Showing posts with label Maps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maps. Show all posts

Monday, January 21, 2019

Château de Chambord


We just learned about the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Another famous palace is the Château de Chambord, built in 1547 in Chambord, France.

It was built as a hunting lodge for King Francis I, but he hardly ever stayed there.

There are four main towers around the outside, and a keep on the inside with four more towers.
The walls have many more towers going up, so looking at it from the side you can see eleven towers!
It is surrounded by a moat.
There is a very fancy double spiral staircase inside, that has one set of spiral stairs going up, and then another set going down, and they don't run into each other!

During the French Revolution in 1792, people did not like the rich or famous anymore, so they sold off all of the furniture inside, and tore down the wall panels and the flooring.

It was later used as a hospital, as storage for paintings from the Louvre during the war.
During World War II an American bomber airplane crash landed right on the lawn in front of the palace!

In the 1950s people worked to clean it up, and it is now a museum and place for people to go visit.






(from: wikipedia - château de chambord)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Yucatan

Monday, January 14, 2019

Royal Palace of Madrid


We just learned about the castle Castillo do Coca.

Another famous castle is the Royal Palace of Madrid, in Madrid Spain, built in 1735.

This palace is the home of the King and Queen of Spain.
It has 3,418 rooms, and is over a million square feet!

There are famous paintings in the palace by artists like Caravaggio and Goya, and a set of very fancy violins called Stradavarius.

Outside the palace are two large plazas called the Plaza de la Armería, and Plaza de Oriente, where there are large gardens and statues of kings.

On two other sides are the Campo del Moro Gardens, and the Sabatini Gardens.
These are larger gardens with wide open walking areas or pools.

There is also a Royal Library, Royal Pharmacy, and Royal Armory where you can go see all of the old swords and armor from the past.








(from: wikipedia - royal palace of madrid)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tabasco

Monday, January 7, 2019

Castillo de Coca


We just learned about the Alhambra.

Another famous castle is Castillo de Coca, built in 1493 in Coca, Segovia, Spain.

This castle is special because it has a type of brick work called Mudejar.

There were people living in Spain that were from another country with very different styles.
Mudejar means "allowed to stay", and it was used for people that were from another country but were allowed to stay in Spain.
While they stayed there, some of the types of castles they made back home were made in Spain just like the Castillo de Coca.

The castle has a moat and a keep, and an outside wall around the main castle.
Inside the central keep is a 82 foot tower, and walkways around the top of the walls with all sorts of defenses for the people inside to use if they were being attacked from below.





(from: wikipedia - castillo de coca)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: San Luis Potosi

Monday, December 31, 2018

Alhambra


We just learned about the Summer Palace.

Another famous castle is the Alhambra, built in 889 AD in Granada Spain.

This is the famous castle where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella met Christopher Columbus and sent him on his way to go on his trip to find America.

Poets from long ago called it a "pearl set in emeralds".
It has mountains all around it, with wildflowers and flowers around it.
The forest nearby has nightingale birds that sing at night, and many fountains around so the sounds are very relaxing.






(from: wikipedia - alhambra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sonora

Monday, December 24, 2018

Summer Palace


We just learned about the Mysore Palace.

Another famous palace is the Summer Palace, built around 1500 AD in Beijing China.

It was built little by little over hundreds of years as different buildings and islands were added, and it is now over 1 square mile.

There are three islands on the land, that were built to be like three magical mountains in the East sea.
With all of the gates, halls, towers, boats and bridges, there are over 40 different buildings to see in the palace.

All of them have special names for special reasons, like the Dragon Bridge built to honor the story of the Dragon King.
Some other nice names are The Garden of Harmonious Pleasures, the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, and the Pavilion of Precious Cloud.






(from: wikipedia - summer palace)


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Monday, December 17, 2018

Mysore Palace


We just learned about the Pena Palace.

Another famous castle is Mysore Palace, in Karnataka India in 1912 AD.

There are actually seven palaces in Mysore, but the biggest one is called Mysore Palace.

The special way the building looks is called Indo-Saracenic, which means it mixes together different construction styles, like Hindu, Mughal, Rajput and Gothic.
It is three stories high and has a 145 foot high tower.

There are three main entrances to the palace, and also many secret tunnels going between the palaces.
On top of one of the buildings is a statue of the Hindu Goddess Gajalakshmi that stands for wealth and fortune.





(from: wikipedia - mysore palace)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coahuila

Monday, December 10, 2018

Pena Palace


We just learned about the Potala Palace.

Another famous castle is Pena Palace, built in 1838 in Sintra, Portugal.

The palace started out in the 1400s as a chapel built on a hill after someone believed they saw the Virgin Mary.

Later on it was turned into a monastery for monks to live in.
In the 1700s the monastery was struck by lightning, and also destroyed by an earthquake.

After that Prince Ferdinand of Portugal took all the land and had the castle built for the royal family to stay there.





(from: wikipedia - pena palace)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sinaloa

Monday, December 3, 2018

Potala Palace


We just learned about the Forbidden City.

Another famous palace is the Potala Palace, built in 1645 AD in Tibet.

This palace is 1,300 feet by 1,150 feet wide, and the palace goes 980 feet high where it is built on top of a big hill called "Marpo Ri" which means Red Hill.
It has over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues.

The spiritual ruler of Tibet is known as the Dalai Lama, and for about 300 years the Dalai Lamas lived in this palace, until there was a war.
Now it is a museum where people can visit and go inside.

The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, which some people believe is a hidden magical mountain somewhere in India.

The main part of the palace is called the "Red Palace" where the main halls and shrines are where the Dalia Lama lived.



(from: wikipedia - potala palace)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Baja California

Monday, November 26, 2018

Forbidden City


We just learned about Westminster in Great Britain where the palace is.

Another famous palace is the Forbidden City built in 1420 AD in Beijing China.

The Forbidden City was the home of Chinese emperors and their families for almost 500 years.
It has 980 buildings with over 8,000 rooms, and covers over 180 acres of land.

It took 14 years to build, and more than a million workers.
Forbidden City is inside a larger walled city called Imperial City, which is inside a larger city called Inner City, and just south of Inner City is Outer City.

It has a 26 foot high wall around the city, with a 171 foott wide moat that is 20 feet deep.
There are towers at each of the corners of the rectangular city, and gates on each of the walls.
Inside are almost 20 different large palaces, with the biggest one being the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

All of the palaces have very nice names like Palace of Universal Happiness, and the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

The palace had some tough times during wars, but now it is taken care of by the museum owners of China.







(from: wikipedia - forbidden city)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tamaulipas

Monday, November 19, 2018

Westminster


We just learned about the Moritzburg Castle.

Another famous palace is the group of them in an area called Westminster.
This is a city within London, England that has the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.

These are all very famous places, that are just down the street from each other.

The Palace of Westminster is where the people meet that make all the laws for the United Kingdom, called Parliament.
It is on the north side of the River Thames, and was built some time around 1000 AD.
There are three large towers, and the one called Elizabeth tower has a big clock in it with a 13 ton bell called "Big Ben" that gongs for the time changes.



(from: wikipedia - palace of westminster)

Buckingham Palace is home of the royal family of the United Kingdom, like kings and queens.
It was built in 1703 AD, and has 775, art galleries and large fancy gardens.
Queen Elizabeth lives there and meets other world leaders like American presidents there.
The palace is also known for its guards who wear red coats and have big fuzzy hats.




(from: wikipedia - buckingham palace)

The two large churches are also right on the street, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.

(from: wikipedia - westminster abbey)

(from: wikipedia - westminster cathedral)


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