Tarnowskie Gory Mine, Poland

TARNOWSKIE GORY MINE (Poland)

Mining began in Poland's Silesia region in the 16th century. Tarnowskie Góry with its Historic Silver Mine was granted independent status in 1526; the mining industry there ceased in 1912. In the 1950s history buffs worked to open a tourist route; a boat tour of the Black Trout Adit, a part of the drainage system, opened in 1957; tours of part of the mine itself opened in 1976.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Semmering Railway, Austria

THE SEMMERING RAILWAY (Austria)

From 1848-1854 a railway was constructed through spectacular Alpine scenery and has been in continuous use to this day. It features 14 tunnels (the highest is nearly 4,700 feet in elevation), 16 viaducts (several of them two stories) over 100 stone arch bridges, and 11 small iron bridges. Stations were often built from waste rock dug out when making the tunnels.

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The Old Walled City of Shibam

THE OLD WALLED CITY OF SHIBAM (central Yemen)

This 16th-century city of seven-story sun-dried mud brick tower houses in central Yemen is known as the "Manhattan (or sometimes Chicago) of the Desert” for its resemblance to modern skyscrapers. The one-time caravan stop on the Southern Arabian plateau's spice and incense route is surrounded by a fortified wall on a rocky spur above the bed of a wadi.

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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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Kiyomizudera

KIYOMIZUDERA (Kyoto, Japan)

This Buddhist temple, whose name means "clear water," has a waterfall on the grounds. The dramatic location hanging off a hillside in eastern Kyoto, Japan, provides spectacular views of the city. Legend says jumping the 43 feet off the veranda--and surviving--grants wishes. 234 tried in the Edo period; 85.4% survived. The practice was prohibited in 1872.

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The Brooklyn Bridge

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE (Brooklyn, New York, USA)

A wonder in its day and an icon of NYC today, this 1883 hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge was the longest such bridge in the world at the time; it was also the first structure to span the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Renovated several times since, it now carries only foot and bicycle traffic and passenger vehicles.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Eiffel Tower

THE EIFFEL TOWER

Locally nicknamed "The Iron Lady," this 1,063-foot-tall iron lattice tower is the tallest structure in Paris. It was built 1887-1889 for the 1889 World's Fair--and some leading artists and intellectuals hated it. Today it's a global icon of France and one of the world's most recognizable and popular structures--nearly 7 million people went up in 2015!

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Hoover Dam

HOOVER DAM (between Arizona and Nevada, USA)

Stretching 1,244 feet across the Colorado River from Arizona to Nevada, it stands 726.4 feet high; its Lake Mead impounds up to 3,250,000 cubic yards of water. Once known as Boulder Dam, its name honors the president who got it started. Thousands built it 1931-1936; over 100 died doing so. It provides power for parts of three states; a million tourists visit each year.

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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)

The Great Wall of China

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA (China)

Actually a series of overlapping walls, it protected the northern borders of China from "barbarian" invaders; some entered anyway and founded dynasties (Yuan, Qing). Total length was around 12,000 miles. What we see today is mostly rammed earth; brick and stone portions have been salvaged for building materials. And no, it cannot be seen from the moon.

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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 Cahokia Mounds

THE CAHOKIA MOUNDS (Illinois, USA)

The site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (c. 1050-1350 CE) in SW Illinois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. About 80 mounds remain of a once much-larger city; around 1100 CE, it covered about 6 square miles, and may have had a population larger than London's at the time (14,000-18,000 people).

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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)

Brimstone Hill Fortress

BRIMSTONE HILL FORTRESS (St. Kitts and Nevis)

This well-preserved fortress on a steeply sloping hill on the Eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts (in the nation of St. Kitts and Nevis) was designed by British military engineers and built by enslaved Africans. Once considered impregnable--"The Gibraltar of the Caribbean"--it is one of the best-preserved historical fortifications in the Americas.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Asmara, Modernist African City

ASMARA, MODERNIST AFRICAN CITY (Eritrea, Africa)

Capital of Eritrea, at 7,628 feet (2,325 meters) it's the world's 6th-highest capital. Surprisingly, this ancient city--formed in the 12th century when the women of four villages convinced their men to band together for self-defense--was named to the UNESCO list for its modernist architecture, dating to its century as an Italian colony (1889-1991).

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Panama Canal

THE PANAMA CANAL (Panama, Central America)

This "wonder of the modern world" joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, dividing North and South America. Considered one of history's most difficult engineering projects, its system of locks eliminated the need for shipping "around the Horn" of South America. France began the work in 1881; the U.S. finished it in 1914. It is now controlled by the Panamanian government.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Paris Sewers

THE PARIS SEWERS (Paris, France)

A waste tunnel system was begun under the streets of the French capital in 1370, and has been expanded since. An unlikely place of romance and mystery, it was featured in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, where it's called "the intestine of the Leviathan" and the "conscience of the city," a place where class distinctions become unimportant.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Golden Gate Bridge

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE (San Francisco, California, USA)

This 1.7-mile suspension bridge (longest and tallest in the world when opened in 1937) spans the mile-wide strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. One of the "Wonders of the Modern World," it symbolizes both the city and California State, and carries vehicles (on US Highway 101), cyclists, and pedestrians.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Transcontinental Railroad

THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD (Missouri River to San Francisco Bay)

The first railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans was built between 1863 and 1869. From the existing East Coast rail network at the Missouri River, it stretched 1,912 miles (3,077 kilometers) to San Francisco Bay. Construction began at both ends--east and west--and met in Utah at Promontory Summit, where a ceremonial "Golden Spike" was driven.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)