'Size' in Architectural History is More Than Numbers

In this ranking, while the Forbidden City is the best-preserved wooden palace complex, its individual structures are surpassed in footprint by massive edifices like the Colosseum or gargantuan temples. These sites reveal how ancient craftsmen defied gravity with stone and timber. Notably, the 'largeness' of many temples (like the Temple of Amun) often stems from millennia of continuous expansion; this compound growth makes them nearly impossible for modern structures to exceed in sheer footprint.