Today, modern skyscrapers are built as economic and industrial tools. Yet most of the buildings of the ancient world were once inspired by the collective religious spirit of their respective cultures.
Behind the seemingly theistic, innovative and technologically mysterious inspiration, the ancient man-made architecture capable of supporting this massive structure is very remarkable.
To this day, there is still a debate over how this building structure is made. It is difficult for us to unravel this ancient technology only from the results of reading old books or manuscripts without the support of physical and archaeological evidence.
With that, iluminasi.com shares the 10 tallest man-made architecture (buildings) in ancient times.
10. La Danta Temple, Guatemala – 72 meters high
Behind the lush forests of El Petén, Guatemala, lies the beautiful pre-Columbian Mayan settlement of El Mirador.
Newly discovered around 1926, this giant temple city grew rapidly from the 6th century BC and reached its peak between 300-100 BC with a population of over 200,000 people.
However, it is not only famous for its very large population capacity but the settlement is also famous for its original arrangement of ‘triadic’ structures consisting of broad pillars with a set of three pyramids peaking upwards.
This formidable structure towers as high as 70 meters and its base protrudes out of the forest floor. Although its height is not able to withstand the height of the Egyptian pyramids, but La Danta can be counted as one of the largest pyramids in the world with a volume of 2.8 million cubic meters and filled with very large chunks of stone.
Many researchers have put forward this estimate (2.8 million cubic meters) which makes La Danta recognized as one of the largest buildings ever built by man.
9. Hwangryongsa Temple, Korea – 80 meters high
A former Buddhist temple in the city of Gyeongju, South Korea, Hwangryongsa is probably the tallest structure in East Asia using the tallest wooden structure in the world.
Designed in the symbolic style of Buddhism, the term Hwangryongsa refers to the ‘Golden Dragon Temple’. It was built ceremonially as ordered by King Jinheung who ruled around 76 AD.
According to legend, the first proposal put forward by the ruler was to erect construction of a royal palace. But eventually, the plan was canceled for the sake of a magnificent temple when a dragon was said to have been found at the site.
Due to the excessive scope of construction, the temple was not successfully completed until 644 AD.
And later, a nine-story wooden pagoda reinforced with 8 stone pillars and 60 foundation stones was added to this 18 -acre temple complex, thus increasing its height to 79.9 meters.
Unfortunately, the entire structure may have been destroyed by the raging Mongols who invaded Korea in 1231 AD.
8. Etemenanki, Iraq – Altitude 91 meters
Etemenanki, roughly translated as ‘Heavenly House on Earth’, is supposed to be a towering architectural breakthrough of building technology dedicated specifically to the Babylonian god Marduk.
Built with layers of bricks and large-extreme tiles strategically arranged, the large monument is called a ziqqurratu or ziggurat, which basically means ‘rising building’.
Because of this, Etemenanki was probably the largest ziggurat and he was probably built in the surroundings of the ancient city of Babylon.
Many researchers have equated it with the Tower of Babel mentioned in the Bible because there are sources referring to the geographical location of this legendary structure.
Interestingly, a description of Etemenanki is also found in a cuneiform tablet (ancient writing on stone) from Uruk, dated from 229 BC.
The entire monument consists of a seven-story stone building that leads to a height of 91 meters. Even more impressive is the ground floor plan of this giant Ziggurat measuring more than 8,200 square meters equivalent to almost 2 times the conventional football field.
7. Ruwanwelisaya, Sri Lanka – Altitude 92 meters
The construction of Ruwanwelisaya was started by King Dutugemunu around 161 BC, but the huge architectural project took too long to complete beyond the age of the king himself. Finally, this building was completed by his successor in 140 BC (21 years later).
The dimensions of this building illustrate how extreme the size of this building is. The tapered dome as in the picture above is 91.4 meters high and has a diameter of about 90 m and a circumference of 292 m.
So by mathematical calculation, the base area of Ruwanwelisaya is equivalent to over 6,345 meters which is larger than a conventional football field.
6. The Red Pyramid, Egypt – 105 meters high
The Red Pyramid of Dahshur (said to have been built by Pharaoh Sneferu) is the largest pyramid in the Dahshur necropolis, which is also the third-largest pyramid in Egypt.
More importantly, from an architectural point of view, the Red Pyramid was probably the first successful attempt by Egyptian engineers and workers to create a pyramid with a smooth surface (now less visible).
Several casings of this special white Tura limestone can still be seen along the base of this large structure. Another interesting feature of the monument is the construction angle of 43 degrees which tapers upwards despite its very large size.
The base area of the structure covers 48,400 square meters which is equivalent to almost 9 football fields!
5. Alexandria Fire House, Egypt – Estimated Altitude of 115 meters
One example of Greek architecture that is said to go beyond the scale of ordinary human beings. It is said to be a “god-scale” construction by the Greeks. The Alexandrian Lighthouse (also known as Pharos Alexandria) was built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom; probably the tallest structure in the ancient world.
Some stories mention its height reaching 150 meters. Unfortunately, the building no longer exists today. Then we need to take the lowest height value according to available literary sources, which is 115 meters. Still very high isn’t it?
4. Jetavanaramaya, Sri Lanka – 122 meters Altitude
Located in the holy world heritage city of Anuradhapura. This magnificent Jetavanaramaya is the largest stupa in the world. It also holds the record for the tallest stupa in the ancient world.
To get an idea of how big this building is, the 122 -meter -high stupa contributes a base area of 233,000 square meters – also equivalent to 43 football fields.
This large structure is estimated to be built of 93.3 million fired bricks each of which can withstand loads of up to 166 kg. Each side of the large stupa is 176 m long.
3. Kuil Yongning , China – Ketinggian 136.7 meter
This is the second structure on the list of tallest architectures but no longer exists. This Yongning Temple was supposedly built in the early 6th century under the patronage of Empress Dowager Hu.
It is also said to be located in Luoyang City. Not much is known about this structure besides some stories that describe this building with the luxury and wealth of Empress Dowager Hu.
Based on other literary evidence (such as Yang Xuanzhi’s record), the temple was built like a magnificent palace. Includes the royal gate, the great wall and over a thousand special rooms as dormitories for monks.
The temple complex is said to have a height of 136.7 meters.
Unfortunately, according to the Luoyang Temple Records, the tower was completely destroyed by fire in 534 AD, in which the fire took more than three months to subside after destroying the entire structure of the giant temple.
2. Pyramid of Khafre, Egypt – Height 143 meters
The second-largest structure in the ‘Giza pyramid complex. It is also the second tallest pyramid in the world. The Pyramid of Khafre has a height of 136.6 meters (its original height was around 143 meters before undergoing a process of decay and damage).
This contributes to an area of 46,770 square meters which is equivalent to over 8 football fields. Interestingly, the entire structure was built on large rocks as a base as high as 10 meters. The line makes it look taller than the actual height of the pyramid.
Although the Pyramid of Khafre may not have as many white casing stones as those placed on the Pyramid of Khufu, the construction technique and arrangement of this 2 -ton stone is comparable to the construction of the Pyramid of Khufu.
However, the Pyramid of Khafre is not as famous as the construction of the Great Sphinx, the largest monolithic statue in the world although this sphinx monument is actually part of the vast complex of Khafre. Khafre and the Sphinx were built at the same time and created from the same material. This is the dominant view held by the majority of Egyptian archaeologists.
1. Pyramid of Khufu, Egypt – Height 146.6 meters
Also known as the Great Pyramid of Egypt, the over 4,500 -year -old Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest in the world and the tallest man-made structure in the world.
It holds the record as the tallest architectural specimen of human creation for over 3,800 years (until it was overthrown by the old St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1240 AD) and the Khufu pyramid still exists and stands firm!
Interestingly, apart from its height which is currently only 138.7 meters away due to the process of soil erosion and decay, the actual volume of this pyramid cannot be determined by historians and engineers.
Thus, this monumental volume is given an ‘estimate’ of a site area of around 52,954 square meters and a volume of around 2.5 million cubic meters contributing to a mass of 5.9 million tonnes (5,352,389,966 kg).
This extraordinary scope is estimated using 2.3 million blocks of stone, each weighing between 2 and 20 tons (1814kg to 18,143kg). As an illustration, approximately 800 tons of stone are installed every day or a minimum of 12 blocks of stone are stacked in very precise detail every hour!