Destinations / The Most Famous Towers in the World / The Tower of Belem
The Tower of Belem
The Tower of Belem, which is a symbol of Portugal is located in the port area Reshtelu. It is also called the "Tower of Bethlehem." The Belem district is one of the oldest suburbs of Lisbon. It stood out from the rich port of Reshtelu. The history of this region is closely linked with the history of the country. It is from here when the ships of the great pioneers went off. The Belem Tower was built in the Manueline (late-) style in the early 16th century. The four-building has a height of 35 meters. Since, it offers a unique view of the ocean and of the Portuguese capital. The eight-pointed cross on the facade of the castle reminds us that it was built by the mighty Order of the Knights Templar. The white walls are decorated with ropes of limestone, shells, algae, exotic fruits and animals - all that the Portuguese navigators encountered in distant countries. An unusually decoration of the building are the open balconies in the Venetian style and the Moorish watchtowers. The openwork carving makes the tower more like a luxurious palace rather than a fortress. Once from this fortified fort sailed the ships of Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan. Now, the Tower of Belem is the most visited tourist attraction in Lisbon. It was used just as a fortress, which served as a customs at the same time, then it was a prison, a lighthouse and a powder storehouse. The ground floor of the tower, the Gothic Hall, was used as an underground dungeon until the 9th century. Until now, there remain circular holes in the floor. The poor prisoners were thrown through them in pits filled with water. The commandant of the hall was located on the first floor. Visitors could go on a hexagonal platform. The corners of its stand guard towers were with domes, minarets like the majestic Morocco. The Belem Tower remains one of the few monuments of the great discoveries that survived the devastating earthquakes that happened in the 18th century. There is nothing surprising that the Belem Tower was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
Belem Tower Gardens
Visitors to Lisbon are lucky in that they may enjoy visiting some of the most beautiful botanical gardens in Europe. In fact, you'll find that some visitors come to the area to the point of finding discount hotels in Lisbon, near the tower of Belem garden. The temptation to many plants and flowers in this garden is strong and full of tourists’ surprise and delight when they pause to take in the color and beauty of this area. The gardens make Lisbon a pleasant resting place for those who have been busy all day on excursions. You can see many different plants and flowers in this garden, as you took the time to enjoy nature. Once you reach the section of the garden, which seems a bit more formal than others, you can see many carnivores, as well as some prehistoric plants. Those who plan ahead find hotels near the Tower of Belem. The Lisbon gardens are a treat in all good senses waiting for you.
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Since ancient times, this is an unspoken competition among architects to be the builder of the tallest building, of the longest bridge, of the most original house, of the most beautiful churches, etc.
Telling the truth, the architects began to receive recognition for their work only in recent times (since the era of modern times.
) Prior to that, until the time of the late Middle Ages, all the laurels battered rulers, barons, knights and other nobles, many of whom did not know what the project construction is.
There are several categories of buildings, which, thanks to their impressive size are among the most famous man-made objects.
These categories include the pyramids, bridges, towers and skyscrapers.
A tower is a high engineering construction.
The main differences from the other towers, tall buildings are the lack of braces (console design, fixed only at the bottom)and extremely low internal volume, and sometimes the entire volume of the tower is occupied by only one staircase.
As an engineering construction, the tower belongs to the antenna-mast structures.
The most commonly towers use antennas and feeder equipment for their location.
For example, mobile operators are placed on towers and relay panel antenna.
If the height of the antenna-mast structures (AMC), is more than 45 feet , it requires an electricity system.
This requirement REGA to ensure safety.
The creators of the Eiffel Tower gave the go-ahead starting the present stage of the competition for the title of " the biggest skyscraper or tower of the world.
" Built in 1889 it became the tallest (312m) building in the world.
Prior to its two thousand years the palm kept Pyramid of Giza (147m).
After the Eiffel Tower became the champions of the growth series: the Empire State Building (381m) in New York, Chicago Sears Tower (442m), Malaysia's Petronas Towers (452m), Taiwan's Taipei 101 (508m).
The latter was built in 2004 and held the title of the world's tallest skyscraper until 21 July 2007, when the line was broken by the cherished tower Burj Dubai in United Arab Emirates.
It rose to a height of 512 meters.
The construction of the tower is not yet complete, its completion is scheduled for late 2008.
According to the statements of architects, its height will reach a record high indeed - 808 meters.
The cost of the construction of the tower is estimated at one billion dollars and has lasted for almost four years.
The average rate of the construction of one floor lasted three days.
The tower and the adjacent buildings occupied a land of 200 hectares (it cost the owners of the building 20 billion dollars).
The tower will be equipped with 56 elevators (incidentally, the fastest in the world), boutiques, swimming pools, apartments class "luxury" hotels, and observation sites .
A distinctive feature is the construction of the international working teams: South Korean firm contractor, American architects, Indian builders.
Four thousand people had been involved in the construction.
The building of the tower was created in the shape of a trefoil - a symbol of life in the desert.
Its spire will be visible at a distance of sixty miles.
The Burj Dubai Tower will be the center of a large architectural complex.
Among the buildings of the huge complex (12ha), there will be an artificial lake, 30 thousand homes, a large park area, nine hotels.
Since ancient times, people seek height.
The evidence of this fact can be found everywhere - from the ancient Egyptian pyramids to the modern skyscrapers.
The legend of the Tower of Babel explains this tendency as theomachism - people wanted to reach heaven and defeat the gods.
Then they did not succeed, God sent the exuberant wind, tossing the tower, and mixed in a sentence all human languages.
But people have stubbornly continued to build high-rise structures - whether we wanted to prove his power, or trying to get closer to God, or seeking other worlds .
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But as a person - just a man, and him, as did the ancient Romans, to err, it sometimes happened that tall buildings do not want to look up and just started to lean down to its creators.
So, many towers fell .
The reasons for the fall of the towers is the most different, many of them are connected with the peculiarities of the soil or with errors in the design and construction.
But, of course, each tower has an explanation of this feature.
A good tower is usually not one but several legends associated with its slope.
And certainly the leaning tower is a local (and sometimes known in the whole world) landmark.
If the tower identified its status, it is immediately placed in local guidebooks, and even brings considerable income.
We will cover the most famous bowing towers, each remarkable in its own way.
The most famous of falling towers are one of the oldest.
The tower is a bell tower and is part of the architectural ensemble, which also includes the cathedral, baptistery and cemetery.
All this is built of white marble and it simply shines in sunny weather .