2. By Sandy Mourgi & Georgina Koudani
The most impressive sights of Europe
3. The Acropolis of Athens
• The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens
and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic
significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.
• Although the term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropolis in Greece, the
significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as "The Acropolis"
without qualification. During ancient times it was known also more properly as Cecropia, after the
legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the first Athenian king.
• While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BC, it was
Pericles (c. 495 – 429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the site's
most important present remains including the Parthenon, the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the
Temple of Athena Nike.
• The Parthenon and the other buildings were damaged seriously during the 1687 siege by the
Venetians during the Morean War when gunpowder being stored in the Parthenon was hit by a
cannonball and exploded.
4.
5. The Eifel Tower in Paris
In 1889, Paris hosted a World Exposition to mark the 100-year anniversary of the French Revolution. More
than 100 artists submitted competing plans for a monument to be built on the Champ-de-Mars, located in
central Paris, and serve as the exposition’s entrance.
The commission was granted to Eiffel & Company, a firm owned by the acclaimed bridge builder, architect
and metals expert Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel.
While Eiffel himself often receives full credit for the monument that bears his name, it was one of his
employees — a structural engineer named Maurice Koechlin — who came up with and fine-tuned the
concept. Several years earlier, the pair had collaborated on the Statue of Liberty’s metal armature.
Eiffel is made by more than 18,000 pieces of puddle iron, a type of iron used in construction, and 2.5 million
rivets. Several hundred workers spent two years assembling the framework of the iconic lattice tower, which
at its inauguration in March 1889 stood nearly 1,000 feet high and was the tallest structure in the world—a
distinction it held until the completion of New York City’s Chrysler Building in 1930.
Initially, only the Eiffel Tower’s second-floor platform was open to the public; later, all three levels, two of
which now feature restaurants, would be reachable by stairway or one of eight elevators.
6.
7. The Tower of Pisa
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa is situated behind the Pisa
Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in the city's
Cathedral Square Piazza del Duomo, after the cathedral
and the Pisa Baptistry.
• The tower's tilt began during construction in the 12th
century, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground
too soft on one side to properly support the structure's
weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the
structure was completed in the 14th century. It gradually
increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt
partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early
21st centuries.
• The height of the tower is 55.86 metres from the ground
on the low side and 56.67 metres on the high side. The
width of the walls at the base is 2.44 m.
• Its weight is estimated at 16,000 short tons. The tower
has 296 steps. 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 the top of the tower is displaced
horizontally 3.9 metres from the centre.
8.
9.
10. Big Ben in London
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster
in London and it usually refers to both the clock and the clock tower.
The Clock Tower is officially called Elizabeth Tower, renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in
2012;
The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-gothic style. When completed in 1859, it was,
says horologist Ian Westworth, "the prince of timekeepers: the biggest, most accurate four-faced striking
and chiming clock in the world".
It stands 96 m tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. Its base is square, measuring
12 metres on each side. Dials of the clock are 7.0 m in diameter. On 31 May 2009, celebrations were held to mark
the tower's 150th anniversary .
Big Ben is the largest of five bells and weighs 13½ tons (It was the largest bell in the United Kingdom for 23
years.
Four quarter bells chime at 15, 30 and 45 minutes past the hour, and also just before Big Ben tolls on the hour.
The clock still uses the original Victorian mechanism, but an electric motor is sometimes used as a backup.
11.
12.
13. The Colosseum in Rome
The Colosseum saw some four centuries of active use, until the struggles of the
Western Roman Empire and the gradual change in public tastes put an end to
gladiatorial combats and other large public entertainments by the 6th century
A.D.
Even by that time, the arena had suffered damage due to natural phenomena
such as lightning and earthquakes.
In the centuries to come, the Colosseum was abandoned completely, and used as
a quarry for numerous building projects, including the cathedrals of St. Peter and
St. John Lateran, the Palazzo Venezia and defense fortifications along the Tiber
River.
Beginning in the 18th century, however, various popes sought to conserve the
arena as a sacred Christian site, though it is in fact uncertain whether early
Christian martyrs met their fate in the Colosseum, as has been speculated.
14.
15.
16. The Statue of Liberty in N.Y.
The Statue of Liberty neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York
City, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of
the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric August Bartholdi and built
by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
The Statue of Liberty is a figure of a robed woman representing Libertas, a Roman goddess.
She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula
ansata inscribed in Roman numerals (July 4, 1776), the date of the U.S. Declaration of
Independence. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue became an icon of freedom and of the
United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.
