8. Taxila
Taxila, located in northwestern Pakistan, has undergone a dizzying amount of cultural changes. An ancient city, its first recorded conquest was by Persian king Darius the Great in 518 BCE. About 200 years later, it became a Hellenistic Greek city under another "the Great," Alexander. It was conquered several more times until becoming a Buddhist center, and according to legend, it was also visited by the apostle Thomas in the first century CE. The city remained important because of nearby trade routes, but when they declined, so did the city. Taxila would eventually be destroyed by the Huns in the fifth century. This stupa ruin includes Hindu, Buddhist, and Greek temple faces, reflecting the city's mixed heritage.