Ready for a wild ride through the planet’s most mysterious mountain marvels? From secret ancient cities to jaw-dropping temples in the clouds, we’re exploring epic sites that defy explanation! Curious how these wonders were built? Hit subscribe for more mind-blowing stories, and drop a comment telling us which spot amazed you most! #history #travel #mystery #architecture #adventure
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@noelpolotv
0:00 - Mysterious Mountain Structures Introduction
1:09 - The Plain of Jars: Laos
3:35 - Puma Punku and Tiwanaku: Bolivia
5:47 - Kuélap: Fortress in the Clouds, Peru
8:12 - Sigiriya: The Lion Rock, Sri Lanka
10:59 - Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia
13:32 - Derinkuyu: Underground City, Turkey
16:22 - Preah Vihear, Sacsayhuamán, and Conclusion
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@noelpolotv
0:00 - Mysterious Mountain Structures Introduction
1:09 - The Plain of Jars: Laos
3:35 - Puma Punku and Tiwanaku: Bolivia
5:47 - Kuélap: Fortress in the Clouds, Peru
8:12 - Sigiriya: The Lion Rock, Sri Lanka
10:59 - Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia
13:32 - Derinkuyu: Underground City, Turkey
16:22 - Preah Vihear, Sacsayhuamán, and Conclusion
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TravelTranscript
00:00Mountains make up nearly one-third of the planet's land area.
00:04Most of them have never been visited by humans.
00:08Too high, too cold, and extremely difficult to reach.
00:13Yet in some of the most impossible places,
00:16perched on clifftops, in cloud-shrouded forests,
00:20and across windswept plateaus,
00:22structures stand at an altitude of 4 kilometers.
00:26They were built without metal, without modern equipment,
00:30without cranes, and without roads.
00:33Some of these places remained hidden from civilization for hundreds of years.
00:38There are building materials weighing up to 130 tons,
00:44and the nearest quarry is 90 kilometers away.
00:48We found eight such places.
00:50All are real.
00:52But until now, there is still almost no complete explanation as to how these were made.
00:57But before we get started, if you are new to our channel,
01:00go ahead and hit that subscribe button,
01:02and don't forget to turn on the notification bell so you'll always stay updated whenever we post a new video.
01:08In northern Laos, in the province of Xianghuang,
01:11there is a vast plateau in the mountains at an altitude of approximately 1,000 meters,
01:16and thousands of giant stone jars can be seen scattered throughout the area.
01:20They can be found on slopes, on hilltops, and along the edges of valleys.
01:25Some are standing upright, while others are tilted or have completely fallen over.
01:31The smallest are about a meter tall, while the largest reach up to 3 meters and weigh as much as
01:3714 tons.
01:39There are over 2,100 of them, located across more than 90 separate sites.
01:45In some areas, only one or two vessels can be seen, while others have as many as 400 each.
01:51This is what is called the Plane of Jars.
01:54It is one of the most unique and least studied archaeological sites in the entire world.
01:59It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
02:03As to who exactly made these, it is still not certain.
02:07The civilization that made these vessels is estimated to have existed from around 1,240 BC to the 5th century
02:15AD,
02:16before completely disappearing without leaving any written records and almost no surviving settlements in the area.
02:22In the very locations where the vessels are found,
02:25no clear traces of the people who made them have been found either.
02:30They would come here to perform rituals for the departed, and then leave for the unknown.
02:36One thing we know for certain is that the vessels were used in rituals for the dead.
02:42Around and inside them, human remains were found, pottery, bronze artifacts, and glass beads,
02:51some of which even came from Mesopotamia and South India.
02:56This shows that the mountains of Laos were part of global trade routes long before the known states in this
03:02area were formed.
03:04Out of thousands of vessels, only one was found with any decoration.
03:08There is an image of a crouching human figure on its outer surface.
03:13What does this mean?
03:14It remains a subject of debate among experts.
03:17The vessels are made from five different types of stone.
03:21The nearest identified quarry is about eight kilometers away.
03:25Yet, no clear traces were found showing how objects weighing up to 14 tons were transported to this mountainous area.
03:35In the Bolivian Mountains, almost 4,000 meters above sea level.
03:41The air is thin here, so any physical work requires almost twice the effort compared with working on the plains.
03:49Trees also do not grow beyond the tree line, so using wooden rollers to transport stones seems nearly impossible.
03:58Yet, here, on this plateau near Lake Titicaca, you can find massive scattered blocks of red sandstone and andesite weighing
04:07anywhere from 20 to 130 tons.
04:10These were brought from quarries.
04:13One was located 10 kilometers away, while the other was 90 kilometers away.
04:19The stones were worked with extraordinary precision.
04:22Modern engineers have noted that when measured with laser levels, their precision is virtually flawless.
04:30Pumapunku is part of the Tiwanaku complex, built by an ancient civilization that predated the Incas.
04:37The surfaces of the blocks are perfectly flat.
04:40They feature exact right angles with accuracy down to the millimeter.
04:44Holes are drilled at equal intervals and have identical depths.
04:48Achieving this level of precision with manual tools alone would be extremely difficult.
04:53On some blocks, there are dovetail-like grooves where molten metal was poured.
04:59There were portable furnaces for melting metal used directly at the construction site.
05:05Chemical analysis showed that the metal used in the clamps contained nickel, which came from a source outside Bolivia.
05:13When the Incas conquered this region in the 15th century, Pumapunku was already in ruins.
05:19The Incas did not know who built it.
05:21They incorporated the site into their own beliefs and stories about the world.
05:26According to legend, this is where the god Viracocha created the first humans.
05:31The place is so ancient that even the rulers of the vast empire knew nothing about its true origins,
05:38and simply made up legends instead.
05:41Pumapunku is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Tiwanaku complex.
05:47In northern Peru, in the Amazonas region, at an altitude of 3,000 meters where clouds shroud the slopes of
05:55the Andes and constant high humidity breathes life into the tropical forest, lies a massive complex.
06:02It spans an area of over 65,000 square kilometers with walls reaching up to 20 meters high.
06:10Inside it are approximately 450 circular stone buildings.
06:15The site is estimated to date from the 6th to the 10th century AD.
06:20It was built by the Chachapoyas, an ancient civilization called the Cloud Warriors by the Spanish.
06:26The complex is about 700 years older than Machu Picchu, and it covers a much larger area as well.
06:35But it only became known to more people in 1834 when it was found by a local judge, Juan Cristostomo
06:42Nieto, while touring his jurisdiction.
06:45Inside the complex is a structure, a structure called the Tintero or Inkwell.
06:51It is an inverted cone shape with a diameter of approximately 5 meters and a depth of 5.5 meters
06:58carved into the middle of the main platform.
07:00It is still not certain what it was really used for.
07:04There are several theories that it might have been used for rituals as an astronomical tool or as storage.
07:12None of these explanations are confirmed.
07:14There is another mystery.
07:16The three entrance doorways in the main wall gradually narrowed.
07:20They narrowed downward until only about one person could fit through each.
07:25Because of this, it was very difficult for a crowd to enter.
07:28Yet, no clear traces of major battles were found in the area.
07:33Why build 20-meter walls in a remote mountain forest if they weren't used for military purposes?
07:39In 2017,
07:43a cable car stretching approximately 4 kilometers was built to Kuelap,
07:49making it the first cable car in the area.
07:54Before this, the only way to get there was to hike for about a day and a half up through
07:59the dense cloud forest.
08:02Despite this, the complex remains one of the major pre-Columbian sites in South America that sees very few visitors.
08:11In central Sri Lanka, in the middle of a flat tropical plain, a massive rock formation rises from the ground
08:19nearly 200 meters high with almost vertical walls.
08:23It is a solidified magma column from a long extinct volcano.
08:28The rock can be seen from several dozen kilometers away.
08:32On the summit of this rock in the 5th century AD, a palace was built.
08:37King Kashipa I ruled from 477 to 495 AD.
08:44According to legend, he moved the capital here to create a residence.
08:49That was difficult for his enemies to reach.
08:52At the summit, a palace was built featuring a water supply system, cisterns, and gardens carved directly into the rock.
09:01Some of the hydraulic systems are still working to this day.
09:06The gardens at the foot of the rock are considered some of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world.
09:13Halfway up the rock, in the crevices beneath the overhang, ancient frescoes can still be seen.
09:19Originally, there were an estimated 500 frescoes, but only 18 remain today.
09:26These depict portraits of female figures.
09:30The wall where the frescoes were placed was once 15 meters high and nearly 150 meters long.
09:39What exactly do they depict?
09:41Heavenly beings, court ladies, or religious figures?
09:46To this day, researchers still debate what these images really mean.
09:52Right below the frescoes, there is a mirror-like wall.
09:56It was made from polished stone and is covered with inscriptions.
10:01There are approximately 700 inscriptions from the 6th to the 10th century.
10:08These are comments from visitors who arrived after Kasyapa died.
10:12They wrote about the beauty of the frescoes and about how they felt while looking at them.
10:19This is one of the world's first documented examples of a kind of guestbook where ordinary
10:24visitors left their comments about a work of art.
10:29After Kasyapa died, the rock fortress became a Buddhist monastery and remained so until the 14th century.
10:37After this, it was gradually swallowed by the jungle.
10:42British officer Jonathan Forbes was the first European to reach its base in 1831.
10:49The first researchers, on the other hand, reached the summit in 1851.
10:54It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.
10:58In northern Ethiopia, at an elevation of 2,500 meters above sea level, lies another magnificent place.
11:06Around the 10th to 11th centuries, on the orders of King Gebre Meskel Lalibala,
11:1211 churches were carved directly from the basalt rock.
11:15They were not built. Instead, they were carved directly from a single massive block of stone,
11:22from the top down and from the outside in. This was how they were made.
11:27First, a deep trench was dug around the area where the church would be made.
11:32Once the massive block of stone was surrounded by the trench, the workers began carving the interior.
11:39One by one, they made the windows, doors, pillars and roof.
11:43The most famous of the churches is Bite Gheorgis.
11:48The church is shaped like a perfect Greek cross. It reaches 12 meters beneath the ground surface,
11:54and is carved entirely from a single massive block of stone.
11:59According to local legend, all of this was completed in just 24 years.
12:04According to calculations by modern architects and engineers, such a project would be extremely
12:11difficult to accomplish even with steel tools and modern methods.
12:16Another mystery is where the massive amount of stone removed while carving the churches actually went.
12:22The amount of stone removed was enormous, yet no large piles of debris have been found nearby.
12:29The legend's explanation is simple. While the workers rested at night,
12:35angels supposedly descended and worked twice as fast as mortals.
12:40David Philipson, a professor of African archaeology at Cambridge, has a different explanation.
12:46According to him, some of the churches might have been built between the 6th and 8th centuries,
12:51about 500 years before King Lalibela's time. It is possible that these began as civilian buildings
12:59or defensive structures during the Axumite period. Lalibela may have merely renovated, expanded and
13:06completed a complex that already existed back then. To this day, the churches are still actively used.
13:14There are religious services every day. It is a living historical site, not just an ancient ruin,
13:22but an active religious center. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978.
13:31In 1963, in the city of Derinkuyu in Nevşehir Province, Turkey, a local resident,
13:39took down a wall in the basement of his house while doing renovations. Behind it,
13:46a passage was found. The passage led to a room. That room led to another room. And the next room
13:53led to a tunnel. The tunnel led downward. Behind the wall, an entire city was discovered.
14:00Derinkuyu is an underground city, a massive multi-level complex with a depth of 85 meters,
14:09consisting of 18 levels. According to researchers' calculations, it could hold up to 20,000 people
14:17at once, along with their livestock and food supplies. Inside, there were living quarters,
14:25animal pens, cellars, dining halls, schools, and churches complete with baptismal fonts for baptisms.
14:34There are over 50 ventilation shafts reaching up to 30 meters deep that ensured a steady flow of fresh air.
14:42There was also a water supply coming from an underground river. In the lower parts of the city,
14:49the tunnels between each level could be closed off using large stone doors resembling millstones.
14:56These round stones had a diameter of around 1.5 meters and weighed up to half a ton.
15:03They could only be closed from the inside. The complex was connected to the nearby underground
15:10city of Kaimakli through a tunnel estimated to be about 8 kilometers long. Of its 18 levels,
15:18only 8 levels are open to the public. The others are closed for safety reasons.
15:24The earliest records of underground shelters in this region date back to the 7th century BC.
15:32It is possible that their excavation began during the Phrygian era, and it was then expanded during
15:39the Greek and Roman times and in the Byzantine era. These were used as hiding places during the Arab
15:47raids and during the Mongol invasions in the 15th century.
15:53After the evacuation of the Greeks living in Cappadocia in 1923 as part of the population
16:00exchange between Greece and Turkey, the underground city was almost completely forgotten.
16:06Until a basement wall collapsed in 1963 and part of the city was rediscovered.
16:14It is part of the Gorim region, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
16:21In the Dungrek Mountains, on the border between Cambodia and Thailand, there's a temple perched right on the edge of
16:28a cliff.
16:29The cliff drops nearly 500 meters below, overlooking the vast plains of Cambodia.
16:36This is Priya Vahir, a temple complex from the Khmer Empire era dedicated to the god Shiva.
16:44It was built from the 9th to the 10th century under the reign of several kings.
16:49Its main pathway stretches 800 meters from north to south.
16:54This design is unusual in Khmer architecture because their temples are typically aligned from east to west.
17:02There are five main gates or gopras connected to the main.
17:09As the visitor ascends, he is gradually brought to a higher level until reaching the main sanctuary,
17:16right at the edge of the cliff.
17:18The materials used were gray and yellow sandstone quarried directly from the Dungrek Mountains.
17:26All the massive stone blocks had to be hauled up to a height of over 500 meters.
17:31Every decorative detail belongs to the Banti Shrei style,
17:36which originated from the end of the 10th century, one of the most sophisticated styles of Khmer art.
17:44But why was this temple built here on the edge of a steep cliff, in a remote mountain range,
17:50and at a site that takes hours to hike up to?
17:54The Khmer kings called it the shining mountain of Lord Sri Sikharishvara.
17:59It is clear that the difficulty of getting here and its elevated location were part of the plan itself.
18:06For them, the closer to heaven, the closer to the gods.
18:11Cusco, Peru, located at an altitude of approximately 3,700 meters above sea level.
18:17Right above the city, on the steep slope of the hill, three tiers of zigzag walls stretching 400 meters can
18:25be seen.
18:25Each massive block of stone weighs between 100 and 200 tons, and they fit together seamlessly without the use of
18:34mortar or any adhesive.
18:36There are practically no gaps between the stones.
18:39Even a thin piece of paper can't easily slip between them.
18:45Each block has a unique shape.
18:47Their polygons are irregular, yet they fit together precisely like pieces of a massive 3D puzzle.
18:56Saksayhuaman has survived the earthquakes that destroyed many buildings during the Spanish era.
19:02The walls became durable because the blocks slightly shift.
19:06They can move when the ground shakes.
19:09Instead of breaking immediately, they move along with the tremors.
19:14When the Spanish chroniclers first saw the complex in 1530, they could hardly believe what they were seeing.
19:21The official chronicler, Pedro Chiesa de León, wrote that the site was magnificent and seemed to require the assistance of
19:30spirits.
19:31Some also claimed that those who built it were giants or demons.
19:36Before long, the Spaniards began dismantling the complex to use as building materials for their own structures.
19:43These stones were used in the construction of a cathedral in Cusco's main plaza, as well as many other colonial
19:50buildings.
19:51Currently, it is estimated that only about 20% of the original complex remains.
19:57Most of what remains is the lower section of the walls that the Spanish were unable to remove.
20:02Its construction began around the 1530s during the reign of Emperor Pachacuti in the 15th century.
20:09According to historical records, more than 20,000 people may have worked on the project.
20:15The stones were quarried from sites up to 20 kilometers away.
20:21No wheels, no iron tools, and no animals strong enough to haul them.
20:28According to researchers' calculations, the largest stones were pulled using wooden sledges,
20:34and they were pushed or pulled by thousands of people.
20:38There are also tunnels called chincanas inside the complex.
20:43The smaller tunnel is open to the public, while the larger one is closed.
20:48According to local legend, it reportedly extends underground all the way to the Coricancha Temple in the center of Cusco,
20:56approximately 2 kilometers away.
20:58Because the entrance has long been sealed and buried, its exact length is not officially known.
21:04The mountains conceal some of the strangest mysteries in human history.
21:10Not because there's something magical hidden there,
21:13but because this is where people went when they wanted to build something that wasn't meant to be seen.
21:19Or perhaps, something they wanted to last for a very long time.
21:24And sometimes, the true meaning of these things went with the people who built them when they disappeared.
21:31And thank you so much for watching.
21:35Thank you so much for watching.