Brussels

Brussels

By Victoria Jane Edser

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and is quickly becoming a trendy spot for holidays. there are many places that most visitors cannot imagine. with almost 90 , museums .The population in Brussels is around 1 million from September last year.
The main language in Brussels is french. The city of Brussels was officially founded in 979 by Charles, Duke of Low Lotharingia, But legends and non-confirmed stories let us think that the start of the city has to be situated at the end of the 6th century. That was when a Preacher called saint Gorik built a little chapel on a small island in the river that still is part of Brussels, but we will probably. In the 13th century a revolution takes place. After that a lazy period starts until the Queen Joan comes into power. Brussels becomes a thriving city until the end of the 14th century. But Brussels survives and starts bringing in luxury goods such as jewlery. In 1695 the grand place was bombed by french king Louis the 14^th. More then 4000 houses were destroyed as well as the grand place. In the begging of the 18^th century the austrian emporor took over. citizens riot once more but soon after they surrendered.The last foreign emperor over Brussels was the Dutch emperor William 1. He had to leave the Belgian country in 1830.After world war 2 Belgium divided into two semi independent regions Brussels then became the capital of the European Union

There is a lot to learn about the history of the city, the architecture is absolutely amazing and when I first saw Brussels I couldn't believe it, we walked into the grand place (Brussels square) I couldn't stop looking, so that is a definite first to go to.

Saint Peters In the Vatican City

For many many  century's Saint peters has been has been  the centre of the Catholic Faith , The Church has the biggest inside design for a Catholic Church in the whole world and it can fit just over 60 thousand people ,The history of this Basilica dates all the way back to just under 2000 years ago for the pope St peter, and it was also named after him ,When he was buried he was made a monument but after 300 years later the small monument was taken down and replaced by  this basilica , After more and more time the Basilica grew into a ruin and in order to help keep the basilica Pope Nicolas the 5th Ordered for it to be put under restoration and to make it bigger in the 15th century which was just over 500 years ago But the new work on the basilica didn't start until after the death of pope Nicolas the 5th so the new pope Julius the 2nd lay-ed the first stone work began and that was in 1506 , lots of artist and architects were noted and one of the most Popular and famous was Micheal Anglo  he designed lots of it , Sadly Micheal died in 1624 2 years before the basilica was finished

It has the largest dome in the  world its 138 metres into the sky, Some people don't know but you can go up the dome by elevator or walking but walking is the cheaper option  You can pay 5 Euros to use the stairs and climb up or you pay 12 Euros to take the elevator  up to a certain level and then walk  up by the stairs

The Swiss guards  at the Vatican gates protect the Sacred city  it is a very protected city because right now Pope Benedict is living there  the Swiss guards have been around for hundreds of years and the ones that guard the Vatican are the only ones  left, Some of them carry a big sword  and more experienced ones carry lots of hidden weapons .It is said that in 1AD jesus Christ Introduced the Catholic Faith,Saint peter back then was known as just Peter and he was Jesus Friend ,From Jalusilum  Peter Fled to Rome to Start up the roman Cathloic Church .he Became the first Pope.To this day there have been 265 pope in Successtion to Peter and there are Many more Popes to come and rule the Cahloic Religon,the French have Captured popes on Two Differnt Occations ,One of the Caputers was by Napoleon the First,There was Alot of Gref from the next pope after that,Even Italys King at the time Victor Emanuale and Garabaldi Had a bit of a Rough Edge with the Catholics, Infact At one Point Being Catholic was Illegal  But then the Catholic Religon came into so much Power it over took That law and it wasnt until Mousilini (1929 Presednt of Italy) came into power that People were Paid out for the Arguing Between Rome and The Vatican City

The Notre Dame

A man called Maurice de sully started construction in 1163 , The Cathedral was supposed to be build in the new Gothic style which was achieved , But had to modify that Paris was the capital of France which many people didnet  understand, The notre dame has always been the religious centre and a prototype for many other future cathedrals  to work off .It took until 1345 to finish the notre Dame kinda because the design was enlarged during construction. The result is an amazing old building  building, 128m long  with two 69 meter tall towers . The spire, which reaches 90m , was added in the 19th century . The Notre-Dame  has several large Beautiful  windows, the northern 13th century window is the most impressive.

During the french Revolution, many of the cathedral's sculptures, gargoyles and architecture
  work  was removed or demolished.

It wasn't until the 19th century before the Cathedral was fully Back to its old self  thanks to Victor Hugo,  His book  inspired,the Pre-she-ans to  realise the cathedral was worth restoring. The 20 year long construction was led by , Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Viollet-le-Duc made Intense  Alterations to the building and he was the one who added the spire. The cathedral was restored again between 1991 and 2001, This time the Notre doe was CAREFULLY preserved
every year the notre dame  gets payed millions of visits!!  in 2006 it was recorded that it god 13.7million  which works  out to be around 35 thousand people a day!!!This is the most visited French and possibly European monument.

To enter, The admission is free,
due to the size you can easily spent half an hour walking around it, To go up to the bell towers and  stand on the balcony  you do have to pay a fee and also to go see the treasures ,  The Notre dame  is  still  an Active church  for  Catholic faith  but I'm guessing with  35 thousand  a day its used most as a tourist attraction , because I'm  sure most people in the Que wernt there to pray

Now, This building was shown in the movie "Hunchback of Notre Dame" Which is just one of the resons why so many people come, There are  5 different Movies  1923, 1939,1956,1977,and 1996 they are all great , The movie Originates of Victor Huges book the Notre Dame De paris, which he wrote in 1829, he said he would finish it the same year but he was to busy,In 1830 he was told to finish it by 1831,The hunchback of Notredame is real, His skeleton was found in the northern part of Ila de la Cite in Seinen, february 15th of 2010. although he was around about 1885 nobody knows when he  died,

Bramhall Hall

The Bramall Hall is A Beautiful Tudor Style Manor house Located In Bramhall (Stockport United Kingdom) 

The hall is one of the most  grandest Black and white Tudor styled Manors In all of Cheshire

The Oldest parts of the building date  all the way back to the 14th Century, with additional changes later made introducing a more Modern Victorian style  in the 16th Century and more throughout the 19th so the additional construction started from1501 finishing in around 1850  which  was when they added the Red Brick

The  Family who Owned Bramall Hall for the longest period of time were ,The Davenports,

They were Extremely wealthy and at the time they owned lots of land in the North West Of England,
The Davenport family Owned this particular property for over 500 years and passed it down through many generations

William Davenport the 5th was lord King of the manor from 1478 to 1528 and it was said He Was Heavily involved In the Final war of the roses in Bosworth  he had inherited The Bramhall Hall in 1585 from his father which  had the same name, William the 5th lived at Bramall hall with his wife Dorothy for over 50 years. At one stage it was rented to the owner and founder of Christie Jewelry who lived there until he died

The Bramhall hall grounds are just over 70 Ace's Which is absolutely Huge  and Use  to be used in the 1500s for horse riding and Grand occasions, In the grounds there are parkland's, Woodlands, and not to mention the lakes

The Bramhall hall Has opened up a museum  and a gift shop where you can see exclusively what it was like  back in those days,Plus You can dress up Just like they did , Visitors can take a Tour or walk freely around this beautiful property. There are many weddings and functions that are now held in the ballroom and the property is run by the council

After my time in Bramhall i though it was amazing the Ballroom was beautiful. I would SO recommend going at any time of the year even if it is just to walk around the grounds

Thanks for reading

Napoleon Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte
15th August 1769-1821
South of  Corsica near the Mediterranean sea


Napoleon Bonaparte was only 9 years old when he went to military school and when he was 29 he was put up several times and then he was made commander of the French army.
After Many Wars that's had been such as the Nile war Napoleon had returned to Paris the government was in a crisis so they put Napoleon up for the job He became the first consul in 1802 and then he did a great job leading they decided to make Napoleon Consul for life, He wasn't very sure  about it but Napoleon had loved his job fighting wars and making peace and calming land he had a plan to try and clam the space of the Emperor so for 2 years he did that job until he got offered to be emperor .
Many years later Napoleon had started another war which was with Britten and soon followed Russia's  and Austria and Napoleon had many things happening at that time he had just married Josephine de Beauharnais  which he had no children with he wasn't very happy with (Joey) that's  what he called her so he had gone away to Austria hoping she would forget about him,when he came back He married the daughter of the Austrian Emperor  in hope of having a son in luck he had a little boy 1 year and 3 months later he was called Napoleon The II-2nd
Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 resulted in a terrible ending. the Russians Defeated, Paris went under and Luckily Napoleon had escaped but he still had his army he went to thirteen kilometres south of Brussels between the French and the battle of Waterloo started this time it didn't go down very well at all The had in prisend  Napoleon and thats  where he died in 5th of may 1821 On the Atlantic Remote island  St Helena

WaterLoo
For nearly 23 years of war french army lead by Napoleon Bonaparte , English armylead by Duke of wellington and leading Prussia was the General Blucher
Napoleon was very prepared for this battle the first battle was short 100 days then nobody delcleard peace and the war started again Napoleon keept pushing the boundrys and  couldnt take the time, the  enermies were preparded so when Napoleon was sleeping  which he did very rarely they Captured him with english guards fighting off the french and Prussians they managed and that was the 23 years up. everyone went back and declared peace and some people say that  Napoleon really was a great fighter for france and he was people think he is the greatest fighter that ever lived in history he calmed lots of Europe and some people thanks him for joining land and fightingsome don't but he still  is   famous in history

The Lourve Musseum

The Louvre originated  from a royal palace back in the 14Th century,when  king Louis XIV-14 decided to move to the Versailles Palace they started to put art work in, I personally have been there it is a very beautiful historic place the walls are painted and there is over 14Km To walk around
the Louvre was built in 1793 the Louvre opened up to the Public which was around the time Australia was discovered which means Australia isn't very old compared To The whole of Europe
The newest edition to the Louvre is the glass dome, some people have different Opinions about it, me  hm i don't think i like it. i liked it when it have that really awesome beautiful garden because The Louvre is a very amazing old Historical place  and they just come and introduce something modern  its just not right in a area like that. that's like putting hip hop music in a church it doesn't belong does it?
The lourve holds many famous art works that go back all the way to the 13-14-15 century such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus of Milo

Venus of Milo         The Louvre                 The Dome                           The Mona Lisa

Arch of Triumph

The Arch of Triumph  is one of the most famous landmarks  in Paris it is where the burial Of the unknown soldiers lie from world war one
It is at the end of the Camps DE Elysèes - shont a Lee zay (English)and it is a circuit starting at the Louvre where a mini  Arch of Triumph is,
It was built in 1808 by a man called Jean Chalgrin but he died soon after in 1812 so a man called  Jean-Nicolas Huyot Took  over the job
A Man Called Victor Marie Hugo Died he was a very famous Poet, Writer,Play-writer and he played music
he was buried under the arch of Triumph in 1885
Did you know its one of the biggest and busiest round abouts in the world?
Also If you cross it its like 1 step Forward 2 steps back 5 steps Forward 3 steps back and its so confusing but for those people that look there is a tunnel to go under neath which also is where you can buy tickets to up and stand on the balcony
I myself have been there its pretty cool but i saw a person walk on a grave he got told off. Its a very respectful place. So when your visiting paris go see a monument of paris see something histrocical like The arch of triumph