FAMOUS LANDMARKS/MAN-MADE AROUND THE WORLD

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, theopening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S.Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of SanFrancisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to MarinCounty. It is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of SanFrancisco, California, and the United States. It has been declared one of theWonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. TheFrommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge "possibly the mostbeautiful, certainly the most photographed bridge in the world".

Sydney Opera House in Australia

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, NewSouth Wales, Australia. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect JørnUtzon, opening in 1973 after a long gestation that had begun with his

competition-winning design in 1957. Joseph Cahill's New South Wales Governmentgave the go-ahead for work to begin in 1958. The government's bold decision toselect Utzon's design is often overshadowed by the scandal that followed. TheSydney Opera House is on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, close to theSydney Harbour Bridge. It sits at the northeastern tip of the Sydney centralbusiness district (the CBD), surrounded on three sides by the harbour (SydneyCove and Farm Cove) and inland by the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Parc Guell in Barcelona

The Park Güell (Catalan: Parc Güell [ˈparɡ ˈɡweʎ]) is a garden complex witharchitectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel in the Gràciadistrict of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalanarchitect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It has anextension of 17.18 ha (0.1718 km²), which makes it one of the largestarchitectural works in south Europe. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site"Works of Antoni Gaudí".

The Empire State Building in New York

The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located in MidtownManhattan, New York City, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34thStreet. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet (381 meters), and with its antennaspire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft (443.2 m) high. Its name isderived from the nickname for New York, the Empire State. It stood as theworld's tallest building for 40 years, from its completion in 1931 untilconstruction of the World Trade Center's North Tower was completed in 1972. . It isdesigned in the distinctive Art Deco style and has been named as one of theSeven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Forbidden City in Beijing

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty tothe end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China,and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the homeof emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and politicalcenter of Chinese government. The Forbidden City was declared a World HeritageSite in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preservedancient wooden structures in the world. Since 1925, the Forbidden City hasbeen under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection ofartwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming andQing dynasties.

Faisal Mosque in Islamabad

The Faisal Mosque is the largest mosque in Pakistan, located in the nationalcapital city of Islamabad. Completed in 1986, it was designed by Turkisharchitect Vedat Dalokay to be shaped like a desert Bedouin's tent. The FaisalMosque is conceived as the National Mosque of Pakistan and named after thelate King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financedthe project. It is the largest mosque in South Asia and one of the largestmosques in the world. The Faisal Mosque was the largest mosque in the worldfrom 1986 until 1993, when it was overtaken in size upon the completion of theHassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. Subsequent expansions of the Masjidal-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque)in Medina, Saudi Arabia during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourthplace in terms of size.

Tower Bridge in London

The Tower Bridge (built 1886–1894) is a combined bascule and suspension bridgein London, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, fromwhich it takes its name. Contrary to popular belief, the song "London Bridge isFalling Down" has nothing to do with Tower Bridge. They are completelydifferent bridges. It has become an iconic symbol of London. The bridgeconsists of two towers tied together at the upper level by means of twohorizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted bythe suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers. The

vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the verticalreactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers.. Thebridge's present colour scheme dates from 1977, when it was painted red, whiteand blue for the Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee.

Abu Simbel in Egypt

The Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel ( و ب�� ل أ� مب� س��� inArabic) in Nubia, southern Egypt. They are situated on the western bank ofLake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan (about 300 km by road). Thecomplex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "NubianMonuments, which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae (near Aswan). Thetwin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reignof Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE, as a lasting monument tohimself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his alleged victory at theBattle of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors. However, the complexwas relocated in its entirety in 1968, on an artificial hill made from a domedstructure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir.

Golden Temple in India

The Golden Temple, located in the city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab, isa place of great beauty and sublime peacefulness. Originally a small lake inthe midst of a quiet forest, the site has been a meditation retreat forwandering mendicants and sages since deep antiquity. The Buddha is known tohave spent time at this place in contemplation. Two thousand years afterBuddha's time, another philosopher-saint came to live and meditate by thepeaceful lake. This was Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikhreligion. After the passing away of Guru Nanak, his disciples continued tofrequent the site; over the centuries it became the primary sacred shrine ofthe Sikhs. The temple's architecture draws on both Hindu and Moslem stylesyet represents a unique co-evolution of the two. During the reign of MaharajaRanjit Singh (1780-1839), Hari Mandir was richly ornamented with marblesculptures, golden gilding, and large quantities of precious stones. Withinthe sanctuary, on a jewel-studded platform, lies the Adi Grantha, the sacredscripture of the Sikhs.

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, [tuʁ ɛfɛl]) is an iron lattice towerlocated on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer GustaveEiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as theentrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global culturalicon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. Thetower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument inthe world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011. The third levelobservatory's upper platform is at 279.11 m the highest accessible to publicin the European Union and the highest in Europe as long as the platform of theOstankino Tower, at 360 m, remains closed as a result of the fire of August2000. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010. The tower stands320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building.During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument toassume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title itheld for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930.

Statue of Liberty, New York, USA

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: (La Liberté éclairant lemonde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New YorkHarbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. Thestatue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, is of a robedfemale figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears atorch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribedthe date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A brokenchain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States:a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad.

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, in the United States

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the graniteface of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States.Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, MountRushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of four United Statespresidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt andAbraham Lincoln. The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres (5.17 km2) and is5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level. The tallest mountain in the region isHarney Peak (7,242 ft or 2,207 m). Workers used drills and dynamite to carvethe faces of presidents into the granite wall of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota’sBlack Hills.

Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines

The Rizal Park, also known as Luneta Park or colloquially Luneta, is ahistorical urban park located in the heart of the city of Manila, Philippines,adjacent to the old walled city of Manila, now Intramuros. Since the SpanishColonial Era, the park has been a favorite spot for unwinding, socializing, anurban oasis for family picnics on Sundays and holidays. It is one of the majortourist attractions of Manila.Located along Manila Bay, Luneta has been the site of some of the mostsignificant moments in Philippine history. The execution of pacifist Dr. JoséRizal on December 30, 1896, sparked the fire of the Philippine Revolutionagainst the Spanish colonizers, elevating the martyr as the national hero ofthe country. The park was officially renamed Rizal Park in his honor and hismonument serves as the symbolic focal point of the park. In 2012, the parkhas been installed with 30 high-definition closed-circuit television (CCTV)cameras, to make the area safer for local and foreign tourists.

Magellan's Cross in Cebu City, Philippines

The Magellan's Cross is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese, and Spanishexplorers as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu in thePhilippines on (depending on source) April 14 or 21, 1521. This cross ishoused in a chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño on MagallanesStreet (Magallanes being the Spanish name of Magellan), just in front of thecity center of Cebu City. A sign below the cross describes the original crossis encased inside the wooden cross that is found in the center of the chapel.This is to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts ofthe cross for souvenir purposes or in the belief that the cross possessesmiraculous powers. Some people, however, believe that the original cross hadbeen destroyed or had disappeared after Magellan's death, and the cross is areplica that was planted there by the Spaniards after they successfullycolonized the Philippines.

Malacañang Palace in Manila, Philippines

The Malacañang Palace, officially Malacañan Palace or simply "The Palace", isthe official residence, but not the actual residence, and principal workplaceof the President of the Philippines. It is located along Pasig River with thephysical address at 1000 José P. Laurel Street in the San Miguel district ofManila. The house was built in 1750 in Spanish Colonial style. It has been theresidence of every Philippine head of government since Rafael de Echague yBerminghan. During the American period, Governors-General Francis BurtonHarrison and Dwight F. Davis built an executive building, the Kalayaan Hall,which was later transformed into a museum.

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