Rocamadour, a medieval settlement in France, during the day, and at sunset. (Click on image to view full size.)

Yosemite's Firefall (please click on image to view full size). Rather than lava flowing, this is actually water that is lit up by sunlight at Horsetail Fall. This fantatic sight can only be seen for one to two weeks at the end of February, when there's still plenty of snow and the sunset is slightly hazy, but it only lasts for about 10 minutes. 



For more posts relating to Yosemite National Park, in California, please view:



zafoid.com/post/view/10440

zafoid.com/post/view/6626

Cove of Spires in Kenai Fjords National Park near Seward, Alaska — the tops of which are home to ancient Sitka spruces as well as to delicate fireweed shoots. (Click on image to view full size.)

Colonial sentry boxes, known as garitas, strung along the city walls in Old San Juan, at Puerto Rico. (Click on image to view full size.)

Hawa Mahal palace in Jaipur, within the state of Rajasthan in Northern India. Commissioned in 1799, its architecture draws in fresh air thanks to over 900 openings, thus giving rise to a constant, cooling airflow whilst expelling heat to the outside. Thence its name, which translates to 'Palace of the Winds'. (Click on image to view full size.)

Shown here is the famous 15th-century Padua tower clock (click on an image to view it at full size). It replaced the original astronomical clock, designed by Jacopo Dondi, that was installed in the tower in 1344, which was unfortunately destroyed in 1390 when Milanese and Venetian soldiers stormed Padua. Now under Venetian rule, the clock tower was reconstructed again in 1428, and a new astronomical clock, following closely upon the design of the original one, was built by Novello Dondi, a descendant of Jacopo, and inaugurated in 1437.



This 590-year-old clock has a number of interesting peculiarities, such as:



(i) Jacopo's design was based on the Ptolemaic notion that the Earth stands at the centre of the Universe. Accordingly, the white disk representing Earth stands exactly at the centre of the dial, surrounded by the Zodiac constellations, and an outermost circle of stars.



(ii) The small aperture within the innermost dial shows the current lunar phase.



(iii) The clock has a 24-hour dial, a system of timekeeping that was popular in Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries. Additionally, the clock does not have a minute hand, but only an hour hand that completes one full revolution per day. At midnight the hour hand points straight to the right, at six o'clock in the morning precisely, the hour hand points vertically downwards, at noon precisely, the hour hand points horizontally towards the left, whilst at six o'clock in the evening precisely, the hour hand points vertically upwards. The hours are represented in Roman numerals, and underneath each hour is a circular depression, which signifies the half-hour. Each hour is enclosed in a dial segment, with the segment's right edge signifying the completion of the previous hour.



(iv) There is a circular aperture at each of the four corners of the dial. Starting from the upper left aperture and moving clockwise, these apertures mark the present hour, minute, month, and day. The month is represented by the first three alphabetical letters of its Italian name, whilst the minute and calendar date are represented by Arabic numerals. The hour is represented by Roman numerals, using the 12-hour format. Interestingly, the aperture represents four o'clock as "IV", but in the dial itself four is always represented as 'IIII'.

Thick fog enveloping Brazilian and Chinese skycrapers, as well as the Paris-Barcelona bridge during its construction.



For other foggy posts in this group, please see also:



zafoid.com/post/view/12598

zafoid.com/post/view/11461

Shaped like a windmill, the Tŵr Mawr lighthouse was built in 1873 to assist in the navigation of the difficult Menai Strati. Standing ten meters high, the rugged beauty of the Tŵr Mawr lighthouse still draws visitors to this day, even though it has been decommissioned. (Click on an image to view full size.)



The lighthouse is located on Ynys Llanddwyn (Welsh for 'Llanddwyn Island'), a tidal island connected to the Welsh mainland through Newborough Beach when the tide is low, but is cut off when the tide is high. Ynys Llanddwyn has a rich history, particularly the myth of the Welsh patron saint of lovers, St. Dwynwen, from whom pilgrims sought blessings. The ruins of a 5th century church dedicated to St. Dwynwen can still be found on the island.

Glastonbury Tor is a hill in the heart of Summerland Meadows, near Glastonbury, Somerset, on which the 14th century, three-storey tower of St. Michael's Church still stands, though nothing else remains today of the church building itself, on account that everything else was demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 — that very same year when Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, together with two of his monks, Roger James and John Thorne, were hanged, drawn, and quartered at the Tor. Glastonbury Tor is steeped in ancient myth and lore, and is linked to King Arthur and the island of Avalon, amongst several other enduring mythological and spiritual associations.

Sun-kissed Brazilian beaches.



For other posts of tropical, Carribean beaches within this group, please view:



zafoid.com/post/view/11494

zafoid.com/post/view/11253