Brussels’ cavernous basilica is one of the largest churches in the world but COVID-19 rules allow only 15 people at a time to attend mass there, the same limit applied to much smaller religious venues in Belgium. Dozens of worshippers of different religions and clergy demonstrated in the centre of the Belgian capital on Sunday calling for a change to the rules. Parishioners, who can only gather in a group of maximum of 15 people at the same time in the building, attend a mass in the Belgium's national Koekelberg basilica, one of the largest churches in the world, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brussels, Belgium February 21, 2021. REUTERS/Johnny Cotton “Here, more than in any other building in Belgium, this law is an incredible absurdity,” said the Catholic ba...
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Tourists curious about Russia’s imperial past can now ride on a special train running through the Ural mountains along the route travelled by some members of the royal family before their execution in 1918. The train making the three-hour journey between Yekaterinburg and Alapayevsk is equipped with a royal family-themed wagon where tourists can try on clothing similar to that worn by Russian nobility in the early 20th century. Upon arriving in the town, tourists are taken by bus to places of importance in the lives of the royal family members who were killed there. “On the night of July 18, 1918, eight people were thrown in here alive,” priest Father Serafim said, pointing to a snow-covered mineshaft. “These included Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fyodorovna (Romanova)”. ...
Read MoreZiggurat hopes to bring together several faiths – and hopefully lure more visitors
Pope Francis is due to hold an inter-religious prayer service at the ancient Mesopotamian site of Ur when he visits Iraq next week - an event local archeologists hope will draw renewed attention to the place revered as the birthplace of Abraham. Popular with Western visitors in the 1970s and 1980s, Ur is scarcely visited today after decades of war and political instability shattered Iraq’s international tourism industry. The coronavirus crisis now also keeps local tourists away. A general view of the ancient archeological site of Ur, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Abraham, ahead of the planned visit of Pope Francis, in Ur near Nassiriya, Iraq February 18, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Aty Located about 300 km (200 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, the site comprises a...
Read MoreTrain services resumed in the Kashmir Valley on Monday after remaining suspended for around 11 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Train services have been resumed partially between Baramulla and Banihal. "A dry run of 137 km was carried out on Sunday between Baramulla and Banihal," an official of the Northern Railways said. "In the partial resumption of operations, the service will have two runs daily between Banihal and Baramulla," the official said. The train service from Banihal in the Jammu division to Baramulla in Kashmir division has 17 stations in between. !function(e,t,c,a){if(!e.fwn&&(a="fwn_script",n=e.fwn=function(){ n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments) },e._fwn||(e._fwn=n),n.queue=[],!t.getElementById(a))){var d=...
Read MoreDozens of swans have flocked to a reservoir in western Ukraine this winter, evading snow and ice to enjoy the warm waters discharged from a nearby nuclear power plant. Scientists say the birds migrate from all over Ukraine and elsewhere in eastern Europe to the reservoir, which the Khmelnytskyi plant uses for cooling and thus never freezes over. “There is no need to make an extra effort to get to the Black Sea as the birds feel comfortable here,” Oksana Holovko, head of the science and research department at a nearby national nature park, told Reuters. Since the water temperature does not drop lower than 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit), the reservoir is also rich in crustaceans and pondweed which the swans can eat. !function(e,t,c,a){if(!e.fwn&&(a="fwn_sc...
Read MoreForty-six whales stranded on a beach on the Indonesian island of Madura have died, while rescuers managed to push three back out to sea, the provincial governor said on Friday. A rescue effort was launched on Thursday after dozens of pilot whales beached. Volunteers pushed some back out to sea. Youths push a short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), one of dozens which got stranded at a beach in Bangkalan near Surabaya, East Java province, Indonesia, February 19, 2021 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Zabur Karuru/ via REUTERS “But some came back here, trying to find their mothers, though it turns out the mothers are dead,” East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa said. Video footage on Friday showed whales dotted across a wide area with local res...
Read MoreDevotees will not have to pay to visit the Gundicha Temple here where Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra stay during the annual Rath Yatra, an official said on Friday. The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to make it free for all devotees to visit Gundicha Tempe and other places like 'Narendra Puskarini' (sacred pond), 'Rohini Kunda' (a tank inside the Jagannath temple in Puri) and 'Koili Baikuntha' (the temple crematorium where wooden idols of trinity are buried on Nabakalebara year, the official said. The decision was taken at the SJTA management committee meeting on Thursday. Though the temple will lose an annual earning of about Rs 7 crore, the SJTA announced that the devotees will not pay any amount as an ent...
Read MoreAgainst the backdrop of COVID-19 and need for safe travel, the Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new 'caravan tourism' policy that seeks to provide incentives to tour operators and at the same time boost employment opportunities in the pandemic-battered sector. The policy, aimed at addressing safety concerns of travel enthusiasts, was cleared at the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The policy has two parts - caravan and caravan parks - allowing tourists to enjoy the state's natural beauty and a range of other attractions, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. It will also boost employment opportunities in the tourism sector, which has been badly affected by the pandemic, it said. A caravan is a specially-b...
Read MoreAs arctic temperature froze rivers and lakes in northern Germany, workers at houseboat charter companies were already gearing up for what they expect to be a busy summer season. Cross-border travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic last summer prompted a run on domestic tourism, including on floating accommodation. Many expect that 2021 will be no different. FILE PHOTO: Kormoran boats lie in icy water at the dock from the houseboat rental company Kuhnle Tours on lake Claassee near Rechlin, Germany, February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/ “I think that big trips abroad and flying will still not be the dominant type of vacation for people this summer,” Dagmar Kuhnle, spokeswoman at the Kuhnle Tour houseboat charter company in the northeastern Mecklenburg lake district,...
Read MoreIn a tourism initiative, the Kerala government has launched a Rs 100 crore Travancore Heritage Project to conserve and showcase the cultural richness and tangible legacy of the erstwhile kingdom. State Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the project would "make the visit to the state capital and its surroundings a more riveting experience". The project, which seeks to preserve old-world looks of the vintage structures, overall covers heritage structures from Padmanabhapuram Palace, now in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, to the Parthasarathy temple on the banks of the Pampa in Aranmula of Pathanamthitta district in Kerala. "Kerala Tourism is making a major stride by presenting before the world the heritage and legacy of Travancore. The project is conceived in such...
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