"stone structures."

#13304676

11 February 2026

Professor Robin Coningham, UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage at Durham University and co-director of the excavations, attends a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 11, 2026. A collaborative team of national and international experts from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University's UNESCO Chair uncovers Nepal's first example of an apsidal Buddhist temple within the ancient city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, one of the best-preserved Early Historic cities and hinterlands in South Asia. A clear category of temple in South Asia, they are called apsidal as they have a curved end wall that defines the religious focus of the monument, with an entrance platform at the other end. The earliest known examples are cut into rock, with later monuments constructed out of stone, timber, or brick. The monument revealed at Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, the first discovered in Nepal, follows this exact layout but is unusual in its location. It is a rare example of an apsidal temple constructed within a city rather than in a separate religious complex. The newly discovered apsidal structure is built near the center of the city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu over the remains of the city's earlier palatial complex. This central walled complex defines an area of 100 by 100 meters through a massive brick wall measuring 1.5 meters wide. After its abandonment, the complex becomes a focus for veneration, with Buddhist monasteries built over its ruined monumental walls. It is within the courtyard of one of these monasteries that the apsidal temple is built, enshrining and respecting an earlier Buddhist stupa within the earlier monastery.

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#13304677

11 February 2026

Archaeologists from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University hold a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 11, 2026, announcing the uncovering of the first apsidal Buddhist temple in Nepal. A collaborative team of national and international experts from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University's UNESCO Chair uncover Nepal's first example of an apsidal Buddhist temple within the ancient city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, one of the best-preserved Early Historic cities and hinterlands in South Asia. A clear category of temple in South Asia, they are called apsidal as they have a curved end wall that defines the religious focus of the monument, with an entrance platform at the other end. The earliest known examples are cut into rock, with later monuments constructed out of stone, timber, or brick. The monument revealed at Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, the first discovered in Nepal, follows this exact layout but is unusual in its location. It is a rare example of an apsidal temple constructed within a city rather than in a separate religious complex. The newly discovered apsidal structure is built near the center of the city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu over the remains of the city's earlier palatial complex. This central walled complex defines an area of 100 by 100 meters through a massive brick wall measuring 1.5 meters wide. After its abandonment, the complex becomes a focus for veneration, with Buddhist monasteries built over its ruined monumental walls. It is within the courtyard of one of these monasteries that the apsidal temple is built, enshrining and respecting an earlier Buddhist stupa within the earlier monastery.

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#13304678

11 February 2026

Professor Robin Coningham, UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage at Durham University and co-director of the excavations, attends a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 11, 2026. A collaborative team of national and international experts from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University's UNESCO Chair uncovers Nepal's first example of an apsidal Buddhist temple within the ancient city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, one of the best-preserved Early Historic cities and hinterlands in South Asia. A clear category of temple in South Asia, they are called apsidal as they have a curved end wall that defines the religious focus of the monument, with an entrance platform at the other end. The earliest known examples are cut into rock, with later monuments constructed out of stone, timber, or brick. The monument revealed at Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, the first discovered in Nepal, follows this exact layout but is unusual in its location. It is a rare example of an apsidal temple constructed within a city rather than in a separate religious complex. The newly discovered apsidal structure is built near the center of the city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu over the remains of the city's earlier palatial complex. This central walled complex defines an area of 100 by 100 meters through a massive brick wall measuring 1.5 meters wide. After its abandonment, the complex becomes a focus for veneration, with Buddhist monasteries built over its ruined monumental walls. It is within the courtyard of one of these monasteries that the apsidal temple is built, enshrining and respecting an earlier Buddhist stupa within the earlier monastery.

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#13304679

11 February 2026

Professor Robin Coningham, UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage at Durham University and co-director of the excavations, briefs about the findings during a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 11, 2026. A collaborative team of national and international experts from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University's UNESCO Chair uncovers Nepal's first example of an apsidal Buddhist temple within the ancient city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, one of the best-preserved Early Historic cities and hinterlands in South Asia. A clear category of temple in South Asia, they are called apsidal as they have a curved end wall that defines the religious focus of the monument, with an entrance platform at the other end. The earliest known examples are cut into rock, with later monuments constructed out of stone, timber, or brick. The monument revealed at Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, the first discovered in Nepal, follows this exact layout but is unusual in its location. It is a rare example of an apsidal temple constructed within a city rather than in a separate religious complex. The newly discovered apsidal structure is built near the center of the city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu over the remains of the city's earlier palatial complex. This central walled complex defines an area of 100 by 100 meters through a massive brick wall measuring 1.5 meters wide. After its abandonment, the complex becomes a focus for veneration, with Buddhist monasteries built over its ruined monumental walls. It is within the courtyard of one of these monasteries that the apsidal temple is built, enshrining and respecting an earlier Buddhist stupa within the earlier monastery.

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#13304680

11 February 2026

Professor Robin Coningham, UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage at Durham University and co-director of the excavations, briefs about the findings during a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 11, 2026. A collaborative team of national and international experts from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University's UNESCO Chair uncovers Nepal's first example of an apsidal Buddhist temple within the ancient city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, one of the best-preserved Early Historic cities and hinterlands in South Asia. A clear category of temple in South Asia, they are called apsidal as they have a curved end wall that defines the religious focus of the monument, with an entrance platform at the other end. The earliest known examples are cut into rock, with later monuments constructed out of stone, timber, or brick. The monument revealed at Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, the first discovered in Nepal, follows this exact layout but is unusual in its location. It is a rare example of an apsidal temple constructed within a city rather than in a separate religious complex. The newly discovered apsidal structure is built near the center of the city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu over the remains of the city's earlier palatial complex. This central walled complex defines an area of 100 by 100 meters through a massive brick wall measuring 1.5 meters wide. After its abandonment, the complex becomes a focus for veneration, with Buddhist monasteries built over its ruined monumental walls. It is within the courtyard of one of these monasteries that the apsidal temple is built, enshrining and respecting an earlier Buddhist stupa within the earlier monastery.

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#13304681

11 February 2026

Professor Robin Coningham, UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage at Durham University and co-director of the excavations, briefs about the findings during a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 11, 2026. A collaborative team of national and international experts from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University's UNESCO Chair uncovers Nepal's first example of an apsidal Buddhist temple within the ancient city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, one of the best-preserved Early Historic cities and hinterlands in South Asia. A clear category of temple in South Asia, they are called apsidal as they have a curved end wall that defines the religious focus of the monument, with an entrance platform at the other end. The earliest known examples are cut into rock, with later monuments constructed out of stone, timber, or brick. The monument revealed at Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu, the first discovered in Nepal, follows this exact layout but is unusual in its location. It is a rare example of an apsidal temple constructed within a city rather than in a separate religious complex. The newly discovered apsidal structure is built near the center of the city of Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu over the remains of the city's earlier palatial complex. This central walled complex defines an area of 100 by 100 meters through a massive brick wall measuring 1.5 meters wide. After its abandonment, the complex becomes a focus for veneration, with Buddhist monasteries built over its ruined monumental walls. It is within the courtyard of one of these monasteries that the apsidal temple is built, enshrining and respecting an earlier Buddhist stupa within the earlier monastery.

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#13231190

23 January 2026

The logos of the grocery retailers REWE and ALDI are mounted on the architectural facade of the Minto shopping center in Monchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on July 28, 2023.

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#13226580

22 January 2026

A regional Rhaetian Railway (RhB) train navigates the nine-arched Brusio spiral viaduct on the Bernina line near Brusio, Grisons, Switzerland, on January 11, 2026. This architectural highlight is a key structure within the UNESCO World Heritage Albula and Bernina landscapes.

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#13226581

22 January 2026

A regional Rhaetian Railway (RhB) train navigates the nine-arched Brusio spiral viaduct on the Bernina line near Brusio, Grisons, Switzerland, on January 11, 2026. This architectural highlight is a key structure within the UNESCO World Heritage Albula and Bernina landscapes.

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#13226583

22 January 2026

A regional Rhaetian Railway (RhB) train navigates the nine-arched Brusio spiral viaduct on the Bernina line near Brusio, Grisons, Switzerland, on January 11, 2026. This architectural highlight is a key structure within the UNESCO World Heritage Albula and Bernina landscapes.

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#13226584

22 January 2026

A regional Rhaetian Railway (RhB) train navigates the nine-arched Brusio spiral viaduct on the Bernina line near Brusio, Grisons, Switzerland, on January 11, 2026. This architectural highlight is a key structure within the UNESCO World Heritage Albula and Bernina landscapes.

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#13217694

19 January 2026

A car is damaged by falling stones on the grounds of a 25-storey residential building after a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine, on January 19, 2026

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#13217696

19 January 2026

A man and a woman hold cups as they walk along a sidewalk strewn with glass and stones after a Russian drone hits a 25-storey residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, on January 19, 2026

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#13186852

12 January 2026

A typical facade on one of the main streets of the town of Ezcaray in the autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain, features the use of lime mortar and wood in white and neutral tones alongside natural stone.

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#13156800

5 January 2026

A section of the Colosseum's exterior wall is shown in Rome, Italy, on November 10, 2023.

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#13157027

5 January 2026

The Parthenon is seen on the Acropolis of Athens from Philopappos Hill, with the stone structure of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus visible below, in Athens, Greece, on January 5, 2025.

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