Ancient buildings with names. New Wonders of the World: Statue of Christ the Redeemer. Nuraghi Sardinia, Italy, Sardinia

It is generally accepted that the Ancient World is a collection of civilizations that existed on earth from prehistoric times to the beginning of the Middle Ages. The framework is very arbitrary - for the countries of the East they have their own, for America - their own (the beginning of the colonization of the continent by Europeans).

Amazing Legacy

In this time period, there were several civilizations with their own culture. Have survived to this day famous buildings and buildings of antiquity. There are not so few of them, but the most striking heritage sites of the past include such as the "City in the Sky" or Machu Picchu in Peru, the temple of Jupiter Baalbek in Lebanon, the famous Egyptian pyramids of Giza, a suburb of Cairo. The list of antiquities includes the aqueducts of the Roman Empire, the glazed windows of Alexandria that arose in the first century AD, the remains of Greek temples, the Jervan aqueduct in Iraq, the concrete domes of Roman temples.

Civilizations close to us

Every continent has ancient objects. But for the inhabitants of Europe (in the geographical sense of the word), the ancient world is associated primarily with Greece and Rome, with the Egyptian Cleopatra, since both Julius Caesar and Antony loved her.
In addition, they and other ancient Roman emperors dreamed of subjugating Egypt. Russian literature and art until the beginning of the 20th century are associated with the myths of Greece and Rome. And the Mediterranean civilizations are considered the cradle of mankind. Therefore, to consider in more detail the famous buildings and buildings of antiquity, you need to start with Greece and Rome.

Acropolis - the pearl of world architecture

In Greece, there are a lot of monuments from prehistoric times, and the whole country is dotted with the ruins of ancient Greek palaces and places of worship. It is rather difficult to count them, but there are objects that are considered symbols of the Ancient World. The most important of them is the Acropolis, located in the continental part of the country in the city of Athens. This is a kind of fortress standing on a hill, the height of which reaches 156 meters in height, it is 300 meters wide, 170 meters long. It is a well-fortified upper city, rising above the unprotected lower one. The Acropolis was the place where the temples of the gods, patrons this city, in which residents could hide during the war. Majestic athenian acropolis is a World Heritage Site. Its history is well studied.

Parthenon - dominant of the Acropolis

It should be noted that sculptures and statues from this Acropolis are in many museums around the world. There are 21 objects in it, the most significant of them is the Parthenon - business card not only in Greece, but throughout the ancient world.

Included in the list of "The Greatest Temples in the World", it was built on the foundation of more than ancient temple in the 5th century BC by the architects Kallikrat and Iktin. He rules over the whole area. This ideal, harmonious structure is richly unique features. But dozens of books have been written about every smallest detail of it. The only thing that can be noted is that it is surrounded by columns around the perimeter (this form is called a peripter). This is what makes the temple irresistibly beautiful.

Athens - a treasure trove of ancient architecture

Other structures Ancient Greece in the territory sacred center ancient Athens, the Acropolis are represented by such temples as the Erechtheion, dedicated to the legendary Athenian king Erechtheus, the Areopagus (authority), the temple of Athena Nike. On the territory of the entire capital there are ruins of many other temples, since all of Greece is a museum ancient culture under open sky. These are the temples of Olympian Zeus, Nike Aptera, Hephaestus, the temple of Apollo in Delphi, Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Hera on the Peloponnese, Demeter in Eleusis. These are the most famous structures and buildings of antiquity created in Greece.

Priority of places of worship

In a later period, one of the first meteorological structures was built in Athens - the Tower of the Winds, 12 meters high, with a base diameter of 8 m. The parameters of these ancient museums are perfect, they underlie all architecture and are studied by all architects of the world.

Of all the above objects of antiquity, only the Areopagus is an administrative building, all the rest are places of worship. The largest sanctuary is Olympia, which is located on the Peloponnese peninsula. It was dominated by the cult of Zeus.

The main visiting card of Rome

Great Roman Empire - oldest civilization Mediterranean originating from Ancient Greece. According to legend, the direct descendants of Aeneas, the hero of the Trojan War, the brothers Remus and Romulus, fed by a she-wolf, founded Rome and greatest empire who gave the world a great culture.

The structures of ancient Rome in this article are presented by the 10 greatest architectural examples that many inhabitants of the Earth are familiar with, even far from scholarship. Who does not know the Colosseum - main character Rome? A half-destroyed outer three-tiered wall surrounds an oval arena. In ancient times, the total number of arches on the wall is 240, 80 of them are in the lower tier. In the arches of the first and second floors there were sculptures - the work of the best masters of Rome.

The brightest and most characteristic

The Appian Way is also familiar to many, because the sad death of the companions of Spartacus, chained alive to the pillars located along it, is known from the school bench. And the final shots of the cult American film touched film lovers in many countries of the world.

Famous buildings and buildings of antiquity, located in ancient capital, adequately represents the Roman Forum, which already during the reign of Tarquikios the Proud became the center of the political, cultural and religious life of the Roman Empire. Here are the temples of Vesta, Vespasian and Saturn. Tragic or happy pages are associated with each of them. ancient history. The well-preserved Trajan Column belongs to the beginning of the 2nd century AD. 185 steps located inside, go to observation deck located at the 38th height. The sculptor Apollodorus of Damascus erected it in 114. It symbolizes the victory over the Dacians.

Next on the list

The Roman Pantheon is unique - the temple of all the gods. Built in 126 AD, it dominates the Piazza della Rotonda.

You can find out what the famous buildings and buildings of antiquity looked like by looking at the marble Arc de Triomphe Titus. Erected it oldest structure in 81 in honor of the capture of Jerusalem. An arch rises over Via Sacra. Single-span, it has a height of 15.4 meters, width reaches 13.5 m, the depth of the span is about 5 meters, its width is 5.33 meters. Any chariot, including a quadriga, could enter such a gate. Bas-reliefs depicting Titus with trophies have been preserved. The Jewish temple was completely destroyed by him, and the winners got its main shrine - the minor. All this can be seen on the bas-relief.

Famous Roman baths and unique temples

The Baths of Caracalla continue the list of masterpieces of ancient Roman architecture. Where did this name come from? Caracalla is the nickname of Marcus Aurelius, who lived in the 3rd century AD. The ancient Roman baths are special world where the elite of society had fun, went in for sports, conducted intellectual disputes, concluded contracts. The surroundings matched: the walls and the actual fonts were made of the best varieties of marble, sculptures stood everywhere, including the statue of Apollo Belvedere.

The seventh line in the list "Architectural structures ancient rome"is occupied by a composition of two temples of different configurations - rectangular and round. These temples were erected in honor of Portun (patron of ports) and Hercules. They are located on the left bank of the Tiber, in the very place where ships used to moor.

Mausoleum and catacombs

Under the eighth number is the Field of Mars - the left bank of Rome. Behind him is the Mausoleum of Hadrian - an architectural monument-tomb for the imperial family. On a square pedestal with a side equal to 84 meters, there is a cylinder with a diameter of 64 meters, crowned with a statue of the emperor in the form of the sun god, controlling a quadriga (team of 4 horses). This huge building was not used for its intended purpose, it became a strategic object.

The last in the list of the most important architectural masterpieces of the Roman Empire are the famous Catacombs. This is a network of buildings (60 in total), interconnected and intended for burials (about 750,000 burials), with a total length of 170 km. Most of them stretch along the Appian Way.

Masterpieces of the East

The great architectural structures of the world are adequately supplemented by another grandiose monument. This is the Great Chinese Wall, whose length from edge to edge is 21,196 kilometers. Erected by one-fifth (exactly one million) of the country's population in the 3rd century BC, it clearly fixed the borders of the state and made China impregnable. This unique monument antiquities. And the pagodas and Buddhist monasteries of India? These are also monuments of the ancient past.

The first Russian pearls of architecture

All of the above, as well as structures Ancient Rus', belongs to the great world heritage. Only our civilization is young compared to others. The most ancient in our country is the architecture of Novgorod, Pskov and Kyiv, in which from 989 to 996 the Church of the Tithes, destroyed by Batu, was erected.

The next oldest by our standards architectural monument Kievan Rus is the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov, well preserved even now, then the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The first cross-domed structures were always based on the cross, and the temple was crowned with a dome. Such churches are the main type of ancient places of worship Rus'.

Byzantine masters and their offspring

The first stone temples were built by craftsmen invited from Byzantium. Russian places of worship did not blindly repeat Byzantine architecture. Our churches have a strong personality. Yaroslav the Wise actively and on a grand scale engaged in construction. He, concerned that a huge country had just adopted a new religion, wanted to approve it with a grandiose construction of temples. The largest, which at that time had no analogues anywhere, even in Byzantium, was the 5-nave 13-domed St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, founded in 1017.

The triumph of Orthodoxy

It was followed by the Sophia cathedrals of Novgorod (1045-1050) and Polotsk (1060). They were also considered 5-nave, although most Russian churches are 3-nave. The dome was supported by internal pillars - hence the names: 4-, 6-, or even 8-pillar.

In 1073-1079, the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was built by specially invited Greeks. This temple, called the "Great Church", has become a model for Orthodox buildings being built throughout the country. Such religious buildings as the Vydubetsky Monastery in Kiev (1070-1081), Spas-on-Berest (1113-1125) belong to a new type of cathedrals, since they all had an extension (nartesque) with a staircase. The most ancient temples had no vestibules at all.

From the moment of the construction boom launched by Yaroslav the Wise, all the Grand Dukes were engaged in active urban planning. Except architectural monuments, the descendants were masterpieces of applied art and literature. The Tale of Bygone Years is first mentioned in 852.

When people in the ancient world found gigantic ruins, they often thought that only the mythical Cyclopes could have built them. Today, as a rule, this is no longer believed, but the origin of many mysterious buildings from the past still causes a lot of controversy. No one knows who built them or even why.

1. Nan Madol

2. Teotihuacan

At Teotihuacan one can find some of the largest pre-Columbian structures in North and South America. At one time, over 100,000 people lived in the city, making it one of the most big cities peace. Despite this, today scientists have no idea who founded Teotihuacan. It is believed to have been founded around 200 BC. - 1000 years before the rise of the Aztec empire. The city has many pyramids, the largest of which, the Pyramid of the Sun, is the third largest in the world. No less puzzling is why Big city was suddenly abandoned. Although many theories have been put forward, there is no evidence for any of them.

3 Puma Punku

Puma Punku - megalithic complex in Bolivia, which attracts much scholarly attention. The blocks of stone that make up it are carved amazingly evenly and have perfectly round holes of unknown purpose. At the same time, the blocks of the temple complex weigh up to 130 tons and were mined in a quarry located at a distance of 80 km. How thousands of years ago they could do this is a mystery. Radiocarbon analysis showed that the complex was built around 530 AD.

4. Derinkuyu

In order to understand what Derinkuyu is, one must imagine that it is necessary to build a city for 20,000 people without modern technologies. Underground. 3000-4000 years ago. It is these underground cities that exist in modern Turkey, and Derinkuyu is the largest of them. Interestingly, the city was used as a refuge until at least 1923, but then it was completely forgotten and rediscovered only in the 1960s. It is worth noting that the structure of the local soil and rocks makes the construction of underground cities surprisingly easy. These rocks are soft enough to be carved into caves, yet strong enough to resist landslides.

5. Ggantija

Ggantija (meaning "tower of the giants" in Maltese) is a megalithic temple complex on the island of Malta. Local legend says that Ggantija was built by a giantess named Sasuna. She wore huge building stones on her head, some of which were over 5 meters long. Ggantija consists of three giant walled temples. Its construction began around 3600 BC, i.e. these temples are much older than the invention of metal tools and the wheel in Malta. Not surprisingly, subsequent generations thought that only giants could build the complex.

6. Great Zimbabwe

7. Baalbek

The city of Baalbek in Lebanon reached its peak during the Roman Empire, but was famous in the region long before that. In the center of the Roman city stood three temples built in honor of Jupiter, Mercury and Venus. And at the base of the temple of Jupiter there is one mysterious feature - three giant stone, each weighing 800 tons. They are the largest stones ever used in construction.

8. Taulas of Menorca

9. Longue Caves

In the Chinese village of Longyu, from time immemorial, there has been a belief that the local ponds are bottomless. But until 1992, this was just a belief, until local decided not to drain one of the ponds. As a result, 27 giant underground grottoes were discovered. After their research, it was found that the 30-meter grottoes were created by hand about 2000 years ago. They were carved into hard rock and not connected to each other (some of them are separated only by thin stone walls). The purpose of these giant caves unknown.

10. Tomb of the first emperor of China

Most people know about the Terracotta Warriors. These thousands of statues were placed around the tomb of the emperor to guard him in death. Records indicate that the emperor was buried in a palace built for him under a hill. Today, a terracotta army (and far from all) has been excavated, and there is evidence of voids inside the hill where it was found. But the Chinese government has banned further excavations. Curiously, according to a Chinese historian, whole lakes and rivers of mercury await in the tomb of the person who discovered it.

Especially for those who are interested in antiquities,.

Going to almost any country, you can see architectural buildings that are over 5,000 years old. . The buildings that have survived on our land are sometimes simply amazing. They don't look like buildings. modern architecture people don't live there. Historians wonder which of them is the oldest building in the world? To this day, they cannot give a definite answer to this question. However, there are a couple of cities that should be visited by any traveler, because they contain the history of mankind since the birth of great civilizations. About them we will talk In this article.

The oldest buildings in the world

In India, the oldest building is considered Taj Mahal Palace . The temple was built from white marble Padishah of Shah Jahan in the name of love and devotion to his wife amazing beauty Mumtaz Mahal. Erected in 1631, it combines several styles. A bright element of the palace is a white marble dome. The mausoleum occupies the main place in the palace. Inside it is a huge number of halls, decorated with mosaics. In one of the rooms there is the coffin of the ruler, who, after his death, wished that the body be buried near his beloved.

In the list "The oldest buildings preserved in modern world» historians included Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Egypt .He is named after a woman who was the only recognized pharaoh. Construction went on from 1482 to 1473 BC. The building turned out to be of magnificent beauty, but, unfortunately, over time it has undergone severe destruction. Some of them occurred due to natural causes - the building is located near a steep cliff. Also damage ancient building was caused at the direction of Thutmose III, whom the queen removed from rule for as much as 15 years. Restoration began in 1961. Today, Polish restorers are assembling the sanctuary bit by bit. The object is located at a considerable distance from the buildings of other kings erected in the Theban necropolis. On the walls are pictures of reliefs that reflect the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the country, the pyramids of that time. The main plot of the reliefs is the story of the birth of the queen. In front of the entrance to the upper terrace there are statues of the queen with a false golden beard - an attribute of male power. From the point of view of the religion of ancient Egypt, a woman could not take the place of a ruler, because the pharaoh was considered the incarnation of the god Horus, and he is a man. Therefore, the ruler is depicted in this form.

Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara - the oldest surviving on earth architectural buildings. architectural masterpiece It was created by the ancient Egyptian architect and supreme dignitary of the pharaoh - Imhotep around 2650 BC as a funeral structure for the pharaoh's family.

preserved in Rome Mamertine Dungeon 578 BC, where the offenders were. According to legend, they spent last days life of the apostles Peter and Paul.

Also the oldest mysterious building in the world - Stonehenge in England . Years of construction - from 1100 to 3500 BC. Approximately 80 stones of different breeds, weighing up to 50 tons, were used for the building: dolerite, volcanic tuff. For a long time, no historian could unravel the reason for its appearance. D. Hawkins published a book about this in the 60s. In it, he described how the stone ring, built of stones, was used as an observatory, allowing the British to make astronomical observations and calculations.

The oldest building in Russia

There are many buildings in the Russian Federation that were witnesses historical events. Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin , erected from 1475-1479, was rebuilt by workers under the control of the city planner Aristotle Fioravanti. The building has been well preserved to our times. To this day, services are held here.

Can't be ignored Church of John the Baptist in Kerch , which dates back to the 8th century AD. Located in the very center of the city, the oldest known building in Russia today is the St. Sophia Temple, built by Prince Vladimir in 1050. The monastery of the princess in Vladimir, of the thirteenth century, which was rebuilt many times, experienced ruin, but survived. Walking along the streets of the city of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, you can see the church built by Yuri Dolgoruky.

As you know, the list of the most famous ancient sights of ancient culture includes only seven miracles. But we mustered up the courage to include three more structures that we think are worthy of your attention. So.

Ajanta or the Ajanta caves is a Buddhist temple and monastery complex located near the village of the same name, 100 km northeast of the city of Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It was discovered in 1839. It is a rock in the shape of a horseshoe, in which, starting from the II century BC. e. to the 5th century AD e. 30 (according to other sources 29) caves were carved with columns, Buddha statues and world-famous wall paintings reflecting the life of India of that era. This painting, illustrating Buddhist legends and myths, is not only a work of art, but also a valuable historical source of knowledge about those times.

newgrange

Newgrange - ancient building from huge blocks of stone, one of the largest and oldest corridor tombs, built by man between about 3000 BC. e. - 2500 BC e. (older than the Great Pyramid of Giza and probably Stonehenge). Located 40.2 km north of the city of Dublin, about one kilometer north of the River Boyne, County Meath, Ireland. The mound is 13.5 meters high and 85 meters in diameter. Ancient people erected it from 200,000 tons of stone, wood and earth. It is a large round mound inside, which is a 19-meter stone corridor leading to the burial chamber. Included in the list of the most mysterious sights of the world.

Derinkuyu

Derinkuyu - ancient multi-level underground city, located under the city of the same name in the province of Nevsehir, Turkey. It was built in the II-I millennium BC. e. Discovered in 1963. The underground city reaches a depth of 60 meters and in ancient times could shelter up to 20 thousand people, along with food and livestock. For centuries, people have been hiding here from nomadic raids, religious persecution and other dangers. Although the underground city of Derinkuyu was intended as a temporary shelter, its scale is impressive. It includes numerous wine cellars, stables, cellars, storerooms, refectories, chapels, numerous ventilation ducts, and a complex network of tunnels and corridors.

7 wonders ancient world

Alexandrian lighthouse- a lighthouse built according to the project of the architect Sostratus of Cnidus approximately in 279-280. BC e. on the island of Pharos, near Alexandria in Egypt, so that the ships could safely pass the reefs on their way to the bay of Alexandria. According to estimates, its light was visible at a distance of 51 km (according to other sources, up to 83 km). It is assumed that the lighthouse of Alexandria was about 115–120 meters high and at that time was the most tall building in the world. In the XIV century, it was completely destroyed by an earthquake, and in its place, by order of the then Sultan of Egypt, Qaitbey (1416/1418-1496), the Qait-Bey fortress was erected, which today is maritime museum.

Colossus of Rhodes - a bronze statue of the ancient Greek god of the Sun - Helios, built between 292 BC. e. - 280 BC e. in the harbor port city Rhodes on the island of the same name in the Aegean Sea in Greece. It was built according to the project of the architect Hares, a student of Lysippus, in honor of the victory of the inhabitants of Rhodes over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I One-eyed, who, together with his son and an army of 40,000 people, unsuccessfully besieged the city in 305 BC. The height of the statue is about 30 meters. She stood on a 10-meter pedestal and weighed, according to various estimates, from 30 to 70 tons. Compared to other wonders of the world, the Colossus of Rhodes "lived" a short life. Approximately 50 years after its creation, it was completely destroyed by an earthquake and melted down.

In fifth place on the list is the "Mausoleum at Halicarnassus" - a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC. e. in Halicarnassus (modern city of Bodrum, Turkey) for King Mausolus of Caria and his wife-sister Artemisia III. Well-known masters were involved in the construction and decoration of the tomb, including the famous sculptors Skopas, Briaxides, Timofeos and Leohar. The tomb of Mausolus was a majestic and unusually shaped building, built of brick and lined inside and out with white marble. The mausoleum in Halicarnassus, 45 meters high, stood for about 19 centuries, but in the 13th century it collapsed from a strong earthquake.

Zeus statue in Olympia - ancient greek statue Zeus, which was located in the center of the temple of the same name in Olympia on the Peloponnese peninsula. It was erected in the 5th century BC by the ancient Greek sculptor and architect Phidias. The statue of the god reached a height of 12-13 meters and was made of wood (according to some sources, from cedar, according to others - from ebony). Details of ivory, gold and precious stones. The circumstances of the possible destruction of the statue are unknown. According to the Byzantine historian George Kedrin, it was transported to Constantinople, where it burned down in a fire in 476.

Temple of Artemis of Ephesus - a Greek temple located in the city of Ephesus, Asia Minor (not far from modern city Selcuk, Turkey). It was dedicated to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt. The temple was built in the middle of the VI century BC. e, was a rectangular building 105 meters long and 51 meters wide, consisting of marble and wood, and surrounded on all sides by a double row of 127 columns, the height of which was 18 meters. During its entire existence, it was rebuilt three times until July 21, 356 BC. e. was not set on fire by Herostratus - a resident of Ephesus, who dreamed of becoming famous at any cost.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, more correctly called the Hanging Gardens of Amitis, is the only one of the seven wonders of the world whose location has not been definitively established. It is assumed that hanging gardens were built around 575 BC. e. in the ancient city of Babylon (near the modern city of Hilla, in Iraq), by King Nebuchadnezzar II, for his wife Amitis, who missed the forests of her homeland. They are a pyramid consisting of four tiers-platforms supported by columns up to 25 m high. On these tiers, fertile land lay with a thick carpet, where seeds of various herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees from Media were planted. The pyramid resembled an ever-blooming green hill. However, after in 331 BC. e. the troops of Alexander the Great captured Babylon, and the great commander himself died, the city gradually fell into decay. The gardens were abandoned and eventually destroyed.

The Pyramid of Cheops is the largest among the Egyptian pyramids, the only one of the "Seven Wonders of the World" that has survived to this day, and also one of the most famous tombs in the world. The pyramid is located on west bank Nile in Egypt on a plateau in Giza, in close proximity to the famous "Great Sphinx". The lion's share of Egyptologists believe that the pyramid was built around 2560 BC. e. and is a tomb Egyptian pharaoh IV dynasty of Khufu (Cheops). It is believed that it was designed by the architect Hemion, the nephew of Cheops. Initially, the pyramid had a height of 146.5 m, but as a result of erosion, today its height is 138.75 m. The total weight of the pyramid is estimated at about 6.25 million tons, the area is ≈ 85,000 m².

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The civilizations of mankind that existed before ours were sufficiently developed. We know little of what they achieved, and of the major discoveries they made. Archaeologists have found many artifacts as evidence that these civilizations existed. But somehow they forgot about them. Meanwhile, the finds from the places of settlement of our ancestors are impressive. We will present you the pictures of the most unusual and significant.

1. Devices of ancient people.

Scientists - historians are constantly changing their minds about what level of development the ancient civilizations had. Over 20 recent years scientists have deduced their significant revaluation in the degree of increase. And all, because of the found planispheres and prototypes of heating batteries. Unprecedented achievements for those times! And the Nimrud lens and the Antikythera mechanism are fantastic even now!

Nimrud's lens is believed to have been mounted on a Babylonian telescope. It was found by archaeologists in the Assyrian capital of Nimrud. The study of celestial bodies, the main business of scientific astronomers in those days. And the knowledge was collected weighty. And that was 3,000 years ago. Impressive, agree!

The Antikythera mechanism (200 BC) is a device for calculating the movement of celestial bodies. It is surprising that such a device appeared millennia ago. And what a clever inventor invented it!

2. Rama Empire

For a long time it was believed that Indian civilization did not arise until 500 BC. However, discoveries made in the last century pushed back the origin of Indian civilization by several thousand years.

In the Indus Valley, the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were discovered, which were perfectly planned even by modern standards. The Harappan culture also remains a mystery. Its roots are hidden for centuries, and the language has not yet been unraveled by scientists. There are no buildings in the city that would testify to various social classes, there are no temples or other places of worship. No other culture, including Egypt and Mesopotamia, had this level of city planning.

3. Longue Caves

Longue - the Chinese call another wonder of the world. A system of 24 caves was discovered by accident in 1992. The time of the appearance of the caves dates back to the 2nd century BC. Despite its titanic volume (to carve such caves into hard rock, about a million cubic meters of stone would have to be removed), no evidence of construction has been found. The carvings covering the walls and ceilings of the caves are made in a special manner and are full of symbols. According to officially unconfirmed information, seven discovered grottoes repeat the location of the seven stars of the constellation Ursa Major.

4. Nan Madol

On an artificial archipelago in Micronesia near the island of Pohnpei are the ruins of the ancient prehistoric city of Nan Madol. The city was built on coral reef from basalt blocks, the weight of which reaches 50 tons. The city is crossed by many canals and underwater tunnels. Some of its streets are flooded. The scale of this structure can be compared with the Great Chinese wall or Egyptian pyramids. At the same time, there is not a single record of who built the city and when it was built.

5 Stone Age Tunnels

From Scotland to Turkey, beneath hundreds of Neolithic settlements, archaeologists have found evidence of an extensive network of underground tunnels. In Bavaria, some tunnels are up to 700 meters long. The fact that these tunnels have survived for 12,000 years is a testament to the extraordinary skill of the builders and the enormous size of their original network.

6. Puma Punku and Tiwanaku

Puma Punku is a megalithic complex near the ancient pre-Inca city of Tiwanaku in South America. The age of the megalithic ruins is extremely controversial, but archaeologists are unanimous that they are older than the pyramids. The ruins are believed to be 15,000 years old. The massive stones used in the construction are cut and fitted to each other so precisely that there is no doubt that the builders clearly had an advanced knowledge of stone cutting, geometry, and they had the tools to do this. The city also had a functioning irrigation system, sewers, and hydraulic machinery.

7. Metal mount

Continuing the conversation about Puma Punku; it is worth noting that at this construction site, as well as in the Korikancha temple, the ancient city of Ollantaytambo, Yurok Rumi and in ancient egypt a special metal fastener was used to fasten huge stones. Archaeologists have discovered that the metal was poured into grooves cut into the stones, which means that the builders had portable factories. It is not clear why this technology and other methods of building megaliths were lost.

8. Mystery of Baalbek

As a result archaeological sites in Baalbek (Lebanon) were found some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world. The megalithic mound on which the Romans built their temples makes this place especially mysterious. The stone monoliths of this mound weigh up to 1,200 tons each and are the largest processed stone slabs in the world. Some archaeologists believe that the history of Baalbek is about 9,000 years old.

9. Giza Plateau

great pyramid in Egypt is ideal in terms of geometry. How the ancient Egyptians achieved this is unknown. It is also interesting that the erosion of the Sphinx, as scientists have proven, was due to precipitation, and this area became a desert only 7,000 - 9,000 years ago. The Pyramid of Menkaure also belongs to the pre-dynastic period. It was also built from limestone blocks and has exactly the same traces of erosion as the Sphinx.

10. Göbekli Tepe

Dating from the end of the last ice age (12,000 years ago) temple complex in the southeastern part of Turkey has been called the most important archaeological discovery of modern times. Ancient ceramics, writing, the already existing wheel and metallurgy - its construction implies a level of development far beyond the development of Paleolithic civilizations. Göbekli Tepe consists of 20 circular structures (only 4 have been excavated so far) and elaborately carved columns up to 5.5 meters high and weighing up to 15 tons each. No one can say with certainty who created this complex and how its creators got their advanced knowledge of masonry.

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