10 MOST AMAZING MAN MADE STRUCTURES 10.Machu Picchu
High in the slopes of the Andes mountains sits the ruins of Macchu Picchu, an archaeological site which has long been revealing the mysteries of the Inca Empire to archaeologists. More than 7000 feet above sea level, this is in fact the most visited tourist destination in Peru and has even been dubbed one of the New Seven Wonders of the world. It’s made up of more than 150 buildings, all interlinked by over 100 separate flights of stairs. If you visit, you’ll find baths, houses, temples and sanctuaries.
There are many theories around the purpose of Machu Picchu. Some say it was a secret ceremonial centre, others a royal estate, and at one point it was even thought to be an ancient lost city that the Inca people fled to after attack by the Spanish Conquistadors. But, most likely, it was an astronomical observatory site, as suggested by the sacred Intiguatana stone that accurately indicates the two equinoxes, where twice a year the sun sits over the stone and creates no shadow.
9.Petra
Built some 2,000 years ago, the Rose City of Petra is a honeycomb of handcrafted caves, temples and tombs, dug directly out of the pink sandstone of Jordan’s high desert. For a while, it was hidden by time and the shifting dunes of the desert, but now revealed, it tells a tale of the lost Nabatean civilization, a nomadic desert kingdom who rose up from the cliffs and peaks, propelled by the lucrative incense trade.
Raqmu, or as it is now mostly known as Petra, was the Nabateans’ most important city. It linked camel caravans between the Mediterranean and Arabian seas. With the control of local water sources and the ability to disappear into their rocky cliff tunnels, the Nabateans were unconquered for centuries.
The engineering that went into Petra are beyond incredible. Most impressive is the sophisticated water systems, an irrigation web built to support the 30,000 inhabitants that the underground city would have contained. Nowadays millions visit Petra. Can you blame the tourists? This city is gorgeous, the ruins are an intricate work of art, painted on a canvas of natural stone that changes colour every hour with the drifting of the sun overhead.
8.Christ the Redeemer
Christ the Redeemer is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, which can be found looking over Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. It was created by the French sculptor Paul Landowski, and then built by the Brazillian engineer Heitor Da Silva Costa alongside a French Engineer called Albert Caquot. The last bits of work, mainly the face, were finished off by a Romanian Sculptor called Gheorghe Leonida. Created over the course of 9 years, between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 30 metres tall, 28 metres wide and weighs around 635 metric tons.
Standing atop the peak of the 700 metres tall Corcovado Moutain, Christ the Redeemer has become synonymous with the identity of Rio. Over the years it has gone through many periodic repairs and renovations, including but not limited to a full clean in preparation for the visit of the pope in 1980. The last major refurbishment project took place in 2010, with a complete repair and refurbish of the surface of the statue. This project actually used the same stone quarry that the original Redeemer stone was taken from, so that the repairs didn’t look any different to the original work.
7.Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan is an incredible Mexican Archaeological complex. In the past, it was an ancient Mesoamerican city, now located around 25 miles north east of the modern-day Mexico city. Nowadays it is known as the site of many of the most significant mesoamerican pyramids that were built in the pre-Columbian Americas.
The thing that makes Teotihuacan stand out so much is the size of its monolithic monuments. Sites such as the Temple of Quetzacoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon are truly massive.
The city is thought by researchers to have been constructed beginning around 100 BC, with some of its more impressive areas having been under continuous construction from that point to around 250 AD. Could you imagine, buildings being constructed continually for almost 350 years!
#FactFile #education #viralstory #facts #entertainment #top10 #top5 #list #countdown
Did you enjoy the background music in this video? You can follow the producer at the following link!
Want to keep up with more Fact File content? Follow Fact File's Twitter now:
If you don't want to follow on twitter, then why not consider checking out Fact File's Facebook:
0 Comments