28 Famous Landmarks Hiding Shocking Secrets You Never Knew About
This is because the Romans built an extensive road network across Europe to move armies and goods. These roads were carefully engineered in layers, often with large stone paving on top and gravel beneath. And yes, parts of these ancient routes still survive today, and you can actually walk on quite a few of them.
That said, we don’t really recommend visiting any archaeological site unless it’s officially open and in safe condition. Nobody wants to get hit by a stone that might as well have met dinosaurs. But out of curiosity, have you ever visited any of these sites? And if not, which one would you most like to see? Let us know!
Torysh 🌑 is a valley close to the village of Shetpe and the mountain Sherkala in Mangystau, Kazakhstan. Also known as “The Valley of Balls”, the area features many spherical rock formations which have formed naturally across the landscape in the sedimentary rock, through a concretion process.It is near the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea and the medieval trading settlement of Kyzylkala.
There has been little research into the formation of the ball-shaped rocks in Torysh. However, there is a prevailing theory that they are the product of various geological processes: 1. Sediment deposition occurs from the Caspian, which used to extend this far, although only to a shallow depth;
2. Various organic and inorganic hard, small items (such as shells, grains of sand and minerals) act as nucleation point, beginning the sedimentation process.
3. Minerals (usually calcites, silicates and iron oxides) precipitate and combine onto the nuclei, known as concretion. The resultant rocks are formed of onion-like layers.
4. The rocks undergo cementation, a process wherein minerals adhere to the deposits to bind them together, forming a much harder, more erosion-resistant rock.
5. Lithification acts on the rocks, making them harder and less porous, while they are compacted, consolidating the visible sedimentary layers.
6. Finally, erosion of the surrounding rock leaves the concretions behind, as uplift from the tectonic plates push the boulders towards the surface.
This process occurs over tens of millions of years. The complicated mix of processes means that the boulders vary in appearance, with some exhibiting cracks and weathering marks, while others being completely smooth. Rocks also vary in colour.They also vary in size, from marble-sized to car-sized,although most are roughly 3-4 metres in diameter.
Some of the boulders are embedded within softer sedimentary rocks in the ground of the valley. These rocks may contain unique fossils as a result – many Jurassic fossils of plants have been found at and near the site.The boulders date from the Jurassic Cretaceous period, around 120-180 million years ago.
The Songyue Pagoda 🏯 is located at the southern foot of Mount Taishi, northwest of Dengfeng City, Henan Province. It is the main building of the Songyue Temple complex and an important landmark of early Chinese Buddhist architecture.
The “Book of Wei” records that Emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty provided the labor and ordered the highest Buddhist official in the country, Monk Xian, and the highest local administrative official, the Governor of Henan, Zhen Chen, to inspect the scenic spots of Songgao together with Feng Liang, a hermit who had read many books, loved Buddhist philosophy, appreciated mountains and rivers, and had ingenious ideas. They built a pagoda in a Buddhist temple for leisure, which had wonderful springs and forests, beautiful construction, and the charm of a mountain dwelling.
Its construction began between the twelfth month of the fourth year of the Yongping era (511) and the eleventh month of the second year of the Yanchang era (513) of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and was completed in the first year of the Zhengguang era (520). Calculated from the year of completion, this ancient multi-story dense-eave brick pagoda is already 1500 years old as of 2020.
The location of the Songyue Pagoda is a treasured place of geomancy where heaven and earth meet, the four seasons intersect, wind and rain gather, and yin and yang harmonize. The surrounding environment is the scenic area of Mount Taishi in Songshan, leaning against the Song Ridge, embraced by mountains, facing the void and the sun, overlooking the two bears, with mountains lined up like an arch, streams flowing around the gate, and green pines and cypresses.
Songshan is the most respected of the Five Great Mountains and a famous religious mountain. It is the source of Chinese Buddhism and played a great role in the spread of Buddhism. The Songyue Pagoda is a brilliant star among the physical evidences.
The Kyffhäuser Monument ⚔️ (German: Kyffhäuserdenkmal), also known as Barbarossa Monument, is an Emperor William monument in the Kyffhäuser mountain range in the German state of Thuringia. It was erected from 1890 to 1896 atop the ruins of the medieval Kyffhausen Castle near Bad Frankenhausen.
After the 1888 d***h of emperor William I, numerous memorials were erected in his honour all over Germany.
❗️The monument sits among the ruins (the upper and lower castle) of the medieval Imperial castle of Kyffhausen, that, built beginning around 1,000 AD, reached its maximal extent during the reign of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. Curious evidence of the medieval imperial castle has been preserved, such as the world’s deepest castle well of 176 m depth. The 17 m high keep on the site of the former upper Kyffhausen castle is accessible and houses two exhibitions. Parts of the old gate structures have also been preserved. The Castle Museum focuses on the history of the ancient castle complex, the Barbarossa Saga and the construction history of the Emperor Wilhelm monument. The Museum also exhibits numerous artefacts, that were unearthed during excavations and conservation work by the Kyffhäuser Federation in and around the medieval castle.
The 6.5 m high figure of Barbarossa was fashioned on site from several sandstone blocks. At its feet linger knights, mythical creatures and members of his court, with whom the old emperor is lying in wait for resurrection in his underground dungeon. The Barabarossa legend holds, that he would rise again when Germany 🇩🇪 was in need of his leadership.The emperor himself is depicted as one might imagine an ancient powerful monarch in poems and legends at the very moment of awakening. This moment has been highlighted by the cawling movement of the left hand, that rests in the bottom-long beard and a slightly recessed leg that is not covered by the coat. The emperor doesn’t really sleep, he even winks with one eye. Sculptor Nikolaus Geiger decorated the emperor’s red beard with the imperial crown, as its original is on display in the Vienna Hofburg
Palenque 📸 also anciently known in the Itzaʼ language as Lakamha (“big water” or “big waters”),was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. After its decline, it was overgrown by the jungle of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees,but has since been excavated and restored.
Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the many monuments; historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 5th century and extensive knowledge of the city-state’s rivalry with other states such as Calakmul and Toniná. The most famous ruler of Palenque was Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal, or Pacal the Great, whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions.
In 1952 Alberto Ruz Lhuillier removed a stone slab in the floor of the back room of the temple superstructure to reveal a passageway (filled in shortly before the city’s abandonment and reopened by archeologists) leading through a long stairway to Pakal’s tomb. The tomb itself is remarkable for its large carved sarcophagus, the rich ornaments accompanying Pakal, and for the stucco sculpture decorating the walls of the tomb. Unique to Pakal’s tomb is the psychoduct, which leads from the tomb itself, up the stairway and through a hole in the stone covering the entrance to the burial.
Within the Palace there are numerous sculptures and bas-relief carvings that have been conserved. The Palace most unusual and recognizable feature is the four-story tower known as The Observation Tower. The Observation Tower like many other buildings at the site exhibit a mansard-like roof. The A-shaped corbel arch is an architectural motif observed throughout the complex.
The Tholos at Epidaurus, 🔘 also known as the Thymele, was a magnificent 4th-century BCE circular building designed by architect Polykleitos the Younger within the Sanctuary of Asklepios. Renowned for its intricate design and, in antiquity, as the most perfect round building, it featured 26 outer Doric columns and 14 inner Corinthian columns, with a mysterious, labyrinthine underground basement.
Archaeologists believe that the tholos was the most importance building at the Sanctuary of Asclepius. It use is uncertain. It may have also been used as an abaton or a place for the priests of the sanctuary to eat.
Nevertheless, this building is interest due to the subterranean maze which it housed. One could only speculate as to the purpose of this maze. It may have been a place where offerings were made to the gods of the underworld. Perhaps patients were left to wander the maze, potentially finding at its centre a pit of snakes. Some suggest the maze may have acted a form of shock treatment for particular psychiatric cases.
On the exterior stood a Doric peristyle consisting of 26 Doric columns, which enclosed a Doric *septum*. A second circular colonnade, composed of 14 marble columns with Corinthian capitals, adorned the interior of the cella. The floor within the Corinthian colonnade consisted of white and black rhombic ❗️slabs arranged in a unique geometric pattern. According to Pausanias, paintings by the artist Pausias were located inside the cella. Both the Doric colonnade and the Corinthian peristyle supported a roof featuring marble panels decorated with floral motifs. The building was crowned by a conical wooden roof, covered by an intricate system of marble tiles, while an elaborate floral finial surmounted the very top of the roof.
The Church of St. Nicholas ⛪️ is a neo Gothic Revival cathedral that was formerly one of the five Lutheran Hauptkirchen (main churches) in the city of Hamburg, Germany.
With the founding of the Nikolai settlement and a harbor on the Alster in the 12th century, a chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors, was erected. This wood building was the second church in Hamburg, after St. Mary’s Cathedral. In 1335, some years before the onslaught of the Black D***h, construction on a new brick building began. The structure was to be a three-naved hall church in the typical North German Brick Gothic style. This building stood until the middle of the 19th century, undergoing changes, expansions, and withstanding several partial destructions. The tower, which was erected in 1517, burned down in 1589. The tower built to replace it collapsed in 1644.
The old Church of St. Nicholas was the first large public building to burn in the Great Fire of Hamburg of May 1842. 🔥The destruction of the Church of St. Nicholas is described by chroniclers as a particularly moving event for the citizens.
Shortly after the fire, the church was rebuilt again. In 1843, a so-called “shilling collection” was started, and in 1844 there was an architectural competition, won by the architect Gottfried Semper with the draft of a Romanesque domed structure. Shortly before this time, the completion of the medieval Cologne cathedral in 1842 had led to a Gothic Revival in Germany. Hamburg’s own medieval cathedral had been demolished in 1805.
The clearly visible tower of the Church of St. Nicholas served as a goal and orientation marker for pilots of the Allied Air Forces during the extensive air raids on Hamburg. On 28 July 1943, the church was heavily damaged by aerial bombs. The roof collapsed and the interior of the nave suffered heavy damage. The walls began to show cracks, yet neither they nor the tower collapsed.
The current condition of the Church of St. Nicholas is the result of the bombing of Hamburg in World War II, the removal of its ruined walls and rubble in 1951 and restoration work to the tower in the 1990s and 2012.
Zarafshan Bridge📜 is an architectural monument located 7–8 km northeast of Samarkand on the left bank of the Zarafshan River (Samarkand Region, Uzbekistan). The bridge was built in the year 1502 by the order of Muhammad Shaybani. It served as a water divider on the Zarafshan River, giving rise to two branches—Akdarya and Karadarya.
In historical sources, the bridge is mentioned under various names such as „Timur’s Arch,“ „Puli Shadman Malik,“ and „Abdullah Khan’s Bridge“. In the mid-15th century, the bridge across the Zarafshan River was destroyed by a flood. The construction history of this monument is detailed in the work „Sheybani-name“ by Kamal ad-Din Binai, a historian and poet who lived in the second half of the 15th to the early 16th century. ❗️The bridge was 200 meters long and consisted of seven arches. It is also unknown when and under what circumstances the bridge began to deteriorate.The bridge is a complex structure. Samarkand craftsmen prepared a special mortar for it, similar to modern cement. Gypsum, lime, and plant ash were used in different places, depending on the degree of contact with water, to make the mortar.❗️
Most likely, two arches were destroyed during the earthquakes of 1886 and 1898. In 1962, as a result of archaeological excavations conducted by Abdulakhad Muhammadjanov, the remains of the collapsed second and third arches of the bridge were discovered and studied. Railings, one meter in height and width, made of fired brick, were constructed on both sides of the bridge. This type of construction indicates that the engineers of the 16th century, who designed this structure, took into account safety measures for those crossing the river. 🧱
Dolmen de Confolens – France (Dolmen de Périssac) 🪨 This Neolithic dolmen is located in the cemetery of the town on Confolens. It was moved here in the 19th century to house the tomb of the wife of the sub-prefect Cecile-Jeanne-Marie Crevelier.
The 10 tonne capstone was transported by a carter from Périssac to Confolens over a distance of several kilometres using 18 horses who struggled for three days to move the block. In 1899 the bulletin of the Archaeological Society reported that the capstone was already broken into two parts, but many believe that it was actually cut for the occasion. This is based on a photo dated from 1883 which supposedly shows the dolmen in it’s original state two years previously.. and the other piece of the capstone lies on the ground a few meters from the pillars with clear chisel marks.
According to Archaeologist Glyn Daniel, this “simple dolmen was bought for 100 francs in 1892 and moved nearly 5 km from Périssac to the town churchyard – as a support for the sarcophagus of a lady much addicted to dolmens”.
It’s said that the sacrilegious entrepreneur who destroyed the megalith was condemned, along with his horses, to wander forever around the ruins where their gallop can be heard as midnight approaches..The children of the country, with sticks, hit the remaining part of the dolmen table and press their ears to it, to hear the gallop of the damned horses.
The Dolmen of Menga 🪨 is a megalithic burial mound called a tumulus, a long barrow form of dolmen, dating from the Neolithic period around 3750–3650 BCE. It is near Antequera, Málaga, Spain.
It is one of the largest known ancient megalithic structures in Europe.It is 27.5 metres long, 6 metres wide and 3.5 metres high, and was built with thirty-two megaliths, the largest weighing about 180 tonnes 📜
After completion of the chamber (which probably served as a grave for the ruling families) and the path leading into the center, the stone structure was covered with soil and built up into the hill that can be seen today. When the grave was opened and examined in the 19th century, archaeologists found the skeletons of several hundred people inside. The dolmen sits 70 metres from the Dolmen de Viera and about 4 kilometres from another subterranean structure known as Tholos de El Romeral.
The Abrigo (shelter) of Matacabras, located at the foot of the northwest face of the Peña de los Enamorados, is closely linked with the Dolmen of Menga whose central axis points directly to it. The tomb is orientated to the northeast, north of the sunrise on the summer solstice, and is the only known tomb so oriented in Europe in this cultural context.
📌At the back of this giant dolmen, in the centre of the floor, is a 30m deep well perfectly carved from the bedrock and with water at its bottom
The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (French pronunciation) ✨is an illuminated manuscript that was created between c. 1412 and 1416. It is a book of hours, which is a Christian devotional book and a collection of prayers said at canonical hours. The manuscript was created for John, Duke of Berry, the brother of King Charles V of France, by Limbourg brothers Paul, Johan and Herman.The book is now MS 65 in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France ⭐️
To date, only 20 of the 31 notebooks remain quaternions; the rest have either had sheets added or sheets removed. The presence of unfinished sentences at the end of some notebooks, which have no continuation, also indicates that the manuscript has not been preserved in its entirety. The book of hours contains blank pages, both lined and unlined.
Each miniature is crowned with a semicircle (tympanum), which depicts a solar chariot driven by Phoebus, the zodiac signs corresponding to the given month, and its degrees. The calendar indicates the days of the month, their duration in hours and minutes, church holidays and the names of saints, and golden numbers, which were used to determine the place of the calendar year in the Metonic cycle.
🏰 Well, for us, of primary interest are his miniatures depicting castles. Moreover, they were obviously drawn with great precision, which is why restorers of those that have survived to this day used the drawings as models for reconstruction, although not always.
Table des Marchands 🪨 (German: Tisch der [Kaufmannsfamilie] Marchand, Breton: An Daol Varchant) is located in Locmariaquer in the Morbihan department of Brittany, France. The megalithic structure was declared a Monument history in 1889.
The dolmen and cairn were built between 3900 and 3800 BC. It is a tomb with a corridor ending in a burial chamber. The first excavations took place as early as 1811, but all the finds made then were later lost. ❗️At that time, the monument consisted of a slab resting on three supporting pillars. The monument was restored in 1883, and it was studied in 1937 by the renowned French megalithic researcher Zachary Le Rouzic.
Apparently used for many centuries, this monument consists of two engraved slabs. The slab, representing the floor of the chamber, was originally located outdoors and was a separate monument. The slab is decorated on both sides; the design on one side depicts a deity with lush hair.
The slab is carved with decorations in the form of a cross, an axe with a handle, and, on the underside, a bull. This slab is part of a block, another part of which is located at the Gavrini burial mound, 5 km away, and another at the Er-Grah burial mound; the ornamental motifs in these structures are completely identical.
❗️The present-day structure is a largely reconstructed dolmen within a stone mound. Excavations have shown that the building was originally enclosed by a two-tiered cairn made of small, broken stones, which—to protect against rainwater intrusion—may have been covered with sand, earth, and grass. However, the cairn or tumulus was dismantled centuries ago, leaving the structure for a long time as a monumental, table-shaped dolmen (hence the name)❗️
The stone material used in the construction was mainly locally sourced granite;
Bronze mirrors 🪞were produced in China from Neolithic times, until Western
glass mirrors were brought to China. In China, these mirrors are called to’ou kuang ching, literally «transparent mirrors.» You can also find the names «transparent» or «magic» mirrors ✨Bronze mirrors were usually circular, with one side polished bright, to give a reflection, and the reverse side normally decorated in cast relief in early examples, later on sometimes inlaid in precious metal. They generally had a k**b or loop in the center of the back so that they could be easily held in the hand, and sometimes attached to clothing.
Some of the earliest examples of Chinese bronze mirrors belonged to the late Neolithic Qijia culture from around 2000 BCE (some use of bronze is found before the Bronze Age).
❗️For over a thousand years, a rare type of Chinese artifact has puzzled researchers. It is a polished bronze mirror with a pattern cast on the back. The polished surface is unremarkable and can be used as an ordinary mirror. But when a bright light falls on the mirror and the reflected light is projected onto the surface, the pattern printed on the back side mysteriously appears in the projected reflection, as if the hard bronze mirror had become transparent.
The art of making magic mirrors dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD). It was passed down until at least the 8th and 9th centuries. In the 800s, a book called “The Record of Ancient Mirrors” was published that apparently contained all the secrets. It has not survived to this day 📜
The Golden Gate ✨ is the only eastern gate of the Temple Mount, and one of only two Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem that used to offer access into the city from the East side. The gate has been sealed since 1541, the most recent of several sealings. Its interior can be accessed from the Temple Mount. In Jewish tradition, the Messiah will enter Jerusalem through this gate, coming from the Mount of Olives.Christians and Muslims generally believe that this was the gate through which Jesus entered Jerusalem.
The Golden Gate is a rectangular stonework structure with two decorated facades. Unlike other gates in al-Aqsa enclave, the eastern façade was not built level with the wall of the enclave, but projects two meters out from the wall.The Golden Gate has two passages. The two bays are reflected in its plan and main elevations; two doorways are followed by a double passage covered by three pairs of domes. On the ground floor level a vaulted hall is divided by four columns into two aisles, which lead to the Door of Mercy, Bab al-Rahma, and the Door of Repentance, Bab al-Taubah; an upper floor room has the two roof domes as its ceiling.
The 1st-century historian, Josephus, mentions an «eastern gate» in his Antiquities of the Jews, and makes note of the fact that this gate was considered within the far northeastern extremity of the inner sacred court.The Mishnah mentions a former causeway which led out of the Temple Mount eastward over the Kidron valley, extending as far as the Mount of Olives.Rabbi Eliezer, dissenting, says that it was not a causeway, but rather marble pillars over which cedar boards had been laid, used by the High Priest and his entourage.This gate, known as the Shushan Gate, was not used by the masses to enter the Temple Mount, but reserved only for the High Priest and all those that aided him when taking out the Red Heifer or the scapegoat on Yom Kippur.
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