TEMPLE OF AMMON. Remains of one of the world's most imposing religious monuments can be found in the Nile Valley near Karnak, Egypt. Work on the Temple of Ammon began here about 4,000 years ago. The original temple was made bigger from time to time until it was 1,200 feet long. One hall within the temple was larger than Notre Dame Cathedral. Rows of 69-foot columns raised the roof of this inner hall above the surrounding flat stone roofs. Grilled Windows admitted light.
PARTHENON. In Athens about 450 B.C., during the time of Pericles the great statesman, a temple to the goddess Athena Parthenos was erected on top of a hill called the Acropolis. Known as the Parthenon, this temple is the finest example of the classic style of Greek architecture. Its 46 Doric columns were made of white marble. The four corner columns were slightly larger than the others and all were wider in the middle than at the base. The original temple measured 101 by 228 feet and was 65 feet high.
Phidias created a 41 foot statue of the virgin goddess for the interior. He formed the body of wood overlaid with ivory and cast a separate golden garment that could be removed and weighed by the temple treasurer. Thus Phidias was able to disprove later charges that he had stolen some of the gold provided for the statue.
After 800 years as a Temple, The Parthenon became a Christian church in A.D. 426. A bell tower was added which became a minaret when the Turks used it as a mosque in the 15th century.
THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS (Artemision) was a Greek temple dedicated to the Greek goddess of the moon. The temple was located in the city of Ephesus on the coast of what is now Turkey. The temple, erected during the reign of Alexander the Great, became known as one of the Seven Wonder of the Ancient World. It was almost 400 feet long, covered nearly two acres, and had more than 100 pillars, each 60 feet high. Inside the shrine was a statue of the goddess Artemis. Worshipers brought so many gifts, that the temple soon became filled with treasure. Barbarians looted and damaged the temple in A.D. 262.
SHWE DAGON PAGODA is considered by Buddhists throughout southeast Asia as one of their most important religious centers because of the relics which are housed there. Constructed in 588 B.C., the building was enlarged in the 15th century by Shin Sawbu, a Burmese queen who gave her weight in gold to gild the pagoda's 360-foot spire. This pagoda now contains about 25 tons of gold and 100 tons of silver. Around the base are 64 small shrines.
The Buddhist pagodas were intended to be used as places for meditation rather than as temples for worshiping. Pilgrims travel great distances to visit this elaborate pagoda in Rangoon, Burma.
TEMPLE OF ANGKOR WAT. Deep in the dense jungles of Cambodia lies the ruins of Angkor Thom, capital of the ancient kingdom of the Khmers. One mile south are the soaring towers and elaborately carved red sandstone walls of the 600-year-old Temple of Angkor Wat. Three miles of moat and a 180-acre park surround the almost one square mile of ruíns. Built on three levels, this huge temple is capped with five spires.
MAYAN TEMPLES, found near Chichen Itza on Mexico's isolated Yucatan Peninsula, were built prior to Spanish conquest. The great Mayan civilization flourished 1,400 years ago. Working without metal tools, the people built magnificent pyramids with stone steps leading to sacrificial altars at the top.
The Pyramid of Sacrifice (El Castillo) near Chichen Itza is well preserved. It measures about 190 by 231 feet at the base and 80 feet in height. Four staircases, each about 30 feet wide lead to the wood and stone temple that surmounts the pyramid. Archaeologists have discovered that an older building of another style is buried beneath El Castillo. Many structures were buried below later ones in this region.
THE PANTHEON in Rome is a reconstruction by the Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 125 of an earlier temple that stood on the same site. At the top of its 142-foot dome is a 30-foot opening providing light for the interior. The opening is like the smoke hole in huts built by many primitive peoples. Rain that comes through the hole drains off the sloped floor.
PARTHENON. In Athens about 450 B.C., during the time of Pericles the great statesman, a temple to the goddess Athena Parthenos was erected on top of a hill called the Acropolis. Known as the Parthenon, this temple is the finest example of the classic style of Greek architecture. Its 46 Doric columns were made of white marble. The four corner columns were slightly larger than the others and all were wider in the middle than at the base. The original temple measured 101 by 228 feet and was 65 feet high.
Phidias created a 41 foot statue of the virgin goddess for the interior. He formed the body of wood overlaid with ivory and cast a separate golden garment that could be removed and weighed by the temple treasurer. Thus Phidias was able to disprove later charges that he had stolen some of the gold provided for the statue.
After 800 years as a Temple, The Parthenon became a Christian church in A.D. 426. A bell tower was added which became a minaret when the Turks used it as a mosque in the 15th century.
THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS (Artemision) was a Greek temple dedicated to the Greek goddess of the moon. The temple was located in the city of Ephesus on the coast of what is now Turkey. The temple, erected during the reign of Alexander the Great, became known as one of the Seven Wonder of the Ancient World. It was almost 400 feet long, covered nearly two acres, and had more than 100 pillars, each 60 feet high. Inside the shrine was a statue of the goddess Artemis. Worshipers brought so many gifts, that the temple soon became filled with treasure. Barbarians looted and damaged the temple in A.D. 262.
SHWE DAGON PAGODA is considered by Buddhists throughout southeast Asia as one of their most important religious centers because of the relics which are housed there. Constructed in 588 B.C., the building was enlarged in the 15th century by Shin Sawbu, a Burmese queen who gave her weight in gold to gild the pagoda's 360-foot spire. This pagoda now contains about 25 tons of gold and 100 tons of silver. Around the base are 64 small shrines.
The Buddhist pagodas were intended to be used as places for meditation rather than as temples for worshiping. Pilgrims travel great distances to visit this elaborate pagoda in Rangoon, Burma.
TEMPLE OF ANGKOR WAT. Deep in the dense jungles of Cambodia lies the ruins of Angkor Thom, capital of the ancient kingdom of the Khmers. One mile south are the soaring towers and elaborately carved red sandstone walls of the 600-year-old Temple of Angkor Wat. Three miles of moat and a 180-acre park surround the almost one square mile of ruíns. Built on three levels, this huge temple is capped with five spires.
MAYAN TEMPLES, found near Chichen Itza on Mexico's isolated Yucatan Peninsula, were built prior to Spanish conquest. The great Mayan civilization flourished 1,400 years ago. Working without metal tools, the people built magnificent pyramids with stone steps leading to sacrificial altars at the top.
The Pyramid of Sacrifice (El Castillo) near Chichen Itza is well preserved. It measures about 190 by 231 feet at the base and 80 feet in height. Four staircases, each about 30 feet wide lead to the wood and stone temple that surmounts the pyramid. Archaeologists have discovered that an older building of another style is buried beneath El Castillo. Many structures were buried below later ones in this region.
THE PANTHEON in Rome is a reconstruction by the Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 125 of an earlier temple that stood on the same site. At the top of its 142-foot dome is a 30-foot opening providing light for the interior. The opening is like the smoke hole in huts built by many primitive peoples. Rain that comes through the hole drains off the sloped floor.
