Seven Wonders of the World
The
Seven Wonders of the World (or the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a widely-known list of seven popular sites of
classical antiquity. The list was largely a tourist guide for travelers of the ancient world who wanted to see the most famous and well known sight-seeing destinations.
The earliest known version of the list was compiled in the
2nd century BC by
Antipater of Sidon; it appears to be based on the guide-books popular among
Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the
Mediterranean rim where sight-seers could typically travel safely. The Seven Wonders were wonders because they were among the most popular 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.
Listed in order of their construction, the seven wonders are:
Antipater's original list replaced the Lighthouse of Alexandria with the
Walls of Babylon. 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.
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.
See also
Seven Wonders of the Medieval MindModern wonders
The
American Society of Civil Engineers compiled another list of wonders of the modern world:
*
Channel Tunnel*
CN Tower *
Empire State Building *
Golden Gate Bridge *
Itaipu Dam *
Delta Works*
Panama CanalTourist travel wonders
The following list of the top seven tourist travel wonders was compiled by Hillman Wonders:
[Hillman Wonders]*
Great Pyramid of Giza*
Great Wall of China*
Taj Mahal*
Serengeti Migration*
Galapagos*
Grand Canyon*
Machu PicchuNatural 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 [CNN Natural Wonders]:
*
Grand Canyon*
Great Barrier Reef*Harbor of
Rio de Janeiro*
Mount Everest*
Northern Lights*
Paricutín volcano
*
Victoria FallsUnderwater wonders
This list of underwater wonders is of unknown origin but has been repeated sufficiently often to acquire a degree of notability:
[Underwater Wonders of the World] [2nd list of Underwater Wonder]*
Palau*
Belize Barrier Reef*
Great Barrier Reef*
Deep-Sea Vents*
Galapagos Islands*
Lake Baikal*
Northern Red SeaThe New 7 Wonders foundation has launched a poll to decide another new list of 7 Wonders, with 21 sites on its shortlist, as follows
[New 7 Wonders]:
*
Acropolis (
Athens,
Greece)
*
Alhambra (
Granada,
Spain)
*
Angkor (
Cambodia)
*
Chichen Itza (
Yucatán,
Mexico)
*
Christ Redeemer (
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil)
*
Colosseum (
Rome,
Italy)
*
Moai (
Easter Island)
*
Eiffel Tower (
Paris,
France)
*
Great Wall (
China)
*
Hagia Sophia (
Istanbul,
Turkey)
*
Kremlin (
Moscow,
Russia)
*
Kiyomizu Temple (
Kyoto,
Japan)
*
Machu Picchu (
Peru)
*
Neuschwanstein Castle (
Füssen,
Germany)
*
Petra (
Jordan)
*
Pyramids of Giza (
Egypt)
*
Statue of Liberty (
New York,
United States)
*
Stonehenge (
Amesbury,
United Kingdom)
*
Sydney Opera House (
Sydney,
Australia)
*
Taj Mahal (
Agra,
India)
*
Timbuktu (
Mali)
*
Wonders of the World*
Eighth Wonder of the World*
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.
*
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.
* Cox, Reg, and Neil Morris,
"The Seven Wonders of the Modern World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October,
2000. ISBN 079106048
* Cox, Reg, Neil Morris, and James Field,
"The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October,
2000. ISBN 0791060470
* 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 0385490623
* Morris, Neil,
"The Seven Wonders of the Natural World". Chrysalis Books.
December 30,
2002. ISBN 184138495X
