Girls sit for hours on flower altars in this ancient tradition. A young girl does her part to celebrate the festival of La Maya, which marks the arrival of spring in Colmenar Viejo, Spain.

The altar is a three-tiered square platform built of white marble, its shape symbolizing the ancient notion that ... of the finest examples of classical architecture in Beijing.

Cult places such as temples, shrines, or open-air cultic complexes are an important part of the "religious landscape’" of ancient ... altars, all three made of stone, were found inside the ...