🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Epidaurus Sanctuary of Asklepios
Archaic to Hellenistic 6th–2nd c. BCE · Ancient Greek Argive
Asklepios healing sanctuary with world's most acoustically perfect 14,000-seat Greek theater.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Temple complex
Uaxactún Group H South
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
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.
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Pyramid
Koh Ker – Prasat Thom 7-Tier 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…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
El Tajín – Pyramid of the Niches
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
Temple of Poseidon at Sounion
Classical High 444–440 BCE · Athenian Greek
Pericles' white cliff-top Poseidon temple guarding Attica's maritime gateway.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Xochicalco – Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl
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
Borobudur Temple Compounds
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
Philae 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
Ziggurat Mound of Tell al-Hiba (Lagash — Ibgal)
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.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Archaeological wonder
Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria
Hellenistic Ptolemaic 297–280 BCE · Greek (Ptolemaic Alexandria)
100-m Ptolemaic lighthouse wonder whose lantern guided ancient Mediterranean.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Knidos Apollo Temple — Datça Peninsula Karne Island Sanctuary
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
Magnesia Stadium-Gymnasium — Artemis Leukophryene Athletic Annex
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
Monte Albán Ceremonial Platforms
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
Stratonikeia Hekate Temple — Lagina Sanctuary of Hekate
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
Bhaja Caves
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
Heraion of Perachora
Geometric to Classical ~750–300 BCE · Corinthian Greek
Corinth's cliff sanctuary of Hera on coastal lagoon with apsidal 750 BCE temple and cistern.
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Tiantishan Grottoes
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
Udayagiri Caves, Vidisha
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…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kizil Central Cave — Kuqa Muzat River Diamond Pattern Sanctuary
Eastern Han to Tang (200 – 800 CE) · Tocharian Buddhist Kucha with Gandhara influence
Central 30–80 of 339 Kizil caves with 3.2 m diamond-vault Buddha of Tocharian Kucha 3rd–8th c.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
El Mirador — South Group Second Site
Late Preclassic Mirador 300 BCE–150 CE · Maya (Preclassic Mirador Basin)
Southern satellite of Preclassic supersite: 18 m triadic pyramid and 1.8 m Ajaw stucco mask cache with causeway.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Khafajah
Late Uruk to Old Babylonian (c.3400–1700 BCE; peak Early Dynastic) · Uruk → Jemdet Nasr → Early Dynastic (Akkadian/Sumerian Diyala) → Akkadian → Old Babylonian/Eshnunna
Diyala Sequence key town with 10-phase Sin Temple and Samsuiluna earthquake horizon.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Lambityeco
Classic Xoo 600–850 CE · Zapotec (Xoo phase, Late Classic)
Xoo-phase Zapotec salt palace with Cocijo friezes and tell de sal 140 m salt workshop for Monte Albán tribute.
🇲🇱 Mali · Temple complex
Great Mosque of Djenné
Medieval to Modern (13th c original; current 1907 reconstruction) · Sudano-Sahelian / Malian / French colonial restoration
World's largest mudbrick (banco) structure, Great Mosque of Djenné dominates island town: 56×56 m, 11 m high, three 34 m minarets with ostrich-egg pinnacles, toron wooden poles for annual…