1001Places - The 100 most beautiful places in the world - Part 3

(51-60 Places)
60. The royal palace and the Wat Phra Kaeo, the emerald buddha temple

The Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple (wat) in Thailand. It is located in the historic center of Bangkok (district Phra Nakhon), within the grounds of the Grand Palace.

59. The mont Saint-Michel

Le Mont-Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometer off the country's north coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches.

58. The Meteors : monasteries built on rocky peaks

The Metéora is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Kalambaka, Greece and is second only to Mount Athos.

The monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Peneios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The Metéora is home to six monasteries and is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Metéora's criteria for the UNESCO World Heritage Site are I, II, IV, V and VII.

57. Big Ben and the Parliament Square

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock in the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster. The nickname is often also used to refer to the clock and the tower. The clock is the world's largest four-faced, chiming clock in the third largest free-standing clock tower in the world. The clock tower is situated at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London.

56. The Versailles castle

Versailles , formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important administrative and judicial center. The city of Versailles, located in the western suburbs of Paris, 17.1 km (10.6 mi) from the center of Paris, is the préfecture (capital) of the Yvelines département.

55. The Registan at Samarkand

The Registan was the heart of the ancient Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The name Registan means "Sandy place" in Persian.

54. The Acropolis and the Parthenon

The Acropolis of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007.

53. Florence, the duomo and the ponte vecchio

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany, and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of approximately 364,779.

52. The Hassan II mosque

The Hassan II Mosque is a mosque located in Casablanca, Morocco. Designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues, it is the second largest in the world (after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca). It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres (689 ft).

51. The frescoes of the Sistine chapel

Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City.

50. The Kilauea and the Hawaii volcanoes


Kīlauea is an active volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, one of five shield volcanoes that together form the Island of Hawaiʻi. In Hawaiian, the word kīlauea means "spewing" or "much spreading", in reference to the mountain's frequent outpouring of lava. Issuing lava continuously at Puʻu ʻŌʻō since January 1983, Kīlauea is currently the most active volcano on the Earth, an invaluable resource for volcanologists, and also the planet's most visited active volcano. The volume of erupted material could pave a road across the world 3 times. Lava less than 1000 yrs old covers 90% of Kilauea.

49. The Buddhist temple of Borobudur

Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.

48. Milford sound and the Mitre peak

Mitre Peak is an iconic mountain in the South Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most photographed peaks in the country. The distinctive shape of the peak in southern New Zealand gives the mountain its name, after the mitre headwear of Christian bishops. It was named by a survey crew from the HMS Acheron.

47. The Giants' Causeway

The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located on the northeast coast of Ireland, about two miles (3 km) north of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.

46. Great Mosque of Cordoba

The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque") of Cordoba is a Roman Catholic cathedral and former mosque situated in the Andalusian city of Córdoba, Spain. Originally built as a church, after the Muslim conquest the building was confiscated for use as a mosque and greatly expanded until it became the second-largest mosque in the world. It is regarded as perhaps the most accomplished monument of the Umayyad dynasty of Cordoba. After the Spanish Reconquista, it was returned to its original use as a church. Today it houses the main church of the diocese of Cordoba in Spain.

45. The limestone basins at Huanglong

Huanglong is a scenic and historic interest area in Songpan County in the northwest part of Sichuan, China. It is located in the southern part of the Minshan mountain range, 150 km north-northwest of the capital Chengdu. This area is known for its colorful pools formed by calcite deposits, especially in Huanglonggou (Yellow Dragon Gully), as well as diverse forest ecosystems, snow-capped peaks, waterfalls and hot springs. Huanglong is also home to many endangered species including the Giant Panda and the Sichuan Golden Snub-nosed Monkey. Huanglong was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992.

44. The Colosseum Italy

The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

43. The Piana rocky inlet and the Girolata gulf

The Gulf of Porto-Girolata and the reserve of Scandola are located on the Western coast of Corsica; their surface of 120 km2 is divided into terrestrial environment and marine environment.

42. The Yellowstone national park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress as a national park on March 1, 1872, is located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, though it also extends into Montana and Idaho. The park was the first of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular features in the park. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is dominant.

41. The maya city of Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, present-day Mexico.
Posted by Ivica Miskovic