The final candidates in the contest to name the new seven wonders of the world. The Great Pyramids in Giza will retain their status as one of the original seven wonders of the world.
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PYRAMIDS OF GIZA, EGYPT
The only surviving structures of the original seven wonders, the three pyramids were built as tombs for 4th dynasty pharaohs about 4,500 years ago. The largest of the three pyramids, the 452-foot-high Great Pyramid, was built for King Cheops. Nearby is the Great Sphinx, a limestone statue with the face of a man and the body of a lion.
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ACROPOLIS, GREECE
The Acropolis, a flat-topped hill standing above Athens, draws around a million visitors each year to walk among its 2,500-year-old marble temples and admire the statues of Greek gods and goddesses. The largest temple is the columned Parthenon, which was used as a church and then a mosque until it was heavily damaged in a 17th century war.
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HAGIA SOPHIA, TURKEY
The soaring cathedral, also called the Church of Holy Wisdom, was built in 537 B.C. at Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul, under the direction of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. In 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, it became a mosque with minarets, but Turkish President Kemal Ataturk ordered it turned into a museum in 1935, allowing the Christian mosaics that had been covered by the Muslims to be revealed again.
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KREMLIN AND ST. BASIL'S CATHEDRAL, RUSSIA
Onion domes with golden cupolas surrounded by red brick walls are at the heart of Moscow's Kremlin, a Medieval fortress converted into the center of Russian government, and the symbol of communist dictatorship during Soviet times. The red brick Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, on adjacent Red Square and featuring nine towers of different color, was built by Czar Ivan the Terrible in the mid-16th century to celebrate the capture of the Mongol stronghold of Kazan.
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COLOSSEUM, ITALY
The giant amphitheater in Rome was inaugurated in A.D. 80 by the Emperor Titus in a ceremony of games lasting 100 days. The 50,000-seat Colosseum, which has influenced the design of modern sports stadiums, was an arena where thousands of gladiators dueled to the death and Christians were fed to the lions.
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NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE, GERMANY
The inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, Neuschwanstein is a creation of "Mad King" Ludwig II of Bavaria, who had it built in the 19th century to indulge his romantic fancies, long after the age of castles. Perched on a peak in the Bavarian Alps, the gray granite castle rises to towers, turrets and pinnacles and contains many paintings showing scenes from the operas of Richard Wagner, whose work Ludwig admired.
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EIFFEL TOWER, FRANCE
The 985-foot tower, built by the engineer Gustave Eiffel for Paris' International Exposition of 1889, has become the city's symbol. Made almost entirely of open-lattice wrought iron and erected in only two years with a small labor force, the tower -- Paris' highest construction -- demonstrated an important advance in building techniques and at first was considered by many to be an eyesore.
STONEHENGE, BRITAIN How and why this circular monument of massive rocks was created between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C. is unknown, but some experts say its builders aligned the stones as part of their sun-worshipping culture, while others believe it was part of an astronomical calendar. Today it is a major tourist attraction and has spiritual significance for thousands of druids and New Age followers, some of whom gather on June 21 each year to celebrate summer solstice.
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ALHAMBRA, SPAIN
The palace and citadel, perched above the city of Granada, was the residence of the Moorish caliphs who governed southern Spain in splendor until King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled them in 1492, ending 800 years of Muslim rule. Mosaics, arabesques and mocarabe, or honeycomb work, are stunning features of the decoration.
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GREAT WALL OF CHINA
The 4,160-mile barricade running from east to west in northern China is the longest man-made structure in the world. The fortification, which largely dates from the 7th through the 4th century B.C., was built to protect the dynasties from invasion by the Huns, Mongols, Turks and other nomadic tribes.
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KIYOMIZU TEMPLE, JAPAN
Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera, which means Clear Water Temple, was founded by the Hosso sect of Buddhism in 798 and rebuilt in 1633 after a fire. It features a three-stream waterfall which is believed to confer health, longevity and success to the drinker.
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SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, AUSTRALIA
Situated on Bennelong Point reaching into Sydney's harbor, the opera house, with a roof that looks like a ship in full sail, was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon and opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. The building, whose roof is covered by more than 1 million white tiles, features 1,000 rooms and hosts 3,000 events every year.
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ANGKOR, CAMBODIA
The Angkor archaeological site was the capital of the Khmer empire from the 9th to the 15th century, serving as an administrative center and place of worship for the most prosperous kingdom in South Asia's history. Among the features are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, two impressive temple ruins dating from the 12th century.
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TAJ MAHAL, INDIA
The white marble-domed mausoleum in Agra was built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan between 1632 and 1654 for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth. The complex -- an example of Mughal architecture combining Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles -- houses the graves of the emperor and his wife, as well as those of lesser royalty.
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TIMBUKTU, MALI
The ancient city of Timbuktu houses two of West Africa's oldest mosques, the Djingareyber, or Great Mosque, and the Sankore mosque, built during the 14th and early 15th century. Founded about 1100, it was a flourishing caravan center and leading spiritual and intellectual center, with one of the first universities in the world.
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PETRA, JORDAN The ancient city of Petra in southwestern Jordan, built on a terrace around the Wadi Musa or Valley of Moses, was the capital of the Arab kingdom of the Nabateans. It also flourished under Roman rule after the Nabateans were defeated in A.D. 106. The city is famous for its water tunnels and numerous stone structures carved in rock, the most impressive of which is probably Ad-Dayr, an uncompleted tomb facade that served as a church during Byzantine times. ------
CHRIST THE REDEEMER STATUE, BRAZIL
The 125-foot-tall statue of Christ the Redeemer with outstretched arms overlooks Rio de Janeiro from atop Mt. Corcovado. The statue, which weighs more than 1,000 tons, was built by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski in pieces in France starting in 1926, then shipped to Brazil. The pieces were carried by cogwheel railway up the mountain for assembly. The statue was inaugurated in 1931.
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EASTER ISLAND, CHILE
Hundreds of massive stone busts, or Moais, are all that remains from the Rapanui culture that crafted them between 400 and 1,000 years ago to represent deceased ancestors. With some standing more than 70 feet tall and weighing 60 tons, the statues gaze blankly out on the south Pacific Ocean more than 1,000 miles off the Chilean mainland.
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MACHU PICCHU, PERU
Built by the Incan Empire in the 15th century, the giant walls, palaces, temples and dwellings of the Machu Picchu sanctuary are perched in the clouds at 8,000 feet above sea level in the Andes mountains. It remains a mystery how the huge stones were moved into place for the construction of the remote city.
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PYRAMID AT CHICHEN ITZA, MEXICO
This step-pyramid surmounted by a temple survives from a sacred site that was part of one of the greatest Mayan centers of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Built according to the solar calendar, it is placed so that shadows cast at the fall and spring equinoxes are said to look like a snake crawling down the steps, similar to the carved serpent at the top.
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STATUE OF LIBERTY, UNITED STATES
The 305-foot statue holding a torch has towered over New York harbor since 1886 when it was dedicated as a gift of the French government, welcoming immigrants and Americans returning from abroad. An elevator inside takes visitors to the 10-story pedestal observatory, but access to the inside of the crown and torch is no longer permitted.
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BIGK75
July 6, 2007, 9:47am
Guest User
This is a joke, someone looking for extra advertising.
How in the heck can the statue of liberty be one of the seven wonders of the world. First of all the French made it and gave it to American. This country is much to young to have a 'wonder'. And the French built it for God's sake. It's not like the pyramids of Egypt.
The only thing that would get my vote here would be Petra. I've read a lot about it and it truly has a ton of history and a possible roll in the future.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Ya know Senders...you just might have a point there. The U.S. is the first country ever in history to have a 'multi-cultural citizenship, governed by law! Let's just hope it lasts as long as China did!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
By BARRY HATTON, Associated Press Saturday, July 7, 2007
LISBON, Portugal -- The Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal and three architectural marvels from Latin America were among the new seven wonders of the world chosen in a global poll released on Saturday.
Jordan's Petra was the seventh winner. Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid also made the cut.
About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cellphone text messages, said New7Wonders, the nonprofit organization that conducted the poll.
The seven beat out 14 other nominated landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, Easter Island in the Pacific, the Statue of Liberty, the Acropolis, Russia's Kremlin and Australia's Sydney Opera House.
The pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, were assured of retaining their status in addition to the new seven after indignant Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete.
The campaign to name new wonders was launched in 1999 by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. Almost 200 nominations came in, and the list was narrowed to the 21 most-voted by the start of 2006. Organizers admit there was no foolproof way to prevent people from voting more than once for their favorite.
A Peruvian in national costume held up Macchu Picchu's award to the sky and bowed to the crowd with his hands clasped, eliciting one of the biggest cheers from the audience of 50,000 people at a soccer stadium in Portugal's capital, Lisbon.
Many jeered when the Statue of Liberty was announced as one of the candidates. Portugal was widely opposed to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Another Swiss adventurer, Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the first hot-air balloon to fly nonstop around the world, announced one of the winners -- then launched into an appeal for people to combat climate change and stand up for human rights before being ushered off the stage.
The Colosseum, the Great Wall, Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal and Petra had been among the leading candidates since January, while the Statue of Christ Redeemer received a surge in votes more recently.
The Statue of Liberty and Australia's Sydney Opera House were near the bottom of the list from the start.
Also among the losing candidates were Cambodia's Angkor, Spain's Alhambra, Turkey's Hagia Sophia, Japan's Kiyomizu Temple, Russia's Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, Britain's Stonehenge and Mali's Timbuktu.
Weber's Switzerland-based foundation aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.
The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, keeps a list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 851 monuments. But the agency was not involved in Weber's project.
The traditional seven wonders were concentrated in the Mediterranean and Middle East. That list was derived from lists of marvels compiled by ancient Greek observers, the best known being Antipater of Sidon, a writer in the 2nd century B.C.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos lighthouse off Alexandria have all vanished.
I agree, Senders, the USA is something the world has never seen before, and hopefull survives as is, otherwise, it will never be seen again.
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Another Swiss adventurer, Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the first hot-air balloon to fly nonstop around the world, announced one of the winners -- then launched into an appeal for people to combat climate change and stand up for human rights before being ushered off the stage.
Another piece of irony.
Imagine, the firt person to push enough CO2 into the atmosphere to take a somple balloon ride for the short flight around the world. I mean really, how much CO2 can you put into the air keeping a hot air balloon in the air to go 45,755 kilometers (28413 miles or so) in 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes?
On March 1, 1999 Piccard and Brian Jones set off in the balloon Breitling Orbiter 3 from Château d'Oex in Switzerland on the non-stop balloon circumnavigation. They landed in Egypt after a 45,755 kilometre flight lasting 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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