SouthAmerica
1. Easter Island (Chile)
Easter Island is a Polynesian island
in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the
Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile annexed in 1888, Easter
Island is widely famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai,
created by the early Rapanui people. It is a World Heritage Site with much of
the island protected within the Rapa Nui National Park. The history of Easter
Island is rich and controversial. Its inhabitants have endured famines,
epidemics, civil war, slave raids and colonialism, and near deforestation;
their population has declined precipitously more than once. They have left a
cultural legacy that has brought them fame disproportionate to their
population.
2. Machu Picchu (Peru)
Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Inca
site located 2,430 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a
mountain ridge above the vicalamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50
mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most
archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca
emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as “The Lost City of the
Incas”, it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.
Central America & Caribbean
Teotihuacan is an enormous
archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest
pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the
pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential
complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved
murals. At its zenith in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Teotihuacan
was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. At this time it may have
had more than 200,000 inhabitants, placing it among the largest cities of the
world in this period. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the
site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
4. Palenque (Mexico)
Palenque was a Maya city state in
southern Mexico that flourished in the seventh century CE. After its decline it
was absorbed into the jungle, but has been excavated and restored and is now a
famous archaeological site attracting thousands of visitors. It is located near
the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, located about 130 km
south of Ciudad del Carmen (see map) about 150 meters above sea-level.
Europe
5. Château de Chambord (France)
The royal Château de Chambord at
Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the
world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends
traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures. The
building, which was never completed, was constructed by King François I in part
to be near to his mistress the Comtesse de Thoury, Claude Rohan, wife of Julien
de Clermont, a member of a very important family of France, whose domaine, the
château de Muides, was adjacent. Her arms figure in the carved decor of the
chateau. Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was built to serve
only as a hunting lodge for François I, who maintained his royal residences at
Château de Blois and at Château d’Amboise. The original design of the Château
de Chambord is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico da Cortona,
whose wooden model for the design survived long enough to be drawn by André
Félibien in the seventeenth century.
