Walking through a ruined temple, town or theater acts as a visceral reminder of what you learned in history class. When you stand where the ancients stood, surrounded by the remnants of their finest creations, you’re reminded that the Romans were real people, that the Incas expended untold energies to create a city in the clouds, that once upon a time, ancient Greeks laughed and cried in the same amphitheater where you now stand. Here, we share five of our favorite places to see ruins around the world.
The ruins of Pompeii, with Mt. Vesuvius in the distance
1. Pompeii, Italy
In 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius blew its top, raining scalding hot ash down on the small town of Pompeii. The town was completely buried beneath more than ten feet of volcanic rock and lost to the world for more than 1,500 years. When excavations began in the 18th century, archaeologists found what looked like a plaster cast of a city frozen in time. Human forms were found etched in the ash, huddled in courtyards as they attempted to escape the wrath of Vesuvius. Homes were similarly shielded from the ravages of time, so when explorers began to find ancient houses in the rubble, they also found dinner tables strewn with food, intricate mosaics still painted as they were millennia ago and all the trappings of a thriving town snuffed out in an instant. Today, Pompeii attracts more than two million visitors annually. Explore this snapshot of the Roman Empire cast in stone on one of Go Ahead’s many tours of Italy, such as Venice, Florence & Rome or A Walking Tour of Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
The Temple of Hera outside Agrigento.
2. Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily
Sicily’s Valley of the Temples is oddly named, since the “valley’s” temples actually sit atop a ridge overlooking Agrigento. There are seven extant temple complexes here, earning the Valley of the Temples a designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sicily’s strategic position in the heart of the Mediterranean made it an attractive target for history’s conquerors, and at the Valley of the Temples, you can see some of the effects of Sicily’s long history at the Temple of Hera. Built in the fifth century B.C., the Temple of Hera was sacked and burned by the Carthaginians in 406 B.C., but its construction proved so durable that entire colonnades still stand today. You’ll also find examples of reconstructed temples, like the shrine devoted to the Gemini twins Castor and Pollux, and the Temple of Concordia, which found new life as a church in the 6th century A.D. You can visit the Valley of the Temples on Go Ahead’s Best of Sicily tour.
The Temple of Apollo at Delphi
3. Greece
Ancient Greece gave the world philosophy, democracy, literature and an architectural heritage without equal. From the Acropolis and the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens to the Temple of Zeus at Olympia to the ruins of the Oracle at Delphi, Greece is a treasure trove of an ancient culture’s ruins. Even in Athens, a modern city with all the cars, factories and people you’d expect, the Acropolis is lovingly maintained and diligently cleaned to keep it looking as it did during the days of Pericles. There are just too many fascinating antiquities to name here, but you can explore them all on Go Ahead’s tours to Greece, including Athens & Ancient Greece, Italy & Greece, or our The Greek Islands Land & Sea Tour.
The Library of Celsus at Ephesus
4. Turkey
Alexander the Great conquered a vast swath of our planet’s surface, and wherever his army went, Hellenistic culture followed close behind. Starting in his native Macedonia, Alexander conquered Greece and then turned his sights eastward after the riches of the Persian Empire. He conquered Turkey and brought the Greek gods to the Anatolian Peninsula, where they were honored just as they were in Greece. Today, you can find the ruins of the legendary city of Troy, the library, theater and temple devoted to the goddess Artemis in Ephesus, the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, an ancient stadium at Miletus and so much more. Discover Turkey’s multicultural history and its historical ruins on Go Ahead’s Grand Tour of Turkey and Istanbul & Coastal Turkey.
Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes
5. Machu Picchu, Peru
In the 1400s, the Incan Empire was approaching its zenith. Its leader, Pachacuti, decreed that a city would be build high in the mountains. To the Inca, this was nothing new; the Andes were their home, and they had already conquered its steep slopes as well as anyone would before the invention of the airplane. So the Incas set about hewing stones and hauling them to the top of what they simply called “Old Mountain” but we now know as Machu Picchu. The Incas created an opulent world for their emperor (or perhaps their priests) atop Machu Picchu, but the new city’s glory was short-lived. In 1526, the Spanish conquistador made his first contact with the Incas; two years later, the Incan emperor Huayna Capac succumbed to an exotic disease we now know as smallpox, setting off a civil war between his two sons for control of the throne. Sensing an opportunity, Pizarro returned to Spain to raise a raiding part that would make the Incan Empire part of the Spanish Crown’s holdings in the New World. Machu Picchu was abandoned as the Incans fought for their independence, a battle they would eventually lose. Machu Picchu receded into the mists, until an American explorer followed his hunch about a local legend and rediscovered the Lost City of the Incas. You can walk where Pachacuti and the Incan priests trod on Go Ahead’s Ancient Peru & Machu Picchu Tour.
Have you seen these ruins, or other famous ruins? What ruins would you like most to see? Let us know in the comments!
