VirtualGlobetrotting: Maps Submitted On: 2005-12-14

VirtualGlobetrotting Live View

Tallinna Lauluväljak (Tallinn Song Festival Grounds)
AlbinoFlea (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: AlbinoFlea.
Read more...
From www.laulupidu.ee:
One of Tallinn's most worthwhile places to visit is located at the foot of the Lasnamägi area of the city on Pirita Road near the sea. This place is the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds where the All-Estonian Song Festivals have been held since 1928. Also festive ceremonies, concerts, open-air performances, exhibitions, and other events take place in this vast area. In 1988 several manifestations abounding with people were organized where patriotic songs were sung and blue-black-white flags were flown after a lengthy time of them being forbidden. These summer days were later called the "singing revolution". At the end of the summer, on September 11, a huge event took place at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds entitled "The Song Of Estonia". More than 300,000 people participated, and for the first time the re-establishment of Estonia's independence was openly demanded.
Lauluväljak
The most dominant feature of the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds is the Song festival stage - the only one of its kind. The current grandstand-like sounding board structure, which holds up to 24,000 singers, was erected in place of the previous one for the 1960 All-Estonian Song Festival. The construction of the song festival stage is original and unique. The space between the point of support of the front arch is 73 meters. The back arch unites with it at the same points. In between the two arches is the concavo-convex screen made out of wooden shields, which has two convexities - a hyperboloid paraboloid. This way, all the groups of voices can be distinguished but the sound as a whole is directed out to the Song Festival Grounds.
The width of the song festival stage is 120 meters. The 43 steps of the center section rise 18 meters high. The height of the center of the front arch is 36 meters and its diameter is 2 meters. Both of the side walls of the song festival stage reach out to the towers. During the festival, radio and television broadcasts can be made from the south tower. At the top of the 42-meter-high north tower is the festival flame. The building materials of these structures include locally mixed limestone, concrete, wood, and metal. The creators of the project (A. Kotli and H. Sepmann, architects; E. Paalman, engineer; H. Laul and H. Oruvee, consultants) were successful in designing an architectural masterpiece that is whole and unique. This includes a concavity in the shape of an ellipse which is where the audience sits. This area is 200 meters in length and 175 meters in width.

Bilibino - northernmost nuclear power plant in the world
susuman (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: susuman.
Read more...
Bilibino is Russia’s only nuclear power heating plant. It also is the only NPP in the world beyond the arctic circle. The plant is quite small and safer than most soviet-era nuclear facilities in Russia, as stated by the US-State of Alaska commission who were invited to a safety examination of the site in 1993. The plant is indeed situated in the Chukotka peninsula, at the north-eastern end of Siberia, just across the Bering Straits from Alaska. The plant's goal is as much to generate heat for the local mining town as to produce electricity : this part of Oriental Siberia is said the coldest inhabited place on Earth.

Daugavgriva (Dünamünde)
AlbinoFlea (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: AlbinoFlea.
Read more...
From Wikipedia:
Daugavgriva (German: Dünamünde, Polish: Dynemunt, Russian: Ust-Dvinsk) was a strong fortress commanding the mouth of the Daugava, hence its name. Since 1959, Daugavgriva has been a district of Riga in Latvia.
The settlement was established 13 miles from Bishop Albert of Buxhoeveden's residence in Riga by Cistercian monks of Pforta in 1205. Albert's brother Dietrich was an early head of the monastery, while during the 1210s Count Bernhard II of Lippe was its abbot. During a rebellion of tribal Lithuanians in 1228, the monastery and its tombs were destroyed, although the monks rebuilt the abbey after fighting died down. They also had to endure abuse by the undisciplined crusaders of the Livonian Order. Those knights were defeated at the Battle of the Sun, however, and their remnants were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights in 1237. Until 1452 the territory of Siggelkow in Mecklenburg was owned by the monastery. In 1305, the local abbot sold the monastery to the Livonian Branch of the Teutonic Knights, who began construction of the fortress of Dünamünde.
In 1329, the knights' castle was taken by the burghers of Riga, who were forced to return it to the knights in 1435. In 1481, the knights closed the Daugava to navigation by stretching an iron chain from Dünamünde to the opposite riverbank, thus hoping to ruin Riga's trade. In retaliation the citizens of Riga captured Dünamünde and destroyed it. The knights returned to rebuild the stronghold eight years later. Because Riga itself was controlled by the Archbishops, the local administrative seat (Komturei) of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Order was located in Dünamünde.
In 1561 during the Livonian War, Dünamünde became part of Poland. In 1582 the fortress was fortified by King Stephen Bathory, who referred to it as Dynemunt. On August 1, 1608 the fortress was taken by the Swedes under Count Frederick Joachim Mansfeld, who moved it closer to a new river-bed and renamed it Neumünde ("new mouth"). As soon as Mansfeld left the Gulf of Riga for Sweden, the Neumünde contingent of 250 soldiers was routed by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The fighting continued in 1617, but the result was roughly the same. In 1621 King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden inspected Dynemunt after capturing it and ordered the fort to be completely rebuilt. The new Swedish fortress of Dünamünde, designed in a Dutch style by General Rothenburg in 1641, replaced Neumünde by 1680.
The Russians, however, under Peter I, took the fortress in the Great Northern War and reconstructed it thoroughly. A local Lutheran church was rebuilt into the Orthodox Church of the Saviour's Transfiguration in 1775. Regent Anna Leopoldovna of Russia, her husband Anthony Ulrich, and her son Ivan VI were incarcerated in Dünamünde in 1742.
Wilhelm II inspecting the fortress in 1917.
Enlarge
The Russian government renamed the fortress, where only Russian soldiers were living, to Ust-Dvinsk in 1893. They had its fortifications completely reconstructed prior to World War I. During the war Ust-Dvinsk was bombarded by the Schütte-Lanz Airship SL 7 of the German Army. After the fortress was taken by Imperial Germany, it was inspected by Emperor Wilhelm II in 1917. The Latvian government, however, demolished much of the fortifications several years later. During the Cold War Ust-Dvinsk was a base for Soviet troops. The site is now known in Latvian as Daugavgriva.

Rīgas Pils (Riga Castle)
AlbinoFlea (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: AlbinoFlea.
From www.riga.lv:
Riga castle is the symbol and home of Latvian secular authority. The Castle’s construction began in 1330 as the construction of the residence for Master of Livonian Order. Inner dissents resulted in the degradation of the previous residence, White Stone Castle, belonging to the Master of the Livonian Order, and the inhabitants of Riga were forced to build a new one. When the Master’s residence moved to Cesis in 1484, the citizens of Riga raised the castle again, and after some time it was rebuilt once again. Originally the castle was fortress-like 3 story building (convent styled construction ) with an inner courtyard and four towers. During the renovation of the castle in 1495–1515 two towers were altered, the interior was wrapped with cellule and stellar arches, above the gates were placed sculptural relief of the order’s patroness, St. Mary, and the order’s master, Valter von Pletenberg.
Rīgas pils vārti
The largest rebuilding took place in XVIII and XIX centuries. In 1783 the main structure of the castle was rebuilt, a three story construction, to serve the needs of Riga Province’s authority. In 1818 at the castle’s front the premises for the general province’s representation (known as the so called “White Hall”) were erected for governor-general of Vidzeme. In 1938 the castle’s front premises was renovated and furnished to the needs of the president of Latvia (known as the “Red Hall”). Since 1995 the President of Latvia is using the restored government’s premises. Some parts of the castle house museums and other cultural institutions.

Taum Sauk Reservoir (failed)
Parabellum (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Parabellum.
"The Taum Sauk reservoir is a pumped-storage hydro plant located in Annapolis Missouri, about two hours south of St. Louis. The reservoir generates electricity by pumping water from the lower reservoir by two reversible pump-turbine generators through 7000 feet of tunnel, 25 feet in diameter, to the upper reservoir. The water then is drained back into the lower reservoir, generating electricity. The upper reservoir covers an area of 55 acres, is 90 feet deep and holds 1.5 billion gallons of water."

Riga Hydro Power Plant (HPP)
From l-adm-8.energo.lv:
Riga HPP is the most recent of the three hydropower plants on the river Daugava. The first stage of the Daugava hydropower plants cascade was built on the island Dole, 35 km from the Daugava mouth. The construction of Riga HPP was started in 1966, the first hydroaggregate was put into operation in 1974, and in 1976 the hydropower plant was operated at full capacity. Clay and dolomite form the foundation of the hydrotechnical constructions.
Installed capacity, MW: 402
Number of hydro aggregates: 6
Maximum head, m: 18
Dam length, m: 15400
Multiple annual average flow , m3/s: 640
Water reservoir capacity , million m3: 324,6

Burlington Bay, Lake Champlain
AKpilotEMT (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: AKpilotEMT.

Tallinna Teletorn (Tallinn TV Tower)
From Wikipedia:
The Tallinn TV Tower (Tallinna teletorn) is a free-standing structure with an observation deck, built to provide better telecommunication services for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics regatta event (see Yachting at the 1980 Summer Olympics). It is located in Tallinn, Estonia. The tower has a specification height of 314 metres (1030.2 ft), some sources state 312.6 metres (1026.6 ft). Building is administered by a public company Levira (formerly Estonian Broadcasting Transmission Center Ltd) and is a member in World Federation of Great Towers.
The tower was designed by architects David Baziladze and Juri Sinis. The cornerstone was laid in September 30, 1975, and the building was inaugurated in July 11, 1980. The tower body is constructed of reinforced concrete rings 50 centimetres thick, weighing a total of 17,000 metric tons, with total weight being approximately 20,000 tons. The tower survived a fire during construction stage.
The observation deck, which was originally designed to have a rotating section, is located 170 metres above ground, and has a diameter of 38 metres. Besides stairs, it can be accessed by two express elevators, taking 45 seconds to travel to the top.

Riga International Airport (RIX)

Riga TV Tower
Google Earth just misses this in their hi-res coverage of Riga.
Friom www.rigatourism.com:
Riga TV tower is not only a technologically advanced building, it is a popular tourist attraction. At the height of 97 m there is a highest view platform in Riga. Visitors can see a beautiful view of the city, its vicinities and even the sea.

Butirka prison in Moscow
susuman (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: susuman.
While it is said that a prison existed there since the 17th century, this actual building was erected in 1876. It has hosted many political prisoners, both during tsarist and communist eras. You can read about its atmosphere during the stalinist terro in Solzhenitzin and Shalamov.

Kirov plant (formerly Putilov)
susuman (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: susuman.
The Putilov metallurgical plant was the biggest factory in Russia, if not the world, at the beginning of the 20th century, and a stronghold of the workers movement during the 1905 and 1917 revolutions. The Bolsheviks had it renamed "Krasniy Putilovets Zavod" ( Red workers of Putilov Plant ), then Kirov Plant, after the assassination of bolshevik leader Sergeï Kirov, in 1934. It still produces electric turbines and railway materials.

Airplanes on Static Display at at the Soviet Aviation Museum (Aviâcijas muzejs)
From www.inyourpocket.com:
If you're a fan of Tom Clancy novels or the Cold War in general, then this little known museum located to the right of the airport terminal is a must see when in Riga. Walk among Soviet helicopters and planes of varying age and size and if you're lucky maybe the owner of the museum will even fire up one of the engines if he has the fuel. Sorry, the aircraft are currently only for viewing, not for flying. Definitely call ahead before going. If it's closed, you can still take a peek at it over the wall.
And from www.rigathisweek.lv:
One of the richest collections in Eastern Europe, the museum has war, passenger, sports and training planes and helicopters. You can see almost all the models of the famous Soviet MIGs, among them the world's fastest war plane MIG25.
Also some ground level shots at www.travel-images.com and also at www.airliners.net.

Riversdale Mansion
From www.pgparks.com:
Riversdale, a National Historic Landmark, is a restored, five-part, stucco-covered brick plantation home built between 1801 and 1807. Construction of this elegant manor house was begun by Henri Stier, a Flemish aristocrat, and was completed by his daughter Rosalie and her husband George Calvert, grandson of the fifth Lord Baltimore. The Federal style mansion has particularly fine interior decorative detail. Numerous nationally significant figures later lived there. The site is also home to a museum shop.
The museum is open to the public for docent-guided tours and for a variety of special events. It may also be rented for weddings, receptions, luncheons, and business meetings for groups of up to 75. The Riversdale Historical Society, a volunteer organization, works with staff from The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to preserve the cultural heritage of Riversdale and maintain the mansion as an historic house.

Brīvības Piemineklis (Freedom Monument)
From www.endex.com:
This monument is located in downtown Riga, Latvia, Brìvìbas street, dedicated "To Fatherland and Freedom".
The Monument was executed by Kârlis Zâle (1888-1942), a well-known Latvian sculptor. Ernests Shtalbergs was the architect . The 42 meter high monument is topped by a Liberty Statue - a woman with three stars symbolizing regional parts of Latvia: Kurzeme, Vidzeme and Latgale. At the base of the monument are several sculptural groups symbolizing different values - Labor, Strength of the Nation, Spiritual Strength, Freedom, Family; relief on the lowest block represents historical events.
The Freedom Monument was unveiled in 1935 during Latvia's brief period of independence between the wars. Known locally as Milda, it was a powerful symbol of anti-Soviet resistance serving as the focus of gatherings in the late 1980's during early stages of the drive for independence. It is puzzling why the Soviets did not tear it down, but certainly the natives' predictable wrath was a deterent. Now it is a shrine to national independence.
People still bring flowers to the monument which are tended to by the city's elderly women. During the Soviet era, a running joke, not completely untrue, was that the monument was a travel agency, because anyone who dared place flowers at its base got a free, one-way ticket to faraway Siberia.

Latvijas Nacionālais Mākslas Muzejs (Latvian National Museum of Art)
From www.muzeji.lv:
The collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art illustrates the nation's history of applied arts from the mid 18th century up to 1945. Works of Latvian artists are exhibited alongside a significant collection of German Balts and also the largest collection of Russian art work in the Baltic States (16th -20th centuries).
The museum building was erected from 1903-1905 and was leased to the Riga City Art Museum and the Society for the Promotion of Art. It is an impressive turn of the century example of academic architecture designed by the museum's first director Wilhelm Neumann. Latvian art was actively collected in the 1920s-1930s, when the director of the museum was the distinguished Latvian painter Professor Vilhelms Purvitis. The museum occupies two floors. The ground floor houses the collection of Baltic painting from the mid 18th century - mid 19th century. A broad chronological account of the development of Latvian professional art from the mid 19th century - 1945 is presented on the second floor. Notable Russian artists with works on show include Nikolaj Rerih.
The museum houses a temporary exhibition hall, which presents about ten exhibitions each year, including displays of prominent Latvian contemporary artists, Latvian art classics, thematic and conceptual displays and international touring exhibitions.

Melngalvju Nams (Blackhead's House)
Unfortunately partially obscured by clouds...
From www.rigatourism.com:
The origins of this structure date back to the 14th century, when a building was put up for the needs of city officials and tradesmen. The so-called Blackheads Society, whose patron was St. Mauritius, took over the building in the 15th century, although the name “Blackheads House” dates back only to 1687. In 1713, the society won full ownership rights to the building. It once contained one of the world’s richest collections of silver objects. The building was destroyed during World War II, but on June 29, 1995, the foundations for the structure that is seen today were laid. A memorial capsule was inserted into the foundations. Work on the restoration was completed in 1999.

Magadan
Magadan, the capital of the Kolyma Gulag. This port on the Pacific coast of Russia was founded in the 1930s as the only gateway to the Kolyma Gulag camps. After they had served their sentences, people were not allowed to return to the "continent", but forced to remain in the Kolyma region, mainly at Magadan. The actual inhabitants of the city often have parents who are former victims of the stalinist Gulag system, when not themselves.

Helicopters on Static Display at the Soviet Aviation Museum (Aviâcijas muzejs)
From www.inyourpocket.com:
If you're a fan of Tom Clancy novels or the Cold War in general, then this little known museum located to the right of the airport terminal is a must see when in Riga. Walk among Soviet helicopters and planes of varying age and size and if you're lucky maybe the owner of the museum will even fire up one of the engines if he has the fuel. Sorry, the aircraft are currently only for viewing, not for flying. Definitely call ahead before going. If it's closed, you can still take a peek at it over the wall.
And from www.rigathisweek.lv:
One of the richest collections in Eastern Europe, the museum has war, passenger, sports and training planes and helicopters. You can see almost all the models of the famous Soviet MIGs, among them the world's fastest war plane MIG25.
Also some ground level shots at www.travel-images.com and also at www.airliners.net.

Shelburne Bay, Lake Champlain
AKpilotEMT (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: AKpilotEMT.

Russalka Monument
From www.inyourpocket.com:
This striking sculpture of an angel facing out into the sea horizon is a memorial to the 177 men of the Russalka, a Russian military ship that tragically sunk while en route to Helsinki in 1893. The monument has become a famous Tallinn landmark, and a traditional spot for Russian couples to lay flowers on their wedding day. Earlier this year Estonian marine archeologists made news by located the wreck of the Russalka, which was about 25km south of Helsinki.

Centrāltirgus (Central Market)
From www.riga.lv:
The Central Market in Riga (1924-1930, architects P. Dreijmanis and P. Pavlovs, engineers V. Isajevs and G. Tolstojs) is a grandiose complex, which includes five pavilions with the total area of 16000 m2.
Centrālais tirgus
It was one of the most significant constructions in the 20-ies. The market pavilion is founded on the constructions of hangars for zeppelins (metal arboraceous framework), which after World War I came into the ownership of the city. The planning and functional disposition of the market complex, which is included in the city landscape, is successful. Four pavilions are located in a row, and the fifth is perpendicular to them. The last was planned for wholesale trade. The idea about leading a railway branch-line to the pavilions has not been realized, unfortunately, completely. Under the pavilions there were spacious cellars built with tunnel exits leading to the city canal. Thereby, delivery of goods was organized on the underground level and would not disturb the trade and traffic. In the architecture of the market a rationalistic manner of decoration, as well as influence of the neoclassicism are felt. The design, of course, largely determined the form of the construction, but only the most significant parts, considering the economic character of the building, could be thoroughly emphasized by interpreting the Art-Deco forms.

Pareizticīgo Katedrāle (Orthodox Cathedral)
Built between 1876 and 1884, this church was turned into a planetarium during the Soviet era, and Latvians still often refer to it as the planetārijs. They ask that all 'brothers and sisters' donate to the reconstruction of the interior of the building which was destroyed by the Soviets so that comrades might look to the heavens to spot Sputnik in place of God.

Juniper Island
AKpilotEMT (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: AKpilotEMT.
In Lake Champlain just over three miles from Burlington's waterfront.

Shelburne Peninsula

Boats in Shelburne Bay

Mangalsala Beacon
From www.unc.edu/~rowlett:
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 12 m (39 ft); red flash every 3 s. 7 m (24 ft) cylindrical tower with a small gallery but no lantern, painted red. A photo is available. Located at the end of the east mole at the Daugava River entrance, opposite the Daugavgriva lighthouse. Apparently accessible by walking the mole. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty C3529; NGA 12288.

Sled Runner Point

Sv. Pētera Baznica (St. Peter's Cathedral)
From www.riga.lv:
Peter’s Cathedral used to be the main cathedral during the middle ages for the inhabitants of Riga, and it has belonged to the citizens of Riga since the very beginning. The church congregation mainly consisted of privileged large guild merchants and craftsmen of smaller guilds. The first time St. Peter’s cathedral was mentioned in 1209. Its oldest section, currently the central area, which used to be the altar area, built in 1408–1409 – conforms to Gothic style. The cathedral has been rebuilt and enlarged several times. In the latter half of the 15th century, the cathedral acquired its three-dimensional basilica look. In 1491 the tower was built upon the cathedral, and although it collapsed several times, it was always rebuilt.
In 1666 the tower collapsed, in 1677 it was recovered, but in the same year it was destroyed by fire. In 1690 it was rebuilt again. At that time the 64.5 m high steeple was the highest wooden structure in the world. In 1721 lightning hit the tower and it was destroyed again (reportedly, the Russian tsar Peter I, who at that time was in Riga, took part in extinguishing the fire). This time the renewed tower stayed intact by 1746. During World War II on 29 June 1941 artillery projectiles, which hit the cathedral, inflamed it, and as the cathedral burned the tower collapsed. The tower was resurrected in 1973, but the cathedral’s restoration was completed in 1984. Now there is an elevator built in the tower, which takes visitors to tower’s second gallery located on 72 m height to enjoy the city panorama.

Orchard Point

United States Embassy in Latvia

Daugavgriva Lighthouse
From www.unc.edu/~rowlett:
About 1950 (station established 1813). Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); white flash every 2.5 s. 35 m (155 ft) cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, painted with black and white horizontal bands; lantern painted black with a red roof. Latvia's oldest light station is the landfall light for Riga, the nation's capital and principal seaport. The original lighthouse was replaced in 1863; the second and third lighthouses were destroyed in World Wars I and II, respectively. Located on the west side of the entrance to the Daugava River and Riga harbor. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty C3526; NGA 12272.

Vanšu Tilts (Vanšu Bridge)

Shelburne Shipyard
In Continuous Operation Since 1826.