Maps

Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Bay, Japan, is an exceptional example of the distinctive architectural style of Japanese aesthetics. (Source)

Since the Middle Ages, the city of Prague has had enormous influence on the social, political, and cultural development of European civilization, and this heritage is preserved in the city’s historic buildings and urban design. (Source)

Independence Hall in Philadelphia is the birthplace of the American government, where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. (Source)

The forbidding castles, walls and ramparts of the town of Bellinzona were built and rebuilt in the Middle Ages as regional powers continually fought for control of the town. (Source)

At the heart of modern-day Cuenca, Spain, is a medieval fortified city situated high on a precipice covered with spectacular multistory dwellings. (Source)

Established by the British in 1753, the fishing and shipbuilding town of Lunenburg in Nova Scotia, Canada, is a well-preserved colonial settlement, featuring historic wooden buildings. (Source)

The village of Gammelstad, consisting of small wooden cottages and public building clustered around a 15th-century church, is one of northern Sweden’s few remaining “church villages.” (Source)

A gold rush in the 18th century attracted thousands of fortune seekers to the Brazilian town of Ouro Preto, where churches and public buildings were constructed in a distinctive Baroque style. (Source)

The church of Santa Prisca in Taxco, Mexico, is a splendid example of 18th century New Spanish baroque art. (Source)

The fortified town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, contains exemplary religious and civic buildings of Mexican Baroque architecture. (Source)