Wall have been built form the earliest times of civilization, as a means of protection from the onslaught of nature, or dangerous animals and enemies, or to mark borders. Over time, they have found newer uses of walls. Some walls have been built to serve as memorials, while many stand as beautiful pieces of art. Let us take a look at the 10 most famous walls around the world.
10. Diyarbakır Walls
The Diyarbakır Walls are located all around Diyarbakır, one of the largest cities in southeasten Turkey, as they form a circle of 3.4 miles. Built on the outside from black basalt rock formed from the now extinct Karacagad volcano, with an elaborate brickwork structure including barracks and storage rooms, they have four gates, and 82 watch-towers, all built in antiquity, and restored in 349 AD. The world’s second largest walls are a dramatic set of walls, with the Roman touch almost intact.
9. Sacsayhuaman
Sacsayhuaman is located in the northern outskirts of Cusco, Peru, which was once the capital of the Inca Empire. The UNESCO World Heritage site is a walled complex, built of large polished stone walls. With Cusco laid out in the shape of a puma, and the hills of Sacsayhuaman symbolizing the head, the zigzagging walls represent the teeth. The three parallel walls are enormous. The component boulders of the walls that protect the ruins within are so tight that even a paper will not slip through.
8. Great Zimbabwe Walls
The Great Zimbabwe was a city in Zimbabwe that now lies in its stony ruins over a large part of the modern Zimbabwe. As the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe during the Late Iron Age of the country, including a most formidable edifice, the Great Enclosure, the ruins are surrounded by the Great Zimbabwe Walls which go as high as 36 feet and extend to about 820 feet. It is the largest structure in the south of the Sahara Desert, and is one of the most famous walls in the world.
7. Walls of Babylon
The Walls of Babylon, dating back to 575 BC, are in modern Iraq. Babylon which was the city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, about 85 km south of Baghdad, was surrounded by the Walls of Babylon. The walls, which once included the ancient Ishtar Gate, were one of the original Wonders of the World. The walls and the gate were made of blue glazed tiles, and had alternating rows of bas-relief aurochs and dragons. Saddam Hussein later started the wall’s restoration and new construction on the ruins.
6. Walls of Ston
The Walls of Ston, a series of walls, are located in the Peljesac peninsula, southern Croatia. The 3.5 mile wall linking the two towns of Ston and Mali Ston was built at the narrowest point of the peninsula, just before joining the mainland, as the second line of defence for the city of Dubrovnik, protecting the precious salt pans that were very important for the wealth of the city. The 15th century wall is Europe’s second longest wall, and is one of the most famous walls in the world.
5. Hadrian’s Wall
The Hadrian’s Wall of England is between Scotland and England. The Romans constructed the wall to prevent the tribes of Scotland from entering their colony, Britannia. Built in the early 2nd century AD, It stretches from the Irish Sea to the North Sea, for 73 miles across north of England, and is the longest wall of Europe. Even though only stretches of it are visible now, it still attracts hordes of tourists, and has a national path following its entire length, from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway.
4. Walls of Troy
The Walls of Troy in northwestern Turkey, built in the 13th century BC are one of the oldest walls that still stand today. The archaeological site of Troy, which now contains several layers of ruins, is a place of historic importance, as the site of the Trojan War, and the Walls of Troy, built to protect the legendary Troy, have withstood the 10 years of siege of the city, and are among the most famous walls in the world. Portions of the walls which are still visible today are a popular tourist attraction.
3. The Western Wall
The Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. With about half the wall, i.e. 17 courses below the street level, built in around 19 BC at the end of the Second Temple period, and the remaining layers added from 7th century onward, it is a holy Jewish religious site. It was the western wall of the temple, regarded in Judaism as the remnant of the Holy Temple. It is the closest permitted accessible site to the Foundation Stone, the holiest spot for Jews.
2. Berlin Wall
The beautiful Berlin Wall in Germany is a modern construction, built at the peak of the Cold War in 1961. East Germany had it built in the middle of Berlin in a desperate effort to stop the East Berliners from escaping to the west of the city, and it proved to be an effective step. About 5000 people tried to escape the circumventing it, leading to several deaths. In 1989, it was finally taken down with the fall of Soviet Russia. Remnants of the wall today are covered with colourful eye-catching graffiti art.
1. The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China, though claimed to be visible from the moon, amongst the most famous walls and top 10 wonders of the world. Though it has been constructed, reconstructed and maintained between the 5th and the 16th century BC to protect the borders of the Chinese Empire from the tribes of the north, the majority of what exists today was built in the Ming Dynasty as a series of fortifications, which with all its branches, stretches for a staggering length of 5500.3 m, and is the world’s largest man-made barrier.
There are many other most famous walls in the world, as well, like the Israeli West Bank barrier forming a wall around Bethlehem, which, Israel argues, is a protective wall for the civilians from Palestinian terrorism, or the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, a national memorial in Washington, DC., which, as a tribute to the US soldiers who fought, died or went missing in the Vietnam War, is a subject of controversy, because of the pillage and violence carried out in Southeast Asia during the war. These walls, and many more, as well as like notable man-made barriers and the walled cities, are a witness of the world history, and stand to tell many tales.
Hope you enjoyed our list of 10 Most Famous Walls in the world. Here’re some other great lists by Oendrila De, you might also like to read them.
