Do You Know the Seven Wonders of the World?

The new Seven Wonders of the World: throughout history, people have wanted to leave lasting works that would make their names known and amaze future generations. That ambition has kept humanity chasing a question that is really a question of art: “What is the most beautiful work on earth?”

The question was first answered in the 5th century BC by the historian Herodotus, who was the first to use the idea of the seven wonders of the world.

In the 4th century BC, Antipater wrote a work called “On the Seven Wonders of the World”.

All the structures described as the seven wonders of the world were built by people. As they date from antiquity, they are also called the seven wonders of the ancient world. Over time the works accepted in the past as the seven wonders were destroyed by fires, earthquakes and other natural events. For this reason it was decided to choose the seven wonders of the world again on 7 July 2007. Of the original seven wonders, only the Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) survives today.

The Works Chosen as the (New) Seven Wonders of the World

1. Petra | (Jordan)
2. The Great Wall | (China)
3. Christ the Redeemer | (Brazil)
4. Machu Picchu | (Peru)
5. Chichén Itzá | (Mexico)
6. The Colosseum | (Italy)
7. The Taj Mahal | (India)

: the Pyramid of Khufu (Egypt)

1. Petra

The earliest remains at Petra in Jordan are an Upper Palaeolithic rock shelter dated to about 10,000 BC. The remains of a Neolithic village from about 5000 BC have also been uncovered. In the Old Testament, the Petra area of Jordan appears as Edom (“red”) in the early Iron Age, around 1200 BC. Historical sources list Petra among the enemies of the Assyrian kingdom in 647 BC, and this is how the city enters written history.

Between 400 BC and AD 106 it was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom, and it remained the capital until the city was occupied by the Roman Empire.

2. The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall runs across the north and northwest of China and is known as the longest defensive wall in the world. The remains of this enormous structure begin on the shores of the Bohai Gulf. It passes north of Beijing, heads west, crosses the Yellow River (Huang He) and runs southwest, continuing west along the southern edge of the Gobi Desert.

Including its ruined and damaged sections, the Great Wall is 8,851.81 kilometres long. The part still standing today is the 2,500-kilometre wall from the famous Ming dynasty, but the main construction of the wall took place between 221 BC and AD 608.

3. Christ the Redeemer

Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor), the statue of Jesus on Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is one of the city’s symbols and can easily be seen from every part of it.

Corcovado stands in the Tijuca National Park. At 710 metres it offers a magnificent view over Rio de Janeiro. A train follows a winding route almost to the summit. Work on the statue began in 1922 in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital, to mark the 100th anniversary of Brazil’s independence. It was officially inaugurated on 12 October 1931. The 30-metre statue stands on an 8-metre pedestal and weighs 1,145 tonnes.

4. Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is one of the rare sites that has survived in very good condition. It is an ancient Inca city.

It lies on a mountain top in the Andes in Peru, at an altitude of 2,360 metres, above the Urubamba Valley, 88 kilometres from Cusco. The city was built around 1450 by the Inca ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. When the Spanish invaded Peru in 1532, this city, hidden among steep mountains at high altitude, went unnoticed by them, so this important site was not damaged. Machu Picchu is made up of stone buildings linked by more than 200 stairways, and 3,000 of its steps are still in good enough condition to use today.

5. Chichén Itzá

The pyramid of Chichén Itzá is on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The Maya city of the Itzá, between Valladolid and Mérida, was founded before Christopher Columbus reached the continent, and Chichén Itzá was for a time the religious centre of Yucatán. Today it is the second most visited archaeological site in Mexico, and it is one of the new seven wonders of the world chosen on 7 July 2007.

The structure described here is 83 metres long and 8.2 metres high, with two parallel walls 27 metres apart.

6. The Colosseum

The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an arena in Rome, the capital of Italy. Its construction was begun in AD 72 by the famous commander Vespasian and completed in AD 80 under Titus. Inside the Colosseum the emperors usually held gladiator fights to entertain the people of Rome and themselves. The arena also hosted many public spectacles, mock sea battles, animal hunts and executions, re-enactments of famous battles and dramas based on classical mythology. It was later used for many purposes: as housing, workshops and shops, quarters for religious orders, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine. Originally simply called the arena, it later took its name from the colossal statue that stood near its entrance.

7. The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built between 1631 and 1654 in the city of Agra in India.

It is considered one of the most important works of Islamic funerary architecture. It holds the tombs of Shah Jahan, the fifth ruler of the Mughal Empire, and his wife Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Begum).

The Taj Mahal represents the power and might of the Mughal state, which was at its height under Shah Jahan. As much as that power, the Taj Mahal is a symbol of the love between Shah Jahan and his beloved wife. It is said that the ruler found consolation in art and architecture by building this magnificent work in Agra in memory of his love for her.

The Taj Mahal has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1983. An estimated 3 million visitors come to India every year to see it.

The Pyramid of Khufu, Given an Honorary Place

Although some sources include the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure among the seven wonders, according to historians only the Pyramid of Khufu was among them. As mentioned above, it is the only and the oldest of the wonders to survive to the present day. It stands near Egypt’s capital. It was built for the pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), and its construction took 22 years. Each of its stones weighs about 2 tonnes, and how 2.3 million stones were stacked on top of one another remains a mystery.

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