Lost Civilizations You Can Still Visit

Abandoned cities, fallen empires, and vanished peoples — these are the places where entire civilizations rose, thrived, and disappeared, leaving behind ruins that provoke wonder and mystery to this day.

Moai at Rano Raraku, Easter Island Easter Island Angkor Wat with its reflection Angkor Temple I from Temple II, Tikal, 2014 Tikal View of the ancient houses of Machu Picchu houses, Urubamba Province, Cusco Region, today Peru. The 15th-century Inca citadel, abandoned one century later, is situated in the Sacred Valley on a mounta Machu Picchu Large Peristyle, Casa dei Dioscuri, Ancient roman city of Pompeii, Italy Pompeii Hot air balloons floating over Bagan temples at sunrise with golden light on the horizon. Bagan El Castillo (pyramidd of Kukulcán) in Chichén Itzá Chichen Itza The roof of the 13th century rock-cut Church of Bet Giyorgios in Lalibela, with its crosses carved in relief, is one of the great iconic images of Ethiopia, and rightly so. ========================== Lalibela Aerial drone photograph of Sigiriya Lion Rock rising dramatically from the surrounding jungle and plains of central Sri Lanka. Sigiriya North entrance with a reproduction of the "Bull Fresco", Knossos palace, Crete, Greece. Knossos Detail of a relief of the eastern stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis (Takht-e Jamshid), Iran Persepolis
  1. Moai at Rano Raraku, Easter Island

    Easter Island

    Chile

    Stone giants staring inland from the edge of the world
  2. Angkor Wat with its reflection

    Angkor

    Cambodia

    Khmer empire's thousand temples reclaimed by jungle
  3. Temple I from Temple II, Tikal, 2014

    Tikal

    Guatemala

    Mayan megacity swallowed by the jungle
  4. View of the ancient houses of Machu Picchu houses, Urubamba Province, Cusco Region, today Peru. The 15th-century Inca citadel, abandoned one century later, is situated in the Sacred Valley on a mounta

    Machu Picchu

    Peru

    Inca citadel in the clouds above the Urubamba
  5. Large Peristyle, Casa dei Dioscuri, Ancient roman city of Pompeii, Italy

    Pompeii

    Italy

    Roman city frozen in volcanic ash since 79 AD
  6. Hot air balloons floating over Bagan temples at sunrise with golden light on the horizon.

    Bagan

    Myanmar

    Two thousand temples across a dusty plain at sunrise
  7. El Castillo (pyramidd of Kukulcán) in Chichén Itzá

    Chichen Itza

    Mexico

    Where the feathered serpent descends at equinox
  8. The roof of the 13th century rock-cut Church of Bet Giyorgios in Lalibela, with its crosses carved in relief, is one of the great iconic images of Ethiopia, and rightly so. ==========================

    Lalibela

    Ethiopia

    Eleven churches carved straight down into living rock
  9. Aerial drone photograph of Sigiriya Lion Rock rising dramatically from the surrounding jungle and plains of central Sri Lanka.

    Sigiriya

    Sri Lanka

    Fortress-palace built atop a 200-meter volcanic plug
  10. North entrance with a reproduction of the "Bull Fresco", Knossos palace, Crete, Greece.

    Knossos

    Greece

    Palace of the Minotaur and cradle of European civilization
  11. Detail of a relief of the eastern stairs of the Apadana at Persepolis (Takht-e Jamshid), Iran

    Persepolis

    Iran

    Ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire