Facts city Fun Facts and Trivia

 Eiffel Tower Type Observation tower Broadcasting tower Location 7th arrondissement, Paris, France Coordinates 48°51′29.6″N 2°17′40.2″E Construction started 28 January 1887; 134 years ago Completed 15 March 1889; 132 years ago Opening 31 March 1889; 132 years ago Owner City of Paris, France Management Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) Height Architectural 300 m (984 ft) Tip 324 m (1,063 ft) Top floor 276 m (906 ft) Technical details Floor count 3 Lifts/elevators 8 Design and construction Architect Stephen Sauvestre Structural engineer Maurice Koechlin Émile Nouguier Main contractor Compagnie des Etablissements Eiffel Eiffel Tower, French Tour Eiffel, Parisian landmark that is also a technological masterpiece in building-construction history. When the French government was organizing the International Exposition of 1889 to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, a competition was held for designs for a suitable monument. More than 100 plans were submitted, an...

 Angkor Wat Alternative name Nokor Wat Location Siem Reap, Cambodia Coordinates 13°24′45″N 103°52′01″E Altitude 65 m (213 ft) History Builder Started by Suryavarman II Founded Early 12th century Cultures Khmer Empire Architectural styles Khmer (Angkor Wat style) Angkor Wat, temple complex at Angkor, near Siĕmréab, Cambodia, that was built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–c. 1150). The vast religious complex of Angkor Wat comprises more than a thousand buildings, and it is one of the great cultural wonders of the world. Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious structure, covering some 400 acres (160 hectares), and marks the high point of Khmer architecture. The city of Angkor served as the royal centre from which a dynasty of Khmer kings ruled one of the largest, most prosperous, and most sophisticated kingdoms in the history of Southeast Asia. From the end of the 9th century until early in the 13th century, numerous construction projects were undertaken, ...

 Parthenon General information Type Temple Architectural style Classical Location Athens, Greece Construction started 447 BC Completed 432 BC Destroyed Partially on 26 September 1687 Height 13.72 m (45.0 ft) Other dimensions Cella: 29.8 by 19.2 m (98 by 63 ft) Technical details Material Pentelic Marble Size 69.5 by 30.9 m (228 by 101 ft) Floor area 238 ft. long by 111 ft. wide  Design and construction Architect Iktinos, Callicrates Other designers Phidias (sculptor) Parthenon, temple that dominates the hill of the Acropolis at Athens. It was built in the mid-5th century bce and dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”). The temple is generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order, the simplest of the three Classical Greek architectural orders. The Acropolis The Parthenon was part of a magnificent rebuilding program directed by the Athenian statesman Pericles, following the sack of the Acropolis during the Greco-Pers...

 Stonehenge Location Wiltshire, England Coordinates 51°10′44″N 1°49′34″W Type Monument Height Each standing stone was around 13 ft (4.0 m) high History Material Sarsen, Bluestone Founded Bronze Age Site notes Ownership The Crown Management English Heritage Stonehenge, prehistoric stone circle monument, cemetery, and archaeological site located on Salisbury Plain, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Though there is no definite evidence as to the intended purpose of Stonehenge, it was presumably a religious site and an expression of the power and wealth of the chieftains, aristocrats, and priests who had it built—many of whom were buried in the numerous barrows close by. It was aligned on the Sun and possibly used for observing the Sun and Moon and working out the farming calendar. Or perhaps the site was dedicated to the world of the ancestors, separated from the world of the living, or was a healing centre. Whether it was used by the Druids (Celtic priests...

 Colosseum Location Regio III Isis et Serapis, Rome, Italy Coordinates 41°53′25″N 12°29′32″E Type Amphitheatre History Builder Vespasian, Titus Founded AD 70–80; 1942 years ago Colosseum, also called Flavian Amphitheatre, giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. Construction of the Colosseum was begun sometime between 70 and 72 ce during the reign of Vespasian. It is located just east of the Palatine Hill, on the grounds of what was Nero’s Golden House. The artificial lake that was the centrepiece of that palace complex was drained, and the Colosseum was sited there, a decision that was as much symbolic as it was practical. Vespasian, whose path to the throne had relatively humble beginnings, chose to replace the tyrannical emperor’s private lake with a public amphitheatre that could host tens of thousands of Romans. The structure was officially dedicated in 80 ce by Titus in a ceremony that included 100 days of games. Later, in 82 ce, Domitian completed the wor...

 Christ the Redeemer Coordinates 22°57′7″S 43°12′38″W Location Corcovado mountain, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Designer Designed by sculptor Paul Landowski and built by engineer Heitor da Silva Costa in collaboration with Albert Caquot. Sculptor Gheorghe Leonida created the face Material Soapstone Width 28 metres (92 ft) Height 30 metres (98 ft), 38 metres (125 ft) with its pedestal Completion date Dedicated October 12, 1931 Christ the Redeemer, Portuguese Cristo Redentor, colossal statue of Jesus Christ at the summit of Mount Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. Celebrated in traditional and popular songs, Corcovado towers over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s principal port city. The statue of Christ the Redeemer was completed in 1931 and stands 98 feet (30 metres) tall, its horizontally outstretched arms spanning 92 feet (28 metres). The statue has become emblematic of both the city of Rio de Janeiro and the whole nation of Brazil. The statue, made of reinforced concrete clad in a...

 Petra The Khaznah (“Treasury”) at Petra Location of Petra Location Ma'an Governorate, Jordan Coordinates 30°19′43″N 35°26′31″E Area 264 km2 (102 sq mi) Elevation 810 m (2,657 ft) Built Possibly as early as the 5th century BC Visitors 1,135,300 (in 2019) Governing body Petra Region Authority Petra, Arabic Baṭrā, ancient city, centre of an Arab kingdom in Hellenistic and Roman times, the ruins of which are in southwest Jordan. The city was built on a terrace, pierced from east to west by the Wadi Mūsā (the Valley of Moses)—one of the places where, according to tradition, the Israelite leader Moses struck a rock and water gushed forth. The valley is enclosed by sandstone cliffs veined with shades of red and purple varying to pale yellow, and for this reason Petra was called by the 19th-century English biblical scholar John William Burgon a “rose-red city half as old as Time.” The modern town of Wadi Mūsā, situated adjacent to the ancient city, chiefly serves the steady stream of tour...

 K2(Mount Godwin Austen) K2 (Mount Godwin Austen), in the Karakoram Range, viewed from the Gilgit-Baltistan district of the Pakistani-administered portion of the Kashmir region. K2, Chinese Qogir Feng, also called Mount Godwin Austen, called locally Dapsang or Chogori, the world’s second highest peak (28,251 feet [8,611 metres]), second only to Mount Everest. K2 is located in the Karakoram Range and lies partly in a Chinese-administered enclave of the Kashmir region within the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China, and partly in the Gilgit-Baltistan portion of Kashmir under the administration of Pakistan. The glacier- and snow-covered mountain rises from its base at about 15,000 feet (4,570 metres) on the Godwin Austen Glacier, a tributary of the Baltoro Glacier. The mountain was discovered in 1856 by Col. T.G. Montgomerie of the Survey of India, and it was given the symbol K2 because it was the second peak measured in the Karakoram Range. The name Mount Godwin Austen is for t...

 Mount Everest Mount Everest Mount Everest, Sanskrit and Nepali Sagarmatha, Tibetan Chomolungma, Chinese (Pinyin) Zhumulangma Feng or (Wade-Giles romanization) Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng, also spelled Qomolangma Feng, mountain on the crest of the Great Himalayas of southern Asia that lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, at 27°59′ N 86°56′ E. Reaching an elevation of 29,032 feet (8,849 metres), Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Like other high peaks in the region, Mount Everest has long been revered by local peoples. Its most common Tibetan name, Chomolungma, means “Goddess Mother of the World” or “Goddess of the Valley.” The Sanskrit name Sagarmatha means literally “Peak of Heaven.” Its identity as the highest point on the Earth’s surface was not recognized, however, until 1852, when the governmental Survey of India established that fact. In 1865 the mountain—previously referred to as Peak XV—was renamed for Sir George Everest, Briti...

 Forbidden City Location of forbidden city Forbidden City, Chinese (Pinyin) Zijincheng or (Wade-Giles romanization) Tzu-chin-ch’eng, imperial palace complex at the heart of Beijing (Peking), China. Commissioned in 1406 by the Yongle emperor of the Ming dynasty, it was first officially occupied by the court in 1420. It was so named because access to the area was barred to most of the subjects of the realm. Government functionaries and even the imperial family were permitted only limited access; the emperor alone could enter any section at will. The 178-acre (72-hectare) compound was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 in recognition of its importance as the centre of Chinese power for five centuries, as well as for its unparalleled architecture and its current role as the Palace Museum of dynastic art and history. The architecture of the walled complex adheres rigidly to the traditional Chinese geomantic practice of feng shui. The orientation of the Forbidden City, and f...