Visit the most beautiful vestiges and ruins of the old time through this top in 30 photographs!
While modern structures can be more impressive from an architectural point of view, technological developments used and their beauty, the works of the past also have their say .
The ruins of the world have resisted the test of time and are still standing for the wonder of travellers. Technically, they did not completely resist the test of time, otherwise we would not call them ruins. Most of the methods used to build these Ancient cities , temples and monuments remain quite mysterious, and building them today would still be considered an impressive feat.
Discover these 30 beautiful ancient ruins from all over the world and go visit them by yourself.
1. Machu Picchu, Peru
Flickr – Boris G
The Machu Picchu , a site of the 15th century Inca which would have been one of the residences of Emperor Pachacútec, was «discovered» by Hiram Bingham in 1911. A popular tourist attraction (and in danger), the Machu Picchu is 2,438 meters above sea level.
2. Chichén Itzá, Mexico
Flickr – Ted Van Pelt
The Mayan pre-Columbian city of Chichén Itzá is visited by more than 1.2 million people per year (which makes it one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico). It is located not far from Cancún .
3. Stonehenge, England
Flickr – Kate Williams
Surrounded by hundreds of tumulus nearby, Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, England. The archaeologists think the site was built between 3000 and 2000 BC. His name means "the suspended stones".
4. Ta Prohm temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Flickr – Paolo Macorig
Temple that we saw in the film Tomb Raider Ta Prohm was originally called Rājavihara. While most Angkor temples have been largely reconstructed, Ta Prohm remains mainly in its state of origin. It was founded as a Buddhist monastery and university Mahāyāna. You can, among other things, visit the temples of Angkor by bike .
5. The caves of Longmen, China
Flickr – Jiang Jiang
More than 1,400 caves populated with more than 100,000 statues are the caves of Longmen, also known as the caves of the Dragon Gate. Some of the statues are only 2.5 cm tall, while the largest statue of Buddha is 17.30 m tall.
6. The temple of Borobudur, Java, Indonesia
Flickr – Dennis Stauffer
The largest Buddhist temple in the world, Borobudur is composed of six square platforms with three circular platforms resting above them. 2 672 reliefs and 504 statues of Buddha adorn the temple. The Borobudur temple is built with nearly 1,600,000 volcanic stone blocks. It is listed in the World Heritage of Humanity.
7. The temple of Luxor, Egypt
Flickr – Scott D. Haddow
Founded in 1400 BC, the temple of Luxor is a stoneware temple located in the current town of Luxor ( Thèbes in Antiquity). Five other large temples can be found in the area. You can find this temple during a cruise on the Nile .
8. The Wall of Hadrian, England
Flickr – Jimmy McIntyre
Hadrian’s wall was a fortification that marked the north of the Roman Empire in Great Britain. Much of the wall is still visible, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. The majority of the wall was built over six years.
9. Colosseum, Rome
Flickr – I-Ta Tsai
Located in Rome, the Colosseum is also known as the "Flavian amphitheatre". The largest Roman amphitheatre in the world, it was built in concrete and stone from 70 to 80 AD. You can visit the Colosseum with a cut-file ticket .
10. Baalbek, Lebanon
Flickr – Debraj Ghosh
Sharing some of the best preserved Roman ruins in Lebanon, Baalbek is located in the north of the Bekaa plain. The city was called Héliopolis in the Roman era.
11. Volubilis, Morocco
Flickr – Mark A Neal
Roman city, partially searched, founded in the 3rd century BC, Volubilis was originally a Phoenician colony. The city was abandoned around the 11th century when the seat of power in Morocco was transferred to Fes.
12. Bagan, Burma
Flickr – opalpeterliu
Bagan was the capital of the Pagan kingdom from the 9th century to the 13th century. Today we can still find more than 2200 temples and pagodas. At its peak, City of Bagan There were more than 10,000 Buddhist temples.
13. Mycenes, Greece
Flickr – I-Ta Tsai
Mycenes, a Greek military fortress, is considered one of the most important sites of ancient Greece. The period of history from 1600 to 1100 BC is referred to as mycenian, with reference to the city.
14. Gérasa, Jordan
Flickr – Jeremy Seto
Originally built at the time of Alexander the Great, the ancient city of Gérasa (or Jerash) was organized by a number of successive empires. In 749 AD, an earthquake destroyed much of the city. War and subsequent earthquakes have accentuated its degradation. The ruins remained buried until it was discovered in 1806.
15. Les Moaïs du Rano Raraku, island of Easter, Chile
Flickr – anoldent
It is on the slopes of the Rano Raraku (volcano) that there are former moai careers on Easter Island. The Rapanui people carved these human figures, or moai, between 1250 and 1500 AD. The largest moai weighs 82 tons and the simple move is considered a more impressive feat.
16. Tulum, Mexico
Flickr – Chris Lemanz
Tulum is another pre-Columbian Mayan site, known to be one of the last cities built by the Mayas. The most famous and best preserved buildings of this fortified city are El Castillo , Temple of God descending , and Fresque Temple .
17. Tiwanaku, Bolivia
Flickr – Cata Bravo
Researchers consider Tiwanaku (also known as Tihuanaco ) as one of the most important pre-incas civilizations in this region. The empire of which Tiwanaku was the capital flourished from the year 300 to 1000 of our era.
18. Teotihuacan, Mexico
Flickr – José Luis Ruiz
The origins of this Mesoamerican city are disturbed, but we know that it has possibly reached a population of more than 150,000 people at its peak. It houses not only the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun, but also residential complexes and the "Allée des Morts".
19. Palmyra, Syria
Flickr – James Gordon
215 km northeast of Damascus, Palmyra was an ancient Aramaic town located in an oasis. The most remarkable building in the city is the temple of Ba’al.
20. Cappadocia, Turkey
Flickr – Nick Wadge
The Cappadoce housed the Hitler Empire. Many of the temples and houses of the Cappadocia were cut directly into the rocky structures called "fair chimneys", visible in the picture above. The first mention of the name "Cappadoce" dates back to the end of the 6th century BC.
21. Amphitheatre of El Jem, Tunisia
Flickr – Walid Mahfoudh
The amphitheatre of El Jem is one of the vestiges of the Roman city of Thysdrus, known today as El Jem. The amphitheatre could accommodate 35,000 people. Several scenes of the film Gladiator in particular, were filmed here.
22. Wat Ratchaburana, Thailand
Flickr – Heiko S
Buddhist temple located in the historic park of Ayutthaya, North Bangkok The Wat Ratchaburana was founded in 1424 by King Borommarachathirat II on the cremation site of his two elder brothers, who died in a duel for the succession of the throne.
23. Petra, Jordan
Flickr – Jimmy Álvarez
The most visited tourist attraction in Jordan, Petra is famous for its upscale architecture. The city is also known as "Rose City" because of the color of the rock from which it was cut.
24. Bath Thermal Baths, England
Flickr – Ignacio García
Built between the year 60 and 70 of our era, the Roman bath complex is very well preserved. Combined with the Pump Room (neo-classical soap where water is pumped to be consumed), the site receives more than 1 million visitors each year. Unfortunately, we can’t swim there.
25. Pompeii, Italy
Flickr – Francesco Minciotti
Pompei , an ancient Roman city near the present Naples, was destroyed and buried in the ashes and stones punctuated after the eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 AD. About 2.5 million people visit Pompeii every year.
26. Ellorâ, India
Flickr – Kunal Mukherjee
Ellorâ, an Indian archaeological site, is best known for its caves. There are 34 and these structures were excavated from a vertical wall of the Charanandri hills.
27. Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona, United States
Flickr – Steven Reynolds
You can discover these troglodytic dwellings very well preserved in the Montezuma Castle National Monument Arizona. They were built by the Indian people of Sinaguas.
28. Ephesus, Turkey
Flickr – Kunal Mukherjee
Ancient Greek city on the Ionian coast, Ephesus was especially famous for its temple of Artemis. The temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, was largely destroyed in 268 AD by the Goths.
29. The caves of Ajantâ, India
Flickr – Kunal Mukherjee
Similar to the caves of Ellorâ, the caves of Ajantâ consist of about 30 Buddhist monuments carved in the rock. The area was covered in dense foliage until it was rediscovered by chance in 1819.
30. Cobá, Mexico
Flickr – Alejandro C
Not far from the ruins of Tulum, Cobá was a pre-Columbian Mayan city. At its peak, it would have counted more than 50,000 inhabitants. The highest pyramid of the site is 42 m high.
Have you visited these vestiges of the ancient times? Would you add others?
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