Existing sites featured in Tomb Raider games

Thanks to Nancy Charlton

Published at Planet Lara

Not to be copied or used without express permission of both parties.

Aldwych (TR3)
The Aldwych underground train station in London is a branch of the Piccadilly Line which was originally built as a double track with two platforms at both Aldwych and Holborn. It opened in 1907, and was originally called Strand. During WWII, Aldwych was closed for nearly six years and the tunnels were used for storing art and treasures from the British Museum. The branch was completely shut down in 1994, due to high estimated expenses concerning exposed moving parts and high voltage components. It was built on land that had previously been occupied by an art gallery, a non-conformist chapel, and the Royal Strand Theatre, which was demolished in 1905. Some people have claimed that the track is haunted at night by the ghost of an actress. The station is now being maintained by London Underground and is used mainly as a museum piece, film set, and for displaying exhibitions.

All Hallows (TR3)
This ancient monument, located near the Tower of London, is a living church serving today's city community. Visitors often come to see the Undercroft Museum and the Brass Rubbing Centre. The Saxon Abbey of Barking founded the church in 675 B.C., and an arch from the original church still remains. Beneath the arch is a Roman pavement, discovered in 1926, evidence of city life on this site for the best part of 2,000 years. In 1797, John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the US, was married in the church. Also, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was baptized in the church and educated in the schoolroom, which is now called the Parish Room.

Angkor Wat (TR4)
Located in northwestern Cambodia, Angkor, the capital of the ancient Khmer Empire, was founded around the 9th century A.D. by King Jayavarman II. Angkor Wat lies just south of the royal town of Angkor Thom. The temple of Angkor Wat was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu by King Suryavarman II, who reigned between 1131 and 1150 A.D. It was constructed over a period of 30 years, and illustrates some of the most beautiful examples of Khmer and Hindu art. The complex consists of five towers that are believed to represent the peaks of Mount Meru, the Home of the Gods and Center of the Hindu Universe. With the decline of the ancient Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat was turned into a Buddhist temple and is now continuously maintained to help preservation of the site.

Area 51 (TR3)
Also known as Groom Lake, Area 51 is a secret military facility about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. The number refers to a 6-by-10-mile block of land, at the center of which is a large air base the government will not discuss. The site was selected in the mid-1950s for testing of the U-2 spy plane. The facility and surrounding areas are also associated with UFO conspiracy stories and has become a popular symbol for the alleged US Government UFO cover-up. The nearby Nellis Air Force Base’s primary mission is the training of pilots and support crews in realistic air combat exercises. The Range is also used for numerous secret weapons testing programs.

Citadel (TR4)
The Citadel of Cairo was built in 1176 A.D. by the famed Muslim, Commander Saladin. The Citadel was home to Egypt’s rulers for almost 700 years. The Mosque of Mohammed Ali now dominates the Citadel, and was built in Turkish style between 1830 and 1848. The ornate clock in the tower was a gift from King Louis-Phillipe of France, in exchange for the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde. The Sultan al-Nasr Mohammed Mosque is the only surviving Mamluk building within the Citadel. Also located in the Citadel, is the Military Museum, located in the Harim Palace. It was built in 1827 as the private residence of Mohammad Ali.

Colosseum (TR5)
The Colosseum in Rome was first constructed by Vespasian in 72 A.D. in the grounds of Nero’s private Domus Aurea. It was originally known as the Flavian Ampitheater and it was inaugurated by Vespasian’s son Titus in 80 A.D. The massive structure could seat more than 50,000 people and held gladiator battles and wild beast combat. Trajan once held games there that lasted for 117 days, during which some 9,000 gladiators fought to the death. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Colosseum was abandoned. During the Middle Ages, it was used as a fortress and it became known as a symbol of Rome, the Eternal City.

Ganges River (TR3)
The Ganges River runs for 1,560 miles from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. This river is considered to be sacred by the people of India. It is known as Ganga Ma, which means ‘Mother Ganges’. As soon as the day begins, devout Hindus face the rising sun and begin to give their offerings of flowers or food into the river. Others take up water and put it back into the river as an offering to the ancestors or gods. The waters of the Ganges are called ‘amrita’, which means ‘nectar of immortality.’

Great Wall of China (TR2)
The massive Great Wall winds its way westward over the vast territory of China from the banks of the Yalu River to the foot of the Qilianshan and Tianshan Mountains. It extends a total length of 6,000 kilometers. The wall is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and is the pride of China. Construction began in the 7th century B.C. The vassal states, under the Chou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country, each built their own walls for defense purposes. After the state of Chin unified China in 221 B.C., it joined the walls to hold off the invaders from the Tsongnoo tribes in the north. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 A.D. and took 200 years to complete.

Himalayas (TR2)
The vast mountain ranges of the Himalayas (Sanskrit for ‘abode of snow’) rise sharply from the Gangetic Plain and sit north of the Tibetan Plateau. Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is located on the Nepal-Tibet border. The Himalayas form three parallel zones: the Great Himalayas, the Middle Himalayas, and the Sub-Himalayas, which includes the foothills and the Tarai and Duars piedmont. Nearly 40 million people inhabit the mountains, most of which are Hindus of Indian heritage and Tibetan Buddhists.

Louvre (TR6)
Located not far from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Louvre is one of the most spectacular museums in the world. It houses Italian Renaissance art, ancient Egyptian art, and Roman and Greek art. Such masterpieces include Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. In 1793, after the French Revolution, the Louvre opened up as a public museum. Napoleon had instituted renovations of both the interior and exterior of the Louvre and removed all the shops and hovels that filled the site in the 18th century.

McMurdo Station (TR3)
The McMurdo Station is the largest polar research station in Antarctica. It was built on bare volcanic rock of the Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island. The station was established in 1955 and is the logistics hub of the US Antarctic Program. It has a harbor, landing strips, and a helicopter pad. It also has about 85 buildings that include repair facilities, dormitories, administrative buildings, power plants, and the first class Crary Lab.

Sphinx (TR4)
The famous Sphinx on the Giza Plateau is one of the greatest monumental sculptures in the ancient world. Some Egyptologists believe that the image is that of the 4th dynasty pharaoh, Chephren (Khafre). However, archaeological and geological evidence suggests that the structure is far older than Chephren’s reign. The name ‘sphinx,’ which mean ‘strangler,’ was first given by the Greeks to a creature that had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of a bird. The Sphinx is located northeast of Chephren’s Valley Temple, not far from the capital city of Cairo, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and the Nile River.

Strahov (TR6)
The Strahov monastery is one of the most important architectural monuments in the Czech Republic. The building is located on the hill above Prague Valley and on the route approaching Prague Castle. It was commissioned by King Vladislav I of Bohemia in 1140 A.D., and was originally known as the Venue of Diets. In 1258 A.D., a fire ravaged the building and it was completely destroyed. After it was rebuilt, it was named the Strahov, after the Czech word ‘strahovat,’ which means to guard. The Strahov became a monastery when the Bishop of Olomouc, Jindrich Zdik, founded an order of Premonstrates there. The Bishop had become acquainted with the order on his pilgrimage to Palestine. Soon after, the monastery became a center of learning with a library and a school.

Trajan’s Markets (TR5)
These ancient markets are located in the Trajan’s Forum in Rome, Italy. The structure was created by Emperor Trajan around 110 A.D. as a monument to his success in the Dacian War. The markets were a two-story structure built into the Quirinal Hill of large open vaulted ceilings. The building contains around 150 shops, each in an alcove made from opus caementicum, which was a new building material at the time of the markets construction. It was the first indoor shopping mall. At the time of the construction, the markets were the best that Roman engineering had to offer.

Valley of the Kings (TR4)
The Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt is the burial grounds for many pharaohs during the 18th and 19th dynasties. The ancient Egyptian’s called it the ‘Place of Truth.’ The site is a barren desert valley, located west of the ancient capital of Thebes, which is now called Luxor. Kings used to be buried in the pyramids and mastabas before the Egyptians began burying them in the Valley of the Kings. The site contains more than 60 tombs from the New Kingdom and includes kings such as Rameses II, Tutankhamun, and Tuthmose III. The tomb of King Tutankhamun was the only one to be found completely intact, which was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. The section of KV5 was also a huge archaeological find, since it housed more than 50 sons of Rameses II.

Vilcabamba (TR1)
The sparsely inhabited region of Vilcabamba is located southwest of Machu Picchu in Peru. The ruins of Vilcabamba include Inca-style walls, agricultural terraces, a granary, cemeteries, funeral towers, and animal corrals. The surrounding slopes of the summit are known as Cerro Victoria. The Andeans supposedly occupied the region before or under Inca rule. Vilcabamba has long been known as the last outpost of the Inca in their attempt to evade conquest by the Spanish, who arrived in the early 16th century in search of gold. When the Inca ruler Manco and his army failed to overthrow the Spanish invaders in 1536, the Inca fled to their imperial capital at Cusco and took refuge in the Vilcabamba wilderness. They lived there for 36 years until the Spanish finally penetrated the area and killed the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaru, in 1572, bringing an end to the Inca Empire.

Zapadnaya Litsa (TR5)
This port is the largest and most important Russian naval base for nuclear-powered submarines. The base is located near Murmansk on the Litsa Fjord at the westernmost point of the Kola Peninsula, not far from the Norwegian border. This base is part of the Russian Northern Fleet which currently has 67 nuclear submarines in service.

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