The University of Oxford located in the city of Oxford is the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. The University does not have a clear date of inception. Teaching at Oxford is believed to existed in some form in 1096. There are 38 colleges at the University of Oxford and 6 Permanent Private Halls, each with its own internal structure and activities. All resident students, and most academic staff, must be members both of a college or hall, and of the university. A few famous people who studied at Oxford include: Margaret Thatcher, Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Bill Clinton.
Radcliffe Camera (Library)
A Pub & Meeting Place of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien
Galway is a city in Ireland located in the West Region and the province
of Connacht. The buildings are brightly colored and it is the most central
port on the West Coast of Ireland. Galway's Irish name, Gaillimh, originates from the Irish word gaill, meaning 'outsiders' or 'foreigners'. The city started out as a tiny fishing village at the mouth of the River Corrib and grew into an important town when the Anglo- Normans, under Richard de Burgo, captured territory from the local O'Flahertys in 1232. Its fortified walls were built from around 1270. 14 merchant families or tribes controlled the city from political, commercial and social life. These powerful, mostly English or Norman families clashed frequently with the leading Irish families of Connemara.
Coventry is a large city in the West Midlands region of England. In medieval times, the city thrived largely due to the textile and weaving trade. At the start of the Second World War, the city reestablished itself in the industry of metal-working, manufacturing automobiles, bicycles and airplane engines. Coventry was heavily bombed
by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and much of the city was destroyed.
Today Coventry is both an industrial center and a cathedral city.
Cathedral Ruins of St. Michael
Lady
Godiva was an 11th century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend,
rode naked through the streets of Coventry in an attempt to persuade her
husband to lower the taxes that were crippling the poor citizens of Coventry.
Coventry Clock Tower
The legend of peeping Tom is that of a tailor named Tom who dared to view the noblewoman Lady Godiva's ride. Lady
Godiva had instructed the townsfolk to stay indoors during her ride, everyone
did except Tom who not resist peeking at her, hence the term
"Peeping Tom."
Chester is one of England's
beautiful historic cities, located in the North West of England in the county
of Cheshire. The city became the largest port in the north west of England in
the Medieval period. The History of Chester can be dated back to the Romans who
named Chester Deva (pronounced Dewa) after the spirit of the River Dee. Roman
Chester was considered as important then as Londinium (London). The Romans
didn't just create a small fort here; they meant to stay, building a city for
their 20th Legion. The Romans built Chester as a strategic position at the center
of Roman Britain, with plans to sail from the River Dee to invade Ireland and
North Wales.
The Roman Amphitheatre ruins ruins in Chester were discovered in 1929
when a boiler room was being built underneath Dee House and a large
curved wall appeared. The Amphitheatre was built around 86 AD and could
hold an estimated 7,000 spectators. Beside the Amphitheatre stands a
shrine to Nemesis, Roman goddess of vengeance. it is the country's
largest in Britain (though only half of the structure has been
uncovered). It lies beside the Roman fort of Deva, and it served as an
entertainment center and training ground for troops stationed at the
fort.
Bath is a beautiful city located
in the south west of England in Somerset County. The city was first established
as a spa town with the Latin name Aquae Sulis by the Romans around AD 60. They
built a temple and the famous Roman Baths which have now been restored.
Archeologists suggest the springs
in Bath were used for thousands of years prior to the Romans. The springs were
popular with the Celtic people who worshiped their Goddess Sulis, and
attributed the healing waters to her powers. The Romans adopted these beliefs
seeing much in Sulis as in their own Goddess Minerva, and named the town Aquae
Sulis, building a shrine to the Goddess Sulis.
The hot mineral waters in Bath
are the only springs in England. Rain water from the Mendip Hills filters
through an underground layer of limestone in the earth. Down, down it travels
to about 14,000 feet, where by geological wonder it is then pushed back up
through the earth along fissures and cracks in the limestone rock formations to
the surface where it flows out into three springs, at a temperature of about
115 degrees.
The Circus was the masterpiece of
John Wood the Elder and is an example of Georgian architecture with fine
detailed stone carvings, which begun in 1754 and was completed in 1768. The buildings
are constructed from local stone which is a limestone comprising granular
fragments of calcium carbonate and its warm, honey coloring gives the Circus
and much of Bath its distinctive appearance.
The striking architecture has spawned numerous
theories to explain its stark originality. Viewed from the air it forms the
shape of a key, perhaps a Masonic symbol? John Wood is also thought to have taken
inspiration from the ancient standing stones of nearby Stanton Drew, Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem and the Colosseum in Rome.
