James' World 2

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Verona is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 259,610 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second-largest in northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km² (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.

Between the 13th and 14th century the city was ruled by the Della Scala Family. Under the rule of the family, in particular of Cangrande I della Scala, the city experienced great prosperity, becoming rich and powerful and being surrounded by new walls. The Della Scala era is survived in numerous monuments around Verona.

Two of William Shakespeare’s plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet (which also features Romeo’s visit to Mantua) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities. Verona was also the birthplace of Isotta Nogarola, who is said to be the first major female humanist and one of the most important humanists of the Renaissance. In November of 2000, the city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

The precise details of Verona’s early history remain a mystery along with the origin of the name. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BCE). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po, the Veronese territory became Roman (about 300 BCE). Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BCE. It was classified as a municipium in 49 BCE, when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia. Wikipedia

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Iași also referred to mostly historically as Jassy, is the second-largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally been one of the leading centers of Romanian social, cultural, academic, and artistic life. The city was the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1564 to 1859, then of the United Principalities from 1859 to 1862, and the capital of Romania from 1916 to 1918.

Known as the Cultural Capital of Romania, Iași is a symbol of Romanian history. Historian Nicolae Iorga stated that “there should be no Romanian who does not know of it”. Still referred to as “The Moldavian Capital”, Iași is the main economic and business center of Romania’s Moldavian region. In December 2018, Iași was officially declared the Historical Capital of Romania.

At the 2011 census, the city proper had a population of 290,422 (making it the fourth most populous in Romania at the time). Counting 500,668 residents as of 2018, the Iași urban area is the second most populous in Romania after Bucharest, whereas more than 500,000 people live within its peri-urban area.

Home to the oldest Romanian university and to the first engineering school, Iași is one of the most important education and research centers of the country, accommodating over 60,000 students in five public universities. The social and cultural life revolves around the Vasile Alecsandri National Theatre (the oldest in Romania), the Moldova State Philharmonic, the Opera House, the Iași Athenaeum, the Botanical Garden (the oldest and largest in Romania), the Central University Library (the oldest in Romania), the cultural centers and festivals, an array of museums, memorial houses, religious and historical monuments. The city is also known as the site of the largest Romanian pilgrimage which takes place every year, in October. Wikipedia

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Lanzarote is a Spanish island, the northernmost and easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately 125 kilometers (80 miles) off the north coast of Africa and 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.94 square kilometers (326.62 square miles), Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 152,289 inhabitants at the start of 2019, it is the third most populous Canary Island, after Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Located in the center-west of the island is Timanfaya National Park, one of its main attractions. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1993. The island’s capital is Arrecife, which lies on the eastern coastline. It is the smaller main island of the Province of Las Palmas.

The first recorded name for the island, given by Italian-Majorcan cartographer Angelino Dulcert, was Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus, after the Genoese navigator Lancelotto Malocello, from which the modern name is derived. The island’s name in the native Guanche language was Tyterogaka or Tytheroygaka, which may mean “one that is all ochre” (referring to the island’s predominant color).

Lanzarote is located 11 km (7 mi) north-east of Fuerteventura and just over 1 km (5⁄8 mi) from La Graciosa. The dimensions of the island are 60 km (37 mi) from north to south and 25 km (16 mi) from west to east. Lanzarote has 213 kilometers (132 miles) of coastline, of which 10 km (6 mi) are sand, 16.5 km (10+1⁄4 mi) are beach, and the remainder is rocky. Its landscape includes the mountain ranges of Famara (671 meters or 2,201 feet) in the north and Ajaches (608 meters or 1,995 feet) to the south. South of the Famara massif is the El Jable desert, which separates Famara and Montañas del Fuego. The highest peak is Peñas del Chache, rising to 670 meters (2,200 feet) above sea level. The “Tunnel of Atlantis”, the largest underwater volcanic tunnel in the world, is part of the Cueva de los Verdes lava tube. Wikipedia

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An image from Lanzarote Landscape

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