In 1855 the English doctor and amateur botanist Richard Deakin published a catalogue of 420 plant species growing on the ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. They included 56 grasses and 41 members of the pea family. The plants thrived on the many different microclimates of the walls, with damp shaded north sides and hot dry south sides. Deakin lamented that restorations and cleaning were removing the wild vegetation. Some of the flowers were not found anywhere else in Europe, and one botanical explanation proposes that the African animals brought to the arena carried seeds in their fur and dung.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.