8 Historic Caves in the World

1. Petra, Jordan.
City of Petra in Jordan is known as the setting of the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It's also one of the 7 new wonders of the world, and very easy to see why the architecture is among the most sophisticated ever seen. Built into the slopes of Mount Hor, Petra developed during Roman times, but not known by the western world until 1812 when it was discovered by Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. More than 800 individual monuments can be seen in Petra, including the cemetery, where baths, temples and burial chamber.

2. Al-Hijr, Saudi Arabia.
Among the most famous sites of Saudi Arabia is Al Hijr architecture, also known as Madain Saleh. The front of a residence in Al Hijr has been carved into the sandstone mountains are sometimes in the second millennium BC. Al Hijr - which literally means 'rocky place' - is believed to have been inhabited by the Nabataeans and Thamud. It features water wells, preserved monumental tombs, inscriptions and cave drawings.

3. Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia.
The most amazing structure was carved out of stone churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia. 11 rock hewn churches have each carved from a single block of granite with a roof at ground level. 12th-century King Lalibela churches commissioned with the aim of creating a New Jerusalem for those who can not make a pilgrimage to the original city. Each church was created by a wide trench carved on all four sides of the stone and then painstakingly carving out the interior. The greatest of them stood as high as 40 meters.

4. Nubian Monuments Abu Simbel, Egypt.
Four colossal statues of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II guard the door of Abu Simbel, a temple cut from the sandstone cliffs above the River Nile. Commissioned by Ramesses himself, the temple facing the east so that twice a year, the sun reaches into the innermost sanctuary, illuminating the statues of Ptah, Amun-Re, Ramesses II and Re-Horakhty. Complex removed entirely from its original setting in 1960 to avoid flooding when Lake Nasser was created.

5. Goa Elepant, the Elephant Cave Temple, Bali.
Gojah goa, Goa Gajah, Bali is one of the most historical sites significant. Cave seems most devastated by natural disasters old, and was not detected for centuries until a team of Dutch archaeologists discovered it in 1923. Thought has been built in the 11th century, Goa Gojah statue features influenced by Hindu and Buddhist meditation and contains a secret chamber for priests or hermits. Two traditional bathing pools outside the cave containing water is said to have magical properties.

6. Cappadocia Cave Houses, Turkey.
Cappadocia is one of 73 provinces during the Republic of Turkey, and has one of the most bizarre and interesting sights in the world. Soil, stone dwarf features tufa rock formations' strange volcanic referred to as' Fairy Chimneys' and cities underground complexes and buildings cut from 'tuff' soft. Many of them are the church, with columns and arches decorate the face of a declared natural stone from stone.

7. Ancient Rock City of Matera, Italy.
In the town of Matera in ancient rocks in southwestern Italy, people living in the exact same house that they are not ancestors 9,000 years ago. Matera was created from a rocky ravine and natural caves which many in the area - called the 'Sassi in Matera' - is the first home of the Neolithic inhabitants of the region. Cave created a labyrinth of houses, and it's almost impossible to distinguish the natural rock formations of ancient architecture. The houses seem to grow out of rock with an organic way, creating some of the attractions of what is in the mid-20th century to a ghost town. Matera is mainly the setting for Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ '.

8. Yungang Grottoes, China.
The Yungang Grottoes of Datong in Shanxi province of China consists of 53 caves and 51,000 statues, and is one of China's most beautiful examples of cave art. Giant Buddha towers above visitors wind through the cave to see many statues in it. Most of the works of art ever in the caves were stolen in the early 20th century wooden temple buildings and caves are protected once burned to the ground. So, the site is now in dire need of protection and has been named a UNESCO world heritage site.