The mayor of Dubrovnik, Croatia, announced on Aug. 11 that, within two years, the city plans to reduce the number of people visiting its walled Old City to only 4,000 per day in order to protect the UNESCO World Heritage Site from damage. UNESCO had recommended a limit of 8,000.
Riga, Latvia
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In an effort to prevent tourists from “camping out” on city landmarks, the mayor of Florence, Italy, announced on May 31 that some parts of the city will be hosed down around noon each day. According to the mayor, some people visiting the city picnic on the steps of some landmarks at lunchtime, occasionally leaving garbage behind.
The sites scheduled for a daily watering are the Basilica di Santa Croce, the Chiesa di Santo Spirito and the streets of Florence’s historic city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
When the dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the construction of the monument pictured in our April 2017 mystery photo, the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration — located on a hill in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros, or simply Santiago, in the Dominican Republic — he intended the structure to honor only himself. That was in 1944. After his assassination in 1961, the country's government changed the structure's name from Trujillo's Monument to Peace; to its current name.
9-day, 8-night rail journey on Golden Eagle Danube Express, Dec. 28, 2017-Jan. 5, 2018. Highlights: In Budapest, HUNGARY, Buda Castle, Matthias Church/in Keszthely, Baroque Festetics Palace/in Vienna, AUSTRIA, waltz lesson, New Year’s dinner at city hall with Wiener Hofball Orchestra, fireworks/in Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC, 9th-century castle, astronomical clock. Cabin, $7,495-$12,595 ppdo or $11,295-$21,095 single.
In Manchester, the exhibit “Wyndham Lewis: Life, Art, War” will run June 23, 2017-Jan. 1, 2018, at the Imperial War Museum North (The Quays, Trafford Wharf Rd., Manchester, England, M17 1TZ, U.K.; phone +44 1223 499 353, www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north).
The painter founded the English abstract art movement Vorticism. The exhibit — with 160 artworks, books, journals and pamphlets — marks the 100-year anniversary of Lewis’ commission as an official war artist of the British Army. Open daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. £8 (near $10), adult.
In Heidelberg, Germany, at 10:15 on a night in June, July and September each year, fireworks light up Heidelberg Castle.
The castle is first lit up in red, mimicking the fire that reduced most of the castle to ruins in the 17th century, then there is a fireworks display over the Neckar River. The best views are from the river’s south side, opposite the castle.
The dates are June 3, July 6 and Sept. 2 in 2017 and June 2, July 14 and Sept. 1 in 2018.
