Centuries ago one man dreamed, designed and constructed a breathtaking monument and then, it went on to become a wonder. Egyptian people building the pyramid, would have never imagined that their work will one day be studied and listed in the wonders of the world. Wonders that people will keep wondering about. Funny? May be, but it is a fact. It is tough to imagine how people with minimum tools and equipments could build a pyramid of such a size or a complete village at the height of 8000 ft. Yes, everyone is wondering, that is why may be, man decided to make a list of seven wonders, so that, there is something common to wonder about.
The history of making lists of 7 wonders of the world goes back to the times of Herodotus (a Greek historian who lived in 5th century BC) and Callimachus (another Greek scholar who lived in or around 3rd century BC). They were the first people, known to have made a list of the wonders, of which, only one remains and that is the Great Pyramid of Giza. Rest of them were destroyed due to natural calamities or some other reasons. There are a number of lists in which man has categorized the seven wonders of the world. The categorizing criteria these days is different for every one of them.
Like, there is a list of ancient world, one other list is dedicated to seven wonders of industrial world and so on. Like I said, there are so many wonders around us and hence, there has to be so many lists, so as to have some systematic arrangement. Here in this article, let us have a brief look at some of them and a detailed look at ‘what are the new seven wonders of the world? ‘. New Seven Wonders The list of New 7 Wonders consists of man-made monuments from all over the world. It is a list compiled by a Swiss-based company called ‘The New Open World Corporation’.
These seven wonders of the world are spread across continents and were selected by people throughout the world using a voting method. The organizers thought that this will promote global harmony, along with increasing people’s knowledge about these historical monuments some of which are not in their own continent. The answer to ‘what are the 7 wonders of the world? ‘ is the list given below: Chichen Itza The name ‘Chichen Itza’ means ‘At the mouth of the well of Itza’. Here, Itza refers to a political clan of people, who were at their political and economical best in the northern peninsula.
Chichen Itza was the political focal point for a long time in the Mayan history. This winner of the seven wonders list is located in Yucatan, Mexico. The historical site consists of many stone buildings which are connected by a network of paved roads called Sacbeob. Most of these buildings have been restored and some are still under the process. These buildings have been grouped into sets of architectonic series (based on their architecture). And these sets are believed to be once separated by walls. The three famous sets out of them are, Great North Platform, the Osaario Group and the Central Group.
These sets individually consist of various buildings, which are wonders in themselves. Chichen Itza consists of numerous temples, pyramids, and some interesting monuments like Steam Bath and the Great Ball Court. Each of the building had its own importance and was used for some specific purpose. One particular area of Chechen Itza is open to archeologists only, in a way it is still under observation and research. Christ the Redeemer Christ the Redeemer is the statue of Jesus Christ, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is situated at a height of 700 meters on the Carcovado mountain, in the Tijuca forest National Park.
It weighs 635 tons and stands at a height of 39. 6 meters. It is built of reinforced concrete and soapstone and is the symbol of Christianity, as well as Rio de Janeiro. The construction of a historical monument on Corcovado was suggested first in 1850, then again in 1921. A lot many designs were considered for the religious monument, which included, the representation of the Christian cross and the statue of Jesus with a globe in his hand. The Christ the Redeemer was finalized and the construction began in 1922 and continued till 1931. The cost of construction is estimated to be $250,000.
The statue was opened to public on 12th of October, 1931 and in 2007 it became a part of the seven wonders of the world. In February 2008, the statue was struck by lightening, during a storm but was saved because of the outer layer made of soapstone, which acted as an insulator. This particular storm is known to have caused a lot of damage in the city of Rio, but the statue stood unhurt. Colosseum Colosseum, also known as the Roman Coliseum is situated in the city of Rome, Italy. Coming from such a strong background, it was a really strong contender for a position in seven wonders of the world list.
It is an elliptical amphitheater and was originally known as Flavian Amphitheater. It is said to be one of the largest buildings of the Roman empire. Construction of this amphitheater took around 10 years, starting from 70 AD and once ready the Colosseum was used for various public events and fights between gladiators. Gladiatorial fights were the major source of entertainment during those times and the public events consisted of mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, reenactments of famous battles, etc. The amphitheater was capable of seating a total of 50,000 spectators.
It is estimated that some 500,000 people and over a million animals died in the events held at Colosseum. In the early medieval era, the building was stopped being used as a place of entertainment and then on, it is believed to have been used for various other purposes. The ancient building now stands partially ruined by earthquakes. Read more for Roman Coliseum Facts. Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China is a stone wall built from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west of China and it stretches over a distance of 8,851. 8 kms.
This includes man-made walls as well as natural trenches and the natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. This wall was built between 5th century BC and 16th century BC, in order to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from the nomadic tribes. This wall was not built by one particular dynasty. It is the result of the contribution of various dynasties, across various periods of time. Initially, the construction was done using locally available raw materials. That is, the section over the mountains was built using locally available stones.
On land, the walls were made using earth or wood, but with the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the walls were made using bricks. Other materials like lime, tiles and stones were also widely used. With the use of bricks the construction is believed to have fastened and the brick walls were more stronger. The wall is now in ruins at most of the places and only a few parts remain in good condition. Parts of it have sustained years of erosion, human attacks, modern day construction and even graffiti at a lot of places, in order to find a place in the 7 wonders of the world.
Read more on Facts about the Great Wall of China and History and Timeline of the Great Wall of China. Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a pre Columbian Inca site in Cuzco, Peru. It is located at a height of 8000 feet above the sea level on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu. The name Machu Picchu means ‘Old Peak’ and is often referred to as ‘The Lost City of the Incas’. Its construction started in AD 1430 and the city was abandoned a 100 years later. It remained hidden from the outside world for hundreds of years, until it was discovered by Hiram Bingham, an American historian in the year 1911.
Because of its location, Machu Picchu remained hidden from most of the world, including the Spanish conquerors. But now that it is in the seven wonders list, it is a famous tourist attraction and is visited by people from all across the world. Machu Picchu is believed to have been built at the peak of the Inca empire and is the proof of their royalty and religious beliefs. Incas were basically sun worshipers. Inti in Peruvian means the Sun and hence, it can be easily understood that one of its primary buildings is “The Temple of the Sun”.
The other main buildings are the Intihuatana and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the buildings in Machu Picchu are in some or the other way related and dedicated to their God, ‘The Sun’. Machu Picchu is on the list of endangered ‘World Heritage Sites’. And that is why tourism in Machu Picchu is of great concern. Scientists believe that more the people, more will be the damage. Petra Petra is located in Arabah, Ma’an Governorate, Jordan, on the slope of Mount Hor. It was constructed by Nabataeans as their capital city and is well known for its rock cut architecture.
It was constructed in 100 BC and surprisingly remained unknown till 1812, when it was discovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Petra was made a World Heritage Site in 1985 and in 2007 it qualified to the list of new seven wonders. It is believed that inhabitation of Petra began during the 18th dynasty of Egypt. It grew economically and politically because of its important location on the trade routes. Petra’s geography gave it a fortress like protection and it remained protected for ages. The people of Petra are known to have conserved water using dams and hence, enabling the city to grow exponentially.
It is believed that the people of Petra stored water for the droughts and had created an artificial oasis. The downfall of Petra began under the Roman empire. The basic reason being the change of trade routes. Most of the Petra was destroyed by earthquakes, which damaged buildings and fractured the lifeline of Petra; the water management system. Taj Mahal Taj Mahal famously known as the ‘Symbol of Love’ is a mausoleum, built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is located in Agra, India. Taj Mahal’s construction began around 1632 and it took around 21 years to be completed.
It was constructed according to the Mughal architecture, which is a combination of Persian, Indian and Islamic architectural styles. The mausoleum was built solely in marble, while other buildings in the complex were made of red stone. For the decoration purposes, 28 types of precious and semi precious stones were used and the raw material is believed to be ordered from as far as Afghanistan in the North and Sri Lanka in the South. It is said that nearly 20,000 workers were employed from all across the country for the construction work. These included, skilled artisans, carvers, sculptors and stone cutters of excellent rapport.
All in all, 37 people formed the creative unit of the project. Some of them were from foreign countries too. The approximate cost of construction is estimated to some 32 million rupees (Indian currency). It is considered as one of the master pieces of Mughal Empire and attracts tourism from all over the world. Statistics suggest that approximately 2 to 4 million people visit Taj Mahal annually. Read more on Taj Mahal in Taj Mahal Facts, The Taj Mahal and The Story of the Taj Mahal. These were the ‘New 7 Wonders of the World’. And there i believe they are called this with good reason.
