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Emperor Gia Long ordered the construction of Hue Citadel in 1805. The vast complex is built according to the notions of fengshui or Chinese geomancy, but following the military principles of the noted 18th century French military architect Sebastien de Vauban. The result is an unusual and elegant hybrid, a Chinese-style Imperial City carefully aligned with surrounding hills, islands and waterways, but defended by massive brick walls between 6-12 metres high and 2.5 metres thick, punctuated by towers, ramparts, a massive earth glacis, and 24 Vauban-inspired bastions.<br/><br/>The entire complex was further protected by wide moats, crossed by gracefully arched stone bridges leading to ten gates, the chief of which is Cua Ngo Mon, the south-east facing ‘Meridian Gate’. To compound the exotic hybrid effect, guard posts designed as Chinese-style miradors, complete with sweeping eaves crowned by imperial dragons, surmounted each gate. Finally, directly in front of the Ngo Mon Gate, a massive brick fort 18 metres high was constructed both as an additional barrier against malign spirits, and as a defensive redoubt.<br/><br/>The area within the Citadel - in all, 520 hectares (1300 acres) - comprises three concentric enclosures, the Civic, Imperial and Forbidden Purple Cities. Access is by way of ten fortified gates, each of which is reached by a low, arched stone bridge across the moat. In imperial times a cannon would sound at 5am and 9pm to mark the opening and closing of the gates.<br/><br/>Hue was the imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty between 1802 and 1945. The tombs of several emperors lie in and around the city and along the Perfume River. Hue is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Commentary on the Apocalypse (Commentaria In Apocalypsin) was originally an eighth century work by the Spanish monk and theologian Beatus of Liébana. Today, it refers to any of the extant manuscript copies of this work, especially any of the 26 illuminated copies that have survived. It is often referred to simply as the Beatus. The historical significance of the Commentary is made even more pronounced since it included a world map, which offers a rare insight into the geographical understanding of the post-Roman world. Well-known copies include the Morgan, the Saint-Sever, the Gerona, the Osma and the Madrid (Vitr 14-1) Beatus codices.<br/><br/> Considered together, the Beatus codices are among the most important Spanish medieval manuscripts and have been the subject of extensive scholarly and antiquarian enquiry.
Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
Abu Yahya Zakariya' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (أبو يحيئ زكريا بن محمد القزويني) (born 1203 - died 1283), was a Persian physician, astronomer, geographer and proto-science fiction writer.<br/><br/> Born in the Persian town of Qazvin, he was descended from Anas ibn Malik, Zakariya' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini served as legal expert and judge (qadhi) in several localities in Persia and at Baghdad. He travelled around in Mesopotamia and Syria, and finally entered the circle patronized by the governor of Baghdad, ‘Ata-Malik Juwayni (d. 1283 CE).<br/><br/> It was to the latter that al-Qazwini dedicated his famous Arabic-language cosmography titled 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara'ib al-mawjudat عجائب المخلوقات و غرائب الموجودات ('Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing'). This treatise, frequently illustrated, was immensely popular and is preserved today in many copies. It was translated into Persian and Turkish.<br/><br/> Qazwini was also well-known for his geographical dictionary, Athar al-bilad wa-akhbar al-‘ibad اثار البلاد واخبار العباد ('Monument of Places and History of God's Bondsmen'). Both of these treatises reflect extensive reading and learning in a wide range of disciplines.<br/><br/> Al-Qazwini also wrote a futuristic proto-science fiction Arabic tale entitled Awaj bin Anfaq, about a man who travelled to Earth from a distant planet.
A Batavia market is in full swing in the shade of the coconut palm trees. Traders from Java, China, Bengal and Europe are depicted trading with locals. In the background is the fortfified Batavia Castle, the Asian headquarters of the Dutch East India Company. Through the centre flows the Ciliwung, also known as Kali Besar ('Great River').<br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money and establish colonies.<br/><br/> The VOC was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
Photograph by Ernst Haeckel, early 20th century. Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (February 16, 1834 – August 9, 1919), also written von Haeckel, was an eminent German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology, including anthropogeny, ecology, phylum, phylogeny, and the kingdom Protista. Haeckel promoted and popularized Charles Darwin's work in Germany.
Tavik Frantisek Simon (1877–1942), was a Czech painter, etcher, and woodcut artist. Although based mainly in Europe, his extensive travels took him to Morocco, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, and Japan, images of all of which appear in his artistic work. He died in Prague in 1942. Largely ignored during the Communist era in Czechoslovakia, his work has received greater attention in recent years.
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. It was an important city in central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert.<br/><br/> The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means 'the town that repels' in Amorite and 'the indomitable town' in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.<br/><br/> The Temple of Bel is an ancient stone ruin located in Palmyra, Syria. The temple, consecrated to the Semitic god Bel, worshipped at Palmyra in triad with the lunar god Aglibol and the sun god Yarhibol, formed the center of religious life in Palmyra and was dedicated in 32 CE.
The Bayon was originally the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII. The Bayon, at the centre of Angkor Thom (Great City), was established in the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII.<br/><br/> Angkor Thom, meaning ‘The Great City’, is located one mile north of Angkor Wat. It was built in the late 12th century CE by King Jayavarman VII, and covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. It is believed to have sustained a population of 80,000-150,000 people.<br/><br/> At the centre of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north.<br/><br/> Angkor Thom was established as the capital of Jayavarman VII's empire, and was the centre of his massive building programme. One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavarman as the groom and the city as his bride.<br/><br/> Angkor Thom seems not to be the first Khmer capital on the site, however, as Yasodharapura, dating from three centuries earlier, was centred slightly further northwest.<br/><br/> The last temple known to have been constructed in Angkor Thom was Mangalartha, which was dedicated in 1295. In the following centuries Angkor Thom remained the capital of a kingdom in decline until it was abandoned some time prior to 1609.
Phuket, at 810sq km Thailand's largest island, lies in the Andaman Sea just off the coast of Phang-nga Province. Joined to the mainland by a wide causeway it has developed into the most luxurious and exquisite beach resort in Thailand.<br/><br/> In centuries past Phuket was an important trading post on the eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal, handling shipping and dealing with sailors from the Arab and Malay Worlds, India, Burma (Myanmar), China and, of course, Siam. By the 16th century the island was also well known to Europeans, as first Portuguese and Dutch, then English and French sailed to its fabled shores.<br/><br/> The island enjoyed an unprecedented surge in wealth when tin was found in large quantities in the nearby shallows. Miners and businessmen flocked to the island from the provinces of south China, adding a considerable Sinitic element to the island's already mixed population.<br/><br/> It was not until around 1975, however, that Phuket's potential for tourism was finally realised. A sweep of warm, sandy beaches line the western, Andaman Coast.