Social Icons

Pages

Showing posts with label Iberian Peninsula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iberian Peninsula. Show all posts

Friday, August 12, 2011

World Best Attraction in Mexico

World Tour Guides: The best World tour places in Mexico for Entertainment is Bullring. A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World. Bullrings are often historic and culturally significant centers that bear many structural similarities to the Roman amphitheater. The classic bullring is an enclosed, roughly circular amphitheater with tiered rows of stands that surround an open central space. The open space forms the arena, a field of densely packed crushed rock that is the stage for the bullfight. Also on the ground level, the central arena is surrounded by a staging area where the bullfighters prepare and take refuge, called the alley.


The alley is separated from the arena by a wall or other structure, usually made of wood and roughly 140 cm high. The partition wall has doors for the entrance and exit of the bull and human participants, although the form, number, and placement of these doors will vary from one bullring to another. In regular places, the wall is pushed outwards leaving splits that allow the bullfighters to go in the arena and to take refuge but are too narrow for the bull. Nevertheless, on rare occasions the bull jumps the wall causing havoc in the corridor. The walls also have a type of stirrup or foothold that aids in crossing over to the central arena, and sometimes stirrups on the arena side as well; these are used mostly by event staff if they need to intervene quickly in the case of an emergency.


The arena is surrounded by climbing rows of seats. The seats are priced differently according to the position of the sun during the show, normally in the afternoon. Bullrings evolved as specialized sporting arenas hand-in-hand with the sport that demanded them. Many of the ancient Roman amphitheaters had characteristics that can be seen in the bullrings of today. In the formative years of the sport on the Iberian Peninsula, those Roman enclosures were not commonly utilized for bullfighting events. Back when bullfighting festivals were conducted principally on horseback, the spectacle was a more public affair that took place in the city's open plaza area. The primary purpose of the ring is bullfighting, but it is usually limited to some festival weeks in the year. In other times, it may be used as a concert venue as in the Rock en El ruedo tour of Miguel Rios or the live record Diamonds & Rust in the Bullring, featuring a Joan Baez concert in the Bilbao plaza. Before the diffusion of modern sports premises, bull rings were used in the Basque Country for challenges of resistance running. The public made bets on the number of laps the runner could make. No bulls were involved.


For Booking business class tickets click the Source: business class fares.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Aqueduct of Segovia

The Aqueduct of Segovia is one of the most significant and best preserved monuments left by the Romans on the Iberian Peninsula. It is the foremost symbol of Segovia, as evidenced by its presence on the cities coat of arms. As the aqueduct lacks a legible inscription, the date of construction cannot be definitively determined. The details of Aqueduct of Segovia are explained in world tour guides below. Researchers have placed it between the second half of the 1st Century CE and the early years of the 2nd Century during the reign of either Emperor Vespasian or Nerva. The beginnings of Segovia itself are likewise not definitively known. Vacceos are known to have populated the area before the Romans conquered the city. Roman troops sent to control the area, which fell within the jurisdiction of the Roman provincial court located in Clunia, stayed behind to settle there.

Aqueduct of SegoviaThe aqueduct transports waters from Fuente Fria river, situated in the nearby mountains some 17 kilometers or 10.6 miles from the city in a region known as La Acebeda. It runs another 15 kilometers or 9.3 miles before arriving in the city. The water is first gathered in a tank known as El Caseron or Big House, and is then led through a channel to a second tower known as the Casa de Aguas. There it is naturally decanted and sand settles out before the water continues its route. Next the water travels 728 meters or 0.45 miles on a one-percent grade until it is high upon the Postigo, a rocky outcropping on which the old city center, the Segovia Alcazar, was built.

The Plaza de Diaz Sanz, the structure makes an abrupt turn and heads toward Plaza Azoguejo. It is there the monument begins to display its full splendor. At its tallest, the aqueduct reaches a height of 28.5 meters or 93.5 ft, including nearly 6 meters or 19.7 ft of foundation. There are both single and double arches supported by pillars. From the point the aqueduct enters the city until it reaches Plaza de Diaz Sanz, it boasts 75 single arches and 44 double arches or 88 arches when counted individually, followed by four single arches, totalling 167 arches in all.

The construction of the aqueduct follows the principles laid out by Vitruvius as he describes in his De Architectura published in the mid-first century. The first section of the aqueduct contains 36 pointed arches, rebuilt in the 15th century to restore a portion destroyed by the Moors in 1072. The line of arches is organized in two levels, decorated simply, in which predominantly simple moulds hold the frame and provide support to the structure. On the upper level, the arches have a total width of 5.1 meters or 16.1 ft. Built in two levels, the top pillars are both shorter and narrower than those on the lower level.

The top of the structure contains the channel through which water travels, through a U-shaped hollow measuring 0.55 by 0.46 meters. The channel continuously adjusts to the base height and the topography below. The lower-level arches have an approximate width of 4.5 meters. Their pillars gradually increase in circumference size. The top of each pillar has a cross-section measuring 1.8 by 2.5 meters, while the base cross-section measures approximately 2.4 by 3 meters.

The aqueduct is built of unmortared, brick-like granite blocks. During the Roman era, each of the three tallest arches displayed a sign in bronze letters, indicating the name of its builder along with the date of construction. Today, two niches are still visible, one on each side of the aqueduct. One of them is known to have held the image of Hercules, who according to legend was founder of the city. The other niche now contains the images of the Virgen de la Fuencisla and Saint Stephen.

Aqueduct of SegoviaAqueduct of SegoviaThe first reconstruction of the aqueduct took place during the reign of the King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, known as the Reyes Catolicos or Catholic Monarchs. Don Pedro Mesa, the prior of the nearby Jeronimos del Parral monastery, led the project. A total of 36 arches were rebuilt, with great care taken not to change any of the original work or style. Later, in the 16th Century, the central niches and above-mentioned statues were placed on the structure. On 4 December, the day of Saint Barbara, who is the patron saint of artillery, the cadets of the local military academy drape the image of the Virgin in a flag.

The aqueduct is the cities most important architectural landmark. It had been kept functioning throughout the centuries and preserved in excellent condition. It provided water to Segovia, mainly to the Segovia Alcazar, until recently. During the 20th Century, the aqueduct suffered wear and tear due to pollution from heaters and automobiles. The latter used to pass below the arches. Natural erosion of the granite itself has also affected the structure through the years. Contrary to popular belief, vibrations caused by traffic do not affect the aqueduct due to its great mass. Restoration projects, supervised by architect Francisco Jurado, have been ongoing since 1997 in order to guarantee the aqueduct's survival. During the restoration, traffic has been re-routed, and Plaza Azoguejo has been converted into a pedestrian zone.