The manor has been much changed since it was first constructed, without historical records being kept detailing this process, with the result that the exact age of the existing buildings is unclear, as is their relationship to the whole as it existed in Tudor times. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner visited the manor house in the 1960s and described it as: "Beautifully mellow under the trees by the church, and archaeologically a fascinating puzzle."
In 2004 the British archaeological television programme Time Team undertook an archaeological dig on the site to search for evidence of former wings of the manor. It was known at the start of this process that the existing west and south wings had formed parts of a much larger building which was partially described in old documents. It was believed that there had most probably been a quadrangle with north and east wings and a grand gatehouse, later demolished when the building ceased to be owned by such a wealthy family. Time Team started by surveying the region of the existing Tudor boundary wall on the east side of this quadrangle, which it was thought could once have been part of the wall of an eastern wing, but no evidence was found that there might once have been a more substantial structure in that area. Attention then turned to the northern side of the supposed quadrangle, and evidence was indeed found for a substantial Tudor building, broadly in line with the adjacent St Michael's church and extending towards it as had been described historically. However, this was not one side of a quadrangle, but extended an equal distance west of the current west wing.
Dating evidence obtained from timbers used in the west and south wings showed the southern wing to be later in date, though still Tudor. Seven timbers from the roof of the long gallery were positively identified to have precise felling dates in the range 1547–1552, suggesting construction during the year 1552. One large beam from the floor was also tested, giving a felling range of 1540–72, consistent with the date for the roof above. The floor used a timber design with one transverse major beam and tall narrow intermediate joists spanning from it, which makes this the earliest floor to this design which has been positively dated.
Three samples with precise felling dates of 1537–38 were found in the roof of the southern part of the western wing. The northern part of the roof did not have precise dates but only a range of felling dates from 1515 to 1550, but these were consistent with the precise datings and the two separate roof sections were of similar design. Ceilings for the rooms below were an integral part of the construction, showing these had not been added later. The part of the building occupying the corner between the west and southern blocks might originally have been part of the western block, or the newer southern building. Samples obtained gave ranges of 1538–61 and 1550–80. Taken together the samples suggest the corner was contemporary with the south wing, but might also be consistent with an existing earlier part of the west wing being modified to join to the new section.
The evidence from the roof timbers suggests that at the time of the royal visit by Henry VIII, the southern wing had not existed. The building at that time may have been a 'T' shape with the long top of the 'T' formed by the now demolished buildings, and the vertical bar by the still existing south wing.
The building still lacked a formal entrance. A freestanding building still exists west of the current west wing, dating back to Tudor times. It was considered that this might have framed the formal gateway, which would have been between it and the western end of the missing north wing, facing west. Other buildings might then have framed a yard to the west of what is now the western wing. The demolished north wing was widest in the centre, with narrower extensions at either end. The excavations revealed evidence that the central block had originally had a straight northern face, overlooking formal gardens further north, which had then been remodelled with bay windows. It was estimated that the Tudor building was perhaps six times the extent of the buildings still remaining.
During the course of the excavation samples of 12th and 13th century pottery were found at various places. While this did not prove the existence of a manor house on the site at that time, it did confirm there was some sort of occupation. Taken with the existence of the Tudor and medieval buildings, plus the adjacent church, it is reasonable to assume this was also the site of Isenhamsted Manor. One piece  of pottery was discovered probably dating to the early Bronze Age.


The manor has been used many times in television programmes, such as To Play the King and also Midsomer Murders. It has also been used for scenes in dramatisations of classic period novels such as by Jane Austen and more recently the TV serial Little Dorrit, based on the eponymous book by Charles Dickens, in 2008.
In 1999 it appeared as the big house in the film Tom's Midnight Garden. In 2007 it was used as a location for the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream. Actors Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell filmed scenes in the garden area.
The gardens, famous for their tulips, are promoted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.


The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is a government gazetted heritage building located on Leith Street in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. The mansion's external decorations and indigo-blue outer walls make it a very distinctive building, and it is sometimes referred to as The Blue Mansion. Built by the merchant Cheong Fatt Tze at the end of the 19th century, the mansion has 38 rooms, 5 granite-paved courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 vernacular timber louvre windows. It served as Cheong's private residence as well as the seat of his business activities in Penang.
The mansion is eclectic, but mainly reflects Chinese architectural styles of the Imperial Period. Features of the house include Gothic louvred windows, Chinese cut and paste porcelain work, Stoke-on-Trent floor tiles made of encaustic clay in geometric pieces all shaped to fit to a perfect square, Glasgow cast iron works by MacFarlane's & Co. and Art Nouveau stained glass windows.  The mansion was originally built with careful attention to the principles of Feng Shui. The domestic annexe is built in front of it to prevent any road being built to create a T-junction in front of it; it has water running through a meandering network of pipes that begin from the eaves of the roof, channelled through the upper ceiling, down the walls collecting in the central courtyard before being channelled away from the property via a similar network of pipes, in this case, underneath the entire flooring system and is built with a step in the middle to create a slope (to ride on the dragon's back). The distinctive blue colour of the mansion is the result of mixing lime with natural blue dye made from the indigo plant. The blue was very popular in the Colonial period and the dye was imported from India to Penang by the British. The lime-wash was very effective in a tropical weather as it absorbed moisture and cooled the house whilst dispelling moisture without damage to the structural integrity of the walls. Though white was the most easily available colour, the indigo-blue was chosen because it was highly prized by all communities, adding stature to the mansion.
The mansion was purchased from Cheong Fatt Tze's descendants in 1989 by a group of local Penang individuals to save the edifice from encroaching development and possible demolition. The property operates as an 18 Room Hotel-cum-museum as part of the adaptive reuse of an ongoing restoration project which has won awards from UNESCO.  Tours are offered in English three times a day to central parts of the house. In 2016, a restaurant called 'Indigo' opened on the first floor of the mansion. The mansion has been featured in various films including the 1993 Oscar-winning French film Indochine starring Catherine Deneuve, The Red Kebaya, Road to Dawn, 3rd Generation and the critically acclaimed The Blue Mansion in 2009 by Singapore director Glen Goei of Forever Fever fame. The mansion has also been featured in programs broadcast on various international television channels (CNN, BCC, The History Channel, Discovery Travel & Living). Most recently the mansion served as one of the locations for the Hollywood blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians.


1995 Malaysian National Architectural Award For Conservation
2000 UNESCO 'Most Excellent' Heritage Conservation Award
'Best Tourist Attraction 2003' Merit Award - Malaysian Ministry of Culture, Arts & Tourism
ASEANTA 2004 Excellence Award; ASEAN Cultural Preservation Effort
Featured in Hip Hotels of the Orient - TASCHEN
Best Boutique Hotel 2008 - Best of Malaysia Travel Awards by Expatriate Lifestyle\


The Chesme Church (Russian: Чесменская церковь; full name Church of Saint John the Baptist at Chesme Palace, also called the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Russian: це́рковь Рождества́ Иоа́нна Предте́чи при Че́сменском Дворце́), is a small Russian Orthodox church at 12 Lensoveta Street, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was built by the Russian court architect Yury Felten in 1780, at the direction of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. A memorial church, it was erected adjacent to the Chesme Palace (Russian: Чесменский дворец: damaged during the Siege of Leningrad and restored in 1946) between Saint Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo to commemorate the anniversary of Russia's 1770 victory over Turkish forces in Chesme Bay (Turkish: Çeşme) in the Aegean Sea during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774.
The church and Chesme Palace were the earliest Neo-Gothic constructions in the St Petersburg area. Considered by some to be St Petersburg's single most impressive church, it is a rare example of very early Gothic Revival influence in Russian church architecture.


The church was named "The Church of the Birth of St. John the Baptist" as it was consecrated on the birthday of John the Baptist. As it was built to honour the Battle of Chesme which the Russians won in 1770, the church is also popularly known as the "Chesme Church".


The church is located in Red Village, which was a country estate of the Sergey Poltoratski family, friends of Alexander Pushkin. It is situated in an area that was known as Kekerekeksinen (Finnish: frog swamp) which is now in a housing area known as Moskovsky Prospekt, approximately halfway between Park Pobedy and the Moskovskaya metro station. While the church was built at a very ordinary location in 1770, over the centuries, it became part of the city of Saint Petersburg. Located between St. Petersburg and the Summer Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, it served as a traveler's resting place.


In 1777, King Gustav III of Sweden attended the laying of the church's foundation. The church was built between 1777 and 1780.  It is a memorial church to honour the 1770 Russian victory at the Battle of Chesme. Empress Catherine II chose the site as it was here that she got the news of the Russian victory over the Turks. Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor was present at the church's consecration.
The knights of the Order of St. George were also in possession of the church at some point when it was given the third name, "St. George’s Church".
The church and the Chesme Palace became a labour camp when the Soviet government occupied it. In 1923, the church was closed and used as a storehouse. Between 1941 and 1945, the church suffered damages during the "Great Patriotic War". During the Second World War, the Institute of Aviation Technology took possession of the Church and the Chesme Palace. During 1970–75, it was fully restored under the supervision of the architects M.I. Tolstov and A.P. Kulikov. In 1977, the church became a museum of the Battle of Chesme (with artifacts from the Central Naval Museum). Religious control was restored to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1991, and regular church services have been held at the church since then.


The church, built in Gothic Revival style faces southwest. Painted pink and white, the church appears like a "candy cone, with long, vertical white stripes (embossed vertical string cornices drawn together with figured horizontal fascias) giving the impression that it’s rising straight up from the earth like a mirage and shooting upwards". The church was built by Yury Felten who was the court architect to Catherine the Great.
The inspiration for adopting the pseudo-Gothic style of architecture was a symbol of "the exoticism of the Turkish architecture but also reflected the Anglomania that significantly influenced the design of Catherine’s palaces and the parks surrounding them". While the Chesme Palace was built on these lines, the Church of John the Baptist was also built in a similar style. This style introduced during Catherine's time came in vogue in Russia in the subsequent centuries as well. It is also said that the choice of the Gothic Revival architecture style was indicative of "triumph for ancient northern virtues in the spirit of the crusaders".
The church was built with brick and white stone. It has a "quatrefoil" layout in the form of four semi cylinders with barrel vaults. Finials, spires and lancet windows were built over it, and the edifice emerged as a fusion of Gothic and neo-Gothic motifs. The quatrefoil design was common in the late 17th century in many private estate churches and the style was known as the "Moscow baroque". During the 18th century, its adoption during Catherine's reign was considered an experimentation reflecting "the increasing secularization of the upper nobility". The entrance to the church has a neo-Gothic Rose window and a round window above it. The entrance portal has sculptures of angels. The main tower and four small towers have small domes, which are replacements of the traditional onion domes commonly seen in Russia. The walls are striped and crenellated. The impressive relief design on the top of the walls is also in the form of crenellated parapet with pinnacles. There is also a 100 kilograms (220 lb) bell in one of the towers. It also has lancet windows and doorways. The interior, which originally had Italian icons, was destroyed in a fire in 1930. However, it was restored when the church was refurbished. Inside the church, there are many iconic paintings and one particular painting of interest is that of Christ’s arrival in Nazareth. When it was a naval museum, there was a vivid painting, in rich colours, depicting the sea battle and Russian victory over the Turks, in place of the "Christ the saviour in the iconostasis-less altar apse". Nothing remains of the original interiors.
The exterior views of the church are impressive. The lanterns on the roof are stated to be similar to those seen on the Gothic temple at Stowe House.


The coffin of Rasputin rested in Chesme Church before his burial at Tsarskoye Selo in 1916.


Chettikulangara Kumbha Bharani is a festival celebrated every year at the Chettikulangara Devi Temple, Chettikulangara, Alappuzha district, Kerala. It is held in the month of February or March, the date being determined according to the Malayalam Calendar. Chettikulangara Bharani in the Bharani nakshatra in the Malayalam month of Kumbha and hence the name Kumbha Bharani. Kuthiyottam and Kettukazhcha are the highlights of the festival. The festival is under consideration to be bestowed with the Intangible Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO.


According to a legend, a group of Village chieftains and their workers went to construct the Kollam – Chavara canal, acting on the decision of their King. They were stranded due to an inordinate delay in construction. Authorities turned down their plea to return. During the period they visited the temple festivities of Kollam Mulangakam temple. Attracted by the Kettukazhcha there they vowed to their local deity Chettikulangara Bhagavathy, that they would construct similar Kettukazhchas for her every year, if they were allowed to leave for Chetitkulangara immediately. To their surprise, they were allowed to return to Chettikulangara the very next day, and as promised, they made huge Kettukazhchas and took them to their Bhagavathy's premises.


Kuthiyottam is performed as the most important offering to the deity. It is a symbolic human sacrifice to appease goddess Kali. It is believed that the origin of kuthiyottam is from blood sacrifice to please the ferocious Goddess Kali and the ritual has moderated over time, possibly under the influence of Buddhism. The person who vow to offer Kuthiyottam, adopt two or four pre-pubescent boys who are symbolically sacrificed. They are adopted on the day of shivaratri and brought to the sponsors house where a canopy is erected and a shrine of Kali is constructed. They are taught basic kuthiyottam steps by trained performers. On the day of Bharani the boys are bathed and dressed up as kings with paper crown, bangles, fac. Their abdominal skin is pierced with silver or golden thread. The ritual is known as Chooral Muriyal the name comes from Chooral (cane), as cane threads were used earlier and muri (cut). They are then taken to the temple, accompanied by pompous procession. In the front of the sanctum sanctorum they perform the steps taught to them to four songs praising the goddess and thread is then removed and offered to the goddess. These boys are now ritually dead and may not take part in kuthiyottam again.
Kuthiyottam is a blend of dance, music and ritual. The boys perform folk dance to Kuthiyottam folk song. In every house vowed to offer kuthiyottam, performance by trained artist will also be hosted alongside teaching the boys Kuthiyottam. Kuthiyottam folk song has tanavattam tala. Kuthiyottam used to be done only in houses in the 13 Karas of the Chettikulangara Temple but after a recent Deva Prashnam it was allowed to conduct Kuthiyottam in the houses outside of the 13 Karas.


Kettukazhcha is an offering of people of the 13 provinces to their deity to thank for favors received as well as to seek her blessings. Chettikulangara kettukazhcha consists of 13 provincial floats including six huge and heavily decorated temple cars known as Kuthira (Horses), five smaller temple cars known Theru (Chariots) and effigies of Bhima, Hanuman and Panchali.


Although Kuthira means horse, the temple cars have no resemblance to horses and the origin of the name is still unknown. Kuthiras are the bigger of the temple cars and have a height of about 70 to 75 feet.
The bottom most part of the Kuthira is called Adikkottu or Vandikkoottu. It is the basic foundation on which the rest of the parts rests on. It is a platform having four big wooden wheels, interconnected by wooden beams. Attached to the platform are two huge wooden poles (Achuthandu), used to steer the Kuthira. Above the Adikkottu there is Kathirukal with a height of 35 feet, consists of four long poles. They are interconnected with arecanut poles (Alaku) and further strengthened with crisscross formation of Alakus (Kuthukathrika) fastened by coir and Panavalli knots. Bottom part of the Kathirukal, called Adikoodaram consist of four to five extended layers of slanting box pyramids (Thattu & Charippu), then decorated with white cloth (Vella), colourful glittering clothes and embellishments (Thookku). Above the Adikoodaram there is Prabhada. Prabhada is the most magnificent part of the Kuthira. It consist of carved wooden sculptors narrating tales like Krishnaleela, Gajendra Moksham, etc... in the middle of there is elephant caparisons (Nettipattom). Although the Prabhada gives the impression that it is carved on a single wood, is actually composed of small carefully assembled fragments. Positioned above the Prabhada, Edakoodaram is almost half the size of Kathirukal with four to five Charippu made as in the lower portion, comes above the Kathirukal. It also has glittering different clothes and Vella, interlaced with colourful Thookku embellishments. On top of the Kuthira there is Melkkoodaram, pyramidal in shape, Melkkoodaram of Chettikulangara Kuthira is four faced Kumbhathoppi, not the three face Pallimukham. A white wooden pole (Nambu) extends from the top of the Melkkoodaram. In Kuthira the size from top to bottom is almost same except for the Prabhada in between.


Theru means chariot but they resemble pagodas rather than chariots. Theru is smaller than Kuthiras they do not have Prabhada and Edakkoodaram. They have bigger Charippu and prominent Illithattu in between Charippu. They diminish in size upwards.


Access to the waterside is restricted in places to reduce the disruption to wildlife. Paths around the lake are generally flat and, where paths are surfaced, wheelchair access is possible.
Visitors are officially invited to use public transport, but overwhelmingly arrive by private car, encouraged by the provision of parking spaces. The "Chew Valley Explorer" bus route 672/674 provides access.
In 2002 a 1.9-mile (3-kilometre) safe cycle route, the Chew Lake West Green Route, was opened along the B3114 on the western part of the lake. It forms part of the Padstow to Bristol West Country Way, National Cycle Network Route 3. It has all-weather surfacing, providing a smooth off-road facility for ramblers, mobility-challenged visitors and cyclists of all abilities. It was funded by Bath and North East Somerset Council with the support of Sustrans and the Chew Valley Recreational Trail Association. Minor roads around the lake are also frequently used by cyclists.
Bristol Airport is approximately 10 miles (15 km) away. The nearest major road is the A368, which runs along the southern edge of the lake and provides access from Bath and Weston super Mare. The A37 and A38 are slightly further away, providing access from Bristol. The lake is also easily accessible from the M5 motorway at junctions 18 and 22, with visitors instructed to follow signs to Bristol Airport. Car parking is available at the visitor centre and Woodford Lodge, for which a charge is made, and a small amount of parking is available at points around the lake; some of these are restricted to those with fishing permits.


The area the lake covers was once rich farmland. Farms and houses had to be removed before the land was flooded, and old roads, hedgerows and tree stumps can reappear when dry summers cause the level of the lake to drop. Prior to the flooding of the reservoir, archaeological excavations were carried out by Philip Rahtz and Ernest Greenfield employed by the Ministry of Works, from 1953 to 1955. The excavations found evidence of people belonging to the consecutive periods known as Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic (Old, Middle and New Stone Age), Bronze Age and Iron Age, including implements such as stone knives, flint blades and the head of a mace, along with buildings and graves. The artefacts from this period are held at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery. Further evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age occupation is provided by the archaeological survey of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Excavations have also uncovered Roman remains, indicating agricultural and industrial activity from the second half of the first century to third century AD. The finds included a villa at Chew Park where wooden writing tablets (the first in the UK) with ink writing were found. The tablets were sent to the British Museum, but other Roman material is on display at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery with the lake's other historical artefacts.
Further excavations around the village of Moreton, which has now been totally submerged, found evidence of a thriving community in medieval times and possibly the remains of the Nunnery of Santa Cruz. During the Middle Ages farming was the most important activity in the area covered by the lake, supported by four flour mills powered by the River Chew. Stratford Mill was demolished and re-erected in the grounds of Blaise Castle Museum, in north-west Bristol. The largest settlement was Moreton, which is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, and survived until the flooding of the lake, when the remains of the Moreton Cross were moved to Chew Stoke Parish Church. There is evidence of lime kilns, which were used in the production of mortar for the construction of local churches. Farming, both arable and dairy, continued until the flooding of the lake, with most households also keeping pigs. There were orchards for fruit production, including apples, pears and plums. Moreton was also the site of a  gunpowder mill in the 18th century.


Plans for the building of the reservoir were under discussion before the Second World War, and an Act of Parliament submitted by the Bristol Waterworks Company was passed in 1939. Following this, farms were bought by the company and farmed by the previous owners as tenancies. Farms and buildings still remaining in private hands were acquired by compulsory purchase. The sanction for construction was given in 1949 and the contract awarded to A.E. Farr, who employed 300 people on the site. The main dam was stabilised by injecting concrete into the cracks in the bedrock. The core of the dam was made of puddled clay mixed with sand. This was the first time the gain in strength brought about by the use of sand drains had been quantified. The lake was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, with the unveiling of a commemorative stone and plaque, which can be seen from the dam, on 17 April 1956, although it was not full until 25 February 1958. Flowers were presented to the Queen at the opening of Chew Valley Lake by Judith Blair Brown, daughter of Kennedy Brown, who worked at Bristol Water Works at the time of construction of the lake.
During the storm of 10 July 1968, the lake gained an extra 471 million imperial gallons (2,140,000 m³) and rose 19 inches (480 mm) in under 12 hours. At one point worried Bristol police issued a warning that the dam might not hold, prompting localised evacuation of populated valley areas downstream including Pensford and Keynsham.


The lake is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) (Site Code: UK9010041) largely because of the diversity of species and habitats. Providing further protection, much of the area around the lake also falls within the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The lake appears to have a higher sedimentation rate than would be expected in other similar reservoirs, being in the region of 100–150 t.km⁻².yr⁻¹.


The main geological outcrops around the lake are mudstone, largely consisting of red siltstone resulting in the underlying characteristic of the gently rolling valley landscape. Bands of sandstone from the Triassic period contribute to the undulating character of the area. There are also more recent alluvial deposits beside the course of the River Chew.


In late summer large shoals of roach (Rutilus rutilus) and perch (Perca fluviatilis) fry congregate around the margins and weed beds, which are predated by the brown trout (Salmo trutta morpha fario) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Chew Valley also holds a large population of pike (Esox lucius), and fishing for these is permitted at certain times of the year.


Aquatic midges (Chironomidae) provide the highest proportion of the fly life of the lake. The trout (Salmonidae) will feed at the surface on these and water boatmen (Corixidae), and below the surface on the caddisfly (Trichoptera) larvae and pupae; they will also take the adult caddisflies when they emerge. Other aquatic fauna including daphnia and snails are also found in the lake. Large populations of dragonflies, including migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) and significant numbers of ruddy darter (Sympetrum sanguineum), occur at the lake. Eleven species of wainscot moth make their home in the reed beds, including the nationally local brown-veined wainscot (Archanara dissoluta), twin-spotted wainscot (Archanara geminipuncta) and silky wainscot (Chilodes maritimus).


The lake is surrounded with fringing reedbeds, carr woodland and grassland, which are managed by Bristol Water. The water conditions are eutrophic with run off from local fields and streams. Open-water plant communities are rather sparse, largely comprising fennel pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus), lesser pondweed (Potamogeton pusillus), opposite-leaved pondweed (Groenlandia densa) and water-crowfoot (Ranunculus spp.). On neutral soils around the reservoir, pepper-saxifrage (Silaum silaus), burnet-saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga) and devil's-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) occur, and on calcareous soils fairy flax (Linum catharticum), dwarf thistle (Cirsium acaule) and salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor subspecies minor) are found.
The small and medium-sized fields around the lake are generally bounded by hedges and occasionally by tree belts and woodland, some of which date back to the most evident period of enclosure of earlier open fields which took place in the late medieval period. Mature oak (Quercus) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior) trees are characteristic of the area with occasional groups of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and chestnuts (Castanea sativa). Many elm (Ulmus) trees have been lost in this area, and dead/dying elms are also evident in the surrounding landscape.
Four areas of woodland containing 157 trees has been planted by The Life for a Life Charity around the lake on the Restaurant side, for the cremated remains of loved ones to be placed beneath them. These forests contain Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), English oak (Quercus robur), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and the silver birch (Betula pendula).


The lake is used for a wide variety of leisure pursuits.


During 2005–2006 Bristol Water started restoring two artificial islands. These are intended to provide safe nesting and roosting sites for a range of wildfowl. Permits to enter the reservoir enclosure and to use the access roads, paths and bird hides are available (for a fee) only to members of ornithological and naturalist societies recognised by Bristol Water. They can be obtained from Woodford Lodge and include conditions of use imposed by the owners.


Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club has a sailing area, approximately 1.9 miles (3 km) long, for dinghy sailing. The lake is divided into two areas: a restricted summer area which is available during the fishing season (mid-March to mid-October), and the full area which can be used throughout the winter and on Sunday afternoons. The sailing area is marked out by lines of small white buoys. Racing marks are red buoys with flags, although large inflatable marks are used of open events.
The club can cater for fleets of over one hundred boats and it hosts large national events. Normal club racing has fleet starts for the following dinghy classes: Flying Fifteen (keelboat), Laser (dinghy), Solo (dinghy) and Topper (dinghy) as well as a handicap fleet run under the Portsmouth yardstick scheme. Five slipways enable easy launching. Off the water, the clubhouse facilities include large changing rooms, hot showers, hot food at the weekends, a bar and terrace overlooking the lake. The club caters for disabled people with facilities on both floors and a lift. Royal Yachting Association sailing courses are held at the club for members including race training, youth training, powerboat training, race officer training as well as more informal training run within each fleet.


Bristol water control fishing in the lake requiring permits and restricting the areas which can be used. Motor boats can also be booked for fishing.


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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, originally named Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, is a museum in Bombay (Mumbai) which documents the history of India from prehistoric to modern times.
It was founded during British rule of India in the early years of the 20th century by prominent citizens of the city then called Bombay, with the help of the government, to commemorate the visit of the Prince of Wales (later George V, king of the United Kingdom and emperor of India). It is located in the heart of South Mumbai near the Gateway of India. The museum was renamed in 1998 after Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire.
The building is built in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, incorporating elements of other styles of architecture like the Mughal, Maratha and Jain. The museum building is surrounded by a garden of palm trees and formal flower beds.
The museum houses approximately 50,000 exhibits of ancient Indian history as well as objects from foreign lands, categorised primarily into three sections: Art, Archaeology and Natural History. The museum houses Indus Valley civilization artefacts, and other relics from ancient India from the time of the Guptas, Mauryas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakuta.


WikiWeb_Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya_1

In 1904, some leading citizens of Bombay decided to provide a museum to commemorate the visit of the Prince of Wales, the future King George V. On 14 August 1905, the committee passed a resolution saying:
"The museum building embodies the pomp and height at which the British raj was moving ahead with their ambitious plans, in building the great metropolis Bombay". "In keeping pace with the best style of local architecture, many buildings were built, among which, Bombay High Court building, and later, Gateway of India buildings were the most notable ones".
The foundation stone was laid by the Prince of Wales on 11 November 1905 and the museum was formally named "Prince of Wales Museum of Western India". On 1 March 1907, the government of the Bombay Presidency granted the museum committee a piece of land called the "Crescent Site", where the museum now stands. Following an open design competition, in 1909 the architect George Wittet was commissioned to design the Museum building. Wittet had already worked on the design of the General Post Office and in 1911 would design one of Mumbai's most famous landmarks, the Gateway of India.
The museum was funded by the Royal Visit (1905) Memorial Funds. Additionally, the Government and the Municipality granted Rs. 300,000 and Rs. 250,000 respectively. Sir Currimbhoy Ibrahim (first Baronet) donated another Rs. 300,000 and Sir Cowasji Jehangir gave Rs. 50,000. The Museum was established under Bombay Act No. III of 1909. The museum is now maintained by annual grants from the Government and the Bombay Municipal Corporation. The latter pays for these grants from the interest accruing on the funds at the disposal of the Trust of the Museum.
The museum building was completed in 1915, but was used as a Children's Welfare Centre and a Military Hospital during the First World War, before being handed over to the committee in 1920. The Prince of Wales Museum was inaugurated on 10 January 1922, by Lady Lloyd, the wife of George Lloyd, Governor of Bombay.
The museum building is a Grade I Heritage Building of the city and was awarded first prize (Urban Heritage Award) by the Bombay Chapter of the Indian Heritage Society for heritage building maintenance in 1990. In 1998 the Museum was renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya after the warrior king and founder of the Maratha Empire, Shivaji. The museum was renamed after the renaming of the city in 1995, when the colonial name "Bombay" was replaced by the native "Mumbai".


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The museum building is situated in 3 acres (12,000 m²) area, having a built up area of 12,142.23m sq. It is surrounded by a garden of palm trees and formal flower beds.
The museum building, built of locally quarried grey Kurla basalt and buff coloured trachyte Malad stone. It is a three-storied rectangular structure, capped by a dome set upon a base, which adds an additional storey in the centre of the building. Built in the Western Indian and Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, the building accommodates a central entrance porch, above which rises a dome, tilled and modified well "tiled in white and blue flecks, supported on a lotus - petal base". A cluster of pinnacles, topped with miniature domes surround the central dome. The building incorporates features like Islamic dome with a finial along with protruding balconies and inlaid floors, inspired by Mughal palace architecture. The architect, George Wittet, modelled the dome on that of Golconda Fort and the inner vaulting arches on those at the Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur. The interior of the museum combines the columns, railings and balcony of an 18th-century Wada (a Maratha mansion) with Jain style interior columns, which form the main body of the central pavilion below the Maratha balcony.
In its recent modernisation programme (2008), the museum created 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m²) space for installation of five new galleries, a conservation studio, a visiting exhibition gallery and a seminar room, in the East Wing of the Museum. The museum also houses a library.


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The museum collection comprises approximately 50,000 artefacts. The collection of the museum is categorised primarily into three sections: art,  archaeology and natural history.
The museum also houses a forestry section, which has specimens of timbers grown in the Bombay Presidency (British India), and one exhibiting a small local geological collection of rocks, minerals and fossils. The Maritime Heritage Gallery, which displays objects relating to navigation, is the "first of its kind in India". In 2008, the museum installed two new galleries, displaying the "Karl and Meherbai Khandalavala collection" and "the Coins of India".


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The art section displays the collections of Sir Purushottam Mavji, acquired in 1915, and the art collections of Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorab Tata, donated in 1921 and 1933 respectively.
The museum's miniature collection encompasses representations of the main schools of Indian painting namely, Mughal, Rajasthani, Pahari and Deccani. It features palm leaf manuscripts dating to the 11th-12th centuries to the early 19th century pahari paintings, as well as paintings from the Sultanate period. Notable manuscripts housed in the museum include the Anwar-Suhayli painted in Mughal emperor Akbar’s studio and a 17th-century manuscript of the Hindu epic Ramayana from Mewar.
The ivory section has artefacts dating as early as the Gupta era. The museum also has decorative artefacts such as textiles, ivories, Mughal jades, silver, gold and artistic metal ware. It also has a collection of European paintings, Chinese and Japanese porcelain, ivory and jade artefacts. The museum also has sections dedicated to arms and armour and another to Nepali and Tibetan art.
The arms and armour section contains a finely decorated armour of Akbar dating to 1581 CE, consisting of a steel breastplate and a shield, the former inscribed with religious verses.


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Sculptures and coins transferred from the Poona Museum in Pune and the collections of the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society resulted in the development of an archaeological section, with precious sculptures and epigrams. The Indus Valley Culture Gallery houses fishing hooks, weapons, ornaments and weights and measures from the Indus Valley civilization (2600–1900 BCE). Artefacts from the excavation of the Buddhist stupa of Mirpurkhas, were housed in the Museum in 1919. The sculpture collection holds Gupta (280 to 550 CE) terracotta figures from Mirpurkhas in Sind of the early 5th century, artefacts dating to the Chalukyan era (6th-12th century, Badami Chalukyas and Western Chalukyas), and sculptures of the Rashtrakuta period (753 – 982 CE) from Elephanta, near Mumbai.


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The Bombay Natural History Society aided the Museum Trust in creating the natural history section. The museum's natural history section makes use of habitat group cases and dioramas, along with diagrams and charts, to illustrate Indian wildlife, including flamingoes, great hornbills, Indian bison, and tigers.


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An exhibition entitled Pravaha highlighting early phase of Sir J. J. School of Art and the Progressive Art Movement was launched on 24 July 2017. The exhibition covered a range of paintings from the 1880s to 1950s through works of Pestonji Bomanji, Rustom Siodia, Sawlaram Haldankar, António Xavier Trindade, S. N. Gorakshakar, Govind Mahadev Solegaonkar, G. H. Nagarkar, J. M. Ahivasi, Raghunath Dhondopant Dhopeshwarkar, Raghuveer Govind Chimulkar, Rasiklal Parikh and Y. K. Shukla, Abalal Rahiman, Keshav Bhavanrao Chudekar, Lakshman Narayan Taskar, Syed Haider Raza, and K. H. Ara.
A prints gallery was launched with an exhibition entitled Bombay to Mumbai - Door of the East with its face to the West on 29 January 2015. The gallery was inaugurated by Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum in London, who also gave an illustrated lecture on 'World Cultures' at the central foyer of the museum.
As part of the renovation project initiated in October 2008, the Krishna Gallery holding artworks related to the Hindu god Krishna, a Hindu deity of the preserver-god Vishnu, was opened in March 2009.
A textile gallery, the first gallery in the city, was opened in April 2010. It illustrates "various techniques of textile manufacturing, regional collections and traditional Indian costumes".
Matrika Design Collaborative is currently designing the museum's Indian miniature painting gallery. The content developed for the gallery will be converted into Braille text and tactile labels for the blind with help from designers, fabricators and consultants from the Helen Keller Institute.
A new gallery on traditional Indian jewellery will be opening in 2020. At the gallery, there will be an exhibit on Golconda diamonds - replicas of which have been presented to the museum.


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CSMVS Museum has various galleries. They are related to Art, History, Natural History and Indian Culture. They are as follows:
Sculpture gallery
Pre and Proto History gallery
Natural History Section
Indian Miniature Painting gallery
Krishna gallery
Himalayan Art gallery
Decorative Metalware gallery
House of Laxmi- Coin gallery
Karl and Meherbai Khandalavala gallery
Chinese and Japanese Art gallery
Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorab Tata gallery of European Paintings
Arms and Armour gallery
Jehangir Nicholson gallery
Premchand Roychand gallery
Key gallery
First Floor Circle gallery
Second Floor Circle gallery
European Decorative Art gallery
Bombay School gallery
Jahangir Sabawala gallery
Textile Gallery
Prints gallery
Curators gallery and Conservation Centre


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The archaeological collections were originally started by pioneering archaeologists Sir Henry Cousens and Sir John Marshall. Amongst the important sculptures are the Gupta period terracotas and bricks from Mirpurkhas excavated by Cousens, a large number of Buddhist images from Gandhara and ceiling panels from a dilapidated temple at Aihole. The early examples are from Pauni and Pitalkhora. Mumbai itself has a rich tradition exemplified by the colossal Parel Relief of Shiva (represented here by a cast) and a Matrika from Baijanath Temple at Sewri near Parel belonging to the same phase as Elephanta. Other noteworthy images from Maharashtra are a Vishnu and a Ganesha of the eleventh century CE. Some well known sculptures are:
Brahma, from Elephanta Caves
Mahishasuramardini, from Elephanta
Parel Relief of Shiva (plaster cast) from Parel
Sculptures from Aihole and Pattadakal
Dvarapala, from Shamalji, Gujarat
Garuda, from the Konark Sun Temple
Yaksha, from Pitalkhora
Buddha and Devotee from Mirpur Khas
Ashthamahesha Replica bust


Chhera Island, also called Chhera Dwip, Cheradia Island or Cheridia Island, is an uninhabited island and extension of St. Martin's Island at the mouth of the Naf River in the Bay of Bengal, within the Chittagong Division of southeastern Bangladesh. Chhera Island is the southernmost island of Bangladesh


Chickasaw State Park was named for the Chickasaw Indians who once inhabited West Tennessee and Northern Mississippi. Located in west Tennessee along the border of Hardeman and Chester Counties was 1,400 acres of land that was considered to be one of Tennessee's 20 new Deal-era state parks.
In 1955, the territory became a state park because park duties returned to state control, and park and forest lands were deeded to the state. The area consists of 14,384 acres of timberland, however, 1,280 of those acres are used for recreation


Chickasaw State Park offers many activities to its visitors including camping, golfing, paddling, bird-watching, interpretive programming, swimming, hiking, biking, fishing, and horseback riding.
Chickasaw has three campgrounds: the RV campground, the tent campground, and the wrangler campground. The RV campground has 53 sites, each with water and electrical hookups and some with sewer connection. The tent campground has 29 sites with available water. The wrangler campground has 32 sites and is designed for visitors traveling with horses; each site comes with water and electrical hookups. There are 13 historic Works Progress Administration (WPA) cabins available for rent near Lake Placid as well as the Group Lodge building, which can accommodate up to 36 people.
There are eight hiking trails at Chickasaw State Park: Fern Creek Trail (0.8 miles, easy), Forked Pine Trail (0.7 miles, moderate), Friends Trail (1.5 miles, moderate), Lake Lajoie Trail (1.3 miles, easy), Lakeshore Trail (1.5 miles, easy), Owen’s Spring Trail (0.8 miles, moderate), Public Horse Trail (0.4 miles, moderate), and Tent Loop (0.3 miles, easy).
At Lake Placid's boat dock, paddleboards, canoes, kayaks, and pedal boats can be rented from Memorial Day through the first weekend in August and then, weekends only through October 16.


Chimboya or Chimbolla (possibly from Aymara Chimpuya, Chimpulla), Inchurusi (Jinchurusi), Iruna or Vilcanota (Willkanuta) is a mountain in the La Raya mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about 5,489 metres (18,009 ft) high. It is situated in the Cusco Region, Canas Province, Layo District and in the Puno Region, Melgar Province, Santa Rosa District. Chimboya lies northeast of the La Raya Pass and the mountain Kunka and southeast of the mountain Yana Khuchilla.


Chimney Rock State Park is a North Carolina state park in Chimney Rock, Rutherford County, North Carolina in the United States. The 8,014-acre (32.43 km²) park is located 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Asheville, North Carolina, and is owned and managed by the state of North Carolina.
The park features hiking trails for all skill levels, views of the Devil's Head balancing rock, and a 404-foot (123 m) waterfall, Hickory Nut Falls. Its most notable feature is a 315-foot (96 m) granite monolith named Chimney Rock, which is accessible by elevator and provides views of the park and surrounding countryside.


In 1902, Dr. Lucius B. Morse purchased 64 acres (260,000 m²) at Chimney Rock Mountain, including the Chimney and cliffs. Morse and his family owned and operated "Chimney Rock Park" as a privately managed park from 1902 to 2007.  Many small tracts purchased over the years expanded the Park to 996 acres (4.03 km²). In 2006 the land was put up for sale. Many feared the park might fall into the hands of private developers, but the state and the Morse family completed a purchase agreement in early 2007.
In July 2007, the General Assembly renamed Hickory Nut Gorge State Park to Chimney Rock State Park.


The Chindia Tower (Romanian: Turnul Chindiei) is a tower in the Curtea Domnească monuments ensemble in Târgoviște, Romania,  built in the 15th century. The tower was begun during the second reign of Prince Vlad III the Impaler over Wallachia and took its final form during the 19th century. It initially had a military purpose, but during its history, it has been used as a guard point, a fire spotter, and for storing and protecting the state treasury. Between 1847 and 1851, the Chindia Tower was completely restored by Gheorghe Bibescu who added 5 metres (16 ft) to its height. The building in its current form has a height of 27 metres (89 ft) and a diameter of 9 metres (30 ft).
The Chindia Tower, the most important tourist attraction in Târgoviște, is considered the city's symbol; the tower elements are present in the city's emblem, at the top and also at the bottom. As a monument the tower now houses an exhibition of documents, weapons and objects which belonged to Vlad the Impaler. Today the tower is administered by the National Museum Curtea Domnească.


There are two contrasting hypotheses on the origin of the name of the tower, neither of them fully recognized. The first argues that the area adjacent to the tower was the site of many large feasts and festivals, known in Romanian as chindia. It has also been suggested that the name originates from the word chindia, an archaism which means "sunset", the period of the day in which the guard had an obligation to give the curfew signal, before closing the city's five gates. After this time, he was prohibited from entering or leaving the city throughout the night, and residents were required not to pass through the streets and not to maintain outdoor fires that would have made the town visible from a distance.


It is not known exactly when the Curtea Domnească complex was built, but it certainly replaces an old manor house still in place by the 15th century during the reign of Mircea I of Wallachia. Nevertheless, the first documentary mentions of the Curtea Domnească date from 1403 and 1409. It is therefore believed that the construction works started during the first reign of Vlad the Impaler, but that the complex remained unfinished. Archaeological excavations conducted in the mid-20th century have revealed that the Chindia Tower dates from the second half of the 15th century leading historians to propose that it is the "castle" referred to in the November 11, 1476, account of Hungarian nobleman Stephen V Báthory. However, the tower is explicitly mentioned in documents at a relatively late moment. In 1595 Venetian traveler Antonio Pigafetta recorded the existence of a "tower in a church", which had an underground gallery in the direction of the Ialomiţa River. In 1703 Rev. Edmund Chishull, chaplain to Lord Paget's English embassy at İzmir, said after visiting the place that the building was comparable to towers of "civilized Christianity".
The tower was also noted by the Bulgarian Catholic bishop Petar Bogdan and foreign travelers such as Paul of Aleppo. The latter stated that "the court is in a high tower that serves as a lamp for the city clock", housing a fanfare which entertained the princes with Oriental music. Towards the middle of the 18th century, a Latin manuscript from the Batthyaneum Library states that the tower was used as a prison. In 1840 the French draughtsman Michel Bouquet provided a rendition of how the tower looked before its restoration.


"Complexul Național Curtea Domnească" (in Romanian). Consiliul Județean Dâmbovița. Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
"Siteul web al Complexului Național Muzeal Curtea Domnească Târgoviște" (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
"Cel mai bine conservat ansamblu aulic din țară: Curtea Domnească" (in Romanian). Dâmbovița. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
Constantinescu & Moisescu, p. 17
Constantinescu & Moisescu, p. 18
Constantinescu & Moisescu, p. 43
Chishull's account, Travels in Turkey and Back to England (London, 1747) is mentioned in Marcu Beza, "English Travellers in Rumania", The English Historical Review 32, no. 126 (April 1917:277–285), p. 280


The Heron family acquired the Manor of Chipchase by the marriage of Walter Heron to the Chipchase heiress. He built a massive four-storey battlemented tower house on the site of an earlier house in the mid-14th century.
A survey in 1541 described a "fare tower" with a "manor of stone joined thereto" owned by John Heron.
In 1621, Cuthbert Heron (High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1625) demolished the house and built a fine Jacobean mansion, leaving the tower standing and attached to the new house. His first son George was killed at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644 in the service of Charles I.  His second son Cuthbert was created a Baronet by Charles II (see Heron Baronets), but he experienced financial problems which eventually led to the sale of the estate by the Herons to George Allgood, a Newcastle merchant, in 1727.
John Reed, a Newcastle upon Tyne banker, acquired the estate in 1734. Reed carried out major alterations to the castle, including a classical façade to the old tower. The failure of Reed's family bank caused his descendants to sell the estate to the Greys of Backworth in 1821 to defray debts. The Greys then sold the estate to Hugh Taylor in 1861.


The castle is privately owned. It is associated with Paul Torday, the author of the novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which was made into a popular film. He lived there with his second wife Penelope (née Taylor), who inherited the estate, and reportedly did much to help manage it.
The grounds are open to the public but the Castle is open to the public only in June.


Christ Church is a redundant Anglican church in Great King Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England.  It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.  It is open to visitors at advertised times. The church was in use until 1981.  It remains consecrated and is used occasionally for services.


In the second half of the 18th century the parish church of Macclesfield, St Michael's was not big enough to cope with the needs of the growing population of the town. In 1772 David Simpson was appointed curate to the church but was deprived of his curacy because of his evangelical beliefs and preaching.  Simpson had been invited to Macclesfield by Charles Roe, a local industrialist.  Roe built Christ Church for David Simpson, who became its first vicar.
The body of the church was built in seven months in 1775 and the church was opened on Christmas Day of that year.  The tower was built the following year.  Its height is 107 feet (33 m) which is out of proportion to the body of the church.  It was built to this height to compete with the height of the tower of St Michael's Church.  The church originally contained a large pulpit. David Simpson was a close friend of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Unusually for an Anglican church, Simpson invited Wesley to preach there on at least 12 occasions. Christ Church was vested in the Trust on 1 June 1985.
A local group, The Roe-naissance Project, established in 2012 is working with The Churches Conservation Trust and Cheshire East Council to find a new appropriate and sustainable use for the building.


The church is built in brick with stone facings in Georgian style.  Its plan consists of a tower at the west end, a nave and a short chancel.  The tower has west and north doors.  Above the west door is a window with an elliptical head.  The third stage contains elliptical windows, some of which are blind, and above these clock faces.  The belfry windows are of two lights and louvred.  The top has an embattled parapet above a cornice.  The exterior of the nave and chancel are expressed as two storeys, with a cornice between.  Above is a parapet over another cornice.  At the east end is a Palladian window with round windows and doors on each side.  In the middle of the north elevation is a door with a pediment above.  This is surrounded with rusticated stone extending up to the parapet with another pediment at the top. The parapets of the tower and body of the church were originally surmounted by pinnacles but these are no longer present.


Inside the church a continuous gallery curves round the north, west and south sides, which is supported by columns of cast iron which are encased in wood. This is a very early use of cast iron in a church. The organ is in the west gallery.  The ceiling is coved with plain plaster panelling.  The church contains box pews and a small marble font. The stained glass in the east window is by William Wailes.  There is glass in a window on the south side of the church by Morris & Co. On the south wall is a monument to Charles Roe in black and white marble dated 1784 by John Bacon.  It is in low relief and carries a bust of Roe, with images of the church, Roe's silk mill and his copper works. Also on the south wall is a monument to David Simpson. The three-manual organ was made by Gray & Davison in 1875. There is a ring of ten bells which are still used regularly. Ten bells were cast in 1777 by Rudhall of Gloucester.  In 1815, the two lightest bells were sold, and the 9th was recast by William Dobson of Downham. The tenor bell was recast by Taylors of Loughborough in 1902, and in 1947 they added two trebles to make a ring of ten again. Being a redundant church, there is no ringing for Sunday services, but there is a regular practice on Monday evening (usually 19:00 to 21:15), though it is advisable to enquire, particularly for Bank Holidays.
The three-decker pulpit and choirstalls have been dismantled and put into storage. There are several items of carving from the "Macclesfield School of Carving" within the church. The most notable is a fine Edwardian reredos altar screen. This was dis-assembled during a restoration programme by over enthusiastic conservators to return the look of the Church to its Georgian original.


Christ Church Cathedral, Lisburn (also known as Lisburn Cathedral), is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Connor in the Church of Ireland. It is situated in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in the ecclesiastical province of Armagh. Previously St Thomas's church, it is now one of two cathedrals in the Diocese, the other being the shared Cathedral Church of St Anne, Belfast. The Dean and Chapter of Lisburn Cathedral are known as the Dean and Chapter of St Saviour, Connor in honour of the original cathedral of Connor.
The current building was started in 1708, after its predecessor was burnt down. Its noteworthy features are the gallery seating in the nave and the octagonal spire.
At approximately 55m (181 feet) it is the tallest and most prominent building in the city of Lisburn.


A church was built on the cathedral site in the early 1600s by Sir Fulke Conway as a chapel of ease for his new castle at what was then called Lisnagarvey. It was consecrated in 1623 and dedicated to St Thomas, but was destroyed along with much of the town during the rebellion of 1641.
The church was quickly rebuilt and in 1662 St Thomas's was designated the cathedral church and episcopal seat of the United Diocese of Down and Connor by Charles II and renamed Christ Church Cathedral. Additional gallery seating was introduced in 1674 with access via a bell tower.
The cathedral burned down a second time in 1707. Again it was quickly rebuilt starting in 1708 und was completed 11 years later in 1719, retaining the galleries in the nave with access via the tower which had survived the fire. The octagonal spire was added in 1804 and the chancel built and consecrated in 1889. In the year of 2003, the front gates from 1796 were replaced and in 2004 the clock chimes refurbished.


On 31 July 1914 protesting Suffragettes bombed the Cathedral. A small explosion blew out one of the oldest stained glass windows. Four women arrested after the attack, at the home of Lillian Metge (a middle-class widow who lived in Seymour Street), had to receive police protection when arrested. All the windows of Mrs Metge's house were broken by residents opposed to their actions and the government threatened to raise the rates to pay for the damage caused. No charges were pressed due to the outbreak of World War I and they were released by order of the Home Secretary.


(Spire and weather vane exactly 106 feet in building plans and tower approximately 75 feet)


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Located at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and 60th Street, the church was built primarily during 1931–1933.  Church services began in 1933 but financial impacts of the Great Depression and shortages of World War II prevented the mosaics planned for the interior from being executed until 1948–49.  The church was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, who is known for his Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture.  While designing this church, he used a combination of Romanesque and Byzantine Revival styles instead.
In addition to its operation as a church, Christ Church has operated an early childhood day school since 1949.


Christ the King, of Vũng Tàu (Vietnamese: Tượng Chúa Kitô Vua, lit. 'Statue of Christ the King') is a statue of Jesus, standing on Mount Nhỏ in Vũng Tàu, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province, Đông Nam Bộ, Vietnam. The Vietnamese Catholic Church built the statue in 1974 and it was completed in 2 December 1994
It is 32 metres (105 ft) high, standing on a 4 metres (13 ft) high platform, for a 36 metres (118 ft) total monument height with two outstretched arms spanning 18.3 metres (60 ft). There is a 133-step staircase inside the statue.
The statue is the largest Christian statue across Asia since 2012, and since its restoration of 1993, it has been a major pilgrim destination for Christians across Vietnam as well as Christian vacationers.


Klöster in Bayern: Christgarten (in German) (and all available information as a pdf: PDF (8 KB) (in German))
Haus der Bayrischen Geschichte: Klöster in Bayern: Christgarten (in German)


Chuí Lighthouse (Portuguese: Farol do Chuí) is an active lighthouse in Barra do Chuí, at the mouth of Chuí Stream, just 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the Uruguayan border; the lighthouse is the southernmost of all the Brazilian lights.


Chuí Lighthouse is the last of four lights scattered along 230 kilometres (140 mi) of dangerous coast from Rio Grande to Barra do Chuí. The first lighthouse, lit on 24 May 1910, was a red metal skeletal tower, built under the supervision of Alfred Kurt Schultze. The lantern was equipped with the 4 th order of Fresnel lens built by Barbier, Benard, et Turenne emitting a white and red light with a range of 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi). In 1934 the skeletal tower was in poor conditions due to the corrosion, it was decided to build a new concrete tower, but some years later it was abandoned because of the instability of the foundation. The current light, built in 1941, is a tapered cylindrical concrete tower, 30 metres (98 ft) high, with double balcony and lantern; the tower is painted with red and white horizontal bands. The lantern emits  two white flashes every 25 seconds visible up to 46 nautical miles (85 km; 53 mi). The lighthouse is managed by Brazilian Navy and is identified by the country code number BR-4660.


The Church of All Saints in Langport, Somerset, England, has 12th-century origins but was rebuilt in the late 15th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.


The Perpendicular square tower, which is in three stages, dates from around 1455, but the top section was rebuilt in 1833. New aisles were added in 1499.
It has a number of interesting gargoyles known locally as 'hunky punks'. The portcullis in the stonework above the battlements is from the coat of arms of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby who was Lord of the Manor of Eastover in the Parish of Langport. Two of the hunky punks are believed to represent Margaret Beaufort and her son Henry VII of England.
The East window of the chancel contains a set of late 15th century glass depicting various saints, appropriate to the dedication "All Saints". Although restored in the 19th century, it remains one of the best preserved medieval windows in Somerset. Additionally, it is unusual in that the window contains a full set of glass from the same period.


The church is used for occasional parish services, meaning its congregation has been merged with nearby St Mary's Huish, mother church of the Parish of Huish Episcopi cum Langport. It is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church was declared redundant on 1 July 1994, and was vested in the Trust on 28 June 1995. The Trust has carried out extensive rebuilding work.
In 2011, the Churches Conservation Trust and the community of Langport started an innovative regeneration project at All Saints church. Now the Regeneration Task-force at the Churches Conservation Trust is working in partnership with a group of local young people aged 16–25 to regenerate All Saints church with a new use. The group of young people is called the 'New Saints'.


The Church of the Santo Ángel Custodio de Analco, commonly called the Church of Analco, is a Roman Catholic church under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Puebla de los Ángeles and dedicated to the Holy Guardian Angel (Spanish: Santo Ángel de la Guarda) of Puebla. It is located in Analco, one of Puebla's oldest neighborhoods with a large indigenous population.


The church was built on the site of an older, smaller hermitage dedicated to the souls in purgatory that was constructed by the Mixtec and Tlaxcala indigenous peoples in 1560. This original hermitage was demolished by regent Alonso de Rivera Barrientos in 1618 to build the church he dedicated to the guardian angel of Puebla. The church was inaugurated by the city council (Spanish: ayuntamiento) in 1619.
Analco's indigenous population and, to a lesser degree, its Spanish population, continued to grow and ultimately needed more  land and a bridge built to connect the church to the city in 1626. The Franciscans, who already had a convent in the city near the site of this church, began administering the temple  in 1627. On 13 October 1627, the arrival of bishop Bernardo Gutiérrez de Quirós elevated the church to the category of parish of Analco. The congregation started a renovation campaign to befit its new status as a parish with the help of donations from its Spanish residents and the hard work of the native people of Analco.
The Bishop of Puebla, Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, secularized the church in 1640 when he installed the first diocesan priest, Fernando Díaz de Talavera. In 1767, a new chapel was completed in the church in dedication to the Virgin of Tzocuilac.


The church is built in an indigenous baroque style using quarried stones and mortar. The principal figure on the façade is the archangel Michael. A Latin inscription over the front door reads: ANGELE SANCTE DEI SIT SEMPER CUSTOS MEI (English: Holy Angel of God, always guard me). The façade is flanked by two tall towers, one in the south built in the 17th century, and another in the north built at the end of the 18th century.
The temple consists of a single nave with a rudimentary crossing and a dome without a drum, decorated with carved reliefs of archangels, dressed in the manner of Roman soldiers. The original baroque retables were replaced during the 19th century with others in a neoclassical style. The main retable depicts a guardian angel protecting a small child. On the epistle side, there is a chapel known as the Chapel of Veronica with a single nave. It contains a sculpture of the three falls of Jesus created by Manuel de la Paz. Next to the chapel is the baptistery, which is enclosed with a fine wrought-iron screen dated from 16 March 1780.
On the gospel side is the chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Tzocuilac, with a larger and richer wrought-iron screen donated by Roque Jaramillo de Illescas in 1767. According to legend, her painted likeness was preserved miraculously on a wall exposed to the elements. This chapel contains a trompe l'oeil painting of the Virgin Mary.


On 15 June 1999 a recovery and restoration effort was launched following an earthquake that caused damage to the church towers. During the restoration, it was discovered that the south tower, widely believed to be solid and merely decorative, was hollow and used during the 17th and 18th centuries. Inside the tower they found the remains of a spiral staircase leading to the belfry, human and animal bones, and a cache of antique objects. The objects found included specimens of majolica, Talavera pottery, Aranama ceramics, and glazed red clay tiles originating from a period between the late 17th and early 19th centuries. Leather shoes, glass, stone objects, wood, and baskets were also found. These objects indicated that the tower was used until the late 18th or early 19th century.
The effort also uncovered a painting on a gray stone slab of either the Immaculate Conception or the Virgin of the Light (Spanish: Virgen de la Luz). Based on the style and color palette, it is believed to be the creation of a Spanish-trained artist during the middle of the 19th century. The slab was found broken in two pieces and is believed to come from a tomb, as the church atrium was used as a cemetery until the 19th century.


The church was originally known as St. Nicholas' Church but was expanded by the construction of a Dominican priory in 1240, the Vor Frue Kloster (Our Lady's Priory), of which the present church formed the southern wing. After the Reformation in Denmark, the name was changed to the Church of Our Lady and King Christian III decreed that the surrounding buildings, formerly a priory of the Dominicans, should function as a hospital for the sick and poor. The church was subsequently granted congregational privileges which officially made it a centre for clerical activities in its area.
Between 1250 and 1500 the church was heavily expanded by the addition of, among other things, the large tower. In the 1950s a crypt-church was rediscovered beneath the church during renovations. The crypt church dates to approximately 1060 AD. The church has since been renovated again in 2000.


The crypt church is the oldest extant stone church in Scandinavia. Built in 1060 after the old wooden church had been burned in an assault on the town, the church is situated beneath the main building of the Church of Our Lady. After its discovery in the 1950s, it was restored and reopened on 10 November 1957 and is now used for mass once a week.
During the restoration by the Danish National Museum, two graves were found - one of a child and one of an adult - and 23 coins from the 14th century. Five of these coins were from Lübeck and the rest from Hamburg.
The crypt church was initially built as an attempt to weaken Adalbert, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, who had considerable influence on Danish clerical matters, as the head of the Danish church. Svend Estridsen (1047–1074) divided Denmark into 8 bishoprics, and in 1060, Christian became the first bishop of Aarhus. The crypt church was built the same year.
Around 1080, a new and larger church was built here, named after Saint Nicholas, just like numerous other Danish churches of the time. In 1180, it was mentioned as Aarhus' first cathedral, but was demolished when the Dominicans came to town.
There is no historic information about the crypt church from the following centuries. At some point the rooms were walled off and used as a storage room, until the church itself was forgotten.


The exact year for the erection of the Dominican priory is not known. Different sources point both to the years 1227 and 1239; it is generally assumed that the priory was fully established by approximately 1240.
The priory was separated from the Church of Our Lady during the Reformation, when King Christian III (1534–1559) decided that the church should function as a parish church, while the other priory buildings should be used as a hospital and poor house. In 1888 part of the former priory was converted into a chapel for the residents of the building, then as now principally the elderly.


Zwergius, Ole, nd: Århus Vor Frue Kloster 1239-1541. ISBN 87-983814-0-7
"Church and Priory of Our Lady". danmarkshistorien.dk. Aarhus University. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.


Church of Our Lady of Kazan was designed by the architect Nikolay Nikonov and raised for the Russian villa colony in Terijoki. During the Finnish period, it was the largest Eastern Orthodox church in Finland. As Terijoki was captured by the Soviet troops in 1939, the church served as a warehouse until the late 1970s. It was renovated in the 1980s and reconsecrated in 1990 by the Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow.
Church of Our Lady of Kazan was preceded by the Orthodox church in Terijoki, which was completed in 1880 by the design of Fjodor Kharlamov. The Terijoki Church was funded by a wealthy St. Petersburg businessman Andrei Ivanovich Durdin who had a villa in Terijoki. As the population of the villa colony rose up to tens of thousands, the church was enlarged in 1894 by the drawings of J. F. Bruni. It was originally one of the churches of Raivola parish and the Terijoki parish was established in 1898. In December 1907 the wooden church in Terijoki was destroyed in a fire. The new church was raised a 500 metres west to the centers village of Terijoki, next to the 1907 completed Terijoki Lutheran Church.


Vasco da Gama, who discovered the sea route from Europe to India, landed at Kappad near Kozhikode (Calicut) in 1498. He was followed by Pedro Álvares Cabral and Afonso de Albuquerque. They built Fort Emmanuel at the Fort Kochi Beach with permission from the Raja of Cochin. Within the fort, they built a church with a wooden structure, which was dedicated to St. Bartholomew. The neighbourhood is now known as Fort Kochi. Francisco de Almeida, the Portuguese viceroy, was allowed, in 1506, by the Raja of Cochin to reconstruct wooden buildings in stone and masonry.
The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama died in Kochi in 1524 on his third visit to India. His body was originally buried in this church, but after fourteen years his remains were moved to Lisbon.
The Franciscans retained control over the church till the Dutch captured Kochi in 1663. While the Portuguese were Roman Catholics,  and the Netherlands had Catholic and Protestant citizens, the Dutch government and Colonialists were Protestant. They demolished all the churches except this one.  They reconditioned it and converted it into a government church.


The Church of Saint George (Arabic: كنيسة القديس جيورجوس or كنيسة مار جريس, Hebrew: כנסיית גאורגיוס הקדוש קוטל הדרקון, "Church of Saint George, slayer of the dragon") is a religious site containing a Greek Orthodox Church and a mosque located in Lod, Israel, which serves as a shrine for the fourth-century Christian martyr Saint George.
The building contains both a church, built in 1870, and a mosque (dedicated to Muslim prophet Al-Khidr, often associated with Saint George), as part of the same site.


Crusaders established a church alongside the Byzantine church, but with the Mamluk conquest of Lydda in 1260, Baibars destroyed it, leaving a small part of it in its ruins.


Baibars converted the Byzantine church into a mosque. The remains of the Byzantine basilica including its apse were incorporated into the mosque prayer hall; today a pillar that once stood in the nave of the basilica remains inside the mosque prayer hall with an inscription in Greek. Above the entrance to the mosque is an inscriptions dating its construction to June 1269 (Ramadan 667) as instructed by Baibars.
The northern façade of the mosque building faces the courtyard (sahn), and makes use of the south wall of the historic church. The mosque itself is built as a length hall divided into three by two rows of four pillars each. Its ceiling is vaulted and made in the shape of a cross. On the eastern side of the prayer hall remains a remnant of a Byzantine apse. Beneath the mosque are underground halls, built by the Crusaders and used as reservoirs for the church and city residents. The mosque and minaret were mentioned by Felix Fabri in the 1480s: "The rest of the church has been cut off from the choir by a wall, and they have made that part of it into a fair mosque in honour of Mahomet, and adorned it with a lofty tower. The door stood over against us, so that we could see into the courtyard of the mosque, and into the mosque itself, and it was like Paradise for cleanliness and beauty."
In the Ottoman period, the entrance to the courtyard of the mosque was located on its western wall, but it was later moved to its northern side.


The current Church of St. George incorporates only the northeast corner of the original site. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem received permission from the Ottoman authorities to build a church on the site of the medieval ruins. The 19th century church building was built over the ruined 12th-century Crusader structure, occupying the north end of the nave and left-hand aisle of the earlier church, from which two apses survive. Contrary to the normal rule, these face north rather than east.
The Ottoman authorities stipulated that part of the ruined crusader plot be made available for the mosque courtyard.
The church crypt contains the sarcophagus of St George.


WikiWeb_Church of Saint John the Evangelist_0

The Church of Saint John the Evangelist, or John's Church, is a Gothic Revival style church in Kilkenny, Ireland. The Church was designed by William Hague and built from 1903 to 1908 on the site of an earlier church located in the graveyard. The grounds contain a trees and greenery.


WikiWeb_Church of Saint John the Evangelist_1

It was built as the O'Loughlin Memorial Church by the O'Loughlin family of Sandford's Court. The site was donated by James Butler, the third Marquess of Ormonde. It was built to designs by William Hague (c.1840-99),  under the supervision of William Henry Byrne (1866–1917).


WikiWeb_Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Prague_0

Church of Saint Michael the Archangel is a church situated in Prague, Czech Republic. It was built in Romanesque and Gothic style and later rebuilt in Baroque style. The priest and church reformer Jan Hus celebrated masses in the church. The church and adjacent monastery were disestablished during the reforms of the Emperor Joseph II in the 18th century. Later, the buildings served as a warehouse. In the crypt, there are buried rectors of the Prague's University.


WikiWeb_Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Prague_1

The Church of St. Michael (Czech: kostel svatého Michaela) in Opatovice – V Jirachářích, originally a Romanesque structure, is older than the New Town (Nové Město) itself, which started to evolve in the place of the fields and meadows, settlements and villages in 1348.
It was founded at the same time as the settlement of Opatovice and a rectory stood at the site during the reign of John of Bohemia. It belonged to the Hussites during the Hussite Wars (1419), became the property of the Lutherans a hundred years later (1524), and then the Catholics after the Battle of White Mountain (1621). It was then bought by the German Lutheran Church in 1790 after being abandoned.
The German choir had a picture of Martin Luther created for the side window of the church in 1915. After the Second World War, the confiscated church was passed to the Prague choir of the Slovak Evangelical Church. The Gothic structure of the church dates back to the last 25 years of the 14th century.
It was expanded and added to on a number of occasions, with its final re-Gothicisation dating back to 1914–1915 under the leadership of builder Štěpán Koloschek.
An oblong nave was created with a flat ceiling and a prismatic tower to the west. The irregular presbytery is distinctive for its ornate vaulting. The asymmetric three-naved structure is externally unified by an orbiting, Baroque, main cornice. The Baroque extension of a staircase to the gallery sits next to the southern Gothic nave. The structure comes to a peak with its slender prismatic tower, which has Gothic core. The portal from the north is fitted with a fanlight, whose tracery was made up of a number of stylized nuns. The late-Rococo main altar (around 1770) remains the Gothic fittings. This was originally dedicated to St. Michael.


WikiWeb_Church of Saints Peter and Paul_0

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul (Bulgarian: църква "Св. св. Петър и Павел", tsarkva "Sv. sv. Petar i Pavel) is a medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church in the city of Veliko Tarnovo in central northern Bulgaria, the former capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The 13th-century church lies at the foot of the Tsarevets hill's northern slopes and was reconstructed in 1981.
The church is dedicated to the Christian Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It follows the cross-domed design and has a single apse. The cella is divided into three naves by two rows of columns. The columns' capitals are decorated with plastic carving and tracery. The church has a high, massive iconostasis. According to the 14th-century account of Patriarch Evtimiy, the church and the surrounding monastery were built on the order of Tsar Ivan Asen II's (ruled 1218–1241) wife Anna.
After the Fall of Tarnovo to the Ottomans in 1393, the church may have become the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate for a brief period. It continued to be a metropolitan bishop's residence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople during the Ottoman rule. The bishop Hilarion of Crete was buried there and his tombstone has been preserved.
Three layers of frescoes inside the church have been preserved to this day. The earliest layer consists of three images of the martyrs of Edessa in the western arch dating to the mid-13th century. The second layer is the images in the narthex; it is stylistically influenced by the Italo-Cretan school from the time of the Council of Florence in the 1430s. The local bishop Ignatius took part in the council and may have propagated the idea of ecumenism. The inscriptions of the second layer are in Bulgarian and Greek. The latest layer of frescoes is that of the images in the southern gallery from the 16th century.


WikiWeb_Church of Santa Maria de Bendones_1

The structure is similar to the church of San Julián de los Prados, although the ground plan is not the typical basilica of  the Pre-Romanesque churches, but has three enclosures at the western end, the central one as an entrance vestibule and two side areas possibly to house parishioners or ecclesiastics. This entrance leads into a single nave with a wooden ceiling, the same length as the entrance enclosures. The nave adjoins two rectangular side areas, also with a wooden ceiling, whose use seems to associated with the liturgical rites of the period. this nave joined with the sanctuary by three semicircular brick arches, each of which leads into its corresponding chapel, of which only the main or central one is covered with a brick barrel vault, the other two with wooden ceilings.
Above the main chapel is the "typical" chamber, only accessible from outside, through a trefoil window with the standard Pre-Romanesque features; central arch larger than the side  ones, resting on two free-standing capitals with rope moulding, and the upper rectangle framed by simple moulding.
Independent from the church structure, though close to its southern facade, stands the bell tower, on a rectangular ground plan.


The Church of St. Euphemia, often known as the Basilica of St. Euphemia (although it is not formally a basilica minor), is a Baroque church located in the heart of the historic part of Rovinj, Croatia.


This three-nave church was built from 1725 to 1736, over the remains of older, early Christian structures. The dedication was originally to Saint George, later to Saints George and Euphemia; the present building is dedicated to Euphemia only. Its façade dates from 1883.
The relics of Saint Euphemia are preserved in a Roman sarcophagus from the sixth century (but adapted in the 15th century). The church contains several treasures and works of art: Gothic statues from the 15th century, paintings from the 16th and the 17th centuries: Last Supper and Christ in the Gethsemane.
The bell tower resembles the tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice. It was built during 1654–1680, to the plans by Antonio Manopola. On top of this 60 m-high tower stands the statue of Saint Euphemia, serving as a wind vane.
The church is described by Alice Lee Moqué in Delightful Dalmatia:
"At first glance it is seen that the tower with its golden angel is almost an exact copy of the campanile in Venice, only this angel is Saint Eufemia, the little town's patron saint...whose marvelous experiences are plainly depicted upon the walls of the chapel."


Recorded by Alice Lee Moqué, an American suffraget and travel writer, is the local legend of how the sarcophagus was received by the Church. The legend begins with two fisherman caught in a storm who, having lost control of their ship, fall to their knees in earnest prayer. Their prayers are answered and they wake safely near Rovinj's shore to see a shining white light over an object that sinks into the sea. Unable to retrieve the object, they hurry to tell the townspeople of the miracle, but none can move the heavy object until a pious widow makes a plan to retrieve the gift with oxen. The oxen pull the sarcophagus from the water and carry it up the mountain. A skeptic is struck unconscious in the presence of the sarcophagus, later revealing that he'd received a vision from Saint Euphemia that the sarcophagus contained her bones. In the town's folklore, it is said that the hill has been named the "Hill of St Euphemia" ever since, even as the relics were stolen by the Genoese, who lost them to the Venetians, not being returned to the town until the 14th century.


Marković, Vladimir (1996). "Crkva sv. Eufemije u Rovinju - između projekta i izgradnje" (PDF). Prilozi povijesti umjetnosti u Dalmaciji (in Croatian). 36 (1): 263–270. Retrieved 25 February 2019.


WikiWeb_Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard_0

The Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard (also known as Bernardine Church) is a Roman Catholic church in the Old Town of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is located next to St. Anne's Church. Dedicated to Saints Francis of Assisi and Bernardino of Siena, it is an important example of Gothic architecture in Lithuania.


WikiWeb_Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard_1

After their arrival in Vilnius, Bernardine monks built a wooden church in the second half of the 15th century, and at the end of the same century - a brick one. In the early 16th century it was reconstructed, apparently with the participation of a master from Gdansk (Danzig) Michael Enkinger. In the beginning of the 16th century the church was incorporated into the construction of Vilnius defensive wall, so there are shooting openings in its walls. Afterwards it was renewed many times, particularly after the 1655-61 war with Moscow, when the Cossacks ravaged the church killing the monks and citizens who had taken shelter there. In the times of the Soviet occupation it was closed down and handed over to the Art institute. In 1994, the brethren of St. Francis returned to the church. According to the legend, the Bernardine monks used to tell such good sermons that crowds would come to listen. That is why the church is so large.


WikiWeb_Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard_2

Church and Monastery are some of the largest sacral buildings in Vilnius, although in the 17th and 18th centuries they acquired the Renaissance and Baroque features. Being much larger and more archaic than the St. Anne's Church, it forms and interesting and unique ensemble with the latter. Gothic pointed-arch windows and buttresses stand out on the façade. Above them rises a pediment with twin octagonal towers on the sides and a fresco depicting the Crucifix in the middle niche. A Gothic presbytery is the oldest part of the church. Eight high pillars divide the church interior into 3 naves. There are many valuable 16th-century wall paintings in Bernardine church and the oldest known artistic Lithuanian crucifix sculpture from the 15th century. The walls of the naves are decorated with Gothic polychrome frescoes, partly uncovered in 1981 - dynamic, colourful figural compositions on biblical and hagiographic themes, with occasional inscriptions in Gothic characters, floral ornaments, heraldic insignia etc. These mural paintings date from the early 16th century and are considered unique in the world: their composition and type of presentation of the subject matter belongs to Renaissance, and the stylistics - to the Gothic style.
The Bernardine monastery north of the church, built simultaneously with the church, was renovated and reconstructed several times. Since its founding, a novitiate and a seminary operated at the monastery, a rich library had been accumulated, and a scriptorium operated. There artists, craftsmen and organists among the monks. The monastery was closed in 1864, and the building housed soldiers' barracks. In 1919 it was given to the art faculty of the university, later - to the Art Institute (now the Art Academy).


The Church of St. George (Macedonian: Црква "Св. Великомаченик Георгиј", Crkva "Sv. Velikomačenik Georgij" or simply Црква "Свети Ѓорѓи" / Crkva "Sv. Gjorgji"; Serbian: Црква "Светог Ђорђа" / Crkva "Svetog Đorđa") is a Macedonian Orthodox church in the village of Staro Nagoričane, near Kumanovo in North Macedonia, built by medieval Serbian king Stefan Milutin. It is noteworthy both for its architecture and its frescoes. It is considered a 14th-century masterpiece of the palaiologan time and a key example of Christian heritage in this area.


An inscription above the western entrance of the church mentions Stefan Uroš II. Milutin (1253-1321) as its donor. His building conversions and donations are also confirmed by archbishop and biographer Danilo II. The donor portrait on the northern wall shows Milutin next to the patron saint George and is characterized by the symbolic exchange of gifts: the emperor presents a model of the church, while George hands over a sword for Milutin's military services. The latter is also addressed in the inscription which refers to the victory over the Turks and therefore gives a hint about the edification of the church in the year 1312/13.


The cross-in-square church is complemented by a narthex, while the bema and naos are divided by a stony iconostasis. The sanctuary is flanked by a prothesis (north) and a diaconicon (south). The main dome is supported by an octagonal tambour, whereas pendentives form the transition between those two elements. Another four smaller domes, one at each corner of the church, add to the decoration. The outer narthex is in a very bad condition, meaning just the lower parts of the walls remain. This component was added later, as the church was probably part of an expanding monastery, which faced the problem of lack of space. But there has already existed an inner narthex, separated by two columns with lower arcs than the rest in the monument and by a different iconographic program.
An alternating building design can be noticed at the facade from a height of 5m. The lower part consists of big sandstone blocks, while the upper part is composed of alternating rows of stone and brick, held together by mortar. The brick elements are also used to highlight niches and windows. Another difference can be seen by the shape of the screens. Those in the lower zone are completed by an arc, while those in the upper part have a lintel. This underlines that the church belongs to two different construction phases. The older structures can be dated to the 11th century and, according to legend, were erected by Roman IV Diogenes (reigned 1068-1071), whereas Milutin used this construction for his donation, only adding the upper part of the church. It is still unclear how the first building looked like. It could have had three aisles, but churches with just one room and one central dome have been also popular during the 10th to the 12th century. The Bulgarian emperor, Michael Shishman, was buried in the wall of this building after he died at battle of Velbazhd, against Serbian king Stefan Uroš III Dechanski in 1330.
In the south-western corner, fragments of a staircase can be found, which could have led to a pulpit. During the reign of Milutin, the entrance was blocked by bricks and plaster with frescos was added. On the north and south facade exist remains of pilasters, ending at a height of 4,10m. A fragment of a pillar was found in a distance of 3,90m to the south wall, assuming porticos for those two walls, today lost. They seem to have been maintained by Milutin as they can be seen on the model of the church, which is presented to saint George by the king.


A second donor's inscription on the southern part of the western wall of the inner narthex gives the year 1317/18 as the completion date of the frescos under the reign of bishop Benjamin of Nagoričane. But they could have been started a year earlier as the building is rather big. Its painters were Michael Astrapas and Eutychios, who led the most productive artist's studio of the palaiologan time for three decades. The frescos of Staro Nagoričane are considered their masterpiece. Two dedications of Michael Astrapas can be found - one on a shield of a warrior saint on the northern wall of the naos, the other one on the clothing of a saint on the south-western pillar.
The scenes are arranged in up to seven stripes lying on top of each other, whereby this design only accounts for the naos. The lowest zone is represented by geometrical patterns. Saintly figures (warriors, martyrs, monks, apostles, ascetics) like Pachomius, Cosmas of Jerusalem and John of Damascus are arranged in the second stripe. Only this register can also be found in the inner narthex. The next zone consist of scenes out of the life of saint George, especially his torture. The passion of Christ is depicted one level higher, above that his appearance after the resurrection, followed by his miracles. The last register, mainly stretching across arch areas and barrel vaults, is ending in the cycle of the great feasts like the annunciation, the nativity, the baptism, the entry into Jerusalem and so on. The apse is divided into six stripes: geometrical patterns, church fathers, bishop busts, communion of the apostles, bishop busts and the enthroned Mary with the Christ Child on her lap, flanked by the angels Michael and Gabriel. Apocryphal scenes out of the life of Mary can be seen on the walls of the prothesis, while those of saint Nicholas are displayed in the diaconicon. The iconographic program in the inner narthex consists of the menologium, a directory of Memorial Days and religious holidays. Above the western entrance is a depiction of the Dormition.
The style of the frescos is that of the Palaiologan Renaissance, which came up in the 13th century and is characterised by the revival of ancient forms with iconographic innovations. One feature is the extension of the colour spectrum by warmer shades like red and the use of white as a highlighter to increase the dimensionality of the clothing. Furthermore, the number of cycles enhances, simultaneously resulting in the miniaturization of the figures. This and poorly lit rooms are the reason for more animated scenes and intensified gestures. The style as just described was especially used in churches of king Milutin.
The church contains a series of images of saints and feasts presented in the order in which they are celebrated during the year, which is one of early Serbian calendars, painted during the rule of king Stefan Milutin.


The frescos are in bad condition, especially those in the upper parts and in the domes. The north-western one shows deprivation of pigments in particular. Humidity was detected in the main dome in fall 2011, which destroys the frescos increasingly. A conservation project, funded by the European Union, was decided in summer 2013, but is unfortunately not carried out yet. Two students of the Georg-August-University of Göttingen started the project "Macedonian Frescos 360 (Masco)" in April 2016. Its goal is to point towards the endangered cultural asset by taking 360-degree panorama pictures of the interior, thus providing a virtual tour of the church.


Church of St. Gertrude (Lithuanian: Šv. Gertrūdos bažnyčia) is located in the Old Town of Kaunas and is one of the oldest Brick Gothic churches and buildings of Gothic architecture in Lithuania. Located just off Laisvės alėja (Freedom Avenue), the church is somewhat hidden away and can be accessed from Laisves aleja through a gate at a hotel which is located nearby the Court building on Laisves alėja.
The exact date when the church was built is unknown, but it must have been in the 15th century. It was built as a churchyard chapel in the location of the former burial-ground nearby the city border near the road leading to Vilnius. In 1503 Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander designated the church as a parish church of Kaunas. In the middle of the 16th century a bell tower was attached. The church was damaged in 1655 during the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667). It was rebuilt only around 1680. Around 1750 a wooden hospital was attached to the church. In 1782 it was abandoned for a long time, and at the time there were 5 monks from order of St. Roch residing. In 1796 the church was renovated, organs installed, and living quarters for a parson established. The church was consecrated in 1794.
In 1812 Kaunas suffered from a major fire, which also damaged the church. The hospital was abandoned, and in 1824 transferred to the sister order of Caritas. The monastery was closed in 1864 after the January Uprising. The old hospital was demolished in 1880. In 1921 the church was assigned to the Congregation of Marian Fathers and a monastery was built nearby. In 1920 the church was daubed. In 1992 a complex renovation of the church and monastery took place. Since 1991 the Mass is held in the church again, and the Marianites monastery has been returned to the monks.


WikiWeb_Church of St. John the Warrior_0

Church of St. John the Warrior on Yakimanka Street (Russian: Церковь Иоанна Воина, Tserkov' Ivana Voina) is a Russian Orthodox church in Yakimanka District of Moscow erected in 1704-1717, during the reign of Peter the Great. It is attributed to architect Ivan Zarudny. The church address is 46, Bolshaya Yakimanka.