NOTRE-DAME BASILICA - MONTREAL TOP TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

This is a basilica in the historic district of Old Montreal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The church is located at 110 Notre-Dame Street West, at the corner of Saint Sulpice Street. It is located next to the Saint-Sulpice Seminary and faces the Place d’Armes square. One of the most famous Church in Quebec Canada.

The Basilique of Notre-Dame at Montreal is simply stunning! Such spectacular architecture and art!A masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture, Notre-Dame Basilica was built between 1824 and 1829. The magnificent interior in wood and the boldly modern design of the Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur Chapel, captivate hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Paintings, sculptures and stained-glass windows illustrate biblical passages as well as 350 years of parish history. In the evening a sound and light show presents the founding of Montréal and the Notre-Dame Basilica.

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The Colosseum, Rome Top Tourist Attractions

The Colosseum was opened in AD 80 by Vespasian's son & successor, Titus. The Colosseum is hugely impressive. It stands as a brilliant but troubling monument to Roman imperial power & cruelty. Inside it, behind those serried ranks of arches & columns, Romans for hundreds of years cold-bloodedly killed literally thousands of people whom they saw as criminals, as well as professional fighters & animals.

Indeed, it was the amphitheatre's reputation as a sacred spot where Christian martyrs had met their fate that saved the Colosseum from further depredations by Roman popes & aristocrats  anxious to make use of its one time glistening stone for their palaces & church buildings. The cathedrals of St Peter & St John Lateran, the Palazzo Venezia & the Tiber's river defences, for example, all exploited the Colosseum as a convenient quarry.

Due to this plunder, & also because of fires & earthquakes, thirds of the original have been destroyed, so that the present Colosseum is only a shadow of its former self, a noble ruin.

The Colosseum was started in the aftermath of Nero's extravagance & the rebellion by the Jews in Palestine against Roman rule. Nero, after the great fire at Rome in AD 64, had built a immense pleasure palace for himself (the Golden House) right in the centre of the city. In 68, faced with military uprisings, they committed suicide, & the empire was engulfed in civil wars.

The eventual winner Vespasian (emperor 69-79) decided to shore up his shaky regime by building an amphitheatre, or pleasure palace for the people, out of the booty from the Jewish War  on the site of the lake in the gardens of Nero's palace. The Colosseum was a grand political gesture. Suitably for that great city, it was the largest amphitheatre in the Roman world, able to holding some 50,000 spectators.

Finally there were well over 250 amphitheatres in the Roman empire so it is no surprise that the amphitheatre & its associated shows are the quintessential symbols of Roman culture.

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Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef - Top Australia Tourist Attractions

Cairns is the main entry point & from there you can travel north or south & out to stunning island resorts. The Great Barrier Reef, located in Cairns, Queensland's most northerly city is of the natural wonders of the world. It is called the world's largest coral reef that stretches along the Queensland coast for a distance of about 35 million hectares. Listed as a World Heritage Site, the Great Barrier Reef is a premier holiday location in Australia. Lots of varieties of fish & other forms of sea life make the Reef home, & there's lots of opportunities to learn about & observe.

Ocean Free offers you the opportunity to experience the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef as it was intended. Cruise, sail, snorkel and scuba dive aboard personalised tours with a fun and professional crew.

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Water Country-Exciting Water Parks in Virginia

This gorgeous water park features a fun 1950's theme that will bring back memories of the Beach Boys. There are several modern features in this popular park ranging from exciting flume rides to river rafting adventures which can keep you relaxed at Water Country.

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The Orsay Museum Top Paris Tourist Attractions

Set on the banks of the Seine opposite the tuileries gardens, the Orsay museum is a work of art itself. Both the fantastic building itself & the treasures inside are true wonders which no visitor to paris ought to miss.

The Orsay Museum was originally designed as a train station in 1900. By the 1950's it became apparent that the platforms were short for modern trains & the building became home to a theater.

In the 1970's it was remodelled & converted in to a museum dedicated to displaying art from the period 1848 to 1915. There's lots of masterpieces at the Orsay include work by Delacroix, Manet, Guaguin, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, truck Gogh & lots of more great artists.

Among the spectacular works on display in this popular art gallery is Auguste Clasinger's "Woman Bitten by a Snake" which scandalised all of Paris in 1847 by supposedly depicting a woman not bitten by a snake but in the throes of passion &, said prominent critics of the time, modelled from actual life on 19th Century socialite Apollonie Sabatier.

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