City landscapes or cityscapes can be amazingly beautiful, and reflect the culture and life of people in the past, present and future.
Table of Contents
Cities
Berlin (D)
Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union’s most populous city, according to population within city limits. Berlin’s urban area has a population of around 4.5 million. The first documented existence of a town in the location is from the 13th century when it was crossing two important historic trade routes. After World War II and its subsequent occupation by the victorious countries, the devastated city was divided; West Berlin became a de facto exclave of West Germany, surrounded by the Berlin Wall (from August 1961 to November 1989) and East German territory. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all of Germany. Today Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media and science.
The Brandenburg Gate (German: Brandenburger Tor) is one of the best-known landmarks of Germany. It was built on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin to the town of Brandenburg an der Havel.
With the history of Berlin it is natural that it has its own Spy Museum. The museum acts as an educational institution. The idea behind the creation of the museum was to show the history of spies and espionage in the former spy capital of Germany.
Bruges (Brugge in Flemish) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country. The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam and St Petersburg, it is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North. Bruges has significant economic importance, thanks to its port, and was once one of the world’s chief commercial cities. Bruges was a location of coastal settlement during prehistory. This Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement are unrelated to medieval city development. In the Bruges area, the first fortifications were built after Julius Caesar’s conquest of the Menapii in the first century BC, to protect the coastal area against pirates. In 1089, Bruges became the capital of the County of Flanders. Bruges received its city charter on 27 July 1128, and new walls and canals were built. The city’s total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of whom around 20,000 live in the city centre.
The Boniface Bridge (St Bonifacius Bridge) may be one of the youngest bridges in Bruges, but it sums up the city perfectly. A mysterious atmosphere, abundantly romantic and fabulous views that fight for your attention. From here you a perfect view at the little canals and overhanging half-timbered houses.
Canal with a view to the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. The Church dates mainly from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. Its tower, at 115.6 metres in height, remains the tallest structure in the city and the third tallest brickwork tower in the world.
Canal view with belfry tower in background. The Belfry of Bruges (Dutch: Belfort van Brugge) is a medieval (13th-century) bell tower in the centre of Bruges.
The City of Brussels (French: Ville de Bruxelles; Dutch: Stad Brussel) is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Flemish Region (from which it is separate) and Belgium. Historically, the City of Brussels was simply defined, being the area within the second walls of Brussels, the modern-day Small Ring (Brussels’ inner ring road). As the city grew, the surrounding villages grew as well, eventually growing into a contiguous city, though the local governments retained control of their respective areas. Unlike most of the municipalities in Belgium, the ones located in the Brussels-Capital Region were not merged with others during mergers, and thus the City of Brussels is only the central part of the Brussels-Capital Region, with a total population of 176,545. It is in the heart of Saint-Géry/Sint-Goriks Island, formed by the Senne river, and on which a first keep was built around 979, that the origin of Brussels is located. In the Brussels-Capital Region, located outside the City of Brussels is the “European Quarter”, the administrative centre of the European Union, featuring a number of principal EU institutions.
Tour Anneessens, a corner tower and vestige of the first city wall (11C-13C) of Brussels. The wall was 7 meters high and 2,3 meters thick. It stretched for 4 km around the city. There were only 7 gateways to access the city. From high up on one of the 50 fortification towers, soldiers watched over the countryside, ready to respond to any sort of aggression.
The Halle Gate (French: Porte de Hal) is a former medieval city gate and the last vestige of the second walls of Brussels. It was built between 1381 and 1383 and restored in the 19th century in its current neo-Gothic style by the architect Henri Beyaert. It is now a museum dedicated to the medieval City of Brussels.
The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert was designed by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer and completed in 1847. The gallery included shops, auditoriums, cafés, restaurants and apartments.
Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits, the city has an estimated population of 1,75 million. The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into the Roman town of Aquincum. The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century. Buda became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century. Today Budapest is a global city with strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment.
The Danube river divides the two main parts of the city. The previously separate towns of Buda and Pest were officially unified in 1873 and given the new name Budapest.
The Fisherman's Bastion (Hungarian: Halászbástya) is one of the best known monuments in Budapest. The original walls were built in the 1700s, forming part of the walls of a castle. The current structure was built between 1895 and 1902, in Neo-Romanesque style.
The staircases reaching the Fisherman's Bastion from Danube split in two just below the Bastion. On the right and left of the staircase, a statues of warriors representing different weaponry of the 10th century Árpád age were placed guarding the gate.
The Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle (Hungarian: Nagyboldogasszony-templom), more commonly known as the Matthias Church (Hungarian: Mátyás-templom), is a Roman Catholic church located in the Holy Trinity Square, Budapest. The building was constructed in the latter half of the 13th century.
The Fishermen's Bastion's main façade, parallel to the Danube, is approximately 140 meters long. Its seven high-pitched stone towers symbolize the seven chieftains of the Hungarians who founded Hungary in 895.
The most famous Budapest bridge, the Chain Bridge, the icon of the city's 19th century development. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge (Hungarian: Széchenyi lánchíd) is a chain bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest. It was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary. It was opened in 1849.
Dinant is a city and municipality of French speaking Wallonia in Belgium. Dinant is positioned in the Upper Meuse valley, at a point where the river cuts deeply into the western Condroz plateau. Sited in a steep sided valley, between the rock face and the river. The original settlement had little space in which to grow away from the river, and it therefore expanded into a long, thin town, on a north-south axis, along the river shore. Dinant has been enriched by the agricultural opportunities presented by the fertile land on the plateau that overlooks it. The Dinant area was already populated in Neolithic, Celtic, and Roman times. The first mention of Dinant as a settlement dates from the 7th century. Within the town, brassware production is a traditional craft that has benefited from the presence of the broad and, at this point, easily navigable river which has facilitated easy delivery of the raw materials and ready distribution of the resulting products of the artisans’ workshops. Among the known products is the saxophone, that was invented in the early 1840s by Antoine-Joseph “Adolphe” Sax, an inventor and musician of Dinant.
View of Dinant with the fortified Citadel of Dinant on the top of the rock. At the Meuse river bench the Collegiate Church of Notre Dame de Dinant. The church was rebuilt in Gothic style on its old foundations after falling rocks from the adjacent cliff partially destroyed the former Romanesque style church in 1227.
View of Dinant with the fortified Citadel of Dinant on the top of the rock. The Citadel of Dinant was first built in the 11th century to control the Meuse valley.
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo and in Arabic Yafa. It is the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, and is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon and Saint Peter. Ancient Jaffa was built on a 40 metres high ridge, with a broad view of the coastline, giving it a strategic importance in military history. The city as such was established at the latest around 1800 BCE. Today, Jaffa is one of Israel’s mixed cities, with approximately 37% of the city being Arab.
Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels together with their associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations.
Typical of Las Vegas many of the luxurious hotels are built with a historical or popular location theme. This hotel and casino is no exception. It is a palatial center-Strip resort.
Lisbon is Portugal’s hilly, coastal capital city. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second-oldest European capital city (after Athens), predating other modern European capitals by centuries. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century; later it was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. In 1147 Afonso Henriques conquered the city and since then it has been the political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Lisbon is recognised as an alpha-level global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, fashion, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education and tourism.
The Belém Tower (Portuguese: Torre de Belém) is a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. It was built during the height of the Portuguese Renaissance. Since 1983, the tower has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. Los Angeles is the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, and one of the world’s most populous megacities. With a population of roughly 3.9 million residents within the city limits as of 2020, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic and cultural diversity, and being the home of the Hollywood film industry. The city lies in a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the west and extending through the Santa Monica Mountains and north into the San Fernando Valley, with the city bordering the San Gabriel Valley to its east. It covers about 1,210 km2, and is the county seat of Los Angeles County, which is the most populous county in the United States with an estimated 9.86 million residents as of 2022.
The Echo Park Lake located in the east-central region of Los Angeles, northwest of Downtown. Echo Park Lake's earliest use by the city was as a reservoir. The water was gotten by digging a ditch that sent water flowing from the Los Angeles River into the reservoir. In 1891 the lake and land surrounding it was given to the city so that it could be used as a park.
The Griffith Observatory is an observatory in Los Angeles, California on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction with a close view of the Hollywood Sign.
There are stars in Hollywood, no one doubt it, and wanna be stars, and stars put in the ground for reasons no one remembers, and for those who have money enough to get featured in media.
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8.804.190 New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States and more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest city. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world’s most populous megacities. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and is sometimes described as the capital of the world.
Midtown Manhattan with the Central Park Tower on the left and the Steinway Tower on the right. Both are residential supertall skyscrapers along Billionaires' Row. Central Park Tower (472 m) is the tallest primarily residential building in the world; and the tallest building outside Asia by roof height. The Steinway Tower (435 m) is the world's most slender skyscraper.
The Statue of Liberty of course has become a landmark of New York. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet commemorating the national abolition of slavery. After its dedication in October 1886 the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. It was a gift from the people of France.
The World Trade Center Transportation Hub, also known as the Oculus opened in August 2016. The structure’s white metal-clad steel ribs reach up and out in a monumental move symbolic of a hand releasing a dove. The main floor bustles with commuters, shoppers, and visitors, plus weekly programs, from farmers' markets and art exhibits to musical performances and retail events.
At the foot of One World Trade Center. The supertall skyscraper reaches a height of 541 meters with its spire making it the tallest building in the USA. Roof height is 417 meters, the same as the original World Trade Center. Footprint of the building is 61 by 61 meters, the same as each of the Twin Towers. The top floor is numbered 104.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey engage local artists to display their work on the corrugated metal barriers that surround the site of the future 2 World Trade Center on Lower Manhattan. The muralist Eduardo Kobra completed this mural on one weekend in October 2021, painting five women representing the continents of Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
The 197 meters tall center building of the Brookfield Place (previously named and still commonly referred to as the World Financial Center) seen from the One World Trade Center. It is a shopping center and office building complex built from 1983 to 1988.
30 Hudson Yards (also the North Tower) is a supertall skyscraper (395 m) in the West Side of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building has a triangular observation deck, known as The Edge, jutting out from the 100th floor, with a bar and event space on the 101st floor. This observation deck is the second-highest outdoor observation deck containing optically transparent flooring in the world.
The world famous Times Square sometimes referred to as the “Crossroads of the World” is visited by some 50 million visitors annually. Its a major center of the world’s entertainment industry and brightly lit at all hours by numerous digital billboards and advertisements.
Nice is located on the French Riviera, the southeastern coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of the French Alps. Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast with a population in its agglomeration of nearly 1 million. The city is nicknamed Nice la Belle, meaning ‘Nice the Beautiful’, which is also the title of the unofficial anthem of Nice. The first known hominid settlements in the Nice area date back about 400,000 years (homo erectus); the Terra Amata archeological site shows one of the earliest uses of fire, construction of houses, as well as flint findings dated to around 230,000 years ago. Around 350 BC, Greeks of Marseille founded a permanent settlement and called it Νίκαια, Nikaia, after Nike, the goddess of victory. Through the ages, the town has changed hands many times. Its strategic location and port significantly contributed to its maritime strength. The clear air and soft light have particularly appealed to notable painters, such as Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Niki de Saint Phalle and Arman. Their work is commemorated in many of the city’s museums. International writers have also been attracted and inspired by the city. Because of its historical importance as a winter resort town for the European aristocracy and the resulting mix of cultures found in the city, UNESCO proclaimed Nice a World Heritage Site in 2021.
The main port of Nice is also known as Lympia port. This name comes from the Lympia spring which fed a small lake in a marshy zone where work on the port was started in 1745.
This Statue of Liberty is an original by Bartholdi, the author of the statue that welcomes visitors off the coast of New York. This one (less than one metre) is one of the statues that Bartholdi used to design the gigantic statue in New York. It is known that he proceeded in stages, creating larger and larger statues.
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2.165.423 residents in 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world’s major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, and science. For its leading role in the arts and sciences, as well as its very early system of street lighting, in the 19th century it became known as “the City of Light”. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an estimated population of 12.262.544 in 2019.
Notre-Dame de Paris (meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame. It's a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River) in Paris.
The Institut de France (meaning 'Institute of France') is a French learned society, grouping five académies. The building was originally constructed as the Collège des Quatre-Nations as a school for students from new provinces attached to France under Louis XIV. The construction was commenced in 1661.
The Eiffel Tower (French: tour Eiffel) is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. It was constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair. It has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world.
The Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica in Paris. It has become of the most known landmarks of Paris.
Prague (Czech: Praha ) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1,3 million people. Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378). Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe. Main attractions include Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, Petřín hill and Vyšehrad. Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
The Prague Castle is a significant Czech landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Prague Castle, a unique mix of all architectural styles, covers an area of almost 70,000 m2, making it the largest ancient castle complex in the world. Its history dates back to the 8th century.
Bohemian king and Holy Roman emperor Charles IV started the construction of the famous historical Charles Bridge in 1357, it was completed in 1402. The bridge crosses the Vltava river and connects the Old Town (Staré Město) and the Lesser Quarter (Malá Strana). It is 516 meters long and 10 meters wide. In the 17th century, the bridge was decorated with 30 baroque statues featuring Catholic saints.
The Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí) is the most significant square of historical Prague. It was founded in the 12th century and has been witness to many historical events. The Church of Our Lady before Týn is a dominant building of this part of Prague. It's two towers are 80 m high.
The Roman rotunda of St. Martin built in the second half of the 11th century is the oldest surviving building in Prague. It is located in the old fortress, originally the Medieval castle, Vyšehrad, founded in the second half of the 10th century.
Strasbourg is the largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace. The historic core of Strasbourg, lies on the Grande Île in the river Ill, which here flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometers from, the Rhine. The Roman camp of Argentoratum was first mentioned in 12 BC; the city of Strasbourg which grew from it celebrated its 2,000th anniversary in 1988. Strasbourg today is among the few cities in the world that is not a state capital that hosts international organisations of the first order.
La Petite France (also known as the Quartier des Tanneurs; "Tanner's Quarter") is the south-western part of the Grande Île of Strasbourg, the most central and characteristic island of the city that forms the historic center.
Channel of the river Ill that flows through an area that was, in the Middle Ages, home to the city's tanners, millers and fishermen, and is now one of Strasbourg's main tourist attractions. Petite France forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Grande Île, designated in 1988.
The Barrage Vauban, or Vauban Dam (right), is a bridge, weir and defensive work erected in the 17th century on the River Ill. The three bridges of the Ponts Couverts (to left) cross the four river channels of the River Ill that flow through Strasbourg's historic Petite France quarter.
The Ponts Couverts (German: Gedeckte Brücken) are a set of three bridges and four towers that make up a defensive work erected in the 13th century on the River Ill. The Ponts Couverts have been classified as a Monument historique since 1928.
Vienna (German: Wien) is the capital, largest city, and one of nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria’s most populous city and its primate city, with about two million inhabitants (2.9 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of the country’s population), and its cultural, economic, and political center. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Vienna was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had two million inhabitants. Evidence has been found of continuous habitation in the Vienna area since 500 BC, when Celts settled the site on the Danube. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the frontier city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north. In 1440, Vienna became the resident city of the Habsburg dynasty. It eventually grew to become the de facto capital of the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) in 1437 and a cultural center for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. The city for hundreds of years has played a major role in European and world politics. Today Vienna is also known for its high quality of life. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations, OPEC and the OSCE.
The Wiener Riesenrad constructed in 1897 is a 64,75-metre tall Ferris wheel at the entrance of the Prater amusement park in Vienna. It is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and has become a symbol for the city.
The Austrian National Library is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in the center of Vienna.
Frederiksborg Castle is situated on three small islets in the Castle Lake in Hillerød, Denmark. The Castle was built by King Christian IV in the early decades of the 17th century and is the largest Renaissance complex in the Nordic region. The castle is richly adorned with symbolic and decorative elements: for example, the impressive Neptune Fountain and the Marble Gallery of the King’s Wing. Since 1878 Frederiksborg Castle has housed The Museum of National History.
