1. Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto, Japan
Once the private residence of a villainous shogun, Kinkaku-ji — "the Temple of the Golden Pavilion" — was converted into a Zen Buddhist temple by his son.
That was 600 years ago. It was burned down by a monk in the 1950s and rebuilt beam for beam.
2. Durham Cathedral, United Kingdom
Britain's finest Norman Cathedral, which still dominates the city of Durham with its massive 11th century drum pillars and sturdy towers.
As monolithic now as it was one thousand years ago, and still home to the tombs of Cuthbert and Bede.
3. Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík, Iceland
One of the world's great modernist churches, subsuming the principles of Gothic unto the modern materials of concrete and steel.
An expressive, captivating, almost magical symbol of tradition and modernity united.
4. Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib, Uttarakhand, India
Sometimes it isn't just the architecture, but the location that can make a building so extraordinary.
Thus it is with the Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib, nearly 5,000 metres high in the Garhwal Himalayas.
5. Szeged Synagogue, Hungary
An electic masterpiece, designed in 1902 by Lipót Baumhorn, filled with stained glass and wrought iron.
Art Nouveau, Neo-Gothic, Neo-Romanesque, and Neo-Moorish architecture are combined into a sort of architectural wonderland.
6. Dilwara Jain Temples, Rajasthan, India
Built over the course of five hundred years, between the 11th and 16th centuries, this set of temples is perhaps the finest example of Solaṅkī style architecture.
A cornucopia of elaborately carved snow-white marble.
7. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria
A monument of Neo-Byzantine architecture thirty years in the making, and perhaps the culmination of Bulgarian independence from the Ottomans.
A cascade of gold and green domes outside; a shadowy cavern of candles and icons inside.
8. Great Mosque of Damascus, Syria
One of the world's great buildings. A site of worship for 4,000 years, with Phoenician, Roman, and Early Christian remnants still visible among the golden mosaics of this masterpiece, remodelled time and again from the Umayyads to the Ottomans.
9. Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece
Once among the most sacred places in the ancient world, home to the Delphic Oracle and holy to all Greeks.
Though it lies in ruins the peculiar mystery of the temple endures, nearly 3,000 years old and high in the climes of Mount Parnassus.
10. Abu Simbel, Egypt
An Ancient Egyptian temple built by and to the glory of Pharaoh Ramesses II, to be a godlike and eternal sentinel over the Nile.
Lost beneath the sands for two thousand years, excavated, and then moved — stone by stone — when the Aswan Dam was built.
11. Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire
A cathedral, built during the 1980s, which beggars belief. It was inspired by, though does not directly imitate, St Peter's Basilica in Rome. According to some it is the largest church in the world.
12. Cappella Palatina, Palermo, Sicily
Many buildings are called unique — this one genuinely is. An unprecedented matrix of Byzantine, Norman, and Fatimid architecture; three religions and three styles combined. Muqarnas, semidomes, icons, round and pointed arches... unique.
13. Fanjingshan Temples, Guizhou, China
Perching on a spur of rock deep in the Wuling Mountains, these two Buddhist temples — whose origins stretch back centuries — seem almost impossible.
But they are real — and their tiles are made from iron because of the extreme wind!
14. Meenakshi Temple, Tamil Nadu, India
This vast complex has a storied history going back well over 1,000 years. It is a stunning example of Dravidian architecture, with 14 gopura — ceremonial entrance towers — some of them monumental, clad in elaborate technicolour sculpture.
Comments
Post a Comment