Seven Wonders of the World
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- For other uses, see Wonders of the World (disambiguation).
Image:SevenWondersOfTheWorld.jpg
The Seven Wonders of the World refers generally to any number of lists which list popular sites for tourism. The oldest and most famous is the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, largely a tourist guide for travelers of the ancient world who wanted to see the most famous and well known sight-seeing destinations.
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[edit] History
The earliest known version of the list was compiled in the 2nd century BC by Antipater of Sidon. The list that we know today was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time many of the sites were no longer in existence—comprising the seven most impressive man-made monuments from the ancient world. Since the list came mostly from ancient Greek writings, only sites that would have been known and visited by the ancient Greeks were included.<ref>"History of the Seven Wonders", ABC News, October 18, 2006.</ref>
The Seven Wonders were wonders because they were among the most popular tourist destinations; even as early as 1600 BC, tourist graffiti was scrawled on monuments in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings (by which time the Great Sphinx of Giza was already a thousand years old). It is notable that the Seven Wonders sites were all man-made; no natural features were included since they were not popular destinations. With the industrial revolution's impact on the environment and the resulting naturalism of the Romanticism movement, natural features have become tourist destinations in and of themselves and as such new "Seven Wonders" lists have been created that incorporate natural features.
[edit] The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Listed in order of their construction, the seven wonders are:
| Wonder | Date | Builder | Destroyed | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Pyramid of Giza | 2550 BC | Egyptians | still standing | N/A |
| Hanging Gardens of Babylon | 600 BC | Babylonians | after 1st century BC | earthquake |
| Temple of Artemis at Ephesus | 550 BC | Lydians, Persians, Greeks | 356 BC | fire |
| Statue of Zeus at Olympia | 435 BC | Greeks | 5th-6th centuries AD | fire |
| Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus | 351 BC | Persians, Greeks | by 1494 AD | earthquake |
| Colossus of Rhodes | 292-280 BC | Hellenistic Greece | 224 BC | earthquake |
| Lighthouse of Alexandria | 3rd century BC | Hellenistic Egypt | 1303-1480 AD | earthquake |
Antipater's original list replaced the Lighthouse of Alexandria with the Ishtar Gate. It wasn't until the 6th century AD that the list above was used. Of these wonders, the only one that has survived to the present day is the Great Pyramid of Giza. The existence of the Hanging Gardens has not been definitively proven. Records show that the other five wonders were destroyed by natural disasters. The Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were destroyed by fire, while the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Colossus, and Mausoleum of Maussollos were destroyed by earthquakes. There are sculptures from the Mausoleum of Maussollos and the Temple of Artemis in the British Museum.
[edit] The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World
The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World is a list for which there is no unanimity of opinion in content or name.<ref name=carrington>Hereward Carrington (1880-1958), "The Seven Wonders of the World: ancient, medieval and modern", reprinted in the Carington Collection (2003) ISBN 0-7661-4378-3, page 14.</ref> The list is more properly seen as a type or genre than a specific list. Similar names include "Wonders of the Middle Ages" (implying no specific limitation to seven) and "Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages" or "Medieval Mind". It has also been called the "Architectural Wonders of the Middle Ages".
It is unlikely the list originated in the Middle Ages. Brewer's calls it a "later list"<ref name=brewers/>. The word medieval was invented by Enlightenment-era authors, and the concept of a "Middle Ages" did not develop until 15th century humanists at the very earliest. The Romanticism movement in the 19th century glorified all things related to the Middle Ages, or more specifically anything pre-Enlightenment era.
Typically representative<ref name=wonderclub>WonderClub.com</ref><ref name=carrington/><ref name=latham>Edward Latham. A Dictionary of Names, Nicknames and Surnames, of Persons, Places and Things (1904), page 280.</ref><ref name=miller>Francis Trevelyan Miller, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt. America, the Land We Love (1915), page 201.</ref><ref name=brewers>I H Evans (reviser), Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Centenary edition Fourth impression (corrected); London: Cassell, 1975), page 1163</ref> of the seven are:
- Stonehenge
- Colosseum
- Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
- Great Wall of China
- Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
- Hagia Sophia
- Leaning Tower of Pisa
Other sites that have been mentioned include:
- Cairo Citadel<ref>The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Crusades (2001, page 153))</ref>
- Ely Cathedral<ref>The Rough Guide To England (1994, page 596))</ref>
- Taj Mahal<ref>Palpa, as You Like it, page 67)</ref>
- Cluny Abbey<ref>The Catholic Encyclopedia, v.16 (1913), page 74</ref>
[edit] Modern lists
In the tradition of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, many other lists of wonders have been proposed, including both human feats of engineering and wonders of nature. However, these lists are rather informal, and there is no consensus on any particular list.
[edit] Modern wonders
The American Society of Civil Engineers compiled another list of wonders of the modern world <ref>American Society of Civil Engineers Seven Wonders</ref>:
| Wonder | Date Started | Date Finished | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel Tunnel | December 1, 1987 | May 6, 1994 | Strait of Dover, Europe |
| CN Tower | February 6, 1973 | June 26, 1976 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Empire State Building | January 22, 1930 | May 1, 1931 | New York, New York, USA |
| Golden Gate Bridge | January 5, 1933 | May 27, 1937 | Golden Gate Strait, north of San Francisco, California, USA |
| Itaipu Dam | January, 1970 | May 5, 1984 | Paraná River, South America |
| Delta Works | 1953 | May 10, 1997 | Netherlands, Europe |
| Panama Canal | January 1, 1880 | January 7, 1914 | Isthmus of Panama, Central America |
[edit] Tourist travel wonders
The following list of the top seven tourist travel wonders (not including pilgrimages) was compiled by Hillman Wonders:<ref>Hillman Wonders</ref>
- Great Pyramids of Giza
- Great Wall of China
- Taj Mahal
- Serengeti Migration
- Galapagos
- Grand Canyon
- Machu Picchu
[edit] Natural wonders
Similar to the other lists of wonders, there is no consensus on a list of seven natural wonders of the world, as there has been debate over how large the list should be. One of the many lists was compiled by CNN <ref>CNN Natural Wonders</ref>:
- Grand Canyon
- Great Barrier Reef
- Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
- Mount Everest
- Polar Aurora
- Parícutin volcano
- Victoria Falls
[edit] Underwater wonders
This list of underwater wonders is of unknown origin but has been repeated sufficiently often to acquire a degree of notability:<ref>Underwater Wonders of the World</ref> <ref>2nd list of Underwater Wonder</ref>
- Palau
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Great Barrier Reef
- Deep-Sea Vents
- Galapagos Islands
- Lake Baikal
- Northern Red Sea
[edit] New Seven Wonders
In 2006 two organizations promoted a "New Seven Wonders" list.
In early 2006 an initiative was started by Swiss organization NOWC to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments (ongoing).<ref>New Seven Wonders</ref> Twenty-one finalists were announced January 1, 2006.<ref>Finalist Page</ref>,
In November 2006 the American national newspaper USA Today in conjunction with the American television show Good Morning America revealed a list of "New Seven Wonders" as chosen by a panel of six judges.<ref>New Seven Wonders panel</ref> The wonders were announced one per day over the course of a week as a Good Morning America special event. An "eighth wonder" was chosen on November 24th from viewer feedback.<ref>ABC Good Morning America "7 New Wonders" Page</ref>
| Wonder | Location | Date Announced |
|---|---|---|
| Potala Palace | Lhasa, Tibet | November 9, 2006 |
| Old City of Jerusalem | Jerusalem, Israel | November 10, 2006 |
| Polar Ice Caps | Iceland | November 13, 2006 |
| Hawaiian National Marine Monument | Hawaii, USA | November 14, 2006 |
| The Internet | N/A | November 15, 2006 |
| Mayan Pyramids of Chichen Itza | Yucatan, Mexico | November 16, 2006 |
| The Serengeti and Masai Mara Plains (Site of the Great Migration) | Kenya & Tanzania, Africa | November 17, 2006 |
| The Grand Canyon (Viewer-chosen "eighth wonder") | Arizona, United States | November 24, 2006 |
[edit] Notes
<references />
[edit] See also
[edit] External links and references
- Seven Ancient Wonders
- The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — an in-depth look from a professor of civil engineering at the University of South Florida
- Image of the Seven Wonder locations
- Parkin, Tim, Researching Ancient Wonders: A Research Guide, from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. - a collection of books and Internet resources with in-depth information on seven ancient wonders.
- Google Maps 7 Ancient Wonders of the World
- Other Wonders
- Official web site for voting new wonders of the World
- The World's Top 100 Wonders - a list of architectural, engineering and natural wonders by Howard Hillman, a renowned travel writer.
- WonderClub.com - a "list of lists", with information about most wonders.
- Seven Wonders of the Modern World - a list of modern wonders compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers
- Seven Wonders of Chicago - A list compiled by the Chicago Tribune and voted on by residents of the Chicagoland area.
- Wonders of the World - a website with info and photographs, describing about 30 of the greatest human construction achievements.
[edit] Further reading
- Cox, Reg, and Neil Morris, "The Seven Wonders of the Modern World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October, 2000. ISBN 0-7910-6048-9
- Cox, Reg, Neil Morris, and James Field, "The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October, 2000. ISBN 0-7910-6047-0
- D'Epiro, Peter, and Mary Desmond Pinkowish, "What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? and 100 Other Great Cultural Lists". Anchor. December 1, 1998. ISBN 0-385-49062-3
- Morris, Neil, "The Seven Wonders of the Natural World". Chrysalis Books. December 30, 2002. ISBN 1-84138-495-X
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