Santa Cruz, Tenerife Cameras
October 15, 2009
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital (jointly with Las Palmas) of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz is located in northeast of the Spanish island of Tenerife off the northwestern coast of Africa.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been occupied by humans for the last 2000 years as evidenced by numerous archaeological sites. The area was known to the Guanches, the first inhabitants of the island, as Añazo. Later, it became one of the most important ports of the Atlantic and the Canary Islands, a status it retains to this day.
Santa Cruz, being the center of the Tenerife Metropolitan Area, is the logical hub for the island’s motorway network. The 85 km. long TF1 Motorway links the south of the island including Playa de las Américas and other southern resorts and towns with its capital.
TF5 Motorway links Santa Cruz with the Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava and the northern side of the island, passing right through La Laguna before entering Santa Cruz. Tenerife North Airport lies on the TF5 Motorway on the outskirts of the city. The Santa Cruz harbor is one of the busiest in Spain. More traffic cameras here.
Budapest, Hungary Webcam
October 13, 2009
Budapest is the capital of Hungary, and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of right-bank Buda and Óbuda with left-bank Pest.
Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement, was the direct ancestor of Budapest, becoming the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Magyars arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241-42. The re-established town became one of the centers of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century.
The city ranked as the most livable Central/Eastern European city on EIU’s quality of life index (2009). The headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and the first foreign office of the CIPA will be in Budapest.
Among sights to see are the neo-Gothic Parliament, containing amongst other things the Hungarian Crown Jewels, and Saint Stephen’s Basilica, where the Holy Right Hand of the founder of Hungary, King Saint Stephen is on display.
Fethiye, Turkey Webcam
July 16, 2009
Fethiye is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. Modern day Fethiye is located on the ruins ot the ancient city of Telmessos.
Fethiye Museum, very rich in ancient and more recent artifacts, displays and testifies to the successive chain of civilizations which existed in the area, starting with ancient Lycia.
The combination of a favorable climate, warm sea, more than a thousand kilometers of shoreline along the Aegean and Mediterranean waters, and abundant natural and archeological points of interest makes this stretch of Turkey’s coastline a popular national and international tourist destination.
Among the archeological points of interest are two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the ruins of the Mausoleum of Maussollos in Halicarnassus and the remains of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, which can still be seen today.
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.
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.
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.
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.
