Greenwich
National Gallery
Aztecs (Mexica)
During the twelfth century AD the Mexica were a small and obscure tribe searching for a new homeland. Eventually they settled in the Valley of Mexico and founded their capital, Tenochtitlan, in 1345. At the beginning of the sixteenth century it was one of the largest cities in the world. Warfare was extremely important for the Mexica people and led them to conquer most of modern-day central and southern Mexico. Stone sculpture in the British Museum collection reflects the Mexica's complex religious beliefs and the large pantheon of gods they worshipped. Craftsmen also worked in gold, turquoise mosaic and feathers. Hernán Cortés and his small Spanish army arrived in 1519 and overthrew the Mexica ruler Moctezuma Xocoyotzin with relative ease. *The people and culture we know as 'Aztec' referred to themselves as the Mexica (pronounced 'Mé-shee-ka'). Image caption: Mosaic mask of Quetzalcoatl Mexica/Mixtec, 15th-16th century AD.
Hyde Park
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in London, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner. The park was the site of the Great Exhibition of 1851, for which the Crystal Palace was designed by Joseph Paxton. The park has become a traditional location for mass demonstrations. The Chartists, the Reform League, the Suffragettes and the Stop The War Coalition have all held protests in the park. Hyde Park is the largest of four parks which form a chain from the entrance of Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park (19 hectares), past the main entrance to Buckingham Palace and then on through Saint James's Park (23 hectares) to Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall. History[edit] Hyde Park c. 1833: Rotten Row is "The King's Private Road" One of the most important events to take place in the park was the Great Exhibition of 1851. Grand Entrance[edit] The Grand Entrance to Hyde Park Sites of interest[edit] Events[edit]
Winter Wonderland 2011 - Official Website
Carnaby Street
Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in the City of Westminster, London, located in the Soho district, near Oxford Street and Regent Street. It is home to numerous fashion and lifestyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques. Streets crossing, or meeting with, Carnaby Street are, from south to north, Beak Street, Broadwick Street, Kingly Court, Ganton Street, Marlborough Court, Lowndes Court, Fouberts Place, Little Marlborough Street and Great Marlborough Street. The nearest London Underground station is Oxford Circus tube station (on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines). History[edit] Irvine Sellars and other boutiques, Carnaby Street, 1968. 20th century[edit] In October 1973, the Greater London Council pedestrianised Carnaby Street. Cultural impact[edit] Carnaby Street in 2006. Carnaby Street was an already well-enough established phenomenon to be satirised by the 1967 film Smashing Time. Carnaby Street The Musical opened in 2013.
Ancient Egypt
Towards the end of the fourth millennium BC several independent city-states were unified to form a single state, marking the beginning of over 3,000 years of pharaonic civilisation in the Nile Valley. Fertile earth left behind after the yearly Nile flood provided the basis for Egypt’s agricultural prosperity, a key factor in the longevity of the civilisation. Impressive monuments were erected in the name of kings, from monumental temples for the gods to the pyramids marking the burials of rulers. The British Museum collection includes statuary and decorated architecture from throughout pharaonic history, often inscribed with hieroglyphs. Texts preserved on papyrus help reveal the complex administration of the country, but also include magical, medical and mathematical works and poetry. At certain periods, Egypt’s empire extended over neighbouring areas, from Upper Nubia to the Euphrates river.
Covent Garden
Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. Covent Garden est un quartier de Londres en Angleterre à la limite est de West End, entre St. Martin's Lane et Drury Lane. Covent Garden, avec le code postal WC2, se trouve dans les arrondissements londoniens de Westminster et Camden, et les circonscriptions législatives de Londres et de Westminster et de Holborn et St Pancras. Histoire[modifier | modifier le code] Période romaine jusqu’au XVIe siècle[modifier | modifier le code] Un village a existé dans le secteur depuis les temps romains de Londinium. Dans ce quadrilatère, l'abbaye ou le couvent de St. Ce type de bail a par la suite mené aux conflits de propriété dans tout le royaume, que le roi Henri VIII a résolu en 1540, quand il a dissous les monastères et s'est approprié leurs terres. Du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle[modifier | modifier le code] Au XXe siècle[modifier | modifier le code] Dans une tradition musicale quelque peu différente, à Neal Street, le célèbre club punk, le Roxy en 1977.
Polynesia
The islands of the eastern Pacific are known as Polynesia, from the Greek for ‘many islands’. They lie across a vast stretch of ocean from Hawaii in the north, to New Zealand in the south and Easter Island in the east. The western Polynesian islands of Fiji and Tonga were settled approximately 3,000 years ago, whilst New Zealand was settled as recently as AD1200. In the past, Polynesians were skilled navigators and canoe builders, creating double-hulled vessels capable of travelling great distances. Today, Polynesian culture continues to develop and change, partly in response to colonialism. The Polynesian collections at the Museum date back to the earliest contact with European explorers and missionaries.
Painting of the Month
He’s England’s patron saint, but little can be said with any certainty about Saint George. According to legend, Saint George was a Roman soldier who refused to recant his Christian faith, and who was subjected to brutal torture and death by the Emperor Diocletian. He was martyred in Nicomedia (in modern Turkey) and buried in Lydda (in modern Israel). Uccello depicts the scene for which Saint George is most associated - his battle with the dragon - a legend that became popular in the 13th century when recounted by Jacobus de Voragine. The legend tells of a town in Lydda, terrorised by a fearsome dragon living in a nearby lake. After trying to appease the dragon by feeding him sheep, the townsfolk were forced to offer their own people, who were chosen by lot. One day, the lot fell upon the king’s daughter. Uccello has chosen to show both the moment that George defeats the dragon (more accurately, a wyvern), and the moment when the dragon is subdued by the princess’s girdle.
