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After the highly important visit of Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey last days i decided to write some words about the one of the most important christianic religious buildings in the world, The St. Peter’s Basilica. This great building is the center of christianity. It is officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and colloquially called Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Continue reading The Basilica of Saint Peter inside Vatican City

You can’t leave Florence without visiting one of the most important art galleries in the world. Here you can admire numerous works of art by Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Giotto, Cimabue, Masaccio.
Founded by Francesco de’ Medici to delight himself during his walks, the Uffizi Gallery has become through the centuries one of the most famous and admired museums in the world.
It was Francesco I de’ Medici who created an art Gallery on the second floor of the Palazzo degli Uffizi to delight himself, during his walks, with the collection of paintings, sculptures and arrases belonging to the Medici family.

Continue reading Uffizi Gallery is the Star of Florence

The Eiffel Tower, an immense stucture of exposed latticework supports made of iron, was erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of England) officiated at the ceremonial opening. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, one was unanimously chosen, a radical creation from the French structural engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (b. Dec. 15, 1832, d. Dec. 28, 1923), who was assisted in the design by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, and architect Stephen Sauvestre.

However, the controversial tower elicited some strong reactions, and a petition of 300 names — including those of Maupassant, Emile Zola, Charles Garnier (architect of the Opéra Garnier), and Dumas the Younger — was presented to the city government, protesting its construction. The petition read, “We, the writers, painters, sculptors, architects and lovers of the beauty of Paris, do protest with all our vigour and all our indignation, in the name of French taste and endangered French art and history, against the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower.”

Continue reading The most famous tower on the Earth

The origins of Shwedagon are lost in antiquity, its age unknown. Long before the pagoda was built, its location on Singuttara hill was already an ancient sacred site because of the buried relics of the three previous Buddhas. According to one legend, nearly 5000 years had passed since the last Buddha walked the Earth, and Singuttara hill would soon lose its blessedness unless it was reconsecrated with relics of a new Buddha. In order that such new relics might be obtained, King Okkalapa of Suvannabhumi spent much time atop the hill, meditating and praying. A series of miracles ensued and eight hairs of the historical Buddha were, somewhat magically, brought to the hill. To enshrine the relics, multiple pagodas of silver, tin, copper, lead, marble, iron and gold where built one on top of the other to a height of twenty meters. During the following centuries, passing from myth to historical fact, the pagoda grew to its present height of ninety-eight meters. Much of the continued construction of Shwedagon was actually reconstruction following disastrous earthquakes. During the 17th century the pagoda suffered earthquake damage on at least eight occasions. A particularly bad quake in 1786 brought the entire top half of the pagoda to the ground and its current shape and height date from the reconstruction of that time.

Continue reading The mountain of gold

Stonehenge is surely Britain’s greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance. Its original purpose is unclear to us, but some have speculated that it was a temple made for the worship of ancient earth deities. It has been called an astronomical observatory for marking significant events on the prehistoric calendar. Others claim that it was a sacred site for the burial of high-ranking citizens from the societies of long ago.

While we can’t say with any degree of certainty what it was for, we can say that it wasn’t constructed for any casual purpose. Only something very important to the ancients would have been worth the effort and investment that it took to construct Stonehenge.

Continue reading Planning Your Visit to Stonehenge

With its huge dome and immense dimensions, Hagia Sophia was a surpassed. Sinan accomplished this difficult task. He reached to an excellence far-surpassed Hagia Sophia’s heavy monumentality (see Suleymaniye and Selimiye Mosques). The achievement of Anthemios real challenge for the Ottoman architects. It was an inspiration source and also a representative of a conquered culture, which was to be and Isidoros was the placement of a huge dome (32.5 m.) over an oblong basilica. Entrance vestibules (narthex) lead to a breathtaking central space. Four exedrae, apse and two semidomes on the east and west, the gallery arcades on the north and south, and the dome above circumscribe this lofty space.

Continue reading The church of Hagia Sophia

The four days and nights of carnaval in Rio are the lavish self-indulgent anything-goes exotic exhibitionist spectacle the world sees. They are the result of year-long planning organizing practicing and fantasies – and a lot of hard work!

The dates change from year to year. Check the schedule for Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval Dates. To get to any of the carnaval locations, you’ll need travel arrangements. Compare and select flights from your area. You can also browse for hotels and car rentals.

Carnaval came to South America from Europe as celebrations before the beginning of the forty day Lenten season of fasting and prayer. The word carnival is thought to come from the Italian carne vale or farewell to meat which was not eaten during Lent. These late winter celebrations in Europe gave root to the high-summer frenzy of carnaval in South America.

In Brazil, the Portuguese traditions of entrudo throwing water flour and mud at unsuspecting passers-by evolved into a more lighthearted flour and water or egg tossing spree in Brazil. At the beginning the celebrations were a form of merry-making that the higher classes celebrated privately in their homes while the poorer classes took to the streets in unplanned and unformed revelry. The aristocratic gentry might have looked down on the street frolics but it wasn’t long before the more adventurous among them ventured out heavily masked and disguised to join the fun.

Continue reading Carnival in Rio has been called the world’s most famous party

The Taj Mahal, the most magnificent tribute to love and beauty and one of man’s proudest creations, is easily the most identified image to be associated with India. Built between 1631 and 1648 by Emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife, this fairytale like marvel took twenty two years and the labor of twenty thousand workmen employed on it daily for its completion. The intensity of the Emperor’s love is carved in white marble as the most beautiful and wondrous expression of love ever.

Standing tall and gracefully in its glory and splendor, the beauty of Tajmahal can be discovered and rediscovered time after time for it not only changes color according to the time of the day but also with every change in the season.

The splendid Tajmahal sparkles like a jewel on a starlit night as the semi-precious inlaid stones reflect the glow of moon. However, it is on a full moon night that silver brilliance of the Taj Mahal becomes evident. Dawn and dusk to flirt with the radiance of the Taj Mahal as it responds to the blush of the skies. The sight is indeed mesmerizing to the visitor.

Continue reading The Taj Mahal Agra is a vivid poetry in Marble. A marvellous piece of Pietra Dura.

The ancient city of Teotihuacan is the most visited of Mexico’s archaeological sites and a must-see if you’re in Mexico City. The site is impressive for its scale, both in the size of the Pyramid of the Sun (the third largest pyramid in the world) and the majesty of the Calle de los Muertos (Street of the Dead) – originally 4km long and flanked by temples, palaces and platforms. Look for amazingly well preserved murals in the Palace of the Jaguars or the Palace of the Quetzal-butterfly and bold sculptures in the Temple of Quetzalcoatl.Teotihuacan ( which acually means “place of those who have the road of the gods”) was, at its height in the first half of the 1st millennium CE (Common Era), the largest city in the Americas. The name Teotihuacan is also used to refer to the civilization that this city was the center of, which at its greatest extent included much of central Mexico. Its influence spread throughout Mesoamerica; evidence of Teotihuacano presence, if not outright political and economic control, can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region.

The city was located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacan municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico, approximately 40 km (about 25 miles) northeast of Mexico City.

Continue reading The ancient city of Teotihuacan is a must see place in Mexico

Temple of Karnak in Luxor What a breathtaking place it is… This vast temple complex is dedicated to god Amon and was spiritual center of the Ancient Egyptians. It now amaze us with it’s really impressive architecural achievements and the atmosphere it stills holds.

Karnak is the biggest temple complex in the world, covering an area of 100 hectares and there is nowhere more impressive to the first-time visitor. In ancient times, Karnak was known as Ipet-isut, The most select of places. It is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world, and is probably the second most visited ancient site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo.

It took millennia to build and enhance the massive Karnak Temple, though most of the work was done by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1570-1100 BC). Approximately 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features is overwhelming.

Continue reading The Astonishing Temple of Karnak in Luxor, spiritual center of the Ancient Egyptians