When we die, what do we leave behind? For most of us, within a few decades after our deaths, the memory of our face, our voice, and our life is gone from the earth. The people who knew us are gone, too. The stuff we owned either becomes rubbish, or no one remembers that it was once our stuff. We disappear like a song on the wind, with nothing remaining to mark we ever existed except small plots of ground to hold our bodies and stones with our names carved onto them – and that’s if we are lucky. Perhaps if we were important in life, or well-loved, it’s a really nice stone. Maybe someone someday will walk through the old cemetery where we lie, see a really nice tombstone, and stop to read the epitaph.
For groups of people, and civilizations, the thing left behind is not a stone, but rather the stackings of stones into buildings. As human beings, we lose the remembrance of individual people, the things they said, did, and wrote, but we remember what they built. The Ancient Greeks and Romans tell us about themselves through their Classical Architecture. We remember the Medieval period in Europe from its castles and Gothic Cathedrals. We remember the early 20th century from the Art Deco buildings it left behind. The style tells us something about their priorities, what they believed, and what their hopes were. When the buildings are really nice, later generations visit them, keep them, and preserve them.
Does it matter? I think so. The buildings preserve a form of truth. Every time you hear someone tell you about “the Dark Ages,” you have to square that characterization with the fact that the people of the Dark Ages built hundreds (thousands?) of the most beautiful and complex structures ever dreamed of by man. The buildings remain and continue telling a story. They suggest that perhaps those Ages weren’t as Dark as we were told by our contemporaries. The architecture continues to stir hearts and inspire wonder.
Alternatively, the epoch of humanity that became global and started the Space Age also built thousands of the ugliest and worst buildings in human history. Will future generations protect and keep the 20th and 21st century glass box high rises and brutalist concrete atrocities? Probably not. The effort to demolish and replace those structures is already well underway around the world. Does it matter – and does it say something about us – that we have spent 80 years building things others would later *want* to tear down? These are questions worth thinking about.
We think about them by looking at the buildings and listening to what they tell us.
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(American) Colonial Revival
Kykuit (Pocantico Hills, New York)
+ Built in a Colonial Revival architectural style, this incredible mansion was the primary Rockefeller Family home.
Armenian
Khor Virap (near Lusarat, Ararat Province, Armenia)
+ A beautiful Armenian monastery, within view of Mount Ararat, sits on the site of a former prison dungeon dug deep into the ground. The name of the place today, Khor Virap, translates as “deep dungeon.”
Art Deco
The Empire State Building
+ America’s most famous skyscraper.
Chrysler Building (New York City, New York)
+ Arguably the best ever art deco skyscraper, and as such, an architectural symbol of the United States itself.
Boston Avenue Methodist Church (Tulsa, OK)
+ Arguably the best ecclesial art deco construction in the U.S.
Baroque
Asamkirche (Munich, Germany)
+ One of the best and most important examples of Late Baroque architecture in southern Germany.
Schönbrunn Palace (Vienna, Austria)
The summer home of the Habsburg royal family for three centuries, this 1,441 room Baroque palace is arguably the most beautiful in Europe.
Beaux-Arts
Cathedral of St. Paul (St. Paul, Minnesota)
+ An incredible example of Beaux-Arts architecture, this structure is an incredible work of art in and of itself, and it is filled to the brim with other incredible works of art.
Grand Central Terminal (New York City, New York)
+ Among the most famous architectural landmark in NYC, and built in the Beaux-Arts style, this is arguably America’s most famous train station.
Byzantine
Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna, Italy)
+ A 6th Century Byzantine construction, with Roman elements, widely considered one of the mot important constructions from its period. It is home to one of the richest collections of Byzantine wall mosaics in the world.
Saint Sophia Cathedral (Kyiv, Ukraine)
+ This 11th century Cathedral is one of the best examples of Byzantine / Ukrainian Baroque architecture in the world.
Sacré-Cœur (Paris, France)
+ This beautiful 19th century basilica is a free interpretation of Romano-Byzantine architecture, and it was constructed as a form of penitence by the Roman Catholics in France for the moral decline of the nation in the century since the French Revolution.
Castles
Castel Sant’Angelo (Rome, Italy)
+ Built originally, on the banks of the Tiber, as a mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian, the site subsequently served as a fortress, a prison, a residency for the Papacy, and as a museum.
The site’s name derives from a legend regarding the 6th century appearance of the Archangel Michael on the roof.
Windsor Castle (The English county of Berkshire, about 25 miles west of central London)
+ This incredible English Medieval castle, with architectural flourishes that reflect its long duration, was built by the Normans shortly after their invasion in 1066, has been the seat of power in Britain for nearly a millennium.
Château de Verteuil (Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France)
+ This 1,000 year old French Castle, with 19th century Romantic renovations, is one of the most beautiful castles in France.
Castillo de Ponferrada, or Castillo de los Templarios (Ponferrada, Spain)
+ This beautiful Medieval Spanish fortress was once a home of the fabled Knights Templar. Today this incredible castle is a landmark as a place of passage on the Camino de Santiago.
Eltz Castle (nestled in the hills above the Moselle between Koblenz and Trier, Germany)
+ Beautiful 13th century German hill castle, unique for its level of preservation and for the fact that it has been continuously occupied by the Eltz family since its construction)
Dunrobin Castle (Golspie, Highland, Scotland)
+ Originally a turreted castle from the Middle Ages, it was updated and expanded in the 19th century to incorporate French chateau style elements. At 189 rooms, it is the largest castle in the northern Highland and is one of the most beautiful castles in the world.
Boldt Castle (Heart Island, Alexandria Bay, New York)
+ American example of a Rhineland style Castle.
Marienburg Castle (Hanover, Germany)
+ This incredible 19th century Gothic Revival style castle (featuring one of my favorite castle towers in the world) was built as a birthday present by George V of Hanover to his wife, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg
Neuschwanstein Castle (Hohenschwangau, Germany)
+ This 19th century Romanesque Revival fairy tale castle, built as a getaway for Ludwig II, might be the most picturesque castle on earth.
Inverness Castle (Inverness, Scotland)
+ Located in the capital of the Highlands, this 19th century red sandstone battlement castle is among the more picturesque locations in Scotland.
The Biltmore Estate (Buncombe County, North Carolina)
+ Famous as the home of the Vanderbilts, and as one of the most lavish and beautiful of America’s Gilded Age mansions, this home and museum was built in a Châteauesque style.
Blaine Mansion (Washington, D.C., USA)
+ The stately and palatial Gilded Age mansion is a very visually interesting blend of styles: Queen Anne, Châteauesque, and Second Empire.
Classical
Library of Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)
+ Built in the early 18th century, this Neoclassical copyright library is famous for its “Long Room” which bears a striking resemblance to the archives from the Jedi Temple in Star Wars.
The White House (Washington, D.C.)
+ Built in a Neoclassical style, with Victorian flourishes, this is the permanent residence of the President of the United States.
Monticello (Albemarle County, Virginia)
+ Built in a Neocalssical and Paladian style, this famous building was the former home of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the country’s 3rd president. He was also the home’s architect. Monticello is featured on some forms of U.S. currency.
Victor Emmanuel II Monument (Rome, Italy)
+ This neoclassical building was constructed to celebrate the unification of modern Italty. It’s one of the most incredible and awe-inspiring places on earth
Victoria Manion, a/k/a Morse-Libby House (Portland, Maine)
+ Architecturally significant due to being a rare well-preserved Italianate construction.
Georgian
Independence Hall
+ The building where the American Republic was born is probably the most famous Georgian architectural building in the United States
The Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon (Charleston, South Carolina)
+ Built with beautiful Georgia style architecture, the building has been used for numerous purposes dating back to before the American Revolution.
The Royal Crescent (Bath, England)
+One of the best examples of Georgia architecture was constructed in Bath, England, just over a quarter of a millennium ago.
Gothic
Notre-Dame de Paris (Paris, France)
+ Arguably the most beautiful and important building in France and the entire Western World, Notre Dame is an absolutely incredible work of Gothic architecture.
Sainte-Chappelle (Paris, France)
+ This awe-inspiring 13th century Rayonnant Gothic chapel was commissioned by St. King Louis IX to be the home for the Crown of Thorns, brought to France from the Holy Land during the Crusades.
Cologne Cathedral (Cologne, Germany)
+ Germany’s most visited landmark, this is a Gothic architectural masterpiece on the shores of the Rhine. Constructed over a period of more than 600 years, starting in the 13th century, it remains the tallest two spired Church in the world.
Bodleian Library (Oxford)
+ Generally considered one of the best examples of English Gothic architecture ever constructed.
Rosslyn Chapel (the village of Roslin in Midlothian, Scotland)
+ One of the best and most beautiful examples of Scottish Gothic architecture, this Chapel is notable for many mysteries surrounding its past, and for its restoration by Queen Victoria after centuries of abandonment.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Manhattan, New York)
+ The largest Catholic Gothic Revival Cathedral in North America.
St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans, LA)
+ Avant-garde in its day, the cathedral is a stunning example of the fusion of Greek and Gothic Revival styles of architecture
John’s Lane Church (Dublin, Ireland)
+ This beautiful French Gothic Revival style church features the tallest steeple in Dublin.
Loretto Chapel (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
+ Excellent example of Gothic Revival architecture, and famous for a highly advanced and mysteriously constructed double-helix staircase that was built without a center pole, or nails.
Tribune Tower (Chicago, IL)
+ Neo-Gothic skyscraper, constructed in an effort to build the “most beautiful building in the world.”
Admont Abbey (Admont, Styria, Austria)
+ A gorgeous monastery in Austria that was the first neo-Gothic Catholic construction in the country, world-renowned for its exquisite library.
Wallace Monument (Abbey Craig, Stirling, Scotland)
+ This imposing Victorian Gothic tower was constructed during a wave of Scottish nationalism in the 19th century, to honor Scottish hero William Wallace. Alba gu bra!
Princeton University Graduate College (Princeton, New Jersey)
+ Incredible Gothic Revival architecture, and one of the best examples of America’s 19th and early 20th century “Collegiate Gothic” architecture boom.
Main Building (Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana)
+ “The Golden Dome” is one of the most famous university building in the U.S., styled in what has been called “modern Gothic” architecture, and by others ‘an eclectic and somewhat naïve combination of pointed windows, medieval moldings and classical columns.’ Either way – it’s a beauty.
Bizzell Memorial Library (Norman, OK)
+ Beautiful “Cherokee Gothic” structure (term coined by Frank Lloyd Wright), blending Gothic architecture with Native American influences.
Ryman Auditorium (Nashville, TN)
+ Location known as the mother church of country music and the former home of the Grand Ole Opry. Originally built in a red brick Gothic Revival style to be an indoor home for Christian tent revivals.
Salisbury House (Des Moines, IA)
+ Based on and named after the King’s House in Salisbury, England, this gigantic and stunning manor house features a blend of Tudor, Gothic and Carolean style
Lyndhurst Mansion (Tarrytown, New York)
+ One of the finest examples of residential Gothic Revival architecture in the United States.
Modern
Christ Cathedral (Garden Grove, California)
+ Originally known as the Crystal Cathedral, this was built in a modern architectural style, and is an incredible glass cathedral in earthquake-prone Southern California.
Thorncrown Chapel (near Eureka Springs, Arkansas)
+ This modern and utterly unique chapel, intended as a non-denominational pilgrimage site, was aesthetically inspired by Sainte-Chapelle, a Gothic church in Paris. Its design – using trees and glass – give it the appearance of an open-air space while it is in fact closed and air-conditioned.
Moorish
The Corn Palace (Mitchell, South Dakota)
+ Famous as the last of the early 20th century grain and corn palaces still standing, as well as for being being in a Moorish Revival style with corn-themed and frequently changing artistic adornment.
Rookery Building (Chicago, IL)
+ The name refers to the temporary city hall that occupied its location before the construction. The site was home to crows, pigeons, and a lot of corruption. Chicago school construction, with Moorish, Byzantine, Venetian and Romanesque motifs.
Napoleon III
Palais Garnier (Paris, France)
+ Arguably the most beautiful opera house on the planet, constructed in a unique “Napoleon III style.”
Paleochristian
Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem, Israel)
+ Arguably the holiest individual site for Christians, this Church was an early example of Christian worship architecture.
Renaissance
The Breakers (Newport, Rhode Island)
+ The Vanderbilt family summer one, built in Neo Italian Renaissance style, now a museum, and an example of one of the best Gilded Age mansions constructed in the U.S.
Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa (Vila Viçosa, Portugal)
+ One of the most famous buildings in Portugal, this is an early 16th Century palace, built in a Renaissance architectural style.
Peace Palace (The Hague, Netherlands)
+ This somewhat ominous-looking early 20th century neo-Renaissance building is most well known for what it house – namely the International Court of Justice (which is the principal judicial body of the United Nations), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library.
Romanesque
Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi (Assisi, Italy)
+ At almost 800 years old, this is one of the most important Christian pilgrimage sites in Italy (which is saying something.) Architecturally, it is an incredible mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles, and is home to some of the best art in the world.
Ely Cathedral (Ely, Cambridgeshire, England)
+ Almost a thousand years old, this Romanesque English Gothic Cathedral is one of the most beautiful churches in the world.
Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York City, New York)
+ A blend of Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture, this stunning cathedral is considered an unfinished building, and yet is the 4th largest Church in the world, by area.
Basilica of St. Fidelis (Victoria, Kansas)
+ A large Romanesque-style Catholic parish church, largely built by recent immigrants, now today often referred to as the Cathedral of the Plains.
Denver Union Station (Denver, Colorado)
+ Beautiful Romanesque Revival style train station
Stanford Memorial Church (Palo Alto, California
+ Built with Romanesque Byzantine styling, the Church was intended as a memorial for Leland Stanford by his wife, Jane Stanford. The Church is the architectural centerpiece of Stanford University and is one of the most beautiful buildings on any college campus anywhere in the world.
Trinity Church (Boston, MA)
+ Arguably the finest example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture ever built.
Michigan Theater (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
+ Built in a Lombard Romanesque Revival style, and at almost a century old, Michigan Theater is one of the best still-standing multi-purpose theater houses in the United States.
Tippecanoe Place (South Bend, Indiana)
+ Built for the Studebaker family, the only carriage manufacturer who successfully transitioned into automobile manufacturing, this Gilded Age Richardsonian Romanesque mansion is a beautiful reminder of Indiana’s settlement and it industrialization. Today it is used as a restaurant and is thus a easy to visit architectural gem.
Spanish Colonial
National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche (St. Augustine, Florida)
+ The Spanish Colonial shrine is the oldest shrine in the United States – built by Spanish settlers in 1609 to honor a Marian apparition. It’s a popular site today for picturesque Instagram photos.
The Iglesia de Santa Bárbara (Santa Cruz de Mompox, Colombia)
+ Built in 1613, this incredible church is one of the oldest and best examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the Americas.
Mission San Xavier del Bac (Tucson, AZ)
+ One of the best examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States.
The Cabildo (New Orleans, Louisiana)
+ A historically important building that seat of government for the Spanish, French, and Americans, it is a mix of architectural styles. The lower levels are built in a Spanish Colonial style, while third floor is built in French-Revival.
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo (Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA)
+ One of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States.
Victorian
Painted Ladies (San Francisco, CA)
+ Beginning in the 1960s, a trend emerged wherein many of the city’s thousands of Victorian and Edwardian style homes were painted in bright colors to highlight the architecture. The choice succeeded so well that a few of these painted ladies are now tourist attractions and world-famous popular culture icons.
Royal Albert Hall (London, England)
+ This Victorian era concert hall, named as a memorial to the Queen’s then late husband Albert, is designed in a beautiful Italianate architectural style. The building remains one of the most famous concert halls in the U.K.
St Pancras Railway Station (London, England, United Kingdom)
+ One of the best examples of a Victorian railway station