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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

There is a new break in Guinness’s World Records archive since year 2003. It is about that a statue built in town of Haskovo, Bulgaria has become the tallest statue in the World. The monument of statue was sanctify from bishop Arseney at 08.09.2003. The President of Bulgaria George Parvanov, mayor of Haskovo – George Ivanov and many of ruling circles of country have presented at the opening of the statue. It is the biggest statue of Virgin Mary of the Earth. It is located at the Youth peak, it have see of almost all sides of the town. With impressive measurement – height 32.8m, length of statue 15m and weight 80 tons – is amazing beautiful view for eyes.

The monument was accepted in the Guinness’s book of world records by category “Religion” at 2004.

The building of memorial of Virgin Mary was accomplished with resources from donation to urban population. The municipality of Haskovo was basic initiator for realization bestow resources. Local firms and individual townpeople also took participation. The authors (makers) of statue are the sculptor Petyo Alexandrov and Nikola Stoyanov.

Continue reading The Guinness’s World Record Monument in Haskovo, Bulgaria

This is the largest monastery on the Balkan Peninsula. It has been a major Christian,cultural and enlightenment center. The monastery is an impressive monument of Bulgaria medieval and National Revival architecture and mural painting. It was founded in the 10th century by Saint Ivan Rilski. It is located at an altitude of 1,100 m in the northwestern part of the Rila Montain. Today’s buildings of the compound date from the beginning of the 19th century.

Continue reading Rila Monastery, the Largest and most Famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria

The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum, Lintong County, Shaanxi province. It is a sight not to be missed if you are going to China.

The terracotta figures were buried with the first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) in 210-209 BC. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as Qin’s Armies. The Terracotta Army was discovered in March 1974 by local farmers drilling a water well to the east of Mount Lishan. Mount Lishan is the name of the man-made necropolis of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. This is also where the material to make the terracotta warriors was made, and found. Construction of this mausoleum began in 246 BC and is believed to have taken 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete. Qin Shi Huang was interred inside the tomb complex upon his death in 210 BC. According to the Grand Historian Sima Qian, the First Emperor was buried alongside great amounts of treasure and objects of craftsmanship, as well as a scale replica of the universe complete with gemmed ceilings representing the cosmos, and flowing mercury representing the great earthly bodies of water. Pearls were also placed on the ceilings in the tomb to represent the stars and planets, etc. Recent scientific work at the site has shown high levels of mercury in the soil of Mount Lishan, tentatively indicating an accurate description of the site’s contents by Sima Qian. They were built as an army for the king (Emperor Qin) to use in the after life.

Continue reading Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty

The Colosseum – the greatest amphitheatre of the antiquity – was built in Rome, Italy, about 1920 years ago. It is considered an architectural and engineering wonder, and remains as a standing proof of both the grandeur and the cruelty of the Roman world.

The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome. Originally capable of seating 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It was built on a site just east of the Roman Forum, with construction starting between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian. The amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian’s reign.

The Colosseum remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century — well after the traditional date of the fall of Rome in 476. As well as the traditional gladiatorial games, many other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions and dramas based on Classical mythology.

Continue reading Colosseum of Rome is One of the Most Dramatic Historic Monuments on Earth

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