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.
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/)