Mexico City is the densely populated, high-altitude capital of Mexico. It's known for its Templo Mayor (a 13th-century Aztec temple), the baroque Catedral Metropolitana de México of the Spanish conquistadors and the Palacio Nacional, which houses historic murals by Diego Rivera. All of these are situated in and around the Plaza de la Constitución, the massive main square also known as the Zócalo.
Panama City, the capital of Panama, is a modern city framed by the Pacific Ocean and man-made Panama Canal. Casco Viejo, its cobblestoned historic center, is famed for colonial-era landmarks like the neoclassical Palacio Presidencial and bougainvillea-filled plazas lined with cafes and bars. The Miraflores Locks offers views of ships traversing the canal, an essential shipping route linking the Atlantic and Pacific.
Rio de Janeiro is a huge seaside city in Brazil, famed for its Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, 38m Christ the Redeemer statue atop Mount Corcovado and for Sugarloaf Mountain, a granite peak with cable cars to its summit. The city is also known for its sprawling favelas (shanty towns). Its raucous Carnaval festival, featuring parade floats, flamboyant costumes and samba dancers, is considered the world’s largest.
Cusco, a city in the Peruvian Andes, was once capital of the Inca Empire, and is now known for its archaeological remains and Spanish colonial architecture. Plaza de Armas is the central square in the old city, with arcades, carved wooden balconies and Incan wall ruins. The baroque Santo Domingo Convent was built on top of the Incan Temple of the Sun (Qoricancha), and has archaeological remains of Inca stonework.
Cairo, Egypt’s sprawling capital, is set on the Nile River. At its heart is Tahrir Square and the vast Egyptian Museum, a trove of antiquities including royal mummies and gilded King Tutankhamun artifacts. Nearby, Giza is the site of the iconic pyramids and Great Sphinx, dating to the 26th century BC. In Gezira Island’s leafy Zamalek district, 187m Cairo Tower affords panoramic city views.
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria, in the middle of the country. The skyline of the city, which was built largely in the 1980s, is dominated by Aso Rock, an enormous monolith. It rises up behind the Presidential Complex, which houses the residence and offices of the Nigerian president in the Three Arms Zone on the eastern edge of the city. Nearby are the National Assembly and the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city and capital of Gauteng province, began as a 19th-century gold-mining settlement. Its sprawling Soweto township was once home to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Mandela’s former residence is now the Mandela House museum. Other Soweto museums that recount the struggle to end segregation include the somber Apartheid Museum and Constitution Hill, a former prison complex.
Malabo, on Bioko island, is a port city and the capital of Equatorial Guinea. Spanish colonial architecture includes the neo-Gothic, twin-towered Santa Isabel Cathedral. The dark green Casa Verde is a 19th-century house that was prefabricated in Belgium. The Equatoguinean Cultural Centre has gallery and performance spaces. To the south, densely forested Parque Nacional del Pico Basilé surrounds Pico Basilé Volcano.
Lomé is the capital of Togo, in West Africa. It's known for its palm-lined Atlantic coastline. The central Independence Monument is in a landscaped traffic circle. The nearby Congressional Palace houses the National Museum, exhibiting West African jewelry, masks, musical instruments and pottery. To the northeast, the Akodésséwa Fetish Market sells voodoo items like animal skins and skulls.
Tunis is the sprawling capital of Tunisia, a country in North Africa. It sits along Lake Tunis, just inland from the Mediterranean Sea’s Gulf of Tunis. It’s home to a centuries-old medina and the Bardo, an archaeology museum where celebrated Roman mosaics are displayed in a 15th-century palace complex. The parklike ruins of ancient Carthage sit in the city’s northern suburbs.
Porto-Novo is a port city and the capital of Benin, in West Africa. It’s known for colonial buildings like the Brazilian-style Great Mosque, formerly a church. The Ethnographic Museum displays ceremonial masks, musical instruments and costumes. The Musée da Silva recounts Benin’s history and celebrates Afro-Brazilian culture. Just east, the Honmé Museum was King Toffa’s 19th-century royal palace.
Nairobi is Kenya’s capital city. In addition to its urban core, the city has Nairobi National Park, a large game reserve known for breeding endangered black rhinos and home to giraffes, zebras and lions. Next to it is a well-regarded elephant orphanage operated by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Nairobi is also often used as a jumping-off point for safari trips elsewhere in Kenya.
Port-Gentil is a seaport in Gabon, a country on the coast of Central Africa. The city, which is a center for the petroleum industry, is on the Cape Lopez peninsula and has a sheltered harbor and beaches like Plage du Dahu. The 1927 St. Louis Church is among the city’s landmarks. At the tip of the peninsula is the 20th-century Cape Lopez Lighthouse. To the south, the Ogooué River is known for its many fish species.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a port city on the island of Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands. Well-preserved buildings in its old town include the colonial Church of the Immaculate Conception. The 1700s Palacio de Carta has baroque and neoclassical features. In the Old Civil Hospital, the Museum of Nature and Man has interactive displays on the islands. The city’s squares include the central Plaza de España.
Madrid, Spain's central capital, is a city of elegant boulevards and expansive, manicured parks such as the Buen Retiro. It’s renowned for its rich repositories of European art, including the Prado Museum’s works by Goya, Velázquez and other Spanish masters. The heart of old Hapsburg Madrid is the portico-lined Plaza Mayor, and nearby is the baroque Royal Palace and Armory, displaying historic weaponry.
Paris, France's capital, is a major European city and a global center for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture. Its 19th-century cityscape is crisscrossed by wide boulevards and the River Seine. Beyond such landmarks as the Eiffel Tower and the 12th-century, Gothic Notre-Dame cathedral, the city is known for its cafe culture and designer boutiques along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Flemish Region and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, encompasses 14 islands and more than 50 bridges on an extensive Baltic Sea archipelago. The cobblestone streets and ochre-colored buildings of Gamla Stan (the old town) are home to the 13th-century Storkyrkan Cathedral, the Kungliga Slottet Royal Palace and the Nobel Museum, which focuses on the Nobel Prize. Ferries and sightseeing boats shuttle passengers between the islands.
Moscow, on the Moskva River in western Russia, is the nation’s cosmopolitan capital. In its historic core is the Kremlin, a complex that’s home to the president and tsarist treasures in the Armoury. Outside its walls is Red Square, Russia's symbolic center. It's home to Lenin’s Mausoleum, the State Historical Museum's comprehensive collection and St. Basil’s Cathedral, known for its colorful, onion-shaped domes.
Helsinki, Finland’s southern capital, sits on a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland. Its central avenue, Mannerheimintie, is flanked by institutions including the National Museum, tracing Finnish history from the Stone Age to the present. Also on Mannerheimintie are the imposing Parliament House and Kiasma, a contemporary art museum. Ornate red-brick Uspenski Cathedral overlooks a harbor.
Quezon City is located on the Guadalupe Plateau, just northeast of Manila, in the Philippines. Quezon Memorial Circle, in the city center, is dominated by an art deco–style memorial to former president Manuel L. Quezon. The surrounding gardens contain playgrounds, fountains and the World Peace Bell monument. Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center is a zoo and botanical garden, with a lagoon, crocodiles and peacocks.
No comments:
Post a Comment