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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Apr 24, 2018 18:43:26 GMT
I appreciate that this is not strictly psephology, but couldn't think of a better place to put it.
I was mulling over the former status of Winchester, and of Turin and Florence in Italy. Are there any real oddities in past times, or indeed now? Do capitals tend to have any real legal importance?
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Post by johnloony on Apr 24, 2018 19:05:56 GMT
They are useful for quiz questions.
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peterl
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Post by peterl on Apr 24, 2018 19:06:27 GMT
Capitals are probably mainly important for being the seat of government and often the main legal center, and often but not always the main economic center. Funny you should mention Winchester, I'm just doing a project on conservation issues there. It was certainly a very important place for many years both before and after the time that it was the capital.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2018 19:09:56 GMT
It’s always surprised me that capitals are remarkably fluid and change often. Our country in many respects is unusual by having a fixed capital for the entire length of our existence as a United Kingdom.
In the US for example before the construction of Washington the capital alternated. Philadelphia and New York aren’t even the capitals of their respective states now. Karachi and Rawalpindi in Pakistan, Rangoon /Yangon in Burma/Myanmar, a plethora of German cities, for example what does Lauenberg mean in modern Germany? Naples, Rio etc.
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Post by No Offence Alan on Apr 24, 2018 19:13:04 GMT
They are useful for quiz questions. Podgorica (formerly Titograd) is the capital of Montenegro. Always a good quiz question, that one. |
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Chris from Brum
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Post by Chris from Brum on Apr 24, 2018 19:19:33 GMT
Capitals are probably mainly important for being the seat of government and often the main legal center, and often but not always the main economic center. Funny you should mention Winchester, I'm just doing a project on conservation issues there. It was certainly a very important place for many years both before and after the time that it was the capital. Bonn, in its days as capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, was never the main economic centre. Even today in the reunited Germany, there are multiple economic centres, and the main stock exchange is in Frankfurt, not in Berlin.
But who says you have to have just one capital? The Netherlands has two - Amsterdam, where the royal palace is, and The Hague, where the government sits.
Trying to think of present-day oddities, Abuja is not the obvious choice for capital of Nigeria (I would guess Lagos if I didn't know better), and Belize City is not the capital of Belize, which is Belmopan. In New Zealand, Auckland is much bigger than Wellington, but is at the extreme northern end of the country, and the capital of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo, is not only not the largest city (that's Bata), but is also not on the African mainland, being on the island of Bioko, some way north of the continental part of the country and 32km from the coast of Cameroon.
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Post by swanarcadian on Apr 24, 2018 19:21:53 GMT
Are there any real oddities in past times? Bonn. |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Apr 24, 2018 19:31:36 GMT
Capitals are probably mainly important for being the seat of government and often the main legal center, and often but not always the main economic center. Funny you should mention Winchester, I'm just doing a project on conservation issues there. It was certainly a very important place for many years both before and after the time that it was the capital. Interesting, having lived there for a few years (the missus is from nearby). Involving the water meadows? |
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peterl
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Post by peterl on Apr 24, 2018 19:34:07 GMT
No, its mainly to do with listed buildings, conservation areas and the like. So I'm focusing on the High Street and roads leading towards the Cathedral mainly.
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Chris from Brum
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Post by Chris from Brum on Apr 24, 2018 19:41:07 GMT
Are there any real oddities in past times? Bonn. In fairness, Bonn was only ever intended as a provisional capital, pending the reunification of Germany. That may have taken longer than originally intended, but when it did, Bonn reverted to being a small provincial city, mostly famous for being where Ludwig van Beethoven was born and Berlin resumed its former status. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2018 20:18:01 GMT
It surprised me when I found that the capital of San Marino, the City of San Marino, isn't coterminous with the country itself. It's smaller than two other municipalities in the country.
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J.G.Harston
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Post by J.G.Harston on Apr 24, 2018 20:28:13 GMT
Bonn, in its days as capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, was never the main economic centre. Even today in the reunited Germany, there are multiple economic centres, and the main stock exchange is in Frankfurt, not in Berlin. But who says you have to have just one capital? The Netherlands has two - Amsterdam, where the royal palace is, and The Hague, where the government sits.
And there's the UK where the capital city is London, but the seat of government and the Crown is Westminster. |
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Chris from Brum
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Post by Chris from Brum on Apr 24, 2018 20:30:51 GMT
Bonn, in its days as capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, was never the main economic centre. Even today in the reunited Germany, there are multiple economic centres, and the main stock exchange is in Frankfurt, not in Berlin. But who says you have to have just one capital? The Netherlands has two - Amsterdam, where the royal palace is, and The Hague, where the government sits.
And there's the UK where the capital city is London, but the seat of government and the Crown is Westminster. ... and the royal palace is in Kensington and Chelsea.
Seriously, I think we know that the "London" people name as our capital is the "Greater" version, not the Square Mile. Some people consider the urban agglomeration in the centre of the Netherlands that includes both Amsterdam and The Hague, as well as Utrecht and lots of other smaller towns that more-or-less join up as the "Randstad", but in fact the separate identities of the two big cities is obvious. OTOH, ask someone to say where Westminster ends and K&C starts, and people have to start scrabbling for maps that show the boundaries. The inner London borough boundaries are rarely signed, you have to rely on changes in style of lamp post and street sign to work it out.
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Post by carlton43 on Apr 24, 2018 20:37:35 GMT
For this I offer Dunkeld ( superb earthworks and partially ruined cathedral) a former capital in a delightful small town with many Macbeth associations in Birnam Wood and the nearby Dunsinane.
And Dorchester-on-Thames, just off the river, and approached by boat 40-years ago, where I landed and got soggy feet in a sedge at exactly the same point as a monarch had done before me. A real feel of history that evening.
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Post by Adam in Stroud on Apr 24, 2018 20:45:38 GMT
Kingston-upon-Thames has the English equivalent of the Stone of Scone.
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Post by Chris from Brum on Apr 24, 2018 21:09:41 GMT
Kingston-upon-Thames has the English equivalent of the Stone of Scone. It is also the county headquarters of Surrey despite no longer being in that county. |
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Apr 24, 2018 21:15:19 GMT
Kingston-upon-Thames has the English equivalent of the Stone of Scone. It is also the county headquarters of Surrey despite no longer being in that county. Of course it is still in that county. It is just not in a part of the county that is administered by Surrey County Council |
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Post by johnloony on Apr 26, 2018 1:43:23 GMT
It is also the county headquarters of Surrey despite no longer being in that county. Of course it is still in that county. It is just not in a part of the county that is administered by Surrey County Council Of core stizzent! It's in Greater London. |
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Post by Adam in Stroud on Apr 26, 2018 6:32:38 GMT
Of course it is still in that county. It is just not in a part of the county that is administered by Surrey County Council Of core stizzent! It's in Greater London. The two things are perfectly compatible. Brentford is in Middlesex and Greater London and the London Borough of Hounslow. Harrogate is in North Yorkshire and in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Staines(-upon-Thames) is in Spelthorne Borough, in the area administered by Surrey County Council, and in Middlesex. In other news: the UK is part of Europe. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2018 7:08:31 GMT
Of core stizzent! It's in Greater London. The two things are perfectly compatible. Brentford is in Middlesex and Greater London and the London Borough of Hounslow. Harrogate is in North Yorkshire and in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Staines(-upon-Thames) is in Spelthorne Borough, in the area administered by Surrey County Council, and in Middlesex. In other news: the UK is part of Europe. And Wales is a part of England |
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