The world in the 9th century

801–900World Heritage

It is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great and the destination of the Way of St. James.

801–900World Heritage

In 805, the core of what would become Aachen Cathedral was built as the palace chapel of Frankish king Charlemagne. Standing about 31 metres high and 32 metres in diameter, the structure drew inspiration from Eastern Roman and Italian models, particularly the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It became a landmark of Carolingian religious architecture.

801–900World Heritage

The Benedictine Cluniac abbey at Vézelay in Burgundy was founded in the 9th century, and became a major medieval Christian pilgrimage site due to the tradition that it housed the relics of Mary Magdalene; its Romanesque carving is a masterpiece of Burgundian art.

801–900World Heritage

Around 822, the Benedictine Corvey Abbey was founded on the Weser River in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia under the patronage of Emperor Louis the Pious. Named after Corbie Abbey in Picardy, it became a major Carolingian religious and cultural center, housing a renowned library and featuring the oldest surviving westwork, which heavily influenced later Romanesque and Gothic architecture.

801–900World Heritage

Santa María del Naranjo, a pre-Romanesque church near Oviedo, Spain, was founded in the 9th century. Commissioned by King Ramiro I of Asturias as a royal palace, it was consecrated in 848. Its structural features, such as the barrel vault with transverse ribs, make it a precursor to Romanesque architecture.

801–900

The church is located in the rione Campitelli in Rome, Italy, next to the Roman Forum. It was founded approximately in the early Middle Ages, but the exact date and circumstances are not reliably documented. Originally known as Santa Maria Nova, it later became dedicated to Saint Frances of Rome and is a Catholic minor basilica. Its early history remains obscure due to a lack of contemporary sources.

856

On 22 December 856, a devastating earthquake struck near Damghan, then capital of the Persian province of Qumis. The event reportedly caused up to 200,000 deaths, ranking among the deadliest earthquakes ever recorded.

801–900World Heritage

In 848 CE, the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil commissioned the Great Mosque of Samarra, completed around 851–852. At the time of construction, it was the world's largest mosque, renowned for its 52-metre-high minaret with a spiral ramp, and a masterpiece of Islamic architecture.

801–900

Tatev Monastery is an Armenian Apostolic monastery dating from around the 9th century. It stands on a basalt plateau near the village of Tatev in Syunik Province, southeastern Armenia, overlooking a deep gorge of the Vorotan River. Known as the bishopric seat of Syunik, the monastery served as a center of economic, political, spiritual and cultural activity in the region.

801–900

Dadivank Monastery (Khutavank) is an Armenian Apostolic monastery in the Kalbajar District of present-day Azerbaijan, built between the 9th and 13th centuries. Its founding reflects the regional tradition of Christian monasticism and it became one of the main monastic centres of medieval Armenia.

801–900World Heritage

Samarra was founded in the 9th century by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim as a new administrative capital and military base. The city stands on the east bank of the Tigris north of Baghdad. It later became a holy site in Shia Islam. The archaeological site is known for the 9th-century Great Mosque and its spiral minaret, and was later inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

820–823Asia Minor

From around 820 to 823, a large-scale civil war erupted in the Byzantine Empire. The rebel forces under Thomas the Slav fought against the loyalist troops of Emperor Michael II. The conflict spread across most of Asia Minor and the Balkans, with Thomas besieging Constantinople before being ultimately defeated by loyalist forces with Bulgar backing.

801–900World Heritage

During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty, the carving of a colossal Maitreya statue began at the confluence of three rivers near Leshan, Sichuan. The project lasted about ninety years, purportedly to calm the waters and protect sailors. Known as the Leshan Giant Buddha, it is the tallest stone Buddha statue in the world.

801–900World Heritage

Daigo-ji was founded in the Heian period on Mount Daigo southeast of Kyoto. Established by the monk Rigen-daishi Shōbō, it became the head temple of the Daigo branch of Shingon Buddhism. Its grounds cover over 6.6 million square meters and house about 150,000 treasures, including many National Treasures. The temple forms part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, later inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

801–900World Heritage

Around the 9th century, Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) founded Kongōbu-ji on Mount Kōya as the head temple of Shingon Buddhism. Located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, it is a sacred site of esoteric Shingon Buddhism.

801–900

Iwashimizu Hachimangū was founded around the 9th century on Mount Otoko in Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture. It is one of the three major Hachiman shrines in Japan, ranked among the Twenty-Two Shrines in the Heian period, and serves as a royal ancestral shrine alongside Ise Grand Shrine.

801–900World Heritage

Haeinsa Temple was founded around the 9th century on Mount Gaya in Korea, later becoming the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Seon Buddhism. It is renowned for housing the Tripitaka Koreana, over 80,000 wooden printing blocks of Buddhist scriptures, since the late 14th century.

801–900World Heritage

Around the 9th century, Buddhist temple structures began to appear in the Mount Kōya area of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, eventually becoming a significant center for the Shingon sect. Existing sources indicate multiple temples on the site, but precise details of early construction are not well documented.

801–900World Heritage

Around the 9th century, the Prambanan temple compound was founded in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia, originally comprising 240 temples dedicated to the Trimūrti: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer.

801–900World Heritage

In the late 9th century, King Yasovarman I of the Khmer Empire commissioned the construction of Phnom Bakheng, a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva on a hilltop, marking one of the earliest major temples in the Angkor region.

900Balkh

In 900, Samanid Emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad defeated the Saffarid army near Balkh and captured Emir Amr ibn al-Layth. The battle marked the decline of the Saffarid dynasty and the expansion of Samanid power in Khurasan.

801–900

In 883 AD, St. Antony's Church was founded in Pazhuvil, Kerala, becoming the first church in India dedicated to St. Anthony, within the Syro-Malabar Catholic tradition.

801–900World Heritage

Around the 9th century, a Hindu hermitage was established by the Khmer Empire on a cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, forming the origin of Preah Vihear Temple. The hermitage, situated over 500 meters above sea level, later evolved into an extensive temple complex.

835

St. Mary's Church in Athirampuzha, Kottayam district, Kerala, India, was blessed on August 15, 835 AD, making it one of the oldest churches and Christian pilgrim centres in Kottayam district.

801–900World Heritage

The University of al-Qarawiyyin originated as a mosque founded by Fatima al-Fihri in Fez, later developing into a major spiritual and educational center of the Islamic Golden Age.

801–900World Heritage

The Andalusian Mosque was founded in Fez during the 9th century, making it one of the oldest mosques in Morocco. It is located at the heart of a district historically associated with Andalusi immigrants, from whom it takes its name. The mosque has undergone several renovations and expansions.

801–900World Heritage

Around the 9th century, Fatima al-Fihri founded a mosque in Fez, Morocco. It later became a key spiritual and educational center during the Islamic Golden Age, and was incorporated into modern university system in the mid‑20th century.

801–900World Heritage

A mosque and mausoleum was founded in the 9th century in Cairo's al-Qarafa necropolis to honour Sayyida Nafisa, a saint from the family of the Prophet Muhammad.

801–900World Heritage

Built between 876 and 879 CE in Cairo by the Tulunid ruler Ahmad ibn Tulun, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is the oldest well-preserved mosque in Egypt. Its design was influenced by the Abbasid mosques of Samarra, making it a key representative of classical Islamic architecture and a significant monument for later developments.

801–900Lalibela

The Zagwe dynasty began to rule in northern Ethiopia in the early 12th century, replacing Aksumite influence and establishing an Agaw monarchy over the region. Its most famous ruler, Lalibela, commissioned the construction of the rock-hewn churches, which became a hallmark of Ethiopian Christian civilization.

900–909World Heritage

Kilwa Kisiwani is an ancient ruin site on a small island off the eastern coast of Tanzania, whose early settlement took shape around the 10th century. It later developed into a major Swahili city-state and was inscribed on the World Heritage list together with Songo Mnara in 1981.

801–900World Heritage

Around the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, construction began on Monks Mound at the Cahokia site. It became the largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas and the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica. The mound's base is comparable in size to the Great Pyramid of Giza, and its base perimeter exceeds that of the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan. A wooden structure once stood on its summit. The Cahokia Mounds site was later inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

801–900

Between roughly the 9th and 13th centuries, people of the St. Johns culture in northeast Florida built the Mill Cove Complex in present-day Duval County. The complex consists of two sand mounds, Grant Mound and Shields Mound, and the midden deposits between them.

801–900World Heritage

Chan Chan was founded around 850 as the capital of the Chimor kingdom, located near present-day Trujillo on Peru's northern coast. It grew to become the largest pre-Columbian city in South America, marking a key starting point for Chimú political and urban development.

801–900Tondo

The polity of Tondo emerged on the northern part of the Pasig River delta, becoming a major trade hub on Luzon. Together with Maynila to the south, it held a shared monopoly on the trade of Chinese goods throughout the Philippine archipelago.

801–900

Konibodom (also Kanibadam) is a city located in the western Fergana Valley in present-day northwestern Tajikistan. Its early settlement may have emerged in the early medieval period, though precise founding records are lacking. It later developed into an important town in Sogdiana, known for craftsmanship.