Our 10 Favorite Historical Places

Our 10 Favorite Historical Places Around the World

Everyone views splendor in different ways. What one person considers beautiful may be completely different to another.  Our favorite historical places are, in their own right, beautiful.  Consisting of everything from individual monuments and temples to entire religious complexes, they are some of the most stunning places on earth.

Favorite Historical Places #10 – Forbidden City – Beijing, China

The Forbidden City is the best-preserved imperial palace in China, the largest ancient palatial structure in the world, and the essence and culmination of traditional Chinese architectural accomplishment.  This might explain the hoards of people itching for a peek.

Favorite Historical Places #9 – Luang Prabang, Laos

According to legend the Buddha smiled when he rested in Luang Prabang for a day during his travels, prophesying that it would one day be the location of a rich and powerful city.  The spectacle of the ancient temples is apparent at first glance; the unassuming nature of the locals, given the chance, will also leave a lasting impression.

Favorite Historical Places #8 – Copán Ruins, Honduras

The Maya site of Copán is one of the most important sites of the Mayan civilization.  The lengthy inscription on the Hieroglyphic Stairway, the longest inscribed text in the Maya region, allowed archeologists to crack the ancient language.  The town of Copán, adjacent to the ruins, is a beautiful place paved with cobblestones and lined with white adobe buildings with red-tiled roofs.  Go for the ruins and stay for the town.

Favorite Historical Places #7 – Hagia Sophia – Istanbul, Turkey

The Hagia Sophia is an architectural beauty and an important monument for both Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires. Once a church, later a mosque, and now a museum at the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia has always been a jewel of its time.

Favorite Historical Places #6 – Acropolis – Athens, Greece

The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments are universal symbols that form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bestowed by the ancient Greeks to the world.

Favorite Historical Places #5 – Banaue Rice Terraces, Philippines

Carved out of the hillside by Ifugao tribes people 3000 years ago to provide level steps where the natives plant rice, the Banaue Rice Terraces stretch like stepping stones to the sky, with some reaching an altitude of 5000ft).  It is considered one of mankind’s greatest engineering feats.

Favorite Historical Places #4 – Bagan, Myanmar

Tucked away in central Myanmar and home to more than 2,000 temples, Bagan’s beauty and historical significance is unsurpassed.  On the banks of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, the site home to the largest and densest concentration of Buddhist temples, pagodas, stupas and ruins in the world, many dating from the 11th and 12th centuries.

Favorite Historical Places #3 – Angkor Wat – Siem Reap, Cambodia

In 1860, missionaries came across the ruins in the Cambodian jungle and discovered a lost city twice as large as Manhattan.  Angkor Wat is actually just one of more than a dozen magnificent temples in the vast metropolis of Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries.  The temple complex is the largest religious monument in the world and absolutely incredible.

Favorite Historical Places #2 – Machu Picchu, Peru

An extraordinarily beautiful setting, it’s no wonder Machu Picchu is Peru’s most-visited site.  Dating to the mid-1400s, it’s a marvel of mortar-free limestone architecture perched on a high plateau in the middle of a tropical mountain forest.  Its giant walls, terraces and ramps cut into rock cliffs are the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire.

Favorite Historical Places #1 – Great Wall, China

To this day, the Great Wall continues to be the world’s largest military structure.  It is also, the greatest tourist attraction in the World and the goal of millions.  It will not disappoint.

Our 10 Favorite Historical Places