I just thought that it might be nice if we shared some of our favourite historical places, so that we can enlighten each other of historic beauties they may not yet have found.
I'll go first:
The Crystal Palace, Hyde Park( later moved to Sydenham ), London, England

A truly monumental feat for 1851 Victorian England that attracted visitors from all over the world, even after its initial purpose for the Great Exhibition of 1851 was over.

Sadly, only a ruin remains. although one thing I'd like to know is; How does a building made almost entirely of glass and iron burn down?

http://history1800s.about.com/od/em...bition-1851.htm - This was a truly stunning building, I would have loved to have seen it still standing in all its splendour today, but even if it had survived the fire of 1936, I have no doubt that it would have been bombed during WW2. Apparently, it inspired a later building in NY. I’ve got a copy of a book called ‘Derelict London’ and the ruins of Crystal palace feature in it. Apparently there were even aquariums filled with tropical fish. It must have been truly amazing and a great statement of British engineering. I’ve even found a video showing pics of its construction, splendour and demise; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yow5E_v7MgE

Oh My, the Palace was amazing... I've learned about it at my history of art clasess. Its iron lace reminds me of an Eiffel Tower, which also was made for the Great Exhibition. Yes, these was great times for architecture...

I would like to introduce something different. It's a building near my school. It's called "Central house" and it was made in arts and crafts style in 1910. It has an asymmetrical facades, windows in various shapes and heavy balconies with iron railings. Many years ago there was a cinema, modern hotel with electricity, restaurant and bookshop. Now it's a tenement house with antique shop an barber downstairs. I see the Central House almost every day, but I'm not bored - I love art nouveau and all these ornaments. What's more - The Central House is located close to the beautiful monastery's gardens and... my favourite oriental bar

Sorry for the pictures, I cant post them, so here's the link:
http://www.mmzamosc.pl/artykul/zdje...ntralny-0#photo

Wow! That place looks stunning! Thanks for sharing the link with all the pictures of it. There's so many beautiful features to admire on the building, I can see why you like it so much. I once saw a house for sale in London that had an Art Nouveau sunroom. The glass in the windows was arranged in a swirly pattern, although there was very little trace of Art Nouveau anywhere else in the house.

I've always had an affinity for the Taj Mahal , of Agra, India, just how the domes are, how the Minarets frame it, how its beautifully reflected in that pool of water, and how it was made to remember his dead wife... Its beautiful...

I've been to the Taj Mahal, I went as part of a school trip a few years back when we went backpacking across India. The Taj Mahal was impressive, but I was more taken with the gardens and buildings around it. They're never really shown as much as the Taj Mahal itself. It's weird to think that if the man who built the Taj Mahal hadn't been thrown in jail for use of slave labour, then he would have built a Taj Mahal for himself, but in black, directly across the river. I've attached some pics that I took while I was there so that you can see how beautiful some of the other buildings there are. I took a lot of pics while I was there, lol.

Woah it's lovely... What's that reddy-sandy coloured building? I'm interested...

The reddy-sandy coloured building are the gatehouses and various other buildings situated around the Taj Mahal Complex. To get to the Taj Mahal you have to pass through the building from the first two pictures. Then the other two reddy-sandy coloured buildings are other entrances through the wall that surrounds the Taj Mahal and is wonderous gardens around the Taj Mahal.

Oh awesome! Today I walked around some magical gardens around the gardens of the palace of Pena, Sintra (Near Lisbon) I have photos, but I can't get them off my BlackBerry without my laptop....

Its a 19th century building built by the Portuguese Royal Family (Or more specifically the Queens King Consort, who was a member of the Saxe-Coburg Gotha family!)

Google it! Its beautiful, great vistas too...

Wow, the Palace is awesome, it looks like multiple styles/houses all knocked in to one. Here's some pics I've just googled for those that are interested:


I hope you're having a great time out there Samuel. It would appear you are very lucky to visit such an extraordinary place, I think I'm a bit jealous of you...
You certainly didn't take all the hot weather with you when you left, we are having an absolute scorcher back here in England. It's currently 32c at 7pm, I went to Frinton beach and so was lucky enough to cool down in the sea breeze and go for a walk along the gorgeous old house-lined avenues. But back at home, a few miles in land, it got to about 35c!

Woah, its actually been in the mid-low 20s out here! The lovely Atlantic moderating things for me, Lisbon is definitely a must-visit for architecture, especially the towns of Sintra (and Mafra apparently too!) I went to the Castle (Castell due São Jorge) , which appenrently dates originally to around 600BC! (Most of its only Mediaeval, with some Moorish remaints)

PS: The town of Sintra apparently has two palaces (well actually I know, I saw the other one driving up!)

PPS: Be careful of the toll roads, its very disorientating!

Wow that palace is hands down amazing!

I personally love Gaudi's stuff though it's a question if his works actually count as "historic" since Sagrada Familia would only be finished in 2016. But I'd definitely consider buying a house built by him - Casa Vicens (if only I had a million euros lying around).

Something must be terribly wrong with European weather lately. I went to the UK a week ago and temperatures were more than 30 C which from what I know never happens. And now back home it's also the same while the hottest it usually gets is around 25.

Yes, something is wrong with the weather. I can't I'm complaining much though. It's nice to have the warm climates of places abroad without having to go abroad. Aparently a deadly African heatwave is on its way though, so tourists in Europe should be/are being warned of the risks. I hope that there wont be a great loss of life, but many people in England have already died from the heat. There' also been many wild fires, in Scotland of all places! So as nice as the warmth is to some people, it is deadly to others.

Yeah, things aren't right, but as I say ALOTBSOL.

I'm really looking forward to this festival on the 4th August!

Anyway... Woah! Just flicking through the images (cala vicens), it looks pretty cool!

I'm going to be honest, (Pena) inside there wasn't much, but its all being restorated so that's good!

I just love it when google accidentally points me to something brilliant.

Wooden Churches of Maramureş, Romania (more here)


I was impressed by their unique architecture. From what I gather the style resulted as a response to certain limitations of building Orthodox churches and were mostly built from 17th to 19th century.

That's amazing! I've never seen anything before like it. That's a real gem.

How'd you come across it, what were you supposed to be searching for?

It never seems to happen to me.,.

They're just like the Scandanavian/Nordic Stave Churches found further west/nort-west a few centuries earlier, I think Volvenom said they were from about the 12th or 13th century.

Yeah, those are quite similar. I thought I must have seen similar design somewhere just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Samuel, I was looking for an article National Geographic did few years back on one of the regions of Romania, so admittedly this wasn't absolutely random.

Ahh yeah, I see your point Fergus. They are in a children's atlas in my bedroom...

Blueberry, ahh yeah, I find many things like that. I once found a website all about British Roads when all I wanted was a diagram of a Motorway intersection...

OK, I have a habit of not doing historical, but I went to the Parque due Naçiones today, which was built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Vasco de Gama's voyage to India! I mean it was great architecturally, but they looked really drab after 15 years...

Speaking of India, here's another place I visited in India; Gandhi Smriti, it's the place where Gandhi was shot dead.
Gandhi Smriti, New Delhi, India

It's a really peaceful place consdering it's right in the city of New Delhi. It's like a paradise, and they have Ganhi's last footsteps set in stone so visitors can see them, they lead from the the house out to where he was shot on the lawn, which has had a shrine erected in that very position.

The gardens are very mature and so it was difficult for me to get a good shot of the whole house. It's quite an interesting style, I'm not really sure what it would be defined as, but it was just as beautiful a place in the sun and the storm that followed just as we were leaving it.

Woah, its amazing <3_<3

But yeah, went to Mafra yesterday. There's an old palace/monastery/cathedral there that bankrupted the nation. Legend has it, the king ordered 6 bells from a Flemish bell-maker, and when the bell maker asked whether he'd be able to afford it, the king doubled his order.

Holy sh*t it's huge!

Aparently it's called the Palácio Nacional e Convento de Mafra. Take a look here for more pics.

Yeah, it only took an hour to get around it (though a third is closed to the public. Ohh the hours I'll be spending getting it all off my BlackBerry... (The middle is actually some kind of French garden, I mean on either side, the centre area is the cathedral.. Its got a little box so that the king could get out of his bed and attend mass or the like, its amazing.

Inside it's quite plain really, and there's a room where the chairs are made out of deer horns and pelts... Not quite to my taste.

A horn room?
Queen Victoria's holiday house has a horn room too:
Osborne House, East Cowes, Isle of Wight

It also has a room decorated almost entirely in ivory:

It even has its own private beach and a Swiss Chalet where her children learned to cook, clean, garden and grow food and vegetables for themselves:

I loved my visit there many years ago, it's a truly gorgeous place, you can see more pics of the place on google; here.