Travelsmartplanet

At the Tanihanga, the Maori passing ceremony, the chief’s canoe would be stood up and semi-buried in the ground. This would be the gratitude and homage paid to the great man, warrior and chief. More designs and carvings (kowhaiwhai) would be added to the already decorated canoe to show tribal connections. In this Pouwairua they honor chief Tuhourangi who once occupied the surrounding lands.

Sir Henry Pellatt, a Canadian stockbroker and entrepreneur built this full-sized castle in Toronto around 1913. It has secret passageways, breathtaking views and elaborately decorated rooms. Unfortunately financial miscalculations caused him to have to leave his “castle on the hill” and he died in poverty.

The Bridge of Sighs is named for the sighs of the prisoners who were interrogated and charged in the Doge’s Palace building and had to walk across the canal on this bridge to the New Prison. The white limestone decorated bridge is enclosed but has windows with stone bars; It passes over the Rio di Palazzo.

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The Goldenes Dachl or Golden Roof (built around 1500) is a landmark and famous symbol in Old Town (Altstadt) Innsbruck, Austria. The edifice was built for Emperor Maximilian I to mark his wedding to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan.  It served as a royal box where the Emperor and his imperial entourage could sit and enjoy festivals, tournaments, and other events that took place in the square below. Since he did not wish to alienate the allies gained by his first marriage, to Maria of Burgundy, he had an image painted of himself on the balcony between the two women.The roof was decorated with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles.