All sights in category 'Crowds'

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

Kid Shooting Other Kid

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Monday, 26th May 2008

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Please note that some or all of the objects mentioned in this post are no longer visible on Google Earth or Google Maps.

This post has been around the web several times already, but by popular demand, here’s the Street View sighting of a child pointing a gun at another child on the streets of Chicago.

In the next frame we can see that the “intended victim” is still standing, so maybe this was just a couple of kids playing with water pistols, but sooner or later Google will presumably let images of a terrible tragedy slip through into their mapping services.

See our Street View archive for more sights like this.

Originally via Streetviewfun, thanks to Scott, Marc James, Martyn and biauas.

Petra, an ancient city hewn from the living rock

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Thursday, 22nd May 2008

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Completely unknown to the Western world until 1812, this is the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.

Although nobody knows for sure when people first settled here, the incredible architecture that survives is thought to be at least 2,000 years old – and the most impressive thing is that much of what remains wasn’t built, but actually carved directly out of the sandstone cliffs – like this entire amphitheatre for example.


Ground level photo

Probably the best preserved part of the ancient city is Al Khazneh, or The Treasury, which is sheltered at the end of a tall, narrow gorge known as al-Siq. The shelter afforded by the high walls explains why the Treasury hasn’t been sandblasted away like many of Petra’s other architectural features.1

Although the angle these images were taken at doesn’t allow us to see the façade itself, we can see a crowd milling around in front of it.

The Treasury is at the top of this thumbnail, and the pictures that the crowd are taking would look a lot like this.

If you’re thinking this place seems familiar, perhaps you recognise it from 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in which it played a part as the fictional “Temple of the Holy Grail”.2

If you’d like to explore more, here’s a good map of all the local sights, or read Petra’s Wikipedia page.

Thanks to Jason Griswold and Dan Kuck.


  1. The Treasury has still seen some serious damage however, not least the clearly visible bullet holes in an urn high up on the structure. This damage has been attributed to Bedouins trying to spill the hidden treasure that gave this building its name. Of course the decorative urn they believed was holding this mythical treasure is actually made of solid sandstone… 

  2. Naturally it’s no coincidence that today sees the international launch of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull… Excited? You bet! 

Lollapalooza 2007

Posted by James Turnbull, Tuesday, 29th April 2008

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Lollapalooza is a multi-genre Music festival held each year in Chicago’s downtown Grant Park. The 3-day event draws over 35,000 people each day, and for the 2007 festival the special guest was you, the GSS readers.

We’ll start at the entrance, which is marked with large inflated letters that you can just about read from the aerial shot (ground level pictures). Don’t worry about paying though – we’re Access All Areas!

Let’s head south of the entrance, past these pretty star shaped balloons (ground level picture).

Continue south and we arrive at the “AT&T stage“, which played host to the likes of Daft Punk and Lupe Fiasco1.

If Daft Punk aren’t your bag then let’s go all the way north (past the previously featured Clarence Buckingham Fountain) to the “Bud Light Stage“, where there’s currently a larger turn out. This stage featured The Roots, Snow Patrol and Amy Winehouse, amongst others.

You can explore Lollapalooza 2007 further with a kml image overlay I’ve created from the official festival map, and complete the festival experience by watching some of the acts on Youtube.

Thanks to Steve H.


  1. If we knew which day this image was taken then we could hazard a guess who was on-stage. Oddly, the date provided by Google Earth (November 6th 2007) is definitely wrong, as this festival was held August 3rd – 5th 2007. 

Dancing in the Street

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Tuesday, 8th April 2008

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Here in New Orleans the party looks to be so good that the guests have all spilled out into the street!

It looks like they’re gathered around Joe’s House of Blues – and yet the giant red arrow outside clearly indicates they should be inside instead. So on the off chance Joe’s sound system isn’t all that loud, why else might all these people be hanging around outside?

Thanks to Joey.

Doubly Mysterious Circle of People

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Thursday, 3rd April 2008

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In Osaka, Japan this group of people have gone one better than the original Mysterious Circle of People, and have created a Mysterious Double Circle of People

Tai chi perhaps?

Maybe this is the beginning of a new form of flash mobbing for Google Earth!

Thanks to Zeus.