◐ Ruins🛕 c. 9600 BCE – 8200 BCE Göbekli Tepe Near Şanlıurfa, Türkiye The site changed research into ritual and community formation in the early Neolithic. The buildings’ precise functions and their relationship to habitation remain subjects of scholarly debate. Photo: Teomancimit · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🛕 c. 3000 BCE – 1600 BCE Stonehenge Amesbury, United Kingdom The monument attests to long-distance connections and collective labour in prehistoric Britain. It is also an important example of changing approaches to archaeological heritage and contemporary ritual meaning. Photo: garethwiscombe · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🔺 c. 2580 BCE – 2560 BCE Great Pyramid of Giza Giza, Egypt The monument reflects the religious significance of kingship and the organisational capacity of the Old Kingdom. Archaeological research points to organised worker communities, rather than the simplistic image of a monument built entirely by enslaved people. Photo: Douwe C. van der Zee · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 c. 1264 BCE – 1244 BCE Abu Simbel Temples Abu Simbel, Egypt The temples attest to Egypt’s religious and political presence in Nubia. The international campaign to save them became an important model for later cooperation on World Heritage. Photo: youssef_alam · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🏰 c. 700 BCE – 1644 Great Wall of China Mutianyu, China (representative location) The walls served not only for defence but also for border control, communication and regulating movement. They recall long-running contacts and conflicts between agrarian empires and communities to their north. Photo: Severin.stalder · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
○ Lost🏯 c. 600 BCE Hanging Gardens of Babylon Babylon, Iraq (traditional attribution) The gardens became an influential image of the intersection of nature, royal power and technology. Their inclusion among the wonders of the world also shows how travel literature and tradition can shape historical narratives. Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🛕 c. 550 BCE – 323 BCE Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Selçuk, Türkiye The local cult of Artemis connected Anatolian traditions with the Greek pantheon. The sanctuary also served as an economic and social centre for the city and its visitors. Photo: autor fotografie Zee Prime Original uploader was Zee Prime at cs.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏯 c. 518 BCE – 330 BCE Persepolis Near Marvdasht, Iran Persepolis shows how the Achaemenid court combined diverse artistic traditions into a distinctive imperial style. The site is an important resource for the study of ancient Iran and its international relations. Photo: Laurens R. Krol · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🗿 c. 500 BCE – 500 Nazca Lines Nazca, Peru The geoglyphs represent a large-scale ritual shaping of a vulnerable desert landscape. They are an important source for the worldviews of societies whose written histories have not survived. Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🛕 447 BCE – 432 BCE Parthenon Athens, Greece The Parthenon influenced the visual language of classical architecture worldwide. The dispersal of its sculptures among museums is central to debates about ownership, restitution and the integrity of heritage. Photo: Steve Swayne · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
○ Lost🗿 c. 435 BCE Statue of Zeus at Olympia Olympia, Greece The statue was a religious focus of the Panhellenic sanctuary where the Olympic Games took place. It became a benchmark for monumental representations of gods in classical art. Photo: Quatremère de Quincy · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏛️ c. 400 BCE – 100 Petra Wadi Musa, Jordan Petra shows how a desert society combined international trade with advanced water management. The site also has lasting significance for local communities, including the Bdoul. Photo: Azurfrog · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🔺 c. 353 BCE – 350 BCE Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Bodrum, Türkiye The tomb gave the word ‘mausoleum’ its general meaning of a monumental tomb building. It illustrates cultural exchange between Anatolian dynasties and Greek artists. Photo: Jona Lendering · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
○ Lost🗼 c. 300 BCE – 280 BCE Lighthouse of Alexandria Alexandria, Egypt The lighthouse combined harbour infrastructure with the representation of a cosmopolitan capital. The name Pharos became a general term for lighthouses in several languages. Photo: Prof. Hermann Thiersch (1874–1939) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
○ Lost🗿 c. 292 BCE – 280 BCE Colossus of Rhodes Rhodes, Greece (approximate location) The Colossus represented the city-state’s patron god and independence. Its name and later depictions made it a lasting symbol of monumental sculpture. Photo: gravure sur bois de Sidney Barclay numérisée Google · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🔺 c. 246 BCE – 208 BCE Terracotta Army Xi’an, China The army documents military organisation, craft specialisation and imperial burial rituals around the first unification of China. The individually modelled faces and equipment make it an exceptional source for the Qin period. Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏛️ c. 100 BCE – 550 Teotihuacan San Juan Teotihuacán, Mexico The city plan and monumental architecture influenced later Mesoamerican societies. The name Teotihuacan comes from the much later Nahua tradition, not from a reliably known original name for the city. Photo: Hdlrosa · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🌉 70 – 80 Colosseum Rome, Italy The Colosseum is a key source for Roman engineering, social hierarchy and spectacle culture. The monument also invites reflection on the human and animal victims of Roman entertainment. Photo: FeaturedPics · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🔺 c. 100 – 200 Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa Alexandria, Egypt The catacombs show how Alexandria’s inhabitants interwove different religious and artistic traditions. The nineteenth-century list of medieval wonders included this much older burial site without a strict chronological boundary. Photo: Bilal Detailz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🔺 c. 300 – 400 Stelae of Aksum Aksum, Ethiopia The burial grounds attest to an influential African kingdom with international trade links across the Red Sea. The return of the removed stela has major significance in discussions of colonial looting and restitution. Photo: Jim Williams · CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏯 477 – 495 Sigiriya Sigiriya, Sri Lanka Sigiriya unites landscape design, hydraulic engineering and royal representation in a coherent plan. Inscriptions on the Mirror Wall also offer an exceptional glimpse of early Sinhalese poetry and visitors’ experiences. Photo: Wrobell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 532 – 537 Hagia Sophia Istanbul, Türkiye Hagia Sophia influenced both Byzantine church architecture and Ottoman mosque design. Its successive functions make it shared and sometimes contested heritage across Christian, Islamic and secular histories. Photo: Adli Wahid · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏛️ c. 600 – 1200 Chichén Itzá Yucatán, Mexico The complex attests to urban organisation, calendar knowledge and ritual life among the Maya. It is heritage of a living Indigenous culture, not merely a remnant of a vanished society. Photo: Daniel Schwen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
🛕 No freely licensed photo available ● Still standing🛕 751 – 774 Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple Gyeongju, South Korea The ensemble expresses Buddhist ideas through a carefully ordered architectural landscape. It is among the most important sources for the religious art and stoneworking of the Silla kingdom. ● Still standing🛕 c. 780 – 840 Borobudur Near Magelang, Indonesia The sanctuary unites Buddhist teachings with Javanese building traditions and ideas about landscape. It is once again a Buddhist pilgrimage site and an important centre of Indonesian heritage management. Photo: Heri nugroho · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏛️ c. 1100 – 1450 Great Zimbabwe Near Masvingo, Zimbabwe The complex is compelling evidence of local African state formation and craftsmanship. Colonial theories attributing its construction to outsiders have been disproved; the site gave independent Zimbabwe its name. Photo: Andrew Moore from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 c. 1113 – 1150 Angkor Wat Siem Reap, Cambodia Angkor Wat is an important symbol of Cambodia and appears on the national flag. Together with the surrounding remains of Angkor, it is an exceptional resource for the study of Khmer art, religion and water management. Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
↻ Rebuilt/restored🛕 c. 1163 – 1345 Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris Paris, France The cathedral is both an active Catholic church and an important monument in French public history. Restoration after the fire brought international attention to craft knowledge and choices about historical authenticity. Photo: Ali Sabbagh · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🗼 1173 – 1372 Leaning Tower of Pisa Pisa, Italy The tower belongs to the coherent religious ensemble of Piazza del Duomo. Its preservation is a well-known example of collaboration between conservation, soil mechanics and structural engineering. Photo: Arne Müseler · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 c. 1181 – 1221 Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela Lalibela, Ethiopia Lalibela is an important pilgrimage site of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The complex unites a distinctive building tradition with the religious conception of a sacred landscape that refers to Jerusalem. Photo: Sailko · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
🏰 No freely licensed photo available ◐ Ruins🏰 c. 1200 – 1600 Walls of Benin Benin City, Nigeria The earthworks attest to extensive collective labour and complex spatial organisation in a West African kingdom. Their history is closely connected with colonial destruction and contemporary efforts to preserve Edo heritage. ◐ Ruins🏛️ c. 1220 – 1290 Mapungubwe Near the Limpopo River, South Africa Mapungubwe documents the development of social hierarchy and state formation in southern Africa. The site corrects colonial views that denied the scale and international connections of pre-colonial African societies. Photo: JJ van Zyl · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🏯 c. 1238 – 1358 Alhambra Granada, Spain The Alhambra is an exceptional resource for the art and court culture of Islamic al-Andalus. Its later history shows how use, appropriation and conservation continue to reshape the meaning of a building. Photo: Jebulon · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 1248 – 1880 Cologne Cathedral Cologne, Germany The cathedral connects medieval pilgrimage with nineteenth-century ideas about religion and national identity. Its long construction history makes it a notable example of the continuation of Gothic design principles. Photo: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🗿 c. 1250 – 1500 Moai of Rapa Nui Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui, Chile The moai embody the knowledge and social organisation of the Rapanui and remain meaningful to their descendants. Simple narratives of self-inflicted collapse fail to do justice to a complex history that includes colonial disruption and slave-raiding. Photo: Ian Sewell · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏛️ 1350 – 1767 Ayutthaya Historical Park Ayutthaya, Thailand The city documents international trade and the development of a distinctive Siamese court and temple culture. Its destruction and continuing memory hold an important place in Thai historiography. Photo: Christophe95 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🏯 1406 – 1420 Forbidden City Beijing, China The palace embodies the spatial expression of imperial authority and court ritual. Its architecture and collections are important sources for the political, craft and artistic history of late imperial China. Photo: Pixelflake · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
↻ Rebuilt/restored🛕 1412 – 1431 Porcelain Tower of Nanjing Nanjing, China Travel accounts made the pagoda an influential image of Chinese architecture in Europe. The modern reconstruction shows how a lost monument can acquire new meaning without the return of its historic fabric. Photo: Chainwit. · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
◐ Ruins🏛️ c. 1450 Machu Picchu Near Aguas Calientes, Peru The site shows how Inca builders integrated landscape, agriculture and ritual architecture. Its management requires a balance between tourism, nature conservation and the interests of local communities. Photo: Draceane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 1555 – 1561 Saint Basil’s Cathedral Moscow, Russia The cathedral is a recognisable example of Russian religious architecture and urban symbolism. Its history also calls attention to the violent expansion of the Muscovite state and its consequences for conquered communities. Photo: Tsy1980 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🏰 1601 – 1609 Himeji Castle Himeji, Japan Himeji is an exceptionally well-preserved example of Japanese castle construction during the transition to the Edo period. It combines military planning with refined timber construction and a distinctive composition in the landscape. Photo: Nikos Kitsakis · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🔺 1632 – 1653 Taj Mahal Agra, India The Taj Mahal is both an Islamic funerary monument and an important part of India’s cultural heritage. Beyond the familiar love story, the complex attests to the labour and specialised skills of many builders and artists. Photo: Yann ; edited by Jim Carter · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
↻ Rebuilt/restored🏛️ 1695 – 1700 Grand Place, Brussels Brussels, Belgium The square shows how urban guilds and government expressed their identity through architecture. The coherent ensemble also makes visible the social significance of rebuilding after wartime destruction. Photo: Celuici · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🌉 1738 – 1740 Windmills of Kinderdijk Kinderdijk, the Netherlands The ensemble shows how technical knowledge and collective water management shaped the Dutch cultural landscape. It is not an isolated group of buildings but an integrated system adapted over centuries to changing conditions. Photo: Willard84 · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🗿 1875 – 1886 Statue of Liberty New York, United States The statue connects republican ideals of liberty with the history of transatlantic relations. Its position by the harbour also gave it strong significance for immigration, despite the contradictions between that ideal and the experiences of excluded groups. Photo: AskALotl · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🌉 1881 – 1914 Panama Canal Gatún, Panama (representative location) The canal changed global shipping routes and Central America’s economic position. Its history also encompasses foreign power, Panamanian sovereignty and the continuing tension between shipping, water availability and nature. Photo: Thoroe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 1882 Sagrada Família Barcelona, Spain The church is an important example of Catalan Modernisme and of religious architecture as a project spanning generations. Continuing construction from incomplete designs raises lasting questions about authorship, authenticity and new building techniques. Photo: Canaan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🗼 1887 – 1889 Eiffel Tower Paris, France The tower made large-scale metal construction visible as a new form of urban monumentality. It became an internationally recognisable symbol of Paris and of nineteenth-century world’s fair culture. Photo: Benh LIEU SONG · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🛕 1906 – 1907 Great Mosque of Djenné Djenné, Mali The mosque embodies a living building culture in which technical knowledge and collective maintenance are essential. It forms part of the old towns of Djenné and their history as centres of trade and Islamic scholarship. Photo: Ruud Zwart · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
🌉 No freely licensed photo available ● Still standing🌉 1920 – 1997 Delta Works and Zuiderzee Works Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier, the Netherlands (representative location) The works changed the safety, economy and ecology of large parts of the Netherlands. They show a shift from complete closure and land reclamation towards a more complex balance between protection, nature and climate resilience. ● Still standing🗿 1922 – 1931 Christ the Redeemer Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The monument expresses Catholic religious meaning and has also gained broad urban and national recognition. Its setting connects human design with the mountains, forests and bay of Rio. Photo: Arne Müseler · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🗼 1930 – 1931 Empire State Building New York, United States The skyscraper represents the technological ambitions and economic contrasts of the interwar period. Its role in films and popular culture made it one of the world’s best-known city landmarks. Photo: Sam Valadi · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🌉 1933 – 1937 Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco, United States The bridge is an important transport link and an international symbol of the San Francisco Bay Area. It shows how engineering works can shape infrastructure, experiences of landscape and public identity at the same time. Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🌉 1959 – 1973 Sydney Opera House Sydney, Australia The building transformed Sydney’s international image and demonstrated the possibilities of expressive concrete architecture. The site also has a much older significance for the Gadigal, the Traditional Owners of this part of the harbour. Photo: BAVhah · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🗼 1973 – 1976 CN Tower Toronto, Canada The tower connects the history of telecommunications with the development of a modern Canadian metropolis. Its visibility made it an important landmark and symbol of Toronto. Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🌉 1975 – 1984 Itaipu Dam Foz do Iguaçu and Hernandarias, Brazil and Paraguay Itaipu is an important example of cross-border energy provision and engineering at scale. A full account also includes social and environmental consequences and the rights of affected communities. Photo: Jonas de Carvalho · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🌉 1988 – 1994 Channel Tunnel Folkestone, United Kingdom (British tunnel portal) The tunnel created a fixed rail link between Great Britain and mainland Europe. It represents international technical cooperation, while also showing how infrastructure becomes intertwined with borders, trade and politics. Photo: Billy69150 (voir les conditions d'utilisation / see licensing below) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
● Still standing🗼 2004 – 2010 Burj Khalifa Dubai, United Arab Emirates The tower represents Dubai’s economic ambitions and international connections. A balanced account also includes the many migrant workers who made its construction possible and the sustainability questions raised by such tall buildings. Photo: imran shahabuddin · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons