*Indicates I have visited
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Only the Pyramids of Giza still exist
1. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
2. The Collossus of Rhodes
3. The Lighthouse at Alexandria
4. Statue of Zeus at Olympia
5. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
6. Mauseleum Maussollos at Halicanessus
7*. Pyramids of Giza
Seven Wonders of the Medieval World
1. Stonehenge*
2. Colosseum*
3. Catacombs of Kom at Shogofa* (“Mound of Shards”) is a historical archaeological site located in Alexandria, Egypt. The necropolis consists of a series of Alexandrian tombs, statues and archaeological objects of the Pharaonic funeral cult with Hellenistic and early Imperial Roman influences – some statues are Egyptian in style, yet bear Roman clothes and hair style whilst other features share a similar style. Dating from the Antonine emperors (2nd-4th century AD), a circular staircase leads down into the three levels cut through solid rock, the third level being now completely underwater. Discovered in 1900, three sarcophagi have been found in the second level. There is a hallway with 91″ deep walls in the central tomb chamber, with carved recesses, each providing burial space for three mummies.
Another feature of the catacombs is the Hall of Caracalla, which contains the bones of horses which were the tombs created for the horses of the emperor Caracalla in 215 AD.
Visitors can reach the first level through a breach in the rotunda wall, which was made at an unknown date. This leads to the Hall of Caracalla in which the bones of horses and humans were found.
4. Great Wall of China*
5. Porcelain Tower of Nanjin
Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, part of the former Great Bao’en Temple, was constructed in the early 15th century and repaired in 1428-31. The Western world discovered it through European travellers like Johan Nieuhof. They sometimes listed it as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. After this exposure to the outside world, the tower was seen as a national treasure to both locals and other cultures around the world.
In 1801, the tower was struck by lightning and the top four stories were knocked off, but it was soon restored. In the 1850s, in the Taiping Rebellion, the rebels smashed the Buddhist images and destroyed the inner staircase to deny the Qing enemy an observation platform. American sailors reached the city in May 1854 and visited the hollowed tower. In 1856, the Taiping destroyed the tower either in order to prevent a hostile faction from using it to observe and shell the city or from superstitious fear of its geomantic properties. After this, the tower’s remnants were salvaged for use in other buildings, while the site lay dormant until a recent surge to try to rebuild the landmark.
The tower was octagonal with a base of about 97 feet (30 m) in diameter. When it was built, the tower was one of the largest buildings in China, rising up to a height of 260 feet (79 m) with nine stories and a staircase in the middle of the pagoda, which spiraled upwards for 184 steps. The top of the roof was marked by a golden pineapple. There were original plans to add more stories, according to an American missionary who in 1852 visited Nanjing. There are only a few Chinese pagodas that surpass its height, such as the still existent 275-foot-tall (84 m) 11th-century Liaodi Pagoda in Hebei or the no longer existent 330-foot-tall (100 m) 7th-century wooden pagoda of Chang’an.
The tower was built with white porcelain bricks that were said to reflect the sun’s rays during the day, and at night as many as 140 lamps were hung from the building to illuminate the tower. Glazes and stoneware were worked into the porcelain and created a mixture of green, yellow, brown and white designs on the sides of the tower, including animals, flowers and landscapes. The tower was also decorated with numerous Buddhist images.
In 2010 Wang Jianlin, a Chinese businessman, donated a billion yuan (US$156 million) to the city of Nanjing for its reconstruction. This is reported to be the largest single personal donation ever made in China. In December 2015, the modern replica and surrounding park opened to the public.
6. Hagia Sophia*
7. Leaning Tower of Pisa*
Seven Wonders of the Modern World
1. Great Wall of China*
2. Petra*
3. Christ the Redeemer* (Rio de Janeiro)
4. Machu Picchu*
5. Chichen Itza*
6. Taj Mahal*
7. Pyramids at Giza*
New7Wonders Foundation.
Swiss corporation decided from 200 monuments in 2007
1. Great Wall of China*. 7th century BC.
2. Petra*. 100 BC
3. Machu Picchu*. 1450
4. Chichen Itza*. 600
5. Colosseum*. 80
6. Taj Mahal*. 1648
7. Great Pyramid of Giza*. 2560 BC
American Society of Civil Engineers 7 Wonders of the World
1. Channel Tunnel*. 1994
2. CN Tower*, 1976. Tallest freestanding structure 1976-2007
3. Empire State Building*, 1931. Tallest structure 1931-1967. First with 100+ stories
4. Golden Gate Bridge*. 1937
5. Itaipu Dam*. 1984
6. Delta Works/Zuiderzee Works*. 1997
7. Panama Canal*. 1914
New 7 Wonders of Engineering (from a list on the observation deck on Taipei 101)
1. Three Gorges Dam*, China. 2010. Built on the Yangtze River, the dam is 2,335m long and 181m above bedrock, creating a reservoir 660km long at full capacity. Five times the size of Hoover Dam, it displaced 1.3 million people. It was expected to provide 10% of China’s total power needs but in 2011, it only supported 1.7%. It has 2 sets of 5 locks each to transport ships over the dam making the river navigable 2,400kms from Shanghai.
2. Channel Tunnel, England/France*. Completed in 1995, it is 50km long with the undersea portion 37km long. Two rail tunnels are 7.6m in diameter.
3. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge*, Japan. It connects Kobe on the mainland of Honshu to Iwaya on Awayi Island. At 3.9km long, it is the biggest suspension bridge in the world. It is able to withstand 8.5 scale earthquakes and 286km winds. Tolls are expected to pay for the bridge in 30 years but only because Japan’s interest rates are near zero.
4. The Big Dig*, Boston. This reroutes Interstate 93, 5.6 km under Boston. Cost 14.6 billion.
5. Falkirk Wheel, Scotland*. This rotating boat lift connects the Firth/Clyde Canal with the Union Canal with a height difference of 24m reconnecting the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Union Canal is still 11m higher and this is dealt with by 2 locks. Prior to 1933, there were 11 locks connecting the two canals, but it took a whole day to traverse them and they fell into disuse by 1962 and the mid 70’s respectively.
6. Shanghai Transportation Train*, China. Only 30.5km long, this mag-lev train connects Shanghai to Pielong International Airport at average speeds of 350km/hour with a capacity of 430km/hour.
7. Taipei 101*, Taipei, Taiwan. Now the 4th highest building in the world, it was the first to reach 500m.
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World.
British author Deborah Cadbury picked 19th and early 20th-century wonders.
1. SS Great Eastern*
2. Bell Rock Lighthouse
Off the coast of Angus, Scotland, is the world’s oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse. It was built between 1807 and 1810 by Robert Stevenson on the Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape) in the North Sea, 11 miles (18 km) east of the Firth of Tay. Standing 35 metres (115 ft) tall, its light is visible from 35 statute miles (56 km) inland.
The masonry work on which the lighthouse rests was constructed to such a high standard that it has not been replaced or adapted in 200 years. The lamps and reflectors were replaced in 1843 and used in the lighthouse at Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland, where they are currently on display. The working of the lighthouse has been automated since 1988.
The lighthouse operated in tandem with a shore station, the Bell Rock Signal Tower, built in 1813 at the mouth of Arbroath harbour. Today this building houses the Signal Tower Museum, a visitor centre detailing the history of the lighthouse. The challenges faced in the building of the lighthouse have led to it being described as one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World.
Etymology. According to legend, the rock is called Bell Rock because of a 14th-century attempt by the Abbot of Arbroath to install a warning bell on it. The bell lasted only one year before it was stolen by a Dutch pirate. This story is immortalized in “The Inchcape Rock”, a poem by 19th-century poet Robert Southey. The rock was the scene of many shipwrecks as it lies just below the surface of the sea for all but a few hours at low tide.
History. By the turn of the 18th century, it was estimated that the rocks were responsible for the wrecking of up to six ships every winter. In one storm alone, seventy ships were lost off the east coast of Scotland. The Scottish engineer Robert Stevenson had proposed the construction of a lighthouse on Bell Rock in 1799, but cost concerns and the relatively radical nature of the proposal by a young engineer caused it to be shelved. The loss of the warship HMS York and all on board in 1804 resulted in a furore in Parliament. Stevenson sent his design to John Rennie who approved the design and costing.
The design used interlocking stones, rotating lights alternating between red and white. In 1807 Stevenson hired 60 men, including a blacksmith for the pick axes used to cut the foundations (Stevenson did not want to use black powder as it might have damaged the rock). The workers worked on Sundays. For 20 hours each day, while the rock was covered by up to 12 feet (3.7 m) of water, the men lived on a ship moored 1 mile (2 km) off the rock. A beacon house on tall wooden struts with room for 15 was built as a place to stay on the reef. During the winter, work on the lighthouse was paused as stonemasons cut rocks for the lighthouse out of Aberdeen granite.
In 1808, the barracks and first three courses of stone were laid with only 80 hours of building work took place on the rock. During this final period of construction the lighthouse became something of a tourist attraction. Many people were anxious to see the completion of the tallest off-shore lighthouse in the world. In this final season, while the men were staying in the beacon house, a 7-hour storm struck. Worker Charles Henderson was lost, and his body was never found. Work was finally completed after having consumed about 2500 granite stones, all carried by one horse, Bassey.
Ultimately, the project came in 50 percent above the original estimate of £42,000 (2009: £2,490,000) budget. Since the construction of the lighthouse, the only recorded shipwrecks have been that of HMS Argyll during wartime blackouts in 1915 and the Banff-registered cargo vessel Rosecraig that ran aground in fog on the evening of 21 September 1908, and sank. Her seven crew members were saved.
3. Brooklyn Bridge*
4. London Sewerage System
5. First Transcontinental Railroad*
6. Panama Canal*
7. Hoover Dam*
USA Today’s New Seven Wonders.
Six judges picked in 2006.
1. Potala Palace*. Lhasa, Tibet.
2. Old City of Jerusalem*.
3. Polar Ice Caps*.
4. Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Hawaii
5. Internet*.
6. Mayan Ruins*.
7. Great Migration of Serengeti and Masai Mara. Tanzania and Kenya*.
8. Grand Canyon* (viewer chosen 8th wonder).
NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD
Seven Natural Wonders of the World
1. Grand Canyon*
2. Great Barrier Reef*
3. Harbor of Rio Janeiro*
4. Mt Everest*
5. Aurora Borealis*
6. Paricutin Volcano*
7. Victoria Falls*
New7Natural Wonders of the World
Decided by a world vote in 1997. As countries competed to send in votes, I believe this list is quite skewed. It would appear that Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam voted heavily for their favourites. For example, to leave the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, and a representative of the Himalayas off any list discredits it. Iguazu Falls, though, is certainly worthy (clearly the most beautiful waterfalls on Earth).
1. Jeju Island* – South Korea
2. Komodo Island* – Indonesia
3. Iguazu Falls* – Argentina/Brazil
4. Puerto Princesa Underground River* – Philippines
5. Table Mountain*
6. Halong Bay*, Vietnam
7. Amazon Rainforest*
Runner Up Wonders of the World
1. Bu Tinah Shoals
2. Dead Sea*
3. Great Barrier Reef*
4. Jerto Grotto* – Lebanon
5. Kilamanjaro*
6. Masurian Lake District* – Poland
7. Sanderbans National Park* – Bangladesh and India
Seven Wonders of the Underwater World.
Chosen by a panel of marine scientists.
1. Lumbini, Nepal* – Birth place of Buddha.
2. Belize Barrier Reef*
3. Great Barrier Reef*
4. Deep-Sea Vents
5. Galapagos Islands*
6. Lake Baikal*
7. Northern Red Sea*
My favourites are 1. Palau (Blue Corner, German Channel) 2. Raja Ampats, Indonesia 3. Sipadan, Sabah Malaysia.
