Badshahi Mosque

Badshahi Mosque

Badshahi Mosque

The Badshahi Mosque or the 'Royal Mosque' in Lahore, commissioned by the sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1671 and completed in 1673, is the second largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world. Epitomising the beauty, passion and grandeur of the Mughal era, it is Lahore's most famous landmark and a major tourist attraction.Capable of accommodating 5,000 worshippers in its main prayer hall and a further 95,000 in its courtyard and porticoes, it remained the largest mosque in the world from 1673 to 1986 (a period of 313 years), when overtaken in size by the completion of the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. Today, it remains the second largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fifth largest mosque in the world after the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca, the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina, the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca and the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.In 1993, the Government of Pakistan recommended the inclusion of the Badshahi Mosque as a World Heritage Site in UNESCO's World Heritage List, where it has been included in Pakistan's Tentative List for possible nomination to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

Badshahi Masjid at night

for more images join us on FACEBOOK

Ancient City of Petra

Ancient City of Petra

Al Khazneh or The Treasury at petra

Petra (Greek πέτρα (petra), meaning 'stone'; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ) is an Arabian historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an, that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system.

Established possibly as early as 312 BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan, as well as its most visited tourist attraction. It lies on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.

The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate Prize-winning poem by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage".

Path to Petra

Byzantine mosaic in the Byzantine Church

for more images join us on facebook

Great Pyramid of Giza

Great Pyramid of Giza

Khufu's Horizon

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.

There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contain both ascending and descending passages. The main part of the Giza complex is a setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

"The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of Giza"

There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contain both ascending and descending passages. The main part of the Giza complex is a setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.see more

"The entrance of the Pyramid"

The King's Chamber is entirely faced with granite. Above the roof, which is formed of nine slabs of stone weighing in total about 400 tons, are five compartments known as Relieving Chambers. The first four, like the King's Chamber, have flat roofs formed by the floor of the chamber above, but the final chamber has a pointed roof. Vyse suspected the presence of upper chambers when he found that he could push a long reed through a crack in the ceiling of the first chamber. From lower to upper, the chambers are known as "Davison's Chamber", "Wellington's Chamber", "Nelson's Chamber", "Lady Arbuthnot's Chamber", and "Campbell's Chamber". It is believed that the see more ...

For more images JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

PAMUKKALE, TURKEY

PAMUKKALE, TURKEY

Hierapolis-Pamukkale

Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water. It is located in Turkey's Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year.

The pools of Pamukkale

Pamukkale's terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by water from the hot springs

.In this area, there are 17 hot water springs. The water that emerges from the spring is transported to the head of the travertine terraces and deposits calcium carbonate on a section 60 to 70 meters long covering an expanse of 240 meters to 300 meters. When the water, supersaturated with calcium carbonate, reaches the surface, carbon dioxide degas from it, and calcium carbonate is deposited. The depositing continues until the carbon dioxide in the water balances the carbon dioxide in the air.

Limestone wall

Pamukkale is a tourist attraction. It is recognized as a World Heritage Site together with Hierapolis. Hierapolis-Pamukkale was made a World Heritage Site in 1988.

The underground volcanic activity which causes the hot springs also forced carbon dioxide into a cave, which was called the Plutonium meaning place of the god, Pluto. This cave was used for religious purposes by priests of Cybele, who found ways to appear immune to the suffocating gas.

Tadpoles can be found in the pools.

for more images joins us facebook "EVERYTHING AMAZING"

K2 the second highest mountain on Earth

K2 the second highest mountain on Earth

A scale comparison of the Matterhorn and K2 gives an impression of the massive size of K2.

This article is about the mountain in Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan . For the mountain in Alberta.
K2 (also known as Chhogori/Qogir, Ketu/Kechu, Savage Mountain, Mountaineer's Mountain and Mount Godwin-Austen) is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest. With a peak elevation of 8,611 m (28,251 feet), K2 is part of the Karakoram Range, and is located on the border between Baltistan, in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan, and the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China. It is more hazardous to reach K2 from the Chinese side; thus, it is mostly climbed from the Pakistani side.
K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the difficulty of ascent and the second-highest fatality rate among the "eight thousanders" for those who climb it. For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying. Unlike Annapurna, the mountain with the highest fatality-to-summit rate, K2 has never been climbed in winter.
The mountain was first surveyed by a European survey team in 1856. Thomas Montgomerie was the member of the team who designated it "K2" for being the second peak of the Karakoram range. The first serious attempt to climb K2 was undertaken in 1902 by Oscar Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley, via the Northeast ridge.
success and repeats :
An Italian expedition finally succeeded in ascending to the summit of K2 via the Abruzzi Spur on 31 July 1954. The expedition was led by Ardito Desio, although the two climbers who actually reached the top were Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni.On 9 August 1977, 23 years after the Italian expedition, Ichiro Yoshizawa led the second successful ascent to the top; with Ashraf Aman as the first native Pakistani climber.

Climbing ladders on Abruzzi Spur

Recent attempts:
More recently, on 1 August 2008, a group of climbers went missing after a large piece of ice fell during an avalanche taking out the fixed ropes on part of the route; four climbers were rescued, but 11, including Gerard McDonnell, the first Irish person to reach the summit, were confirmed dead. 2009 Despite several attempts, K2 summit was not climbed for the next two climbing seasons. 2010 On 6 August 2010, Fredrik Ericsson, who intended to ski from the summit, joined Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner on the way to the summit of K2. Ericsson fell 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and was killed. Kaltenbrunner aborted her summit attempt. 2011 On Aug 23, 2011 - around sunset a team of four climbers reached atop K2 from North side. Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became first woman to complete all 14 eight-thousanders without artificial oxygen. Kazakhs Maxut Zhumayev, Vassiliy Pivtsov completed their eight-thousanders quest. Fourth team member was Dariusz Załuski from Poland 2012 The year started with a vigorous Russian team aiming for a first winter ascent. The expedition ended on an unfortunate note with the demise of Vitaly Gorelik due to frostbite and pneumonia. Later in summer season, K2 saw the largest crowd standing its summit - a total of 28 in a single day, bringing the total for the year to 30.

The West Face and upper slopes of K2

K2 from the east, photographed during the 1909 expedition 

The north side of K2. The North Ridge is in the centre of the picture.

The west face of K2 taken from the Savoia Glacier on the 1909 expedition 

Reverse side of Pakistani 50 rupee note

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

Fingal's Cave, Scotland

Venezuela’ Dragon Falls "ANGEL FALL "

FINGAL`S CAVE 

Fingal's Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, part of a National Nature Reserve owned by the National Trust for Scotland. It is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns within a Paleocene lava flow,In all these cases, cooling on the upper and lower surfaces of the solidified lava resulted in contraction and fracturingAs cooling continued these cracks gradually extended toward the centre of the flow, forming the long hexagonal columns we see in the wave eroded cross-section today.

INNER VIEW

Its size and naturally arched roof,and the eerie sounds produced by the echoes of waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral. The cave's Gaelic name, An Uaimh Bhinn, means "the melodious cave."

ENTRANCE 

The cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea. Several local companies include a pass by the cave in sightseeing cruises from April to September. However, it is also possible to land elsewhere on the island and walk to the cave overland, where a row of fractured columns forms a walkway just above high-water level permitting exploration on foot.From the inside, the entrance seems to frame the island of Iona across the water.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK