By Dominic Di Cicco 7M1

St. Marks Basilica,Venice, Italy

The Kaaba,Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Henan Shao Lin Monastery, Henan Province, China

The kaabaالمشرفة الكعبة

• The holiest place in all of Islam, located in the al-Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

• It is a cube shaped stone structure built in the middle of the Sacred Mosque.

• The Kaaba was built by prophet Abraham as a landmark for the House of God, for the sole purpose of worshipping of God alone

• The current height of the kaaba is 39 feet, 6 inches and total size comes to 627 square feet.

The kaaba: History• Little is known of the pre-

Islamic history

• There are various opinions regarding its formation and significance

• The area did not start becoming an area of religious pilgrimage until around 500 AD.

• The Quraysh tribe (where Muhammad was later born into) made an agreement with the local Kinana Bedouins for control

The kaaba: Black Stone• A significant feature of the

kaaba is the Black Stone, also called al-Hajar-ul-Aswad,.

– 30 cm in diameter, located on the Eastern corner of the Kaaba, and surrounded by a silver frame.

– Muslims try to kiss the Black Stone, as Muhammad once kissed it

St. Mark’s Basilica( Basilica de San Marco)

• the cathedral of Venice, the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture.

• lies on St Mark's Square adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace.

• Originally it was the "chapel" of the Venetian rulers. Since 1807 it has been the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice.

• From the 11th century on the building was known by the nickname Chiesa d'Or or the church of gold.

• The first St Mark's was a temporary building in the Doge’s Palace, constructed in 828

• the first St Mark's Campanile (bell tower). The new church was burned in a rebellion in 976, rebuilt in 978 and again to form the basis of the present basilica since 1063.

• The basilica was consecrated in 1094

• The building also includes a low tower (now housing St Mark’s body), believed by some to have been part of the original Doge's Palace.

• Within the first half of the 13th century the narthex and the new façade were constructed,

He Nan shaolin Monastery ( 少林寺 or Shàolínsì)

• The Shaolin Monastery is a Ch'an Buddhist temple at Song Shan in Henan Province

• The monastery was built by the Emperor Hsiao-Wen in AD 496

• The first abbot of Shaolin was Batuo

• Batuo was an Indian dhyana master who came to China in AD 464 to spread Buddhist teachings.

• After the Battle of Qianglingkou, it began to play a military role in Imperial affairs– grew to include over 1000

"soldier-monks" during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

• When Manchu invaders took China's imperial throne and formed the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) martial arts were outlawed.

• Between 1644 and 1928 the Shaolin Temple was burnt at least three times. A number of relics and over 230 pagodas have survived on the grounds; some date back as far as the Tang dynasty.

• Today several structures greet visitors to the temple, including a Bell Tower and a Drum Tower, both characteristic of Chinese temples.

• There is also the Hall of the Heavenly Kings, Mahavira Hall and the Sutra-Keeping Pavilion with well over 5000 Buddhist sutras in its library.

• Fangzhang Hall traditionally served as a resting place for the temple's abbots.

شكراGrazie谢谢

Thank you for listening