Best of European Union » seven wonders

Pena National Palace – one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal

Julius — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 22:59:17 +0000

Pena National Palace or in Portuguese Palácio Nacional da Pena is a Romanticist palace situated at the top of the rocky hill in the town of Sintra in Portugal. When the weather is good the palace is visible from Lisbon. The palace is since 1995 a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal and it is also one of Portugal’s most visited monuments.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by leoplus

Pena National Palace was built in 19th century but its history started already in the Middle Ages when a chapel was built here and later in 1493 also monastery, however it was severely damaged by lightning and later by the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. After that only ruins remained here for many decades. King Ferdinand started reconstructions and rebuilt the place into a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family in 1847.

Pena National Palace is now a place of Portuguese government and president officials. Around the Palace there is 200 hectares large vast forest with lots of paths.

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Rhodes island – one of the best tourist destinations in Europe | Greece

Julius — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:12:07 +0000

Rhodes is the largest island of the Dodecanese islands and the fourth largest Greek island. It has an area of 1404 km2 and about 100,000 inhabitants. The island, which is always full of sun is very popular destination and according to several Travel sites it is the best travel destination in Europe. You can spend your holiday on the beautiful beaches, admiring the picturesque scenery and see many historical monuments from different eras. In fact, Rhodes island offers everything that a tourist can imagine. One of the most famous site in Rhodes is Valley of the Butterflies.

Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site.

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Toruń – Gothic architecture at its best, and the birthplace of Copernicus | Poland

Julius — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 13:10:59 +0000

Toruń, and its medieval old town, is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities of Poland. It is located in northern Poland on the banks of the Vistula River. The gothic buildings of Toruń’s Old Town present proof of Toruń’s centuries-old economic, cultural and intellectual ties with the leading cities of Europe associated in the Hanseatic League.

Toruń‘s Old Town was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a World Heritage Site in 1997 and 10 years later it was added to the list of Seven Wonders of Poland.

For your visit to Toruń, you should reserve at least 2 days. The city is a charming especially after sunset, when the souvenir sellers and most tourists disappear from the streets. Best time to visit Toruń is from May to September. During the summer, there are lots of music, theater, gingerbread and other festivals in Toruń.

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