🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Didyma Temple of Apollo
Hellenistic to Roman 313 BCE–558 CE · Greek (Milesian) and Roman Imperial
Giant unfinished oracle temple with 19.7 m columns and Sacred Way to Miletus.
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CategoriesTemple complexes
Sacred precincts, sanctuaries and the architecture of ritual.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Temple complex
Middle–Late Preclassic 400 BCE–200 CE · Maya (Preclassic Uaxactún)
Second E-Group observatory 800 m south of classic Group E with twin stela-altars and mural palace.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Hellenistic to Roman 313 BCE–558 CE · Greek (Milesian) and Roman Imperial
Giant unfinished oracle temple with 19.7 m columns and Sacred Way to Miletus.
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Pyramid
Angkorian Koh Ker period 928–944 CE (Jayavarman IV brief capital) · Khmer (Angkorian Koh Ker)
Brief Angkor capital under Jayavarman IV (928–944): Prasat Thom 36 m high 7-tier sandstone-faced pyramid 55 × 55 m base, steep stair east with giant garuda and yama free-standing sculptures, summit…
🇮🇷 Iran · Rock art
Elamite (c.2000–1000 BCE; peak Middle Elamite c.1500) · Elamite (Kurangun shrine of Inshushinak)
Kurangun is a massive Elamite open-air rock-cut shrine (20×7 m) on Mamasani cliff with 15 divine figures in low relief — gods enthroned, worshippers and fish-go...
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Classic Veracruz (Epiclassic) 600–1200 CE · Classic Veracruz / Totonac (? predecessor)
Classic Veracruz capital 600–1200 CE with unique architectural style: 7-tier pyramid 18 m high (365 niches one per solar year, 365× depth shadows), flying cornices and scroll greca frieze, ballcourt…
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Classical High 444–440 BCE · Athenian Greek
Pericles' white cliff-top Poseidon temple guarding Attica's maritime gateway.
🇮🇷 Iran · Rock art
Elamite to Parthian (c.1000 BCE–200 CE; peak Neo-Elamite 800–600 BCE) · Neo-Elamite → Parthian ( Elymais )
Kul-e Farah is a gorge with 6 Elamite rock reliefs (Kul-e Farah I–VI, c.800–600 BCE) — massive 5-m panels of king Hanni, processions (200+ figures), musicians a...
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Epiclassic Mesoamerica 650–900 CE · Post-Teotihuacan Central Mexican (Xochicalco–Cacaxtla sphere, Maya artists?)
Epiclassic hilltop city 650–900 CE after Teotihuacan fall: leveled ridge with 9-m high Quetzalcoatl Pyramid covered 360° with exquisitely carved plumed serpent panels intertwined with seated Maya…
🇮🇩 Indonesia · Temple complex
Mataram Sailendra c.780–830 CE · Central Javanese Buddhist (Sailendra/Mataram)
Mahayana Buddhist mandala-mountain (c.775–825 CE) of Sailendra/early Mataram, 34.5 m high terraced pyramid with 2,672 relief panels (longest Buddhist narrative reliefs 2.5 km) and 504 Buddha statues.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Late Period to Roman (380 BCE–452 CE demotic last text; Isis cult active to Justinian 550 CE closure) · Egyptian Late Period / Ptolemaic / Roman
Island temple ensemble dedicated chiefly to Isis, built from 30th Dynasty to Roman (380 BCE–117 CE): Isis main temple, Birth House (mammisi), Kiosk of Trajan (renowned photographer kiosk), Gate of…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Early Dynastic to Ur III · Sumerian (Lagash dynasty)
Early Dynastic temple platform ziggurat Ibgal of Inanna at Lagash (Tell al-Hiba) — 40×30 m platform c.2500 BCE, precursor to classic Ur ziggurat.
🇯🇵 Japan · Temple complex
Asuka Period 607 CE; reconstructions 670, 8th c. · Japanese Asuka Buddhist (Prince Shōtoku)
Hōryū-ji – world's oldest surviving wooden structures (Kondō, five-story pagoda, Chūmon gate late 7th c., UNESCO 1993 first Japanese inscription).
🇪🇬 Egypt · Archaeological wonder
Hellenistic Ptolemaic 297–280 BCE · Greek (Ptolemaic Alexandria)
100-m Ptolemaic lighthouse wonder whose lantern guided ancient Mediterranean.
🇲🇦 Morocco · Temple complex
Yayoi (300 BCE–300 CE) · Yayoi
Temple of Henge in Souss-Massa, Morocco is a Yayoi (300 BCE–300 CE) temple complex attributed to Yayoi culture.
🇪🇹 Ethiopia · Temple complex
Pre-Aksumite Sabaean (800–400 BCE) · Damot–Sabaean (Sabean immigrants)
Yeha Great Temple — Pre-Aksumite in Tigray Region, Ethiopia is a Pre-Aksumite Sabaean (800–400 BCE) temple-complex attributed to Damot–Sabaean (Sabean immigrants).
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Archaic Dorian to Hellenistic (600 BCE – 100 BCE) · Dorian Knidians with Triopian league
Apollo Karneios doric 6×11 on double-harbour terrace of Triopian Dorian expansion city.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Hellenistic to Roman (220 BCE – 300 CE) · Ionian Magnesians under Hermogenes
190 m stadium and palaestra 500 m east of Leukophryene Artemis temple.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Zapotec (Monte Albán I–V 500 BCE–850 CE) · Zapotec → Mixtec influence late
Zapotec capital on flattened ridge 2 km mountain leveled 500 BCE: Grand Plaza 300 × 200 m with North Platform (pyramid 7 m + temple) and South Platform 15 m pyramid; Building J arrow-shaped 6 m…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Hellenistic to Roman (200 BCE – 250 CE) · Seleucid foundation to Rhodian to Roman Karian
Largest Hekate temple 8×11 with Gigantomachy frieze linked via 9 km Sacred Way to city.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Shunga–Satavahana Early Buddhism · Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhist
One of India's earliest rock-cut Buddhist complexes (220 BCE–300 CE) on Sahyadri scarp above Indrayani River, with 22 caves.
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Geometric to Classical ~750–300 BCE · Corinthian Greek
Corinth's cliff sanctuary of Hera on coastal lagoon with apsidal 750 BCE temple and cistern.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Temple complex
Classic Teotihuacan (150–250 CE core; 250–600 CE modifications) · Teotihuacano (Central Mexican)
Feathered Serpent Pyramid (c.150–250 CE) at Teotihuacan's Ciudadela – talud-tablero façade encrusted with alternating feathered serpent and fire-serpent (Xiuhcoatl) heads with war-serpent headdresses.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Sixteen Kingdoms Northern Liang 412–439 · Northern Liang Buddhist (Xiongnu–Han)
Hexi Corridor prototype grottoes where Northern Liang Buddhism seeded Yungang's later scheme.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Gupta Classical Golden Age 320–550 CE · Brahminical Hindu (Vaishnava) with Jain retain
Gupta imperial rock-cut shrine cluster (4th–5th c. CE) on Vidisha sandstone ridge, 20 caves including Cave 5 — colossal 4 m monolithic Varaha (boar) avatar rescuing Bhudevi, symbolising Gupta king…
