The Taj Mahal
Often called the most beautiful building in the world, The Taj Mahal stands in the town of Agra in India. It is in fact a tomb built by the emperor Shah Jahan for his wife who died in 1931.
Visitors to the Taj Mahal enter through a red sandstone gateway which leads into a beautiful walled garden in which a watercourse runs between rows of slender cypress trees. A the end of the watercourse The Jaj Mahal stands on a marble terrace.
It’s square building made from pure white marble and topped by a dome. Four slender white minerals or towers rise from the corners of the terrace. Beneath the dome is an eight-sided chamber with a carved marble screen around the tombs of the emperor and his wife.
The chief architect of the Taj Mahal was Ustad Isa, who may have been a Persian. The building and ornamentation was done by 20,000 men and craftsmen from all parts of Asia. (1632-1650.)