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Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Afghan Royal Palace : Revisited

Sunday, 13th November 2005 by

Remember the Afghan Royal Palace? Well David Quin from Melbourne had seen it from ground level and took photos! He writes:

I was in Kabul in September 2003 working with the UN, writing the software for the voter’s registration system used during 2004. Whilst there had a good look around the palace. It had indeed been a magnificent building - but has (as the aerial photo shows) been extensively damaged and looted.

It is in quite a state:

afghan palace afghan palace afghan palace afghan palace afghan palace afghan palace

Check out the UXO (UneXploded Ordnance) warnings and the shell half-buried in the ground in the third photo.

Thanks David!

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5 Responses to 'Afghan Royal Palace : Revisited'

  1. 1. northern git says: November 13th, 2005 at 10:13 pm

    Cue protracted mud slinging with little understanding of the recent history in Afganistan and overuse of the words ’stupid’ and “americans’.
    Your recent Reichstag posting shows that the rebuilding of an important building in a once divided country can achieve much more than good architecture.
    I wish the reconstruction of this building well and hope it leads to the rebuilding of the country in its wake.

  2. 2. Peter says: November 13th, 2005 at 10:59 pm

    That’s what real estate advertisements call a “handyperson’s special” or “needs TLC” :)

  3. 3. Luke Sleeman says: November 14th, 2005 at 5:13 am

    Hey,
    Its sad to see the distruction of such a historic building. IMHO the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan is probably worse. Such a waste and for such stupid reasons. I can only hope that they will one day be rebuilt, but of course it will never quite be the same …

  4. 4. Keith T. says: November 14th, 2005 at 10:13 pm

    We should get Google to commission a flyby of Kabul and Baghdad like they did for Katrina. Natural disasters aren’t the only shocking disasters there are in the world.

  5. 5. Luke Sleeman says: November 14th, 2005 at 11:55 pm

    I dont think that the Katrina pictures were taking specialy for google. AFAIK they were taking by the US government, and google just decided to intergrate them into google maps

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