A tragic list of historical sites that were destroyed on purpose
1. The Buddhas of Bamiyan- A pair of 173 and 114 feet tall Buddha statues carved onto the side of a cliff in Afghanistan, which were created in 507 and 554 BC. They were attacked in 1221 by Genghis Khan; later on by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, then shot at with canons by 18th century Persian king Nader Afshar, and the faces were destroyed by Afghan king Abdur Rahman Khan. They were finally bombed to pieces by the Taliban in 2001.
2. Mephistopheles Facade- In St Petersburg, Russia; a century old statue of the demon was destroyed by Orthodox extremists in 2015.
3. The Cemetry in Julfa- A 10,000 grave medieval Armenian cemetery in Azerbaijan was destroyed by the Azerbaijani government throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, only to be replaced with a military firing range
4. The Babri Masjid- The Indian mosque was built in 1528, and was destroyed in 1992 by Hindu extremists.
5. The Singapore Stone- A fragment of a larger slab dating back to the 10th century, which was located on the Singapore river. It was demolished in 1843 by British colonialists to create a British military headquarters. The stone contains a mysterious text that is now impossible to translate since only the fragmented rock remains.
6. Lion of Al-lāt- The Syrian lion stood at the temple of the Mesopotamian goddess Al-Lat and was built in the 1st century AD. It was destroyed by ISIS in 2015.
7. Tikal Temple 33- The Guatemalan pyramid was built in 457 AD, and stood at an impressive 108 feet. It was destroyed in the 1960s by European archaeologists who wanted to take apart the pyramid to “see how it was built.”
8. Bash Tapia Castle- The castle was built in the 12 century, and was located on the western bank of the Tigris river. Already in disrepair from America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, it was finally bombed apart by ISIS in 2014.