Beitou (北投) is a district of Taipei City at the foot of Yangmingshan (陽明山 or Yangming Mountain), a collection of mountain peaks that make up Yangminshan National Park. These include Seven Star Mountain (七星山 or Qixingshan), a dormant volcano that last erupted around 700,000 years ago.
Xinbeitou (新北投), the hot spring village around Xinbeitou MRT station, occupies a lush valley that is home to 1200 species of plants, 110 species of bird, and 160 varieties of butterflies.
Beitou Thermal Valley (also called Beitou Geothermal Valley or Hell Valley) is a second, highly acidic “green sulfur” hot spring that is a major tourist attraction in Beitou and the source of the hot creek running through Beitou Hot Spring Park.
The spring water is high in radium, which in the past underwent a corrosive reaction with the andesite rocks on the river bed about 150 meters downstream, creating layers of cream and white diamond-shaped crystals named Hokutolite or “Beitou stone”, ...
Red Square stands as the vibrant historic heart of Moscow, a vast cobblestone expanse that captures centuries of Russian power, faith, and resilience in one unforgettable setting. Flanked by the imposing red-brick walls of the Kremlin to the west, the elegant GUM department store to the east, the State Historical Museum to the north, and the whimsical silhouette of St. Basil’s Cathedral to the south, the square invites visitors to wander freely at any hour. Its open layout allows you to absorb the grandeur while imagining the parades, proclamations, and pivotal moments that unfolded here over the ages.
The star of Red Square is St. Basil’s Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat. Built in the 1550s under Ivan the Terrible to celebrate the conquest of Kazan, this masterpiece features a cluster of nine chapels unified under a single foundation, crowned by its iconic, multicolored onion domes that look almost like a fairy-tale ...
The Holy Trinity of St. Sergius refers to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, also known as the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. This is the most important monastery in the Russian Orthodox Church and serves as one of the greatest spiritual centers of Russian Orthodoxy.
Located in Sergiev Posad, about seventy kilometers northeast of Moscow, the lavra was founded around 1337 by St. Sergius of Radonezh, one of Russia’s most beloved saints, together with his brother Stephen.
St. Sergius settled in the remote forest wilderness on Makovets Hill, where the brothers built a small wooden cell and a simple chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity. As news of Sergius’s ascetic life and spiritual wisdom spread, disciples began to gather around him. The community gradually grew into a full monastery that adopted a communal monastic rule. Sergius became its first abbot, and the dedication to the Life-Giving Trinity reflected his profound emphasis on unity, love, and harmony, both in monastic life and in the broader ...
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands as one of Moscow’s most solemn and revered war memorials. Located in the picturesque Alexander Garden right beside the western Kremlin wall, near Manege Square and Red Square, it honors the millions of Soviet soldiers who perished during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945).
The memorial was created after the remains of an unidentified Soviet soldier, killed in December 1941 during the Battle of Moscow, were exhumed from a mass grave near Zelenograd, the closest point German forces advanced toward the capital. These remains were reburied with full military honors on December 3, 1966.
The monument was officially unveiled on May 8, 1967, on the eve of Victory Day celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Battle of Moscow.
The Eternal Flame at the site was lit with a torch brought from the Field of Mars in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and has burned almost continuously ever since.
Designed by a team of architects and sculptor ...
