While very few tourists use it to enter Koyasan, most entering via Koyasan Train Station, the Daimon, or Great Gate, is the sacred main entrance to Mount Koya. Like many day-trip visitors today, this was our last stop in Koyasan before heading back to Osaka, after a rather late lunch in a small local restaurant close to the Daimon. Continue reading “Sacred Entrance to Mount Koya – Daimon”
This western section of the Derry City’s Wall, between Double Bastion and Butcher Gate, is the widest section of the Wall and is known as Grand Parade. What a great stretch of the Wall it is for those seeking to promenade. It was quite amazing to recall as I stroll along here that these walls are 400 years old and to think about the history under my feet and all around me. In addition to the strategic importance of this section of the Wall it has always been a preferred part of the Wall for a walk or other exercise. Continue reading “Grand Parade – Enjoy the Walk”
This gate is the best known of the four original gates in Derry City Walls and is at the highest point thereof. It was Bishop’s Gate that James II approached on 18 April 1689 expecting the citizens to surrender. James, requested the inhabitants to surrender four times that day. On the fourth occasion James beat a hasty retreat when a cannon was fired from the ramparts killing one of his officers. Thus began the 105 days Siege of Derry. Continue reading “Bishop’s Gate – No Surrender to James II”
Ferryquay is one of the four original City gates and overlooked the ferry quay on the River Foyle. It originally had a drawbridge over a dry moat and a tower. The original gate was significantly widened in 1795 and rebuilt in its present form in 1866. The keystones on this gate represent the Reverend George Walker, Episcopalian Minister and Governor during the Siege of Derry, and the Reverend James Gordon, Presbyterian Minister during the Siege. Continue reading “Ferryquay Gate – Shutting of the Gates Ceremony”
Riga’s medieval city walls had eight gates. Today only one of those gates, that giving access to Jacob’s Barracks from the Old City, Swedish Gate, remains. Continue reading “Swedish Gate”
The watchtower was an integral part of Zhengyangmen and only it and the gatehouse remain of this, the largest and one of the most important gates on Beijing’s 1400s Inner City wall. I suggest you read my review on the Zhengyangmen Gatehouse prior to this one as I have not repeated relevant background information in that review here. Continue reading “Zhengyangmen (Zhengyang Gate) – Watchtower”
At the southern end of Tiananmen Square, away from the Forbidden City, is a seemingly very out of place gate with another one, equally out of place looking, less than hundred metres behind it. Continue reading “Zhengyangmen (Zhengyang Gate) – Gatehouse”
With its portrait of Mao Zedong, Tiananmen (Gate) is one of the most recognised sights in not only Beijing but also in China and it forms a key part of the country’s national emblem. Continue reading “Tiananmen – Gate of Heavenly Peace”
Driving around (or rather being driven around) Pyongyang it is hard to believe you are in an Asian city – and only a very short distance from China. The city was razed to the ground in the Korean War and rebuilt with Soviet assistance in the next few decades hence its very distinct and overwhelming Soviet appearance.
Continue reading “Pyongyang’s Old Gates”
The Rambling Wombat 