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National Gallery

The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi.

The National Gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its collection belongs to the government on behalf of the British public, and entry to the main collection is free of charge.

Unlike comparable museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein in 1824. After that initial purchase, the gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, especially Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which now account for two-thirds of the collection. The collection is smaller than many European national galleries, but encyclopaedic in scope; most major developments in Western painting "from Giotto to Cézanne" are represented with important works. It used to be claimed that this was one of the few national galleries that had all its works on permanent exhibition, but this is no longer the case.

The present building, the third site to house the National Gallery, was designed by William Wilkins. Building began in 1832 and it opened to the public in 1838. Only the façade onto Trafalgar Square remains essentially unchanged from this time, as the building has been expanded piecemeal throughout its history. Wilkins's building was often criticised for the perceived weaknesses of its design and for its lack of space; the latter problem led to the establishment of the Tate Gallery for British art in 1897. The Sainsbury Wing, a 1991 extension to the west by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, is a significant example of Postmodernist architecture in Britain.

The call for a National Gallery

The late 18th century saw the nationalisation of royal or princely art collections across mainland Europe. The Bavarian royal collection (now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich) opened to the public in 1779, that of the Medici in Florence around 1789 (as the Uffizi Gallery), and the Museum Français at the Louvre was formed out of the former French royal collection in 1793. Great Britain, however, did not follow other European countries, and the British Royal Collection still remains in the sovereign's possession. In 1777, the British government had the opportunity to buy an art collection of international stature, when the descendants of Sir Robert Walpole put his collection up for sale. The MP John Wilkes argued for the government to buy this "invaluable treasure" and suggested that it be housed in "a noble gallery... to be built in the spacious garden of the British Museum". Nothing came of Wilkes's appeal and 20 years later the collection was bought in its entirety by Catherine the Great; it is now to be found in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

A plan to acquire 150 paintings from the Orléans collection, which had been brought to London for sale in 1798, also failed, despite the interest of both the King and the Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger. The twenty-five paintings from that collection now in the gallery, including "NG1", arrived later by a variety of routes. In 1799, the dealer Noël Desenfans offered a ready-made national collection to the British government; he and his partner Sir Francis Bourgeois had assembled it for the king of Poland, before the Third Partition in 1795 abolished Polish independence. This offer was declined and Bourgeois bequeathed the collection to his old school, Dulwich College, on his death. The collection opened in 1814 in Britain's first purpose-built public gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery. The Scottish dealer William Buchanan and the collector Joseph Count Truchsess both formed art collections expressly as the basis for a future national collection, but their respective offers (both made in 1803) were also declined.

Following the Walpole sale many artists, including James Barry and John Flaxman, had made renewed calls for the establishment of a National Gallery, arguing that a British school of painting could only flourish if it had access to the canon of European painting. The British Institution, founded in 1805 by a group of aristocratic connoisseurs, attempted to address this situation. The members lent works to exhibitions that changed annually, while an art school was held in the summer months. However, as the paintings that were lent were often mediocre, some artists resented the Institution and saw it as a racket for the gentry to increase the sale prices of their Old Master paintings. One of the Institution's founding members, Sir George Beaumont, Bt, would eventually play a major role in the National Gallery's foundation by offering a gift of 16 paintings.

In 1823, another major art collection came on the market, which had been assembled by the recently deceased John Julius Angerstein. Angerstein was a Russian-born émigré banker based in London; his collection numbered 38 paintings, including works by Raphael and Hogarth's Marriage A-la-Mode series. On 1 July 1823, George Agar Ellis, a Whig politician, proposed to the House of Commons that it purchase the collection. The appeal was given added impetus by Beaumont's offer, which came with two conditions: that the government buy the Angerstein collection, and that a suitable building was to be found. The unexpected repayment of a war debt by Austria finally moved the government to buy Angerstein's collection, for £57,000.

Foundation and early history

The National Gallery opened in 1824 in Angerstein's former townhouse at No. 100 Pall Mall. Angerstein's paintings were joined in 1826 by those from Beaumont's collection, and in 1831 by the Reverend William Holwell Carr's bequest of 35 paintings. Initially the Keeper of Paintings, William Seguier, bore the burden of managing the gallery, but in July 1824 some of this responsibility fell to the newly formed board of trustees.

The National Gallery at Pall Mall was frequently overcrowded and hot, and its diminutive size in comparison with the Louvre in Paris was a cause of national embarrassment. But Agar Ellis, by then a trustee of the gallery, appraised the site for being "in the very gangway of London"; this was seen as necessary for the gallery to fulfil its social purpose. Subsidence in No. 100 caused the gallery to move briefly to No. 105 Pall Mall, which the novelist Anthony Trollope described as a "dingy, dull, narrow house, ill-adapted for the exhibition of the treasures it held". This in turn had to be demolished for the opening of a road to Carlton House Terrace.

In 1832, construction began on a new building by William Wilkins on the northern half of the site of the old Royal Mews in Charing Cross, after the transformation of its southern half into Trafalgar Square in the late 1820s. The location was a significant one, between the wealthy West End and poorer areas to the east. The argument that the collection could be accessed by people of all social classes outstripped other concerns, such as the pollution of central London or the failings of Wilkins's building, when the prospect of a move to South Kensington was mooted in the 1850s. According to the Parliamentary Commission of 1857, "The existence of the pictures is not the end purpose of the collection, but the means only to give the people an ennobling enjoyment".

Growth under Eastlake and his successors
15th- and 16th-century Italian paintings were at the core of the National Gallery and for the first 30 years of its existence the trustees' independent acquisitions were mainly limited to works by High Renaissance masters. Their conservative tastes resulted in several missed opportunities and the management of the gallery later fell into complete disarray, with no acquisitions being made between 1847 and 1850. A critical House of Commons report in 1851 called for the appointment of a director, whose authority would surpass that of the trustees. Many thought the position would go to the German art historian Gustav Friedrich Waagen, whom the gallery had consulted on previous occasions about the lighting and display of the collections. However, the man preferred for the job by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the Prime Minister, Lord Russell, was the Keeper of Paintings at the gallery, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake. Eastlake, who was President of the Royal Academy, played an essential role in the foundation of the Arundel Society and knew most of London's leading art experts.

The new director's taste was for the Northern and Early Italian Renaissance masters or "primitives", who had been neglected by the gallery's acquisitions policy but were slowly gaining recognition from connoisseurs. He made annual tours to the continent and to Italy in particular, seeking out appropriate paintings to buy for the gallery. In all, he bought 148 pictures abroad and 46 in Britain, among the former such seminal works as Paolo Uccello's Battle of San Romano. Eastlake also amassed a private art collection during this period, consisting of paintings that he knew did not interest the trustees. His ultimate aim, however, was for them to enter the National Gallery; this was duly arranged upon his death by his friend and successor as director, William Boxall, and his widow Lady Eastlake.

One of the most persistent criticisms of the National Gallery, other than of the perceived inadequacies of the building, has been of its conservation policy. The gallery's detractors have accused it of having had an over-zealous approach to restoration. The first cleaning operation at the National Gallery began in 1844 after Eastlake's appointment as Keeper, and was the subject of attacks in the press after the first three paintings to receive the treatment – a Rubens, a Cuyp and a Velázquez – were unveiled to the public in 1846. The gallery's most virulent critic was J. Morris Moore, who wrote a series of letters to The Times under the pseudonym "Verax" savaging the institution's cleanings. While an 1853 Parliamentary select committee set up to investigate the matter cleared the gallery of any wrongdoing, criticism of its methods has been erupting sporadically ever since from some in the art establishment.

The gallery's lack of space remained acute in this period. In 1845, a large bequest of British paintings was made by Robert Vernon; there was insufficient room in the Wilkins building so they were displayed first in Vernon's town house at No. 50 Pall Mall and then at Marlborough House. The gallery was even less well equipped for its next major bequest, as J. M. W. Turner was to bequeath the entire contents of his studio, excepting unfinished works, to the nation upon his death in 1851. The first 20 of these were displayed off-site in Marlborough House in 1856. Ralph Nicholson Wornum, the gallery's Keeper and Secretary, worked with John Ruskin to bring the bequest together. The stipulation in Turner's will that two of his paintings be displayed alongside works by Claude is still honoured as of 2024, but his bequest has never been adequately displayed in its entirety; today the works are divided between Trafalgar Square and the Clore Gallery, a small purpose-built extension to Tate Britain completed in 1985.

The third director, Sir Frederic William Burton, laid the foundations of the collection of 18th-century art and made several outstanding purchases from English private collections. The acquisition in 1885 of two paintings from Blenheim Palace, Raphael's Ansidei Madonna and Van Dyck's Equestrian Portrait of Charles I, with a record-setting grant of £87,500 from the Treasury, brought the gallery's "golden age of collecting" to an end, as its annual purchase grant was suspended for several years thereafter. When the gallery purchased Holbein's Ambassadors from the Earl of Radnor in 1890, it did so with the aid of private individuals for the first time in its history. In 1897, the formation of the National Gallery of British Art, known unofficially from early in its history as the Tate Gallery, allowed some British works to be moved off-site, following the precedent set by the Vernon collection and the Turner Bequest. Works by artists born after 1790 were moved to the new gallery on Millbank, which allowed Hogarth, Turner and Constable to remain in Trafalgar Square.

Early 20th century

The agricultural crisis at the turn of the 20th century caused many aristocratic families to sell their paintings, but the British national collections were priced out of the market by American plutocrats. This prompted the foundation of the National Art-Collections Fund, a society of subscribers dedicated to stemming the flow of artworks to the United States. Their first acquisition for the National Gallery was Velázquez's Rokeby Venus in 1906, followed by Holbein's Portrait of Christina of Denmark in 1909. However, despite the crisis in aristocratic fortunes, the following decade was one of several great bequests from private collectors. In 1909, the industrialist Ludwig Mond gave 42 Italian Renaissance paintings, including the Mond Crucifixion by Raphael, to the gallery. Other bequests of note were those of George Salting in 1910, Austen Henry Layard in 1916 and Sir Hugh Lane in 1917.

The initial reception of Impressionist art at the gallery was exceptionally controversial. In 1906, Sir Hugh Lane promised 39 paintings, including Renoir's Umbrellas, to the National Gallery on his death, unless a suitable building could be built in Dublin. Although eagerly accepted by the director Charles Holroyd, they were received with extreme hostility by the trustees; Lord Redesdale wrote that "I would as soon expect to hear of a Mormon service being conducted in St. Paul's Cathedral as to see the exhibition of the works of the modern French Art-rebels in the sacred precincts of Trafalgar Square". Perhaps as a result of such attitudes, Lane amended his will with a codicil that the works should only go to Ireland, but crucially this was never witnessed. Lane died on board the RMS Lusitania in 1915, and a dispute began which was not resolved until 1959. Part of the collection is now on permanent loan to Dublin City Gallery ("The Hugh Lane") and other works rotate between London and Dublin every few years.

A fund for the purchase of modern paintings established by Samuel Courtauld in 1923 bought Seurat's Bathers at Asnières and other modern works for the nation; in 1934, many of these were transferred to the National Gallery from the Tate.

The director Kenneth Clark's decision in 1939 to label a group of Venetian paintings, Scenes from Tebaldeo's Eclogues, as works by Giorgione was controversial at the time, and the panels were soon identified as works by Andrea Previtali by a junior curator Clark had appointed.

Second World War

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War the paintings were evacuated to locations in Wales, including Penrhyn Castle and the university colleges of Bangor and Aberystwyth. In 1940, during the Battle of France, a more secure home was sought, and there were discussions about moving the paintings to Canada. This idea was firmly rejected by Winston Churchill, who wrote in a telegram to Kenneth Clark, "bury them in caves or in cellars, but not a picture shall leave these islands". Instead a slate quarry at Manod, near Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales, was requisitioned for the gallery's use. In the seclusion afforded by the paintings' new location, the Keeper (and future director) Martin Davies began to compile scholarly catalogues on the collection, with assistance of the gallery's library which was also stored in the quarry. The move to Manod confirmed the importance of storing paintings at a constant temperature and humidity, something the gallery's conservators had long suspected but had hitherto been unable to prove. This eventually resulted in the first air-conditioned gallery opening in 1949.

For the course of the war Myra Hess and other musicians, such as Moura Lympany, gave daily lunch-time recitals in the empty building in Trafalgar Square, to raise public morale as every concert hall in London was closed. Art exhibitions were held at the gallery as a complement to the recitals. The first of these was British Painting since Whistler in 1940, organised by Lillian Browse, who also mounted the major joint retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Sir William Nicholson and Jack B. Yeats held from 1 January to 15 March 1942, which was seen by 10,518 visitors. Exhibitions of work by war artists, including Paul Nash, Henry Moore and Stanley Spencer, were also held; the War Artists' Advisory Committee had been set up by Clark in order "to keep artists at work on any pretext". In 1941, a request from an artist to see Rembrandt's Portrait of Margaretha de Geer (a new acquisition) resulted in the "Picture of the Month" scheme, in which a single painting was removed from Manod and exhibited to the general public in the National Gallery each month. The art critic Herbert Read, writing that year, called the National Gallery "a defiant outpost of culture right in the middle of a bombed and shattered metropolis". The paintings returned to Trafalgar Square in 1945.

Post-war developments
The last major outcry against the use of radical conservation techniques at the National Gallery was in the immediate post-war years, following a restoration campaign by the gallery's chief restorer Helmut Ruhemann while the paintings were in Manod Quarry. When the cleaned pictures were exhibited to the public in 1946 there followed a furore with parallels to that of a century earlier. The principal criticism was that the extensive removal of varnish, which was used in the 19th century to protect the surface of paintings but which darkened and discoloured over time, may have resulted in the loss of "harmonising" glazes added to the paintings by the artists themselves. The opposition to Ruhemann's techniques was led by Ernst Gombrich, a professor at the Warburg Institute who in later correspondence with a restorer described being treated with "offensive superciliousness" by the National Gallery. A 1947 commission concluded that no damage had been done in the recent cleanings.

In the post-war years, acquisitions have become increasingly difficult for the National Gallery as the prices for Old Masters – and even more so for the Impressionists and Post-impressionists – have risen beyond its means. Some of the gallery's most significant purchases in this period would have been impossible without the major public appeals backing them, including Leonardo da Vinci's cartoon of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist (bought in 1962) and Titian's Death of Actaeon (bought in 1972). The gallery's purchase grant from the government was frozen in 1985, but later that year it received an endowment of £50 million from Sir Paul Getty, enabling many major purchases to be made. In April 1985 Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover and his brothers, the Hon. Simon Sainsbury and Sir Timothy Sainsbury, had made a donation that would enable the construction of the Sainsbury Wing.

The directorship of Neil MacGregor saw a major rehang at the gallery, dispensing with the classification of paintings by national school that had been introduced by Eastlake. The new chronological hang sought to emphasise the interaction between cultures rather than fixed national characteristics, reflecting the change in art-historical values since the 19th century. In other respects, however, Victorian tastes were rehabilitated: the building's interiors were no longer considered an embarrassment and were restored, and in 1999 the gallery accepted a bequest of 26 Italian Baroque paintings from Sir Denis Mahon. Earlier in the 20th century many considered the Baroque to be beyond the pale: in 1945 the gallery's trustees declined to buy a Guercino from Mahon's collection for £200. The same painting was valued at £4 million in 2003. Mahon's bequest was made on the condition that the gallery would never deaccession any of its paintings or charge for admission.

Jock McFadyen was the first Artist in Residence in 1981. Since 1989, the gallery has run an Associate Artist scheme that gives a studio to contemporary artists to create work based on the permanent collection. They usually hold the position of associate artist for two years and are given an exhibition in the National Gallery at the end of their tenure.

The respective remits of the National and Tate Galleries, which had long been contested by the two institutions, were more clearly defined in 1996. 1900 was established as the cut-off point for paintings in the National Gallery, and in 1997 more than 60 post-1900 paintings from the collection were given to the Tate on a long-term loan, in return for works by Gauguin and others. However, future expansion of the National Gallery may yet see the return of 20th-century paintings to its walls.

21st century
In the 21st century there have been three large fundraising campaigns at the gallery: in 2004, to buy Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks; in 2008, for Titian's Diana and Actaeon; and in 2012, Titian's Diana and Callisto. Both Titians were bought in tandem with the National Gallery of Scotland for £95 m. Both of these major works were sold from the collection of the Duke of Sutherland. The National Gallery is now largely priced out of the market for Old Master paintings and can only make such acquisitions with the backing of major public appeals; the departing director Charles Saumarez Smith expressed his frustration at this situation in 2007.

The National Gallery was sponsored by the Italian arms manufacturer Finmeccanica between October 2011 and October 2012. The sponsorship deal allowed the company to use gallery spaces for gatherings, and the gallery was used to host delegates during the DSEI arms fair and the Farnborough Airshow. The sponsorship deal was ended a year early after protests.

In February 2014, the gallery purchased Men of the Docks by the American artist George Bellows for $25.5 million (£15.6 million). It was the first major American painting to be purchased by the gallery. The director, Nicholas Penny, termed the painting a new direction for the gallery, a non-European painting in a European style. Its sale was controversial in the United States.

In 2018, the National Gallery was one of the first public galleries in London to charge more than £20 for admission to a special exhibition, the exhibition in question being of works by Claude Monet.

In February 2019, an employment tribunal ruled that the gallery had incorrectly classed its team of educators as self-employed contractors. The educators were awarded the status of "workers" following legal action brought by 27 claimants. The case received considerable press and media coverage.

In 2024, the National Gallery celebrated its 200th anniversary with a range of programmes, events, and collaborations.

William Wilkins's building
The first suggestion for a National Gallery on Trafalgar Square came from John Nash, who envisaged it on the site of the King's Mews, while a Parthenon-like building for the Royal Academy would occupy the centre of the square. Economic recession prevented this scheme from being built, but a competition for the Mews site was eventually held in 1831, for which Nash submitted a design with C. R. Cockerell as his co-architect. Nash's popularity was waning by this time, however, and the commission was awarded to William Wilkins, who was involved in the selection of the site and submitted some drawings at the last moment. Wilkins had hoped to build a "Temple of the Arts, nurturing contemporary art through historical example", but the commission was blighted by parsimony and compromise, and the resulting building, which opened to the public on 9 April 1838, was deemed a failure on almost all counts.

The site only allowed for the building to be one room deep, as a workhouse and a barracks lay immediately behind. To exacerbate matters, there was a public right of way through the site to these buildings, which accounts for the access porticoes on the eastern and western sides of the façade. These had to incorporate columns from the demolished Carlton House, and their relative shortness resulted in an elevation that was deemed excessively low, thus failing to provide Trafalgar Square with its desired commanding focal point to the north. Also recycled are the sculptures on the façade, originally intended for Nash's Marble Arch but abandoned due to his financial problems. The eastern half of the building housed the Royal Academy until 1868, which further diminished the space afforded to the National Gallery.

The building was the object of public ridicule before it had even been completed, as a version of the design had been leaked to the Literary Gazette in 1833. Two years before completion, its infamous "pepperpot" elevation appeared on the frontispiece of Contrasts (1836), an influential tract by the Gothicist A. W. N. Pugin, as an example of the degeneracy of the classical style. Even William IV (in his last recorded utterance) thought the building a "nasty little pokey hole", while William Makepeace Thackeray called it "a little gin shop of a building". The twentieth-century architectural historian Sir John Summerson echoed these early criticisms when he compared the arrangement of a dome and two diminutive turrets on the roofline to "the clock and vases on a mantelpiece, only less useful". Sir Charles Barry's landscaping of Trafalgar Square, from 1840, included a north terrace so that the building would appear to be raised, thus addressing one of the points of complaint. Opinion on the building had mellowed considerably by 1984, when Prince Charles called the Wilkins façade a "much-loved and elegant friend", in contrast to a proposed extension. (See below)

Alteration and expansion (Pennethorne, Barry and Taylor)
The first significant alteration made to the building was the single, long gallery added by Sir James Pennethorne in 1860–1861. Ornately decorated in comparison with the rooms by Wilkins, it nonetheless worsened the cramped conditions inside the building as it was built over the original entrance hall. Unsurprisingly, several attempts were made either to completely remodel the National Gallery (as suggested by Sir Charles Barry in 1853), or to move it to more capacious premises in Kensington, where the air was also cleaner. In 1867 Barry's son Edward Middleton Barry proposed to replace the Wilkins building with a massive classical building with four domes. The scheme was a failure and contemporary critics denounced the exterior as "a strong plagiarism upon St Paul's Cathedral".

With the demolition of the workhouse, however, Barry was able to build the gallery's first sequence of grand architectural spaces, from 1872 to 1876. Built to a polychrome Neo-Renaissance design, the Barry Rooms were arranged on a Greek cross plan around a huge central octagon. Though it compensated for the underwhelming architecture of the Wilkins building, Barry's new wing was disliked by Gallery staff, who considered its monumental aspect to be in conflict with its function as exhibition space. Also, the decorative programme of the rooms did not take their intended contents into account; the ceiling of the 15th- and 16th-century Italian gallery, for instance, was inscribed with the names of British artists of the 19th century. However, despite these failures, the Barry Rooms provided the gallery with a strong axial groundplan; this was to be followed by all subsequent additions to the gallery for a century, resulting in a building of clear symmetry.

Pennethorne's gallery was demolished for the next phase of building, a scheme by Sir John Taylor extending northwards of the main entrance. Its glass-domed entrance vestibule had painted ceiling decorations by the Crace family firm, who had also worked on the Barry Rooms. A fresco intended for the south wall was never realised.

20th century: modernisation versus restoration

Later additions to the west came more steadily but maintained the coherence of the building by mirroring Barry's cross-axis plan to the east. The use of dark marble for doorcases was also continued, giving the extensions a degree of internal consistency with the older rooms. The classical style was still in use at the National Gallery in 1929, when a Beaux-Arts–style gallery was built, funded by the art dealer and trustee Lord Duveen. However, it was not long before the 20th-century reaction against Victorian attitudes became manifest at the gallery. From 1928 to 1952, the landing floors of Taylor's entrance hall were relaid with a new series of mosaics by Boris Anrep, who was friendly with the Bloomsbury Group. These mosaics can be read as a satire on 19th-century conventions for the decoration of public buildings, as typified by the Albert Memorial's Frieze of Parnassus. The central mosaic depicting The Awakening of the Muses includes portraits of Virginia Woolf and Greta Garbo, subverting the high moral tone of its Victorian forebears. In place of Christianity's seven virtues, Anrep offered his own set of Modern Virtues, including "Humour" and "Open Mind"; the allegorical figures are again portraits of his contemporaries, including Winston Churchill, Bertrand Russell and T. S. Eliot.

In the 20th century, the gallery's late Victorian interiors fell out of fashion. The Crace ceiling decorations in the entrance hall were not to the taste of the director Charles Holmes, and were obliterated by white paint. The North Galleries, which opened to the public in 1975, marked the arrival of modernist architecture at the National Gallery. In the older rooms, the original classical details were effaced by partitions, daises and suspended ceilings, the aim being to create neutral settings which did not distract from contemplation of the paintings. But the gallery's commitment to modernism was short-lived: by the 1980s Victorian style was no longer considered anathema, and a restoration programme began to restore the 19th- and early 20th-century interiors to their purported original appearance. This began with the refurbishment of the Barry Rooms in 1985–1986. From 1996 to 1999 even the North Galleries, by then considered to "lack a positive architectural character", were remodelled in a classical style, albeit a simplified one.

Sainsbury Wing and later additions
The most important addition to the building in the late 20th century was the Sainsbury Wing, designed by the postmodernist architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown to house the collection of Renaissance paintings and built in 1991. The building occupies the "Hampton's site" to the west of the main building, where a department store of the same name had stood until its destruction in the Blitz. The gallery had long sought expansion into this space and in 1982 a competition was held to find a suitable architect; the shortlist included a radical high-tech proposal by Richard Rogers, among others. The design that won the most votes was by the firm Ahrends, Burton and Koralek, who then modified their proposal to include a tower, similar to that of the Rogers scheme. The proposal was dropped after the Prince of Wales compared the design to a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend". The term "monstrous carbuncle", for a modern building that clashes with its surroundings, has since become commonplace.

One of the conditions of the 1982 competition was that the new wing had to include commercial offices as well as public gallery space. However, in 1985 it became possible to devote the extension entirely to the gallery's uses, due to a donation of almost £50 million from Lord Sainsbury and his brothers Simon and Sir Tim Sainsbury. A closed competition was held, and the schemes produced were noticeably more restrained than in the earlier competition.

In contrast with the rich ornamentation of the main building, the galleries in the Sainsbury Wing are pared down and intimate, to suit the smaller scale of many of the paintings. The main inspirations for these rooms are Sir John Soane's toplit galleries for the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the church interiors of Filippo Brunelleschi. (The stone dressing is in pietra serena, the grey stone local to Florence.) The northernmost galleries align with Barry's central axis, so that there is a single vista down the whole length of the gallery. This axis is exaggerated by the use of false perspective, as the columns flanking each opening gradually diminish in size until the visitor reaches the focal point (as of 2009), an altarpiece by Cima of The Incredulity of Saint Thomas. Venturi's postmodernist approach to architecture is in full evidence at the Sainsbury Wing, with its stylistic quotations from buildings as disparate as the clubhouses on Pall Mall, the Scala Regia in the Vatican, Victorian warehouses and Ancient Egyptian temples.

Following the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square, the gallery is currently engaged in a masterplan to convert the vacated office space on the ground floor into public space. The plan will also fill in disused courtyards and make use of land acquired from the adjoining National Portrait Gallery in St Martin's Place, which it gave to the National Gallery in exchange for land for its 2000 extension. The first phase, the East Wing Project designed by Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones, opened to the public in 2004. This provided a new ground level entrance from Trafalgar Square, named in honour of Sir Paul Getty. The main entrance was also refurbished, and reopened in September 2005. Possible future projects include a "West Wing Project" roughly symmetrical with the East Wing Project, which would provide a future ground level entrance, and the public opening of some small rooms at the far eastern end of the building acquired as part of the swap with the National Portrait Gallery. This might include a new public staircase in the bow on the eastern façade. No timetable has been announced for these additional projects.

Renovation of the Sainsbury Wing
In April 2021, a jury short-listed six firms of architects – Caruso St John, David Chipperfield Architects, Asif Kahn, David Kohn Architects, Selldorf Architects, and Witherford Watson Mann Architects – in a competition for design proposals to upgrade the Sainsbury Wing.

In 2024, excavations for the Sainsbury Wing extension at Jubilee Walk uncovered evidence that the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Lundenwic extended further to the west than had previously been supposed.

Incidents
In the National Gallery on 10 March 1914, Velázquez's Rokeby Venus was damaged by Mary Richardson, a campaigner for women's suffrage, in protest against the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst the previous day. Later that month another suffragette attacked five Bellinis, causing the gallery to close until the start of the First World War, when the Women's Social and Political Union called for an end to violent acts drawing attention to their plight.

In August 1961 an unemployed bus driver, Kempton Bunton, stole Goya's Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, in what remains the only successful theft from the gallery. Four years later, Bunton returned the painting voluntarily. Following a high-profile trial, he was found not guilty of stealing the painting, but guilty of stealing the frame.

In July 1987, a man entered the gallery armed with a shotgun concealed under his coat and shot Leonardo's cartoon of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist. The man, Robert Cambridge, told police that his intent had been to express his disgust with "political, social and economic conditions in Britain". Though the pellets did not penetrate the cartoon, it had to undergo extensive restoration. It was placed back on display the following year.

Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers was attacked at the gallery on 14 October 2022 by environmental activists from the Just Stop Oil campaign, who threw tomato soup at it. Due to the protection of the plexiglass, the painting was not harmed, but there was some minor damage to the frame, according to a spokesperson for the gallery.

On 6 November 2023, the Rokeby Venus was again attacked, by two Just Stop Oil activists who smashed its protective glass with hammers.

Collection highlights

 * Cimabue: Virgin and Child with Two Angels
 * Giotto: Pentecost
 * English or French Medieval: Wilton Diptych
 * Jan van Eyck: Arnolfini Portrait, Portrait of a Man (Self-Portrait?)
 * Pisanello: The Vision of Saint Eustace
 * Paolo Uccello: The Battle of San Romano, Saint George and the Dragon
 * Rogier van der Weyden: The Magdalen Reading
 * Masaccio: Madonna and Child
 * Dieric Bouts: The Entombment
 * Piero della Francesca: The Baptism of Christ
 * Antonello da Messina: Portrait of a Man, Saint Jerome in his Study
 * Giovanni Bellini: Agony in the Garden, Madonna del Prato, Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan
 * Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo: Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian
 * Sandro Botticelli: The Mystical Nativity, Venus and Mars
 * Hieronymus Bosch: Christ Crowned with Thorns
 * Leonardo da Vinci: The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, Virgin of the Rocks
 * Albrecht Dürer: Saint Jerome in the Wilderness
 * Michelangelo: The Entombment, The Manchester Madonna
 * Jan Gossaert: Adoration of the Kings
 * Raphael: Ansidei Madonna, Garvagh Madonna, The Madonna of the Pinks, Portrait of Pope Julius II, Mond Crucifixion, Vision of a Knight
 * Titian: Aldobrandini Madonna, Allegory of Prudence, Bacchus and Ariadne, Diana and Actaeon, Diana and Callisto, The Death of Actaeon, A Man with a Quilted Sleeve, Portrait of the Vendramin Family
 * Hans Holbein the Younger: The Ambassadors, Portrait of Christina of Denmark
 * Parmigianino: Portrait of a Collector, Vision of Saint Jerome
 * Agnolo Bronzino: Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
 * Tintoretto: The Origin of the Milky Way
 * Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Adoration of the Kings
 * Paolo Veronese: Adoration of the Magi, The Conversion of Mary Magdalene, The Family of Darius Before Alexander
 * El Greco: Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple
 * Caravaggio: Boy Bitten by a Lizard, Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, Supper at Emmaus
 * Peter Paul Rubens: The Judgement of Paris
 * Orazio Gentileschi: The Finding of Moses
 * Artemisia Gentileschi: Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria
 * Nicolas Poussin: The Adoration of the Golden Calf
 * Diego Velázquez: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Philip IV in Brown and Silver, Rokeby Venus
 * Anthony van Dyck: Equestrian Portrait of Charles I, Lord John Stuart and His Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart
 * Claude Lorrain: Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba
 * Rembrandt: Belshazzar's Feast, Self-Portrait at the Age of 34, Self-Portrait at the Age of 63
 * Johannes Vermeer: Lady Seated at a Virginal, Lady Standing at a Virginal
 * Meindert Hobbema: The Avenue at Middelharnis
 * Canaletto: The Stonemason's Yard
 * William Hogarth: The Graham Children, Marriage A-la-Mode
 * George Stubbs: Whistlejacket
 * Thomas Gainsborough: Mr and Mrs Andrews, The Morning Walk
 * Joseph Wright of Derby: An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
 * Francisco Goya: Portrait of Doña Isabel de Porcel, Portrait of the Duke of Wellington
 * J. M. W. Turner: The Fighting Temeraire, Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway
 * John Constable: The Cornfield, The Hay Wain
 * Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres: Madame Moitessier
 * Eugène Delacroix: Ovid Among the Scythians
 * Edgar Degas: Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando, Young Spartans Exercising
 * Paul Cézanne: Les Grandes Baigneuses
 * Claude Monet: La Gare Saint-Lazare, Snow at Argenteuil
 * Pierre-Auguste Renoir: A Nymph by a Stream, The Umbrellas
 * Henri Rousseau: Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)
 * Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers, A Wheatfield with Cypresses
 * Georges Seurat: Bathers at Asnières

title: National Gallery


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Horezu Monastery

The Horezu Monastery or Hurezi Monastery was founded in 1690 by Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu in the town of Horezu, Wallachia, Romania. It is considered to be a masterpiece of "Brâncovenesc style", known for its architectural purity and balance, the richness of its sculpted detail, its treatment of religious compositions, its votive portraits, and its painted decorative works.

"The Brâncovenesc style, which can be found at several other churches and monasteries in Wallachia, is the only true and original Romanian style and is called "Brancoveanu art" by the name of the ruler who, in a period of constant battles between the world powers of that time, put cultural development of the country above everything and made it the goal of his life."

The monastery has been inscribed by UNESCO on its list of World Heritage Sites.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Horezu Monastery


text:
Talk:Iberia (disambiguation)

Iberia" is a name by itself
I'm not sure whether that's true, but "Iberian peninsula" surely suggests that "Iberia" is a name by itself, with respect to Spain and/or Portugal. Also, Iberia is a historical region in the Caucasus, if I'm not correct. Jeronimo

Iberia = Iberian Peninsula?
Is there a source to support the evidence that the most common use of 'Iberia' is in reference to the Iberian Peninsula? For as long as such a source is not provided *here* (not in the main page, as it's a dab), there is no support in putting 'Iberian Peninsula' first. --maf (talk)  20:45, 14 April 2007 (UTC)i

title: Talk:Iberia (disambiguation)


text:
Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains

Built in murus dacicus style, the six Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains (Cetăți dacice din Munții Orăștiei), in Romania, were created in the 1st centuries BC and AD as protection against Roman conquest, and played an important role during the Roman–Dacian wars.

Their extensive and well-preserved remains present a picture of a vigorous and innovative ancient civilization. Today, treasure-hunters sometimes search the area, as Romania lacks legislation in this domain (see Archaeological looting in Romania).

The six fortresses — Sarmizegetusa Regia, Costești-Cetățuie, Costești-Blidaru, Piatra Roșie, Bănița, and Căpâlna — that formed the defensive system of Decebalus were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. All the sites are in Hunedoara County, except for Căpâlna, which is in Alba County.

Sarmizegetusa Regia
The town of Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital and major fortress of the Dacian kingdom, probably built in the mid first century BCE. It consisted of perimeter walls and fortifications, a sacred precinct, and a settlement area primarily for nobles and supporting servants. It was located at the top of a 1200 m hill with excellent visibility of the surrounding lands. The sacred precinct was on the east side of the town, with a prominent plaza and circular shrines. There were two settlement areas one on the east side and a larger one on the west. In addition to dwellings they included workshops, storage buildings, and agricultural processing areas. Notable for the time is a distribution system for drinking water that used ceramic pipes.

Piatra Roșie
Piatra Roșie, which means Red Rock, was a Dacian hill fort two days march to the west from Costești-Cetățuie, at Luncani in Boșorod commune. It was built in two phases. In the first phase a long (102 m) rectangular main citadel was built at the height of land with watch towers on each end and two outlying watch towers. Later the larger area inside the watch towers was enclosed with walls. It appears that the hilltop was flattened in the process in order to produce a usable space.


text:
Twister

Twister most commonly refers to a tornado.

Twister or Twisters may also refer to:

Aviation

 * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike
 * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design
 * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design

Entertainment

 * Twister (1989 film), a comedy film starring Suzy Amis and Crispin Glover
 * Twister (1996 film), a disaster film starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton
 * Twister...Ride it Out, a ride in Universal Studios Florida based on the film
 * Twisters (film), the 2024 sequel to the 1996 film
 * Twister (comics), a comic book superhero character
 * Twister (game), a Milton Bradley game
 * Twister (Knoebels Amusement Resort), a roller coaster at Knoebels amusement park in Elysburg, Pennsylvania
 * Twister, a CITV gameshow hosted by Nigel Mitchell
 * "Twister" (The Suite Life on Deck 90 Minute Special)
 * "Twister", a song on the 1988 "Weird Al" Yankovic album Even Worse
 * "Twister", a song on the 2001 Mariah Carey soundtrack Glitter
 * Twista (born 1973), American rapper
 * Twister (album), a 1988 album by Unrest
 * Twister, an album by Watershed
 * Twister, an album by Leisure (band)
 * Twister (play), a 1999 play by Ken Kesey
 * Twister (video game)

Other uses

 * Twister (fish), common name for the Bellapiscis medius species of fish
 * Twister (dragonfly), common name for the Tholymis tillarga species of dragonfly
 * Twister (ice cream), an ice cream made by Unilever's Heartbrand
 * Twister (pastry), a cruller
 * Twister (software), a decentralized P2P microblogging platform
 * Twister (yacht), a sailing keelboat
 * Twister supersonic separator, hydrocarbon processing system for the dehydration and dewpointing of natural gas
 * Twister, a type of spinal lock
 * Twister (band), a Brazilian pop rock band
 * Twisters (restaurant), a New Mexican restaurant chain

title: Twister


text:
Wooden churches of Maramureș

The wooden churches of Maramureș in the Maramureș region of northern Transylvania are a group of almost one hundred Orthodox churches, and occasionally Greek-Catholic ones, of different architectural solutions from different periods and areas. The Maramureș churches are high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building. They are a particular vernacular expression of the cultural landscape of this mountainous area of northern Romania.

Maramureș is one of the better-known regions of Romania, with autonomous traditions since the Middle Ages. Its well-preserved wooden villages and churches, its traditional lifestyle, and the local colourful dresses still in use make Maramureș as near to a living museum as can be found in Europe.

The wooden churches of the region that still stand were built starting from the 17th century all the way to 19th century. Some were erected on the place of older churches. They were a response to the prohibition against the erection of stone Orthodox churches by the Catholic Austro-Hungarian authorities. The churches are made of thick logs, some are quite small and dark inside but several of them have impressive measures. They are painted with rather "naïve" Biblical scenes, mostly by local painters. The most characteristic features are the tall tower above the entrance and the massive roof that seems to dwarf the main body of the church.

Eight were listed by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1999, for their religious architecture and timber construction traditions. These are: Bârsana, Budești, Desești, Ieud, Plopiș, Poienile Izei, Rogoz, Șurdești.

Description

The historical Romanian region of Maramureș, partitioned between Romania and Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia after World War I, is one of the places where traditional log building was not interrupted and where a rich heritage in wood survives. The tradition of building wooden churches in central and southern Maramureș can be traced from the beginning of the 16th century to the turn of the 18th century. Since the knowledge used to build the local wooden churches circulated throughout Europe, their understanding is of high interest far outside the region.

In Maramureș today almost 100 wooden churches still stand, about one third of their total two centuries ago. Besides the extant wooden churches, a major source of knowledge is still saved by a number of practicing senior carpenters with relevant knowledge and skills in traditional carpentry.

From the Middle Ages until the turn of the 18th century the skills, knowledge and experience to build ample log structures with plane and well sealed walls, as well as with flush joints, were performances out of the ordinary. The craftsmen from Maramureș who were able to reach such levels were not simple peasants but well specialised church carpenters who inherited and maintained this advanced knowledge to exclusively build houses of worship.

Since the local tradition to erect wooden churches depended on those who built and used them, it is fundamental to identify the local builders and founders. The earlier blurred distinction between them veiled their separate roles in shaping the wooden churches and hindered us from a clear understanding of the results.

The extant wooden churches from Maramureș reveal the existence during the 17th and 18th centuries of at least two main family schools of church carpenters. There are further distinguishable three main itineraries and numerous smaller ones, indicating the work of some of the most important church carpenters ever active in the region and in some cases even shifts among generations. In general, the church carpenters stood for the technical performances, the high quality of the wood work and the artistic refinement.

In a long perspective, the true creators of the local wooden churches were actually the commissioning founders. Especially the role of the noble founders of Eastern Christian rite was decisive in the formation of a regional character among the local wooden churches. The wooden churches from Maramureș closely mirror the local society of modest country landlords, manifesting themselves along several centuries in their double condition of Eastern Christians and Western nobles.

The wooden churches from Maramureș open necessary connections with similar performances throughout Europe. Seemingly the local distinction made between sacred and profane rooms was characteristic for many other rural regions on the continent. The highest knowledge in log building seems to have had a sacred purpose with wide continental circulation and therefore in many places requires distinction from the more regionally rooted vernacular one.

The publication in a journal from 1866 of several drawings representing a wooden church from Seini, situated in the neighbouring Szatmár County, produced echoes in Europe, being compared with the already famous Norwegian stave churches.

With the resurgence of church construction after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, there are new churches built in the traditional style.

Wooden churches
The list shows extant wooden churches in bold and also includes some known vanished ones. For those now in Ukraine, Romanian and Hungarian names of Ukrainian villages are given in (parentheses). In Romanian, Susani denotes "high-dwellers" and Josani "lower-dwellers". Thus the names distinguish the churches of those large villages which had more than one.

 * Cosău valley
 * Budești Susani church
 * Budești Josani (UNESCO)
 * Călinești Căeni church
 * Călinești Susani
 * Cornești church
 * Ferești church
 * Sârbi Susani
 * Sârbi Josani church
 * Iza valley
 * Mănăstirea Bârsana (UNESCO)
 * Botiza
 * Botiza old
 * Cuhea (Bogdan Vodă at present)
 * Dragomirești
 * Glod
 * Ieud Deal (UNESCO)
 * Ieud Șes
 * Nănești
 * Oncești
 * Poienile Izei (UNESCO)
 * Rozavlea
 * Săliștea de Sus, Nistorești church
 * Săliștea de Sus, Buleni church
 * Șieu church
 * Slătioara
 * Strâmtura
 * Valea Stejarului
 * Lăpuș valley
 * Rogoz (UNESCO)
 * Mara valley
 * Berbești
 * Breb
 * Desești (UNESCO)
 * Hărnicești
 * Hoteni
 * Mănăstirea
 * Sat Șugătag
 * Vișeu valley
 * Borșa din Jos church
 * Crăciunești
 * Moisei Josani
 * Moisei Monastery church
 * Moisei Susani church
 * Poienile de sub Munte
 * Repedea
 * Rona de Jos
 * Săpânța-Peri Monastery
 * Văleni
 * Ukrainian side
 * Apșița (Voditsa, Felso-Apsa-Apsicza)
 * Apșa de Mijloc, Susani (Sredneye Vodyanoye, Kozep Apsa)
 * Apșa de Mijloc, Josani
 * Apșa din Jos, Părău (Nyzhnia Apsha/Dibrova, Also-Apsa)
 * Danylovo (Dănilești, Sofalva)
 * Dulovo (Duleni, Dulfalva)
 * Ganychi (Gănești, Ganya)
 * Poiana Cobâlea (Kobyletska Poliana, Gyergyanliget)
 * Kolodne (Darva in Romanian and Hungarian)
 * Krainykovo (Crăinicești, formerly Steblivka between 1919–1938 and 1945–1946, Mihalka)
 * Neresnytsia church (Nereșnița, Neresznicze)
 * Nyzhnie Selyshche church (Săliștea de Jos, Szelistye)
 * Olexandrivka (Sândreni, Sandorfalva)
 * Ruska Pole I (Domneștii Mari, Urmezo)
 * Ruska Pole II (Domneștii Mici)
 * Sokyrnytsia (Săclânța, Szeklencze)
 * Steblivka (Duboșari, Szaldobos)
 * Ternovo (Târnova, Kokenyes)

title: Wooden churches of Maramureș


text:
Sighișoara

Sighișoara (Segesvár ; Schäßburg ; Transylvanian Saxon: Schäsbrich, Šesburχ, or Scheeßprich; שעסבורג; Castrum Sex or Saxoburgum) is a municipality on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, central Romania. Located in the historic region of Transylvania, Sighișoara had a population of 23,927 according to the 2021 census. It is a popular tourist destination for its well-preserved old town, which is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The town administers seven villages: Angofa, Aurel Vlaicu, Hetiur, Rora, Șoromiclea, Venchi, and Viilor.

History

Starting with the mid 12th century, German craftsmen and merchants known as the Transylvanian Saxons (Siebenbürger Sachsen) were invited to Transylvania by the then King of Hungary, Géza II, to settle and defend the frontier of his realm and improve the region's economy. The chronicler Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in present-day Sighișoara by 1191. A document of 1280 records a town built on the site of a Roman fort as Castrum Sex or "six-sided camp", referring to the fort's shape of an irregular hexagon. Other names recorded include Schaäsburg (1282), Schespurg (1298) and Segusvar (1300). By 1337 Sighișoara had become a royal center for the kings, who awarded the settlement urban status in 1367 as the Civitas de Segusvar.

The town played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of Central Europe for several centuries. Sighișoara became one of the most important urban centres of Transylvania, with artisans from throughout the Holy Roman Empire visiting the settlement. The German artisans and craftsmen dominated the urban economy, as well as building the fortifications protecting it. It is estimated that during the 16th and 17th centuries Sighișoara had as many as 15 guilds and 20 handicraft branches. The Baroque sculptor Elias Nicolai lived in the town. The Wallachian voivode Vlad Dracul (father of Vlad the Impaler), who lived in exile in the town, had coins minted in the town (otherwise coinage was the monopoly of the Hungarian kings in the Kingdom of Hungary) and issued the first document listing the city's Romanian name, Sighișoara. The Romanian name is first attested in 1435, and derives from the Hungarian Segesvár, where vár is "fort".

The town was the setting for George I Rákóczi's election as Prince of Transylvania and King of Hungary in 1631. Sighișoara suffered military occupation, fires, and plagues during the 17th and 18th centuries. An important source for the history of 17th-century Transylvania, for the period of 1606–1666, are the records of Georg Kraus, the town's notary.

The nearby plain of Albești was the site of the Battle of Segesvár, where the revolutionary Hungarian army led by Józef Bem was defeated by the Russian army led by Luders on 31 July 1849. A monument was constructed in 1852 to the Russian general Skariatin, who died in the battle. The Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi is generally believed to have been killed in the battle, and a monument was constructed in his honor at Albești in 1897. After World War I Sighișoara passed with Transylvania from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania.

Central Sighișoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified town. It has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

In Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe, Sighișoara is one of the few fortified towns that are still inhabited. The town is made up of two parts. The medieval stronghold was built on top of a hill and is known as the Citadel (Cetatea). The lower town lies in the valley of Târnava Mare river.

The houses inside Sighișoara Citadel show the main features of a craftsmen's town. However, there are some houses that belonged to the former patriciate, like the Venetian House and the House with Antlers.

Between 2001 and 2003, the construction of a Dracula theme park in the Braite nature preserve near Sighișoara was considered but ultimately rejected, owing to the strong opposition of local civil society groups and national and international media as well as politically influential persons, as the theme park would have detracted from the medieval style of the city and would have destroyed the nature preserve.

Demographics and name
Ethnic groups in 2011:
 * Romanians (75%)
 * Hungarians (17.6%)
 * Roma (5.3%)
 * Germans (more specifically Transylvanian Saxons) (1.5%)

Sights
Sighișoara is a popular tourist destination for its well-preserved walled old town, which is also listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The main Citadel's attractions are certainly the towers. The city is also an attraction on the Via Transilvanica long-distance trail.

Towers

According to ancient military architectures writings, the defence towers had to be a fortification system for the mutual defense, and, at the same time, each tower was supposed to be an independent fortress: a break at the base of a tower did not mean entering into the city, capturing a tower did not have to lead to the conquest of the city. Most of these towers were hollow and equipped with elevators and underground galleries.
 * Sighișoara Clock Tower (Turnul cu Ceas) – the landmark of the city is a 64 m-high tower built in the 13th century. Today it is a museum of history.
 * The Tinsmiths' Tower (Turnul Cositorarilor)
 * The Butchers' Tower (Turnul Măcelarilor)
 * The Bootmakers' Tower
 * The Tailors' Tower (Turnul Croitorilor)
 * The Furriers' Tower (Turnul Cojocarilor)
 * The Ironsmiths' Tower (Turnul Fierarilor)
 * The Ropemakers' Tower (Turnul Frânghierilor)
 * The Tanners' Tower (Turnul Tăbăcarilor)
 * The Face Tower – tower on the route to Târgu Mureș, out of the citadel, but still worth visiting thanks to its story.

Churches

 * The church on the hill (Biserica din Deal) – is undoubtedly one of the most valuable architectural monuments of the city and has been one of the most representative buildings of the gothic site of Romania.
 * The Monastery Church (Biserica Mânăstirii Dominicane) – is a gothic style architectural monument which is placed in the neighbourhood of the Clock tower and it was built at the beginning of the 13th century. It is the only church without a bell: the reason is basically that the Saxons weren't great spenders and thought that one bell, the one of the Church on the hill, was enough for the whole city.
 * The Saint Joseph Roman Catholic church
 * Leprosy Church (Biserica Leproșilor)
 * The Orthodox Cathedral of Sighișoara (Catedrala Ortodoxă)
 * The old Orthodox church

Civil architecture

Most of the 164 houses in the town having at least 300 years are considered historical monuments, as follows: those in the Town Square (or Citadel Square), with its rectangular plan, was once inhabited by noble families of the town, though it has undergone too many transformations over time. The best houses are the ones that have kept their original shape.

 * House on the Rock (Casa de pe stâncă)
 * House with shingles (Evert) – is dedicated to craftsmen for Educational Interethnic Centre for Youth.
 * Venetian House or Green House (Casa Venețiană)
 * Vlad Dracul's House
 * Sighișoara City Hall
 * Sighișoara hotel complex – built between 1886 and 1889 was the seat of city hall.
 * Indoor wooden staircase or the Scholar's Stairs
 * School on the Hill
 * The Stag House (Casa cu Cerb)
 * The Citadel Square (Piața Cetăți)
 * Casa Asociatiei Mestesugaresti (La Perla)
 * Joseph B. Teusch Building (Hotel Central Park)

Natives

 * Johann Michael Ackner, Transylvanian Saxon archaeologist
 * Doina Cojocaru, handball player
 * Friedrich Grünanger, architect
 * Ralph Gunesch, former professional German football player
 * Adrian Ivanițchi, folk guitarist
 * Johannes Kelpius, a German intellectual, musician, and mystic who founded a religious community when he immigrated to the American colony of Pennsylvania in the late seventeenth century
 * Gabriel Mureșan, footballer
 * Marie Stritt, German feminist and suffragist
 * Georg Daniel Teutsch, Lutheran bishop
 * Vlad III the Impaler, prince of Wallachia, inspiration for fictional vampire Count Dracula
 * Radu Voina, former handball player, currently coach

Twin towns – sister cities
Sighișoara is twinned with:

title: Sighișoara


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Hamilton, South Lanarkshire

Hamilton (Hamiltoun; Baile Hamaltan ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits 10 mi south-east of Glasgow, 37 mi south-west of Edinburgh and 74 mi north of Carlisle. It is situated on the south bank of the River Clyde at its confluence with the Avon Water. Hamilton is the county town of the historic county of Lanarkshire and is the location of the headquarters of the modern local authority of South Lanarkshire.

The town itself has a population of around 55,000, which makes it the 9th largest locality in Scotland, and anchors a defined settlement of 84,000 (including neighbouring Blantyre, Bothwell and Uddingston) which is the country's 8th largest.

History
The town of Hamilton was originally known as Cadzow or Cadyou (Middle Scots: Cadȝow), the "ȝ" being the letter yogh), pronounced /kadju/. It is an ancient settlement, possibly dating back to the days of Strathclyde, or perhaps earlier. The Roman fort of Bothwellhaugh lies nearby. A lost medieval settlement was excavated in the 2010s near the Clyde, only around 1 mile from the current town. It is known that kings of Strathclyde did have a hunting lodge near Cadzow, and the area may have been a royal centre during the later stages of the kingdom, as a precursor to Cadzow Castle.

During the Wars of Scottish Independence the Hamilton family initially supported the English and Walter fitz Gilbert (the head of the Hamilton family) was governor of Bothwell Castle on behalf of the English. However, he later changed loyalty to Robert the Bruce, following the Battle of Bannockburn, and ceded Bothwell to him. For this act, he was rewarded with a portion of land which had been forfeited by the Comyns at Dalserf and later the Barony and lands of Cadzow, which in time would become the town of Hamilton.

Cadzow was renamed Hamilton in the time of James, Lord Hamilton, who was married to Princess Mary, the daughter of King James II. The Hamilton family themselves most likely took their name from the lands of Humbleton or Homildon in Northumberland, or perhaps from a place near Leicester.

The Hamiltons constructed many landmark buildings in the area including the Hamilton Mausoleum in Strathclyde Park, which has one of the longest reverb times of any manmade building at 15 seconds. The Hamilton family are major land-owners in the area to this day. Hamilton Palace was the seat of the Dukes of Hamilton until the early-twentieth century.

Other historic buildings in the area include Hamilton Old Parish Church, a Georgian era building completed in 1734 and the only church to have been built by William Adam. The graveyard of the old parish church contains some Covenanter remains. Hamilton Townhouse, which now houses a library and concert hall, underwent a sympathetic modernization in 2002 and opened to the public in summer 2004. The ruins of Cadzow Castle also lie in Chatelherault Country Park, 2 mi from the town centre.

Hamilton Palace was the largest non-royal residence in the Western world, located in the north-east of the town. A former seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, it was built in 1695, subsequently much enlarged, and demolished in 1921 due to ground subsidence. It is widely acknowledged as having been one of the grandest houses in Scotland, was visited and admired by Queen Victoria, and was written about by Daniel Defoe.

Hamilton Barracks was formerly the Depot of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and the home of the 1st Battalion of the Regiment. The Regimental Museum is part of the Low Parks Museum.

The Low Parks Museum is housed in what was a 16th-century inn and a staging post for journeys between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Recently refurbished, it is the oldest building in Hamilton and is to the north of the Palace Grounds.

Renowned explorer and missionary David Livingstone's house still stands at 17 Burnbank Road and has a plaque about him.

Governance
Hamilton is located within the Scottish council area of South Lanarkshire. Its local government services are provided by the unitary authority the South Lanarkshire Council, which is headquartered in Hamilton. Hamilton itself is divided between three wards, totalling 11 seats: Hamilton North and East, Hamilton West and Earnock and Hamilton South.

Hamilton is represented in the House of Commons by two Members of Parliament (MPs). The following MPs were elected from Hamilton in 2019:

 * Angela Crawley (SNP) in Lanark and Hamilton East, first elected in 2015.
 * Margaret Ferrier (SNP) in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, first elected in 2015. Ferrier was suspended from the SNP in 2020 following breaches of COVID-19 pandemic regulations, but continued to sit as an independent politician until a recall petition led to the 2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election that was won by Michael Shanks of the Scottish Labour Party.

Hamilton is also represented in the Scottish Parliament by two constituency MSPs. The following MSPs were elected from Hamilton in 2021:

 * Christina McKelvie (SNP) in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, first elected in 2011.
 * Stephanie Callaghan (SNP) in Uddingston and Bellshill, first elected at this election, replacing Richard Lyle (SNP). The Uddingston and Bellshill constituency covers the Whitehill and Bothwell Road areas of Hamilton.

Geography
Areas of Hamilton:

 * Avongrove
 * Burnbank
 * Barncluith
 * Brackenhill Park
 * Earnock Estate
 * Earnock Glen
 * Ferniegair
 * Eddlewood
 * Fairhill
 * Hamilton West
 * High Earnock
 * Hillhouse
 * Laighstonehall
 * Little Earnock
 * Low Waters
 * Meikle Earnock
 * Neilsland
 * Silvertonhill
 * Torheads Farm
 * Udston
 * Whitehill
 * Woodhead

Nearby prominent towns and cities:

 * East Kilbride 5 mi
 * Glasgow 12 mi
 * Edinburgh 35 mi
 * Carlisle 74 mi

The following towns/villages directly border Hamilton: Blantyre, East Kilbride, Quarter, Strathaven, Motherwell, Bothwell, Ferniegair, Limekilnburn.

Hamilton is twinned with Châtellerault in France. This connection dates from the 16th century when the title Duc de Châtellerault was conferred on James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran. The Duke's Chatelherault Hunting Lodge (now in Chatelherault Country Park), a primary school and new railway station are named 'Chatelherault' for this reason.

Economy
Service industries and local government are major employers in Hamilton. The town centre has been regenerated with new indoor shopping centres (the Regent Shopping Centre, New Cross Shopping Centre) Hamilton Retail Park and the Palace Grounds Retail Park.

Restaurants and national retail outlets are situated in a redeveloped part of the Palace Grounds that are visible upon entering the town from the M74 motorway. The creation of a circular town square has resulted in Hamilton receiving numerous town planning awards during the past decade. This development transformed the Hamilton side of Strathclyde Park, which was the original site of the Duke's palace. Hamilton has been a Fairtrade Town since 2005.

Transport
Hamilton has three railway stations, Hamilton Central, Hamilton West and Chatelherault on the Argyle Line's Hamilton Circle. Hamilton Central is approx 25 minutes from Glasgow on the Larkhall-Dalmuir service. It was once served by the North British Railway, which had three stations in the area - Hamilton (NBR), Peacock Cross railway station and Burnbank.

Beside Hamilton Central lies Hamilton Bus Station, providing links to surrounding towns and cities, also offering an express bus to Glasgow and also some parts of England. National Express services run to London and Birmingham from this station.

Major roads in the town include the A72 running south-east to Larkhall, the A723 south to Strathaven / north-east to Motherwell, and the A724 west towards Rutherglen, while to the west at Blantyre, the A725 dual carriageway connects the area to East Kilbride, Coatbridge and the M8. By road the town is to the west of the M74 motorway, the main southerly link to England, which joins the M6 just north of Carlisle. The main route from Edinburgh is the M8, leaving at junctions 6 or 7.

Cycling paths run from Strathclyde Park to Chatelherault Country Park following the banks of the Clyde and Avon. These are being expanded at part of the Sustrans Connect2 project and will make up part of the National Cycle Route 74 which will run from Uddingston to Carlisle, Cumbria

Education
There are currently three comprehensive high schools in the town – Hamilton Grammar, Holy Cross High School and St.John Ogilvie High School. The former Earnock High School merged with Blantyre High School in 2008 to create Calderside Academy. Hamilton also has one private school, Hamilton College, a Christian co-educational establishment comprising nursery, primary and high school.

There are 17 local authority primary schools in Hamilton; nine non-denominational and eight Roman Catholic schools. There are also provisions for children with Additional Support Needs, and the Hamilton School for the Deaf.

Hamilton is a university town with The University of the West of Scotland campus formerly sited on Almada Street, but now relocated to Hamilton International Technology Park in High Blantyre.

Sports
Hamilton Academical Football Club (the Accies) was formed in 1874 and is one of Scotland's oldest senior clubs. It takes its name from Hamilton Academy, now called Hamilton Grammar School, the oldest school in the town (founded 1588). It is the only professional football team in the UK to originate from a school team and they currently play in the Scottish League One. Their stadium is New Douglas Park, built in 2001 near the site of the former ground Douglas Park (which was demolished in 1994 to make way for a retail park).

Hamilton Rugby Club is based at the Laigh Bent sports ground, Bent Road. They currently play in Tennent's National League Division Three.

Hamilton Park Racecourse, a horseracing, wedding and event venue, is located in the town.

Hamilton's Ice Rink hosts facilities for ice skating, curling, ice hockey and squash to both the general public and competitive teams.

SLC Leisure has a number of facilities based in Hamilton. There are three council run Leisure Centres which comprise gyms, swimming pools, fitness classes and more Hamilton Palace Sports Grounds provide the town with rugby, cricket, tennis, football and bowling areas. Strathclyde Park Golf Centre driving range and 9-hole course is based in Hamilton, while the Hamilton Golf Club (dating from 1892) is situated across the Avon Water in nearby Ferniegair.

The town is also home to several large gym chains, such as David Lloyd formerly (Virgin Active Health Club), which hosted the tennis at the 2011 International Children's Games.

Speedway racing was staged in Hamilton for one off shows from 1947 to 1955 on the old ash football pitches of Strathclyde Park (now covered by the town square).

Entertainment
Hamilton Townhouse Theatre is a 712-seat venue in the Cadzow Street area of the town. It is the first cultural venue in Scotland to attain the prestigious Quest accreditation. A multiplex Vue Cinema is located in the redeveloped Palace Grounds area close to the ROC nightclub.

Science and exploration

 * Charles Alston (botanist)
 * Matthew Baillie (scientist) (attended the local grammar school)
 * William Cullen (physician & chemist)
 * David Livingstone (explorer and missionary) (Born in Blantyre and lived in Hamilton as an adult.)
 * John Roberton (physician and controversial social reformer)
 * John Roberton (obstetrician and social reformer)

Business, military and political

 * W. G. S. Adams (political scientist)
 * Alexander Cairncross (economist) (educated at Hamilton Academy)
 * Alexander Cullen (architect)
 * Doug Finley (Canadian Senator and principal operational strategist of the Conservative Party of Canada)
 * William Logan (philanthropist)
 * Margo MacDonald (politician)
 * Sir George Arthur Mitchell (businessman)
 * Iain Stewart (politician)

Art and literature

 * Joanna Baillie (poet) (lived in the town as a child)
 * Martin Boyce (artist)
 * David Carlyle (actor)
 * Thomas Clark (writer)
 * Robin Jenkins (novelist) (attended Hamilton Academy)
 * John Mather (artist)

Sport

 * Jim Bett (Aberdeen & Scotland footballer)
 * Craig Brown (Scotland football manager and former Aberdeen FC Manager)
 * Jamie Burnett (snooker professional)
 * Davie Cooper (Clydebank, Rangers, Motherwell & Scotland footballer)
 * Barry Ferguson (Rangers & Scotland Captain)
 * Steven Fletcher (Wolves & Scotland footballer)
 * Elenor Gordon (swimmer)
 * Paul Hartley (Dundee manager & Scotland footballer)
 * David Herd (Arsenal, Manchester United & Scotland footballer)
 * John Paul McBride (St. Johnstone footballer)
 * Walter McGowan (boxer)
 * Paul McStay (Celtic & Scotland footballer)
 * Jackie Oakes (Blackburn Rovers F.C., Manchester City F.C. and Queen of the South F.C. footballer)
 * Phil O'Donnell (Motherwell, Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday & Scotland footballer)
 * Bobby Shearer (Rangers & Scotland footballer)
 * Jock Stein (Celtic & Scotland manager) born Burnbank
 * John Fox Watson (Real Madrid & Fulham footballer)

Entertainment and broadcasting

 * Jackie Bird (broadcaster) (attended school in Hamilton)
 * Laurie Brett (actress)
 * Ian Buchanan (actor)
 * Brian Connolly (musician)
 * Patricia Dainton (actress)
 * Sir Harry Lauder (entertainer) (lived in Hamilton)
 * Allan Lee (film editor)
 * Marie McLaughlin (opera singer)
 * Mark McManus (actor)
 * James MacPherson (actor)
 * Nicol Williamson (Actor, Tony Award nominee)

title: Hamilton, South Lanarkshire


text:
Talk:Hamilton, South Lanarkshire

Hamilton
Not sure how many people view this page, but lets make it good, as South Lanarkshire Council do very little to promote this historic town. As it is the first large town you come to travelling north, it is such a shame this is not promoted. OK, it may have it's faults like everywhere else, but it is leagues nicer than Glasgow and look how many tourists go there. (Sorry Glasgow, there are nice places worth a visit there too).

Low Waters
Low Waters is a an area in Hamilton, so I see no reason why it should be merged with the main Hamilton page.

It's always good to have an opinion, but this is not what's needed in Wikipedia. NPOV please! Guy 10:09, 3 Oct 2002

Guy, I don't see what was wrong with last comment, please explain? Thanks!

Origin of the town's name
When I was at school in Hamilton I was told that it was a corruption of the phrase "haugh mill-town". By the old Avon bridge, which they built, the monks had a mill from early times. Approaching from the south through Larkhall and Ferniegair, your first contact would be with the mill and then a view of the haughs to the north. These marshy pools would have been dangerous, avoided by travellers and a notable geographic feature. One in particular was rumoured to be very deep and to hold pike. They still exist, although drained and tamed. I used to ice skate on some of them.

Page looks ugly
No offence to the person who took the pretty pictures, but there are far too many of them.

Greggykins 00:49, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Never mind, fixed.

Greggykins 01:26, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Hamilton - the 5th largest town in the country?
What does it mean? Does it say Hamilton is the 5th largest town by area? I don't think it's true, cos Gla, Edi, Dun, Abe, EK and maybe more are bigger. Or, do you mean there's the 5th biggest population in town of all towns in Scotland here? It's not, it's the 9th after Gla, Edi, Abe, Dun, Paisley, E.Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld. So, What is it? Thanks for answer. --StaraBlazkova 22:37, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Presumably, whoever put it in meant that it's the fifth largest town by population, not including the four cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee Aberdeen) which are bigger. Maybe slightly misleading. You will see that the Paisley article similarly claims to be largest town. Will edit to clarify. :Supergolden:: 15:54, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Many thanks --StaraBlazkova 19:44, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

This really needs to be corrected ASAP. Scribe (talk) 22:44, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Having a little problem
Was or was not the Burgh of Hamilton named in 1445 for the 1st Lord Hamilton, and prior to that had been known as Cadzow? I've had a few difficulties with some contributors accross the pond that for some reason cannot accept that their cities are named after this town, named as such a full fifty years before Columbus' voyage. please see Talk:Hamilton Cheers. Brendandh 02:04, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Economy
Is it really necessary to list every single business that trades in the malls and retail parks in Hamilton? Every large town throughout the UK, never mind Scotland has these businesses, mentioning that these malls and parks exist should suffice. It's like me listing the Black Bull, Prentices Butchers, the Coop, Nisa foods, costcutter, HBoS, RBS, The Cherrytree, Home hardware, The Whip and Saddle, The Horn, Trotters Bakers, Border Baguettes, the Plough, JD Clarke and Allan, &c. &c. &c. in the article on my own town of Duns. Brendandh 00:02, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree, it seems unnecessary to make a list of chain stores. And I don't think mentioning specific businesses whether they are new or not, is a good thing. Not sure if it counts as advertising or not. Greggykins (talk) 18:20, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Merge proposal for Eddlewood, Hamilton, Scotland
Suburbs are rarely independently notable, and this one is utterly unsourced. I suggest if notability cannot be established, that article is merged into this one. Rodhull andemu  23:16, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

D. Livingstone
How can "David Livingstone lived in Hamilton from 1862 until his death on 1 May 1873" when he was in Africa pretty much the whole time. 198.53.140.2 (talk) 21:46, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120205142828/http://guide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,RGN331vs,curr,GBP,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/home.html to http://guide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,RGN331vs,curr,GBP,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/home.html
 * Added tag to http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/portal/page/portal/EXTERNAL_WEBSITE_DEVELOPMENT/SLC_ONLINE_HOME/HOME_FACILITIES_CONTACTS?CONTENT_ID=1468
 * Added tag to http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/portal/page/portal/SLL_WEBSITE/Home/Indoor_Facilities/Hamilton_Water_Palace

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Multiple merge proposal
I have tagged several articles relating to places in Hamilton, mostly minor suburbs or local parks.

Silvertonhill Laighstonehall Meikle Earnock High Earnock Avongrove Earnock Glen Earnock Nature Trail Woodhead, Hamilton, Scotland Torheads Farm Neilsland Fairhill, Hamilton, Scotland Iona Ridge Park Hamilton United Reformed Church Allanton, South Lanarkshire They are all completely unsourced and, as things stand, not notable. Several have had 'unreferenced' tags on them for 9 years. With proper sourcing and a bit of attention, they could possibly justify separate articles. As things stand, each would merit about one sentence of their content being added to the section in this main town article. If nobody shows any of interest in improving them, I will merge them into Hamilton later this year. Comments welcomed, doesn't look like the articles in question get looked at much so at least this might bring them to the attention of a few editors.

There are other similar articles which are also pretty poor, but at least have some references and/or more obvious signs of notability, so I've tagged them to improve refs, although to be honest other editors would probably also think they should be merged or deleted:

Bothwell Bridge Lido Hamilton Old Parish Church New Cross Shopping Centre Hamilton West, Hamilton, Scotland Whitehill, Hamilton, Scotland Earnock Estate Hillhouse, Hamilton Hamilton Townhouse Regent Shopping Centre

Hopefully they can be looked at too.Crowsus (talk) 23:10, 21 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose merge for Hamilton United Reformed Church on the grounds of its historic continuity with one of the earliest congregational churches in Scotland. Klbrain (talk) 05:43, 18 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Weak oppose for Woodhead, Hamilton, Scotland, on the grounds that occupied places (even at this small scale) usually have sufficient notability to be kept. Suggesting work on referencing rather than work on merging. Klbrain (talk) 06:01, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

 * Allanton should probably be kept separate as it has a stated population (301 in 1871).  Crouch, Swale  ( talk ) 19:23, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
 * You're a bit late, someone else merged it into Ferniegair 4 years ago. Besides, whether somewhere was noteworthy in the 1870s has little bearing on whether that is the case in the 2020s. Crowsus (talk) 23:11, 16 April 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hamilton, South Lanarkshire


text:
Magma (computer algebra system)

Magma is a computer algebra system designed to solve problems in algebra, number theory, geometry and combinatorics. It is named after the algebraic structure magma. It runs on Unix-like operating systems, as well as Windows.

Introduction
Magma is produced and distributed by the Computational Algebra Group within the Sydney School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sydney.

In late 2006, the book Discovering Mathematics with Magma was published by Springer as volume 19 of the Algorithms and Computations in Mathematics series.

The Magma system is used extensively within pure mathematics. The Computational Algebra Group maintain a list of publications that cite Magma, and as of 2010 there are about 2600 citations, mostly in pure mathematics, but also including papers from areas as diverse as economics and geophysics.

History
The predecessor of the Magma system was named Cayley (1982–1993), after Arthur Cayley.

Magma was officially released in August 1993 (version 1.0). Version 2.0 of Magma was released in June 1996 and subsequent versions of 2.X have been released approximately once per year.

In 2013, the Computational Algebra Group finalized an agreement with the Simons Foundation, whereby the Simons Foundation will underwrite all costs of providing Magma to all U.S. nonprofit, non-governmental scientific research or educational institutions. All students, researchers and faculty associated with a participating institution will be able to access Magma for free, through that institution.

Mathematical areas covered by the system

 * Group theory
 * Magma includes permutation, matrix, finitely presented, soluble, abelian (finite or infinite), polycyclic, braid and straight-line program groups. Several databases of groups are also included.

 * Number theory
 * Magma contains asymptotically fast algorithms for all fundamental integer and polynomial operations, such as the Schönhage–Strassen algorithm for fast multiplication of integers and polynomials. Integer factorization algorithms include the Elliptic Curve Method, the Quadratic sieve and the Number field sieve.

 * Algebraic number theory
 * Magma includes the KANT computer algebra system for comprehensive computations in algebraic number fields. A special type also allows one to compute in the algebraic closure of a field.

 * Module theory and linear algebra
 * Magma contains asymptotically fast algorithms for all fundamental dense matrix operations, such as Strassen multiplication.

 * Sparse matrices
 * Magma contains the structured Gaussian elimination and Lanczos algorithms for reducing sparse systems which arise in index calculus methods, while Magma uses Markowitz pivoting for several other sparse linear algebra problems.

 * Lattices and the LLL algorithm
 * Magma has a provable implementation of fpLLL, which is an LLL algorithm for integer matrices which uses floating point numbers for the Gram–Schmidt coefficients, but such that the result is rigorously proven to be LLL-reduced.

 * Commutative algebra and Gröbner bases
 * Magma has an efficient implementation of the Faugère F4 algorithm for computing Gröbner bases.

 * Representation theory
 * Magma has extensive tools for computing in representation theory, including the computation of character tables of finite groups and the Meataxe algorithm.

 * Invariant theory
 * Magma has a type for invariant rings of finite groups, for which one can primary, secondary and fundamental invariants, and compute with the module structure.

 * Lie theory
 * Algebraic geometry
 * Arithmetic geometry
 * Finite incidence structures
 * Cryptography
 * Coding theory
 * Optimization

title: Magma (computer algebra system)


text:
President of South Korea

The president of the Republic of Korea, also known as the president of Korea , is both the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president is elected by citizens of the Republic of Korea and pledges to execute the duties of their office, chief among others "to defend the State, (and to) pursue peaceful unification of the homeland." The president leads the State Council, is the chief of the executive branch of the national government and the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

The Constitution and the amended Presidential Election Act of 1987 provide for election of the president by direct, secret ballot, ending sixteen years of indirect presidential elections under the preceding two authoritarian governments. The president is directly elected to a five-year term, with no possibility of re-election. If a presidential vacancy should occur, a successor must be elected within sixty days, during which time presidential duties are to be performed by the prime minister or other senior cabinet members in the order of priority as determined by law. The president is exempt from criminal liability (except for insurrection or treason).

The current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor general and member of the conservative People Power Party, assumed office on 10 May 2022, after defeating the Democratic Party's nominee Lee Jae-myung with a narrow 48.5% plurality in the 2022 South Korean presidential election.

History
Prior to the establishment of the First Republic in 1948, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea established in Shanghai in September 1919 as the continuation of several governments proclaimed in the aftermath of March 1st Movement earlier that year coordinated resistance against Japanese rule. The legitimacy of the Provisional Government has been recognized and succeeded by South Korea in the latter's original Constitution of 1948 and the current Constitution of 1988.

The presidential term has been set at five years since 1988. It was previously set at four years from 1948 to 1972, six years from 1972 to 1981, and seven years from 1981 to 1988. Since 1981, the president has been barred from re-election.

Powers and duties of the president
Chapter 3 of the South Korean constitution states the duties and the powers of the president. The president is required to:
 * uphold the Constitution
 * preserve the safety and homeland of South Korea
 * work for the peaceful reunification of Korea, typically act as the Chairperson of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council

Also, the president is given the powers:
 * as the head of the executive branch of government
 * as the commander-in-chief of the South Korean military
 * to declare war
 * to hold referendums regarding issues of national importance
 * to issue executive orders
 * to issue medals in honor of service for the nation
 * to issue pardons
 * to declare a state of emergency suspending all laws or enacting a state of martial law
 * to veto bills (subject to a two thirds majority veto override by the National Assembly)

If the National Assembly votes against a presidential decision, it will be declared void immediately.

The president may refer important policy matters to a national referendum, declare war, conclude peace and other treaties, appoint senior public officials, and grant amnesty (with the concurrence of the National Assembly). In times of serious internal or external turmoil or threat, or economic or financial crises, the president may assume emergency powers "for the maintenance of national security or public peace and order." Emergency measures may be taken only when the National Assembly is not in session and when there is no time for it to convene. The measures are limited to the "minimum necessary."

The 1987 Constitution removed the 1980 Constitution's explicit provisions that empowered the government to temporarily suspend the freedoms and rights of the people. However, the president is permitted to take other measures that could amend or abolish existing laws for the duration of a crisis. It is unclear whether such emergency measures could temporarily suspend portions of the Constitution itself. Emergency measures must be referred to the National Assembly for concurrence. If not endorsed by the assembly, the emergency measures can be revoked; any laws that had been overridden by presidential order regain their original effect. In this respect, the power of the legislature is more vigorously asserted than in cases of ratification of treaties or declarations of war, in which the Constitution simply states that the National Assembly "has the right to consent" to the president's actions. In a change from the 1980 Constitution, the 1987 Constitution stated that the president is not permitted to dissolve the National Assembly.

Election
The presidential election rules are defined by the South Korean Constitution and the Public Official Election Act. The president is elected by direct popular vote, conducted using first-past-the-post.

Related constitutional organs
The president is assisted by the staff of the Presidential Secretariat, headed by a cabinet-rank secretary general. Apart from the State Council, or cabinet, the chief executive relies on several constitutional organs.

These constitutional organs included the National Security Council, which provided advice concerning the foreign, military, and domestic policies bearing on national security. Chaired by the president, the council in 1990 had as its statutory members the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, the ministers for foreign affairs, home affairs, finance, and national defense, the director of the Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP) which was known as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) until December 1980, and others designated by the president. Another important body is the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, inaugurated in June 1981 under the chairmanship of the president. From its inception, this body had no policy role, but rather appeared to serve as a government sounding board and as a means to disburse political rewards by providing large numbers of dignitaries and others with titles and opportunities to meet periodically with the president and other senior officials.

The president also was assisted in 1990 by the Audit and Inspection Board. In addition to auditing the accounts of all public institutions, the board scrutinized the administrative performance of government agencies and public officials. Its findings were reported to the president and the National Assembly, which itself had broad powers to inspect the work of the bureaucracy under the provisions of the Constitution. Board members were appointed by the president.

One controversial constitutional organ was the Advisory Council of Elder Statesmen, which replaced a smaller body in February 1988, just before Roh Tae Woo was sworn in as president. This body was supposed to be chaired by the immediate former president; its expansion to eighty members, broadened functions, and elevation to cabinet rank made it appear to have been designed, as one Seoul newspaper said, to "preserve the status and position of a certain individual." The government announced plans to reduce the size and functions of this body immediately after Roh's inauguration. Public suspicions that the council might provide former President Chun with a power base within the Sixth Republic were rendered moot when Chun withdrew to an isolated Buddhist temple in self-imposed exile in November 1988.

Removal
The procedure for impeachment is set out in the 10th Constitution of South Korea in 1987. According to Article 65 Clause 1, if the President, Prime Minister, or other state council members violate the Constitution or other laws of official duty, the National Assembly can impeach them.

Clause 2 states the impeachment bill must be proposed by one third and approved by a majority of members of the National Assembly for passage. In the case of the President, the motion must be proposed by a majority and approved by two thirds or more of the total members of the National Assembly, meaning that 200 of 300 members of the parliament must approve the bill. This article also states that any person against whom a motion for impeachment has been passed shall be suspended from exercising power until the impeachment has been adjudicated, and a decision on impeachment shall not extend further than removal from public office. However, impeachment shall not exempt the person impeached from civil or criminal liability for such violations.

By the Constitutional Court Act, the Constitutional Court must make a final decision within 180 days after it receives any case for adjudication, including impeachment cases. If the respondent has already left office before the pronouncement of the decision, the case is dismissed.

Two presidents have been impeached since the establishing of the Republic of Korea in 1948. Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 was impeached by the National Assembly, but the impeachment was overturned by the Constitutional Court. Park Geun-hye was impeached by the National Assembly in 2016, and the impeachment was confirmed by the Constitutional Court on March 10, 2017.

Presidential office
Cheong Wa Dae (청와대) or The Blue House was built upon the site of the royal garden of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). While the Blue House served as an executive office, it was one of the most protected official residences in Asia. Upon the inauguration of President Yoon Suk Yeol in May 2022, Cheong Wa Dae was relieved of its duties as the official residence and executive office of the president and fully converted to a public park. The president's office and residence was moved to the Ministry of National Defense building in the Yongsan District of Seoul.

Compensation and privileges of office
As of 2021, the president receives a salary of ₩240,648,000 along with an undisclosed expense account to cover travel, goods and services while in office.

In addition, the presidency of the republic maintains the Chongri Gonggwan ("Official Residence of the Prime Minister") and the Prime Ministers Office in Seoul. The Chongri Gonggwan is the prime minister's official residence and official workplace. The prime minister is allowed use of all other official government offices and residences.

The president also has many regional offices especially in the major cities ready to receive the president at any time. Although not residences, they are owned by the national government and are used when the president is in the region or city.

For ground travel the president uses a highly modified Hyundai Nexo SUV to serve as the presidential state vehicle. For air travel the president uses a highly modified plane which is a military version of the Boeing 747-400 with the call sign Code One and a highly modified helicopter which is a military version of the Sikorsky S-92 that serves as the presidential helicopter.

Post-presidency
All former presidents receive a lifelong pension and Presidential Security Service detail. Unlike the prime minister, a former president cannot decline PSS protection. In recent years, South Korean presidents tend to have controversial post-presidencies; four of the last six have served time in prison.

Impeached presidents are stripped of their post-presidential benefits such as pension, free medical services, state funding for post-retirement offices, personal assistants and a chauffeur, and right to burial at the Seoul National Cemetery after death. However, such individuals are still entitled to retain security protection under the Presidential Security Act.

Order of succession
Article 71 of the Constitution of South Korea states, 'In the event of the president not being able to discharge the duties of his/her office, the Prime Minister and ministers in line of the order of succession shall be the acting president.' Article 68 of the Constitution requires the acting president to hold new elections within 60 days.

According to article 12, section 2 and article 22, section 1 of the Government Organization Act, order of succession follows:

title: President of South Korea