Experience Minimundus of the next generation. An exhibition of new dimensions, with adventure, games and fun, covers over 1,500 m². The big indoor area offers excitement and fun for the whole family with an all-year-round exhibition. On two floors you can find out interesting and unusual facts in a fun way. The interactive adventure stations invite…
Big Ben is the name of the heaviest of the five bells (13.5 tons) in the famous clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London. The nickname is usually extended to refer to both the clock and the clock tower. The Clock Tower was officially renamed to Elizabeth Tower to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee…
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is a neoclassical gate of triumphal procession built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II according to plans of Carl Gotthard Langhans. Time of construction: 1789 – 1793. It was intended as the grand architectural monument at the end of the impressive “Unter den Linden” boulevard. Atop the…
Stari Most (or “old bridge”) is the landmark of the town of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With its 29 m it spans the river Neretva and connects the Bosnian-dominated eastern part and the Croatian-dominated western part of the town. The bridge was built by Ottoman architect Mimar Hajruddin on the orders of Sultan Suleiman…
The road bridge crosses the River Thames in London and connects the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Southwark. Tower Bridge is a neo-Gothic bascule bridge with the Tower of London and St. Catharine docks on the northern banks and City Hall on the southern landfall. The bridge is the property of Bridge House Estates…
St Mary’s Church with its famous wishing bell on the small island on Lake Bled is known far beyond the borders of Slovenia. Written sources testify that the first stonewalled church, a three-nave Romanesque basilica, was consecrated in 1142. In the course of the centuries, the church was reconstructed in different architectural styles. The present-day…
On the dominant rocky edge above Bled Lake stands one of the oldest medieval fortresses in Slovenia. The castle was first mentioned in 1011. In 1858, after centuries of dominion, the Bishops of Brixen sold their property to the industrial Ruard. Later the castle came under the ownership of the ban’s domain, and since 1999…
On 1st May 1718, the San Antonio de Valero Mission was founded as the first in a chain of missions established near the San Antonio River. However, the construction of the church only started in 1744. It had two tasks: converting the local Native Americans and extending the Spanish borders. In 1793, the mission was…
It is probably one of the most photographed pieces of writing in the world and the trademark symbol of the city of Los Angeles. In 1923, a real estate company installed the HOLLYWOODLAND lettering in the Hollywood Hills above Hollywood, a district of Los Angeles. The 15 m high and 137 m long lettering was…
Construction of this world-famous building in the Gregorian style began in 1732. It was the Pennsylvanian state house and still would be today if it were not for the fact that the American Declaration of Independence was adopted here on 4 July 1776. The celebrated hero of the new nation was George Washington, then victorious…
Historically one of the most important buildings in the USA, the Cabildo is located next to St. Louis cathedral in the world-famous French Quarter of the jazz metropolis New Orleans. It was built in 1795 to replace a police station which had been destroyed in a big blaze in 1788. The Cabildo was the headquarters…
Typical of the South of the USA is this manor house which can be found in the town of St. Francisville near the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The main plantation house, the “Great House”, was established in 1834 by Daniel Turnbull. The Turnbulls named the plantation after a play they had seen on their honeymoon.…
On 13th October 1792, three hundred years to the day after America’s discovery, the first president of the USA, George Washington, laid the foundation stone for this building, one of the most famous historical buildings in the USA, its only rival being the Statue of Liberty. It wasn’t officially called the “White House” until 1901…
Out of all the edifices in Minimundus, Abu Simbel is by far the oldest. Built in the 13th century BC by Ramses II, it disappeared beneath the sand of the Nubian desert after the fall of the advanced ancient Egyptian civilization. Rediscovered in 1812, this superhuman edifice was gradually uncovered, only to face the threat…
The Medina of Sousse is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ribat is the oldest and best preserved building of Sousse. Built in the 9th century, the fortification was used as a defence against the Christians and the Normans. The square 38 x 38 m building is flanked by eight towers. The tower in the…
Over 3,000 years ago, in the “Southern Arabian wonderland”, one of the first advanced civilizations in the world grew up between the sea and sand: the kingdom of Sheba. The Sabeans, who were to become a great trading nation, grew incredibly rich and their buildings were immense. Today the alabaster palaces have foundered, the old…
The original wheel was built in 1896 according to the plans of the British engineer Walter B. Basset on the occasion of the celebration of Emperor Franz Joseph I’s 50th anniversary of his coronation. In 1944, it was heavily damaged by fire, was rebuilt and back in operation in 1947. It is 65 m high…
One of the most impressive ruined towns in the world must be the desert city of Petra, called “the pink city” after the characteristic colour of the rock. It was the capital of the Nabataeans, an Arab people who flourished between 110 BC and 40 AD. Right in the middle of the desert in a…
Europe’s largest operational water wheel can be found near Laxey on the Isle of Man. When it came into service in 1854, it represented a long history of lead, zinc and silver mining and was a proud example of traditional British engineering in Victorian era. Driven by the power of falling water, the wheel (22…
Coca Castle is one of the best preserved castles in Spain. It was constructed in the 15th century with visible brick masonry, amply embellished (Mudejar style) with pinnacles and turrets. It was the bastion of the powerful Fonseca family. The wide ditch is not designed to be filled with water, but rather to serve artillery…
It is highly likely that there were fortifications atop the 475 m Schlossberg as early as the 10th century and there is definite evidence of strong fortifications dating from the 11th century. Faced with permanent threats from the Turks, new fortifications were erected in 1544 which didn’t only stand firm against the Turks but also…
The new synagogue in Graz (architects Ingrid and Jörg Mayer) was built on the ruins of the old synagogue. The exterior of the building is determined by the basic geometric shapes, cube and sphere. The opening ceremony was held exactly 62 years after the destruction of the old synagogue by the National Socialists on November…
With its 553.33 m, it had been the highest detached building in the world, from the time of its construction in 1976 to 12th September 2007. It is actually a radio and TV tower, but of course, it is a popular observation deck as well. Built in 1976, this gigantic tower, which would even stand…
This model is in a typically Austrian formation for a convoy of barges, i.e., 2 x 2 pusher barges and the towboat “Ybbs”. From Hungary to the Black Sea, convoys with up to 3 x 3 pusher barges are often used with a total length of 272 m. The Ybbs, which was built in Linz…
One of the most popular snapshots in Budapest, the Fishermen’s bastion with its white walls, towers and arcades was built at the turn of the 20th century on top of ancient fortifications which were meant to provide protection from the dreaded Mongols in the 13th century. Today’s bastion built in neo-Romanesque style has absolutely nothing…
The history of the royal palace in Warsaw dates back to the beginning of the 14th century when early wooden constructions were replaced by stone and brick buildings by the Masovian dukes. The next few generations enlarged the site and when King Sigismund III moved his court from Cracow to Warsaw, the building was turned…
The fully steerable radio telescope operated by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy is located in Bad Münstereifel-Effelsberg and is one of the largest and most powerful of its kind in the world. Radio astronomy can cope with much greater distances than optical astronomy and has developed rapidly since 1945. Objects observed are pulsars,…
Parts of this magnificent building, which lies in the middle of a pond in Uji near Kyoto, date back to 1053 when Regent Fujiwara Yorimichi built the phoenix hall at the heart of today’s temple. In those days the Fujiwara clan was at the height of their powers, and soon the temple complex numbered 26…
At the end of the 1960s NASA started its re-usable space shuttle project in order to reduce the costs of space travel. These space shuttles were to consist of 3 parts: the Space Shuttle, the fuel tank and the solid fuel rockets. In 1981 the first flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia took place. 4…
The Tower has witnessed a great deal of English history and is the oldest building in London. The White Tower at the heart of the fortifications was built with outer walls over 4 m thick on the orders of William the Conqueror in the 11th century. In the following centuries more walls were added, as…
This mighty castle, one of the most beautiful and best preserved in South Tyrol, was na-med after the Bi-shops of Chur. Built in 1253, it often changed hands in the course of its troubled history. As the castle was located on a steep mountain slope, strong fortifications had to be built to defend it. Thus…
Bucket wheel excavators are huge excavators used in raw materials mining and on large construction sites. Particularly large bucket wheel excavators in the size of several hundred metres are used in brown coal mining. Our model is that of the “Leopold” bucket wheel excavator, the biggest of its kind in Austria. Its gigantic dimensions: it…
This imposing 102 m high steel construction was built for the World Fair in Brussels in 1958 and became world famous within a very short period of time. It is a symbol for the peaceful use of atomic energy and represents an iron molecule magnified 165 thousand million times. The hollow spheres, 18 m in…
The Palazzo Vecchio was built at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century as the seat of the Priori (the “Priors of the Arts”), probably according to plans by Arnolfo di Cambio. Over the years it was enlarged by extensions, but only the historical original is shown at Minimundus. It…
The Monastery of La Verna is to be found in the solitude of the Tuscan hills. During one of the sermons preached by St. Francis of Assisi, Count Orlando of Chiusi was one of the listeners, and was so impressed that he decided to give Francis a lonely hill in Tuscany as a gift. A…
The little town in the hills of Tuscany has retained its medieval appearance right up until modern times. At one time, 72 towers could be seen rising above the town’s skyline. The towers were not allowed to exceed the height of the two town hall towers, and so it often happened that the townspeople were…
Far away from the centres of Tuscany, surrounded by chestnut woods and vineyards, is the house where Michelangelo was born. Caprese Michelangelo is a small town of around 2000 inhabitants. Michelangelo’s father was sent to the small town of Caprese Michelangelo for 6 months by the municipal authorities of Florence. He was accompanied by his…
St. Stephen’s has shared its destiny with the town of Vienna for over 8 centuries as its architectural history stretches from the 1st half of the 12th century right down to the present day. St. Stephen’s is not only the most important Gothic building in Austria but also the religious heart of the country. The…
On the same site as an ancient necropolis including the tomb of the apostle Peter who was martyred during the reign of Emperor Nero, building work on the largest church in Christendom commenced in 1505 and was to take over a century. Many famous names in architecture and art are associated with St. Peter’s, including…
The station at Karls-platz, on the original Viennese city line, is yet another building designed by the famous architect Otto Wagner (1841-1918) in pure Viennese Jugendstil, known as the secession style. The change to underground operation in the years 1976 to 1981 entailed a complete reconstruction of Karlsplatz station. The pavilions were to be removed…
On the occasion of Austria’s EU Council Presidency in 2006 and in cooperation with the EU Presidency, this Austrian Railways Taurus 3 locomotive was constructed completely in the design of the Council Presidency logo. The ambitious aim was to increase the productive use of locomotives and make the change of the railway traction unit at…
Just like in large modern shunting depots, the railway coaches in Mini-mundus are shunted back and forth electronically and automatically coupled and uncoupled. It took three years to develop the technical side, involving light barriers and various electronic components.
This white sprinter of the rails, the fastest and most modern train in Germany, has sped regularly between major towns in Germany since 1991. Able to travel at speeds of up to 280 km/h on newly built stretches, it has brought about a renaissance in rail traffic in Germany. It broke the magic figure of…
With its top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph), the Railjet is one of the fastest locomotive-hauled express trains in the world. Railjet locomotives are Taurus locomotives of the 1116 series in a special livery. They are used exclusively for the high-speed train of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).
There are only two examples left of this popular electric locomotive, one at the large goods yard in Wolfurt near Bregenz and the other in service at a railway museum. From 1926 onwards, this locomotive pulled goods and passenger trains, mainly on the difficult Arlberg run. A similar engine was used very successfully on the…
On 20th November 1871, the first train ran from Villach to Spittal. A small house served as the station where three officials did their work. In 1901, Emperor Franz Josef approved the plans for the Tauern railway and after six years’ work the Tauern tunnel was ready. The station in Spittal was built at the…
The tower on Pyramidenkogel is an observation and broadcasting tower at an altitude of 851 m south of Lake Wörthersee in Carinthia. The wood and steel structure was built in 2013 and represents a 100-metre high screw. It includes the highest slide from a building in Europe. The slide runs along the helix, is 52…
On the low-lying foothills of the Leithagebirge, where there was nothing but woods, swamps and a quarry three hundred years ago, there is now a small church, also known as Haydn’s church. The shrine owes its existence and design to the Esterhazy family, one of the most distinguished noble families in Hungary. At the beginning…
Since the 17th century, there has been a summer place of the kings on the island Bang Pa In in a river, 50 km north of Bangkok, but it became less important when the royal household moved to Bangkok. Later on, when the river was served by steamships, palaces were built here once again, although…
The local railway lines in Vienna, such as the Baden line, are very important for the commercial and industrial zone to the south of Vienna and have been improved to provide a very efficient service. The trains run every 15 minutes from the centre of Baden to Vienna. Today the line is very popular although…
It was predominantly used by Emperor Karl I for journeys between Vienna and Baden where Karl I had his headquarters. The elegant carriage was originally fitted out by the famous Viennese Jugendstil architect Otto Wagner and it has since been overhauled and faithfully restored by railway enthusiasts. Nowadays it is used for nostalgic rides. It…
In the course of building the city railway in Vienna in the late 1890s, the imperial court pavilion was built in Hietzing, near castle Schönbrunn, following plans by Otto Wagner. The Jugendstil building with its dome-shaped roof served as a waiting room for the Emperor when he was travelling to Bad Ischl. The rooms and…
Lying at the foot of a mountain in the Maya region of northwestern Guatemala, the Indian village of San Andres is famous for its most beautiful und most colourful church facade in the entire country. The typical colour combinations found in the traditional blouses of Mayan women which vary from village to village also shine…
Thanks to its great historical and economic importance Heidenreichstein was granted its town charter in 1932. The place was first mentioned in documents in 1205, a few decades after the castle was founded in 1180 or thereabouts. The castle survived centuries of war, fire and repeated devastation, as well as the Thirty Years’ War and…
At the end of the 19th century, the famous Viennese Jugendstil architect Otto Wagner designed several city railway stations. One of the few to be faithfully restored according to original plans was the Stadtpark station which has been in service as an underground station since 1978. With regard to its appearance our model is a…
The original was built by French engineer Gustave Eiffel for the World Fair in Paris in 1889. At 320 m in height the tower was the tallest artificial structure in the world until 1930 and inconceivably high for the period, only made possible because iron was used for the construction. The original plan had been…
At the end of the 19th century narrow gauge railways of 760 mm were built in Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This narrow gauge railway network was the largest in Europe. Most lines were replaced by the standard gauge, but some narrow gauge railway lines have been successfully retained, such as the Zillertal, Mariazell and Waldviertel lines.…
This reliable locomotive, of which several hundred were made, has been running on all electrified routes in Austria since 1963. A remodelled version has also been recently used in push-pull running. The 16.2 m long locomotive weighs 84 tonnes and reaches a top speed of 130 km/h with 3,560 kW.
This locomotive came into service as early as 1938 and was one of the first to have an independent axle drive, a pioneering innovation in locomotive construction. Its hourly capacity is 1,840 kW, it weighs 83 tonnes and can reach a top speed of 80 km/h. As a multi-purpose locomotive it was used for passenger…
At present the most powerful express train locomotive on Austrian tracks, this modern engine is used in large numbers. It runs at 5,400 kW, is 16 m long and weighs 84 tonnes. Our “miniature world” has 3 of these locomotives. Laying back distances of approx. 50 km a day, our locomotives are often found in…
This series of mainline dual-frequency locomotives built to use both alternating and direct current was designed for transit goods traffic between Italy and Germany over the Brenner Pass. The locomotive was intended to encourage use of the “rolling highway” in order to reduce the number of lorries on Austrian roads.
This fully electronic locomotive was built by Simmering-Graz-Pauker-AG from 1983 onwards. It is usually used for shunting and occasionally as a main-line locomotive. Its starting tractive power is 24 tonnes and it attains a top speed of 80 km/h.
The first company worldwide to produce ultra-long, weld-free rails up to 120 m in length, Voest Alpine Schienen GmbH has set new standards in railway construction, particularly as welding joints in tracks affect the dynamics of vehicle movement and are a weak point in terms of safety. As trains become faster and faster and axle…
This is a typical example of a station of the Imperial State Railway, except for its more lavish design, because Bad Ischl served as Emperor Franz Josef’s summer residence. It is on the Salzkammergut line where the narrow gauge line to Salzburg branched off (as celebrated in a famous song: “…a sweet little railway line…
When the mother of Shah Mohammed Reza of Persia visited Minimundus in 1971 (she was president of a children’s charity in Persia, modern-day Iran) she was so impressed by our miniature world that she proposed that a model of the marble palace in Teheran be built and promised any assistance required. This wonderful building had…
This impressive building was constructed in neo-classical style in the middle of the 19th century and served as a summer residence for around half the year for the 2nd emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, when he not only dedicated himself to government business but also to his many private interests. During his reign he outlawed…
The idea of building a new capital city had been a topic of discussion ever since the Republic of Brazil was founded in 1891 but the present site was not chosen until 1957. Thus the “planned city” of Brasilia came to be on a central plateau 1,200 km from Rio. The prestige buildings, including the…
One of the best-known buildings in the capital city Santiago de Chile, the government palace, has witnessed many historical events. Completed in 1805, the massive building housed Chile’s mint for many a year before being used as the official residence of the president. Salvador Allende, South America’s first democratically elected Marxist president worked there from…
The name of the “square of miracles” doesn’t only refer to the odd appearance of the campanile, known all over the world as “the leaning tower of Pisa”, but also to the unusual arrangement of the buildings and their extraordinary beauty. The cathedral was consecrated in 1118. Although work was carried out on the ensemble…
This world-famous ecclesiastical building is located on the Red Square in Moscow. It was built by the infamous Tsar Ivan IV, known as the Terrible, after his historic victory in the battle of Kazan in the 16th century. He wanted no less than the most beautiful cathedral in the world and a perpetual monument to…
It was above all gambling that led to the construction of the first Kurhaus in 1810. As Wiesbaden rapidly developed into a spa town of world repute, it became necessary to build a new Kurhaus at the beginning of the 20th century. It formally opened in the presence of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1907. Built…
Built by the Danish “Sun King”, Christian IV between 1619 and 1640 in the style of the Dutch Renaissance, Copenhagen’s stock exchange must be one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings in northern Europe. The 54 m high tower, whose tip is formed by the intertwined tails of 4 dragons, is unique throughout the world.…
The Louvre in Paris houses one of the biggest and most visited museums in the world – the Musée du Louvre. The French President François Mitterrand commissioned Chinese American architect Ieoh Ming Pei to design the entrance area to the museum. The proposal to construct a glass pyramid with an underground entrance was the subject…
On the same site where the princely palace was located until the earthquake of 1895, the famous architect Joze Plečnik built his “shrine to intellectuality”, as he used to call his library. Construction began in 1936, but a German plane crashed into the building in 1944, destroying the reading room and 60,000 irreplaceable books. The…
Out of the two model tram formations operating in Minimundus, the “Viennese Ring tram” which went into service in 1927, is particularly noteworthy. These robust yet stylish trams also plied many other routes in the Viennese tram network and characterized the face of Vienna for many a year. In 1978 they were taken out of…
The early years of the 20th century confronted science with new, important tasks in astrophysics, stimulated by Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity. The Einstein Foundation, which was set up in 1920, established a research institute which was called Einstein Tower after the great German physicist and Nobel Prize winner. The basic idea behind this project…
Originally just a small chapel, today mighty St. Michael’s church stands in the west of the city centre, dominating the River Elbe and the harbour. The early Classical tower powerfully moulded to perfection has become Hamburg’s landmark thanks to its size and force. In 1750 the church was destroyed by fire after having been hit…
The clerical dignitary Paul of Aleppo called this unique ed- ifice the eighth Wonder of the World, when it was consecrated in 1517, after 5 years of construction. The ecumenical patriarch, all the abbots from Mount Athos and over one thousand priests were present at the celebration. Guests at the time compared the building with…
Around 10% of the 3.5 million inhabitants or so of New Zealand are Maori. They came from Polynesia, colonising the North and South Island in the 14th century. Discovered by Dutch navigator Tasman in 1643, New Zealand was first explored in 1840 by Englishman James Cook. The communal houses were the traditional meeting places for…
At the head of the world famous Champs Elysées on the Place Charles de Gaulle, France’s national monument, the Arc de Triomphe, stands at the point where 12 avenues meet like a star. Napoleon I commissioned the triumphal arch in 1805 to commemorate his victories over Austria, Russia and Prussia. He was inspired by the…
Built by Italian master builders in the 16th century, this palazzo is one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings in central Europe. It was named after its princely masters, the Porcia family, and served as their residence until 1918. The three-storey building with its four wings around an attractive arcaded courtyard may be in the…
One of the last traditional windmills in Austria, the windmill near the town of Retz is the only one currently in working order. In its present form it was built around 1855, replacing an old wooden mill. The mill is the landmark of Retz, the largest wine-growing area in Austria and was classified as a…
The first windmills of this type date back to the 12th century. Originating in central Europe they were later found over a much greater area. Here the whole structure can turn to the wind, resting on a post made out of bricks and sandstone. The millstone and all other equipment are found in the upper…
This type of mill is very rare and was only built in and around Belgium. These mills were usually built atop a man-made hill to achieve higher wind exploitation and to create storage space underneath where the carts could be loaded directly. They were usually used to make flour but the energy from the wind…
Perched atop a steep, 150 m high limestone crag, Hochosterwitz castle dominates the gently undulating countryside for miles around. Belligerent tribes passing through the country were successfully warded off by the impregnable fortress and not even the Turks were able to conquer this stronghold. And thus it has retained its great historical importance from its…
Close to the town of Raska, 250 km to the south of Belgrade, one of the most beautiful monasteries from the Middle Ages lies on a small plateau surrounded by dark-green coniferous forests. Its brightly shining marble facades fit in harmoniously with the landscape and are beautiful to behold. It was founded by the progenitor…
Since 1893 there has been a cog railway running up Schafberg from St. Wolfgang am Wolfgangsee. The mountain station lies 50 m below the 1,783 m summit. It is a pleasant two-storey modern functional building which was constructed in the 1980s. From here, it only takes 10 minutes to walk up to the summit which…
Cog railways were built to tackle steepish gradients as the friction on adhesion railways did not suffice for traction and the braking effect was not guaranteed on downhill runs. There is a great tradition of cog railways in Switzerland but there are also some left in Austria, usually running on electricity today.
On 29 May 1898 the mountain railway up to the top of Pöstlingberg went into service. It is not actually a cog railway as in our model but the steepest adhesion railway in Europe at a gradient of 10.5%. Great daring and enterprise were needed for this project as such a steep adhesion railway had…
This locomotive was built by five companies for the German National Railways for Southern German and Austrian alpine lines. Those locomotives which remained in Austria were improved and adapted to Austrian standards. The locomotive with 6 axles was 18.6 m long, weighed 118.5 tonnes and reached a speed of 90 km/h.
In the middle of the attractive Danube landscape, in the area of present-day Petronell, once the Roman metropolis Carnuntum was located. Today, the ruins of this ancient city are the largest archaeological park of Austria, with the so-called Heathen Gate as its showpiece. Of the former magnificent building only the arch of the gate survived.…
Until well into the 19th century there used to be an old church, on the spot where the memorial chapel has stood since 1924 and it was in this church that the world-famous Christmas carol “Silent Night, Holy Night” was performed for the first time on 24th December 1818. The text had been written by…
At the south front of the town Hall Square, there is the town hall. It consists of two gothic town houses that were structurally unified after 1570 and rai-sed and extended with a tower in 1590. In 1727, Joseph Munggenast created the existing representative Baroque façade. Through its long building history, the town hall shows…
It is not really known, when the Steiner Gate was actually built but it is assumed that work began after the Dominican monastery had been built at the beginning of the 14th century. Right up to the middle of the 18th century, the gate only consisted of a rectangular block and was part of the…
The “pig’s snout” as it is lovingly called by the locals was built by the factory in Wismar from 1932 onwards. Its characteristic snout was adopted from Ford’s lorries. These diesel railcars were used on branch and island lines and kept in service by the German National Railways in the former GDR until well into…
This edifice takes us back to the Baroque era with its pomp and splendour when Austria and its great empire were at the hub of political events in Europe. The pleasure palace which was built for the famous general Prince Eugene of Savoy as his summer residence represents the peak of this stylistic and artistic…
The early history of this ancient stronghold is shrouded in myth. It was first mentioned in documents dating from the 11th century and in the course of its long history it was owned by several very powerful families. In 1634 it virtually burnt to the ground and the 17th century reconstruction has been retained almost…
One of the main attractions of any visit to Prague is the Old Town Hall. Its history dates back to 1338 when King John of Luxembourg granted the citizens of Prague the right to convert a house into a town hall. The town hall’s tower was added in 1364 and over the centuries, the appearance…
In the 6th century, St. Kevin founded a monastery in the enchanting valley of Glendalough turning it into a highly esteemed place of learning which attracted students and monks from all over Europe. Despite repeated Viking attacks, the monastery stood its ground until the 14th century when it was destroyed in a blaze in 1390,…
The 35 metre high Porer Lighthouse was constructed on the small island of the same name to the southwest of Cape Kamenjak in 1833 and marks the southernmost point in Istria. Actually, the island is an 80 metre wide cliff 2.5 km from the mainland. People who love adventures can spend the night in the…