By Corey Sandler
One of our planet’s cross-cultural entertainments is a revolving circle with chairs hung from the rim. Slow and steady, riders go up and over the top and then return to exactly where they started.
I’m speaking, of course, of a Ferris Wheel, also known as an observation wheel or a big wheel.
We’ve traveled the world for decades, and it never ceases to surprise me to arrive in a strange place and see a familiar sight: a wheel.
The term Ferris Wheel dates from George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.’s centerpiece for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. There had been smaller wooden amusements of this type for hundreds of years, but Ferris dreamt big and used steel and his 264-foot-tall wheel ended up also carrying his name forward into the present day.
A London Icon
There are few more dramatic locations for an observation wheel than along the River Thames in London, and it was there that the London Eye opened in 2000 as part of the Millennium celebrations.
It stands 443 feet tall, its outer rim supported by tensioned steel cables like a bicycle wheel. The 32 glass-enclosed cabins can each hold as many as 25 people, giving views of capital city in all directions. Thousands of marriage proposals, more than a few weddings, and who knows what else might have happened on an uncrowded night.
Above the Ice
Another dramatic observation wheel is La Grande Roue de Montréal, a 198-foot-tall attraction along the Saint Lawrence River.
Beautiful all year round, the trip in mid-winter is cold…and spectacular, merging into the wondrous entertainments of Montréal en Lumière (Montreal in Lights) held in February and March. Did I mention it is cold? And wondrous?
Boston’s Frostival
In February 2026, Boston–another cold place in winter–put on the first Frostival festival. There were events all through the city but an instant highlight was the installation of a Ferris Wheel along the hah-bah.
It was a bit of a challenge, since opening day came about a week after a 20-inch snowfall blanketed the city. I enjoyed watching the installation of the wheel, which arrived folded in on itself on a single long trailer. It expanded up and out like a fan. The chairs are not enclosed; there are, though, many bahs serving likka around town.
The open cars offered very little protection from the elements. And then in mid-February a massive blizzard arrived in New England dropping several feet of snow blown by winds nearing 70mph. The operators had to have had their concerns; as the storm approached they unbolted the cars on the top half of the wheel. The wheel stayed in place along the water here in The Hub of the Universe. (That’s an old slightly boastful nickname for Boston, dontcha know?)
A Wheel with a View of Mount Fuji
Shimizu in the city of Shizuoka is many things at once: a bustling port that is home to fishing vessels and cargo ships, seafood processing plants, and a fanatical fan base for the local football team. Oh, and when you put your back to the city and look out into the harbor, spectacular views of Mount Fuji.
After we had completed touristy things, I spent the day exploring the city itself and ended up caught up in an amusement park crammed with Japanese cartoon and anime characters: The S-Pulse Dream Plaza includes a shopping mall, movie theaters, a food court, a somewhat fishy museum, and a Ferris wheel.
The mall is named after the Shimizu S-Pulse, whose stadium is located nearby.
About the historical collection: the Shimizu Sushi Museum tells you everything you never knew you wanted to know about raw fish. And unlike most other museums, if you see something you like you just might be able to eat a sample at one of the restaurants at the park.
Bright Lights, Big City
Kobe, on Japan’s main island of Honshu, is the nation’s third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. So, of course, it demands a big wheel.
The Mosaic Ferris Wheel is situated on a peninsula with restaurants, gaming parlors, and children of all ages. The wheel includes gondolas dedicated to Dokin-chan, a popular cartoon character in the Apanman series.
I’m quoting here: “Dokinchan is an orange-red germ with pink shoes and white hands. She has a single antenna, and a long tail.”
Okay, then. About the wheel: it has one of the more complex nighttime lighting designs, nicely reflected on the water of Kobe harbor.
The Grande Roue of Marseille
Marseille in the south of France has a little bit of everything: history, commerce, conflict, and a big wheel along the harbor or the beach.
This is a city of broad shoulders, not as sophisticated as Paris, and the people are renowned for what seems like rough and tough attitudes but is really more of a reflection of its working class economy.
But they do have a Ferris Wheel: the Grande Roue is usually moved seasonally between the Vieux-Port (the Old Port) and Escale Borély, south of the city near the beach.
In my photo below, it is installed in the harbor at the base of the hill that is crowned by Notre-Dame de la Garde (“Our Lady of the Guard”) which seems to hover above the city. The locals often use a different nickname: “La Bonne Mère” (The Good Mother.)
Tall, Small, and Weird
I’ve saved the strangest for last.
Batumi, Georgia (on the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains about 12 miles north of Turkey and 166 miles south of Sochi in Russia, has seen a lot of history over the millennia.
This is the place, according to ancient Greek mythology, where Jason and the Argonauts were headed in their search for the Golden Fleece. We saw references to Jason all around Batumi (in the mythology it was called Colchis.)
Its strategic location and deep-water port made it an essential stop on trade routes, and over the centuries Colchis and then Batumi was ruled by the Kingdom of Georgia, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union.
Today it is an independent nation, somewhat nervously watching Russia, and keeping an eye across the Black Sea at Ukraine. On the other side of the mountains is oil-rich Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea and below Azerbaijan is Iran. Tough neighborhood.
The country has had mixed success in holding on to a stable democracy, with overtures toward the European Union and NATO but also dealing with pressure from Russia.
Perhaps because of parlous politics, Batumi became an off-key version of a skewed place; think Las Vegas on the Black Sea. A lot of money arrived, looking for a place to park, which led to some seemingly shady deals.
And a Ferris Wheel.
A modern home for the Black Sea Technological University was constructed near the harbor, 656 feet tall with a bit of a pyramid shape.
About halfway up the structure, the designers installed a Ferris Wheel set into its facade with eight enclosed cabins. It was to be the world’s first skyscraper with a built-in wheel.
But the university never opened, and the Ferris Wheel hardly ever turned a full circle.
In 2015 the building was auctioned and sold, with plans to convert it into a Le Méridien hotel plus luxury residences and a casino, spa, and restaurants.
The hotel and residences have finally opened. And the Ferris Wheel is still there, although it is not in use.
Other architectural oddities in Batumi include the Alphabet Tower, a 500-foot-tall structure inspired by strand of DNA and wrapped with all 33 characters of the difficult-to-decipher Georgian alphabet. A restaurant rotates at the top.
Currently under construction is the 42-story Cube, looking like a pile of Jenga blocks.
Copyright 2026 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com
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