The Spirit of Dubai airship has reached its last major European destination on its landmark journey from London to Dubai by flying over some of Athens’s greatest landmarks.
The airship, whose journey is marking the first residents moving into The Palm Jumeirah, circled over some of history's greatest monuments including the Acropolis, featuring the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and The Temple of Nike, as well as The Arch of Hadrian, The Temple of Olympian Zeus and the 1896 Olympic Stadium.
Manal Shaheen, Director of Marketing, Sales and Customer Service for Nakheel said, “Athens is a monumental point in our journey. It is the city where Western civilization began and our journey now takes us to the oldest of all landmarks on our journey – The Pyramids. Much has changed since Athens was built, although the drive to push boundaries and celebrate architecture remains the same thousands of years on.
“The leg from Italy to Greece, and then on to Egypt, is probably the most challenging of our 7,000km journey. We will have crossed four seas – the Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean and Mediterranean on this leg - and when crossing bodies of water there is no margin for error. It’s certainly challenging, but this embodies the pioneering spirit that has driven Dubai, the journey, and the creation of The Palm Jumeirah.”
After the visit to Athens, The Spirit of Dubai will continue its journey taking in the Pyramids of Cairo before arriving in Dubai in January.
- Highlights of the journey -
London
Big Ben & The Houses of Parliament
Although colloquially and popularly known as Big Ben, this name actually belongs to the largest of the five bells that stand inside the Great Clock of Westminster. The clock tower that houses Big Ben is one of London’s most recognisable landmarks. The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is famous around the world for being the centre of British politics.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is the most famous of the 101 bridges on the River Thames and is one of the most famous of all London landmarks. The iconic design includes the lifting arms of the roadway which can open to allow the passage of tall ships.
The London Eye
The British Airways London Eye opened in 1999 and is the largest observation wheel in the world. It stands 135 metres high and boasts fantastic panoramic views across the city of London. It took seven years and over 1,700 people in five different countries to build it.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral has overlooked the City of London since 604 AD. The present building dates from the 17th century, and is generally reckoned to be London's fourth St Paul's Cathedral. The current St Paul’s was designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London gutted the Old St. Paul’s in 1666.
Birmingham
Selfridges
One of the newest landmarks on ‘The Spirit of Dubai’s journey is the remarkable Selfridges store in Birmingham. The outer building is comprised of 15,000 spun aluminium disks. The design of the building was inspired by a chain mail Paco Rabanne dress.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is one of Great Britain's greatest national icons. Present day Stonehenge is a ruin, with many of the original stones having
fallen or been removed by past generations. Built over 5000 years ago, nobody knows its original purpose.
White Cliffs of Dover
The White Cliffs of Dover owe their striking façade to its composition of chalk accentuated by streaks of black flint. The cliffs have great symbolic value because they face across the English Channel at its narrowest point towards continental Europe - historically a source of threatened invasions.
Paris
The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 for the International Exposition and also marked the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The tower was met with resistance from the public when it was built but today, it is widely considered to be one of the most striking pieces of structural art in the world
Arc De Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by Napoleon and is one of two great arches built in Paris by Napoleon to commemorate great victories and the great army who had won them. Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame de Paris (French for "Our Lady of Paris", meaning the church in Paris dedicated to the Virgin Mary), is one of the most famous symbols of Paris and one of the finest cathedrals in the world. The cathedral took almost 200 years to construct and was one of the first Gothic cathedrals ever built.
Versailles – Palace of Versailles
The Château de Versailles is a royal château in Versailles, France. From 1682, when King Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, Versailles was the centre of power in Ancien Régime France.
Venice
Piazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco is the principal square of Venice. A remark, often attributed to Napoleon, refers to the Piazza San Marco as "the drawing room of Europe." Greatly popular throughout Italy, the Piazza has always been seen as the centre of Venice.
Ponte di Rialto
The Rialto Bridge spans the Grand Canal in Venice. It is the oldest bridge across the canal and probably the most famous in the city. Hugely controversial when built because of its audacious design, the bridge has defied its critics to become one of the architectural icons of Venice.
Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built as the bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa and can be found in the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles). Five years after construction began in 1173, the tower began to tilt. Construction was halted for almost a hundred years and the Tower was finally completed in 1372 almost 200 years after construction had begun.
Rome
Colosseum
The Colosseum is famous the world over as an iconic symbol of Rome. Originally capable of seating 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. Although in a severely ruined condition due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum remains one of the finest examples of Roman architecture.
St Peter’s Basillica
The Basilica of Saint Peter is the most prominent building inside the Vatican City and a dominant feature of the Roman skyline. Possibly the largest church in Christianity, it covers an area of 23,000 m² and has a capacity of over 60,000 people and is traditionally the burial site of basilica namesake Saint Peter.
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius, a volcano east of Naples, is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Vesuvius is notorious for its destruction of Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79.
Athens
The Acropolis
The Acropolis hill is the most important site in the city. It is famous throughout the world for the temples erected in the 5th and 4th centuries BC during the Golden age of Athens – most notably the Parthenon
Cairo
The Great Pyramids
The pyramids of Egypt, among the largest constructions ever built by man, constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of Ancient Egyptian civilisation. They are, without question, the icons most associated with Egypt and have been a source of inspiration and fascination for over 3000 years.
Dubai
Burj Al Arab
Part of the Dubai-based hospitality group Jumeirah, Burj Al Arab is designed to resemble the graceful sails of an Arabian dhow and soars to a height of 321 metres making it the tallest dedicated all-suite hotel in the world.
The Palm Jumeirah
The Palm Jumeirah is the world’s newest landmark – the largest man-made island on the planet. A residential and tourism destination, it has been created by Nakheel, a key organisation behind Dubai’s transformation into one of the fastest growing cities in the world.
