LaurieAnnie's photos with the keyword: DaVinciCode

The Church was built by the Knights Templar, the order of crusading monks founded to protect pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem in the 12th century. The Church is in two parts: the Round and the Chancel. The Round Church was consecrated in 1185 by the patriarch of Jerusalem. It was designed to recall the holiest place in the Crusaders' world: the circular Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It is a numinous space - and has a wonderful acoustic for singing. In the Round Church you will find the life-size stone effigies of nine knights. Most famous of these knights was William the Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, the most important mediator between King John and the Barons in 1215. John was at the Temple in January 1215 when the barons demanded that he confirm the rights enshrined in the Coronation Charter of his predecessor; it was William who swore on the King's behalf that the barons' grievances would be satisfied in the summer. William became Regent in the minority of Henry III. William's own eldest son, also William, was among those chosen by the barons to force John's compliance with Magna Carta; and on John's death he joined the rebels against Henry's rule. His father eventually won him over to Henry's cause. The effigy of this younger William lies next to his father's. The Chancel was built in 1240. Henry III had signalled his intention to be buried here. (He was in fact buried in Westminster Abbey; one of his sons, who died in infancy, was interred in the Temple.) If you look at the dark marble columns in the chancel, you will see that they 'lean' outwards. These columns are replicas of the 13th century columns that stood until the War; they leant outwards too. The church was bombed in 1941: the Chancel's vault survived; the columns cracked in the heat, and after the War they had to be replaced. The architects wondered whether to build the new columns upright. But if the 'leaning' columns had done good work for seven hundred years, their replacements, it was decided, should lean too - and so they do! Text from TempleChurch.com: www.templechurch.com/pages/history.htm

The Church was built by the Knights Templar, the order of crusading monks founded to protect pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem in the 12th century. The Church is in two parts: the Round and the Chancel. The Round Church was consecrated in 1185 by the patriarch of Jerusalem. It was designed to recall the holiest place in the Crusaders' world: the circular Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It is a numinous space - and has a wonderful acoustic for singing. In the Round Church you will find the life-size stone effigies of nine knights. Most famous of these knights was William the Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, the most important mediator between King John and the Barons in 1215. John was at the Temple in January 1215 when the barons demanded that he confirm the rights enshrined in the Coronation Charter of his predecessor; it was William who swore on the King's behalf that the barons' grievances would be satisfied in the summer. William became Regent in the minority of Henry III. William's own eldest son, also William, was among those chosen by the barons to force John's compliance with Magna Carta; and on John's death he joined the rebels against Henry's rule. His father eventually won him over to Henry's cause. The effigy of this younger William lies next to his father's. The Chancel was built in 1240. Henry III had signalled his intention to be buried here. (He was in fact buried in Westminster Abbey; one of his sons, who died in infancy, was interred in the Temple.) If you look at the dark marble columns in the chancel, you will see that they 'lean' outwards. These columns are replicas of the 13th century columns that stood until the War; they leant outwards too. The church was bombed in 1941: the Chancel's vault survived; the columns cracked in the heat, and after the War they had to be replaced. The architects wondered whether to build the new columns upright. But if the 'leaning' columns had done good work for seven hundred years, their replacements, it was decided, should lean too - and so they do! Text from TempleChurch.com: www.templechurch.com/pages/history.htm

FAO Schwarz is the name of a high-end toy store chain founded in New York City in 1870 by German immigrant, Frederick August Otto Schwarz. The original name of the store was Toy Bazaar. (The company traces its history back to 1862 in Baltimore, when Schwarz first began retailing toys from his fancy-goods store there.) It is known for its offering rather exotic gifts for children, such as a gas powered, miniature Mercedes-Benz for children under ten costing several thousand dollars. FAO Schwarz was notably featured in the 1988 Tom Hanks film Big, in which Hanks and Robert Loggia played "Heart & Soul" and "Chopsticks" on the store's signature 22-foot piano. At its height, the chain had a total of 40 stores throughout the United States. In 2001, The Right Start Company bought 22 of the 40 stores, and the other 18 unsold stores were immediately closed. In December 2002, Right Start, the then parent of FAO Schwarz, filed for bankruptcy. They would emerge from bankruptcy in April 2003 only to re-enter it in December 2003, forcing all stores to close. After FAO Schwarz was again sold to its new owners, hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., the New York City and Las Vegas stores reopened on Thanksgiving Day 2004. The New York City store, on Fifth Avenue, is still very popular, and a famous destination in the city. The store was redesigned by architect David Rockwell of The Rockwell Group in collaboration with Paul Gregory of Focus Lighting in 2004. The 5th Avenue flagship store now features a large open front area and award-winning lighting which includes almost 80,000 LED lights mounted on the ceiling above the main atrium space. Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.A.O._Schwarz