Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint in southern Albania has quite a story: it was a Greek colony, a Roman city, an episcopal centre, a Byzantine outpost and briefly occupied by the Venetians.
In southern Mexico close to the border with Guatemala, this ancient Mayan city is famed for its impressive sculptured stone lintels above doorways and windows
The largest Roman settlement ever built in North Africa, Timgad was founded in AD 100 by the emperor Trajan and constructed for retired military personnel.
Set on the western Turkish coast, Ephesus is the Mediterranean’s most complete Greco-Roman city. Founded in the 10th century BC, the city attracted merchants, sailors and pilgrims from the world over.
Leptis Magna, on the Mediterranean coast of Libya, was one of the Roman empire’s most beautiful cities. Founded in the 7th century BC, it was the birthplace, in AD 145.
Deep in the rainforests of northern Guatemala lies Tikal, a Mayan citadel dating from the 4th century BC until the 9th century AD.
The second capital of the Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand), Ayutthaya, dating from the 14th century, was once one of the world’s largest and most cosmopolitan cities.
Like its better-known neighbour Pompeii, Herculaneum on the southwest Italian coast, was also destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.
The spectacular city of Sigiriya sits atop a 600-foot (182m) high granite peak rising from lush plains in central Sri Lanka.