Топик: Great Britain and Kazakhstan
In 1665 the great plague took some 75,000 lives. A great fire in Sept., 1666, lasted five days and virtually destroyed the city. Sir Christopher Wren played a large role in rebuilding the city. He designed more than 51 churches, notably the rebuilt Saint Paul's Cathedral. Much of the business as well as literary and political discussion was transacted in coffeehouses, forerunners of the modern club. Until 1750, when Westminster Bridge was opened, London Bridge, first built in the 10th cent., was the only bridge to span the Thames. Since the 18th cent. several other bridges have been constructed.
In the 19th cent. London began a period of extraordinary growth. The area of present-day Greater London had about 1.1 million people in 1801; by 1851 the population had increased to 2.7 million, and by 1901 to 6.6 million. During the Victorian era London acquired tremendous prestige as the capital of the British Empire and as a cultural and intellectual center. Britain's free political institutions and intellectual atmosphere continued to make London a haven for persons unsafe in their own countries. The Italian Giuseppe Mazzini, the Russian Alexander Herzen, and the German Karl Marx were among many politically controversial figures who lived for long periods in London.
Many buildings of central London were completely destroyed or partially damaged in air raids during World War II. These include the Guildhall (scene of the lord mayor's banquets and other public functions); No. 10 Downing Street, the British Prime Minister's residence; the Inns of Court; Westminster Hall and the Houses of Parliament; St. George's Cathedral; and many of the great halls of the ancient livery companies. Today there are numerous blocks of new office buildings and districts of apartment dwellings constructed by the government authorities. The growth of London in the 20th cent. has been extensively planned. One notable feature has been the concept of a “Green Belt” to save certain areas from intensive urban development.
2. Birmingham
Birmingham is the city and county district (1991 pop. 934,900), West Midlands, central England. The city is equidistant from Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, and London, England's main ports, and near the Black Country iron and coal deposits; it is connected to the Staffordshire mines by the Birmingham Canal, built in the 18th cent. Birmingham is Britain's second-largest city (in both area and population) and is the center of water, road, and rail transportation in the Midlands. The chief industries are the manufacture of automobiles and bicycles and their components and accessories. Other products include electrical equipment, paint, guns, and a wide variety of metal products. By the 15th cent., Birmingham was a market town with a large leather and wool trade; by the 16th cent. it was also known for its many metalworks. In the English Civil War the town was captured by the royalists. Birmingham's industrial development and population growth accelerated in the 17th and 18th cent. In 1762, Matthew Boulton and James Watt founded the Soho metalworks, where they designed and built steam engines. Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, lived for a time in Birmingham. In 1791 a mob, incensed at his radical religious and political views, burned his home. The town was enfranchised by the Reform Bill of 1832 and was incorporated in 1838. John Bright represented it in Parliament from 1857 to 1889. During the 1870s, while Joseph Chamberlain was mayor, Birmingham underwent a large program of municipal improvements, including slum clearance and the development of gas and water works. Birmingham was among the first English localities to have a municipal bank, a comprehensive water-supply system, and development planning. The area of the city was enlarged in 1891 and again in 1911 under the Greater Birmingham scheme. Birmingham was severely damaged in World War II. Subsequent rebuilding has resulted in modernization, especially of the city center. Notable buildings include the town hall, built in 1834, modeled after the temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome; the 18th-century baroque-style Cathedral of St. Philip; and the 19th-century Cathedral of St. Chad, the first Roman Catholic cathedral to be built in England after the Reformation. Bull Ring, in the center of Birmingham, is the site of the city's oldest market. The city library includes an excellent Shakespeare collection. There is a museum and art gallery (noted for its pre-Raphaelite collection) and a museum of science and industry. Annual music festivals date from 1768. In the suburb of Edgbaston are the Univ. of Birmingham and the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, a Roman Catholic shrine that was formerly the parish house of John Henry Cardinal Newman. In the center of the city is the Univ. of Aston.
3. Liverpool
Liverpool is the county district (1991 pop. 448,300), Merseyside, NW England, on the Mersey River near its mouth. It is one of Britain's largest cities. A large center for food processing (especially flour and sugar), Liverpool has a variety of industries, including the manufacture of electrical equipment, chemicals, and rubber. Its first wet dock was completed by 1715; today, Liverpool's docks are more than 7 mi (11.3 km) long. Once Britain's greatest port, Liverpool suffered extreme setbacks with the advent of container ships, which it could not handle, and the shift in Great Britain's trade focus from the United States to the European Community. The city is connected by tunnel with Birkenhead across the Mersey. Liverpool was once famous for its pottery, and its textile industry was also prosperous; however, since World War II its cotton market has declined considerably. In the mid-1980s, unemployment rose to 21% in the metropolitan area, 28% in the city, and close to 60% among people under the age of 27. In 1207, King John granted Liverpool its first charter. In 1644, during the English Civil War, Liverpool surrendered to the royalists under Prince Rupert after several sieges. Air raids during World War II caused heavy damage and casualties. Liverpool Cathedral, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, was begun in 1904 and completed in 1978. A Roman Catholic cathedral was consecrated in 1967. St. George's Hall is an imposing building in a group that includes libraries and art galleries. The Walker Gallery has a fine collection of Italian and Flemish paintings, as well as more modern works. The Univ. of Liverpool was incorporated in 1903. There is a separate school of tropical medicine. The statesman William Gladstone, the artist George Stubbs, and the members of the musical group the Beatles were born in Liverpool.
4. Manchester
Its saw mills and paper mills date from before the Revolutionary War. The city was also known for its production of grandfather clocks. Among its more contemporary manufactures are automobile parts, soap, tools, and dairy and paper products. Hartford's Bradley International Airport is located nearby. 2 City (1990 pop. 99,567), Hillsboro co., S N.H., on both sides of the Merrimack River; settled 1722, inc. as a city 1846. It is the largest city in New Hampshire. Among its various manufactures are textiles, shoes, and electrical and electronic products. The Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack provided power for the first textile mills. In 1838 textile interests founded the city and established a huge textile-manufacturing company. Until the depression of the 1930s and the moving of much of the textile industry to the south, Manchester was heavily dependent on this industry. The city is the seat of St. Anselm's College and the Currier Gallery of Art. John Stark lived and is buried in Manchester. A state park and a number of ski areas are in the vicinity.
II Sight of London
1. Westminster Palace or Houses of Parliament
Westminster Palace or Houses of Parliament is in Westminster, London. The present enormous structure, of Neo-Gothic design, was built (1840–60) by Sir Charles Barry to replace an aggregation of ancient buildings almost completely destroyed by fire in 1834. The complex served as a royal abode until the 16th cent., when it was adopted as the assembly place for the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Great Hall was built by William II at the end of the 11th cent. The superbly constructed hammer-beam roof spanning its width of 68 ft. (20.7 m), part of a subsequent rebuilding of the hall by Richard II, was the finest extant example of medieval open-timber work; it was burned by incendiary bombs in 1941. Westminster Hall was the only portion of the palace to survive intact from the fire of 1834 and now serves as the entrance of the building. In it the House of Lords, sitting as the highest English court of law, met for centuries. Among the numerous events of historic renown enacted there were the deposition of Richard II, the sentencing of Charles I, and the trials of Sir Thomas More and Warren Hastings. Damage inflicted during air raids during World War II has since been completely repaired.
2. Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is th e residence of British sovereigns from 1837, Westminster metropolitan borough, London, England, adjacent to St. James's Park. Built (1703) by the duke of Buckingham, it was purchased (1761) by George III and was remodeled (1825) by John Nash; the eastern facade was added in 1847. The great ballroom was added in 1856, and in 1913 Sir Aston Webb designed a new front. The palace has nearly 600 rooms and contains a collection of paintings, including many royal portraits, by noted artists.
3. Saint James's Palace
Saint James's Palace is in Westminster, London, England, on St. James's Street and fronting on Pall Mall. Henry VIII built the palace and established the park around it. It was the London royal residence after the burning of Whitehall in 1697 until the time of Queen Victoria. Although the palace is now seldom used except for certain ceremonials, the British court is still designated as the Court of St. James.
4. National Gallery
London, one of the permanent national art collections of Great Britain. Its building, in Greek style, stands in Trafalgar Square. It was designed and erected (1832–38) by William Wilkins and was shared for 30 years with the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1876 a new wing was added, designed by E. M. Barry. The nucleus of the collection was formed in 1824 with 38 pictures from J. J. Angerstein's collection. The gallery is rich in Italian paintings of the 15th and 16th cent. and has fine collections of French, Flemish, and Dutch masters. The National Portrait Gallery, whose collection dates from 1858, has adjoined the National Gallery since 1896. Originally controlled by the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery attained complete independence in 1955 by an act of Parliament. An extension designed by Robert Venturi was completed in the early 1990s.
5. Hyde Park
This is 615 acres (249 hectares) in Westminster borough, London, England. Once the manor of Hyde, a part of the old Westminster Abbey property, it became a deer park under Henry VIII. Races were held there in the 17th cent. In 1730, Queen Caroline had the artificial lake, the Serpentine, constructed. It curves diagonally through Hyde Park; in Kensington Gardens the lake is called the Long Water. Distinctive features of the park are Hyde Park Corner (near the Marble Arch), the meeting place of soapbox orators, and Rotten Row, a famous bridle path.
III Kazakhstan
1. Astana - The new capital
Other names for Astana include Akmola, Aqmola, Tselinograd and Akmolinsk. This city was originally founded as a fortress in 1824 and named Akmolinsk. It was renamed Tselinograd (Russian for Virgin City) during the rule of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The main reason for this name change was to promote more permanent agriculture in Northern Kazakstan during the Virgin Lands Program. The cities name was again changed in 1991 to Aqmola, when Kazakstan gained it's freedom. Because the name Aqmola sounded too much like "White Grave", Nazerbayev changed the name to Astana (literally "Capital") in 1998. Astana has been an important rail junction in Northern Kazakstan. It is located along the Ishim River and they produce agricultural machinery, chemicals and has meat-packing plants. Due to it's location in Northern Kazakstan, there is speculation, that has been officially denied, that the reason for the move of the capital to the north is to exert a more Kazak influence on the more russified Northern Kazakstan.
2. Almaty - The ”City of apples”
The “City of Apples,” Kazakhstan’s capital of Almaty -- a.k.a. Alma-Ata, from 1922-1991 -- is a thoroughly Russian city, from its foundation back in 1854, as an imperial frontier outpost, to its decidedly orderly Soviet-style architecture and street plan.
Situated near the Kyrgyzstan border at the foot of the Tian Shan ("the mountains of heaven"), a magnificent range connected with the Himalayas, Almaty is a popular destination for skiers, climbers and other mountain sports enthusiasts.