This blog hasn’t been updated for a while as I was preparing my new website. It is now (almost) ready and you can already have a look at it.

http://didier.hayem.ch

I hope you’ll enjoy!

There hasn’t been any update on this site for a while. This is because I am in the process of making a new site. As soon as it is ready, I will post a link.

As promised, but a bit late, it is time for a few pictures of Nancy’y Place Stanislas.

Brief description on the UNESCO website:

Nancy, the temporary residence of a king without a kingdom – Stanislas
Leszczynski, later to become Duke of Lorraine – is paradoxically the
oldest and most typical example of a modern capital where an
enlightened monarch proved to be sensitive to the needs of the public.
Built between 1752 and 1756 by a brilliant team led by the architect
Héré, this was a carefully conceived project that succeeded in creating
a capital that not only enhanced the sovereign’s prestige but was also
functional.

And now the pictures…

As usual, more pictures are available in the gallery…

As promised, here are a few pictures of Turku.

Let’s start with a bit of history (source: Wikipedia)…

Turku has a long history as Finland’s largest city and administrative
centre, but has, over the last two centuries, given up both titles to
Helsinki. To this day, the city’s identity stems from its status as the
oldest city in Finland and the country’s former capital. Originally,
the word ‘Finland’ referred only to the area around Turku (hence the
title, ‘Finland Proper’ for the region).

Although archaeological findings, dating back to the Stone Age, have
been discovered, Turku did not become a significant location until the
late 13th century. Its name originated from an Old East Slavic word,
tǔrgǔ, meaning “market place”. The Cathedral of Turku was consecrated
in 1300, and together with Turku Castle and the Dominican monastery
(founded in 1249), the city became the most important location in
medieval Finland.

The cathedral:

The castle:

During the Middle Ages, Turku was the seat of the Bishop of Turku (a
title later upgraded to Archbishop of Turku), covering the then eastern
Sweden (most of the present-day Finland) until the 17th century, and
the only city in Finland to trade with the Hanseatic League. Even if
Turku had no official capital status, both the Dukes and
Governors-General of Finland usually had their Finnish residences
there. In 1640, the first university in Finland, The Royal Academy of
Turku, was founded in Turku. Turku was also the meeting place for the
States of Finland in 1676. After the Finnish War, which ended when
Sweden ceded Finland to Imperial Russia at the Treaty of Hamina in
1809, Turku became briefly the official capital, but soon lost the
status to Helsinki, as Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku was too far
from Russia and too aligned with Sweden to serve as the capital of the
Grand Duchy. The change officially took place in 1812. The government
offices that remained in Turku were finally moved to the new capital
after the Great Fire of Turku, which almost completely destroyed the
city in 1827. After the fire, a new and safer city plan was drawn up by
German architect Carl Ludvig Engel, who had also designed the new
capital, Helsinki. Turku remained the largest city in Finland for
another twenty years.

The old main square:

Ferry on the river Aura:

Street views:

Market:

In 1918, a new university, the Åbo Akademi — the only Swedish-language
university in Finland — was founded in Turku. Two years later, the
Finnish-language University of Turku was founded alongside it. These
two universities are the second and third to be founded in Finland.

University buildings:

20th century Turku has been called “Finland’s gateway to the West” by
historians such as Jarmo Virmavirta. The city enjoyed good connections
with other Western European countries and cities, especially since the
1940s with Stockholm across the Gulf of Bothnia. In the 1960s, Turku
became the first Western city to sign a twinning agreement with
Leningrad in the Soviet Union, leading to greater inter-cultural
exchange and providing a new meaning to the city’s ‘gateway’ function.
After the fall of Communism in Russia, many prominent Soviets came to
Turku to study Western business practices, among them Vladimir Putin,
then Leningrad’s deputy mayor.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Turku displayed unprecedented rates of growth,
resulting in the construction of many new densely-inhabited suburbs
such as Varissuo and Runosmäki, and the annexation of many neighbouring
municipalities (e.g. Maaria and Paattinen). Many old quarters were
completely destroyed in the process, replacing them with more efficient
and faster-built concrete buildings. The city’s growth has led to
problems with unemployment in the new populous suburbs on the one hand,
and with the provision of public services (such as education) in more
remote parts on the other.

Ducks on the frozen river:

As usual, you can find more pictures in the gallery.

I’m finally back! I have been very busy lately, hence the lack of posts on this blog. I do however have a few photos to share.

I’ll start with a few pictures of Berlin. Wandering through Berlin is always nice, even if you don’t have any precise goal.

This is what is left of “Republic’s palace”

The Knut-mania is still alive:

Berlin’s new main train station:

A classic view:

The “original” Trabi-safari!

That’s it for Berlin, but pictures of Turku and Nancy should come during next week