Best Ruined

Wat Mahathat is a ruined Buddhist temple located within the Ayutthaya Historical Park in central Thailand. Constructed in the 14th century, it served as a royal monastery and housed a sacred relic of the Buddha. The site is most famous for a serene stone Buddha head that has become deeply entwined w...

Chedi Luang, or the Grand Stupa, is a large Buddhist monument in Chiang Mai, Thailand, constructed during the 14th century under King Saen Muang Ma. Originally rising to approximately 82 meters, it was once the tallest structure in the Lanna Kingdom and housed the Emerald Buddha (now in Bangkok's Wa...

The Lauria Nandangarh Stupa in Bihar, India, is an ancient Buddhist monument dating back to the Mauryan period, known for its large earthen mound.

Shah-ji-ki-Dheri Stupa was Kanishka's monumental Kushan stupa near Peshawar, Pakistan, where an inscribed relic casket was discovered.

Wat Chedi Luang is a historic Buddhist temple located in the ancient town of Chiang Saen in Thailand's Chiang Rai province. The site is dominated by a large, heavily ruined brick chedi (stupa) that reflects classic Lanna architectural styles prevalent between the 14th and 16th centuries. The structu...

Aggstein Castle is a medieval ruined fortress on a rocky outcrop approximately 300 meters above the Danube River in the Wachau Valley of Lower Austria. First documented in the 12th century, the castle became notorious as the stronghold of the Kuenring family, who used its strategic position to extra...

Devín Castle is a ruined fortification on a rocky promontory at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers in southwestern Slovakia, near Bratislava. Archaeological evidence indicates the site has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, approximately 5000 BCE, and it later served as an import...

The triumphal arch at Philippopolis in Shahba, Syria, is a Roman monument built in the 3rd century to honor Emperor Philip the Arab.

Pavuralakonda is an ancient Buddhist hillock in Andhra Pradesh, India, featuring excavated ruins of stupas and monastic cells dating to the 1st century BCE.

Carreg Cennen Castle is a ruined medieval fortress situated on a large limestone crag in Carmarthenshire, Wales, overlooking the Brecon Beacons National Park. The stone remains visible today primarily date to the late 14th century, though the site was originally established as a Welsh princely castl...

Bourscheid Castle is a prominent medieval fortress situated on a steep rocky promontory overlooking the Sûre River in northern Luxembourg. The oldest surviving architectural elements of the castle date back to approximately the year 1050, though the majority of its defensive structures were built in...

Helmsley Castle is a medieval castle in the market town of Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England. The original stone fortress was begun in the 1120s by Walter Espec and substantially expanded by the de Roos family in the 13th century. In the Tudor period, the Manners family converted parts of the castl...

Kilchurn Castle is a ruined fortress on Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy established its earliest tower house in the 15th century, and successive generations of the Campbell family enlarged the site with residential ranges and defensive works. Changes in the loc...

The Château de Montségur is a ruined fortress standing on a steep rocky hill in Ariège in southern France. The site is closely associated with the Cathars because a fortified settlement there endured a royal siege before surrendering in 1244, after which more than two hundred Cathars were executed....

Burg Stolpen is a basalt castle in Saxony, Germany, built in the 12th century and famously used as the lifelong prison of Countess Cosel in the 18th century.

Rasnov Fortress is a historic peasant fortress in Romania, built in the 13th century to protect Transylvanian villagers from Ottoman and Tartar invasions.

Rakvere Castle is a ruined medieval fortress in Estonia, first documented in 1226, notable today for housing an interactive historical theme park within its ancient stone walls.

Denbigh Castle is a medieval fortress in Wales constructed by Edward I in the late 13th century, notable for its striking triple-towered gatehouse and role in the conquest of Wales.

Located in Latvia, Sigulda Castle is a ruined medieval fortress built by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1207, now housing a scenic park and a reconstructed main tower.

Bannerman Castle is an abandoned military surplus warehouse on Pollepel Island, New York, built by Francis Bannerman in 1901 to store munitions and catalog goods.

Hermitage Castle is a semi-ruined 14th-century fortress in the Scottish Borders, notorious for its violent history and its association with the Earl of Bothwell.

Beaufort Castle is a historic complex in Luxembourg featuring an 11th-century ruined fortress and a Renaissance palace built in 1649.

Haapsalu Castle is a 13th-century bishop's fortress in Estonia, notably famous for its historic Dome Church and the legendary White Lady ghost said to appear on its baptismal window.

Restormel Castle is a well-preserved Norman motte-and-bailey fortification in Cornwall, England, built in the 13th century and notable for its perfectly circular stone keep.

Flint Castle in Wales was the first of Edward I's iron ring of fortresses built in 1277, and is historically notable for its unique solitary keep design and role in English conquest.

Okehampton Castle is a ruined medieval motte and bailey castle in Devon, England, established by the Norman sheriff Baldwin FitzGilbert in the 11th century.

Hardegg Castle is a historic medieval fortress in Austria, dramatically situated on a cliff near the Czech border, dating back to the 12th century.

Raseborg Castle is a ruined medieval fortress in Finland, founded in the 14th century to secure Swedish sovereignty over the southern coastal region.