Skien Church, Skien, Norway - SpottingHistory.com

Skien Church is a Neo-Gothic church from 1894. It is 47 meters long with a tower height of 68 meters for two twin towers, the interior height is 17 meters. The church was designed by architect Martin Hagbarth Schytte-Berg. Inspiration was taken from the German architects John Vollmer and John Otzens. The organ in Skien Church is one of the largest in Norway with over 5000 pipes.

References:

Wikipedia

Religious sites in Norway

User Reviews

Bartek Sokołów (2 years ago)
Wow wow

Csabi Buna (3 years ago)
Wonderful

Andy Hall (3 years ago)
Beautiful and surprisingly colourful brick and wooden architecture inside, with great acoustics for listening to Skien Male Voice Choir concert. Stunning twin spires which are visible from miles around outside. Not yet attended a service here, but there seems to be plenty going on according to their notice boards.

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Arles Amphitheatre

The two-tiered Roman amphitheatre is probably the most prominent tourist attraction in the city of Arles, which thrived in Roman times. Built in 90 AD, the amphitheatre was capable of seating over 20,000 spectators, and was built to provide entertainment in the form of chariot races and bloody hand-to-hand battles. Today, it draws large crowds for bullfighting as well as plays and concerts in summer.

The building measures 136 m in length and 109 m wide, and features 120 arches. It has an oval arena surrounded by terraces, arcades on two levels (60 in all), bleachers, a system of galleries, drainage system in many corridors of access and staircases for a quick exit from the crowd. It was obviously inspired by the Colosseum in Rome (in 72-80), being built slightly later (in 90).

With the fall of the Empire in the 5th century, the amphitheatre became a shelter for the population and was transformed into a fortress with four towers (the southern tower is not restored). The structure encircled more than 200 houses, becoming a real town, with its public square built in the centre of the arena and two chapels, one in the centre of the building, and another one at the base of the west tower.

This new residential role continued until the late 18th century, and in 1825 through the initiative of the writer Prosper Mérimée, the change to national historical monument began. In 1826, expropriation began of the houses built within the building, which ended by 1830 when the first event was organized in the arena - a race of the bulls to celebrate the taking of Algiers.

Arles Amphitheatre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with other Roman buildings of the city, as part of the Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments group.

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