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Games from Roman times to the 18th century!

Following the Roman invasion, the Games were opened to non-Greeks.

The prestige of the Games was such that several emperors took part.

On the advice of Bishop Ambrose of Milan, Emperor Theodosius I banned the Games in 393-394 because of their pagan character.

 This ban does not specifically target the Olympic Games but in general the Circus Games of which these are a particular event.

The Olympic Games underwent some timid attempts at renovation between the end of the 18th century, when the ruins of the Olympia sites were discovered, and the end of the 19th century.

Let us cite the Olympiad of the Republic which was held in Paris in 1796, 1797 and 1798.

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Mount Roraima (Venezuela)

Mount Roraima is a mountain in South America shared between Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela.

Discovered and explored late in the 19th century, Mount Roraima was not climbed until 1884 by a British expedition.

An account of one of these expeditions largely inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his adventure novel The Lost World in 1912.

Its highlight is the Maverick Stone. Inside the plateau there are numerous caves and chasms.

The watercourses which run through the plateau and which do not escape directly in the form of waterfalls end up disappearing into the rock through the network of caves

This water which flows from Mount Roraima in the form of waterfalls, such as Salto Roraima, or underground gives rise to numerous streams at its feet, some temporary, others permanent.

To the east of the mountain is the source of the Rio Cotingo, a river flowing into Brazil and a sub-tributary of the Amazon.

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*Photo by Paolo Costa Baldi.

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Torres del Paine National Park (Chile)

Torres del Paine National Park is a national park in Chile located between the Andes mountain range and the Patagonian steppe.

Between 3.5 million years ago and 14,000 years ago, glaciations shaped the landscape to remove the upper layers of rock and give the park its current appearance.

Covering an area of ​​181,414 hectares, its main function is the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic diversity of the Paine massif.

Its surface is characterized by its landscape heterogeneity, where mountains, glaciers, valleys, ponds and large lakes converge.

It takes its name from three emblematic granite formations of the del Paine massif: the Torres (Towers) del Paine.

12 million years ago, in the Miocene, the northward movement of the boundary between the Antarctic plate and the Nazca plate caused the intrusion of a 10 km by 20 km laccolith with a thickness of 2,000 mr.

This intrusion created the heart of the Paine massif. The territory also has some small, older intrusions dating from 29 million years ago.

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*Photo by John Spooner.

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Perito Moreno Glacier (Argentina)

The Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier in Argentina located in Los Glaciares National Park in the province of Santa Cruz.

With a surface area of ​​250 km2 and a length of 30 kilometers, it is one of the 48 glaciers fed by the southern Patagonian ice field, in the Andes, which Argentina shares with Chile.

Named in honor of the explorer Francisco Moreno who studied this region in the 19th century and contributed to discussions for the delimitation of the border with Chile.

Its height is 170 meters of which 74 meters are above ground, the rest being under the waters of Lake Argentino.

 It advances about two meters per day (700 meters per year). In some places its thickness reaches 700 meters.

It is located 78 kilometers from El Calafate, in Argentine Patagonia.

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*Photo by Luca Galuzzi.

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Hide brooms (Norway)

In Norway, it is adamantly believed that witches and evil spirits roam the night sky on Christmas Eve.

And what is a witch's favorite mode of transportation? A broomstick.

As a precaution, the Norwegians therefore hide all the brooms in their houses to prevent witches from getting their hands on them.

Sometimes people go further by firing a warning shot in the air to scare them away.

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Night of the radishes (Mexico)

If the Christmas holidays in France are often associated with an increased consumption of chocolates, this is not the case in the city of Oaxaca in Mexico.

Indeed, every December 23, La Noche de Rabanos ("The Night of the Radishes") is celebrated there, a festival during which traders and artisans sell radishes intricately carved to represent nativity scenes, fauna and local architecture, as well as other relevant representations.

The radish carvings are sold as Christmas centerpieces, and the creator of the best radish drawing wins a cash prize.

An unusual Christmas tradition, certainly, but guaranteed without a liver attack.

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