Building sights in Europe
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A
Great Count’s Church
Built during the early 1900s, Great Count’s Church has a distinctly modernist, even art-nouveau flair, with an exotically tiled interior of metallic hues. The cross on the top is made of crystal, supposedly donated from the local glassware factory.
reviewed
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Haus Kandinsky/Klee
The Haus Kandinsky/Klee is most notable for the varying pastel shades in which Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee painted their walls (re-created today). There's also biographical information about the two artists and special exhibitions about their work.
reviewed
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B
Amalienburg
The royal gardens take the form of a magnificently landscaped English-style park. They contain a number of follies, including the Amalienburg, a dainty hunting lodge with a domed central room and the Pagodenburg Chinese teahouse.
reviewed
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C
Lorettokapelle
The design of the little Loreto Chapel emulates the Gnadenkapelle in Altötting. Outside the prim church ensemble of St Nikolai and Lorettokapelle, the covered walkway protects some pretty nifty 'Stations of the Cross' made of Nymphenburg porcelain.
reviewed
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D
Domschatz-kammer
reviewed
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E
Turning Torso
In the distant northwest of the city, you may catch sight of the eye-boggling Turning Torso, a brand-new apartment block that twists through 90 degrees from bottom to top. Inaugurated at the end of August 2005, it's now Sweden's tallest building at 190m high.
reviewed
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F
Igreja Matriz
The elegant Igreja Matriz - also known as the sé - dates from the 15th century, though it has since had several reincarnations. Note its unusually sculpted Romanesque towers and Gothic doorway, carved with figures of Christ and the Evangelists.
reviewed
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G
Kollegiengebäude I
The university quarter, in the area west of Martinstor, consists of an eclectic mix of old and new buildings. The Kollegiengebäude I has Art Nouveau elements, while the Alte Universitätsbibliothek (Old University Library) is resolutely neo-Gothic.
reviewed
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H
Synagogue
Chişinău's only remaining working synagogue is close to the remains of the yeshiva, at Str Habad Lubavia 8. Before WWII there were over 70 synagogues in Chişinău, each serving a different trade. Glass blowers worshipped at this one.
reviewed
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I
Evangelical Church
The circular dome of the 18th-century Evangelical Church proudly overlooks a busy junction. The dome is in fact the largest in Warsaw, and the church is renowned for its excellent acoustics and is the venue for a variety of musical events.
reviewed
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J
St Spiridon's Monastery
One block west at B-dul Independenţei 33 is St Spiridon's Monastery. The body of Grigore Ghica III, killed in 1777 for opposing the Turks, lies inside the monastical complex, minus the head, which presumably came to rest in the sultan's sitting room.
reviewed
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Securitate Building
The building shell, on the corner of Str Dobrescu and Str Boteanu, housed the hated, KGB-like Securitate and was destroyed by protestors. In 2003 the Romanian Architecture Union built a contemporary glass structure inside it to house their headquarters.
reviewed
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K
Hellenic Conservatory
The Nerantzes Mosque (converted from a Franciscan church in 1657) now houses the Hellenic Conservatory and makes a lovely venue for concerts and recitals. The management is happy for you to have a look around. The building's minaret was built in 1890.
reviewed
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L
Calvinist New College
Walking northeast into Szabadság tér, you'll pass the 17th-century Calvinist Church and the Calvinist New College from 1912, a later version of the Hungarian Romantic style that looks like a Transylvanian castle and is now a music school.
reviewed
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Town Hall
The art deco town hall dominates the town centre, between the kauppatori and river. It was designed by Eliel Saarinen, most famous for Helsinki’s train station, and was built in 1914. It now houses the local theatre and Teatteri.
reviewed
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M
Skyscraper
Just east of the Jewish cemetery is the Skyscraper, Poland's first such building when completed in 1934 and considered the best example of functionalism in Poland. The 14-storey, 60m-tall tower was the highest building in the country until 1955.
reviewed
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N
Convento do Carmo
Soaring above Lisbon, the skeletal Convento do Carmo was all but devoured by the 1755 earthquake and precisely that makes it so captivating. Its shattered pillars and wishbone-like arches are completely exposed to the elements.
reviewed
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O
Chiesa di San Francesco delle Scale
North along Via Ciriaco Pizzecolli and off to the right is Chiesa di San Francesco delle Scale, noteworthy for its 15th-century Venetian-Gothic doorway by Orsini. Check out the ancient waterway below or ascend the many steps to the bell tower.
reviewed
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P
Church of the Holy Cross
From the main train station, Masarykova leads to Kapucínské náměstí. At No 5 is the Church of the Holy Cross and the adjoining and gruesomely compelling Capuchin monastery (Kapucínský klášter).
reviewed
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Q
Chiesa di San Michele
Along Via Carlo Alberto is a church whose main feature is its majolica dome, typical of churches in Valencia, another former Catalan territory. The present tiles were laid in the 1960s, but this doesn't detract from the visual pleasure.
reviewed
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R
St Mary's Church
From Carlow Castle, continue up Castle Hill and take the fork to your left onto Castle St. On your left you'll see St Mary's Church , built in 1727 (the tower and spire were added in 1834), with a number of statues by Richard Morrison.
reviewed
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S
Chiesa Sant'Antonio
One last bit of trulli madness is the Chiesa Sant'Antonio a trullo-shaped church at the top of Rione Monti. It was built with donations from American émigrés and is topped by a trullo dome measuring 19.8m.
reviewed
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T
Church of St Giles
In contrast to the enormous Cathedral of St John the Baptist, the Church of St Giles is barely a cupboard. Built between 1218 and 1230, this is the oldest surviving church in Wrocław, and has an original Romanesque portal.
reviewed
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U
Vicars' Close
Surrounding Wells Cathedral is a cluster of ecclesiastical buildings that form the medieval Cathedral Close. The Vicars' Close is a cobbled alley of 14th-century houses, thought to be the oldest medieval street in Europe.
reviewed
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V
Chiesa di Francescani
The 14th-century Chiesa di Francescani features beautiful cloisters and a magnificent Gothic altarpiece, carved in 1500 by Hans Klocker, in the Cappella della Beata Vergine (Chapel of the Blessed Virgin).
reviewed