Oberammergau (Bavarian: Obaammagau) is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.

Passion Play

The Oberammergau Passion Play was first performed in 1634 and is the result of a vow made by the inhabitants of the village that if God spared them from the effects of the bubonic plague then sweeping the region they would perform a passion play every ten years. A man travelling back to the town for Christmas had accidentally brought the plague with him. The man died from the plague and it began spreading throughout Oberammergau. After the vow was made, not another inhabitant of the town died from the bubonic plague and all of the town members that were still suffering from the plague recovered. The play is now performed in years ending with a zero, as well as in 1934 which was the 300th anniversary and 1984 which was the 350th anniversary (though the 1940 performance was cancelled because of the intervention of the Second World War). It involves over 2000 actors, singers, instrumentalists and technicians, all residents of the village.

Oberammergau Passion Play 2010

About half the inhabitants of Oberammergau took part in the once-a-decade Passion Play in 2010.

This means that over 2,000 villagers brought the story of Jesus to life for the audiences that flocked in from around the world. The play started with Jesus entering Jerusalem, continued with his death on the cross and finished with the resurrection. As ever, this was an extraordinary community enterprise, in which only natives of the village could participate.

2010 saw a new production directed by Oberammergau native Christian Stückl, director at Munich's noted Volkstheater. He was supported by the artistic team that along with him staged the 2000 Passion Play: deputy director and dramatic adviser Otto Huber, set and costume designer Stefan Hageneier and music director Marxus Zwink and conductor Michael Bocklet - all from Oberammergau. The play started each day at 14.30 and including a three-hour supper interval ended at 22.30: an innovation, since previous productions had been performed in the morning and afternoon with a break for lunch. Performances took place between mid-May and early October 2010.

Traditional art

The village is also known as the home of a long tradition of woodcarving; the Bavarian State Woodcarving School is located there. Among the celebrated former students is the German artist Wolfram Aichele. His processional church staff depicting Christ on a donkey can be seen in the church of St Peter and St Paul. The streets of central Oberammergau are home to dozens of woodcarver shops, with pieces ranging from religious subjects, to toys, to humorous portraits.

Oberammergau is also famous for its "Lüftlmalerei," or frescoes, of traditional Bavarian themes, fairy tales, religious scenes or architectural trompe-l'Å"il found on many homes and buildings. Lüftlmalerei is common in Upper Bavaria and its name may be derived from an Oberammergau house called Zum Lüftl, which was the home of facade painter Franz Seraph Zwinck (1748â€"1792).

Tongue-twister

The name of the village (as well as that of neighbouring Unterammergau) appears in a well-known German tongue-twister, often sung as a round:

• German: Heut' kommt der Hans zu mir, / freut sich die Lies. / Ob er aber über Oberammergau, / oder aber über Unterammergau, / oder aber überhaupt nicht kommt, / ist nicht gewiß!
• English: Hans will come join with me, / rejoices Lies. / If he comes by way of Oberammergau / or by way of Unterammergau, / or if at all he comes, / that is not sure!

Military

The Conrad von Hötzendorf Kaserne was built just east of the village in 1935â€"37 as a base for the signals detachment (Gebirgs-Nachrichten-Abteilung 54) of the Mountain Brigade. In October 1943, the barracks were taken over by the Messerschmitt company as a research and development site; 37 km (23 mi) of tunnels were bored into the neighboring Laber mountain for engine production facilities, and a winter sports hotel was also taken over. In all, Messerschmitt had 500 employees in the design department and about 1,300 more in the factory. At the end of the Second World War, the Messerschmitt design department was visited by both U.S. and British scientific missions, as well as by teams from Bell (who stayed for five weeks) and de Havilland. Among the German staff interviewed by the Fedden Mission were Waldemar Voigt, Messerschmitt's chief designer, Hans Hornung, and Joseph Helmschrott.

After the war, the Americans occupied the barracks, renaming it Hawkins Barracks and making it the primary facility of U.S. Army School Europe; over the next three decades schools in specialties ranging from military police to nuclear weapons handling were located there. The base reverted to German Army control and its original name in 1974.

NATO School, formerly NATO Weapons Systems School, the alliance's principal training and education facility on the operational level, has been located at Hawkins Barracks/Hötzendorf Kaserne since 1953.

Gallery

References in popular culture

Oberammergau's carved wooden crosses appear in Hugo Hamilton's novel The Speckled People.

In the GWAR album Violence Has Arrived, 'Oberammergau' is the name of a hell beast that they use to transport themselves around the world. It is mentioned in the songs 'Anti-Anti-Christ' and 'The Song of Words'.

In Pat Conroy's novel The Prince of Tides, Savannah Wingo writes a poem which celebrates the "shy Oberammergau of the itinerant barber"; her praise for her grandfather's tradition of walking around town carrying a 90-pound cross every Good Friday.

The 1934 film Twentieth Century, starring John Barrymore, mentions the famous passion play.

In Maud Hart Lovelace's novel Betsy and the Great World, Betsy visits Oberammergau and meets many of the people involved in the passion play.

Also, the passion play inspired the Brazilians to create one of the largest outdoor theaters in the world, called New Jerusalem city theater in Pernambuco.

Jerome K Jerome wrote 'The Diary of a Pilgrimage' about his journey to see the Passion Play.

Mike Ramsdell teaches at the NATO school in his 2005 novel A Train To Potevka.

A song 'Oberammergau' by UK musician Christopher Rye (featuring Chinese rock band Taikonauts) is based on a reference in the book Dark Side of the Moon by Gerard de Groot, to Oberammergau being the destination for the rocket scientists fleeing Nazi Germany at the end of the Second World War, who then helped build the US space programme.

In the 1976 film Network, at seeing an audition tape, the character Diana Christensen (played by Faye Dunaway) shouts "We don't want faith healers, evangelists or Oberammergau passion players!"

German Schlager singer Peter Wackel released a song called "Oberammergau" on the compilation album "Oktoberfest 2008".

The 2014 album Eulogy for the Living by the band Ghostrain references Oberammergau in the song Sound at 11.

References

External links

• Official site (German)
• Tourist information
• NATO School Website
• Official English Website for Oberammergau Passion Play 2010
• History of the Passion Play
• melody for the tongue twister round
• Oberammergau - Russian site

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The Grand Canyon (Hopi: Ongtupqa; Yavapai: Wi:kaʼi:la, Navajo: Tsékooh Hatsoh, Spanish: Gran Cañón) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona in North America. It is contained within and managed by Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Tribal Nation, the Havasupai people and the Navajo Nation. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters). Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

GeographyEdit

The Grand Canyon is a river valley in the Colorado Plateau that exposes uplifted Proterozoic and Paleozoic strata, and is also one of the 19 distinct physiographic sections of the Colorado Plateau province. It is not the deepest canyon in the world (Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal is much deeper). However, the Grand Canyon is known for its visually overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape. Geologically, it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are well preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geologic history of the North American continent.

Uplift associated with mountain formation later moved these sediments thousands of feet upward and created the Colorado Plateau. The higher elevation has also resulted in greater precipitation in the Colorado River drainage area, but not enough to change the Grand Canyon area from being semi-arid. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau is uneven, and the Kaibab Plateau that Grand Canyon bisects is over a one thousand feet (300 m) higher at the North Rim (about 1,000 ft or 300 m) than at the South Rim. Almost all runoff from the North Rim (which also gets more rain and snow) flows toward the Grand Canyon, while much of the runoff on the plateau behind the South Rim flows away from the canyon (following the general tilt). The result is deeper and longer tributary washes and canyons on the north side and shorter and steeper side canyons on the south side.

Temperatures on the North Rim are generally lower than those on the South Rim because of the greater elevation (averaging 8,000 feet or 2,400 metres above sea level). Heavy rains are common on both rims during the summer months. Access to the North Rim via the primary route leading to the canyon (State Route 67) is limited during the winter season due to road closures.

GeologyEdit

The Grand Canyon is part of the Colorado River basin which has developed over the past 40 million years. A recent study places the origins of the canyon beginning about 17 million years ago. Previous estimates had placed the age of the canyon at 5â€"6 million years. The study, which was published in the journal Science in 2008, used uranium-lead dating to analyze calcite deposits found on the walls of nine caves throughout the canyon. There is a substantial amount of controversy because this research suggests such a substantial departure from prior widely supported scientific consensus. In December 2012, a study published in the journal Science claimed new tests had suggested the Grand Canyon could be as old as 70 million years. However, this study has been criticized by those who support the "young canyon" age of around six million years as "[an] attempt to push the interpretation of their new data to their limits without consideration of the whole range of other ge ologic data sets."

The canyon is the result of erosion which exposes one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet.

The major geologic exposures in the Grand Canyon range in age from the 2-billion-year-old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230-million-year-old Kaibab Limestone on the Rim. There is a gap of about a billion years between the 500-million-year-old stratum and the level below it, which dates to about 1.5 billion years ago. This large unconformity indicates a long period for which no deposits are present.

Many of the formations were deposited in warm shallow seas, near-shore environments (such as beaches), and swamps as the seashore repeatedly advanced and retreated over the edge of a proto-North America. Major exceptions include the Permian Coconino Sandstone, which contains abundant geological evidence of aeolian sand dune deposition. Several parts of the Supai Group also were deposited in nonâ€"marine environments.

The great depth of the Grand Canyon and especially the height of its strata (most of which formed below sea level) can be attributed to 5â€"10 thousand feet (1,500 to 3,000 m) of uplift of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 65 million years ago (during the Laramide Orogeny). This uplift has steepened the stream gradient of the Colorado River and its tributaries, which in turn has increased their speed and thus their ability to cut through rock (see the elevation summary of the Colorado River for present conditions).

Weather conditions during the ice ages also increased the amount of water in the Colorado River drainage system. The ancestral Colorado River responded by cutting its channel faster and deeper.

The base level and course of the Colorado River (or its ancestral equivalent) changed 5.3 million years ago when the Gulf of California opened and lowered the river's base level (its lowest point). This increased the rate of erosion and cut nearly all of the Grand Canyon's current depth by 1.2 million years ago. The terraced walls of the canyon were created by differential erosion.

Between 100,000 and 3 million years ago, volcanic activity deposited ash and lava over the area which at times completely obstructed the river. These volcanic rocks are the youngest in the canyon.

HistoryEdit

Native AmericansEdit

The Ancestral Puebloans were a Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States. They were the first people known to live in the Grand Canyon area. The cultural group has often been referred to in archaeology as the Anasazi, although the term is not preferred by the modern Puebloan peoples. The word "Anasazi" is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy".

Archaeologists still debate when this distinct culture emerged. The current consensus, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification, suggests their emergence was around 1200 BCE during the Basketmaker II Era. Beginning with the earliest explorations and excavations, researchers have believed that the Ancient Puebloans are ancestors of the modern Pueblo peoples.

In addition to the Ancestral Puebloans, a number of distinct cultures have inhabited the Grand Canyon area. The Cohonina lived to the west of the Grand Canyon, between 500 and 1200 CE. The Cohonina were ancestors of the Yuman, Havasupai, and Walapai peoples who inhabit the area today.

The Sinagua were a cultural group occupying an area to the southeast of the Grand Canyon, between the Little Colorado River and the Salt River, between approximately 500 and 1425 CE. The Sinagua may have been ancestors of several Hopi clans.

By the time of the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, newer cultures had evolved. The Hualapai inhabit a 100-mile (160 km) stretch along the pine-clad southern side of the Grand Canyon. The Havasupai have been living in the area near Cataract Canyon since the beginning of the 13th century, occupying an area the size of Delaware. The Southern Paiutes live in what is now southern Utah and northern Arizona. The Navajo, or Diné, live in a wide area stretching from the San Francisco Peaks eastwards towards the Four Corners. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests the Navajo descended from the Athabaskan people near Great Slave Lake, Canada, who migrated after the 11th century.

European arrival and settlementEdit

Spanish explorersEdit

In September 1540, under orders from the conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to search for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, Captain García López de Cárdenas, along with Hopi guides and a small group of Spanish soldiers, traveled to the south rim of the Grand Canyon between Desert View and Moran Point. Pablo de Melgrossa, Juan Galeras, and a third soldier descended some one third of the way into the canyon until they were forced to return because of lack of water. In their report, they noted that some of the rocks in the canyon were "bigger than the great tower of Seville, Giralda " It is speculated that their Hopi guides likely knew routes to the canyon floor, but may have been reluctant to lead the Spanish to the river. No Europeans visited the canyon again for more than two hundred years.

Fathers Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante were two Spanish priests who, with a group of Spanish soldiers, explored southern Utah and traveled along the north rim of the canyon in Glen and Marble Canyons in search of a route from Santa Fe to California in 1776. They eventually found a crossing, formerly known as the "Crossing of the Fathers," that today lies under Lake Powell.

Also in 1776, Fray Francisco Garces, a Franciscan missionary, spent a week near Havasupai, unsuccessfully attempting to convert a band of Native Americans to Christianity. He described the canyon as "profound".

American explorationEdit

James Ohio Pattie, along with a group of American trappers and mountain men, may have been the next European to reach the canyon, in 1826.

Jacob Hamblin, a Mormon missionary, was sent by Brigham Young in the 1850s to locate suitable river crossing sites in the canyon. Building good relations with local Native Americans Hualapai Nation and white settlers, he found the Crossing of the Fathers, and the locations what would become Lees Ferry in 1858 and Pearce Ferry (later operated by, and named for, Harrison Pearce) â€" only the latter two sites suitable for ferry operation. He also acted as an advisor to John Wesley Powell before his second expedition to the Grand Canyon, serving as a diplomat between Powell and the local native tribes to ensure the safety of his party.

In 1857, Edward Fitzgerald Beale was superintendent of an expedition to survey a wagon road along the 35th parallel from Fort Defiance, Arizona to the Colorado River. He led a small party of men in search of water on the Coconino Plateau near the canyon's south rim. On September 19, near present-day National Canyon, they came upon what May Humphreys Stacey described in his journal as "...a wonderful canyon four thousand feet deep. Everyone (in the party) admitted that he never before saw anything to match or equal this astonishing natural curiosity."

Also in 1857, the U.S. War Department asked Lieutenant Joseph Ives to lead an expedition to assess the feasibility of an up-river navigation from the Gulf of California. Also in a stern wheeler steamboat Explorer, after two months and 350 miles (560 km) of difficult navigation, his party reached Black Canyon some two months after George Johnson. The Explorer struck a rock and was abandoned. Ives led his party east into the canyon â€" they may have been the first Europeans to travel the Diamond Creek drainage and traveled eastwards along the south rim. In his "Colorado River of the West" report to the Senate in 1861 he states that "One or two trappers profess to have seen the canyon."

According to the San Francisco Herald, in a series of articles run in 1853, Captain Joseph R. Walker in January 1851 with his nephew James T. Walker and six men, traveled up the Colorado River to a point where it joined the Virgin River and continued east into Arizona, traveling along the Grand Canyon and making short exploratory side trips along the way. Walker is reported to have said he wanted to visit the Moqui Indians, as the Hopi were then called by whites. He had met these people briefly in previous years, thought them exceptionally interesting and wanted to become better acquainted. The Herald reporter then stated, "We believe that Capt. Joe Walker is the only white man in this country that has ever visited this strange people."

In 1858, John Strong Newberry became probably the first geologist to visit the Grand Canyon.

In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell led the first expedition down the canyon. Powell set out to explore the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. Gathering nine men, four boats and food for 10 months, he set out from Green River, Wyoming on May 24. Passing through (or portaging around) a series of dangerous rapids, the group passed down the Green River to its confluence with the Colorado River, near present-day Moab, Utah and completed the journey with many hardships through the Grand Canyon on August 13, 1869. In 1871 Powell first used the term "Grand Canyon"; previously it had been called the "Big Canyon".

In 1889, Frank M. Brown wanted to build a railroad along the Colorado River to carry coal. He, his chief engineer Robert Brewster Stanton, and 14 others started to explore the Grand Canyon in poorly designed cedar wood boats, with no life preservers. Brown drowned in an accident near Marble Canyon: Stanton made new boats and proceeded to explore the Colorado all of the way to the Gulf of California.

The Grand Canyon became an official national monument in 1908 and a national park in 1919.

Settlers in and near the canyonEdit

• Miners: "Captain" John Hance, William W. Bass, Louis Boucher "The Hermit", Seth Tanner, Charles Spencer, D. W. "James" Mooney
• Lees Ferry: John Doyle Lee, Emma Lee French (17th of John Lee's 19 wives), J. S. Emmett, Charles Spencer
• Phantom Ranch: David Rust, Mary Colter
• Grand Canyon Village: Ralph H. Cameron, Emery & Ellsworth Kolb

Federal protectionEdit

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Grand Canyon in 1903. An avid outdoorsman and staunch conservationist, Roosevelt established the Grand Canyon Game Preserve on November 28, 1906. Livestock grazing was reduced, but predators such as mountain lions, eagles, and wolves were eradicated. Roosevelt along with other members of his conservation group, the Boone and Crockett Club helped form the National Parks Association, which in turn lobbied for the Antiquities Act of 1906 which gave Roosevelt the power to create national monuments. Once the act was passed, Roosevelt immediately added adjacent national forest lands and redesignated the preserve a U.S. National Monument on January 11, 1908. Opponents such as land and mining claim holders blocked efforts to reclassify the monument as a U.S. National Park for 11 years. Grand Canyon National Park was finally established as the 17th U.S. National Park by an Act of Congress signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on February 26, 1919.

The federal government administrators who manage park resources face many challenges. These include issues related to the recent reintroduction into the wild of the highly endangered California condor, air tour overflight noise levels, water rights disputes with various tribal reservations that border the park, and forest fire management. The Grand Canyon National Park superintendent is Steve Martin, appointed on February 5, 2007 to replace retiring superintendent Joe Alston. Martin was previously the National Park Service Deputy Director and superintendent of several other national parks, including Denali and Grand Teton. Federal officials started a flood in the Grand Canyon in hopes of restoring its ecosystem on March 5, 2008. The canyon's ecosystem was permanently changed after the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963.

Between 2003 and 2011, 2,215 mining claims had been requested that are adjacent to the canyon, including claims for uranium mines. Mining has been suspended since 2009, when U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar withdrew 1 million acres (4,000 km²) from the permitting process, pending assessment of the environmental impact of mining. Critics of the mines are concerned that, once mined, the uranium will leach into the water of the Colorado River and contaminate the water supply for up to 18 million people. Salazar's so-called "Northern Arizona Withdrawal" is a 20-year moratorium on new mines, but allows existing mines to continue. In 2012, the federal government stopped new mines in the area, which was upheld by the U.S. District Court for Arizona in 2014, but appealed by the National Mining Association, joined by the state of Arizona under Attorney General Mark Brnovich as well as Utah, Montana and Nevada. National Mining Association v. Jewell is pending before the Nint h Circuit Court of Appeals as of September 2015.

South Rim buildingsEdit

There are several historic buildings located along the South Rim with most in the vicinity of Grand Canyon Village.

• Buckey O'Neill Cabin was built during the 1890s by William Owen "Buckey" O'Neill. He built the cabin because of a copper deposit that was nearby. He had several occupations such as miner, judge, politician, author and tour guide. This cabin is the longest continually standing structure on the South Rim. It is currently used as a guest house; booking is required well in advance.
• Kolb Studio was built in 1904 by brothers Ellsworth and Emery Kolb. They were photographers who made a living by photographing visitors walking down the Bright Angel Trail. In 1911, the Kolb brothers filmed their journey down the Green and Colorado Rivers. Emery Kolb showed this movie regularly in his studio until 1976, when he died at the age of 95. Today the building serves as an art gallery and exhibit.
• The El Tovar Hotel was built in 1905 and is the most luxurious lodging on the South Rim. The hotel consists of 4 stories with a rustic chalet appearance called "National Park Rustic." It was designed by Charles Whittlesley. A gift shop and restaurant are located inside the hotel.
• Hopi House was built by Mary Jane Colter in 1905. It is based on structures that were built in an ancient Hopi settlement called Old Oraibi, located on the Third Mesa in eastern Arizona. It served as a residence for the Hopi Indians who sold arts and crafts to South Rim visitors.
• Verkamp's Curios, which stands next to the Hopi House, was built by John Verkamp in 1905. He sold arts and crafts as well as souvenirs. Until September 2008, it was run by his descendants; in November 2008, the building reopened as a visitor center focusing on the history of the Grand Canyon Village community.

• Grand Canyon Railway Depot was completed in 1910 and contains 2 levels. Gordon Chappell, Regional Historian for the Park Service, claims that this depot building is one of only three log-cabin-style train stations currently standing, out of fourteen ever built in the U.S. The depot is the northern terminus of the Grand Canyon Railway which begins in Williams, Arizona.
• Lookout Studio, another Mary Colter design, was built in 1914. Photography, artwork, books, souvenirs, and rock and fossil specimens are sold here. A great view of Bright Angel Trail can be seen here.
• Desert View Watchtower, one of Mary Colter's best-known works, was built in 1932. Situated at the far eastern end of the South Rim, 27 miles (43 km) from Grand Canyon Village, the tower stands 70 feet (21 m) tall. The top of the tower is 7,522 feet (2,293 m) above sea level, the highest point on the South Rim. It offers one of the few full views of the bottom of the canyon and the Colorado River. It was designed to mimic Anasazi watchtowers, though, with four levels, it is significantly taller than historical towers.
• Bright Angel Lodge was built of logs and stone in 1935. Mary Colter designed the lodge and it was built by the Fred Harvey Company. Inside the lodge is a small museum honoring Fred Harvey (June 27, 1835 â€" February 9, 1901), who played a major role in popularizing the Grand Canyon. In the History Room is a stone fireplace layered in the same sequence as those in the canyon.

WeatherEdit

Weather in the Grand Canyon varies according to elevation. The forested rims are high enough to receive winter snowfall, but along the Colorado River in the Inner Gorge, temperatures are similar to those found in Tucson and other low elevation desert locations in Arizona. Conditions in the Grand Canyon region are generally dry, but substantial precipitation occurs twice annually, during seasonal pattern shifts in winter (when Pacific storms usually deliver widespread, moderate rain and high-elevation snow to the region from the west) and in late summer (due to the North American Monsoon, which delivers waves of moisture from the southeast, causing dramatic, localized thunderstorms fueled by the heat of the day). Average annual precipitation on the South Rim is less than 16 inches (41 cm), with 60 inches (150 cm) of snow; the higher North Rim usually receives 27 inches (69 cm) of moisture, with a typical snowfall of 144 inches (370 cm); and Phantom Ranch, far below the canyon's rims along the Colorado River at 2,500 feet (762 m) gets just 8 inches (20 cm) of rain, and snow is a rarity.

Temperatures vary wildly throughout the year, with summer highs within the Inner Gorge commonly exceeding 100 °F (37.8 °C) and winter minimum temperatures sometimes falling below zero degrees Fahrenheit (âˆ'17.8 °C) along the canyon's rims. Visitors are often surprised by these potentially extreme conditions, and this, along with the high altitude of the canyon's rims, can lead to unpleasant side effects such as dehydration, sunburn, and hypothermia.

Weather conditions can greatly affect hiking and canyon exploration, and visitors should obtain accurate forecasts because of hazards posed by exposure to extreme temperatures, winter storms and late summer monsoons. While the park service posts weather information at gates and visitor centers, this is a rough approximation only, and should not be relied upon for trip planning. For accurate weather in the canyon, hikers should consult the National Weather Service's NOAA weather radio or the official National Weather Service website.

The National Weather Service has had a cooperative station on the South Rim since 1903. The record high temperature on the South Rim was 105 °F (41 °C) on June 26, 1974, and the record low temperature was âˆ'20 °F (âˆ'29 °C) on January 1, 1919, February 1, 1985, and December 23, 1990.

Air qualityEdit

The Grand Canyon area has some of the cleanest air in the United States. However at times the air quality can be considerably affected by events such as forest fires and dust storms in the Southwest.

What effect there is on air quality and visibility in the canyon has been mainly from sulfates, soils, and organics. The sulfates largely result from urban emissions in southern California, borne on the prevailing westerly winds throughout much of the year, and emissions from Arizona’s copper smelter region, borne on southerly or southeasterly winds during the monsoon season. Airborne soils originate with windy conditions and road dust. Organic particles result from vehicle emissions, long-range transport from urban areas, and forest fires, as well as from VOCs emitted by vegetation in the surrounding forests. Nitrates, carried in from urban areas, stationary sources, and vehicle emissions; as well as black carbon from forest fires and vehicle emissions, also contribute to a lesser extent.

A number of actions have been taken to preserve and further improve air quality and visibility at the canyon. In 1990, amendments to the Clean Air Act established the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC) to advise the US EPA on strategies for protecting visual air quality on the Colorado Plateau. The GCVTC released its final report in 1996 and initiated the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP), a partnership of state, tribal and federal agencies to help coordinate implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.

In 1999, the Regional Haze Rule established a goal of restoring visibility in national parks and wilderness areas (Class 1 areas), such as the Grand Canyon, to natural background levels by 2064. Subsequent revisions to the rule provide specific requirements for making reasonable progress toward that goal.

In the early 1990s, studies indicated that emissions of SO₂, a sulfate precursor, from the Navajo Generating Station affected visibility in the canyon mainly in the winter, and which if controlled would improve wintertime visibility by 2 to 7%. As a result, scrubbers were added to the plant’s three units in 1997 through 1999, reducing SO2 emissions by more than 90%. The plant also installed low-NO_x SOFA burners in 2009 -2011, reducing emissions of NO_x, a nitrate precursor, by 40%. Emissions from the Mohave Generating Station to the west were similarly found to affect visibility in the canyon. The plant was required to have installed SO₂ scrubbers, but was instead shut down in 2005, completely eliminating its emissions.

Prescribed fires are typically conducted in the spring and fall in the forests adjacent to the canyon to reduce the potential for severe forest fires and resulting smoke conditions. Although prescribed fires also affect air quality, the controlled conditions allow the use of management techniques to minimize their impact.

Biology and ecologyEdit

PlantsEdit

There are approximately 1,737 known species of vascular plants, 167 species of fungi, 64 species of moss and 195 species of lichen found in Grand Canyon National Park. This variety is largely due to the 8,000 foot (2,400 m) elevation change from the Colorado River up to the highest point on the North Rim. Grand Canyon boasts a dozen endemic plants (known only within the Park's boundaries) while only ten percent of the Park's flora is exotic. Sixty-three plants found here have been given special status by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Mojave Desert influences the western sections of the canyon, Sonoran Desert vegetation covers the eastern sections, and ponderosa and pinyon pine forests grow on both rims.

Natural seeps and springs percolating out of the canyon walls are home to 11% of all the plant species found in the Grand Canyon. The canyon itself can act as a connection between the east and the west by providing corridors of appropriate habitat along its length. The canyon can also be a genetic barrier to some species, like the tassel-eared squirrel.

The aspect, or direction a slope faces, also plays a major role in adding diversity to the Grand Canyon. North-facing slopes receive about one-third the normal amount of sunlight, so plants growing there are similar to plants found at higher elevations, or in more northern latitudes. The south-facing slopes receive the full amount of sunlight and are covered in vegetation typical of the Sonoran Desert.

AnimalsEdit

Of the 34 mammal species found along the Colorado River corridor, 18 are rodents and eight are bats.

Life zones and communitiesEdit

The Park contains several major ecosystems. Its great biological diversity can be attributed to the presence of five of the seven life zones and three of the four desert types in North America. The five life zones represented are the Lower Sonoran, Upper Sonoran, Transition, Canadian, and Hudsonian. This is equivalent to traveling from Mexico to Canada. Differences in elevation and the resulting variations in climate are the major factors that form the various life zones and communities in and around the canyon. Grand Canyon National Park contains 129 vegetation communities, and the composition and distribution of plant species is influenced by climate, geomorphology and geology.

Lower SonoranEdit

The Lower Sonoran life zone spans from the Colorado River up to 3,500 feet (1,100 m). Along the Colorado River and its perennial tributaries, a riparian community exists. Coyote willow, arrowweed, seep-willow, western honey mesquite, catclaw acacia, and exotic tamarisk (saltcedar) are the predominant species. Hanging gardens, seeps and springs often contain rare plants such as the white-flowering western redbud, stream orchid, and McDougall's flaveria. Endangered fish in the river include the humpback chub and the razorback sucker.

The three most common amphibians in these riparian communities are the canyon tree frog, red-spotted toad, and Woodhouse’s Rocky Mountain toad. Leopard frogs are very rare in the Colorado River corridor, and are known to exist at only a few sites. There are 33 crustacean species found in the Colorado River and its tributaries within Grand Canyon National Park. Of these 33, 16 are considered true zooplankton organisms.

Only 48 bird species regularly nest along the river, while others use the river as a migration corridor or as overwintering habitat. The bald eagle is one species that uses the river corridor as winter habitat.

River otters may have disappeared from the park in late 20th century, and muskrats are extremely rare. Beavers cut willows, cottonwoods, and shrubs for food, and can significantly affect the riparian vegetation. Other rodents, such as antelope squirrels and pocket mice, are mostly omnivorous, using many different vegetation types. Grand Canyon bats typically roost in desert uplands, but forage on the abundance of insects along the river and its tributaries. In addition to bats, coyotes, ringtails, and spotted skunks are the most numerous riparian predators and prey on invertebrates, rodents, and reptiles.

Raccoons, weasels, bobcats, gray foxes, and mountain lions are also present, but are much more rare. Mule deer and desert bighorn sheep are the ungulates that frequent the river corridor. Since the removal of 500 feral burros in the early 1980s, bighorn sheep numbers have rebounded. Mule deer are generally not permanent residents along the river, but travel down from the rim when food and water resources there become scarce.

The insect species commonly found in the river corridor and tributaries are midges, caddis flies, mayflies, stoneflies, black flies, mites, beetles, butterflies, moths, and fire ants. Numerous species of spiders and several species of scorpions including the bark scorpion and the giant desert hairy scorpion inhabit the riparian zone.

Eleven aquatic and 26 terrestrial species of mollusks have been identified in and around Grand Canyon National Park. Of the aquatic species, two are bivalves (clams) and nine are gastropods (snails). Twenty-six species of terrestrial gastropods have been identified, primarily land snails and slugs.

There are approximately 47 reptile species in Grand Canyon National Park. Ten are considered common along the river corridor and include lizards and snakes. Lizard density tends to be highest along the stretch of land between the water's edge and the beginning of the upland desert community. The two largest lizards in the canyon are gila monsters and chuckwallas. Many snake species, which are not directly dependent on surface water, may be found both within the inner gorge and the Colorado River corridor. Six rattlesnake species have been recorded in the park.

Above the river corridor a desert scrub community, composed of North American desert flora, thrives. Typical warm desert species such as creosote bush, white bursage, brittlebush, catclaw acacia, ocotillo, mariola, western honey mesquite, four-wing saltbush, big sagebrush, blackbrush and rubber rabbitbrush grow in this community. The mammalian fauna in the woodland scrub community consists of 50 species, mostly rodents and bats. Three of the five Park woodrat species live in the desert scrub community.

Except for the western (desert) banded gecko, which seems to be distributed only near water along the Colorado River, all of the reptiles found near the river also appear in the uplands, but in lower densities. The desert gopher tortoise, a threatened species, inhabits the desert scrublands in the western end of the park.

Some of the common insects found at elevations above 2,000 feet (610 m) are orange paper wasps, honey bees, black flies, tarantula hawks, stink bugs, beetles, black ants, and monarch and swallowtail butterflies. Solifugids, wood spiders, garden spiders, black widow spiders and tarantulas can be found in the desert scrub and higher elevations.

Upper Sonoran and TransitionEdit

The Upper Sonoran Life Zone includes most of the inner canyon and South Rim at elevations from 3,500 to 7,000 feet (1,100 to 2,100 m). This zone is generally dominated by blackbrush, sagebrush, and pinyon-juniper woodlands. Elevations of 3,500 to 4,000 feet (1,100 to 1,200 m) are in the Mojave Desert Scrub community of the Upper Sonoran. This community is dominated by the four-winged saltbush and creosote bush; other important plants include Utah agave, narrowleaf mesquite, ratany, catclaw acacia, and various cacti species.

Approximately 30 bird species breed primarily in the desert uplands and cliffs of the inner canyon. Virtually all bird species present breed in other suitable habitats throughout the Sonoran and Mohave deserts. The abundance of bats, swifts, and riparian birds provides ample food for peregrines, and suitable eyrie sites are plentiful along the steep canyon walls. Also, several critically endangered California condors that were re-introduced to the Colorado Plateau on the Arizona Strip, have made the eastern part of the Park their home.

The conifer forests provide habitat for 52 mammal species. Porcupines, shrews, red squirrels, tassel eared Kaibab and Abert's squirrels, black bear, mule deer, and elk are found at the park's higher elevations on the Kaibab Plateau.

Above the desert scrub and up to 6,200 feet (1,900 m) is a pinyon pine forest and one seed juniper woodland. Within this woodland one can find big sagebrush, snakeweed, Mormon tea, Utah agave, banana and narrowleaf Yucca, winterfat, Indian ricegrass, dropseed, and needlegrass. There are a variety of snakes and lizards here, but one species of reptile, the mountain short-horned lizard, is a particularly abundant inhabitant of the piñon-juniper and ponderosa pine forests.

Ponderosa pine forests grow at elevations between 6,500 and 8,200 feet (2,000 and 2,500 m), on both North and South rims in the Transition life zone. The South Rim includes species such as gray fox, mule deer, bighorn sheep, rock squirrels, pinyon pine and Utah juniper. Additional species such as Gambel oak, New Mexico locust, mountain mahogany, elderberry, creeping mahonia, and fescue have been identified in these forests. The Utah tiger salamander and the Great Basin spadefoot toad are two amphibians that are common in the rim forests. Of the approximately 90 bird species that breed in the coniferous forests, 51 are summer residents and at least 15 of these are known to be neotropical migrants.

Canadian and HudsonianEdit

Elevations of 8,200 to 9,000 feet (2,500 to 2,700 m) are in the Canadian Life Zone, which includes the North Rim and the Kaibab Plateau. Spruce-fir forests characterized by Engelmann spruce, blue spruce, Douglas fir, white fir, aspen, and mountain ash, along with several species of perennial grasses, groundsels, yarrow, cinquefoil, lupines, sedges, and asters, grow in this sub-alpine climate. Mountain lions, Kaibab squirrels, and northern goshawks are found here.

Montane meadows and subalpine grassland communities of the Hudsonian life zone are rare and located only on the North Rim. Both are typified by many grass species. Some of these grasses include blue and black grama, big galleta, Indian ricegrass and three-awns. The wettest areas support sedges and forbs.

Grand Canyon tourismEdit

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the world's premier natural attractions, attracting about five million visitors per year. Overall, 83% were from the United States: California (12.2%), Arizona (8.9%), Texas (4.8%), Florida (3.4%) and New York (3.2%) represented the top domestic visitors. Seventeen percent of visitors were from outside the United States; the most prominently represented nations were the United Kingdom (3.8%), Canada (3.5%), Japan (2.1%), Germany (1.9%) and The Netherlands (1.2%). The South Rim is open all year round weather permitting. The North Rim is generally open mid-May to mid-October.

ActivitiesEdit

Aside from casual sightseeing from the South Rim (averaging 7,000 feet [2,100 m] above sea level), skydiving, rafting, hiking, running, and helicopter tours are popular. The Grand Canyon Ultra Marathon is a 78-mile (126 km) race over 24 hours. The floor of the valley is accessible by foot, muleback, or by boat or raft from upriver. Hiking down to the river and back up to the rim in one day is discouraged by park officials because of the distance, steep and rocky trails, change in elevation, and danger of heat exhaustion from the much higher temperatures at the bottom. Rescues are required annually of unsuccessful rim-to-river-to-rim travelers. Nevertheless, hundreds of fit and experienced hikers complete the trip every year.

Camping on the North and South rims is generally restricted to established campgrounds and reservations are highly recommended, especially at the busier South Rim. There is at large camping available along many parts of the North Rim managed by Kaibab National Forest. North Rim campsites are only open seasonally due to road closures from weather and winter snowpack. All overnight camping below the rim requires a backcountry permit from the Backcountry Office (BCO). Each year Grand Canyon National Park receives approximately 30,000 requests for backcountry permits. The park issues 13,000 permits, and close to 40,000 people camp overnight. The earliest a permit application is accepted is the first of the month, four months before the proposed start month.

Tourists wishing for a more vertical perspective can go skydiving, board helicopters and small airplanes in Boulder, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (seven miles from the South Rim) for canyon flyovers. Scenic flights are no longer allowed to fly within 1500 feet of the rim within the national park because of a late 1990s crash. The last aerial video footage from below the rim was filmed in 1984. However, some helicopter flights land on the Havasupai and Hualapai Indian Reservations within Grand Canyon (outside of the park boundaries).

In 2007, the Hualapai Tribe opened the glass-bottomed Grand Canyon Skywalk on their property, Grand Canyon West. The Skywalk has seen mixed reviews since the site is only accessible by driving down a 10-mile (16 km) dirt road, costs a minimum of $85 in total for reservation fees, a tour package and admission to the Skywalk itself and the fact that cameras or other personal equipment are not permitted on the Skywalk at any time due to the hazard of damaging the glass if dropped. The Skywalk is about 250 miles (400 km) by road from Grand Canyon Village at the South Rim. The skywalk has attracted "thousands of visitors a year, most from Las Vegas".

In 2016 skydiving at the Grand Canyon become possible with the first Grand Canyon Skydiving operation opening up at the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, on the South Rim.

In 2014, a developer announced plans to build a multimedia complex on the canyon's rim called the Grand Canyon Escalade. On 420 acres there would be shops, an IMAX theater, hotels and an RV park. A gondola would enable easy visits to the canyon floor where a "riverwalk" of "connected walkways, an eatery, a tramway station, a seating area and a wastewater package plant" would be situated. Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly has indicated agreement; the tribe would have to invest $65 million for road, water and communication facilities for the $1 billion complex. One of the developers is Navajo and has cited an 8 to 18 percent share of the gross revenue for the tribe as an incentive.

Viewing the canyonEdit

Lipan Point is a promontory located on the South Rim. This point is located to the east of the Grand Canyon Village along the Desert View Drive. There is a parking lot for visitors who care to drive along with the canyon's bus service that routinely stops at the point. The trailhead to the Tanner Trail is located just before the parking lot. The view from Lipan Point shows a wide array of rock strata and the Unkar Creek area in the inner canyon.

Grand Canyon fatalitiesEdit

About 600 deaths have occurred in the Grand Canyon since the 1870s. Some of these deaths occurred as the result of overly zealous photographic endeavors, some were the result of airplane collisions within the canyon, and some visitors drowned in the Colorado River.

Of the fatalities, 53 have resulted from falls; 65 deaths were attributable to environmental causes, including heat stroke, cardiac arrest, dehydration, and hypothermia; 7 were caught in flash floods; 79 were drowned in the Colorado River; 242 perished in airplane and helicopter crashes (128 of them in the 1956 disaster mentioned below); 25 died in freak errors and accidents, including lightning strikes and rock falls; and 23 were the victims of homicides.

1956 air disasterEdit

In 1956 the Grand Canyon was the site of the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in history at the time.

On the morning of June 30, 1956, a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation and a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 departed Los Angeles International Airport within three minutes of one another on eastbound transcontinental flights. Approximately 90 minutes later, the two propeller-driven airliners collided above the canyon while both were flying in unmonitored airspace.

The wreckage of both planes fell into the eastern portion of the canyon, on Temple and Chuar Buttes, near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. The disaster killed all 128 passengers and crew members aboard both planes.

This accident led to the institution of high-altitude airways and positive control by en route ground controllers.

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

• Grand Canyon National Park Service
• Grand Canyon Backcountry Use Areas - Map

History

• Grand Canyon Bibliography â€" bibliography of the Grand Canyon. 37,462 items produced between 1540 and the present.
• Grand Canyon Explorer: History timeline from 10,000 years ago to 1994.

Travel and sites

• Grand Canyon Chamber & Visitor's Bureau
• 36 Hours at the Grand Canyon by The New York Times, May 31, 2009

Multimedia

• NPS Photographs
• Grand Canyon 3-D perspective  â€" view looking southwesterly, showing North Rim and Canyon.
• Grand Canyon - Street View - Google Maps

Learn more »

Salamanca (Spanish pronunciation: [salaˈmaŋka]) is an ancient Celtic city in northwestern Spain that is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the community of Castile and León. The city lies on several hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. With a metropolitan population of 228,881 in 2012 according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Salamanca is the second most populated urban area in Castile and León, after Valladolid (414,000), and ahead of León (187,000) and Burgos (176,000).

It is one of the most important university cities in Spain and supplies 16% of Spain's market for the teaching of the Spanish language, partially due to the usage of a neutral Castilian Spanish variant which is greatly appreciated. Salamanca attracts thousands of international students, generating a diverse environment.

It is situated approximately 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the Spanish capital Madrid and 80 km (50 mi) east of the Portuguese border. The University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1218, is the oldest university in Spain and the fourth oldest western university, but the first to be given its status by the Pope Alexander IV who gave universal validity to its degrees. With its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca.

History

The city was founded in the pre-Ancient Rome period by the Vaccaei, a Celtic tribe, or the Vettones, a Celtic or pre-Celtic indo-European tribe, as one of a pair of forts to defend their territory near the Duero river. In the 3rd century BC, Hannibal laid siege to the city. With the fall of the Carthaginians to the Romans, the city of Helmantica, as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman Hispania due to its favorable location. Salamanca lay on a Roman road, known as the Vía de la Plata, which connected it with Emerita Augusta (present day Mérida) to the south and Asturica Augusta (present-day Astorga) to the north. Its Roman bridge dates from the 1st century, and was a part of this road.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Alans established in Lusitania, and Salamanca was part of this region. Later the city was conquered by the Visigoths and included in their territory. The city was already an episcopal see, and signatures of bishops of Salamanca are found in the Councils of Toledo.

Salamanca surrendered to the Moors, led by Musa bin Nusair, in the year 712 AD. For years, this area between the south of Duero River and the north of Tormes River, became the main battlefield between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslim Al-Andalus rulers. The constant fighting of the Kingdom of León first, and the Kingdom of Castile and León later against the Caliphate depopulated Salamanca and reduced it to an unimportant settlement. After the battle of Simancas (939) the Christians resettled this area. After the capture of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 1085, the definitive resettlement of the city took place. Raymond of Burgundy, instructed by his father-in-law Alfonso VI of León, led a group of settlers of various origins in 1102.

One of the most important moments in Salamanca's history was the year 1218, when Alfonso IX of León granted a royal charter to the University of Salamanca, although formal teaching had existed at least since 1130. Soon it became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe.

During the 16th century, the city reached its height of splendour (around 6,500 students and a total population of 24,000). During that period, the University of Salamanca hosted the most important intellectuals of the time; these groups of mostly-Dominican scholars were designated the School of Salamanca. The juridical doctrine of the School of Salamanca represented the end of medieval concepts of law, and founded the fundamental body of the ulterior European law and morality concepts, including rights as a corporeal being (right to life), economic rights (right to own property) and spiritual rights (rights to freedom of thought and rights related to intrinsic human dignity).

In 1551, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered an inquiry to find out if the science of Andreas Vesalius, physician and anatomist, was in line with Catholic doctrine. Vesalius came to Salamanca that same year to appear before the board and was acquitted.

Salamanca suffered the general downturns of the Kingdom of Castile during the 17th century, but in the 18th century it experienced a rebirth. In this period, the new baroque Cathedral and main square (Plaza Mayor) were finished.

In the Peninsular War of the Napoleonic campaigns, the Battle of Salamanca, fought on 22 July 1812, was a serious setback for the French, and a mighty setback for Salamanca, whose western quarter was seriously damaged. The battle which raged that day is famous as a defining moment in military history; many thousands of men were slaughtered by cannon fire in the space of only a few short hours.

During the devastating Spanish Civil War (1936â€"39) the city quickly went over to the Nationalist side and was used as the de facto capital. Franco was named Generalissimo on 21 September 1937 while at the city, and in the same year was formed, by a decree signed in the city, the official fascist party that ruled Spain until the end of the Francoist regime, officially suppressing any other political party. The Nationalists soon moved most of the administrative departments to Burgos, which being more central was better suited for this purpose. However, some administrative departments, Franco's headquarters (located at the Palacio Episcopal, next to the Old Cathedral) and the military commands stayed in Salamanca, along with the German and Italian fascist delegations, making it the de facto Nationalist capital and centre of power during the entire civil war. Like much of fervently Catholic and largely rural Leon and Old Castile regions, Salamanca was a staunch supporter of the Nationalist side and Francisco Franco's regime for its long duration.

In 1988, the old city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1998, it was declared a European Capital of Culture for year 2002 (shared with Bruges). During 14 and 15 October 2005, it hosted the XV the Ibero-American Summits of Heads of State and Governments.

Since 1996, Salamanca has been the designated site of the archives of the Spanish Civil War (Archivo General de la Guerra Civil Española). The original documents were assembled by the Francoist regime, selectively obtained from the administrative departments of various institutions and organizations during the Spanish Civil War as a repressive instrument used against opposition groups and individuals. The socialist government moved the Catalan part of the archive to Barcelona in 2006 despite opposition from the local authorities and popular protests.

Main sights

The Old City of Salamanca was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Sightseeing in the city, many of them within the old quarter, are:

Squares and public spaces

• La Plaza Mayor: of Baroque style, designed by architects Alberto and Nicolás Churriguera is the most important of public spaces and the heart of the city.
• Campo de San Francisco (Salamanca): First public garden in the city on grounds of the former convent of San Francisco Real.
• Huerto de Calisto y Melibea (Salamanca): Garden near the cathedrals where, some say, lies the plot of the novel La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas. Beside it are remains of the Roman Walls.
• Plaza del Corrillo (Salamanca): Small square adjacent to the Plaza Mayor. On the left is the Romanesque church of San Martín and the right a series of houses with porches formed by columns of stone completed in pads representing the days of the week (a moon for the Monday, a Mars for Tuesday, etc.).

Religious buildings

• Capilla de la Vera Cruz: Baroque church with Renaissance façade, headquarters of the five-hundred-year-old Brotherhood of the Vera Cruz of Salamanca. It houses countless works of art.
• Cathedrals: Salamanca has two cathedrals, the Old Cathedral, of the 12th century and of Romanesque style, and the New Cathedral, much larger, built in the 16th century of Gothic style and completed in the 18th century. The place where they both join is known as Patio Chico and is one of the most charming corners of the city.
• La Clerecía: currently houses the Pontifical University. Building started in 1617 and was completed 150 years later as the Colegio Real del Espíritu Santo, of the Society of Jesus. The style is Baroque. It difference the school, with an interesting cloister and the church, with an impressive façade of three bodies, two twin towers of 50 meters high and a huge dome. The Clerecía name is because it belonged to the Real Clerecía de San Marcos after the expulsion of the Jesuits.
• Colegio de Calatrava: Built in the 18th century, by the initiative of the Order of Calatrava, now houses the Casa de la Iglesia.
• Convento de las Agustinas e Iglesia de la Purísima: In the church is a painting of the Immaculate Conception painted by Jusepe de Ribera. It is the only construction of totally Italian space and decor in Spain.
• Convento de las Dueñas (15th century): Highlights the irregular Renaissance cloister.
• Convento de las Isabeles (Salamanca)
• Convento de San Antonio el Real (1736): of Baroque style, its remains were divided between the Lyceum Theatre and a store where it can visit.
• Convento de San Esteban, of the Dominican friars (16th century): the plateresque façade, with its shape of an arc of triumph, is a jewel of the Salamancan Renaissance. Impressive Baroque altarpiece by José Benito Churriguera. Also noteworthy is the Cloister of the Kings, Renaissance.
• Convento de la Anunciación (Calle de las Úrsulas): Founded by the Archbishop Alonso II de Fonseca in 1512. Stresses the exterior apse of Gothic style. In the inside, the Baroque altarpiece and the tomb of the founder, Renaissance, work by Beto.
• Convento de la Trinidad: Former Palacio de Montellano adapted in the 16th century to host a Trinitarian friary.
• Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de la Victoria, of the monks of the Order of St. Jerome, completed in 1513, almost destroyed by the French in the early 19th century, the Peninsular War, is now integrated into the manufacturing facilities of the 19th century, of the Grupo Mirat.
• Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia (16th-17th centuries): small Baroque chapel which was begun in 1389 in the Plaza de San Cristobal. Currently very damaged, is a printing, while its bell-gable decorates the church of the Pizarrales neighborhood.
• Antigua Iglesia de las Bernardas work by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón. Prototype of the Salamancan churches of the 16th century. Stresses the shell-shaped head. Today it is within the Colegio de San José de Calasanz.
• Iglesia del Carmen de Abajo: Chapel of the Third Order Carmelites, incorporated in the Friary of San Andrés. It is the only remnant of that friary, which disappeared in the 19th century.
• Iglesia de San Benito: Gothic church built under the patronage of Alonso II de Fonseca, pantheon of the Maldonado family.
• Iglesia de San Julián: Romanesque church subsequently restored.
• Iglesia de San Marcos: Romanesque church near the path which ran the North walls of the city. Outside circular plant has three naves and apses inside.
• Iglesia de San Martín: Romanesque church with Gothic reforms, Renaissance and Baroque, attached to the Plaza Mayor.
• Iglesia de San Pablo: Baroque church belonging to the former convent of the Trinitarians, houses the image of Jesus Rescued, much venerated in the city. Parish hosts, governed by the Diocesan Laborer Priests.
• Iglesia de Santo Tomás Cantuariense: Romanesque church founded in honor of St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1175, just five years after his death and two after his canonization. It has three apses and a nave with a wooden roof. Form Parish along with St. Paul, governed by the Diocesan Laborer Priests.

University buildings

• University: Set of buildings that made up the former University of Salamanca, including the Escuelas Mayores, the Escuelas Menores and the Hospital de Estudio (current rectorate). These buildings are situated around the square known as Patio de Escuelas. In this same square is the home of Dr. Álvarez Abarca or of the Doctors of the Queen (15th century), whose façade is Gothic with Renaissance details and is now the Museum of Salamanca.
• Casa-museo de Unamuno (18th century): former home of the rectors of the university. It preserved as in its time it had Miguel de Unamuno when he took this position.
• Colegio Mayor de Santiago el Zebedeo, also called "of the Archbishop Fonseca" or "of the Irish" (16th century).
• Colegio de San Ambrosio (1719): Is currently General Archive of the Spanish Civil War. Houses documents and items seized by the national troops and their allies during and at the end of the Spanish Civil War. While over the entire postwar its basic objective was to preserve the information related to organizations and peoples potentially opposing the Franco regime, and therefore use this information for repressive, since the return of democracy this building would become one of the most important archives that existed in Spain to investigate the historical period of the Second Republic. Many of the documents and objects that still remain in the archive are related to the Freemasonry, including several furniture that has been rebuilt a Masonic Lodge.
• Colegio Trilingüe: founded in 1554 to the teaching of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. It also preserves part of the original courtyard, remade in 1829, in the Faculty of Physics.
• Palacio de Anaya was the last headquarters of the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé or Colegio de Anaya founded in the 15th century by Don Diego de Anaya, abolished in the early 19th century. Today is the faculty of philology. Next to the building is the Iglesia of San Sebastian, former chapel of the college and the Inn, work by Joaquín de Churriguera.
• Colegio Santa Cruz de Cañizares (16th century): Music Conservatory. Of it only remains the old chapel, now incorporated into the assembly hall of the conservatory, and the main façade, of plateresque style.
• Colegio de San Pelayo: founded in the mid-16th century. Since 1990 home to the Faculty of Geography and History.

Palaces and palatial houses

• Casa de las Conchas: built in the late 15th century. of Gothic civil style, its façade is decorated with about 350 shells of scallops, distinctive of the Order of Santiago. Also important are the bars Gothic windows. It currently houses a public library.
• Casa de Don Diego Maldonado: 16th-century Plateresque palace. It houses the Hispanic-Brazilian Cultural Foundation and the Centre for Brazilian Studies at the University of Salamanca.
• Casa de Doña María la Brava: 15th-century Gothic building, prototype of the noble mansions of the time. Its owner, María Rodríguez de Monroy was the head of one of the two sides in that split the city in the 15th century. Beheaded the murderers of her children. It is located in the Plaza de los Bandos.
• Casa Lis: Art Nouveau palace of 1905 with iron façade. Built on the walls. It houses the Collections of Art Nouveau and Art Deco donated by Manuel Ramos Andrade.
• Casa de las Muertes (early 16th century), built by Juan de Álava and named such for the skulls that decorate the façade.
• Casa del Regidor Ovalle (18th century): The Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno died here.
• Casa de Santa Teresa (16th century): The saint Teresa of Ávila stayed here when she visited Salamanca in 1570 to found a convent and here she wrote the poem Vivo sin vivir en mí.
• Casa de la Tierra (15th century): doorway with arched, Gothic window tracery. Headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Salamanca.
• Casa de las Viejas (17th century): old workhouse for poor, now the headquarters of the Regional Film Archive of Castile and León. Permanent exhibition of equipment related to cinema and its history, owned by Salamancan filmmaker Basilio Martín Patino.
• Fonda Veracruz : courtyard with wooden galleries in form of dead-end street. Currently catering school.
• Arias Corvelle Palace (15th century): sgraffito façade very similar to that of San Boal. It houses the School of Fine and Performing Arts of San Eloy.
• Castellanos Palace (15th-16th centuries): The Palace of the Marquises of Castellanos construction began in the late 15th century, although the façade dates from the late 19th century which combines Gothic and Neoclassical styles. With a powerful Gothic interior courtyard, this building now serves as a hotel.
• Garci Grande Palace (16th century): Renaissance doorway and chamfered corner windows unique in the city. Head Office of the Savings Bank (Caja Duero).
• Monterrey Palace: was built in the 16th century and is of plateresque style. Belongs to the House of Alba and highlight its towers and chimneys. Only it built one of the four parts that composed all designed initially.
• Orellana Palace (16th century): building of classical architecture with Mannerist influence. The courtyard in L shape and the ladder.
• Rodríguez de Figueroa Palace (1545): has interesting façades at the streets Concejo and Zamora and interior courtyard. Today the Salamanca Casino.
• La Salina Palace (1546): Renaissance, work by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón. Since 1884 is the headquarters of the Provincial Diputation.
• San Boal Palace (15th century): façade decorated with sgraffitos. Was School of Commerce and later Faculty of Business. Since 1999 is Hispanic-Japanese Cultural Center of the University of Salamanca. In the same square is the Iglesia de San Boal (17th century).
• Solís Palace (15th century): In this palace were married Philip II of Spain and Maria Manuela of Portugal in 1543. Today it houses the Telefónica.
• Tower del Aire: is all that remains of the Palace of the dukes of Fermoselle, built in the 15th century. It has beautiful Gothic windows. It is currently a student residence.
• Tower del Clavero (15th century): remains of a palace, apparently built by Francisco de Sotomayor, Clavero Staff of the Order of Alcántara, about 1470 . The lower part is quadrangular, while the upper is octagonal adorned with eight cylindrical turrets.
• Torreón de los Anaya (15th century): old manor house of Gothic civil style which highlights the mullioned window and the Patio de Tres Lados. For years it was the seat of Institute of Studies of Latin America and Portugal of the University of Salamanca, also known as Palacio de Abrantes.

Museums

• Casa Lis Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum. The museum displays collections of the work of Émile Gallé, Demetre Chiparus and other artists of the Art nouveau and Art Deco period, in addition to special exhibitions.
• Museum of the History of the City
• Museum of Trade of Salamanca
• Casa Museo Unamuno
• Museum of Automotive History of Salamanca
• Museum of Salamanca
• Cathedral Museum
• Museum of the Convento de San Esteban
• University Museum - University Library
• University Collections
• Bullfighting Museum
• Collections of the Convento de las Úrsulas
• Museum of the Convento de Santa Clara
• Teresian Museum
• Casa Museo de Zacarías González. House where Zacarías González lived and painted, on the street Alarcón.
• Permanent Exhibition IERONIMUS. The name of the exhibition: IERONIMUS alludes to Don Jerónimo de Périgueux, famed French-born Spanish bishop by the Diocese of Salamanca in 1102, who commissioned the construction of the Iglesia de Santa María. This was the event that marked the origin of the 900 Years of Art and History of the Cathedrals of Salamanca. In this tour one can admire amazing places like the one offered by the gazebo next to the Tower del Gallo, the Patio Chico or the Terraza de Anaya. The circuit of the exhibition begins in the Board of Warden, continuing on the Board of the Tower Mocha, the Platform of the Superior Room and the Board of Vault.

It is accessed from the last tower, next to the gate of Santa Lucía (giving access to the old cathedral). In three of the rooms one can find exposed drawings, documents and religious objects related to the cathedrals; especially with its construction, one can see, both inside and outside the two cathedrals. From the "Sala del Alcaide" enjoy a splendid view of the nave and the altar of the old cathedral, and from the upper platform located thereupon, one may accurately observe the Tower del Gallo, as well as views of the Tormes and Transtormes neighborhoods. One may also enjoy the vaults of the new cathedral, and again on the outside with views of the plaza Anaya, the Tower del Reloj, the Rua Mayor and all of the historical centre.

Others

• Theatre Bretón. Now destroyed.
• Cave of Salamanca. Located on the Carvajal slope, where it is said that the devil taught black magic.
• Central Market (1899â€"1909). Located in the old Plaza de la Verdura. Made of iron.
• Roman bridge of Salamanca. Crossing the Tormes River, it is 150 m long and built on 26 arches, of which fifteen are Roman of the 1st century BC, while the remainder date from a 16th-century reconstruction after a flood.

Nearby are the Mudéjar Romanesque church of Santiago (modern reconstruction) and the stone bull quoted in Lazarillo de Tormes.

University

The University of Salamanca was founded in 1134 and in 1218 it was given the royal charter of foundation ("Estudio General") by Alfonso IX of León. It was the first university to receive the title of "University" in 1254. Under the patronage of the learned Alfonso X, its wealth and reputation greatly increased (1252â€"1282), and its schools of canon law and civil law attracted students even from the Universities of Paris and Bologna. In the 16th century, the city's fortunes depended on those of the University. About the time Christopher Columbus was lecturing there on his discoveries, Hernán Cortés took classes at Salamanca, but returned home in 1501 at age 17, without completing his course of study. (About ten years later the conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was born in Salamanca.)

Climate

Salamanca has a cold semi-arid climate (BSk), bordering on a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) according to the Köppen climate classification, with cool winters, and warm dry summers due to the altitude.

Economy

The city's economy is dominated by the university and tourism, but other sectors including agriculture and livestock rearing along with construction and manufacturing are also significant. Not surprisingly, in December 2007 83% of the working population, equivalent to 55,838, were employed in the service sector.

Industry

Industrial activity accounted for 5% of the working population, or 3,340 workers employed over 360 businesses. Two of the largest businesses, both of them numbered among the largest 100 enterprises in the region, are the veterinary vaccine manufacturer "Laboratorios Intervet", and the fertilizer specialist manufacturers S.A. Mirat, which is the city's oldest industrial company, having been established originally as a starch factory in 1812.

Communications

Road

Highways

• A50: Autovía de la Cultura: Ávila - Salamanca
• A62: Autovía de Castilla: Burgos - Valladolid - Salamanca - Ciudad Rodrigo.
• A66: Autovía Ruta de la Plata: Gijón - Oviedo - Mieres - Puerto de Pajares - León - Benavente - Zamora - Salamanca - Béjar - Plasencia - Mérida - Sevilla.
• SA-11: North access to Salamanca.
• SA-20: South access to Salamanca.

Other roads

• N-501: Ávila - Peñaranda de Bracamonte - Salamanca.
• N-620: Burgos - Venta de Baños - Valladolid - Tordesillas - Salamanca - Ciudad Rodrigo - Portugal.

Airport

Salamanca Airport, located in the military base of Matacán, is located about 14 km (9 mi) east of the city.

Public transport

There are 13 bus lines during the day and two night lines. Also, a tram line has been projected.

Culture and sports

The Old City of Salamanca was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. In 2002 Salamanca shared the title of European Capital of Culture with Bruges. In 2005, Salamanca celebrated the 250th anniversary of the construction of the Plaza Mayor with a number of European events (Plaza Mayor de Europa).

Festivals

Holy Week

The Holy Week in Salamanca (Semana Santa) is the most well-known of Salamanca's festivals. Salamanca is renowned for the solemn and sober processions celebrated during Holy Week. 16 confraternities, 10.000 brothers or "cofrades", 50 floats or "pasos" celebrate the Passion of Christ with 20 processions and thousands of followers, tourist and visitors.

Some of the celebrations have been performed for centuries. The confraternities carry artistic pasos created by important Spanish artists such as Luis Salvador Carmona, Alejandro Carnicero or Mariano Benlliure. in 2003 the Semana Santa of Salamanca obtained the official declaration of International Touristic Interest.

Other

Salamanca is also famous throughout Spain and the rest of Europe for its celebrations of "Nochevieja Universitaria," loosely translated as "University New Year". It is usually held on the Thursday of the last week of school in December and two weeks before the real New Year's Eve. On this day, students congregate in the Plaza Mayor, Salamanca to watch free performances and take part in the countdown to midnight.

Sports

Salamanca offers the amenities of a larger city while retaining an intimate small town atmosphere. Since 1923, "Los Charros", formally the Union Deportiva Salamanca, have been the Salamanca football team. In 2013, the club went bankrupt and its activities were abandoned. After it dissolution, some managers of the entity decided to refoundate the farm team to continue compiting maintaining the legacy of the historical club. So, they created the Club de Fútbol Salmantino

Teams based in Salamanca

• CF Salmantino, football team
• Unionistas de Salamanca CF, football team.
• CB Avenida, basketball team.

Cinema

With its old streets being ideal for historical film settings Salamanca has been used several times in cinematic productions, including 1492: Conquest of Paradise by Ridley Scott and Goya's Ghosts by Miloš Forman. Salamanca was also the setting for the 2008 political thriller Vantage Point, although the movie was almost exclusively filmed in Mexico.

Gastronomy

Salamanca has a very interesting and distinctive gastronomy. Among many dishes, Chanfaina (steamed rice with pork) is very popular. Another classic dish of the Salamancan, known as Charreria ("peasant lands"), is a cocido, a slow-cooked casserole including chickpeas. However, Hornazo, a meat pie, is the most popular dish of all.

Notable people

• Fernando Gallego (1440-1507), Spanish painter
• José María Gil-Robles (1898â€"1980), politician
• Vicente del Bosque (born 1950), Spanish soccer coach, with the national team world champion in 2010
• Jose Ignacio Sanchez Galan (born 1950), Spanish engineer and manager
• Yann Martel (born 1963), Canadian writer
• Ã"scar González Marcos (born 1982), Spanish professional footballer
• Álvaro Arbeloa (born 1983), Spanish professional footballer
• Eleuterio Sánchez (born 1942), former Spanish thief, today lawyer

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Downtown San Diego, also referred to as Center City, is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area itself had a population of more than 28,000. Founded in 1850, downtown San Diego serves as the cultural, financial center and central business district of San Diego County with more than 4,000 businesses and nine districts.

History

The city of San Diego was originally focused in Old Town near the Presidio, several miles north of current Downtown. The location was not ideal because it was several miles from navigable water. In 1849 Lt. Andrew B. Gray, a surveyor working with the boundary commission to establish the boundaries of the new state of California, suggested that an area closer to San Diego Bay would be a better location for a city because it would be better for trade. He proposed the idea to William Heath Davis, who recruited four other investors. The partners under Davis's leadership purchased 160 acres (65 ha) of land in what is now Downtown San Diego. They laid out a street plan for New Town and built a wharf and warehouse. Several people built houses there, including the still-standing William Heath Davis House, now a museum. John Judson Ames wrote a prospectus for a newspaper, the San Diego Herald in December 1850, soliciting advertisements and subscriptions from the towns-people; the f irst issue was published on May 29, 1851. However, New Town did not do well due to a lack of fresh water, a financial depression in 1851, and opposition from the established settlements in Old Town and La Playa.

In 1867, Alonzo Horton purchased 800 acres (320 ha) of pueblo lands in the current Downtown area, and in 1869 he added Davis’s 160 acres (65 ha) to his holdings; the area was referred to as the Horton Addition. Davis’s wharf had fallen to pieces by then, but Horton realized the area was still ideal for a harbor. He built a new wharf at the end of Fifth Avenue in 1869. He vigorously sold property and gave away land to promote development of the area, fueling the first of San Diego’s many real estate speculation booms. People flocked to the area, known as New Town, because of its better access to shipping. In 1871 government records were moved to a new county courthouse in New Town. By the 1880s New Town had totally eclipsed Old Town (as it is called to this day) as the heart of the growing city.

In 1885 the transcontinental railroad reached San Diego. The Santa Fe railway station opened downtown in 1887 (that station was replaced in 1915 by the Downtown landmark Santa Fe Depot, which is still in use). In 1886 the city’s first electric lights and first streetcars were established in New Town. In 1912 the Spreckels Theater opened downtown, the first modern commercial playhouse west of the Mississippi. A new commercial pier, the Broadway Pier, was built by the city in 1913.

In the 1910s, Downtown became one of the many San Diego neighborhoods connected by the Class 1 streetcars and an extensive San Diego public transit system that was spurred by the Panama-California Exposition of 1915 and built by John D. Spreckels. These streetcars became a fixture of the neighborhood until their retirement in 1939.

In 1964 the multi-story City Hall and Community Concourse were dedicated on a four-block-square property at 202 C Street. Recent mayors and city councils have discussed building a replacement city hall, but no replacement plan has been approved.

In the 1960s, Centre City began to fall into a state of disrepair and disrepute. Major businesses and stores moved from downtown to suburban shopping malls. Downtown became known as a hangout for homeless people and sailors on liberty. Tattoo parlors, bars, and strip clubs were predominant forms of business. Trash littered the Gaslamp Quarter, many 19th century Victorian houses were rundown, and there were few buildings of significant size (the tallest building at the time was fourteen stories, the locally famous El Cortez). Despite this, low- and mid-rise buildings were beginning construction.

In 1975, redevelopment plans were created for Downtown. In 1985, Downtown underwent more redevelopment with the completion of Horton Plaza, the Gaslamp Quarter revival, and the completion of the San Diego Convention Center. Petco Park, a baseball ballpark used by the San Diego Padres, opened in 2004.

Geography

Located in Central San Diego, Downtown San Diego is delimited by San Diego Bay to the west and southwest, Bankers Hill, Middletown, and Balboa Park to the north, Sherman Heights and Golden Hill to the east, and Barrio Logan and Logan Heights to the southeast. San Diego International Airport is just northwest of downtown.

Districts and neighborhoods

• Columbia, the west district of downtown. Located between the Marina and Little Italy, west of Columbia St.
• Core District, the central business district of downtown.
• Cortez Hill, the north-east district of downtown.
• East Village, the east district of downtown, which is home to Petco Park and the surrounding Ballpark Village.
• Gaslamp Quarter, a two by ten block night life district in central Downtown
• Little Italy, the north-west district of downtown.
• Marina, the south-west district of downtown, which is home to Seaport Village and Pantoja Park.
• Horton District, the district comprising Horton Plaza and adjacent buildings in central downtown.
• Seaport Village, a tourist district within the Marina District, which is not an official district or neighborhood.

Architecture

Due to San Diego International Airport's (Lindbergh Field) proximity to downtown, there is a FAA imposed 500-foot height restriction on all buildings within a 1.5 mile radius of the runway. The height regulation exists because when planes approach the airport, any structure taller than 500 ft. within the radius could interfere with flight operations and potentially result in a collision.

Government buildings

The United States Postal Service operates the downtown San Diego Post Office at 815 E Street. The city's former main public library is located across the street from it at 8th and E streets, but currently is vacant. A new nine-story Central Library opened in 2013 on Park Boulevard at J Street. Other government buildings downtown include City Hall and other city administration buildings, the San Diego Police Headquarters at 14th and Broadway, the State of California office building at 1350 Front Street, and a three-block federal office complex at 8th and Front streets. County and federal courthouses are also located downtown.

Historic landmarks

The Downtown area contains numerous sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They include:

• The Gaslamp Quarter Historic District
• The Star of India and the Berkeley, historic ships berthed at the B Street Pier in downtown
• The Alfred Haines House at 2470 E Street
• The Armed Services YMCA at 500 West Broadway
• The Balboa Theatre at 868 Fourth Avenue
• The former City of San Diego police headquarters, jail, and courts at 801 Market Street
• Eagles Hall at 733 Eighth Street
• The El Cortez Condominiums at 702 Ash Street
• The Hawthorne Inn at 2121 First Avenue
• The Horton Grand Hotel at 332 F Street
• The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building at 526 Market Street
• The John Ginty House at 1568 Ninth Avenue
• The McClintock Storage Warehouse at 1202 Kettner Boulevard
• The Medico-Dental Building at 233 A Street
• The Panama Hotel at 105 West F Street
• Pantoja Park on G Street and India Street
• The Pythias Lodge Building at 211 E Street and 870 Third Avenue
• The Robert E. Lee Hotel at 815 Third Avenue and 314 F Street
• The San Diego Rowing Club building at 535 East Harbor Drive
• The San Diego Trust and Savings Bank building at 530 Broadway
• The Spreckels Theater at 121 Broadway
• Santa Fe Depot at 1050 Kettner Street
• The U.S. Grant Hotel at 326 Broadway
• The U.S. post office at 815 E Street
• The U.S. courthouse at 325 West F Street
• The Walker Scott Building and Owl Drug Building at 1014 Fifth Avenue and 402 Broadway

Arts and culture

The Civic Theatre in the Community Concourse is the home of the San Diego Opera as well as traveling shows. The San Diego Symphony is headquartered at Copley Symphony Hall, a renovated movie palace on 7th Avenue originally built in 1929 as the Fox Theater. The Spreckels Theater at 1st and Broadway, in continuous operation since 1912, hosts local and traveling performances and productions. The Balboa Theatre, built in 1924, re-opened in 2008 after extensive renovations as a venue for live performances and concerts. Both the Spreckels and the Balboa theaters are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other downtown theaters include the Lyceum in Horton Plaza, which hosts the San Diego Repertory Theatre as well as concerts and art shows, and the Sledgehammer Theater. Nightclubs such as the House of Blues and Croce’s feature well-known musical groups. The Museum of Contemporary Art, also located in downtown San Diego, has displayed work across a collecti on of media since 1950.

Tourist attractions

The Columbia (waterfront) neighborhood of downtown hosts the Midway aircraft carrier museum ship, as well as the eight ships and boats of the San Diego Maritime Museum, headlined by the Star of India.

The San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park are located downtown.

The Horton Plaza and Seaport Village shopping and dining complexes attract visitors as well as local residents.

More than 200 cruise ships a year call at the cruise ship terminal. A passenger ferry connects downtown San Diego with Coronado, and San Diego Bay harbor tours depart from Harbor Drive.

Annual events

Downtown events include the Big Bay Balloon Parade, held in conjunction with the Holiday Bowl; the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade and Festival; the Parade of Lights featuring holiday-decorated boats on the Bay; and the San Diego Street Scene music festival.

Education

The downtown area is served by the San Diego City Schools. Washington Elementary School is located in the downtown area. San Diego High School and San Diego City College are located in the northeastern corner of downtown adjacent to Balboa Park. Middle school students from downtown attend Roosevelt Middle School in the Balboa Park area. The charter high school e3 Civic High School is located inside the new downtown library. The Monarch School, a public K-12 school for students who are homeless or affected by homelessness, is also located downtown.

A few private or religious schools exist in the area. California Western School of Law is located downtown.

Infrastructure

Streets are laid out in a grid pattern and many are designated for one-way traffic. Northâ€"south roads have both names and numbers. The named roads begin with Harbor Boulevard then move east past Pacific, Kettner, India, Columbia, State, Union and Front streets. The roads then numbered and are called avenues, starting at 1st Avenue and continuing to Park Boulevard (12th Avenue). The general pattern is that even numbered streets head south, and odd numbered streets go north. Eastâ€"west streets are laid out alphabetically from A to K, with the exception of D, H and I, which are replaced with Broadway, Market and Island streets respectively. Streets north of A Street are named after trees and start with Ash Street, and going up to Laurel.

Main thoroughfares include Broadway and Market streets (eastâ€"west), and Harbor Drive, Pacific Highway and Park Avenue (northâ€"south).

Three freeways either pass through or start/end in downtown San Diego. State Route 163 (SR 163) ends in downtown with the southbound lane of the freeway becoming 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue becoming the northbound lane at Ash Street. Interstate 5 (I-5) passes above the downtown area and is accessible from selected streets outside of the actual downtown area or at the intersection of 10th/11th and Ash (where 163 starts and ends). Additionally, SR 94 enters downtown from the east, with westbound SR 94 becoming F Street and G street becoming eastbound SR 94.

The downtown area is served by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, the San Diego Trolley. There is also a commuter train linking downtown with northern San Diego County, called the Coaster, which also stops at communities along the San Diego County costaline, as well as the Amtrak passenger rail system.

Parking is mainly concentrated in various "pay to park" lots, with metered parking spaces alongside most streets. There is also parking available at the County operation center (located between Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway, just north of Ash), as well as Horton Plaza and Seaport Village shopping areas.

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