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Crap Sogn Gion
Crap Sogn Gion (meaning Saint John's stone in Romansh) is a mountain (2,252 m) and cable car station (2,216 m) located near Flims in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Regarding the definition used in the Alps by the Swiss Alpine Club it cannot be called a mountain (nor even a peak with a strict definition) but only a location at the end of a ridge descending from the Vorab in the Glarus Alps.
As the location has no distinctive peak nor sudden drops in its gentle sides, it is absolutely not an impressive mountain but even more a very appropriate place to run a skiing resort. Comparing to other skiing resorts in Switzerland the missing neighbouring mountains to the south - which is the location of the giant prehistoric Flims Rockslide – make it even more exposed to the sun even at the sun's lowest orbit in deep winter.
A very small hut of the Ski Club Flims was the first building on Crap Sogn Gion, still standing there although hardly noticed. From 1962 the area was accessible by platter lift, followed 1967 by the then biggest aerial cable car with cabins to hold as much as 125 passengers, which is still in use today along with several modernised chairlifts.
Sogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (Vestlandet). It is located in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, surrounding the Sognefjorden, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestrand, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Gulen, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Solund, Vik, and Årdal. The district covers 10,675 square kilometres (4,122 sq mi) and contains about 35% of the county's population. The largest urban area in Sogn is the village of Sogndalsfjøra (in Sogndal municipality), with 3,455 residents. The second largest urban area is the village Øvre Årdal (in Årdal municipality), with 3,397 people (this village used to be the largest, but recently it was passed by Sogndalsfjøra).
The district of Sogn comprises the southern part of the county Sogn og Fjordane. The districts of Sunnfjord and Nordfjord are the other two districts in the county.
Etymology
The name Sogn is very old, and it originally belonged to the fjord (now called the Sognefjorden). The name is derived from the verb súga which means "suck"—referring to the strong tidal streams at the mouth of the fjord. A parallel name for the district in Norse times was Sygnafylki. The first element in this name is the genitive of sygnir which means "people from Sogn" and the last element is fylki which is an old form of "fylke" which translates as "county".
Gion
Coordinates: 35°00′13″N 135°46′30″E / 35.003496°N 135.775051°E
Gion (祇園, ぎおん) is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine. It eventually evolved to become one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan. The geisha in the Gion district (and Kyoto generally) do not refer to themselves as geisha; instead, Gion geisha use the local term geiko. While the term geisha means "artist" or "person of the arts", the more direct term geiko means essentially "a child of the arts" or "a woman of art".
Divisions
This neighborhood in Kyoto has five hanamachi (geiko communities. There are five hanamachi in Kyoto): Gion Kōbu (祇園甲部) and Gion Higashi (祇園東), which split many years ago; Kōbu is larger, occupying most of the district, while Higashi is smaller and occupies the northeast corner, centered on its rehearsal hall. Despite the considerable decline in the number of geisha in Gion in the last one hundred years, it is still famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment.
Yasaka Shrine
Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社 Yasaka-jinja), once called Gion Shrine (祇園神社 Gion-jinja), is a Shinto shrine in the Gion District of Kyoto, Japan. Situated at the east end of Shijō-dōri (Fourth Avenue), the shrine includes several buildings, including gates, a main hall and a stage.
History
Initial construction on the Shrine began in 656. The Shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers be sent to report important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines; and in 991, Emperor Ichijō added three more shrines to Murakami's list. Three years later in 994, Ichijō refined the scope of that composite list by adding Umenomiya Shrine and Gion Shrine.
From 1871 through 1946, Yasaka Shrine was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.
Matsuri
In 869 the mikoshi (divine palanquin) of Gion Shrine were paraded through the streets of Kyoto to ward off an epidemic that had hit the city. This was the beginning of the Gion Matsuri, an annual festival which has become world famous.
