Natural and Man-made Points of Interest Around the World
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Landmarks that were built in antiquity and still survive today.
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These twin temples were carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. Their relocation in the 1960's was necessary to avoid their being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser.
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Sigiriya (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress and ruins of a castle. It was used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery in ancient times, and the garden and palace were built by King Kashyapa in the fifth century A.D.
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Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, some reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern
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Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. Other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, a
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Built by the Maya civilization sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries AD, "El Castillo" served as a temple to the god Kukulcan.
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This is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.
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The largest monolith statue in the world, it stands 73.5 metres (241 ft) long, 6 m (20 ft) wide, and 20 m (65 ft) high. Commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians in the 3rd millennium BC, it is the earliest known monumental sculpture.
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The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art.
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The ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire during the Achaemenid dynasty (558–330 BCE), the buildings at Persepolis include three general groupings: military quarters, the treasury, and the reception halls and occasional houses for the King.
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This is an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt that originally stood on the island of Philae in the Nile. It was moved to the island of Agilkai by UNESCO in the 1970s to protect the temple and monuments from flood waters.
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The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India after an invasion and failed uprising in 1959. Today the Potala Palace has been converted into a museum by the Chinese.
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Baalbeck, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its height. Known as Heliopolis, the city was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire.
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Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones and sits at the centre of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England.
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