First place – A wall and gate near the Dayr-e Gachin Caravanserai in Iran. | Photo by Hossein Pourakbarian, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Wikimedia Foundation has announced the winners of the 16th edition of the Wiki Loves Monuments photo competition — with three of the top five entries hailing from Iran.
Each year since 2010, photographers from around the globe have come together to celebrate cultural heritage through their camera lens. Since it’s Wikimedia, each photo is uploaded under a Creative Commons license, so it’s free to be used by other people.
Second place – The Mehmāndust Tower in northern Iran was built by the Seljuk Empire in 1097 to serve as a tomb, but its dome and the names of the people interred there have long been lost to time. | Photo by Darabad Andromeda, CC BY-SA 4.0
For the most recent edition of the contest, 3,789 people submitted 227,918 photos to locally run national contests in September and October 2025. Each country then submitted its winners to a nine-person expert jury, who closely examined and identified the below 25 winners during a multi-month selection process.
This year’s winner captured a wall and gate near the Dayr-e Gachin Caravanserai in Iran. The Wikimedia Foundation says that Dayr-e Gachin has been called the “mother of Iranian caravanserais” due to its size and importance.
Third place – Kusum Sarovar, a reservoir in northern India is said to have been the place where Krishna clandestinely met with Radha. | Photo by Arjunfotografer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Fourth place – Construction on the Ishak Pasha Palace, located in eastern Turkey, started in 1685 and was not finished for about a hundred years. Its architectural style blended elements from Anatolian, Iranian, and North Mesopotamian styles. | Photo by Volcanicaaa, CC BY-SA 4.0
Fifth place – One of the first buildings constructed in Arak, Iran, was this bazaar, seen here on a cold February day. The bazaar held a public bath, a mosque, water reservoirs, and an inn, and is unusual in its straight symmetrical lines aligned with the four cardinal directions. | Photo by Dehghanpourpix, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sixth place – Sometimes called the “world’s greatest open air museum,” Luxor contains or sits near a wealth of ancient Egyptian cultural heritage. It is also known for its tourist hot air balloons, giving this image a contrast between old and new. | Photo by Mohamed Abdelzaher, CC BY-SA 4.0
Seventh place – Parts of Sacra di San Michele (Saint Michael’s Abbey) have been around for around a thousand years. Standing atop a mountain in northwestern Italy, it is today an active Catholic abbey and tourist attraction. | Photo by Federico Milesi, CC BY-SA 4.0
Eighth place – Sant Climent, Taüll is a Romanesque-style complex in Catalonia, Spain, with influences from Lombard and Byzantine architecture. The interior contained the primary work of the Master of Taüll, a 12th century painter who became an exemplar of Romanesque art. | Photo by Mikipons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ninth place – Summer is looming around this image of the Church of the Intercession, built in 1854 and located in a small village in western Ukraine. | Photo by Yurii-mr, CC BY-SA 4.0
Tenth place – An archway within a Confucius temple in Tonghai County, located in southwestern China. | Photo by Kcx36, CC BY-SA 4.0
“Over all its years, Wiki Loves Monuments photographers have collectively donated millions of images to Wikimedia Commons, a freely licensed media repository that supports Wikipedia and other websites,” says the Wikimedia Foundation. “Each photo adds another nugget of knowledge to the world’s collection.”