In July 2024 we visited the Vianello family in Venice. The family produces the famous Terrazzo by pure manual labour. Terrazzo has been in use for centuries, mostly for manors and castles or public spaces of particularly high splendour. Terrazzo combines small marble (or other natural stones or glass) and cement (or similar binding material) […]
Location: Athens, Greece Date built: 447 – 438 BC (decorations continued till 432 BC) Height: 18 m Base Area: 69.5 x 30.9 metres Dedicated to: Goddess Athena Material: Marble and limestone Located on the Acropolis of Athens, Parthenon was built in the age of Pericles between 447 and 432 BCE and was dedicated to the […]
Founded: 2nd century B.C. Abandoned: 14th century A.D. Location: Southwestern Anatolia Periods: Roman Republican to High Medieval Material: Marble, travertine, calcite alabaster, and polychromatic breccia Hierapolis is the ancient Greek Holy City, surrounded by the unreal landscape of Pamukkale in southwestern Anatolia. It is referred to as Holy City in archaeological terms due to the abundance of […]
Location: Abu Dhabi Construction: 1996 – 2007 Dimensions: 290 x 420 metres Base Area: 12 ha Capacity: 40,000 people Built for: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Materials: Marble, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals, and ceramics The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is an excellent example of timeless architecture that represents both the traditions and modernity. It […]
Location: Paris, France Architect: Paul Abadie (originally) Completed: 1914 Height: 83m Length: 85m Width: 35m Material: Travertine from Château-Landon The decision to construct the Sacré-Cœur Basilica was not only a religious one: Building a church was a symbol of the belief that the loss of France in the war against the Prussians in 1870 was […]
Date built: 1632 – 1653 Height: 73m Area: 17ha Built for: Mumtaz Mahal Architecture: Mughal Archictecture Material: Marble The Taj Mahal is a humongous mausoleum commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to act as a tomb for his deceased wife in 1632. It was constructed over a twenty-year period on the bank of the […]
Und da sind wir wieder, in Istanbul – sicherlich eine der faszinierendsten Städte der Welt. Dieses Mal informieren wir kurz und bündig über ein unterirdisches Meisterwerk der antiken Architektur: Die Cisterna Basilica. Diese ist eine spätantike Zisterne mitten im Zentrum von Istanbul, mehr oder weniger schräg gegenüber der Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia). Sie ist die […]
Marble is one of the most popular materials used in sculpture due to its translucency and durability. These are the reasons that it has been made the medium of choice for all the most remarkable sculptors, including artists like Myron, Phidias, Polykleitos, and Praxiteles, as well as their successors Donatello, Michelangelo, Bernini, Canova, and Rodin. […]
Architectural Style: Venetian Gothic Location: Venice, Italy Construction started: 1428Construction stopped: 1430Material: Brick, Marble Standing on the northern bank of Venice’s Grand Canal is The Palazzo Santa Sofia or the Ca D’Oro (House of Gold), whose intricately carved marble façade only gives a glimpse of its original glory. This house is one of the most notable examples of late Venetian Gothic architecture, […]
We all know Verona has a lot more to offer than “just” natural stone. The famous city on the Adiger river is one of the main cultural centres in the north/northeast of Italy. We will take a quick glimpse at 2 spectacular buildings: The Scaligero (also: Castelvecchio) Bridge, and the Arco dei Gavi. The bridge […]
