Most Amazing Ancient Ruins of the World

23/07/2022

21/07/2022

Pompeii

The eerie ruins of Pompeii can be found near the Italian city of Naples. When the iconic Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it destroyed the Roman city in waves of lava and took the lives of over 2,000 residents along with it.

The ancient city first discovered by accident beneath the volcanic rock in the 1950s is remarkably well preserved. However, it wasn’t until two decades later that it was properly excavated.

To this day, 22 of the original 66 hectares have not been unearthed. You can walk down the streets of these ancient Roman ruins and imagine the town as it was in its heyday. There are the remains of stone houses, temples, bakeries, and even a brothel.

21/07/2022

Hampi

The second-largest medieval city after Beijing, Hampi was one of the wealthiest in India. Once the thriving epicenter of the Karnata Empire with temples and imperial palaces, now only crumbling ruins remain. Founded in the 14th-century by two princes, the former capital began as a simple riverside religious center.

Highlights include the temple that served as the royal family’s personal place of worship, the House of Victory, the Vitthala Temple with its stone chariot and musical pillars, and the main temple with its carvings of strange-looking sea creatures.

19/07/2022

Masada

The ancient fortress of Masada is possibly one of the most impressive ruins on the planet. Perched on a cliff top overlooking the Judaean Desert and the Dead Sea in Israel, the site is hauntingly beautiful. Dating back over thousands of years, it was built as the palace of King Herod.

It had modern creature comforts such as a bathhouse and even private swimming pools. More famously, the enormous fortification saw the last stand of the Jewish Revolt who chose death over a life of Roman slavery.

Today, the military camps and battlements are the best-preserved examples of Roman siege works in history. Two pathways lead to the top and while grueling in the beating sun, the views are worth it!

19/07/2022

Sigiriya

Sigiriya is an ancient fortress carved into a 200-meter vertical rock face near the town of Dambulla in Sri Lanka. On top of what is now known as Lion Rock are the fascinating remains of an ancient civilization, thought to be the capital of the kingdom of Kassapa.

In its heyday, it included a citadel, an upper palace, a mirror wall with stunning colorful frescoes, and a gateway in the shape of a lion. After the king passed, the capital was abandoned and it was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th-century.

While the climb to the top of Sigiriya is certainly not for the faint-hearted, the views of the water features, ramparts, terraced gardens and cave shrines will be worth the effort.

17/07/2022

Mesa Verde

Deep in the American Southwest, you’ll find Mesa Verde National Park with its fascinating collection of 600 ancient clifftop dwellings. The most famous of these dwellings is the Cliff Palace, built into an enormous sandstone alcove that’s protected it from the elements for over seven centuries.

It’s the largest of its kind in North America and unlike the rest of the dwellings that contained just a few rooms for residential purposes, the palace had over 150 rooms and 23 sacred kivas. Having been lived in for close to a century, these unusual cliff-side villages were suddenly abandoned in the 13th-century. Nobody really knows why.

15/07/2022

Stonehenge

Dotted along the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, Stonehenge is easily one of the most recognized ancient ruins in the world. Dating back over 5,000 years, these curious stone rings are some of the oldest stone structures on the planet. Created out of sandstone, they are ensconced in mystery.

Who built them and why is still largely unknown. Two popular theories maintain that Stonehenge was used as a site for religious rituals or otherwise to monitor the movements of the sun and moon. As you only need two hours to explore the ruins of Stonehenge and its adjacent museum, a day trip from London is often combined with a visit to Windsor or Bath.

13/07/2022

Ayuthaya

Founded around the year 1350, Ayutthaya is a historical city that began as a Khmer military and trading post. It wasn’t long before this thriving trading port became the ancient capital of Thailand. It held onto this title for four centuries until it was burned down by Burmese invaders.

As many of the temples and relics of the city were crafted from wood, the large majority were destroyed. Only around 50 stone relics and temples survived the fire and can still be seen today. Since renovations started in the 1970s, exploring Ayutthaya’s mix of Siamese, Sri Lankan and Khmer architecture has become a popular day trip from Bangkok.