Õppekäik Glendaloughi ja Kilkennysse (14.7.2018)

juuli 15, 2018

Glendalough
The valley of the Two Lakes

Glendalough is 69 km south of Dublin, in thes heart of Wicklow National Park, which is considered the garden of Ireland due to its scenic treasures covering a range of hills and mountains, long beaches, rivers and lakes. Besides its magnificent landscapes, Glendlough is widely known for its great patrimony in terms of history, monuments, archelogy, pilgrimage, geology, wildlife or mining history, among others.
The valley was shaped during the last ice age by a glacier which left a mass of rocks and sediment across the valley mouth. The two lakes, which gave Glendalough its name, were created when the ice eventually melted. Although there had been a large number of glaciations over Earth´s history, the last Ice Age (the one which formed Glendalough) is known under the name of Midlandian. During the last glaciation, 32% of Earth´s surface was covered with glaciers.
Today, glaciers cover about a 10% of land area, especially in the Antarctic. The impact of previous glaciers, though, can still be appreciated in many places of the world, such as Glendalough Valley, where last Ice Age left a U-form valley amongst two lakes. The valley stood almost completely uninhabited until the 6th century A.D, when it started to become increasingly popular.

Birth of the Monastic City
Glendalough Monastic City is one of the most extensive monastic sites in Ireland, established by St Kevin in the 6th century. St Kevin was descendent of the royal house of Leinster, altough he turned his back to any privilege and lived as a hermit most of his life. Little enough is known with certainty about St Kevin, whose life has inspired many legends and tales since his death in 618 A.D. (supposedly at the age of 120).

The Gateway

The Round Tower

St Kevin´s Kitchen (St Kevin´s church)

The Cathedral

Glendalough Valley

Kilkenny
The Marble City

Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh: "The Church of St Canice"), about 130km southeast from Dublin, is the smallest city of Ireland both in size and population. Located on the bank of river Nore, Kilkenny is a famous destination for weekend escapes and it well-known due to its medieval architecture and a sparkling cultural scene a nightlife.
Kilkenny earned its nickname of "Marble City" after marble started to be used as an ornamental element in window jambs and door frames of numerous buildings throughout the city. Marble extracted outside Kilkenny is distinguished for its black colour and random marks and rings of white that remind of drops of paint. Even the streets were paved with marble until the 1930s. A local black limestone is also common, and was the primary stone used for old city walls and many buildings.