Royal Exhibition Building

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district. It was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880-1881 and later hosted the opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901. The details of Royal Exhibition Building are explained in world tour guides below. Throughout the 20th century smaller sections and wings of the building were subject to demolition and fire, however the main building, known as the Great Hall survived.

The Royal Exhibition Building received restoration throughout the 1990s and in 2004 became the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, being one of the last remaining major 19th century exhibition buildings in the world. It sits adjacent to the Melbourne Museum and is the largest item in Museum Victorias collection. Today, the building hosts various exhibitions and other events and is closely tied with events at the Melbourne Museum.

The Royal Exhibition Building was designed by the architect Joseph Reed, who also designed the Melbourne Town Hall and the State Library of Victoria. According to Reed, the eclectic design was inspired by many sources. The dome was modeled on the Florence Cathedral, while the main pavilions were influenced by the style of Rundbogenstil and several buildings from Normandy, Caen and Paris. The foundation stone was laid by Victorian governor George Bowen on 19 February 1879 and it was completed in 1880, ready for the Melbourne International Exhibition. The building consisted of a Great Hall of over 12,000 square metres and many temporary annexes.

In 1880 the building hosted two major International Exhibitions; The Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 and the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888 to celebrate a century of European settlement in Australia. The most significant event to occur in the Exhibition Building was the opening of the first Parliament of Australia on 9 May 1901, following the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January. After the official opening, the federal government moved to the Victorian State Parliament House, while the Victorian government moved to the Exhibition Building for the next 26 years.

The period after this time saw the building used for many purposes. It was a venue for the 1956 Summer Olympics, hosting the basketball, weightlifting and wrestling competitions. As it decayed, it became known derogatively by locals as the The White Elephant in the 1940s and by the 1950s, like many buildings in Melbourne of that time it was earmarked for replacement by office blocks. In 1948, members of the Melbourne City Council put this to the vote and it was narrowly decided not to demolish the building. The wing of the building which once housed Melbourne's aquarium burnt down in 1953. During the 1940s and 1950s, the building remained a venue for regular weekly dances.

During a visit to Victoria in 1984, Princess Alexandra bestowed the royal title on the building and it has been referred to as the Royal Exhibition Building ever since. This title, and the first conservation assessment of the building undertaken by Alan Willingham, sparked a restoration of the interiors of the building in the late 1980s and 1990s, and the construction of a mirror glass annexe. In 1996 the then Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett, proposed the location and construction of Melbournes State Museum on the adjacent site. Temporary annexes built in the 1960s were removed and in 1997 and 1998, the exterior of the building was progressively restored.

The location of the Melbourne Museum close to the Exhibition Building site was strongly opposed by the Victorian State Labor Party, the Melbourne City Council and the local community. It was as a result of the community campaign opposing the museum development that John Brumby, then State opposition leader, with the support of the Melbourne City Council, proposed the nomination of the Royal Exhibition Building for world heritage listing. The world heritage nomination did not progress until the election of the Victorian State Labor Party as the new government in 1999.

On 1 July 2004, the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens was granted listing as a World Heritage Site, the first building in Australia to be granted this status. The heritage listing states that The Royal Exhibition Building is the only major extant nineteenth century exhibition building in Australia. It is one of the few major nineteenth century exhibition buildings to survive worldwide. In October 2009, Museum Victoria embarked upon a major project to restore the former German Garden of the Western Forecourt. The area had been covered by asphalt in the 1950s for car parking.

The Royal Exhibition Building is still in use as a commercial exhibition venue, hosting many events on a regular basis such as the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. Regular tours are also offered by Melbourne Museum. The Royal Exhibition Building is used as an exam hall for the University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne High School, Nossal High School and Mac.Robertson Girls High School. However, it is no longer Melbourne's largest commercial exhibition centre. The modern alternative to the Royal Exhibition Building is the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, located in Southbank to the south of the central city area.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris, commonly known as Sacre Coeur Basilica is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France. A popular landmark, the basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. The details of Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris are explained in world tour guides below.

The inspiration for the Basilica originated in the wake of the division in French society that arose in the decades following French Revolution, between devout Catholics and legitimist royalists on one side, and democrats, secularists, socialists and radicals on the other. This schism became particularly pronounced after the Franco Prussian War and the ensuing uprising of the Paris Commune of 1870-71. The Basilica is asserted to be dedicated in honor of the 58,000 who lost their lives during the war, the decree of the Assemblee nationale, 24 July 1873, responding to a request by the archbishop of Paris by voting its construction.

Montmartre had been the site of the Communes first insurrection, and many hard core communards were forever entombed in the subterranean galleries of former gypsum mines where they had retreated, by explosives detonated at the entrances by the Army of Versailles. Hostages had been executed on both sides, and the Communards had executed Georges Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, who became a martyr for the resurgent Catholic Church. His successor Guibert, climbing the Butte Montmartre in October 1872, was reported to have had a vision, as clouds dispersed over the panorama It is here, it is here where the martyrs are, it is here that the Sacred Heart must reign so that it can beckon all to come.

In the moment of inertia following the resignation of the government of Adolphe Thiers, 24 May 1873, Francois Pie, bishop of Poitiers, expressed the national yearning for spiritual renewal the hour of the Church has come that would be expressed through the Government of Moral Order of the Third Republic, which linked Catholic institutions with secular ones, in a project of religious and national renewal, the main features of which were the restoration of monarchy and the defense of Rome within a cultural framework of official piety, of which Sacre-Coeur is the chief lasting triumphalist monument.

The overall style of the structure shows a free interpretation of Romano-Byzantine features, an unusual architectural vocabulary at the time, which was a conscious reaction against the neo-Baroque excesses of the Opera Garnier, which was cited in the competition. Many design elements of the basilica symbolise nationalist themes the portico, with its three arches, is adorned by two equestrian statues of French national saints Joan of Arc and King Saint Louis IX, both executed in bronze by Hippolyte Lefebvre and the nineteen ton Savoyarde bell, cast in 1895 in Annecy, alludes to the annexation of Savoy in 1860.

Abadie died not long after the foundation had been laid, in 1884, and five architects continued with the work Honore Daumet, Jean Charles Laisne, Henri-Pierre-Marie Rauline, Lucien Magne, and Jean-Louis Hulot. The Basilica was not completed until 1914, when war intervened the basilica was formally dedicated in 1919, after World War I, when its national symbolism had shifted.

Construction costs estimated at 7 million French francs and drawn entirely from private donations, were expended before any above-ground visible structure was to be seen. A provisional chapel was consecrated 3 March 1876, and pilgrimage donations quickly became the mainstay of funding. Donations were encouraged by the expedient of permitting donors to purchase individual columns or other features as small as a brick. It was declared by the National Assembly that the state had the ultimate responsibility for funding. Construction began in 1875 and was completed in 1914, although consecration of the basilica was delayed until after World War I.

The basilica is home to a large and very fine pipe organ built by Aristide Cavaille Coll for a private home in Biarritz, composed of 109 ranks and 78 speaking stops spread across four 61-note manuals and the 32-note pedalboard, spread across three expressive divisions the organ was ahead of its time, containing multiple expressive divisions and giving the performer considerable advantages over other even larger instruments of the day. It was almost identical to the instrument in Sheffield's Albert Hall, destroyed by fire in 1934. However, when installed in Paris in 1905 by Cavaille Colls successor and son-in-law, Charles Mutin, it lost its fine case for a much plainer one.

In response to requests from French bishops, Pope Pius IX promulgated the feast of the Sacred Heart in 1856. The basilica itself was consecrated on 16 October 1919. Since 1885, the Blessed Sacrament has been continually on display in a monstrance above the high altar. Perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has continued uninterrupted in the Basilica since 1885. Because of this, tourists and others are asked to dress appropriately when visiting the basilica and to observe silence as much as possible, so as not to disturb persons who have come from around the world to pray in this special place.

Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty

The Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty are a group of tombs of members of the Korean Joseon Dynasty 1392-1910. The tombs have been registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2009. The details of Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty is explained in world tour guides below.

The tombs are classified into two types. Tombs of the kings and queens and those posthumously granted the title of king or queen, were interred in Neung type tombs. Crown Princes and their wives, as well as the parents of royalty, were interred in Won-type tombs. The royal tombs are scattered over 18 locations, with many of them located 40 kilometers from Hanseong. However, the Jangneung tomb is in Yeongwol County, Gangwon do, while the Yeongneung tombs are in Yeoju County, Gyeonggi do. Tombs were made for individuals as well as family groups. There are 40 Neung-type tombs and 13 Won-type tombs, thus creating a total of 53 royal tombs.

Joseon era royal tombs followed the guidelines outlined in Chinese Confucian texts, such as the Book of Rites and the Rites of Zhou. Many factors went into consideration when deciding the location of a tomb, such as the distance from Hanyang, the distance in relation to other royal tombs, the accessibility of the location, and Korean traditions of pungsu. The tomb construction also took into account traditional burial rituals of Korea and the natural environment.


This cluster of tombs represents the best sample of royal family group tombs from the Joseon Dynasty. Seven kings and ten queens are interred in nine Neung-type tombs. Famous tombs in this group include the Geonwolleung tomb for King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. The Gyeongneung tomb holds the remains of King Hyeonjong, who ruled from 1834 to 1849, and his wives Queen Hyohyeon and Queen Hyojeong. This group of tombs represents the evolution of Joseon-style tomb architecture over a period of five hundred years.

The Seosamneung tomb cluster is located in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, which is 20 kilometres or 12 mi from Seoul. The name of the tomb comes from the fact that the three royal tombs are located in the western suburb of the Capital. Queen Janggyeong was interred in Huineung tomb. Hyoreung tomb holds the remains of King Injong and his wife Queen Insong. King Cheoljong and Queen Cheolin are interred in Yereung. Fifty other tombs holding the remains of princes, princesses, and royal concubines are also located in this tomb cluster. Notably, monuments in various styles built to house the royal placenta and umbilical cords, known as taesil, which had once been scattered all over Korea, have been gathered and now rest in this tomb cluster.

Gwangneung is located in Namyangju City, Gyeonggi Province. The tomb contains the remains of King Sejo and his wife Queen Jeonghui. The two tombs were built in 1468 and 1483 respectively. Gwangneung is important because changes taking place in the construction of royal tombs are evident in its construction. Screening rocks were not installed at this tomb. Instead of an outer coffin stone, quicklime was used instead. Another break from tradition was the fact that the reverential access was not built. Finally, only one T-shaped ritual shrine was built for both burial mounds. This change in tomb architecture came from the last wishes of the king and reflects a new frugal style that influenced later royal tomb construction.

The styles of these two tombs reflect the political changes Korea was experiencing during the waning days of the Joseon Dynasty. With the declaration of the Korean Empire, the style of the tombs of the last two rulers of the Joseon Dynasty, Emperor Gojong and Emperor Sunjong were designed to reflect their new status. Hongneung holds the remains of Emperor Gojong and Empress Myeongseong. Yureung tomb holds the remains of Emperor Sunjong, Empress Sunmyeonghyo and Empress Sunjeonghyo. Other notable tombs include Yeongwon, the tomb of Crown Prince Yeongwang and Crown Princess Yi Bangja.

Westminster Bridge

Westminster Bridge is a road and foot Traffic Bridge over the River Thames between Westminster, Middlesex bank, and Lambeth, Surrey bank in what is now Greater London, England. The details of Westminster Bridge are explained in world tour guides below. For over 600 years, the nearest bridge to London Bridge was at Kingston. Proposals for a bridge at Westminster had been made as early as 1664. These were opposed by the Corporation of London and the watermen. Despite further opposition in 1722 and after a new timber bridge was built at Putney in 1729, the scheme received parliamentary approval in 1736. Financed by private capital, lotteries and grants, Westminster Bridge, designed by the Swiss architect Charles Labelye, was built between 1739-1750.

The City of London responded to Westminster Bridge by removing the buildings on London Bridge and widening it in 1760-63. The City also commenced work on the Blackfriars Bridge, which opened in 1769. Other bridges from that time include Kew Bridge, Battersea Bridge, and Richmond Bridge. The bridge was required to assist in the development of both South London and to give access directly to the south-coast ports for the north-bank expansion of the 'West End', without traffic having to make its way through the already over-congested routes, of the Strand and New Oxford Street, into the City and across London Bridge. A group of by-pass roads were also developed to facilitate this, resulting in the complex junction at Elephant and Castle in Southwark, then part of Surrey.

By the mid 19th century it was subsiding badly and expensive to maintain. The current bridge was designed by Thomas Page and opened in 1862. With an overall length of 252 metres or 826.8 ft and a 26 metre width, it is a seven-arch wrought iron bridge which has Gothic detailing by Charles Barry the architect of the Palace of Westminster. It is the oldest bridge in central London. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the House of Commons which is on the side of the Palace of Westminster nearest the bridge. This is in contrast to Lambeth Bridge which is red, the same colour as the seats in the House of Lords and is on the opposite side of the Houses of Parliament.

In 2005 it underwent a complete refurbishment, which was finished in 2007. This sought to restore it to its former glory by replacing the iron fascias and repainting the whole bridge. The work was completed by contractors Interserve and engineers Tony Gee and Partners.It links the Palace of Westminster on the west side of the river with County Hall and the London Eye on the east and was the finishing point during the early years of the London Marathon. The next bridge downstream is Hungerford footbridge and upstream is Lambeth Bridge. The bridge was given Grade II listed structure in 1981.

In the 2002 science fiction film 28 Days Later, the protagonist awakes from a coma to find London deserted, and walks over the Westminster Bridge whilst looking for people. Westminster Bridge is the start and finish point for the Bridges Handicap Race, a traditional London running race. William Wordsworth wrote the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802.

In the British Science Fiction series Doctor Who, Westminster Bridge has been used for various location shots. It was used originally in 1964 in the serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth which depicts the structure as desolate and deserted. Several Daleks are seen gliding over the bridge and the adjoining Albert Embankment. The location was then re-used by the production team when the series was revived in 2005 where the ninth doctor and Rose Tyler run across the bridge in the episode Rose. It is also the name of a track in the Doctor Who Soundtrack album.

The bridge plays a prominent role in the Monty Pythons Flying Circus sketch Nationwide. Reporter John Dull is sent to the bridge to find out if it is possible to sit in a chair and rest your legs whenever you want. A policeman confiscates his chair, saying it is stolen from a woman who is standing across the street. Instead of giving the chair back to the woman, the policeman knocks her down and takes an identical chair from her and sits beside the reporter. He then takes different items from people walking or sitting nearby, finally breaking into a store to get beer. In the 2000 film 102 Dalmatians, Cruella de Vil goes mad after she hears the sound of Big Ben, and while on Westminster Bridge she sees everything white with black spots.

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the worlds second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m or 2,442 ft and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water. Lake Baikal is one of the famous tourist attraction and travel destination. The important aspect of Lake Baikal is explained in world tour guides in detail below. Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, near the city of Irkutsk, the body of water is also known as the Pearl of Siberia.

Lake Baikal is the deepest and among the clearest of all lakes in the world. At more than 25 million years old, Baikal is also the world's oldest lake. Like Lake Tanganyika, Lake Baikal was formed as an ancient rift valley, having the typical long crescent shape with a surface area of 31,722 km2 or 12,248 sq mi, less than that of Lake Superior or Lake Victoria. Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It is also home to Buryat tribes who reside on the eastern side of Lake Baikal, rearing goats, camels, cattle and sheep, where the regional temperature varies from a minimum of -19°C or -2.2°F in winter to maximum of 14°C or 57.2°F in summer.

Lake Baikal was known as the "North Sea" in historical Chinese texts. It was situated in the then Xiongnu territory. Very little was known to Europeans about the lake until the Russian expansion into the area in the 17th century. The first Russian explorer to reach Lake Baikal was Kurbat Ivanov in 1643. The Trans-Siberian railway was built between 1896 and 1902. The scenic railway around the southwestern end of Lake Baikal required 200 bridges and 33 tunnels; until its completion, a train ferry transported railcars across the lake for a number of years.

Lake Baikal is in a rift valley, created by the Baikal Rift Zone, where the crust of the earth is pulling apart. At 636 kilometres long and 79 kilometres wide, Lake Baikal has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in Asia and is the deepest lake in the world. The bottom of the lake is 1,186.5 metres below sea level, but below this lies some 7 kilometres or 4.3 mi of sediment, placing the rift floor some 8–11 kilometres more than 5 miles below the surface. The deepest continental rift on Earth. In geological terms, the rift is young and active it widens about two cm per year. The fault zone is also seismically active; there are hot springs in the area and notable earthquakes every few years. The lake drains into the Angara tributary of the Yenisei.

Its age is estimated at 25–30 million years, making it one of the most ancient lakes in geological history. It is unique among large, high-latitude lakes, in that its sediments have not been scoured by overriding continental ice sheets. U.S. and Russian studies of core sediment in the 1990s provide a detailed record of climatic variation over the past 250,000 years. Longer and deeper sediment cores are expected in the near future. Lake Baikal is furthermore the only confined fresh water lake in which direct and indirect evidence of gas hydrates exists.

The lake is completely surrounded by mountains. The Baikal Mountains on the north shore and the taiga are technically protected as a national park. It contains 27 islands; the largest, Olkhon, is 72 kilometres long and is the fourth-largest lake-bound island in the world. The lake is fed by as many as three hundred and thirty inflowing rivers. The main ones draining directly into Baikal are the Selenga River, the Barguzin River, the Upper Angara River, the Turka River, the Sarma River and the Snezhnaya River. It is drained through a single outlet, the Angara River.

Lake Baikal hosts 1,085 species of plants and 1,550 species and varieties of animals. Epischura baikalensis is endemic to Lake Baikal and the dominating zooplankton species there, making up 80 to 90 percent of total biomass. The Baikal Seal or nerpa is found throughout Lake Baikal. The two important species of Lake Baikal are golomyanka or Baikal oil fish. These long finned, translucent fish normally live in depths of 200 to 500 metres and are primary prey of Baikal seal. The Baikal grayling, a fast swimming salmonid, popular among anglers and the Baikal sturgeon, are both important endemic species with commercial value

The lake called the Pearl of Siberia drew investors from the tourist industry as energy revenues sparked an economic boom. Viktor Grigorov's Grand Baikal in Irkutsk is one of the investors, who planned to build three hotels creating 570 jobs. In 2007, the Russian government declared the Baikal region a special economic zone. The popular resort of Listvyanka is home to the seven-story Hotel Mayak. Baikal was also declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996.