What is the most historically significant place you have gone?

[Tobra]

I saw a deal on the History Channel that mentioned Crazy Horse that brought this to mind for me. I have stood in the spot, at Ft Robinson Nebraska, where he was killed, murdered really.

Also where one of Charlie's girls tried to shoot President Ford here in Sacramento.

Of course, have been to Washington DC, lot of history there...

[slodave]

Jerusalem and other places in Israel.

[artplumber]

most of western europe, various mayan and aztec sites in Mexico, Forbidden City.

Depends on what historical significance you mean.

[Rick Lee]

I have a long list. I have:

- sat in the chair Truman sat in (in Potsdam) when he gave the order to drop the atomic bomb on Japan
- seen the Terra Cotta Army up close
- walked along the Great Wall
- been to Auschwitz (was there when they were shooting Schindler's List)
- jogged though the Brandenburg Gate
- crossed the Berlin Wall many times when it was still standing
- visited the church where Martin Luther tacked up the 95 Theses, been to his birthhouse too
- been to Karl Marx's birthhouse
- been to Hitler's birthhouse
- watched a choir performance in the Thomaskirche where Bach was the church organist
- been to the Muenster Rathaus where the Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending the 30 Years War
- been to the castle in Prague where the 30 Years War began
- visited Charlemagne's tomb
- visted Lidice, the village wiped off the map as reprisal for Heydrich's assassination
- toured Colditz Castle, where the POW's built a glider plane
- stayed in the former Warsaw Ghetto
- had my photo taken standing in the same spot where Hitler stood as he looked at Napoleon's tomb in Hotel des Invalides
- toured the Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German

I know I'm leaving out a ton of others.

[VincentVega]

Jerusalem is top of my list. In the US, Plymouth rock or Williamsburg/Jamestown? Everything here pales in comparison to Jerusalem.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Lexington Green. I used to get taken there regularly as a kid by my parents and grandparents.

Other locations of note:

- Washington, DC (several times)
- Kennedy Space Center (several times, including for launches)
- Ground Zero
- Plymouth Rock (several times)
- Center court at the old (original) Boston Garden (for sports fans, that's hugely historically significant)
- The end of the Lewis & Clark trail (Oregon)
- The "execution platform" at the ancient City of Tulum in Mexico (especially significant for a few unfortunate souls who had their last glimpse of this earth from that spot as their hearts were being cut out!)

On my list (but haven't been yet):
- Trinity (you can only get there once a year)
- Pearl Harbor (USS Arizona Memorial)
- Gettysburg
- Roswell
- Area 51 (well, as close as I can get without being shot at)
- Saint Peter's Basilica (and a few other key locations in Rome, Florence and Paris)

[svandamme]

i live in one...the Ypres Salient, in Flanders Fields
Hitler got shot in my backyard...(figuratively speaking, it was not the Ypres area, but in Messines, although i have lived in Kemmel, which is 2 miles from Messines)
probably histories biggest "missed chance"..
If that one had worked out, many of the other historical sites would not have been what they are now

other then that, several historical cities, and sites
Berlin when the wall was still up
Vienna
Paris
BlockHaus Eperleques V1/V2 site
Normandie, Mont Saint Michel

some others, but it's different as a European , visiting european towns is usually not as purpose full then for somebody who crosses the atlantic


other then that, not enough real historical places, i have Auschwitz on my shortlist of things to go visit, but i'm not a big traveler , not much time either...

[livi]

I have been to plenty of historical sites, but to me the places with the most emotional impact is Athens, Rome and a few other cities in Greece and Italy. The wings of history and culture is flapping so loud in those places, I can hardly hear myself think.

[HardDrive]

Taj Mahal is probably the most beautiful historical sight I have been.

I have been all over Europe. I'm thinking Rome would be the most significant from a historical perspective in the EU.

Visited the Great Wall and many sites in Beijing.

I have spent a week in Havana, Cuba. Its a place that is largely unchanged from the 50s/60s.

I would like to explore more of the early Buddhist sites in southeast Asia.

[pwd72s]

Valley Forge...the 1957 BSA national Jamboree.

In this place in 1873? Nothing happened...

[Gogar]

I stood in the doorway of Space Shuttle ATLANTIS as it sat on the launchpad at KSC.

[Erakad]

Like Rick, so many...

Soweto, SA
Prague
Berlin
Wurms (Martin Luther references)
Juddenbach where Martin Luther Preached/slept
Normandy
Trinity site (Alamogordo, NM)
Hiroshima, JP
Mary's House in Turkey
Gettysburg
Site of Custer's Last Stand
Waterloo
Paris
on and on...it's a "historical world!"

[steve185]

I have been to a few, the most significant for our time would be ground zero in New York. I took this picture there.

[Buckterrier]

Ground Zero. The reverence that place has.
Andersonville Prison in Georgia. I can't describe what is was like walking through there knowing the horror those prisoners faced.
I'm sure there are others but those two have stuck in my mind.

[Dueller]

Dachau and Normandy

[red-beard]

The Central Pass in Romania/Transylvania where Prince Dracula stopped the Turks from invading Europe.

Shalimar Gardens, which is one of the 7 wonder of the ancient world.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Shalimar Gardens, which is one of the 7 wonder of the ancient world.

Me thinks you got that confused with the hanging gardens of Babylon, which are not around anymore...
those in Shalimar can't be from the ancient world as they were built in 1640 or something... not ancient anyway...

[m21sniper]

I live in Philly. It don't get much more historically significant than that for an American.

[Danimal16]

Bloody nose ridge, Okinawa
Wake Island (what a crude bump on the A$$ of the pacific)
Adak (Finger Bay where S2 launched for its raid into tokyo bay)
Corrigedor

And others more recent:
Babel

[IROC]

I stood at the spot where the Hindenburg went down a couple of years ago.

Edit for bad grammar - I didn't mean to imply that the Hindenburg crash occurred recently... :>)