8 Amazing Must See Ancient Ruins of the World

The world is full of amazing ruins. From the Greek temple complex of Acropolis, to the Great Wall of China and beyond, these ancient sites are some of the most popular destinations in the world. But they're not just famous because they're beautiful; they also tell us so much about our ancestors and cultures that lived thousands of years ago. From their architecture to their significance as religious centers, each one tells us something different about how people used to live. In this post we'll take a look at eight amazing ancient ruins around the globe; let's start with...

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is an ancient Incan city in Peru. According to mainstream scholars, It was built around 1450 AD by the Inca emperor Pachacuti as a retreat from Cusco, and it was built with such precision that not a single nail was used to construct any of its hundreds of buildings. The city remained hidden for centuries until American Hiram Bingham discovered it in 1911, after which it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Machu Picchu is located on a mountain top in the Andes Mountains overlooking the Urubamba Valley. It consists of several terraces and temples, including Akapana Temple (the largest) and Temple of Three Windows. The city also features agricultural terraces that were used to farm potatoes, maize and other crops; these terraces are still being farmed today!

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is one of the most famous and longest man-made structures in the world. It stretches more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers), from Liaoning Province in northeast China to Gansu Province in northwest China. Most of the wall was built in a span of about 700 years, between 220 BC and 220 AD. It took about 2 centuries for thousands upon thousands of people to build this amazing structure! They were laborers, soldiers and prisoners who were ordered by their emperor to work on it as a form of punishment or labor force assigned by their feudal lords. The Chinese dynasties used walls like these as defensive measures against invasions from nomadic groups on horseback.

Angkor Wat

One of the most famous religious sites in Southeast Asia is Angkor Wat, a temple complex built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century. The temple is located in Cambodia and can be found near Siem Reap City. It was constructed as a personal mausoleum for the king and was later expanded to include more buildings that served as places for worship.

Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world and has appeared on national flags and currency of Cambodia since at least 1863. Today it welcomes millions of visitors from around the world each year who wish to see its many intricate carvings and religious sculptures or learn about its history as one of Southeast Asia’s major tourist attractions.

The site itself covers approximately 400 hectares (1,000 acres), making it one of largest archaeological sites today—a fact that makes it even harder for archaeologists hoping to discover new information about how this ancient civilization functioned!

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, 2 miles west of Amesbury and 8 miles north of Salisbury. Stonehenge consists of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around 13 feet high. The stone circle is surrounded by a circular earth bank and ditch that together are about 1 mile long. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. It is managed by English Heritage (formerly known as English Nature).

Karnak Temple Complex

Karnak Temple Complex is an ancient religious site located in Luxor, Egypt. It is a vast complex of temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings that was built over thousands of years by different rulers. The main temple was dedicated to Amon-Ra, one of the most important gods in ancient Egypt. The first known construction at Karnak occurred during the reigns of Amenhotep I and Tuthmosis I in around 1550 BC; however it wasn't until 700 years later during the New Kingdom era (1550 BCE - 1069 BCE) that construction really began on this site.

The Parthenon

The Parthenon is a temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. It was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena and constructed between 447–432 BCE. The temple was designed by Ictinus and Callicrates with input from Phidias. It was decorated with sculptures made by Pheidias as well as Praxiteles, Polion, and others. The Parthenon is considered one of the most famous monuments in the world and has been featured in many films and television shows such as Mission Impossible III (2006).

Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis. According to mainstream scholars, It was built from around 2560 BC to 2540 BC, during the 4th dynasty. One of the most well-known ancient buildings on Earth, the Great Pyramid has a base length of 230 meters (755 ft), and rises to a height at its peak of 146.5 meters (481 ft). The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus called it one of "The Seven Wonders" of his time. The exact construction date remains unknown.

Teotihuacan Pyramids

Teotihuacan, or “The Place Where Men Become Gods,” is an ancient city located in central Mexico. It was founded around 100 BCE and grew to be the largest city in pre-Columbian America by 650 CE.

Teotihuacan was originally built by the Toltec, who migrated from Tula (a city in Hidalgo) around 300 CE after its fall. They settled on a site that had been inhabited since the Archaic period (900 BCE–200 CE). The name Teotihuacan means “the place where men become gods” in Nahuatl, although it’s also speculated that it could mean “the place where we are born again.” Although not as famous as many of its contemporaries such as Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat, there’s no shortage of things to see at Teotihuacan.

These eight ancient ruins are the remnants of civilizations that have come and gone. They tell us not just about how these people once lived, but also how they lived with nature and their environment. This is especially important today when we are faced with many of the same problems as our ancestors faced thousands of years ago!