Where in the World?

Each month we post on this page one or two images of something, somewhere in this wonderful world. We invite members and guests to submit their guess, or more hopefully their knowledge, as to what in the wide world the image shows and where it is located. We will post the answer and the name of the first person to correctly identify the image and its location here at the end of each month.

This month we have three images, all of Roman amphitheatres.   Where in the world, or in the Roman Empire at least, are these?

Click here to submit your answers.  This will take you to the Contact Us page.  Submit your answer on the Contact form with the subject heading "Where in the World".  We will tell you the answer and the winner next month.

Last month's first image, seen below, is a view of Portofino, an Italian fishing village on the Ligurian coast near Genoa.  Initially founded by the Romans, by the late 19th century aristocratic tourists were visiting Portofino, which they reached by horse and cart from Santa Margherita Ligure.  Eventually more expatriates built expensive vacation houses, and by 1950 tourism had supplanted fishing as the town's chief industry, and the waterfront was a continuous ring of restaurants and cafés.  This image was taken in 1978.  Further information on Portofino can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portofino. For those who would like to view its location in Google Earth or other viewers, the photo was taken from about  44° 18’ 06” N, 9° 12’ 39” E, looking north.

Photo: John Bliss     

The second image from last month is from Cappadocia, one of the greatest natural wonders of the ancient region of Anatolia, central Turkey.  Eruptions of active volcanoes the region some 2 million years ago, left the area overed with volcanic ash which formed into a plateau-like layer of soft rock called tuff about 15metres thick, about 1000 metres above sea level. Rain, wind and rivers eroded the surface into badlands, a maze of small conical-shaped hills and pinnacles. But the rock was soft enough to be easily cut into, to create labyrinths of tunnels and homes.

Photo: Colin Sale                                               
 

During the early Roman era the area served as a shelter for the persecuted Christians who built several large interconnected underground cities, and they had churches which they decorated with colourful frescoes now drawing many tourists to look at them today.  For more information see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia. The region, for those who might like to visit it in Google Earth, is at about 38° 39’ N, 34° 51' E.

You can view past photographs and their locations in the Where in the World category in our Resource Library.

This page last updated:  8 March 2013