Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York, The Empire State. It stood as the worlds tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Centers North Tower was completed in 1972. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, the Empire State Building once again became the tallest building in New York City and New York State.

The Empire State Building has been named by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and confirmed by the New York City Board of Estimate. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the List of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA. The building is owned and managed by W&H Properties.

The Empire State Building is the third tallest skyscraper in the Americas and the 15th tallest in the world. It is also the fourth tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. The Empire State building is currently undergoing a $120 million renovation in an effort to transform the building into a more energy efficient and eco-friendly structure. The site of the Empire State Building was first developed as the John Thomson Farm in the late 18th century. At the time, a stream ran across the site, emptying into Sunfish Pond, located a block away. Beginning in the late 19th century the block was occupied by Waldorf Astoria Hotel, frequented by The Four Hundred, the social elite of New York.

The Empire State Building was designed by William F. Lamb from the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, which produced the building drawings in just two weeks, using its earlier designs for the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio as a basis. The general contractors were The Starrett Brothers and Eken, and the project was financed primarily by John J. Raskob and Pierre S. du Pont. The construction company was chaired by Alfred E. Smith, a former Governor of New York and James Farley's General Builders Supply Corporation supplied the building materials. John W. Bowser was project construction superintendent.

The Empire State Building rises to 1,250 ft or 381 m at the 102nd floor, and including the 203 ft or 62 m pinnacle, its full height reaches 1,453 ft 89⁄16 in or 443.09 m. The building has 85 stories of commercial and office space representing 2,158,000 sq ft or 200,500 m2. It has an indoor and outdoor observation deck on the 86th floor. The remaining 16 stories represent the Art Deco tower, which is capped by a 102nd-floor observatory. Atop the tower is the 203 ft or 62 m pinnacle, much of which is covered by broadcast antennas, with a lightning rod at the very top.

The Empire State Building was the first building to have more than 100 floors. It has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators, and there are 1,860 steps from street level to the 103rd floor. It has a total floor area of 2,768,591 sq ft or 257,211 m2. The base of the Empire State Building is about 2 acres or 8,094 m2. The building houses 1,000 businesses, and has its own zip code, 10118. More than 21,000 employees work in the building each day, making the Empire State Building the second largest single office complex in America, after the Pentagon. The building was completed in one year and 45 days.

The Empire State Building has 73 elevators in all, including service elevators. It takes less than one minute by elevator to get to the 86th floor, where an observation deck is located. The building has 70 mi or 113 km of pipe, 2,500,000 ft or 760,000 m of electrical wire, and about 9,000 faucets. It is heated by low pressure steam despite its height, the building only requires between 2 and 3 psi or 14 and 21 kPa of steam pressure for heating. It weighs approximately 370,000 short tons or 340,000 t. The exterior of the building was built using Indiana limestone panels. The Empire State Building cost $40,948,900 to build.


The Empire State Building features an art deco design in New York. The modernistic stainless steel canopies of the entrances on 33rd and 34th Streets lead to two story-high corridors around the elevator core, crossed by stainless steel and glass-enclosed bridges at the second-floor level. The elevator core contains 67 elevators. The lobby is three stories high and features an aluminum relief of the skyscraper without the antenna, which was not added to the spire until 1952. The north corridor contains eight illuminated panels, created by Roy Sparkia and Renee Nemorov in 1963, depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World, alongside the traditional seven.

The Empire State Building has one of the most popular outdoor observatories in the world, having been visited by over 110 million people. The 86th floor observation deck offers impressive 360 degree views of the city. There is a second observation deck on the 102nd floor that is open to public. It is completely enclosed and much smaller than the first one, it may be closed on high-traffic days. Tourists may pay to visit the observation deck on the 86th floor and an additional amount for the 102nd floor. There are five lines to enter the observation decks the sidewalk line, the lobby elevator line, the ticket purchase line, the second elevator line, and the line to get off the elevator and onto the observation deck. For an extra fee tourists can skip to the front of the line.

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, it connects the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed during the year 1937, and has become an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and California. Since its completion, the span length has been surpassed by eight other bridges. It still has the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States, after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. In 1999, it was ranked fifth on the List of Americas Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

Strauss was chief engineer in charge of overall design and construction of the bridge project. However, because he had slight experience with cable suspension designs, responsibility for much of the engineering and architecture fell on other experts. Irving Morrow, a relatively unknown residential architect, designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme, and Art Deco elements such as the streetlights, railing, and walkways. Senior engineer Charles Alton Ellis, collaborating remotely with famed bridge designer Leon Moisseiff, was the principal engineer of the project. Moisseiff produced the basic structural design, introducing his deflection theory by which a thin, flexible roadway would flex in the wind, greatly reducing stress by transmitting forces via suspension cables to the bridge towers.

The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937 and lasted for one week. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed by foot and roller skate. On opening day, Mayor Angelo Rossi and other officials rode the ferry to Marin, then crossed the bridge in a motorcade past three ceremonial "barriers," the last a blockade of beauty queens who required Joseph Strauss to present the bridge to the Highway District before allowing him to pass.

The center span was the longest among suspension bridges until 1964.The Golden Gate Bridge also had the world's tallest suspension towers at the time of construction and retained that record until more recently. The weight of the roadway is hung from two cables that pass through the two main towers and are fixed in concrete at each end. Each cable is made of 27,572 strands of wire. There are 80,000 miles or 129,000 km of wire in the main cables. The bridge has approximately 1,200,000 total rivets.

The color of the bridge is officially an orange vermillion called international orange. The color was selected by consulting architect Irving Morrow because it compliments the natural surroundings and enhances the bridge's visibility in fog. The bridge is said to be one of the most beautiful examples of bridge engineering, both as a structural design challenge and for its aesthetic appeal. It was declared one of the modern Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It is the most beautiful and most photographed bridge in the world.

Aesthetics was the foremost reason why the first design of Joseph Strauss was rejected. Upon resubmission of his bridge construction plan, he added details, such as lighting, to outline the bridges cables and towers. The bridge was originally painted with red lead primer and a lead based topcoat which was touched up as required. In the mid 1960s, a program was started to improve corrosion protection by stripping the original paint and repainting the bridge with zinc silicate primer and vinyl topcoats. Since 1990 Acrylic topcoats have been used instead for air-quality reasons. The program was completed in 1995 and it is now maintained by 38 painters who touch up the paintwork where it becomes seriously eroded.

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CN Tower

The CN Tower, located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a communications and observation tower standing 553.3 metres or 1,815 ft tall. It surpassed the height of the Ostankino Tower while still under construction in 1975, becoming the tallest free-standing structure on land in the world for the next 31 years. On September 12, 2007 the CN Tower was surpassed in height by Burj Khalifa. It remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere, the signature icon of Toronto's skyline, and a symbol of Canada, attracting more than two million international visitors annually.

CN originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets, prior to the company's privatization in 1995 it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for real estate development. Since local residents wished to retain the name CN Tower, the abbreviation is now said to expand to Canada's National Tower rather than the original Canadian National Tower; however, neither of these names are commonly used.

In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It also belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers, where it holds the 1st place ranking. Construction on the CN Tower began on February 6, 1973 with massive excavations at the tower base for the foundation. By the time the foundation was complete, 56,000 t of dirt and shale were removed to a depth of 15 metres or 49.2 ft in the centre, and a base incorporating 7,000 cubic metres or 9,156 cu yd of concrete with 450 tonnes of rebar and 36 tonnes of steel cable had been built to a thickness of 6.7 metres or 22.0 ft. This portion of the construction was fairly rapid, with only four months needed between the start and the foundation being ready for construction on top.

The CN Tower consists of several substructures. The main portion of the tower is a hollow concrete hexagonal pillar containing the six elevators, stairwells, and power and plumbing connections. On top of this is a 102-metre or 334.6 ft tall metal broadcast antenna, carrying TV and radio signals. There are two visitor areas: the main deck level located at 346 metres or 1,135 ft, and the higher Sky Pod at 446.5 metres or 1,465 ft, just below the metal antenna. The hexagonal shape can be seen between the two areas; however, below the main deck, three large supporting legs give the tower the appearance of a large tripod.

The main level is seven storeys, some of which are open to the public. Below the public areas at 338 metres or 1,108.9 ft is a large white donut-shaped radome containing the structure's microwave receivers. The glass floor and outdoor observation deck are at 342 metres or 1,122.0 ft. The glass floor has an area of 24 square metres or 258 sq ft and can withstand a pressure of 4,100 kilopascals or 595 psi. The floor's thermal glass units are 64 millimetres or 2.5 in thick, consisting of a pane of 25-millimetre or 1.0 in laminated glass, 25 millimetres or 1.0 in airspace and a pane of 13-millimetre or 0.5 in laminated glass. Some people experience acrophobia when standing on the glass floor and looking down at the ground 342 metres or 1,122.0 ft below.



In 2008, one elevator was upgraded to add a glass floor panel, believed to have the highest vertical rise of any elevator equipped with this feature. The Horizons Cafe and the lookout level are at 346 metres or 1,135.2 ft. The 360 Restaurant, a revolving restaurant that completes a full rotation once every 72 minutes, is at 351 metres or1,151.6 ft. When the tower first opened, it also featured a disco named Sparkles, billed as the highest disco and dance floor in the world. The Sky Pod is the second-highest public observation deck in the world, surpassed only by the Shanghai World Financial Center. On a clear day, it is possible to see 100 to 120 kilometres or 62–75 miles away, to the city of Rochester across Lake Ontario in the United States, the mist rising from Niagara Falls, or the shores of Lake Simcoe.

A metal staircase reaches the main deck level after 1,776 steps, and the Sky Pod 100 metres above after 2,579 steps. It is the tallest metal staircase on Earth. These stairs are intended for emergency use only and are not open to the public, except for two times per year for charity stair-climb events. In June 2007, the tower was outfitted with 1,330 super-bright LED lights inside the elevator shafts, shooting up over the bubbleand upward to the top of the tower's mast to light the tower from dusk until 2 a.m.

The official opening ceremony took place on June 28 before the Canada Day holiday weekend. The tower changes its lighting scheme on holidays and to commemorate major events. After the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, the tower was lit up in green and white to represent the colours of the Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders. Guinness World Records has called the CN Tower the world's tallest self-supporting tower and "the world's tallest free-standing tower Although Guinness did list this description of the CN Tower under the heading "tallest building at least once, it has also listed it under tallest tower, omitting it from its list of "tallest buildings.

Victoria Falls

The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is one of the World heritage natural monument site. The Victoria Falls are some of the largest in the world. Mosi-oa-Tunya means the Smoke that Thunders. It is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It The Victoria Falls are considered by some to be among the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer, is believed to have been the first European recorded to view the Victoria Falls. While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, it is claimed to be the largest. This claim is based on a width of 1,708 metres or 5,604 ft and height of 108 meters or 360 ft, forming the largest sheet of falling water in the world.

The Zambezi flows over a level sheet of basalt, in a shallow valley bounded by low and distant sandstone hills. The rivers course is dotted with numerous tree-covered islands, which increase in number as the river approaches the falls. There are no mountains, escarpments, or deep valleys which might be expected to create a waterfall, only flat plateau extending hundreds of kilometres in all directions.

The falls are formed as the full width of the river plummets in a single vertical drop into a transverse chasm 1708 meters or 5604 ft wide, carved by its waters along a fracture zone in the basalt plateau. The depth of the chasm, called the First Gorge, varies from 80 metres or 262 ft at its western end to 108 metres or 360 ft in the centre. The only outlet to the First Gorge is a 110-metre-wide or 360 ft gap about two-thirds of the way across the width of the falls from the western end, through which the whole volume of the river pours into the Victoria Falls gorges.

There are two islands on the crest of the falls that are large enough to divide the curtain of water even at full flood Boaruka Island or Cataract Island near the western bank and Livingstone Island near the middle. At less than full flood, additional islets divide the curtain of water into separate parallel streams. Victoria Falls is roughly thrice the height of North America Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of its Horseshoe Falls. In height and width Victoria Falls is rivalled only by South America Iguazu Falls.

The whole volume of the Zambezi River pours through the First Gorges 110-meter-wide or 360 ft exit for a distance of about 150 meters or 500 ft, then enters a zigzagging series of gorges designated by the order in which the river reaches them. Water entering the Second Gorge makes a sharp right turn and has carved out a deep pool there called the Boiling Pot. Reached via a steep footpath from the Zambian side, it is about 150 metres or 500 ft across. The walls of the gorges are nearly vertical and generally about 120 metres or 400 feet high, but the level of the river in them varies by up to 20 meters 65 feet between wet and dry seasons.

Nearly 300,000 people were visiting the falls annually, and this was expected to rise to over a million in the next decade. Unlike the game parks, Victoria Falls has more Zimbabwean and Zambian visitors than international tourists as they are accessible by bus and train and therefore comparatively inexpensive to reach. The two national parks at the falls are relatively small Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park is 66 square kilometres or 16,309 acres and Victoria Falls National Park is 23 square kilometres or 5,683 acres. However, next to the latter on the southern bank is the Zambezi National Park, extending 40 kilometers or 25 miles west along the river. Animals can move between the two Zimbabwean parks and can also reach Matetsi Safari Area, Kazuma Pan National Park and Hwange National Park to the south.

Mopane woodland savannah predominates in the area, with smaller areas of Miombo and Rhodesian Teak woodland and scrubland savannah. Riverine forest with palm trees lines the banks and islands above the falls. The most notable aspect of the area's vegetation though is the rainforest nurtured by the spray from the falls, containing plants rare for the area such as pod mahogany, ebony, ivory palm, wild date palm and a number of creepers and lianas. Vegetation has suffered in recent droughts, and so have the animals that depend on it, particularly antelope.

The national parks contain abundant wildlife including sizable populations of elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, and a variety of antelope. Lion and leopard are only occasionally seen. Vervet monkeys and baboons are common. The river above the falls contains large populations of hippopotamus and crocodile. Elephants cross the river in the dry season at particular crossing points.

Klipspringers and clawless otters can be glimpsed in the gorges, but they are mainly known for 35 species of raptors. The Taita Falcon, Black Eagle, Peregrine Falcon and Augur Buzzard breed there. Above the falls, herons, Fish Eagles and numerous kinds of waterfowl are common. The river is home to 39 species of fish below the falls and 89 species above it, mostly black cod and slippery trout. This illustrates the effectiveness of the falls as a dividing barrier between the upper and lower Zambezi.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House is a famous tourist attraction with a multi venue performing arts centre on Bennelong Point in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, who, in 2003, received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour. There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is his masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country and continent.

Sydney Opera House was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007. Currently, it is the most recently constructed World Heritage Site to be designated as such, sharing this distinction with such ancient landmarks as Stonehenge and the Giza Necropolis. It is one of the 20th century most distinctive buildings and one of the most famous performing arts centres in the world. Sydney Opera House is situated on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It sits at the northeastern tip of the Sydney central business district, surrounded on three sides by the harbour and neighboured by the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Contrary to its name, the building houses six venues. The two largest venues, the Opera Theatre and Concert Hall, are housed in the two larger sets of shells. Three smaller theatres, the Drama Theatre, Playhouse and Studio are situated on the western side of the building, and the Utzon Room on the eastern side. The award winning Guillaume at Bennelong restaurant occupies the smaller set of shells. A seventh performance space, The Forecourt, is regularly used for free community events and large scale outdoor performances.

As one of the busiest performing arts centres in the world, providing over 1,500 performances each year attended by some 1.2 million people, Sydney Opera House promotes and supports many performing arts companies including the four key resident companies Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, Sydney Theatre Company and Sydney Symphony. Sydney Opera House also presents more than 700 of its own performances annually that offer an eclectic mix of artistic and cultural activities for all ages from the educational to the experimental. It is also one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, with more than 7 million people visiting the site each year. The Sydney Opera House has been a featured Santa Cam location, since the start of Santa Cam use with the 1998 NORAD Tracks Santa tracking season. Sydney Opera House is administered by the Sydney Opera House Trust, under the New South Wales Ministry of the Arts.

Sydney Opera House is a modern expressionist design, with a series of large precast concrete shells each composed of sections of a hemisphere of the same radius, forming the roofs of the structure, set on a monumental podium. The building covers 1.8 hectares or 4.5 acres of land and is 183 metres or 605 ft long and 120 metres or 388 ft wide at its widest point. It is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 metres below sea level. The roofs of the House are covered in a subtle chevron pattern with 1,056,006 glossy white- and matte-cream-colored Swedish-made tiles from Hoganas AB, though, from a distance, the shells appear a uniform white.

The Opera House was formally completed in 1973, having cost $102 million. H.R. Sam Hoare, the Hornibrook director in charge of the project, provided the following approximations in 1973: Stage I: podium Civil & Civic Pty Ltd approximately $5.5m. Stage II: roof shells M.R. Hornibrook Pty Ltd approximately $12.5m. Stage III: completion The Hornibrook Group $56.5m. Separate contracts: stage equipment, stage lighting and organ $9.0m. Fees and other costs $16.5m.

The original cost estimate in 1957 was £3,500,000 or $7 million. The original completion date set by the government was 26 January 1963 Australia Day. Thus, the project was completed ten years late and over-budget by more than fourteen times. The Opera House was formally opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on 20 October 1973, with a large crowd of audience.

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is an earlier Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. It is also called as Ayasofya in Turkish which means Holy Wisdom. It is famous in particular for its massive dome which is considered as epitome of Byzantine architecture and changed the history of architecture. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Seville Cathedral in 1520.

The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 A.D. on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. In fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site. The previous two had both been destroyed by riots. It was designed by Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician. The church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 15 metre 49 foot silver iconostasis. It was the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years. It was the church in which Cardinal Humbert in 1054 marched up to the altar and excommunicated Michael I Cerularius, which is commonly considered the start of the Great Schism.

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many mosaics were finally plastered over. The Islamic features such as mihrab, minbar, and four minarets outside were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey. For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia served as a model for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the Sehzade Mosque, the Suleymaniye Mosque, the Rustem Pasha Mosque, and the Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque. Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia, as though it were named after a saint named Sophia which in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom. The church is dedicated to Jesus Christ, in Eastern Orthodox theology, the Holy Wisdom of God.

Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture. Of great artistic value was its decorated interior with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings. The temple itself was so richly and artistically decorated that Justinian proclaimed, Solomon, I have outdone thee! Justinian himself had overseen the completion of the greatest cathedral ever built up to that time, and it was to remain the largest cathedral for 1,000 years up until the completion of the cathedral in Seville in Spain.

Justinian's basilica was at once the culminating architectural achievement of late antiquity and the first masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. Its influence, both architecturally and liturgically, was widespread and enduring in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Muslim worlds alike. The largest columns are about 19 or 20 metres tall. They are at least 1.5 metres diameter. They are made out of granite, the largest weighing well over 70 tons. Under Justinian's orders, eight Corinthian columns were disassembled from Baalbek, Lebanon and shipped to Constantinople for the construction of Hagia Sophia.

The vast interior has a complex structure. The nave is covered by a central dome which has a maximum diameter of 31.24 metres or 102 ft 6 in and a height from floor level of 55.6 metres 182 ft 5 in, about one fourth smaller and greater, respectively, than the dome of the Pantheon. The dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of 40 arched windows under it, which help flood the colourful interior with light. Due to consecutive repairs in the course of its history, the dome has lost its perfect circular base and has become somewhat elliptical with a diameter varying between 31.24 m 102 ft 6 in and 30.86 m 101 ft 3 in.

The dome is carried on pendentives four concave triangular sections of masonry which solve the problem of setting the circular base of a dome on a rectangular base. At Hagia Sophia the weight of the dome passes through the pendentives to four massive piers at the corners. Between them the dome seems to float upon four great arches. These were reinforced with buttresses during Ottoman times, under the guidance of the architect Sinan. At the western and eastern ends, the arched openings are extended by half domes carried on smaller semi-domed exedras.

All interior surfaces are sheathed with polychrome marbles, green and white with purple porphyry and gold mosaics, encrusted upon the brick. This sheathing camouflaged the large pillars, giving them, at the same time, a brighter aspect. On the exterior, simple stuccoed walls reveal the clarity of massed vaults and domes. The yellow and red colour of the exterior was added by the architect Fossati during the restorations in the 19th century.

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty.

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km or 5,500.3 miles. This is made up of 6,259.6 km or 3,889.5 miles of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km or 223.5 miles of trenches and 2,232.5 km or 1,387.2 miles of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the spring and Autumn Period, which began around the 8th century BC. During the Warring States Period from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, the states of Qi, Yan and Zhao all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames. Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty.

The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu in 1449. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper-hand over the Manchurian and Mongolian tribes after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. The Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls. Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong.

From 1440 –1460 the Ming also built Liaodong Wall. Similar in function to the Great Wall but more basic in construction, the Liaodong Wall enclosed the agricultural heartland of the Liaodong province, protecting it against potential incursions by Jurched-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest and the Jianzhou Jurchens from the north. While stones and tiles were used in some parts of the Liaodong Wall, most of it was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides.

Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Under the military command of Yuan Chonghuan, the Ming army held off the Manchus at the heavily fortified Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, when the gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the activities of rulers of the Shun Dynasty. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and defeated the newly founded Shun Dynasty and remaining Ming resistance, to establish the Qing Dynasty.

In 2009, an additional 290 kilometres or 180 miles of previously undetected portions of the wall, built during the Ming Dynasty, were discovered. The newly discovered sections range from the Hushan mountains in the northern Liaoning province to Jiayuguan in western Gansu province. The sections had been submerged over time by sandstorms that moved across the arid region. Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia was annexed into the empire, so construction and repairs on the Great Wall were discontinued.

Some portions north of Beijing and near tourist centers have been preserved and even extensively renovated, in many locations the Wall are in disrepair. Those parts might serve as a village playground or a source of stones to rebuild houses and roads. Sections of the Wall are also prone to graffiti and vandalism. Parts have been destroyed because the Wall is in the way of construction. More than 60 kilometres or 37 miles of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms. In places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than five meters or 16.4 ft to less than two meters. The square lookout towers that characterize the most famous images of the wall have disappeared completely. Many western sections of the wall are constructed from mud, rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion.

Pisa Tower

The Pisa Tower or Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is also called as Torre pendente di Pisa in Italian language. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square after the Cathedral and the Baptistry. Although planned to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a badly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower currently leans to the southwest.

The height of the tower is 55.86 m or 183.27 ft from the ground on the lowest side and 56.70 m or 186.02 ft on the highest side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m or 13.42 ft and at the top 2.48 m or 8.14 ft. Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons or 16,000 short tons. The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is 3.9 metres or 12 ft 10 in from where it would stand if the tower were perfectly vertical.

The Tower of Pisa was a work of art, performed in three stages over a period of about 177 years. Construction of the first floor of the white marble campanile began on August 9, 1173, a period of military success and prosperity. The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the third floor in 1178. This was due to a mere three-meter foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil, a design that was flawed from the beginning. Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century, because the Pisans were almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca and Florence. In 1198, clocks were temporarily installed on the third floor of the unfinished construction.

In 1272, construction resumed under Giovanni di Simone, architect of the Camposanto. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other. This made the tower begin to lean in the other direction. Because of this, the tower is actually curved. Construction was halted again in 1284, when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria.The seventh floor was completed in 1319. The bell-chamber was not finally added until 1372. It was built by Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, who succeeded in harmonizing the Gothic elements of the bell-chamber with the Romanesque style of the tower. There are seven bells, one for each note of the musical major scale. The largest one was installed in 1655.

Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass. This is considered an apocryphal tale, its only source being however Galileo's secretary. During World War II, the Allies discovered that the Nazis were using it as an observation post. A U.S. Army sergeant was briefly entrusted with the fate of the tower and his decision not to call in an artillery strike saved the tower from destruction.

On February 27, 1964, the government of Italy requested aid in preventing the tower from toppling. It was, however, considered important to retain the current tilt, due to the vital role that this element played in promoting the tourism industry of Pisa. A multinational task force of engineers, mathematicians and historians was assigned and met on the Azores islands to discuss stabilization methods. It was found that the tilt was increasing in combination with the softer foundations on the lower side. Many methods were proposed to stabilize the tower, including the addition of 800 metric tonnes of lead counterweights to the raised end of the base.

In 1987, the tower was declared as part of the Piazza del Duomo UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the neighbouring cathedral, baptistery and cemetery. On January 7, 1990, after over two decades of work on the subject, the tower was closed to the public. While the tower was closed, the bells were removed to relieve some weight, and cables were cinched around the third level and anchored several hundred meters away. The final solution to prevent the collapse of the tower was to slightly straighten the tower to a safer angle, by removing 38 cubic metres 50 cu yd of soil from underneath the raised end. The tower was straightened by 18 inches or 45 centimetres, returning to position that it occupied in 1838. The tower was reopened to the public on December 15, 2001, and has been declared stable for at least another 300 years.

In May 2008, after the removal of another 70 metric tons or 77 short tons of earth, engineers announced that the Tower had been stabilized such that it had stopped moving for the first time in its history. They stated it would be stable for at least 200 years. Two German churches have challenged the towers status as the world's most lop sided building the 15th century square Leaning Tower of Suurhusen and the 14th century bell tower in the town of Bad Frankenhausen. Guinness World Records measured the Pisa and Suurhusen towers, finding the former's tilt to be 3.97 degrees.

Christ the Redeemer Statue

Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil considered the largest art deco statue in the world. It is also called as O Cristo Redentor in Portuguese, formerly Portuguese: Christo redemptor. The statue stands 39.6 metres or 130 ft tall, including its 9.5 metre or 31 ft pedestal, and 30 metres or 98 ft wide. It weighs 635 tons or 700 short tons, and is located at the peak of the 700 metres or 2,300 ft Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city.

It is one of the tallest of its kind in the world. The statue of Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia, is slightly taller, standing at 40.44 metres or 132.7 ft tall with its 6.24 metres or 20.5 ft pedestal and 34.20 metres or 112.2 ft wide. A symbol of Catholicism, the statue has become an icon of Rio and Brazil. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.

The idea for erecting a large statue atop Corcovado was first suggested in the mid-1850s, when Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss requested financing from Princess Isabel to build a large religious monument. Princess Isabel did not think much of the idea and it was completely dismissed in 1889, when Brazil became a republic, with laws mandating the separation of church and state. The second proposal for a landmark statue on the mountain was made in 1921 by the Catholic Circle of Rio.

The group organised an event called Semana do Monumento or Monument Week to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of the statue. The donations came mostly from Brazilian Catholics. The designs considered for the "Statue of the Christ" included a representation of the Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world. The statue of Christ the Redeemer with open arms was chosen.

Local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa designed the statue; it was sculpted by French sculptor Paul Landowski. A group of engineers and technicians studied Landowski's submissions and the decision was made to build the structure out of reinforced concrete designed by Albert Caquot instead of steel, more suitable for the cross-shaped statue. The outer layers are soapstone, chosen for its enduring qualities and ease of use. Construction took nine years, from 1922 to 1931.

The monument was opened on October 12, 1931. The cost of the monument was $250,000. The statue was meant to be lit by a battery of floodlights triggered remotely by shortwave radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, stationed 5,700 miles or 9,200 km away in Rome, but poor weather affected the signal and it had to be lit by workers in Rio.

The statue was struck by lightning during a violent electrical storm on Sunday, February 10, 2008. The storm caused havoc in Rio, but the statue was left unscathed because soapstone, the material forming the outer layers of the statue, is an insulator. In October 2006, on the statue's 75th anniversary, Archbishop of Rio Cardinal Eusebio Oscar Scheid consecrated a chapel named for the patron saint of Brazil Nossa Senhora Aparecida, or Our Lady of the Apparition, under the statue. This allows Catholics to hold baptisms and weddings there.

On 7 July 2007, Christ the Redeemer was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a list compiled by the Swiss-based The New Open World Corporation. Leading corporate sponsors, including Banco Bradesco and Rede Globo, put large sums of money in the effort to have the statue voted into the top seven.

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of worlds heritage.

While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision including Abdul-Karim Mamur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empires period of greatest prosperity, was grief stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death. The court chronicles of Shah Jahans grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. The central focus of the complex is the tomb. This large, white marble structure stands on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.

The base structure is essentially a large, multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners, forming an unequal octagon that is approximately 55 meters on each of the four long sides. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level. Tall decorative spires extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial, which mixes traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements.

The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of gilded bronze in the early 19th century. This feature provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif whose horns point heavenward. Because of its placement on the main spire, the horns of the moon and the finial point combine to create a trident shape.


The minarets, which are each more than 40 meters tall, display the designer's penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minarets a traditional element of mosques, used by the muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The chattris all share the same decorative elements of a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. The minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that, in the event of collapse, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.

The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 from overseas. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.

The grounds are open from 6 am to 7 pm weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12 pm and 2 pm. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramzan.