Great buildings: [the world's architectural masterpieces explored and explained]

2500 BCE-1100. Great Pyramid : Giza, Egypt ; The Parthenon : Athens, Greece ; Colosseum : Rome, Italy ; Pantheon : Rome, Italy ; Hagia Sophia : Istanbul, Turkey ; Temple of the Inscriptions : Palenque, Mexico ; Bulguksa Temple : Jinheon-Dong, South Korea ; Palatine Chapel : Aachen, Germany ; Borobudur : Magelang, Java, Indonesia

1100-1500. Angkor Wat : Angkor, Cambodia ; Abbaye de Ste-Madeleine : Vézelay, France ; Krak des Chevaliers : Near Homs, Syria ; Borgund Stave Church : Lærdal, Norway ; Chartres Cathedral : Chartres, France ; Burghausen Castle : Burghausen, Germany ; Florence Cathedral : Florence, Italy ; Alhambra : Granada, Spain ; Doge's Palace : Venice, Italy ; Temple of Heaven : Beijing, China ; King's College Chapel : Cambridge, UK ; Ducal Palace : Urbino, Italy

1500-1700. Belém Tower : Lisbon, Portugal ; Château de Chambord : Loire Valley, France ; St. Basil's Cathedral : Moscow, Russia ; Villa La Rotonda : Vicenza, Italy ; Himeji Castle : Himeji, Japan ; Masjid-i-Shah : Isfahan, Iran ; Taj Mahal : Agra, India ; Royal Palace : Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Palace of Versailles : Paris, France

1700-1900. Melk Abbey : Melk, Austria ; Blenheim Palace : Woodstock, UK ; Amalienburg Pavilion : Nymphenburg, Germany ; Monticello : Charlottesville, USA ; Houses of Parliament : London, UK ; Neuschwanstein Castle : Bavaria, Germany ; Sagrada Familia : Barcelona, Spain ; Hôtel Tassel : Brussels, Belgium ; Grand Palais : Paris, France

1900 to present. Chrysler Building : New York City, USA ; Villa Savoye : Poissy, France ; Fallingwater : Pennsylvania, USA ; Sydney Opera House : Sydney, Australia ; Brasilia Cathedral : Brasilia, Brazil ; Pompidou Centre : Paris, France ; National Gallery of Canada : Ottawa, Canada ; Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao : Bilbao, Spain ; Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre : Nouméa, New Caledonia ; Jin Mao Tower : Shanghai, China ; Seattle Central Library : Seattle, USA ; Palace of the Arts : Valencia, Spain ; MAXXI : Rome, Italy ; Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum : Kōchi, Japan.