Around the world, there are many man-made constructions that are considered famous landmarks. Some, like the Great Wall of China, are leftovers from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Others, like Big Ben in London, are more modern than the wall, but still of significant historic importance. Most designate something about their country of origin that the world wants to remember. In France, with a rich history of culture and art, among the most famous landmarks are The Louvre art museum and the Eiffel Tower.
Marvels of ancient science including the pyramids in Egypt and the Great Sphinx as well as the aqueducts and Great Coliseum are among the most famous landmarks in the world. Other historical and famous landmarks include the Parthenon in Greece, Red Square in Moscow, and Westminster Abbey in London.
In recent years, sites have also become famous landmarks because they remind the world of the atrocities that occurred there including Tienamen Square in China and Auschwitz in Germany.
Famous landmarks across the world sometimes become famous because of the developments to international society that occur there, as with the United Nations Building in New York City. Or, it becomes a landmark because society never wants to forget the tragedy and horror of a location, like many battlefields, Ground Zero in New York City and the Nazi prison camps in Germany.
Other famous landmarks are famous simply because they exist and are different from other parts of the world. The Grand Canyon, redwood forests in California, the La Brea Tar pits and various meteor craters around the world fall into this category. These sites are world-famous landmarks because they represent an element of nature not seen often in the remainder of the world.
In the United States, famous landmarks also include monuments made to the nation’s history and progress. Among the most famous are those surrounding Washington D.C., the Vietnam wall, the Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, the National Cathedral and, of course, the government buildings including the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon.
Outside of Washington, D.C., landmarks tend to be tied to the history of the region more so than the entire nation, with some notable exceptions including the Statue of Liberty in New York.
For example, one of the most famous national landmarks in the Midwest is the Arch in St. Louis. The Arch was constructed in the 20th century to commemorate the nation’s movement toward westward expansion and the role of the Mississippi River and St. Louis as the gateway to the West.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Landmarks
Most people think of a specific place when they are calling something a landmark. In giving directions, a landmark can be something as simple as Bob’s Gas Station at the corner of Main and Sixth streets, or as complex as the third house on the left after the blue penguin.
Originally, however, the term was meant to use features of geography to give directions. Pioneers might have been able to find safe spots to camp or directions to a water source via landmarks, like a table rock or a cliff shaped like a face. Even a river or stream could be used as a landmark to define how far a person had traveled or what direction they might need to travel in, as in turn north at the Mississippi River.
The key to a useful landmark was that it was something that could be added to a map and that travelers would be unlikely to miss. These were among the first things added to early maps, as it was difficult to measure exact distances. For example, a large cave on the Ohio River was added to maps in the earliest explorations of the continent, long before there was a nation on the North American continent.
Cave-In-Rock, named by a French explorer, was a way for people heading down the river to know how close they were to the juncture of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
Later in westward expansion in American history, Pikes Peak in what would become Colorado became an important landmark, as it was the first of the Rocky Mountains visible from the Great Plains.
Landmarks were most important in the days before street signs as a way of finding someplace. In the modern context, landmarks have become defined two ways: First, they are still used to give directions, as in turn left at the fire station and then go to the third driveway on the right.
Second, the term has been modified to mean places of interest. A modern landmark could be anything from a geological formation of great interest, like the Grand Canyon, to a modern art museum. Generally, places designated as a landmark have some historical or geographical importance, but not always.
And, the designation as landmark usually varies by region. A well-known golf course that has been in the same location for fifty years may be a landmark in some regions or some cities may unofficially designate certain buildings as landmarks, perhaps long after they have ceased to be used for the purpose that they once were. These regional designations are most often used when landmarks are being used for the purposes of giving directions not increasing tourism dollars.
Originally, however, the term was meant to use features of geography to give directions. Pioneers might have been able to find safe spots to camp or directions to a water source via landmarks, like a table rock or a cliff shaped like a face. Even a river or stream could be used as a landmark to define how far a person had traveled or what direction they might need to travel in, as in turn north at the Mississippi River.
The key to a useful landmark was that it was something that could be added to a map and that travelers would be unlikely to miss. These were among the first things added to early maps, as it was difficult to measure exact distances. For example, a large cave on the Ohio River was added to maps in the earliest explorations of the continent, long before there was a nation on the North American continent.
Cave-In-Rock, named by a French explorer, was a way for people heading down the river to know how close they were to the juncture of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
Later in westward expansion in American history, Pikes Peak in what would become Colorado became an important landmark, as it was the first of the Rocky Mountains visible from the Great Plains.
Landmarks were most important in the days before street signs as a way of finding someplace. In the modern context, landmarks have become defined two ways: First, they are still used to give directions, as in turn left at the fire station and then go to the third driveway on the right.
Second, the term has been modified to mean places of interest. A modern landmark could be anything from a geological formation of great interest, like the Grand Canyon, to a modern art museum. Generally, places designated as a landmark have some historical or geographical importance, but not always.
And, the designation as landmark usually varies by region. A well-known golf course that has been in the same location for fifty years may be a landmark in some regions or some cities may unofficially designate certain buildings as landmarks, perhaps long after they have ceased to be used for the purpose that they once were. These regional designations are most often used when landmarks are being used for the purposes of giving directions not increasing tourism dollars.
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