St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's is a church in the Renaissance style located in the Vatican City west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian's Mausoleum. Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome. The basilica is approached via St. Peter's Square, a forecourt in two sections, both surrounded by tall colonnades. The first space is oval and the second trapezoid. The façade of the basilica, with a giant order of columns, stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand statues of the first century apostles to Rome, Saints Peter and Paul.

St. Peter's Basilica

Arc de Triomphe (Paris, France)

Arc de Triomphe de I'Étoile

Is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. It should not be cunfused with a smalleer arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrrousel, which stands west of the Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe("Triumphal Arch") honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.

Arc de Triomphe at night

The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806 and its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant patriotic messages.

Site of day, Castle Howard, England.

Castle Howard

History

Castle Howard was built between 1699 and 1712 to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh for the 3rd earl of Carlisle. The Site was that of the ruined Henderskelfe Castle, which had come into the Howard family in 1566 through the marriage to Lord Dacre's widow of Thomas, 4th Duke of Norfolk.

The house is surrounded by a large estate which, at the time of the 7th Earl of Carlisle, covered over 13,000 acres and included the villages of Welburn, Bulmer, Slingsby, Terrington and Coneysthorpe. The estate was served by its own railway station, Castle Howard, from 1845 to the 1950s.

In 1952 the house was opened to the public by then owner, George Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe. It is currently owned by his son, the Honourable Simon Howard, who grew up at the castle. In 2003, the grounds were excavated over three days by Channel 4's Time Team, searching for evidence of a local village lost to allow for the landscaping of the estate.