Historical places throughout the world captivate travelers’ interest with their beauty and human ingenuity, giving a window into past lives and providing a window into how people lived at that time.
Historical sites we enjoy visiting include Pisa’s Leaning Tower – one of the New Seven Wonders of the World; as well as Machu Picchu for history buffs.
Petra
Petra is not only an impressive natural wonder, but also an archeological treasure of great historic and cultural importance. The tombs, temples, and palaces carved into its red sandstone cliffs reveal evidence of once great civilization that leveraged global trade routes to become an elite center of culture.
Nabataeans who lived during the Hellenistic period (which spanned from Alexander the Great’s death until 31 BCE), prospered by selling essential oils like frankincense and myrrh to wealthy Romans and Egyptians for use as perfumes, religious incense, or cremating or embalming of dead.
Nabataeans constructed impressive waterworks to channel water directly into their city, enabling them to cultivate lush gardens and trees. As Joukowsky guides me through Petra’s Siq, an impressive feat of engineering that opens up to reveal its monuments, she unveils this astounding feat of engineering while dispelling any notion that this was simply tomb-filled city.
Pompeii
Pompeii, located near Naples in Italy’s Campania region, preserves an extraordinary Greco-Roman city that dates back 2,000 years. Built upon lava terraces which served as natural defense against invading peoples and thrived thanks to volcanic soil that provided good agricultural land, Pompeii stands as a testament to ancient civilisation and technology.
On August 24, 79 CE at noon, Mount Vesuvius’ eruption released toxic gases that showered Pompeii with ash and poisonous gases, killing many who were crushed or asphyxiated and were later preserved under layers of ash and pumice that preserved their bodies for archaeologists to pour plaster into body-shaped spaces created during burial to create Pompeii’s famed “body casts.”
Pompeii boasts luxurious villas adorned with floor mosaics and wall paintings that attract millions of tourists each year, and has long been one of Italy’s top tourist destinations. The baths at Pompeii were truly astonishing – including cold and tepid baths, hot pools, exercise fields and moveable screens to divide rooms while braziers provided winter warmth for the baths. In the late 19th century, explorers began studying Pompeii and Herculaneum internationally, publishing studies about inscriptions (Theodor Mommsen), city plan analysis (Wolfgang Helbig), categorization of wall painting styles (Wolfgang Helbig). Additionally, they found Pompeii’s famed House of the Silver Wedding!
Efes
The Efes logo, designed by Interbrand Design Office and adopted worldwide, has become a symbol for Turkish beer. Used across over 80 territories worldwide, its use symbolizes Turkish beer in particular and their flagship Pilsener product which features light crispiness with refreshing bitterness as its signature drink; others offered are coffee-chocolate Dark Brown, aromatic Ice, strong Xtra and low alcohol Light beers.
Petra in Jordan is an incredible historical treasure. Built into sandstone cliffs over 2000 years ago by Nabataeans, this ancient city now serves as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Great Sphinx of Egypt is another renowned landmark, believed to have taken 100 people three years to construct. It is famously missing its nose – which Napoleon’s troops are said to have shot off. Additionally, Ephesus Library Celsius should not be missed as Cleopatra and Marc Antony both visited these halls during their lifetimes.
Baalbek
Once Pompey made Heliopolis part of Roman territory and renamed it Heliopolis, massive temple construction began immediately. These Pagan-worship centers consumed both time and money during construction.
Today it can still be hard to comprehend the enormity of some of these monumental stones weighing up to one tonne! Their massiveness is unbelievable. How they were transported and placed so precisely is a mystery; some scholars even suggest this was achieved by mythical giants!
After Romans left Baalbek was dispersed among various hands and suffered many earthquakes before it fell into neglect until two British architects discovered it during the early 18th century and showed it to Kaiser Wilhelm II who sent archaeologists immediately to begin excavation and preservation works, leading eventually to its UNESCO World Heritage status.
