Delphi, Greece: Athenian Treasury

You might remember Athens' great victory over the Persians in Marathon in 490 BC. Supposedly a runner took the news and ran about 24 miles back to Athens with the word of the triumph, and then dropped dead. Today's marathoners can relate to that sometimes. It may not be true, but it's a great story - and when in doubt, as they say in Hollywood, print the legend. 

Naturally, after such an important military victory, the Athenians decided to make offerings to the gods. That raised the question, what do to with it all of the money? The answer was to build a Treasury, and that's what this is in Delphi. Other city-states followed that plan later on. 

The building was discovered by a French team in 1903, and reconstructed over the next three years. They did fix up the place a little bit; the some of the original remains are in the museum on the grounds.