The buildings and structures left behind from ages past have astounded history buffs for centuries. From the Parthenon to the Great Pyramid, there never seems to be an end to the multitude of information we can gain from them. But often, that which can be observed above the ground pales in comparison to the extraordinary finds that have been discovered underneath our feet. Whether it be ancient reservoirs, theaters, temples, or disguised strongholds, these monumental subterranean structures serve as a continuing legacy of the ancient world’s remarkable ingenuity.

10 Chavin De Huàntar
Peru

The pre-Colombian pilgrimage center of Chavin de Huàntar covers an area of around 12,000 square meters (130,000 sq ft). Consisting of artificial terraces and squares, coated stone buildings, and a sunken plaza, its impressive appearance authenticates the site’s ceremonial and cultural importance in the ancient Andean religious sphere.

The site’s essence however, lies in the three stories of subterranean tunnels, ventilating shafts, chambers, and stone-lined galleries. It’s here that you can see engraved obelisks and sculptures in situ, as well as marvel at the enormous scale of the site’s masonry. In fact, the network of drains and vents present inside the site’s core is unparalleled in all of South America’s subterranean archaeological sites and leaves Chavin de Huàntar without equal.

9 Qanat Firaun
Jordan

The Qanat Firaun, or Gadara Aqueduct, is the ancient aqueduct that supplied water to the Roman-Hellenistic Decapolis cities of Adraa, Abila, and Gadara. Only rediscovered in 2004, the 170 kilometer (105.6 mi) pipeline is not only the longest underground aqueduct of antiquity, but also the most complex.

It was constructed in the qanat manner—with vertical shafts every 20 to 200 meters (65–650 ft) connected from opposite sides by a multitude of tunnels. It took hundreds of miners over 120 years to complete the tunnel, during which time they excavated over 600,000 cubic meters (21,200,000 cu ft) of limestone, comparable to more than a full quarter of the Great Pyramid’s total volume.

8 The Mithraeum At The Baths Of Caracalla
Rome, Italy

Mithraeums were the underground worship centers for the Roman Mithraic cult, a religious movement that revolved around the Persian god Mithra. During excavations at the Baths of Caracalla in 1912, archaeologists uncovered the largest Mithraeum found to date, which measured 230 square meters (2,475 sq ft).

Unfortunately, most of the artwork inside the great hall was lost to time, but a few relief carvings and inscriptions survived. One of its most significant remaining features is the fossa sanguinis, a deep hole into which initiates were lowered to be baptized by the blood of a sacrificed bull.

7 The Knights’ Halls
Acre, Israel

The Knights’ Halls were built by the Hospitaller Knights, a monastic order who devoted themselves to caring for the injured and ill during the First Crusade. Cleverly engineered underneath the castle and prison of Acre—the port city and entrance to the Holy Land—the complex of halls all form part of the Hospitaller’s citadel.

The structure includes a dungeon, an ancient Gothic church, several conjoined halls, and a dining room. Although the site was mostly destroyed by the invading Muslim armies after the Crusaders’ defeat in 1187, it was rebuilt during the Second Crusade. Consisting of three floors, to date only 5,000 square meters (53,819 sq ft) of the archaeological marvel has been excavated.

6 The Basilica Di San Clemente
Rome, Italy

From the outside, the small Basilica dedicated to Pope St. Clement in A.D. 99 may seem insignificant, but on closer inspection you realize that it is an unvarnished, layered representation of Rome’s religious history. Immediately below the beautifully decorated 12th-century Basilica, we find the lower church, or lower Basilica. This is a fourth-century church built partly on top of what historians believe was the home of a Roman nobleman.

Apart from being the site of the papal conclave in 1099, it also contains one of the largest collections of early medieval frescoes in Rome today. Beneath the lower Basilica are the remains of a building destroyed by the great fire of A.D. 64, as well as a Mithraeum containing several monuments used by the cult of Mithra.

5 Prasanna Virupaksha Temple
Hampi, India

Amid the mesmerizing ruins of Hampi, a World Heritage Site, the Prasanna Virupaksha Temple—also known as the Underground Shiva Temple—lay buried for over 400 years before it was rediscovered in the 1980s. Believed to have been used by the royal household during private ceremonies, the temple is similar in design and layout to the temples located on Hermakuta Hill, and features a variety of carvings, sculptures, and murals.

The grand inner sanctum includes an impressive pillared hall and beautifully carved columns that actually extend through the roof. The floors of the hall—as well as the inner sanctum—remain underwater despite excavations and ongoing attempts to preserve the site.

4 Hal Saflieni Hypogeum
Island Of Malta

The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum dates back to around 2500 B.C., making it the only known prehistoric subterranean structure in the world. Although many believe it started out as a sanctuary, it also served as a necropolis, and thousands of human remains have been located within its mysterious chambers. One of its most significant features is the Oracle Room—a carved hole in the wall which produces an echo that reverberates throughout the Hypogeum whenever someone speaks into it.

Several smaller chambers throughout its three levels pick up these echoes and turn the reverberations into something that sounds a lot like a heartbeat, leading many to speculate that the hole played a major part in the ancients’ ceremonies. Other features include its unique formation in relation to the equinoctial sun, massive carved stone formations not unlike those found at Stonehenge and Baalbek, and an elaborately painted ceiling displaying ocher spirals.

3 Mausoleum Of Qin Shi Huang
Xi’an, China

The Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum is the 2,200-year-old burial site of China’s first Qin emperor. Most famous for its partly excavated terracotta army which lies to the north and south of the mound, many foreigners do not grasp that the mausoleum is in fact China’s most extravagant tomb complex. The complex consists of four layers and includes an underground palace, an inner city, an outer city, and a wide variety of subordinate buildings and tombs.

The subterranean phenomenon, which stretches more than 600 square meters (6,500 sq ft), took over 700,000 laborers more than 38 years to build, and in the four decades archaeologists have been excavating the site, they’ve barely begun to scratch the surface. Even though nobody has yet been allowed to excavate the central tomb housing the underground palace, we know from ancient records that it symbolized the emperor’s real palace while he was alive and that it occupies more than two-thirds of the inner city.

2 Tomb Of Seti I
Abydos, Egypt

The Tomb of Seti I is the longest and deepest of the tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. The first tomb to be artistically adorned and decorated, it features exquisite reliefs, colorful paintings, and an intricately carved column depicting Seti I with the goddess Hathor. In fact, every single chamber, roof, and passageway in the tomb was decorated, setting a precedent for the tombs of all the kings to come. Unfortunately, since excavations during the ’50s and ’60s caused changes in the tomb’s moisture levels, a number of the walls have cracked or collapsed, and the tomb is now mostly closed to the public.

1 The Basilica Cistern
Istanbul, Turkey

The Basilica Cistern‘s name might imply that it’s nothing more than an ancient water reservoir, but nothing could be further from the truth. During the third and fourth centuries, a spectacular temple surrounded by magnificent gardens stood in its place. When that was destroyed by fire, Emperor Justinian had 7,000 slaves rebuild the original structure on the very same ground—all 9,800 square meters (105,500 sq ft) of it. Also known as the Sunken Palace, it is a wonder to behold.

The Cistern’s arched ceiling is supported by 336 engraved marble columns—each of them 9 meters (30 ft) tall—which you can reach by descending down a flight of stone steps. While operational, the Cistern supplied water to the buildings on the First Hill, including the Great Palace of Constantinople, and continued to do so into modern times. Today, only a few feet of water remain. It has been the subject of several films, novels, and, most recently, a video game.

Hestie Barnard Gerber is a freelance writer, copy editor, researcher and graphic designer. Born and raised in the culturally diverse and beautiful South Africa, her interests lie at the intersection of African history and archaeology, cultural studies, European arts and culture and ecotourism.

Around 5 percent of you likely suffer from acrophobia, the irrational fear of heights. The rest of us are at least a little cautious—after all, falling can be pretty dangerous. Yet as a species we still seek to build things in places where looking up or down is likely to make us giddy. Throughout history we’ve put everything from art to towns on the sides of cliffs and mountains.

10 Bandiagra Escarpment

The Bandiagra Escarpment cliff settlement in Mali is has been home to the Dogon people since the 15th century, and the area had been settled for over a millennium before they arrived. By building their settlements on cliff faces, the Dogon protected themselves from invaders and maintained their traditional culture.

Sadly, the culture that fostered the precarious stone settlements is taking a battering from the tourist industry. A huge majority of Mali’s visitors go to see the Dogon settlements, and many local artifacts are taken sold for profit. Economic and environmental pressures are now driving the native settlers away from their steep dwellings to the nearby plains below.

9 Sky Caves Of Nepal

In Nepal, nestled near the Himalayas, is a gorge that in parts dwarfs the Grand Canyon. The cliff walls contain more than 10,000 caves, many of them nearly 50 meters (over 150 ft) from the ground. They are around 800 years old, some are stacked eight or nine stories high, and they can only be reached by scaling the fragile rock face with mountaineering equipment.

The caves once belonged to the Mustang civilization and were a bustling settlement on the trade route between Tibet and India. The Mustang were scholars, artists, and clearly talented diggers, and they flourished for centuries.

No one knows why the caves were built or how they were accessed—any steps, ropes, or scaffolding have failed to survive the passage of time. Yet explorers have found intricately painted Buddhist murals, ancient texts, and skeletons, suggesting the caves were used for religious reasons. The caves have also contained manuscripts from Bön, the Tibetan religion that dominated before Buddhism.

8 Madara Rider

On a sheer cliff in Bulgaria, 23 meters (75 ft) above the ground, is a carving of rider and dog spearing a lion. UNESCO describes it as the only relief of its kind and lists it as a world heritage site. It dates from the start of the 8th century, representing the recognition of Bulgaria by the Byzantine Empire.

The entire cliff is 100 meters (330 ft) tall, leaving the rider visible across a huge distance. It’s famous in Bulgaria and was voted as the symbol to represent the nation on the Euro, should they opt to join the currency. Inscriptions on each side of the rider also provide the earliest written information on Bulgarian history, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s become the country’s foremost national symbol.

And yet despite how celebrated the carving is as a symbol, no one knows for certain who the rider is supposed to be. Some say he’s one of three of the earliest khans of Bulgaria. He could also be Tangra, a pagan god.

7 Predjama Castle

There are many ways to make your castle impenetrable, and building it on the side of a 123-meter (400 ft) cliff is high among them. Predjama Castle in Slovenia almost seems to be stuck on the front of the limestone face that bears it. Much of it is housed in a large natural cave. The castle as it’s seen today was largely constructed in the 15th century, when it housed its most famous inhabitant—the robber baron Erazem Lueger.

Lueger made the mistake of killing a relative of Fredrick III, the Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick sent his forces to besiege Predjama, and Luger was forced to hole up for a year and a day. The troops outside the castle weren’t aware that a secret tunnel linked the castle to a nearby cave, and Lueger used the tunnel to keep himself supplied.

The forces bribed a servant to signal them when the baron was going to be in the castle’s weakest spot—the outhouse. When Lueger made a visit to relieve himself, he was killed by a single cannon shot through the wall.

6 The Neptune Of Monterosso al Mare

The Italian village of Monterosso al Mare is home to Villa Pastine, whose stone terrace juts over the edge of a large cliff. The terrace is held in place by a 14-meter (45 ft) tall statue of the god Neptune.

The 1,700-ton behemoth of iron and concrete was created in 1910 by sculptor Arrigo Minerbi. Naturally it became an iconic part of the town’s identity, looking out to sea as if holding back the waves. Whether by design or accident, it’s about a meter taller than the statue of Zeus declared to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sadly, the statue took a battering during the World Wars, losing both arms and the trident it held. With Neptune’s arms gone, nothing held up the sides of the terrace, and the giant seashell became a thin, overgrown rectangle. Further weathering has made the damaged Neptune appear almost part of the rocky outcrop on which he rests.

Though the statue’s original glory can only be seen in postcards from the early 20th century, what remains is still a sight to behold.

5 The Maijishan Grottoes

Building a 16-meter (50ft) tall Buddha on the side of a mountain is an impressive achievement. Carving three of them with their feet already 30 meters (100ft) from the ground is just showing off.

Yet that is only one small part of the grottoes at Maijishan in China. The 142-meter (465ft) tall sandstone mountain has over 1,000 square meters (10,000 sq ft) of murals. Its face is also littered with the entrances to 194 caves, containing over 7,000 pieces of artwork amassed over the centuries.

The sandstone is too soft to carve statues directly from the rock, so combinations of clay, wood, and even imported stone have been used. A network of wooden stairs and balconies linked the cave entrances, but these have now been replaced with metal. The artwork within the caves traces the history of China through 12 dynasties. Some of the statues still retain their original bright paintwork, and unexplored caves offer further undiscovered treasures.

4 Saint Michael Of The Needle

The small French settlement of Aiguilhe sits beside an 85-meter (280 ft) spire of volcanic rock. In ancient times, the Romans dedicated the basalt needle to Mercury. Now, the needle has a chapel that looks as if it the rock itself sprouted it. It’s the Chapel of Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe, which was built in 962 and was enlarged a couple of hundred years later. A millennium later, it continues to dominate the surrounding landscape.

The chapel was built to celebrate a return from pilgrimage and became a popular starting point for people setting out on their own journeys. People now climb the 268 steps to the top to have their walking sticks blessed—likely necessary, if they want to make it back down again.

3 Guoliang Tunnel

Until the 1970s, the outside world knew nothing of Guoliang, a village in China’s Taihang mountains. Only a few hundred people lived there, and the only way into the village was a slippery, narrow staircase.

The Chinese government had no interest in making travel more convenient for the villagers, but locals decided to take matters into their own hands. Thirteen workers began to dig through the edge of the nearby cliff, hand carving a 1.2 kilometer (0.75 mi) roadway through the rock over the course of five years. A stone ledge just a couple of feet high is all that separates users of the road from a very big fall.

The tunnel indeed made it easier to access the village, but it had the side effect of making the village a tourist destination, and tourism has become the village’s new main source of income. The uneven road surface makes visiting vehicles shake, which can be rather unnerving with a massive drop a couple of feet away.

If you visit, you’ll not be far from an outdoor spiral staircase up the side of one of the mountains in Taihang. The staircase climbs for 90 meters (300 ft) and shakes back and forth in the wind as you approach the top. There’s an age limit, so you can’t climb if you’re older than 60, and you need to sign a declaration that you’re in good health before you can go up.

2 Al-Hajjarah

The people of Yemen have taken the idea of cliff castles and cliff villages and decided, “We can do better.” They built entire fortified towns, towering several stories high, just a few inches from the edge of sudden drops into abysses. Al-Hajjara in the Haraz Mountains is the most impressive of these, with its dozens of tall stone buildings perched on mountains and cliffs.

The buildings are hundreds of years old, with Al-Hajjara itself dating back to the 11th century when it was built by the Ottomans. It’s not difficult to see why these places were difficult to invade, and it’s easy to imagine they must’ve been a nightmare to build.

1 Sichuan Coffins

People will do some spectacular things to honor their dead—that’s how we got the pyramids, after all. In China, there are places where dozens of coffins line sheer cliffs. Some of the coffins sit on beams of wood hammered into the mountainside. Others have been placed in specially dug caves. All are at least 10 meters (33 ft) above the ground, with some as high as 130 meters (427 ft) up the cliff walls.

The coffins were resting places for the Bo, an ethnic group that dominated the area for millennia until they were massacred by the Imperial Army of the Ming Dynasty before the 17th century. The coffins weigh around 200 kilograms (440 lbs), and no-one knows how they got there. The Bo may have lowered them using ropes from above, or built mounds of earth to allow them to reach the necessary heights.

Alan would happily visit any of these places. If you’d like to buy him a plane ticket, drop him an email.

Mankind often stretches the boundaries of preconceived norms with creations so extraordinary that they become more than the sum of their parts. The Eiffel Tower is a cultural icon of France and, although not warmly received at first, its beauty has since transfixed people the world over.

So it might come as a surprise to learn that, from 1925 to 1936, French automobile manufacturer Citroen essentially utilized this extraordinary structure for the mundane task of advertising their brand. In fact, the very thing that saved the Eiffel Tower from demolition was its role as a radiotelegraph communications tower in World War I, hardly a glamorous occupation for one of the most romanticized structures in the world.

Despite having a functional purpose, the Eiffel Tower still remains extraordinary, but what about things mankind has created that are ordinary, even mundane in their very creation and essence? Let’s take a look at 10 man-made things that are so extraordinary, they deserve to transcend their ordinary origins.

10The Niesenbahn Funicular Service Stairway

It would be fair to assume that the longest stairway in the word is in an extraordinarily tall building, but that title actually goes to the service stairway running alongside the Niesenbahn Funicular railway near Spiez, Switzerland. At 11,674 steps, it claims the Guinness World Record for longest staircase in the world. To put 11,674 steps into more relatable terms, the stairway covers a distance of 3.5 kilometers (2.2 mi) and rises 1,669 meters (5,476 ft) in elevation along that distance.

Before you enthusiastically venture out to conquer this Everest of stairways, you must first register to do so. It’s only open to workers, excluding the annual stairway run—in which you can pay to run on stairs for over an hour. Admittedly, that sounds terrible, but since it’s in Switzerland the views are probably gorgeous.

9The Cleveland Federal Reserve’s Vault Door

From its installation in 1923 to its retirement in 1996, the 1.5-meter-thick (5 ft) door at the Federal Reserve of Cleveland served as the largest vault door installation in the world. At a weight of 100 tons, the swinging section of the door alone is akin to the weight of a Boeing 757 before fueling and loading, and its 5.5-meter (18 ft) hinge adds an additional 47 tons to the total weight. Yet it’s so perfectly balanced that one person can open and shut it with ease.

The door is so large and heavy that, when the time came to transport it to Cleveland, Ohio from York, Pennsylvania, the largest railcar in the United States was required to carry it, and the route had to be carefully planned to avoid bridges, because the sheer weight of the cargo threatened to collapse anything that wasn’t solid Earth. Once the car arrived in Cleveland, it took two full days just to unload the door from the railcar. No crane existed that was strong enough to lift it, so massive hydraulic jacks were used instead. If that wasn’t enough, once unloaded from the railcar, it took a total of four days to travel from the rail station to the bank, a distance of merely 1.6 kilometers (1 mi).

8Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C

The world’s longest ship, Emma Maersk, is astounding in its own right, with a size comparable to the height of the world’s tallest skyscrapers at 397 meters (1,302 feet). It’s been the record holder for the world’s longest ship since 2007, but it’s the heart of this mighty beast that’s truly staggering. It’s befitting that the longest ship on the planet be powered by the largest reciprocating engine in the world—the Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C, an engine roughly the size of a small three-story apartment building.

Without getting too technical, an engine of this size generates 110,000 horsepower and weighs 2,500 tons; compare that to the average horsepower and weight of an automobile engine at 150 horsepower and 160 kilograms (350 lb). Despite being so immense, the Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C is incredibly efficient, but nonetheless it still consumes 39.5 barrels of fuel every hour and costs $46 a minute to run.

7The Delaware Aqueduct

Many of us reading this have the luxury of instant access to clean water in the comfort of our homes, but we usually don’t think of the unseen engineering marvels put in place so we can do something so simple as fill a glass of water. Most modern cites aren’t blessed with the foresight of the founders to settle near an adequate water supply, and New York City is one of them. Early settlers dug the first permanent well in 1677, and the first reservoir delivered water to 22,000 residents via hollow logs nearly 100 years later in 1776. Aqueducts became the solution to New York’s growing population and their increasing thirst all the way up until 1944, when the Delaware Aqueduct was constructed.

As of today, it still delivers 50 percent of the metropolis’s drinking water. At 137 kilometers (85 mi) long, it is the world’s longest continuous tunnel, and its deepest point lies 450 meters (1,500 ft) underground—nothing short of incredible, considering that it was constructed by drilling and blasting through solid rock. The aqueduct is also incredibly efficient—95 percent of its water is delivered by gravity alone, which is no small feat considering it delivers 1.9 billion liters (500 million gal) of water per day. Unfortunately, the fact that it leaks up to 130 million liters (35 million gal) of water daily—and has been since 1988—makes it one of New York’s biggest current problems. Plans are underway to spend $1.2 billion on diversion tunnels by 2019.

6KVLY-TV Television Mast

Before Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was built in 2010, the record for the world’s tallest man-made structure belonged to the KVLY-TV antenna in North Dakota. It took just 33 days and 11 men to assemble the antenna to a dizzying height of 628.8 meters (2,063 ft). The tower is so tall that if one of those 11 workers dropped his wrench at the top, it would be traveling at 400 kilometers per hour (250 mph) by the time it reached the ground—fast enough to ruin your day in a hurry if it happened to land on your toes.

If you’re feeling brave, there’s a small, two-man service elevator that takes you 594 meters (1,950 ft) up the tower, but the last 275 meters (900 ft) or so—the actual antenna—are only accessible by climbing. The gusts up there can reach 112 kilometers per hour (70 mph) and the tower sways up to 3 meters (10 ft), so maybe it’s best just to visit the Burj Khalifa’s air-conditioned observation deck instead.

5The Australian BHP Iron Ore Train

How would you like to be stuck behind a train that is 7.3 kilometers (4.6 mi) long? While it might not seem that impressive at first glance, know that the amount of cars in this record-breaking run was a staggering 682 cars with a combined weight approaching 100,000 tons, making it both the longest and heaviest train to ever move. This becomes even more impressive when you learn that the entire train was under the control of a single driver harnessing the power of eight massive General Electric Diesel locomotives spaced evenly throughout the train to increase traction and braking forces.

BHP Iron Ore is no stranger to long trains, however, and routinely operates trains at half this size, meaning that they are regularly the largest trains on the planet at any given time. If you ever find yourself blocked at a railroad crossing by one of these beasts, it might be best to just head back the way you came.

4The Luxor Sky Beam

No matter how common lightbulbs are these days, it’s hard to overlook the light mounted on top of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. This light is the second brightest man-made light in the world. While its setting is anything but ordinary, there’s no trickery or magic behind the “sky beam,” as it’s called in Las Vegas. It uses 39 xenon-powered lamps and the aid of simple reflector shields. Granted, these aren’t your average consumer-grade lightbulbs, as each one costs a hefty $1,200 and uses 7,000 watts. When combined as a unit, they make 40 billion candlepower. It’s so bright that it has reportedly been seen at night by airline pilots 430 kilometers (270 mi) away in Los Angeles, and the air temperature around the lamps reaches 260 degrees Celsius (500 °F).

This might sound impressive, but the world’s brightest light used to be even brighter when it was first installed in the 1990s. The hotel once claimed that American astronaut Daniel Brandenstein remarked that the light was so bright that it would awaken his comrades on the space shuttle. While that story was revealed to be a hoax, the Luxor sky beam is still powerful enough to use as a navigational landmark, as more than a few Las Vegas residents have admitted to doing.

3Large European Acoustic Facility

The Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) is so loud it can kill you. Glossing over how the scientists behind it found that out, let’s try to put one of the world’s most powerful artificial sound systems in more relatable terms. At its base, the LEAF isn’t much more than a juiced-up sound system pumping sound waves into an acoustically optimized room, similar to a loud stereo system playing into a hard-walled closet. The only difference is, the room is 15 meters (50 ft) tall and the system is fueled by nitrogen to produce sounds just 40 decibels quieter than a TNT bomb.

The device is used to test whether satellites and other electronics can withstand the decibels produced at takeoff. As some of the loudest man-made sounds on the planet, rocket blasts sometimes damage the sensitive equipment being launched into space. And yes, the LEAF can kill you—because of this, the designers engineered a fail-safe that doesn’t allow the system to be turned on unless the door is closed.

2The Aerium

Businesses fail all the time, and the more ambitious ones usually leave behind large facilities in their wake. Unfortunately, it’s much easier to sell a standard office building than it is to sell, say, an aircraft hangar 210 meters (688 ft) wide and 107 meters (350 ft) high. That’s the predicament German airship company CargoLifter AG found itself in in 2002 when they declared insolvency. Fortunately for tourists in Europe, the Malaysian company Tanjong had the extravagant plan to convert the world’s largest freestanding building into an indoor water park and resort.

The result is nothing short of astounding. While the structure is nothing more than a clever aircraft hangar, and the resort is standard fare for tourists and business moguls alike, the two combine to create one of the most fascinatingly odd man-made attractions in the world. Just how big is the world’s largest freestanding building? The Aerium can fit the Statue of Liberty standing up or the Eiffel Tower lying on its side; the floor space alone can fit eight American football fields. With all that space available, it’s barely surprising to learn that it holds a 2,700-square-meter (9,000 sq ft) pool with 180 meters (600 ft) of sandy shoreline. It also contains the world’s largest indoor rainforest with 50,000 trees.

1SEA-ME-WE-3

Submarine telecommunication cables are the unsung heroes when it comes to connecting the world. It seems that in our modern age of increasingly advanced technology and rapid development, the majority of communications would be delivered via satellites, but the reality is that most of our data circumnavigates the globe the same way our computers connected to the Internet 10 years ago—with really long cables. Most people don’t even know they exist, and SEA-ME-WE-3 is the world’s longest at a staggering 39,000 kilometers (24,233 mi). Completed in 2000, the cable runs from England to Australia and has 39 landing points in 33 countries and four continents.

What’s even more incredible than the sheer scale is how mundane and simple these cables are. Modern submarine fiber optic cables like SEA-ME-WE-3 are little more than 6.8 centimeters (2.7 in) in diameter, which accounts for a rubber shell, protective synthetic bedding, copper insulation, and the optical fibers themselves. The difference between your household Ethernet cords and submarine fiber optic cables isn’t that great in principle, and everyone who’s had a data cord break on them knows how frustrating it can be. As it turns out, this exact thing can happen to data cables as well.

A miscalculation by a ship’s navigator or even a curious sea creature can sever a cable, resulting in millions of users without Internet access. Even the mighty SEA-ME-WE-3 isn’t immune to the risks—this exact thing happened in 2005, resulting in Pakistan essentially being isolated from the rest of the world for weeks.

Patrick Fuller is a university student studying industrial design who is fascinated by incredible man-made things.

Home to one of the world’s most famous civilizations, Egypt is a country filled to the brim with historical significance. However, when people explore ancient Egyptian history, they usually stop at the pyramids. But other remnants of the culture have survived, giving us new insight into how the ancient Egyptians lived.

10 Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple

We’ve already discussed Hatshepsut, one of the more interesting characters in Egyptian history. She’s the Egyptian queen who promoted herself to pharaoh because Thutmose III, her stepson and heir to the throne, was too young to assume the role. She also left behind a legacy—her mortuary temple.

Located at Deir el-Bahri, the temple is called “Djeser-djeseru,” which means “the holy of holies.” It stands proud to this day, but given the disagreements with Hatshepsut’s method of appointing a new pharaoh, both Thutmose III and Akhenaten went through the temple after her death and made some adjustments to the scenery.

On the first level was a beautiful garden filled with plants from Punt, although the garden is gone now. Behind it was a series of reliefs and monuments, most of which were destroyed by Thutmose III and Akhenaten after Hatshepsut’s death. While none of the surviving monuments depict Hatshepsut, one of them clearly shows Thutmose III dancing before the god Min.

The second level contains the birth colonnade and the Punt colonnade, the ancient Egyptian versions of a Facebook wall. The birth colonnade depicted Hatshepsut’s divine birth, which involved Amun-Ra using his breath to impregnate Queen Ahmose, Hatshepsut’s mother. The Punt colonnade featured Hatshepsut’s voyage to Punt and her return with boats filled with exotic woods, makeup, and animals.

Unfortunately, Thutmose III damaged the depictions of Hatshepsut. For his part, Akhenaten defaced the depictions of Amun-Ra because Akhenaten wanted to popularize the Aten, the god of the Sun disk, instead.

With four chapels, Senenmut’s tomb, and the sanctuary of Amun-Ra still standing, Hatshepsut’s temple offers insight into the ancient Egyptians’ way of life and their politics.

9 The Tuna El-Gebel Catacombs

The ancient Egyptian city of Hermopolis Magna was the capital of the Hare province. Known as the “City of the Eight,” the people there worshiped Thoth, the god of learning. Although the city is interesting in its own right, a fascinating discovery was made nearby.

On the west bank of Tunah al-Jabal near Hermopolis Magna, a university expedition in the 1930s unearthed a vast necropolis dedicated to Thoth. Called “Tuna el-Gebel,” this necropolis may extend all the way to Hermopolis Magna. Regardless, archaeologists have already uncovered 3 kilometers (2 mi) of this impressive site.

As expected, dead bodies lie within the catacombs, which allowed relatives and friends to visit their deceased loved ones without being affected by the weather. The tomb of Petosiris, one of the high priests of Thoth, is also contained within the necropolis. Perhaps more surprising is the large number of animals buried there.

The ancient Egyptians often dedicated animals to their favorite gods, and Thoth certainly had an entire bestiary by the time the Egyptians were done. Explorers discovered thousands of mummified animals, including baboons, ibis and ibis eggs, cats, larks, kestrels, and even pigs.

Every animal within the necropolis was deemed sacred. However, the baboons and ibis were especially exalted, given that Thoth was usually depicted with the head of an ibis and baboons were Thoth’s trusted followers that assisted scribes with their work.

8 The Colossi Of Memnon

The Colossi of Memnon are two giant statues that the locals refer to as “el-Colossat” or “es-Salamat.” Both depicting Amenhotep III, they were built to guard his mortuary temple behind them. While the colossi are still standing, the mortuary temple has vanished due to erosion caused by floods and the theft of stones by subsequent rulers.

Both statues have tiny representations of Amenhotep III’s wife and mother carved into the base as well as two Nile gods winding papyrus around the hieroglyph for “unite.” The statues are called the Colossi of Memnon because early Greek visitors believed the statues depicted the god Memnon, son of the goddess Eos.

After an earthquake in 27 BC, the northern statue suffered some structural damage that caused it to “sing” around dawn. Puzzled, the ancient Greek visitors believed that it might be Memnon, who had died at the hands of Achilles but had returned as a statue. According to their theory, Memnon cried out in anguish each morning when he saw his mother, Eos, rising in the sky at dawn.

Although we can’t reproduce this phenomenon in modern times, it’s possible that the singing was caused by dew trapped in the porous rock that evaporated from the heat of the morning Sun. The singing stopped in AD 199 after the statue was repaired.

7 Malkata Palace

When Amenhotep III ruled Egypt, he built a palace that was the ancient Egyptian version of a California mansion. He was only 12 when he inherited the throne from his father, Thutmose IV, along with one of the largest, wealthiest empires in the world. Rather than wage war, Amenhotep III was a man of diplomacy and peace, which left him the time and money to build Malkata Palace.

The site for Malkata Palace spanned about 800,000 square meters (9 million ft²). The luxurious structure contained a library, kitchens, administrative office, audience chambers, halls for festivities, and more, all of which were decorated lavishly with paint.

Its size wasn’t just for grandeur, however. Malkata Palace housed Amenhotep III’s family, servants, guests, and a large harem of princesses, all of whom had their own retinue of servants. One foreign princess visited with 300 servants of her own. Malkata Palace also housed all the visitors for the Heb Sed festivals—the jubilees of Amenhotep III’s coronation— which probably explains why he called this vast complex the “House of Joy.”

The most curious of all the discoveries made at Malkata Palace was its artificial lake. With a T-shaped area of about 3.5 square kilometers (1.5 mi²), the lake allowed Amenhotep III and his family to sail around without interruption.

6 Tanis

With its discovery rivaling that of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, the “lost city” of Tanis missed its moment of fame when current events overshadowed ancient ones. Tanis was called “Djanet” by the ancient Egyptians and “Zoan” in the Old Testament. During the 21st and 22nd Dynasties, Tanis was the capital of Egypt. But political troubles shifted the importance and influence of the city elsewhere.

In its prime, however, Tanis was a wealthy city, largely because it was one of the closest ports to the Asiatic seaboard. A large temple dedicated to the god Amun was built there. The city’s brief moment in the spotlight also meant that some of the royal tombs were quite extravagant.

In 1939, archaeologist Pierre Montet brought several years of excavations at Tanis to a satisfying end when he discovered a royal tomb complex. It had three burial chambers that were undisturbed by vandalism or theft, making this an incredibly valuable find that also included burial treasures like golden masks, silver coffins, and royal jewelry. Nobody had visited Tanis since the city was abandoned, so the tombs and other archaeological treasures were in the same state as during ancient Egyptian times.

But just as Montet announced his fantastic find, World War II erupted, shifting people’s attention away from Egyptian discoveries to current international turmoil. Although the discovery faded into history, it doesn’t change the fact that Tanis held some of the greatest archaeological finds since Tutankhamun.

5 The Temple Of Seti I

The Temple of Seti I is located in Abydos, one of ancient Egypt’s holiest sites. A burial site since the predynastic era, Abydos was originally dedicated to the god Wepwawet, who opened the way for the dead to enter the afterlife. Gradually, the worship of Osiris grew within Abydos until the entire area became dedicated to him. Abydos features the early tombs of the necropolis Umm el Qa’ab, which were thought to be the beginning of burial practices that eventually led to the building of the pyramids.

One of the remaining temples within Abydos is the Temple of Seti I, which has a strange, L-shaped layout but is like most Egyptian temples otherwise. Some of the temple’s surviving wonders include two hypostyle halls, large rooms where the builders supported the roof by placing many columns throughout the structure.

The outer hypostyle hall was finished by Ramses II after Seti I’s death. Even though the temple was supposed to be about Seti I, the pictures within the outer hypostyle hall frequently depict Ramses II. At the entrance, Ramses II is shown measuring the temple with the goddess Selket before presenting it to the god Horus. Elsewhere, Ramses II is depicted offering a box of papyrus to the deities Horus, Isis, and Osiris before being led to the temple to be blessed with holy water. However, these sunk reliefs aren’t crafted well, suggesting that Ramses II sent all of Seti I’s best workers to complete his own temple, the Ramesseum.

The more impressive sights are found in the inner hypostyle hall, which was largely completed before Seti I’s death. One relief shows Osiris and Horus pouring holy water over Seti I. Other reliefs depict Seti I being crowned by the gods and Seti I kneeling before Osiris and Horus. On the side walls, projecting piers show Seti I wearing a crown representing the combination of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Behind these halls are seven sanctuaries, each dedicated to a favorite god. There’s also the Sanctuary of Seti I, which depicts him uniting Upper and Lower Egypt, as well as inner sanctuaries of Osiris, several chapels, and a gallery of kings listing all of Seti I’s predecessors.

4 Babylon Fortress

The Babylon Fortress in Cairo (aka the “Castle of Babylon” or the “Castle of Egypt”) wasn’t built by the Egyptians. Instead, it was built by the command of two Roman emperors. The first one was Trajan, who opened a canal between the Red Sea and the Nile and refurbished an old Persian fortress in the southern part of town. The second was Arcadius, who improved upon the existing fortress. Given both of their efforts, Babylon Fortress became a port and a supply line to Alexandria.

The Babylon Fortress was a refuge for the Coptic Christians, especially after they began to suffer persecution from the Western Christians. There are several churches built into the fortress itself, including the Hanging Church, one of the most famous Coptic churches in Egypt.

The Hanging Church is built over the entrance to a passage in the fortress. Visitors enter through a decorated gate on Shar’a Mari Girgis Street and then climb 29 steps to the church (hence its nickname, the ‘”Staircase Church”). The church has an 11th-century pulpit with 13 pillars, representing Jesus and his 12 disciples. The oldest icon in the church dates to the eighth century. A lintel depicting Christ entering Jerusalem may date as far back as the fifth century.

3 Deir El-Medina

A village near the Valley of the Kings, Deir el-Medina housed all the workers who helped build and decorate the tombs for the pharaohs. According to village records, the people living in Deir el-Medina actively desired to build tombs that would one day serve their king. Many of these records also discuss personal matters, which gives us a look into the day-to-day life of Egyptian workers.

The tomb workers went on one of the first recorded strikes due to an unfair work environment. Ramses III had a huge construction program at Thebes, which heavily drained the grain supply used to pay the workers at the necropolis. The workers waited six months for payment. Then, faced with starvation, they marched on several temples and staged sit-ins until something was done.

According to the records of the strike found at Deir el-Medina: “They sat down at the rear of the temple of Baenre-meryamun. They shouted at the mayor of Thebes as he was passing by, and he sent to them the gardener Meniufer of the chief overseer of cattle to say to them: ‘See, I’ll give these 50 sacks of emmer for provisions until Pharaoh gives you (a) ration.’ ”

For researchers, interesting records from this ancient Egyptian village are available online at the Deir el-Medina database.

2 The Statue Of Meritamun

Unlike the other towns on this list, Akhmim is still active today, but it stands over the ancient Egyptian town of Ipu. When excavating the site, archaeologists discovered fragments of a statue of Ramses II and a relatively intact, 11-meter-high (36 ft) statue of Meritamun, Ramses II’s daughter.

Given that the female statue was lying prone, the workers righted it first. After that, it was decided that the statue should be left in the open, still situated several meters below ground level.

A story on looklex.com described it this way: “Akhmim is among the weirdest sites from Ancient Egypt. You drive along crowded and dusty roads in the large town of Akhmim, then suddenly, in a large hole in the ground, you see the head of a grand female statue.”

1 Aswan Granite Quarry

The Egyptians loved their granite. The pyramids were made of it. The temples used it. It was a prime building material that stood the test of time. Much of the granite used in these structures came from the Aswan granite quarry, which even supplied stone for the lintels above the king’s chamber. The Aswan quarry area spanned about 150 square kilometers (60 mi²) and included the famous granite quarries as well as lesser-known sandstone, grinding stone, and building stone quarries.

However, the most interesting aspect of the Aswan granite quarry is what lies unfinished inside: the largest ancient obelisk known to man. Had it been lifted out of the quarry to stand upright, this obelisk would have weighed 1,200 tons and sported a jaw-dropping height of 42 meters (137 ft), at least one-third taller than any other ancient Egyptian obelisk. Archaeologists believe that female pharaoh Hatshepsut commissioned its construction.

The reason for abandoning the project isn’t known. But it could be that the stone had imperfections that the ancient Egyptians hadn’t noticed before construction. Another theory is that the process of quarrying the stone relieved some of the stress keeping the stone together, causing a crack to appear on the obelisk. The project’s failure, however, has been a success for archaeologists, who can look over the work in progress to learn how the ancient Egyptians crafted such gigantic monuments.

S.E. Batt is a freelance writer and author. He enjoys a good keyboard, cats, and tea, even though the three of them never blend well together. You can follow his antics over at @Simon_Batt, or his fiction website, www.sebatt.com.

To quote the late Douglas Adams (the beloved author of “The Hitckhikers Guide to the Galaxy” books): “Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” Truer words have never been spoken, as the universe itself is so big, it is incomprehensible, even to the most knowledgeable and open minded individuals. With a diameter that extends more than 93 billion light-years across, many very large objects are just lurking out in space, waiting to be found. In this list, I’ve gathered up the most massive and bizarre structures found in the universe. Many of them are actually a collection of objects, held together by the immense force of gravity. And since space is so big, none of our Earthly means of measuring distances will suffice, so for the sake of this article, we’re going to use light-years, the rate at which light travels through space in one year, as a unit of measurement.

Light travels at 186,000 miles [300,000 kilometers] per second, which equals out to 5,878,000,000,000 miles [9,461,000,000,000 km] each year. Therefore, at this rate, it would take light more than 4 years of traveling at top speed to reach the Alpha Centauri triple-star system, the closest celestial neighbors of the sun. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is so long, it would take light over 100,000 years of traveling, before making its way across the galaxy, coming out on the other side.

We hope all of you enjoy this brief trip to the great beyond.

Top 10 Scariest Things In The Universe

10 Swift J1357.2

We start this list out with the closest structure found from Earth (and the only one actually located in our galaxy), formally known as Swift J1357.2 — located almost 5,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Virgo. The structure itself is one of the least understood of this list, but physicists believe that it is based around a binary system containing a star and a stellar-mass black hole. The companion star in the system makes a complete orbit around the center of the system’s mass in the shortest orbital period known of at this time, just in 2.8 hours.

Contrary to popular belief, black holes are not cosmic vacuum cleaners that siphon all material located within the general vicinity of them. Instead, black holes only consume matter that dwells too close to them (coming within the so-called “event horizon,” which is basically the point at which nothing, not even light, can escape from). Gravitational perturbations can be the catalyst for this, causing an object (or a collection of matter) in a stable orbit around a black hole to veer off course, sending it spiraling inward. Because of this, it’s not uncommon that more material can collect than the black hole can consume at any given time. This material is known to build up and form something called an accretion disk.

The structure known as Swift J1357.2 is likely similar in design to one of these disks. Unlike its normal counterparts, this particular one has formed in the outer layer of the accretion disk and acts like a wave (traveling in an outward vertical direction instead of horizontally) which has resulted in a systematic “dimming” of the companion star every few seconds.^[1]

9 Hanny’s Voorwerp

Pictured at the top of this image (linked to below, for whomever actually decides which lists get published) is IC 297, a spiral galaxy located about about 650 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Leo Minor.

Located just under the galaxy (separated by thousands of light-years in reality) is Hanny’s Voorwerp — one of the strangest structures in existence. (and that says a lot, given how many mind-bogglingly strange some of the things Hubble [and several other groundbreaking telescopes] has unveiled are). Besides being strange, the structure is also very massive.. coming in at a diameter that exceeds that of the Milky Way. (More than 100,000 light-years)

The most likely origin of the structure is a no-longer active quasar once located in IC 297’s central core. Sometime, in the distant past, the quasar spat out all of the ghastly green material that twisted into filaments comprising this unique structure.^[2]

8 The Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster

This behemoth structure, containing more than 350,000 separate galaxies (30,000 large galaxies, 5,000 galaxy groups with more than 300,000 dwarf galaxies), is located about 700 million light-years from Earth. At least, the closest part of it is. This thing is literally so large, we aren’t entirely sure where the farthest end is, but it’s believed to be at least 1.2 billion light-years away from us — stretching across more than 550 million light-years in total.

Included in the Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster, is Abell 3266, one of the most massive regions in our local universe. Incidentally, a huge cloud of gas, stretching out more than 5 million light-years along, is quickly approaching the cluster, which will reignite an era of star formation for the galaxies that will be impacted.^[3]

7 The Newfound Blob

Not only is the “Newfound Blob” one of the largest structures in the universe, but it’s also one of the oldest and most distant. For a time, it actually was considered the largest, until modern astronomy came along, when we began to build more powerful telescopes that were capable of taking us back to the dawn of time.

The Newfound Blob is comprised of large bubbles of gas, with several galaxies thrown in for good measure, which are called “Lyman Alpha Blobs.” (gotta love the creativity!) This particular one, the largest known blob, is located about 11 billion light-years from Earth, stretching more than 200 million light-years across. Some of the individual bubbles are 400,000 light-years across, which is FOUR times longer than our galaxy!

Its vast distance essentially means that the blob came into existence only 2 billion years after the big bang occurred. Factoring in the accelerating expansion of the universe, it’s safe to say that the blob is now much, much farther away from the location it was in when the light first left the region, beginning its journey traversing through space to reach our planet.^[4]

6 The Great Attractor

What is a list about space without a little bit of mystery? This entry will most certainly hit the proverbial spot, as it’s the grand poobah of unsolved cosmological mysteries.

When astronomers were observing one of the closest super-clusters to us, the Norma Cluster (located about 220 million light-years away), they noticed something strange and frankly perplexing. Something, which has been called “the great attractor” is gravitationally tugging on galaxies located in the region, pulling the galaxies toward it at speeds exceeding 200,000 miles per hour.

The mass needed for the structure (or an object, which is unlikely) to exert the needed force on the galaxies is immense, leading some astronomers to believe that dark energy, the force driving the expansion of the universe, is to blame. If not, this could mean we are missing key components needed to determine how gravity behaves on a macro-scale. (OR, I am rather fond of the notion that this is where all of the missing socks go.)^[5]

Top 10 Deadliest Planets In The Universe

5 The Sloane Great Wall of Galaxies

Whilst looking at the universe at large, we see that many galaxies (each generally containing billions of stars) tend to clump together, forming galaxy clusters. These clusters are in turn, separated by stunningly large voids. We call these structures ‘filaments’ and boy, do we have many of them. Among them, one of the most massive is called “The Sloane Great Wall.” This structure is more than 1.38 billion light-years in length, located approximately one billion light-years from Earth. The length is particularly impressive, as it makes up almost 1/60th (or about 5%) of the diameter of the observable universe. (The part of it that can actually be detected. The actual universe is much larger than that)

Even more interesting is the fact that this region contradicts the very basis of modern cosmology, which relies on the universe being only 13.7 billion years in age. Many noted physicists believe such a huge structure would take from 100 billion to 150 billion years to form to completion. To put it into a different light, if it took one week for the entire Earth to form, it would take more than two quintillion years for the Great Wall to form. Needless to say, it’s incomprehensibly large.^[6]

4 The Eridanus Supervoid

Most of us likely consider space to be empty. For the most part, it is. Over 99% of the universe is empty. That does not include how empty matter itself is. (Again, atoms are comprised mostly of empty space) However, with the discovery of quantum physics, we know that even empty space is not really empty, but contains negligible amounts of gas, energy and virtual particles, which pop in and out of existence.

So it’s still rather surprising to find areas of space that are almost entirely devoid of all kinds of matter, which include stars, planets, galaxies, clusters, interstellar materials and even dark matter itself (the mysterious substance we can’t see directly, but we know it makes up a large portion of the universe’s overall mass). The largest one of these voids can be found in the constellation of Eridanus. It stretches over an area of space that is equal to one billion light-years. Many physicists have came up with some very interesting theories about the origin of this void. One of them postulates that the void is an imprint of a parallel universe, which rubbed elbows with our own in the distant past. Another says that the region could be home to a universe-in-mass black hole.^[7]

3 Large Quasar Group

Next, we come to LQG (Large Quasar Group), the most massive structure in the known universe. This region of space is more than billion light-years across, containing more than 73 active quasars (Quasars can generally be found surrounding active black holes. Some of them are capable of emitting more light and energy in mere moments than all of the stars in our galaxy can combined!) in multiple galaxies. This relatively new find is not only mindbogglingly large, but it also challenges some deeply held beliefs, primarily something we call the “cosmological principle.” It says that no matter where we look, the universe should be homogeneous on a macroscale (or to put it simply, it should look the same everywhere).

Obviously something this large (and unmatched in size) is problematic from a cosmological principle perspective. This is not the first, nor the last, find that proves we know much less than we think we know.^[8]

2 The Observable Universe

Now, we get to the super awesome, difficult to comprehend part of our list. The universe is basically divided into two parts. First, we have the observable universe and then we have the actual universe. Both indeed qualify as structures, as you can clearly see the interconnectedness of the filaments and voids.

We are seriously hindered by the laws of physics, as far as how much we can see of the universe is concerned. As we know, light generally travels at a constant speed whilst traveling through the vacuum of space. Therefore, we can not see the light from any object located beyond the “light horizon;” An area of space close enough for the light from these objects to reach us. This area has a radius of 13.7 BILLION light-years (the age of the universe). While the area has a diameter of a staggering 93 billion light-years. This is possible because after the big bang, when the universe was only a fraction of a second old, it began expanding at a very, very rapid rate, called “inflation.” This expansion continues on to this very day, albeit much slower.

To summarize: The observable universe contains an estimated 10 million super-clusters (a few of which, we have discussed today), 350 billion large galaxies like the Milky Way, 25 billion galaxy groups, 7 trillion dwarf (or satellite) galaxies with about 30 billion trillion stars.^[9]

Which brings us to the last on our list:

1 The Actual Universe

First, I must stress that we really have no idea how large the actual universe is. Many physicists believe that our universe is actually infinite in size (I won’t even go into the possibility of our universe belonging to a multiverse, with potentially an infinite number of universes), but the truth of the matter depends on the overall shape of spacetime. Regardless, the actual universe is at LEAST 14 trillion light-years in diameter (excluding some speculative factors). Try multiplying the estimated number of stars in each galaxy by the number of estimated galaxies in the universe, you’ll get a rough estimate of the total number of stars the universe COULD contain. (The numbers go into the septillionth digits, depending on your source.)

Lets put that into perspective, in this scenario:

Each atom is comprised mostly of empty space (about 99%) with one very tiny nucleus. Estimates say that the actual universe could be ten BILLION times larger than the nucleus of an atom compared to the actual atom. (With the nucleus being the observable universe and the true universe being the rest of the atom.)

The most unusual part? Due to the expansion of the universe (which I briefly mentioned earlier), there will come a time in the distant future when the observable portion of the universe begins to shrink, before freezing and fading out of our view forever. Any light emitted from galaxies beyond this so-called “light horizon” (or the Hubble Volume, if you would prefer) will be too far away, traveling too fast for the light to ever reach us.

So yes. Even though the universe is growing, it will eventually shrink. (At least that’s how it will appear to living observers.) The night sky will be dark, featureless and devoid of all of its defining features. Not to worry though. Long before that, our sun will transition into a red-giant, engulfing our planet and anyone unfortunate enough to still be living here. Enjoy your day!^[10]

10 Facts You Didn’t Know About The Universe

About The Author: Jaime devotes every spare moment of her time toward writing for various science organizations online. However, the field of astrophysics is where her heart lies.

We instantly recognize famous landmarks—the Great Pyramids, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Golden Gate Bridge, and other architectural and engineering marvels. They are images that come with easy familiarity. But imagine an alternate reality where the names are attached to structures that are bafflingly strange and unrecognizable. Well, let’s take a tour of such an alternate reality and look at ten well-known landmarks and structures that could have turned out quite differently.

Related: 10 Amazing Ancient Buildings Still In Use Today

10 The White House

Washington, D.C., was a city in its infancy when George Washington launched a competition for the design of the future mansion of the U.S. President in 1792. It drew in many proposals, from professional architects and amateurs alike, with styles ranging from pre-Revolutionary War Georgian to Neoclassical. Ultimately, it was Irish-born architect James Hoban’s design, based on the Leinster House in Dublin, that was chosen.

However, in our alternate universe, let us pretend that the entry chosen was the one conceived by none other than the future third president, Thomas Jefferson, who was a fan of classical European architecture. It might have been an unfortunate clerical error that credited the anonymously submitted design to one Abraham Faws.

Jefferson’s vision for the executive mansion included a columned porch and a dome, which is a prominent feature of classical architecture. Though Jefferson’s entry didn’t quite make it, he would go on to add his own touches to the White House once he moved in: colonnades, a carriage path, and a stable.^[1]

9 The Arc de Triomphe

In our alternate universe, Paris might probably be renowned for a gargantuan elephant. And it would have been called L’elephant Triomphal.

The present monument, a landmark on the Parisian landscape, was inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome and was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte after his great victory in Austerlitz in 1805. However, 45 years earlier, an architect named Charles Ribart proposed a wackier monument on the same site on the Champs Elysees.

Ribart designed a giant elephant, hollow inside with chambers that could be accessed by a spiral staircase ascending from the entrance. The ornate, three-story beast would be large enough to hold banquets and balls. Outside, there would be a garden watered via a drainage system hidden in the elephant’s trunk.

French officials were not impressed nor amused, however, and rejected Ribart’s insane design.^[2]

8 Chicago Tribune Tower

The ambitious and powerful newspaper magnate Robert McCormick wanted “the most beautiful office building in the world” to be the headquarters of his influential Chicago Tribune. To this end, he started a design competition in 1923 that would fulfill his dream. In response, 260 architects from 23 countries flooded the jury with a vast range of choices.

The winning entry, by John Howells and Raymond Hood, resulted in the Gothic skyscraper that now stands on Michigan Avenue. While the building has since earned the praise of critics, in the beginning, it was scorned by no less than the godfather of Chicago architecture himself, Louis Sullivan, who said it “evolved from dying ideas.”

In fact, many preferred the second-place design of Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen over the winner. A late entry, Saarinen’s concept of a modern, minimalist tapering tower tipped the jury into a frenzy of indecision. Though it ultimately narrowly lost out to Howells and Hood, it was hailed as the herald of a new era in American architecture, one that boldly freed itself from the past. Today, buildings like Cleveland’s Key Tower and Charlotte’s Bank of America Corporate Center use elements of what might have been the Tribune Tower.^[3]

7 Sydney Opera House

If there is anything that defines Sydney, it has to be the concrete shells of the Sydney Opera House, standing like billowing sails over Sydney Harbor. Jorn Utzon’s masterpiece was chosen out of the 200-plus entries in the competition for the building’s design. But had the second-place entry been selected, Sydney might have had a landmark that was a cross between a submarine and a seashell.

The design was conceived by seven architects called the Philadelphia Collaborative Group. Like Utzon, they took inspiration from the nearby sea to create a nautilus-like spiral structure that was praised for being “robust” and “well-suited” to the seaside location. The brutalist design also featured full-height windows and a roof of folded concrete sheathed in copper. The latest techniques in concrete technology would have been used to turn the concept into reality.^[4]

6 Statue of Liberty

Had Frederic Bartholdi’s original plan carried through, the Statue of Liberty would have been a veiled Muslim woman guarding the Suez Canal rather than the Roman goddess Libertas watching over New York Harbor.

Recent research has uncovered the sculptor’s original vision for the statue, an Egyptian peasant woman (fellaha) holding a torch aloft to represent Egypt’s social and industrial progress marked by the opening of the canal. It would be 86 feet (26 meters) tall on a pedestal that was 48 feet (14.5 meters) high. “Egypt Bringing Light to Asia” would also function as a lighthouse.

Egyptian officials, still reeling from the expenses incurred by the canal, didn’t warm up to Bartholdi’s idea. The rest is history: Bartholdi exchanged the Egyptian fellaha for a European woman and sent her to New York City, where she stands to this day—”Liberty Enlightening the World.”^[5]

5 Eiffel Tower

Quick myth-busting fact: Gustav Eiffel did not design the Eiffel Tower. Rather, he headed a construction company specializing in steel structures, which employed two brilliant engineers: Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin. It was Koechlin who drew up the initial plans for the curving tower that would grace the Paris Exposition of 1889 and, together with Nouguier, presented the draft to Eiffel for approval. The company’s architect, Stephen Sauvestre, further refined the plans, adding decorative touches of his own—glass rooms, arches, and stone pedestals.

One of Sauvestre’s additions, conceived when the structure was already up and proving to be a big draw, was two smaller towers on both sides of the main structure, making a segmented triad rather than the single, sweeping tower we are familiar with. The added infrastructure was meant to facilitate the movement of visitors up, down, and around the tower in response to the long queues of people waiting to ascend.

Whether these additions would have enhanced the beauty of the Eiffel Tower or made it a steel monstrosity is an open question. What do you think?^[6]

4 Lincoln Memorial

A pyramid in Washington, D.C.? The Washington Monument was modeled after an Egyptian obelisk, so why not? Ancient Egypt would have been amply represented in the nation’s capital had John Russel Pope’s design for the proposed Lincoln Memorial been accepted in 1912. Aside from an Egyptian-style pyramid, Pope also submitted a ziggurat based on Mesopotamian antecedents

Pope, the leading American neoclassical architect, was eager to be awarded the task of designing the memorial to the 16th President. However, the Lincoln Memorial Commission was advised by the Commission of Fine Arts to choose architect Henry Bacon instead. Pope was backed by a member of the Memorial Commission, Joseph Cannon. Thus both men submitted their designs, and eventually, Bacon’s Greco-Roman edifice carried the jury.

Though Pope’s designs were consigned to the archives, they nevertheless still stir the interest and imagination of those who ponder what might have been.^[7]

3 Washington Monument

Plans to commemorate the first president began as far back as Washington’s lifetime, but it was not until 1836 that the Washington Monument Society awarded architect Robert Mills the honor of designing the memorial. Mills’s vision featured not only the now-iconic obelisk but also a colonnade and equestrian statue.

Unfortunately, construction was stopped in 1856 when anti-Catholics protested against the use of stone donated by Pope Pius IX. The unfinished monument sat idle for twenty years when Congress approved funds to resume work. But Mill’s original design was drastically pruned, eliminating the statue and the rotunda around the base altogether. Only the central obelisk remained intact.

Thus, what we see now must look bare and naked had Mills been alive to see it.^[8]

2 Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is the quintessential symbol of London, even being mistakenly called London Bridge by some ( the real London Bridge is, in fact, upstream of it). It was Sir Horace Jones’s answer to the challenge of spanning the Thames for foot and vehicular traffic without disrupting boats navigating the river. The double-leaf drawbridge completed in 1894 has since attracted millions of visitors the world over with its unique Victorian Gothic towers.

But a simple drawbridge was not the only solution offered. One intriguing and futuristic design was submitted by F.J. Palmer. The plan called for the roadway at both ends of the bridge to loop. While one side of the loop slides open to let a passing boat through, the other side stays closed to accommodate wheeled transport. Once the boat has entered the loop, the road behind it is closed, and the one in front of the ship opens to let it out. It was all pretty complicated but allowed both road and river traffic to move uninterrupted.

No one was sure if the plan would work, though, and it was ultimately abandoned.^[9]

1 Reichstag

When Germany was unified and the Second Reich was proclaimed in 1871, a sudden flood of new lawmakers necessitated a larger building to hold the assembly. A design competition for a new Reichstag was announced in November of that year, and one of the entrants was British architect Sir Gilbert Scott. Though Scott would eventually miss out on the first prize, his submission was highly regarded by the German jury and was awarded second place.

Dominating Scott’s hybrid Gothic creation was a central dome or cupola 75 feet (23 meters) in diameter, with similar construction to the dome of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. Wings extending in four directions radiated from the dome. Obviously, Scott had a fondness for domes and insisted that the Reichstag should have one regardless of architectural style to lend it proper dignity.

Despite not winning, Scott had beaten most of the resident German architects and was justifiably proud of his achievement.^[10]

Human beings are capable of constructing incredible structures. Today, many architects and engineers boast of designing cutting edge office blocks and other mega-projects. Sport arenas, monuments, and cathedrals are all a testament to our ability to build. In the modern world, though, we have the help of technology like laser cutting equipment and massive mechanical drills and cranes.

Builders in ancient times didn’t have these luxuries. So how they managed to build monolithic and precise structures is perplexing us to this day. We’ve compiled a list of the ten best ancient structures we still don’t understand.

10 The Nan Madol

The abandoned megalithic city of Nan Madol is a terrific example of architecture and art that demands us to imagine what we assume was possible in ancient times. Built on a lagoon adjacent to Pohnpei’s shoreline, Nan Madol comprises about 100 artificial islets spreading over 150 acres of land. The city could comfortably house over 1000 people. Historians believe Nan Madol to have been a ceremonial and political center for the Sau Deleur dynasty chiefs (c.1100-1628).

What makes the city even more befuddling is that the builders of Nan Madol relied solely on the weight and positioning of each stone column, not mortar, to secure the buildings. Oral histories of the city tell tales of gigantic birds moving the basalt columns into place. While the city’s exact architecture and engineering elude us, we know that it took a tremendous economic and ecological system to support such an undertaking.

9 Puma Punku

No list of mysterious ancient structures would be complete without mention of the blocks of Puma Punku. The site forms part of a temple complex located in Bolivia, the Andes Mountains. Historians believed that the creators of Puma Punku built it sometime between 536-600 AD. Many scientists, however, argue that the stone structures are much older. So, what makes these stones so unique? The stones are massive, with the largest weighing approximately 131 tons. This is twice the size of most modern-day earth moving equipment. Yet somehow, people of the time managed to bring these stones to this site 1420 years ago. How they moved them, no one knows.

Puma Punku has an altitude of 12,800 feet. That is high up in the mountains, so whoever moved the blocks had to work twice as hard. At this height, Puma Punku is above the natural tree line. This means that no trees grow within the area, and they wouldn’t have used wooden rollers to move the rocks. The most mind-blowing mystery is the kind of engineering used in shaping the blocks. The blocks have precisely cut forms and shapes. The stones are also magnetic. Maybe our ancestors were not as primitive as we like to think.

8 Monoliths of Asuka

Asuka is a village located in the Takaichi District of Japan. The village has its origin in the Kofun Jidai period of 250-552 AD. Asuka has sparked an immense historical interest. Within the larger mystery of the village itself lies 20 famous stone structures. Till today, no one knows the creators of the structures. The biggest and most unusual of these mysterious structures is one dubbed Masuda-no-Inafune, translated as ‘the rock ship of Masuda.’ The stone structure stands 11 meters long, 8 meters wide, and almost 5 meters in height. The stone weighs approximately 800 tons.

There are no definite answers as to why, when, or who made these rock structures. However, numerous beliefs and suggestions have been put forward in an attempt to explain the unusual designs. Masuda-no-Inafune is located in a region with many Buddhist shrines and temples. Therefore, it is easy to speculate that Buddhists may have carved the stone for ceremonial or religious purposes. However, the large stone structure does not exhibit any Buddhist styles of construction.

7 Mysterious ‘Alien’ Black Boxes

Twenty-four coffin-shaped black boxes were discovered by archeologists in a hillside cave at Saqqara, near the pyramid of Djoser. The boxes are solid Aswan granite, which is hard to even scratch with modern-day equipment. What makes this an even more extraordinary engineering feat is the engineered tolerance of the boxes. The boxes are massive, weighing well over a hundred tons each. These megalithic structures are airtight, making us believe that they were for an important purpose. Each of the boxes’ lid is granite cut and individually weighs about 30 tons. 

The level of stone cutting skill applied to these structures makes it hard for anyone to believe Egyptians made them. The skillfulness is so accurate that aliens could only have achieved it, and the Egyptians only appropriated them. These mysterious boxes have not yet found a definitive explanation of why they exist or why they’re 24 in number.

6 The Walls of Sacsayhuaman

The Incas are a rich hub of historical information. Cusco is home to many Inca ruins, but one of them stands out for many reasons. Located in the city’s northern outskirts, Sacsayhuaman remains one of the world’s most stunning ruins. The Incas built this former capital of their dynasty like a fortress. However, not much of the complex remains intact today. Most of what remains is an outstanding wall that befuddles the historians and scientists of today. Like most of the Inca structures, the walls are super heavy rock boulders that fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The boulders are irregularly shaped but so tightly spaced that you can’t fit a needlepoint between them. The walls rise to over 6 meters, and the longest of the walls is 400 meters long. The walls are so astounding that when Spaniards took over Cusco, they began tearing down the walls believing that only demons could have built such a structure. However, most of the boulders were too heavy for the Spaniards to move. How the Incas managed to shape and pile these boulders into a perfect fit remains a puzzle.

5 Lalibela’s Rock-Hewn Churches

Lalibela’s 11 ancient rock-hewn churches are a shred of evidence that Christianity has existed for more years in Ethiopia than in any other country. Religion has had a strong place in this country since 330 AD despite having high poverty levels and instability. The monolithic structures go as deep as 40 to 50 feet below the earth’s surface. Cross-shaped openings serve as windows, ventilation, and even drainage for rainwater. 

Many theories attempt to explain the origin of these astounding churches. The most popular hypothesis is that the 12th-century emperor of Ethiopia, King Lalibela, gave orders to construct these worship places. The small museum at the churches’ entrance propagates this theory but only has a fragile ax-shaped adze for proof. Even without nine centuries of wear, the tool looks more suited for farming than carving hard rock. Local worshipers who use the underground churches add a more divine twist to this theory. They believe that King Lalibela could complete the 11 churches with an army of angels in just a single night.

4 Longyou Caves

For as long as anyone could remember, myths of human-made caves had been part of local lore in Shiyan Beicun, Zhejiang in China. This was until one man decided to put the myth to the test. He rallied the local community, and they purchased a huge hydraulic pump that they used to drain the town’s pond. After 17 days of pumping, they were astonished to find  hand-dug caves  at the bottom of the pond. To date, archeologists have discovered 35 similar caverns in this region after staying hidden for millennia. These caverns are carved from siltstone and descend to almost 30 meters below ground level.

The construction of these caverns still eludes us even with modern archeological research and examination equipment. Considering the rate at which an average human would dig with tools of the time, it would take 1000 skilled artisans working 24 hours straight over many years to complete such a project. Even more mysterious is how they managed to move the caves’ rubble and where they dumped it. There has not been a single trace of the 1 million cubic meters of stone removed from the caves.

3 The Moray Terraces of The Incas

Moray, about 50km northwest of Cusco, Peru, is home to one of the most mysterious and stunning Inca ruins. The ruins are of an ancient amphitheater-like structure with concentric terraces that run around the depression. The biggest of the terraces are at the center and descend approximately 150 meters to a circular bottom. 

One of the most intriguing features of this structure is that the bottom is so well-drained that no rainwater can collect in it. This ensures that even the most plentiful of rains can’t flood  the Moray terraces. Another remarkable feature is that there is a vast temperature difference of as much as 15°C exists between the bottom and top reaches of the ancient structure. The temperature difference creates several micro-climates on the terraces, suggesting that agriculturalists had once used the moray to study the impact of different climatic conditions on crops. We might never understand the Moray terraces’ purpose, but agricultural research is a likely possibility.

2 The Treasury at Petra

Archeologists and historians estimate that the Treasury’s construction at Petra took place in the 1st century BC. The structure design has no precedent in the region, and we can only assume that it was the work of Hellenistic architects in the near east. Scientists and historians have not yet established the purpose of  the Treasury. 

The Treasury got its current name from a popular Bedouin belief that the structure’s giant stone urn, the tholos, was used as a hiding place for pirates’ ancient treasures. The Bedouins tried to release the treasure by periodically firing at it. The bullet holes are still visible on the walls of the urn.

Although we don’t know its creators or purpose, the builders certainly wanted to make an impression. Not many buildings today can match the aesthetics and beauty of this ancient structure. The building’s design is quite simple. The layout features one large central chamber and two smaller ones flanking the porch on both sides. The treasure is built high on the side of a cliff. Below the ancient structure are several small rooms and tombs.

1 The Borobudur Temple

The  temple at Borobudur  is another ancient structure that is shrouded with mystery. To this day, the world’s biggest Buddhist temple still leaves some big question marks about its construction. Historians estimate it to have been built in the 8th century by the Shailendra dynasty. Historians estimate the construction would have taken a whole century to complete due to its vast size and artwork. However, archeologists suggest that the structure’s initial design was one giant stupa built around five balustrades. The builders later altered the design to feature three stupa levels around one great stupa due to fear that it would collapse. The temple’s design closely resembles a Mandala, which leads to speculations that Indian Buddhists constructed the Borobudur.

Over 504 statues adorn the temple. The central dome has 72 stupas surrounding it, and each has a statue placed inside. An equally mysterious unfinished Buddha sculpture lies inside the main stupa. This awe-inspiring statue is massive and surrounded by a lot of theories about its origins.

Conclusion

While we may not understand how the structures were made, we are glad we can study them and marvel at the work that has survived.

Buildings are abandoned for several reasons including financial woes and environmental disasters. The shells that remain often make for beautiful pictures, even if a somewhat eerie atmosphere persists. On this list are just some of the many abandoned structures on Earth, deserted for a variety of reasons and sometimes visited by those looking for a thrill.

Top 10 Towns People Abandoned For No Reason

10 Cape Romano Dome House

In 1980, Bill Lee started work on his dream: an eco-friendly and self-sufficient home on Cape Romano on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It took three years and a lot of hard work, but by 1982 he had built himself a home able to sustain hurricane-force winds. The house included solar panels, a well-thought-out gutter system that allowed rainfall to be used as running water inside.

The home resembles a series of futuristic-looking domes and the Lee family enjoyed it as a vacation house for a while. Rumors soon started making the rounds that the dome house was guarded by people with machine guns, among other wild stories including that the structure was built by aliens.

Lee sold the house in 1984, but where the new owners ran into financial difficulties in 1987, Lee repossessed the place and stayed there until 1993. That same year Hurricane Andrew hit Florida but the house stood strong. Erosion on Cape Romano was a big problem however, and the firm sand began to sink into the ocean water. Lee had no choice but to evacuate permanently.

Today, concrete pillars are the only support system keeping the structure above water.

9 Lapalice Castle

In 1979, artist Piotr Kazimierczak started work on an over-the-top studio, in the form of Lapalice Castle. He wanted the ‘studio’ to be a huge estate comprising of twelve towers and a ballroom. Unfortunately, Kazimierczak soon ran out of funds and had to leave his dream behind.

Today Lapalice Castle stands abandoned in a small Polish village, occasionally visited by the brave at heart who don’t fear its ghosts or the fragile state of its 52 rooms. Kazimierczak hasn’t given up hope though. As recently as 2017 he was still fighting against plans for the castle to be demolished, hoping that it would have some legal protection after standing for more than 20 years.

8 Power Plant IM

Resembling something out of an apocalypse movie, Power Plant IM sits abandoned in Charleroi, Belgium. When it was first constructed in the 1920s, it was one of the largest coal-burning power plants in the country. By 1977 it was the main source of power in Charleroi and could cool down 480,000 gallons of water per minute. New components were introduced then, which meant the power plant could also use gas power.

All was not as great as it seemed however, and when a report found that the power plant was to blame for 10% of all CO2 emissions in Belgium, it was shut down in 2007.

A decision was taken to demolish the structure soon after, but it still stands in 2021, greenery slowly but surely lining its insides.

7 Macassar Beach Pavilion

The False Bay coastline in South Africa is one of the most spectacular sights in the world and incorporates the magnificently scenic Clarence Drive. It is along this coastline you will find a sight that is out of place with the bright sunshine, blue ocean and bustling beaches. Hidden amid sand dunes in Macassar lies the Macassar Beach Pavilion, an abandoned water theme park.

The park was built in 1991 and was once a hugely popular beach resort. Financial difficulties led to the park being abandoned and the shifting sand dunes has all but claimed the structure. The park’s buildings are now filled to the brim with sand, its walls covered in graffiti and its atmosphere is almost one of despair.

6 Atlantis Marine Park

As Perth’s economy boomed, Alan Bond dreamed up a plan to built a resort that would grow tourism in Western Australia. The result of his ambition was the Atlantis Marine Park, built in 1981. It was a hit with families in particular and the park was packed with people wanting to see dolphin shows and have a swim in the pools.

Sadly, the stock market crash of ’87 put a halt to the economic boom and Atlantis closed down in 1990. Since then, the complex has been left abandoned with only old statues to greet those who still walk their dogs there. A massive statue of King Neptune was eventually restored after an online campaign by locals who also took it upon themselves to clean up the park. The statue and surrounding areas are open to the public on weekends, but during the week the shell of what used to be a busy marine park remains abandoned.

5 Stack Rock Fort

Between 1850 and 1852 at least 150 soldiers were stationed inside Stack Rock Fort in Wales, with the goal of defending the Royal Naval Dockyard against invasion. Stack Rock Fort was disarmed in 1929 and now remains perched on an island off the West Wales coastline, isolated and surrounded by a thick atmosphere of eeriness. Ghost hunters have visited the fort and claimed to have heard voices, rumbling sounds and loud bangs emanating from the structure.

It went on sale in June 2018 and is believed to have been sold for £400,000. It was sold again in 2020 to an anonymous buyer who is supposedly planning to make the location accessible to the public again.

4 Al Madam

An old legend has it that a ‘jinn’ drove away the residents of a small village situated along the old Dubai-Hatta road, two kilometers away from Al Madam. The village is made up of two rows of houses with a mosque at the end and all of these buildings were so well constructed that there is hardly a crack or paint peel to be seen.

However, residents did not contend with the nature of the sand in the area which ended up invading the houses and burying their bright rooms halfway up to the ceiling. Some of the buildings have been swallowed up entirely by the sand. Surrounding the sunken houses are abandoned shops and building sites overlooked by stunning sand dunes.

3 Burj Al Babas

What was supposed to be a dream Disney castle valley, turned into a wasted development of over 250 thousand square meters at the foot of the Mudurnu hills in Turkey.

732 castles were built here as luxury vacation homes for rich tourists. The developers went bankrupt in 2018, causing investors to quickly pull out of the deal. Now the French chateaux-style castles stand empty, some with half-finished rooms.

What’s more, the residents of Mudurnu abhor the construction project as it is not in keeping with the traditional architecture in the area including Ottoman wooden houses, Byzantine buildings and a mosque dating back 600 years.

2 Reschensee

In 1950, the construction of a dam that unified 3 lakes led to the flooding of the small village of Graun. The village was completely submerged with the exception of the church bell tower that still sticks out of Reschensee or Lake Reschen. The lake lies in the western portion of South Tyrol, Italy and is near the border of Austria and Switzerland.

The bells of the church tower that remains in the lake were removed before Graun was flooded, but legend has it that when winter blankets the area in snow, the sound of church bells ring out from the lone tower. When the water of the lake freezes over, it is possible to reach the bell tower by foot.

1 Rummu prison

The Rummu prison in Estonia was constructed next to a limestone quarry in which its prisoners were forced to work. Estonia regained its independence in 1991, forcing the Soviets and their institutions out. The prison and the quarry were both abandoned as a result.

Soon, underground water created a new lake, submerging the mining machinery and even whole buildings. These days, only some parts of the old prison are still visible on land while others are half-submerged in lake water. For this reason, the area has become somewhat of a popular diving spot with divers curious to explore the prison structure under water. That is when on-site security guards don’t chase them off, that is.

10 Abandoned Places Being Reclaimed By Nature

Not all structures are built equal. Some are bland and serve a basic purpose, while others are extraordinarily elaborate and boast incredible features. The exterior of any structure, whether a house, building, bridge, or monument, is arguably what grabs the attention most. The architects and builders of the structures on this list made sure that their designs were quite unforgettable and, you know, creepy.

Related: 10 Awe-Inspiring Buildings You Won’t Believe We Tore Down

10 Luna Park Sydney Entrance

Amusement parks are meant to provide hours of fun and entertainment in the form of rides and games. Going to such a park usually doesn’t warrant a second look at the exterior because the inside is where the fun awaits. However, when it comes to Luna Park in Australia, you’d probably be applauded if you made it through the entrance in the first place. Here, a giant grinning clown face beckons you (or dares you) to enter.

There have been eight different faces over the years, each more terrifying than the last, with the current one—installed in 1995— based on the 1950 “Old King Cole” version.

In 2011, asbestos was discovered in one of the towers that support the face and was immediately removed while the park was closed to the public.^[1]

9 Cabin in the Woods

A small cabin without running water and several locks? Sounds like something from a nightmare, right? This cabin is downright creepy, and once you realize it’s the Unabomber’s cabin, it becomes even more terrifying.

It was inside this tiny structure that Ted Kaczynski constricted sixteen bombs which he used to kill three people and injure a further 23 across America. He built the cabin himself and lived there for 25 years, and it is infamous for being one of the most diabolical-looking structures in the world.

Today, the cabin is on display as part of the FBI Experience in Washington D.C., still looking every bit as creepy as it ever did.^[2]

8 Wat Samphran Temple

In Khlong Mai, Thailand, stands the 17-story Wat Samphran Temple, a massive pink building with a huge snarling dragon literally encircling it. It is located 25 miles from Bangkok, and its origins remain unknown.

Some visitors don’t find the exterior of the building scary at all and have explored it to the point of allegedly discovering a religious group inhabiting the top floors of the tower. The building complex consists of smaller temples and monuments, and there is a bronze giant Buddha statue inside.

The dragon has been constructed from iron and glass fiber and while it’s completely dark inside, some have navigated the hollow parts of it by foot.^[3]

7 Wedding Palace—Turkmenistan

The ball inside the eight-pointed star and cube on top of the Wedding Palace in Turkmenistan is meant to symbolize Earth and the four entrances to the building represent the four directions. Inside you will find various stores where you can shop for wedding accessories, including dresses, to your heart’s content. It is a civil registry building, and many couples have chosen it as the location for their wedding, as they can conveniently register their union after having the ceremony in one of the three wedding halls.
The strange exterior of the building, however, has caused many a visitor to stop and stare, especially at night when it’s lit up in red. In that state, it resembles the home of an angry supervillain.^[4]

6 Villa de Vecchi

Villa de Vecchi is also known as the “House of Witches” and was originally built to be a summer house for Count Felix De Vecchi. The villa is located near Lake Como, Italy, and looks as if it could be used to house a myriad of horror movie killers, especially since it now lies abandoned against the mountains of Cortenova.

Its backstory adds to the eerie atmosphere of the house: The architect died only a year after construction, and Count De Vecchi came home one day in 1862 only to find that his wife had been brutally murdered and his daughter had vanished. He couldn’t find his daughter anywhere and committed suicide a year later. The count’s brother moved into the villa shortly after, and it was finally abandoned in the 1960s.

Then, during an avalanche in 2002 all the houses in the surrounding area were destroyed. Only Villa de Vecchi remained standing.^[5]

5 Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral

Cathedrals are usually imposing structures with high spires, marble statues, unique facades, and stained-glass windows. They serve as magnificent backdrops for elaborate wedding ceremonies, and thousands of beautiful cathedrals have been built worldwide over hundreds of years. Some cathedrals have been branded as creepy or eerie because of tragic events that have occurred within their intricately decorated walls.

The Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral takes the concept of eerie to another level, however. Built entirely from black volcanic rocks, this cathedral makes for a forbidding spectacle on a hill in the center of Clermont-Ferrand, France. The building material makes sense considering the largest chain of dormant volcanoes in the whole of Europe surrounds this French town, and plenty of other old buildings here have been built from volcanic stone as well.

When it comes to building a church with black stone though, it certainly comes across more creepy than charming.^[6]

4 Oakley’s Headquarters

Oakley, Inc. is well known for its sunglasses, watches, backpacks, and a whole lot more. Its headquarters, located in Foothill Ranch, California, is well known for resembling a dystopian house of horrors.

The building has been tagged on several forums under the words evil, scary, and of course, Illuminati. Some have likened the structure to something you’d find on Stargate or Game of Thrones. It has since been confirmed that the architecture was inspired by Blade Runner and Mad Max.

Inside, however, things run like clockwork with 35,000 sets of sunglasses manufactured every day. The premises also include a functioning military tank, a torpedo, and a bike track.^[7]

3 Gazprom Arena

The Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia, is truly a sight to behold. You know, mostly for normal reasons. These include its retractable roof and retractable pitch and its overall design, which is modeled on Japan’s Toyota Stadium.

Everything is truly normal until the day turns foggy, or the early-morning mist builds up around the arena until only the top part sticks out, pointing toward the sky. Then, suddenly, the structure is transformed into a massive UFO that seems just about to beam back up to where it came from and take you with it…^[8]

2 Mask of Sorrow

While the Mask of Sorrow monument commemorates the prisoners who died in Gulag prison camps over three decades, it isn’t something you want to stand in front of at night, alone. The concrete statue depicts a face with tears falling from the left eye in small masks. The right eye is a barred window, while the back of the monument includes a weeping woman and a crucified man. The inside of the stark structure holds a prison cell replica.

Leading up to the site where it sits on a hill above Magadan, Russia, several large stones guard the walkway, many with religious symbols carved into them.^[9]

1 Nakagin Capsule Tower

The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo was built in just one month in 1972 and consists of two concrete towers which hold 140 self-contained capsules that are 2.5 meters by four meters. These capsules are either office or living spaces and are definitely not an option for those who suffer from claustrophobia.

On the outside, the capsules make for an “irregular stacked” look, and the windows are reminiscent of those found on submarines or ships.

The building was slated for demolition in 2007, but this hasn’t happened because the international architecture community sees the structure as a masterpiece and does not want it to be destroyed.^[10]

+ Salem Witch Museum

The Salem Witch Museum offers a fascinating look into the intrigue and tragedy of the Salem Witch trials of 1692. The museum houses thirteen life-size stage sets complete with lighting, figures, and narration that tell the story of those turbulent times, which saw over two hundred people accused of witchcraft. Thirty were found guilty and nineteen executed.

A second exhibit focuses on the European Witch trials and witch-hunting, as well as modern witches.

The museum opened in 1972, but the building was a church, hosting several congregations from 1718 until 1956 when a fire damaged the church. Then, it housed a car museum that saw its own fire ten years later before being sold to eventually become the witch museum. The original property belonged to Reverend John Higginson in 1692. It looks like a small chapel from the outside, but it lives up to its witchy name at night when the windows are lit up in red. ^[11]

Architecture is an incredible craft. Beautiful buildings and other structures are being designed and built to fit specific needs. Beauty and aesthetics can be key elements for architects. However, the most important requirement for any building is to remain upright!

Architects continue to push the boundaries of gravity, designing buildings that appear to define all written rules, often mysteriously and beautifully. All around the world, unique structures are created that seem to defy both gravity and logic.

We will look at the top ten structures that seem to defy gravity in the list below.

Related: 10 Most Haunted Buildings In New York City And Their Backstories

10 Takasugi-an (Tea House on the Tree)

In Chino, Japan, architect Terunobu Fujimori designed Takasugi-an. Translated from Japanese, Takasugi-an means “a tea house built too high.”

Takasugi-an was designed with meditation and tea in mind. It is a simple design of a small tea house with one significant difference; this tea house sits upon two chestnut tree trunks. It almost looks like the tiny house is on stilts.

The Tea House on the Tree is high above the nearby trees and allows for a different perspective on nature. While Takasugi-an is only a single room, it leaves a much bigger impression. Despite the translation, it seems this tea house was built at just the right height to make a big impact.

9 Endless Bridge

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States, another structure seems to defy both logic and gravity. The Endless Bridge was designed by architect Jean Nouvel and opened to the public in 2006. Despite the name, this structure is (obviously) not endless, but it is also not even a bridge! It does not cross the Mississippi River or even close to it. However, the purpose of the Endless Bridge was to create a unique viewing experience for America’s largest river.

As the signature part of the Guthrie Theater, the Endless Bridge extends nearly 200 feet north of the building, offering a wide view of the Upper Saint Anthony Falls area as well as the Stone Arch Bridge (another architectural feat). Patrons are not expected to pay any admission fee to see these great views from this incredible work of architecture. From outside of the Guthrie Theater, the Endless Bridge really appears to defy gravity.

8 Odeillo Solar Furnace

In Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, France, lies the largest solar furnace in the world. The Odeillo Solar Furnace is 54 meters (177 feet) tall and 48 meters (157 feet) wide. While that is impressive enough in its own right, the efficient design of the building makes it appear to defy gravity as well.

Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via was chosen for the Odeillo Solar Furnace because it receives a great deal of quality sunlight throughout the year. The furnace itself features an extremely large concave mirror (over 6,400 square meters or 21,000 square feet) across the front of the building.

This series of mirrors redirect the sunlight to a small point within the mirror. This allows valuable sunlight to be harvested for many purposes. It also makes for a very odd sight, defying gravity, providing energy and beauty all at once. This amazing structure was built by engineer Felix Trombe throughout the 1960s and opened in 1970.

7 Museum of Tomorrow (Meseu do Amanhã)

The Museum of Tomorrow seems to float above the ocean. The Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was completed and opened to the public in 2015. Amazingly, the museum hosted nearly 1.5 million guests in its first year alone. It is still the most visited museum in Brazil today.

Santiago Calatrava designed the Museum of Tomorrow to explore the relationship between nature and the city. As the name implies, Calatrava created the design with the future in mind. Therefore, there are many forward-thinking designs, including recycled water, solar panels, rainwater collection, and more.

Native species are also used around the Museum of Tomorrow. In fact, despite its impressive appearance, the Museum of Tomorrow was limited to only about 4.5 meters (15 feet) of height so that it did not block the nearby Sao Bento Monastery (which is a UNESCO world heritage site). A beautiful structure that appears to defy gravity, the Museum of Tomorrow will be one of Brazil’s most important museums not only tomorrow but many years into the future as well.

6 Dancing House

A unique structure in Prague, Czech Republic, is called Dancing House. Two architects worked together to design this structure that was completed in 1996. Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry teamed up to create this beautiful building that looks like it is defying gravity.

Dancing House is also called Ginger and Fred, after famous dancers Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. As the name implies, the structure appears to show two structures, a masculine and a feminine structure, dancing together. Prague hired these architects to create an iconic building, and Gehry and Milunić clearly succeeded.

The Dancing House really appears to defy gravity with its bends and twists, illustrating a kind of movement. However, this incredible structure is used for a somewhat ordinary purpose… office buildings. Too bad it isn’t used as a dance studio!

5 Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank (Headquarters)

While this name may be hard to say, the structure is certainly easy on the eyes. A three-person team designed this breathtaking building. Karin Elzenbaumer, Sebastian Gretzer, and Veronica Reiner collaborated to create the Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank headquarters.

The bank may have been in existence since the late 1800s, but this gravity-defying structure was designed in 2004 and built in 2006. The Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank is located at the northern edge of Udine, Italy (in a small town called Tavagnacco).

The Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank is constructed as interwoven components coming together. It is designed to appear to be leaning. Although the building itself leans 14 degrees to the south, all columns are fully vertical. This creates a wondrous sight and allows the lower portions of the bank headquarters to enjoy the shade while enjoying unobstructed views. There is plenty of reason for hype regarding the Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank headquarters.

4 Balancing Barn

In Suffolk, the United Kingdom, a barn appears to defy gravity. In 2010, Dutch architecture firm MVRDR designed and developed this unique structure.

Unlike many other structures on this list, the Balancing Barn is only a single story. It appears to be halfway on the ground, while the other half appears balanced over the edge of a hill, propped up only by a small beam. The Balancing Barn is a rental house that appears to teeter on the edge of collapse.

In addition to its gravity-defying qualities, the Balancing Barn is constructed of metal and reflects brightly in the English sun. Despite the unique and somewhat awkward appearance, the Balancing Barn is comfortable and well-furnished on the inside.

From one end of the home, visitors enter on the ground level. Without going up any stairs, a visitor can walk to the other end of the Balancing Barn to get a lovely view of nature from a higher perspective. Compared to many structures on the list, the Balancing Barn is relatively simple, creating quite a striking image.

3 Torre Mare Nostrum

Torre Mare Nostrum is an office building in Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by architects Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue and was completed in 2008.

Unlike typical office buildings, Torre Mare Nostrum appears suspended in mid-air. Torre Mare Nostrum’s dominant feature is a horizontal block of the building that sticks out from the main structure. The main structure features 20 stories and reaches over 280 feet in height. The projection out of the building is five floors high and sticks out about 131 feet from the main structure. Like many similar structures, Torre Mare Nostrum contains four concrete cores despite the intricate design.

A unique take on an office building, this structure stands out in Barcelona as Torre Mare Nostrum was the last building designed by Enric Miralles, and the work did not finish until after his death.

2 Seattle Central Library

After two and a half years of design and construction, the Seattle Central Library opened in 2004. The design of this building is based not only on the architect’s wishes but also on the interior floor plan of the building. Designed by Rem Koolhas and Joshua Prince-Ramus, the Seattle Central Library features an overhang that looks to be only connected to the top edge of the main building.

In addition to the breathtaking, gravity-defying aesthetic, the Seattle Central Library also features unique rooms, including a “mixing chamber” (computers and customer assistance), a children’s center, and a “living room” (teen books, coffee bar, auditorium, and study rooms). Thanks to the excellent design, these areas receive a good deal of natural sunlight throughout the day. The building is also designed to be energy conscious and not waste any space. The Seattle Central Library has been a welcome, gravity-defying addition to the Seattle skyline.

1 De Rotterdam Building

The last building on this list is also one of the most impressive. The De Rotterdam building in Rotterdam, Netherlands, was completed by the firm OMA in 2013. It is truly a sight to behold, standing at 149 meters (489 feet) tall.

The De Rotterdam building is wind-resistant and includes a top-level of towers that sits off-center from the lower towers. This building looks like a game of Tetris gone wrong. It is a beautiful, gravity-defying structure that can be seen from many areas across Rotterdam