Chand Baori, a 1200-Year-Old Stepwell in India

3,500 steps, 13 stories deep. But instead of going up, you go down into the ground. This is Chand Baori, a stepwell built in India 1,200 years ago. In desert towns where groundwater dries up during the dry season, people chose to walk down to the water instead of drawing it up. They laid out steps in a massive inverted pyramid, allowing them to descend to whatever level the water was at to draw it. The deep bottom was about 5 degrees Celsius cooler than the surface, serving as a cool retreat and a social gathering spot.