World Famous Structures

Saint Peter’s Basilica

Location: Venice, Italy

Built: 1506 - 1615

Build By: Pope Julius II

Remarks:
It one of the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and Until 1989 St. Peter’s was the largest church in Christendom. It was designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Colosseum

Location: Rome, Italy

Built: 70 AD-80 AD

Build By: Vespasian and Titus

Remarks:
The Colosseum was a huge public entertainment center. It is originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. It has 80 arched entrances allowing easy access to 55,000 spectators.

Great Pyramid of Giza

Location: El Giza, Egypt

Built: 2550 BC

Build By: Pharaoh Khufu

Remarks:
It one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The largest pyramid ever built, it incorporates about 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing an average of 2.5 to 15 tons each. The pyramid has three burial chambers. The four faces of the pyramid are slightly concave, the only pyramid to have been built this way.

Leaning Tower

Location: Pisa, Italy

Built: 1173-1372

Remarks:
The Tower of Pisa stands at 60 meters and until 1990 was leaning at about a 10 degree angle. The tower has eight stories, including the chamber for the bells. It was built as a freestanding bell tower for the cathedral in Pisa. It began to lean in 1178 once construction on the second floor had begun. The lean was due to one side sinking into the soft ground.

Parthenon

Location: Athens, Greece

Built: 447 BC-438 BC

Remarks:
Parthenon is chief temple of the Greek goddess Athena on the hill of the Acropolis at Athens. The Parthenon was designed by Phidias, a famous sculptor, at the behest of Pericles, a Greek politician credited with the founding of the city of Athens and with stimulating the so-called "Golden Age of Greece".

Great Sphinx

Location: Giza, Egypt

Built: 2500 BC

Build By: Pharaoh Khafre

Remarks:
It is the largest monolith statue in the world. It is 241 feet long, 20 feet wide and 66 feet high. It is a mythological creature with the body of a lion and the head of a person.

White House

Location: Washington D.C., USA

Built: 1792 - 1800

Remarks:
It is formerly known as the Executive Mansion (1810–1902). The house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban. It is the official office and residence of the president of the United States. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

Tower of London

Location: London, United Kingdom

Built: 1066

Build By: William the Conqueror

Remarks:
Originally the Tower was a Royal Palace and defensive fortress, built by William The Conqueror. During WW2, the Tower was used as a Prisoner Of War camp. The Crown Jewels have been held at the Tower of London since the reign of Henry III.

Westminster Abbey

Location: London, England

Built: 1245

Build By: Henry III

Remarks:
It is formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster. It stands just west of the Houses of Parliament in the Greater London borough of Westminster. There are two Elizabethan bells to call worshippers to services and 10 modern bells for change ringing. Over 3,000 famous people have been buried in Westminster Abbey over the centuries. The tombs of Charles Dickens, David Livingstone and Charles Darwin can be seen here, as well as those of several British poets.

Notre-Dame de Paris

Location: Paris, France

Built: 1163-1345

Remarks:
Notre Dame is located on the Paris Island called Ile de la Cite. Notre Dame is the spiritual heart of the French capital. It is also a shrine that preserves the Crown of Thorns.

Palace of Versailles

Location: Versailles, France

Built: 1631- 1634

Build By: Louis XIII

Remarks:
It is former French royal residence and centre of government, now a national landmark.

Eiffel Tower

Location:  Paris, France

Built: 1887-1889

Build By: Gustave Eiffel

Remarks:
When the French government was organizing the International Exposition of 1889 to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, a competition was held for designs for a suitable monument. More than 100 plans were submitted, and the Centennial Committee accepted that of the noted bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel. When completed, the tower served as the entrance gateway to the exposition. In the opening weeks of World War I, powerful radio transmitters were fitted to the tower in order to jam German communications. Today, both radio and television stations broadcast their signals from the top of the Eiffel.

Taj Mahal

Location: Agra, India

Built:    1632–1653

Build By: Shah Jahan

Remarks:
 It is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra on the southern bank of the Yamuna River. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

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