DISCOVERY GUIDE
Architecture
D E S T I N AT I O N F O C U S E D . C U LT U R A L LY E N R I C H I N G . C A R E F U L LY C U R AT E D .
Discover the World Through Architecture From the Baroque beauty of St. Peter’s Basilica to the complex geometries of the Sydney Opera House, the awesome scope of the pyramids of Giza and the Byzantine design of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, architecture and design shape how we see a place. Sometimes, one single building can become symbolic of a destination, like the genius of Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or the wonder of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Whether it’s through thoughtful urban planning or adapting to historical or cultural movements, the visual design of a city can transport you through time, while planting you firmly in a very specific place. Whether old, new, ornate, or minimalistic, stunning architecture is all around us wherever we go. We invite you to explore some of the world’s architectural wonders.
TOP 5 A RCHITEC T UR A L M A RV ELS Landmarks you need to add to your travel wish-list
1. Sydney Opera House, Sydney: without a doubt one of the most recognisable buildings in the world, and a masterpiece of 20th century architecture. Designed by Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, from a total of 232 competitive entries, the Opera House actually took 16 years to build, and was eventually opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II.
2. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul: also called Church of the Holy Wisdom or Church of the Divine Wisdom, an important Byzantine structure in Istanbul and one of the world’s great monuments. Built as a Christian church in the 6th century, in subsequent centuries it became a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again, reflecting the religious changes that have played out in the region. 4. The Collosseum, Rome, Italy: renowned as the most impressive monument of the Roman empire, it is also the largest amphitheatre in the world. It was originally built as a four storey building with 80 entrances and had capacity to hold 50,000-80,000 spectators.
3. Canterbury Cathedral, England: dating back to 597 AD, this cathedral was notably the gruesome location of the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170. The cathedral also played a part in the Medieval Ages as the beginning of a pilgrimage to the famous Santiago de Compostela route in Spain. 5. Petra, Jordan: a famous archaeological site in Jordan’s southwestern desert. Dating back to around 300 BC, it was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom and contained tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the “Rose City”.
S A I N T OF
B A RCELONA
If there ever was a patron saint of Barcelona, it would have to be Antoni Gaudí, whose work has led to the creation of some of the city’s most notable landmarks. Influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion, Gaudí integrated crafts such as as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry into his architecture. He adorned many of his buildings with coloured tiles arranged in mosaic patterns adding another dimension to his creations which is so often overlooked by architects – the use of colour. The combination of original design, interesting shaped stonework, and vibrant colours in Gaudí’s work gives the viewer a truly breathtaking visual experience. His work has greatly influenced the face of Barcelona’s skyline and you will see stunning examples of Gaudí’s work all around the city centre. His masterpiece, the still-incomplete Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain.
View some of Gaudí’s finest work at Park Güell, in Barcelona. Covering almost 50 acres, the park was built between 1900 and 1914 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. La Sagrada Família is the centrepiece of the area. Construction began in 1882 and is scheduled for completion in 2026, the centenary of Gaudí’s death. Tour the Sagrada Família on the 22‑day Iconic Mediterranean Treasures ocean cruise. V I E W I T I N E R A RY
SPAIN
PORTUGAL Granada (Málaga)
Messina Sicily
Ionian Sea
Aegean Sea Athens (Piraeus)
Istanbul Troy (Çanakkale) Ephesus (Kuşadasi)
Rhodes Souda Bay Heraklion Crete Mediterranean Sea
N Barcelona Mediterranean Sea Murcia (Cartagena)
TURKEY
Explore the house and its uniquely designed façade on a Privileged Access tour on the 15-day Trade Routes of Middle Ages ocean itinerary.
Amsterdam Bruges (Zeebrugge) Paris (Le Havre) BELGIUM
FRANCE
Porto (Leixões)
Sea
GREECE
Witness the evolution of Antoni Gaudí’s creative genius as you tour some of his most distinctive works including Casa Vicens, the first project for which the world-renowned architect was commissioned at just 30 years of age. The turreted private house was created for stock and currency broker Manuel Vicens i Montaner in 1885 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
THE NETHERLANDS
Atlantic Ocean
N Mediterranean
Cruise
ENGLAND Portsmouth Falmouth
Monte Carlo Marseille Florence/Pisa Montpellier (Livorno) (Sète) Rome Barcelona (Civitavecchia) Naples SPAIN ITALY
Overnight in Port
Bergen NORWAY
North Sea
MONACO
FRANCE
Cruise Overnight in Port
V I E W I T I N E R A RY
A Collection of Architectural Jewels Viking.TV has been created for your viewing pleasure – a visual library featuring original content on people and places around the world. The digital platform, where all content is free to watch, has been enjoyed by more than two million viewers, including past Viking travellers and Viking crew, as well as those new to the Viking experience. Viking.TV features exclusive interviews and live Q&A with remarkable explorers, museum curators, musicians, astronauts, actors, artists, performers, photographers, and filmmakers across the globe. Here we introduce you to some of our most popular architectural segments.
COLOGNE CATHEDR AL The Cologne Cathedral was built to house the bones of the biblical Three Wise men – an extraordinary place of worship to house such a remarkable relic.
INSIDE THE BLUE MOSQUE One of the world’s most famous places of worship – built in Istanbul, a country spanning Asia and Europe.
BER LIN’S JEWISH MUSEUM Designed by New York architect Daniel Libeskind, the Berlin Jewish Museum is a dynamic contemporary design that complements the exhibits and history on display inside.
The Wooden Churches of
K IZHI
Kizhi is located in one of many small islands on Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, famous for dozens of historical wooden buildings that were moved to the island during the 1950s, and today form a national open-air museum with more than 80 historical wooden structures. The most famous among them is the Kizhi Pogost.
The Kizhi Pogost enclosure holds two wooden churches and an octagonal bell tower built during the 18thcentury, however the centrepiece is the 22-domed Transfiguration Church which is made entirely of wood, making it one of the tallest log structures in the world.
According to the Russian carpentry traditions of that time, the Church was actually built without using a single nail, but instead made of scribefitted horizontal logs, with interlocking corners joinery. Many thousands of logs were brought for construction from the mainland, a complex logistical task in that time. One Russian legend claims that the main builder used one axe for the whole construction, which he threw into the lake upon completion with the words “there was not and will not be another one to match it”. Explore the mysteries of Kizhi and the Church of Transfiguration on the 13-day Waterways of the Tsars river cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg, and discover the enigma that is Russia.
FINLAND LAKE LADOGA
Kizhi SVIR RIVER
Helsinki St. Petersburg
LAKE ONEGA
Mandrogy
NEVA RIVER
VOLGA–BALTIC WATERWAY
RUSSIA
Kuzino RYBINSK RESERVOIR VOLGA RIVER
VOLGA RIVER
V I E W I T I N E R A RY
Cruise
MOSCOW CANAL
Yaroslavl Uglich
Moscow
Antebellum Deep South ARCHITECTUR E OF THE
Antebellum is not a particular house style or architecture. Rather, it is a time and place in history.
The term “antebellum” most typically stirs thoughts of Tara, the palatial plantation home featured in in the book and movie Gone with the Wind. From grand, pillared Greek Revival mansions to stately Federal style estates, America’s antebellum-era architecture reflects the power and idealism of wealthy landowners in the American South, prior to the Civil War. These large, elegant mansions — usually plantation homes — were built in the American South during the 30 years or so before the American Civil War (1861-1865). Most antebellum homes are grand, symmetrical, and boxy, with centre entrances in the front and rear, balconies, and columns or pillars. An opulent style of architecture, details generally include a gabled roof; symmetrical façade; evenly-spaced windows; Greek-type pillars and columns; elaborate friezes; balconies and covered porches; central entryway with a grand staircase; and formal ballrooms.
Explore some of the country’s famed antebellum architecture in the charming city of Natchez on a 15-day journey down the Mississippi on the America’s Great Rivers Cruise. Located on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, the sleepy town of Natchez celebrates its southern heritage and history through its beautifully preserved historic downtown and stunning southern architecture. The pre–Civil War mansions built in this area of the South are some of the most beautifully preserved in the country, with the city itself home to more than 1,000 structures that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with a dozen designated as National Historic Landmarks. St. Paul Red Wing WISCONSIN MINNESOTA La Crosse IOWA Dubuque Quad Cities (Davenport) Burlington Hannibal
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
St. Louis
MISSOURI TENNESSEE Memphis MISSISSIPPI LOUISIANA
Cruise
Vicksburg Natchez Baton Rouge New Orleans
V I E W I T I N E R A RY
The Mysteries of Angkor Wat
Deemed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Cambodian Khmer temple complex of Angkor Wat ranks among the greatest examples of religious architecture in the world, comparable to the finest specimens of Gothic or Baroque architecture in Europe. Angkor Wat was constructed using approximately 10 million blocks of sandstone, each of which has an average weight of 1.5 tonnes. The blocks were excavated from the Phnom Kulen – a mountain 50km away from the site – and floated down the Siem Reap river on rafts. The city of Angkor required more stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined, and originally occupied an area considerably greater than modern-day Paris. The inscriptions say that the construction took 300,000 labourers along with 6,000 elephants, and 30 years to complete. Unrivalled in scale and grandeur, Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious building ever raised. Today, the entire Angkor complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
FE AT UR ED ITINER A RY
Antiquities of the Mediterranean
VENICE
BREATHTAKING RENAISSANCE TREASURES Visit one of the most important cultural and architectural centres in Italy’s north on a fascinating tour of Padua. Under Venetian rule, 16th-century Padua experienced the Renaissance; public buildings, soaring churches and arcaded streets were built, including the extraordinary Basilica of St. Anthony, a giant edi�ce of Romanesque, Byzantine and Gothic styles.
ATHENS
EXPLORE GREECE’S ACNIENT ACROPOLIS IN DEPTH Encounter ancient architecture and legends of the Acropolis during a visit to the magnificent site and its museum. Upon arrival, climb the 80 steps through the Propylaeum, the grand entrance that delivers you to the plateau of the rock. Here, the mighty Parthenon reigns over the Nike, Erechtheum and other temples.
From Venice to Barcelona, a 22-day voyage uncovering vestiges of empires, architectural masterworks and stunning scenic backdrops. V I E W I T I N E R A RY
EPHESUS
A LEISURELY EXPLORATION OF HISTORIC EPHESUS One of the best-preserved cities of antiquity in the world, Ephesus was a thriving port along the Cayster River until the waterway silted over and crumbled its economy. Stroll through this once-powerful metropolis taking in the massive Great Theatre, built for 25,000 spectators; and the magnificent Library of Celsus.
NAPLES
A SOJOURN THROUGH THE CITY OF NAPLES Naples was the location of a powerful independent kingdom for 500 years, luring the region’s �nest architects and artists, yet its history stretches back thousands of years. See evidence of its rich past, from Greek and Roman monuments to Renaissance splendours – the Piazza del Plebiscito, the former Royal Palace of Naples, and the exquisite cloisters of Santa Chiara Monastery.
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