Seven New Wonders Of The World
Seven New Wonders Of The World
By Laurie Borst
Quick; what are the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Most of us canât name them. It doesnât help that only one of the original wonders is still standing, and most have no records to prove they ever actually existed.
In September 1999, Swiss businessman Bernard Weber launched a campaign to chose Seven New Wonders of the World. His company, New Open World Corporation (NOWC) is spearheading the event. People from around the world could submit sites for consideration. By November 2005, 177 monuments were being considered.
To be eligible, sites must be manmade, completed before 2000, and in an acceptable state of preservation. The list, which includes the Great Pyramid at Giza, has been narrowed to 21.
People are invited to vote online at www.new7wonders.com. The New Seven Wonders of the World will be announced on July 7, 2007, or 07/07/07, in Lisbon, Portugal.
The 21 sites are: Acropolis of Athens, Athens, Greece; Alhambra, Granada, Spain; Angkor Wat, Angkor, Cambodia; Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico; Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Colosseum, Rome, Italy; Easter Island, Easter Island, Chile; Eiffel Tower, Paris, France; Great Wall, China; Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey; Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan; Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow, Russia; Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Perú; Neuschwanstein Castle, Füssen, Germany; Petra, Jordan; Pyramids of Giza, Egypt; Statue of Liberty, New York City, United States; Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom; Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia; Taj Mahal, Agra, India; Timbuktu, Mali.
The original seven wonders were the Great Pyramid at Giza; Hanging Gardens of Babylon; Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; Statue of Zeus at Olympia; Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus; Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
The Great Pyramid is still standing. The Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were destroyed by fires. The Hanging Gardens, Mausoleum, Colossus, and Lighthouse were razed by earthquakes.