Past and Current Wonders of the World

Christ the Redeemer

Various lists of the wonders of the world have been made up from antiquity to the present day, and the 2 most important of them, will be presented here.

Past wonders of the world

We start with a list that was highly popularized several decades ago, list that included 7 official wonders of the ancient world. They were considered as wonders mostly because of their majestic architecture and build, which were almost impossible to accomplish back then. They are remarkable creations of classic antiquity and all of them are or were located around the Mediterranean rim.

  1. The Statue of Zeus in Olympia
    This was made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around the year of 432 BC and was placed in the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, Greece.
  2. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
    The Mausoleum was actually a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC and was dedicated to a satrap in the Persian Empire, Mausolus.
  3. The Great Pyramid of Giza
    It is also known as the Pyramid of Khufu. It is the largest and oldest of the 3 pyramids on the Giza Plateau; it has a hight of 481 feet and a base of 756 feet.
  4. The Lighthouse of Alexandria
    This was a tower built between 280 and 247 BC, that had the purpose of guiding sailors into the port of Alexandria.
  5. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
    Regarding this wonder of the ancient world, researchers do not know for sure if this really existed. However, legends place these Gardens in Babylon (present-day Al-Hillah), and mention that they were built for Queen Semiramis.
  6. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
    This was located in Ephesus (near the present-day town of Selcuk) and was dedicated to Artemis (Diana), the goddess of hunting.
  7. Colossus of Rhodes
    This was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, built between 292 and 208 BC in the city of Rhodes.

Current wonders of the world

In 2001, an initiative started, meaning to choose 7 new wonders of the world, based on a selection of 200 existing monuments. The name of this initiative was “New 7 Wonders of the World“. In 2007, this replaced the old wonders of the world that everybody knew with the next ones.

  1. The Colosseum
    The Colosseum of Rome was built to be an elliptical amphitheater in the center of this city.
  2. Taj Mahal
    India is proudly represented by this white mausoleum made from marble and built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, in the memory of one of his wives.
  3. Chichen Itza
    This was the name of a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization in what is today Mexico.
  4. The Great Wall of China
    A series of fortifications which cannot be encountered in any other part of this world. Bricks, stones, wood, tamped earth were the main materials used to construct this amazing wall.
  5. Petra
    Petra is a historical and archaeological site in the Jordanian governorate of Ma’an. It was constructed in 1200 BC.
  6. Machu Picchu
    This is an ancient city in Peru, a pre-Columbian Inca site located in the Cusco region. It lies on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley.
  7. Statue of Christ the Redeemer
    This unique statue of Jesus Christ is found in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest Art Deco statue in the world, featuring a height of 130 feet and a weight of 635 tones.

Old or new, these 14 amazing structures amaze the entire world and will never cease to until the end of humankind.