Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Historically, the name "Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Despite being called “Elstree Studios” only one studio was actually located in Elstree itself, the remainder being in... Borehamwood. There are a number of reasons for this: When the studios were being established, Elstree was significantly larger than Borehamwood. It must therefore have seemed sensible for anything that needed the name of the town in its name to be named after Elstree rather than Borehamwood. Nowadays, Borehamwood is the larger, but the old names have remained in use. The fact that the parish that contains the town is also called "Elstree" may have had some influence on the choice of name. When the studios were at their most prolific, the local railway station was known as "Elstree". This was because it was cheaper to print 'Elstree' onto the tickets rather than 'Borehamwood'. Furthermore, the local telephone exchange was also called just "Elstree".
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Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal... National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico. There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned.
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Matmâta or Metmata is a small Berber speaking town in southern Tunisia. Some of the local Berber residents live in traditional underground "troglodyte" structures. The structures typical for the village are created by digging a large pit in the ground. Around the perimeter of this pit... artificial caves are then dug to be used as rooms, with some homes comprising multiple pits, connected by trench-like passageways. This type of home was made famous by serving as the location of the Lars Homestead, home to Luke Skywalker, his Aunt Beru Lars and Uncle Owen Lars for the Star Wars movies. The Lars Homestead was in fact the Hotel Sidi Driss, which offers traditional troglodyte accommodations. One of Call of Duty 2 missions takes place in Matmâta as part of North African Campaign. The origin of this extraordinary place is not known, except from tales carried from generation to generation. The most probable account says that underground homes were first built in ancient times, when the Roman empire sent two Egyptian tribes to make their own homes in the Matmata region, after one of the Punic wars, with permission to kill every human being in their way.
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