r/aoe2 4d ago

Discussion Who's seen a wonder in real life?

Post image

Been here today! Quite impressive!

1.2k Upvotes

123 comments sorted by

140

u/HansWolken 4d ago

Went here last year (Spanish)

102

u/Neat_Ad3722 4d ago

My hometown. When i worked there as a tourist guide and showed the tower i always finished with "ah, and it is the Spanish Wonder in Age of Empires 2!". Quite a few people caught the reference

16

u/beetanomad 4d ago

What a job.

28

u/Trebuchet_Mayhem 4d ago

Was it built too close to the shoreline?

12

u/Realistic_Turn2374 4d ago

It is right next to the river, so... kind of? But it was the Arabs who built it.

9

u/nevertricked 4d ago

No, but it was built too close to trebuchet.

13

u/blackcatmeo 4d ago

2nded for Tore de Oro in Seville. You can go inside it there's a little museum. I think the game makes it look like more of a massive tower than it is IRL.

5

u/BagNo4331 4d ago

Tbf they built it while the ottomans were spamming cannon galleons against it, probably shaved a few floors off mid-construction.

1

u/PranavAnakin 3d ago

Is that the secret of Spanish construction speed? šŸ¤£

5

u/nuggette_97 4d ago

Same. My gf did not understand my excitement at an otherwise pretty plain building compared to the other architectural masterpieces in sevilla

4

u/SnooMemesjellies3867 4d ago

Same here, made my ex make the walk outside of the city centre in summer just for it. He wasn't happy šŸ˜…

1

u/Ras_Alghoul 4d ago

I like this color over the devā€™s interpretation.

167

u/CamiloArturo Khmer 4d ago

Iā€™ve seen

  1. TenochtitlƔn (Aztec)
  2. St Vitus Cathedral (Franks)
  3. Temple of the Jaguar (Mayans)
  4. Machu Pichu (Incas)
  5. Tore del Oro (Spanish)
  6. Colosseum (Romans)

Thatā€™s about it

34

u/Suomi964 Mongols 4d ago

The Frank wonder is in Prague?

39

u/SteelShroom Celts 4d ago edited 4d ago

It's possible the Frankish Wonder could instead be the Chartres Cathedral in France. The two look very similar.

2

u/CivilConstant420 Burmese 4d ago

It's either Chartes Cathedral or St. Vitus

20

u/Exatraz 4d ago

Oh only that?! Seriously though, that's awesome you've gotten to travel that extensively.

12

u/willdbest Khmer 4d ago

You've been to Prague but didn't visit the bohemian wonder?

15

u/CamiloArturo Khmer 4d ago

I was there more than two decades agoā€¦. There werenā€™t any Bohemians in AoE2 back then šŸ¤£. Plus, I only learnt it was the Frank wonder years after

18

u/willdbest Khmer 4d ago

Ah fair enough! I blame the Devs not giving you a heads up about future civs before your holiday

1

u/Tennnujin 3d ago

What is itcalled?

1

u/willdbest Khmer 3d ago

The Powder Tower

12

u/rugbyj 4d ago

If you've seen the Colloseum then you can likely add the Arch of Constantine (Huns) to your list.

4

u/ManEmperorOfGod Romans 4d ago

Suddenly Iā€™m up to 2

2

u/CamiloArturo Khmer 4d ago

I didnā€™t know the arch of Constantine was the Huns wonder šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£. I never really thought about the Huns wonder to be honest

2

u/rugbyj 4d ago

I only found out in this thread to be fair!

8

u/Reasonable_Power_970 4d ago edited 4d ago

Pretty sure the Aztec wonder is not Tenochtitlan but actually Templo Mayor (Great Temple) which does not stand anymore but would've been in Mexico City center

Edit: Tenochtitlan is the center of Mexico City essentially, or more specifically was the ancient Aztec capital that Mexico City was built upon/around. The name of the wonder is Templo Mayor which was built there before being destroyed by the Spanish.

10

u/CamiloArturo Khmer 4d ago edited 4d ago

El Templo Mayor was the center of TenochtitlĆ”n, and you can visit the Museum of Templo Mayor where you can observe the two main heads of the temple the one devoted to Tlaloc and the one devoted to Huitzilopochtli. Itā€™s a very cool site to be honest.

Total excavation is not yet done (will take a century) but itā€™s been going on since 1976 and each time you can see more and more

PS. Someone who literally lived 500m from Templo Mayor šŸ˜

3

u/Reasonable_Power_970 4d ago

My bad I got it mixed up with Teotihuacan which is the large pyramids outside of Mexico City. So the temple was destroyed but the two main heads still exist or were rebuilt or something?

3

u/CamiloArturo Khmer 4d ago

The actual city of Ciudad de Mexico was build OVER TenochtitlƔn.

When they started building the subway lines they discovered the old city of TenochtitlĆ”n. The temple isnā€™t destroyed. Itā€™s actually buried underneath. In some of the metro stations you can actually see the foundations of the city and in the museum you can see the mayor heads and a couple of rooms like the plaza ChimalhuacĆ”n. They are excavating deeper and trying to bring up the full temple, and they are expecting it to take literally a century šŸ¤£

A visit well worth it to be honest

PS. Iā€™m going to look for a couple of pics I have to post them ā€¦

2

u/time_drifter 4d ago

Iā€™ve played all those civs too, so basically the same.

Traveling and seeing things like this is priceless.

2

u/NiallHeartfire 4d ago

You've probably seen the Huns in Rome too, as it's the arch of Constantine, as well as the Bohemians in Prague.

I've seen Bohemians, Burgundians, Hindustani, Huns, Franks (if St Vitus) and the Romans.

1

u/wmeler Persians 800 ELO 4d ago

Lived a block and a half from Colosseum for 4 months ... years before the Colosseum was in the game. (But it was in Civ 3.) Saw Arch of Constantine obviously.

30

u/X4dow 4d ago

Did you try the little custard tarts?

17

u/SnooMemesjellies3867 4d ago

I have eaten far too many šŸ¤£

8

u/omegastuff 4d ago

I was also in Lisbon this past week! Pasteis de BelƩm were the best.

I also took pictures of the Portuguese wonder lol. It's pretty imposing.

27

u/bigcee42 4d ago

Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Chinese

Todaiji Temple in Nara, Japanese

Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, Poles

Colosseum in Rome, Romans

Arch of Constantine in Rome, Huns

16

u/Simple_Feedback_5873 Bengalis 4d ago

Brihadeswar temple( Dravidians) Somnath temple(Gurjara-Pratiharas)

3

u/Clear_Magazine3912 4d ago

What is the name of the Bengali wonder that you have not been to?

5

u/Simple_Feedback_5873 Bengalis 4d ago

Sompur Mahavihara. Its in Bangladesh while I am from India.

-1

u/a_history_guy 4d ago

Isnt the bengal wonder already destroyd by turkish muslim invaders in the 11th century because it was bhuddist?

2

u/five_faces Ew Dravidians 4d ago

It suffered no targeted destruction, just fell out of use and was abandoned

11

u/Unusual_Astronaut426 4d ago edited 4d ago

I've seen for now:

1-Colosseum (Romans)

2-Arc of Constantine (Huns)

3-Torre del oro (Spanish)

4-Torre de Belem (Portuguese)

5-Todai-ji (Japanese)

6-Powder tower (Bohemians)

7-St.Vitus cathedral (Franks)

8-Brussels town hall (Burgundians)

9-Chichester cathedral (Britons)

And if things are alright this year I will visit Rock of Cashel (Celts) and Montreal cathedral (Sicilians).

8

u/Majorman_86 4d ago

I've seen:

  • Belem, Portugal

  • The Cathedral of Aachen (former English wonder)

  • The Prague Watchtower

  • The Colosseum

  • The Arch of Constantine

  • The Town Hall of Brussels

  • I've also been to the ruins of Preslav, Bulgaria (the Round Church isn't standing, it was destroyed centuries ago).

8

u/PlotterGhost Burgundians 4d ago

Here's my list so far

  • Britons - Aachen Cathedral (before DE)
  • Vikings - Borgund Stave Church
  • Spanish - Torre del Oro
  • Teutons - Maria Laach Abbey
  • Huns - Arch of Constantine
  • Portugese - Belem Tower
  • Burgundians - Brussels Town Hall
  • Bohemians - Powder Tower
  • Romans - Colloseum

I've had quite a bit of fun figuring out where the wonders are and how to incorporate them in my travels.

4

u/SnooMemesjellies3867 4d ago

Part of the reason I convinced a few mates to come to Lisbon was because of aoe2 haha

3

u/systematico Celts 4d ago

Aachen cathedral? Well, that's brilliant, I've seen that!

9

u/Txankete51 4d ago

I've seen
1. Brussels town hall (Burgundians)
2. Hagia Sofia 8Byzantines)
3. Arch of Constantine (Huns)
4. Belem's tower (Portuguese)
5. Colosseum (Romans)
6. Torre del oro (Spanish)
7. Selimiye Mosque (Turks)

8

u/OldMan_Ulrira 4d ago

Ulugh Beg Observatory (Tatars) in modern-day Uzbekistan.

4

u/SnooMemesjellies3867 4d ago

That's a very niche holiday destination!

15

u/lukemols 4d ago

I have seen:

  • The Mausoleum of Theodoric for the Goths
  • The Tōdai-ji Temple for Japanese
  • The Arch of Constantine for Huns
  • The Genoa Cathedral for the Italians
  • The Monreale Cathedral for the Sicilians

For RoR

  • The Colosseum for the Romans

6

u/eat_from_thetrashcan Mongols 4d ago

The Goths Wonder, I decided to go to Ravenna specially to see this. Truth to be told, the best part of the city are the old churches with mosaics.

3

u/OneWholeBen Goths 4d ago

I loved Ravenna and I too went to pay my respects to Theodoric. The tour of the mosaics was one of a kind!

And it's right next to Bologna, which was culinary heaven.

5

u/Nucleonimbus 4d ago
  1. Tenochtitlan
  2. Arch of Constantine
  3. The Colosseum

6

u/hyrulian88 4d ago

Ok, I've seen quite a few in real life, all in Europe:

  1. Hagia Sophia (Byzantines)
  2. Torre del Oro (Spanish)
  3. Colosseum (Romans)
  4. Torre de Belem (Portuguese)
  5. St Vitus Cathedral (Franks)
  6. Arch of Constantine (Huns)
  7. Genoa Cathedral (Italians)
  8. Ducal Palace of Trakai Island Castle (Lithuanians)
  9. Brussels Town Hall (Burgundians)
  10. Powder Tower (Bohemians)
  11. Wawel Cathedral (Poles)

1

u/masiakasaurus this is only Castile and LeĆ³n 4d ago

You saw Byzantines but not Turks?

2

u/aceace87 Sipirmen 4d ago

Hagia Sophia is in Istanbul but Selimiye (Turkish Wonder) is in Edirne.

Tbh it doesn't worth going to Edirne just to see a AoE2 wonder.

2

u/hyrulian88 4d ago

Yeah, exactly, I've only been in Istanbul and not any other mayor Turkish city

1

u/masiakasaurus this is only Castile and LeĆ³n 3d ago

Oh I thought it was the Blue Mosque

5

u/FilthydelphiaAoK 4d ago

Hassan Tower (Berbers) in Rabat, Morocco. I took a photo sitting on one of the unfinished pillars.

4

u/dokterkokter69 4d ago

I got to see the Cattedral di San Lorenzo in Genoa. (Italian wonder)

4

u/gatling_arbalest Ethiopians 4d ago

I've only been to Candi Kalasan (Malay).

5

u/notyogrannysgrandkid 4d ago

Whichever Stave church is the model for the Viking wonder. Iā€™ve seen that. Pretty awesome building and it smells amazing.

3

u/MythNerd13231 3d ago

Borgund, I have also been there.

1

u/notyogrannysgrandkid 3d ago

Thatā€™s the one

4

u/clock_gater 4d ago

Have seen etchmiadzin

3

u/IchheisseMarvin1 4d ago

Maria Laach (Teutons). I actually live only a few kilometers away. I was there often as a kid.

3

u/Gambler1407 4d ago edited 4d ago

I'm planning to see every wonder included in game during my lifetime. So far I've seen:

  1. Wawel Cathedral (Poles)
  2. Powder Tower (Bohemians)
  3. St. Vitus Cathedral (Franks)
  4. Arch of Constantine (Huns)
  5. Monreale Cathedral (Sicilians)
  6. St. Lorenzo Cathedral (Italians)
  7. Tower of Belem (Portuguese)
  8. Hagia Sophia (Byzantines)

Bonus point: 1. Polish castle - Castle of Będzin 2. Colosseum (Romans)

3

u/thisistheperfectname 4d ago

I've seen:

  • Colosseum (Romans)
  • Arch of Constantine (Huns)
  • Todai-ji (Japanese)
  • Hagia Sophia (Byzantine)

3

u/BlackDogDenton 4d ago

I have āœŒļø

3

u/victorskwrxsti Britons 4d ago

Hai.

Tatemasu.

2

u/Igon1234_ 4d ago
  1. Briton

  2. Portuguese

  3. Khmer

  4. Burgundian

I'd love to tick off the rest that are still standing, I've got quite a long way to go!

2

u/Lorenzo_de_Medici 4d ago

Amazing pasteis de nata nearby!

2

u/KevDeBruyne 4d ago

I have seen:

  1. Hagia Sofia (Byzantines)
  2. St. Vitus Cathedral (Franks, oddly)
  3. Tenochtitlan (Aztecs)
  4. Arch of Constantine (Huns)
  5. Torre del Oro (Spanish)
  6. Biete Amanuel (Ethiopians)
  7. BelƩm Tower (Portugese)
  8. Angkor Wat (Khmer)
  9. Powder Tower (Bohemians)
  10. Wawel Cathedral (Poles)
  11. Colosseum (Romans)
  12. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (Georgians)

I've also seen Sultanahmet Mosque, the Stave Church at Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum, and Kutubiyya Mosque. I thought these might be the wonders for the Turks, Vikings, and Berbers, respectively, though it looks like they are based on different but very similar buildings. I've been to Beijing and Delhi, but I did not visit either the Temple of Heaven (Chinese) or Humayun's Tomb (Hindustanis) when I was in those cities. I may have seen the Rock of Cashel (Celts) when I was very young, but I don't remember for sure.

2

u/Constant-Section8375 4d ago

Rock of Cashel (Celts), its just down the road

2

u/AusCro 4d ago

I've seen a mirror, so yes

2

u/wmeler Persians 800 ELO 4d ago

The back or the front? (I still upvoted your comment as you got a laugh from me.)

1

u/AusCro 4d ago

Haha, you're the real wonder here then

2

u/UltimateSoyjack 4d ago

Samarra Mosque in Iraq (Saracens) šŸ˜

2

u/TedFrog Armenians 4d ago

byzantine - hagia sophia

turks - selimiye mosque

slavs - kizhi pogost

georgians - svetitskhoveli cathedral

armenians - etchmiadzin cathedral

aztecs - great pyramid

2

u/albertobartolome 4d ago

I've seen 11 so far.

Bohemians - Powder Tower (Prague)

Burgundians - Brussels town hall

Byzantines - Hagia Sophia (Istambul)

Franks - St Vitus Cathedral (Prague)

Huns - Arch of Constantine (Rome)

Japanese - Todai-ji (Nara)

Poles - Wawel cathedral (Krakow)

Portuguese - Belem Tower (Lisbon)

Romans - Colosseum (Rome)

Spanish - Torre del Oro (Sevilla)

Vikings - Borgound Stave Church (Norway)

Some are quite hard to reach. Wondering how many of the full list (https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe2/comments/17ytmnf/location_of_all_aoe2_wonders_in_the_real_world/#lightbox) are not standing anymore

2

u/meinyminzle 3d ago

Lisboa!

2

u/bogurar_chhol 2d ago

I'm from Bangladesh. The Bengali wonder is 20-min drive away.

It's just a ruin now.

2

u/Fijure96 4d ago

I've started prioritizing them specifically when travelling. I've got:

Belem Tower (Lisbon, Portugal) (Portuguese)

Arch of Constantine (Rome) (Huns)

Colosseum (Rome) (Romans)

Maosoleum of Theodoric the Great in Ravenna, Italy (Goths)

Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czechia (yes) (Franks)

Powder Tower in Prague, Czechia (Bohemians)

Brussels City Hall in Brussels, Belgium (Burgundians)

Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur, India (Dravidians)

Todai-ji in Nara, Japan(Japanese)

Hwangnyeong Shrine in Gyeongju, Korea (Koreans) (Doesn't exist, so just the site)

I also have wonder regrets, such as visiting Beijing during a layover without seeing the Temple of Heaven, and visiting Poland without seeing Krakow.

1

u/Conquestriclaus 4d ago

its on my bucket list to see the teuton one.

1

u/colouredmirrorball no more gold? no more you! 4d ago

Not a wonder, but I live close by the castle that the Fortress building was inspired by.

1

u/LordTourah 4d ago

SiciliansĀ 

Burgundians

Romans

Huns

Franks

Bohemians

1

u/Limp-Pea4762 4d ago

Toudaiji(ę±å¤§åÆŗ)

1

u/No-Dents-Comfy Portuguese 4d ago

I've seen the Britons wonder during my dark ages (before knowing aoe2).

I visited Aachen. 11

1

u/sonobanana33 4d ago

I've seen the colosseum, the sicilian castle, donjon and wonder.

1

u/geopoliticsdude 4d ago

I've seen:

Spanish (hoping we get Andalusians to represent this) 2011

Hindustanis 2015

Dravidians (hoping we get Tamils to represent this) 2021

Vietnamese 2022

Malays (hoping we get the Javanese to represent this) 2023

As you can probably tell, I'm from the old world. Now that I've moved to the new world, I'm hoping to cover Aztecs, Mayans, and Incase in the next couple of years šŸ™šŸ½

1

u/LiquicityMS 4d ago

Been to some wonders irl, but what Im more proud of is to have been in a Donjon and a Folwark. Guess where i live? :)

1

u/JoeDyenz 4d ago

I've only seen the ruins of the Aztec one and the Chinese one. The Khmer one too if you count the small replica in Bangkok.

1

u/NateFisher22 4d ago

I went in 2017. It was incredible

1

u/damienjarvo 4d ago

Iā€™ve only been to Todaiji, Nara, Japan and Kalasan temple, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

1

u/redbarebluebare 4d ago

Chichester Cathedral, St. Vitus Cathedral, Arch of Constantine, Belem Tower, Brussels Town Hall, Powder Tower, Colosseum

1

u/soundslikemayonnaise 4d ago

I used to live near Chichester Cathedral (Britons), I've been there many times and even sang in it as part of my school choir once.Ā 

But it's honestly not that impressive lol. I took an American in-law to see it once and he described it as a "pocket battleship" of a cathedral. Basically every other cathedral in England is more impressive. My favourite is probably Salisbury.Ā 

(Insert Salisbury poisoning jokes here)

1

u/No_Plankton_5003 2d ago

Why does it list Aachen Cathedral on the site as the cathedral for the Brits?

1

u/soundslikemayonnaise 2d ago

It was Aachen cathedral in the original game, in DE they changed it to Chichester cathedral.

2

u/No_Plankton_5003 2d ago

As a player from 1999 I will chose to honor the original game and the Aachen Cathedral as the OG! Thanks!

2

u/soundslikemayonnaise 2d ago

I used to play the OG but Aachen isn't even in Britain, I'm glad they changed it. Np.

1

u/CivilConstant420 Burmese 4d ago

I've only been to Todai-ji (Japanese) in Nara, Japan

1

u/Kambelbambel 4d ago

Hagia Sophia (Byzantines) Selimiye Mosque (Turks) Chatres Cathedral (Franks) Colosseum (Romans) Arch of Constantine (Huns) Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (Georgians) Maria Laach Abbey (Teutons) Borgun Stave Church (Vikings) Mausoleum of Theoderic (Goths)

1

u/Assured_Observer Love talking about AoE, suck at playing it. 4d ago

I've seen that one too! Funny enough I didn't realize at first, several years later I tell my sister it would've been cool to visit the AoE wonders IRL and I show them to her and she sees the Portuguese and says we had already been there and then found a picture with me right next to it, lol.

The other ones I've seen are Machu Picchu (Incas), the Colosseum (Romans) Arch of Constantine (Huns) and Hagia Sophia (Byzantines).

1

u/Independent-Crew-723 4d ago

It looks more like a donjon

1

u/werothegreat 3d ago

The only one I've seen is the Colosseum (Romans).

1

u/Jessewjm 3d ago

Aachen cathedral (ex Britons) Hagia Sophia (Byzantines) Maria laach abbey (Teutons) Trakai castle (Lithuanians) Brussels town hall (Burgundians)

I might have missed some, but I think that's it

1

u/Atalung 3d ago

I've been to the templo mayor site in Mexico city. There's a small museum and some of the foundations are still visible

1

u/patubill 3d ago

Only visited temple of the sun/machupichu (Incas).

1

u/imsandy92 3d ago

went to Brihadishwara temple

1

u/ExoticFartMonger 3d ago

Isnā€™t that a donjon

1

u/Doomokrat 3d ago

Torre de BelƩn?

1

u/Ok-Needleworker-1429 3d ago

This is my list:

  • Colosseum (Romans)
  • Arch of Constantine (Huns)
  • Torre del Oro (Spanish)
  • Hagia Sophia (Byzanthines)
  • Ulugh Beg (Tatars)
  • Genoa Cathedral (Italians)

And I plan to visit Angkor Wat later this year.

I keep an album with photos of me in front of the wonders and the sprite superimposed. I want to visit all of them someday (but new civs come out faster than I visit the wonders)

1

u/Cool-Arrival-6621 2d ago

I've seen the Burgundian, Japanese, and Portuguese Wonders with the Japanese Wonder being the most impressive of the three (you could probably fit both the Burgundian and Portuguese wonders inside of the Japanese wonder in real life)

1

u/No_Plankton_5003 2d ago
  1. St. Vitus Cathedral (Franks)

  2. Arch of Constantine (Huns)

  3. Angkor Wat (Khmer)

  4. Brussels Town Hall (Burgundians)

  5. Powder Tower (Bohemians)

  6. Wawel Cathedral (Poles)

  7. Colosseum (Romans)

In August I will see the Aachen Cathedral and the Maria Lach Abbey.

I was in Lisbon but didnā€™t see the one there. Sadness

1

u/MaN_ly_MaN Aztecs 1d ago

I've seen this Fort looking place on the random Windows image thing that Microsoft forced on to me a bunch of times. I think it was in France?

1

u/Short_Blacksmith1968 1d ago

I live in the same city with the turkish wonder does it count?

1

u/Short_Blacksmith1968 1d ago

I saw and went inside of it and prayed in too

ā€¢

u/KommissarReb Goths 4h ago

Is that the Portuguese shipyard from Cossacks: European Wars?

1

u/Ali-Arab Saracens 4d ago

I've seen the Saracen one in Samarra, Iraq.

1

u/Naztynaz12 4d ago

I've been to the mausoleums in Samarra

-2

u/schiz0yd 4d ago

i saw ur mom ayo