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The ancient city of Petra was the capital of the Nabatean kingdom, a desert oasis and nomadic epicenter along major trade routes between Arabia, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Its elaborate structures were carved by hand directly into sandstone cliffs. Rock-cut channels, webbed throughout the surrounding mountainous desert, connected natural springs to the city’s canals

For more than three millennia, people have inhabited the magnificent natural landscape of Salzkammergut, taking advantage of its salt deposits. Iron Age trade routes across Europe testify to the flourishing society that became known as Hallstatt Culture. After a fire destroyed the town in 1750, it was rebuilt in Baroque style. The landscape has escaped

Ikeda Sensei once gave this guidance at the opening of a new SGI center: Soka Gakkai culture centers are not idle palaces of luxury; they are bastions of kosen-rufu. Bastions are a base from which a struggle is carried out. So the most fitting way to mark the completion of a new bastion is with

The Amphitheatre of El Jem, located in central Tunisia rivals the Colosseum in Rome. Composed of stone bricks and supported on a flat plain by a complex system of arches, the amphitheatre is an impressive display of Roman architecture. It was constructed around 238 BCE in the small city of Thysdrus, present day El Jem.

The Iguazu Falls stand between the border of Argentina and Brazil, including some 275 waterfalls and cataracts that cascade more than 250 feet. Aptly named, iguazu means “great water” in the native Mbyá-Guaraní language. Two sister parks in Argentina and Brazil cover a combined area of nearly 1,000 square miles. The magnificent landscape is home

Known as Pamukkale, or “cotton palace,” the ancient “holy city” of Hierapolis is an ethereal landscape of mineral forests, petrified waterfalls and terraced basins. Its cliffside hot springs 650 feet high have served as spas since 200 BCE, when the town of Hierapolis was founded in what is now southwest Turkey. Throughout the ages, civilizations

When the time came to open a new center in Phoenix, the search for a location led to a property in a residential neighborhood on East Myrtle Avenue. People in the community pass through the eastern edge of the property to hike, bike or ride horses in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. However, when vacating it

A symbol of the American ideals of freedom, inspiration and hope, the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States since 1886. She stands proudly within view of Ellis Island, the U.S.’s most famous immigration center, at the entrance of New York Harbor. A gift from France, designed by sculptor Frederic

Constructed in the early 15th century, the Changdeokgung Palace (literally the Palace of Prospering Virtue) is one of the Five Grand Palaces built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. The complex, which occupies nearly 143 acres in northern Seoul, Korea, distinguishes itself from conventional palace architecture by its clever adaptation to the uneven topography.

The city of Mostar in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina is named after its most famous landmark, the Stari Most (Old Bridge). Originally a frontier town under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the city was established in the 15th century in the valley of the Neretva River. Pre-Ottoman, eastern Ottoman, Mediterranean and European influences all

On April 14, 2013, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the SGI-USA Atlanta Buddhist Center, Dr. Lawrence E. Carter, dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, affirmed the SGI’s mission for peace, saying: In the city with the brand of human rights and nonviolence, we must remember today the

The city of Cuzco dates back to the ancient Incan empire, which ruled over the Central Peruvian Andes in South America. The city was built and remodeled over a period of more than 3,000 years, culminating in a complex urban compound full of religious and administrative structures, surrounded by clearly delineated agricultural, artisanal and industrial

Known as ‘the Pearl of the Adriatic,’ Dubrovnik, rich in culture and history, dates back to the first century when Roman refugees founded it, linking Roman and Slavic civilizations. Though the city has passed through Roman, Byzantine and Venetian hands over the centuries, it largely maintained its independence as a city-state, making major contributions to

Quebec is the only North American city to preserve its colonial ramparts. The defensive walls, along with bastions and gates, still surround Upper Town. Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer, founded the city in the 17th century, and it served as the capital of New France until 1760 when it briefly came under British colonial

When Ikeda Sensei first visited Hawaii in October 1960, he established the first overseas district, creating a framework for members to carry out their Buddhist practice centered on the district discussion meeting. As the membership expanded, the first Hawaii Community Center opened in Honolulu in January 1966, with Sensei in attendance. The address, 2729 Pali

The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a world-class center for botanical and horticultural research, conservation and education. A group of “public-spirited citizens” established the botanic gardens in 1859. After being handed over to the colonial government in the late 1870s when Singapore was part of British Malaya, the park was used to support the colony’s rubber

Bahla has been an oasis in the Gulf of Oman desert since the medieval period. Standing as both a fort and settlement, it served as the capital for the Banu Nebhan tribe from the 12th to the 15th centuries. The walls and towers, along with the dwellings of the settlement, are built from unbaked brick

On the most remote inhabited island on the planet, architectural and artistic traditions developed independent of external influence for the good part of a millennium. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, was first inhabited by a group of Eastern Polynesian settlers around a thousand years ago. They constructed the island’s famous moai statues, which

When the SGI-USA Washington, D.C., Buddhist Center opened on June 25, 2008, it was coined the “SGI Embassy” for its location among the stately foreign embassies that line Massachusetts Avenue on Embassy Row. SGI Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda traveled to the U.S. to officiate the opening ceremony on behalf of Ikeda Sensei, who in a

Old Havana, founded in 1519 as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the Americas, boasts the title of the most notable historic city center in the Caribbean. The Havana Bay was an obligatory stop on the maritime route to the Americas during the colonial era, making military fortifications a necessity to protect the city.