The City of Forbidden. During the Ming and Qing eras, the royal palace was located in the heart of Beijing and is known locally as Gu Gong. It is located north of Tian'anmen Square and is now known as the Palace Museum. It is the largest palace complex in the world, spanning 74 hectares and having a rectangular shape.
The Palace evolved into a model seat of power and hosted some of the most significant occasions in French history, including the signing of the German Empire's declaration in 1871 after the Prussians had defeated France in battle.
The mosque known as Hagia Sophia, or the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, is located in Istanbul, Turkey, and is a significant historical and cultural landmark. Completed in 537 AD, it was the final of three church buildings that the Eastern Roman Empire built on the site.
With an area four times larger than Vatican City, Angkor Wat is both the world's greatest sacred monument and a masterwork of architecture. Angkor Wat is about nine hundred years old, having been constructed by the Khmer King Suryavarman II between the years of 1110 and 1150 in the first half of the 12th century.
The state of Karnataka in southern India is home to the historic settlement of Hampi. There are countless abandoned Vijayanagara Empire temple complexes scattered around it. The seventh-century Hindu Virupaksha Temple is located next to the reopened Hampi Bazaar on the south side of the Tungabhadra River. Standing in front of the enormous Vittala Temple site is a carved stone chariot. The Indian sloth bear can be seen in Daroji Bear Sanctuary, southeast of Hampi.
Known by many names as the "Temple of the Pure Water Spring," Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple located in Kyoto, Japan. The location is well-known for its magnificent viewing platform, three-story Koyasu pagoda, and the Otowa Spring's therapeutically pure waters.
In the Campania region of southern Italy, close to the Bay of Naples coast, is the extensive archeological site of Pompeii. Pompeii was once a prosperous and advanced Roman city that was completely destroyed by the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., burying the city under meters of ash and chalk. Excavated remnants of homes and streets can be freely explored by visitors at the conserved site.
The world's largest sheet of flowing water, Victoria Falls is notable for its remarkable geological and geomorphological features, active land creation processes, and breathtaking beauty, which is attributed to the falls' mist, spray, and rainbows.
Christ The Redeemer is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was constructed by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa in association with French engineer Albert Caquot, and it was designed by French sculptor Paul Landowski. The face was created by Gheorghe Leonida, a Romanian sculptor.
Located directly east of the Roman Forum in the heart of Rome, Italy, is an elliptical amphitheater known as the Colosseum. Despite its age, it is still the largest standing amphitheater in the world and the largest ancient amphitheater ever constructed.
The Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico is home to the Mayan ruin complex known as Chichén Itzá. Known as the Temple of Kukulcan or El Castillo, a gigantic step pyramid, stands in stark contrast to the old city, which flourished from approximately 600 A.D. until the 1200s. There are still visible graphic stone carvings at places like the Wall of the Skulls, the Temple of the Warriors, and the ball court. The intricate geometry of the buildings is illuminated by nightly sound and light performances.
The most popular tourist destination in Peru is Machu Picchu, located in the Andes Mountains at an elevation of almost 7,000 feet above sea level. Constructed approximately in 1450 AD, Machu Picchu is a representation of the Incan Empire. In 1983, UNESCO recognized it a World Heritage Site, and in 2007, it was included in the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Situated among rough desert canyons and mountains in the present-day southwest of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Petra was the capital of the Nabataean empire and a bustling commerce hub between 400 B.C. and 106 A.D. For centuries, the city lay abandoned and nearly destroyed.
Located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, on the Yamuna River's right bank, stands the ivory-white marble mausoleum known as the Taj Mahal. The fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, ordered it built in 1631 to contain both his own mausoleum and the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, his adored wife.
As a line of protection against several nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe, the Great Wall of China is a collection of fortifications that spanned the historical northern frontiers of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China. The Great Wall of China is believed to have been constructed over 3,000 years ago, with historians generally considering the defensive walls constructed during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE) and the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) to be the earliest sections of the wall.
The Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest and last of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, is a World Heritage site designated by UNESCO. This pyramid serves as King Khufu's ultimate resting place and is the largest and oldest of the nine pyramids located at the Giza Necropolis. Treasured objects like gold, jewels, ceramics, and sculptures of the Pharaoh that the Egyptians thought he would carry with him to the afterlife were found inside the pyramid.
