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Monument archives - Monuments and memorials around the world
Lý Thái Tổ (974-1028) was the founder and first emperor of Vietnam’s Lý Dynasty (1009-1225). After ascending the throne, he moved the capital to Đại La (which he renamed as Thăng Long) in 1010, which in the end becomes present day Ha Noi.
The Ly Thai To statue above is located at Indira Gandhi Park, nearby Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi to commemorate the Vietnamese emperor.
The Flying Frenchman is a sculpture created by French sculptor César Baldaccini. The monument is located at Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. It was donated by the Cartier Foundation to Hong Kong in April 1992.
Hong Kong travelogue – Previous: Avenue of Stars | Next: Yung Kee restaurant
Second day in Paris. We had a short tour around the city before arriving at the Eiffel Tower at 9.30am. The queue wasn’t that long; we waited around 15 minutes and managed to squeeze into the elevator to get to the second level platform.
Eiffel Tower is one the most visited landmarks in the world; at the time of writing it has been visited by 229,623,812 visitors since its opening in 1889, and the number is ever growing.
The tower is 324 metres high and was once the tallest building in the world. It was built in conjunction to the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889 and was named after Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the main designer of the tower.
Rumours are that the Parisians didn’t like the ‘ugly’ Eiffel initially. The tower was supposed to be torn down in 1909, but the tower’s antenna was heavily used for communication (telegraph) purpose, thus putting off the dismantle plan. Besides, the Eiffel was then gradually becoming a prime tourist attraction, bringing in huge economic value for Paris and France, and in the end earned its rights to stay permanently.
We dropped by the Arc de Triomphe for a short photo session on our way back from Seine.
I would love to climb my way to the top to have a panoramic view of the area, especially the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysée. Too bad our time was limited as we only had a short stay in Paris, and Arc de Triomphe was not the tour’s priority.
Officially the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, the monument was commissioned in early 19th century to commemorate Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz. Today, the arch honours those who fought for France over the years. Beneath the Arc there’s also the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War.
The Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile is the most famous monument of its kind, but the largest Arc of Triumph is surprisingly in Pyongyang, North Korea, which was built in 1982 and was deliberately built to be larger than the Paris one.
Europe travel journal – Previous: Seine river cruise | Next: Eiffel Tower
The Statue of Charlemagne is located just outside of Notre Dame de Paris.
Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was the emperor of the Frankish Kingdom (768 to 814) which covered large part of the Western Europe. The Frankish Kingdom was later split into three by his descendants; one of the those areas was Western Francia which became the foundation of modern France.
After visiting the Notre Dame we wandered into the Latin Quarter to have our dinner. I got a crêpe jambon-fromage-oeuf (crepe with ham, cheese and egg), which was absolutely delicious. We then went on a night cruise on Seine River and had our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.
Europe travel journal – Previous: Notre Dame | Next: Seine River Cruise
Stonehenge is one of the most mystified sites in England, famous around the world too. I’ve always wanted to visit Stonehenge ever since I learnt about the place on TV when I was around five; childhood dream came true in Oct 2005…
Singapore has imposed the circuit breaker measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 since early April. They announced an extension (until June 1) and some new rules a … [Read More...] about Singapore queued for last bubble tea before tightened lockdown
A cute photo series amidst the Covid-19 lockdown in Malaysia. Armed forces are present to assist the police to enforce the Movement Control Order (MCO) across the … [Read More...] about An Officer and a Gentle Cat
