The 7 Wonders of the Ancient World vs the 7 Wonders of the Modern world

The seven wonders are the architectural and artistic monuments considered as perfect by the Greeks and the Romans.

 

Six of the seven wonders of the ancient world were described by Philon of Byzance, a II century before Jesus Christ ingeneer, in a manuscript entitled "Péri tôn hépta théamatôn" (About the seven wonders of the world). This manuscript including six layers only described six constructions. The seventh, the mosoleum of Halicarnassus, is only described in the introduction of the manuscript because the last layer disappeared.

However, the final list, also called canonical list, describing the seven wonders of the ancient world has been adopted after the reign of Alexandre the Great according to fourteen lists from differents authors. The selected monuments have to meet standard of beauty, size and technical prowess.

The canonical list refers to the seven following wonders : 

• The Great Pyramid of Giza
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• The Colossus of Rhodes
• The Lighthouse of Alexandria

These monuments are located in Greece, northen Africa and minor Asia. Their date of construction varies from 2800 BC for the Pyramid of Giza to 280 BC for the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Nowadays, the Pyramid of Giza is the only wonder who still exists. Excavations proved the existence of the other wonders, except of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Watch the video!

The New 7 Wonders of the World were announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07:

• The Great Wall of China

• Petra, Jordan

• Christ the Redeemer, Brazil

• Machu Picchu, Peru

• The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá, Mexico

• The Roman Colosseum, Italy

• The Taj Mahal, India

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The nominees:

• The Acropolis of Athens, Greece

• Alhambra, Spain

• Angkor Wat, Cambodia

• The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá, Mexico

• Christ the Redeemer, Brazil

• The Roman Colosseum, Italy

• Statues of Easter Island, Chile

• The Eiffel Tower, France

• The Great Wall of China

• The Hagia Sophia, Turkey

• Kiyomizu Temple, Japan

• The Kremlin and Red Square, Russia

• Machu Picchu, Peru

• Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

• Petra, Jordan

• The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (Honorary candidate)

• The Statue of Liberty, United States

• Stonehenge, United Kingdom

• Sydney Opera House, Australia

• The Taj Mahal, India

• Timbuktu, Mali

You can check out this video to 'visualize'!

(Source: http://www.seven-wonders-world.com/)