The line was built by over 6,000 navvies, who worked in remote locations, enduring harsh weather conditions. Large camps were established to house the navvies, most of them Irish, with many becoming complete townships with post offices and schools. They were named Inkerman, Sebastapol and Jericho. The remains of one camp – Batty Green – where over 2,000 navvies lived and worked, can be seen near Ribblehead. The Midland Railway helped pay for scripture readers to counteract the effect of drunken violence in these isolated communities.
A plaque in the church at Chapel-le-Dale records the workers who died, both from disease and from accidents, while building the railway. The death toll is unknown, but 80 people died at Batty Green alone in a smallpox epidemic.
A memorial stone was laid in 1997 in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Mallerstang to commemorate the 25 railway builders and their families who died during the construction of this section of the line, and who were buried there in unmarked graves.
The engineer for the project was John Crossley from Leicestershire, a veteran of other Midland schemes. The terrain traversed is among the bleakest and wildest in England, and construction was halted for months at a time due to frozen ground, snowdrifts and flooding. One contractor had to give up as a result of underestimating the terrain and the weather – Dent Head has almost four times the rainfall of London. Another long-established partnership dissolved under the strain: that of William Eckersley and John Bayliss (1826-1900), Bayliss continued the project until its completion in 1877. They were contracted to construct the 23 mi (37 km) section from Kirkby Thore to Petteril Bridge in Carlisle.
The line was engineered to express standards throughout – local traffic was secondary, and many stations were miles from the villages they purported to serve. The railway's summit at 1,169 feet (356 m) is at Aisgill, north of Garsdale. To keep the gradients to less than 1 in 100 (1%), a requirement for fast running using steam traction, huge engineering works were required. Even so, the terrain imposed a 16-mile (26 km) climb from Settle to Blea Moor, almost all of it at 1 in 100, and known to enginemen as "the long drag".
The line required 14 tunnels and 22 viaducts; the most notable is the 24-arch Ribblehead Viaduct which is 104 ft (32 m) high and 440 yards (402 m) long. The swampy ground meant that the piers had to be sunk 25 ft (8 m) below the peat and set in concrete in order to provide a suitable foundation. Soon after crossing the viaduct, the line enters Blea Moor tunnel, 2,629 yd (2,404 m) long and 500 ft (152 m) below the moor, before emerging onto Dent Head Viaduct. The summit at Aisgill is the highest point reached by main-line trains in England. The tunnel at Lazonby was constructed at the request of a local vicar as he did not want the railway to run past the vicarage.
Water troughs were laid between the tracks at Garsdale, enabling steam engines to take water without losing speed.
The remains of the navvies' camp at Rise Hill tunnel were investigated by Channel 4's Time Team in 2008, for a programme that was broadcast on 1 February 2009.


During the 1970s, the S&C suffered from a lack of investment, and most freight traffic was diverted onto the electrified West Coast Main Line. The condition of many viaducts and tunnels deteriorated due to lack of investment. DalesRail began operating services to closed stations on summer weekends in 1974. These were promoted by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to encourage ramblers.
In the early 1980s, the S&C was carrying only a handful of trains per day, and British Rail decided the cost of renewing the viaducts and tunnels would be prohibitively expensive, given the small amount of traffic carried on the line. In June 1981 a protest group, the Friends of the Settle–Carlisle Line (FoSCL), held its inaugural meeting at Settle Town Hall and campaigned against the line's closure even before it was officially announced.
In 1984, closure notices were posted at the S&C's remaining stations. However, local authorities and rail enthusiasts joined together and campaigned to save the S&C, pointing out that British Rail was ignoring the S&C's potential for tourism, ignoring the need for a diversionary route to the West Coast main line, and failing to promote through traffic from the Midlands and Yorkshire to Scotland.
There was outrage over the closure plan: critics pointed out that this was a main line, not a small branch railway. The campaign uncovered evidence that British Rail had mounted a dirty tricks campaign against the line, exaggerating the cost of repairs (£6 million for Ribblehead Viaduct alone) and diverting traffic away from the line in order to justify its closure plans, a process referred to as closure by stealth.
Publicity over British Rail's tactics succeeded in a huge increase in traffic. Journeys per year were 93,000 in 1983 when the campaign began, 450,000 by 1989. As late as August 1988, the British Rail Board posted adverts stating they had appointed Lazard Brothers to 'advise on the sale of the Settle–Carlisle line'. As a result of the successful campaign, the government finally refused consent to close the line in 1989, and British Rail started to repair the deteriorating tunnels and viaducts.


The line is featured in Microsoft Train Simulator, which depicts the line as it was in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and in modern-day for Dovetail Games' Train Simulator.
Trainz Railway Simulator has a Settle & Carlisle package modelled on the line under British Railways ownership in the late 1950s and early 1960s.


Severance Hall is a concert hall located in the University Circle section of Cleveland, Ohio.  Opened in 1931, Severance Hall was named after patrons John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth Huntingdon DeWitt Severance, and serves as the home of The Cleveland Orchestra.  It is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of Cleveland’s Wade Park District.


The Cleveland Orchestra first performed at Grays Armory in downtown Cleveland and later moved to the Masonic Auditorium for concerts during the 1920s. But both buildings also hosted other types of events that occasionally created scheduling conflicts for the Orchestra, including, most famously, twice when the ensemble had to find a location other than Grays Armory because of a poultry exhibition. The Orchestra’s administration soon came to realize the advantages that having a permanent concert hall would bring to the ensemble's performances, rehearsals, and radio broadcasts.
After encouragement from Cleveland Orchestra founder Adella Prentiss Hughes and music director Nikolai Sokoloff, plans for Severance Hall began to emerge based on a plot of land offered by Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) at a leasing cost of $1.00 per year and potential funds contributed by the general public and local philanthropists.  During a gala concert celebrating the Orchestra’s tenth-anniversary, Dudley Blossom, an early benefactor, announced that John L. Severance, president of the Musical Arts Association, and his wife, Elisabeth, had pledged $1 million to the construction of a new hall. In support of an associated fundraising campaign, Blossom and his wife donated $750,000 the following day. Though Elisabeth Severance died in 1929, John Severance was determined to see the project through to its completion and intended for the concert hall to serve as a de facto memorial to his late wife. Despite a collapse of the United States’ economy in 1929, the groundbreaking for Severance Hall was held on November 14, 1929 and Severance’s contribution eventually ballooned to more than $2.6 million. The concert hall was designed by the Cleveland firm of Walker & Weeks, which had also built Cleveland’s Federal Reserve Bank and Public Library. Severance Hall opened on February 5, 1931, hosting a gala concert broadcast live across the radio to mark the occasion.

In addition to serving as The Cleveland Orchestra’s home and as a commencement site for Case Western Reserve University, Severance Hall is available to rent for concerts, weddings, corporate events, and receptions. On Severance Hall’s ground floor is Reinberger Chamber Hall, a separate 402-seat auditorium that is frequently used for more intimate performances and pre-concert lectures.
On September 30, 2021, the Cleveland Orchestra and Musical Arts Association announced that the name of the venue was changing to Severance Music Center.


Designed by Cleveland firm Walker & Weeks, Severance Hall is located at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East Boulevard. The front entrance features a grand lobby in the form of a domed rotunda, with the main auditorium and various service spaces spread out in a conjoined fan. The building’s exterior was designed to complement the nearby Cleveland Museum of Art, featuring a neoclassical portico and an Art Deco relief by New York sculptor Henry Hering.
The interior of Severance Hall features a variety of architectural styles, including Art Deco and elements of Egyptian Revival.  The Grand Foyer is surrounded by marble columns and decorated with papyrus and lotus flower patterns that are used in a number of places. The main concert hall features a silvery aluminum leaf ceiling with designs based on 18th century English point lace.


Shortly after the opening of Severance Hall, several acoustic problems were noted. These were attributed to the use of velvet curtains in audience boxes, thick carpet across much of the hall, and a large, sound-absorbing fly space located above the stage. In addition, removable shells created for the Orchestra were constructed of materials that didn't reflect sound. Finally, the 6,025-pipe Ernest M. Skinner organ could be heard, but its positioning outside the auditorium itself was experimental and limited the options for addressing the auditorium's dry acoustics.
In 1958, at the prompting of music director George Szell, an acoustical redesign of the hall was undertaken.  To make the auditorium more resonant, the original proscenium and blue velvet curtains were removed and the use of carpet was reduced to a minimum. On the stage, a permanent acoustical shell was built — affectionately known as “The Szell Shell” — which consisted of thick wooden walls formed in a series of convex curves. To make the walls less absorbent and more reflective of sound, they were filled with sand. The result was a more vibrant-sounding space which complemented the Orchestra’s tone under Szell's direction.
Visually, though, the new Modernist stage clashed with the elegant Art Deco design of the concert hall. In addition, the organ's pipe chambers were effectively sealed off from the auditorium by the new shell — rendering the organ non-functional unless its sound was transmitted into the auditorium through microphones and speakers.


As the use of taxis and chauffeured vehicles declined, Severance Hall’s tiled drive-through entrance was closed in 1970. A dining area was created in the resulting space. Later, one of the access corridors on the ground floor was converted into a dressing room for female orchestra members (harpist Alice Chalifoux had used her instrument case to dress in the late 1930s and early 1940s, when she was one of the few women in the ensemble).
Beginning in 1998, Severance Hall underwent an extensive two-year, $36 million restoration and expansion led by architect David M. Schwarz.  The renovated building reopened in January 2000, winning a National Preservation Honor Award.  The most significant aesthetic change was the replacement of the “Szell Shell” with a new shell that combined the acoustics of the old model with a decorative style in harmony with the rest of the hall.  The stage included a place for the relocation of the Orchestra’s newly-restored Ernest M. Skinner organ.  The project also created a street-level lobby, a new restaurant, and additional offices for the Orchestra’s administrative staff.


The Seville Shipyards (Spanish: Atarazanas de Sevilla) is a medieval shipyard in the city of Seville (Andalusia, Spain). They were operative between the 13th and 15th centuries, and are built in Gothic style.
They were specialized in the construction of galleys, which played an important role in the struggles for the control of the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as in the Castilian participation in the Hundred Years' War. The complex consisted of a building with seventeen naves next to a large sandy area that reached to the edge of the Guadalquivir River.
On March 13, 1969, the State declares Monumento Histórico Artístico to the Shipyards, and on June 18, 1985 the degree of protection of the property declaring the Maestranza de Artillería de Sevilla (which occupies the seven naves that are conserved and other structures, such as a front pavilion) Bien de Interés Cultural in the Monument category.


The first news about shipyards in the city dates back to the 1st century BC, when the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar took place:
[Marcus Terentius Varro] practiced a recruitment throughout the Province [of Hispania Ulterior] and his two full legions added thirty auxiliary cohorts. He stored a large quantity of wheat, which he had to send to the people of Marseille, and partly also to Afranius and Petreia. He ordered Cádizans to build ten ships of line and, in addition, he tried to build enough in Hispalis [Seville]
— Julius Caesar. De Bellum civile. 49 a.C.
In the 9th century a series of Norman attacks (Vikings) occurred on the peninsular coasts, one of them in Seville. This motivated Caliph Abd ar-Rahman II to reinforce the wall of Isbylia (Seville) (of Roman origin) and to create a permanent war fleet. To this end, he ordered the construction of some shipyards in Seville:
[...] that a shipyard be built in Seville, and that ships be built; the factory was prepared reculting seamen from the Spanish coasts, who gave good soil and provided instruments or machines to throw burning bitumen.
— Ibn al-Qūṭiyya, Chronicle of the conquest of Al Andalus.
Some 200 years later, in 1184, the caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur ordered the then governor of the city, Abu Dawud Yalul ben Yildasan the manufacture of some shipyards where, in a short space of time, build a large fleet to deal with the Christian kingdoms.
t is not known with certainty where the former shipyards were located. According to the archaeological work carried out, it is known that the Castilian shipyards that are still in use today were not built on any previous ones.


Ferdinand III of Castile, conquered Seville from the Muslims in 1248. After making conquests for a large part of the peninsula, he decided to undertake military campaigns to also take the north of Africa and thus prevent possible threats that could come from that area. He decided to build several ships and galleys in Seville. However, Fernando dies in 1252 and his son, Alfonso X of Castile "the Wise", agrees with the usefulness of creating a fleet and orders the construction of the shipyards.
The site chosen was a site outside the walled enclosure and very close to the Guadalquivir River, in the area between Torre del Oro, Torre de la Plata, the Postigo del Carbón gate and the Postigo del Aceite gate.
For this reason, in the neighborhood of El Arenal 17 naves from brick factory were erected perpendicular to the Guadalquivir and in front of the Almohad walls of the city, covering about 15,000 square meters.
The Atarazanas also included the so-called Resolana del Río, a large expanse of sand that reached the Guadalquivir. It was one of the largest industrial installations of the Late Middle Ages in Europe, of an extension comparable to that at that time by the Venetian Arsenal.
Architecturally it is a Gothic work and Mudéjar built all of it in a brick factory, which shows the influence of Almohad art in medieval constructions in the city of Seville. Astonish the dimensions of its wide and long naves attached and covered by vaults of edge, appropriate for the construction of the largest ships of the time. These naves communicate laterally through thick arches that are slightly pointed and facing each other, which start directly from the ground, and that together provoke attractive prospects inside.


In 1253 there were already ten galleys built and King Alfonso appointed ten captains or commissars, some of them French and Italians who had come to collaborate in the Reconquista. The commissars and their heirs had to take care of and repair the galley that was delivered to them and always use it in the name of the king and under the dependence of the Major Admiral of Castile (a position created by Alfonso in 1254). In 1407, reigning John II of Castile, in Seville there were already 70 commissars. The Major Admiral of Castile also had voice and vote in the municipal council.
Besides as a shipyard, the Crown used the Shipyards for other functions since its first centuries of operation. Because of their large size, they served to host assemblies and public celebrations. They were also a natural place to store the booty and the prisoners captured by the fleets of the Castilian kings. Sometimes they served as jails for the social elite, for example for the nobles related to the king Peter of Castile after the victory of his rival Henry II of Castile.
The Shipyards were able to build frequently fleets of twenty galleys and, on special occasions, of up to thirty. The Castilian kings used them in the struggles for control of the Strait of Gibraltar against the Muslims and also in raids against England during the Hundred Years' War. For its construction and armament, a labor force of between 400 and 500 artisans was temporarily mobilized, who, in exchange for working for the Crown for half the usual salary, enjoyed great fiscal privileges throughout the year. For this reason they were called "francs". In addition, the Crown possessed in the Shipyards an indeterminate number of slaves, mainly Muslim prisoners, who were in charge of the most painful tasks. The wood for the construction of the ships was brought from forests owned by the Crown located in the Sierra Norte de Sevilla.
The naves could hold a large number of galleys and vessels, as well as all the equipment for assembly, repair and maintenance. The spoils of war were also kept there. Caulkers, carpenters, blacksmiths and other artisans worked inside it. Those who work there were under the authority of the alcaide of the Alcázar of Seville (the palace-fortress nearby) and the Shipyards. This warden was appointed by the king. The position of warden used to fall to a nobleman who, at times, delegated the exercise of his work to a man of trust.
In the first third of the 15th century the Shipyards set up its last large fleets of galleys. Fifteen ships were destined to an incursion against England in 1420 and an indeterminate number to the war against Aragon in 1430. After these contests, the orders of the Castilian kings became increasingly scarce. In the middle of the century the hulls of some twenty galleys, built but not armed, were rotting in their facilities.
During the last stages of the Reconquista the Catholic Monarchs installed the seat of their court in Seville. At the end of the 15th century, some of the repair works of the shipyards were carried out by order of the latter. Later, in 1493, the Catholic Monarchs approved that the fish market move from the Plaza de San Francisco square to the first nave (the one closest to the Postigo del Aceite gate) of the Shipyards. In that nave several fish markets and some houses were placed.
On February 14, 1503, on the occasion of the constitution of the Casa de Contratación de Indias, the nave was destined to the south as the headquarters of the Casa. However, on June 5, the headquarters of the Casa to the Alcázar would be moved. In 1587 the customs of the city was located on naves 13, 14 and 15, south of the building. Throughout the 16th century one nave was rented as an oil warehouse and another as a wool warehouse. The warden would be in charge of the surveillance of the site and the collection of all rentals . Another nave was destined for a mercury store, which was brought in bags of lamb skins from Almadén mines and then used to help extract silver in the American mines.
In addition to the need for warehouses, there were other reasons for the cessation of its use as shipyards. In the first place, after the end of the wars with England and the battles for the Strait of Gibraltar, the kingdom of Castile stopped needing fleets of war so frequently. Second, the architectural design of the Shipyards made them capable of building only galleys, and this type of vessel was losing combat capacity against novel designs of sailing ships such as the carrack and the nao, which were faster and stronger and had much greater range thanks to its less numerous crews. For the Crown it was also more economically advantageous to rent private sailships to its owners than to build and maintain permanent fleets of galleys. Finally, the ascent to the throne in 1475 of Isabella I and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon (called the Catholic Monarchs years later) supposed that the sovereigns of Castile became available to the shipyards of galleys of the Crown of Aragon, which possibly were cheaper than the one in Seville.
Although the workload of the Shipyards was decreasing, the number of artisans officially linked to them was scarcely reduced. This provoked frequent protests by the Council of Seville about the injustice represented by the tax exemptions of these "francs" as well as other protected occupations. Among other tasks, until 1549 the fourth nave of the Shipyards was destined to the manufacture of pumps to reduce water in the boats, for what was known as "the fireman's nave".
In 1570 a large galley would be built in Barcelona that would be taken to Seville to be decorated with Renaissance allegorical motifs. This was the Capitana galley that was commanded by John of Austria during the Battle of Lepanto.
On June 5, 1593 King Philip II of Spain would prohibit by Royal Decree that the ships built in the Sevillian Shipyards be used for trips to the Indies, citing the worst quality of the wood used in them compared to the best quality of the shipyards from the north of Spain.
Little by little, the Shipyards abandoned its role as shipyards to be commercial warehouses. In addition to the aforementioned elements, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, medicinal plants and noble woods from the Indies were also stored. In the 18th century they were labeled with a sign that read:  "La Real Casa de Atarazanas de Azogues de Indias" (The Royal House of Shipyards of Markets of Indies).


Throughout its history, the building of the Royal Shipyards has undergone important transformations. At present, only seven of the seventeen original naves remain standing.
The first major architectural intervention on the building of the Shipyards took place in the year 1641 with the construction of Hospital de la Caridad and its church, which occupied five of the naves, whose arches can still be glimpsed today.
In 1719 the Government ordered that five naves pass to store artillery material, a function that had already been carried out by the Shipyards since 1587. In 1762 began a major reform of the Artillery Corps that would take over the years to the Real Maestranza de Artillería de Sevilla located in the Shipyards had a large warehouse of carriages and accoutrements to supply the troops, which resulted in an expansion in the capacity of workshops and warehouses with the annexation of two more naves to complete the seven that would occupy the Army until the 20th century. In 1782, the Maestranzas of Cádiz and Málaga merged into that of Seville, leaving it as the sole supplier for all Andalusia and Extremadura and, one year later, also for the Indias, which led to a new architectural operation that transformed part of the building and raised the current façade.
Apart from the construction of Hospital de la Caridad in the 17th century, the rest of the structure of the original building survived completely until 1945, when five of the buildings were demolished to make room for the construction of the current building of the Treasury Delegation.
The Shipyards of Seville have been declared Bien de Interés Cultural and cataloged as Monumento Nacional since 1969. In 1993 they became property of the Junta de Andalucía. In 2009, the Board assigned the building to the La Caixa financial entity for a period of 75 years in order to build a cultural dissemination center called CaixaForum Sevilla. At the end of 2012 La Caixa announced that it would build the Caixaforum in another part of the city, which sparked a conflict with the Junta de Andalucía that concluded with an agreement whereby the financial institution would invest 10 million euros in another cultural project different in the Shipyards.


Sevnica Castle is a Slovenian castle in the Lower Sava Valley. Situated atop a hill, it dominates the old town of Sevnica and offers views of the surrounding countryside.


The Archdiocese of Salzburg held local estates since 1043 and Sevnica Castle was mentioned for the first time in its record in 1309 like “Castellum" Lichtenwald. The origin of the building was not documented but it was most probably built during the bishopric of Konrad the First von Abensberg (1106–1147), who rebuilt and colonized this area devastated by Hungarian invasions in the 10th century and in the beginning of the 12th century. We know nothing even about the appearance of the building at that time. The only remaining part of the building from that period, which has survived until this day, is the part of a tower nowadays included in the left wing of the castle. This tower did not stand by itself; it was probably part of a larger building. From the thickness of its walls (2.6 metres (8.5 ft)) it is believed to have been four or five storeys tall.
The office of the Archdiocese of Salzburg had been in the castle until 1479 when was appointed Archbishop Bernard the Second von Rohr, who came into conflict with the Emperor Frederick the Third. During the ensuing war, Bernard established alliance with the governor of Hungary Matthias Hunyady – Corvinus and he resigned to his custody not only Sevnica Castle with the belonging manor but also many other present-day Slovenian castles in Styria and Carinthia. Matthias Hunyady, whose army thereafter occupied considerable part of the Slovenian ethnic territory, was very popular with simple folk. Thanks to this, many stories about him were passed on by oral tradition and so he became Slovenian legendary King Matthias.  After his death, the Peace of Bratislava in 1491 concluded the war and Sevnica Castle with its manor then became the possession of the emperor, but the new Emperor Maximilian the First  returned it in 1494 to the Archdiocese of Salzburg.
In 1938, Viktor Tiller claimed that in the Middle Ages the castle was connected by a tunnel with Lower Castle in Sevnica, and that the inhabitants of the town usd this tunnel as a hiding place during Ottoman invasions.
In the middle of the 16th century the so-called Lutheran Cellar was built at the southeast side of Castle Hill (46°0′28.18″N 15°18′55.62″E). Its construction had not been documented but it was possible to determine an approximate time of its erection according to architectural style. Besides, its interior is embellished with frescos dating to the second half of the 16th century, which are one of the finest surviving paintings in Slovenia from that period.
Although by appearance flat and featureless farm building, Lutheran Cellar had certainly been designed architecturally as a clandestine Lutheran chapel and its appearance served as a perfect cover. Who built it here at the castle grounds owned by the Archdiocese of Salzburg? Was it possible that any of the manor administrators or tenants at that time was a Protestant?
In the parish church in Sevnica the tombstone is preserved from the family vault of the manor administrator Oswald Geriacher, which depicts him and his wife Dorothea kneeling in front of the crucifix. Oswald was buried in the church after his death on June 2, 1575. However, one of the fundamentals of Lutheran religion is the belief that the humankind can gain redemption owing to the Christ's death on the cross, and this kind of motif is a characteristic of Lutheran tombstones, while the Catholics prefer the motif of a patron saint.  Therefore, it may be said that the manor administrator Geriacher was obviously a Protestant and most probably he erected Lutheran Cellar.
The fact that he was buried in the church which was Catholic could be only the proof how widespread the Protestantism was at Sevnica and even inside the Catholic Church. It was not unusual at all, if a parish priest sympathized with the Protestantism. Primož Trubar, the central figure among Slovenian Protestants, served at the beginning of his career also as a Catholic priest and not far from Sevnica. He was from 1530 until 1542 a parish priest at St. Helen's Parish at Loka near Zidani Most. Slovenian Protestants elevated Slovene in the 16th century among written languages and gave this nation the earliest literary works. In those days, there was no national consciousness so they worked hand in hand with German Protestants. Their common aim was reform of the church and religious life, so the liturgy in Lutheran Cellar was most probably conducted in both languages. One of the most prominent Slovenian Protestants of that time was Jurij Dalmatin, the first translator of the Bible into Slovene and a native of Krško. It was quite probable that he occasionally visited Lutheran Cellar at Sevnica.
In consequence of the tyranny and oppression of the nobles, the rebellion of Croatian and Slovenian peasantry broke out toward the end of 1572. It continued for two months and on February 5, 1573, the group of about six hundred insurgents came in Sevnica under the leadership of Ilija Gregorić. Tenant of the manor was at that time Baron Bolthazar von Lamberg, who rescued the castle and himself by a masterful move. He invited the rebellious peasants in the castle and treated them to a feast. Thanks to a combination of circumstances, the peasants set out soon after the feast and pursued their rebellious journey towards Lisca. However, the baron would certainly not avert this impending danger this way, had he not shown kindness to his own peasants before.
Until 1595, the development of the edifice of Sevnica Castle had not been documented, so we could not know how the castle looked like when Innocenz Moscon bought it in this year. The family Moscon, who acquired considerable wealth by skilful trading, was of Italian origin and they possessed also many other present-day Slovenian castles: Krško Castle, Podsreda Castle, Ortnek Castle, Pišece Castle, and others. The matters about the purchase of Sevnica Castle were not clear and Innocenz incurred long litigation for the recognition of the ownership. However, when the conflict was finally resolved in 1637, the castle remained the property of Salzburg Archdiocese, while Moscons obtained the right of hereditary tenure. Between 1595 and 1597, Innocenz rebuilt the castle in then contemporary Late-Renaissance style and gave it thus its present form. The medieval tower remained practically untouched and was included in the east residential wing..
Innocenz was a stern Catholic, yet one could hardly avoid concluding that Lutheran Cellar was preserved thanks to him. It would be certainly demolished during the following centuries, had he not turned it into his family vault in which he and his wife Anna were buried.
The castle remained the ownership of the Archdiocese of Salzburg until 1803, but in the meantime, the family Auersperg inherited the tenure in 1675, then the family Drašković in 1688, in 1725 again Auersperg and in 1769 the family Keglević.
One of the fresco paintings in the church of St. Lawrence at the village Žabjek depicts the fire at the castle ignited during one of the thunderstorms in 1778 by a stroke of lightning at the watchtower standing west of the castle. This fresco is the last preserved representation of the castle with its mediaeval tower rising above the rest of the building. The tower was most probably levelled with the east residential wing soon after the fire.
Annals recorded another atmospheric turmoil on June 26, 1801, when a raging hailstorm accompanied by gale-force winds devastated this area. At Sevnica Castle, it broke all window-panes, uncovered two corner-towers and another building standing beside the castle, two people were also fatally injured by this.
That same year from February 2 to May 7, the so-called German Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Durand was stationed at Sevnica. Sergeant Johann Michael Fischer, native of Malterdingen in Baden, committed a homicide here and was, after a trial in Sevnica Castle, on March 12 shot in the presence of the whole regiment.
Roughly two years later, on June 1, 1803, Count Johann Händl von Rebenburg became the proprietor of Sevnica Castle. He rearranged the nearby exterior of it: he lowered the battlements, filled in the moats, planted the trees in the park around the castle and made a vineyard with terraces at the south side of the castle hill. Among the citizens of Sevnica have been preserved by oral transmission some local legends about the generosity of Count Händl and about his beautiful park laid out in Renaissance-Baroque style. It is also preserved the land-register from 1825 incorporating the ground plan of the castle and its park.
In the 19th century, some alterations were also made to Lutheran Cellar. There are still visible stony supports at the façade of it, which have once most probably born a pergola. It was impossible to find out, when was this pergola removed, but in the 19th century, a wine cellar, with its roof propped by these supports, was built at the courtyard.
In the second half of the 19th century, the castle changed many owners. Among them was Dr. Karel Ausserer, who bought it in 1880 and built at the north side of the castle hill the road to the castle.
Between 1910 and 1945, the proprietress of Sevnica Castle was Countess Matilda Arco Zinneberg. She made use of Lutheran Cellar again as the burial place, when she laid to rest in it her husband Arthur Tränkel and their daughter Kitty. The citizens of Sevnica preserved in their memory that the castle contained many antiquities and other valuable things at that time, but during the Second World War, the countess left the castle with all its fabulous wealth in hands of an administrator and moved to Italy.
As many other castles in Slovenia, even Sevnica Castle was nationalized after the war and the precious furniture, which remained untouched until then, vanished. Poor families without apartments of their own were accommodated in the castle and they contributed to the ruination of its property. The park was in a state of total neglect and nobody cared about the vineyard anymore, so even the wine cellar beside Lutheran Cellar was not needed and was removed.
The attitudes towards this kind of legacy slowly changed in the sixties. The poor families were gradually removed from the castle and it began receiving new contents. The consciousness about the importance of Lutheran Cellar was also awakening  and its frescos, depicting motifs from the Bible, were between 1963 and 1973 restored. At about the same time, Baroque fresco paintings depicting gallant motifs of four seasons were discovered in the southeast tower of the castle. Slovenian art historian Ivan Komelj has dated them into the 17th century.  They were restored between 1977 and 1979.


When the past is well known to us, then we can easily recognize its traces all around us, and at Sevnica Castle, during the long course of years, the past has left many traces. We shall easily discern under the crumbling plaster of the outer east castle wall Late-Romanesque styled cornerstones of the tower, which are the traces of the earliest, medieval period of the castle. A German inscription in Gothic lettering above the portal of the castle door, which says that patience overcomes everything, reminds us about the times when Innocenz Moscon has found support in this phrase during his endless litigation for the recognition of the ownership of the castle in which appearance he has left an indelible mark. A Roman tombstone representing a couple in a medallion is built in the wall at the right side of the doorway. Count Johann Händl von Rebenburg had brought it here from Ajdovski gradec, while, sad to say, at his once famous park and gardens the decades of neglect had left heartbreaking traces. Some of the vines, which he had planted at the south side of the castle hill, were still growing in the seventies of the twentieth century but they were completely overgrown by inextricable brambles then. The south side of the castle hill was cleared in 2005 and at the terraces were planted fruit trees. The park around the castle is still in very bad shape. An ambitious plan for its restoration in accordance with the land-register from 1825 had been made already in 1966 but it was not accomplished yet.
The interior of the castle also abounds in the reminders of past centuries. The heart of the castle is the lordly second floor of the south wing, which is sumptuously appointed with Neo-Renaissance furnishings mostly from the 19th century. We will find here the conference hall and the wedding hall, while on the second floor of the southeast tower can be found already mentioned Baroque frescos. An important reminder of the past is also a Renaissance-Baroque private chapel on the first floor of the southwest tower incorporating also the altar of St. George from 1637. There can be also found in the castle regular exhibitions, the School Museum, the Fire-fighting Museum, the Exile Museum and the Ornamental Arts Gallery of Ivan Razboršek. Lutheran Cellar is famous nowadays for its fine acoustics and as a result, various concerts and other performances take place in it.
Sevnica Castle and the Lutheran Cellar have thus become an important centre of culture and the main tourist attraction of Sevnica.


Bogo Grafenauer; Kmečki upori na Slovenskem, (Ljubljana, 1962).
Josef Andreas Janisch; Topographischestatistisches Lexikon von Steiermark mit Historischen Notizen und Anmerkungen (Graz, 1885).
Ivan Komelj; Sevniški grad in Lutrovska klet, Kulturni in naravni spomeniki   Slovenije 20, (Ljubljana, 1969).
Carl Schumtz; Historisch Topographisches Lexikon von Steyermark (Graz, 1822).
France Stele; »Vloga reformacije v naši umetnostni zgodovini«. Drugi Trubarjev zbornik, ed. Mirko Rupel, (Ljubljana, 1952).
Peter Petru; Thilo Ulbert; Vranje pri Sevnici, Starokrščanske cerkve na Ajdovskem gradcu; Vranje bei Sevnica, Fruhchristliche Kirchenanlagen auf dem Ajdovski Gradec; Katalogi in monografije 12 (Ljubljana, 1975).
Hans Pirchegger; Untersteiermark in der Geschichte ihrer Herrschaften un Gülten, Städte und Märkte (München, 1962).
Ivan Stopar; Grajske stavbe v vzhodni Sloveniji, peta knjiga, Med Kozjanskim in porečjem Save (Ljubljana, 1993).
Viktor Tiller; Sevnica in okolica, (Ljubljana, 1938).


Sha Tin Park, formerly known as Sha Tin Central Park, is a park at 2 Yuen Wo Road, Sha Tin, Hong Kong. It is situated along the Shing Mun River in the new town of Sha Tin, next to the New Town Plaza, Sha Tin Town Hall, and Sha Tin Public Library.
The park occupies 8.05 hectares (19.89 acres) of land, and is  managed by Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The opening hours are from 6:30 am to 11:00 pm.


Most of the land that the park occupies was reclaimed from Tide Cove during the construction of the Sha Tin New Town, though some of the land existed beforehand and was previously occupied by the Sha Tin Airfield, a military air base.
While the park was under construction, a "sneak preview" was provided to the public as it was temporarily opened from 14 to 17 March 1987 for the Hong Kong Flower Show.
The park was opened on 24 August 1988. It was then named as Sha Tin Central Park. It was built and administered by the Regional Council.
Shortly following the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China erected a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue in Sha Tin Central Park, on a temporary basis, with the approval of the council. Over 4,000 people attended its unveiling on 3 July 1989, with many laying wreathes at the foot of the statue. In 1997, the pro-Beijing camp within the council voted down another application by the alliance to temporarily exhibit the Pillar of Shame statue in the park on the anniversary of the massacre.


Facilities include the Main Plaza, Amphitheatre, South Garden, North Garden, Artists' Corner, Walled Garden, Verandah, Azalea Garden, Scented Garden, Children Playgrounds (in both South Garden and North Garden), Light Refreshment Kiosks and Birds Conservation Area in the park.
In the Scented Garden, Michelia figo and Osmanthus fragrans are planted.
Artists' Corner is an open area for the artists exhibiting, displaying, sharing, and selling their personal products with the public every Saturday, Sunday, and Public holiday.
There is a Wedding Garden in the Artists' Corner.


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The Shanghai Natural History Museum (Chinese: 上海自然博物馆; pinyin: Shànghǎi Zìrán Bówùguǎn; Shanghainese: Zånhae Zyzoe Pohvehguoe) is a museum dedicated to natural history in the city of Shanghai. It is one of the largest museums of natural sciences in China. Formerly housed in the Shanghai Cotton Exchange Building, the museum was moved to a purpose-built site in the Jing'an Sculpture Park in 2015.


WikiWeb_Shanghai Natural History Museum_1

The museum was established in 1956 in the Shanghai Cotton Exchange Building, a classical British structure built in 1923.  It was located at 260 East Yan'an Road in Huangpu District, near the intersection of South Henan Road.  It was designated a Heritage Building by the Shanghai Municipal Government in 1994. However, the Yan'an Elevated Road has since been constructed within meters in front of the building.
The new 44,517 square-meter building is in the Jing'an Sculpture Park.  Opened to the public in 2015, the Shanghai Natural History Museum has moved to the new location.


WikiWeb_Shanghai Natural History Museum_2

The museum has a collection of 240,000 samples, including over 62,000 pieces of animal specimens, 135,000 plant specimens, 700 specimens of the Stone Age, and 1,700 specimens of minerals. There are also rare species which cannot be found elsewhere outside China, such as a Yellow River mammoth, a giant salamander, a giant panda, and a Yangtze Alligator.
The largest exhibit is a 140-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton of Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis Young et Zhao from Sichuan Province, which is over four stories high. The museum also has two mummies and several human embryos.


Shantang Street (Chinese: 山塘街; pinyin: Shāntáng Jiē; Suzhou Wu: Se daon ka, Wu Chinese: [se̞ dɑ̃ kɑ]), also known as Seven-mile Shantang (Chinese: 七里山塘), is a street in northwestern Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The street connects Changmen (Chinese: 阊门) in the east with Huqiu in the west, with a total length of about 3,829.6 meters (2.38 miles), or a little more than seven li or traditional "Chinese miles". Due to the great history and events involving Shantang Street it is sometimes stated as being the "First Street in Shuzou".
In 2015, the Shantang Street Scenic Area was added to the list of China's "National Historic and Cultural Streets".


Construction of the Shantang Canal (Chinese: 山塘河) started in 825 AD, during the Tang Dynasty by Bai Juyi, a poet and the Cishi (modern-day equivalent of the prefectural governor) of Suzhou, to provide a link between Huqiu and the city. The sludge that was dug out from the construction formed a dam along the north bank of the canal known as Baigong Dam (Chinese: 白公堤) in honor of Bai Juyi. A street was then built on the dam, which later became the modern-day Shantang Street.
Along with Pingjiang Road, the street was declared a Historical and cultural block of China (Chinese: 中国历史文化街区) in 2015.
Today, it is a popular tourist destination with visitors being attracted by the heritage nature of the buildings and the various old stone bridges.


Sharada Peeth is a ruined Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning located in Pakistan administered Kashmir. Between the 6th and 12th centuries CE, it was among the most prominent temple universities in the Indian subcontinent. Known in particular for its library, stories recount scholars travelling long distances to access its texts. It played a key role in the development and popularisation of the Sharada script in North India, causing the script to be named after it, and Kashmir to acquire the moniker "Sharada Desh", meaning "country of Sharada".
As one of the Maha Shakti Peethas, Hindus believe that it represents the spiritual location of the goddess Sati's fallen right hand. Sharada Peeth is one of the three holiest sites of pilgrimage for Kashmiri Pandits, alongside the Martand Sun Temple and the Amarnath Temple.
Sharada Peeth is located approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir, and 130 kilometres (81 mi) from Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir It is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away from the Line of Control, which divides the Pakistani- and Indian-controlled areas of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated 1,981 metres (6,499 ft) above sea level, along the Neelum River in the village of Sharda, in the valley of Mount Harmukh, believed by Kashmiri Pandits to be the abode of Shiva.


Sharada Peeth translates to "the seat of Sharada", the Kashmiri name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. "Sharada" could be also related to the proto-Nostratic terms "sarv", which means "flow or stream", and daw (blow, tip or rock), because it was located at the confluence of three streams.
The beginnings of Sharada Peeth are uncertain, and the question of origins difficult, because Sharada Peeth might have been both a temple and an educational institution. It was probably commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida (r. 724 CE–760 CE) though no definitive evidence exists in favor. Al-Biruni recorded the place for the first time, as a revered shrine housing a wooden image of Sharda — however, he had never ventured into Kashmir and based his observations on hearsay.


Sharada Peeth is referred to by various historians, detailing its mythological status and prominence in ancient India. Its historical development is traced through references made to it by various historical sources. Although the Sharada script did not originate in Kashmir, it was used extensively in Sharada Peeth, and acquired its name from the institution. This has fed the popular belief that the script was developed in Kashmir.
Some historians have suggested that Sharada Peeth was never a centre of learning, on the basis that in present-day, there are no sizeable ruins from a supposed educational site. In response, it has been said that Sharda is prone to earthquakes, and debris from a collapsed abandoned university are likely to have been used by townspeople for other constructions.


By the 8th century, the temple was a site of pilgrimage, attracting devotees from as far as present-day Bengal. By the 11th century, it was among the most revered places of worship in the Indian subcontinent, described in Al-Biruni's chronicle of India. Significantly, it featured not in his description of Kashmir, but in his list of the most famous Hindu temples in the Indian subcontinent, alongside the Multan Sun Temple, the Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple, and the Somnath temple.
Jonaraja describes a visit by the Kashmiri Muslim sultan Zain-ul-Abidin in 1422 CE. The sultan visited the temple seeking a vision of the goddess, but grew angry with her because she did not appear to him in person. In frustration, he slept in the court of the temple, where she appeared to him in a dream. In the 16th century, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Grand vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar, described Sharada Peeth as a "stone temple ... regarded with great veneration". He also described the popular belief in miracles at the shrine: "it is believed that on every eighth tithe of the bright half of the month, it begins to shake and produces the most extraordinary effect".


There are two popular legends of Shardi explaining Sharada Peeth. The first holds that there were two sisters, Sharada and Narada, who ruled the world. The two mountains overlooking the valley, Shardi and Nardi, are named after them. One day, Narada saw, from her abode on the mountain, that Sharada had died, and that giants were fleeing from her body. Furious, she summoned them and ordered them to build her a tomb, which became Sharada Peeth. The second legend says that there once was a giant who loved a princess. She desired a palace, and so he began work. At the time of morning azan, he was supposed to have finished, but the roof remained incomplete and for that reason, Sharada Peeth today remains without a roof.


Sharada Peeth has appeared in various historical and literary texts. Its earliest mention is in the Nilamata Purana (6th – 8th century CE). The 11th century Kashmiri poet Bilhana describes both the spiritual and academic elements of Sharada Peeth. He describes Kashmir as a patron of learning and Sharada Peeth as the source of that reputation. He also says that the goddess Sharada:
"resemble[s] a swan, carrying as her diadem the [glittering gold washed from the sand] of the Madhumati stream, which is bent on rivalling Ganga. Spreading lustre by her fame as her diadem, and rivalling the Ganges river. Spreading lustre by her fame, brilliant like crystal, she makes even Mount Himalaya, the preceptor of Gauri, raise higher his head (referring to his peaks) [in pride] of her residence there."

In Kalhana's 12th century epic, Rajatarangini, Sharada Peeth is identified as a site of popular veneration:
35. There, the goddess Saraswati herself is seen in the form of a swan in a lake [situated] on the summit of the Bheda hill, which is sanctified by the Ganga source.
37. There, when visiting the goddess Sharada, one reaches at once the river Madhumati, and [the river of] Saraswati worshipped by poets.
Kalhana points out other events of political significance involving Sharada Peeth. During Lalitaditya's reign (713 – 755), a group of assassins from the Gauda Kingdom entered Kashmir under the guise of a pilgrimage to Sharada Peeth. Kalhana also describes a rebellion during his own lifetime. Three princes, Lothana, Vigraharaja and Bhoja, rebelled against King Jayasimha of Kashmir. These princes, pursued by the Royal Army, sought refuge in the upper Kishenganga Valley, in the Sirahsila Castle. Kalhana believed that the Royal Army took refuge in Sharada Peeth, because it had the open space required for a temporary military village, and because the area surrounding the Sirahsila Castle was not large enough to host a camp for a siege without the siege force being vulnerable to archers.
In the 14th century text Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam, there is a test, unique to Sharada Peeth, known as the Sarvajna Peetham, or Throne of Omniscience. These were four thrones, each representing an entrances of the temple corresponding to one of the points of the compass, which only a learned man from that direction could symbolically open. Adi Shankara, being from South India, took it upon himself to pass this challenge, because although the other doors had been opened, no one from the south of Kashmir had yet been successful. He was said to be welcomed by the common people, but challenged by the scholars of the region. As he approached the southern door, he was stopped by various learned men from the Nyaya school of philosophy, Buddhists, Digambara Jains, and the followers of Jaimini. Engaging with them, he managed to persuade all of them of his proficiency in philosophy, and they stood aside to let him open the entrance. Finally, as he was about to ascend the throne, he heard the voice of the goddess Sharada challenging him. The voice said that omniscience was not enough if one was impure, and that Shankara, who lived in the palace of King Amaruka, could not be pure. Shankara replied that his body had never committed a sin, and the sins committed by another could not blemish him. The goddess Sharada accepted his explanation and permitted him to ascend.
In the Carnatic music song kalavathi kamalasana yuvathi, the 19th century composer Muthuswami Dikshitar refers to Sharada Peeth as Saraswati's abode. Set in the raga yagapriya, the song praises Saraswati:
Kashmira vihara, vara sharadha.
The one who resides in Kashmir, Sharada.

Today, Sharada Peeth continues to figure in South Indian Brahmin traditions. At the beginning of formal education, some sects of Brahmins ritually prostrate in the direction of Sharada Peeth. Saraswat Brahmin communities in Karnataka are also said to perform a ritual of moving seven steps towards Kashmir before retracing their steps during the Yagnopavit ceremony, and include the Sharada stotram in their morning prayers.
Namaste Sarada Devi Kashmira mandala vasini.
I bow to the Goddess Sharada, who lives in Kashmir.


The Sharada temple has played a significant historical role in Kashmiri Pandit religious culture. It is believed to be the earliest shrine dedicated to Shaktism, or Hindu goddess worship in Kashmir, with later shrines including the Kheer Bhawani and Vaishno Devi temples. It also advanced the importance of knowledge and education in Kashmiri Pandit culture, which persisted well after Kashmiri Pandits became a minority group in Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits believe that the goddess Sharada worshipped in Sharada Peeth is a tripartite embodiment of the goddess Shakti: Sharada (goddess of learning), Saraswati (goddess of knowledge), and Vagdevi (goddess of speech, which articulates power). In line with the Kashmiri Pandit belief that springs which are the abode of goddesses should not be looked at directly, the shrine contains a stone slab concealing the spring underneath, which they believe to be the spring in which the goddess Sharada revealed herself to Sandilya.
During Mughal and Afghan rule, Neelum Valley was ruled by Muslim chiefs of the Bomba tribe, and the pilgrimage decreased in importance. It regained its stead during Dogra rule, when Maharaja Gulab Singh repaired the temple and dedicated a monthly stipend to the Gautheng Brahmans who claimed the hereditary guardianship of the temple. Since then, a thriving Kashmiri Pandit community lived in the vicinity of the Sharada Peeth teerth (or pilgrimage). These included priests and traders, as well as saints and their disciples. As a religious ritual, Kashmiri Pandit theologians across Kashmir would place their manuscripts in covered platters before idols of the goddess Sharada, to obtain her blessings. They believed that the goddess would convey approval of the pages of writings by leaving them undisturbed, and disapproval by leaving the pages ruffled. In addition, an annual fair would be held at Shardi village, with pilgrims travelling through Kupwara (in present-day Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir), in worship of the goddess Sharada. Kashmiri Pandits believe that the Sharada pilgrimage parallels Shandilya's journey, and that the act of bathing in the confluence of the Neelum River and Madhumati stream cleanses the pilgrim of their sins. In 1947, the Kashmiri saint Swami Nand Lal Ji moved some of the stone idols to Tikker in Kupwara. Some of those were subsequently moved to Devibal in Baramulla. The temple fell into disuse following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, which split the princely state of Kashmir into the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir, and the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This caused large numbers of Kashmiri Pandits to migrate out of Shardi to Indian Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, Kashmiri Pandits unable to visit the shrine have created "substitutes" for the pilgrimage in places like Srinagar, Bandipore, and Gush in Indian Jammu and Kashmir.


Religious tourism to Sharada Peeth has declined considerably since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, which resulted in the division of Kashmir between India and Pakistan following the Karachi Agreement; most Kashmiri Pandits remained on the Indian side of the Line of Control, and travel restrictions have discouraged Indian Hindus from visiting the shrine. No Objection Certificates are required for Indians seeking to visit. Furthermore, the temple's close proximity to the Line of Control discourages tourism from within Pakistan as well. Tourists to the Neelum District often overlook the ruins of the shrine, instead spending time in the scenic valley surrounding it. In 2007, a group of Kashmiri Pandits who were permitted to visit Azad Jammu and Kashmir were denied permission to visit the temple. In September 2009, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies recommended increased cross-border religious tourism between India and Pakistan, including allowing Kashmiri Pandits to visit Sharada Peeth, and Pakistani Muslims to visit the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar.
The shrine remains politically significant, with Kashmiri Pandit organisations and leaders from Jammu and Kashmir urging the governments of India and Pakistan to facilitate cross-border pilgrimages. Senior Indian politicians have also called on Pakistan to renovate the temple, and it is discussed bilaterally as part of the Composite Dialogue between the governments of India and Pakistan. In 2019, Pakistan government opened the Kartarpur Corridor to allow Sikh pilgrims in India to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur across the border. This strengthened calls by Kashmiri Pandits to the Pakistani government to open a corridor to the Sharada Peeth site. In March 2019, Pakistani media reported that Pakistan had approved a plan for a Kartarpur-style corridor for Sharada Peeth. However, the Pakistani government has since said that a decision has not been made.


The temple is built in the Kashmiri architectural style using red sandstone. Historical records of the temple's architecture are scarce. A late 19th century account by the British archaeologist Aurel Stein describes the temple's walls as intact to a height of approximately 20 feet (6.1 m), and its pillars rising approximately 16 feet (4.9 m).
The compound is situated on a hill, approached on its west side through an imposing stone staircase. The facades are repetitive. Suggested reasons for this include that architects disliked plain outside walls, or that even if the spire collapsed, a visitor would be able to tell what the temple originally looked like. The design of the temple is simple, with a plain conical Sharada spire. It sits on a raised plinth, 24 square feet (2.2 m²) in area and 5.25 feet (1.60 m) in height. The walls of the cella recede 2 feet (0.61 m) from the edge of the plinth. The temple is surrounded by a quadrangle which measures 142 feet (43 m) by 94 feet (29 m). The quadrangle is enclosed by walls of 11 feet (3.4 m) in height and 6 feet (1.8 m) in width. On the north, east, and south, the walls of the cella are adorned by trefoil arches and supporting pilasters, which are constructed in high relief. Below these are small, trefoil-headed niches covered by double pediments. Although a pyramidal stone roof is more typical to Kashmiri architecture, in Stein's description, the temple is covered by a low shingle roof. By the 21st century, the roof is no longer present and the interior of the temple is exposed to the elements. The temple appears imposing even from outside the walled enclosure, because of the plinths it is raised on to equalise the uneven elevations of the ground. The north side of the wall contained a small recess, in which two ancient linga could be seen.
The interior of the cella is plain, and forms a square of 12.25 feet (3.73 m) on each side. It houses a large slab of stone measuring 6 feet (1.8 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m). This slab covers the holy spring where the goddess Sharada is believed to have appeared to Rishi Shandilya. In the 19th century, this sacred spot was surmounted by a red cloth canopy and tinsel. The remainder of the interior was filled with ornaments of worship such as conches and bells.


Singh, Rajesh (3 July 2017). "The Unexplored Medieval Stone Temples of Kashmir". Heritage India Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018. However, a few still stand in different states of preservation at places like Martand, Avantipur, Pattan, Buniar, Pandrethan and Payar, reflecting not only the remarkable temple construction activity that once existed in Kashmir but also showcasing a distinct architectural style. This style, while being inspired by foreign elements (as Kashmir is strategically located on one of the arteries of the ancient Silk-Route), also assimilated the essential features of indigenous temple architectural styles.
Bangroo, Virender (July–September 2008). "Temple Architecture of Kashmir". Dialogue. 10 – via Astha Bharati.
Kumar, Ramesh (16 December 1998 – 15 January 1999). "Sarada Pilgrimage - its Socio-Historicity - I" (PDF). Kashmir Sentinel. 5: 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2018.
Kumar, Ramesh (16 December 1998 – 15 January 1999). "Sarada Pilgrimage - its Socio-Historicity - I" (PDF). Kashmir Sentinel. 5: 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2018.
Rehman, Faiz ur (31 December 2017). "Peace & Economy beyond Faith: A Case Study of Sharda Temple". Pakistan Vision. 18 (2): 1–14 – via academia.edu. Located in the isolated village of Sharda in Neelum Valley in Pakistan's Kashmir,1 at a distance of around 140 Kilometers from Muzaffarabad, (the capital city) and nearly 30 km from Kupwara (a town in Indian Held Kashmir), it lies few miles from the Line of Control (LoC) in a very sensitive military zone.
Godbole, Sanjay. "The Sharda Temple of Kashmir". Kashmiri Pandit Network / Kashmir Sentinel. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
YUSUF JAMEEL (16 July 2017). "Kashmiri Pandits want reopening of Sharda Peeth in PoK, plan to approach PM". Deccan Chronicle.
Raina, Mohini Qasba (2013). Kashur: The Kashmiri Speaking People. Trafford Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 978-1490701653. The main centre of excellence was at Sharda Peeth - an ancient seat of learning on the banks of the river Kishenganga in the valley of Mount Harmukh.
Ashraf, Mohammad (9 May 2007). "Haramukh and Gangabal, a historical perspective". Kashmir First. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018. There used to be seventeen temples of various ages and dimensions here which had been built by different Kings of ancient Kashmir from time to time in honour of S’iva who according to legend, had taken residence here as Bhutesa.
Rehman, Faiz ur (31 December 2017). "Peace & Economy beyond Faith: A Case Study of Sharda Temple". Pakistan Vision. 18 (2): 1–14 – via academia.edu. its water originates from Sarasvati lake which is located on the top of Narda peak, the another holy place for Hindus because it is considered to be the birth place of Shivajee
Raina, Dina Nath (1994). Kashmir - distortions and reality. Michigan: Reliance Publishing House, University of Michigan. p. 38. ISBN 8185972524. No wonder that from remote ages, Kashmir became the seat of learning and earned for itself the appropriate name of Sharda Peeth or the seat of Sharda, the Goddess of Learning and Fine Arts.
Graves, Charles (January–March 2013). "Origins of Peoples of the Karakorum Himalayas" (PDF). Himalayan and Central Asian Studies. 17 (1): 11. The word sharda might be analysed as other words above, namely with the language macrofamily delineations of the school developed at the Oriental Institute in Moscow. Sharda as a Proto-Nostratic (PN) term may be related to sarV (flow or stream) (cf. Sino-Caucasian sorV (stream)) and PN d/a/w (blow, tip or rock). As seen above, the Sharda site was at the confluence of three streams.
Rashid, Salman (1 April 2018). "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains". Dawn. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
Qazi, Junaid Ahmad; Samad, Abdul (January 2015).  Shakirullah; Young, Ruth (eds.). "Śarda Temple and the Stone Temples of Kashmir in Perspective: A Review Note". Pakistan Heritage. Hazara University Mansehra-Pakistan. 7: 111–120 – via Research Gate.
Kalhana (1900). Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅginī: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kaśmīr. Translated by Stein, Marc Aurel. Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company, Ltd. pp. 151–152. ISBN 9788120803718.
Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī. Vol. 3 : a chronicle of the kings of Kaśmīr. Kalhana, Stein, M. A. (Reprint ed.). 2003. ISBN 81-208-0371-X. OCLC 872559688.
Raina, Mohini Qasba (2013). Kashur: The Kashmiri Speaking People. Trafford Publishing. pp. 85, 191. ISBN 978-1490701653.
Qazi, Junaid Ahmad; Samad, Abdul (January 2015).  Shakirullah; Young, Ruth (eds.). "Śarda Temple and the Stone Temples of Kashmir in Perspective: A Review Note". Pakistan Heritage. Hazara University Mansehra-Pakistan. 7: 111–120 – via Research Gate.
Ghani, Abdul (2009). Sharda: Tarikh kay Irtaqāī Marāhil (Urdu ed.). Mirpur: Verinag Publishers.
Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī. Vol. 3 : a chronicle of the kings of Kaśmīr. Kalhana, Stein, M. A. (Reprint ed.). 2003. p. 285. ISBN 81-208-0371-X. OCLC 872559688.
Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī. Vol. 3 : a chronicle of the kings of Kaśmīr. Vol. 1. Kalhana, Stein, M. A. (Reprint ed.). 2003. p. 182. ISBN 81-208-0371-X. OCLC 872559688.
"Shankara Digvijayam Part 5". Sringeri Sharada Peetham. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
Kalanidhi, Sangeetha (1997). Compositions of Muddusvāmi Dīkshitar. Chennai: Ganamandir Publications. ISBN 9780965187114.
Raina, Mohini Qasba (2013). Kashur: The Kashmiri Speaking People. Trafford Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 978-1490701653. Custom among South Indian Brahmans of prostrating in the direction of Sharda Peeth, in Kashmir, prior to initiation to formal education is still prevalent.
Kumar, Ramesh (16 December 1998 – 15 January 1999). "Sarada Pilgrimage - its Socio-Historicity - I" (PDF). Kashmir Sentinel. 5: 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2018.
Raina, Mohini Qasba (2013). Kashur: The Kashmiri Speaking People. Victoria, Canada: Trafford Publishing. p. 84. ISBN 9781490701653.
Subramony, Ramaswami (2019). Paramahamsa: A Vedantic Tale. D.K. Printworld. ISBN 9788124609927.
Kashmir and its people : studies in the evolution of Kashmiri society. Kaw, M. K., 1941-, Kashmir Education, Culture, and Science Society. New Delhi: A.P.H. Pub. Corp. 2004. ISBN 81-7648-537-3. OCLC 55147377.
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Raina, Mohini Qasba (2013). Kashur the Kashmiri Speaking People: Analytical Perspective. Singapore: Partridge Publishing. ISBN 9781482899474. Goddess Sharda is believed to be the earliest representation of Shakti in the valley, which is embodying three separate manifestations of energ y, i.e. goddess of learning, fine arts and beauty.
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PoK Muslims send sacred soil to Kashmiri Pandits, Ishfaq-ul-Hassan, jan 11, 2017
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Chauhan, Chanchal (9 April 2019). "Sharada Peeth: All you need to know". India Today. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
Mallick, Anas (25 March 2019). "Pakistan foreign ministry submits proposal to PM Imran Khan to open Sharada temple for Indians". Wio News. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
Choudhary, Huma (6 September 2015). "Steeped in history: Centre of Hindu, Buddhist learning lies hidden in Neelum". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
"Pandits denied entry into temple in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir". The Hindu. 3 October 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
Chandran, D Suba (September 2009). "Expanding Cross-LoC Interactions: Perspectives from India" (PDF). India-Pakistan Dialogue on Conflict Resolution and Peace Building. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
"After Kartarpur Corridor, Kashmiri Pandits demand road, visas for pilgrims to visit Sharda Peeth shrine in PoK". Asian News International. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
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The Shartoma Monastery of St. Nicholas (Николо-Шартомский монастырь, Nikolo-Shartomsky Monastery) is a Russian Orthodox monastery in the village of Vvedenyo near Shuya in the Ivanovo Region of Russia. It takes its name from the small Shartoma (or Shakhma) river. It is the largest monastery in the region.
The monastery has been known since the mid-15th century. It was looted by Poles in 1619 and ravaged by brigands in 1624. Work on the surviving five-domed katholikon (main church) began after a fire in 1645. At that time the monastery was transferred to its current location near the confluence of the Molokhta and Teza Rivers. The new location was so advantageous for trade that an annual fair sprang up near the monastery, attracting merchants from all over Zalesye and Upper Volga regions. The second surviving church was completed and consecrated in 1678.
Before Catherine II's secularisation reform, the Shartoma Monastery boasted a far-flung network of 9 filial monasteries. As a result of the reform, the monastery entered a period of decline, which gained momentum after the Nicholas fair had been discontinued. The Bolsheviks closed the monastery and gave the buildings to a local collective farm. It was one of the first monasteries revived in the Soviet Union, as early as 1990. The crumbling buildings were repaired by more than 100 resident monks.
The Shartoma Monastery is one of the largest in the Russian Federation in terms of resident monks. It has served as the head office of the Shuya Eparchy since its establishment in 2013. It has filial churches in Ivanovo, Shuya, Yuryevets, and Palekh. It also operates a boys' orphanage in Ivanovo.


Shemanski Fountain, also known as Rebecca at the Well, is an outdoor fountain with a bronze sculpture, located in the South Park Blocks of downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The sandstone fountain was designed in 1925, completed in 1926, and named after Joseph Shemanski, a Polish immigrant and businessman who gave it to the city. Carl L. Linde designed the trefoil, which features a statue designed by Oliver L. Barrett. The sculpture, which was added to the fountain in 1928, depicts the biblical personage Rebecca. Shemanski Fountain includes two drinking platforms with three basins each, with one platform intended for use by dogs.
The fountain underwent major renovations between 1987 and 1988 and in 2004. It has been vandalized on several occasions and has been used as a reference point for gatherings. It has also been included in public art guides and walking tours of Portland. According to "cultureNOW", the statue Rebecca at the Well is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council—the agency that maintains the sculpture. The fountain surrounding the statue, often considered part of the artwork, is maintained by the Portland Water Bureau with assistance from the Regional Arts & Culture Council.


Shemanski Fountain was designed by Carl L. Linde in 1925, and is located behind the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall between Main Street and Salmon Street in Shemanski Park, part of the South Park Blocks of downtown Portland, Oregon. It was gifted to Portland by Joseph Shemanski (1869–1951), a Polish immigrant who became a successful businessman after founding Eastern Outfitting Co., to "express in small measure gratitude" for what the city offered to him. The fountain is triangular and cast from Oregon sandstone. The Italianesque trefoil supports two drinking platforms with three basins each, with one platform intended for use by dogs. Inara Verzemnieks of The Oregonian described the fountain's lower water basins as "cute little bowl-sized pools at the base" for the purpose of serving pets "who did not have a place to cool off". Thayne Logan, a designer who worked for Linde, said that Shemanski "wanted something for the little animals". Logan also said that the fountain's original design called for granite, but it was constructed of cast stone because of that material's popularity at the time. According to the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the fountain is 144 inches (3.7 m) high and has a diameter of 224 inches (5.7 m). An inscription around the top of the fountain reads: "To the People of / The City of Portland / By Joseph Shemanski". Other inscriptions include "O. Barrett SC '27 Cal. Br. Foundry, L.A" and a signed Founder's mark. The bottom of the fountain is decorated with busts of females. It is maintained by the Portland Water Bureau with assistance from the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
The fountain's original design included a large planter, but following its construction Shemanski hired Oliver Laurence Barrett to create a bronze statue to replace the vase. Barrett, an arts professor at the University of Oregon, designed Rebecca at the Well, though his reasons for depicting the Biblical personage Rebecca fetching water are unknown. According to Portland Parks & Recreation, which operates the South Park Blocks, he chose Rebecca for "her hospitality to strangers and kindness to animals". The bureau has also said that Rebecca was chosen because of her offers to draw water for Abraham. The statue, which depicts Rebecca holding a jug on her right shoulder, was added to the fountain in 1928. Rebecca at the Well measures 42 inches (110 cm) x 18 inches (46 cm) × 14 inches (36 cm) and is maintained by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.


Shemanski petitioned the City Council to let him gift the fountain, which began operating on September 3, 1926. In 1987, the fountain's plumbing was repaired and a new base was poured as part of a renovation of the South Park Blocks. That same year, Logan and two other men—David L. Lipman and Jeff Wolfstone, grandson and great-grandson of Shemanski, respectively—approached the Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation, advocating for the fountain's restoration. During the renovation process, the fountain was thoroughly cleaned, had missing pieces such as finials and urns replaced and chipped corners repaired, and was coated with a sealant to protect it from the elements and graffiti. In July 1988, the fountain re-opened following nearly a year of reconditioning. A dedication ceremony to mark the restoration was held on the afternoon of July 18. One park designer with the Park Bureau said, "the water will be turned on for the first time that anybody can remember." Lipman, Logan and Wolfstone attended the ceremony. Logan, aged 88, was the only surviving person who participated in the fountain's design and construction. The men offered funds for part of the renovation and the purchase of a bronze plaque that includes the original rendering done by Logan and describes the fountain's history and recent work. Costs for the plaque and renovation totaled $14,000.
The fountain and sculpture were surveyed by the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program in 1993. Lee Lacey advocated for a 2004 restoration of the fountain; his lobbying efforts, among other accomplishments, earned him the Downtown Neighborhood Association's inaugural First Neighbor Award in 2005. The restoration was completed by conservator Marie Laibinis-Craft and Pioneer Waterproofing. In 2008, The Oregonian reported that the fountain was "completely dry".
According to The Oregonian, the fountain and statue "commemorates kindness"; however it has been vandalized on several occasions. In 1988, three brass bowls were removed from the recently renovated fountain. In 2007, the statue of Rebecca was pushed off its base, resulting in nearly $10,000 in damage. In 2008, one of the fountain's three brass nozzles was stolen. In December 2011, when Occupy Portland protesters were camping at Shemanski Park, a cup of coffee was drawn on the statue using a marker or paint.
The fountain has been used as a reference point for gatherings. In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, a peace shrine consisting of flowers, "scrawled words" and candles was erected at the fountain. In 2003, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals displayed photographs of slaughterhouses next to those of Nazi extermination camps by the fountain. In 2006, a PDX AIDS Day Promise Vigil was held in conjunction with World AIDS Day at the site. In 2010, 600 Catholic women and their supporters gathered at the site for the first "One Spirit – One Call" event, which brought focus to their role within the Church. Shemanski Fountain was chosen at the gathering site for its depiction of Rebecca.


AOL Travel said that Rebecca is depicted "with motion and grace". Shemanski Fountain has been included in public art guides and walking tours of fountains in downtown Portland. In 1988, The Oregonian's Suzanne Richards referred to Shemanski Fountain as "one of the city's favorite fountains". In 2006, Bonnie Darves of The Oregonian included the fountain in her walking tour of Portland landmarks, and said it is "worth getting wet for".


The Sheraton Ankara is a hotel and convention center in Ankara, Turkey. It is run by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and is located in the Kavaklıdere quarter of central Ankara, near the city's central business district. The complex, which comprises a skyscraper (the hotel tower) and the adjacent convention center building, was opened in 1991. It was designed by the German architecture firm Gerkan, Marg and Partners. According to the architecture firm, the shape of the tower is inspired by a wine bottle, due to its location right next to the Kavaklıdere winery.
With a total of 29 floors above ground and a structural height of 143 metres (469 ft) it was the tallest skyscraper in Ankara between 1991 and 2009, and the tallest skyscraper in the Central Anatolia Region between 1991 and 2006.


The Sherbrooke War Memorial is a cenotaph erected in 1926, on King Street, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, to commemorate Sherbrooke residents who fought in World War I. This piece of cultural heritage has become emblematic of the city of Sherbrooke, which counts it among its ten main "points of interest". The monument was designed by George William Hill, one of the foremost Canadian sculptors of the first half of the 20th century.


The monument represents an angel with outspread wings (the goddess of victory) flying over three Canadian soldiers standing in a trench. The four bronze figures were cast in Belgium. The pedestal, made of granite, comes from Stanstead, the "granite capital of Canada".
The monument was built following the request of a committee of residents, on May 21, 1923. Later that year, the city council set aside $25,000 for the design of the monument, and launched a competition to find the artist that will design the monument. The drawing submitted by Hill won.
In November 1925, Colonel Arthur Huffman McGreer, Principal of Bishop's University, suggested including the list of Sherbrooke soldiers who fell during World War I. The final list, engraved on a bronze plate, comprises 248 names, published in La Tribune the day before the monument was inaugurated. Hill affixed the plate on the pedestal of the statue, accompanied by the following bilingual epitaph: "Devant ses fils tombés ou survivants qui se sont illustrés au champ d'honneur Sherbrooke s'incline / 1914–1918 / To the men and women of Sherbrooke who fought and fell for their country and their god".
On 7 November 1926, eight years after the end of the war, the monument was officially opened by the Mayor of Sherbrooke at the time, James Keith Edwards, before more than 20,000 people. During the ceremony, the family members of the soldiers, sherbrooke personalities and other dignitaries settled in the stands. To watch the event, many of the estimated 15 000 spectators made to mount environments: they climb trees, climb on the roofs of buildings or access to the balconies of buildings and bell tower of the Church of St. Patrick. The newspapers of the time show that the crowd remained calmed  with the intensity of the moment and the beauty of the statue, when the white sheet covering was removed.
On November 7, 1948, another plate, on which is written "Leur souvenir vivra éternellement" ("May their memories be eternal") was added, in memory of the soldiers who fought during World War II.
The statue was restored during the summer of 2009 by the Centre de conservation du Québec at a cost of $60 300, shared between the Restoration Program Cenotaph and Memorial Veterans Affairs Canada (the federal government ) and the Ville de Sherbrooke . In 2009, the value of the building was estimated at $900,000 Canadian.


Sheriff Stadium (also known as Glavnaya Arena of Complexul Sheriif) is home to Sheriff Tiraspol, a football team based in Tiraspol, capital of Transnistria breakaway region of Moldova. It is owned by the local Sheriff corporation. It has a capacity of 12,746 spectators.  The Moldova national football team played some of their international home matches at the stadium.
It occupies a territory of more than 40 hectares and consists of the main field plus five other fields, training fields, a covered indoor arena for winter use as well as a soccer school for children and on-site residences for the players of FC Sheriff. A five star luxury hotel is under construction.
In June 2022, UEFA ordered that no European games would be permitted to be played in Transnistria, as a direct consequence of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


The address 221B was the subject of a protracted dispute between the museum and the nearby Abbey National building. Since the 1930s, the Royal Mail had been delivering mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes to the Abbey National Bank, and they had employed a special secretary to deal with such correspondence. The museum went through several appeals for such mail to be delivered to it, on the grounds that it was the most appropriate organisation to respond to the mail, rather than the bank, whose primary business was to lend money out on interest. Although these initiatives were all unsuccessful, the issue was finally resolved in 2002 when the Abbey National vacated its headquarters after seventy years, and the mail is currently delivered to the museum.


Jean Conan Doyle made clear her lack of enthusiasm for the museum when she was asked about it. She was very much against the idea of suggesting that her father's creation was a real person and knew that the presence of the museum would reinforce the idea in the minds of many that Holmes had really existed. This idea was strengthened further by the presence of a commemorative blue plaque on the outside that states the years of Holmes's supposed residency. However, Dame Jean Conan Doyle lent her support to the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Switzerland by attending its opening in 1991. Dame Jean was offered the opportunity to create a room in the London museum dedicated to her father, but this offer was refused, and since then the last remaining possessions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been sold off at auction.


The Church was built in 1860 by the French missionaries for the wealthy British estate owners. In 1960 the construction of the Hemavati Dam and Reservoir led to the abandonment of the church. Since then the church submerges in water every year during monsoon season. It attracts a lot of tourists who visit the ruins to see this spectacular sight.


To enjoy the surreal beauty of Shettihalli church, one needs to travel to this place twice. Once in the month of July–October when it is partially submerged in water and next in the month of Dec–May when the water level recedes and the church grounds emerge. By road, the distance between Shettihalli and Bangalore is 200 km and can be easily accessed through roads. Buses are available as well which drop to Shettihalli Church. Trains frequent on a daily basis from Yashwantpur railway station to Hassan, Karnataka, which is the nearest town, approximately 40 km from Shettihalli.


The church was digitized by creating a 3D model that is available to the public domain by axesmap. Viewers can experience the Shettihalli Church through virtual reality. Viewers can find it here.


Shibaozhai (simplified Chinese: 石宝寨; traditional Chinese: 石寶寨; pinyin: shí bǎo zhài; lit. 'Precious Stone Fortress') is a hill along the bank of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in Zhong County, Chongqing, China. This rocky and craggy hill has extremely steep sides and is about 200 meters (660 feet) tall. On the river side is a red pavilion which leans against the side of the hill providing a walkway to the temple at the top. The red pavilion built against the rock face is one of the largest wooden temples with nine floors. A yellow entrance at the base of the pavilion provides access.


At the top of Shibaozhai is a three-storied hall dedicated to Manjusri built during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor (1850–1861), called the Purple Rain Pavilion. In the year 1819, the nine-story pavilion was constructed adjacent to the cliff to aid people in getting to the top of the hill. Prior to the construction of the pavilion, visitors to the temple were hoisted to the top using a system of chains. In 1956, three more stories were added at the top of the structure. On the top of the pagoda is a Buddhist temple.


At the base of the hill alongside the river bank is a row of merchant stalls which follows the path from the dock to the entrance of the pavilion.
Many river cruise boats dock at Shibaozhai for a few hours to allow passengers to tour the pavilion and temple.
With the construction of the Three Gorges Dam the base of the red pavilion would have been beneath the reservoir's water level in earlier designs.


The Shigatse Dzong, also known as Samdruptse Dzong, is located in Shigatse, Tibet, China. It is spelt Rikaze Dzong (official spelling: Xigazê Dzong; other spellings: Shigatse Dzong, Shikatse Dzong, Zhigatsey Dzong, simplified Chinese: 日喀则宗; traditional Chinese: 日喀則宗; pinyin: Rìkāzé Zōng, Standard Tibetan: གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་རྫོང་).
Shigatse Dzong was originally built by Karma Phuntsok Namgyal (1611–1621), the second in the line of the Nyak family who ruled Tibet from 1565 to 1642, after which the capital was moved to Lhasa. Shigtse Dzong's historic importance was accentuated by the fact that the Mongol ruler Gusri Khan installed the Fifth Dalai Lama as the supreme ruler of Tibet, which then covered territory from Tachienlu in the east up to the Ladakh border in the west in the 17th century. In later years, the fort became the residence of the governor of Tsang. The modern city of Shigatse has developed around the base of the Dzong.
The Dzong was destroyed in 1961, after the 1959 Tibetan uprising, but was rebuilt in 2007 at the same location, though on a smaller scale.
The large Tashilhunpo Monastery, founded in 1447 by Gendun Drup, the First Dalai Lama, is close to the base of the fort in Shigatse.


The Shigatse Dzong and the city called Shigatse are located at an altitude of about 3,860 metres (12,660 ft), slightly higher than Lhasa. The oxygen content of the air is only 67 percent of that at sea level, while the average annual temperatures are 16 °C (61 °F) in mid-summer and −5 °C (23 °F) in mid-winter. The Shigatse Dzong is situated at the confluence of the Yarlung Tsangpo (aka Brahmaputra River and Niang chu (Nyang Chu) rivers in West Tibet. Shigatse was the ancient capital of Ü-Tsang province. The location of the Dzong on the hilltop dominates the scenic views of the town and the Tashilhunpo Monastery. Shigatse is also the name of the surrounding county, whose population is approximately 94,000.
The city of Shigatse is the second-largest city in Tibet, with a population of about 12,000. It is the hub of the road network between Lhasa, Nepal, and western Tibet. The road follows both the north and south banks of the Tsongpo via the northern route of Yangpachen. It is expected that the Qinghai-Tibet railway will be extended to Shigatse by 2010.China National Highway 318 also passes through Shigatse.


The imposing Shigatse Dzong was built in the 17th century as a smaller prototype of the Potala in Lhasa, and had turret-like fortifications at the ends and a central Red Palace. In the 17th century, the Mongols (by Gusri Khan in 1642) supported the Fifth Dalai Lama and defeated Prince Tsang at Shigatse. After this event, the Tashilhunpo Monastery came under the control of the Yellow Hat sect. The rivalry between the Sakya and the Gelukpa orders is traced to this event; the Geukpa sect of the Dalai Lama controlled from Central Tibet and the Panchen Lama controlled from Shigatse.
Shigatse was previously the seat of the kings of Ü-Tsang and the capital of the province of Ü-Tsang or Tsang. It was sacked when the Gurkhas invaded Tibet and captured Shigatse in 1791 before a combined Tibetan and Chinese army drove the Gurkhas back as far as the outskirts of Kathmandu. The Gurkhas were forced to agree to keep the peace in future, pay tribute every five years, and return what they had looted from Tashilhunpo.
Shigatse was also the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas. Until the Chinese arrived in the 1950s, the "Tashi" or Panchen Lama wielded temporal power over three small districts, though not over the town of Shigatse itself, which was administered by a dzongpön (general) appointed from Lhasa.


During the Chinese Cultural Revolution in Tibet in 1961, the Dzong was demolished "stone by stone". This destruction was instigated by the Chinese and resulted in the complete razing of the Dzong, which held an imposing view above the Shigatse town; only a few ramparts were left.
Between 2005 and 2007, the building was reconstructed, financed by donations from Shanghai. The basis of the reconstruction were old photos, yet reconstruction was executed in cement/concrete. Since then, the outside has been wainscotted with natural stones. The Dzong has become a museum on Tibetan culture.


Kora, a pilgrimage and a type of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, is performed in Shigatse along a set route covering the Tashilhunpo Monastery, the Mani walls, sacred rocks, a small temple, the Shigatse Dzong, and back to the monastery through the town. It is a walking circumambulation starting with the Tashilhunpo's entrance and moving round along a set route in a clockwise direction. The Kora first covers the boundary wall of the Tashilhunpo Monastery (90 m), then proceeds north to the prayer wheels, climbs up the hills to another row of prayer wheels, passes a large chorten, visits the small Gyelwa Jampa Temple (maroon-coloured) on the right, passes through a series of rocks which are worshipped by pilgrims by rubbing against the rocks and offering incense, tsampa or chang to a sacred fireplace, and then climbs up and passes through a stone edifice in the form of a cinema screen where a large Koku (Thangka religious painting) is displayed on particular occasions (in late July corresponding to the fifth Tibetan month during an annual festival held at Tashilhunpho Monastery). Further up, the route forks towards the Dzong to continue the Kora and is completed past a Mani temple, returning to the entrance of the Tashilhunpho Monastery after passing through the town.


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Tel Shimron (Hebrew: תל שמרון) is an archaeological site and nature reserve in the Jezreel Valley.
Shimron was the name of a major city in the north of Israel throughout antiquity. It is mentioned in the Bible by this name, and in other period sources as Shim'on. In late antiquity, it was known by the name Simonias (Hebrew: סימונייה). The city is identified with Tell Samunia, also written Samunieh.
Tel Shimron is located northeast of modern moshav Nahalal on the western edge of the Nazareth range, on the border between the Lower Galilee and the Jezreel Valley. Its location at the intersection of the lower Galilee ranges and the Jezreel Valley as well as its proximity to the Acco Plain made it and important part of trade routes through the area.


In the years spanning 2004, 2008, and 2010, salvage archaeological excavations were conducted immediately adjacent to Tel Shimron by Nurit Feig and Yardenna Alexandre on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).


Nurit Feig directed a salvage excavation on behalf of the IAA prior to the installation of electrical poles at the Bet Zarzir-Nahalal Junction road. Four squares were excavated, three of which were situated along the shoulder of the road, and the fourth was 200m to the west.


Feig conducted another IAA salvage excavation prior to the construction of a agricultural buildings. This excavation resulted in limited finds, such as several smaller walls and potsherds dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Ages as well as the Roman Period. Flint remains dated to the Neolithic as well as the Early Bronze Age.


Another salvage excavation was conducted on behalf of the IAA, this time by Yardenna Alexandre. The excavation was conducted near the Nahalal junction before a widening of Road 75. There was evidence of limited occupation during the EB and Intermediate Bronze, but a rural settlement during the Middle Bronze age was uncovered. Limited Roman remains were discovered as well.


In 2016, an Tell Shimron Excavations began research on the tell itself.  The project is co-directed by Daniel M. Master and Mario A. S. Martin on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University and Wheaton College, IL. The initial survey in 2016 reached similar conclusions to the earlier work by Portugali and Raban. Middle Bronze Age remains were found close to the surface, and later periods were mostly represented at the center of the mound; however, ground penetrating radar magnetometry assays revealed strata from later periods overlaying the MB strata in certain areas, which led to the excavations of 2017 and 2019.
The first two years of excavation were uncovered remains from the Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age, Persian Period, Hellenistic Period, and Roman Period.
Tel Shimron Excavations continued the dig in 2021, continuing the work of previous years.


Very little Neolithic material has been found at Tel Shimron, but during the 2010 excavation, a PPNB arrowhead as well as remains of the Wadi Rabah culture were discovered.


Due to Middle Bronze remains that lie atop the Early Bronze strata, it is difficult to gain a detailed picture of the Early Bronze Age at Shimron. Surveys have suggested the site was first settled in the EB I, and there was a gap in settlement during the EB III.