Ireland: Bru Na Boinne

Ireland has only 2 UNESCO site and Bru Na Bonne is easily accessible from Dublin – it is one of the world’s most significant Neolithic landscapes. It was built around 3200 BC, making it roughly 5200 years old – older than both Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids of Giza! The complex consists of three massive burial mounds, each surrounded by smaller satellite tombs. Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú) is the most famous of the three, renowned for its incredible engineering and precise astronomical alignment – in the winter solstice, a beam of sunlight enters the opening and perfectly illuminates the stone passage, traveling all the way to the cruciform chamber at the back of the burial mound. The mound is fronted by a white quartz retaining wall and one of the finest examples of Neolithic art in existence – a massive stone carved with swirling triple spirals. Tours tooth mound are limited to a couple groups per day and entering into the actual structure is even more restricted, birth sprawling museum near the site entrance actually has a complete replica built inside.