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 The Great Sphinx of Egypt
Country: Egypt
City: Cairo
In a depression to the south of Chephren's pyramid sits a creature with a human head and a lion's body. The name 'sphinx' which means 'strangler' was first given by the Greeks to a fabulous creature which had the head of a woman and the body of a lion and the wings of a bird. The sphinx appears to have started in Egypt in the form of a sun god. The Egyptian sphinx is usually a head of a king weari ... |
St. Basil's CathedralCountry: Russia
City: Moscow
The famous St. Basil's Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible and built on the edge of Red Square between 1555 and 1561. Legend has it that on completion of the church the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, to be blinded to prevent him from ever creating anything to rival its beauty again. The cathedral was built to commemorate Ivan the Terrible's successful military campaign a ... |
Stephansdom - St. Stephen's CathedralCountry: Austria
City: Vienna
Visit St. Stephen's Cathedral - Stephansdom, one of Vienna’s most famous sights. St. Stephen's Cathedral defines the city centre and has been the heart of Vienna for centuries. It is one of the most famous Viennese sights and was built in 1147 AD. For a long time it was uncontested as highest building in Europe measuring almost 137 m.
Duke Rudolf IV of Habsburg ordered the complete restructuring ... |
Clock MuseumCountry: Austria
City: Vienna
The City of Vienna Clock Museum has been housed since 1921 in the "Harfenhaus" (Harpist's House), one of the oldest houses in Vienna. The collection is on three floors and illustrates the development of clocks from the 15th C. to the present day. The 1,200 or so exhibits include very basic clocks, tower and table clocks, pocket watches, Austrian lantern timepieces of the Biedermeier period, clocks ... |
History of the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft and the Kunsthaus collectionCountry: Switzerland
City: Zurich
History of the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft and the Kunsthaus collection Founded in 1787, the Künstlergesellschaft began to collect works of art in 1794. Every member donated either one of his or her own drawings or one by an artist towards what they termed a ‘Malerbuch’ – a painting book. In 1812 they took out a loan to acquire premises, which initially functioned as a club house and bar. Thank ... |
Opera House - OpernhausCountry: Switzerland
City: Zurich
Zurich received its first permanent theatre, the “Aktientheater”, in 1834. This was also the centre of Richard Wagner’s activities during his Zurich exile. Today’s theatre, which seats 1,100, was built near Bellevue to plans by the Viennese architects Fellner and Helmer in 1891 after the 1834 building burnt down. To begin with, both music and drama were performed at what was known as the “Stadtthe ... |
History of the Swiss National MuseumCountry: Switzerland
City: Zurich
The Swiss National Museum, ZurichThe 19th century is generally regarded as the century of nations and nation states. While other countries were busily erecting memorials, monuments and institutions, though, the young federal state of Switzerland struggled with the idea of setting up a national museum.
Plans to create one met with widespread scepticism, and there were also entirely pragmatic reas ... |
The Fraumunster and St Peter’s ChurchCountry: Switzerland
City: Zurich
Church spires are a feature of Zurich and the souring Fraumunster is the most delicate. The church was established in the 13th century on a site that had been a convent for noblewomen since 853. The present church, however, has been modernized. From the outside, the building looks fairly unassuming but once inside, the world-famous modernistic stained-glass windows by Russian-born Marc Chagall spr ... |
Leopoldskron Castle - Schloss LeopoldskronCountry: Austria
City: Salzburg
One of Austria’s most notable Rococo buildings is Leopoldskron Castle, a beautiful piece of architecture by the little lake “Leopoldskroner Weiher”. It was ordered by Prince Archbishop Leopold Anton Firmian, who also built Schloss Klessheim, in order to accommodate him and his family. He hired the architect Pater Bernhard Stuart, who was a Benedictine monk from Regensburg in Bavaria and a Professo ... |
Park Guell Country: Spain
City: Barcelona
The Park Güell is an absolute must-see when visiting Barcelona!The park was commissioned by Graf Eusebi Güell in 1900. Eusebi was very much adherent to the idea English garden cities.
However, the project failed before its completion due to financial reasons. In the run-up to the project 60 villas were supposed to be sold in order to finance the garden city. Unfortunately Gaudí’s and Güell’s ide ... |
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