Sydney Opera House, opera house located on Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), New South Wales, Australia. Its unique use of a series of gleaming white sail-shaped shells as its roof structure makes it one of the most-photographed buildings in the world. In 1956 the state government sponsored an international competition for a design that was to … Read more
Venice, Italian Venezia, city, major seaport, and capital of both the provincia (province) of Venezia and the regione (region) of Veneto, northern Italy. An island city, it was once the centre of a maritime republic. It was the greatest seaport in late medieval Europe and the continent’s commercial and cultural link to Asia. Venice is … Read more
Galapagos Islands, Spanish Islas Galápagos, officially Archipiélago de Colón (“Columbus Archipelago”), island group of the eastern Pacific Ocean, administratively a province of Ecuador. The Galapagos consist of 13 major islands (ranging in area from 5.4 to 1,771 square miles [14 to 4,588 square km]), 6 smaller islands, and scores of islets and rocks lying athwart … Read more
The Great Wall of China , (Pinyin) Wanli Changcheng or (Wade-Giles romanization) Wan-li Ch’ang-ch’eng (“10,000-Li Long Wall”), extensive bulwark erected in ancient China, one of the largest building-construction projects ever undertaken. The Great Wall actually consists of numerous wals—many of them parallel to each other—built over some two millennia across northern China and southern Mongolia. … Read more
Home to 1,192 coral islands, the tropical paradise of The Maldiveslies in the Indian Ocean to the southern side of Sri Lanka. The islands sheltered in this archipelago are categorized into natural atolls, most of which remain uninhabited. Floating on serene ocean waters, this island nation makes for the perfect getaway The Maldives is a … Read more
Machu Picchu, Peru also spelled Machupijchu, site of ancient Inca ruins located about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Cuzco, Peru, in the Cordillera de Vilcabamba of the Andes Mountains. It is perched above the Urubamba River valley in a narrow saddle between two sharp peaks—Machu Picchu (“Old Peak”) and Huayna Picchu (“New Peak”)—at an … Read more
Niagara Falls, North America , waterfall on the Niagara River in northeastern North America, one of the continent’s most famous spectacles. The falls lie on the border between Ontario, Canada, and New York state, U.S. For many decades the falls were an attraction for honeymooners and for such stunts as walking over the falls on … Read more
Great Pyramid of Giza, also called Great Pyramid and Great Pyramid of Khufu, ancient Egyptian pyramid that is the largest of the three Pyramids of Giza. It was built to honor Khufu, the second king of Egypt’s 4th dynasty, and was completed about 2560 BCE. The Great Pyramid is the only one of the Seven … Read more
The Louvre, Paris, France is the most visited museum worldwide, hosting nearly 10 million tourists annually. The iconic pyramid-shaped museum hosts over fifteen acres of unique and incredible art to be witnessed by visitors. Some of the collections of this museum on the banks of the Seine include incredibly famous works of art, including the … Read more
Times Square, New York City, United States, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, formed by the intersection of Seventh Avenue, 42nd Street, and Broadway. Times Square is also the centre of the Theatre District, which is bounded roughly by Sixth and Eighth avenues to the east and west, respectively, and by 40th and 53rd streets to … Read more