Carved into the side of a narrow gorge in the unforgiving deserts of Petra in modern day Jordan, the ancient Nabataeans turned engineering on its head to create their glorious royal city Petra, with its Khazneh.
From the ashes of London's Great Fire in 1666 rises Christopher Wren's daring architectural vision. As England's first Baroque cathedral, St Paul's is an icon to rival the grandeur of ancient Rome.
Hidden deep in Cambodia's jungles, the temple of Angkor Wat is a towering monument to the Hindu god Vishnu, belying its origins as the mausoleum for a usurper king who murdered his great uncle.
The Alhambra is the greatest example of Islamic military architecture in Europe. Sultan Muhammad I constructed this ingenious, impregnable fortress in 1238 amid treacherous political betrayals.