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Great buildings

Great buildings: a chapter of the Wonders of the World Book, with a photo of each wonder and the story behind it.

10 cards · Geography

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Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the chapter a few at a time.

Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 27 Oct 2026

Sources: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (Britannica), World Heritage List (UNESCO), Wikimedia Commons (the photos)

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  • A huge domed building with four minarets, seen past palm trees

    Giant domed church, later a mosque, in Istanbul

    Show answer: Giant domed church, later a mosque, in Istanbul

    Hagia Sophia

    Learn more: Finished in 537, it had the world's largest dome for nearly a thousand years.

  • A Gothic cathedral with two square towers and a spire, beside a river

    Gothic cathedral on an island in the Seine

    Show answer: Gothic cathedral on an island in the Seine

    Notre-Dame de Paris

    Learn more: A fire in 2019 brought down its spire; it reopened in December 2024 after five years of work.

  • Tall stone towers covered in carvings, with a crane beside them

    Barcelona basilica under construction since 1882

    Show answer: Barcelona basilica under construction since 1882

    Sagrada Família

    Learn more: Gaudí worked on it for over 40 years and is buried in its crypt.

  • A great hall with a golden roof at the end of a wide stone courtyard

    Palace of China's emperors for almost 500 years

    Show answer: Palace of China's emperors for almost 500 years

    Forbidden City

    Learn more: Built from 1406, it has about 980 buildings; ordinary people could not enter without permission.

  • A tall iron lattice structure against a blue sky

    Iron tower built for the 1889 World's Fair

    Show answer: Iron tower built for the 1889 World's Fair

    Eiffel Tower

    Learn more: Critics hated it at first; it survived partly because it was useful as a radio antenna.

About this topic

This chapter covers ten of the world's great buildings, from Hagia Sophia, whose dome was the largest on Earth for nearly a thousand years, to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building ever. On the way: the Gothic Notre-Dame in Paris, Gaudí's Sagrada Família, the Forbidden City of China's emperors, the Potala Palace in Tibet, the Alhambra of Granada, a fairy-tale castle in Bavaria, an iron tower meant to last 20 years and an opera house that looks like sails.

This is a chapter of the Wonders of the World Book. Each card shows a picture and asks one question, with a hint before you answer and a short reason after. Every photo is credited and openly licensed.

All 10 cards

  1. Giant domed church, later a mosque, in Istanbul
    A huge domed building with four minarets, seen past palm trees

    Hagia Sophia

    Learn more: Finished in 537, it had the world's largest dome for nearly a thousand years.

  2. Gothic cathedral on an island in the Seine
    A Gothic cathedral with two square towers and a spire, beside a river

    Notre-Dame de Paris

    Learn more: A fire in 2019 brought down its spire; it reopened in December 2024 after five years of work.

  3. Barcelona basilica under construction since 1882
    Tall stone towers covered in carvings, with a crane beside them

    Sagrada Família

    Learn more: Gaudí worked on it for over 40 years and is buried in its crypt.

  4. Palace of China's emperors for almost 500 years
    A great hall with a golden roof at the end of a wide stone courtyard

    Forbidden City

    Learn more: Built from 1406, it has about 980 buildings; ordinary people could not enter without permission.

  5. Iron tower built for the 1889 World's Fair
    A tall iron lattice structure against a blue sky

    Eiffel Tower

    Learn more: Critics hated it at first; it survived partly because it was useful as a radio antenna.

  6. Concert hall whose roofs look like sails
    White sail-shaped roofs lit up at night beside a harbour

    Sydney Opera House

    Learn more: Opened in 1973, ten years late; it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

  7. The tallest building in the world
    A very tall, slender skyscraper lit up with fireworks at night

    Burj Khalifa

    Learn more: At 828 m, it has held the record since it opened in 2010.

  8. Fairy-tale castle built for Bavaria's king Ludwig II
    A white castle with turrets on a forested hill, with mountains behind

    Neuschwanstein

    Learn more: Ludwig II spent his fortune on it and died in 1886, before it was finished.

  9. Moorish palace and fortress above Granada
    A long red fortress on a hill at sunset, with mountains behind

    Alhambra

    Learn more: The Nasrid sultans built most of it in the 1300s; its Court of the Lions is a masterpiece.

  10. Red and white palace of the Dalai Lamas
    A massive white and red building rising up a hill, with gold roofs

    Potala Palace

    Learn more: At about 3,700 m up, it has over 1,000 rooms; the Dalai Lama left it in 1959.

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