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The Palace of Fontainebleau is located only 50 km from the centre of Paris. A monument of French history, it is one of the largest French royal chateaux and offers visitors its art and architectural treasures, its gardens and the thousands of fascinating and precious objects that it has preserved.

Fontainebleau is a very pleasant combination for a one day relaxing excursion from Paris. The Fontainebleau forest is as well a favorite destination for everyone wanting to escape of Paris for a day. Today part of the chateau is home to the Ecoles d’Art Americaines, a school of art, architecture and music.

 

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Herrenchiemsee is a castle of royal buildings on the Herreninsel, an island in the middle of the Bavaria’s largest lake – Chiemsee. The Neues Schloss (New Castle) is the most famous of these buildings and it is the biggest of Ludwig II of Bavaria’s palaces. The Neues Schloss was designed by Christian Jank, Franz Seitz, and Georg Dollman and built between 1878 and 1885. This is the final castle of Ludwig II and the biggest, and most expensive of all 16.6 million.

It was to have been an equivalent to the Palace of Versailles, but only the central portion was built before the king died. There are 70 rooms, of which 50 were never completed. Ludwig lived here for a total of just 10 days in September 1885. The most famous part of the palace is the Hall of Mirrors. It is 98 meters long and has 44 candelabras and 33 chandeliers. Gilt work is everywhere in the palace. The great hall of mirrors is longer than its equivalent in Versailles, and the dining room has a huge chandelier of Meissen porcelain, the largest in the world. King Ludwig’s “copy” has more modern facilities, with a toilet and a large heated bathtub. Also, unlike Versailles, it was built on an island and is now only accessible by a small ferry.

The formal gardens are filled with fountains and statues in both the classical style typical of Versailles and in the fantastic style typical of romanticism that was favored by King Ludwig.

The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, United Kingdom. Known as “London by the Sea”, the city of Brighton is the UK’s most famous seaside holiday resort. Brighton was just a fishing village until 1787 when the Prince George, Prince of Wales, decided to build a spectacular palace there. The Brighton Pavilion was built over the next 20 years. With its oriental stylistic architecture, the Royal Pavilion of Brighton certainly stands out from the other tourist attractions of Britain.

Brighton Pavilion was built in 1784 and purchased in the early nineteenth century. Between 1815 and 1821 the Pavilion was rebuilt under the direction of the architect John Nash who employed a mixture of classical and Indian styles which have been labelled “Hindoo-Gothic”. Decorated in the Chinese taste with an Indian exterior this Regency Palace is quite breathtaking. Details include exuberant stonework, sometimes supported internally by iron cores (for example, the minarets), bulbous oriental domes and unusual crenelation, and exotic decoration. Today, Brighton is still a major British resort, specialty shopping, top restaurants and art galleries are in abundance. A visitor to the city can often observe the cultural and economic extremes side by side in the shops, cafes and clubs.

Situated high above the River Neckar, Heidelberg Castle is one of Germany’s most romantic locations. It has had a long and turbulent history since it was first constructed in the early 15th century as a residence for the Palatine princes, the powerful secular rulers who presided over this part of southern Germany during the Holy Roman Empire. The construction lasted over 400 years and consists of ramparts, outbuildings and palaces in all styles from Gothic to High Renaissance. The two dominant buildings at the eastern and northern side of the courtyard were erected the 16th century. Today, they are considered to be two of the most important buildings in German architectural history.

Prince Elector Philip (1476 – 1508) is said to have arranged the transfer of the hall’s columns from a decayed palace of Charlemagne to Heidelberg. Lightning struck the Castle in 1764. In the centuries that followed, the Castle was misused as a quarry – castle stones helped to build new houses in Heidelberg. This was stopped in 1800 by Count Charles de Graimberg who made any effort he could to preserve the Heidelberg Castle. In spite of its Gothic interior, it was not before 1934, that the King’s Hall was added.

That part of the castle shows you the ruins. It’s just opposite of the ticket office in case that you didn’t climb up the steep path. It strikes the eye at once that the castle did not arise from any uniform constructional plan, and that there is no common building line nor any unifying building style. To the west and the south the dominant element is the very plain Gothic structures. To the north ant the east it is the sumptuous and massive stone walls of the magnificent Renaissance palace and massive stone walls of the magnificent Renaissance palace with its rich decoration of sculptured figures.

The garden was filled with herbs and vegetables, as well as beautiful trees, among them some very rare ones. Most of them survived until now, and make the garden a beautiful place to walk around in some shade nowadays, to admire the view to the castle and the city and have some picnic on the benches. Don’t miss to walk up to the upper terrace and get inside the big grottos – they have been beautifully styled inside, with a little fountain as well.

The Alhambra is a beautiful collection of buildings and gardens. The tree-lined walks are luscious, providing pleasant shade and coolness, enhanced by the abundance of water that flows in its streams. This palace structure was started after the Reconquista, the reconquering of Spain performed by the Christian kings, started. This adds to its aura. While the illiterate Christians were advancing, Spain reached its highest cultural level ever, but under the Muslim rulers. The slender structure of Alhambra…

There is no reference to the Alhambra as being a residence of kings until the 13th century, even though the fortress had existed since the 9th century. The first kings of Granada, the Zirites, had their castles and palaces on the hill of the Albaicin, and nothing remains of them. The Nasrites were probably the emirs who built the Alhambra, starting in 1238.
Sadly, the Alhambra Palace Spain entered a “dark age” of sorts when it was abandoned to thieves and vagrants during the 18th century. During the time Napoleon controlled Spain, the Alhambra was used as a barracks for French soldiers, and, at one point, was almost blown up. After it was declared a national monument in 1870, Romantic writers like Washington Irving, author of Tales of the Alhambra, brought the fortress to the world’s attention, and prompted the restoration of the palace and the Alhambra gardens Spain.

The highlights of any tour of the Alhambra palace Spain, include the fabulously decorated emi. The Patio de los Leones’s palace, the Generalife (the Alhambra’s meticulous gardens) and the Palacio Nazaries. The Patio of the Lions, named for the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Twelve stout lions support the bowl. Somehow, in a manner defying common sense and physics, the fountain was recirculated without the aid of a pump.
Architecture, ingenious water systems, art or history – whatever has your interest, the magical Alhambra enthrals everyone, even if you only want to see a beautiful building or mountains under the Spanish.

The Kremlin is Russia’s mythic refuge, a self contained city with a multitude of palaces, armories, and churches, a medieval fortress that links the modern nation to its legendary past in the ancient state of Kievan Rus’. As the dominance of Kiev faded and its empire fragmented under the weight of foreign invasion and internecine strife in the 11th and 12th centuries, regional princes gained power. In 1147, as Kievan Rus was experiencing its final death throes, a chronicler recorded that a feast was held at the hunting lodge of Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy, ruling prince of Rostov and Suzdal. The lodge was perfectly situated atop a hill overlooking the Moskva and Neglina rivers, prompting its development (in such troubled times) as a fortified town, or Kremlin.

Within a century, the town had risen to become an independent principality within the Mongol empire. By the middle of the 14th century, its princes had gained such pre-eminence that Moscow was made the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. With Ivan the Great (1462-1505) at its helm, Muscovite rule extended over all of Russia, and the Kremlin became more magnificent, befitting its role as the seat of Russian power. By 1480 the once modest hunting lodge had become an imposing fortress city. Its stone walls were graced by the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption, where Ivan defiantly tore up the charter binding Moscow to Mongol rule. Over the next two centuries, until Peter the Great transferred the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg, the Kremlin served as the central stage for the magnificent and occasionally horrific history of the Tsars.

With the shift of power to St. Petersburg, the city and the Kremlin declined. However, the Bolsheviks’ choice of Moscow as their capital in March 1918 returned it to preeminence, and during Soviet rule the Kremlin experienced its second life as a great center of power. Although the Soviet state certainly left its mark on the Kremlin, the centuries-old citadel very much retains the aura of early Tsarist Russia. Especially in Cathedral Square, where the spirits of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, and the early Romanovs loom much larger than those of Stalin or even Lenin himself.

Sites to visit in The Kremlin:

The Arsenal
The Kremlin Arsenal was commissioned by Peter the Great to serve as a weapons depot and manufactory. After Napoleon’s disastrous retreat from Moscow this building became a museum commemorating the Russian victory. Most of the cannons arrayed along its side were captured from the fleeing, tattered remains of Bonaparte’s Grande Armee. The Arsenal is now the headquarters of the Kremlin Guard.

The State Kremlin Palace
This modern glass and concrete structure, completed in 1961, is the Kremlin’s most recent edifice. It was built during the halcyon days of the Khruschev administration to host Communist Party congresses and was executed in appropriately magnificent style. The palace’s most prominent feature was its huge auditorium (6000 seats), the stage of which was surmounted by a monumental bas-relief head of Lenin surrounded by gilded rays. Today the palace is used for performances by the Kremlin Ballet Company, and the once familiar relief of Lenin is gone.

Senate
The graceful neoclassical Senate building, commissioned by Catherine the Great, is one of several fine works in Moscow by the architect Matvey Kazakov. The building was intended by Catherine to serve as a meeting place for an advisory council, but it is better known for having been the location of Lenin’s office after the Revolution. In a recent modernization, however, his preserved offices were delivered into posterity. Today, the Senate serves as the official Presidential residence.

Tsar Cannon and Bell
These two curiosities form an oddly appropriate pair. Both are among the largest of their kind in the world, and neither has ever worked. The 40-ton Tsar Cannon, built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible’s imbecilic son Fyodor in 1586, possesses a barrel in excess of five meters long and a calibre of 890 mm. The gun should in theory have been capable of smiting foolish attackers with projectiles the size of wine casks. As if the cannon’s sheer size were not inspiring enough, the barrel and carriage are adorned with a relief of the redoubtable Fyodor as well as a scene in which a fierce Russian lion devastates a snake symbolizing Russia’s enemies.

The two hundred ton Tsar Bell, though the largest in the world, was never successfully completed, much less rung. A smaller predecessor (weighing in at a mere 130 tons) was built in the middle of the 17th century but was destroyed in the Moscow fire of 1701. Three decades later the Empress Anna ordered the fragments to be recast into a much larger bell, but the resultant wonder cracked in 1737 after having fallen into its casting pit. Another century passed before the bell was lifted and set in its present location. Beside the bell lies a small eleven-ton scrap that fell from the bell during its excavation.

Cathedral Square
If one thinks of Russia as a traditional matryoska doll, with Moscow contained within the country and the Kremlin similarly nested inside Moscow, then Cathedral Square is the final solid figure contained within the Kremlin. Laid out as the city’s first great public space during the ascension of Muscovite power in the early 14th century, Cathedral Square was for centuries the symbolic heart of Tsarist rule. The square is centered on the impressive Cathedral of the Assumption, built in the 1470s by Ivan the Great as the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. Until Peter the Great moved his capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1710, Cathedral Square was the focal point of political power in the country–coronations, assemblies of the nobility, and all of the associated ceremonial rituals of state took place here. If one ignores the statue of Lenin that still looks out across the square from its eastern edge, Cathedral Square provides an unparalleled atmosphere of old tsarist Russia. Clustered around the square are a series of cathedrals, towers, and palaces that together constitute almost the entire history of that period.

Ivan the Great Belltower
Dominating not only Cathedral Square but the entire Kremlin is the gleaming gilt dome of the Ivan the Great Belltower, long the tallest structure in all of Russia. Constructed of bright white stone and soaring to a height of over eighty meters, the bell tower was begun in the early 16th century and completed in 1600, during the reign of Boris Godunov. In the adjacent belfrey hangs the massive 64-ton Resurrection Bell, dating from the nineteenth century.

Assumption Cathedral
Assumption Cathedral is the oldest, largest, and most important of the Kremlin’s many churches. It stands on the site of a small cathedral erected by Ivan I around 1330 to mark Moscow’s new status as the seat of Russian orthodoxy. A century and a half later, Ivan III (the Great) decided that his predecessor’s modest and by then time-worn work was insufficient as a symbol of the city’s grandeur. After a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with local builders, he decided to go all out and hire an Italian (after all, it was the Renaissance). Thus, in 1475, Alberti (a.k.a. Aristotle) Fioravanti arrived from Bologna. After conducting a tour of Vladimir, Pskov, and Novgorod in order to gain a sense of the traditions of Russian ecclesiatical architecture, Fioravanti returned to Moscow and set to work. A mere four years later, he had finished a veritable tour de force, a cathedral so satisfying to his patron that Fioravanti’s request to return to Italy prompted Ivan to imprison him. Fioravanti died in captivity a few years later.

The Cathedral itself made history almost before the paint was dry, for it was on its steps in 1480 that Ivan tore up the charter binding Moscow’s princes to tribute to the Mongols. In addition to its historical significance as the primary church of Russian Orthodoxy (and thus as the site of all manner of coronations, funerals, victory services, and intrigues), the Cathedral is notable for its accomplished architectural and decorative elements. Its frescoes, icons, and the elaborate Throne of Monomakh are of particular interest for visitors, as is Fioravanti’s archetypal synthesis of traditional Russian ecclesiastical architecture.

The Church of the Deposition of the Robe
This comparatively modest structure was built by Russian craftsmen just a few years after the completion of the Cathedral of the Assumption. It now houses a fascinating collection of wooden figures.

The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael
This most Italianate of the Kremlin’s churches, the last of Ivan the Great’s contributions to Cathedral Square, is the burial place of the early Tsars and their predecessors, the princes of Moscow. Commissioned in 1505 and built by the Venetian architect Alevisio, its notably foreign features include the scallop-shell decoration of its gables and the ornate Corinthian capitals of its columns. With the notable exception of Boris Godunov (buried at the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergei), the Cathedral houses the remains of everyone from Grand Prince Ivan Kalita (1325-41) to Tsar Ivan V (1682-96). Unfortunately, the tombs themselves do little to convey the passage of history, as all of the stone sarcophagi date from the 17th century and their bronze covers from the beginning of the twentieth.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation
The golden-domed Cathedral of the Annunciation served as the private chapel of the Tsars. It was raised by Ivan III in the late 1440s on the foundations of a much earlier and more modest church and has been damaged, repaired, enlarged, and altered on numerous occasions since then. One addition deserving of special appreciation is the Grosnenskiy Porch, found at the Cathedral’s southeast corner. The porch was built by Ivan the Terrible in 1572 after he contravened church doctrine by marrying for a fourth time (the Orthodox Church allowed only three marriages). While the Church Council appreciated Ivan’s occasionally excessive reactions to opposition and thus accepted the marriage, it was able to express its dismay by asking the Tsar to refrain thereafter from entering the Cathedral to attend services. The porch was the resultant compromise, and from it Ivan would carry out his religious devotions from behind a specially-constructed grille.

Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles and The Patriarch’s Palace
These two buildings are in fact a continuous structure, together constituting the Kremlin domain of the patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. Constructed by the Patriarch Nikon in the 1650s, they now serve as a museum of 17th-century applied arts, including ecclesiastical regalia as well as furniture and domestic objects from the period.

The Terem, Faceted, and Great Kremlin Palaces
None of the three great palaces of the Kremlin are open to visitors–at least not yet. The earliest of the three is the Terem Palace, which is the oldest building in the Kremlin. The Palace served as the Imperial residence until the removal of the capital to St. Petersburg in 1712. The Faceted Palace, built by Ivan III, was used primarily for audiences and feasts, a function revived by Soviet leaders. The last of the three palaces, the Great Kremlin, was built in the early 19th-century as a Moscow residence for Nicholas I. All three of the palaces possess extraordinary interior decorations belied by their rather unremarkable exteriors.

The Armory
The Armory began in the early 16th century as a purely functional storehouse for the Kremlin’s weaponry. However, within a few decades that original and prosaic structure had gained the added function of a workshop and repository for all sorts of treasures of the increasingly magnificent Imperial court.

In 1813, following Napoleon’s invasion, the Armory building became an exhibition hall and museum, though the Imperial arms and regalia had long since been removed by Peter the Great to St. Petersburg. It was only in 1851 that the collection was returned to Moscow, where it was installed in the current building, then new. Despite the loss of significant items in the collection during the early nineteenth century, the treasures contained within the Armory are overwhelming. From the chalice of Yuri Dolgoruky and the helm and armor of Boris Godunov to a stupendous collection of over fifty Faberge eggs, visitors are presented with an array of objects that is staggering in its historical interest and spectacular richness. Next door, at the Diamond Treasury, visitors can catch a glimpse of the infamous 190-carat Orlov Diamond.

Potala Palace located at Lhasa is one of the most massive palace on the Earth. Now a museum it was once the winter religious and political seat of Tibet under the leadership of the Dalai Lama.

Built at an altitude of 3,700 m, on the side of Marpo Ri hill, the Red Mountain in the center of Lhasa Valley, Potala Palace, with its vast inward-sloping walls broken only in the upper parts by straight rows of many windows, and its flat roofs at various levels, is not unlike a fortress in appearance. At the south base of the rock is a large space enclosed by walls and gates, with great porticos on the inner side. A series of tolerably easy staircases, broken by intervals of gentle ascent, leads to the summit of the rock. The whole width of this is occupied by the palace.

Construction of the present palace began in 1645 during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama and by 1648 the Potrang Karpo, or White Palace, was completed. The Potrang Marpo, or Red Palace, was added between 1690 and 1694; its construction required the labors of more than 7000 workers and 1500 artists and craftsman. In 1922 the 13th Dalai Lama renovated many chapels and assembly halls in the White Palace and added two stories to the Red Palace. The Potala Palace was only slightly damaged during the Tibetan uprising against the invading Chinese in 1959. Unlike most other Tibetan religious structures, it was not sacked by the Red Guards during the 1960s and 1970s, apparently through the personal intervention of Chou En Lai. As a result, all the chapels and their artifacts are very well preserved.

Potala Palace Includes all the mentioned below building and architectural masterpieces:White Palace
The White Palace is the part of the Potala Palace that makes up the living quarters of the Dalai Lama. The first White Palace was built during the lifetime of the fifth Dalai Lama in the 1650s then was extended to its size today by the thirteenth Dalai Lama in the early twentieth century. The palace was for secular uses and contained the living quarters, offices, the seminary and the printing house. A central, yellow-painted courtyard known as a Deyangshar separates the living quarters of the Lama and his monks with the Red Palace, the other side of the sacred Potala which is completely devoted to religious study and prayer. It contains the sacred gold stupas—the tombs of eight Dalai Lamas—the monks assembly hall, numerous chapels and shrines, and libraries for the important Buddhist scriptures, the Kangyur in 108 volumes and the Tengyur with 225. The yellow building at the side of the White Palace in the courtyard between the main palaces houses giant banners embroidered with holy symbols which hung across the south face of the Potala during New Year festivals.

Red Palace
The Red Palace is part of the Potala palace that is completely devoted to religious study and Buddhist prayer. It consists of a complicated layout of many different halls, chapels and libraries on many different levels with a complex array of smaller galleries and winding passages:

The Great West Hall
The main central hall of the Red Palace is the Great West Hall which consists of four great chapels that proclaim the glory and power of the builder of the Potala, the Fifth Dalai Lama. The hall is noted for its fine murals reminiscent of Persian miniatures, depicting events in the fifth Dalai Lamas life. The famous scene of his visit to Emperor Shun Zhi in Beijing is located on the east wall outside the entrance. Special cloth from Bhutan wraps the Hall’s numerous columns and pillars.

The Saint’s Chapel
On the north side of this hall in the Red Palace is the holiest shrine of the Potala. A large blue and gold inscription over the door was written by the 19th century Tongzhi Emperor of China. proclaiming Buddhism a Blessed Field of Wonderful Fruit. This chapel like the Dharma cave below it dates from the seventh century. It contains a small ancient jewel encrusted statue of Chenrezi and two of his attendants. On the floor below, a low, dark passage leads into the Dharma Cave where Songsten Gampo is believed to have studied Buddhism. In the holy cave are images of Songsten Gampo, his wives, his chief minister and Sambhota, the scholar who developed Tibetan writing in the company of his many divinities.

The North Chapel
The North Chapel centres on a crowned Sakyamuni Buddha on the left and the Fifth Dalai Lama on the right seated on magnificent gold thrones. Their equal height and shared aura implies equal status. On the far left of the chapel is the gold stupa tomb of the Eleventh Dalai Lama who died as a child, with rows of benign Medicine Buddhas who were the heavenly healers. On the right of the chapel are Chenrezi and his historical incarnations including Songsten Gampo and the first four Dalai Lamas. Scriptures covered in silk between wooden covers form a specialized library in a room branching off it. The outer walls of the Red Palace Enlarge

The South Chapel
The South Chapel centres on Padmasambhava, the 8th century Indian magician and saint. His Tibetan wife, a gift from the King is by his left knee and his other wife from his native land of Swat is by his right. On his left eight of his holy manifestation meditate with an inturned gaze. On his right, eight wrathful manifestation wield instruments of magic powers to subdue the demons of the Bon faith.

The East Chapel
The East chapel is dedicated to Tsong Khapa, founder of the Yellow Hat sect. His central figure is surrounded by lamas from Sakya Monastery who had briefly ruled Tibet and formed their own sect until converted by Tsong Khapa. Other statues are displayed made of various different materials and display noble expressions.

The West Chapel
This is the chapel that contains the five golden stupas. The enormous central stupa contains the mummified body of the Fifth Dalai Lama. This stupa is built of sandalwood and is remarkably coated in 3,727 kg [8,200lb]] of solid gold and studded with semi-precious jewels. It rises for over three storeys and is almost 50 feet high. On the left is the funeral stupa for the Twelfth Dalai Lama and on the right that of the Tenth Dalai Lama. The stupas on the both ends contains important scriptures.

The First Gallery
The first gallery is on the floor above the West chapel and has a number of large windows that give light and ventilation to the Great West Hall and its chapels below. Between the windows, superb murals show the Potala’s construction is fine detail.

The Second Gallery
The Second Gallery gives access to the central pavilion which is used for visitors to the palace for refreshments and to buy souvenirs.

The Third Gallery
The Third Gallery besides fine murals has a number of dark rooms branching off it containing enormous collections of Bronze statues and miniature figures made of copper and gold worth a fortune. The chanting hall of the Seventh Dalai Lama is on the south side and on the east an entrance connects the section to the Saints chapel and the Deyangshar between the two palaces.

The Tomb of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama
The tomb of the XIIIth Dalai Lama is located west of the Great West Hall and it can only be reached from an upper floor and with the company of a monk or a guide of the Potala. Built in 1933, the giant stupa contains priceless jewels and one ton of solid gold. It is 14 metres [46 feet] in height. Devotional offerings include elephant tusks from India, porcelain lions and vases and a pagoda made from over 200,000 pearls. Elaborate murals in traditional Tibetan styles depict many events of the life of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama during the early 20th century.

According to the local custom, you have to tour clockwise around; don’t step on the doorsill; don’t smoke in the halls; don’t take photos without permission! It is not easy for visitors to climb to the top building because of its height, so you’d better slow down. Because the halls are always chilly; you’d better take a coat while visiting! Potala Palace is allowed less than 2300 tourists and pilgrims to enter each day. Therefore we suggest you prepare for a successful trip by purchasing tickets beforehand. Please note that when buying your tickets, you have to show your ID card or passport.

Google Earth Placemark – Potala Palace at Lhasa, the religious and political seat of Tibet