The Temple of Olympian Zeus

In the 6th century B.C.E., Athenian rulers ordered the construction of a temple for the god of god's, the mighty Zeus. They would never see their dream of constructing the world's biggest temple come to fruition as it would take almost 638 years to complete and only be the biggest temple in Greece, not the world. Only a few decades later however, the temple would be destroyed by a barbarian invasion. From that time on, the materials were taken and used for other construction projects around Athens, leaving only the foundation and a few columns for tourists to marvel at and contemplate its former grandeur.