The New Seven Wonders of the world was announced in Lisbon on July 7, 2007, Saturday after a worldwide poll. The campaign to pick the seven wonders began in September 1999 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. His Switzerland based foundation called New7wonders received almost 200 nominations from around the world. The list was narrowed down to 21 by early last year. Later it was reduced to 20 following complaints from Egypt over the Pyramids’ inclusion as a candidate in competition with others.
The Seven Wonders were developed by a vote organized by Swiss The New Open World Corporation (NOWC). Over 100 million people voted in the poll. The selection was made by free and paid votes, through telephone or online. The final list was announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon, Portugal, in the Estádio da Luz, SL Benfica’s.
To be included on the new list:
- The wonders had to be man-made.
- The wonders had to be completed before 2000.
- The wonders had to be in an “acceptable” state of preservation.
The Seven Wonders of the world
- Chichen Itza
- Statue of Christ the Redeemer
- Great Wall Of China
- Machu Picchu
- Ruins of Petra
- Roman Colosseum
- Taj Mahal
There is also an honorary member in the club- the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the only surviving landmark from the ancient wonders.
Chichen Itza
The sacred city of the Itza, called Chichen-Itza (chee-chehn eet-sah) in Maya attributes a place of Worship and Knowledge. It is located 75 miles east of Merida, the Capital of the State of Yucatan, Mexico. The archaeological site covers an area of approximately six square miles where hundreds of buildings once stood. Now, most are mounds, but tourists may still see about thirty. A city mingling Maya and Toltec art, built around 500 AD. Four staircases of 91 steps lead up to a platform, making 365 days of the year.
The ruins are divided into two groups.
- One group belongs to the classic Maya Period and was built between the 7th and 10th centuries A.D., at which time the city became a prominent ceremonial center.
- The other group corresponds to the Maya-Toltec Period, from the later part of the 10th century to the beginning of the 13th century A.D. This area includes the Sacred Well and most of the outstanding ruins.
The city added even more spectacular buildings:
- The Observatory
- Kukulcan’s Pyramid
- The Temple of the Warriors
- The Ball Court
- The Group of the Thousand Columns.
Statue of Christ the Redeemer
The statue is an icon of Rio and Brazil. It attributes Welcoming and Openness. Christ the Redeemer, is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue stands 38 m tall, weighs 700 tons and is located at the peak of the 700-m Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. The statue is designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski. The statue took five years to construct. It was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. It has become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people, who receive visitors with open arms. About 1.8 million visitors visit it in a year.
Great Wall Of China
The Great Wall is the world’s longest human-made structure stretching over approximately 6,400 km from Shanhai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west. Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin Dynasty, built the Great Wall of China over 2,000 years ago. Construction of the first half began between 7TH and 6th century B.C. and the last work on the wall was done between the 14th and 17th centuries. In Chinese, the wall is called “Wan-Li Q ang-Qeng” which means 10,000-Li Long Wall (10,000 Li = about 5,000 km). The Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains, and plateau. It attributes to Perseverance, Persistence. The wall is easily detected from space by radar because it is steep, smooth sides provide a prominent surface for reflection of the radar beam.
Machu Picchu
It was a pre-Columbian city created by the Inca Empire. In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu (“old mountain”). It is located at 2,430 m on a mountain ridge. Machu Picchu is located above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 70 km northwest of Cusco. Machu Picchu is a city located high in the Andes Mountains in modern Peru. It lies 43 miles northwest of Cuzco at the top of a ridge. The surrounding area is covered in dense bush, some of it covering Pre-Colombian cultivation terraces. The Incas because of a smallpox outbreak probably abandoned it and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained ‘lost’ for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by archaeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911. It is one of the most beautiful and enigmatic sites in the world. Machu Picchu was most likely a royal estate and religious retreat. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, an Incan ruler, built it between 1460 and 1470 AD. The city has an altitude of 8,000 feet.
Ruins of Petra
Petra is considered the most famous and gorgeous site in Jordan. The pink-colored ruins are located 200km south of Jordon’s capital, Amman. It is located about 262 km south of Amman and 133 km north of Aqaba. The Nabataeans, an Arab tribe that flourished from around the 4th century BC to 106 AD, when the Romans took control, sculpted the cliff buildings of Petra. The Nabataeans engineered an impressive system of pipes, tunnels, and channels water systems to bring drinking water and reducing the chance of flash floods. In 1812 Swiss traveler Johann Burckhardt reinvented it after being lost by the 16th century for almost 300 years. The Petra basin boasts over 800 individual monuments, including buildings, tombs, baths, funerary halls, temples, arched gateways, and colonnaded streets, that were mostly carved from the kaleidoscopic sandstone by the technical and artistic genius of its inhabitants. Petra sights are at their best in the early morning and late afternoon, when the sun warms the multicolored stones.
Roman Colosseum
The finest surviving example of ancient Roman architectural engineering. Construction of the Colosseum started during the reign of Emperor Vespasian, who ruled from A.D. 69 to 79. Construction was completed in A.D. 80. The Colosseum was originally called the Flavian Amphitheater. The Colosseum is elliptical, sitting on an NW to the SE axis. The building’s core is constructed of brick and a relatively soft, porous rock called tufa. It was over 160 ft high and 617ft long and 512ft wide. It had eighty entrances and could seat more than 50,000 spectators. The wooden arena floor was covered with sand. The opening of the amphitheater was celebrated with 100 days of games in which thousands of animals and gladiators have killed Its design concept still stands to this very day and virtually every modern sports stadium. It is a symbol of joy and suffering.
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is one of the most splendid masterpieces of architecture in the world. It is a symbol of eternal and everlasting love. It is located at Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Taj is the most beautiful monument built by the Mughals, the Muslim rulers of India. Taj Mahal is built entirely of white marble. The Taj seems to glow in the light of the full moon. Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim, Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. Taj Mahal (meaning Crown Palace) is a Mausoleum that houses the grave of queen Mumtaz Mahal at the lower chamber. The grave of Shah Jahan was added to it later. Taj Mahal was constructed over twenty-two years which began in 1632 and was completed in approximately 1648. It employed twenty thousand workers. Its construction cost 32 Million Rupees. The master architect was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri the renowned Islamic architect of that time. The architectural style combined elements of Persian, Turkish, Indian and Islamic styles. The Taj stands on a raised square platform with its four corners truncated, forming an unequal octagon. Its central dome is fifty-eight feet in diameter and rises to a height of 213 feet. Four subsidiary domed chambers flank it. The entire mausoleum is decorated with inlaid design of flowers and calligraphy using precious gems such as jasper and agate. The complex comprises of the main gateway, an elaborate garden, and a mosque.