Millions of tourists around the world travel in search of spectacular sights. But what is it? Is a landmark only old buildings and sculptures, or maybe this definition also applies to streets or entire cities?
Sight concept
In fact, the concept is quite broad. An attraction is not only ancient buildings and monuments, but also other objects, places, things that are worthy of public attention. These objects can be ancient and have historical value, or they can be completely new, but they are popular because of their artistic value or originality in execution.
In general, a landmark is a famous or valuable object. The concept includes zoos, reserves, national and natural parks, galleries, gardens, museums, architecture, sculptures, monuments, even fairs and festivals. Recently, reservations have also been added to the number of attractions - places where certain ethnic groups and nationalities live.
A landmark is also a territory or place that attracts the attention of others with mysterious and inexplicable phenomena. For example, haunted houses, places where UFOs have been seen.
The emergence of the concept
The idea to create one generic term for interesting objects came along with the idea to create something like a guide. It happened around 1836 in the publishing house of John Murray.
Of course, even before Murray, during the time of the Roman Empire, there were travel essays that described in detail the path traveled by the narrator. Much later, a similar genre was widely used in various countries of the world. In Croatia it was called putopis, in Russia - "travel essay", in Germany - reisebericht.
John Murray's goal was not to create an essay about an already established journey, but a guidebook indicating all the remarkable objects in a particular place. Such a manual required the creation of a special concept, and then the term "landmark" was coined. The guidebook indicated the main attraction, and the number of stars nearby indicated the degree of its uniqueness and fascination.
Objects of world fame
Every year the number of significant places is growing, tourists are in a hurry to capture incredible places in their memory. Museums open, unusual buildings and sculptures appear, new events and festivals are organized. But there are also such sights of the world that everyone must have heard of. The most popular are usually ancient architectural structures, ancient temples and palaces, tall sculptures. Here is a list of the 10 most visited ones:
- Statue of Liberty, New York, USA.
- Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy.
- Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.
- Great Wall of China, Beijing, China.
- Machu Picchu, Peru.
- Taj Mahal, Agra, India.
- St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican.
- Teotihuacan, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico.
- Stonehenge, Wilshire, UK.
- Christ Statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
