TheGreatPyramidwasthetallestbuilding
in the world for thousands of yearsPHOTO: ISTOCK
built using only simple
surveying tools but with
such remarkable precision
that the greatest difference
in length between its four
230-metre-high sides is
just five centimetres. The
pyramid is estimated to
contain more than two
million stone blocks
weighing on average 2.5 tonnes,
with some weighing up to 15
tonnes. Although the construction
methods and the purpose of some
of its chambers are unknown, the
architectural achievement is clear.GREATWALLOFCHINAThe Great
Wall once snaked across the Chinese
landscape, over deserts, hills and
plains, for more than 8851 kilometres.
Yet, despite its seemingly impregnable
battlements, the wall was ultimately
an ineffective barricade. In the
13th century it was breached by the
ferocious onslaught of the Mongols
and then in the 17th century by
the Manchu. Today, its dilapidated
remains crumble across the rugged
terrain of northern China and only
select stations have been restored.MACHU PICCHUThe ‘Lost City of the
Inca’ is one of the most spectacular
archaeological sites in the world.
Perched high on a saddle between twopeaks and often shrouded in cloud,
it is almost invisible from below.
A site of just 20 square kilometres, it
was built in 1460 by the Incan ruler
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui as a royal
retreat. About 1000 people inhabited
the area and they were self-sufficient,
being surrounded by agricultural
terraces and watered by springs.STIRLING CASTLERising high on
arockycrag,thismagnificentcastle
was prominent in Scottish history
for centuries and remains one of
the finest examples of Renaissance
architecture in Britain. Legend has
it that King Arthur wrestled the
original castle from the Saxons.
The present building dates from
the15thto16thcenturiesandwas
last defended in 1746 against the
Jacobites, who were mainly Catholic
Highlanderswishingtorestorethe
Stuart monarchy to the throne.FROMBY DK PUBLISHING (2011)THE WORLD’S MUST-SEE PLACESMarch• 2018 | 23