Reichenbach I.K. Switzerland Camera
June 16, 2009
Reichenbach im Kandertal is a municipality in the district of Frutigen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The canton of Bern is the second largest of all Swiss cantons.
The canton of Bern is mainly drained by the River Aar and its tributaries. The whole area is in general very mountainous, with steep cliffs, many glaciers, and countless waterfalls.
The earliest evidence of human settlements in the Aare valley dates back to the Neolithic period. This settlement was partially fortified in the 2nd century BCE. It is thought to have been one of the twelve oppida of the Helvetii mentioned by Caesar.
From her inauspicious beginnings as a Celtic settlement in pre-Roman Central Europe, the city of Bern grew to become an aristocratic city republic and a major power in the Old Swiss Confederacy.
Features two streaming airport cameras from the Flight Group Reichenbach.
Vágar, Faroe Islands Webcams
March 29, 2009
Vágar is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the large islands. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Faroese, of Norse and Celtic descent.
The Faroe Islands are dominated by tholeiitic basalt lava which was part of the great Thulean Plateau during the Paleogene period.
The early history of the Faroe Islands is not well known. Irish hermits (monks) settled in the sixth century, introducing sheep and oats and the early Irish language to the islands. Saint Brendan, who lived circa 484–578, is said to have visited the Faroe Islands on two or three occasions (512-530 AD), naming two of the islands Sheep Island and Paradise Island of Birds.
Due to the rocky terrain and relatively small size of the Faroe Islands, its transportation system was not as extensive as other places of the world. Vágar Airport has scheduled service to destinations from Vágar Island. The largest Faroese airline is Atlantic Airways.
Second camera located here.
Gioiosa Marea, Sicily Camera
March 22, 2009
Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km and currently has just over five million inhabitants. It is also the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sicily is directly adjacent to the Italian region of Calabria, via the Strait of Messina to the east. The early Roman name for Sicily was Trinacria, alluding to its triangular shape. Sicily has been noted for two millennia as a grain-producing territory.
The original inhabitants of Sicily were three defined groups, the most prominent and by far the earliest of which was the Sicani. Historical evidence has been discovered in the form of cave drawings by the Sicani, dated from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, around 8000 BC, and is correlated with extinction of dwarf hippos and dwarf elephants.
Mount Etna, located in the east, is the only volcano on mainland Sicily and is the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world.
Sicily has its own unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, cuisine, architecture and language.
Lampedusa Island Webcam
March 22, 2009
Lampedusa belongs to Italy and is the largest of the Pelagie Islands, situated 205 km from Sicily and 113 km from Tunisia. Lampedusa is also known as being the gateway from Europe to Africa.
The Isola dei Conigli (literally ‘Island of Rabbits’), which is close to the south coast of Lampedusa, is one of the last remaining egg-laying sites in Italy for the Loggerhead Sea Turtle, which is endangered throughout the Mediterranean. Next to Parise Cape is a small beach accessible only by sea, through a low grotto.
Historically, Lampedusa was a landing place and a maritime base for the ancient Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs. The Romans established a plant for the production of the prized fish sauce known as garum. As a result of pirate attacks by the Arabs, the island became uninhabited.
The first prince of Lampedusa and Linosa was Giulio Tomasi, ancestor of the famous writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, who received the title from Charles II of Spain in 1630. Giuseppe Tomasi is most famous for his only novel, Il Gattopardo (first published posthumously in 1958, translated as The Leopard) which is set in Sicily during the Risorgimento.
Erice, Trapani Webcam
March 22, 2009
Erice is located on top of Mount Erice, and overlooks the city of Trapani, and the dramatic Punta del Saraceno, providing spectacular views.
The ancient name of Erice was Eryx, and its foundation was associated with the eponymous Greek hero Eryx. It was not a Greek colony, but was largely Hellenized. It was destroyed in the First Punic War by the Carthaginians, and from then on declined in importance.
In the northeastern portion of the city there are the remains of ancient Elymian and Phoenician walls indicating different stages of settlement and occupation in antiquity.
There are two castles, Pepoli Castle, which dates from Saracen times, and the Venus Castle, from the Norman period, built on top of the ancient Temple of Venus, where Venus Ericina was worshipped. According to legend, the temple was founded by Aeneas.
It was well-known, and an ancient cult was celebrated there. In his book On the Nature of Animals, Aelian writes that animals chosen for sacrifice would voluntarily walk up to the altar to be killed.
Kópasker, Iceland Camera
March 15, 2009
Kópasker is a small village in northeast Iceland, situated on Öxarfjörður. The district between Tjörnes mountains in the west and Jökulsá (Glacier river) in the east is known as Kelduhverfi; Kópasker is the town of the community.
There are many streams, which come up under lava fields and they give the district its name. Keldur means quagmire. Jökulsá runs to the sea in Öxafjörður. It falls into one of the deepest and most terrifying gorges in Iceland, Jökulsárgljúfur.
A geologically young land, Iceland is located on both the Iceland hotspot and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs right through it. This combined location means that geologically the island is extremely active, having many volcanoes, notably Hekla, Eldgjá, Herðubreið and Eldfell. Iceland is one of two places on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge rises above sea level, making it an easily accessible site to study the geology of such a ridge.
Today, Iceland has some of the world’s highest levels of economic and civil freedoms.In 2007, Iceland was ranked as the most developed country in the world by the United Nations’ Human Development Index.
Kalmar, Sweden Webcam
March 15, 2009
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. From the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, Kalmar was one of Sweden’s most important cities.
The area around Kalmar has been inhabited since ancient times. Diggings have found traces of stone age gravefields. The oldest sources of there being a town are however from the 11th century. According to a medieval folk tale, the Norwegian patron Saint Olav had his ships moved to Kalmar. The oldest city seal of Kalmar is from somewhere between 1255-1267, making it the oldest known city seal in Scandinavia.
Geographically Kalmar is the main route to the island of Öland thanks to the Öland Bridge which can be seen in the background. It became a fortified city, with the still mighty Kalmar Castle as the center.
In the 12th century the first foundations of a castle were established, with the construction of a round tower for guard and lookout. The tower was continuously expanded on in 13th century. In the 1540s, first King Gustav Vasa, and later his sons Erik XIV of Sweden and John III of Sweden would organize a rebuilding of the castle into the magnificent Renaissance castle it is today.
Bastia, Corsica Webcam
February 27, 2009
Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia.
Corsica, like all the other Mediterranean islands, was home to indigenous animals of the Pleistocene Epoch. After the proliferation of man in the Mesolithic, these began to disappear.
The extinct species are Cynotherium sardous, Megaloceros cazioti, Prolagus sardus, Bubo insularis and Athene angelis. Birds were especially hard-hit. Some species that disappeared were Haliaeetos albicilla and Aquila heliaca.
An unusual feature of the island is the herbaceous fragrance of the dense Corsican brush — lavender, honeysuckle, rosemary, cyclamen, myrtle and wild mint. Napoleon left Corsica as a young man, and although he never returned, when exiled on the nearby island of Elba, he claimed he often enjoyed the aroma of Corsica on the west wind.
