Around The World In 80 Treasures (2005) BBC

Episode 2: Mexico to Central North America

Episode 2: Mexico to Central North America

9. Southern Mexico: Palenque, Mayan city showcasing some of their finest architecture, sculpture, and stucco reliefs.

10. Tollan Tula, Mexico: The Giants of Tula, 10th century stone sculptures/columns of Toltec warriors dressed in feathers and gods.

11. Mexico City, Mexico: Man, Controller of the Universe. Painting by Diego Rivera, commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller, embodying the struggle between capitalism and communism. A recreation of the destroyed original Man at the Crossroads.

12. Cortez, Colorado: 1851 Navy Colt revolver. Navy Revolver mass-produced, six-shot handgun used in the American Civil War and subsequently used in fulfilling the Manifest Destiny.

13. Colorado: Mesa Verde National Park, a small community built under a rock shelf by a mysterious people.

14. Charlottesville, Virginia: Monticello, home designed and built in the late 18th century by Thomas Jefferson.

15. New York, New York: Statue of Liberty, a 151 feet tall statue given by France to the United States to commemorate the centennial since the American Declaration of Independence.

16 Manhattan, New York: Seagram Building, Dan's quintessence of the skyscraper commercial design.

Around the World in 80 Treasures

Around the World in 80 Treasures is a 10 episode art and travel documentary series by the BBC, presented by Dan Cruickshank, and originally aired in February, March, and April 2005. The title is a reference to Around the World in Eighty Days, the classic adventure novel by Jules Verne.



In this series, Cruickshank takes a five month world tour visiting his choices of the eighty greatest man-made treasures, including buildings and artifacts. His tour takes him through 34 countries and 6 of the 7 continents (he does not visit Antarctica).



In addition to seeing some of the world's greatest treasures, Cruickshank tries many different kinds of food including testicle, brain, and insects. His means of transportation included airplanes, trains, camel, donkey, foot, bicycle, scooter, hang glider, and boats.



A tie-in book of the same title was also published, written as a journal during the trip and containing much behind-the-scenes detail on the making of the programme in addition to Cruikshank's reflections on the treasures themselves.



Cruickshank's fondness of architecture is evident, with many of his chosen treasures being buildings or other man-made structures. The official BBC DVD of the series was released on 19 May 2008. Licenses for DVD releases have been sold to many countries around the world.