Latest news with #Savvides
Herald Sun
29-07-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Unique Templestowe house above 8m void hits market for $1m
A Templestowe house that soars above an about 8m-high drop has Melbourne homebuyers polarised. With a $1m-$1.1m asking price it's just a fraction of the $1.65m buyers typically pay for a perch in the suburb. But its unusual design, that leaves a significant portion of the residence and its balcony hovering above a towering void, has buyers asking if 'it's safe and secure'. RELATED: Melbourne home sold for less than $100,000 Brighton waterfront: Poker player's $30m+ mansion buy revealed Portelli-backed racer James Moffat lists Donvale house Built by its owner architect in the 1990s and balanced on the bricks and mortar of its lower-ground garage and a series of Karri timber stilts, the 39 Lawanna Drive home is being sold for the first time since its construction. And Jellis Craig Doncaster's Chris Savvides said its vertigo-inducing views were the central focus for buyers, and its unusual design was the reason behind its bargain price tag — confirming the reserve would be within the quoted range on auction day next month. So far it's had 'strong interest' with 45 groups through its first open for inspection on Saturday — mostly a mix of inner-city professionals aged from their late 20s to 40s. While it wasn't for everyone, Mr Savvides said those who did like it were taking a very close look at the unusual residence. 'I've never seen anything like this, there's no comparisons … but people are intrigued by it,' Mr Savvides said. 'The view is amazing, but people are saying they're not sure (about how it achieves the view). 'And It's nor for young kids, or the elderly.' The agent said he's getting a lot of questions about whether 'it's safe and secure'. And is referring those questions to the vendors more than $120,000 effort to refit and renew the home's incredible rear balcony. The home has also stood in place since the early 90s, with its architect builder buying it as a steeply sloping block of land for just $88,300 in 1988 — then building the eye-catching residence. It's still standing after a number of earthquakes, one as nearby as Sunbury in 2023, as well as countless storms that have followed its construction. Mr Savvides said braver buyers in sturdy footwear had been walking down to the bottom of the block to get a feel for the mammoth height the home stands above ground — estimated to be around 8m and close to twice the height of the main residence. The previous owners very much embraced the height, with the living area and even the main bedroom both positioned to make the most of the views. Mr Savvides said the next owners were also likely to be looking at ways to fill in some of the negative space beneath the house — though the existing lower-ground level would already suit for conversion to a unit, home office or as is for a car enthusiast. The 966sq m property is slated for auction at 2pm on August 16. MORE: Mt Waverley home stuns with $2.33m auction result Ex-church reno'd on Grand Designs Australia could be yours Plenty luxury home breaks suburb record
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Tomb built for Alexander the Great's best friend is aligned with winter solstice, study suggests
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A grand tomb that may have been built for Alexander the Great's best friend and bodyguard around 2,300 years ago has an astronomical secret: Its burial chamber is aligned so that sunlight enters it on the winter solstice, a new study proposes. However, not everyone agrees with this interpretation. Some experts note that the ancient Macedonians used a lunisolar calendar, meaning the winter solstice's date would have moved from year to year. The tomb, now called the Kasta monument (also known as the Kasta tomb or Kasta tumulus), is near the ancient city of Amphipolis in northern Greece. In 2014, archaeologists excavated the tomb's burial chamber and found the skeletal remains of at least five people. For whom the monument was built is a matter of debate, but Hephaestion (also spelled Haphaestion), whose death in 324 B.C. sent Alexander the Great into severe grief, is considered a leading candidate by some scholars. In the new study, independent researcher Demetrius Savvides created a 3D model of the tomb and used Stellarium, an astronomical program that tracks how the positions of the sun and stars change over time, to re-create what the sky around the tomb looked like in 300 B.C. He found that on Dec. 21, the date of the winter solstice, the sun's light would have fully illuminated the burial chamber between approximately 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time, Savvides wrote in a study published May 15 in the Nexus Network Journal. Related: Was Alexander the Great eaten by sharks? Inside the wild theories for what happened to the iconic ruler's body. Sunlight reaches other parts of the monument at different times, he found. Around late July, it touches the entrance. Throughout autumn, the sunlight gradually travels on and near two carved sphinxes and finally passes between them, fully illuminating the burial chamber on the winter solstice. "It is highly probable that rituals were held within or in close proximity to the Kastas Monument, particularly on and around the winter solstice," Savvides told Live Science in an email. Initially, when the tomb was being built, it had no orientation to the winter solstice. But during its construction, the design was changed to create the solstice alignment, Savvides wrote in the paper. An alignment like this would have symbolized "themes of renewal, life, and cosmic order," Savvides said in the email. These themes are also seen in the tomb decoration, which shows a mosaic of Persephone, a goddess of vegetation and agriculture who is also queen of the underworld, Savvides noted. In addition, the tomb has a possible depiction of Cybele, a goddess who was associated with birth and fertility and was married to Attis, a god also associated with vegetation who died and was resurrected. One interesting question this research raises is whether Alexander the Great's tomb, which was constructed in Alexandria, had a burial chamber with an alignment like this, Savvides said. "The use of solar illumination and a consistent geometric design aligns with Hellenistic traditions where rulers, like Alexander the Great, used solar symbolism to reinforce their authority," Savvides said. "If we were to locate Alexander's tomb, it might resemble the Kastas Monument," Savvides said. Alexander's tomb has never been found and might be underwater or underneath Alexandria. Juan de Lara, a researcher at the University of Oxford who has investigated the alignments of ancient Greek buildings, had mixed reactions to the research. RELATED STORIES —Did Alexander the Great have any children? —How did Alexander the Great die? —'I nearly fell out of my chair': 1,800-year-old mini portrait of Alexander the Great found in a field in Denmark "I think it's great that scholars are asking these questions and using this technology to generate new ideas. In the case of the tomb, the researcher presented daring hypotheses," de Lara told Live Science in an email. "However, we must remember to be very careful when relating such findings to 'solar' events, as the Macedonians used a lunisolar calendar — meaning that the dates shifted from year to year." In other words, their winter solstice would have fallen on a different day each year, meaning this day of illumination might have been difficult to observe annually as the day changed. Additionally, de Lara noted that northern Greece is very cloudy in the winter and the effect may not have been noticeable.
