Tag Archives: Buildings

Petra

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Awe-inspiring, ancient city… Petra

  • Petra is an ancient city fortress located in southern Jordan in the Middle East, on the side of the mountain Jebel al-Madhbah, in amongst valleys and hills.
  • ‘Petra’ is an Ancient Greek word meaning ‘rock’ or ‘stone’, and is also known as the ‘Rose city’, describing the rock colour that is best seen at sunrises or sunsets.
  • Petra was built in an area that was a significant city on the trade route and had a good supply of water all year round from a stream, and the city was well known for its ancient and unique water and farming systems.
  • Historically, Nabataean folk populated the city of Petra and made it their capital, and at its most populated, the city accommodated 20,000 people.
  • Petra is said to have been established around 600 BC, and was occupied at one stage by the Romans, and later, Arabs.

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City front
Image courtesy of Maureen/Flickr
  • Petra was struck by an earthquake that weakened the city’s structure near the end of the Roman reign, and afterwards many valuable items were stolen from the numerous city tombs.
  • Petra became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and gained recognition as one the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007.
  • As well as damage from tourism and earthquakes, Petra suffers from erosion, flooding, structure collapse and the like, which has caused much deterioration of the city.
  • The first Western explorer to record the discovery of Petra was from Switzerland, by the name of John Burckhardt, in 1812.
  • One of the entrances to the city of Petra, known as Al-Khazneh, the ‘treasury’, has the dimensions of 30 by 43 metres (98 by 141 feet), which looks like the front of a mansion.
Bibliography:
Petra, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra
Petra, n.d, Jordan, http://www.visitjordan.com/default.aspx?tabid=63

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Parliament House – Canberra

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Parliament House – Canberra

The centre of Australia’s politics:  Parliament House.

  • Parliament House, situated on Capital Hill in Canberra, Australia, is where the Parliament of Australia meets, and much of the building is built into the hill.
  • Parliament House has 4,500 individual rooms, with the Main Foyer, a marble staircase leading to the Great Hall, a green coloured House of Representatives and a red coloured Senate, and is host to 4,000 to 5,000 workers when Parliament meets there.
  • Parliament House cost AU$1.1 billion to build at the time of construction and is said to have been the world’s most expensive building at that stage.
  • Parliament originally met in Melbourne from 1901 to 1927, before moving to Canberra where they met in the Provisional Parliament House, now known as Old Parliament House, which was intended to be a short-term site, until the new permanent site was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1988.
  • The American company, Mitchell/Giurgola and Thorp Architects, were the winners of the design contest for Parliament House, and construction commenced in 1981 and took 7 years to complete and involved in 10,000 workers.
View from War Memorial, Old Parliament House, New parliament house, Parliament of Australia, Canberra, Australia, Ten Random Facts, FlickrParliament Houses
Image courtesy of Brendon Ashton/Flickr
  • Parliament House caters for 1 million visitors every year, and is often visited by school groups.
  • Parliament House has a large, stainless steel, 81 metre (266 feet) high flagpole, flying a 12.8 by 6.4 metre (42 by 21 feet) Australian flag that weighs 15 kilograms (33 pounds).
  • Parliament House is 300 by 300 metres (328 by 328 yards) in area, and in the Southern Hemisphere, it is one of the largest buildings.
  • Parliament House houses an art collection of over 6,000 items and includes one of the world’s largest tapestries.
  • Parliament House is home to over 2,700 clocks, designed to inform members of parliament where they need to be, by flashing green or red lights.
Bibliography:
Parliament House, 2013, Parliamentary Education Office, http://www.peo.gov.au/students/fact_sheets/parliament_house.html
Parliament House, Canberra, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Canberra

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Hanging Gardens of Babylon

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Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Ten Random Facts’ birthday!

The legend of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

  • The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a legendary, and possibly mythical, garden part of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
  • The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are said to have had large pillars and a number of tiers and terraced levels, and the translation from the Greek and Latin words to describe the garden, more accurately use the word ‘overhanging’  rather than the literally ‘hanging’  garden which is depicted in the garden’s name.
  • The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is the only Wonder of the Ancient World that does not have a proven location.
  • According to Greek texts, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is depicted as a lush garden of exotic foliage and wildlife, with man-made waterfalls.
  • It has been historically believed that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were located at the ancient city of Babylon, built by King Nebuchadnezzar II, although there is no Babylonian evidence.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Picture, Art, Artist's Impression, Mythical, Ten Random Facts, Australia  By Maarten van Heemskerck, 16th century engraving
Image courtesy of Carla216/Flickr

  • There are many theories of the location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, with a lot of evidence supporting the ‘Hanging Gardens of Nineveh’ theory, and if this is true, the gardens would have been owned by King Sennacherib.
  • Some believe that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were destroyed in an earthquake, although many others believe erosion and conquest were the destruction factors.
  • It is believed that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built in the 6th or 7th century BC.
  • Historians believe that walls of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were 24 metres (80 feet) in height, approximately the height of  five storey building, and were made from a type of brick.
  • The height of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon would have required a significant irrigation system, that has been described as an amazing engineering feat.
Bibliography:
12 Key Facts and Legends about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 2010, Ancient World Wonders, <http://ancientworldwonders.com/12-facts-about-the-hanging-gardens-of-babylon.html>
Kyrstek L, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 2010, Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, <http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm>

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St Paul’s Cathedral

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St Paul’s Cathedral

Cathedral of St Paul.

  • St Paul’s Cathedral, an Anglican church, can be found on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in London City, United Kingdom, and is the home of the Bishop of London.
  • St Paul’s Cathedral was based on an English Baroque look and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren who was a well known English architect.
  • St Paul’s Cathedral was constructed between 1675 until 1711, with further work being carried out over the following years.
  • St Paul’s Cathedral at 111 metres (365 feet) in height was London’s tallest building, from 1710 to 1962, and has been popular in art and film, including Harry Potter, Star Trek, Sherlock Holmes and Mary Poppins.
  • St Paul’s Cathedral has held notable funerals, services and the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Queen Victoria’s and Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee celebrations.

St Paul's Cathedral, White, Anglican, London, Ten Random Facts, Church, Free Digital Photos

St Paul’s Cathedral, London
Image courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee/Free Digital Photos

  • St Paul’s Cathedral is at least the fourth on the site after a number of blazes destroyed the previous cathedrals, the last being destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
  • The total cost of St Paul’s Cathedral was £1.1 million in 1716, and is worth AUD$238 million (£139 million) in 2013.
  • In World War II, St Paul’s Cathedral was the target of a number of German bombs and suffered some damage, although one of the bombs would have completely destroyed the church if it hadn’t have been quickly defused.
  • St Paul’s Cathedral has been the subject of one of the largest ever restorations in the United Kingdom, taking 15 years, from 1996 until 2011.
  • St Paul’s Cathedral is the home of many pieces of art including sculptures, mosaics, painting and a magnificent organ, as well as the tombs of some notable people.
Bibliography:
St. Paul’s Cathedral, 2013, A View on Cities, <http://www.aviewoncities.com/london/stpaulscathedral.htm>
St Paul’s Cathedral, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul’s_Cathedral>

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Forbidden City

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Forbidden City

The city is not forbidden but entered by many.

  • The Forbidden City is found in the centre of China’s capital city, Beijing, and is now a museum as well as a major tourist destination in China, attracting almost 10 million visitors annually.
  • The Forbidden City is a 720,000 square meter (7.8 million square feet) rectangular complex, surrounded by a 10 metre (32 ft) high wall and a 52 metre (71 ft) wide moat.
  • The Forbidden city was built to accommodate emperor Zhu Di, and has housed 24 emperors from 1420 until 1912, although the last emperor, Puyi stayed on in the Inner Court until his eviction in 1924.
  • The Forbidden City is a complex of over 800 buildings, including palaces, temples and halls as well as rivers, parks, lakes and other outdoor beauties.
  • The Forbidden City is also known as the ‘Palace Museum’, the ‘Imperial Palace’ and the ‘Forbidden Palace’.

 Forbidden City, dark, Red, Sunlight, people, front, red, Beijing, 2011, flickr, Ten Random Facts

Forbidden City
Image courtesy of Daniel Thornton/Flickr
  • Until 1912 no one was allowed to enter the Forbidden City unless they gained the Emperor’s permission, however, due to the Chinese emperor’s abdication in 1912, the outer court became open to the public.
  • It is said that over a million people worked on the Forbidden City from 1400 to 1420 AD, including 100,000 artisans.
  • The Forbidden City was originally decorated with dragons, stone animals, arches, rails, beams and staircases lined with yellows and reds, and a process of major repair and restoration began in 2005 on the ‘city’, which was said to take more than 15 years.
  • The Forbidden City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is sited as the largest group of  historic wooden structures.
  • The Forbidden City has over 1 million artifacts, and to preserve these during the Japanese invasion of China, they were packed and moved to three different locations in 1933, where they stayed for approximately 12 years.
Bibliography:
Bonavia D, Peking, 1978, TIME-LIFE International, Amsterdam
Forbidden City, 2013, Wikipedia, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City>

Williams B, Ancient China, 1996, Heinemann Children’s Reference, Great Britain

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Golden Gate Bridge

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Golden Gate Bridge

Not gold, not a gate, but a bridge.

  • Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that is located over Golden Gate Strait between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States, and is  painted a colour known as ‘orange vermilion’ that has been nicknamed ‘International orange’, a colour that can be easily seen on foggy days.
  • Golden Gate Bridge was a replacement of the ferry that transported vehicles across the Golden Gate Strait for $1.
  • On average, more than 110,000 vehicles travel across the Golden Gate Bridge every day, and it has an electronic toll system that currently charges $5 to $42 depending on the vehicle.
  • The Golden Gate Bridge’s main designer was Joseph Strauss, an engineer who had designed other bridges at the time.
  • Golden Gate Bridge measures 2.7 km (1.7 miles) in length, has an above water height of 227.4 meters (746 feet), and 27.4 meters (90 feet) in width, has a clearance of 67.1 m (220 ft) for water traffic, and its main span length is 1,280 metres (4,200 feet) which was the longest span in the world for 27 years.

Golden Gate Bridge, Red, Orange, Misty, fog, Blue, Sea, Water, Suspension, Long, San Franisco, Car, United States, Ten Random Facts, Free Digital Photos

Golden Gate Bridge
Image courtesy of Porbital/ Free Digital Photos
  • At the time, Golden Gate Bridge cost $35 million to build, financed in bonds, but to make the bridge now it would cost over$1.2 billion.
  • Construction of Golden Gate Bridge commenced on the 5 January, 1933 and the opening was on 27 May, 1937, with its first vehicles crossing on 28 May, 1937.
  • A net was mounted under the bridge during construction to prevent the death of workers, which it did fairly effectively, saving 19 men, out of 30, and the survivors were known as the “Halfway-to-Hell Club”.
  • Golden Gate Bridge is said to be the second most popular site in the world for suicides, with more than 1,200 people having jumped to their death, and a current average of one suicide every two weeks, although there has been no physical barrier installed to prevent suicides, even though it is been debated numerous times.
  • Golden Gate Bridge has been closed three times all in December and all due to high wind speeds of 111 to 121km/hour (69 to 75 miles/hour) in 1951, 1982 and 1983, although the bridge has been closed for short hours for maintenance and other purposes.
Bibliography: Bridge, 2012, Golden Gate Bridge, <http://goldengate.org/>
Golden Gate Bridge, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge>
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