Touching the sky - towers around the world

Reaching the sky has always been one of the aspirations of the human being. A sky that was often referred to as the place of divinity, the home of the gods, heaven

Mythology tells us of Icarus, who got too close to the sun with wax wings, but above all of the Tower of Babel, built to reach heaven, and which historians place in Iraq, in ancient Babylon

Many towers were then built, with the most diverse purposes, but always made to reach the sky.

Towers to be heard or to call to prayer, such as the bell towers and minarets, which are seen from afar and serve as a reference point for the faithful.

But also buildings that were used to be seen from afar, such as lighthouses, or to see far away and be able to defend oneself, such as the towers of the castles, up to architectural challenges such as the Eiffel Tower.

In the last century building tall buildings has been the subject of a continuous challenge between nations, and a challenge between architects, to build the building that could “reach the sky”. Buildings that rise high, thin and pointed, almost images of rockets that seem ready to detach and fly.

A few days ago I visited Tambre, a small town in the Venetian Alps, and was struck by the sight of a sculpture next to the church tower, with one hand reaching out to touch the sky. I decided to photograph it and add it in Maps.

When I got home, I did a search of my uploaded images in Google Photo, using “tower” as a keyword.

Unexpectedly hundreds of images were found, so I thought I’d talk about them, then inviting Local Guides to share their images of towers

Towers that sprout in the fog, like the Jesolo Lighthouse, which guides the boats towards the safe entrance of the port, or like this hotel that evokes indefinite panoramas in the sunset

Famous towers, such as the unforgettable Tour Eiffel, or the Campanile di San Marco, capable of attracting millions of tourists every year

Towers made to protect and to look into the distance, like those of castles, or walled cities. Where I live, there are many walled cities, small, medieval, and very interesting to visit. I wrote in past about a couple of them:

Montagnana - Exploring the walled city

Vallo di Nera - The Castle of the Valley

I had to make a choice, there would be many more images to add, of different towers and skylines.

Of some of these I have already told the story, but I will be happy to add if you are cured. In the meantime, I am waiting for your stories and your images of the buildings around you made to reach the sky

134 Likes

Bravo @ErmesT , a simple yet very interesting post. I believe I have a photo of a tower from every country that I have visited but here’s just one :wink:

9 Likes

Hi @ErmesT ,

this is a very nice topic, towers! Yes they are fascinating, especially the highest they are or the more curious shape they might have. I do have many tower photos, the complexity is when they are so high how to take them completely :sweat_smile: .

Well how not to start with Lucca? This is one of the most famous one, because there are trees on top of it! So it is very well visible from all around the city, especially when you are on the walls. Here a photo took from the street, just underneath it. You can read bit of its story in the recap of the last meetup we had in Lucca.

Or we want to name one of the very famous one, also abroad :blush: ?

And here a collage of few photos I’ve took from my collection, one is very well known to you :wink: .

14 Likes

Hi @ErmesT ,

I did what you did and searched for “towers” in my Google Photos. And guess what? I also got hundreds of results!

It’s safe to say that I’m fascinated by towers for the same reasons as you: they are amazing feats of human creativity and architectural genius, and always give me that feeling of solidity and strength that time can’t affect. Towers and castles aren’t common in Bulgaria, but I’ve seen a lot in Western Europe and Asia. The ones you mentioned just made it to my bucket list (yes, I haven’t been to the Eiffel Tower yet :sweat_smile: ).

Here are some of my favorite towers in Europe:

And one not exactly tower from Bulgaria:

Looking forward to more photos from Local Guides!!

10 Likes

@LuigiZ I just wanted to say that I love the angle of the first photo!! All the lines and the symmetry. :heart_eyes:

And thanks for the visual tip on how to take photos with the Tower of Pisa. :grin:

6 Likes

Look like we are talking of Rocher St. Michel D’Aiguilhe , @AdamGT

So beautiful, added in my “wants to go” list in Google Maps.

Funny, isn’t it? It seems that tall building are attracting many of us

4 Likes

Yes indeed @ErmesT it is the beautiful Chapel of Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe perched atop an 85 metres high needle (aiguilhe) of rock and as I wrote in my review, “This had been a sacred place for thousands of years. Originally, a prehistoric dolmen was built there, the Romans later dedicated it to Mercury and then in 969 Christians built the chapel to St. Michael.”

Coincidentally Ermes, I visited this amazing chapel on the journey I only recently mentioned in my post about having a strong mind and as I write, I wonder if the blind Italian from Acosta made it even this far and if he did, then did he climb the 268 stone steps that wind their way up the side of the rock to get to the Chapel just so he could “feel the view” from feeling the breeze on his face, 85 metres high up there! I must edit that post and mention a few other interesting snippets.

It’s a must visit Ermes, you will enjoy!

Ciao

3 Likes

Towers fascinate everyone.

@ErmesT

Here is an iconic tower from Delhi called the Qutub Minar which is 240 feet

This tower was originally built as an observatory by a Hindu astronomer Varah Mihir.

The height was increased subsequently by invaders from Arab, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, and Quranic verses were added on the side walls.

Also close to this tower is the Iron Pillar of Delhi that has not rusted for over 200 years while standing tall in the open braving the wind, rains, sunshine, and severe cold of Delhi.

My Connect article:

The Glorious Past of the Qutub Minar in Delhi

and another one called the Kirti Stambh from Rajasthan, which is about 75 feet tall.

A Kirti Tower simply means Fame Tower and was constructed by many kings in the medieval period after victory over a neighboring kingdom.

This one in Chittorgarh is special because the kings of that region like Rana Sanga and Rana Pratap battled against the might Mughals relentlessly for several decades never giving up.

11 Likes

Thank you @LuigiZ for your beautiful photos, and for touching one of the point not mentioned yet in my post: modern towers and “skyscrapers”

The photo of the Pisa Tower is funny, and it if probably the most famous inclined tower in the world.

Less know is the Campanile Storto in the Burano Island.

From all around the east side of the Venetian Lagoon, you can clearly see where Burano is, just because you can clearly see the Bell Tower.

5 Likes

@ErmesT замки красивые, очень понравились

1 Like

Hahaha, I am happy @DeniGu that you were able to use the AI to find the towers you photographed around the world.

Google photo is helping me a lot by classifying my photos not only by data and location, but also by category, or color (yes, I’ve tried a search for “red”). And, with the help of Photos and some little trick, it is extremely easy to find the photo you want to upload in Maps.

Well, Google Photo is suggesting to me also some modern building.

Even if not exactly a tower, I have been impressed by the Grand Arch de la Defense,

It can contain the entire Arc de Triomphe inside the empty space. All the area around (the district of La Defense) is impressive, a modern business district that seems to be an architecture’s challenge

4 Likes

Hi @ErmesT

Excellent post and photos of my dear! :heart_eyes:

I also love to see skyscrapers in various places!

Thanks for sharing with us a very interesting post and so beautiful photo!

Here is come my captured photos of Skyscrapers:

Caption: This is Guangzhou Tower, I captured it 2 years ago from Guangzhou city , China, Photographer~ Local guide @MAHBUB_HYDER ,By my Smartphone Samsung J7 Pro

Caption: This is Genting Highland in Malaysia , I captured it from a cable car from Genting Highland area in Malaysia, Photographer~ Local guide @MAHBUB_HYDER ,By my Smartphone Samsung J7 Pro

Caption: This is "Makka-Madina Tower"Genting Highland in Malaysia , I captured it from my native city in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Photographer~ Local guide @MAHBUB_HYDER ,By my Smartphone Samsung J7 Pro

Have a great day! :sunflower:

7 Likes

“feel the view” from feeling the breeze on his face", what a beautiful perception, @bmuu

The idea that you can feel the height, and perceive a panorama that you cannot see through the other senses is powerful, and I believe this is something we should consider in our reviews too

4 Likes

Nice photos @TusharSuradkar

Qutab Minar is known worldwide, and is very beautiful. We had several post in Connect about this beautiful tower.

It was more difficult for me to find Kirti Stambh, because it seems there are several tower with this name :slightly_smiling_face:

I love the photo of you picking the tower from the top. The decoration of the tower are amazing, Tushar

Do you want to share something more with us about the two places?

1 Like

Thank you @ErmesT

I am glad and also a bit surprised to know that the Qutub Minar is known in faraway places like Europe.

The Kirti Tower simply means Fame Tower and was constructed by many kings in the medieval period after victory over a neighboring kingdom.

Hence you will find many of these in a search.

I have edited the post to include the Google Maps link for the Kirit Stambh mentioned.

A similar tower called the Vijay Stambh or Victory Tower and is also found in abundance in India built in the medieval era.

My greatest fascination is for the Clock Towers that are found in literally every small and big town of India and were built during the 1950s and 60s when everyone did not have a wristwatch. So these square clock towers had 4 huge clocks one on each side.

One such clock tower is in the small town of Merta in Rajasthan.

Here’s the link to the Connect Article.

This tower is made entirely of marble except for the base which is limestone.

4 Likes

Great photos, @MAHBUB_HYDER , I love especially the first one. When have you been to Guangzhou?

Your post is remembering us that the challenge to reach the sky still going on unchanged

Here below a photo of the business district of San Francisco, taken from a boat in the bay in the morning. I am sure @KarenVChin will be able to tell us, one by one, the name of the buildings, but I know that the one in the left is the Coit Tower

5 Likes

Hi @ErmesT

Thanks for your kind reply< Yes I visited Guangzhou city twice, first on Sep 2019 and 2nd one Jan 2020. But I I took that photo on 2019 during my visit there!

Your showing photo of Skyscrapers/ towers at Business city in Sun Francisco also looks lovely!

Have a great day my friend! :sunflower:

3 Likes

Thank you @LanaErofeeva

There is a tower that you want to share with us?

Thank you very much @DeniGu :heart_eyes: , yes the angle is very special, also because it is quite difficult to take it completely when you are in the middle of small city streets with other high buildings around, you can’t move too much :yum: … fascinating your towers as well, all mystic and fairy.

Skyscrapers are indeed a good topic @ErmesT in terms of modern towner, big famous cities attempted to build one to enter the worldwide tallest building ranking. I didn’t know the Campanile Storto indeed, very nice as well, but agree Pisa is the most famous (and special) one! Deni hehe there is a special accuracy required to find the right place, right perspective and right height to make the photo the most realistic possible :sweat_smile: .

Great @TusharSuradkar

I love it !!

One of the historical functions of the bell towers was to mark the hours, both through the clocks and with the sound of the bells. I wrote a detailed post in 2017 about this subject: Bells - Towers and BellTowers

A special mention should be made for the Clock Tower in Piazza San Marco in Venice, with the statues that mark the time every 15 minutes

4 Likes