The Lion Gate, Greece

In Southern Greece “The Lion Gate” of Mycenae was the entrance to the city erected during the 13th century BC in the northwest side of the acropolis and is named after the relief sculpture of two lionesses in a heraldic pose that stands above the entrance. Atop the gate, two lions fecund are carved in stone relief. Alike bas-reliefs of two lion’s rampant facing each other are found in a number of places in Phrygia in Asia Minor. The “Lion Gate” is the sole surviving monumental piece of Mycenaean sculpture, as well as the largest sculpture in the prehistoric Aegean. Therefore, the greater part of the cyclopean wall in Mycenae, including the “Lion Gate” itself, was built during the 2nd extension of the citadel extended fortifications also included Grave Circle A, the burial place of the 16th-century BC royal families inside the city wall. Although, this grave circle was establish east of the Lion Gate, after the expansion, Mycenae could be entered by two gates, a main entrance and a postern, while the most extensive feature was unquestionably the remodeling of the main entrance to the citadel, famous as “The Lion Gate”, in the northwestern side built circa 1250 BC.

The Lion Gate was come up to by a partly natural, partly engineered ramp on a northwest-southeast axis. Because, the eastern side of the approach is flanked by the steep smooth slope of the earlier enceinte. Hence this was embellished with a new facade of conglomerate. Therefore, on the western side a rectangular bastion was erected, 49 feet long and 24 feet wide, built in pseudo-ashlar style of enormous blocks of conglomerate. Moreover the term "Cyclopean" was therefore applied to imply that the ancient structures had been built by the legendary race of giants whose culture was presumed to have preceded that of the Classical Greeks, as described in their myths. Between the wall and the bastion, the approach narrows to a small open courtyard measuring 49 feet × 24 feet, possibly serving to limit the numbers of attackers on the gate. The bastion on the right side of the gate facilitated defensive actions against the attackers' right hand side, which would normally be vulnerable as they would carry their shields on their left arms. At the end of the approach stands the Lion Gate. Read out The Lion’s Mound of Battlefield of Waterloo.

The Lion Gate is a huge and imposing construction, standing 10 feet wide and 10 feet high at the threshold. It narrows as it rises, measuring 9 feet below the lintel. The opening was closed by a double door mortised to a vertical beam that acted as a pivot around which the door revolved. The gate itself consists of two great monoliths capped with a huge lintel that measures 15×7×3 ft. Well, above the lintel, the masonry courses form a corbelled arch, leaving an opening that lightens the weight carried by the lintel. This relieving triangle is a great limestone slab on which two confronted lionesses carved in high relief stand on either sides of a central pillar. The heads of the animals were fashioned separately and are missing. The pillar, specifically, is a Minoan-type column that is placed on top of an altar-like platform that the lionesses rest their front legs on.

Furthermore the imposing gate of the citadel with the representation of the lionesses was an emblem of the Mycenaean kings and a symbol of their power to both subjects and foreigners. It also has been argued that the lionesses are a symbol of the goddess Hera. Nevertheless the Lion Gate may be compared to the gates of the Hittite Bronze Age citadel of Hattusa, in Asia Minor. Since the heads of the animals were of an unrelated material from their bodies and originally were fashioned to look toward those approaching below, a number of scholars have recommended that they were composite beasts, perhaps sphinxes, in the typical Middle Eastern tradition. Therefore, on the top of the pillar is a row of four discs, actually representing rafters supporting a further piece of sculpture that has since been lost?

The design of the gate had precedents in other remaining artworks of the time; a related design was depicted on 15th-century Minoan seals and a gem found at Mycenae. Well, several other pieces of Mycenaean artwork share the same basic pattern of two opposed animals separated by a vertical divider, such as two lambs facing a column and two sphinxes facing a sacred tree representing a deity. Beyond the gate and inside the citadel was a covered court with a small chamber, which probably functioned as a guard post. On the right, adjacent to the wall, was a building that has been identified as a granary because of the Pithoi found there enclosing carbonized wheat. The Lion Gate is popular tourist destination in Mycenae for many centuries, and it was mentioned by the ancient geographer Pausanias in the 2nd century AD. Moreover, as you walk in through the gates, there is a little compartment within the rock wall, inside the gate, which several legends believe was either a guard post or meant to keep guard dogs. The Lion Gate has become over the years the trademark of the entire archaeological site of Mycenae. In the ancient times, there was a wooden door to shut the entrance. The door opened inwards and it used to lock with a wooden bar. 

Prague’s Klementinum, The Most Beautiful Library in The World

Prague’s Klementinum library is one of most beautiful libraries in the world, and it was opened in 1722. Though, aside housing more than 20,000 books for your reading pleasure, this location showcases unquestionably spectacular Baroque architecture. As you are checking various timeworn bookshelves, you can take a moment to look up and see Jan Hiebl's heavenly, Renaissance-style ceiling paintings. Between his splendid works, there’re symbolic designs that represent the significance of education, along with fanciful portraits of Jesuit saints. Hence, Hiebl's paintings in fact pay homage to the fact that the library was formerly a Jesuit university. Several of the school's rare, 17th-century books are still amongst its collection these days. That would easily explain why Emperor Joseph II's portrait is displayed at the head of the hall, since he was the one who arranged for eliminated monastic libraries to send their books to “Klementinum”. At present, Google has numerous of these volumes in their possession because they're scanning them for Google Books. In 1777, Maria Theresa declared “Klementinum” to be a public and university library. This permitted the Prague community to observer this local treasure in person, to marvel at the globes that line the center of the library, and to study Jan Klein's intricate astronomical clocks. Source: Charismatic Planet

The Lion’s Mound of Battlefield of Waterloo

The Lion’s Mound is a big conical and artificial hill located in Braine-l’Alleud, Belgium, with a lion statue at the peak that memorializes the location on the battlefield of Waterloo where a musket ball struck William II of the Netherlands (the Prince of Orange) in the shoulder. Jean-François Van Geel (1756–1830) sculpted the model lion, which narrowly resembles the 16th-century Medici lions. It is also a memorial of the Battle of Quatre Bras, which had been fought two days earlier, on 16 June 1815. The mount is 141 feet in height and has a circumference of 1706 feet. Its volume is greater than 514,000 yd3, which far exceeds the frequent claim of 300,000 m3. These days, the surrounding area is used to cultivate beets. The hill giving a vista of the battlefield, and is the anchor point of the associated museums and taverns in the surrounding Lion’s Hamlet. Visitors who pay a fee may climb up the Mound’s 226 steps, which lead to the statue and its surrounding overlook where there are maps documenting the battle, along with observation telescopes.

The statue lion standing upon a stone-block pedestal surmounts the hill. The lion is the heraldic beast on the personal coat of arms of the monarch of The Netherlands, and symbolizes courage. At the behest of William I, the Royal Architect Charles Vander Straeten designed the monument. The engineer Jean-Baptiste Vifquain considered of it as a symbol of the Allied victory, rather than as venerating any sole individual.

The Mound's shape is that of a tumulus of the Belgae, whom Julius Caesar called the bravest of the Gallic tribes. The conic hill and its lion have become an icon of Waterloo, and these days they appear on the municipality's coat of arms. Moreover, earth from various parts of the battlefield, including the fields between “La Haye Sainte” farm and the Duke of Wellington's sunken lane, is in the huge man-made hill. Ictor Hugo, in his novel “Les Miserables”, wrote that the Duke of Wellington visited the site two years after the Mound's completion and said, they’ve altered my field of battle! The alleged remark by Wellington as described by Hugo was never documented, however. There is a legend that the foundry melted down brass from cannons that the French had left on the battlefield, in order to cast the metal lion. In fact, the foundry made nine separate partial casts in iron, and amassed those components into one statue at the monument site.

Kachaghakaberd, A Top Fortress Amazes Everybody With its Majestic Beauty

Kachaghakaberd is a mountain-top fortress in the Martakert Province of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within Azerbaijan, where it lies in the Tartar Rayon. Kachaghakaberd is translated from Armenian as magpie's fortress, a combination of the words kachaghak, designating the bird “magpie” and “berd” meaning fortress. First time it was mentioned in the 8-th century when defending against Arab invasion. It is called magpie fortress, because it was an inaccessible place, and only magpies could reach to the top of the mountain. The bare, whitish rock is like a massive heavenly stone deep in forest, and which amazes everybody with its majestic beauty becomes more poetic when looks at the whitish stone with fortress rising out of completely green forests and reaching the blue of the sky. It seemed that the nature itself took care for Kachaghakaberd fort to be impregnable.

Kachaghakaberd was an asylum for the inhabitants of the nearest villages for centuries. According to some legends that Spram princess with her daughter overcame a hard way to reach Kachaghakaberd and found there a shelter after her husband`s death. The fortress was a significant fortification of the medieval Armenian Principality of Khachen that flourished in the High Middle Ages and is situated at over 1700 meters height. Moreover it is beautifully surrounded by vertical limestone cliffs with the heights of 50 to 60 meters, has a hard-to-reach entrance from the southern side of the fortress. During its prime historical chronicles no one could ever storm the fortress, as the parts of the defensive walls remain standing. The fortress territory actually occupies a large area, though it seems very small. Therefore, several rooms, secret passages cut into the cliffs, gun slots, and distinct "loopholes" for throwing stones at enemies are inside its territory. The problem of water supply was overcome by a distinctive method: two rock-cut reservoirs to store rain and melt-water are in the center of the fortress; hence fresh water was brought from a spring at the foot of the mountain. When you look from the top of the “Kachaghakaberd” hill there is a pleasing panoramic view opens to the mountains covered with thick woods and the river Tartar running beneath.