Five Wonders of My Country Estonia * France * Hungary * Italy * Poland * Spain (Catalonia) *

UK (Wales) *

Dear Readers,

This book is the final product of the Comenius partner-ship project ”Friends around Europe” which is supported by ”EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme”

We hope our ”5 Wonders” book gives you a short overview of what every country values in their area and also awake the curiosity from each educational community (pupils, families and teachers) to search and learn more about them in order to understand the range of European cultures.

We do appreciate all our teachers efforts who collected and organised the wonder pages of their countries.

Catalonia

Pilar Sert Maria Jesús Garcia Silvia RepulloBlanca Maldonado

Hungary

Éva Nagyné CsetericsJózsefné Horváth Katalin Erőssné SchneiderMárta Kauferné Vig

Estonia

Maarika RuuseAnu Jõgiaas Aila Orrin Sirje JugasteAile Kilgi Rasmus Toompere

Poland

Małgorzata PachałkoKatarzina Wator

France

Pascale Guillien Annie Lemière Nathalie Boffy Darie Ségura Marie-Hélène Vuillemin

Wales

Gail RobertsEmma MerrettRachel Dare

Italy

Giuliana Di PasqualeFrancesca CiarcellutiMariavittoria Finizii Concetta Ferrucci Giorgia BlasiottiLorena FagnaniAngela Proietti

We hope that you will enjoy reading this unique book, as much as we enjoyed creating it.

CATALONIA

Area: 31.895km2

Population: 7.565.603Capital: BarcelonaOfficial language: Catalan/SpanishLa Diada: 11thSeptember

FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

FIVE WONDERS of CATALONIA (SPAIN)

1. LA SEU VELLA DE LLEIDA

2. EL TEMPLE DE LA SAGRADA FAMÍLIA ( ANTONI GAUDÍ)

3. ELS CASTELLERS

4. CARAGOLS, CALÇOTS I PA AMB “TOMATA”

5. PARC NACIONAL D’AIGÜESTORTES I ESTANY DE SANT MAURICI

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CATALUNYAWONDER 1. LA SEU VELLA DE LLEIDA

The Seu Vella old cathedral, also known as “Lleida Castle”, is defi-nitely the city’s most emblem-atic monument.

This unique cathedral sits on top of the hill overlooking the city and affords magnificent views of Lleida and the surrounding countryside of Segrià county. Construction of the cathedral began in 1203, but the bell tow-er was not completed until 1431. The first master builder was Pere de Coma.

According to historians, the cathedral was built on top of a former Muslim mosque. The temple was the first building to be completed and was conse-crated for worship in 1278 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It has a Latin cross floor plan with a nave and two aisles. The out-standing features of the interior include the stonework in the

naves, which show the influ-ence of the artisans from Tus-cany, Toulouse and Provence who worked on the cathedral throughout the 13th century, as well as the remains of Gothic mural paintings.

After the consecration of the temple, work continued into the 14th century, when the cloister was completed and construc-tion work began on the bell tower and lasted until 1431.

Xènia, 3 y Nil, 5 y

The bell tower

The oldest bells are from the 15th century: They are called Sil-vestra, which rings on the hours, and Mònica, which rings on the quarter hours. The other five are electric bells from the mid-20th century that have an essentially liturgical function. They are cal-led Bàrbara, Puríssima, Crist, Ma-rieta and Meuca.

The cloister

This 14th-century rectangular cloister is a unique, open cloister, located on the west side of the cathedral. It has a gallery with five ogival arches and elegant tracery windows that provide breathtaking views of the city and the countryside beyond.

The castle of la Suda

Last Caliph of Cordoba refuge, venue of the Aragon’s Crown origin or witness of the loyalty oath of the catalan and arago-nese nobles to Infante James (later James I the Conqueror). These are some of the histori-cal facts that the Suda Castle or King Castle has lived within the walls during its existence.

Gabriela, 5y Marc, 5y

CATALUNYA2. EL TEMPLE DE LA SAGRADA FAMÍLIA (ANTONI GAUDÍ)

EXPIATORY CHURCHThe expiatory church of La Sa-grada Família is a work on a grand scale which was begun on 19 March 1882 from a project by the diocesan architect Fran-cisco de Paula del Villar (1828-1901). At the end of 1883 Gaudí was commissioned to carry on the works, a task which he did not abandon until his death in 1926. Since then different archi-tects have continued the work after his original idea.

The building is in the centre of Barcelona, and over the years it has become one of the most universal signs of identity of the city and the country. It is visited by millions of people every year and many more study its archi-tectural and religious content.

It has always been an expiatory church, which means that since

the outset, 125 years ago now, it has been built from donations. Gaudí himself said: ”The expia-tory church of La Sagrada Famí-lia is made by the people and is mirrored in them. It is a work that is in the hands of God and the

will of the people.” The building is still going on and could be fin-ished some time in the first third of the 21st century.

Marina, 7y Martí, 7y Maria, 7y

THE CHURCH TODAY

When work began on the church, in 1882, the architects, the brick-layers and the labourers worked in a very traditional way. When Gaudí took over the direction he was aware that the works were complex and difficult and tried to take advantage of all the modern techniques availab-le. And so, among other resour-ces, he had railway tracks laid with small wagons to transport the materials, brought in cranes to lift the weights and had the workshops located on the site to make the work easier.

Today, 130 years later, the buil-ding of the church follows

Gaudí’s original idea and, just as he himself did, the best techni-ques are applied to make the building work safer, more com-fortable and faster. It is some time now since the old wagons gave way to powerful cranes, the old manual tools have been replaced by precise electric ma-chines and the materials have

been improved to ensure excel-lent quality in the building pro-cess and the final result.

The present Church Technical Office and the management are charged with studying the complexity of Gaudí’s original project, doing the calculations and the building plans and di-recting the works as a whole.

CATALUNYA3. ELS CASTELLERS

DESCRIPTIONCastells are human towers, a tradition that stretches back two hundred years within Catalo-nia. They began in Camp de Tarragona and later spread to Penedès before reaching the height of their popularity all over Catalonia in the 1980s. A casteller is a person who takes part in the tradi-tion. He or she is a member of a castellers orga-nization which can include hundreds of people working together to perfect these human tow-ers with the use of nothing but human strength and ingenuity. The towers vary in complexity and can reach heights of ten people standing foot-to-shoulder. Since 16 November, 2010, UNESCO has included castells on its list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The castellers’ motto, taken from a Josep Anselm Clavé poem from Els Xiquets de Valls, is: ”Força, Equilibri, Valor i Seny” (Strength, Equilibrium, Va-lor, and Wisdom).

· Força : In the past, castellers were massive and strong. · Equilibri : A skill necessary while one person stands on another.· Valor : A characteristic of all castellers, especi-ally those on the tower· Seny : A skill necessary from planning to exe-cution.

The traditional costume of castellers is a shirt with the emblem of the organization, white pants, a sash, and a scarf. Children (aixecador i enxaneta) wear a helmet for safety. It is recommended that castellers don’t wear a watch, glasses, or other ac-cessories that could be dangerous for oneself or others.

Joel (6 years old)

A castell has discrete parts that have different functions and modes of construction. These in-clude:

· Pinya: the base of the castell. This is where you find most of the organization lending sup-port to the castell.· Tronc: the visible part of the castell. forma-da pels pisos compresos des dels baixos fins al pis immediatament anterior al de dosos. It includes the level standing on the pinya and supporting the tower.· Pom de dalt: the next three levels of the cas-tell. These levels always have the same con-struction.· Folre: situated on top of the pinya. It has the same form of the pinya and, like the pinya, gives support to the castell.· Manilles: the castellers situated above the folre at the third level that help hold the fourth level.· Puntals: the castellers above the manilles.

La música de les gralles indica l’evolució del cas-tell, tant a l’hora de carregar com de descarregar. The accompanying music indicates the construc-tion and deconstruction of the castell. The mu-sical group includes grallers (pipe-players) and drummers. By playing music, castellers in the pin-ya are able to know how the castell is progress-ing. The piece they play is called “toc de Castells” and includes various distinct parts. They begin to play depending on the castell being formed. En les diades castelleres cada colla acostuma a aix-ecar tres castells i un pilar de comiat. On castell-eres holidays, each organization constructs three

castells and a “pilar de comiat.” The order of con-struction depends on the day. There are times where the order is determined by a draw (Diada de San Fèlix, Concurs de castells); there are other times where the local organization chooses its own order and the rest of the organizations have to draw; and there are times where the organiza-tions choose the order themselves.

Aina , 6y

Blau, 6y

Mar , 6y

CATALUNYA4. CARAGOLS, CALÇOTS I PA AMB “TOMATA”

EL CARAGOL A CATALUNYAThere are many typical ways to prepare snails (caragols) in Catalonia: as a stew ingredient, with rice, or with other meats. The most common way to prepare is a la llauna. Caragols a la llauna is a simple dish in which snails are cooked in an over on a pan. This is typically accompanied by a spicy sauce or an aioli. This dish is especially represen-tative of Lleida, where the Aplec de caragols, a culinary snail festival, began in 1980.

In Catalonia, caragolades are very popular. They are parties held in a field, or sometimes someone s house, where people eat a wide variety of cara-gols and other foods, like at calçotades or boti-farrades.

ELS CALÇOTSThe calçotada is the most traditional way to eat spring onions (calçots). Catalans strongly asso-ciate them with festivals and friendly gatherings. In Valls, where calçotades originated, people throw them at the end of January. Since 1982, they have become the most popular and world-renowned version of this very Catalan festival. People usual-ly throw calçotades when winter ends – the end of march or the beginning of April, depending on the weather.

A typical calçotada starts with a serving of bet-ween ten and twenty calçots per person accom-panied by a traditional sauce, normally romesco. The calçots are served on tiles to keep them hot. After finishing the calçots, people usually eat ot-her grilled vegetables and grilled meats along with red wine or cava.

Because calçots are served straight off the grill and are dipped in sauce, you have to wear a bib to keep your clothes from getting dirty!

EL PA AMB TOMATAPa amb tomàquet is a characteristically Catalan dish. Some consider it to be the most emblema-tic dish of Catalan cuisine. It consists of a slice of bread rubbed with half a ripe tomato and seaso-ned with olive oil and salt. Traditionally, peasants ate it with a sardine on top as their meal. It is so-metimes accompanied by pork sausage (botifar-ra); fuet; ham; cheeses; anchovies or another pick-led fish; or roasted vegetables.

Pa amb tomàquet has gained noteriety in Spain as the most representative Catalan dish.

CATALUNYA5. PARC NACIONAL D’AIGÜESTORTES I ESTANY DE SANT MAURICI

Is one of the fourteen Spanish National Parks, the second in the Pyrenees and the only one in Catalonia. In the park, there are over 300 glacial lakes.

This 14.119 hectare park has an amazing amount of biolo-gical diversity, encompassing meadows, fields, temperate fo-rests, coniferous forests, alpine valleys, and rock formations.

Mariona, 8y

The name “aigüestortes” comes from the large, meandering streams that form the Sant Nicolau river, a tributary of the Tor river and, ultimately, the Noguera Ribagorçana river.

In the park there is a wide variety of alpine fauna: rainbow trout, Pyrenean newts, blue ducks, he-rons, otters, and white quail, to name a few.

The most famous landscape in the park is at “l’Estany de Sant Maurici,” a lake at the foot of the twin summits “Els Enamorats.”

Fans of hiking and climbing can go on multi-day treks along trails such as the Gran Recorregut transpirinenc, GR-11, that crosses the park in its entirety.

Nerea, 8y Laia, 8y David, 8y

ESTONIA

Area: 45 228 km2

Population: 1 340 415 Capital: TallinnOfficial language: EstonianIndependence Day: 24rd February

FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

FIVE WONDERS of ESTONIA

1. The Song and Dance Festival and National Costumes

2. The Variety of Estonian Nature

3. Wonderful Winter

4. Rye-field with Cornflowers and Black bread

5. E – Estonia

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ESTONIA1. The Song and dance FeSTival and naTional coSTumeS

Have you ever heard 18 000 voices singing at once?

*Song Festival tradition in Estonia is 140 years old. Festival is an enormous open-air choir concert held at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds with the participation of hundreds of choirs and thousands of sing-ers.

*In November 2003, UNESCO declared Es-tonia’s Song and Dance Festival tradition a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

*Around 8 000 dancers take part of the Dance Festival.

Melliste Primary School`s choir

Not every choir in Estonia is able to perform at the Song Festival. Due to the popular-ity of the festival, there is stiff competition among the choirs. Melliste Primary School`s choir is small but they were lucky to participate in the Festi-val several times.

Kaidi, 9y Viktoria, 12y

Elise, 9y

Folk costume denoted national belonging and social status, and both everyday and festive clothing constituted a compli-cated system of signs, referring to the wearer’s social status, age and marital status.

Clothes were generally divided into three parts: festive clothes, visiting clothes for errands and working clothes.

Clothes were basically made of homespun woollen or linen fab-ric: shirts and married women’s head-wear were mostly made from linen, while various outer garments, gloves, stockings and

socks, were made from wool. Most of the clothes remained undyed: linen garments were bleached white, woollen outer garments were mainly sheep-brown or black. The wool for making skirts was dyed with herbal dyes. The bedstraw root was particularly widely used to produce red colouring.

Liis-Aleksandra, 9y Liisbet, 9y

Sille, 9y

Mikk, 9y

Estonia might easily be called the kingdom of bogs since ap-proximately one quarter of the country is covered with marsh-es. Virgin forests, surrounded by mostly untouched wetlands, serve as home to many endan-gered species. With practically every step a lovely orchid is vis-ible. With a little luck, an eagle may be seen overhead. Vitamin – rich red cranberries – some-times known as northern lem-ons – grow on the soft peat moss beside plentiful marsh trails. Near the edge of the bog, cowberries, bilberries and blue-berries are waiting to be tasted. Bogs are a place of peace and quiet, a pleasant escape from the clamour of everyday life.

ESTONIA2. Variety of estonian nature For nature lovers, the North Eu-ropean country of Estonia is a real dreamland. This is a place where the land meets the sea, bogs are interspersed with vir-gin forests, fields and fish-rich rivers and lakes. In the wood-lands which cover half of Estonia, wolves and bears are found in the midst of other rarities. One fact that most vividly speaks for Estonia s nature is that a quarter of Estonia s territory is designat-ed as a nature reserve.

The symbol of northern Estonia and perhaps even of all Estonian nature is the high limestone coastal bank with its beautiful waterfalls. The highest falls in the bank are located in Valaste. From the vie-wing platform here, scenic strata layers are also visible. The slate bank isa n open window to the earth`s 4,5 billion year old geological history.

Mikk, 9y

Estonia is more densely covered in meteorite craters than anywhere else in the world. One of them, formed about 7 500 years ago, is the Kaali field of meteorite craters in Saaremaa.

Estonia is bordered by the Baltic Sea on the north and west. This expanse bulges with large and small islands which number as many as 1 500. The biggest islands are Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Muhu and Vormsi.

Although Estonia is one of the smallest countries in Europe, abundant bird habitats and nesting grounds are to be found in forests, marshes, wet-lands, lakes, rivers, meadows, fields, rocky beach-es, islets and costal pastures. Shallow coastal wa-ter attracts hundreds of thousands of waterbirds who nest in the Arctic.

In total, more than 370 bird species have been re-gistered in Estonia. Two-hundred of them are nes-ting birds and the reminder migratory , wintering or coincideny visitors. The Estonian national bird is the barn swallow. There are 4 clear seasons in Estonia. The tempera-tur range: in winter may sink to – 30C (February) and in summer may rise to +30C (July)

We, the Estonians, are lucky – our winter is just cold and snowy enough for offering many inter-esting possibilities for relaxation and holidays.

In winter one can be engaged in many winter sports. Estonian winters are as if made for vigor-ous activities. One can take part in and enjoy dif-ferent cultural events during the winter season, go to Christmas markets in various towns and be fascinated by the magic of the wintry nature when making a winter trip.

There are no big mountains in Estonia, but the

winter still offers for sports lovers:

.* Skiing and snowboarding in hilly South Esto-nia.

* Cross-country ski tracks – Did you know that Es-tonia had won six Olympic medals in cross-coun-try skiing?

* Lakes, rivers and even the sea covered with ice are ideal for skating or it is popular to go ice fish-ing when the weather is nice in winter.

* Sledging and snow tubing – children love it!

ESTONIA3. Wonderful Winter

Snow is such a wonderful material but people don`t notice it! Winter is the most peaceful season. In fact, Estonians should be very happy because some countries haven`t winter at all! (Mikk, 9y)

Due to the fact that Estonia is a country with very strong skiing traditions, it is quite common in Es-tonia that children at a very young age know how to use skis, sledges and even snowboards. There are not very many countries in the world where the children’s skiing is so customary.

The deepest snow ever in Estonia was measured at Pagari in the Virumaa region in March 1924 . The thickness of the snow cover was 97 cm then.

Snowstorms are very typical of Estonian winters. Most of us still remember the 2010 December snowstorm when due to the deep snow everyday life and traffic was in chaos in several places in Es-tonia and people were trapped in cars.

A monument to cold weather , the Frost Column, has been erected on the outskirts of Jõgeva. It shows Estonia’s all-time cold record and the cold record of this century. This little town is known as the coldest place in Estonia, the Estonian capital of cold.

On Jan. 17, 1940 the weather station of Jõgeva measured 43,5 degrees below zero in our coldest place which marks the absolute cold record in Es-tonia.

On a very cold winter day school is cancelled and the Estonian children are allowed to stay at home and have a cold wave holiday. It has happened that the children have stayed at home even for a week because of a very cold weather.

Kaidi, 9y

Märt, 9y

Cornflower is the national flower of Estonia . It was officially elect-ed to be the national flower in the year 1968. The fact that it was very familiar to the people and loved by them spoke great-ly in its favour. Throughout the times the residents of all the re-gions of Estonia have known it well. The reason for that is be-cause it grows mainly in winter crop fields. It may seem strange

but our national flower is in fact a weed. As the weed growing in winter rye and winter wheat it delights children but is a nui-sance to farmers. The children use it together with daisies to weave beautiful wreaths and they bring home its lovely blos-soms. Heads of the household, however, can’t get rid of it, no matter what they do.

*I like cornflowers because they are beautiful and smell nicely. I also like black bread because it is sweet and tasty. I like them both. Cornflower field is so beautiful like a blue sky and like the colours of the Estonian flag. Black bread is so tasty like candy and it colour is like the second colour of our flag. Kätlin, 10y

ESTONIA4. Rye-field with coRnfloweRs and black bRead

Kristjan, 12y

Black bread has been one of the most important food for Estonians from the old times up to now.

For the Estonians black (rye) bread has been one of the most important foodstuffs throug-hout the centuries. Apart from porridge all other food is con-sidered secondary to bread and not for nothing called „somet-hing to go with bread“. Rye bread was a common food, people ate it a lot at every meal. Country women usually baked the bread once a week, on Sa-turdays, and depending on the size of the family, six to ten lo-aves were baked at a time. Each loaf weighed from two kilo-grams to five kilograms.

Marko, 9y

Rye bread is a type of bread made with various percentages of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in colour, depen-ding on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat

flour. It is higher in fiber than white bread and is often darker in color and stronger in flavor. Rye bread has notable health benefits when compared to white bread.

Food from the bread: bread soup, bread stew, bread with

cranberry sauce, ground bread with whipped cream, bread and fruit pudding, rye bread foam, ground bread-curd des-sert, layered bread, bread kvass, bread chips.

Honour the bread because bread is older than we are

*If you drop your bread, you have to pick it up and give it a kiss.

*The first end cut from the loaf must be given to young girls, then they will have nice round breasts.

*It was believed that if you put bread on the table upside down famine would come to the house-hold. You should not wipe the floor when bread

is in the oven, or you shall wipe out good bread luck.

*You shold not eat your bread with gloves on, or the bread will lose its power.

*You can survive without meat, but not without bread.

’e-Estonia’ is one of the most ad-vanced e-societies in the world – an incredible success story that grew out of a partnership between a forward-thinking government, a pro-active ICT sector and a switched-on, tech-savvy population.

ESTONIA5. E-Estonia

Life in the Digital society

e-Estonia means voting in elections from the comfort of your own living room. Filing your in-come tax return in just five minutes. Signing a legally-binding contract over the Internet, from anywhere in the world, via your mobile phone. These are just a few of the services that Estonians take advantage of on a regular basis.

Government. Transparency and efficiency at all levels of government have been boosted by ad-vanced e-services.

Business. Business has been made easy by fast interaction, lower bureaucracy and access to criti-

cal information.

Citizens. Integrated e-solutions have created an effective, convenient interface between citizens and government agencies.

Healthcare. Doctors, patients, hospitals and the government are all benefiting from the conven-ience, access and savings that e-services have brought.

Pranglimine: first web-based mental aritmetic game (www.miksike.ee)

Kert, 10y

Education. E-school has revolutionized the way students, teachers and parents interact, creating a generation that is both better-educated and tech-savvy.

Public safety. Estonia is safer thanks to systems that give law enforcement officers the tools they need to do their jobs more efficiently and effec-tively.

Cyber security. A unique partnership between public and private IT sectors keeps Estonia one step ahead of cyber security threats.

Utilities. Innovations in the utilities and intelli-gent homes industries save energy and result in a cleaner environment.

Welcome to e-school!

Ragne, 10y

FRANCE

Area: 552000km2

Population: 62800000Capital: ParisOfficiallanguage: FrenchFrenchnationalday: 14thJuly

FLAG

NATIONAL EMBLEM

FIVE WONDERS of FRANCE

1. The Mont – Blanc

2. The Eiffel Tower

3. The Palace of Versailles

4. The Lascaux cave

5. The Millau viaduct

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The massif of Mont Blanc is a mountain massif of the French-Italian Alps, where draws up itself the Mont Blanc, the highest summit of Western Europe which peaks in 4 810,45 m. He(It) is crossed by the tunnel of Mont Blanc, between Chamonix in the valley of Arve and Courmayeur in the valley of Aoste in Italy.

FRANCE1. Le Mont BLanc

The Mont Blanc rises in the heart of the massif of Mont Blanc and establishes (constitutes) the peak of the chain (channel) of the Alps.

It is also the highest summit of Western Europe, what is worth to him (her) the nickname of: Roof of Europe. The summit represented for several centuries an objective for any sorts of adventur-ers, since its First ascent in 1786.

Numerous frequented routes allow today to climb it with a serious preparation. It is an object of fas-cination in numerous cultural works.

The site of the massif of Mont Blanc is the object of a project of classification (ranking) on the list of UNESCO world heritage as «unique (only) exceptional site to the world and as the cultural Mecca, the place of birth and the symbol of the climbing.

FRANCE2. THE EIFFEL TOWER

The Eiffel Tower, nicknamed «the iron lady» is a iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most rec-ognizable structures in the world.

First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin, an engineer who worked for the Eiffel Company.

1886: The project has been se-lected for the «1889 Exposition Universelle», a World’s Fair which would celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution.

Built duration : 2 yearsCost: 8 000 000 francsWeight 10 100 tonnes.Hight 324meters125-metre-square base Hight of the 1st floor 57m,the 2nd floor 115m,the 3rd floor 277mThe tallest man-made structure in the world until 193018,038 pieces of puddle iron and two and a half million ri-vets.Number of visitors: 236 445 812 guests(on 31st December 2007)1900:it has been used for radio transmissionThe original lifts were completely scrapped in 1982 after 97 years of serviceand were replaced

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 ton-nes of paint every seven years to protect it from rustThe tower has two restaurants ; one is The Jules Verne a gastronomical restaurant

Gustave Eiffel

Engineer -Architect-Builder and businessmanBorn December 15, 1832 in DijonDied December 27, 1923 in ParisHe created his company and did many iron building such as the railway station at Budapest. He become passionated by the iron tower project pictured by two partners.He helped Bartholdi to realise the Statue of Liberty

FRANCE3. Palace of Versailles château de Versailles

ThePalaceseenfromtheMarblecourtyardApollofountain

The “Château de Versailles”, which has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage , is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunt-ing lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded

it, moving the court and gov-ernment of France from Paris to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolu-tion added improvements to make it more beautiful.

ApollofountainDrawnbythe5yearsold

LouisXIVTheSunKing(1638-1715

ThePetitTrianonSheistheonlyqueentohaveimposedherpersonaltasteonVer-sailles. Louis XVI’s wife loved this placewhereshecouldreturntothepleasuresofsimple,ruralpursuits,awayfromthepompofVersailles

Thefamous“hallofmirrors“wherethekingputonhismostostenta-tiousdisplayofroyalpowerinordertoimpressvisitors.

Louis XVI Last monarch of Versail-les (1754-1793) guillotined during theFrenchrevolution.

ThequeenMarie-Antoinette

Theorangerie

King’schamber

Lascaux is a cave in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic paintings,it’s located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dor-dogne. It contains some of the best-known Up-per Paleolithic art.

FRANCE4. The cave of Lascaux

The cave was discovered on September 12, 1940 by four teenagers,The cave complex was opened to the public in 1948. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 in order to preserve the art,because 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings.Lascaux II, a replica of two of the cave halls — the Great Hall of the Bulls and the Painted Gallery — was opened in 1983, 200 meters from the original and can be visited.The cave contains nearly 2,000 figures, animals which were living at this time, human figures, hunting success and abstract signs.

How paleolithic cave painters were painting?

Most of the major images have been painted onto the walls us-ing mineral pigments, although some designs have also been in-cised into the stone.

Aurochs Horses Reindeer

Hunting scene Wild boar

The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed road-bridge that spans the valley of the river Tarn near Millau in southern France. The Millau viaduct is considered by some to be the “Pont du Gard“ of the 21st century.

FRANCE5. The Millau ViaducT

The” pont du Gard”

Designed by the French struc-tural engineer Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the tallest bridge in the world with one mast’s sum-mit at 343.0 metres Choosing a cable-stay bridge, making sev-en towers, and using the white colour preserve the view of the lovely Tarn Valley and it looks good. Fourteen years of prepa-

ration for this exceptional con-struction.The piers and cable-stays While views of the Millau Viaduct tend to focus on the towers, and the cables--as well as the deck--the bridge wouldn’t be possible without the seven piers that anchor it to the ground. The metallic deck, which appears very light despite its total mass

of around 36,000 tonnes , is 2,460 m long and 32 m wide.The seven masts, each 87 m high and weighing around 700 tonnes, are set on top of the pylons. Between each of them, eleven stays (metal cables) are anchored, providing support for the road deck. It is a stunning ar-chitectural and design feat. And it is beautiful to look at as well.

The bridge not only has a dra-matic silhouette, but crucially, it also makes the minimum inter-vention in the landscape. Lit at night, it traces a slender ribbon of light across the valley.

The world’s tallest bridge

The P2 pier of the Viaduct is the tallest structure in France, taller than the Eiffel tower.

The bridge forms the last link of the A75 motorway , from Cler-mont-Ferrand to Béziers . The A75, with the A10 and A71, pro-vides a continuous high-speed route south from Paris through Clermont-Ferrand to the Languedoc region and through to Spain, considerably reducing the cost of vehicle traffic travel-ling along this route. Many tour-ists heading to southern France and Spain follow this route be-cause it is direct and without tolls except for the bridge it-self.(€7.40)

Time line: 16 October 2001: work begins 14 December 2004: official inaugurationThe bridge opened for traffic in late 2004, but that was 17 years after the project began.

HUNGARY

Area: 93036km2

Population: 9.982.000.000Capital: BudapestOfficiallanguage: HungarianHungariannationalday: 15thMarch

FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

FIVE WONDERS of HUNGARY

1. Bory Castle SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR

2. HORTOBÁGY / THE PUSZTA

3. VISEGRÁD AND DANUBE BEND

4. THERMAL WATERS

5. LAKE BALATON

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34

5

Jenő Bory (Székesfehérvár No-vember 9, 1879 – Székesfehérvár, December 20, 1959) was a Hun-garian architect and sculptor. He was largely responsible for the building of the so called Bory castle in Székesfehérvár which is decorated by his and his wife’s works. He built this fantastic, castle-like structure out of concrete with his own hands for 41 years.

HUNGARY1. BORY CASTLE - SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR

The romantic knight’s castle of Jenő Bory stands on Old Hill (Öreghegy) on the north-east-ern outskirts of the city. There is collection of over 500 creations found throughout the rooms, courtyard and gar-den that visitors will enjoy.

Júlia 6 y, Noémi 4 y

Maximilián 3 y, Levente, 3 y Patrícia, 6 y

Viktória, 6 y

The castle is a symbol of eternal love and an exemplary marriage. The marble statues of Jenő Bory preserve his timeless love for his lovely wife.

Hortobágy is the largest pro-tected area, and the largest nat-ural grassland in Central Europe with cattle, sheep, oxen, horses, tended by herdsmen, and it provides habitat for various dif-ferent species (342 bird species have been registered to appear in the puszta).

HUNGARY2. HORTOBÁGY / THE PUSZTA

Viktória, 6y

The Hortobágy National Park - The Puszta has been inscribed on the World Herit-age List by UNESCO on the 1st of December in 1999 in the cat-egory of cultural landscapes, based on cultural criteria. Ac-cording to its brief description the Hortobágy is a vast area of plains and wetlands that have been used by humans for graz-ing their domestic animals for more than two millennia.

Amanda, 6y

„PULI”

This is an 800 km² national park in Eastern Hungary, in the pusz-ta, it is rich with folklore and cul-tural history.

The mirage can be a spectacular sight on hot sum-mer days, where you see something that is not in fact there.

Visegrád is a small castle town in Pest county. It is situated north of Budapest on the right bank of Danube in the Danube Bend. In the 14th century the medieval citadel became a royal residence and was enlarged with a new curtain and palace buildings.

HUNGARY3. VISEGRÁD AND DANUBE BEND

Viktor, 6y

At the end of the 15th century King Mattias Corvinus had inte-rior part of the castle renovated and used Visegrád as a country residence.Visegrád lost importance after the partition of the Kingdom of Hungary following the Battle of Mohács in 1526.

Ákos, 5y

Csenge Sára, 6y

The DANUBE is the second long-est river in Europe. The Danube Bend is a curve of the Danube in Hungary, close to the city of Visegrád.It is often considered is one of the most beautiful portions of the river.

Kornél, 6y

Hungary is extremely rich in thermal waters, its thermal wa-ter reserve is significant on a world scale and on European scale it is outstanding. Most of the mineral and medicinal wa-ters contain dissolved minerals, providing medicinal and cura-tive powers, and making them suitable for bathing and drink-ing cures.

HUNGARY4. THERMAL WATERS

Auguszta, 5y

Medicinal waters can be found in almost all re-gions of Hungary, and about three-quarters of the wells are located in the Great Hungarian Plain.

Júlia, 6y

Among the 150 hot water spa baths of the country there are 36 special medicinal baths in which the water contains radioactivity, sulphurous acid, salt bromine carbonate or iodine. Europe’s only cave-spa is in Northeast Hungary, in Tapolca, while Hévíz Lake, near Lake Balaton is the best-known hot water (33 °C) medicinal-water lake in Europe.

Mira, 6y

HUNGARY5. LAKE BALATON

Pető, 6y

Lake Balaton is often affectionately called the “Hungarian Sea”.

Lake Balaton is a freshwater lake in Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is a largest lake in Central Eu-rope, and one of its foremost tourist destinations.

Tiny group, 3 years

All members of the family will find something to do here, especially bathing, swimming, sailing, or wine tasting. Balaton Uplands Na-tional Park is located to north of Lake Balaton.

Major, 4y

ITALY

Area: 301 340 km²Population: 60.8 million inhabitants Capital: Rome Official language: ItalianIndipendence day: April 25th

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COAT OF ARMS

FIVE WONDERS of ITALY

1. A breathtaking view from the seaside to the hills

2. Andrea Delitio’s frescoes in Atri cathedral

3. The ancient coins of Hatria

4. Casoli Pinta: a museum under the stars

5. A wonderful dish: homemade spaghetti “on guitar”

1 2

3 4

5

In the province of Teramo (Abruzzi region of Italy), the area stretching from the seaside, near the an-cient tower of Cerrano (Pineto), up to the hillside erosions called “Calanchi” (Atri) can be regarded as an area of excellence for the uniqueness of the landscape and the presence of two natural oasis: the new sea park called “Tower of Cerrano” and the Nature Reserve “Calanchi of Atri”.

ITALY1. A breAthtAking view from the seAside to the hills

Lucrezia, 10y

The sea park “Tower of Cerrano” combines unpolluted nature with a wonderful monument, the Tower of Cerrano.

The Tower of Cerrano was built in the 16th century by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V as a watch tower to guard against attacks from the Turks. In the sea in front of the tower there are also the ruins of an ancient harbour.

Giuseppe, 10y

Between the Adriatic Sea and the Gran Sasso mountain, the hills around Atri are characterized by marked erosion forms called Calanchi. In Italy, Calanchi are one of the most picturesque landscape of the Adriatic region.

Theresia, 10y

These erosive forms are preserved in the region-al WWF Reserve of Atri. Calanchi are typical of Atri, another example of this form of erosion is located around the city of Siena. Calanchi are natural erosions of the clay soil. This phe-nomenon affects the sloping hillsides with little vegetation.

The removal of the soil is mainly caused by concentrated flows of rainwater sliding along the slopes of the hills. These flows take away the clay surface leaving the strongest part of the land, so Calanchi appear as deep knife-edged grooves often arranged in parallel.

Emanuele, 10y

In the province of Teramo (Abruzzi region of Italy), the area stretching from the seaside, near the an-cient tower of Cerrano (Pineto), up to the hillside erosions called “Calanchi” (Atri) can be regarded as an area of excellence for the uniqueness of the landscape and the presence of two natural oasis: the new sea park called “Tower of Cerrano” and the Nature Reserve “Calanchi of Atri”.

ITALY2. AndreA delitio’s frescoes in Atri cAthedrAl

Matteo, 10y

The choir of the Cathedral painted by Andrea Delitio

Saint Reparata, Atri Patron Saint

Petra, 5y

In the wonderful frescoes in the Atri Cathedral, the painter Andrea De Litio gives us an overview of the Abruzzi landscape at his times. The frescoes represent Virgin Mary’s life, but the setting is from the XV century. Some art critics thought that in the detail reproduced below the artist wanted to represent the ancient harbour of Cerrano.

Simone, 5y

Particular: “The Escape to Egypt”

The coins of the old Atri (Hatria) are among the oldest in Italian history.

ITALY3. The ancienT coins of haTria

“Asse”, depicting god Adranus’ head, while on the back a dog crouched (weight gr. 430-350).

Alessando, 5y

“Semiasse”, depicting the face of a woman with a protruding shell, while on the back Pegasus (gr. 230-150).

Marta, 5y

“Triente”, depicting, on one hand, a profile of a young man, while, on the other hand, a vessel (gr. 190-130).

Marta, 5y

Marta, 5 y“Quadrante”, with a dolphin and a fish (gr. 120-70), that symbolize the power of Atri over the sea throug the Cerrano Harbour.

“Sestante”, with a shoe and a chicken and two eggs (gr. 70-35); Plinius several times praised the beauty and fertility of Atri hens.

“Oncia”, with an anchor and a dot and the va-lue of the money (gr. 57-16).

“Semioncia”, with two symbols, the first AS, the second H (gr. 25-23).

Andrea and Marta, 5y

Casoli of Atri is a village where Art is… at home! Casoli is a village in the Atri municipality, a small village of about 1500 inhabitants, tenaciously at-tached to their land, traditions and culture. Since 1996, the village has hosted an exhibition of mural painting called “Casoli Pinta”, which has gathered

famous painters in the production of frescoes on the outside walls of the houses, renewing the ap-pearance of Casoli and transforming the small village in an open air museum where Art is the protagonist.

ITALY4. Casoli Pinta: a museum under the stars

Vittoria, 5y

The volcano erupting hearts represents some past romantic memories, which cannot come back any-more, if only by painting them.

Marica, 5y

Vulcano lancia cuori (Volcano throwing hearts) –Stefano Pizzi

The kites are pulled by a fantastic bird bringing messages of peace and happiness.

“Il Messaggero” (The Messenger) –Giancarlo Pozzi-

“La Vergine della pace” (The Virgin of peace)

- Franco Petrosemolo-

There is a thin space between the hanging waterproof paintings and the walls of the house.

This painting was accomplished after 11th September 2001, the Twin Towers attack. The painter wants to represent a mes-sage of hope with a baby in the centre of the world holding an olive twig in his hand. On the background there are the Gran Sasso mountains.

This work of art represents the human being who is looking for freedom, but he always fight between the spiritual and the material worlds.

It is a sign of the painter’s poetic world to touch the people’s hearts.

“I Fratelli della costa” (the Brothers of the coast) -Gioxe De Micheli –

“Una sola ala” (An only wing) - Marilisa Pizzorno -

Spaghetti “on guitar” is a tipycal dish of Teramo province. It is made with flour and eggs (1 egg each 100 gr of flour). It needs two tools to make this kind of spa-ghetti: a rolling pin and an utensil called “gui-tar” because it looks like a real guitar.

ITALY5. A wonderful dish: homemAde spAghetti “on guitAr”

Elisa, 5y

First of all you have to mix the ingredients to make a dough, then you have to press the dough with the help of the roll-ing pin making a big and thin circle of pasta. Afterwards you have to cut the circle of pasta in slices and put each of them on the “guitar”. With the rolling pin, you press each slice on the “gui-tar” and you will have spahetti.

Elisa, 5y

This typical dish is seasoned with tomato sauce, little meat balls and some parmisan cheese. To make the little meat balls you need 300 gr of veal minced meat, a little bit of salt and one tea spoon of olive oil. After mixing together all the ingredients, you make the little meat balls and you fry them up in hot olive oil. When they are ready, you put them on the spaghetti already mixed with the tomato sauce.

Elisa, 5y

POLAND

Area: 312,685 km2

Population: 38 482 919Capital: Warszawa / WarsawOfficial language: PolishIndependence Day: 11th November

FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

FIVE WONDERS of POLAND

1. FRYDERYK CHOPIN

2. MAZURY

3. BALTIC AMBER

4. THE DRAGON OF WAWEL

5. WIELICZKA – THE SALT MINE

1 2

3 4 5

is one of the world’s most fa-mous composers. He was born on either 22nd February, or 1st March (the date is not completely certain) 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, a village near Warsaw.

Frycek (as his parents used to call him) was a very talented child. He inherited a musical talent from his Polish mother (who played the piano) and a

French father (who played the flute and the violin).

In 1810, when Chopin was only 7 months old, his family moved to Warsaw, where Fryderyk lived, completed his music education and composed a lot of works before leaving Poland in 1830, at the age of 20. It was shortly before the outbreak of the November Uprising.

POLAND1. FRYDERYK CHOPIN

Chopin’s portraits painted by our pupils – Ala Cienkowska and Krzyś Kuleszka

When Chopin was in Paris, he met a French writer – George Sand. They fell in love with each other and lived together in her house in Nohant for 10 years.

It was George Sand, who used to say that Chopin was more Polish than Poland. His music was strong-ly influenced by Polish traditions and history and, while in France, he missed his country very much

Unfortunately, Chopin suffered from poor health and he died on 17th October 1849, at the age of 39. He was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery, but he wished for his heart to be in Poland. So his sister fulfilled his wish and brought it from France. It is now sealed with-in a pillar of the Holy Cross Church on Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw.

During his lifetime Chopin Com-posed 59 mazurkas, 27 études, 27 preludes, 21 nocturnes, 20 waltz-es, 18 polonaises, 5 rondos, 4 bal-lades, 4 impromptus, 4 scherzi, 4 sets of variations, 3 écossaises, 3 piano sonatas and 2 concerti.

Chopin’s statue in the Royal Baths (Łazienki) – a park in Warsaw

MASURIA (in Polish – MAZURY) is a region situated in the north – east of Poland.

POLAND2. MAZURY

Masuria and the Masurian Lake District are known in Polish as Kraina Tysiąca Jezior, meaning the land of a thousand lakes. These lakes were ground out of the land by glaciers during the Pleistocene ice age, when ice covered northeastern Europe. From that period originates the horn of a rein-deer found in the vicinity of Giżycko By 10,000 BC this ice started to melt. Great geological chang-es took place and even in the last 500 years the

maps showing the lagoons and peninsulas on the Baltic Sea have greatly altered in appearance. As in other parts of northern Poland, such as from Pomerania on the Oder River to the Vistula River, this continuous stretch of lakes is popular among tourists.

PUSZCZA PISKA

Puszcza Piska is a bird sanctuary on a European scale, featuring eleven nature reserves. The most valuable reserve is located at the Łuknajno Lake near the town of Mikołajki – a Ramsar site desig-nated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. It is the home of the Mute Swan, native to temperate re-gions of Europe and western Asia, Many species of wild animals live in the forest, among them:

deer, elk, moose, wild boar, hare, fox and recently reintroduced lynx. On wetlands, most saturated with water, beaver lodges can be found. The sym-bol of the Park is a white stork with nests scat-tered over many local villages.

Masuria in the eyes of : Julia, 12y, ... Lena, 12y

The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of AM-BER, called BALTIC AMBER or SUCCINITE, with about 80% of the world’s known amber found there It dates from 44 million years ago.

POLAND3. BALTIC AMBER

Amber – GOLD OF THE NORTH – is used by artists to create jewellery and objects of everyday use such as the following:

WAWEL is a hill situated on the left bank of the Vistula River (Wisła in Polish) in Cracow (or Kraków, as we call it). The hill is the site of a group of his-toric buildings, including the Wawel Castle and the Wawel Cathedral (the Cathedral Basilica of St.

Stanisław and St. Wacław). The complex also com-prises the Wawel Hill Fortifications. The remains of other buildings, dating back to different historical periods, have also been found on the site.

POLAND4. WAWEL

One of the most popular Polish legends – the legend of the Dragon of Wawel (in Polish we call him SMOK WAWELSKI) is also strictly connected with the place.

THE LEGEND OF THE DRAGON OF WAWELOnce upon a time there lived an evil dragon which would beat a path of destruction across the coun-tryside, killing the civilians, pillaging their homes and devouring their livestock. The dragon espe-cially enjoyed eating young maidens, and could only be appeased if the townsfolk left a young girl in front of its cave once a month.

King Krakus (the legendary founder of Kraków), certainly wanted to put a stop to the dragon, but his bravest knights fell to its fiery breath. With the flow of time, every girl in the city was sacrificed except one - the King’s daughter Wanda. In des-peration, the King promised his beautiful daugh-ter’s hand in marriage to anyone who could de-feat the dragon.

Great warriors from near and far fought for the prize and failed.

One day a poor cobbler’s apprentice named DRATEWKA accepted the challenge. He stuffed a

lamb with sulphur and set it outside the dragon’s cave. The dragon ate it and soon became incred-ibly thirsty. He turned to the Vistula River for re-lief and drank and drank. But no amount of wa-ter could quench his aching stomach, and after swelling up from drinking half the Vistula river, he exploded.

Dratewka married the King’s daughter as prom-ised, and they lived happily ever after.

Adrian, 7y

In Poland Smok Wawelski is very popular. Every child knows his story, and when in Kraków, goes to see his monument.

The sculpture of the dragon of Wawel was made in 1970 and placed in front of the dragon’s den. It is stylized, with six legs, and, to the amusement of children, it noisily breathes fire every few min-utes, thanks to a natural gas nozzle installed in the sculpture’s mouth.

Currently the dragon breathes fire every 2 min-utes, or when an SMS with the text ”SMOK” is sent to the number 7168.

What is interesting is the fact that the street lead-ing along the banks of the river towards the cas-tle is called ULICA SMOCZA, which translates as THE DRAGON STREET.

Iza, 12y

The WIELICZKA SALT MINE (Polish: KOPALNIA SOLI WIELIC-ZKA), located in the town of Wieliczka in southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metro-politan area. The mine, built in the 13th century, produced ta-ble salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world’s oldest salt mines still in operation.

The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 300 kilometers long. The rock salt is naturally gray in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visi-tors may expect.

The mine features an under-ground lake; and the new exhib-its on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometers tour-ing route that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by con-temporary artists.

The Wieliczka mine is often re-ferred to as the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Herit-age Sites.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine - cite_note-unesco.org-2 Even the crystals of the chandeliers are made from rock salt that has been dissolved and reconstitut-ed to achieve a clear, glass-like appearance. It also houses a pri-vate rehabilitation and wellness complex.

POLAND5. THE WIELICZKA SALT MINE

Patryk, 12y

One of the most famous legends connected with the Wieliczka salt mine is the legend of KINGA – the daughter of king Bela IV of Hungary.

The legend speaks of Bolesław, Prince of Poland going to Hunga-ry to ask for the hand of the royal daughter, Kinga. The proposal was accepted, and, King Bela, wanting to show royal generos-ity, decided to give Boleslaw , to-gether with his daughter’s hand in marriage, the most beautiful jewels from the Hungarian treas-ury.

However, all that Kinga desired was one treasure: salt – which at the time was precious and sought after – so that she could give it to her future subjects. Thus, her father gave her the richest salt mine in his kingdom, and Kinga cast her engagement ring into its shaft.

As soon as she arrived in Po-land, she had prospectors look-ing for salt. When it was found in Wieliczka, the miners came to the Queen with the first lump of salt mined from the Polish mines. Lo and behold, ensconced in it was the engagement ring she dropped into the Marmarosz Sziget mine in Hungary!

WALES

Area: 20,779km2 Population: 3.060.000Capital: CardiffOfficiallanguage: English/WelshStDavid’sDay 1stMarch

FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

FIVE WONDERS of WALES

1. Buildings and Castles

2. Countryside and National parks

3. Rugby and Millenium Stadium

4. Welsh Language

5. Welsh Culture

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3 4

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Raglan CastleRaglan, with its great multi-angular tow-ers and Tudor-styling, is unlike any other castle in Wales.

From a distance, Raglan seemed to have a reddish cast, although on approaching the gatehouse, the castle’s yellow sand-stone becomes obvious.

The elaborately decorated polygonal keep, as well as the double-drawbridge arrangement of the keep, unique in Brit-ain, demonstrate French influence.

In 1492, Elizabeth Herbert married Sir Charles Somerset, a natural son of Henry Beaufort, third duke of Somerset, and it is to the Somerset family as earls of Worcester that we owe the final architec-tural touches of the castle.

WALES1. Buildings and Castles of Wales

Wales had about 400 castles, of which over 100 are still standing, either as ruins or as restored build-ings. The rest have returned to nature, and today consist of ditches, mounds and earthworks, often in commanding positions.

tintern abbeyThe Cistercian abbey of Tintern is one of the greatest monastic ruins of Wales.

It was only the second Cistercian founda-tion in Britain, and the first in Wales, and was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, lord of Chepstow.

It soon prospered, thanks to endow-ments of land in Gwent and Glouces-tershire, and buildings were added and updated in every century until its disso-lution in 1536.

However, it was never very large and im-portant, and its history was relatively un-eventful.

Its position well away from the Welsh heartland meant that, unlike Margam, Neath and Llanthony, it suffered little in the periodic Welsh uprisings of the me-dieval period.

Tintern Abbey. Imogen, 9y

Chepstow CastleChepstow is a Norman castle perched high above the banks of the river Wye in southeast Wales.

Construction began at Chepstow in 1067, less than a year after Wil-liam the Conqueror was crowned King of England. While Edward had his master castle buil-der in the person of James of St. George, the Conqueror, some 200 years earlier, had his equal in the person of his loyal Norman lord William FitzOsbern.

FitzOsbern’s fortresses were the vehicles from which the new king consolidated control of his newly conquered lands. Chepstow Castle became the key launching point for expeditions into Wales, expe-ditions that eventually subdued the rebellious population.

Caldicot CastleFounded by the Normans, devel-oped in royal hands as a strong-hold in the Middle Ages and re-stored as a Victorian family home, the castle has a romantic and col-ourful history.

Caldicot Castle was built on a site that had long been recognized for its strategic value. In fact, the Romans actively made use of the area in the early centuries AD, when Caldicot stood on the Via Julia roadway to Caerwent, the Ro-man town of Venta Silurum (ruins visible) just to the north. Caldicot’s placement near the Bristol Chan-nel allowed observation of the comings and goings of ship traffic and eased transport of supplies to the site.

It’s useful location was recognized by the Normans as early as 1086, and they built a motte with two baileys and a deep surrounding ditch to control this portion of south Wales.

Snowdonia National ParkSituated on the west coast of Wales cover-ing 823 square miles of diverse landscapes, Snowdonia National Park is a living work-ing area, home to over 26,000 people.

As well as being the largest National Park in Wales, Snowdonia boasts the highest mountain in England and Wales, and the largest natural lake in Wales, as well as a wealth of picturesque villages like Betws y Coed and Beddgelert. Snowdonia is an area steeped in culture and local his-tory, where more than half its population speak Welsh.

WALES2. CouNtrySide

Wales has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,200 km (750 mi) of coastline, and is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit. Wales is made up of three National Parks.

Pembrokeshire National ParkThe Pembrokeshire Coast was designat-ed a National Park in 1952. The Pembroke-shire Coast National Park Authority be-came a separate au-thority in April 1996.

There are 14 National Parks in total in Britain and the Pembrokeshire Coast was the first predominantly coastal National Park, recognising the special qualities of the coastline in this part of West Wales.

The National Park is 612 square kilome-tres in area and stretches from St. Dog-maels on the Ceredigion border in the north to Amroth in the south. It includes the Cleddau Waterway, an estuary and river system that flows from the Preseli Hills in the north of Pembrokeshire to the coast beyond Milford Haven.

Mountains and rivers in Wales . Charlie, 7y

Brecon Beacons National ParkIt stretches from Llandeilo in the west to Hay-on-Wye in the northeast and Ponty-pool in the southeast, covering 519 square miles.

The Millennium Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm y Mileniwm) is the na-tional stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff.

It is the home of the Wales na-tional rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, box-ing and many music concerts, including Tina Turner, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, U2, Stere-ophonics, Paul McCartney, and the Tsunami Relief concert.

It was built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

WALES3. The MilleniuM STadiuM – WaleS Rugby

Aerial view of the Millenium Stadium. Gabe, 9y

Watching a rugby match. Jai, 8y

The stadium opened in June 1999, and the first major event to be held was an international rugby union match on 26 June 1999, when Wales beat South Africa in a friendly by 29–19, be-fore a test crowd of 29,000. With total seating capacity of 74,500, it is the third largest stadium in the Six Nations Championship behind the Stade de France and Twickenham, which is the larg-est. It is also the second largest stadium in the world with a fully retractable roof and was the second stadium in Europe to have this feature.

As well as international rugby union and association football, the Millennium Stadium has hosted a variety of sports, in-cluding, rugby league (includ-ing the Challenge Cup final on 3 occasions between 2003 and 2005, and Welsh Rugby League internationals), speedway, box-ing, the Wales Rally Great Britain stage of the World Rally Cham-pionship, Monster Jam and in-door cricket. The indoor cricket match was between The Brits and a Rest of the World team for the Pertemps Power Cricket Cup, and took place on 4 and 5 October 2002.

Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the national anthem of Wales. The title – taken from the first words of the song – means ”Old Land of My Fathers”, usu-ally rendered in English as simply ”Land of My Fa-thers”.

The words were written by Evan James and the tune composed by his son, James James, both residents of Pontypridd, Glamorgan, in January 1856. The earliest written copy survives and is part of the collections of the National Library of Wales.

WALES4. Welsh language

Hen Wlad fy Nhadau

(Land of my Fathers)

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi

Gwlad beirdd a chantorion enwogion o fri

Ei gwrol ryfelwr, gwlad garwyr tra mad

Tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.

Gwlad Gwlad,

Pleidiol wyf i’m gwlad,

Tra môr yn fur i’r bur hoff bau

O bydded i’r hen iaith barhau.

Kate, 8y

OriginsGlan Rhondda (Banks of the Rhondda), as it was known when it was composed, was first per-formed in the vestry of the original Capel Tabor, Maesteg, (which later became a working men’s club), in either January or February 1856, by Eliza-beth John from Pontypridd, and it soon became popular in the locality.

James James, the composer, was a harpist who played his instrument in the public house he ran, for the purpose of dancing. The song was origi-nally intended to be performed in 6/8 time, but had to be slowed down to its present rhythm when it began to be sung by large crowds.

The popularity of the song increased after the Llangollen Eisteddfod of 1858. Thomas Llewelyn of Aberdare won a competition for an unpub-lished collection of Welsh airs with a collection that included Glan Rhondda. The adjudicator of the competition, ”Owain Alaw” (John Owen, 1821-1883) asked for permission to include Glan Rhon-dda in his publication, Gems of Welsh melody (1860–64). This volume gave Glan Rhondda its more famous title, Hen wlad fy nhadau, and was sold in large quantities and ensured the popular-ity of the anthem across the whole of Wales.

Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music.

Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national em-blems include the leek and daffodil.

The Welsh words for leeks (cennin) and daffodils (cennin Pedr, lit. ”(Saint) Peter’s Leeks”) are close-ly related and it is likely that one of the symbols came to be used due to a misunderstanding for the other one, though it is less clear which came first.

WALES5. Culture

Patron SaintThe patron saint of Wales is Saint David, Dewi Sant in Welsh. St. David’s Day is celebrated on 1. March.

MusicWales is often referred to as ”the land of song” and is notable for its harpists, male choirs, and solo artists. The principal Welsh festival of music and poetry is the annual National Eisteddfod. The Llangollen International Eisteddfod echoes the National Eisteddfod but provides an opportunity for the singers and musicians of the world to per-form. Traditional music and dance in Wales is sup-ported by a myriad of societies. The Welsh Folk Song Society has published a number of collec-tions of songs and tunes.

Traditional instruments of Wales include telyn deires (triple harp), fiddle, crwth, pibgorn (horn-pipe) and other instruments. The Cerdd Dant So-ciety promotes its specific singing art primarily through an annual one-day festival.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales performs in Wales and internationally. The Welsh National Opera is based at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, while the National Youth Orchestra of Wales was the first of its type in the world.

Halle, 7y

CuisineWales is traditionally seen as an agrarian country and the traditional cuisines of Wales represent this heritage. Indeed, traditional foods tend to be simple, utilising readily-available ingredients and those cuts of meat that were not readily saleable.

Baking is also a large part of the country’s culi-nary culture and these dishes (such as Bara Brith [speckled bread]) tend to be fruitcakes that will keep for many days and were often served as a workman’s tea.

Traditional recipes such as cawl (a meat-based stew), Welsh rarebit, laver bread, brithyll aber-meurig (Abermeurig trout) and Penclawdd cock-les tend to be regional, reflecting the foods avail-able in that region.

traditional Welsh costumeThe Traditional Welsh costume is a costume once worn by rural women in Wales.

It is likely that the Welsh costume began as a rural costume (with regional variations in Wales) and became recognized as a traditional costume by the wives and daughters of the better off farm-ers who wore it for special occasions and when going to market to sell their produce. From the 1880s, when the traditional costume had gone out of general use, selected elements of it be-came adopted as a National Costume.

From then on it was worn by women at events such as Royal visits, by choirs, at church and chap-el, for photographs and occasionally at eisteddfo-dau. It was first worn by girls as a celebration on Saint David’s Day just before the First World War. The costume is now recognised as the national dress of Wales.

Friends Around Europe

2011—2013