Sparrenburg Castle

Sparrenburg Castle, located in Bielefeld, Germany, as seen from the western lawn. The castle was constructed between 1240 and 1250 by the Counts of Ravensberg. The castle has been rebuilt many times. Although often under siege, it was never stormed. After extensive restoration work, the castle now presents itself as an imposing historic site.

Royal College of Music

The front facade of the Royal College of Music in Kensington, London. This prestigious music school was founded in 1882 as a successor to the National Training School for Music by the then-Prince of Wales (later Edward VII). The college building was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield.

Broadway Tower

Broadway Tower is a folly located near the village of Broadway, Worcestershire, England, at one of the highest points of the Cotswolds. Its base is 1,024 feet (312 metres) above sea level, the tower itself standing 55 feet (17 metres) tall. On a clear day, thirteen counties of England can be seen from its top.

Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel and its abbey at night. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a rocky tidal island roughly one kilometre from the north coast of Normandy, France at the mouth of the Couesnon River, near Avranches. Mont Saint-Michel was previously connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which before modernization was covered at high tide and revealed at low tide.

Second Severn Crossing

A view of the Second Severn Crossing, as seen from Severn Beach, England. This bridge carries the M4 motorway across the River Severn between Severn Beach and Caldicot in south Wales. It has a total span of 5.1 km and includes a cable-stayed section called the Shoots Bridge which spans the shipping channel between the two towers. The River Severn has a vast tidal range—the point from which this photograph was taken is covered at high tide.

Toledo, Spain

The skyline of Toledo, Spain, at sunset, with the Alcázar on the left and Cathedral on the right. The city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and a place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures.

Montserrat

A stitched panorama taken from St Jerome, the summit of Montserrat, a 1,236 m (4,055 ft) mountain near Barcelona, Spain. The mountain's name means "jagged mountain" and is used because of the peculiar aspect of the formation, which is visible from a great distance.

Morteratsch glacier

A stitched panorama of the Morteratsch Glacier, the largest glacier by area in the Bernina Range, Switzerland. By volume, it is the largest glacier in the Eastern Alps. In spring, depending on the snow conditions, a 10 km (6.25 mi) long ski-run is marked on the glacier, which takes up to two hours to descend.

L'Hemisferic

L'Hemisferic, an IMAX Cinema, planetarium and Laserium, on the grounds of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències ("City of Arts and Sciences"), in Valencia, Spain.

Matterhorn

The eastern face of the Matterhorn, reflected in the Riffelsee. Perhaps the most familiar mountain in the European Alps, the Matterhorn sits on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The peak has four faces, facing the four compass points, with the north and south faces meeting to form a short east-west summit ridge. Despite its prominence in a general sense, the Matterhorn is not among the top 100 mountains in the Alps measured by topographic prominence. Several of its close neighbors, including Monte Rosa, the Dom, Liskamm and the Weisshorn, have higher summits.

Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland

Panoramic view of the Dingle Peninsula, the westernmost point of the Republic of Ireland. The peninsula is named after the town of Dingle and is the location of numerous prehistoric and early medieval remains, for example the Gallarus Oratory in the very west of the peninsula near the village of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh in Ard na Caithne.

Interior of the Panthéon, Paris

Panoramic shot of the interior of the Panthéon, a church and burial place located in the Latin Quarter of Paris, France. Originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, the National Convention ordered it to be changed from a church to a mausoleum for the interment of great Frenchmen. Among those buried in its necropolis are Voltaire, Rousseau, Marat, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Jean Moulin, Marie Curie, and Louis Braille.

Chapel, Palace of Versailles

The chapel of the Palace of Versailles, one of the palace's grandest interiors. Located in Versailles, France, Versailles is famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy which Louis XIV espoused. Originally the royal hunting lodge when he decided to move there in 1660, the building was expanded over the next few decades to become the largest palace in Europe. Louis XIV officially moved in 1682 and the Court of Versailles was the centre of power in Ancien Régime France until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789.

Porto, Portugal

Panoramic photo of the historical part of the city of Porto, Portugal, and the Douro river. Historic references to Portugal's second city date back to the 4th century, although Celtic and pre-Celtic remnants of ancient citadels were found in the heart of where Porto now lies.

Salzburg, Austria

Panoramic view of the old town of Salzburg, Austria over the River Salzach as viewed from the Festung or Hohensalzburg Fortress. The birthplace of Mozart, Salzburg lies at the northern boundary of the Alps and was the setting for the film The Sound of Music, which was based on the life of Salzburg resident Maria von Trapp. The city has a long history, with traces of human settlements dating back to the Neolithic Age. Today, it is a popular tourist spot, especially for skiers in the winter.

Abbey spire, Mont Saint Michel, France

Mont Saint Michel, a small rocky tidal island in Normandy, is famous for its Benedictine abbey (spire pictured here) and steepled church (built between the 11th and 16th centuries) which occupy most of the island. The abbey was constructed in the 11th century, but by the time of the French Revolution its popularity had waned to the point where there were scarcely any monks in residence and it was converted to a prison. However, in 1874 it was declared a national monument and is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Nilov Monastery on Stolobnyi Island in Lake Seliger in Tver Province, Russia

This photo of the Nilov Monastery on Stolbnyi Island in Tver Oblast, Russia, was taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii in 1910 before the advent of colour photography. His process used a camera that took a series of monochrome pictures in rapid sequence, each through a different coloured filter. By projecting all three monochrome pictures using correctly-coloured light, it was possible to reconstruct the original colour scene.

Château de Chambord, France

With its very distinct Renaissance architecture, the Château de Chambord in Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world. The massive castle, originally built as a hunting lodge for King François I, features 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, and 84 staircases. The château was never intended to provide any form of defence from imagined enemies. As such, the walls, towers and partial moat are purely decorative.

Fortified city of Carcassonne, France

Fortified city of Carcassonne, France, and the Pont Vieux crossing the Aude river
Panorama of the fortified city of Carcassonne (Aude, France) and the Pont Vieux crossing the Aude River. The fortress of Carcassonne was considered impregnable and never conquered. It was begun by the Romans and built up through the years. It fell into disrepair was restored in the 19th century. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Graz, Austria, City Hall

The Rathaus or City Hall of Graz, the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna, at dusk. Graz was the 2003 European Capital of Culture and its "Old Town" is included in the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites. Occupying a strategic location, Graz began as Roman fort and survived numerous assaults over the centuries.