Seven Lesser-Known Ancient Wonders Still Accessible to Visitors

Key facts

• All but one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid, collapsed long ago, and no definitive ancient list existed.
• Petra, also known as the Rose City or Raqmu, was built starting in the 5th century BC in modern-day Jordan and only about 15% has been excavated.
• Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered Petra in 1812 by disguising himself as an Arab scholar.
• The Pont du Gard, built in the 1st century AD, is the tallest known Roman aqueduct, carried 40,000 cubic meters of water daily to Nîmes, and used no mortar.
• Segovia's aqueduct, also 1st century AD and 28.5 meters at its tallest, delivered water from the Frío River until 1973.
• Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, erected between the 10th and 8th centuries BC, predates Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza by roughly 6,000 to 7,000 years.
• Newgrange in Ireland, built around 3200 BC, is a 76-meter-wide passage tomb whose inner chamber is filled with sunlight only on the winter solstice.
• The Leshan Giant Buddha, completed in AD 803 at 71 meters tall, is the tallest pre-modern statue and largest Buddha statue in the world.
• Sigiriya in Sri Lanka served as a capital for only 18 years before becoming a monastery and was abandoned in the 14th century.
• The Terracotta Army, created in 246 BC for Qin Shi Huang, was discovered by farmers in 1974 and includes over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 520 horses.