🇧🇴 Bolivia · Pyramid
Akapana Pyramid (Tiwanaku)
Tiwanaku Middle Horizon 400–1000 CE (Akapana c.500–800 CE) · Tiwanaku
Artificial mountain pyramid at core of Tiwanaku (400–1000 CE) altiplano capital: 18 m high (originally ~18 m, 18?
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CategoriesTemple complexes
Sacred precincts, sanctuaries and the architecture of ritual.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Hellenistic (Lysimachus to Attalid) · Ionian Hellenistic (Hermogenes architect) and Tean Technitai guild
110-m-north altar courtyard and Technitai guild hall of Teos Dionysus sanctuary.
🇧🇴 Bolivia · Pyramid
Tiwanaku Middle Horizon 400–1000 CE (Akapana c.500–800 CE) · Tiwanaku
Artificial mountain pyramid at core of Tiwanaku (400–1000 CE) altiplano capital: 18 m high (originally ~18 m, 18?
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Temple complex
Khorezmian Kalaly to Kushan 400 BCE–300 CE · Khorezmian Zoroastrian
Zoroastrian temple town (c.400 BCE–300 CE) 2 km southeast of Kalaly-Gyr 1 — walled sacred precinct 120×90 m with tripartite fire temple, columned ayvan, and ossuary chambers, excavated 1981 by M.G.
🇰🇷 South Korea · Temple complex
Three Kingdoms Silla 553–668 → Unified Silla 668–935 → Goryeo 935–1238 · Silla state Buddhism (Hwangnyongsa doctrinal)
Hwangnyongsa — largest Silla temple (553–1238 CE) 800 m north Wolseong, Gyeongju plain, excavated 1976–83 CHA (Gyeongju Institute).
🇪🇬 Egypt · Archaeological wonder
Late Period to Ptolemaic–Roman (600 BCE–200 CE) · Ancient Egyptian / Greco-Egyptian
Hermopolis ibis catacombs 1 km galleries, Petosiris tomb 300 BCE and Isadora shrine marking Amarna boundary.
🇮🇪 Ireland · Temple complex
Early Medieval (c.590–1398 CE) · Early Christian Gaelic (Anchorite tradition)
Wicklow glacial valley monastic city (6th century St Kevin) with 33 m round tower, medieval churches and double lakes.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty · Ancient Egyptian
6-ha memorial of Ramesses II with 60-m pylons, Kadesh reliefs and 1,000-t colossus 'Ozymandias'.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Napatan to Meroitic and Christian (680 BCE–500 CE) · Kushite (Napatan/Meroitic)
Kushite temple mound on Argo Island (Taharqa, 700 BCE), 75.6 m Amun temple, 15 m high mound.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Sixteen Kingdoms to Tang · Hexi Buddhist (Xiliang, N Wei, Sui, Tang)
1.2-km-west thousand-niche vertical cliff with 1200 Buddhas and Tang malachite murals.
🇵🇪 Peru · Temple complex
Late Horizon Inca Imperial (c.1440–1532 CE) · Inca (Pachacuti – Huanca integration)
Intact Inca palace-temple (1450–1530, Inca Pachacuti–Topa period) uniquely fused with Spanish church San Juan Bautista (1570s): walls 3 m thick coursed imperial Inca ashlar with 28 trapezoidal niches…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Northern Dynasties to Qing (Western Wei to 19th c.) · Han-Tibetan Buddhist communities of Longxi
Yellow River Tibetan fringe 5-cave scarp Western Wei 540 CE seated Buddha with Tibetan repaint.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Maya Postclassic Contact · Maya Kaqchikel
Kaqchikel capital Iximché (1470–1524 CE): hilltop twin-pyramid plazas Temple 2 10 m with ballcourt and 40 m ravine defences, first Spanish capital of Guatemala 1524.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Byzantine to Present (Justinian–continuous) · Byzantine Greek Orthodox / Bedouin Jebeleya
Saint Catherine Monastery (548–565 CE Justinian I) is world's oldest continuously operating Christian monastery at 1585 m foot of Mount Sinai intra Wadi el-Deir.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Late Classic 226 BCE–800 CE (apogee 615–800 CE Early–Late Classic) · Maya (B'aakal / Palenque dynasty; Western Maya lowlands)
Maya Classic capital of B'aakal on Chiapas foothills with low jungle: Temple of Inscriptions (22 m pyramid with 69-step Hieroglyphic Stair recording dynastic history and Pakal's vault; Pakal the…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Roman–Syriac (1st–5th century CE) with Bronze/Iron Age antecedents · Harranian Sabian / Edessan Aramaean → Roman / Byzantine
Tektek hilltop Sin-cult oasis with seven baetyl sanctuaries and Syriac rock inscriptions.
🇭🇳 Honduras · Pyramid
Classic Maya (250–900 CE) · Maya (Copán dynasty, Yax Kuk Mo lineage)
Defining Classic Maya southeastern capital (250–900 CE) 12 km from Guatemala border, population 27,000.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Maya Postclassic (Ko'woj) · Maya Ko'woj (Itza-Ko'woj frontier)
Lake-island Postclassic capital Topoxté (1200–1450 CE) in Lake Yaxhá: 14.7 m Temple C flat-roofed pyramid with central Mexican Postclassic traits on fortified islet.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Preclassic to Late Classic (300 BCE–750 CE) · Maya (Petén lowland, Tikal adversary)
Steep ridge-top Early Classic royal acropolis (c.300 BCE–750 CE, zenith 350–550 CE) 7 km west of Tikal's enemy El Zotz main group, dominated by 30 m high Diablo Pyramid (terraced platform with summit…
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Initial Period (Casma/Sechin, 1800–900 BCE, peak 1500 BCE) · Casma–Sechin culture (Initial Period, Casma Valley)
Largest Formative Period platform in Americas (1800–900 BCE, Initial Period peak 1500 BCE): principal mound 300×250 m base, 44 m high with two lateral broad platforms forming U around plaza 300×250 m…
🇫🇷 France · Temple complex
The Grand Mosque of Paris (French: Grande Mosquée de Paris, pronounced [ɡʁɑ̃d mɔske d(ə) paʁi]; Arabic: مسجد باريس الكبير), also known as the Great Mosque of Paris or simply the Paris Mosque, located…
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Temple complex
Sa Huynh Iron Age 500 BCE–200 CE → Champa Vijaya 1100–1500 CE · Sa Huynh → Champa (Austronesian Vijaya)
Vijaya Champa double-tower 12th c at Binh Dinh north of Qui Nhon — Binh Dinh style with Sa Huynh jar burials beneath.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Napatan–Meroitic (683 BCE–350 CE) with New Kingdom predecessor · Kushite (Napatan/Meroitic) with Egyptian Pharonic legacy
Napatan holy city of Gematen (Kawa) with Taharqa's Temple T (683 BCE) and pyramid cemetery.
🇧🇿 Belize · Pyramid
Preclassic to Postclassic (400 BCE–1000 CE) · Maya (Belize coastal lowland)
Quintessential Classic Maya trade capital (400 BCE–900 CE) on Belize coastal plain 50 km north of Belize City, built on 6 m artificial elevation.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
500 BCE–1542 CE (Preclassic through Postclassic to Contact; apogee CIassical 600–950) · Maya (northwestern Yucatán, Dzibilchaltún polity)
Northern Maya lowland megasite spanning 17 km² (largest in Yucatán by area, 8,400 structures, 1,300 vaulted buildings) occupied extraordinarily from Middle Preclassic 500 BCE to Conquest ~1542 CE…
