|
|
|
Katholieke Univesiteit Leuven
 |
|
| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V, K.U.Leuven bears the double honour of being the oldest extant Catholic university in the world and the oldest university in the Low Countries.
In a short time, it grew into one of the largest and most renowned universities in Europe.
In the sixteenth century the humanist Desiderius Erasmus lectured here, where he founded the Collegium Trilingue in 1517 for the study of Hebrew, Latin, and Greek - the first of its kind.
The mathematician Gemma Frisius helped to lay the foundations of modern science and tutored many famous scientists, including the cartographer Gerard Mercator, whose map projection is still in use, the botanist Rembert Dodoens, and the father of modern anatomy, Andreas Vesalius. In 1783, the chemist Pieter Jan Minckelers discovered the suitability of coal gas for lighting.
More recently, the two World Wars of the twentieth century deeply scarred the university. In 1914, the University Hall with its precious library was set in flames by German troops and 300,000 books were reduced to ashes. Afterwards, an international solidarity campaign with a major American contribution helped construct a new library on the present Ladeuzeplein. Unfortunately, this library was burned down in 1940 during the Second World War and this time only 15,000 of its 900,000 volumes were saved. Since then, the university library, and in fact the entire university, has undergone a thorough reconstruction.
The university is located in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium. In 1968 the university split into two new universities. The French-speaking Université Catholique de Louvain moved to the newly built campus in Louvain-la-Neuve. The Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven remained in the historic town of Leuven.
K.U.Leuven is a charter member of the League of European Research Universities, and European surveys rank K.U.Leuven among the top ten European universities in terms of its scholarly output.
This academic reputation attracts students from all over the world.
At present, K.U.Leuven caters to more than 31,000 students, around 12% of whom are international students from more than 120 nations. Its network of thirty auxiliary libraries now houses a total of 4.3 million volumes, 14,500 magazines and journals, and 7,492 full text electronic magazines. And concerning its medical facilities, K.U.Leuven supports five hospitals and three affiliated hospitals, with a total of 2,057 hospital beds for the acutely ill.
The medieval cloth hall, near the famous gothic town hall, is the university's administrative centre. The beautifully restored Great Beguinage houses students and guest professors.
Where else can you find a university within a town, and indeed a 'town' within a university, so dynamically integrated? Its rich historical tradition continues to serve as a solid foundation for top-level research and centres of academic excellence.
From Web Site uf KU Leuven |
PixelTerror, Royaldevon, parbo, lilimih33 has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekEarth members may rate photo notes. |
|
|
|
Ciao Mr Stefano !
Nice to pop here from time to time, hope everything is going well with the small family, and you have some time left for travelling and shooting; this one illustrates nicely the northern architecture and the contrasts that can be obtained from these red bricks against a blue sky.
Have a nice day JY
Hello Stefano,
Very lovely sharp image set nicely against the clear, blue sky!
It is an interesting building! The details are well captured and the colours well-saturated, yet natural.
Kind regards,
Bev :-)
Hi Stefano,
Great photo with great POV and colours/light. A very interesting note too, but unfortunately, the photo and the note don't match. I've studied in Leuven for six years, at the University you mention, but this is not really a University building. This is part of the beguinage (Het Groot Begijnhof) of Leuven. Most of these houses are used by the University for housing guest professors and students, so there's a link, but it's not the university (the faculty's are spread around the town). TFS
Wolf
hi, v nice soft lighting, it gives the image an atmosphere. Nice sky too and the clouds add to the softness of the image i think as well as the ground in shade.
regards
- parbo
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1558 W: 15 N: 1714]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(6316) - [2008-03-24 8:55]
-
Hello Stefano,
Facades from terracotta brick and roof textures are very attractive under splendid light plays. Your diagonal view helps to increase depth sense there. Excellent capture in perfect colors and tones, in very good sharpness. Congratulations.
Best Regards,
Ertugrul
Ciao Stefano, veramente una bella immagine. Sembra una casetta da film invece che un polo universitario. Mi piace l'uso che hai fatto del filtro grigio, i colori sono ben saturi ma non "fastidiosi".
Sabrina
Ciao Stefano!
Bellissimo house and lovely colours!
Good detail and nice point of view!
Best regards!
Lili
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 242 W: 10 N: 183]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-g.gif){kind=small}
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 9129 W: 2344 N: 17386]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(70124)![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Workshop Editor/Silver Note Writer [C: 62 W: 83 N: 35]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-g-s.gif)
(253)