[MUSIC PLAYING] Ancient landmarks are
gateways to the past that provide priceless archaeological
information about eras of history we know
very little about. And at a basic level,
the temples and monuments left behind by civilizations
who lived centuries before us inspire excitement,
intrigue, and imagination. So today we're going to take a
look at some surprising facts about ancient landmarks. But before we get started,
be sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel. After that, leave
a comment and let us know what other landmarks
you would like to hear about. Now you can start whistling
the Indiana Jones theme. [MUSIC PLAYING] The Temple of Kukulkan,
also known as El Castillo, was built in the Yucatan in
Chichen-itza around 600 CE. Chichen-itza's name is
believed to translate from the Mayan
term for the mouth at the well of the
water magicians. Not only does this sound like
a particularly successful Vegas residency, but the location
actually lives up to its name by displaying a seemingly
magical spectacle for visitors every spring and fall equinox. The Mayans were
seriously into astronomy, and they placed the temple
in the perfect position for the sun to create
an optical illusion around March 20th and September
22nd or in other words the equinoxes. Picture this. As the sun's rays hit the
temple on those specific dates, shadows cast across the
pyramid-shaped temple resemble a serpent
slithering down the sides of the structure. What's more, clapping in
front of the Kukulkan pyramid creates an echo that
mimics a serpent's chirp. It's a spectacular display of
ancient cutting-edge special effects. Bring some Raisinettes. [MUSIC PLAYING] If there's one thing we all know
about the Great Wall of China it's that it's pretty
great, but it's also not one linear structure. Rather it's a series
of different sections that combine to stretch
for thousands of miles. And though the first bricks
of the oldest sections were laid in the third
century BCE, most of the wall wasn't actually
constructed until the Ming Dynasty of 1368 to 1644 CE. And you thought
roadwork was slow. But while you might assume
that because the wall has stood for so many
ages, it's impervious. That isn't the case. After being subjected to
centuries of harsh weather conditions, plant growth, heavy
tourist traffic, and at least one visit by Richard Nixon,
almost a third of the wall has disappeared. Over the centuries, heavy
foot traffic and vandalism have eroded portions
of the wall. The occasional visitor
sometimes decides their home could use
a few of the bricks from the famous structure
and just snags a few. I mean, there are so many. Who's going to miss
a couple, right? In fact, so much of
the Great Wall of China is now missing that its
measured length varies from around 5,500 miles
to just over 13,000 miles, depending on whether
the missing sections are included in the total sum. This sort of thing has left
some of the towers so fragile that a sharp wind
or heavy rain could cause them to topple
during a storm, a problem accelerated
by overgrown plants. Hey, it was built to
keep the Huns out. Nobody said anything
about the wind. [MUSIC PLAYING] While the pyramids known as
Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus are widely recognized,
they're really just the tip of the iceberg or a pyramid. Because the fact is, the
western bank of the Nile is home to over
130 other pyramids. Built between 2550 and 2490
BCE, the gigantic structures have experienced
centuries of erosion, but they're still standing. Visitors to the pyramids
in ancient times would not have seen the 2 and
1/2- to 15-ton building blocks that we see today. Instead, they would have
seen these iconic buildings shimmering with light because
once upon a time, most of them were covered in limestone
that reflected the sun's rays. While that was undoubtedly
a sight to behold, it was presumably also kind of
a pain in the ass for everyone stuck in afternoon traffic. Unfortunately, that
original casing has been almost
totally destroyed due to the combination
of earthquakes and subsequent political rulers
removing pieces of the pyramids to build other structures. Limestone doesn't grow on trees. [MUSIC PLAYING] The Quwwat ul Mosque in Delhi,
India, was built in 1192 CE. It's in ruins now, but that
hasn't stopped tourists from continuing to
visit each year. But those tourists
are really there to see a much older artifact,
an iron pillar built in the fourth century CE that
stands in front of the ruins and hasn't rusted
in 1,600 years. Saying they don't make
them like they used to would be something
of an understatement. But while the relatively
perfect condition of the pillar has fascinated and confused
historians, scientists, and archaeologists
for centuries, there's nothing
magical about it. There's a plain old boring
chemical explanation for the pillar's preservation. The pillar, which is about
7 meters high and 40cm in diameter at its
base, was built by hammering multiple
pieces of hot iron together to form a cylindrical
shape through a process known as forge welding. Because the process requires
numerous selections of steel, the pillar's composition
varies greatly, and while modern steel holds
about the same carbon content as the ancient pillar, the
pillar's phosphorus levels are over 10 times higher
than modern steel's. Experts believe that
the high phosphorus content within the ancient
steel caused a protective film of crystalline iron
hydrogen phosphate to form on the pillar's
surface, essentially protecting the column from the elements. Kind of makes you
wonder why they don't make all steel that way. [MUSIC PLAYING] Cambodians are so proud of the
temples collectively referred to as Angkor Wat that
the ancient buildings are featured on the country's flag. That's when you know you've
made it as a building. Built between 802 and 1220 CE,
the site is a wonder to behold. But due to its fragile
nature, Cambodian officials limit how many visitors may
walk through the temple's halls each year. They also charge a crazy
price for filmmakers who want to shoot there. For example, in 2000, producers
of the action blockbuster "Lara Croft-- Tomb Raider" starring
Angelina Jolie, approached Som Sokun,
director of cinema for the Ministry of Culture
and Fine Arts for Cambodia, for permission to
film at the monument. After negotiations,
the filmmakers had to agree to
pay $10,000 a day to utilize the sacred space. Something's getting raided
there, and it ain't no tomb. The Cambodian government
also had some pretty firm restrictions in place to make
sure nothing disrespectful goes on at the monument. For example, the "Tomb Raider"
production had to agree not to use guns or
film graphic scenes within the temple's walls. [MUSIC PLAYING] The Temple of
Artemis at Ephesus, which is in modern day Turkey
, was really, really big. In fact, it was
once estimated to be four times larger than the
Parthenon, which is itself fairly large. Commissioned by the Lydian king
Croesus between 560 and 547 BCE and named after the
Greek goddess of hunting, the temple became one of the
seven wonders of the world, making it the envy of
other temples everywhere. I mean, have you heard, it's
the size of four Parthenons. I mean, it's trying so hard. Unfortunately, in 356 BCE, a guy
named Herostratus intentionally burned the temple to the
ground in a weird attempt to make himself famous. The Ephesians rebuilt
it, only this time they made it even grander
and more skillfully decorated with art than
before, which would only make it more depressing when
the temple was destroyed again in 1262 during a Goth invasion. And we don't mean they were
attacked by Evanescence. Though the Ephesians
were intent on keeping the Temple of Artemis as the
ancient city's focal point, it was destroyed for a
final time in 401 CE. After that, they
threw in the towel. Today, in addition to
the temple's most updated foundation that remains,
archaeological digs have uncovered remnants
of Croesus's temple, a temple of the
third century BCE, and three smaller temples
buried beneath the ruins. So, yeah, evidently they were
just stacking these things on top of each other. [MUSIC PLAYING] After centuries of
study, you'd think that scientists, historians,
and archaeologists would be able to determine for certain
why the ancient Salisbury, England, site known as
Stonehenge was created, but they can't,
which is something you should bring
up if you ever want to take them down a peg or two. What we do know
is that Stonehenge took over a millennium
to complete, so it wasn't exactly a rush job. We also know the ancient
structure contains both artificially-shaped
massive Cenozoic silcrete stones as well as
smaller blue stones that had to have been transported
from as far as 200 miles away. That is a long way to carry
gigantic rocks in the days before F-150s. Construction began on
the massive stone circle in 3,000 BCE and wasn't
completed until 1520 BCE. And the ancient people who
first dug the initial Earth bank and ditch around 3100 BCE
left no written records to explain why they
did it or to identify the site's intended purpose. Whatever the case,
experts believe that the first larger stones
were moved into position and erected between
2400 and 2200 BCE, and builders continued
to add smaller rocks surrounding the original
formation from 1930 to 1600 BCE. So really they just
kept tinkering with it, kind of like George Lucas. [MUSIC PLAYING] First, conceptualized
somewhere between 70 and 72 CE, the Flavian Theater,
now more popularly known as the Colosseum,
was fully constructed and ready to house
entertainment by 80 CE. To celebrate the
occasion, Emperor Titus organized a full 100
days of live theatrics and gladiatorial
battles and presumably a few $0.05 beer nights. There was also a showcase
of live exotic animals. In fact, ancient Roman
culture had a tradition of bringing animals
from all over the world into their arenas to
create a bloody spectacle, and they certainly
weren't about to start skimping for the opening
of the big new Colosseum. Lions, rhinos, cheetahs,
crocodiles, hippos, elephants, and monkeys were
transported from Africa to meet their end in the arena. Bears were transported
from Scotland, and leopards,
tigers, and panthers were acquired from Asia to
fight amongst themselves and the chosen
venatores, who were slaves and prisoners of war
that battled against the animals for the crowd's entertainment. Though some animals like
zebras and ostriches were deemed too docile to put
up a fight worth watching, they were used to pull
chariots during the games and generally whacked once
their races were complete. Over the course of
the 100-day showcase, historian Cassius Dio estimated
that more than 9,000 animals were slaughtered
for entertainment. [MUSIC PLAYING] While it's not really the
resting place of the Holy Grail, there is an
ornate and intricately carved ancient temple in
the middle of the desert near modern-day Jordan. The mountainside temple seen
at the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" is
actually located at Petra, a city of rock dwellings and
tombs built by the Nabataeans over 2,000 years ago
on the site believed to be where the Israelite
leader Moses hit a rock to make a stream of water burst forth. The mainly nomadic Nabataeans
first established themselves there near the end of
the fourth century BCE when they were still heavily
tied to their Arabic roots. However, as they
immersed themselves into the South Arabian
frankincense and myrrh business, Petra
became a thriving city with a mix of Arabic and
Hellenistic influence. Establishing trade routes from
India all the way to Rome, the city thrived before
it was eventually annexed by Rome in 106 CE. As the Romans established
different trade routes, the city of Petra
eventually declined. Way to screw it up, Rome. Petra is so remote
that visitors must travel through a
328-foot deep gorge to reach it, which is only
10 feet wide in some points. But the adventurers
that do make it through the seemingly
uninhabitable terrain are met with the awe-inspiring
sight of Al-Khazneh or treasury that Indiana Jones fans should
recognize from the film. So what do you think? Which of these ancient landmarks
would you most like to visit? Let us in the comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
