LOOK UP! 10 DIVINELY DECORATED CEILINGS

Look up! We’ve rounded up a curated-for-beauty selection of decorative ceilings around the world.

From iconic ceilings like the ornately carved and painted ceilings of the Louvre, to extraordinary mosaic ceilings at St Isaac’s Cathedral in Moscow, to the biggest chandelier in the world hanging from the ceiling at the Dolmabahçe Palace, in Istanbul, to Dale Chihuly’s contemporary masterpiece glass installation at the Bellagio, plus a few more esoteric examples, these ceilings are breathtaking.

Big on decoration, they are elaborate, often with every square inch embellished in some way. Some of the architects and artists are famous, some are anonymous. We can only imagine the genius it took to conceive and execute these decorative masterpieces. Check them out below. And put them on your travel bucket list.

1. PALAU DE LA MUSICA CATALANA -- BARCELONA, SPAIN

The Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan modernista style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner.

Built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement that came to be known as the Renaixença.

The concert hall is one of the most beautiful in the world. An important architectural treasure, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Gorgeous stained-glass windowed walls and highly decorative pillars support a ceiling set with an enormous skylight of stained glass designed by Antoni Rigalt. Carvings musical figures, such as Wagner's Valkyries, busts of Anselm Clavé and Beethoven, along with flowers, palm trees and fruits, hang down from the ceiling to add further decorative drama.

2. DOLMABAHÇE PALACE -- ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Dolmabahçe Palace, located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Bosphorus, was the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and again in 1909 to 1922.

It is the largest palace in Turkey, with an area of 45,000 m2 (11.1 acres). It contains 285 rooms, 46 halls, 6 baths (hamam) and 68 toilets. Six Sultans called the palace home, from 1856, when it was first inhabited, up until the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924.

Design and decorations are an eclectic mashup of Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical and Ottoman styles. The whole palace is loaded with elaborate decoration, with extensive rare marbles, crystal and gold being the materials of choice. Fourteen tons of gold were used to gild its ceilings.

The palace Ceremonial Hall goes even further over the top. The world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier hangs from its ceiling, with 750 lamps, weighing 4 ½ tons. The famous Crystal Staircase, shaped like a double horseshoe and is built of Baccarat crystal, brass and mahogany.

3. LOUVRE -- PARIS, FRANCE

The Galerie d'Apollon, in the Louvre, is famous for its high vaulted ceilings with painted decorations.

The room was decorated by the artists of the Second School of Fontainebleau, most notably Toussaint Dubreuil, Jacob Bunel and his wife Marguerite Bahuche according to designs by Martin Fréminet, for Henri IV of France.

This was the first Royal Gallery for Louis XIV, which served as a model for the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles.

4. BLUE MOSQUE -- ISTANBUL, TURKEY

The Blue Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, is decorated with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, in more than 50 different tulip designs. ​The upper levels of the Mosque interior is dominated by blue paint. And more than 200 stained glass windows with intricate designs admit natural light.

Opulent chandeliers hanging from the ceilings contain ostrich eggs, placed there to ward off spiders and their webs.

Mosque decorations include verses from the Qur'an, created by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, regarded as the greatest calligrapher of his time.

5. ST. ISAAC’S CATHEDRAL -- MOSCOW, RUSSIA

St. Isaac’s Cathedral, in Moscow, has a main dome that rises 101.5 metres (333 ft) and is plated with pure gold. It is decorated with twelve statues of angels, sculpted by Josef Hermann which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures.

Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpture of a white dove, which represents the Holy Spirit. Walls are clad with multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia. Eight columns of semi precious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite support the ceiling.

The interior was originally decorated with paintings by great Russian masters. But when they deteriorated due to harsh cold and damp conditions inside the cathedral, they were painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a decorative technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov.

6. THISTLE CHAPEL AT ST. GILES CATHEDRAL -- EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

Thistle Chapel at St Giles' Cathedral is the chapel of The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Scotland's foremost Order of Chivalry. Built in 1911 to designs by Sir Robert Lorimer for  King James VII of Scotland (King James II of England), it is a small chapel, that is heavily decorated with intricate carvings and paintings that depict images and icons of Scottish heraldry and religious figures. Angels playing bagpipes is hybrid example.

The vaulted ceiling is encrusted with a rich pattern of ribs and carved bosses.

7. COMMERCE COURT BUILDING -- TORONTO, CANADA

The Commerce Court Building, in Toronto, is a huge banking hall with an ornate vaulted gold-coffered ceiling that resembles a cathedral.

The medallion bears the words, “Integrity, Prudence, Commerce, and Industry.”

The buildings were designed by I.M. Pei, who is one of the most influential architects of modern era.

8. BELLAGIO -- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA  

Inside Bellagio, a luxury hotel and resort in Las Vegas, hangs a ceiling like no other, clad with Dale Chihuly incredible sculpture, “Fiori di Como.” The work is composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers that weigh about 40,000 pounds, supported by a 10,000 pound steel armature. It covers 2,000 sq ft (190 m) of the lobby ceiling. Every morning between 2 and 5 a.m., a team of 10 engineers cleans and maintains the sculpture.

Chihuly considers it to be one of his most important pieces.

9.  FORMOSA BOULEVARD STATION -- TAIWAN

The Kaohsiung MRT Formosa Boulevard Station is a metro station located in Sinsing District, Kaohsiung, in Taiwan.

The station is known for its "Dome of Light," designed by Italian artist Narcissus Quagliata. It is the largest glass work in the world, at 30 metres in diameter, spanning 2,180 square metres. It is made up of 4,500 contemporary stained glass panels.

10. ERAWAN MUSEUM -- BANGKOK, THAILAND

Erawan Museum, in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand, is known for its giant three-headed elephant art display.

The elephant is three stories high and weighs 250-tons. Climb its intricately carved stairway lined with ornate pillars to reach its gorgeous stained glass ceiling, including images and symbology from all major religions. The interior of one of the heads contains a temple with ancient Buddha statues on display.

Read more about Beautiful Decorations in  Over-The-Top Destination Christmas Trees,  Time to Decorate Somebody! Mesmerizing Neon Mandalas by James Stanford, 10 Swoon-Worthy New Design & Decorating Books, Flower Power Decorating: Mark Colle and Time For Delicious Decorations: Biscuiteers.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Contest. We run new creative contest every week!

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by rhodeson. “La Belle France, etc.” Palau de la Musica Catalana. Barcelona, Spain.
2. Image: by Paulo Valdivieso. “Palau de la Música.” Palau de la Musica Catalana. Barcelona, Spain.
3. Image: by Michelle. “Palais Dolmabahçe.” Palais Dolmabahçe. İstanbul, Turkey.
4. Image: by Gryffindor. “The Ambassadors' Hall (Süfera Salonu) in Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul.” Dolmabahçe Palace. İstanbul, Turkey.
5. Image: by Mbzt. “La Galerie d'Apollon du Louvre - Paris.” Louvre Museum. Paris, France.
6. Image: by Dennis Jarvis. “Turkey - Blue Mosque.” Blue Mosque. Istanbul, Turkey.
7. Image: by BRJ INC. “Saint Isaac's Cathedral.” St Isaac’s Cathedral. Moscow, Russia.
8. Image: by scyrene. “Ceiling.” Thistle Chapel at St Giles' Cathedral. Edinburgh, Scotland.
9. Image: by paul bica. “Thank you.” Commerce Court ceiling. Commerce Court Building. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
10. Image: by Don McCullough. “The Ceiling at the Bellagio.” “Fiori di Como,” by Dale Chihuly. Bellagio Hotel. Las Vegas, Nevada.
11. Image: by James Wu. Kaohsiung MRT Formosa Boulevard Station. Taiwan.
12. Image: by Ivo Verhaar. “Thailand, Bangkok.” Erawan Museum. Bangkok, Thailand.
13. Image: by neajjean. “Benjawan pottery decoration.” Erawan Museum. Bangkok, Thailand.
14. Image: by Via Tsuji. “Can you spot the fiori shell?” “Fiori di Como,” glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. Bellagio Hotel. Las Vegas, Nevada.
15. Image: by MOSSOT. “Palais du Louvre - Galerie d'Apollon - Eugène Delacroix.” Louvre Museum. Paris, France.
16. Image: by Dennis Jarvis. “France.” Louvre Museum. Paris, France.