architectural stone-carving.As a center for trade, the capital became very wealthy and powerful. The busy city was bustling with life, full of lush gardens, ornate houses, and markets loaded with exotic goods from India, Arabia, and Egypt. Petra flourished for centuries, even after it was taken over by the Roman Empire in A.D. 106. Eventually, Rome moved the center of trade away from Petra and the city's importance slowly faded. Over time, the city that was once a vibrant and vital capital was abandoned and fell into ruins. For over 500 years, the city was forgotten, known only to local people.

It was not until 1812 that a Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt re-discovered it. Today, it is one of the world's most famous ancient sites. Still, only 5 percent of the city has been uncovered, and many mysteries remain. The ancient city of Petra was literally carved from the sandstone cliffs of southern Jordan. There the Nabataeans built temples and tombs, houses and halls, altars and aquaducts. And they built a civilization that stood at the crossroads of the ancient Near East, a center for commerce as the spice routes and trading trails of the time all flowed through Petra.

Petra tours entering the location of the city have to pass through 1 km of a winding narrow gorge or Siq. As you journey through soaring vertical cliffs on either side dwarfs the Siq visitors. After weaving through the sheer pink tinged rock faces you finally glimpse the Al-Khazneh (treasury), the entrance to which has been carved into a sheer rock face. This intricately carved facade is believed to have been built in the 1st Century to house the tomb of a Nabataean King.

The Corinthian Tomb comes next. It is very worn, but if one stops to examine it, it is very ornate and similar to the Treasury.

Beside the Urn Tomb is a small tomb known as the Silk Tomb. This name comes from the rich color of the sandstone. IT is one of the most dramatically colored tombs in Petra.

The Palace Tomb is very wide, and has three distinct stories in it's facade. Supposedly, it is similar to the Roman palace design of the Golden House of Nero. In front of the tomb is a large stage and in front of this a large courtyard. It is almost as if the Palace Tomb was designed as a backdrop for State funerals.

Royal tomb of Nabataean King Malchus 2, who died in 70 AD (above)

On the rear wall is an inscription recording the consecration of the tomb as a church and cathedral by Bishop Jason in 447 AD.

The main chamber is very large and impressive. Along the back wall are three asps, constructed when the tomb was converted into a church.

Along the side of the front courtyard are a line of columns. The door to the main chamber is rather eroded on the bottom, but the lines are still quite visible. Far above the door are three burial chambers.

-SpAiN-

SPAIN

• Located in Southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
  
• Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediteranean Sea except for a small land boundary withg Gibraltar; to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.


• Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France.


• The true origins of the name España and its cognates "Spain" and "Spanish" are disputed.

• The ancient Roman name for Iberia, Hispania, may derive from poetic use of the term Hesperia to refer to Spain, reflecting Greek perception of Italy as a "western land" or "land of the setting sun" (Hesperia) and Spain, being still further west, as Hesperia ultima.
  
• It may also be a derivation of the Punic Ispanihad meaning "land of rabbits" or "edge", a reference to Spain's location at the end of the Mediterranean; Roman coins struck in the region from the reign of Hadrian show a female figure with a rabbit at her feet.

• There are also claims that España derives from the Basque word Ezpanna meaning "edge" or "border",another reference to the country being at the extreme southwest of the European continent
  
  
  PLACES OF ATTRACTION
  

St Lorenzo de El Escorial

El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 miles) northwest of the Spanish capital, Madrid, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. El Escorial comprises two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: El Real Monasterio de El Escorial itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometres away.

Plaza de Espana

Plaza de España is a large square, and popular tourist destination, located in central Madrid, Spain, at the western end of the Gran Vía. It features a monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and is bordered by two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers; also the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) is a short walk south from the plaza.

In the center of the plaza is a monument to Spanish novelist, poet and playwright Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Designed by architects Rafael Martínez Zapatero and Pedro Muguruza and sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut Valera. Most of the monument was built between 1925 and 1930. It was finished between 1956 and 1957 by Federico Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia, the son of the original sculptor.

The tower portion of the monument includes a stone sculpture of Cervantes, which overlooks bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Next to the tower are stone sculptures of two representations of Don Quixote's "true love", one as the simple peasant woman Aldonza Lorenzo and one as the beautiful, imaginary Dulcinea del Toboso.

Barcelona Cathedral

The Cathedral of Santa Eulaliathe Gothic cathedral seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain. (Though sometimes inaccurately so called, the famous Sagrada Família is not a cathedral). The cathedral was constructed throughout the 13th to 15th centuries, with the principal work done in the 14th century. The cloisters enclosing the Well of the Geese (Fuente de las Ocas) were completed about 1450. The neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that is common to Catalan churches in the 19th century.

The cathedral was constructed over the crypt of a former Visigothic chapel, dedicated to Saint James, which was the proprietary church of the Viscounts of Barcelona, one of whom, Mir Gerberto, sold it in 1058 to bishop Guisleberto. Its site faced the Roman forum of Barcelona. It is a hall church, vaulted over five aisles, the outer two divided into chapels. The transept is truncated. The east end is a chevet of nine radiating chapels connected by an ambulatory. The high altar is raised, allowing a clear view into the crypt.

The cathedral is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, a young virgin who, according to Catholic tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times in Barcelona. One story is that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snowfall in mid-spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolled it down a street (according to tradition, the one now called 'Baixada de Santa Eulalia'). The body of Saint Eulalia is entombed in the cathedral's crypt.

-SaO pAuLo, BrAziL-

AbOut SaO PaUlo, BrAziL

Is the largest city in Brazil.

World's 7th largest metropolitan area.

The name of the city honors Saint Paul, the Apostle, as the Village of Sao Paulo de Piratininga.

Reowned landmarks such as the Museu Paulista do Ipiranga built in thw site of Brazil's Independence Proclamation by Pedro I, Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo MASP, Patio do Colegio and many more.

-PlAcEs Of AtTrAcTiOn-

Museu Arte Sao Paulo.

• Big art museum recently organized its galleries to give much more space to Brazilian artists.
• Top floor contains the permenant collection of Western art from 14th century Italian religious imagery to the early 20th century work of Picasso.
  

Liberdade

• It is home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan in the world, which has been growing since the 1950s.
• The entrance has been marked by 9 meter tall red torii ( a Japanese arch that marks the entrance to Shinto temples).
• Situated on Rua Galvao Bueno.
• Thousands of Paulistanos flock to the public square every Sunday to purchase craft goods at the weekly fair.