Monticello | |
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State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 1686 |
Monticello ( MON-tih-CHEL-oh, -SEL-oh) was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Piedmont region, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres (20 km2), with Jefferson using the labor of enslaved African people for extensive cultivation of tobacco and mixed crops, later shifting from tobacco cultivation to wheat in response to changing markets. Due to its architectural and historic significance, the property has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1987, Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The current nickel, a United States coin, features a depiction of Monticello on its reverse side.
Jefferson designed the main house using neoclassical design principles described by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and reworking the design through much of his presidency to include design elements popular in late 18th-century Europe and integrating numerous ideas of his own. Situated on the summit of an 850-foot (260 m)-high peak in the Southwest Mountains south of the Rivanna Gap, the name Monticello derives from Italian meaning "little mountain".
Davos | |
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State | Grisons |
Country | Switzerland |
Capital | |
Population | 11211 |
Davos (UK: , US: ; German: [daˈfoːs] or [daˈvoːs] (listen); Romansh: Tavau; archaic Italian: Tavate) is an Alpine town, and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 10,862 (2019). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range at 1,560 m (5,120 ft) above sea level.
The former Alpine resort village consists of two parts: Davos Dorf (literally: "Davos village") to the northeast towards Klosters and further down through the Prättigau to Landquart, and Davos Platz (literally: "place") to the southwest, which opens into the valley of the river Landwasser and eventually leads to Filisur.