# The 25 Most Iconic Landmarks in the World

> Some of these are older than writing in their own countries, others went up within living memory, and all of them sell postcards.

*By YPB Team · Published September 29, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-25-most-iconic-landmarks-in-the-world*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Moai of Easter Island** — score 1000/1000
   Giant stone figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island.
2. **Chichén Itzá** — score 926/1000
   Maya city in Yucatán dominated by the stepped pyramid of El Castillo.
3. **Colosseum** — score 926/1000
   Rome's great amphitheatre, opened in AD 80 for gladiator fights and public shows.
4. **Great Wall of China** — score 884/1000
   Chain of fortifications across northern China, most of the visible stretches built under the Ming.
5. **Neuschwanstein Castle** — score 762/1000
   Ludwig II's fairy-tale castle on a crag in the Bavarian Alps.
6. **Mount Rushmore** — score 707/1000
   Granite mountainside in South Dakota carved with the faces of four US presidents.
7. **Angkor Wat** — score 707/1000
   Twelfth-century Khmer temple in Cambodia, the largest religious monument in the world.
8. **Stonehenge** — score 647/1000
   Prehistoric ring of standing stones on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.
9. **Hagia Sophia** — score 579/1000
   Sixth-century domed basilica in Istanbul, later a mosque, museum and mosque again.
10. **Sydney Opera House** — score 579/1000
   Jørn Utzon's shell-roofed performing arts centre on Sydney Harbour.
11. **Forbidden City** — score 502/1000
   Imperial palace complex in the heart of Beijing, home to Ming and Qing emperors.
12. **Pyramids of Giza** — score 502/1000
   Three royal pyramids on the edge of Cairo, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.
13. **Taj Mahal** — score 502/1000
   White marble mausoleum in Agra built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
14. **Acropolis of Athens** — score 502/1000
   Rocky hill above Athens crowned by the Parthenon and other temples of the fifth century BC.
15. **Statue of Liberty** — score 502/1000
   Copper statue given by France to the United States, standing in New York Harbor since 1886.
16. **Leaning Tower of Pisa** — score 502/1000
   Bell tower of Pisa Cathedral that began to tilt while it was still being built.
17. **Petra** — score 502/1000
   Nabataean city carved into rose-red sandstone cliffs in southern Jordan.
18. **Big Ben** — score 413/1000
   The great bell and clock tower at the Palace of Westminster in London.
19. **Sagrada Família** — score 413/1000
   Antoni Gaudí's basilica in Barcelona, under construction since 1882.
20. **Golden Gate Bridge** — score 413/1000
   Suspension bridge in International Orange spanning the entrance to San Francisco Bay.
21. **Machu Picchu** — score 312/1000
   Fifteenth-century Inca citadel on a ridge above Peru's Urubamba valley.
22. **Christ the Redeemer** — score 193/1000
   Art Deco statue of Jesus with open arms on Corcovado mountain above Rio de Janeiro.
23. **Burj Khalifa** — score 193/1000
   Dubai skyscraper that has been the tallest building in the world since 2010.
24. **Eiffel Tower** — score 193/1000
   Gustave Eiffel's wrought-iron tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.
25. **Tower Bridge** — score 0/1000
   Victorian bascule bridge over the Thames beside the Tower of London.

Tags: travel, architecture, landmarks