July 8th, 2007 by Shenron
The Chichen Itza is a large archaeological area located in Mexico in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula, and was a major center for the Mayans. It is believed that the construction began at around the seventh century, and became a major center between then and the tenth century.
The city is unique in that when it was actively ruled, rather than having a regent or single ruler it relied on a council which chose of what actions to take and not to take - however there was by far no evidence of democracy as all the councils were of royal blood. In the thirteenth century the Chichen Itza began its decline, with a civil war and ruler ship of its location shifted to another city. The former city consist of many buildings, such as El Castillo or the Temple of Kukulcan, the Temple of the Warriors, the Ball-court, the High Priests Temple, the Las Monjas, El Caracol, and many others densely packed in the ceremonial center and surrounding area.
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July 8th, 2007 by Shenron
The Statue of Christ the Redeemer stands 38 meters tall over the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and is located at the peak of the 700 meter tall Corcovado Mountain, weighing an impressive 700 tons. The first ideas came about in the 1850’s; however nothing was constructed until a few years before its opening in 1931 to the public, and it celebrated its anniversary for its seventy fifth year in October 2006.
There is also a small chapel so weddings can be performed underneath the statue of Christ The Redeemer. It had been originally planned that the statue of Christ The Redeemer would be constructed out of steel, however the choice was changed before construction to switch to reinforced concrete, and then the outer layers were made from soapstone. Today it is one of the most popular religious tourism spots in Brazil, and very popular for weddings and baptisms.
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July 8th, 2007 by Shenron
Timbuktu is a city in Mali, and it is home to the Qur’anic Sankore University, and other Islamic schools and colleges. Its construction was carried out in the 10th century initially by the nomads called the Tuareg, and it grew to wealth and power because of its prime trade location, along with being a keystone city for the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire, and reached its pinnacle in the 1500’s. However afterwards marked the decline of the city became the future, and today it has recently been involved in militant conflicts arising from the Tuareg Rebellion which lasted from 1990 to 1996. Tinbuktu’s libraries hold ancient manuscripts and writings dating back to the 1500’s and some earlier, with over a million artifacts - it would be a tragic loss to history if anything happened to it. Today it is impoverished, albeit has an international airport, and came under threat of sands throughout the 2000’s.
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July 8th, 2007 by Shenron
The Sydney Opera House is one of the most well known 20th Century buildings and performing arts centers in the world. It is in Sydney Harbor, Australia and hosts many a production, from symphonies to ballet to theatre to musical productions and many more. It was completed in 1973 and seats 2679 people in its concert hall that features an organ with 10,000 pipes, 1547 people in the Opera Theatre, 544 seats in the Drama Theatre, 398 in the Playhouse, and 364 in the Studio Theatre. After a competition was launched in 1955 Jorn Utzon was the winner and his design was chosen. Construction began in 1959 and spanned until 1973, with each stage taking roughly four years. With its designer still alive, he has proposed changes to the building to fit more with his ideas which were somewhat left out due to his resignation from the project in 1966 after a spat about the control he had in Stage III of construction, and the costs that it had incurred.
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July 8th, 2007 by Shenron
The Alhambra is a fortress/palace complex built in the 13th century AD as a Moor stronghold which serves today as a museum which exhibits all sorts of Islamic architecture and other relevant items from the time period. It is a large complex and has a terrace where the Alhambra settles that measures about 740 meters in length by 208 meters in width, and covers about 142,000 meters squared. The artwork within the palace is extensive, as everything is decorated and exemplifies the last great era of the Moorish rulers and their small empire, and since then it has been consistently restored - however in the 1500’s Charles the fifth had done much to damage the original architecture by having areas torn down and rebuilt with renaissance styled buildings, and repainted, along with Philip the fifth in the 1700’s Italianizing much of the remaining structure. Today it provides much of the local income through the spanish tourism industry.
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July 8th, 2007 by Shenron
Built in the 19th century by Ludwig II, this Bavarian Castle became the model of the Walt Disney Castle, and is a magnificent example of construction; however it was never finished completely inside, as Ludwig II was deposed before he could complete it. The castle is now owned by the German state of Bavaria and serves as one of its major draws to the area in tourism and tours. King Ludwig II had been inspired by the works of Wagner, and hired a set designer to help draft up an overall look, which was then looked over by the court construction engineer, and thus began construction in 1869. Only fourteen of the interior rooms are completely finished, with the rest remaining bare and incomplete. The impact on the local economy in Bavaria has been positive, bringing in much needed commerce and jobs to the locals, and it holds the record as the most photographed building in Germany.
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July 8th, 2007 by Shenron
The Hagia Sophia is a former mosque that is now a museum in Istanbul Turkey, and it is famous for its amazingly well constructed dome. Originally in the fifth century AD the Byzantine Emperor ordered its construction on the site of where two previous churches had been. The church contained many relics and a 50 foot silver iconostasis. A millennia later the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and the church was converted to being a mosque, and remained so until the 1930s, after the Ottoman Empire had fallen. The Hagia Sophia suffered from many disasters, including an earthquake in the 10th century, which forced repairs to its dome, and it was also ransacked with the fourth crusade. It survived by constant restorations afterwards, along with additional buttresses, but again it was fixed. It is the best surviving structure created during the height of the Byzantine Empire, and one of the longest lived buildings, surviving many encounters with possible destruction.
Posted in 7 Wonders of the Middle Ages, The 21 Finalists | | 0 Comments
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