The south-west coast of France is almost one vast nude beach, stretching over 100 miles from Biarritz to the Gironde. Among stiff competition, the nude resort beach of Euronat stands out for its clean golden sand, supervised swimming and friendly atmosphere. Thousands of happy families gather here, and the beach is open to both nudist campers and day visitors alike. Other highly regarded resort beaches heading south are Montalivet CHM, La Jenny and Arnaoutchot. From the seaside town of Montalivet-les-Bains, drive north on the D102 coast road. After 3 kms the road turns sharply right inland. Park and walk on to the beach - the main bare area is to the right.
Sunny southern Maspalomas is famous for its photogenic giant sand dunes, which provide the backdrop for a magnificent beach. The resort was created by package-tour operators and in recognition of this its streets are named after them. Although it is not large, it lacks a focus and comprises a number of discrete small low-rise developments. The latest of these, Meloneras, to the west, is a quiet away-from-it-all upmarket enclave that contrasts with the more hedonistic eastern side, which merges with Playa del Inglés.Stretching for around 2km (1.2 miles) and backed by Sahara-like dunes, the fine white-sand Playa de Maspalomas is regarded as the most beautiful beach on the island. It is informally divided into distinct areas for families and children, nudists and gays. The areas where the sun loungers are located can get very busy. The south-facing Playa de Maspalomas adjoins the east-facing Playa del Inglés at the Punta de Maspalomas. At the western end of Playa de Maspalomas is La Charca lagoon (see Beyond the Beach below) and Faro de Maspalomas (Maspalomas Lighthouse). Farther west beyond this is the rocky Playa de las Mujeres, good for surfing and windsurfing. Next is Playa Las Meloneras, a long coarse sand-and-pebble beach. Watersports in Maspalomas include parasailing, jet-skiing, water-skiing, plus rides on speedboats and inflatables.
Hundreds of acres of sand dunes, looking just like the Sahara, frame the beautiful beach between Maspalomas and the popular resort of Playa del Ingles. It’s 3 kms from one end to the other and over 1 km deep. The bare areas, like the swimsuited ones, have sunbeds and umbrellas for hire. For a quieter spot, walk into the vast expanse of dunes, but be careful not to get lost!
You can walk to the bare beach areas from either end, although the walk from Maspalomas town is slightly shorter.
If you feel the need for a truly naked de-stress, Valalta is everything you could wish for. It’s so good the nudist campsite here was voted the best in Croatia last year - among all sites, not just bare ones. With two miles of sand and rock beaches, including secluded coves, lined by olive trees and vineyards, this nude beach and village are well loved by bare beach connoisseurs.
The beach is on the Istrian peninsula, 60 miles south of Trieste and five miles from Rovinj. You can visit for the day or book holidays through UK nude beach specialist Peng Travel.
In 1979 Miami Beach's Art Deco Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Art Deco District is the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world and comprises hundreds of hotels, apartments and other structures erected between 1923 and 1943. Mediterranean, Streamline Moderne and Art Deco are all represented in the District. The Historic District is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the East, Lenox Court on the West, 6th Street on the South and Dade Boulevard along the Collins Canal to the North. The movement to preserve the Art Deco District's architectural heritage was led by former interior designer Barbara Capitman, who now has a street in the District named in her honor.
Miami Beach is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city was incorporated on March 26, 1915. It is located on a barrier island between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; the Bay separates Miami Beach from the city of Miami, Florida. The city is often referred to under the umbrella term of "Miami," despite being a distinct municipality. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,933. 55.5% of the population was foreign born. A 2005 population estimate for the city was 87,925. Miami Beach has been one of America's pre-eminent beach resorts for almost a century.
The Dead Sea scrolls consist of about 900 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the Qumran Wadi near the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea.
The texts are of great religious and historical significance, as they include some of the only known surviving copies of Biblical documents made before 100 B.C. and preserve evidence of late Second Temple Judaism. They are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, mostly on parchment, but with some written on papyrus. These manuscripts generally date between 150 BCE to 70 CE. The scrolls are most commonly identified with the ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, though some recent interpretations have challenged their association with the scrolls. Still, these represent a minority view, as references in ancient texts from Josephus, Philo, and Pliny all discuss the Essenes, with Pliny identifying the center of Essene activity on the west side of the Dead Sea, exactly where the scrolls were found. Moreover, Philo and Josephus both extensively describe the customs and beliefs of the Essenes, in many cases closely matching information found in the scrolls themselves. This is not surprising, since Josephus reports in his Life that at the age of sixteen he became an Essene neophyte for three years.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are traditionally divided into three groups: "Biblical" manuscripts (copies of texts from the Hebrew Bible), which comprise roughly 40% of the identified scrolls; "Apocryphal" or "Pseudepigraphical" manuscripts (known documents from the Second Temple Period like Enoch, Jubilees, Tobit, Sirach, non-canonical psalms, etc., that were not ultimately canonized in the Hebrew Bible), which comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls; and "Sectarian" manuscripts (previously unknown documents that speak to the rules and beliefs of a particular group or groups within greater Judaism) like the Community Rule, War Scroll, Pesher on Habakkuk, and the Rule of the Blessing, which comprise roughly 30% of the identified scrolls.
Prior to 1968, most of the known scrolls and fragments were housed in the Rockefeller Museum (formerly known as the Palestine Archaeological Museum) in Jerusalem. After the Six Day War, these scrolls and fragments were moved to the Shrine of the Book, at the Israel Museum.
Publication of the scrolls has taken many decades, and the delay has been a source of academic controversy. As of 2007 two volumes remain to be completed, with the whole series, Discoveries in the Judean Desert, running to thirty-nine volumes in total. Many of the scrolls are now housed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, while others are housed in the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, Princeton Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, and in the hands of private collectors.
