Historical Architecture

Taj Mahal,Agra, India

According to legend, the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan wanted to build the most beautiful mausoleum on earth to express his love for his favorite wife. Or, perhaps he was simply asserting his political power. The Taj Mahal may have been designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, an Indian architect of Persian descent. Persian, Central Asian, and Islamic elements combine in the great white marble tomb. The Taj Mahal is just one of many architectural wonders in a land of majestic tombs and erotic temples

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The Forbidden City, Beijing, China The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, and the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. 

 

 

 

The Millenium Dome, London, England The Millennium Dome, designed by Sir Richard Rogers, 1996–99. The Millennium Dome was one of the UK’s most controversial public projects.The new millennium officially started in Greenwich, England on 1st January 2001; The World’s biggest dome was built on the Meridian Line (The Prime Meridian of the World) in Greenwich to celebrate this historic event. 

 

 

 

Burj-Al-Arab Hotel ,Dubai 

 

 

 

Hagia Sophia, IstanbulFamous for its impressive size, remarkable architecture and beautiful mosaics and frescoes, the massive ochre-coloured domed structure known as Hagia Sophia is one of Istanbul’s most popular attractions. It was commissioned as a cathedral in the 6th century and remained the most important church in Christianity for over 900 years. In the 15th century Mehmet II conquered the city and converted it into a mosque, adding the minarets and fountains. It functioned as such for the next 481 years until the founding of the secular Turkish Republic in 1934 when it was declared a museum. Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest Byzantine buildings in the world, and the vast interior, with its huge soaring dome, is extraordinary. The interior contains different features from its time as a cathedral and then as a mosque, including incredible Byzantine mosaics, icons and marble columns, a mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca), and Islamic calligraphy inscriptions on the dome from the Ottoman period.

Considered one of the world’s most luxurious hotels from the day it opened, The Burj Al Arab is a futuristic architectural marvel towering over the Gulf.Its design is stunning – the Burj Al Arab is shaped like a billowing spinnaker sail. Its height is staggering – the hotel measures 332 meters (1053 feet), making it one of the world’s highest buildings. The Burj Al Arab (means “The Arabian Tower” in Arabic) is built on a tiny man-made sea island, a mere football kick from the Dubai mainland. A short causeway links the hotel to the Dubai mainland.The skyscraping Burj Al Arab is firmly rooted. Its foundation pillars reach 40 meters (120 feet) underneath the seabed.

 

 

 

 

 

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Pyramids 

 

The mysterious Pyramids

 

The Pyramids of Giza are the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt.  These massive stone structures were built around 4500 years ago on a rocky desert plateau close to the Nile.  But the intriguing Egyptian pyramids were more than just tombs for kings.  The mysteries surrounding their symbolism, design and purpose have inspired passionate debate.  It is likely that many of these mysteries will never be solved….

                 

The pyramids epitomize ancient Egypt, yet the biggest were constructed during a short span of time early in a civilization that was to last almost three millennia.

The first large Egyptian pyramid was the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, built during the third dynasty of the Old Kingdom to protect the body of the king Djoser who died around 2649 BC.  It was this feat that heralded the short age of the gigantic stone pyramids of ancient Egypt.

    

The greatest achievements of the pyramid builders were the Pyramids of Giza, built near the capital city of Memphis for the fourth dynasty kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure who ruled through 2589-2504 BC.  But pyramid building soon waned as the power and prosperity of the kings of Egypt weakened with the end of the Old Kingdom.

                 

Unfortunately, the pyramids became obvious targets for tomb robbers.  The Giza Pyramids were plundered long ago of the bodies and anything entombed with them, despite the almost superhuman efforts of the Egyptians to protect the remains of their kings.

          

            The remarkable size and precision of the Pyramids of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest of the pyramids of ancient Egypt, and was regarded by the ancient Greeks as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.   Khufu (Cheops to the Greeks) ruled about 2589-2566 BC when the Old Kingdom of Egypt was nearing a peak of prosperity and culture.  After his death, he was entombed in a pyramid that is astonishing for both its size and mathematical precision.

It is often said that the Great Pyramid of Khufu contains 2.3 million stone blocks, although some now question this figure.  The four sides of the pyramid are accurately oriented to the cardinal points of the compass.  The base has sides 230 meters long, with a difference between them of only a few centimeters.   The pyramid was originally 146 meters high until it was robbed of its outer casing and capstone.  

           What was the purpose of the Egyptian pyramids?

The people of ancient Egypt believed that death on Earth was the start of a journey to the next world.  The embalmed body of the king was entombed in a chamber either underneath or within the pyramid to protect it and allow his transformation and ascension to the afterlife, and a place among the gods.

Each of the Giza Pyramids had an adjoining mortuary temple where rituals for the dead king’s spirit and for the Egyptian gods may have been carried out.  This was linked by a causeway to a valley temple near the Nile floodplain that acted as an entrance to the complex.  The Giza necropolis also includes pits for funerary boats, smaller subsidiary pyramids and numerous other tombs for the royal family and high officials.

              

The Great Sphinx and Pyramid of Khufu.  The mysterious Great Sphinx presides over the Giza necropolis.  Its age and purpose are debated, but it was probably part of Khafre’s Pyramid complex.                         

     

The pyramid shape may have represented the sun’s rays which the dead king would use as a ramp to the celestial realm.  Alternatively, it may have represented the primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed the god Re created the world.

                                        Inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu

                   

                  The Ascending Passage inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.

                                 

                      The Grand Gallery inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.

           

                               The empty sarcophagus in the King’s Chamber 
                               of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, Egypt.

                      

                              How were the pyramids built?

It seems likely that the Pyramids of Giza were not built by slaves but by paid laborers motivated by a faith in the divinity and immortality of their kings.  Exactly how the pyramids were built is unclear.  It is likely that a sloping embankment was built up to or around the pyramid.  The huge blocks would then have been hauled on sledges with the aid of rollers, papyrus ropes and levers.  Although most stone was quarried at Giza, some had to be transported to the site along the Nile..

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HISTORICAL PLACES IN PAKISTAN