It’s now shallowly defined by its starring role in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but Jordan's Petra is a jolt of deep history and deeper colors. An ancient city carved into the most pinky-red rock you’ll ever see, the fabled kilometer-long sandstone Siq (the narrow canyon that leads directly to the famous Al Khazneh, or the Treasury), is the most familiar view, but there’s so much more, and as you take in mile upon mile of antiquity, that "wonder-of-the-world" impact just doesn't stop.

A church cut into rock is an eternal sight and this, the monastery of Geghard in Armenia’s Upper Azat Valley, has several in a medieval complex. The monastery began as a small cave chapel, which Gregory declared held a sacred spring in the 4th century, and perhaps due in part to its stunning location, it became the ecclesiastical and cultural center of medieval Armenia. The name refers to the spear that wounded Christ, and Dan Brownites will enjoy the fact that the spear remains here.

This splendid scarab rising from Istanbul’s skyline is one of the world’s most important buildings, having served as the center of the Byzantine empire, then an Ottoman mosque, and now a museum. As such it’s a romp through the ages, its dome a technological masterpiece that bridges the Roman to the monotheistic era. When it was completed, Justinian is supposed to have remarked "Solomon, I have outdone thee." It’s not on tape, but perhaps he gets the benefit of the doubt.

It’s only the third biggest of the English cathedrals, but many (including John Ruskin, who called it "the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles") think it the best. Perhaps it’s the three towers that look over the flatlands – in 1311, it overtook the Great Pyramid of Giza to be the tallest building in the world – or the setting at the top of quaint Steep Hill, or the rich collection of Anglo-Medieval art, including one of the four copies of Magna Carta. An English dream.

Designed for tranquil worship, Delhi's beautiful Lotus Temple offers a rare pocket of calm in the hectic city. This architectural masterpiece was designed by Iranian-Canadian architect Fariborz Sahba in 1986. It is shaped like a lotus flower, with 27 delicate-looking white-marble petals. The temple was created to bring faiths together; visitors are invited to pray or meditate silently according to their own beliefs. The attached visitor center tells the story of the Bahai faith.

The Masjed-e-Shah, also known as the Imam Mosque, is considered by many to be the finest mosque in Iran. Located in the royal square of Isfahan, once the country’s capital, its glittering mosaic tiles in seven colors and calligraphic inscriptions make it one of the Islamic world’s great buildings and a centerpiece of Iran’s growing tourism industry. Not only a visual but a sonic delight, if you stomp your foot under the dome you'll get seven echoes in reply.

A tumble of tiers hanging over a creek makes this house in Pennsylvania look as if it was designed with Jenga. Frank Lloyd Wright's "most beautiful job" (as cited by Time magazine on its completion), and a glorious example of his trademark organic architecture, is renowned for its cantilevers over the Bear Run waterway. A museum since 1964 and a National Historic Landmark, it remains one of Wright’s masterpieces, merging home and landscape in a stunning piece of built theatre.