Hidden at the bottom of Gulf of Naples in Italy for 1,700 years, the ancient Roman city of Baiae has been revealed to the world after divers were permitted to explore and photograph the site. Historians call Baiae “the ancient Roman version of Las Vegas,” a getaway for the rich and famous where hedonism ran wild. The fashionable resort was popular with the likes of Julius Caesar, Nero and Hadrian, and it was once filled with luxury vacation villas and party houses echoing with rumors of corruption.

Italian photographer Antonio Busiello captured these incredible images of the now-submerged city, whose mosaics, statues and cobblestone streets are now located many feet below the surface of the water where they’ve been taken over by marine life. Researchers studying Baiae have discovered that its villas were made with marble shipped from quarries in Turkey and Greece. Can you guess why it ended up this way? Just look to nearby Pompeii for clues.

That’s right, the very same volcanic activity that provided Baiae and other regional hotspots with natural hot springs for its spas and baths ultimately destroyed it. The city was once located right along the water’s edge, but was eventually claimed by the Gulf. It wasn’t found again until 2014, when heavy flooding south of Naples caused landslides that exposed portions of the city’s old walls.

Experts have been able to identify the individual villas of various Roman historical figures, including Pliny the Younger, who witnessed and documented the 79 C.E. eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

“The beautiful mosaics, and the villas and temples that have reemerged or are still underwater show the opulance and wealth of this area,” says Busiello. “It was considered one of the most important Roman cities for centuries. Diving here is like a dive into history, looking at ancient Roman ruins underwater is something hard to describe, a beautiful experience indeed.”

Perhaps we’ll never know what it was like land on a Greek Island and gaze up at the long-lost Colossus of Rhodes, one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but there are many other amazingly old monumental statues still standing. From the world’s oldest-known colossal sculpture in the sands of Egypt to a 500-year-old mountain god spewing water and smoke in Italy, these 7 wonders take the human figure (and sometimes, human/animal hybrids) to incredible heights.

Leshan Giant Buddha, China

Carved right out of a cliff face at the confluence of three rivers in the southern Sichuan province of China, the Leshan Giant Buddha stands 233 feet tall from its plinth to the top of its head, making it the largest stone Buddha in the world. Construction began in the year 713, led by a Chinese monk named Hai Tong, who dedicated it to calming the often-rough waters for shipping vessels. He was so dedicated to the project, he reportedly gauged his own eyes out when funding was threatened. But after his death, the money ran out, and construction was stalled for 70 years before his disciples breathed new life into the project. In the end, Hai Tong’s wishes were fulfilled: all the rock that was chipped away from the cliff face fell into the water below, altering the currents and making them safe for passing ships. Today, it’s part of the UNESCO-protected Mount Emei Scenic Area, which also includes 1,000-year-old trees and over 30 temples.

Moai of Easter Island

Carved by the Rapa Nui people between 1250 and 1500 C.E., the Moai monolithic human figures of Easter Island all feature massively oversized heads, with the largest measuring 33 feet in height. The heaviest one is shorter but squatter, weighing in at 86 tons. Exactly how the statues were made and transported is still somewhat of a mystery, as the tallest would have measured 69 feet in height if it had ever been completed. While many people erroneously call them the ‘Easter Island Heads,’ they’re actually full bodies, often partially buried beneath the soil with intentionally exaggerated proportions. More than 900 of them have been located on the island, and most of them are made from a compressed volcanic ash. Their empty eye sockets once held eyes made of coral with pupils made of black obsidian or red scoria.

Appennine Colossus, Italy

The youngest statue on this list is notable not just for its striking looks, but the fact that it contains several hidden rooms hiding the cool functions that bring it to life. Carved in the late 1500s by Italian sculptor Giambologna as a symbol of Italy’s Apennine Mountains, the ‘mountain god’ stands 35 feet tall over the grounds of the Villa di Pratolino in Tuscany. One of its interior rooms enables water to pass out of the monster in the god’s hand, which pours like a fountain into the body of water below, and another holds a fireplace so smoke can emerge from his nostrils.

Tirthankara Jain Sculptures of India

The Jain sculptures in Gwalior, an important city in Madhya Pradesh, India, are cut into the rock faces leading up to the 8th century Gwalior fort. Dating back to the 15th century, the statues depict Tirthankaras, or Teaching Gods, which are worshipped by followers of Jainism. 21 temples are cut into the rock on the southern side, with the tallest idol at 58 feet representing Rishabhanatha or Adinatha, the first Tirthankara.

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Still Standing Tall 7 Monumental Statues Of The Ancient World

Eerie ghost towns, villages abandoned after shocking massacres, the palaces of deposed dictators and mansions so well preserved they’re like 1950s time capsules are among the Middle East’s abandoned treasures. The Cradle of Civilization and the areas that lie just outside of it contain some of humanity’s oldest structures, and a great many ruins.

The Abandoned Palaces of Egypt

(images via: wikimedia commons, dalbera, eusuperfunhappytime)

In 1869, construction of the Suez Canal brought foreign money flooding into Egypt, and ambitious foreign businessmen got to work on ornate castles in Western European style, which stood as stark symbols of colonialism. But when Gamal Abdel Nasser became president in 1956, he put an end to that, kicking out the wealthy foreigners to reclaim the nation for the people. Unfortunately, economic instability hasn’t allowed for the palaces to be redeveloped, so today they range from shuttered time capsules of the 1950s to crumbling ruins.

The Baron Empain Palace  (top), built by Eduoard Louis Joseph of Belgium in the late nineteenth to early 20th centuries, is one such place. Modeled on Hindu and Cambodian temples, the palace sits in a dirt lot in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, surrounded by barbed wire. It’s closed to the public, but like many such places, it’s the subject of many rumors of ghost stories and Satanic rituals.

Another is Prince Said Halim’s palace, also known as Champollion House, in Cairo. This palace was converted to a secondary school after its abandonment, but it has been empty since 2004.

Maasser el Chouf, Lebanon

(images via: samer noun)

Located in lush woods just outside the peaceful Al-Shouf Cedar Reserve of Lebanon’s Maasser Cedar Forest, this idyllic village was utterly devastated by the massacre of September 9th, 1983. The houses that remain empty belonged to those who perished or fled to safer places when 63 Catholics were killed by their Druze neighbors in a brutal daytime assault. Years later, in 1990, a son left orphaned by the attack returned and killed five Druze villagers and three soldiers in revenge. Some of the homes are still occupied by those who survived.

Photographer Samer Noun gained access to the abandoned homes in 2011, capturing these eerie images of the architectural remains.

Saddam Hussein’s Abandoned Palaces, Iraq

The Babylonian palaces of Saddam Hussein once stood as ostentatious symbols of the Iraqi dictator’s power, hastily constructed all over the country. Once he was forced from power, these ornate palaces full of treasures were either taken over by US Army forces or looted by locals. These photos by Richard Mosse document the period in which American soldiers stalked the marble halls, strung up American flags in what were once exclusive chambers and parked their massive military vehicles right in front of the faux-grand entrances. Many of the palaces are deteriorating, and not just because of war damage; they were so cheaply made that they simply haven’t stood up to the test of time.

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Cradle To Graveyard 7 Abandoned Wonders Of The Middle East

The Colosseum, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Great Wall of China and Machu Picchu are world-famous ancient architectural wonders, but they’re hardly the only man-made structures worthy of effusive praise, enthusiastic photography and economy-stimulating tourism. These 7 historical sites, ranging from an incredibly deep well in India to the cradle of Mayan civilization – complete with the world’s first highway system – are often overlooked, but represent some of the most jaw-dropping and mysterious engineering feats from ancient times to the medieval period.

Chand Baori, India

(images via: moolf)

Perhaps one of the most beautiful examples of patterns in architecture, the 10th century Chand Baori well in the Indian state of Rajasthan is the world’s deepest, extending 100 feet below the surface of the earth. Built as a solution to chronic water supply issues in this arid region, the well has a total of 3,500 steps in 13 levels arranged in an inverted ‘V’ shape and is adjacent to the Harshat Mata temple. The walls are so steep that when standing at the bottom, you sometimes can’t see people who are on the steps above you.

It’s difficult to imagine the construction process for such a complex stone structure with the technology available at the time. Local legend has it that ghosts built it in a single night; perhaps that accounts for its preternaturally preserved state as well.

Sacsayhuaman, Peru

(images via: world-mysteries)

How did the Incas move these massive stones? That’s just one of the mysteries surrounding Sacsayhuaman, an immense fortress located on the outskirts of the city of Cusco in Peru. While the much more famous Machu Picchu is renowned for its views, Sacsayhuaman is a marvel of engineering, confounding Spanish conquerors who were so amazed by the construction, they thought it must be the work of demons.

The largest of the boulders that make up the three dry stone walls of Sacsayhuaman – all carried from a quarry located over three kilometers away – weighs an estimated 120 tons. But the seemingly superhuman feat of moving these boulders is not the most incredible aspect of the ruins: even thousands of years later, the stones of the walls fit together with such precision, you can’t fit a piece of paper between them. This precision, along with the various stone shapes that fit together like a puzzle, is likely the reason that the structure has survived earthquakes that have devastated the area.

Leshan Giant Buddha, China

(images via: wikimedia commons, national geographic)

The largest carved stone Buddha in the world towers over 232 feet into the air, with fingers measuring 11 feet in length and 92-foot-long shoulders big enough to be basketball courts. Leshan Giant Buddha overlooks the confluence of three rivers in the Sichuan Province of China. Begun during the Tang Dynasty in the year 713, the Buddha was built at the behest of a monk called Hai Tong who hoped to supplicate the temperamental water spirits thought to be responsible for numerous boat accidents. It took thousands of workers more than 90 years to complete the project.

Seemingly cosmetic details are even more complex and meaningful than they look upon first glance. For example, the 1,021 buns in the Buddha’s coiled hair are part of drainage system that continues behind the ears, in the clothing and along the limbs, protecting the statue from water-related damage.

Teotihuacan, Mexico

(images via: travel this world)

A massive urban complex laid out to celestial, geographic and geodetic alignments, the Teotihuacan archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico contains some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas.  The city was established around 100 BCE and may have had as many as 200,000 inhabitants during its prime in 450 CE. It has been called the first true urban center in the Americas; its remains measure at least two miles across but the city was likely much larger and its influence extended as far away as Guatemala. Very little is known of the Teotihuacan people or what may have caused the city’s decline, which occurred in the 8th or 9th century.

An astronomer-anthropologist named Anthony Aveni discovered that the grid of the city was based on a point of prime astronomical significance. The builders seem to have aligned the east-west axis of the city to the point on the horizon at which the sun sets on August 12th, the anniversary of the beginning of the current Mesoamerican calender cycle.

Strangely, thick sheets of shimmery mica were found within the tiers of the Pyramid of the Sun. Hidden between layers of stone, the mica clearly wasn’t decorative; today it is used as an insulator in electronics but it seems unlikely that these ancient people understood such properties. Furthermore, the particular type of mica used in the complex was reportedly traced to Brazil, nearly 2000 miles away. The Pyramid of the Sun has never been fully excavated.

Underground Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia

(images via: wikimedia commons)

The tiny town of Lalibela, one of Ethiopia’s holiest cities, is home to 11 monolithic churches – all carved from the same block of red volcanic rock, with their roofs at ground level. Likely built during the 12th and 13th centuries, the rock-hewn churches include four that are fully free-standing, with the rest either partially attached at the sides to the rock or with ‘liberated’ facades. They’re connected to each other with a maze of underground tunnels, and their construction was engineered to take advantage of natural aquifers deep in the ground.

El Mirador, Guatemala

(images via: authentic maya, wikimedia commons, the history blog)

The 500,000-acre site of El Mirador in Guatemala is referred to as ‘the cradle of Maya civilization’ and contains not only five Preclassic Maya cities that pre-date the far more famous Tikal by at least 1,000 years, but also the world’s largest pyramid by volume and the remains of the world’s first highway system.

A remote site located deep in the jungle, El Mirador was’t ‘discovered’ until 1926, and wasn’t mapped until 1978. The civic center of the site measures about 10 square miles and contains around 35 ‘triadic’ structures, with ‘La Danta’ being the most notable at 230 feet tall. Its volume, 2,800,000 cubic meters, rivals that of far more well-known ancient pyramids around the world including those in Egypt. El Mirador is also home to a complex network of large roads, which once linked important architectural compounds and nearby cities.

The 500,000-acre site of El Mirador is threatened by looters, drug traffickers and deforestation, prompting the creation of a 810,000-acre national park in the region, which is currently being established by the Global Heritage Fund and the Guatemalan and U.S. governments.

The Lost City of Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan

(images via: wikimedia commons, abbas, national geographic)

4,500 years ago, Mohenjo-Daro was one of the largest early urban settlements in the world. It thrived for over a thousand years, but was completely forgotten until excavation revealed its ruins along the Indus River floodplain of what is now Pakistan in 1921. Abandoned around 1500 BCE for reasons unknown, Mohenjo-Daro has a planned layout based on a street grid of buildings made of mortared brick and likely housed around 35,000 residents.

Among many interesting features, what stands out the most about Mohenjo-Daro is plumbing and sewage system that was more sophisticated than what most Western households had until the 20th century. Not only did some home have indoor toilets, but there were actually sewage drains that ran below the streets.