A large number of stories have been constructed around Dada’s dargah. These stories pertain to the spiritual and healing powers including the power to bestow children, relief to physical disorders, property disputes, etc. This is one of the reasons why the site has become famous. There are stories about how Dada protected a princess who later on came to be known as Sathi Samyukta by Hindus and Mama Jigni by the Muslims. Most important is the story about how the princely state of Mysore was bestowed with an heir to the throne by Dada, and how the maharaja would be able to break the stone laid before the cave. This is a typical story which has similarities with the stories surrounding the birth of Jahangir (with the blessings of Sufi saint Nazrath Shah Sali) and Tippu Sultan (with the blessings of Tippu Aulia of Arcot). This story is important for two obvious reasons: It provided legitimacy to the claims of spiritual power of the Sufi saints, secondly, it made the state liberal, moderate and secular:
Sri Krishna Raja Wadiyar had no son in his family for a long time. He was worried much about it. Once, coming out of the dargah, he saw the stone slab where devotees broke the offered coconuts. Struck with an idea, he made a vow quietly that he would split that stone with coconuts on the birth of a son in the family. Soon after that his brother had a son, Sri Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar. He came to the dargah with cart-loads of coconuts to fulfil his vow and began breaking coconuts one by one. The stone remained solid even after many cart-loads were finished. He was in a dilemma. He had to fulfil his vow but it appeared impossible. At long last he realised that in his anxiety he made a vow which was apparently impossible. He explained the situation and requested Hazrath Peer to take him to Dada and pray for his pardon and suggest a solution. After Hazrath Peer recited the Fateha, Maharaja expressed his gratitude to Dada, repented his folly, sought out of the dargah and following the instructions, he broke the coconut on the stone slab. To his pleasant surprise the stone developed a crack”


Caves: Three large caves said to have been sanctified by three siddhas contain their icons and gaddiges (tombs) and an annual 'jatra' (fair) is held here in their honour. The enthralling scenery makes this a much frequented pilgrim centre.
Seethala contains a 'matha' and the dual shrine temple of 'Seethala-Mallikarjuna'.
Waterfalls: A short distance from here are the three waterfalls with epic associations, namely Gada Theertha, Nallikayi Theertha and Kamana Theertha near Attigundi
Gada Theertha, according to a myth was created by the pandava prince, Bheema with his 'gada', the club, to quench the thirst of his mother during their exile.
Pilgrims who bathe in the Nellikayi Theertha formed by Manikya Dhara waterfall, leave behind one item of their clothing as per a local belief.
Galikere is a lake near the temple, can be accessed by walk of 2 km
Manikyadhara Falls: Manikyadhara Falls is near Kemmangundi of Chikmagalur district. It is on the Baba Budangiri Hills, which is a sacred place for Hindus and Muslims who believe in dead saints. It is one of the main attractions of Baba Budan Giri. It is approximately 40 km from Chickmagalur town and about 5.5 hours from Bangalore.


Baba Budangiri Range is a range of mountains in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. The range, originally known as Chandra Drona Parvatha, takes its current name from the Dattapeeta Cave and 16th century Sufi saint Baba Budan. The Baba Budan Giri Range includes the highest peaks of Karnataka. Unique mountain flowers called kurinji blooms in these hill ranges once every 12 years. The last time this spectacle happened was in 2006. The next one happened in 2018.
Peaks in the Baba Budan Giri Range include:
Mullayanagiri (height 1930 m)
Dattagiri/Baba Budan Giri (height 1895 m)
Bindagadammanagiri (height 1830 m)
Sithalaiyyanagiri (height 1810 m)


The historical Bach House is one of the oldest residential buildings in Eisenach. It originally consisted of two buildings, of which the eastern part was built in 1456 and the western part in 1458. At around 1611, both were joined. As was normal with the Ackerbürgerhäuser (burghers' houses) of that time, the ground floor was used for agricultural purposes: today's instrument hall may have been used as a barn, and the rooms next to the stairs for cattle and horses. In the museum, a cowbell from 1688 found in the Bach House garden reminds of this past. In the first floor of the building, a Renaissance glass window frame and the timber panelling of the living room now decorated as Composing Studio still bear witness of the citizen status of the house's former occupants. At the time of Bach's birth it was owned by Heinrich Börstelmann, headmaster of the Latin School. In 1746, the family of Caroline Amalie Rausch née Bach moved into the building and lived there until 1779. Caroline Amalie was the daughter of Bach's second cousin and friend Johann Bernhard Bach and sister to Johann Ernst Bach, a student of Bach at Leipzig and then court music director at Eisenach.


In the wake of the 19th century's Bach renaissance instigated by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Robert Schumann, among others, devotees went on a search for memorabilia and also for the birthplace of the composer. In 1857, the Bach biographer Karl Hermann Bitter interviewed the still living descendants of Johann Bernhard Bach and determined that Bach was born at the house Frauenplan 21, subsequently called Bachhaus (Bach House). In 1868, the local music society dedicated the memorial plate above the front entrance, thus publicly marking the place as Bach's birthplace. Since then, however, no further evidence in support of this claim has surfaced. An error in the local oral tradition which Bitter encountered can perhaps be attributed to the fact that members of the Bach family did indeed live in this house once, but only at a time long after Bach's birth.


When the Leipzig-based Bach-Gesellschaft, founded by Robert Schumann and others in 1850 for the sole purpose of editing all of Bach's works, had completed this task in 1900, its members decided it should be reconstituted as Neue Bachgesellschaft (New Bach Society) to now further the popularity and practice of Bach's music. Three 'eternal' projects were approved: the annual edition of a Bach-Jahrbuch (Bach yearbook), biannual (today: annual) Bachfeste (Bach festivals), and finally the founding of a Bach museum. As the desired location of the society's museum the School of St. Thomas at Leipzig was chosen, where Bach had lived with his family and served as cantor and music teacher for 27 years. However, the magistrate of Leipzig decided to demolish the building in 1902, thus thwarting the society's plans. Among other relics, the entrance door to Bach's rooms in the school was saved from destruction by its then music teacher Bernhard Friedrich Richter, son of the former Thomaskantor Ernst Friedrich Richter, and was later dedicated to the Bach House. Today, this door prominently marks the start of the exhibition within the museum.
When news reached the society's members that Bach's (still undisputed) birth house at Eisenach was also under threat by demolition plans, the New Bach Society decided to acquire the building on May 15, 1905, and to open the world's first Bach museum at this site. Among the supporters of this project were the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the composer and violinist Joseph Joachim, the Cantor of St Thomas Gustav Schreck, the director of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin Georg Schumann, and the Leipzig music publishers Breitkopf & Härtel and C.F. Peters. The Bach House was formally opened on 27 May 1907. The choir of St. Thomas, Leipzig under Cantor of St. Thomas, Gustav Schreck, and the Weimar Hofkapelle conducted by Georg Schumann, sang and played.
In 1928, when the Eisenach hobby historian Fritz Rollberg undertook a research into the city's tax records and discovered that Johann Ambrosius Bach had paid taxes from 1674 until his death in 1695 for a different building in Eisenach, the Bach House was long established as a Bach memorial site throughout the world. When the house underwent complete restoration in 1972–1973, the memorial plate from 1868 was taken down and went into storage. Since visitors kept believing to be visiting Bach's birthplace even without the plate, it was decided in 2007 to restore it as an essential part of the building's history. Today, the historical error is explained in the museum, where one of the tax files discovered by Rollberg is on display.
An air raid on 23 November 1944 and artillery fire by the approaching U.S. troops in the night of 5 April 1945 caused substantial damage to the roof of the Bach House in particular. On 29 April 1945, the U.S. commander of the city, Lt. Col. Knut Hansston, ordered the museum to be repaired immediately, and one year later, on 22 June 1946, the Soviet Military Administration ordered the Johann Sebastian Bach museums in Arnstadt and Eisenach to be re-opened and confirmed the appointment of Bach House Director Conrad Freyse to the post in which he had been working since 1923.
Already in 1911, the museum had expanded into the adjacent building Frauenplan 19. In 1973, the buildings underwent a complete restoration and the exhibition was newly designed with financial aid by the East German (GDR) government. The museum now also included the building Frauenplan 21a to the west of the Bach House. Since the museum's owner was still the New Bach Society, now an international society with over 3,000 members in both parts of politically divided Germany (and throughout West and East Europe, and also in the U.S.), the Bach House – unlike the Leipzig Bach-Archiv – was never incorporated into the GDR's national combine Nationale Forschungs- und Gedenkstätten Johann Sebastian Bach der DDR. Rising visitor numbers (over 130,000 in some years) and the imminent Bach year of 1985 led to a further expansion of the museum into the building Frauenplan 23 further west of the Bach House in 1980.


From 2005 to 2007, the buildings to the west of the Bach House were replaced by a new museum building, the historical building again underwent restoration, and the exhibition was completely modernized. The project was financed by the Free State of Thuringia, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union, with a grant totalling 4.3 mio. Euros. Earlier, the New Bach Society had purchased the properties Frauenplan 21a and 23 (which before had only been rented) with donations by its members. A new, smaller building to the back of the Bach House garden had already been put up in 2001, it contains a study hall for school classes and a library. The demolition of the 19th century buildings to the west of the Bach House in 2000 and 2001 was subject of heavy debate among the Eisenach citizens. The same is true for the finally realized new museum building with its modern organic design by architect Prof. Berthold Penkhues from Kassel, Germany, a former student of Frank O. Gehry. Penkhues' design had won first prize among twelve submissions in an architectural design contest to which the New Bach Society had invited in 2002. The new exhibition was designed by Prof. Uwe Brückner, Stuttgart, Germany.
On 17 May 2007, the museum was re-opened at the start of a festival period lasting until 27 May, the day of the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Bach House. At the day of the re-opening, the choir of St. Thomas, Leipzig, inaugurated the new museum building with a concert under Georg Christoph Biller, the Cantor of St. Thomas at the time.


The collection of baroque musical instruments started with a gift of four instruments by the Dutch collector Paul de Wit in 1907, and a gift of 164 instruments by the heirs of musicologist and conductor Aloys Obrist who had killed both himself and his former lover, the opera singer Anna Sutter, in 1910. String instruments of the collection include a viola da gamba with seven strings, built by Bach's Leipzig friend and collaborator Johann Christian Hoffmann in 1725, a violoncello piccolo with five strings (northern Bohemia, ca. 1750) which Bach demanded for nine cantatas and (according to some views) the cello suite BWV 1012, and a viola d'amore with six 6 gut playing strings and 6 metal resonating strings an octave higher (Vienna, around 1700).
Since 1973, five baroque keyboard instruments are demonstrated in a music performance every hour. These include two chamber organs (Switzerland, ca. 1750, and Thuringia, ca. 1650), a fretted clavichord (around 1770), and a spinet built 1765 in Strasbourg by Johann Heinrich Silbermann, a nephew of Gottfried Silbermann whose instruments Bach helped sell in Leipzig. The Thuringian positive organ's history and Bach's biography overlap: from 1714 on, it served as a church organ in Kleinschwabhausen, about 15 km from Weimar where Bach was court organist at the time. Bach's protégée and family friend, the court organ maker Heinrich Nicolaus Trebs, repaired the organ in 1724 and 1740, and Johann Caspar Vogler, Bach's student and successor as court organist, tested the organ in 1738, 1740 and 1744. Since inspecting the dukedom's organs belonged to the court organist's duties, the museum conjectures that Bach must have known and played this instrument, even though there is no record of it.
The exhibits include the so-called Bach spectacles long believed to have been worn by Bach, and the Bach Goblet. It is still an unsolved riddle who may have been the donor of the goblet, and on what occasion Bach received it. Bach's second, much younger wife Anna Magdalena is remembered with an always fresh bouquet of yellow carnations – she was a große Liebhaberin von der Gärtnerey (a great lover of gardening) and these were her favorite flowers. Three rooms in the upper floor of the historical Bach House present historical living quarters (bedroom, living room, kitchen). Their furnishing is virtually unchanged since the rooms were first decorated by the Weimar Court Antiquary in 1906 with local items from around 1700 (including door handles and fittings).
Since 2017 a room in between the historical living quarters and cladded in black hosts the exhibition space Bach's inner world. Presented here is a reconstruction of Bach's theological library, facilitated by the written estate which lists 52 theological book titles bound in 81 volumes as having been privately owned by Bach.


To the museum belongs a library which is open to the public during general opening hours. It has about 5,500 volumes, mostly on Bach and his contemporaries, musical instruments, and on musical history in general. Books can be searched by an OPAC.
As the first and – for a long time – only Bach museum, the museum's mandate by the New Bach Society was to "collect everything that concerns Johann Sebastian Bach, his life and works, and his reception." However, when the museum was founded in 1907, this mandate was already quite impossible to fulfill. Eighty percent of all known Bach autographs were (and still are) in the possession of the Berlin State Library, and already at the time, private collectors willing to part with what was left were demanding prices far exceeding the means of a private society. Still, in its early years the following autographs were acquired by the Bach House:
Subsequently, the collection grew by donations, notably those of Oskar von Hase and the Leipzig music publishers C.F. Peters and Breitkopf & Härtel, and by inheritances, like those from Philipp Spitta, Wilhelm Rust, Paul Graf Waldersee, Aloys Obrist, Wilhelm His, and Christoph Trautmann. Apart from the items on display, the following are particularly noteworthy: a Thuringian Harpsichord from 1715, a harpsichord by Jacob Hartmann (ca. 1765), a second spinet by Johann Heinrich Silbermann (1765), and a pedal clavichord (ca. 1815). Additionally three school notebooks by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, a first edition of The Musical Offering (part A) from 1747, the source C of Bach's lost Genealogie der musicalisch-Bachischen Familie (genealogy of the musical Bach family), the only known libretto of the lost Bach wedding cantata Sein Segen fließt daher, wie ein Strom (BWV Anh. 14, Immanuel Tietze, Leipzig 1725), a collection of silhouettes of the Ohrdruf Bach family, letters of 19th century Bach researchers like Karl Hermann Bitter, and documents, measurements and casts relating to the excavation of the (supposed) Bach bones by Wilhelm His and Carl Seffner (including casts of the cranium in plaster and bronze). In 2013, the Bach House acquired 62 of what originally probably had been 152 hand-written choir parts, which the choir sang from when Felix Mendelssohn performed Bach's St Matthew Passion in the Berliner Singakademie on 11 March 1829 for the first time after Bach's death.


All real property and the collections are owned by the New Bach Society. Since 5 July 2001, the museum is managed by the Bachhaus Eisenach gemeinnützige GmbH, a registered charitable company, with the New Bach Society as its sole associate. The supervisory board includes representatives of the New Bach Society, the City of Eisenach, the Lutheran Church, and the government of the Free State of Thuringia. The funding of the museum is subject of a contract between the New Bach Society, the City of Eisenach, and the Free State of Thuringia. The majority of public funds comes from the Thuringian government. Own proceeds from ticket sales, the shop and the café cover two thirds of the museum's annual expenses. Donations go into restorations and acquisitions for the museum's collection.
Since the opening of the Bach House in 1907 there have been the following museum directors:
Dr. Georg Bornemann, 1907–1918 (assistant: Dr. Albrecht Göhler, brother of composer and conductor Georg Göhler, 1912–1914)
Ernst Fleischer, 1918–1923
Conrad Freyse, 1923–1964
Günther Kraft, 1964–1971
Ilse Domizlaff, 1971–1990
Dr. Claus Oefner, 1990–2001
Dr. Franziska Nentwig, 2002–2005
Dr. Jörg Hansen, since 2006


There are about 60,000 visitors to the Bach House per year, making it one of Germany's most frequented music museums and second to the Beethoven House in Bonn.


The Bach statue in front of the Bach House was the second monument for Johann Sebastian Bach. It was the first to show the composer figuratively in the form of a full statue. It was sculpted by Adolf von Donndorf and cast by Hermann Heinrich Howaldt in Brunswick, Germany. The monument was commissioned in 1878 by the Denkmal-Committee (monument committee) founded by culture loving citizens of Eisenach, among them the city's cantor Carl Müller-Hartung and the writer Fritz Reuter. Clara Schumann, Hans von Bülow, Joseph Joachim and Franz Liszt helped raise the monies by giving beneficial concerts, and the project was also supported by Johannes Brahms. It was unveiled on 28 September 1884 after a concert of Bach's Mass in B minor conducted by Joseph Joachim in St. George's Church. Its first location was on the market place in front of the portal of St. George's. The monument was moved to its present location in front of the Bach House when the Frauenplan was redecorated in 1938. The composer is shown standing, holding a feather quill in his right hand, and leaning with his left on a stack of sheet music carried by an angel. The monument's base was substantially shortened when it was moved. A relief plate depicting Saint Cecilia, the patron of church music, which was originally attached to the base, can now be seen on the stone wall behind the monument.


Ingo Bracke, a light artist from Saarbrücken and with his wife Mary-Anne Kyriakou collaborator in the i Light Marina Bay festival in Singapore, created the installation IN VERSUS F: A Score of Light – An Architectural Tune for the Bach House. It was first shown on 13 December 2008, and has been permanently installed since 21 March 2011. Starting at sunset and ending at 11 p.m., it is on display on all Saturday evenings and evenings before public holidays.


The exhibition designers Atelier Brückner were awarded a bronze ADC award by the Art Directors Club on 12 April 2008 for the innovative new design of the Bach House permanent exhibit. Marc Tamschick, the director of the multimedia installation walkable composition was awarded a Finalist Diploma at the World Media Festival in Hamburg on 14 May 2008. For the new design of the Bach House permanent exhibition, Atelier Brückner was also awarded a special prize for outstanding scenography by the Association of German Interior Architects BDIA on 24 October 2008.


Badaling (traditional Chinese: 八達嶺; simplified Chinese: 八达岭; pinyin: Bādálǐng) is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Beijing's city center, in Yanqing District (within Beijing municipality).  The portion of the wall running through the site was built in 1504 during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military outpost reflecting the location's strategic importance. The highest point of Badaling is Beibalou (北八樓), approximately 1,015 meters (3,330 ft) above sea level.
Badaling Great Wall was built in the Ming Dynasty (1505) to occupy a commanding and strategic position for protecting the Juyongguan Pass (Juyongguan section of the Great Wall) to its south, further protecting the city of Beijing.
The portion of the wall at Badaling has undergone restoration, and in 1957, it was the first section of the wall to open to tourism.  Now visited annually by millions, the immediate area has seen significant development, including hotels, restaurants, and a cable car.


The Badaling Expressway connects Badaling with central Beijing.


Two China Railway lines serve Badaling:
The Beijing-Zhangjiakou intercity railway has CRH high-speed trains running from Beijing North Station, stopping at the underground Badaling Great Wall Station.
Line S2 of the Beijing Suburban Railway serves people who want to go to the at-grade Badaling Station from Huangtudian Station.


The 877 bus runs frequently between Deshengmen Bus Station (adjacent to the Jishuitan Station on Line 2 and Line 19 of Beijing Subway) and Badaling.


It was here that President Richard Nixon and his wife, accompanied by Vice Premier Li Xiannian, visited on February 24, 1972, during his historic journey to China.  Many other world leaders have made a trip to the site including Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.
Badaling and the expressway were the site of the finishing circuit of the Urban Road Cycling Course in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Laps of the circuit passed through gates in the wall.


Badaling Great Wall Funicular starts from the opposite of Zhan Tianyou Memorial Hall and goes to the fourth floor of the best viewing point of Badaling Great Wall-South.


The lighthouse tower stands at a height of 172 feet in an uphill area overlooking the Mactan Channel. It sits on an elevated 5,000-sq m government property. With a focal plane of 146 feet, the third-order flashing light was first lit on 1 April 1905. The present octagonal tower is all masonry and painted white. The landmark was built by virtue of an executive order issued on 28 July 1903 by William Howard Taft, the first American Governor-General of the Philippines  who came to the country in 1900 as president of the Philippine Commission. The point light was originally established in 1857 by the ruling Spanish Government.
For over 100 years, this lighthouse has provided guiding light to mariners, navigators and fishermen from coastal towns in northern Cebu.  It has been a favorite subject of many painters and photographers for its notable architectural design.
All navigational aids in the Philippines are managed by the Philippine Coast Guard.


In the late nineteenth century Bahadur Shah Park was the centre of Dhaka with European style architecture with several civic and religious buildings and educational institutions around it. During the eighteenth century, the European started a club for them. They used to play different games, among other games, billiard, and hence the premise was called  'Anta Gharer Maidan' . The English later demolished it and created a round-about park facing the St Thomas church. The club was shifted elsewhere which later became the famous Dhaka club. The park became a major node in the road network of old Dhaka. At that time, it had all important buildings and establishments around it, many of which are gone now. It is where the mutineers of the failed 1857 Revolt ('Sipahi mutiny for freedom fight') were publicly executed by hanging. It was also the scene from where accession by Queen Victoria and India was announced amidst much fanfare in 1858, and hence the original name of 'Victoria Park' bestowed. After Partition, the park was renamed 'Bahadur Shah Park' after the last emperor of Mughal India.
In a stone throw distance around the park, important institutional buildings such as court, Bank, DC's office and Jagannath college which is now a public university are situated.


Bahadur Shah Park is enriched with some architectural displays. It has two entrances. Plenty of tall trees really make the place majestic. The sculptures in the park are one of a kind. There is Dhaka's only Obelisk which commemorates the death of Dhaka Nawab's son. There is another magnificent sculpture at the western part. It was built in the honour of the martyrs. There is also an octagonal fountain in the middle of a star shaped fountain in the park. Bahadur Shah Park now attracts the young and the old, who come here to enjoy the peaceful environment. Whether you are interested in the history of Bangladesh or are simply looking for a place to take a relaxing stroll, Bahadur Shah Park is a delightful attraction in Dhaka.


The towering monument of the park in the city is now losing its glory as most of its historic infrastructures are in dilapidated condition due to negligence, even the boundary wall has collapsed. Unscrupulous persons have occupied its land and parts of the footpath illegally to set up shops and other business. The park now somehow maintains its existence with no initiative to preserve the heritage. Under the circumstances, the DCC initiative is a good step to save the heritage site. The condition of the area is now terrible. People using the park's footpath very often fall victim to many incidents. Toll collectors and vagabonds are dominating the area and are indulging in snatching which is on the rise. Historical Bahadur Shah Park (Victoria Park) lost all its importance and glamour. Witness to many historic events and once a traditional place for sojourn have lost all its past glamour. Moreover, water from the only big artificial waterfall of the park could not be drained. It is very unfortunate that the last relic of the Mughal Empire is now in very poor condition which demands immediate attention from the government of Bangladesh.


There are many educational institutions around the park. These are Jagannath University, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul College, City Corporation Mohila College, Government Muslim High School,  and Sunflower High School, among many others. At daytime, students of these institutions gather and gossip in the park and many health-conscious people come to the park for jogging and walking in the morning and in the afternoon. The park provides a good opportunity to its visitors to look back at the turbulent history of the nation. The park attracts some two thousand visitors each day and frequently sets the scene for cultural and religious festivals.


The Bahia Palace (Arabic: قصر الباهية, Berber languages: ⵜⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔⵜ ⵏ Иⴱⴰⵀⵢⴰ) is a mid to late 19th-century palace in Marrakesh, Morocco. The palace was first begun by Si Musa, grand vizier of Alaouite sultan Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman, in 1859 and then continued and expanded by his son Si Ba Ahmed ibn Musa, grand vizier of Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz between 1894 and 1900. Today it is a well-known historic monument and tourist attraction in the city.


Si Musa was descended from a family of black slaves which served the Moroccan makhzen (royal government) and reached the highest offices in the country. He was first hajib (similar to a chamberlain) then grand vizier under Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman, who reigned from 1859 to 1873. He began the construction of the palace in 1859 and continued during the 1860s. Today, the "Grand Riad" or large riad garden and its adjoining rooms in the northern part of the palace date from Si Musa's time and are also consequently known as the Dar Si Moussa. The two grand chambers on the east and west sides of the garden contain an inscription which dates their construction to 1866-67.
Ba Ahmed ibn Musa (known simply as Ba Ahmed) was hajib to Sultan Moulay Hassan and, upon the latter's death, ensured his son Abdelaziz's accession to the throne in 1894, earning him a promotion to grand vizier. As Abdelaziz was only sixteen, Ba Ahmed became the effective ruler of Morocco until his own death from disease in 1900. He progressively expanded his father's palace throughout these years as grand vizier (1894-1900), adding to it piece by piece as new land became available for purchase. During his tenure, he was also supported by his two brothers Si Sa'id and Idris (who died with him in 1900). Si Sa'id built his own palace north of here during that time, the Dar Si Said, which today serves as a museum.
Ba Ahmed is responsible for constructing most of the Bahia Palace's southern parts, which included various smaller courtyards and riad gardens. On the east side of this palace complex he also created a vast private park and garden, complete with a central water basin and an access point via a bridge over the adjacent street linking it to the palace. His architect was a man named Muhammad ibn Makki al-Misfiwi, originally from Safi, who was born in 1857 and died in 1926. The palace's growth overtook much of the previously existing neighbourhood north of the Mellah and resulted in major changes in the local street layout. The growing palace housed Ba Ahmed's servants (including his own slaves) and his harem (private family residence), and the name al-Bahia (Arabic: الباهية), meaning "the Brilliant", was reportedly the name of his favourite wife. The entire palace was built on one level, possibly as Ba Ahmed's own physique (which was described as stout and obese) made it more difficult for him to go up and down stairs.


After Ba Ahmed's death his palace became royal property. Mere hours after his death, Sultan Abdelaziz (who subsequently took full power over the country) reportedly ordered the palace to be looted for valuable items. In 1908 Madani el-Glaoui, brother of Thami el-Glaoui, took control of the palace and used it to entertain foreign guests. He added an upper floor for the first time to some parts of the palace. Then, in 1912, after the installation of the French Protectorate in Morocco, the palace was converted into the residence of the French resident-general (Lyautey) in the city. After Moroccan independence, the palace was again used as a royal residence for King Mohammed V before being transferred to the Moroccan Ministry of Culture under King Hassan II, which turned it into a tourist attraction.
Today the palace is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Morocco; the government counted 410,141 visitors from January to April 2019, more than any other heritage site in the country. The palace is occasionally still used by the King of Morocco to receive foreign dignitaries or host events.


The palace's labyrinthine layout, which does not reveal a clear unified plan, is due to the fact that it was expanded in a piecemeal fashion in different stages over many years. It comprises a number of inner courtyards and riad gardens (interior gardens with a symmetrical four-part division), around which are arranged various rooms and chambers. The main palace complex today covers almost 2 hectares.
The palace is entered via a horseshoe-arch doorway from the main street, beyond which a long garden path leads to the palace. A minor courtyard leads into the Small Riad (Petit Riad), a square courtyard garden divided by walkways along its two central axes and surrounded by richly decorated galleries and chambers. One of the chambers was Ba Ahmed's diwan or Council Chamber. A second floor apartment above this riad was added by Madani el-Glaoui after Ba Ahmed's death.
East of the Small Riad is a small inner courtyard (sometimes simply called the "Small Courtyard") surrounded by ornate chambers. East of this is the Grand Courtyard or Large Courtyard (also known in French as the Cour d'Honneur), the most impressive part of the palace. Measuring 50 by 30 meters, it is paved with Italian Carrara marble and surrounded by an elegant and colourful wooden gallery. These galleries give access to some 80 rooms which are believed to have been part of Ba Ahmed's harem and the residences of his concubines. At the east end of this courtyard is a grand hall (lknown as the Salle d'Honneur in French), measuring 20 by 8 meters and featuring a high ceiling with some of the best painted decoration in the palace. An inscription dates the construction of this chamber to 1896-1897, which was probably the last major expansion of the palace. West of the Grand Courtyard (more or less between the Small Courtyard to the south and the Great Riad to the north) is a private apartment built by Ba Ahmed in 1898 for his first wife, Lalla Zaynab.
North of the Grand Courtyard areas is another vast courtyard known as the Grand Riad or Large Riad. Along with its adjoining rooms, it is the oldest part of the palace and dates from the time of Ba Ahmed's father, Si Musa. The courtyard is occupied, as its name implies, by a very large riad garden which is still planted with trees from the 19th century. The garden is flanked to the east and the west by two grand halls with excellent decoration and an inscription which dates their construction to 1866-67.
Further east, beyond the main palace, are the remains of a series of gardens and parks created by Ba Ahmed. Among other elements, they contained a large water basin. This area was originally a Saadian-era garden, the Arsat Ben Chegra, named after a Saadian vizier. On the south side of the palace are other annexes includes stables and a mosque with a minaret.


The palace is most famous for its decoration. Its walls feature stucco carved with Arabic inscriptions, geometric patterns, arabesques, and muqarnas. Its floors are paved with marble and zellij tiles. Among its most famous elements are the cedar-wood ceilings painted with colourful floral patterns, along with the carved and painted wooden canopies of major doorways. The materials for this decoration were imported by Ba Ahmed from all over Morocco, including marble from Meknes (possibly from former Moroccan royal palaces), cedar wood from the Middle Atlas, and tiles from Tetouan. Artisans from all across the country were also employed for the job.


As originally configured, Bailey seated 1,948; one wag described it as "acoustics by God, seats by Torquemada," referring to its wooden seats and severely raked floor. In 2006, the building reopened after a major rehabilitation which brought it up to modern building codes and made it handicapped-accessible, albeit at the cost of several hundred seats of audience capacity.
The road and small parking lot immediately in front of Bailey were converted into a pedestrian plaza which was opened to the public in 2007. The flagstones of the plaza are hewn from bluestone, similar to the material used to construct the Stone Row on the Arts Quad. Some of the stones were thermally treated to alter their colors to achieve a cosmetic effect. The benches ringing the plaza extend to 30 feet in length, each having been hewn from a single Oregon Douglas fir. A fountain carved from local stone into a natural, sloping shape invoking Ithaca's gorges is featured on the southern edge of the plaza.


The Balboa Theatre is a historic vaudeville/movie theatre in downtown San Diego, US, built in 1924. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, the Balboa was refurbished (beginning in 2005) and reopened as a performing arts venue in 2008.


The Balboa was built by businessman Robert E. Hicks, architect William H. Wheeler, by the Wurster Construction Company for $800,000 in 1924. A grand vaudeville/movie palace combining Moorish and Spanish Revival styles, the single-balcony theatre originally had a seating capacity of 1,513; waterfalls on either side of the proscenium arch provided air cooling.
As part of the Fox West Coast circuit, the Balboa featured live vaudeville and movies, accompanied by orchestra and organ. An article from the American Theatre Organ Society states that Edward Swan was the organist at the Balboa Theatre in 1925-26 and he claims that the original 426 pipe Robert Morton organ was the finest he had ever played. It had an echo organ over the balcony.  He “played the features while the small orchestra did the vaudeville segments.  Sometimes Ed also played the organ or piano with the orchestra and his playing time lengthened to 10 or 12 hours a day.”  In 1930 the theatre was upgraded for sound pictures and a new neon marquee was added. In 1934, it was remodeled, reopening as Teatro Balboa, featuring Spanish-language films. The theatre's office space was converted to housing for the U.S. Navy during World War II.
After the war, Balboa languished as a movie house and in 1959 was purchased by the Russo family. Because of its rich history and splendid architecture the Balboa was designated as a local historic site in 1972. Although the 1973 Horton Plaza Redevelopment Plan called for complete restoration of the building as a theatre, the City of San Diego instead condemned it; the Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) made plans to gut the theatre for commercial space, intending to strip the interior and build four floors of retail space.


In 1985, a small group of advocates led by Steve Karo formed the Save Our Balboa Organization to lobby against destruction of the theatre and to support its restoration. The Save Our Balboa group garnered public support and eventually prevailed in a long and hard-fought effort to stop destruction of the theatre. The Save Our Balboa Organization developed into the Balboa Theatre Foundation which continued lobbying for restoration and in 1996, succeeded in listing the Balboa Theatre on the National Register of Historic Places. After twenty years, CCDC did a turnaround and decided to fund a complete restoration which began in 2005. They not only funded, at a cost of $26.5 million, but superbly managed the project, working with restoration architects Westlake Reed Leskosky, now DLR Group. The theatre re-opened in 2008 and is now an excellent venue for live theatre and concerts.
In 2009, after extensive renovation, the Balboa Theatre Foundation rededicated a 1929 Wonder Morton organ, one of only four such organs in the world. The Foundation purchased, restored and relocated the 4-manual, 23-rank organ from Pennsylvania to the Balboa Theatre after a five-year-long restoration. The original Robert Morton organ was moved to the Fox Theatre in 1929, which is now Copley Symphony Hall.


The Balboa Theatre now hosts the Mainly Mozart Festival, special events, and touring companies of Broadway productions. The city of San Diego holds the annual "State of the City" address at the theatre.


The balconies of Lima are items of cultural heritage built during the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Republic of Peru. Most of these balconies are of the Viceroyalty period, built in the late 17th and 18th centuries, are located in the Historic Center of Lima. They were adapted for residential purposes and have influenced the lives of many Peruvian scholars such as the 19th century writer Ricardo Palma.
The balconies have been crucial in UNESCO's declaration of the Historic Center of Lima as a World Heritage Site.


Peruvian colonial architecture in the Viceroyalty of Peru developed in the 16th to the 19th century, when Latin America was conquered by the Spaniards. Balconies in Lima were built in the Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Neo-Baroque styles and had Mediterranean, Moorish and Andalusian influences.
The Renaissance and Baroque styles emerged as a result of European influence. The Renaissance idea that the nobility of a building characterized a city's grandiosity permeated in Lima's architecture. Baroque architecture of this period, characterized by exuberance and heavy ornamentation, is prevalent as well. In the 18th century, the Rococo style permeated in Lima, as a result of French influence. This style embraced ornamentation and playful themes. Casa Goyeneche, built in 1863, is noted for its French influence.
The Moors also influenced Peruvian architecture. Closed wooden balconies, also called miradores, were inherited from the Mashrabiya tradition of Moorish architecture, as the Moors occupied Southern Spain. The term mirar in Spanish translates to “to look”, indicating that the balconies give the residents an extensive view of the scenery (Bloom and Blair). However, Moorish styles became less popular when modern styles were adopted in Lima.


The main features of the balconies are the lattice, still and baluster. The wooden balconies projecting at upper levels also allow for privacy and air circulation, an essential feature for buildings in warmer countries. Non-rounded balconies were introduced in Spain in the 18th century. Balconies of the 15th to the 17th century are noted for their openness, while balconies built after that period are more closed. Sevillan azulejos and mosaics are used in the construction of the balconies.


In the 18th century, viceroys would stand on the balconies to address the colonists. In churches, the balconies also provided abbesses the chance to observe Mass while avoid being seen.
Balconies merge the interior and exterior spaces of a city, a feature borrowed from Islamic architecture. The balconies in Lima have been compared to "streets in the sky" and they function as a link between private homes and Limeño streets. Antonio de la Calancha and Juan Meléndez first coined the term, writing, "They are so many and too large that they seem to be streets on the air."
Although the balconies were originally built to shield women of nobility from voyeuristic gazes, they were also sites of gossip and amorous encounters. The balconies gave the women a chance to see the city but remain hidden at the same time.
Historian Charles Walker has interpreted the balconies as a manifestation of social power dynamics, as they illustrate the distinction between individuals of different classes. In the 18th century, churches and houses with grandiose balconies were indicative of affluent owners, even though the balconies were built in similar styles and materials.


The earthquakes of 1655, 1687, 1746 and 1940 destroyed many of the old colonial structures in Lima designed by Francisco Pizarro and transformed the city's politics and architecture. Sturdy and less elaborate styles became increasingly popular after 1746 in order to ensure the stability of buildings. After the earthquake of 1940, Bruno Roselli, a Florentine art history professor known as the "defender of balconies", endeavored to salvage numerous balconies, many of which were of the 17th and 18th century styles. So committed was he to their salvation that he compared the balconies' importance to that of the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and the lions in Trafalgar Square. However, he was not successful.


Palacio de Torre Tagle
Casa de Osambela
Across the street from Torre Tagle, Casa Goyeneche (also called Casa de Rada) is another impressive 18th-century mansion, with distinct French influences.  Other interesting similar sites that are nearby (in downtown Lima) are:
Casa Negreiros, Jr. Azángaro 532
Casa de las Trece Monedas, Jr. Ancash 536
Casa Barbieri, Jr. Callao at Rufino Torrico
Casa de Pilatos, Jr. Ancash 390
Casa la Riva, Jr. Ica 426


Despite being suppressed and damaged during the Protestant Reformation, the roofless abbey continued to be used throughout penal times by Catholics. In 1963, extensive archaeological excavations were carried out prior to starting restoration work.  By 1966, the nave had been restored and re-roofed, in time for the 750th anniversary of the abbey's foundation although  work continued until 1969. In 1997, the Chapter House and Dorter area were restored and re-roofed. In 2016, during the 800th anniversary celebrations, planning permission to restore the entire east wing was granted.
The abbey has several modern outdoor attractions, including a very modern abstract Stations of the Cross, an underground permanent Crib, and a Rosary Way. There is a small museum. According to the Ballintubber website and other popular accounts, John O'Mullowny of Ballyhean, an infamous local priest hunter, is buried in the cemetery. A large tree marks the spot. The abbey marks the beginning of Tochar Phádraig, the ancient pilgrimage route to Croagh Patrick, reopened by Pilgrim Paths of Ireland.


The lands of Balloch were granted to the Lennox family in 1072 by King Malcolm III, forming part of the ancient earldom of Lennox. The earls of Lennox built the original Balloch Castle around 1238, and held it until approximately 1390. Many of their early charters were dated at Balloch. The earls afterwards moved their base to the island of Inchmurrin in Loch Lomond, where the remains of a late 14th-century castle can still be seen. Situated nearer the water than the present day castle, there are no standing remains, the earthworks can still be seen. An irregular mound, approximately 50 by 45 metres (164 by 148 ft), surrounded by a ditch up to 5 metres (16 ft) across. This site is given statutory protection as a scheduled monument.
In the 15th century Balloch, along with the earldom of Lennox, came to the Stewarts of Darnley. It stayed in the Stewart family until 1652 when the 4th Duke of Lennox sold it to John Colquhoun of Luss.


The present castle was built as a residence in 1808–1809 at the order of John Buchanan of Ardoch (1761–1839), who had bought the estate in 1800. Buchanan was a Glasgow merchant, the son of Thomas Buchanan of Ardoch (died 1789). John Buchanan was involved in his father's hat-making business, and also like his father was a partner in the Ship Bank, Glasgow's oldest banking house, founded in 1749. He represented Dunbartonshire in parliament from 1821–1826.
The architect of the Tudor Gothic building was London-based Robert Lugar, who had designed the nearby Tullichewan Castle in 1792.  The building's turrets and crenellations are purely decorative with no defensive value. The lancet windows, tracery, hoodmoulds and blind arrow-slits are all borrowings from earlier building styles. Although an unimaginative designer, at Balloch Lugar helped to introduce the asymmetrical, "picturesque" form of castellated house into Scotland. The new castle may incorporate stone from the earlier castle, or the fabric of an earlier building on the site. Buchanan established the parkland around the castle, including the planting of ornamental trees and imported shrubs.


In 1830, Buchanan purchased the adjacent estate of Boturich, including a ruined castle 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Balloch Castle. He again engaged Robert Lugar to rebuild the castle, which he then occupied, selling Balloch. The latter passed through several owners in the 19th century, including Mr Gibson Stott, who made further improvements to the parks, and the Denniston-Brown family. The estate, comprising 815 acres (330 ha), was purchased in 1915 by the Corporation of the City of Glasgow, the predecessor of the current city council, to provide publicly accessible open space. Although still owned by Glasgow City Council, the park and house have been leased to Dunbarton District Council, and its successor West Dunbartonshire Council, since 1975. It was registered as a country park in 1980. The house has been a category A listed building since 1971.
The house has periodically been used to provide visitor facilities and offices, with past occupants including the Nature Conservancy Council and the local Countryside Ranger Service. By 2008 the building was in poor condition, and was added to the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. In January 2014, an application for listed building consent was lodged, to permit repairs to the now-disused structure. In February 2014 West Dunbartonshire Council announced a programme of repairs to preserve the building.


The castle grounds feature two main pleasure gardens, one to the north of the house including rhododendrons and azaleas that reach full bloom in late May and early June. To the south is a walled garden planted with flowers and shrubs, and surrounded by the second area of ornamental planting. Between these two areas, and sweeping down to the loch shore, is an area of grassed parkland with specimen trees. The whole is framed by ornamental and semi-natural woodlands. In 2001, a £2.3-million programme of works sought to restore the castle grounds, including the reopening of lost views and improved woodland management. Funding was provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Scottish Enterprise, as well as the council.


The bridge is supported on tubular steel piles, driven into the river bed. Sand was removed from within the piles by airlifting and replaced with concrete. Out of the 50 piers, 21 piers are supported on groups of three piles (each of 2.5 m diameter) and 29 piers on groups of two piles (each of 3.15 diameter). The driving of 121 piles started on October 15, 1995, and was completed in July 1996.
The pier stems are founded on concrete pilecaps, whose shells were precast and infilled with in-situ reinforced concrete. The reinforced concrete pier stems support pierheads which contain bearings and seismic devices. These allow movement of the deck under normal loading conditions but lock in the event of an earthquake to limit overall seismic loads through the structure and minimise damage.


The main bridge deck is a multi-span precast prestressed concrete segmental structure, constructed by the balanced cantilever method.  Each cantilever has 12 segments (each 4 m long), joined to a pierhead unit (2 m long) at each pier and by an in-situ stitch at mid span. The deck is internally prestressed and of single box section. The depth of the box varies between 6.5 metres at the piers to 3.25 metres at mid-span. An expansion joint is provided every 7 spans by means of a hinge segment at approximately quarter span. The segments were precast and erected using a two-span erection gantry.


The Bangabandhu Bridge carries a dual broad and metre gauge railway track. It also carries pylons for a powerline. The extension of the bridge costed 134 million$ extra later on.


Within a decade of inauguration, cracks were detected on the bridge prompting the authorities to impose limits on the number of vehicles allowed to cross at any given time. By early 2008, the government announced its intention to sue the South Korean conglomerate Hyundai for flawed design.


During March 2006-June 2006, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology experts worked to identify the causes of extensive cracking of prestressed concrete deck, web and pear head units of almost all segments of the Bridge. The cracks were identified primarily on the longitudinal direction of the bridge deck with some secondary crackings also in the transverse
direction. In the analytical investigation, three dimensional model of the bridge was developed in finite elements methods.
Repair and strengthing effort included the replacement of modular expansion joints, strengthening the deck with carbon fiber reinforced polymer strips, web-deck connection improvement by carbon fiber reinforced fabrics and also sealing of non-structural cracks. These were conducted in phases. After repair and strengthening, performance of the bridge monitored. Health monitoring campaign was conducted by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology for first few years to take reference measurements.


WikiWeb_Bangabandhu International Conference Center_0

Bangabandhu International Conference Center formerly known as Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center is the only international conference center of Bangladesh situated at Sher-e-Bangla, Dhaka. It was designed by Beijing Institute of Architectural Designs and Research.
It has seventeen venues for holding small to large scale events, state functions, social events, seminars, conferences, product launches, annual general meetings, fairs, exhibitions, cultural programs, reality shows, etc. BICC has hosted a number of international conferences and summits over the years including 13th SAARC summit.


Bangabandhu National Stadium (Bengali: বঙ্গবন্ধু জাতীয় স্টেডিয়াম), also known as Dhaka Stadium, and formerly known as Dacca Stadium, is the national stadium and a multipurpose sports arena in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is located in the Motijheel area in the heart of the city. Since 2005 it is predominantly used for football matches and is the home of the Bangladesh national football team and Bangladesh women's national football team. The Bangabandhu National Stadium is one of the main football venues in Dhaka, together with the 25,000 capacity Bir Shreshtha Mustafa Kamal Stadium. The Bangabandhu Stadium, is well known for hosting an international friendly between Argentina and Nigeria in 2011.
The stadium has been renovated several times, most recently for the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. It had a capacity close to 55,000 before the most recent renovation, but with a new capacity of 36,000 it is still the largest stadium in Bangladesh. Its current name was given to honour Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, also known as "Bangabandhu" or "Friend of Bengal".


The Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka is the only venue in the world to have hosted an inaugural home fixture for two Test nations: Pakistan and Bangladesh.[5] India were the visitors on both occasions: in 1954–55, when Dacca was the capital of East Pakistan, and in 1976–77, when the first unofficial Test match was held between Bangladesh against the touring MCC from England. And the following year the Sri Lankan national team visited Bangladesh to play a few one-day, two-day and three-day unofficial matches against BCCB XI and Bangladesh National team. After that teams like Deccan Blues from India and MCC toured Bangladesh several times to play against BCCB XI and Bangladesh national team respectively.
Alongside cricket, the stadium was also known to host the historic Dhaka League, which was the country's premier football league even before independence of Bangladesh. In the 80s when football's popularity was skyrocketing, the Dhaka Derby attracted thousands of fans into the stadium from all over the country. The stadium was also used to host the now defunct Aga Khan Gold Cup, which by many is considered to be first organized international competition that involved club teams around Asia.
The 1978 AFC Youth Championship was the first major international tournament the stadium hosted. The stadium was also renovated for the occasion, the East Gallery was constructed and a women's gallery was arranged for the first time. The VIP gallery was also redecorated, as this was the first international football related tournament being held in Bangladesh. A total of forty games were played in the newly renovated stadium during the tournament held in October.
The stadium has a history of hosting number of historic sports event starting from cricket, football, hockey to boxing. In February 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali fought an exhibition boxing match at the stadium, the then Dacca Stadium, with a 12-year-old Bengali boy.


With a purpose-built cricket stadium being constructed on the outskirts of the city, the ground was taken out of commission at the end of the 2004–05 season, and handed over for the sole use of the Bangladesh national football team. Other than being used for the 2011 Cricket World Cup opening ceremony, the stadium has been mainly used for football purposes since the turn of the decade.

The stadium has hosted the SAFF Championship three times to date. First during the 2003 edition when Bangladesh lifted the trophy for the first time in history, in front of  46,000 local supporters. Since then the 2009 and most recently the 2018 editions of the tournament have all taken place at the stadium. Ever since the inception of the Bangladesh Premier League, in 2007, the stadium has been used has been used to host majority of the league seasons.
On 6 September 2011, Bangabandhu National Stadium hosted an international friendly football match between the full-strength Argentina and Nigeria teams, featuring Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Javier Mascherano and Mikel John Obi among the other star players of both nations. Argentina won 3–1 with goals from then-Real Madrid teammates Gonzalo Higuaín and Ángel Di María, and an own goal from Nigeria's Elderson Echiéjilé with Chinedu Obasi scoring Nigeria's lone goal. Bangladeshi referee Tayeb Shamsuzzaman officiated the game, which drew 25,000 spectators despite ticket prices starting at US$100.
On 13 November 2020, the stadium hosted the first of two matches between Bangladesh and Nepal during the Mujib Borsho Fifa International Football Series, arranged by the Bangladesh Football Federation. Bangladesh won the first game of the series 2–0, while the second game which was held four days later, finished goalless which lead the hosts to clinch the series on aggregate. The friendlies helped football return to Bangabandhu National Stadium and the country after a long absence due to the rise of COVID-19 cases worldwide.
From September 2021, the stadium went under a year-long renovation process, which has been scheduled to end in early 2023, as Bangladesh Football Federation have planned to organize future football related events on the ground, and transform it into a modernized football venue.


Currently, the stadium is used by the Bangladesh national football team and Bangladesh women's national football team and also for athletics. The stadium is also used to host the Bangladesh Football Premier League and Bangladesh Championship League games.  The total seating capacity is about 36,000.
The stadium is located next to National Hockey Stadium. The stadium was used for competitions of the 2010 South Asian Games, including football and athletics.


The venue hosted its last international cricket match on 1 March 2005. After 2005, hosting of International Cricket status was shifted to Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, which was situated in Mirpur, Dhaka.
Till 2005 the venue has hosted
Test matches – 17
One Day International – 58
T20I – 0


Field development, construction of sheds in galleries, installation of chairs in galleries, modernization of toilets for international and local players, installation of floodlights, installation of CCTV cameras, installation of generators, installation of LED giant screens, installation of new athletic tracks, installation of digital advertising boards, creation of media centers, ticket counters, Dope Test Room Building, Medical Room, VIP Box Construction, President Box, Toilet development, medical equipment, sub-station equipment, AC and solar panel supply will be the works involved in the renovation of the stadium.


Bangabandhu National Stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup co-hosted by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India on 17 February 2011. The stadium was exclusively modernised and renovated into a world class stadium to host the opening ceremony. The capacity of the stadium had been decreased to 36,000, a large LED screen had been installed, a modern roof had also been attached over the press box. The entrances and VIP box have also been upgraded to host the grand gala inaugural ceremony. The press box, along with a refreshment stand and the VIP box have been revamped. The stadium now has state of the art facilities suitable for international sporting events.


Bank Bridge (Russian: Bankovsky most, Банковский мост) is a 25 m (82 ft) long pedestrian bridge crossing the Griboedov Canal near the former Assignation Bank in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Like other bridges across the canal, the existing structure dates from 1826. The bridge engineer was Wilhelm von Traitteur, who conceived of a pedestrian separation structure suspended by cables. He was an engineer who also built other bridges over the Griboyedov Canal, Fontanka and Moika. The general management of the bridge construction was carried out by colonel E. A. Adam.
The special popularity of the bridge was gained through angular sculptures of four winged lions crowning the abutments. They were designed by sculptor Pavel Sokolov (1764–1835), who also contributed lions for Bridge of Lions and sphinxes for Egyptian Bridge. The bridge is in front of the former Assignation Bank building (now housing the Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance).
The bridge underwent numerous repairs and restorations, as well as structural modifications. In 1949 the wooden cover of the bridge was repaired, and later in 1951–1952 the wooden bearing structure of the bridge was replaced by a metal one. In 1967 and 1988 the gilding of the lions’ wings was renovated. In 1997 the sculptures and handrail lattice were restored. In 2007-2008 Griboyedov Canal Embankment from Kazan Cathedral to the Bank Bridge was renovated. Nowadays the winged lions are the symbol of St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance.
A local legend says that rubbing the paw of one of the winged lions paw will lead to great wealth.


Banpo  is an archaeological site discovered in 1953 and located in the Yellow River Valley just east of Xi'an, China. It  contains the remains of several well organized  Neolithic settlements, like Jiangzhai, carbon dated to 6700–5600 years ago. The area of 5 to 6 hectares (12 to 15 acres) is surrounded by a ditch, probably a defensive moat, 5 to 6 meters (16 to 20 ft) wide. The houses were circular, built of mud and wood with overhanging thatched roofs. They sat on low foundations. There appear to be communal burial areas.
Banpo is the type site associated with Yangshao Culture. Archaeological sites with similarities to the first phase at Banpo are considered to be part of the “Banpo phase” (5th millennium BC) of the Yangshao culture. Banpo was excavated from 1954 to 1957.
The settlement was surrounded by a moat, with the graves and pottery kilns located outside the moat perimeter. Many of the houses were semisubterranean with the floor typically 1 meter (3 ft) below the ground surface. The houses were supported by timber poles and had steeply pitched thatched roofs.
According to the Marxist paradigm of archaeology that was prevalent in the China during the time of the excavation of the site, Banpo was considered to be a matriarchal society; however, new research contradicts this claim and the Marxist paradigm is gradually being phased out in modern Chinese archaeological research. Currently, little can be said of the religious or political structure from these ruins from the archaeological evidence.
The site is now home to the Xi'an Banpo Museum, built in 1957 to preserve the archaeological collection.


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The Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Parish Church, commonly known as Banton Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the Municipality of Banton in Romblon province in the Philippines.  It is allegedly one of the oldest churches in the country, constructed between 1644-1650 during the Spanish colonial period.  The façade and tower of the present church is Modern.


According to the historical records of the Recollects, almost immediately after taking on the post of the missionaries, violent attacks were launched in Romblon by the Moros. The savage attacks of the Muslims gravely disrupted the evangelization of the first Recollect mission, Fr. Pedro de San Jose even reaching to the point of driving him to escape in mountains. When Fr. Juan de San Antonio, superior of the Recollects informed about the situation, he was determined and acted decisively to fortify the towns of Romblon and Banton (a task which would be very difficult for the missionary to undertake). The superior assigned Fr. Agustin de San Pedro to the islands to protect the lives of its Christian inhabitants. Fr. Agustin won fame for his heroic actions against the pirates and war exploits in Mindanao, which earned him a title of “EL Padre Capitan”, a famous name in Philippine history. The newly appointed priest immediately began the construction of the churches and forts of the town of Romblon and the church fortress of Banton between the years 1640-1650.
In Banton, El Padre Capitan constructed first the church and convent then the walls that encircle the complex. In every corner of the walls, he put towers for watching approaching enemies. A deep well and other important facilities were constructed for the needs of the evacuees in case there is a threat of Muslim attacks. To the north of the church, he built a watchtower on the top of Onti Hill that has a commanding view of the entire Sibuyan Sea and the exit points of the vessels from the Port of Romblon as well as the ships going toward the south of the archipelago.
Banton Church was dedicated to the patron saint of the parish, Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. The fort was named “Fuerza de San Jose” (Fort San Jose) in honor to Saint Joseph. In 1870, the details and the condition of the fortress church were mentioned in Memoria de Panay: “The fort is in the form of isosceles triangle. The walls measures 111.17 meters long, 2.08 meters thick and 4.58 meters high. On the top of the walls have 12 cannons with different calibers…”
In the field of material achievements, much had been done by the Recollects and the Bantoanons. They reconstructed the church continually due to devastating typhoons that may come and the surprise attacks of Muslims. Because of these, they paid less attention to the artistic designs of the church concentrating more on building them strong enough to hold on against whatever destructive elements to come.
In the book Sinopsis Historica, it was written: The accomplishment of El Padre Capitan is truly amazing. At one time, a fleet sailed from Jolo to attack the island of Banton, on its way; the Moros were trying to avoid passing Banton and Romblon in order to avoid a confrontation with the fighting priest. The enemy arrived on the sea craft and under the direction of El Padre Capitan, set on fire eight barges (caracoas) and with the rest of the vessels, successfully destroyed the enemy. This served as warning against future attacks. Since then, Muslim piracy in the island was eradicated.“Due to its location and because of the work of El Padre Capitan, the fortress church of Banton is a real bastion and it would be difficult to find another fort in the archipelago into which so much effort has been poured, for the purpose of depending its inhabitants. The inhabitants themselves are simple folks, actively devoted to the town of their birth and on all occasions, whether in defense against the Moros or thieves, they have always exhibited bravery.”


The Convent of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin at Micklegate Bar, York, better known as The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, is the oldest surviving Catholic convent in England, established in 1686. The laws of England at this time prohibited the foundation of Catholic convents and as a result of this, the convent was both established and operated in secret. Frances Bedingfeld, a member of the Sisters of Loreto (also known as the IBVM), signed the deeds for the land the convent was to be built upon on 5 November 1686 under the alias Frances Long.
Today, the Bar Convent is a popular York destination for tourists and offers bed and breakfast accommodation, meeting rooms, a gift shop, café and museum exhibition about the Convent's history.


The creation of the Convent was inspired, at least in part  by Sir Thomas Gascoigne, a fervent Catholic who declared "we must have a school for our daughters". Gascoigne even went as far as providing a gift of £450, part of which purchased a property on the Convent site and a boarding school, and day school, for Catholic girls was set up at the site by the nuns.
The order was a target for frequent discrimination, leading in 1694 to the incarceration of Mother Frances and her great niece in Ousebridge Gaol. They were released shortly after but two years later, in 1696, the house was attacked and severely damaged by an angry mob. The engraving of St Michael over the front door is to commemorate this, with a local legend stating that St Michael appeared over the house riding a horse and the mob, terrified, fled the scene.
The convent later came under attack from Doctor Jaques Sterne, a religious campaigner who ordered the convent be shut down and the children at the school sent home. The situation culminated in Mother Hodshon and a colleague being summoned before the Spiritual Court to answer charges of not receiving Anglican holy communion at Holy Trinity Church. The case fell apart, largely due to no service being carried out that day and was thrown out. Doctor Sterne would go on to become a staunch ally and supporter of the Convent following this incident.
Mother Bedingfeld was recalled to Germany in 1699 and the original intention was that Mary Portington would succeed her. However, a family lawsuit made it politically difficult for Portington to take the post and the role fell instead to Dorothy Bedingfield (née Baston), whose reign coincided with a period of intense poverty and this, combined with her own unpopularity, meant that her 34-year reign was turbulent.


Under Mother Ann Aspinal, the convent was expanded and rebuilt, culminating in the original property being effectively demolished and rebuilt with the order moving to a neighbouring house for two years. The foundation stone for the new house was laid on 4 March 1766 and the house was covered by December 1768. Mother Aspinal also presided over the construction of what is described in the building licence as, "A new front wall to her house". What Mother Aspinal built was an entire extra level to the house, a Georgian Facade that added an extra set of rooms to the front of the house. A copy of the licence, granted by Lord Peter Johnson, then Mayor, can be viewed in the Convent's archives.
The most significant addition to the new Convent was a Chapel. Mother Aspinal initially wanted the design to reflect Roman churches and hired Thomas Atkinson, the architect responsible for the Neo Gothic additions to Bishopthorpe Palace to do the work. However, due to the continuing hostility to Catholicism, Atkinson took the decision to modify the initial design, incorporating it into the structure of the house itself.
Instead of the dome Mother Aspinal intended, the dome was concealed beneath a slate roof, meaning it was hidden from the street. Atkinson also built eight different escape routes into the Chapel, to ensure that if the building was stormed, the worshippers would be able to escape. The Chapel was completed in 1769.
The passing of the First Catholic Repeal Act in 1778 made life easier for the Convent as it allowed them to legally practice their religion and legalised Catholic schools. This led to a new climate of religious freedom within Britain that allowed the nuns to wear the religious habit for the first time since the creation of the Convent. The passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 in turn led to the Bar Convent being granted a licence to act as a public place of worship for the first time in its history.
During the Napoleonic Wars the Convent found itself providing shelter to émigré priests from the continent. Mother Superior Catherine Rouby, the Superior at the time, also provided shelter to fugitive nuns including Carmelites from Brabant, Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre from Liège and Poor Clares from Dunkirk.
Émigré families also sent their daughters to the school and several stayed on to become nuns in the community. The conflict and its aftermath led to the Convent being cut off from the Institute of the Blessed Virgin in Germany. As a result, Mother Superior Elizabeth Coyney petitioned the Pope to have the Convent put under the authority of the Northern Vicar Apostolic, Bishop Gibson.


Mother Mary Aikenhead, foundress of the Sisters of Charity, was a novice there for three years (1812–1815). The convent was bombed during the Second World War, leading to the death of five nuns and the destruction of the East Wing.
The order continued to maintain a school on the site until 1985, when control was handed over to the Middlesbrough diocese and renamed as  All Saints School.


The main building of the Convent is three storeys tall, with an attic, facing directly onto Blossom Street. The front façade has seven bays, the central three of which stand slightly forward from the others. There are 12-pane sash windows on the ground floor. The one which is directly above the doorcase is set in a shouldered surround with a balustrade below the window and a moulded cornice above it.
At the rear of the building, there is a 3-storey 3-bay pent-roofed extension which houses a square clock tower. The tower itself is crowned with an ogee roofed open cupola and timber columns. The schoolroom block of the main building is 2 storeys tall and has a 3 bay front. The windows are once again 12 pane sashes with differences in size and moulding between the first and second floors. All the windows have flat arches of rubbed brick.


The Entrance Hall to the main building was initially built as an open courtyard but has since been enclosed and Victorian tiles added. The court has a decorative tiled floor and a glass roof supported by iron trusses which are, in turn, supported by iron columns. The court also houses a clock, designed by Henry Hindley. It was connected in around 1970 to the pediment clock on the building's frontage, on Blossom Street. The Great Parlour, which features paintings of some of the notable early sisters of the Convent, is located to the right of the ground floor and has a marble fireplace with round headed alcoves to each side.


The Bar Convent is England's oldest living convent, still home to a resident community of sisters (who belong to the Congregation of Jesus). The Grade I listed buildings were widely renovated in 2015 and now house a museum exploring the history of the convent and the community, as well as a café, meetings rooms and a guest house.


Bara Kaman is the unfinished mausoleum of Ali Adil Shah II in Bijapur, Karnataka in India.
Ali Adil Shah of the Adil Shahi dynasty wanted to build a mausoleum of unmatched architectural quality. It was planned that twelve arches would be placed vertically as well as horizontally surrounding the tomb of Ali Adil Shah. However, for unknown reasons the work on the structure was left incomplete: only two arches were raised vertically. Rumour has it that the construction of the mausoleum was stopped because once completed its shadow would touch the Gol Gombaz. Nowadays the remains of the twelve horizontally placed arches can still be seen.
The site is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Bara Kaman was built in 1672AD, by Ali Adil Shah II, and was supposed to be the burial mausoleum for the king and his wives. Bara Kaman has the tombs of Ali Adil Shah II, his wife Chand Bibi, his mistresses and his daughters.
The architect of Bara Kaman was Malik Sandal. The structure has raised walls in concentric arches. After the arches were erected, the inner arches were toppled, leaving only the outermost arch. No cement was used, instead iron rings were used to hold the stones together.


The castle was built by Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy between 1601 and 1609. In 1692, the castle was attacked during the massacre of Glencoe.
The castle fell into disrepair in the later 19th century, when Barcaldine House became the principal residence of the family. It was restored between 1897 and 1911. It was purchased in November 2009 by David Whitehead.


The castle has a bottle dungeon and two hidden passageways.
The castle offers a view of the Loch Creran and the Glen Coe mountains.
The castle has been owned since November 2009 by David Whitehead.


The ghost of Sir Duncan Campbell is said to have been spotted roaming Barcaldine, searching for the man who murdered him.


The Barcelona Pavilion (Catalan: Pavelló alemany; Spanish: Pabellón alemán; "German Pavilion"), designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. This building was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition. It is an important building in the history of modern architecture, known for its simple form and its spectacular use of extravagant materials, such as marble, red onyx and travertine. The same features of minimalism and spectacular can be applied to the furniture specifically designed for the building, including the Barcelona chair. It has inspired many important modernist buildings.


Mies and Reich were offered the commission of this building in 1928 after his successful administration of the 1927 Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart. The German Republic entrusted Mies with the artistic management and erection of not only the Barcelona Pavilion, but for the buildings for all the German sections at the 1929 International Exhibition. However, Mies had severe time constraints—he had to design the Barcelona Pavilion in less than a year—and was also dealing with uncertain economic conditions.
In the years following World War I, Germany started to turn around. The economy started to recover after the 1924 Dawes Plan. The pavilion for the International Exhibition was supposed to represent the new Weimar Germany: democratic, culturally progressive, prospering, and thoroughly pacifist; a self-portrait through architecture. The Commissioner, Georg von Schnitzler said it should give "voice to the spirit of a new era". This concept was carried out with the realization of the "Free plan" and the "Floating roof".


Mies's response to the proposal by von Schnitzler was radical. After rejecting the original site for aesthetic reasons, Mies agreed to a quiet site at the narrow side of a wide, diagonal axis, where the pavilion would still offer viewpoints and a route leading to one of the exhibition's main attractions, the Poble Espanyol.
The pavilion was to be bare, with no exhibits, leaving only the structure accompanying a single sculpture and specially-designed furniture (the Barcelona Chair). This lack of accommodation enabled Mies to treat the Pavilion as a continuous space; blurring inside and outside. "The design was predicated on an absolute distinction between structure and enclosure—a regular grid of cruciform steel columns interspersed by freely spaced planes". However, the structure was more of a hybrid style, some of these planes also acted as supports. The floor plan is very simple. The entire building rests on a plinth of travertine. A southern U-shaped enclosure, also of travertine, helps form a service annex and a large water basin. The floor slabs of the pavilion project out and over the pool—once again connecting inside and out. Another U-shaped wall on the opposite side of the site also forms a smaller water basin. This is where the statue by Georg Kolbe sits. The roof plates, relatively small, are supported by the chrome-clad, cruciform columns. This gives the impression of a hovering roof. Robin Evans said that the reflective columns appear to be struggling to hold the "floating" roof plane down, not to be bearing its weight.
Mies wanted this building to become "an ideal zone of tranquillity" for the weary visitor, who should be invited into the pavilion on the way to the next attraction. Since the pavilion lacked a real exhibition space, the building itself was to become the exhibit. The pavilion was designed to "block" any passage through the site, rather, one would have to go through the building. Visitors would enter by going up a few stairs, and due to the slightly sloped site, would leave at ground level in the direction of the Poble Espanyol. The visitors were not meant to be led in a straight line through the building, but to take continuous turnabouts. The walls not only created space, but also directed visitor's movements. This was achieved by wall surfaces being displaced against each other, running past each other, and creating a space that became narrower or wider.
Another unique feature of this building is the exotic materials Mies chooses to use. Plates of high-grade stone materials like veneers of Tinos verde antico marble and golden onyx as well as tinted glass of grey, green, white, as well as translucent glass, perform exclusively as spatial dividers.
Because this was planned as an exhibition pavilion, it was intended to exist only temporarily. The building was torn down in early 1930, not even a year after it was completed.


Between 1983 and 1986, a group of Catalan architects reconstructed the pavilion permanently, based on historical drawings and rediscovered footings on the site. The reconstruction has been a popular tourist destination, but it also has been controversial among architects, critics, and historians. Some have hailed it as a revived masterpiece, some have condemned it as a "fake," and others are ambivalent. "[T]his building is not supposed to exist," asserted Paul Goldberger at the time. During planning, Philip Johnson wondered, "The problem before us is should a dream be realized or not? We have made such a myth of that building. Shouldn’t it be left in the sacred vault of the memory bank?" Architect Lance Hosey has thoroughly documented reactions to the reconstruction, concluding that while the reconstruction is a better physical artifact, the original was an irreplaceable product of its sociopolitical context.


The Pavilion was not only a pioneer for construction forms with a fresh, disciplined understanding of space, but also for modelling new opportunities for an association of free art and architecture. Mies placed Georg Kolbe's Alba ("Dawn") in the small water basin, leaving the larger one all the more empty. The sculpture also ties into the highly reflective materials Mies used—he chose the place where these optical effects would have the strongest impact; the building offers multiple views of Alba. "From now on, in the sense of equality for juxtaposing building and visual work, sculptures were no longer to be applied retrospectively to the building, but rather to be a part of the spatial design, to help define and interpret it. To the day, one of the most notable examples is the Barcelona Pavilion".


Since the Pavilion's reconstruction in the 1980s, the Mies van der Rohe Foundation has invited leading artists and architects to temporarily alter the Pavilion. These installations and alterations, called "interventions", have kept the pavilion as a node of debate on architectural ideas and practices. The list of invited people includes architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa who added spiral acrylic interior walls, artist Ai Weiwei who refilled two pools with coffee and milk, Andrés Jaque  who revealed the pavilion's so far disregarded basement and its role in hiding the daily making of the site's experience, Enric Miralles, Antoni Muntadas who brought to the pavilion the smell of the MoMA archives where its memory is preserved and Jordi Bernadó who removed the pavilion's glass doors.


Barequeçaba (sometimes spelled Baraqueçaba) is a beach located 7 km south from the centre of the Brazilian city of São Sebastião, São Paulo, following the BR-101 highway (known as Rio-Santos) which is the main road going along the Brazilian coast from Rio de Janeiro to Santos.
The name of the beach comes from the Tupi language and means "Place of sleep of the priest" (abaré ("priest"), kera ("to sleep") and saba ("place").
Barequeçaba combines both a permanent population, and a floating tourist population that increase during the summer. The permanent population, with a large percentage of retired and elderly people ensures a range of services available on the beach during all the year, like restaurants, stores and small marinas with boats to Ilhabela.
The depth of the water at Barequeçaba drops very slowly and the waves are most of the time very weak, which makes the beach very popular among bathers and families with little children. For this reason, the fire brigade (responsible in Brazil for life guarding) has consistently assigned one staff member to guard the beach, even though other beaches have more than 10 life guards assigned.


A stone castle was built on the site of an earlier defended position from around 1095 to 1125 by Guy de Balliol.  Between 1125 and 1185 his nephew Bernard de Balliol and his son Bernard II extended the building.
In 1216 the castle was besieged by Alexander II, King of Scotland.  It was still held by the Balliol family although its ownership was disputed by the Bishops of Durham. When John Balliol was deposed as King of Scotland in 1296 the castle was passed to the Bishop of Durham.  Around 1300 Edward I granted it to the Earl of Warwick. In the 15th century the castle passed by marriage from Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick to her husband, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. In 1477 during the Wars of the Roses, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) took possession of the castle by right of his wife, Anne Neville. It became one of his favourite residences.
During the rebellion of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland, in the reign of Elizabeth, the castle, which was then the property of the crown, was garrisoned by Sir George Bowes, of Streatlam. During the Civil War, the castle was besieged by Cromwell, to whom, after a severe cannonading, the garrison surrendered. After frequent grants and reversions, the castle, lands, and appurtenances, were purchased by Sir Henry Vane, an ancestor of the Duke of Cleveland, himself a Viscount Bernard.
Sir Henry Vane the Elder, Member of Parliament and important member of Charles I household, at first his Governor, later his Treasurer, purchased Raby Castle, Barnard Castle and Estate for £18,000. He chose to make Raby his principal home and de-roofed and removed stone from Barnard Castle to repair and maintain Raby.
The castle is in the custody of English Heritage and is open to the public. Of particular interest are the ruins of the 12th-century cylindrical tower and the 14th-century Great hall and Great chamber. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1950. The remains of the medieval chapel of St Margaret in the outer ward are listed as Grade II.


In 1898, the wealthy baron Gustave Hooghmoed (whose last name is a variation on the Dutch word for hubris) is led to discover a nearby cave that is rich in gold deposits by a spirit known as the Witte Wieven ("Wise women", "Dames Blanches", "White Women" or "White ladies"); however, this spirit gives Hooghmoed the admonition that if he disturbs the gold in any way, he will suffer terrible consequences for the remainder of his life. In an attempt to circumvent the spirit's threat, Hooghmoed presses the destitute locals into working in his newly opened gold mine, where many of the workers suffer catastrophic accidents or are chased out of the cave by the "Witte Wieven" and her supernatural cohorts.
After the Baron is called out of his office to tend to an emergency in the mine shaft, mine overseer Laars will help guests into his specially designed mine elevator vehicles that are capable of traveling both vertically and horizontally. After the guests board the special mine cars, Laars and the machine shop are suddenly attacked by vengeful spirits of miners who have previously vanished under the influence of the "Witte Wieven". Before Laars's office apparently explodes, he sends the miners out of the mine; as the car ascends, a giant fireball bursts from the opening of the machine shop and almost reaches the rear car of the train. As the train is about to leave the mine, it stops as the "Witte Wieven" can be heard singing from the pit, from which smoke pours and lights can be seen. After a few seconds, the "Witte Wieven" scream, "You shall not evade my curse! Prepare to forfeit your lives!" as the miners plunge down the exit of the mine.


Guests to the Efteling theme park take on the role of one of Hooghmoed's employees; the queue begins with guests crossing an iron bridge over a creek to the mine's central offices and barracks, where guests will have an audience with the headstrong Baron who will, via an application of projections and animatronics, give his newly minted employees a brief safety lecture before sternly warning them against believing in the legend of the "Witte Wieven". Guests will move on from the office into the mine's machinery and maintenance shop to board the special mine cars. The spirits suddenly attack the cars; this effect is achieved through projection technology and animatronics (projected ghosts fly over rider's heads, and several pipes seem to burst.) As the train is about to drop off the lift, it stops as the "Witte Wieven" can be heard wailing from the pit, visually indicated by smoke. After a few seconds, the riders plunge 37.5 meters into said smoke-filled pit, and pull out into an Immelmann loop. Riders enter a zero-g roll before traveling through a fast-paced 360° Helix, quickly followed by a small bunnyhop. The final brake run follows, leading into the mine complex's equipment storage area where guests disembark.
The exit hallway is still themed and leads to a cafe named 't Melkhuisje (literally the milkhouse). This is due to a tradition in which miners would generally have a glass of milk after hours of labor work in the mines.
Baron 1898's track was fabricated in the United States, while its replica mine shaft was produced in Hungary.


The ride was well received by critics and amusement park fanatics, with praise going towards the theming and the overall quality of the ride. Dave Adams of the Theme Park Insider gave the ride a positive review stating "the Efteling has really done itself proud with this one." Minor criticisms came from the duration of the actual ride, which was much shorter than many had expected.
A negative review came from Edwin Rasser, who complained that the operating staff were cranky and uninterested.


Since the opening of the ride on July 1, 2015, Baron 1898 has been involved in 3 minor incidents.
July 5, 2015 – A software error prevented the platform from lowering, hindering the ride's operation.
July 12, 2015 – Visitors were stranded atop the lift for 45 minutes before evacuation.
July 19, 2015 – The ride spontaneously ceased to function and a faulty switch was subsequently found to be the cause. The ride resumed operation on July 21.


In November 2014 the hotel was forced to close its doors as the Syrian civil war further tightened its grip on the city.  The front line separating government and rebel forces lay just metres away from the building.  For a time the hotel restarted operations despite the gravity of the war conditions. It had reportedly also been kept open to shelter refugees who had come in from the countryside. The Baron is still standing but has sustained some war related damage from snipers and five mortars. The fate of the historical artefacts inside the building, including its giant 1917 Stephens thermometer with French script, is unknown.


Until the Second World War, during the French Mandate most of the guests were British, French or German. British agents posing as archaeologists spied on German generals, who arranged opulent banquets for their Ottoman allies while German engineers built the rail line from Berlin to Baghdad.
The second floor of the hotel has witnessed the presence of political leaders and numerous cultural icons: Lawrence of Arabia slept in room 202 (there is a copy of his unpaid bar bill displayed in the hotel); King Faisal declared Syria's independence from the balcony in room 215; Agatha Christie wrote the first part of Murder on the Orient Express in room 203. The Presidential Suite was occupied in turn by Charles de Gaulle, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syria's former President Hafez Al Assad, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (the founder of the United Arab Emirates), and the American billionaire David Rockefeller. Other notable guests include Dame Freya Stark, Julie Christie, Mr and Mrs Theodore Roosevelt, Kemal Atatürk, Lady Louise Mountbatten, Charles Lindbergh, Glenn Richer and Yuri Gagarin.


WikiWeb_Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa_0

The Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa ("Basílica Catedral", in Spanish) is located in the "Plaza de Armas" of the city of Arequipa, province of Arequipa, Peru.  It is the most important Catholic church of the city and also of the larger Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Arequipa since it is the base of the Archbishop and the Metropolitan Council. The cathedral is also considered one of Peru's most unusual and famous colonial cathedrals since the Spanish conquest.