10 Ancient and Spectacular Ruins From Around the World

Ruins are described as remains of structures that were once complete but have fallen into a state of disrepair due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction because of war or natural disaster.

Here are 10 ancient and spectacular ruins from around the world.

Lost Empire of Khasar

The author is in the middle of writing an article about this topic when Associated Press published the news today about this new archeological discovery and decided to include it in the list.

AP photo/Dmitri Vasilvev

Recent photo of a typical house recently excavated by archeologists in Itil, a Silkroad city near Astrakhan that once served as the capital of Khasar located about 800 miles south of Moscow. It was reported that this archeological discovery was part of the lost empire of Khasar, a powerful medieval state in Eastern Europe whose territory used to stretch from northern shores of the black sea to Central Asia. The structure is made of hard burnt brick that was believed to be constructed in the 11th or 12th Century.

Parthenon

The Parthenon is a Temple of the Greek Goddess Athena and built with classical style architecture during the 5th century BC. The Parthenon is an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and considered as one of the most popular cultural monuments in the world. The Parthenon has been used as Treasury building, Christian church and as Mosque in the early Greek civilization. It was severely damage when some explosives and ammunitions were ignited by Venetian bombardment causing the destruction of its important sculptures. Part of the damaged sculptures are now stored in the British Museum where it was sold in 1816. The Greek government is presently working on the return of these sculptures to Greece but with no success so far.

Patara Lighthouse-Turkey

Ruins of the oldest lighthouse in the world were discoveredrecently by Prof. Havva Iskan Isik of the Akdeniz University in Turkey. It is believed that the archeological find is more than 2000 years old. The lighthouse which stands 60 meters above the sea was built around 60 A.D.

Colosseum

The Colosseum is an amphitheatre located in Rome and the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. Construction of this famous amphitheatre started in 70 A.D. and completed in 80 A.D. This structure is capable of seating 50,000 spectators and was used for staging gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It remained in used for 500 years. It is estimated that close to 500,000 people and over a million animals have died inside the coliseum as participants in spectacular games and shows.