2 famous buildings

1.)

a) name of building: Brandenburger Tor/Gate

- name: there has been a gate on the same place before, that was an essential element of the custom system, and this gate stood on the road to Brandenburg, so that it was called Brandenburger Tor

b) name of architect: has been built by Carl Gotthard  Langhans

c) date of construction: has been built from 1788 until 1791

- located in the west of the city centre of Berlin, Germanys capital city

- atop the gate is the Quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses driven by Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory

- this Quadriga has been taken to Paris in 1806 by Napoleon after his victory over prussian (Preussen), but has been restored to Berlin in 1841 after Napoleons defeat 

- during the Nazi-Regime it has been used as a party symbol

--> several uses during the years

- today its a place to spend leisure time, there are a lot of cafes, restaurants, people walking around because there are no cars allowed, artists on the streets

d) cost of construction: 200 mio "ostmark" that would be 100 mio Euros or 140 mio dollar

- 2000 it has been privately refurbished at a cost of six million dollars

e) original use: it has been commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II to represent peace and was part of the surrounding wall of Berlin

g) height: 26 m, and 65 m wide

2.)

a) Blue mosque / Sultan Ahmet Mosque 

- got its name from the blue tiles in the inside (> picture)

- placed in Istanbul, the biggest city in Turkey

b) architect is Sedefkar Mehmed Agha

c) constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. (> name)

d) cost of construction have been

e) & f) it is still used as a mosque but it has also become a popular tourist attraction

g) capacity for 10,000 people, it's 72 m long, 64 m wide and the hight of the dome is 43 m 

- it has 6 minarets 

- pope Benedict the 16th visited the mosque in 2006, which marks only the second papal visit in history to a Muslim place of worship

- he removed his shoes and paused for 2 minutes praying

> s.th. very special