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DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Around fifty kilometres northwest of Madrid, the austere yet opulent residence of El Escorial extends up the southern slope of the Sierra De Guadarrama. It was built during the rule of King Phillip II after his father Karl V ordered him to build a magnificent church in which he would eventually be buried. The Escorial was to be a pantheon...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Around fifty kilometres northwest of Madrid, the austere yet opulent residence of El Escorial extends up the southern slope of the Sierra De Guadarrama. It was built during the rule of King Phillip II after his father Karl V ordered him to build a magnificent church in which he would eventually be buried. The Escorial was to be a pantheon...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. From the Gateway Of India, the main landmark of India's metropolis of Mumbai, formerly Bombay, numerous ferry boats embark to Elephanta Island. The peaceful, mostly wooded island measures around five square kilometres and is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The exact origin of the cave temples of Elephanta Island is unknown but it is believed that the main cave dates...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. On a mountain summit seven hundred and fifty metres above the Mediterranean is ?rice, the ancient town of Eryx. The well-fortified walls of its fortress once protected one of the oldest cities in Sicily. According to legend the Trojan, Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, established a town here after fleeing from the Greeks. First the goddess of love, Astrarte, was worshipped...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Amidst the marvellous coastal landscape of the French Cote D'Azur lies the picturesque medieval village of Eze. The main part of the village that can still be seen today was created in the 10th century, during the Middle Ages. Tranquillity seems almost to overflow from quaint windows on to the streets of this charming village in which its narrow alleyways...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. West of the city of Agra, in India, and surrounded by a ten kilometre long wall, is the fascinating ghost town of Fatehpur Sikri. It is believed that the founding of the town was closely associated with a prophecy made by a teacher of the religious Chishti Order who once lived there. The design of part of the Friday Mosque,...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Fez, former royal city, FES-EL-BALI, lies in the mountainous northwest region of Africa on one of the most important trading routes between the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean. In Maghreb, the MOSQU?E KARAOUIYNE is believed to have been founded by followers of the Prophet Mohammed and is regarded as one of the most important buildings in the Islamic world, in...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. In Italy's Tuscany, Florence is a city of art, culture, churches, grand squares and palaces. At the end of the 14th century, an elite handful of families ruled the city, most notably the Medici, whose highly ostentatious mausoleum was built in the Capelle Medicee. Pope Eugene the Fourth bequeathed the Dominican orders the ruined Monastery of San Marco and Cosimo...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. In Italy's Tuscany, Florence is a city of art, culture, churches, grand squares and palaces. At the end of the 14th century, an elite handful of families ruled the city, most notably the Medici, whose highly ostentatious mausoleum was built in the Capelle Medicee. Pope Eugene the Fourth bequeathed the Dominican orders the ruined Monastery of San Marco and Cosimo...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. The Chinese Emperors' Palace known as, `The Forbidden City', is located in the heart of Peking. From here the "Sons of Heaven" ruled the vast Chinese Empire for more than five centuries, although the portrait of Chairman Mao at the Palace's `Noon Gate' makes the influence of China's modern political system apparent to all. The history of the Empire city...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Tall, proud and powerful, Fort Meherangarh is located on a hill a hundred and twenty metres above the Indian town of Jodhpur. The fort dates back to 1459 and Rao Jodha, the leader of the Rathor, one of the country's most influential aristocratic families. The rooms, halls and courtyards of the palace still exude the legendary atmosphere and magical power...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. In the middle of the 18th century King Frederik ordered the construction of the Frederiks Kirke in the heart of Copenhagen. Around the dome's massive external balustrade there are various statues dedicated to a number of important church leaders including Moses and Martin Luther. With a diameter of over thirty one metres the Baroque dome of the Frederiks Kirke is...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Around sixty kilometres east of the city of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and set amid the untouched mountain world of the Kyi-Chu Valley, is the town of Dagze that contains one of the country's most famous monasteries, Ganden Gonba, that was once a prosperous monastery town. For many centuries it was the religious centre of the Yellow Caps' Academy...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. The desert town of Ghadames is situated in the three country triangle of Libya, Tunisia and Algeria and is tantamount to being an historical oasis that lies within the Libyan desert. The Islamic Cemetery just outside the city gates is an impressive sight and a reminder that the town was once an important centre of the region's caravan trading routes....

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Ghat is the only large oasis in the southwest of Libya and once an important caravan stop at the junction of several caravan routes. Even today, it is an important centre for the Tuareg of this region. Today, the historic old town is uninhabited but its stone walls and air-dried mud tiles still remain. The striking white minaret of a...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Lush green surrounds the historic buildings of the remote farm settlement of Glaumbaer deep in the north of Iceland. Glaumbaer's turf houses were built in the late 19th century but the origin of the farm dates back far longer. Many of its stone structures were built by the Vikings who lived in the region during the 11th century. As was...

Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Glurns Glorenza is a small town in the Southern Tyrol. A written account of the town was first made in the 12th century, however, it only received its status as a Meinhardinic town in 1294. Today, the picturesque town has seven hundred inhabitants and even now enjoys certain privileges once granted to it by a royal prince. Shortly after the founding...

Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. South of the centre of Crete are the remains of a ruined basilica, the Christian remains of Gortys' former glory. For the construction of the basilica in the 6th and the 7th centuries many of the architectural elements of the surrounding ancient ruins were also used. During construction there was no lack of decorative old capitals, as Gortys was once one...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Almost every city possesses a special street but for Venice it's the Canal Grande, the most beautiful `street' in the world, a thoroughfare of water that contains opulent palaces and religious buildings, such as Santa Maria Della Salute of which the foundation is built on more than a million wooden supports. The Canale Grande is the lagoon city's main street...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Graz is located in the centre of Styria and is the second largest city in Austria, a town that fascinates with its southern flair, magnificent historical buildings and beautiful panoramic views. The city's main landmark is its twenty-eight metre high clock tower that was built in 1561 and is one of the few remains of an old fortress. In order...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Great Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China, a combination of many walls, extends for 1,500 miles and winds across Northern China from Gansu Province to Hebei Province on the Yellow Sea and was constructed as a defence against the northern nomads. Although it was to be of little military significance, the Great Wall is a monument to human endeavour...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Proud and mighty, Dzong, the fortress of the former monarch of the region, rises above Gyang Tse, the third largest city in Tibet. The fortress once accommodated the governor of the district and was the region's administrative centre. Despite certain obligations the Dzong monarch was relatively independent and was permitted to rule this region and its inhabitants. Of Tibet's original...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. No other building demonstrates the power of the great Joseon Dynasty more impressively than does the Gyeongbok-Kung Palace in Seoul. The palace is a place of calm amid the hustle and bustle of South Korea's capital city. Yet the history of the Yeongbok-Kung, meaning Palace Of Happiness, was quite often far from being a place of peace and contentment as...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. The famous Roman emperor Hadrian gave his name to what would become an even more famous wall, a powerful fortification in the north of England that served as protection against the `Barbarians' and extended right up to the Scottish border. Construction of the wall in the 2nd century A.D. signified hope for a lasting and secure defense against the invading...

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Around thirty kilometres east of Rome on a low plateau beneath the Tiburtine Mountains lie the ruins of Villa Adrianna, once the residence of Roman emperor, Hadrian, who had the stately residence built in the second century A.D. as a fine and luxurious country estate. Indeed, it is believed that the emperor himself participated in the planning of its construction...