Archive for February 17th, 2006

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

Atomium

Friday, 17th February 2006 by Alex

This is the incredible Atomium in Brussels, Belgium. It is (if you hadn’t already guessed…) a 103-metre-tall representation of “a unit cell of an iron crystal” magnified 165 billion times. This thing is huge - it’s 16 metres taller than the Flatiron!

Atomium was built for the 1958 Brussels World Fair (Expo ‘58), but has been closed since October 2004 for much-needed renovations. However… if you happen to be in Brussels this weekend then you’re in luck, as Atomium re-opens to the public tomorrow!

Thanks to Navarro, Pieter, roelens marnix, Bodega, Michel, Manu Navarro and Philippe Gautier.