7 Archaeology Destinations You Need to See to Believe

July 1, 2021 Jessica Crist

One of the most fulfilling experiences as a traveler is to see the ruins of ancient civilizations and experience a glimpse of these lost worlds. The incredible structures they built and complex societies they established teach us about the rise and fall of nations. The ancient Egyptians and the Romans are just two of these many civilizations. This article lists seven magnificent archaeological destinations around the world that you need to see to believe.

1. Angkor Wat Complex

Where is It- Siem Reap, Cambodia

Who Built It or Lived There- Angkor Wat was built as a Hindu temple and as the capital of the Khmer empire by King Suryavarman in 1150.

Details and Significance of the Site- A visit to the famous temple of Angkor Wat and the surrounding Khmer complexes for several days is an exciting and dramatic experience for travelers. The Khmer Empire controlled a sizable portion of Southeast Asia from 800 to 1450 AD and built cities and majestic stone temples with beautiful complexes. The capital relied on an elaborate series of waterways to provide irrigation, transportation, and water for an estimated 500,000 residents at the peak of the empire.

The 200-acre square complex at Angkor Wat, reached by crossing a long causeway, has a stone temple at the center with five tall spires that symbolize the Hindu universe. All four of the temple’s corridors contain engraved murals telling stories about everything from the military conquests of King Suryavarman to the world’s creation by various deities and a judgment day where good people are rewarded in paradise and the wicked are condemned. Close to the temple are the ruins of a large city known as Angkor Thom, the Ta Prohm temple, and the Preah Khan university built by a succeeding ruler a century after Angkor Wat and dedicated to Buddha. Angkor Thom features thirty-seven towers and each tower contains four huge stone faces of the Buddha looking out in each direction and well as carvings of dancing female spirits. Ta Prohm is a popular movie setting known for its dark chambers and huge tree limbs growing through the buildings.

2. Borobudur

Where Is It – Java Island, Indonesia

Who Built It or Lived There – Borobudur was built by a Buddhist ruler of the Sailendra kingdom in Indonesia known as King Samaratungga around 825 AD.

Details and Significance of the Site- Borobudur is the largest Buddhist monument in the world covering a base about half as large as a football field with a structure that towers 115 feet into the air. This terraced stone monument contains ten levels which visitors can climb to the top and walk around on a symbolic journey to enlightenment. The lower levels display 1460 carved relief scenes about the life of Buddha along with parables about the meaning of daily life and right behavior. The top three levels of the monument include seventy-two large bell-shaped stupas and seventy of them encapsulate a statue of the Buddha in meditation. The size, symmetry and workmanship of the monument has led experts to conclude that 30,000 craftsmen worked for 75 years to construct it.

The location of this World Heritage Site in the center of Java Island is also significant. Borobudur stands near several volcanoes including Mt. Merapi which is readily visible twenty-five miles to the east. Merapi has frequently erupted over the centuries including in 2010 and has sometimes covered the structure with ash. After centuries of decline and abandonment, Borobudur was rediscovered by explorers commissioned by the British administrator Thomas Raffles in 1814. The site was partially cleared then but not fully restored, rebuilt, and opened to the public until the 1980s. It is the most popular tourist destination in Indonesia attracting more than 2.5 million people each year.

3. Terra Cotta Warriors Mausoleum Site and Museum

Where is It - Xi’an, China

Who Built It or Lived There- The Terra Cotta Warriors site was built as a mortuary complex by the First Emperor of Imperial China, Qin Shi Huang, who ruled from 221 to 206 BC.

Details and Significance of the Site- Qin united a substantial portion of China into a single empire around 220 BC. He instituted vast projects and reforms during his reign including constructing the original portions of the Great Wall, instituting a single currency, establishing a government bureaucracy and creating standard weights and measures. Since he wanted to leave a legacy, he also spent years designing a huge mortuary complex in the hills outside of modern Xi’an.

Lost to history for thousands of years, a farmer digging a well in 1974 uncovered terra cotta statues of soldiers in his yard. Archeologists soon uncovered three huge pits containing an army of eight thousand individually carved, life sized soldiers with horses, armaments, and chariots. Their apparent purpose was to guard the emperor’s tomb for eternity. In subsequent years, thousands of the warriors and their weaponry have been reassembled one by one and are now on display in a building as large as two football fields and in an attached museum for closer examination. Experts have since come to understand that the Warriors are merely one part of an elaborate complex that includes a nearby mountain and is believed to feature replicas of his cities, his burial tomb, and treasures still to be uncovered.

4. Great Pyramids

Where is It – Giza, Egypt

Who Built It or Lived There- The three pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx located beside them are believed to have been built around 2550 BC by the Egyptian Pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, of the Old Kingdom.

Details and Significance of the Site- The Great Pyramids represent the apex of pyramid building by Egyptian pharaohs, but few people realize they were the culmination of prior efforts. For hundreds of years, Egyptians had been building pyramids, tombs, and temples within a 19-mile necropolis in Saqqara region south of Giza. Many of these pyramids failed and collapsed into rubble but some such as the Step Pyramid of Djoser retain an impressive form to this day.

The pyramids have mystified and survived visiting kings and conquerors for 4500 years. Today, visitors leave with no doubt as to why they were considered one of the original wonders of the world. Visible from downtown Cairo, the pyramids are located on a desert plateau. Up close, the size and grandeur of the pyramids is massive. The base of the Great Pyramid measures 3020 feet or .6 of a mile around. When you see the size of the estimated 5.5 million limestone and granite stone blocks which were used to construct the three pyramids, it is inconceivable how the ancient Egyptians were able to accomplish the task. Some archeologists believe that the Nile River once flowed nearby allowing ships to deliver the stones and workers to the site. Another mystery is the purposes and history of the empty chambers and shafts inside which have been explored for centuries. Visitors should also explore the adjoining Sphinx and the Pharoah’s boat museum.

5. Herculaneum and Oplontis Ruins

Where is It – Ercolino, Italy

Who Built It or Lived There- Herculaneum was a coastal community in ancient times with docks, warehouses and boathouses that also served as a comfortable seaside retreat for wealthy Romans seeking to escape city life during the summer or times of unrest, while Oplontis was a small agricultural village with several large waterfront villas built by the Roman aristocracy.

Details and Significance of the Site- Herculaneum and Oplontis usually take a backseat to the city of Pompeii among historians and tourists exploring excavations of the Roman communities destroyed by the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 70 AD. People have always been fascinated by the buildings and artifacts uncovered throughout the area which provide a time capsule into Roman life during the height of the empire. Visiting Pompeii is an exciting experience especially with the still active volcano towering over the main street. However, savvy travelers seeking more detailed insights into ancient Rome and the destruction caused by the eruption also enjoy the less crowded ruins at these other two sites. Oplontis like Pompeii was hit directly by ejecta from the explosions which blew off the entire top of the volcano, while Herculaneum was struck by a wave of superheated vapor and ash known as a pyroclastic flow which came down the mountain and across the land before covering the town with sixty-five feet of ash.

Herculaneum’s ruins unearthed far below the existing streets of Ercolino produced unanticipated artifacts. In addition to colorful frescoes and mosaics on the walls and floors of the villas there, archeologists have uncovered a huge library of 1800 papyrus rolls of ancient books and records carbonized by the heat of the eruption. More shocking were the skeletons of several hundred area residents found in the boathouses along the waterfront where they were attempting to escape the deluge of ash and heat.

Similarly, the excavations at Oplontis unearthed extensive parts of the Villa Poppaea, a 100-room mansion with elaborate gardens, fountains, statues, and a reflecting pool, believed to have been owned by the deceased second wife of Emperor Nero and the famous orator Cicero. Walking around the covered porticos and courtyards, one can picture elegant gatherings of Roman Senators there almost two thousand years ago. J. Paul Getty built a replica of the Villa in Malibu, California during the 1970s, and filled it with Roman and Greek antiquities.

6. Mamallapuram

Where is It - Tamil Nadu, India

Who Built It or Lived There- The Pallavas who were the Hindu rulers of a substantial portion of southeast India from the fourth to the seventh century.

Details and Significance of the Site- Mamallapuram flourished as a seaport and a major city of the Pallavas. The Pallavas established a maritime tradition in south India which allowed the region to trade for centuries thereafter with the Arab world, the kingdoms of southeast Asia, and later the Europeans. The main attraction of this archeological site is its location, the majesty of its monuments, and the artistry of its stone carvings. These ruins were unknown to locals and buried in the sands until located by British archeologists and excavated in the 1900s.

There are few archeological ruins around the world located on the shoreline. Mamallapuram’s Shore Temple, dedicated to the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva, has a beautiful setting on a peninsula jutting out into the Bay of Bengal. Polished shrines to these gods are located within raised platforms and surrounded by elaborately carved walls and sixteen statues of bulls.

A few hundred yards inland is a series of huge boulders carved into temples resembling gods on chariots and various animals. Further inland are more boulders and ridges carved into temples and shrines. The most spectacular example of the Pallavas’ craftsmen is a 50-foot-high rock face known as the Descent of the Ganges. This relief shows dozens of kinds of animals and people crowded around the sacred river and living in harmony. The likenesses are striking, and the workmanship rivals the sculptures of renaissance masters.

7. Teotihuacan

Where is It - San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico

Who Built It or Lived There- Little is known of the people who built the metropolis of Teotihuacan other than that its people played a key role in the development of Mesoamerica religion, culture, and architecture, and ruled over much of central Mexico between 100 AD and 600 AD.

Details and Significance of the Site- Teotihuacan was a large city which is estimated to have had a population of 100,000 to 200,000 people at its height in the fourth century. It was laid out in a grid pattern in a valley that stretches for miles in each direction. The main concourse runs north to south for more than a mile and was designed as the main thoroughfare for the city since it leads past ceremonial and public buildings. It is located about thirty miles north of Mexico City. There are many theories and legends about Teotihuacan, but their actual history remains unclear. Even the Aztecs wondered about who had lived there. Aztec rulers took pilgrimages there hundreds of years later to marvel at the well-preserved pyramids and other ruins of the city. They called it “the place where the Gods were created.”

Two of the most striking buildings at Teotihuacan are the huge step pyramids along the Avenue of the Dead. Square in size, they rise through a series of five ascending staircases before leveling off at the top. The larger Pyramid of the Sun towers 225 feet above a base of 730 feet wide and was used as a religious and sacrificial center. Both that pyramid and the slightly smaller Pyramid of the Moon were constructed out of mud bricks, a red volcanic rock known as tezontle, and covered with limestone. Visitors are allowed to climb these two structures but the pitch and roughness of the stairs which lack railings can be intimidating to people. Another popular site for visitors is known as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, a ceremonial platform from which statutes of gods with animated expressions e3xtrude. This temple was recently found to contain the bodies of sacrificial victims including children.

Researchers have been working for decades to understand the history of Teotihuacan better and the reasons for its demise. The city generated considerable wealth and trade from the manufacture of obsidian into weapons and tools and there is evidence of fires and environmental calamity at the site. Nevertheless, the complete absence of any statutes, paintings or carvings relating to the City’s rulers or its history further adds to the great mystery surrounding Teotihuacan.