~ The Most Influential Places in History ~

[MysteRy]

The Louvre



The world's most visited museum drew a record 8.8 million people in 2011. The Louvre not only houses an art collection but is also a historical site, with additions from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. All that square footage means space for more than 35,000 works of art.

[MysteRy]

The Bastille



A medieval fortress in Paris that represented royal authority, the Bastille was a nearly empty prison when demonstrators stormed its battlements on July 14, 1789. The great act of public defiance is remembered as the flash point of the French Revolution and celebrated every summer.

[MysteRy]

European Central Bank, Frankfurt



The mission of the bank is to maintain price stability in the euro zone — a pretty difficult job for the past three years and one that has commanded the world's attention.

[MysteRy]

Athens



There, through the extraordinary human creativity of classical Greece, ideas of art, science and democracy flourished that have reverberated for centuries.

[MysteRy]

Western Wall, Jerusalem



Located in Jerusalem's Old City, the foot of the Temple Mount's western side is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism. It has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries. People write prayers and place them in the wall's crevices. More than a million notes are left in the Western Wall each year; every six months, the notes are collected and buried in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

[MysteRy]

Calvary Hill, Jerusalem



One of the holiest sites in Christianity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains the Stone of Anointing, which is said to be the surface on which Joseph of Arimathea prepared Jesus' body for burial. Each year, thousands of Christians undertake a pilgrimage to the Old City and walk the Via Dolorosa, Jesus' path to the Crucifixion.

[MysteRy]

Istanbul



The bridge between East and West is the only city in the world to be on two continents, Europe and Asia. Formerly Constantinople and Byzantium, it was where the capital of the Roman Empire moved when Rome fell. Future capital of "Eurabia" once the integration of the E.U. toward Turkey, Israel and the Middle East moves the axis of the West back east.

[MysteRy]

Mecca



It is the holiest city in Islam, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and site of the Koran's composition. More than 13 million Muslims visit this Saudi city annually, several million during the hajj, the pilgrimage that is the fifth pillar of Islam.

[MysteRy]

Damascus



The archetypal crossroads. It is heartbreaking that the city with the most artistic content in the world — and, by definition, the greatest evidence of mankind's creative ability to live together over more than 25 centuries — may be on the brink of being ripped apart.

[MysteRy]

Ethiopia



The single most significant place in human history is where hominids first evolved and emerged. More specifically, the Afar region of Ethiopia has been the site where many of the most significant early hominid fossils have been unearthed, including the Australopithecus afarensis fossil find by Donald Johanson, dubbed Lucy.

[MysteRy]

Africa



The African Rift Valley, from Ethiopia down to Malawi, has been the center of the evidence of our origins and evolution. Some people call it the cradle of human evolution.

[MysteRy]

The Great Pyramid and Sphinx, Giza



Believed to have been built about 2500 B.C., the Sphinx is the world's oldest known monumental sculpture. The part human, part lion figure was once buried up to its neck in sand but was fully excavated in the 20th century. The tourists followed.

[MysteRy]

Timbuktu



It was the hub of one of the most important trading routes in Africa as far back as the 11th century, and the remnants of that are still there.

[MysteRy]

Simien National Park, Ethiopia



The location of the highest point in Ethiopia, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The park, which is accessible only by an unpaved road, contains some of the most beautiful mountains in Africa.

[MysteRy]

Taj Mahal, India



Built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan in the mid–17th century, the domed Crown of Palaces in Agra attracts nearly 4 million visitors each year. Jahan built the Taj in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and it is one of the finest examples of architecture that combines Indian, Turkish and Persian styles.