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Which ancient monument has the best legend?

By YPB Team

Wizards, witches and a weeping widow all turn up here, and one of these stories was carved in stone about 3,400 years ago.

  1. Stonehenge — ranked #11
    Stonehenge
    Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote around 1136 that Merlin carried its stones over from Ireland.
  2. Pyramids of Giza — ranked #22
    Pyramids of Giza
    Medieval Christians called them Joseph's granaries; modern television prefers to blame aliens.
  3. Great Sphinx of Giza — ranked #33
    Great Sphinx of Giza
    The Dream Stele says the Sphinx promised Thutmose IV the throne if he dug it out of the sand.
  4. Newgrange — ranked #44
    Newgrange
    Irish myth makes it the home of the Dagda, later won by his son Aengus through a trick.
  5. Rollright Stones — ranked #55
    Rollright Stones
    A king and his army, the story goes, were turned to stone by a witch on an Oxfordshire ridge.
  6. Merry Maidens — ranked #66
    Merry Maidens
    Nineteen Cornish girls who danced on a Sunday and were turned to stone along with their pipers.
  7. Carnac Stones — ranked #77
    Carnac Stones
    Breton legend says the rows are a Roman legion that Saint Cornelius turned to stone.
  8. Knossos — ranked #88
    Knossos
    The Cretan palace linked to King Minos and the labyrinth of the Minotaur.
  9. Troy — ranked #99
    Troy
    The city of the wooden horse, dug up at Hisarlik in north-west Turkey.
  10. Uffington White Horse — ranked #1010
    Uffington White Horse
    Bronze Age chalk horse beside Dragon Hill, where Saint George is said to have killed the dragon.
  11. Hill of Tara — ranked #1111
    Hill of Tara
    Seat of Ireland's high kings, where the Stone of Destiny was said to roar under the rightful king.
  12. Moai of Easter Island — ranked #1212
    Moai of Easter Island
    Rapa Nui tradition says the statues walked to their platforms by the power of mana.
  13. Teotihuacan — ranked #1313
    Teotihuacan
    Aztecs believed the gods sacrificed themselves here to set the Sun and Moon in motion.
  14. Great Wall of China — ranked #1414
    Great Wall of China
    Meng Jiangnü is said to have wept for her husband until a stretch of the wall fell down.
  15. Colossus of Rhodes — ranked #1515
    Colossus of Rhodes
    Later legend had the bronze giant straddling the harbour mouth while ships sailed between its legs.
  16. Hanging Gardens of Babylon — ranked #1616
    Hanging Gardens of Babylon
    Said to have been built for a queen who missed the green hills of her homeland.
  17. Calanais Stones — ranked #1717
    Calanais Stones
    Local lore calls them giants who refused to be christened and were turned to stone.
  18. Men-an-Tol — ranked #1818
    Men-an-Tol
    Cornish holed stone that sick children were passed through to be cured.
  19. Petra Treasury — ranked #1919
    Petra Treasury
    Its carved urn was said to hide a pharaoh's treasure and is pocked with bullet marks from treasure hunters.

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