We found the fairy-tale glow of the castle, which contrasted the evergreen hills of Serra da Sintra, quite unique. Each part of it had different paint and almost gave an impression of a separate building, taken out of different worlds, but with its own imaginative ornaments.
This inverted tower – Initiation Wells, is one of the most intriguing parts of the Quinta da Regaleira Gardens. Climbing this tower was much like climbing any other tower, the only difference is that… it is buried underground. Looking at this photo today now sends a shiver up my spine.
The Olympic Tower is 291 meters high and was opened in 1968. The Tower was built as a part of the Olympic Park for the Summer Olympics in 1972. Since it has been opened to the public, it has already garnered over 42 million visitors. It’s no wonder that the view from above Munich would be spectacular there as well.
The Bosco Verticale – “The Vertical Forest” was one of the most unique buildings I had ever seen in Milan. There were 900 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 floral plants that had been imbedded against the two towers. The towers were built in this style, to reduce smog and increase oxygen levels.
San Gimignano is known in Italy as “the Town of Fine Towers”. The towers of this medieval town are visible from every point you approach on the hill that it stands on. The dozens of tower-houses are a symbol of San Gimignano but, it’s not the only symbol of this place – another, is the vineyards with the famous Vernaccia grapes!
Piazza San Marco, internationally known as St Mark’s Square gained its own nickname “La Piazza” – THE Square, and I think it says a lot about Venice’s importance. There is a legend that Napoleon called it “the drawing room of Europe”. In our day, I would say the “photographing room of Europe”.
The Burano, with its distinctive colours, was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I later learned that there was a purpose behind the colour-toned design. During the golden age of development of Burano, if a house owner wanted to paint his belongings, he had to apply to Burano’s government for a colour. The government would only allow a few options of colours of choice.
Belem Tower was built in the 16th century from limestone as part of a defense system on Tagus River and was a built as a ceremonial gate of Lisbon. This, however, is not the only reason why this tower is so famous and why it remains a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Belem Tower is a symbol of the Portuguese maritime travels during the Age of Discoveries.
The original name of this tower was “Kaiser-Wilhelm-Turm” (Emperor William Tower) and was built between 1888 – 1889 to mark 100 years after the birth of the German Emperor Wilhelm I. The tower was built in a Gothic Brick Reviewal style, which you can often see around Berlin. The name “Grunewaldturm” was given after the name of the surrounding forest, in the period following the Second World War.
Podgorica city centre is unlike any other city I have ever seen in my life. I expected small shops and touristic places in the middle of the capital Montenegro. To my surprise, the centre was sprinkled with small houses! On this side of the district though, you can see the Clock-Tower, which dates right back to the Ottoman times.