Beauty and wonder come in many forms in our world, from the natural or man-made to the intact or ruined. Often, it’s not how something came about, or whether or not it’s still in mint condition, that determines if it’s worth marveling at. How we react to these things determine this, and this list comprises some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring features of our world guaranteed to illicit reactions of wonder. From the remnants of lost civilizations – some of them quite mysterious – to charming towns and breathtaking elements of the natural world, this list features them all.
1. The Crystal Cave. Iceland
Alright, let’s be honest, it sure is going to be tough if you want to check this place for yourself. Situated in Iceland, getting here involves arduous treks, crossings and faith! Created by the Vatnajvkull ice cap, the cave is a few centuries old and displays a whole new world of formations, colours and textures.
2. Forest of Knives, Madagascar
With its jagged rock formations dating to the Jurassic Period, this area of Madagascar has created the perfect barrier between humans and the plants and animals that call this space home. It’s so removed from human involvement that some species are still being discovered here.
3. Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
This extraordinary complex was built around 1,500 years ago and has as its main feature a nearly 700ft tall rock column with the ruins of a palace atop it. The entrance to this feature, also called the rock fortress, is composed of the ruins of a massive stone lion.
4. The Amber Room, Catherine Palace, Russia
This exquisite room in the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, former home to the Russian Imperial family, is composed of intricate mosaics of Baltic amber. The current room is a rebuilt form, as the original amber panels were stolen by the Nazis in WWII, never to be seen again.
5. Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
This tropical archipelago along the Atlantic Ocean is comprised of 21 different islands as well as islets that are home to several endemic species.
6. Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, Iceland
Falling over 200ft to the pool below, this waterfall provides a rather unique interior view due the path that leads behind the fall.
7. Meteora, Greece
Meteora is a complex of monasteries built upon various sandstone pillars, with the buildings dating between the 11th and 16th centuries.
8. Red Sea beach, Panjin, China
This vast marshland is home to the Suada grass which gives this wetland habitat – the largest in the world – its name
9. Milford Sound, New Zealand
This New Zealand fjord was created around 20,000 years ago by glaciers. Their retreating forms created a rich array of sculpted peaks and valleys, along with waterways and waterfalls.
10. Kangaroo Island, Australia
This unique island combines amazing rock formations, pristine beaches, and rolling forests and grasslands to create a biologically diverse habitat for various plants and animals – including kangaroos of course.
11. Cathedral Gorge, Australia
Located within the quirkily named Bungle Bungles sandstone formations, this gorge has created a unique natural amphitheater in which voices carry from one side to the other with ease.
12. Pamukkale, Turkey
What looks like ice and snow is actually a layer of calcium carbonate left behind by water from the area’s hot springs. The cliffs and terraces are continually forming and reforming as water continues to pour over them.
14. Sighișoara
This charming little town doubles as a mountain citadel. Brightly painted and beautifully constructed buildings compose this architectural ensemble, but it’s also known as the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula. Maybe after visiting you’ll be inspired to contact an exterior painting contractor like Greenwich house painters to have your own home transformed with similar bright colors!
15. Ayutthaya, Thailand
This great city was built in the mid-14th century and was the center of the royal court as well as the name of the kingdom that it headed until the 18th century.
16. Prambanan, Indonesia
Built in the mid-9th century, this Hindu temple complex was abandoned about a century later and fell into the realm of myth until the early 19th century.
17. Ordesa Canyon, Spain
Part of the Ordesa Y Monte Perdido National Park, Ordesa Canyon is located deep within the Pyrenees and is home to such majestic creatures as the Golden Eagle.
18. Dobsina Ice Cave, Slovakia
This stunning ice cave has a central chamber that is 40ft high and a floor composed of an over 80 foot thick slab of ice. The stalagmites and stalactites are more like spires of crystal than rock formations due to their layers of ice.
19. Potala Palace, Tibet
Built in 1645, this palace was long the home of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet until the Tibetan Uprising.
20. Wulingyuan, China
This extraordinary range of mountains contain thousands of pillars of sandstone that tower hundreds of feet over the valleys and gorges below.
21. Gorges de l’Ardèche
This spectacular gorge has as its main showpiece the remarkable Pont D’Arc, a 200ft high arch and remnant of an ancient cavern system that once existed thousands of years ago.
22. Schwerin Palace, Schwerin, Germany
Built by the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, this palace is reminiscent of French chateaux and puts any Disney castle to shame.
23. Maelifell, Iceland
This beautifully – not to mention unusually – formed volcano is entirely swathed in bright green moss and ringed by serpentine glacial rivers and streams.
24. Ruins of Leptis Magna, Libya
These sprawling ruins, with their colonnades, triumphal arches, and amphitheater, display some of the most delicate and intricately carved motifs left to us from the Romans.
25. Viñales Valley, Cuba
This amazing valley and its surrounding limestone monuments seem like a picture out of Southeast Asia rather than the island of Cuba.
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