!!!Seattle
by Dmitry Moiseenko,
member of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\
23 April 2015
with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]
Situated in the northwest of the country, Seattle is one of the biggest
cities of the USA. Its first name, given just after the foundation in
1851, was the "Future New York", but it did not stick. Soon the city was
renamed after an outstanding chief of the local Indians.
[{Image src='01_Seattle, USA.jpg' caption='Seattle, USA' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='384'}]
Apart from that Seattle has many unofficial vivid nicknames: one of
them, the "Emerald City", refers to the fact that the city is surrounded
by water and evergreen forests. Informally it is also called the
"Gateway to Alaska" and the "Rain City"; the nickname "Jet City"
appeared due to the influence of the Boeing company, which was founded
here.
[{Image src='02_Seattle, USA.jpg' caption='Seattle, USA' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='655'}]
Seattle is situated between the Puget Sound, an arm of the Pacific
Ocean, to the west and Lake Washington to the east. It is considered
that Seattle, as well as Rome, lies on seven hills including Capitol
Hill. By now the city has grown wide and the its territory includes more
highlands which create the unique appearance of the landscape.
[{Image src='03_Seattle, USA.jpg' caption='Seattle, USA' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='516'}]
The most recognizable feature of Seattle and of the whole northwest
Pacific Coast is the Space Needle Tower built in futuristic style. It is
a part of the Seattle Center originally created for the purposes of the
1962 World's Fair. Being 184 meters high and having the weight of 9 550
tons, the tower is equipped with 25 lightning-rods, so that it can
withstand storms up to 320 km/h and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude.
Tracery constructions support the "flying saucer" at the height of 159
meters. It is an observation deck which, as well as our panoramas, makes
it possible to observe the whole Seattle, parks, lakes and mountains.
[{Image src='04_Seattle, USA.jpg' caption='Seattle, USA' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='621'}]
At the same time the Space Needle is not the highest building in the
city. Since 1985 Columbia Center, a 76-storey and 284 meters high
building, has received this status; the second tallest building is the
"1201 Third Avenue" skyscraper previously called Washington Mutual.
There are many other high-storey buildings in Seattle, but some
low-storey buildings are not less interesting. One of them, for example,
is Pike Place Market situated on the edge of a steep hill; it is one of
the oldest continental markets in the United States. Here one can not
only buy something, but also have a good time in a cozy cafe or enjoy
performances of the local artists. People use elevators and stairs to
move between the levels of the market. Average amount of people visiting
Pike Place Market annually is around ten million people.
[{Image src='05_Seattle, USA.jpg' caption='Seattle, USA' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='305'}]
Just under the market there is the famous Seattle Waterfront overlooking
the Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains. By the way, a ferry ride is a
very popular activity in the Emerald City: water trips make it possible
to admire all the natural and architectural sights of Seattle from the
outside.
[{Image src='06_Seattle, USA.jpg' caption='Seattle, USA' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='655'}]
The same can be done with the help of our panoramas. The "Rain City",
bearing this name not because of continuous precipitations but because
of great number of cloudy days per year, gave us the possibility to take
photos in sunny weather. So this is one more chance to be impressed by
Seattle.
\\ \\
[13 Panoramas of Seattle|Geography/America/United_States/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Seattle]
[{SET customtitle='Seattle (AP)'}]
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