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There are so many instances of great architecture
throughout history that it is hard to cherry pick a few, but I will try.
Architecture is a vital artform that pervades all of our lives and its
best examples touch our soul.
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Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (officially known as
Wat Phra Sri Rattana Satsadaram) is regarded as the most important
Buddhist temple in Thailand. Located in the historic centre of Bangkok,
within the grounds of the Grand Palace, it enshrines Phra Kaew Morakot
(the Emerald Buddha), the highly revered Buddha image meticulously
carved from a single block of jade.
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Before well known by the name of Bath, a small town in Southwest England
was known as Aquae Sulis by the Romans, 2,000 years ago. This makes it
one of the oldest tourist destinations in the UK.Aquae Sulis name comes
from the first temple in Bath springs built by the Celts, and dedicated
to the goddess Sulis. After the Roman invasion, Sulis identified with
the goddess Minerva, but the name Sulis continue to be used. This makes
it earned the nickname Aquae Sulis in ancient Roman times.
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The magnificent palace complex at Persepolis was founded by Darius the
Great around 518 B.C., although more than a century passed before it was
finally completed. Conceived to be the seat of government for the
Achaemenian kings and a center for receptions and ceremonial
festivities, the wealth of the Persian empire was evident in all aspects
of its construction. The splendor of Persepolis, however, was
short-lived; the palaces were looted and burned by Alexander the Great
in 331-330 B.C. The ruins were not excavated until the Oriental
Institute of the University of Chicago sponsored an archaeological
expedition to Persepolis and its environs under the supervision of
Professor Ernst Herzfeld from 1931 to 1934, and Erich F. Schmidt from
1934 to 1939.
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Hagia Sophia, the most beautiful Christian Church in the World from
Byzantine Times. Today Hagia Sophia is a museum, honoring both the
Christian and Muslim religions. The Hagia Sophia was constructed in five
years, from 532 to 537, at the orders of Emperor Justinian I and
designed by Isidore of Miletus. Immediately after the Turks conquered
Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted to a
mosque. In 1935, the first Turkish President and founder of the Republic
of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, transformed the building into a
museum. The carpets were removed and the marble floor decorations
appeared for the first time in centuries, while the white plaster which
covered the mosaics were peeled off with the long and careful work of
experts.
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The Alhambra was a palace, a citadel, a fortress and home of the Nasrid
Sultans, high government officials, servants of the court and elite
soldiers of the Nasrid Dynasty (1238-1492), the last Islamic sultanate
in the lberian Peninsula. Together with the Mezquita (Great Mosque) of
Cordoba, the Alhambra is one of the most widely known of all Islamic
works of art. The Nasrid Sultans chose as the site for their court the
Sabika hill, one of the foothills of Sierra Nevada on the plain of
Granada, which constituted an excellent site from which to keep watch
over the capital of their kingdom and the surrounding area. |