Architecture

Monday, 21 September 2026
18 facts about Hagia Sophia
18 facts about Hagia Sophia
The most significant work of Byzantine architecture
The Hagia Sophia's Temple, now an Istanbul mosque, was initially built as the Church of Divine Wisdom. It was the highest-ranking temple in the Byzant ...

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Taj Mahal
The name Taj Mahal means the Palace of the Crown.
Taj in Persian means a crown, and Mahal means palace.
Stonehenge
Between 2600 BC and 2400 BC, Stonehenge hosted religious festivals attended by up to 4,000 people.
The festivals, including animal sacrifices, coincided with the winter and summer solstices. Since sa ...
Hagia Sophia
The largest door in Hagia Sophia is the Imperial Gate, an entrance used exclusively by the emperor, his personal bodyguard and entourage.
They date back to the 6th century and are about 7 meters long. Byzantine sources claim they are made of wood from Noah's Ark. In April 2022, the doors were vandalized by unknown assailants.
Zwinger
The formal inauguration of the Zwinger took place in 1719.
The pretext was the wedding of Prince Elector Frederick Augustus II (Augustus III of Poland) to the ...
Christ The Redeemer
The statue was chosen in 2007 as one of the new seven wonders of the world.
This was decided by millions of votes of people who decided that this monument deserves an honorary ...
Malbork Castle
In the first stage of construction, the commander's stronghold - the High Castle - was built.
In the years 1280-1283, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Konrad von Feuchtwangen, began the ...
Stonehenge
The next stage - Stonehenge 3 I - occurred around 2600 BC.
During this stage, timber was replaced with stone. In the central part, there were (probably) two ar ...
Statue of Liberty
The cost of the construction was in the range of $400,000, which is now about $12 million.
Carrying out the construction was made possible by collections conducted in France and the United States.
Great Pyramid of Giza
Because of the extreme precision with which the structure was built, many pseudo-scientific myths have grown up around it.
Some attribute the construction of the pyramid to a highly advanced extraterrestrial civilization.
Notre-Dame
Upon the 800th anniversary of the cathedral's construction, its facade was cleaned. André Malraux, France's Minister of Culture, ordered a thorough restoration of the walls, which had turned black from dirt and soot over the past centuries.
Once the work was completed, the cathedral regained its white-red color. However, more restoration work was carried out between 1991 and 2000.