Medieval
32 buildings
Hagia Sophia
The dome rises 184 feet with a diameter of 102 feet. Remained the largest cathedral for 1,...
Angkor Wat
The largest religious monument in the world at 402 acres. Built by King Suryavarman II usi...
Great Wall of China
Stretches over 13,170 miles including all branches. Built over 2,000 years by multiple dyn...
Notre-Dame de Paris
Over 180 years of construction. The flying buttresses were revolutionary engineering. Vict...
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Began leaning during construction due to soft ground. The tilt reached 5.5 degrees before ...
Chichen Itza
The pyramid has 365 steps, one for each day of the year. During equinoxes a shadow serpent...
Alhambra
The last major Islamic stronghold in Spain. Over 2 million visitors annually. The muqarnas...
Tower of London
Founded by William the Conqueror. Over 1,000 years of history. The Crown Jewels contain 23...
Chartres Cathedral
Contains 176 stained glass windows covering 26,000 square feet. The 4,000 sculpted figures...
Moai
Over 900 statues carved by the Rapa Nui people. The largest erected statue is 33 feet tall...
Borobudur
The largest Buddhist temple in the world. Over 2,600 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues....
Angkor Thom
The last capital of the Khmer Empire. The South Gate features 54 gods and 54 demons pullin...
Piazza San Marco
Known as the drawing room of Europe by Napoleon. St Marks Basilica has over 8,000 square m...
Ephesus
The Library of Celsus held 12,000 scrolls. The Great Theater seated 25,000. The Temple of ...
Persepolis
The ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Burned by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. ...
Ellora Caves
34 caves carved from a basalt cliff. Features Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples side by si...
Mesa Verde
Over 4,700 archaeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings. The Ancestral Puebloans liv...
Dome of the Rock
The oldest Islamic monument. The gold dome was originally made of gold but is now gold-col...
Borobudur detail
See Borobudur main entry....
Angkor Wat detail
See Angkor Wat main entry....
Abu Simbel
Two rock temples commissioned by Ramesses the Great. The great temple facade shows four 67...
Temple of Artemis
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Built at Ephesus to honor the Greek goddess...
Mezquita of Cordoba
The Great Mosque of Cordoba, later converted into a cathedral. Its forest of 856 columns o...
Basilica Cistern
An enormous underground water hall built by Justinian I. Stores 80,000 cubic meters of wat...
Derinkuyu Underground City
The largest excavated underground city in the world. Extends 280 feet down through at leas...
Rock Churches of Lalibela
Eleven medieval churches carved downward into volcanic rock. Built as a New Jerusalem afte...
Great Zimbabwe
The largest ancient stone structure south of the Sahara. Capital of a trading empire that ...
Todai-ji
A Buddhist temple in Nara housing a giant bronze Buddha. The Daibutsuden was once the larg...
Leshan Giant Buddha
The largest stone Buddha statue in the world at 233 feet tall. Carved into a riverside cli...
Milan Cathedral
One of the largest churches in the world. Construction began in 1386 and took nearly six c...
Westminster Abbey
The coronation church of English and British monarchs. Every coronation since William the ...
Tikal
The ruins of a great Maya city deep in the rainforest. Temple IV rises 230 feet above the ...