Notre Dame | |
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Height | 96m |
Floors | 0 |
Year | 1250 |
City | Paris |
Notre-Dame de Paris (French: [n?t?? dam d? pa?i] (listen); meaning'Our Lady of Paris'), known simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral was consecrated to the Virgin Mary and considered to be among the best examples of French Gothic architecture. Its pioneering use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its enormous and vibrant rose windows, in addition to the naturalism and prosperity of its sculptural decoration set it apart from the previous Romanesque style. Major components which make Notre Dame stand out include its large historic organ and its immense church bells.The cathedral's construction began in 1160 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and was mostly complete by 1260, although it was modified frequently in the next centuries. In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the French Revolution; much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. In the 19th century, the cathedral was the site of the coronation of Napoleon I and the funerals of several Presidents of the French Republic.
Popular interest in the cathedral blossomed soon after the publication, in 1831, of Victor Hugo's book Notre-Dame de Paris (better known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). This led to a major restoration project between 1844 and 1864, supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The Allied liberation of Paris in 1944 was celebrated within Notre-Dame with the singing of the Magnificat. Beginning in 1963, the cathedral's façade was cleaned of centuries of soot and dirt. Another cleaning and restoration project was carried out between 1991 and 2000. The cathedral is one of the most widely recognized symbols of the city of Paris and the French state. As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame comprises the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris (Michel Aupetit). In 1805, Notre-Dame was given the honorary status of a minor basilica.
Pentagon | |
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Height | 24m |
Floors | 7 |
Year | 1943 |
City | Washington D.C. |
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense.
As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase The Pentagon is also often used as a metonym for the Department of Defense and its leadership. Located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the building was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and constructed by contractor John McShain. Ground was broken on 11 September 1941, and the building was dedicated on 15 January 1943. General Brehon Somervell supplied the important motivating power behind the project; Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U.S. Army. The Pentagon is the world's largest office building, with about 6,500,000 sq feet (600,000 m2) of space, of which 3,700,000 sq feet (340,000 m2) are used as offices. Some 23,000 military and civilian employees, and another 3,000 non-defense support employees, work in the Pentagon. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 mi (28.2 km) of corridors. The fundamental five-acre (20,000 m2) pentagonal plaza is nicknamed'ground zero' on the presumption that it would be a prime target in a nuclear war.On 11 September 2001, exactly 60 years after the building's construction began, American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and flown into the western side of the building, killing 189 people (59 victims and the five terrorists on board the airliner, as well as 125 victims in the building), according to the 9/11 Commission Report. It was the first major foreign attack on Washington's governmental facilities since the town was burned by the British during the War of 1812. The Pentagon is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. Source: WikipediaSt. Stephen's Cathedral (more commonly known by its German Name: Stephansdom) is the mother...
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