Sigiriya Fortress, Sri Lanka 7.9570° N, 80.7603° E
This ancient rock site was chosen by King Kashyapa for his new capital in 477 CE. The seven-storey palace sits majestically on the rock’s flat top with decorated mural sides. About halfway up the side of the rock, the King had built a gateway in the shape of an enormous lion, giving the place the name translating to Lion Rock. Abandoned after the King’s death, this site is one of the best examples of ancient urban planning, towering 600ft over the surrounding jungle.
In a world where cultural travel often gravitates towards tourist hotspots that are overexposed, there still exist places that hum with quiet power and forgotten grandeur. Tucked away in remote landscapes or in the heart of ancient empires, they embody history, revealing the indelible mark of human ingenuity, ambition and devotion.
Rotorua, New Zealand 38.1446° S, 176.2378° E
Bryn Celli Ddu, Wales 53.2077°N, 4.2361°W.
Meteora, Greece 39.7217° N, 21.6306° E
Chichén Itzá - Yucatán, México 20.6791° N, 88.5683° W
Rotorua was first a Māori settlement dating back to the 14th century. They attributed the remarkable exhibition of hot springs, spouting geysers and boiling mud pools to the tohunga (priest) Ngātoro-i-rangi, who called upon the gods for fire-bearing spirits to save him from the freezing cold. Waimangu, formed after the eruption of Mount- Tarawera in 1886 and Wai-O-Tapu featuring the Lady Knox Geyser that erupts every day, in addition to a host of other geothermal features, make Rotorua an unusual ‘hot’ spot for visitors and residents alike.
Called the ‘Mound in the Dark Cave’ in English, Bryn Celli Ddu is two historical sites in one. In the early Neolithic period, a henge, a ritual enclosure, was built that was later replaced by a mound that housed a tomb where human bones, carved stones, arrowheads and other artefacts have been found. Each year on summer solstice, the chamber within the mound is illuminated by shafts of sunlight coming straight through the passageway of the tomb.
Bang in the middle of mainland Greece, Meteora is a collection of sandstone peaks that monks settled on from the 11th century onwards. A stellar example of monastic architecture on vertical rock formations, 24 monasteries were built in the 15th century. Meteora is where natural and cultural elements meet in perfect harmony to create a work of art on a monumental scale.
Still considered a sacred city, Chichén Itzá was founded in the 5th century by the Itza, the so-called water sorcerers. Cenotes are the only source of water around the site in this arid region of the Yucatan Peninsula. They are what gave the city its name – chi meaning ‘mouth’ and chen meaning ‘wells’. The fusion of Mayan construction techniques with new elements from central Mexico make Chichén Itzá one of the most important examples of the Mayan-Toltec civilization in Yucatán.
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