New york photo

The City of New York, most often called New York City, is the most populous city in the United States, in a metropolitan area that ranks among the world's most-populous urban areas. It is a leading global city, exerting a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, and entertainment. The city is also an important center for international affairs, hosting the United Nations headquarters.

Located on the Atlantic coast of the Northeastern United States, the city consists of five distinct boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. It is the most densely populated major city in the United States, with an estimated 8,274,527 people[1] occupying just under 305 square miles (790 km2).[2][3][4][5][6] The New York metropolitan area's population is also the nation's highest, estimated at 19,750,000 people over 6,720 square miles (17,400 km2) in three states.[7]

New York is largely unique among American cities for its high use of mass transit, and the overall density and diversity of its population. In 2005, nearly 170 languages were spoken in the city and 36% of its population was born outside the United States.[8][9] The city is sometimes referred to as "The City That Never Sleeps" due to its extensive 24-hour subway system and constant bustling of traffic and people, while other nicknames include Gotham and the Big Apple.[10][11]

Founded as a commercial trading post by the Dutch in 1624, it served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790,[12] and has been the nation's largest city since 1790. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wall Street, in Lower Manhattan, has been a dominant global financial center since World War II and is home to the New York Stock Exchange. Today, the city has many renowned landmarks and neighborhoods that are world famous. The city has been home to several of the tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building and the twin towers of the former World Trade Center.

New York is the birthplace of many cultural movements, including the Harlem Renaissance in literature and visual art, abstract expressionism (also known as the New York School) in painting, and hip hop,[13] punk,[14] salsa, disco and Tin Pan Alley in music. It is also the home of Broadway theater.

free holiday in crioatia

Republic of Croatia (Republika Hrvatska listen (help·info)), is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between the Pannonian Plain and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb. Croatia borders with Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Serbia to the northeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east, and Montenegro to the far southeast. Its southern and western flanks border the Adriatic Sea, and it also shares a sea border with Italy in the Gulf of Trieste.

Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe. The country is also a candidate for membership of the European Union and received a NATO membership invitation on April 3, 2008. NATO member nations signed accession protocols for Croatia on July 9, 2008, bringing it into the final stretch of its quest for membership. Croatia is expected to formally join the 26-nation pact in April 2009 on NATO's 60th birthday,[3] making it the second former Yugoslav nation to join NATO following Slovenia which entered in 2004. On October 17, 2007 Croatia became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term. Additionally, Croatia is also a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment on July 13, 2008.

NATIONAL PARK BRIJUNI

BRIJUNI The Brijuni islands, found along the southwestern coast of Istria, were proclaimed a national park in 1983. They cover an area of 2,700 acres, and total fourteen larger and small islands, of which the largest are Veliki and Mali Brijuni.


The islands abound with Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean vegetation, where tourists can take in the surroundings of untouched nature. The island has a zoo, pheasant farm and safari park with numerous diverse forms of animal life from throughout the world. Traces of human inhabitation on the island date back to the earlier neolithic period and among the many archaeological sites, the most significant is the pre-historic settlement on Gradina hill. Remains of a typical summer residence and temple from Roman times in the Verige Gulf, and on the western shore, very valuable ruins dating from the late ancient-Byzantine period and the Byzantine basilica of St. Mary dating from the sixth century are located on the western coast of the island.

Information:
Nationl park Brijuni
52214 Brijuni
tel: +385 (0) 52 525 882, 525 883, 521 880
fax: +385 (0) 52 521 124
e-mail: izleti@brijuni.htnet.hr

ROVINJ-ISTRA

Rovinj, a picturesque Istrian town is an oasis of beautiful nature and exceptionally agreeable climate. A sojourn in Rovinj at any time of year is what people who need rest and relaxation really look for.

Spring comes when it is stil snowing i your countries. Tourists from all over the world gather here in summer. Many visitors compared it to Saint Tropez, very often in favour of Rovinj. Autumn offers its charms silently. The sun lingers, admiring the beauty underneath, fatigued by selfgiving. This is when Rovinj is closest to your desire. Winter in Rovinj? It is an early spring. Come here to take from your harsh winter. Rovinj, an old town of fishermen with a rich wealth of cultural heritage; Rovinj surrounded by islands and islets; Rovinj immersed in exuberant Mediterranean greenery. Once Rovinj-always Rovinj. How to get to Rovinj? Pula ariport is 37 km away. Modern roads connect Rovinj with important traffic routes in Croatia.

LABIN-ISTRA

Labin The medieval town of Labin is situated on the hill above Rabac. Its old name of Albona was first mentioned in 285 AD. The birthplace of Matthias Flacius Illyricus, the reformer and collaborator of Martin Luther, it is a cultural and administrative center today. The rich cultural and architectural heritage of Labin is enlivened by number of art ateliers and by the bustling youth gathering in the coffee bars scattered around the old town.
The Sculpture Park in nearby Dubrova features over 70 forma viva stone sculptures. After a walk through the narrow streets of the Old Town, pay a visit to the Town Museum with its archaeological and unique in this part of Europe, a miniature coal mine.
Have a loot at the Memorial collection of Matthias Flacius Illyricus, peek into the art ateliers, enjoy the view of Rabac and Cres island from the Fortica or pop into the small, elegant shops and take refreshments on one of the terraces of the local coffee bars. Whether to do business or just to have a chat, these are the places where everyone meets


How to reach Labin

From Western Europe: Highway to Venice or Udine to Trieste (Italy). From Trieste to Koper (Slovenia 10 km) over border crossing Skofije (Rabuiesse) to border crossing Pozane - Buzet (Croatia). From Buzet via Lupoglav - Vozilici to Rabac.
From Central Europe: Highway to Villach via Karawanken tunnel to Ljubljana and Koper to Buzet.
From Zagreb: Via Gorski Kotar to Rijeka, along the coast to Plomin - Labin-Rabac, or via Rijeka - Ucka tunnel-Vozilici - Labin - Rabac.
From Dalmatia: the Adriatic Highway to Rijeka - Ucka tunnel-Vozilici - Labin - Rabac.

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RES PUBLICA ALBONESSIUM'


Labin, a picturesque town situated on a 320 meters high hill and only three kilometers from the seaside, was inhabited already two thousand years B.G. The remnants of Kunci, one of the settlements called the 'castellums', dating from the Bronze Age, can be found in the vicinity of Labin. Its old Illyrian-Celtic name is Albona or Alvona and it was probably founded by Celts in the 4th century B.C. on the ruins of the ancient city. Some historians say it was fortified by the Illyrians in the 11th century B.C. They also say that Albona in the Celtic language means 'a town on the hill' or 'an elevated settlement'.
Titus Livius said that Labin inhabitants were pirates. After the conflicts between the local inhabitants and Romans, which had started in the 3rd century B.C., Istra came under the Romans in 177 B.C. The borderline was the river Rasa. Labin and its surroundings thus became an integral part of Illyrian, the Roman province with a high degree of independence and authority over the nearby settlements. The oldest written document about Labin is a relief from the 3rd century with the insertion 'RES PUBLICA ALBONESSIUM'.

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Monuments

- Porta Sanfior - main town doors of St. Flor dating from 1589 with Labin coat of arms and the Serenissima lion above. Canon dating from Austrian times was put up for the second time on the bastion (torjon) in 1995.
- Baroque palace of Battiala-Lazzarini family is now a town museum. Counts Lazzarini, who had several properties in the Labin area, left after World War Two
- Three-nave church of Blessed Virgin Mary's Birth built in 1336 on the foundations of the small church from the 11th century. It was reconstructed several times. The last reconstruction was in 1993. A Venetian lion with a sphere in his mouth - a symbol of Labin recognizing the Venetian government - was put on the front facade in 1604. By the end of that century, in 1688, a baroque statue of senator Antonio Bollani, a combatant against Turks, was put on the same facade. The bust is one of the most beautiful examples of the secular sculptural art of Istria in the 17th century. On the right from the church, there is a palace which belonged to the Schampicchio family.
- Church of the B. V.Mary's Birth decorated with six marble altars. One of them has St.Justin's relics brought here from Rome in 1664. Main altar and altarpiece with six figures of B.V.M., St.Pauline and Saints : Justin, Sergio, Julian, Tom and Jacob. The author is Natale Schiacione from Dalmatia, the much more valuable altarpiece by the altar of the Madonna of Carmel from the l7th century is believed to be done by the famous painter Jacopo Negriti, better known as Palma the Younger. Valentin Lukas, a young Labin painter from the 19th century; is the author of the painting featuring the Stages of the Cross.
- Rabac - St. Andrea's Church, from 15th century, is the oldest building heritage in the resort.
- Pican - Town doors are today the best preserved part of the medieval walls.
- Krsan - Bastion and walls of the medieval castle.Town loggia - center of life in the past where news and court verdicts were read out. Peasants danced there every Sunday and on fair days. Built in 1550, it later got a collection of stone monuments. Pillar of shame in front of the loggia.


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POREC-ISTRA

Located on the western bank of the Istrian peninsula, between the mouth of the Mirna River in the north and the Lim Fyord in the south, with a gentle climate, intented coast with many small islands and peninsulas thick with pine trees, with beautiful beaches, sheltered from the sea by the island of Sveti Nikola, Poreč has become the leading center of Croatian tourism, developing from a small fishing village to an attractive tourist hub.

Material and spiritual traces of great cultures are visible with each step, in the narrow streets with paving stones and stores of the old town center.Archaeological findings bear witness to popukation density even in pre-historic times.The remains of a forum and temples reveal that in Roman times, it was the fortified Roman colony of Julius Parentium. The basilica of St. Euphrasiusis is the best preserved monument of early Byzantine art dating from the sixth century with remains of the original, early Christian mosaic floors dating back between the second and sixth centuries. The upper parts of the central apse are decorated with mosaics of exceptional artistic value and beauty. The rich tourist tradition (with the first hotel built in 1896) and concern for guests is evedent with every step. The attractive hotels, modern tourist complexes, sunny coves immersed in sweet smelling forests and rich with tourist offerings provide the meeting points for numerous tourists, athletes, and vacationers.

PULA-ISTRA

On the southern part of the Istrian peninsula, at the end of the Gulf of Pula, a town of antiquity, of parks, and of summer festivals dominates. Pula, the largest city and port in Istria, a communication economic and administrative center, is an attractive place to spend a holiday for many tourists, with some 2,350 hours of sunshine a year. The history of the town is etched in every stone, which is indicated by the large number of cultural historic monuments from almost all periods of its past, of which many are an integral part of the fabric of the city. The best known and most valuable ancient monument is to be sure the Arena, the majestic colloseum dating from the second century, the sixth largest in the world. As a tourist center, Pula offers a large number of various cultural and entertainment events throughout the year. Hotel complexes are located in the direct vicinity of the city, on the forest covered peninsula, surrounded by the crystal clear sea. They offer accommodation and comfort to the most selective of guests, and everyone who enjoys a well laid table can choose one of the restaurants where selected Istrian food is prepared best suited for the renowned Istrian wine.