Europe
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Top Historic Sites in Europe, Part 1
A region that was settled around 35,000 BC, Europe is just full of ruins and historically significant sites. I’ve been to Europe a few times and it has always amazed me how many amazing things there are to see. History mixed with modern and ruins surrounded by technology. Europe really is such a wonderful place. Seeing as Europe is so old, there are hundreds of thousands of historic sites around the region. It’s hard to pick favorites, so I asked a group of travel bloggers which were their favorite historic sites around Europe. There are too many for one post, so this will be a five-part series showcasing the most memorable…
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The World Heritage Sites of London
Did you know London has the honor of being home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites? Come check out the sites which have been honored with the distinction of being of extreme cultural and historical significance.
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Michelangelo’s Pieta
Shortly after 23-year-old Michelangelo Buonarroti arrived in Rome in 1497, he was approached by French Cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas for a special task. Cardinal Bilhères wanted an extraordinary sculpture made for his mausoleum in the Chapel of Santa Petronilla, the chapel for the King of France in St. Peter’s Basilica, and he wanted the very young and very talented Michelangelo to create it for him. Michelangelo accepted the commission and promised to create “the most beautiful work of marble in Rome, one that no living artist could better” (Jansen, 459). After returning from a short trip to Carrara, Italy, in 1498 to secure the best marble he could find,…
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The Great Mosque of Cordoba
In the southern half of Spain, in one of the oldest cities in the region, lies one of the most unique structures in religious history. Beginning in 152 BC, in a city that would become the capital of the Islamic Emirate and, for a time, the most populous city in the world, a sacred edifice was erected that has fascinated the public for generations. First, it was a temple built by the Romans, next it was converted to a Catholic church by the Visigoths and then it became an Islamic mosque built by Abd al-Rahman I in 784 AD before being altered in a way that has never been done…
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The Caryatid of the Erechtheion
In the time around 420 BC in Athens, the creation of one of the world’s most classic pieces of architecture was taking place. The Persians had destroyed much of the city during a recent invasion, so Pericles, the general of Athens from 461-429 BC, commissioned two men to restore the damaged buildings atop the Acropolis. Along with restoring the sacred religious building the Persians had destroyed, Pericles also requested that they build another building, The Erechtheion. It was then that Mnesicles, an architect, and Phidias, a sculptor and mason, created what is now known as The Caryatid of the Erechtheion (khanacademy.org; Ross). Purpose The purpose for the Erechtheion is lightly…
