Taj Mahal “Crown Palace,” India – Located on the bank of River Yamuna in Agra, once the capital of the Mughal Empire during the 16th and early 18th centuries. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in loving memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess. It was designed by the Iranian architect Istad Usa and took 22 years to construct. It is the most well preserved and most beautiful tomb in the world.
Read:The Taj Mahal: A Multicultural Synthesis
Alhambra, Granada, Spain -- The Alhambra ("red") is a walled city and fortress in Granada, Spain and is one of the most famous examples of Muslim architecture. It was built during the last Islamic sultanate on the Iberian Peninsula, the Nasrid Dynasty (1238-1492). After the Moors were expelled from Spain, the Alhambra was plagued by years of neglect, vandalism, and earthquakes. However, the palace was restored during the1800s. One of the most famous of the Alhambra's courtyards is the Court of the Lions. It is 116 feet long by 66 feet across and is paved with colored tiles with an alabaster basin supported by 12 lions made of white marble at its center.
The Suleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey – It is the largest mosque in Istanbul and was built between 1550-1557 AD for Sultan Suleyman I - "Sulyman the Magnificent". Suleyman was the richest and most powerful Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. It was built by Sinan, the renowned architect of the Ottoman golden age.
Read: The Suleymaniye Mosque: Beyond Inspiration
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Sultan Ahmet Mosque, Turkey – This six minaret mosque was built between 1609 and 1616 by the architect Sedefkar Mehmet Agha. The building is more widely known as the Blue Mosque for its beautiful interior blue and white Iznik tiles.
Hagia Sophia, also called Church of the Holy Wisdom, Turkey -- Originally a church, it is known as one of the greatest monuments of Byzantium. Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century at Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) under the direction of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. It is said that Hagia Sophia was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple. It was built from 532 to 537 and the dome replaced in 563 after an earthquake. When Constantinople fell to the Turks, Hagia Sophia became a mosque and today it is a museum.
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