Monuments
MOAI, EASTER ISLAND
Between the 11th and 17th centuries the Rapa Nui (Easter Island) people carved 800-1,000 colossal stone figures, each believed to have embodied the spirit of an ancestor. Often erected on ceremonial platforms known as ahus, the statues (moai) face inland, their backs to the sea.
The question of how the moai (weighing an average of 14 tons) were transported long distances from the quarry where they were carved has long been disputed.
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
The longest manmade structure ever built is in fact a series of walls. Begun by China’s 1st emperor in the third century BCE, they span 13,170 miles and are made from materials such as dressed stone, kiln-fired bricks, sun-dried bricks and rammed earth, with some held together with sticky rice flour.
An estimated one million of the convicts, peasants, slaves, guards and citizens employed to build it died in the process.
LESHAN GIANT BUDDHA, SICHUAN
The world’s largest stone Buddha – if upright, the statue would be roughly the height of the Statue of Liberty – presides over the intersection of three rivers. Carved out of a cliff, construction was initiated by Hai Tong, a Chinese monk in 713CE and completed some 90 years later, after his death.
Standing 233ft high, it is an astonishing feat of engineering; seated, with his hands on his knees, he has a head that is approximately 46ft high and 33ft wide.
Most of the statue is carved from stone, only the ears, about 23ft long, are made of different material – wood covered with clay.
GARDENS BY THE BAY, SINGAPORE
A horticultural park that combines natural beauty with innovative green technology and architecture. Opened in 2012, the park is divided into three gardens: Bay East, Bay Central and Bay South which is the largest, spanning six million sq ft.
Its layout, inspired by Singapore’s national flower, is defined by 18 “supertrees”, home to 162,900 plants.the Flower Dome, one of two climate-controlled biomes, is the world’s largest columnless glasshouse, while the Cloud Forest has a 138ft-high mountain housing the world’s largest indoor waterfall.
HIMEJI CASTLE, JAPAN
Known aswhite Egret Castle or White Heron Castle because it is said to resemble a bird taking flight, and regarded as one of the finest of Japan’s last surviving feudal castles, it was built in 1601-09.
The castle was surrounded by a spiral-shaped moat, within which was a series of fortified gateways, and a labyrinth of courtyards and passageways designed to confuse attackers.an almost impregnable castle, its complex defences were never tested.
THE LOUVRE, PARIS
Built as a fortress in the 1190s, it became a royal residence in the 14th century before Francois I decided to rebuild it as a magnificent palace and invited Leonardo davinci to come to France.the artist brought the Mona Lisa with him – she has her own mailbox at the Louvre to receive the love letters sent to her.the glass pyramid was added to the main courtyard in 1989.
TEMPLES OF BAGAN, MYANMAR
More than 2,200 Buddhist temples and pagodas spread across the plains of the ancient kingdom of Bagan in present-day Mandalay provide a unique record of the development of Burmese temple architecture. Bagan was the principal power in the region from the ninth to the 13th centuries, when more than 10,000 Buddhist temples – smaller temples are grouped around the more important temples – were erected on the Bagan plains of the Irrawaddy River.although fewer than a quarter have survived, the panorama of pagodas rising from the landscape is an extraordinary spectacle.
TAJ MAHAL, INDIA
Called “a tear of marble… on the cheek of time” by poet Rabindranath Tagore, the white marble edifice was to be a mausoleum for Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth in 1631.
Work began in the same year but it took 22 years to complete, employing more than 20,000 workers – including masons and craftsmen from Persia, the Ottoman Empire and Europe – and more than 1,000 elephants.
The mausoleum appears to change colour from pink to white to gold, depending on the time of day, and is decorated with 28 different types of gems.
ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA
A masterpiece of Khmer art and architecture, the temple complex in Siem Reap is the world’s largest religious structure, covering an area of some 0.6 sq miles. Construction