Tadrart Acacus Rock-Art Sites, Libya

TADRART ACACUS ROCK-ART SITES (Libya)

A rocky group of mountains in the Sahara, on the borders of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, has thousands of cave paintings in many different styles, dating from 12,000 BCE to 100 CE, exhibiting marked changes in the area's flora and fauna (giraffes, elephants, ostriches, and camels), as well as the changing lifestyles of the area's human populations.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China

LONGMEN GROTTOES (Henan, China)

Located in the narrow "Dragon's Gate" (Ch. Longmen) along a half-mile stretch of the Yi River outside of the ancient capital of Luoyang, in China's Henan Province, this collection of over 100,000 statues (ranging from 1" to 57' high) and 2,345 artificial caves contains some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist carving, with the oldest dating back to 493 CE.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Novodevichy Convent, Moscow, Russia

NOVODEVICHY CONVENT, MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Novodevichy Convent, perhaps the best-known in Moscow, was built in the 16th-17th centuries and remains largely intact. Part of a chain of monastic assemblages used for the defense of the city, it was closely linked to the Moscow Kremlin and used by women of the Tsar's family and the aristocracy. It houses rich interiors with an important collection of paintings and artifacts.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, India

HUMAYUN'S TOMB (Delhi, India)

This tomb, completed in Delhi in 1570, was the first Persian-style garden tomb built in the Indian subcontinent, and the first to use red sandstone at such a scale. It entombs the second Mughal Emperor; the fifth, Shah Jahan, completed the Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtaz 80 years later. Other important tombs are found near that of Humayun.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Madara Rider

THE MADARA RIDER (Bulgaria)

This badly-eroded rock relief located east of Shumen in NE Bulgaria was carved 75 feet above ground level in the 7th-8th century, during the reign of the Bulgarian Khan Tervel. The identity (if any) of the near-life-sized figure is unknown. He is seen thrusting a spear into a lion at his horse's feet, with a dog running after him and a bird in front of his face.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Mogao Caves

THE MOGAO CAVES (western China)

Also called the "Thousand Buddha Grottoes," these 735 or so decorated caves are carved along a two-kilometer-long cliff face near Dunhuang on western China's Silk Road. The first caves were dug out in 366 CE (the last around 1368) for Buddhist meditation and worship. An important document cache was found in 1900 in the walled-up "Library Cave."

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Mongolian Altai Petroglyphs

MONGOLIAN ALTAI PETROGLYPHS (western Mongolia)

This six-square-mile region on the south side of western Mongolia's White River Valley contains figures of roughly 10,000 wild and domestic animals, some dating back more or less 10,000 years, and depicting the Altai peoples' transition from hunting to domestic herding and on to the nomadic horse-based culture popularly associated with the much later Genghis Khan.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Chief Roi Mata's Domain

CHIEF ROI MATA'S DOMAIN (Vanuatu, Melanesia)

Oral tradition and archaeology meet at the sites of the mass grave and former residence of powerful Melanesian 13th-century paramount chief Roi Mata of Vanuatu. The grave, found by a French archaeologist in 1967, contains the bodies of over 25 members of his retinue. Roi Mata's reputedly peaceful reign came after he united the tribes into a single army.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Hälsingland Farms

HALSINGLAND FARMS (Sweden)

The roughly one thousand dwelling houses of the farms were built with traditional Swedish construction techniques including elegant joinery and beautifully decorated doorways. The interiors have painted and stenciled walls with Biblical motifs, funny stories, and cautionary tales mixed with the decorative artwork of wandering painters.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Cueva de las Manos

CUEVA DE LOS MANOS (Río Pinturas, Santa Cruz, Argentina)

Spanish for "Cave of the Hands," located in a complex of rock art sites in the province of Santa Cruz Argentina, and named for the hundreds of hands stenciled on the rock walls. Dated to 7,300 BCE-700 CE, when several waves of people occupied the cave. Considered by some scholars to be the best physical evidence of South American early hunter-gatherer groups.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Statue of Liberty

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY (New York, New York, USA)

TexProperly "Liberty Enlightening the World" (or casually "The Lady in the Harbor") was a gift from the people of France for America's first centennial. Arriving in pieces starting in 1876, she began welcoming immigrants in 1886. She stands 151 feet high (excluding the pedestal, which Americans paid for; France paid only for the statue herself).t

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Monet's Gardens

MONET'S GARDENS (Giverny, France)

When Impressionist Claude Monet saw the village of Giverny out of a train window, he decided to live there. First he rented, then bought the house and created the magnificent gardens that have been immortalized in many of his works, perhaps especially those featuring his Japanese bridge and the pond with the water lilies.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Rock Art of Alta

THE ROCK ART OF ALTA (northern Norway)

Located in northern Norway and not discovered until 1973, several sites exhibit over 6000 carvings dating to at least 4200 to 500 BCE. Scenes show a culture that herded reindeer, built boats, and practiced shamanism regarding bears and other sacred animals. Speculation about their purpose includes ritual, territory marking--and simple artistic pleasure.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Chartres Cathedral

CHARTRES CATHEDRAL (Chartres, France)

This 13th-century cathedral, a high point of French Gothic art, is 50 miles southwest of Paris. Its stained glass windows (their size made possible by the flying buttresses that support the walls) and most of the architecture (the mismatched towers, the three riotously-sculpted great facades) are unchanged. Tourists come for the sights; pilgrims for the relics.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Christ the Redeemer

CHRIST THE REDEEMER (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

This Art Deco statue overlooks the harbor and city of Rio de Janeiro, and is said to be the fourth largest statue of Jesus Christ in the world. It was built 1922-1931 and stands 98 feet high on a 26-foot pedestal atop a 2,300-foot peak; its arms stretch 292 feet wide--nearly one American football field, goal to goal.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

La Sagrada Familia

LA SAGRADA FAMILIA (Barcelona, Spain)

Construction began on the still-unfinished Basilica of the Sacred Family under another architect in Barcelona in 1882, but the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) took over the next year. It was only a quarter complete at his death; he is buried in its crypt. Building proceeded in fits and starts, and though consecrated in 2010, completion is not expected until after 2026.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Ajanta Caves

THE AJANTA CAVES (Ajanta, India)

The 30 rock-cut Buddhist Caves in Ajanta, India, date back to the 2nd century BCE. They house paintings and sculptures, ancient monasteries and worship-halls, and served as a monsoon retreat for monks as well as stopovers for merchants and pilgrims. Once covered by jungle, they came to Western attention in 1819 as the result of a tiger-hunting party.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Bamiyan Valley

THE BAMIYAN VALLEY (Afghanistan)

Home to two monumental 6th-century Buddha statues (125 feet and 180 feet tall, carved directly into a cave-riddled cliff nearly a mile long) until destroyed as idolatrous by the Taliban in March 2001, the area which once lay along one of the "Silk Roads" still has remains of 3rd-5th century Buddhist monastic centers and 6th-10th century Islamic forts.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Itsukushima

ITSUKUSHIMA (near Hiroshima, Japan)

Popularly called Miyajima--"Shrine Island"--this small island near Hiroshima, Japan, has one main shrine dedicated to the three Shinto goddesses of seas and storms, and numerous other shrines and Buddhist temples. It is most famous for the "floating torii" or shrine gateway seen on approaching the island.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak

THE THRACIAN TOMB OF KAZANLAK (Kazanlak, Bulgaria)

This vaulted-brickwork "beehive" tomb at Kazanlak in central Bulgaria is part of a large necropolis of more than a thousand royal and aristocratic tombs. Its corridor and round burial chamber are decorated with murals of a Thracian couple at a funeral feast. Dating to the 4th century BCE, it features Bulgaria's best-preserved Hellenistic masterpieces.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)