50 of the Most Important Landmarks of the World (Part 1)

fab photos… one thing, horse shoe falls ( Niagara falls ) are entirely in Canada… the US falls are taken from a different angle… and not in the photo…

the photo of the giant Buddha of Kamakura is beautiful….however, it is not in Tokyo but a quaint, small town South of the capital

Big Ben is not technically a landmark because it cannot be seen unless you are standing inside the bell gallery of St. Steven’s Tower.

Are you really biased against Turkey or have you never visited the country? You mention the little and unknown Hagia Sofia on Limni and not the world-famous one in Istanbul (actually both are churches originally). Visit Turkey and you can fill all 50 items on your list with the photos you will take there. This comes to you from a Belgian couple living in Turkey. Best wishes for your next trip…

Great list but to leave out Newgrange in Ireland is hard to comprehend; it is possibly the oldest standing building in the world.

The so called Al Aqsa mosque (the one with the golden dome) is NOT Al Aqsa!
The Al Aqsa Mosque has a grey dome.

This a very common mistake.

The golden domed one in this picture is called Al Sakhrah Mosque.

Signed,

The Israeli infidel

Las fotos que parecen en este sitio son muy bellas…es más, el Taj Mahal se ve muy tranquilo así sin tanta gente porque cuando yo fui estaban demasiada personas. Gracias por compartir las fotos, ah…y una pregunta, porque no parece el Tikal que pertenece en el país de Guatemala?

What the hell is the Christo Redemptor? Use either the portuguese name Cristo Redentor or the English name Christ the Redeemer…Don’t try making up names you don’t know =P

WOW!! Quit complaining and enjoy the gorgeous pics.

However, I like your photos

Masada, Israel. It’s amazing…
Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, Israel.

Thanks, It was nice to be able to see some of the great monuments of the world. I enjoyed it!!

um angel falls> than any other waterfall

Carlos says:
They included Niagara falls and another waterfalls (which i cant recall right now) and THEY DIDN’T include Iguazú falls???? WTF? so unfair …. stupid yanks

Carlos you are an IDIOT….the woman who published this is from Belgium. Most of Niagra Falls are in Canada so don’t blame the “stupid yanks” you dick

Newgrange/Boyne Valley
Sceilig Mhichíl

Ireland has many unbelievable sites

You did put Castle of Bran, which is in Bran, Romania to be more specific, but you did not put the Sphinx(Sfinx) from Bucegi Mountains, the Old Ladies or “Babele(romanian name)” from the same mountains, the People’s House from Bucharest which is the largest building in Europe. Don’t you think that things like that should be posted in some photographs? I mean they really are landmarks. Anyhow good photography.

Dirk – Don’t tell me, you’re from Isreal. Well I could name half a dozen things that didn’t make it from my country either.

Beautiful sites but you left out “The Galapagos Islands” and the “Mitad del Mundo” (Middle of the Earth) in Ecuador which are truly beautiful!

Um..Canada has a lot more recognizable landmarks then the Inukshuk. Try CN tower maybe?

The Beautiful World .Every bit of it is enjoyable.Let us Preserve it .

heyyy i loveeed going through this list. honestly thank you so much for making it…i just dont understand why that dubai thing made it and the CN tower didnt…..

Great list, I would love to visit all of those places. To everyone bitching about left out landmarks, this is a post of someone personal opinion, there is no way to make everyone happy, just sit back and enjoy what is there for you to see.

These are really cool, I would love a little information on each.

There are many wonders that are hidden or missed out. You may consider Rani Kot Fort – the biggest fort in the world, K-2 the second highest peak in the world and many others in Pakistan.

The photographs were beautiful and truly recognizable…so the lady made some errors…so what? The title of the piece is The 50 Most Important Landmarks…not The World’s Most Important Landmarks. Collect a list of ALL the important landmarks in the world and you will find that by the time you have finished the list, the world will have built so many more that you will be busy for the rest of your life keeping the list up-to-date!

How could they not include the Dead Sea in Israel?!
It’s the lowest elevation on the Earth’s surface on dry land, plus, IT IS AWSOME!!!

Some of the photos are very good; many do not capture the essence of the landmark. Also, the titling needs work, for example, “The Chinese Wall in China”, I believe everyone knows and refers to it as The Great Wall. Errors of the types above detract.

Oops, with all due respect Scott may have been more right than I. After doing a little research, not at all scientific, it looks to me as though almost all of the Horseshoe Falls is within Canada, with perhaps one fifth in the US.

Apologies to Scott. Still without question is the beauty of the Niagara Falls Park on the Canadian side and of course the views from there are the best.

A stupid Yank

i think that you should make the Burj Khalifa and not the Burg Al Arab in Dubai, UAE the important sight to see. also include the grande bazaar in Istanbul and Tikal in Guatemala.

Great pictures. Love the Santorini image, I have sat with that view a few times enjoying a nice cold beer. One of lifes pleasures.

lindzi: Technically, Bg Ben is the BELL that chimes the hours. The clock and the tower are, in fact, known as the clock (or tower clock) and the the clock tower, respectively.

Scott,
I’m going to respectfully disagree with you and site Google earth’s depiction of the U.S.border. If the measuring tool is used it shows Horseshoe falls 680 feet in the U.S.A./New York and 1270 feet in Canada/Ontario. Josfitz is correct in that the Canadian side has a much better view and they have developed their side much better because of the view. I live about 5 hours drive from the falls and have been there many times but never tire of the view. Awsome is a much overused word nowadays but accurate when used to describe this special place. Many thanks to Hilleke for putting this site together.

Amazing!!!! I would love to see all of these places before I die. Or at least some of them.

They forgot New Grange in Ireland which was a megalithic passage tomb mound that was built much before Stone Henge and the Great Pyrimids in Egypt.

where is the pyramids

God there are so many prissy little bitches commenting here…. Stuff is mispelled: get over it. Errors were made in the details: big whoop. Your favorite landmark isn’t listed: cry a river.

Bottom line is this: the author contributed much more than any of you, so shut up and enjoy it. If you can’t do that, go somewhere else and leave the rest of us in peace.

How could you fail to include the BIG CHICKEN on Highway 41, Marietta, GA USA?
You could give directions to any of the fifty listed landmarks with reference to the KFC Big Chicken…
http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/bigchicken.html

The Chinese Wall? Really? Mistakes on lesser known landmarks I can understand but just about any 5 year old out there knows that the Great Wall of China is called the Great Wall. The Chinese Wall. Please fix that.

India Tours – Call from India is an leading India Travel and Tour agency that offers luxurious India Travel Tour Package, Trip Holiday Vacation, North India Tours & Travels Packages Trips Holidays, South And North India Tour

You are so right… Google earth shows the Horseshoe falls does fall on the American border. Huh… there is conflicting written research on the subject.. I stand corrected. However what’s really funny is that you can see Tim Hortons on the Canadian side, from outer space…

wtf. Some random building that was built in Dubai makes the list but shit like the Golden Gate bridge or the Sydney Opera House don’t? What about the Liberty Bell in Philly? That bell symbolises the US more than anything else in the country.

The Statue of Liberty is in New York. The land around it is concidered state of New Jersey. statue of liberty is also in Vegas!!! why was that not on this list?

This is some thing really cool… I love the stuff.. `

You forgot the Taj Mahal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COMEEE ON IT CLEARLY SAYS “PART1″, WAIT FOR PART TWO AND THEN COMPLAIN IF YOU STILL THINK THERES “SOMETHING MISSING”

I felt a bit wounded how Polish that Auschwitz in Poland is treated like landmark.

All you complainers. Write your own fucking list!!!!!!

AMAZING PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!

Prague Castle? Have you seen it?!?

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/1432648

Where is the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada?

Nice compilation of images. Yes there are some mistakes and some missing landmarks, but a great selection none the less.

This would be a great bucket list. I have been fortunate to see some of these wonderful places.

Thank you for a wonderful and entertaining display of photography from great places around the world!

great list, apart from the mermaid in Copenhagen and the fountain in Brussels. Both very disappointing

Jordan asked where the CN tower is, it is indeed in Toronto.

Irked, maybe a little anger management, HUM???

Did anyone else notice that Capitol Hill actually doesn’t have a fountain or those Italian-looking steps in front of it?

good list. why is everyone complaining and correcting?!? my gosh, do you need attention that badly or can you not just appreciate something that doesn’t involve your opinion? it might not be each individual person’s top 50, but it’s a good list!

Nice, but Big Ben isn’t in that photo. Big Ben is the bell that’s inside the clock tower, not the tower itself.

The Burj in Dubai is a silly little hotel and should not spoil this list. Take it down cos it is hurting the other pics feelings

Coliseum in Rome? No?

Did anyone else noticed what looks like the anarchy symbol carved into the center of the Mount Eden crater in New Zealand? Haha.

Yay! Two landmarks from beautiful South Africa!

To all the haters:
The lovely lady who compiled the list is from Belgium. Maybe “The Chinese Wall” is a direct translation form how they say it in Flemish. (It is if translated from Afrikaans so I’m guessing)
Not everyone calls it “The Great Wall of China”, you know, Geez.

So to Jessica who said:
“The Chinese Wall? Really? Mistakes on lesser known landmarks I can understand but just about any 5 year old out there knows that the Great Wall of China is called the Great Wall. The Chinese Wall. Please fix that.”

Every AMERICAN 5 year old maybe… so really, there is nothing to fix except your narrow-mindedness.

You forgot The Merlion in Singapore

These are some cool picks, and several are slightly to moderately incorrect, however i really dont think this should have been such a big issue for people.

http://www.pxleyes.com/blog/2011/05/50-more-of-the-most-important-landmarks-of-the-world-part-2/
Newgrange…

Hi hilleke. Great pictures, great list! About Inukshuk in Canada:

“Inukshuk” is not a single landmark. There is no place in Canada called “Inukshuk”. There are many inuksuit (plural for inuksuk) in many different places in Canada. They are “landmarks”, but there is no single landmark called “Inukshuk”, and not one of them would qualify to be on this list on it’s own.

See the wikipedia entry for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuksuk .

Great pictures, great list! Thanks

God that is so embarrassing that you chose the Mt Eden crater for New Zealand. If you’re going to put something from NZ, it has so many more interesting and important landmarks than that. Though none on par with the Sphinx, Stonehenge etc. (And this is coming from someone FROM New Zealand).

Newgrange in Co. Meath in Ireland is 1500 years older than Stonehenge and 500 years older than the pyramids in Egypt and far more interesting and significant than both, the way it was built, the incredible intelligence and talent taken to build it, there are hundreds of stone circles just as amazing as stone henge all around Ireland, but the passage tomb at Newgrange is something else altogether, it was meticulously made around 3000 BC and the Stone Age people had to study the moon and stars, The 500 pound rocks were transported from about a 100 miles away with nothing more than hands, the roof is made by corbelling and 5000 years later not a drop of water has got inside, it is amazing, they were incredible architects, builders, geologists, astronomers etc. Newgrange is a truly remarkable site which deserves to be the top of this list.

Wow!!!! great list, wonderful photography, and a very inspiring motivator to see all these and more i very much enjoyed scrolling through them.

personally, may i suggest some sights from Croatia? it seems to be the worlds best kept travel secret. if you havent been there, look into it. AMAZING photography opportunities. Thanks again!

According to archaeologists paintings of Altamira Cave is more representative than the Lascaux cave.

Great pics Hilleke! This list did for me what I suspect you intended: Remind us of the beauty of the world and inspire us to see more of it. To her critics: You did a great job nit picking the hell out of her efforts…without adding an iota of value. Any idiot can criticize. There…now I’ve joined the crippled masses who specialize in criticizing the efforts of others. I’m off to seek redemption.

Jeez, people….stop complaining about the places that didn’t make the list and just enjoy the pictures of the beautiful places that did. There are just too many phenomenally beautiful places in this world to include them all in one simple article. This is a great basis for someone to begin their travels.
And for the person who complained about Mount Rushmore being on the list, it should be. Its construction was just amazing, and it represents the first 150 years of American history. This is a list of landmarks. Mount Rushmore was built to attract tourists to South Dakota, and since it brings in over two million visitors every year, I would definitely call it a landmark.

All these landmarks are truly amazing…now i know things were misspelled and note-worthy places weren’t listed, but hey, all the places listed were amazing were they not? So we all should agree that the writer of this peace put together something great to share and it irritates me that she went through all the work of making a sequel just to satisfy all the dumb asses that could not appreciate quality work! On behalf of most of us i would like to apologize to the writer, you did an amazing job and they just couldn’t look past their closed minded ways to see it. All the photos were great!

Great educational page. Showed my 9 year olds – very interested.

Brilliant post. Wow this world has its wonders hey!

The pictures are spectacular, it’s hard to say which is the most beautiful but I am very intrigued by Petra and Machu Picchu.

Best regards

Yes, take everyone’s advice and name your next project ” The 70,000 coolest places on Earth” Also, send a copy to everyone that made corrections to make sure that you didn’t screw it up!
I think your pics were great and If you missed a few places…So what? I’m not offended

Omg everyone take a friggin chill pill, SHE COULD ONLY INCLUDE 50. It’s an OPINION. one woman’s opinion. It’s not insulting to your precious Ireland or Turkey or wherever the hell else you’re bitching about. So sTFU and look at the pretty pictures. KTHX.

Wow!!! thank u very much for all this images.

great site and pics, stuff the anoraks who dont know where the pub is.

Some beautiful pictures, thanks for taking the time to take and compile them.
Can’t believe the negative comments, just enjoy or make your own list!

Thanks for a great trip ‘down memory lane’ for places I have been and for tweeking my desire to see some of the places I have yet to visit. This is indeed a greaty world made better by people like you who bring it to us in photos.

Mt Eden in New Zealand? Really? LOL. Honestly, that pitiful mountain is nowhere near as amazing as the other landmarks. And I’m from New Zealand, so I can vouch for that.

Thanks, for this Picture.
It really really amazing moment when saw this pictures, and again thanks this picture.

The Statue of Liberty is pushing it already, but Capitol Hill a landmark? Nobody outside of America gives a crap.

lalibela is the 8th wonder of the world and didnt make it to the list…

really amazing photos.wish to see all these placess

Western Wall in Jerusalem

i love all those picture, i have learn so much! its all so beautiful

what about jerusalem??????

I’ve been lucky to make it to a handful of these sites, but hope to see many more in the future. Of course no one list is ever going to capture all of it, but I think you did a great job of putting together a beautiful list!

dunno says:
The Statue of Liberty is pushing it already, but Capitol Hill a landmark? Nobody outside of America gives a crap.

Wow, you obviously are a very ignorant person. Good luck in life.

Stupid critics shut the fuck up. The pictures you took are awesome, it really blew me away how well u captured the beauty in every single photo. Who cares if every little thing is not technically correct, you wanna add a landmark, make your own site! Fantastic job, really enjoyed your work.

What about the colosseum? …

Damn people, stop complaining! It clearly says, “50 of the Most Important”. Just 50. All of the other ones are included. The pictures are beautiful. Stop sucking down on that Haterade and enjoy what you have. Look at google for your other landmarks….smh.
Signed,

An 18 yr old Californian who told you off, uh thank you =]

Great Pictures but as someone else said..others from Israel should absolutely be on this list.

Nichole is right ,Why Complain. Every Chlid to his mother is more beautiful yhan beautiful Josef

why not the Golden Gate Bridge??

nice collection of locations. Have only been to a few, so my travel list is still open.
Thanks

who make this list, dosen’t know Argentina

Amazing pictures!

little mermaid? that statue is the biggest cocktease of all time – its not only not a landmark – its less interesting than fifty monuments in your local cemetery – please when you go to copenhagen do anything but find this dumb little tourist titbit

Inukshuk in Canada – zici k s-au jucat niste copii cu bolovanii de la balta )

awesome!!!

Thank you for putting these beautiful photos together for us to enjoy. When I was a child I thought I would see the world. Well, that didn’t happen so I very much enjoy your collection to see what I missed.

thanks for sharing these photos… im amazed at how many people can’t just STFU and enjoy them! I’m sure there are plenty others that aren’t on this list. Get the F*uck over yourselves people!!!

Lovely pics! I wish I could see all of the places! Maybe one day?

I miss the Borobudur in Indonesia, which is one of the 7 world’s famous buildings.

I agree with you Mgarrom. There are doers and there are bitchers, if you don’t like all the work this woman put into her site, and all personal work is selective and relative to that person’s impressions… then you go and take pictures and build your own site. I welcome the opportunity to view these and go ‘oh, yeah. I forgot about this place’ or ‘oh yeah! love to explore that place!’ Thanks, love the concept of how important ‘landmarks’ were to our early history and still is to explorers.

Well the little mermaid is a danish landmark, but imo not the biggest/best. Never the less did you know that it has been beheaded several times.! )

a correction, neuschwanstein is not in Bavaria it is actually in Germany.

loved all

To Laura…
As far as I know is Bavaria still a part of Germany…

Fantastic and exceptionally arranged collection,
I think who said about the village called Agia Sophia in Lemnos, Greece and the mosque Hagia Sofia from Istanbul, is not going to create any confusion, everybody think of the mosque when they hear the name.

Fantastic, a couple more places added to the ole bucket list….

Wow people are pathetic. There is a such thing as being overly cultured, its called being haughty. Take your haughty asses to a best buy, get a DSLR, jump on some planes, and take your own damn pictures. If you have the time to sit in a dark room all day staring at a computer screen and pissing on somebody’s art then I feel sorry for you. This is an amazing collection of photos and she could have left out the names so you self proclaimed critics couldn’t have just googled them all just to tell someone they made mistakes. Get away from the computer screens and get a life. I have been to at least 5 of these locations and many others not featured. How many of you “experts” have been to ONE? Shutup or putup.

Thanks for the pics though they are absolutely beautiful. I especially liked your pic of the Trevi Fountain.

I’m disappointed that Chauvet Cave did not make the list. However, the list was great.

Great collection! I stumbled upon this site and enjoyed a bit of an education about interesting places to see in the world

great list- really makes me want to slap on a backpack and start traveling! check out my blog about my gap year: thegapyearguy.blogspot.com

Nice to see Cape Town on there twice

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul has been a museum since 1935. It was converted into a mosque by
the Ottoman Empire when they conquered the city in 1453. Before that , the Hagia Sophia had been a church in the Byzantine Empire, first built in 360 AD and destroyed and built again many times over the centuries.

i would like to visit them …. those pictures are incredibly nice

Perfect photos.

The photo for The Acropolis is actually a photo of The Parthenon which sits atop the Acropolis.

Wow what photography and the resolution and pixels so clear I saved the picture of Taj Mahal never had such a beautiful and real time images. Thanks, Daniel

Good

What about Newgrange in Ireland?

I visited 12 out of the 50, hopefully will visit all the rest as well Great photo post!

My picture! Huh…

You look at these pictures and the aw inspiring structures in some of them and it makes me proud of our species’ accomplishments and curious about our potential…. And then I started reading the comments.

Uluru is in Australia. And there are so many more fascinating landmarks in New Zealand, not that that crater isn’t interesting, but…
I know it is not possible to fit all the amazing landmarks in only 50 slots so I don’t blame anyone, I mean not many people even know about New Zealand, although the Rugby World Cup 2011 may change that a little.
Go IRELAND!!! You guys deserve to win.
Bit off track there… =:)

Why don’t all of you idiots stop complaining and make your own list that you can post and the rest of the world can bitch about?

It’s just a list. It’s not called “Every Fucking Landmark in Every Country of the World” so shut up and enjoy the photos, even if some of them are misnamed.

All these landmarks are so awesome. All over the world there are such amazing structures that represent all sorts of cultures! I’d love to see more of these in person some day!

great photos! loved looking through them and they added some places to my list of places to go!

The source of the Amazon is a land mark? Really? And no Golden Gate Bridge? The Burj is in, but the Golden Gate is not? And where’s the Sydney Opera House?

How about Angels Fall in Venezuela?

Wow!!! i think its so stunning and beautifully taken.. It makes me wanna take a year out and just visit these 50 places for the serenity of it all… Good Stumble:)

Absolutley fantastic. Rarely you find this kind of foto with high quality. Anyway ..i hope someday i will have the opportunity to visit this places. TIll the …all the best everyone.

What a great trip……… Thanks for the pics

I have visited 11 of these amazing landmarks. Thanks for the inspiration for visiting 39 more awesome places.

coliseum????

to irish nick i agree with you Ireland have a wounderfull places. Miriam

Loved the photos, and got a kick out of all the negative dumb ass comments.

i’m with bob. and you should all be a little more like traveling tom!

Beautiful collection of Pics from different parts of world. These are great places to travel and must see in the world.

What a bunch of ungrateful complainers; if you’re all so dissatisfied with these incredible images that most of us will never see with our naked eyes, why not shut your trap, buy a camera and astound all of us with your lack of photographic talent. Well done Hilleke, we are blown away by your talent and experience of taking these photos, even we won’t all admit it.

Simply magnificent places in the world, I want to go and see with my own eyes.

To be honest, they all look amazing (in the photos), but as a an english girl… i have visited stone henge more times than i care to remember, and it is without a doubt the most unsatisfying trip ever in the whole entire world. I recommend no-one to visit it… my work is done here. – apart from that… the other landmarks look bangin’.

Wow that’s quite a list! So many iconic images it’s almost too much to take in!

Auschwitz is in Germany.

The Potala Palace in TIbet. Home of the Dalai Lama. It’s amazing. It’s definitely top 50.

This is really incredible! If business has a branding, a country has a landmark; 10 times greatness. Thanks you for sharing.

This is truly incredible. These are great landmarks. I love traveling to these types of places and finding great travel deals to get there!

Great list! I’ve been to 5 of the places and would like to hit many more of them. The most underwhelming was Mount Rushmore. The most incredible is the Grand Canyon. I never really understood the big deal about the Grand Canyon until I went there. Words can’t really describe the sensation of lost time I got when I walked to the edge and looked out. Definitely there is something to be said for man made wonders, but certainly the natural wonders are more impressive.

You Missing Borobudur in Indonesia…

Love all the landmarks, Statue of Liberty holds a special place in my heart…..I am a person who loves the outdoors. i am a big fan of saltwater and freshwater fishing. I presently live in Houston Texas, in the past i have resided in Israel, Egypt, England….love to travel….

Love all places u posted , wanna add some places of Thailand too
great!!

These pictures are absolutely gorgeous and mesmerizing Thank you for sharing!

Maybe a list to follow when travel.

all those pictures of famous world sites are very very nice …

Great photos! I love the St Basil’s Cathedral & Machu Picchu photos, and the shot of Angkor Wat is particularly beautiful. I can’t add the links, but you can find the pictures of our favorites on our website. I would add:
-Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
-The limestone cliffs around Guilin, China
-Even if it’s not standing anymore, the Berlin Wall
-Finally, Leptis Magna in Libya. I hope it will be more open to travelers soon.

Too many to choose from though—this list could go on forever.

Wholly Molly! This is a very nice liste you made here. I’ll have to look at the next ine to.

What no shout out to the CN Tower?

amazing pics!!! congratulations

Hi. All the photos of these places is amazing. But Why didn’t you include the obelisks of Aksum or the rock-hewn Churches of King Lalibela in Ethiopia? Or have you never seen them?

thanx for sharing this images.. as a designer it is helpful to me a lot.. good collections

wow, the wolrd is realy amazing………………………, ok btw I will show to you the good place in bali too, please visite http://www.thelagunabali.com

where is the great wall of china

gj guys!

i have recognizet about 70% of them

my honest opinion: your view of the world is to self-centered in the western culture. Some are not even worth being on the list

There is actually a few more that I would consider putting in the list. Might have to split it continent wise to fit them all in!

Beautiful photography

Nice Click!!! I love to see all the destinations..

For india travel destination options you can visit : http://www.indiantraveldestinations.com

I am previlaged to have seen over half of these …..but two important ones missin ABU SIMBEL IN UPPER EGYPT AND PETERSHOFF IN ST. PETERSBURG RUSSIA.

Hey Cory Andrews, Cristo Redentor is a much smaller statue on the border of Chile and Argentina. Check your facts and stop hating on such a cool thing.

Jeita Lebanon is missing

very nice places, I wonder to travel visit them

Most of them are wonders of the world.

I agree that some of those landmarks are very important to visit, but not all of them. For example, Mt. Rushmore is a terrible historic demonstration against the Native Americans.

You’re missing the Equatorial Monument in Quito, Ecuador which is more important than some of this “landmarks”

I absolutely love the shot of St. Basil Cathedral. That’s such a whimsical place.