Secretariat Building, Yangon

This sprawling red-brick colonial complex in the heart of the former capital was the administrative seat of British Burma, an imposing Victorian structure of arcades, wings and a central dome occupying an entire city block. It is remembered above all as the place where the country's independence leader and several colleagues were assassinated in the 1940s, an event commemorated within the building. Long neglected, it has undergone restoration and now hosts cultural events and exhibitions.