St. Lawrence Hall Toronto Ontario Canada

Survivors style architecture in Toronto. An architecture found from South America Europe Asia Japan. Is something that we do not know about this building?

Heritage Value

St. Lawrence Hall was designated a national historic site in 1967 because:
- designed in the renaissance tradition, this hall was for many years Toronto's chief social and cultural center;
- it ranks among the finest of 19th-century Canadian public buildings; and
- it was a place of gatherings of the Abolitionist movement

Character-Defining Elements

Key features contributing to the heritage value of this site include:
- the location in the old centre of Toronto;

the elaborate 15-bay facade with central frontispiece comprising a triple-portal arched main entry of channeled masonry at ground level, giant fluted engaged columns extending through the second and third stories to support a decorated cornice and pediment; the building's tripartite vertical divisions, marked by an elaborate stringcourse separating ground from upper stories, a decorated cornice at the third storey roofline and another at fourth storey roofline of the central pavilion, the use of distinct window treatments for each storey including round headed dormers and evenly spaced multi-pane display windows to each side at ground level, the use of giant pilasters separating the window bays along the second and third storeys;
- the application of classically inspired detailing such as Corinthian capitals, a decorated pediment, formal cresting and cupola with dome supported by classical columns;
- the finely crafted masonry construction;
- surviving evidence of the original interior layout;
- surviving original furnishings, fittings and finishes, including the auditorium with evidence of the raked balcony at its north end and the thrust stage at its south end;
- its continuous multi-functional use with public access.


Official History says that:

The location was previously part of the Market Square area, and had been the site of the first permanent market buildings. A fire in 1841 caused the northern portions of this building to be pulled down, leading to the building of the current St. Lawrence Market in 1850 a block south at what was then Palace Street, and today known as Front Street.

Another source state that: As you can see the date of the fire is different:

A public hall flanked by shops was built in 1831 as part of a rectangle of buildings making up York's market square. When York was incorporated as Toronto in 1834, the hall became the City Hall for a decade until its successor was built nearby. After the great fire of 7 April 1849 burned down much of the town center, the area was revitalized by the construction of St. Lawrence Hall and St. James’ Cathedral.

Designed restoration in 1859 by William Thomas of Toronto, the hall’s architecture reflected the influence of the Renaissance style, with its raised portico over an arcaded base, but reinterpreted in a distinctly Victorian manner. Its richly carved ornamentation, picturesque skyline and the eclectic incorporation of a French mansard roof were typical of contemporary architectural tastes.

Located on the southwest corner of King and Jarvis streets, St. Lawrence Hall was attached by a market annex to the city hall at Front and Jarvis. The building included ground-level commercial storefronts, second-level offices and a 2,700-square-foot assembly room on the third floor that seated 1,000 people for concerts and speeches. A raked balcony at the north end of the assembly room served as a speaker's platform, and a thrust stage was located at the south end.

St. Lawrence Hall’s genesis lies in a great force of destruction. In 1849, a major fire swept through the area bounded by Adelaide, King, Church, and George streets, killing one and destroying 10 vital acres at the heart of the city. The original St. James Cathedral was ruined, as was the city’s main market at King and Jarvis.

The damage might have been worse were it not for heroic fire fighters who made the best of their primitive equipment and a well-timed rain shower. 

No sooner had the fire been extinguished, the city hired architect William Thomas to design a replacement building for the site of the wrecked market. The finished three-storey structure, which was topped by a mansard roof and grand clock tower cupola, opened in 1850.

Thomas’ hall became the primary entrance to the St. Lawrence Market, which at the time was located north of Front Street. An arched entranceway on King Street led into an indoor shopping arcade connected to the market behind.

At the heart of the building, on the third floor, was an event space described in great detail in the 1858 Handbook of Toronto:

It was “100 feet long, 38 feet 6 inches wide, and 36 feet hight, with a gallery at the entrance end. The ceiling of the Hall is ornamented by flat hemispherical, enriched panelled, domed compartments, and lyres surrounding them.”

“When the large and magnificent chandelier is lighted up, and when the room is filled by such an assembly that which graced Jenny Lind’s concerts, it has a brilliant and most imposing effect. It is admirably suited for concerts, being easily filled by the voice, and having no echo to mar the performance, and is in fact the only place in the city for lectures and fashionable concerts.”

As the premier event space in Toronto, a dizzying range of prominent speakers, performers, and musicians appeared at St. Lawrence Hall during the 19th century.

The future King Edward VII (when he was still Prince of Wales,) Niagara Falls tightrope walker and all-round daredevil The Great Farini, Upper Canada Rebellion leader William Lyon Mackenzie, Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, writer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass all trod the planks.

Showman and impresario P. T. Barnum bought legendary opera singer Jenny Lind—dubbed “the Swedish Nightingale”—to St. Lawrence Hall for three nights in 1851. Another Barnum act, General Tom Thumb (a dwarf born Charles Sherwood Stratton,) came for four nights in 1862.

 Around 1900, the ground floor was home to a branch of the Dominion Bank and a stove and furnce store. The arched entrance at the centre led to a small shopping arcade.

As planned by architect Thomas, the ground floor was leased to retailers. There were stores on either side of the indoor shopping arcade and also facing the surrounding streets. 

Early photos show gigantic signs for businesses such as the Toronto Tea Company and Graham’s Temple of Fashions crowding the fine, if eccentric, architectural detailing.

Much of the space on the east side of the building was leased to the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, which advertised its presence with a sign for “St. Patrick’s Hall.”

In later years, likely in the 1890s, the third-floor St. Patrick’s Hall was stripped bare for one of the earliest basketball courts in Canada. Players had to avoid wooden roof beams to get the ball in the iron hoops at either end of the room.

The Irish Catholic Benevolent Union installed one of the earliest basketball courts in Canada inside St. Lawrence Hall. The iron hoops were removed during renovations and placed stored with the city. Image: Toronto Fire Department.

Among the notable features of the exterior are columns that are a close copies of those used on the ancient Temple of Jupiter Stator in Rome. Closer to the ground, on King Street, a number of carved men’s faces peer out from the sides of the building, representing fictional deities of Lake Ontario, the Niagara, and St. Lawrence rivers.

Near the roof, also facing King Street, the figure of Britannia, an Indigenous man with bow and quiver, and the crest of the Royal Arms of England form the City of Toronto coat of arms. The city’s motto at the time, “Industry, Intelligence, Integrity,” is carved below.

The building was topped with a public clock connected to a 966-kilo bell that chimed the hour. In the 1850s, this timekeeping device was a critically important piece of infrastructure.

Before affordable watches, the clocks at St. Lawrence Hall and Union Station were among the few ways of knowing the time of day on the street with any degree of accuracy. 

Scientists at the observatory at University College send a signal to the town’s fire halls when the sun approached its peak at 11:55 am.

St. Lawrence Hall and its clock fell slowly out of favour in the 1900s. Bigger venues attracted major touring performers and the centre of the city shifted west, allowing the hall to become increasingly run-down.

Evidence of the building’s decline is clear from archival photos. Around the 1890s, the exterior appears caked in soot and grime, windows on the upper floors are broken, and the stores are offering things like stoves and ranges, tents, and other outdoor supplies.

By the 1950s, the 100-year-old building was in trouble. It lacked historical status and was increasingly fragile. Parts of the original structure had been ripped out and windows carelessly punched in the interior walls.

The southeast corner was badly sinking and the delicate stonework on the exterior was starting to crumble. Several rooms in the building were occupied by homeless people.

The Great Hall of St. Lawrence Hall as it appeared in 1898. The room was lit by a gasolier, a gas-powered chandelier.  

The building’s complex ownership arrangement was one the main obstacles to heritage protection. The city owned the land and the arcade corridor to the North Market, but all the other units were the property of private companies. 

When the National Ballet moved into the upper floors in the 1950s, it started a long conversation about how to properly restore the building.

The city dithered over whether or not to buy St. Lawrence Hall and bring about the necessary repairs until plans for Canada’s Centennial began to solidify in 1961. Toronto Parks Commissioner George Bell envisioned using Centennial funds to extend St. James Park east from the cathedral to Jarvis Street and restore St. Lawrence Hall.

The first version of the city’s Centennial plan was much broader. It envisioned spending $16.8 million to construct a new repertory theatre and concert hall, rebuild the North Market, refurbish Massey Hall, and buy the St. Lawrence Hall land. 

Over the next few years, various components of the project were ditched in an effort to keep costs down and the arts centre idea alive.

“In this century it had degenerated into a doss house for the unemployed,” read a booklet on the history of the hall.

The fire halls would ring their bells, allowing anyone with a stopped or slowing timepiece to synchronize it with the rest of the city. The clocks at St. Lawrence Hall and Union Station were configured in the same way.

However, due to the tireless advocacy of architect and heritage activist Eric Arthur, the city, the Toronto Chapter of the Ontario Association of Architects, and the Toronto Construction Association banded together to fund $2 million of the restoration cost.

“Every growing city sooner or later reaches the point where it has to decide either to give way completely to commercialism at the expense of cultural values or steadfastly resist,” wrote J. I. Rempel, an and architect vice-president of the York Pioneer and Historical Society.

In 1966, builders and restoration experts began probing the building, stripping out debris and assessing the scale and scope of the project.

Expert masonry, woodworking, and plastering workers set about creating historically-accurate replacement parts and more than a century of dirt was sandblasted off the exterior. Arthur, the champion of the project, felt some of the exterior work was too heavy handed.

“Age is something we want to keep,” he said. “I look on St. Lawrence Hall as our Westminster Abbey. When they lose a cherub, they don’t replace it. We should be satisfied to retain the appearance of age; we don’t want newness.”

A large portion of the east wing of St. Lawrence Hall collapsed during the Centennial renovations. Image: Toronto Daily Star.

Just as work was hitting its stride, disaster struck. On March 10, 1967, site foreman Jack McGowan noticed mortar falling from the east wall and called for extra reinforcement. Around 4:25, as rush hour approached, more material began to fall and McGowan gave the order to evacuate the site.

Workmen halted traffic on King and Jarvis streets and minutes later the entire east wing collapsed in on itself. “The main floor just folded and everything above it fell inward,” McGowan said. 

Rescue crews combed through the rubble, but found no-one trapped or injured.

Although St. Lawrence Hall experienced a renaissance in the late 60s and 70s, it has once again fallen into relatively peaceful obscurity. The second floor is now City of Toronto offices and Heritage Toronto occupies part of the third. The practice space and office for Opera Atelier is in the attic.

The Great Hall is still available for weddings and other events, and the one-time basketball court in St. Patrick’s Hall is a meeting and boardroom.

Today, most people haven’t seen the Great Hall, the grand event space for which the building is named.

With a third of the hall in ruins, the founders met to discuss the future of the project and agreed to continue, much to the delight of the Toronto Star.

Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Lawrence_Hall
http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/st_lawrence_hall
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/st-lawrence-hall/
http://www.lostrivers.ca/content/points/StLawrencehall.html
https://tayloronhistory.com/2012/04/28/enjoying-torontos-architectural-gems-the-st-lawrence-hall/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_of_Rome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aauu8sMqGc8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2u-PtRdCUA

Part 9 Claltorind prin Croatia, Nationalism, Istorie

Part 8 Croatia Libertate Fraternitate Egalitate, Napoleon, UE

Part 7 Croatia, Bosniacii, Fam de Habsburg, Stiinta, Globalizare

Eumalos

Eumalos of Cyrene was a Greek copiyst it living in North Africa two or three generations  after Plato ' s lifetime.

According to the 1830 appendix (guide of Malta  written in  Italian) Eumalos once transcribed a text stating that "the famous Ogyge was the king of Atlantis, the island that once was between Libia and Sicily and was submerged. This island was known as Decapolis Atlantika by our forefathers  of Cyrene as well as by the ancient Greeks."

Ogyge lent his name to Ogygia, the island where Odysseus is kept by the nymph Calypso in the Odyssey. Several ancient writers hypothesized that Ogygia was actually  Malta.

The guidebook  translation  of Eumalos  names that Malta is "nothing more than the summit of the Mount Atlantika ".

 

Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGXeTwAY4a4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKPv19VHKU0

https://newearth.university/about/

http://megaliths.org/

Peştera Ialomiţei

Peştera Ialomiţei este situată în localitatea Moroeni, judetul Dâmboviţa, pe versantul drept al Cheilor Ialomiţei, la o altitudine de 1.660 m, scobită în calcarele jurasice ale Muntelui Bătrâna.

 Numele acesteia vine de la râul Ialomiţa, care izvorăşte la 10 km distanţă din circul glaciar numit Obârşia Ialomiţei, situată sub Vârful Găvanele (2.479 m), aflat la 600 m de Vârful Omu şi la o distanţă mai mică de Vârful Ocolit, numit şi Bucura Dumbravă.

 Intreitul Stâlp al Cerului 

  După unii autori, aceste trei vârfuri formează Intreitul Stâlp al Cerului, menţionat în tradiţia antică, pe care cercetătoarea Cristina Pănculescu îl numeşte cel mai important Centru Energetic Informaţional natural al planetei: “Centrul lumii unde se face legătura dintre cer şi pământ, unde este Poarta de ieşire din masivul terestru, unde creşte Arborele vieţii”

.

  Aceasta prezintă în cartea „Taina Kogaiononului – Muntele Sacru al dacilor“concluziile şi argumentele pe care se bazează aceste concluzii rezultate în urma unei munci de cercetare întreprinsă pe parcursul a patru ani în munţii Bucegi, cercetare bazată pe studii de mitologie comparată, istorie veche, folclor şi artă veche românească, istoria religiilor, hermeneutică şi ştiinţe tradiţionale în general.

 

Gura peşterii, în formă de semielipsă, se deschide pe o terasă orizontală, ce se găseşte la 18 metri deasupra fundului văii. Chiar la intrarea în Peşteră se află Mănăstirea Ialomiţei, ridicată în secolul al XVI-lea, ctitorită de voievodul Ţării Româneşti, Mihnea cel Rău.

Citeste mai mult: adev.ro/nlv6po

Zona care conţine acest Centru este Sanctuarul principal – Altarul Kogaiononului. Deci Muntele Sacru al dacilor se află în Bucegi; el este structurat pe trei niveluri care corespundeau la tot atâtea trepte de iniţiere:

 

 – primul nivel: Peştera lui Zalmoxis identificată cu Peştera Ialomiţei, în 12 mai 1986;

– al doilea nivel: Platoul Babelor unde se află Sfinxul de la care a început totul, în 25 noiembrie 1984;

 

 – al treilea nivel: Zona Vârfului Omu, care este Sanctuarul principal.

Se spune că în Peştera Ialomiţei a poposit şi Apostolul Andrei, unul dintre cei doisprezece apostoli ai lui Iisus Hristos, cel trimis să încreştineze România.

 

 “În fundul văii Ialomiţei, nu departe de primele ei începuturi, sfredelită într-un perete stâncos, înalt de peste 100 m, şi în mijlocul unui defileu sălbatic, umed şi întunecos, străbătut ca o vijelie de valea zgomotoasă, se află cunoscuta şi mult-cercetata Peştera Ialomiţei, una dintre cele mai importante excavaţiuni din Carpaţii Meridionali”.

 

Aşa localiza în anul 1924 peştera Mihai Haret, în cartea sa  “Peştera Ialomiţei şi Casa Peştera”.

 

Pestera Ialomitei se desfăşoară pe un singur nivel pe o lungime de aproximativ 480 metri, dincare 400 metri sunt accesibili turiştilor, până în punctul numit „la Altar” urmând în amonte o porţiune de încă 80 metri, cu galerii şi săli.

Diferenţa de nivel este de 60 metri. Este străbătută de un pârâu şi are o desfăşurare mixtă, prezentând atât galerii cât şi săli.
 
Se bănuieşte că schitul lui Mihnea Vodă cel Rău va fi fost ars şi înălţat din nou în mai multe rânduri, fiind construit din bârne de brad, îmbrăcat de sus până jos în site frumos cioplite. 1818, schitul a ars complet, iar în 1819, s-a ridicat un schit nou, mai aproape de gura grotei cu circa 10 metri.

În, anul 1940, schitul a ars din nou, fiind refăcut între anii 1940-1942, de ieromonahul Mihail Bădilă. În anul 1961, pe 20 aprilie, a izbucnit un incendiu la chiliile de la gură Peşterii, schitul a ars definitiv, nerefacandu-se până în anul 1993.

Biserica mai veche,  este construita din lemn pe o fundatie inalta de piatra. In exterior peretii sunt captusiti cu sindrila. Este compartimentata in Altar, naos, pronaos si pridvor care lasa impresia ca a fost construit mai tarziu.

Catapeteasma este din lemn si in partea inferioara are pictata in stanga pe Sf. Cuvioasa Paraschiva, in dreapta pe Sf. Ierarh Nicolae, iar in centru pe "Maica Domnului si Iisus Hristos". Are doua turle infundate, una pe naos, alta pe pronaos.  Lumina se primeste in altar de la o fereastra pe peretele din dreapta si de la o fereastra pe centrul peretelui de la rasarit. Naosul si pronaosul au cate o fereastra pe fiecare parte a zidului (in total 4), iar pridvorul este luminat de cate o fereastra pe dreapta si stanga precum si de usa din lemn care in partea superioara are geamuri. Geamurile ferestrelor sunt duble, cele din interior au pictura pe sticla.

Strabon ne spune explicit: „Tot aşa şi acest munte a fost recunoscut drept sacru şi astfel îl numesc geţii; numele lui, Kogaionon, era la fel cu numele râului ce curgea alături” (Geografia, VII,3,5) Acelaşi autor ne spune că aici se afla şi peştera unde se retrăgea marele preot al lui Zamolxe, care-i purta numele, fiind el însuşi considerat zeu: „La început el (Zamolxe) a fost ales mare preot al celui mai venerat zeu de-al lor, iar după un timp a fost socotit el însuşi zeu. S-a retras atunci într-o peşteră, inaccesibilă altora şi acolo şi-a petrecut o bună bucată de vreme, întâlnindu-se rar cucei de afară, doar decât cu regele şi cu slujitorii săi”

Din mărturia lui Strabon tragem însă şi o altă concluzie Catehizarea nu este un obicei creştin întrucât ea era practicată în cultul lui Zamolxe de la început. Prin urmare, mărturiile pe care le avem noi, nu sunt în legătură cu Zamolxe zeul ci cu Zamolxe Marele Preot, ridicat la rang de zeu prin catehizare!

Textul lui Strabon: „Locuinţa marelui preot dac ar fi fost într-o peşteră din Kogaion şi aici, în clipe de cumpănă venea să se sfătuiască sau să consulte voci oraculare probabil chiar regele dacilor. Autorii greci relatează că dacii îşi numeau preoţii <călători prin nori>; de aici pare să rezulte cel puţin că sanctuarul principal era pe un munte atingând norii”

Strabon ne semnalează prezenţa unei ape care curgea pe alături de Muntele Sacru şi într-adevăr, Ialomiţa, izvorăşte din vecinătatea întreitului Stâlp al Cerului, menţionat în tradiţia antică, format din piscurile Găvanu, Vârful Ocolit şi Omu. Mai departe acest râu ocoleşte platoul Babelor ajungând la picioarele peşterii care-i poartă numele.

 

V. Kernbach şi Strabon ne mai spun că Zamolxe s-a retras într-o peşteră unde aveau acces doar regele şi slujitorii săi pentru a tine sfat de taină în problemele ţării. Din nou realitatea se poate verifica în teren.

Faptul că peştera avea reputaţie sacră ne-o demonstrează denumirea, păstrată de tradiţie a celui mai îndepărtat punct accesibil al ei – La Altar. În plus, vechea denumire a Peşterii Ialomiţei este „Peştera lui Decebal” iar una dintre grote se numeşte chiar „sala lui Decebal”, fapt ce demonstrează că regele-erou dac, obişnuia să vină aici ca şi înaintaşul său Burebista şi nu numai ei. 

Triplul sanctuar din Bucegi şi cele trei trepte ale iniţierii antice

Ce este iniţierea? Toate textele antice echivalează iniţierea cu drumul parcurs de neofit pentru a ajunge la „a doua naştere”. Orice iniţiere veritabilă are o structură triplă aceasta fiind după părerea lui Rene Guenon, gradarea fundamentală. Numai că templul arhetipal din Bucegi ne prezintă şi el o structură pe trei nivele ceea ce-l face să devină simbolul arhetipal al iniţierii zamolxiene.

Primul nivel şi cel mai de jos este Peştera Ialomiţei sau Peşteră lui Zamolxe unde neofitul murea pentru lume pentru a se naşte a doua oară din pământ cu scopul bine fixat de a ajunge să cunoască tainele cerului. 

 

Această ultimă etapă a iniţierii, a cunoaşterii tainelor cereşti , spirituale era realizarea supremă a omului în tradiţia orientală dar şi în cea a Occidentului, cel puţin la începuturile Evului Mediu (v. Legenda Graalului, Legenda regelui Arthur şi a cavalerilor Mesei Rotunde).

Spuneam că templul din Bucegi este structurat pe trei nivele şi că aceste nivele reprezintă cele trei trepte ale iniţierii autentice. 

Astfel, după ce neofitul se năştea a doua oară în Peştera lui Zamolxe, după o instruire prealabilă pe cel de-al doilea nivel, Platoul Babelor, unde devenea iniţiat, ajungea, în sfârşit, la cel de-al treilea nivel (Altarul sau Sanctuarul Principal, Întreitul Stâlp al cerului) atingând iniţierea divină, în Centrul Lumii.

 

Solomonarii şi Muntele Sfânt şi Tăbliţele de la Sinaia

Solomonarii sunt, în tradiţia românească, vrăjitori, practicând magia, socotiţi a fi investiţi cu puteri miraculoase, putând avea raporturi cu duhurile. În imaginarul popular, ei încalecă balauri, sunt capabili să facă ascensiuni cereşti si să oprească sau să aducă grindina.

La poalele Bucegilor, în staţiunea climaterică Sinaia , s-a descoperit un tezaur format din plăcuţe de plumb, care conform părerii unora dintre cercetători, ar relata istoria dacilor din cele mai vechi timpuri până la domnia lui Decebal şi chiar mai departe.  

„În tăbliţele de la Sinaia apare şi cel mai important conducător de după Decebal, necunoscut de istoria noastră oficială, dar sugerat de celebrul poem germanic medieval „Cântecul Nibelungilor” sub numele de Ramunc sau Siheger, ca duce al valahilor. Aceasta este eliberatorul Daciei, cel care a iniţiat revenirea la vechile tradiţii ale ţării, precum şi culegerea de legende divine sau mirene, consemnate în tăbliţele de la Sinaia. Variante pentru numele lui sunt: Romanh, Romansie, Lomanh şi una foarte importantă, SO LOMONIUS însemnând „Cel Luminos”.

Atributul dat acestui rege dac, luminează atât enigma textelor de la Sinaia cât şi originea Solomonarilor. Ei nu sunt urmaşii regelui biblic Solomon, ci ai acestui rege luminos al Daciei. 

Aceleaşi tăbliţe ne spun că Solomonarii fac parte dintr-un ordin mistic cu sediul în cetatea Babariului. Această cetate poate fi pusă însă în legătură cu stâncile din vecinătatea Platoului Bucegilor, numite Babe unde neofitul, după ce era născut a doua oară în peştera lui Zamolxe se pregătea, pentru a se naşte a treia oară pe Întreitul Stâlp al Cerului, ultimul stadiu al templului iniţiatic din Bucegi.  

Prin urmare, tăbliţele de la Sinaia par a fi scrise de solomonari, urmaşi ai acelor kapnobatai „calatori prin nori” despre care ne vorbeşte Strabon.

 In ce priveste Apa Sfanta, chiar si cercetarile stiintifice moderne par sa i se supuna. Poate ca Ialomita, numita in scrierile vechi Naparis si Helibakia, a fost intr-adevar apa sfanta, care dupa 400 de km se varsa in Dunare, la Carsium, unul din punctele strategice de pe fluviu. Sau poate este vorba de Apa Vie, un fenomen straniu, dar real, intalnit in Valea Ialomitei. Este vorba de zona numita "Sapte Izvoare", aflata pe versantul estic al Bucegilor, pe Valea Ialomitei, intre Lacul Bolboci si Scropoasa, unde exista o sursa de apa misterioasa, cercetata in laborator inca din 1927. 

Ce are special aceasta apa? Se pare ca este una dintre cele mai curate din lume! Studiile au continuat, au venit si strainii si au facut cercetari, iar testele aratau ca toti indicatorii calitativi ai apei de la Sapte Izvoare au un standard superior tuturor surselor de apa cunoscute in lume! De pilda: numarul de bacterii e zero - fata de 5, limita minima acceptata - poluarea cu azotati si azotiti e zero. In anii 80, au fost reluate cercetarile, iar zona a fost inchisa. 

Testele recente au aratat ca, intr-adevar, este vorba de o apa speciala, care izvoraste dintr-o grota unde se afla un imens lac subteran. Din punct de vedere chimic, aceste izvoare sunt, intr-adevar, unele dintre cele mai curate surse naturale de apa plata din lume. 

S-au gasit si explicatii stiintifice pentru aceasta minune: fie apa aceasta trece printr-un camp magnetic, fapt care o face sa-si recapete structura ordonata ideala (iar cercetarile magnetometrice au detectat puternice anomalii in zona), fie izvoarele trec pe langa un zacamant de argint, iar argintul impiedica dezvoltarea bacteriilor. Aceasta este "apa vie", cunoscuta de preotii daci, care erau si mari vindecatori.

Se bănuieşte că schitul lui Mihnea Vodă cel Rău va fi fost ars şi înălţat din nou în mai multe rânduri, fiind construit din bârne de brad, îmbrăcat de sus până jos în site frumos cioplite. 1818, schitul a ars complet, iar în 1819, s-a ridicat un schit nou, mai aproape de gura grotei cu circa 10 metri. În, anul 1940, schitul a ars din nou, fiind refăcut între anii 1940-1942, de ieromonahul Mihail Bădilă. În anul 1961, pe 20 aprilie, a izbucnit un incendiu la chiliile de la gură Peşterii, schitul a ars definitiv, nerefacandu-se până în anul 1993.

San Francisco

Of all major cities in the United States, San Francisco has the second-highest percentage of residents with a college degree, behind only Seattle. Over 44% of adults have a bachelor's or higher degree. San Francisco had the highest rate at 7,031 per square mile, or over 344,000 total graduates in the city's 46.7 square miles (121 km²).




San Francisco has a diversified service economy, with employment spread across a wide range of professional services, including financial services, tourism, and (increasingly) high technology.
 
The legacy of the California Gold Rush turned San Francisco into the principal banking and finance center of the West Coast in the early twentieth century.
 
The top employer in the city is the city government itself, employing 5.3% (25,000+ people) of the city's population, followed by UCSF with over 22,000 employees. Third—at 1.8% (8,500+ people)—is California Pacific Medical Center, the largest private-sector employer.
 
Like many U.S. cities, San Francisco once had a significant manufacturing sector employing nearly 60,000 workers in 1969, but nearly all production left for cheaper locations by the 1980s..
 
San Francisco is notorious for its jaw-dropping real estate prices. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment stands at $3,460 a month. But it's not just housing expenses that will eat away at your paycheck. In general, the total cost of living in San Francisco is 62.6% higher than the US average.
 

The food is world-class, but it'll cost you. Even if you're not splurging on fine dining, a meal for two at a 'mid-range' spot in the city costs about $75, nearly double the national average.

 A typical monthly mortgage payment would come to $3,684.

The earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC.
 
The Yelamu group of the Ohlone people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà, arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay.
 
Seven years later, on March 28, 1776, the Spanish established the Presidio of San Francisco, followed by a mission, Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores), established by the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza.
 
Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the mission system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, near a boat anchorage around what is today Portsmouth Square.
 
Together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers.
 
Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7, 1846, during the Mexican–American War, and Captain John B. Montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, and Mexico officially ceded the territory to the United States at the end of the war. Despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography.
 
The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers (known as "forty-niners", as in "1849"). With their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849.The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor.
 
California was quickly granted statehood, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and a fort on Alcatraz Island to secure the San Francisco Bay. Silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in 1859, further drove rapid population growth.With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, and gambling.
 
Entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush. Early winners were the banking industry, with the founding of Wells Fargo in 1852 and the Bank of California in 1864. Development of the Port of San Francisco and the establishment in 1869 of overland access to the Eastern U.S. rail system via the newly completed Pacific Railroad (the construction of which the city only reluctantly helped support) helped make the Bay Area a center for trade.
 
Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, Levi Strauss opened a dry goods business and Domingo Ghirardelli began manufacturing chocolate. Immigrant laborers made the city a polyglot culture, with Chinese railroad workers, drawn to "Old Gold Mountain", creating the city's Chinatown quarter. In 1870, Asians made up 8% of the population.

At 5:12 am on April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and northern California. As buildings collapsed from the shaking, ruptured gas lines ignited fires that spread across the city and burned out of control for several days. With water mains out of service, the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks.
 
More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core.Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people lost their lives, though modern estimates put the number in the several thousands.
 
Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed.
 
Amadeo Giannini's Bank of Italy, later to become Bank of America, provided loans for many of those whose livelihoods had been devastated. The influential San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association or SPUR was founded in 1910 to address the quality of housing after the earthquake.
 
There are more than 50 hills within city limits.Some neighborhoods are named after the hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill, Potrero Hill, and Russian Hill. Near the geographic center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less densely populated hills.
 
Twin Peaks, a pair of hills forming one of the city's highest points, forms a popular overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson, is 928 feet (283 m) high and is capped with a 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934. Dominating this area is Sutro Tower, a large red and white radio and television transmission tower.

San Francisco's climate is characteristic of the cool-summer Mediterranean climate.