Aden City vs Versailles

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Aden is the UK's AY-d@n and US's AH-den. It is located near the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden) at 170 km (110 miles) east of Bab-el-Mandeb. The city is home to approximately 800,000. Aden's natural harbour is located in the crater a dormant volcano. It now forms a peninsula that connects to the mainland via a low isthmus. Front Bay was the first harbour to be used by the ancient Kingdom, Awsan, between the 7th and 5th centuries BC. On the opposite side of the peninsula is the modern harbour. The Gulf of Aden is named after Aden. Aden is made up of several sub-centres. Crater was the original port city. Maalla was the modern port. Tawahi, also known as Steamer Point during colonial times, and the resorts at Gold Mohur are all part of the main centre. Khormaksar is located on the isthmus connecting Aden with the mainland. It houses the city's diplomatic missions and the main offices for Aden University. Aden International Airport, which was formerly the British Royal Air Force station RAF Khormaksar (Yemens second largest airport), is also here. The sub-centres and Al-Mansura are located on the mainland. These were once an oasis area. Madinat ash-Shab, formerly Madinat al-Itihad, is now the capital of South Arabian Federation. It also houses Aden University's large power/desalinization plant and additional faculties. Aden surrounds the eastern end of the vast, natural harbour that forms the modern port. This made it necessary to create the Cisterns at Tawila, Aden's reservoirs.

According to Ibn Battuta (14th-century scholar), these reservoirs store rainwater solely for the purpose of drinking by the citizens. It is a prosperous city with many wealthy merchants and Indian ships arriving to trade. The port and harbour on the west side are enclosed by the volcanic peninsula of Little Aden. Little Aden was the location of the oil refinery, and the tanker port. They were both established by British Petroleum and were operated until 1978 when they were handed over to the Yemeni government. Aden was the capital of Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen from 1990 to its unification with Yemen Arab Republic. It briefly served again as Yemen's temporary capital after the Houthi takeover of Yemen. This was declared by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi following his escape from the Houthi occupation of Sanaa. The Battle of Aden was fought between President Hadi's government forces and the Houthis from March 2015 to July 2015. The city was short of water, food, and medical supplies. The Saudi Army launched an offensive on 14 July to retake Aden in support of the Yemeni government. The Houthis were expelled from Aden within three days. The Southern Transitional Council has seized Aden since February 2018. Supported by UAE, the Southern Transitional Council has taken control of Aden. Former Mayor Aidroos Alzubaidi was fired by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and sacked ex-Minister Salfi-religious leader Hani Bin Buraik.

Source: Wikipedia

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The Palace of Versailles ( vair-SY, vur-SY; French: Château de Versailles [ʃɑto d(ə) vɛʁsɑj] (listen)) was the principal royal residence of France from 1682, under Louis XIV, until the start of the French Revolution in 1789, under Louis XVI. It is located in the department of Yvelines, in the region of Île-de-France, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of the centre of Paris.A simple hunting lodging and later a small château with a moat occupied the site until 1661, when the first work expanding the château into a palace was carried out for Louis XIV. In 1682, when the palace had become large enough, the king moved the entire royal court and the French government to Versailles. Some of the palace furniture at this time was constructed of solid silver, but in 1689 much of it was melted down to pay for the cost of war. Subsequent rulers mostly carried out interior remodeling, to meet the demands of changing taste, although Louis XV did install an opera house at the north end of the north wing for the wedding of the Dauphin and Marie Antoinette in 1770. The palace has also been a site of historical importance. The Peace of Paris (1783) was signed at Versailles, the Proclamation of the German Empire occurred in the vaunted Hall of Mirrors, and World War I was ended in the palace with the Treaty of Versailles, among many other events.

The palace is now a historical monument and UNESCO World Heritage site, notable especially for the ceremonial Hall of Mirrors, the jewel-like Royal Opera, and the royal apartments; for the more intimate royal residences, the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon located within the park; the small rustic Hameau (Hamlet) created for Marie Antoinette; and the vast Gardens of Versailles with fountains, canals, and geometric flower beds and groves, laid out by André le Nôtre. The Palace was stripped of all its furnishings after the French Revolution, but many pieces have been returned and many of the palace rooms have been restored. In 2017 the Palace of Versailles received 7,700,000 visitors, making it the second-most visited monument in the Île-de-France region, just behind the Louvre and ahead of the Eiffel Tower.After 82 days of closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the Palace of Versailles has re-opened to the public again.

Source: Wikipedia