Architecture

Thursday, 23 July 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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Big Ben
There are four smaller bells in the tower, which every quarter of an hour strike a variation of several bars modeled on that of the St. Mary's Church in Cambridge from Handel's "Messiah".
The bells can be heard on BBC Radio 4 at 6 pm and midnight and on the BBC World Service.
Notre-Dame
The cathedral's pipe organ was built in 1403 but has not survived to the present day. Only 12 pipes and a small part of the wooden structure remain. The creator of the original pipe organs was Frédéric Schambantz.
It was replaced in 1733 with a new one, built by François Thierry - a member of a famous French fami ...
Temple of Artemis
It has been completed in ten years.
Construction work finished around 560 BC. It was made with marble and Lebanon cedar. Temple's walls and columns were ornamented with bas-reliefs and precious metals like gold and silver.
Balmoral Castle
The estate includes forests, farmlands and heathlands inhabited by black grouse, grouse and capercaillie.
Deer breeding, as well as Highland cattle and ponies, is also developed there. You can fish there fo ...
Neuschwanstein Castle
The area of Neuschwanstein Castle is about 6000 square meters. There are 200 rooms, most of which are unused.
In one of the halls there is a colorful stained glass window depicting a scene from Wagner's opera T ...
La Scala
Originally, La Scala was lit by 84 kerosene lamps mounted on the stage.
Another thousand kerosene lamps were located in the rest of the theater. Fire was feared, so hundred ...
Hagia Sophia
The temple was built on the initiative of Emperor Justinian I the Great. The first church on the site of the current Hagia Sophia was a church known as Magna Ecclesia - the Great Church (due to its size compared to the size of modern churches in the city).
It was consecrated in 360, during the reign of Emperor Constantius II. It was built next to the Grea ...
Taj Mahal
The mausoleum houses the remains of both Shah Jahan and his wife.
At first, the emperor hoped to build a black marble mausoleum for himself similar to the Taj Mahal, ...
Petra
In the Middle Ages, Petra was occupied by the Crusaders, who built two citadels there.
Malbork Castle
The castle in Malbork covers an area of 18 hectares and is the largest medieval castle in Europe.
The fortress was built of over 30 million bricks.