While Atlatean figures are generally carved to represent fierce, bellicose men, when the Aztecs found these pillars centuries after the Toltecs abandoned their city, they imagined that the pillars represented their own gods, such as Quetzalcoatl, and considered the city itself divine. They even went so far as to consider the Toltec civilization their own ancestors, and told and recorded multitudes of stories of the exploits of the Toltec people.

Image accessed at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Telamones_Tula.jpg

Photograph by Luidger

Although the Aztec people thought that the Toltec civilization, as their supposed ancestors (according to them, at least), had carved out depictions of their gods, such as Quetzalcoatl, in actuality, the Atlantean figures are meant to represent fierce warriors.

Image accessed at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Telamones_Tula.jpg

Photograph by Luidger

Although the Aztec civilization provides its own written mythology as to the conquests, exploits and history of the Toltec civilization, as they considered the Toltec people to be their ancestors, it is actually unknown what eventually caused the decline and disappearance of the Toltec civilization, which is the civilization that left the ruins of a great city in Tula, Hidalgo, along with the Atlantean figures pictures above.

Image accessed at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Telamones_Tula.jpg

Photograph by Luidger

The architectural center for a family was a kiva. A kiva contained the fire pit and the Sipapu. These spaces were covered by wood roofs and are sometimes still used by Puebloan people for ceremonies.

The Zapotec civilization of pre-Columbian Latin America occupied and culturally dominated the area of Mexico now known as the state of Oaxaca. The largest piece of evidence of their occupation of Oaxaca is the ancient city of Monte Albán, located only a few miles outside of the current capital of the state of Oaxaca, Oaxaca City.

An onion dome is a dome on top of a drum which is bulbous and larger than the structure it sits on, and comes to a point with a cross on it. Onion domes are the chief feature in Russian church architecture, adorning cathedrals in Russian Orthodox cultures. Onion domes are featured prominently in St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow and are a symbol of Russian culture.

The Mughals created an empire that covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent in the sixteenth century, ruling a multi-ethnic and multi-religious grouping of peoples. Appropriately, Mughal arts and architecture were a blend of their native Persian styles, other Islamic styles, and native Indian art traditions. The Taj Mahal, built in 1632, is a mausoleum to Mumtaz Mahal, the third wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It has minaret-like towers, a large Ottoman-style dome, and many elements of traditional Hindu embellishment.

Hindu temple architecture follows guidelines which call for a circular inner sanctum with the rest of the structure emanating from the center room. As with most ancient Hindu artistic traditions, the basic structures and rules for Hindu temple architecture are found in the group of works known as the Shilpa Shastras.

The Great Pyramids at Giza were the largest structures in the world for almost two thousand years from their construction in roughly 2500 BCE. Remarkably, the pyramids were built for a singular, one-time purpose as the tombs of Pharaohs and their families. The Pyramids were built away from other settlements, and were intended as massive monuments to the Pharaohs' power.

The Temple of Borobudur was built by Śailendra Dynasty on the island of Java in Indonesia. It is built like a three-dimensional mandala which played a part in the concept of a path in Buddhism.