The home of the President of United States was officially named the White House in October 1901. Construction of the building started in 1792, and the John Adams was the first President to occupy the building in 1800, even though it was far from finished. During the 19th century it was variously known as the Residence, [more...]
The Step Pyramid at Saqqara, the Pyramid of Zoser, is the oldest known free standing stone structure in the world and the first of the Egyptian Pyramids. King Zoser’ name was Netjerykhet. The name Zoser was given by New Kingdom visitors to the monument, thousands of years later. The original name of the Step Pyramid [more...]
Is the Pyramid of Kufu (the Great Pyramid of today) really one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Actually, no. It was the Pyramid of Khafre, the second largest pyramid at Giza which was the Great Pyramid of the Seven Wonders, even though smaller in both height and volume than the Great Pyramid of Kufu. [more...]
The CN Tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a communications and observation tower standing 1,815.4 ft. It surpassed the height of the Ostankino Tower while still under construction in 1975. It then was the tallest free-standing structure ‘on land’ in the world. Because the Petronius Platform oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico is [more...]
The Sears Tower is a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time it was finished in 1973 it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York City. It is the tallest building in the United States, and the fourth tallest freestanding structure in the world. In summer [more...]
The Empire State Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City. The Empire State Building is legend. Built in the midst of the Great Depression, it was, and still is a testament to American fortitude and ingenuity. It was the world’s tallest building for more than forty years, from 1931 until the completion of [more...]
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City. Near the beginning of the 20th century, the race for the tallest building in the world got underway and the Chrysler Building was the first building to top the then tallest structure, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was the world’s tallest building for 11 [more...]
The Shanghai World Financial Center skyscraper in Shanghai, China. It is the second tallest building in the world and the tallest in mainland China, including Hong Kong. It is currently the world’s tallest completed building by roof. It tops out at 1,614.2 ft. The most distinctive feature in the design of the building is an aperture [more...]
Taipei 101 is a skyscraper located in Taipei, Taiwan. The building is the world’s tallest “completed skyscraper” according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is not yet ‘completed.’ Since international architectural standards define a “building” as a structure capable of being fully occupied. The [more...]
Update – – The Burj officially opened in January, 2010 and was renamed Burj Khalifa. It is now officially the tallest building in the world. Burj Dubai is a skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Even in its unfinished state, it is the tallest man-made structure ever built. During July 2007, the Burj surpassed [more...]
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis and completed in 550 BC at Ephesus. Only foundations, which are in a rather swampy hole, and some sculptural fragments remains from the temple. Artemis was [more...]
Stalinist architecture, (Stalin’s Empire style, also referred to as the Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism) is a term given to architecture of the Soviet Union between 1933 and 1955, when Nikita Khruschev condemned “excesses” of the past decades. There is nothing quite like Stalinist-Gothic architecture, except the Gotham City backdrops of the Batman films. During [more...]
Persepolis was founded by Darius I in 518 B.C., as the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It was constructed on an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, where the king of kings created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian predesessors. The earliest remains date from around 515 BC. To the ancient Persians, the city was called [more...]
The sanctuary of Delphi, where the oracle of Apollo spoke, was the site of the omphalos, the ‘navel of the world’. Charged with sacred meaning, Delphi in the 6th century B.C. was the religious center and symbol of unity for the ancient Greek world. The sacred precinct in Delphi was a place, where every four [more...]
Neuschwanstein Castle (New Swan Stone palace) is a 19th-century palace, 3306 feet above sea-level, in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat. If it looks somewhat familiar, that may be because Walt Disney used it as inspiration for Cinderella’s Castle at the Disney theme parks. The foundation [more...]
The Temple of Olympian Zeus also known as the Olympieion, is a temple that was dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. It was finished fairly late in ancient history and is located in the center of Athens. It was in use for less than a century. It was the largest temple in Greece [more...]
The Delhi Fort also known as the Red Fort is located in the walled city of Delhi, India. The largest of old Delhi’s monuments is the Lal Quila, or the Red Fort, the red sandstone walls of which have withstood the attacks of time and nature.The Red Fort was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan in [more...]
Batu Caves is a series of caves and cave temples, located north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The cave and temple is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India and is dedicated to Lord Murugan. His statue near the foot of the stairs is well over 100 ft tall. It is the focal point of [more...]
Borobudur is a ninth-century Buddhist temple in Indonesia. The monument has six square platforms topped by three circular platforms. It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues and a main dome on the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues inside perforated stupas. Originally, it was probably plastered white, and painted [more...]
The Shwedagon Pagoda also known as the Golden Pagoda, is a 321 ft gilded stupa located in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar). Gleaming in gold and decorated with diamonds, the huge Shwedagon Pagoda (also Shwe Dagon Pagoda or Shwedagon Paya) in Rangoon is a spectacular work of Burmese temple architecture and is the holiest Buddhist shrine in [more...]