Visit World’s Most Incredible Ancient Ruins

1/7: Baalbek, a UNESCO World Heritage site, boasts three Roman temples dedicated to Venus, Bacchus, and Jupiter, a hexagonal courtyard, an annual festival, circular observatory. / Image: UNESCO World Heritage

2/7: The island's landscape is dominated by Moai, massive stone statues of Rapa Nui ancestors, showcasing unique artistic traditions and petroglyphs in stone houses and caves. / Image: UNESCO , World Heritage Site

3/7: The Pyramid of Kukulkán in Mexico is an engineering marvel with a unique feature where the sun casts shadows on the stairways, symbolizing the deity Kukulkán, twice yearly. / Image: UNESCO World Heritage

4/7: Scotland's Orkney Islands are home to the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, featuring the Stones of Stenness, Maeshowe, Skara Brae, and the Ring of Brodgar, all well-preserved late Stone Age monuments. / Image: UNESCO

5/7: Thailand's Ayutthaya, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a ghostly city with striking ruins and entangled wats and prang. / Image: UNESCO World Heritage Site

6/7: Ancient Hegra, an outpost of the Nabataean kingdom, has only been open to visitors for three years. It features over 100 tombs with Greek, Egyptian, and Roman influences, and wells still in use. / Image: UNESCO World Heritage

7/7: UNESCO World Heritage site designations recognize Caral-Supe, the oldest civilization center in the Americas, featuring sunken plazas, a temple, and earth-and-stone dwellings over 5,000 years old. / Image: UNESCO World Heritage