Discovering Historical Landmarks of Europe
Introduction
Europe is dwelling to many fashionable landmarks and historic websites, a few of that are historical whereas others are new. You could be conversant in these well-known landmarks, however on a European journey you’ll doubtless uncover many extra attention-grabbing locations to go to. Right here’s an inventory of my suggestions for locating historical landmarks in Europe:
Romania: The Bran Citadel
Bran Citadel is a landmark of Romania, and it’s positioned within the Bran space. It’s also referred to as “Dracula’s Citadel” as a result of it was featured in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. The fortress was constructed by Teutonic knights in 1330, after which it modified palms a number of instances till it grew to become property of Prince Vlad III Dracula (Vlad Tepes) in 1431.
The Bran space is filled with attention-grabbing locations to go to like: Brasov – The capital metropolis with many church buildings and museums; Sighisoara – A fortified medieval city; Rasnov Fortress – An outdated navy stronghold constructed on prime of a hill; Peles Citadel – Constructed for Queen Marie by King Carol I between 1873-1914; Lake Snagov Monastery – Based by monks from Athos throughout Byzantine period
France: Notre Dame Cathedral
The Notre Dame Cathedral is positioned within the coronary heart of Paris. It was constructed between 1163 and 1345, however its historical past goes again a lot additional than that: in response to legend, it was initially commissioned by Charlemagne in 786 AD. The cathedral was destroyed in the course of the French Revolution and rebuilt underneath Napoleon III in 1858-1890; as we speak it’s thought-about one in all France’s most necessary landmarks.
The principle attraction inside Notre Dame is its stained glass home windows–there are 59 completely different ones all through the constructing that depict scenes from Genesis by Revelations (together with one referred to as “The Final Judgment” which depicts Jesus Christ judging all humanity). Outdoors you’ll discover statues depicting numerous saints together with Joan of Arc, Saint Denis (who introduced Christianity to France), Saint Genevieve (who saved Paris from Attila), Sainte Anne (mom of Virgin Mary), Sainte Marguerite Bourgeoys (founding father of Montreal), Saint Martin de Porres (a Dominican brother who labored with lepers) and Pope John XXIII amongst others!
Spain: Palace of Alhambra
The Palace of Alhambra is a Moorish palace-fortress advanced positioned in Granada, Spain. It was initially constructed by Moorish rulers within the ninth century and later rebuilt many instances by Christian rulers. The palace is most notable for itsoutstanding structure that blends each Muslim and Christian types of design, in addition to its wealthy cultural historical past.
The Alhambra was initially constructed as a fortress to guard town from Christian invaders throughout Spain’s Reconquista interval (711-1492). It wasn’t till later when it grew to become dwelling to a few of Spain’s strongest rulers who reworked it into an extravagant palace crammed with lovely gardens, fountains and courtyards
Greece: Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens is an historical citadel positioned on a rocky outcrop above town of Athens, Greece. It was a fortified settlement and a sacred place for the traditional Athenians. The phrase acropolis comes from the Greek phrases “akros” that means “peak” and “polis,” that means “metropolis.”
The Acropolis is taken into account to be some of the necessary monuments in Western civilization and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Website since 1987.
Italy: Colosseum of Rome
The Colosseum of Rome is an elliptical amphitheater within the middle of Rome, Italy. Constructed by Vespasian and Titus between 70 and 80 AD, it’s thought-about one of many biggest works of Roman structure and engineering. The Colosseum might maintain as much as 50,000 spectators and was used primarily for gladiator fights and public spectacles similar to animal hunts.
The Romans started constructing their well-known amphitheaters in round 80 BC after they established a everlasting metropolis close to modern-day Rome. They began with wood constructions however later moved onto stone arenas like this one at Pompeii (which was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius). The Colosseum wasn’t completed till about 80 AD underneath Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus Augustus (Vespasian).
UK – Stonehenge (England)
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, 2 miles west of Amesbury and eight miles north of Salisbury. It consists of a hoop of standing stones set inside earthworks. The outermost circle includes 56 stones (with one fallen), every round 13 ft (4 m) excessive with a mean diameter of about 7 ft (2 m). The subsequent interior circle has Sarsen stones that had been positioned there throughout three foremost constructing phases; these consist of 4 trilithons every measuring about 30 ft (9 m) throughout with a peak as much as 15 ft (4.6 m). As well as there are 10 single upright stones often known as bluestones which initially stood within the centre of this interior circle however have now been moved to their current place exterior it; these could also be pure boulders or quarried blocks from Preseli in south-west Wales the place they had been found by archaeologists between 1808 and 1815.
The location was constructed between 3100 BC and 1600 BC by successive cultures who left many artifacts behind: flint instruments utilized by hunter gatherers who lived there earlier than farming was launched from continental Europe; pottery from Neolithic farmers who constructed causeways throughout what grew to become flooded marshland; bronze axes etcetera
These are a few of the hottest landmarks in Europe, however there’s no telling what you may uncover by yourself journey.
In case you’ve been to those landmarks, or in the event you’re planning to go by yourself journey, we’d love to listen to about it! Please go away us a remark beneath and tell us what your ideas are.
If there are every other locations in Europe that you just’d like us to go to and write about, please tell us! We are going to do our greatest to get there and share the expertise with everybody else who loves exploring new locations as a lot as we do!
Conclusion
We hope this text has helped you uncover a few of the most well-known landmarks in Europe, and possibly even impressed you to go to some new ones. We additionally wish to remind you that these are only a few examples–there are such a lot of different locations which are price seeing! So in the event you’re planning your subsequent trip and need one thing completely different than what everybody else is doing, contemplate exploring a few of these historical websites. They may simply be what makes it particular for all of us