Historical Places

[Wise_Guy 44]

Salam Frndz,

                 i m starting a new topic of HITORICAL PLACES of the whole world. so if u have any information abt any thing then plz share it.

[Wise_Guy 44]

The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá (before 800 A.D.) Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Chichén Itzá, the most famous Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic center of the Mayan civilization. Its various structures - the pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Chac Mool, the Hall of the Thousand Pillars, and the Playing Field of the Prisoners – can still be seen today and are demonstrative of an extraordinary commitment to architectural space and composition. The pyramid itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.

 

[Wise_Guy 44]

Christ Redeemer (1931) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This statue of Jesus stands some 38 meters tall, atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, it is one of the world’s best-known monuments. The statue took five years to construct and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. It has become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people, who receive visitors with open arms.

[Wise_Guy 44]

The Roman Colosseum (70 - 82 A.D.) Rome, Italy.

This great amphitheater in the centre of Rome was built to give favors to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept still stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later still bears the irresistible imprint of the Colosseum's original design. Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.

[Wise_Guy 44]

The Taj Mahal (1630 A.D.) Agra, India

This immense mausoleum was built on the orders of Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mogul emperor, to honor the memory of his beloved late wife. Built out of white marble and standing in formally laid-out walled gardens, the Taj Mahal is regarded as the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India. The emperor was consequently jailed and, it is said, could then only see the Taj Mahal out of his small cell window.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Petra (9 B.C. - 40 A.D.), Jordan.

On the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataeans provided their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers. A theater, modelled on Greek-Roman prototypes, had space for an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs of Petra, with the 42-meter-high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Machu Picchu (1460-1470), Peru.

In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu ("old mountain"). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained 'lost' for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Jerash 48km outside Amman(Jordan)

A very well preserved ruin of an ancient Roman city with city walls, theatre, hammams (baths) and colonnaded streets. It was the rich surrounding farmland and the trade with the Nabataeans (The people from Petra) that made the city flourished during the Roman time, for it wasn't on the normal trading route. Various invasions and an earthquake in 747 laid the city deserted until nineteen century. Today it's one of the biggest Roman sites outside Italy and popular with tourists as well as locals.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Baalbek Bekaa valley(Lebanon)

The most impressive ruin in Lebanon. Besides being located in the middle of "modern" Baalbek town, the site can offer several magnificent Roman's temples. The one for Jupiter is the grandest, unequalled in the world, with columns soaring 23m into the air, where six still stands today. The foundation consists of some of biggest building block, some weighing about 800 tonnes. It is thought that it have taken more than 120 years to complete the temple complex, though different Roman Emperors still added to the complex centuries after. Another temple is the one of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. Smaller than Jupiter's, but still bigger than Parthenon in Athens, it's one of the best preserved in the world with beautiful decorations, where you can still make out the fine details - along with semi-ancient graffiti.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Flaming cliffs Bayanzag, Gobi Desert(Mongolia)

In the middle of the Gobi desert, where dust and stones rules, the flat plateau breaks off to a lower level. During sunrise and sunset the exposed cliffs give off an orange hue which gives the place its name. It was here in the 1920's the American archaeologist Roy Chapman Andrews made the amazing discovery that dinosaurs were egg laying - and made some wrong assumptions that the new found dinosaur specimen, Velociraptor, was an egg thief. You can still to this day walk around and find dinosaur bones and eggs shells at the bottom of the cliffs. Close by (in Gobi terms) grow the rare Saxual trees. These wooden creatures are so dense that they can not float in water... well, if there was any.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Dead Cities Serjilla (Syria)

Scattered over a soft hill behind the modern town of Al-Ma'ara is another refreshingly strange site in Syria. A series of abandon old cities left to nature, sheep and local weekend picnickers. Some sites only have a few monuments, while places like Serjilla has crumbled buildings forming a whole town including a tavern, hammam (bath) and church. It's a tangled adventure to explore the huge area which is partly covered in fields, olive groves and long grass and with side roads going in every direction. Other dead cities are Jerada, Ruweiha and Al-Bara, but it's hard to figure out where one starts and ends.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Krak Des Chevaliers (Qala'at al-Hosn) Syria.

Travellers like the castle of Krak Des Chevaliers. It's a real fortress placed high on a hill with double walls, round watchtowers and everything. It was original build in 1031 by a local emir, but invaded by the crusaders in the tenth century, who made it an important stronghold on the route to the Holy Land. During that time it was extended with outer wall which made it impenetrable. In the end the castle got sieged by Mamluk forces in 1271, and the outnumbered crusaders withdrew and left the castle to the Mamluk sultan. They continued the enforcement of the castle in their oriental style, so today it's a big mix of everything.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Roman theatre Bosra Syria.

Bosra is an ancient city that became a major metropolis in Roman Empire acting as capital for Province of Arabia. Caravan routes passed by here, making it an important trading city throughout the Middle Ages. The main attraction is the huge and perfectly preserved Roman theatre which could seat 6000 spectators with additional 3000 standing. Today it looks even more enormous in the small town that Bosra has become. It's a surprisingly nice and friendly place, where people are still living among the Roman ruins. Come in the afternoon when the tour buses have left and you will get the whole place to yourself.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Cu Chi tunnels Outside Ho Chi Minh city(Vietnam)

This is the tunnels that the Viet Cong used to fight the South Vietnam alliance (including the Americans) under the Vietnam War (which the Vietnamese call the America War). There are two areas, Ben Duoc and Ben Dinh, which can be visit. All the tunnels that are open have been expanded to fit western size people, but you still need to crawl on your hands and knees to get through them. Over ground has turned into a tourist circus with shops and shooting range (with AK47s), but the propaganda video and the tunnels gives a pretty good insight to the horror of the war.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam(Afghanistan)

The 65m-tall Minaret of Jam is a graceful, soaring structure, dating back to the 12th century. Covered in elaborate brickwork with a blue tile inscription at the top, it is noteworthy for the quality of its architecture and decoration, which represent the culmination of an architectural and artistic tradition in this region. Its impact is heightened by its dramatic setting, a deep river valley between towering mountains in the heart of the Ghur province.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley(Afghanistan)

The cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley represent the artistic and religious developments which from the 1st to the 13th centuries characterized ancient Bakhtria, integrating various cultural influences into the Gandhara school of Buddhist art. The area contains numerous Buddhist monastic ensembles and sanctuaries, as well as fortified edifices from the Islamic period. The site is also testimony to the tragic destruction by the Taliban of the two standing Buddha statues, which shook the world in March 2001.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Butrint Albania.

Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bishopric. Following a period of prosperity under Byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was abandoned in the late Middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. The present archaeological site is a repository of ruins representing each period in the city’s development.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra(Albania)

Berat and Gjirokastra are inscribed as rare examples of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period. Located in central Albania, Berat bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries. It features a castle, locally known as the Kala, most of which was built in the 13th century, although its origins date back to the 4th century BC. The citadel area numbers many Byzantine churches, mainly from the 13th century, as well as several mosques built under the Ottoman era which began in 1417. Gjirokastra, in the Drinos river valley in southern Albania, features a series of outstanding two-story houses which were developed in the 17th century. The town also retains a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque and two churches of the same period.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley(Andorra)

The cultural landscape of Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley offers a microcosmic perspective of the way people have harvested the resources of the high Pyrenees over millennia. Its dramatic glacial landscapes of craggy cliffs and glaciers, with high open pastures and steep wooded valleys, covers an area of 4,247 ha, 9% of the total area of the principality. It reflects past changes in climate, economic fortune and social systems, as well as the persistence of pastoralism and a strong mountain culture, notably the survival of a communal land-ownership system dating back to the 13th century. The site features houses, notably summer settlements, terraced fields, stone tracks and evidence of iron smelting.

[Wise_Guy 44]

 Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls (Zambia)

These are among the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The Zambezi River, which is more than 2 km wide at this point, plunges noisily down a series of basalt gorges and raises an iridescent mist that can be seen more than 20 km away.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas(Zimbabwe)

On the banks of the Zambezi, great cliffs overhang the river and the floodplains. The area is home to a remarkable concentration of wild animals, including elephants, buffalo, leopards and cheetahs. An important concentration of Nile crocodiles is also be found in the area.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Great Zimbabwe National Monument.

The ruins of Great Zimbabwe – the capital of the Queen of Sheba, according to an age-old legend – are a unique testimony to the Bantu civilization of the Shona between the 11th and 15th centuries. The city, which covers an area of nearly 80 ha, was an important trading centre and was renowned from the Middle Ages onwards.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Matobo Hills (Zimbabwe)

The area exhibits a profusion of distinctive rock landforms rising above the granite shield that covers much of Zimbabwe. The large boulders provide abundant natural shelters and have been associated with human occupation from the early Stone Age right through to early historical times, and intermittently since. They also feature an outstanding collection of rock paintings. The Matobo Hills continue to provide a strong focus for the local community, which still uses shrines and sacred places closely linked to traditional, social and economic activities.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Old Walled City of Shibam (Yemen)

Surrounded by a fortified wall, the 16th-century city of Shibam is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction. Its impressive tower-like structures rise out of the cliff and have given the city the nickname of ‘the Manhattan of the desert’.

[Wise_Guy 44]

Old City of Sana'a (Yemen)

Situated in a mountain valley at an altitude of 2,200 m, Sana’a has been inhabited for more than 2,500 years. In the 7th and 8th centuries the city became a major centre for the propagation of Islam. This religious and political heritage can be seen in the 103 mosques, 14 hammams and over 6,000 houses, all built before the 11th century. Sana’a’s many-storeyed tower-houses built of rammed earth (pisé) add to the beauty of the site.