We provide a brief summary of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, e.g., nanowires, nanotubes and hierarchical nanoarchitectures, synthesized in porous anodic alumina membrane (AAM) templates. After a brief introduction of fabrication process of AAMs with different pore sizes, various materials, namely, metals, compounds or alloys, organic nanowires/nanotubes, and hierarchical nanostructures prepared in AAMs are reviewed. The fabrication methods, including electrochemical deposition, surface sol-gel, modified chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, and layer-by-layer growth are then described. Finally, this review is concluded with an outline of some prospective directions regarding AAM-based nanostructures. Such nanostructures are ideal systems for the exploration of a large number of novel phenomena at the nanoscale and investigation of size and dimensionality dependence of nanostructure properties towards potential applications.