10 Must See World Famous Towers

A tower is in general a tall structure that can either stand alone or be a part of a large structure. The oldest tower known is a circular stone tower constructed in 8000 BC. There are lots of world famous towers; find a short list of 10 famous and must see towers of the world.

10. Himalayan Towers, Tibet

Himalayan Towers, the stone star-shaped towers, Tibet

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Himalayan Towers is also referred as “Stone star-shaped tower.” These are a series of stone towers where the major part of the tower is located in Kham with minor parts in various cities like Changthang, Miniak, Kongpo and Gyalrong. It is believed that this tower is very old and may have been built anywhere between 500 and 1800 years ago. The star shape was constructed to strengthen the towers.

9. Shukhov Tower, Moscow

Shukhov Tower, the first hyperboloid structure

Shukhov Tower is a radio tower in Moscow; it is also called as the Shabolovka Tower. This is a free-standing structure designed by Vladimir Shukhov. It is 160 meter high and is built of steel. Shukhov Tower was built during the Russian Civil War. This tower has a hyperboloid structure and features in the list of Endangered Buildings of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

8. Zizkov Television Tower, Prague

Zizkov Tower, an example of high-tech architecture

An example of high-tech architecture, this tower was designed by the architect Vaclav Aulicky and the construction took place between 1985 and 1992. This tower dominates the skyline of Prague. This tower has a nickname called “Baikonur” due to its rock shape. It is sad to say, but the truth is that the Czechs have voted this tower as “the second ugliest building in the world.” despite this fact of ugliest building, the management of the tower is trying to woo visitors by showing the technological innovations.

7. El Faro Towers, Argentina

El Faro Towers, the two, twin interconnected towers

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El Faro Towers was designed by the architect Torres El Faro; these are two, twin interconnected towers. The total height of the tower is 160 meter and has 160 apartments. These have a gym, sauna, spa, outdoor pool, underground parking for both the occupants and the guests. Initially, it was decided to construct a 170 meter high tower, but later was reduced to 160 meter. There are aerial bridges connecting these two towers at 4 levels; the construction of the first tower got over in 2003 and the second tower in 2005.

6. Sky Tower, New Zealand

Sky Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere

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Sky Tower, designed by Craig Craig Moller Ltd. is an observation and telecommunications tower. It is 328 meters tall and the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere. It is believed that on an average around 50,000 visitors visit this iconic tower of New Zealand every year. There is a feature called “Skyjump” in the observation deck for jumpers; they are controlled by guide-cable-control to prevent collision of jumpers with the tower. Due to the extensive illumination, various projects were promoted by displaying various light colors from Sky Tower.

5. Big Ben, United Kingdom

Big Ben, world's largest four-faced chiming clock

Big Ben, the most popular landmark and a tourist attraction of United Kingdom is a clock tower and is the world’s largest four-faced chiming clock. The construction of Big Ben was completed in the year 1859; the year 2009 marked the 150^th year of this iconic structure. The tower is 96.3 meters high, where the bottom 61 meter of the structure is constructed using brickwork and the remaining tower is made of cast iron. Due to various changes in the ground conditions, Big Ben has started to tilt a little to the north-west and sometimes oscillates between east and west. It is a good idea to visit this iconic structure before any severe damage is done.

4. CN Tower, Canada

CN Tower, the largest free-standing structure in the world

CN Tower was the world’s largest free-standing structure before the construction of Burj Khalifa and attracts nearly 2 million international visitors every year. CN refers to “Canadian National,” which is the railway company of Canada that built this free-standing structure in the year 1976. CN Tower is one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World. The lighting scheme of the tower is changed to celebrate major events; incandescent lights were used to light the tower earlier, but not anymore. It has the famous 360 revolving restaurant.

3. Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, a free-standing bell tower

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Leaning Tower of Pisa a free-standing bell tower of a cathedral; it is a very popular tourist attraction and a landmark of Italy. The total height of the tower from the low side is 56.70 meter and from the ground is 55.86 meter. It is tough to believe that the entire construction of the tower took in phased manner and the time frame taken to complete the construction was 177 years. There is a speculation about the architect behind this powerful landmark; therefore, not sure on whose idea it is.

2. Eiffel Tower, France

Eiffel Tower, the tallest building in Paris and a popular tourist destination

Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in Paris and a famous tourist place; this was constructed in the year 1889 as an arch at the entrance of the 1889 World’s Fair. The architect of the Eiffel Tower is Gustave Eiffel and therefore named as Eiffel Tower in his remembrance. The total height of the tower is 320 meters. If the broadcast antennas are not included, this is the second tallest structure in France. There are totally three levels in the tower and tickets are sold to visit the first and second levels; one can also have tasty food in these levels as there are lots of restaurants. Each year, Eiffel Tower receives close to million visitors.

1. Petronas Tower, Malaysia

Petronas Towers, Malaysia, the tallest twin building ever built

Can anybody forget or leave Petronas Towers when talking about world’s famous towers? Petronas Tower, also called as the Petronas Twin Towers is the tallest twin building ever built; it was designed by the architect Cesar Phil and Deejay Cerico with consultations from J.C. Guinto and Dominic Minick Saibo. This tower has 88 floors; it was the second tower that was completed first. Tower 1 is exclusively for Petronas and their subsidiaries; however, Tower 2 has a lot of offices for many giant companies like Huawei Technologies, TCS, HCL, Accenture, Bloomberg, etc.

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