The New Seven Wonders of the World

A man named Bernard Weber started a project to update the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World list by creating a New Seven Wonders of the World list. He started the New7Wonders Foundation to accomplish this feat. The foundation created a poll that took votes via the internet and phone which claimed that more than 100 million votes were cast before the final list was composed. The results of the vote were released on July 7, 2007 (7-7-7) in Lisbon, Portugal and goes as follows:

Petra – Petra is a historical city in Jordan built out of the face of a mountain. It’s located on the slope of Mount Hor in a large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in a location that attracts many flash floods, the residents of Petra figured out how to control these floods and collect the water by the use of cisterns, dams and water conduits. These innovations stored water for long periods of drought in which the water could also be sold. Eventually the Petra society was taken over by the Roman Empire until the city was destroyed by an earthquake.

Chichen Itza – Built by the Mayans, the Chichen Itza is an architectural site in the northern Maya lowlands. It has an interesting mix of architectural styles that make this place appealing for people to visit and is considered the second most visited architectural attraction in the country.

Christ the Redeemer – Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Christ located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue is 130 ft tall and stands on a 31 foot-tall pedestal. It weighs 635 tons and is located at the peak of the 2,300 ft Corcovado Mountain overlooking the city.

Colosseum – The Colosseum is a large amphitheater located in the center of Rome, Italy. It demonstrates the ingenuity of Roman architecture and engineering. Construction started around 70 to 72 AD and continued until completed in 80 AD. It was built to create unity in the city and portrayed gladiatorial contests and other public spectacles.

Great Wall of China – Built to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against attacks by roving nomadic groups, the Great Wall of China is made up of various walls, geographical barriers, and trenches for a total length of 5,500.3 miles. The wall starts at Shanhaiguan and spans across the west to Lop Nur. Construction started in 5th century BC and continued until the 1400’s, with the Wall being built from various materials like stone, rock, bricks, and rammed earth. The Wall was very successful at protecting the borders of China until the invading Manchus were able to cross it in 1644, before taking over Beijing. Today, The Wall is rapidly deteriorating due to sandstorms, erosion and general passing of time.

Machu Picchu – Meaning “Old Mountain,” Machu Picchu is an ancient Inca city located above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Mainly, the city is in ruins with a total of a 140 structures but still shows how the Indians lived, which is appealing to visitors making the site the most visited tourist attraction in the country. No one quite knows why this city was built there, but there are many theories like maybe it was a possible prison for people who committed crimes against the Inca Empire, a place to experiment growing certain types of crops or possibly just a city built for the Gods. It appears that the city was abandoned about 100 years after it was built with some theories proposing that all the inhabitants were wiped out by small pox.

Taj Mahal – The Taj Mahal is a temple located in Agra, India. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to commemorate the memory of his favorite wife. Construction started in 1632 and was completed in 1653. It was beautifully built by many artisans and craftsmen and is considered to be one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture.