Americas
and Pacific
The moai monoliths were carved between 1250 and 1500 CE on Rapa Nui, a Chilean island also called Isla de Pascua or Easter Island, at
the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle. Of the almost 900 of
these massive head and torso statues, 45%
have been moved and positioned, 10% were dropped along the route from the
quarry and 45%, including the largest which is 12 metres in length and weighs
75 tons, remain in the quarry.
Europe
The Historic Centre of Tallinn, Estonia dates back to the 13th century, when a castle was built there by the returned knights of the Teutonic Order. It developed as a very wealthy major centre of the Hanseatic League, and now contains some prime examples of Northern European Medieval architecture.
Near East & Africa
The Bahla
Fort at Nizwa, Oman is an outstanding example of a fortified oasis settlement
of the Medieval Islamic period. The walls and towers of this immense structure
are made of unbaked brick on a stone foundation, and the compound is watered by an extensive falaj system.
Asia
The picturesque
village of Shirakawa-go in Japan, known for the cultivation of mulberry trees
and sericulture (silkworm farming), is located in a mountainous region that was
cut off from the rest of the country. A steeply-roofed, thatched multi-level Gassho-style
architecture, well suited to heavy snowfall, evolved. The area was settled for
hundreds of years BCE, but the name ‘Shirakawa-go’ did not appear clearly in
history until the 12th century.
