Do you know the greatest architectural structures built so far of the past 1000 year? Most of you would answer it as seven wonder of the world and some other would say the 20th century skyscrapers but most of the greatest architectures were some obscure homes and temples. This article will take you a tour on the forgotten popular buildings.

St. Denis Church

St. Denis Church, Havertown, Pennsylvania is one among the forgotten architectural master piece. This church was built between 1137 and 1144 during which the builders began to practice a lace like structure in the buildings. This was one of the first large buildings to use this new vertical style, which is now known as Gothic. This building was commissioned by Abbot Suger of this church. Later many churches constructed were following this style.

Chartres Cathedral

The Chartres cathedral in France is actually the reconstruction of the original Romanesque Chartres Cathedral which was destroyed by fire. This one was constructed during 1205 to 1260 had followed the new Gothic style. The piers of the cathedral are curved and each of them was connected with an arch to a wall and extends to the ground or some other nearby piers. This cathedral is about 427 feet long and 112 feet high making it as biggest cathedral during its times.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City, Beijing, China one of the biggest place around the world was originally a imperial home of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties who lived during 1368- 1911. The total area of this building is more than 720,000 square meters. This building is now preserved by the Chinese as Museum with more than million rare and valuable objects. The Forbidden City is also called as the Purple Forbidden City or Gugong Museum in Chinese.

The Louvre

The Louvre built during late 12th century by Philip II, this building is one of world’s well known masterpieces till date. During French revolution this was declared as museum. It was initially a fortress for the Louvre Palace. This museum consists of more than 35,000 rare objects which belong to 6th century B.C to the late 19th century.
In 1989 a Glass Pyramid was constructed at the entrance of the museum which was designed by Sino-American Architect – I.M Pei. This Pyramid construction went into several controversial during 1980’s and even the Dan Brown’s Best seller “The Da Vinci Code” has speculated some stories.



Palladio's Basilica, Italy

Once a town hall of Vicenza, the Basilica was reconstructed in to Gothic during 15th century by Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio and hence named after him as Basilica Palladiana. The building’s construction began in 1549 and was completed in 1617 after the architect’s death. The architect has carefully designed to transform and cover the old Gothic façade building with marble columns and porticos. Palladio spent his entire life in this project but it was completed only 30 years after his death.
Centuries later, the rows of open arches on Palladio's Basilica inspired what came to be known as the Palladian window.



Taj Mahal, India

One of the world wonder, The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz. It is believed that Taj Mahal was designed by the architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori, an Indian architect of Persian desecent Persian. The whole building is built with white marble. Taj Mahal located in Agra, India it attracts visitors from all over the world.



Monticello, Virginia, USA

Monticello designed by Thomas Jefferson is a home in Virginia. Jefferson put his imagination and skills to combine the European traditional Palladio style with the American domesticity. His actual plan was to make out a house that resembles Palladio’s Villa Rotunda. The Monticello has long horizontal wings, underground service rooms. In 1800 Jefferson added the dome to create a spectacular space and he called it “The Sky Room”.



The Eiffel Tower, Paris

Named after its designer, engineer and architect Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower is a man made masterpiece. It was built in 1889 to mark the memory of French revolution’s 100th anniversary. This tower was built fully with metal which was new trend that revolutionized the industries during late 1800. The Eiffel tower is the tallest building in Paris and it restrained “The Tallest building in the world” for nearly 40 years. This tower structure is open to the wind and allows the visitors to look over through the all part of the tower.



The Wainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri

Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler redefined American architecture with the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri. Their design emphsized the underlying structure. Except for the large, deep windows, the first two stories are unornamented. Uninterrupted piers extend through the next seven stories. Intertwined ornaments and small round windows form the upper story. "Form follows function," Sullivan told the world.


Photos Copyright © Mary Ann Sullivan

Great Buildings of the 20th Century

It is the fact that the 20th century building served as a benchmark to the architectural industry. During the twentieth century, exciting new innovations in the world of architecture brought soaring skyscrapers and fresh new approaches to home design. So it is important to appreciate the 20th century buildings here as top pick for the last 1000 years.

Source:About.com