新编英语教程6Unit3背景知识之walls.docVIP

Brick Wall Byzantine City Walls The ancient walls of the city of Byzantium are located on a strategic strait that links the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Renamed Constantinople 330 ad and later ?stanbul 1453 , Byzantium was the capitol of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires and reigned supreme as the most magnificent city in Western Civilization for nearly 1000 years. The Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 to keep East Germans from fleeing their Communist state. For 28 years the wall symbolized tensions between the Soviet bloc and the West until it was torn down in 1989. Western Wall Biblical archaeologists believe that the Western Wall in Jerusalem, also known as the Wailing Wall, is all that remains of the Second Temple, which was destroyed in ad 70. The destruction of the Temple led to the formation of the rabbinic movement in Jerusalem. The movement taught Jews to focus their religious lives on study of the Torah and community. Today, the wall remains a sacred place for Jews. Many take pilgrimages to the wall to pray and hold religious ceremonies. . During the Middle Ages, many towns and cities were ringed by walls or other fortifications for defense. This picture shows the walled city of Florence, Italy.