The seven wonders of the world
The concept of “the seven wonders of the world” is almost magical and important to understand our civilization. Here are the 7 wonders that are unique and can all be visited on a holiday. We also add some background on how the term has been used through the ages. Let’s start with that.
The 7 first wonders of antiquity is an amazing list of world heritage
In ancient times, the Greek dynasty first developed a well-known list of the 7 wonders of the time, but it naturally focused on the well-known world concept which was the countries around the Mediterranean. The 7 wonders of the original list are:
The statue of Zeus in Olympia
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos
The Colossus of Rhodes
The lighthouse on Faros near Alexandria
The Great Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Cheops)
Babylon’s hanging gardens
They are more or less gone all except partly the Pyramid of Kheops. So there was a need for a new list and selection, something that still exists and can be visited and admired.
Later, a new list was developed that goes much further around. It was created by a private Swizz citizen and via an inventive Vox Pop, he got up with this list. All 7 places are definitely worth a trip.
The new list of the 7 wonders of the world
The Chinese wall
The ancient city of Petra in Jordan
Brazil’s Christ statue, Cristo Redentor
Peru Machu Picchu ruins
Mexico’s Mayan ruins: Chichen Itza
Colosseum and Rome
Taj Mahal in India
On this list, Europe has only one wonder left. The incredible Colosseum from the year 40.
The Chinese wall
The wall was built as a defense against looting and invasions by various nomadic tribes from the Eurasian steppe, but not as one long continuous fortress. The construction of the wall is believed to have begun back in the 7th century B.C. as separate sections of fortifications and later up through history, during different dynasties, until the beginning of the 16th century during the Ming Dynasty, to be fortified and in some places built together. [1]
It consists of the wall itself of 6,259 kilometers and 360 kilometers of ramparts as well as 2,233 kilometers of mountains and rivers that form a natural fortification. [2] Another archaeological study concluded that all the branches of the wall were 21,196 km long in total.
The Chinese wall. One of the seven wonders of the world
The ancient city of Petra in Jordan
Jordan’s most famous tourist destination is the rock city of Petra – as you may know from the legendary adventure film Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. The city was carved out of the light pink rocks more than 2000 years ago and is today protected with the status of one of the world’s seven new wonders. The walk to the city goes through a two-kilometer-long, narrow gorge, the Siq´, and it’s like walking through a sculpture that is constantly changing.
World Heritage Petra in Jordan
Brazil’s Christ statue, Cristo Redentor
The statue of Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) at Corcovado in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil – South America.
In the mid-1850s, the idea for the statue arose when the Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss applied for funding from Princess Isabella for the construction of a large religious monument. However, the application was rejected by the state in 1889, as Brazil at this time was undergoing a process of secularization as a separate state and church.
A new proposal for the creation of a large landmark in the form of a statue emerged in 1921 from the Archdiocese of Rio de Janiero. A Semana do Monumento was organized to collect donations. Various proposals for design emerged, including the Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in hand and a pedestal that was to symbolize the world. Eventually, the choice fell on a Christ statue with the Savior standing with open arms to show His love for mankind.
The monument is partly built by Skånska Cement and the cement in the foundation comes from Limhamn, Malmö. The outer layer is soapstone.
The statue was inaugurated on October 12, 1931.
Peru: Machu Picchu ruins
Machu Picchu in Peru. Seven wonders of the world
(Quechua Machu Pikchu) [1] is a well-preserved pre-Columbian city, located on a high mountain ridge at 2,057 meters above the Urubamba Valley approx. 80 km from Cuzco in southern Peru. It is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Stone window in Machu Picchu.
It is believed that the city was built around the year 1400 by Sapa Inka Pachacuti and that it was inhabited until the Spanish conquest in 1532. Archaeological finds (along with recent colonial documents) show that it was not a conventional city, but rather a form for recreation city for Inca leaders and “nobles”. It is estimated that a maximum of only about 750 people may have lived in the city and probably only a much fewer during the rainy season when none of the powerful were visiting. Only 173 skeletons have been found, of which 150 were women. What happened to them is shrouded in mystery. Machu Picchu was abandoned by the Incas for unknown reasons and “forgotten”, probably because its function was no longer necessary after the Spanish conquest. The city was rediscovered on July 24, 1911 by a Yale University historian, Hiram Bingham. He later wrote several books and articles on Machu Picchu. His book The Lost City of the Incas became a bestseller.
