botak99

Most buildings and sculptures are made out of stone which is quarried and then taken somewhere else to be carved or used in construction. Not so these places, where the sculpting took place on site to give us some of the most remarkable sites in the world.

China has many a Buddha dotted throughout its extraordinary landscapes but the Giant Buddha of Leshan is unique in that it was carved directly out of the cliff face. The sculpture, which is seventy one meters (or over three hundred feet) tall dwarfs the tourists that flock to see it. It is positioned so that it faces Mount Emei and stands at the meeting place of three rivers.

Although the Government of China has promised a restoration program, the statue has suffered from the effects of pollution, particularly over the last twenty years. Fortunately, the statue was not damaged in the Sichuan earthquake of 2008.

Although the USA is a comparative newcomer to massive sculptures which have been carved in situ, Mount Rushmore is among the most famous statues in the world and will no doubt withstand the millennia as it was designed to do.

hen finished, however, the Crazy Horse Memorial should be the largest sculpture in the world and stand over one hundred and seventy two meters (that’s five hundred and sixty three feet). In other words, it will be almost ten times taller than each of the President’s heads at Rushmore. Started in 1948, it remains unfinished and there is no date which has been fixed for its completion either. The face, however, was completed in 1998.

Iran is not exactly out of bounds to western tourists but is not as such in the top fifty destinations. This is a shame as the country holds some astonishing archaeological secrets. One of these is the Naqsh-e Rustam, dating from the sixth century BCE.

They are all carved at great heights and the technology and manpower needed for such tasks must have been unimaginable then as they are still astonishing today. They are known as the Persian Crosses by local people as the facades are carved in such a shape. The center of each of the crosses leads to a small chamber where the king would have been laid in a sarcophagus.

Built in the second century BCE, it could be joked that these caves were created while most of the population of Europe was simply living in them; these are one of the masterpieces of pictorial art. For many centuries these temples were built under the rule of Hindu Kings, many of whom contributed to their construction.

Again, not exactly on the tourist map of many, Saudi Arabia had its first UNESCO World Heritage Site announced in 2008. This is the ancient city known as Negra. Some of the inscriptions found here date back almost three thousand years. It is mentioned many times in Quran.

However, this site comes with a warning sign. Many Saudi Arabians consider the place to be cursed and although the government encourages tourism here many of the local people will not go and advise visitors not to either. To quote from the holy book, “So the earthquake seized them, and they lay (dead), prostrate in their homes.”

Note from author. There are many, much better known, place I could have chose to write about here, the most obvious being Mount Rushmore and a variety of monuments in Egypt. However, I felt that these had been somewhat overdone, in whichever medium you care to name. These sites, I thought, were lesser known and so deserved attention. However, if you would like to submit your own suggestions, please use the comment box below and I will start a Reader's Favorites section. Remember, though, the monument must have been carved in situ.