Where in the World Archives | International Travel News

El Palau de les Arts (Palace of the Arts) Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain

December 1969 Issue

El Palau de les Arts (Palace of the Arts) Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain

The location of the subject of November’s photo is in Valencia, Spain.

In what was once part of the Turia riverbed, the city fathers built a park. Starting in 1996, the park became the site of The City of Arts and Sciences, a complex of buildings dedicated to the pursuit of entertainment and culture. November’s photo depicts the most recent addition to the complex, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, a center for opera and other performing arts.

Forty-seven readers sent in correct answers, and JOE D. ROBERSON of Opelika, Alabama, won the drawing. We thank Judy Spielman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for sending in the photo.

Peace Statue in Nagasaki, Japan’s, Peace Park

December 1969 Issue

Peace Statue in Nagasaki, Japan’s, Peace Park

“. . . and let it begin with me.”

Installed in 1955, the subject of October’s photo is the Peace Statue in Nagasaki, Japan’s, Peace Park.

Nagasaki native son Seibo Kitamura created the 32-foot bronze, whose right arm points upward toward the threat of nuclear destruction while the left arm is extended in a gesture of peace. His eyes are closed in prayer for the dead, but his muscular figure symbolizes the strength needed by the living to keep the dream of peace alive.

Fifty-two readers sent in correct answers, and TOM LAHMON of Anaheim, California, won the drawing. We thank Stanley and Thomasine Elefant of San Jose, California, for contributing the photo.

17th-century palace in Gondar, Ethiopia

December 1969 Issue

17th-century palace in Gondar, Ethiopia

One of the 17th-century palaces in Gondar, Ethiopia

The subject of September’s photo can be found within the city of Gondar in Ethiopia. It is one of the 17th-century palaces in the Royal Enclosure.

For centuries, Ethiopian royalty was nomadic, living in tents and moving from place to place. In 1635, Emperor Fasiledes established Gondar as Ethiopia’s capital city, which it remained until 1855. Today, what's left of many of the royal palaces, churches and other buildings lie surrounded by the modern city.

Six readers sent in correct answers, and RICHARD WALKER of La Jolla, California, won the drawing. We thank Betty Serow of Tallahassee, Florida, for sending in the photo.

St. George by Catalan artist Josep Maria Subarichs

December 1969 Issue

St. George by Catalan artist Josep Maria Subarichs

Pilgrims have been making the trek up Our Lady’s Hill to the Shrine in Montserrat, Spain, for centuries, but it wasn’t until 1986 that the subject of August’s photo was installed near the top of the path.

It’s a sculpture of St. George by Catalan artist Josep Maria Subarichs (b. 1927). Subarichs is best known for carving the Passion Façade at Sagrada Família cathedral in Barcelona.

Five readers sent in correct answers, and LYNN SIMS of Springfield, Missouri, won the drawing.

We thank Phyllis Mueller of San Jose, California, for contributing the photo.

“Crocodile Rock” on the Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland

December 1969 Issue

“Crocodile Rock” on the Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland

The subject of July’s photo is the “Crocodile Rock,” one of the painted rocks on the Isle of Cumbrae, off the coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The croc, in Cumbrae’s only town, Millport, is not far from the pub which its creator, retired architect Robert Brown, had just visited on the day in 1913 when he decided to paint this cheerful reptile. The paint has been touched up over the years, but Brown’s original design remains intact.

Seven readers sent in the correct answer, and DAVID E. IRVING of Media, Pennsylvania, won the drawing. He added this note: “My mother emigrated to the US from Scotland. She showed me a 1944 photo snapped of her as an 8-year-old on holiday on Cumbrae in front of a funny painted rock. I forgot all about it. Sixty years later, as a travel agent, I was in Glasgow and had a free day. I took the ferry to Millport, rented a bike and, out of nowhere, came across the rock. With tears in my eyes, I asked a local to photograph me where my mother had once stood.”

We thank Janet Brenneman of Billings, Montana, for sending in the photo taken by her husband, Jim Kyle.

Invercargill Water Tower

December 1969 Issue

Invercargill Water Tower

Tanks for the memories.... When 19th-century Europeans began developing Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand, they faced the problem of supplying water to the new settlement. The area around Invercargill is very flat, so they couldn’t rely on a gravity-fed system. The solution is the subject of the June 2012 photo: the Invercargill Water Tower.

Built in 1889, the 131-foot-high tower is topped with a water tank that holds 78,459 gallons. The ornate red-brick-and-plaster cupola around the tower is considered to be a prime example of the Victorian style of decorating utilitarian structures.

Visitors used to be able to tour the inside of the tower, but as of February ’12 the tower has been closed, awaiting clearance by earthquake-safety inspectors.

Three readers sent in correct answers, and GEORGE KINGSTON of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, won the drawing. We thank Nanci Alexander of Lexington, Kentucky, for contributing the photo.

Jantar Mantar observatory in Jaipur

December 1969 Issue

Jantar Mantar observatory in Jaipur

Maharajah Jai Singh II really wanted to keep track of all things heavenly. The site of May’s photo, the Jantar Mantar observatory in Jaipur, India, is one of five astronomical facilities which he had built during his reign, 1699-1743.

Jantar mantar means “calculation instrument,” and May’s photo depicts one of the 14 stone-and-marble devices that used geometry in astronomical observations. It is the Narivalaya Yantra, an equatorial sundial.

Sixty-eight readers sent in correct answers, and SUSAN ROSENZWEIG of Owings Mills, Maryland, won the drawing. We thank Marilyn Santiago of Port Angeles, Washington, for contributing the photo.

Alyosha, granite monument on Russia's Litsa River

December 1969 Issue

Alyosha, granite monument on Russia's Litsa River

For four years, from 1941 to 1944, the Litsa River frontier in the Russian Arctic was the focus of an attempt by German forces to take Murmansk, site of a harbor crucial to the Soviets. Tens of thousands of men on both sides died during the battle. Although Murmansk, itself, was bombed into ruins, no Axis forces ever succeeded in setting foot in the city.

October 19, 1974, was the 30th anniversary of the final defeat of the German forces in the Arctic, and the subject of April’s photo was dedicated on that day in a solemn ceremony. “Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War,” aka Alyosha (a diminutive of "Aleksey"), is a 116-foot-tall granite monument standing on a 23-foot-high pedestal.

Alyosha faces west toward what during the war was known as “Death Valley” but what today is called “Valley of Glory.” The statue weighs 5,000 tons and is hollow, but, to the Russians, the victory certainly was not.

Fifteen readers sent in the correct answer, and BRENDA DOHERTY of Clifton, New Jersey, won the drawing. We thank Susan Darsey of La Selva Beach, California, for contributing the photo.

Passion Façade of Sagrada Família Cathedral

December 1969 Issue

Passion Façade of Sagrada Família Cathedral

One-hundred-and-thirty years and counting. . . . In 1883, 31-year-old architect and artist Antoni Gaudí took over a modest little project in Barcelona that had begun the year before, the subject of the photo in the March '12 issue: Sagrada Família Cathedral. (To be precise, the photo depicts the Passion Façade of the cathedral, taken from beneath the portico.)

With its multiplicity of spires, windows, façades and carved symbols (not to mention interruptions by several wars), it’s perhaps little wonder that the unique building’s construction is estimated to be only halfway completed. Fortunately, as Gaudí said, “My client (God) is not in a hurry.”

Thirty-seven readers sent in correct answers, and RICK SINDING of Princeton, New Jersey, won the drawing. We thank Judy Spielman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for contributing the photo.

Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan province, China

December 1969 Issue

Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan province, China

If you wanted to pray at the feet of this Buddha, you could have a lot of company. The subject of December’s photo, the Leshan Giant Buddha, which sits at the confluence of the Mingjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in China's Sichuan province, is the world’s largest carved-stone Buddha.

Carved out of the red-sandstone cliff between AD 713 and 803, the statue is 233 feet high and, at the shoulders, 98 feet wide. At least 100 people could stand on the tops of his feet.

Forty-three readers sent in the correct answer, and SUSAN GJERDE of Davis, California, won the drawing. We thank Willard M. Gentry of Durham, North Carolina, for contributing the photo.