For them to go on a trip.
Sometimes reality can be stranger than fiction.
It is obvious that people will always prefer the myths and mysteries of the real facts. Legends awaken a sense of wonder and admiration, especially when they are mentioned in connection with the famous places and historical personalities.
This list contains the 10 famous attractions nestled in the stunning legends.
Sphinx
The only obvious facts about the Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the largest and most ancient statues in the world with a lion’s body and a human head, reminiscent of an Egyptian Pharaoh. Everything else boils down to assumptions and legends. One of the most popular legends about the Sphinx – the story of the Prince of Egypt Thutmoses. Grandfather was Prince Thutmose III, a descendant of Queen Hatshepsut. According to legend, his father Prince Thutmose was more than anything else, which made him the target of jealousy from siblings. Some even conspired to murder his brother. Because of all these troubles Thutmose chose to be away from home and started spending a lot of time in upper Egypt and the desert. Being strong and skillful man, he loved to hunt and a good shot from a bow. One day while hunting, Thutmose left their two and went to the pyramid to pray. He stopped in front of the Sphinx, known in those days as Harmakhis — God of the rising sun. Thutmose turned to the Sphinx your prayers, praying for the solution to all problems. Suddenly, a large statue came to life and a loud voice cried for help. Sphinx of Thutmose begged to release it from the sand. Eyes animated statues became so bright that the Prince fainted. When he woke up, the day is coming to an end. The Prince made a vow to the Sphinx, if he would become the next Pharaoh, it would save the Sphinx from the shackles of sand. Thutmose did indeed become the next ruler of Egypt, to cope with all problems. This story became well known only 150 years ago, when the archaeologist found in the sand the Sphinx is a stone tablet describing the history of the Prince and his oaths to the great Sphinx of Giza.
The Great Wall Of China
Tragic romance – just one of the many legends associated with the great wall of China. The story of Meng Jiang is the most sad and heartbreaking of all the legends. Family man and Jiang lived next door to each other. Both couples were very happy, but none of them had no children. The years went by, and a couple man decided to plant a pumpkin vine which grew and gave a chic pumpkin on the ownership of a pair of Jiang. Being friends for a long time, the two couples decided to split the pumpkin. To their absolute amazement, in the heart of the pumpkin they found the baby – it was a beautiful little girl. Friends decided that they would raise a baby girl together and called her man Jiang. She grew up a very beautiful young woman and married a young man named Fan Silan. They met when the fans were hiding from the officials who tried to force young people to build the Great wall of China. However, you cannot hide forever, and three days after the wedding Cilan was found and sent to the wall. The man did not receive from her husband the news during the whole year. Once she had a disturbing dream, and she went looking. The journey was long and arduous – man crossed the river, hills and mountains when we finally reached the wall and learned that Cilan died from exhaustion and was buried under the wall. The girl was unable to cope with grief, and in despair destroyed part of the wall. The Emperor demanded to punish the man for damaging the wall, but as soon as I saw her beautiful face, then immediately decided to marry. She agreed, but put forward three conditions: the mourning for her husband Sileno (including the Emperor himself, and his servants, funeral Selena and wanted to see the sea. Man Jiang not married the Emperor. After the funeral of her husband, she committed suicide by jumping into the sea.
Forbidden city
Once in the forbidden City several thousand years ago, you most likely would have left without a head. Literally. The forbidden City consists of several ancient buildings and palaces and is the largest complex of its kind in the world. This place was impossible to visit during the reign of Qing, and no one but the emperors and their servants have not seen the inner city for over 500 years. In modern times, visitors are allowed to explore the ancient complex, where they talk about the surrounding legends. One of such legends says about the four guard towers in the forbidden City. During the reign of Minh, the city was a very high wall but there was watch towers. The Emperor Jungle rules in the 15th century and decided to fix it. One day he had a very vivid dream, what a fantastic watchtower adorn the four corners of the city. When the Emperor woke up, then immediately set his builders a task to transform a dream into reality. After a failed attempt two architects (who were executed for failure), the foreman of a third company still achieved success. He modeled the watchtower in the image cells for grasshoppers than unspeakably happy Emperor. The foreman was also included in the design of the building figure 9, to please the ruler even more. Number nine, as they say, is the emperors of China.
Niagara falls
The legend of the “Misty maiden” was the inspiration for the popular boat tours in Niagara falls. This legend has many different versions. The most famous, however, tells of a girl named Lilola, which brought in sacrifice to the gods for their peace. The girl dropped down from the top of Niagara falls, but the story is not over. She was saved from certain death by God Hinuma, who later helped her win a huge river snake. Many versions of this legend disagree on the facts, and each of the surrounding villages has its own version of the story.
Table Mountain
Devil’s peak is one of the most infamous mountainous spires in South Africa. It also has its own legend, which is told every time with the ocean fog comes in and covers the peak with table Mountain. South Africans passed these legends down from generation to generation. History has it that Smoking a pipe pirate named Jan van Hunks settled on the Cape in the 1700s, trying to escape from his pursuers and save the stolen treasure. He married and then found a house at the foot of the mountain. His wife hated the habit of Smoking and drove the pirate from the house whenever he smoked his pipe. Jan van Hunks began to ascend the mountain, where they found a secluded place to smoke in peace and quiet. In a perfectly ordinary day, the pirate was greeted by a strange man sitting on his usual place. He couldn’t see the man’s face due to the large hat and black cloak. Before van Hunks could say anything, the stranger greeted him by name. Van Hunks sat beside the man, and they started a conversation, which inevitably led to the habit Jan. He liked to brag about the number of tobacco which was able to smoke at a time. The stranger said that could easily smoke more than the pirate, after which they began the contest. Huge clouds of smoke surrounded the two men and the greater part of the mountain, but suddenly the stranger stopped Smoking and gave up. The hat fell from his head, and the pirate realized that before him is the devil himself. Annoyed by his defeat, the devil was struck by lightning Jan. And every time the fog covered Devil’s peak on table Mountain, locals I imagine pipe Smoking pirate battle with Satan himself.
Mount Etna
Mount Etna on Sicily’s East coast is one of the highest and most active volcanoes in Europe. The first recorded eruption was in 1500 BC, the volcano has erupted since then at least 200 times. For example, the 1669 eruption lasted four months, lava has covered 12 villages and destroyed the surrounding area. According to Greek legend, the eruption caused no more than a 100-Golov monster that spews fire and lava, if he’s crossed. This huge monster known as Typhon was the son of Gaia, the Earth goddess. Typhon was a naughty child and was banished by Zeus to the foot of mount Etna. From time to time, his anger takes the form of boiling lava, which covers all living things. In another version of the legend suggests the horror of the terrible one-eyed monster known as Cyclops. Odysseus was sent to fight the monster when he began to throw giant boulders from the top of Etna. Odysseus managed to defeat Cyclops, Vukolov his one good eye. Legend has it that the crater of mount Etna – actually the damaged eye of the Cyclops, erupting lava – monster. Mount Etna is included in the list of the most popular attractions of Sicily.
Baobab Alley
Madagascar is famous throughout the world not only because of the lemurs. The main attraction of the island is the breathtaking Avenue of the Baobabs, located in the Western part of Madagascar. Known as the “mother of forests” 25 the giant baobab trees grow along the usual dirt road. Of course, their strange appearance paved the way for legends and myths. One of the legends says that trees would not grow in one place and constantly running away, so God turned them upside down. According to another story, the baobabs were really excellent beautiful trees and constantly bragged about their beauty, why God turned them back up. For the same reason, leaves and flowers on the trees appear only a few weeks a year. If you step aside from legends, the mass felling of trees on the island poses a serious threat and baobabs, and if action is not taken, this unique attraction can disappear forever.
Bridge Of The Giants
The pavement of the Giants located in Northern Ireland and according to legend, was the result of a struggle of giants. Although scientists believe that perfectly formed hexagonal columns of basalt, the result of solidification of lava on the past 60 million years, the legend of the Scottish giant Benandonner much more interesting. Legend says an Irish giant Finn Mackula who had a long-standing rivalry with the Scottish giant Benandonner. One day these two giants faced each other at sea, and McCool was so angry that he seized a handful of earth and threw it at the Scot. The lump of earth landed in the sea now known as the Isle of man, while the place where McCool grabbed the land became a lake, Lough neagh. The feud between the two giants only grew and Finn MacColl decided to build a large bridge, as the Scot could not swim and could not Goritsa to him for the fight. The Charter, after the construction giant’s Causeway, he fell asleep, and at this point, the home began to approach Benandonner. Finns wife saw a huge enemy and realized that her husband would be defeated as it is much inferior in size. Without thinking, she wrapped it around her husband’s huge blanket and completely covered him. Benandonner broke into the house and demanded a fight with Mankulam. But the woman was cunning and asked him not to shout as it will Wake the baby. Looking at the size of the “baby”, the giant decided to retreat, horrified at the potential proportions of his father. Has long died down these passions, and the Causeway Giants still stands and attracts thousands of tourists.
Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji – the great volcano, located in Japan. This outstanding attraction is closely intertwined with the Japanese culture, often mentioning in songs, movies, and of course, legends and myths. In one of the oldest legends we are talking about a bamboo cutter who stumbled on something very strange and unusual. Tiny baby, no bigger than his thumb, stared at him from bamboo. Amazed by the beauty of the baby, he took it home and showed my wife. They decided to raise the child as his own. Then the man began to make more strange discoveries. Every time cutting off the trunk of bamboo, he found in it a gold nugget. He became rich very quickly, and the little girl turned into a beautiful young woman. A man and his wife found out meanwhile that a girl named Kaguya-hime was sent from the moon to the Earth to save from the raging war there. Because of her beauty, she received many proposals of marriage, including the proposal from the Emperor himself, who refused all hoping to go home to the moon. When it finally came the messengers from the moon, the Emperor ordered his men to deal with them, but this idea failed. As a gift to the moon Princess sent to the Emperor a special letter and the elixir of immortality, which he refused to drink. Instead, he ordered the burning of elixir on the top of mount Fuji, which has since eternal fire.
Yosemite Polypol
Polypol in Yosemite is very popular with hikers and rock climbers. Traditionally, native Americans lived in these places and called Polyopoly Rock Cleft. At some point under the influence of wind and water a large piece of rock fell off the rock and found the looks today. The origin of Polyopoly gave rise to many legends that still hearing today. One of them tells about an old woman and her husband who went on a journey to the valley. She had to carry a heavy basket while her husband walked lightly. She wanted to drink, and when the couple got to the lake, the woman must have drained it. She drank so much that in the area of the drought began and became extinct all green spaces. The husband was so angry that he took his stick and hit his wife. She cried and started to run away, but in this moment God’s spirit turned them both to stone. Today they are known as Polypol and Washington Column. If you closely look at Polypol, we can see the woman’s face, which still shed tears.
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