Southern Europe Archives | Page 3 of 3

A view down onto a barren landscape with at least two craters visible, and a peak beyond them.

Mount Etna

An ancient and still active volcano, influential in the sciences of volcanology and geology.

The church is primarily rectangular shapes, with no high church tower, but all of the edges - the roof lines and the windows - are embellished with detailed gothic-style stone lacework.

Monastery of Batalha

A well-preserved and impressive masterpiece of Late Flamboyant Gothic architecture with Manueline Baroque elements.

In a museum, on a small stand, a carved statue of a cow or ox. It's quite detailed in terms of the muscles that show, and the animal's face. It is missing two legs.

Archaeological Site of Olympia

Ruins of an important temple complex dedicated to Zeus, and the site of the first Olympic games.

Below where this photo was shot is a line of large statues of saints along the edge of the church's roof. Beyond that is Saint Peter's square, which is round, with pillared colonnades around the sides, except the far section which is open to a straight boulevard. The city of Rome spreads very far in the distance.

Vatican City

A tiny city-state with a long history at the center of the Catholic Church and containing magnificent works of art and architecture.

A very elegant central entrance: stairs up to an arched doorway, a rose window above that, rows of statues on the ground floor and above the door, three square towers on top, all with detailed carved ornamentation. The rest of the building is much smaller and extends on both sides out of the picture, two stories tall with simple rows of windows.

Monastery of Alcobaça

A masterpiece of Gothic Cistercian art and architecture.

Ruins of a temple, with tall columns supporting ornate pediments.

Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape

A collection of 9 archeological sites covering several historical periods of an important city’s grand monuments.

A sloped landscape with a scattering of ruins: a well is visible, and a small building, as well as foundations of more buildings and some retaining walls at Troy Archaeological Site.

Archaeological Site of Troy

Excavation of the ancient Greek city of Troy, site of the Trojan War.

Val d’Orcia

A beautiful agrarian landscape reflecting a Renaissance aesthetic.

A view of the Piazza del Plebiscito, with its elegant porticos, in the historic center of Naples.

Historic Centre of Naples

An ancient Italian city containing a wealth of elements – architecture, art, archeology – displaying its long history.

A view from the land over a section of the Amalfi Coast: clusters of houses on steep hills that drop into the sea.

Costiera Amalfitana (Amalfi Coast)

A scenic and dramatic landscape of rugged mountainous coastline and small towns crowding the slopes above the sea.

Convent of Christ in Tomar

An architectural retrospective of Portugal and the Knights Templar in the form of a monastic center dating to the 12th-16th century.

Su Nuraxi di Barumini

Ruins of a Bronze Age society that built unique circular defensive structures.

The front of the cathedral in Modena, with typical Romanesque rounded arches above the entry door and upper windows.

Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena

Romanesque architecture and art in harmony, in a charming Italian city.

Delos

Extensive archeological site of an ancient Greek commercial center on an Aegean island.

Looking down an aisle or cloister of the cathedral: gothic arches overhead, gothic windows on the left, tombs set between the arches on the right.

Burgos Cathedral

A magnificent example of Gothic architecture.

A partial view of the Jeronimos Monastery shows a very ornate arched entrance, with lots of decorative embellishment around and above it. Along the roofline are filigreed crenellations and a corner of the building has a dome-topped little tower.

Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon

Two striking buildings from Portugal’s “Golden Age” of global exploration and seafaring.

A view looking up the drive to the castle. It stands on a hill, and in this photo 4 of the octagonal towers show, with two of them framing the main entrance.

Castel del Monte

An unusual castle expressing Frederick II’s search for perfection, leading him to design the castle around the number 8.

A nighttime shot with, on the left, the wall of a building with 2 stories, each a row of rounded archways. Beyond that, a stately-lookng building: white with classical columns lining the front. Between the two, a lighted sculpture: a high arch, lit white, with a large white star where it touches the ground.

City of Verona

A city exemplifying 2000 years of uninterrupted artistic and architectural development.

A round, 2-3 story structure with stone walls, an ornate Arabic-inspired entrance and window frames.

Cultural Landscape of Sintra

A fine collection of fanciful Romantic-style palaces and castles.

A very ornate building of stone: arched openings all along the ground floor, windows on the upper two floors that are all surrounded by decorative stonework and with iron balconies, and a small bell tower in the center top with three bells in a row.

Old City of Salamanca

An ancient city with stunning architecture in Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

The photo looks up at the building, and shows the roof lines: it has crenellations, but more ornate than the usual castle crenellations: these have decorative carvings. the lower part of the building is painted pastel yellow.

La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia

A masterpiece of late-Gothic architecture, used as a trading hall in the silk trade.

High rocks like columns. Front center, low in the photo, is a monastery, in white plaster with a red roof, on a small outcropping. Behind it is a far taller rock, and at the very top right of the photo, more buildings are visible, looking tiny on the top of the rock. Mountains in the distance behind.

Meteora

Perched on high rocks, these monasteries served as places of retreat and prayer for monastic communities.

Closeup of the top of an archway and the wall above it. Every inch is carved with extremely detailed decorations : swirls and complicated shapes, along with some Arabic writing.

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada

A remarkably well-preserved complex of medieval Muslim architecture mixing Moorish and Spanish elements.

On the left, the facade of a large building, perhaps a church, made of stone with a flat facade but decorative windows. Straight ahead, a view over the red roofs of the city.

Historic Centre of Oporto

A beautiful urban landscape with diverse historical architecture in a range of styles.

A low-ceilinged room, carved out of rock. At the back are two archways (carved, not built). Two people stand in the left-hand archway, showing that the height is about twice a human's height. The right-hand one is larger, and through it more rough-hewn space can be seen in another "room."

Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum

A mysterious underground burial site dating to 4000 BC.

In this partial view of Park Guell, two buildings are visible against a much wider view of the city and the sea. The two buildings are brown stone with colorful roofs that make them look like something out of a fairy tale: then come to a point in a series of wavy shapes. The house on the right also has a tall spire in blue and white tiles with a cross on the top.

Works of Antoni Gaudí

Outstanding works of modernist architecture bringing together a variety of influences from the 19th and 20th centuries.

A young man dressed in walking clothes and carrying a small backpack passes a sign reading "Santiago de la Compostela 790"

Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain

Ancient long-distance pilgrimage routes, still walked today.

A path through dense growth, including what looks like fern trees on the right hanging over the path. The narrow path has a shallow channel cut next to it through which water flows.

Laurisilva of Madeira

Old-growth laurel forests, important for hydrological balance and biodiversity.

St Mark's Basilica has grand arches across the front and numerous towers and turrets around its central dome. A large plaza in front of it with tourists.

Venice and its Lagoon

An immense collection of art and architecture in this “floating” city of canals and islands.