If you think that today’s cities are awesome, you might as well be right, but history can show us that there were truly astonishing cities back in the ancient times. Wouldn’t be great if we can get to know some of these ancient cities? Well, that is exactly what we are going to do. Brace yourself, because this is our selection of 10 most intriguing ancient cities.
- Sanchi, India
Trademark of the city is one of the most beautiful monuments in the world, “Great Stupa”. The monument is in a great condition and it is considered to be one of the best preserved early stupas. The central room is located in this hemispherical dome of excellence, and it is used for placement of the relics that marks Buddhism in all of its glory.
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- Palenque, Mexico
Mayan culture left its marking in Central America to the present day. Palenque is the obvious proof of that fact. Great palace must be seen if you are a tourist, but observatory and a temple pyramid of Pacal Votan are also pure classics of Mayan architecture.
Image source by http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com
- Ephesus, Turkey
It was founded around 1000 years BC. The city itself was an Attic- Ionian colony and the temple of Artemis is one of the seven Ancient Wonders of the World. It is the place of many different cultures and, because of that; many monuments are to be found there. Some of those are: the Temple of Hadrian, the Basilica of St. John, the Roman Library of Celsus, and many more.
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- Petra, Jordan
The city is pretty much carved into mountain, or to say it more precisely, in red stone. As it is the case with the previous city, we can found mixture of cultures and architectures here as well. This time, it is a mixture of eastern traditional architecture with Hellenic culture. The end result is truly amazing.
Image source by http://www.prlog.org
- Persepolis, Iran
The capital of the ancient Persian Empire will never cease to amaze us. The trademarks of the city are those tombs that are positioned very high in the walls. There are many inscriptions here too, and the city itself was built by King Darius high in the mountains.
Image source by www.nationalgeographic.com
- Pompeii, Italy
You might be surprised, but Pompeii was a truly stylish city of old. Everything is so well preserved that we had to put it on our list. Roman architecture at its best is shown in this ancient piece of paradise.
Image source by http://famouswonders.com
- Nimrud, Iraq
Nimrud was Assyrian capital for many years. The first thing to be noticed is that ivory in the throne room. The city is also famous because of tombs of its ancient rulers.
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- Stonehenge, England
It is safe to say that this prehistoric monument is the trademark of a prehistoric period. Scientists are puzzled by its existence and they tend to have many debates about this particular topic.
Image source by http://trip.worldtravellist.com
- Machu Picchu, Peru
Incas had a truly great civilization. Their architecture was put to the test here. Machu Pichu is a site to be seen for sure. When combined with the nature at its best, we might even have the prettiest ancient city in the world.
Image source by http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com
- Angkor, Cambodia
Khmer Empire had its best moments around 9th century. That is exactly when the city was built. When we think about ancient religious monuments, the first thought should be this place. There are more than 1200 stone markings and many towers as well.
Image source by www.nationalgeographic.com
