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Europe

Monument sights in Europe

  1. Helgi the Lean

    On the hill near Klapparstígur, a five-minute walk from the city centre, is a statue of Helgi the Lean, the first settler in the Akureyri area. There's also a view disc, but the view, of shops and office buildings obscuring the fjord, isn't brilliant.

    reviewed

  2. A

    Statue of King Carlo Felice

    Piazza Yenne is effectively the 'centre' of the town although it's more like a traffic island. The piazza is adorned with a Statue of King Carlo Felice to mark the beginnings of the Carlo Felice highway (SS131), the project for which he is best remembered.

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  3. B

    Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assunção

    Weave through the back alleys west of the câmara municipal to the palm-fringed square that is home to the whitewashed Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, adorned with azulejos predating the 1755 earthquake.

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  4. C

    Statue of Copernicus

    The square at the Old Town Hall is also furnished with a number of interesting items of statuary. A few steps from the town hall entrance is a Statue of Copernicus, one of the oldest monuments dedicated to the stargazer and a regular feature in holiday snaps.

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  5. D

    Colonna del Marzocca

    At the upper end of Piazza Savonarola is the Colonna del Marzocca, erected in 1511 to confirm Montepulciano's allegiance to Florence. The splendid stone lion, squat as a pussycat atop this column is, in fact, a copy; the original is in the town's Museo Civico.

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  6. E

    Reiterdenkmal Friedrich Des Grossen

    Frederick the Great cuts a commanding figure on horseback in this famous 1850 monument (near Bebelplatz), which kept sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch busy for a dozen years. A who's who of German generals, scientists, artists and thinkers parade around the plinth.

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  7. F

    Statue

    On the opposite side of the Rynek, you'll find another curious critter-related Statue at knee-level, depicting a dog and umbrella. The pooch's name is Filus, and he starred in a famous long-running Polish comic strip as the pet of brolly-wielding Professor Filutek.

    reviewed

  8. obelisk

    Classical pl Demidov was once exaggeratedly dubbed a 'slice of St Petersburg'. Now the slice is itself sliced in half by the tram tracks of Krasnoarmeysky pr and is hardly memorable, apart from the 1825 obelisk which is still faintly bullet-pocked from a 1918 skirmish.

    reviewed

  9. G

    Romulus and Remus statue

    On Piaţa Romană you can see the Romulus and Remus statue, which depicts Lupoaica Romei (the wolf of Rome) and the abandoned children Romulus and Remus, whom the wolf fed and cared for, enabling them to found the city of Rome. The statue was a gift from Italy.

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  10. H

    Sun-Craft

    Reykjavík is littered with fascinating statues and abstract monuments, but it's Jón Gunnar Árnason's shiplike Sun-Craft sculpture that seems to catch visitors' imaginations. Its situation - facing the sea and snow-capped Esja - may have something to do with it.

    reviewed

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  12. I

    Town Hall Tower

    This tall tower is all that remains from the 15th-century town hall. In summer months, you can climb 70m to the top for a bird's-eye view of the goings-on. Nearby is the 11th-century Church of St Adalbert (Kościół Św Wojciecha), which predates the Rynek Główny.

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  13. J

    Choral Synagogue

    Close to Laisvės alėja, a memorial at Kaunas' only operational Choral Synagogue remembers 1600 children killed at the Ninth Fort. The WWII Jewish ghetto was on the western bank of the Neris, in the area bounded by Jurbarko, Panerių and Demokratų streets.

    reviewed

  14. Garden of Europe

    In Childers Park is the Garden of Europe, opened in 1995. Its 12 sections represent the 12 members of the EU of the day. There is a fine bust of the poet Schiller and, strikingly, Ireland’s only public monument to those who died in the Holocaust, and to all victims of injustice.

    reviewed

  15. Monument

    Towering over the square is a striking monument, unveiled in 2007, to Medea, 'the person who brought Georgia closer to Europe,' according to Batumi's mayor at the time. The Georgian government controversially paid over 1 million GEL for the monument, sculpted by Davit Khmaladze.

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  16. K

    Orpheus Monument

    In front of the City Tower stands the 5m-tall Orpheus Monument, a Roman tombstone from the 2nd century with scenes from the Orpheus myth. It was used as a pillory in the Middle Ages; those found guilty of a crime were shackled to iron rings attached to the holes on the lower half.

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  17. L

    WWII Memorial

    Khabarovsk's bombastic WWII memorial is close to the waterfront and a strip of beach that's very popular with sunbathers on hot days. Nearby there's a string of summertime food stalls, the landing stages for suburban river boats and the new multidomed Church of the Transfiguration.

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  18. M

    Parthenon

    The Parthenon is the monument that more than any other epitomises the glory of ancient Greece. Parthenon means 'virgin's apartment'. This is the largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece, and the only one built completely (apart from its wooden roof) of Pentelic marble.

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  19. N

    Susanin Monument

    The monument in the park between the arcades is to local hero Ivan Susanin, who guided a Polish detachment hunting for Mikhail Romanov into a swamp, and to their deaths. In 1967, the Soviet regime tore down the original Susanin monument and replaced it with this revolutionary figure.

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  20. O

    Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad

    On the way to or from the airport you won’t miss the awe-inspiring Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. Centred on a 48m-high obelisk, the monument is a sculptural ensemble of bronze statues symbolising the heavy plight of defence and eventual victory.

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  21. P

    Dominican Church

    The oldest surviving monument on the west side of the river is the former Dominican Church, now belonging to the Jesuits. Built in the mid-13th century, it was repeatedly reshaped and redecorated in later periods, but the fine early-Gothic doorway at the main entrance is still in place.

    reviewed

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  23. Frontinus Street

    Turn right towards the northern exit of Hierapolis and you'll come to the remains of the marvellous colonnaded Frontinus Street, with some of its paving and columns still intact. Once the city's main north-south commercial axis, this street was bounded at both ends by monumental archways.

    reviewed

  24. Q

    Bourse de Commerce

    At one time the city’s grain market, the circular Trade Exchange was capped with a copper dome in 1811. The murals running along internal walls below the galleries were painted by five different artists in 1889 and restored in 1998. They represent French trade and industry through the ages.

    reviewed

  25. R

    Rotterdam Walk of Fame

    The Rotterdam Walk of Fame features handprints from luminaries including Bryan Adams, Bryan Ferry, Dizzy Gillespie, 'Diamond' David Lee Roth, Kamahl, Roxette, Willie Nelson - and even Spandau Ballet (the Netherlands being perhaps the only country in the world that still remembers who they are).

    reviewed

  26. Str Republicii

    Running north of Sfatului square, the pedestrianised Str Republicii provides respite from the traffic that detracts from the charm of the rest of the Old Town. The Memorial to Victims of 1989 Revolution is at the promenade's northern end, and the Heroe's Cemetery is across B-dul 15 de Noiembrie.

    reviewed

  27. S

    King Leonidas Statue

    A wander around ancient Sparta's meagre ruins bears testimony to the accuracy of Thucydides' prophecy. Head north along Paleologou to the King Leonidas statue , which stands belligerently in front of a soccer stadium. West of the stadium, signs point the way to the southern gate of the acropolis.

    reviewed