Perhaps humanity will one day reveal the secret why in ancient Egypt they decided to build a tomb of such an unusual shape. Indeed, at the mention of the pyramids, the first thing that comes to mind is Egypt, but pyramids exist in other parts of the world.
Oddly enough, but modern architects and engineers turned to this original architectural form. Let's look deep into the centuries, consider modern buildings, and find out what is the tallest pyramid in the world.
List of the highest pyramids of the planet:
Temple Borobudur. Indonesia
We begin the review with a monument of the Buddhist religion on the island of Java. The temple in the form of a step pyramid was erected in the late VII - early VIII centuries, and its height in antiquity was over 40 meters.
For reasons unknown so far in the XI century, the temple was abandoned, and the first Europeans got acquainted with this architectural masterpiece in 1814. It turned out that he is a Buddhist model of the universe.
Today, thousands of pilgrims come to the island to make a difficult climb to the top of the mythical Mount Meru.
The Pyramid of the Wizard. Mexico
There is still a debate in science over who left this architectural monument. The ancient capital of Uxmal was repeatedly captured by various tribes, and life stopped here around the middle of the 15th century.
As for the pyramid, its height is 38 meters, and in an oval shape at the base resembles a traditional Mayan dwelling.
At the top of the building is a temple where ritual rites and sacrifices were performed, which is confirmed by multiple artifacts and the remains of sacrificial food.
Tigre Pyramid. Guatemala
Excavations in the Mayan cultural center began in the 60s of the 20th century. One of the main structures of the ancient city of the Indians was a temple of stepped blocks, 55 meters high.
The ceramics found during the study made it possible to determine the age of the structure. Ancient builders erected it between about 600 and 300 BC.
On the walls of the structure, as well as throughout the complex, multiple images of the divine bird Vukub-Kakish and other images of mythical creatures were found.
Pyramid of the Sun. Mexico
The name of the pyramid, whose height is 68 meters, was invented by the Aztecs. In the XIII century, they came to the abandoned Teotihuacan and saw this magnificent building.
To date, scientists have established that the pyramid in the "place where the gods gather" (as the name of the city is translated) was built by the ancient inhabitants of Mexico in about 100 BC.
The orientation of the sides of the pyramid is probably related to the Mayan calendar. Not without sacrifices during the construction. In the corners at the base were found the burial of children.
Pyramid of La Dante. Guatemala
In terms of the volume of internal space, it is the largest pyramid in the world, but its height is 72 meters, higher than the Tigre neighbor, and slightly inferior to similar structures.
This masterpiece was built around the 3rd century BC, in the heyday of the Mayan culture. As for architectural features, it consists of several platforms of different widths and volumes.
La Danta, like the Tigre, is part of the large historical and archaeological complex of El Mirador.
Great Pyramid of Cholula
This magnificent pyramid was erected at the time of the Toltecs - the Native American people of the Uto-Aztec language family. They called the Tlachiauetepetl pyramid, and the height of this “man-made mountain” is 77 meters.
Studying the features of architecture, the adjacent territory and artifacts found at its base, historians have suggested that this is one of the ancient Toltec capitals.
On the peak in the Middle Ages, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Comforter was erected, and the structure itself harmoniously blended with the landscape of the Mexican plateau.
Luxor Pyramid Hotel. USA
The traditions of ancient Egypt were also addressed by modern architects who designed the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas.
The structure, with a height of 106.7 meters, almost completely copies the Broken and Pink pyramids of Egypt.
Of interesting facts, we note that because of the shape, no room in an unusual hotel has bathtubs, only showers, and a ray hits the sky hinting at the alien origin of this form of the building.
In addition to hotel rooms, the building has a casino, which is visited daily by thousands of lovers of excitement and risk.
Palace of Peace and Accord. Kazakhstan
We will not pass by another modern pyramid, opened on September 1, 2006 in the capital of Kazakhstan.
The cultural and religious center, designed by ambitious, young architects, has a height of 62 meters. This building was conceived as a symbol of peace, friendship and harmony, therefore such an unusual form was chosen.
The glass dome crowns the unique structure, and the hall under it is called the “Cradle”. Under the dome, 130 pigeons are depicted, each of which symbolizes the people living in the republic.
Chefren's Pyramid. Egypt
Of the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, the tomb of Chefren was distinguished by a magnificent finish of pink granite, which, unfortunately, was preserved only at the top.
The height of the tomb, in which two spacious burial chambers were examined, is 144 meters, and at the entrance there are giant stone blocks 5.5 meters high.
The poor preservation of the monument does not allow further research. For example, permission to raise scientists to the top in the past half century has never been issued.
The pink pyramid. Egypt
In the rays of the setting sun, the stone blocks that make up the tomb of Pharaoh Snofru acquire a pinkish tint, which is why it got such a romantic name.
But in ancient times, the architectural monument in Dashkhur had a completely different look. Its walls were covered with white limestone, which eventually crumbled, revealing stone blocks.
Archaeologists found out who was buried here by the inscriptions in red paint on several blocks inside the structure. Note that the height of the structure is 105 meters.
Broken pyramid. Egypt
This tomb, which is connected in the same way as the Pink one, with the IV dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs, has irregular, broken shapes, which attracts the attention of researchers and tourists.
The height of the monument of ancient Egyptian culture is almost 105 meters, and a tomb was built in three stages. It was at the third stage that the tomb received such a truncated shape to reduce pressure on the inner burial chamber with the sarcophagus of the pharaoh.
White pyramid. China
The Chinese riddle has been known to the world since 1945, when an American pilot photographed a 300-meter-high pyramid.
The scientific world already knew that in the Shang Si area there are about 400 pyramids of various sizes. Most likely, these are large burial mounds.
The white pyramid is located north of the others, and differs from them in its gigantic size. Legends narrate that this place was visited by aliens, but what ethnic group left these magnificent monuments is still unknown.
The Pyramid of Cheops. Egypt
Until the issue of the Chinese miracle has been resolved, the tallest pyramid in Egypt and the world is the tomb of Pharaoh Cheops, 146 meters high. In addition, it is one of the oldest monuments of architecture, with an age of about 4,500 years.
It is located on the Giza plateau near the Egyptian capital. Interestingly, the tomb of Cheops is not mentioned in the papyrus known to the world, and the first who wrote about it was Herodotus and some Arab travelers.
Around it were examined the pits in which the boats were located, as well as small tombs, with the burial places of the pharaoh's queens.
By the way, on our site TheBiggest.ru there is an interesting article about ancient technologies unknown today.
Riddle at Yonaguni Island
We conclude the review, albeit not the highest, only 27 meters, but, without a doubt, the most mysterious pyramidal object.
On the Japanese island of Yonaguni in the 80s of the last century, underwater structures were discovered. Scientists have not yet reached a consensus on the origin of stepped terraces on the seabed.
Whether nature could have done this or traces of an unknown ancient civilization is still unknown, but more and more arguments appear in favor of the fact that this is an ancient sanctuary that appeared about 10 thousand years ago.
⚠️
Conclusion
Hundreds of pyramids are scattered across the globe. Their unusual forms and the huge blocks from which they were created raise a lot of questions, the main of which is who left these majestic, ancient buildings.
Now many researchers are trying to find a certain pattern in the location of the stepped temples of Asia, Latin America and the tombs of Egypt and their remoteness relative to other centers of the most ancient civilizations of the planet. Thebiggest.ru editorial staff is looking forward to your comments.