Places ArchaeArtist Wants to Go

Modest by day, illuminated majestically at sunset.

An ancient iron pillar in Delhi that seems to be rustproof.

This ancient Hindu temple is covered in thousands of colorful statues and has a long mythological history.

An extraordinary "City of Caves" carved from solid stone.

This otherworldly palace-mausoleum complex is the stuff eternal dreams are made of.

Sacred Indian temple that’s all monkey business.

A single tree's 2,800 aerial roots give the appearance of a complete forest.

Once an indicator of social class, the color blue has come to define this city on the edge of the Thar Desert.

Rock-cut cave complex filled with ancient Buddhist artwork.

The second-longest continuous wall on the planet protects a hidden secret in the deserts of India.

The remains of what was, not so long ago, the world's largest city.

The world's second-largest sundial, made entirely out of stone.

A palatial sculpture park was built illegally and in secret by a self-taught artist over 36 years.

This complex of vertically-excavated Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu monolithic temples in India's Maharashtra providence illustrates a spirit of tolerance characteristic of ancient India.

A lake with hundreds of ancient skeletons surrounding it. The surprise is what killed them.

Thousands of exquisitely carved stone water storage wells, hundreds of stone steps fill this exquisite medieval stepwell.

Supposedly this Ethiopian chapel holds the Ark of the Covenant, guarded by virgins who cannot leave the building.

Ethiopian standing stones featuring remarkably preserved carvings of swords and people.

An ancient Ethiopian cave church is endangered by the simple building of a road.

An ocean in the making, in the Ethiopian desert.

Massive stele returned to Ethiopia after 70 years in Rome.

An otherworldly restaurant perched on the edge of a jagged cliff next to a medieval holy city.

The hottest place on the planet.

An Ethiopian "Jerusalem" featuring a church hewn out of a single rock.