WONDERS OF THE WORLD
The greek
author Antiper of Sidon, who lived in 2nd century B.C. was one of the several
writers to list the greatest monuments and buildings known to the classical
word. He settled the list on seven because that was considered a magic
number by the greeks.
ANCIENT SEVEN WONDERS
The Egyptian Pyramids: Built more than 4000 years
ago, they are the oldest of the ancient wonders and the only one still
surviving.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Built in the 6th century
BC by Nebuchadnezzar 11, they consisted of a seried of terrases (75 to 300 feet
above the ground) on which flowers and trees were grown and where watered
by irrigation chanels.
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Asia, Minor: Built of
Marble in the 6th century BC in honour of the Greek virgin goddess of the hunt
and moon, it was completely destroyed by the invasion of Goaths in 3rd century
AD. Fragments of the temple are now in the British Museum in London.
The Colossus of Rhodes: A bronze statue of the Greek sun
god Helios standing 32m (105 ft) high at the mouth of Rhodes harbor. It
was built on the Greek island about 305 - 292 BC and was destroyed in 224 BC by
an earth quake.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Asia Minor: The Tomb of
the king of Halicarnassus built of marble in the 4th century BC by his
widow. It was destroyed by an Earth quake before the 15th century.
The Pharos of Alexandria: The world's first known light
house it stood 122m (400 ft) high and had a Spiral ramp leading to the
beacon. It was built on the island of Pharos, at the entrance to
Alexandria harbor in Egypt, in about 270 BC. By the 15th century it had
fallen into ruin. The science of light house construction called Pharology,
started with this light house.
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia: It was designed in 15th
century BC. The statue of the supreme Greek god (bearded) was in a sitting
posture, with an olive wreath on his head. In his right hand was the
figure of victory, in the left, a sceptre. The impossing figure 30 ft
height with the body made of wood and covered with gold and Ivory.
OTHER WONDERS
Taj Mahal: It is a mausoleum (white Marble) built
by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan over the tomb of his wife, Empress Mumtaz Mahal
in Agra. Its construction was started in 1631 and completed in 1653.
The Great wall of China: Built in the 3rd century BC has
a main line length of about 2000 miles or 3219 km and a height of 6 to 15 metre.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa: It is a round, 8-storey bell
tower and was built of marble in 1154 AD. It is 188 ft high and the top is
16 ft. The Tower was begun in 1174 AD by the architect Bonannus of Pisa
and completed in 1350.
Porcelain Tower of Nanking: It was built in the 15th
century in the ancient capital of South China. It was an octagonal 8
storied Tower (261 ft), later it was destroyed by revolution in 1853.
Colosseum of Rome: One of the largest amphitheatres in
the world. It was built by the Emperor Vespassian in 82 AD. The
building was 615 * 510 ft.
The Mosque of St. Sophia Constantinople: The church of
St. Sophia at constantinople (Istanbul) was built by the Roman Emperor Justinian
531 - 530 AD. In 1453 Constantinople was invaded by the Sultan of Turkey
who converted it into a Mosque. Now it is a museum.
Stonehenge: It appears to have been put up between 1800
and 1500 BC. Presumably for religious purposes. It is built as a circular
assembling with huge, shaped stones in Salisbury plain about 90 miles South west
of London. The inner circle is 75 ft. in diameter and the outer 100ft.
Catacombs of Alexandria: This were the tombs of the early
Christians and consisted of more than 40 groups of galleries and chambers,
covering 615 acres, some times going down to 5 storeys (70 feet) below the
surface of the ground.
The Eiffel Tower: Built in 1889 for the Paris Exhibition
by the French bridge engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. Made of wrought
iron, it stands 300 m (984 ft) high on the left bank of the River Seine.
Its revolutionary lattice-work earned Eiffel the title 'magician of iron'.
The Easter Island statues:
Collosal, elongated heads up
to 9.5 m (32 ft) high-carved from volcanic rock. The South Pacific island
on which they stand was discovered on Easter Day 1722 by the Dutch explorer
Jacob Roggeven and the statues were probably made by the ancestors of the
island's polynesian inhabitants.
The Mayan city of Tikal, Central America:
Tikal, the
ceremonial centre of the Mayan empire, dates from about 300 BC and was
rediscovered in 1848 by a team of Guatemalan explores. Situated in
northern Guatemala, its temples and buildings include the imposing pyramid of
the Great Jaguar and the palace of the Nobles.
The Space Shuttle: The US Space shuttle Columbia was
first launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1981. With a crew of two
or three astronauts, it is designed to carry satellites into space, to retrieve
and repair them, and to build large stations in space.
Chartes Cathedral: The Gothic cathedral dating from the
12th and 13th centuries, stands on a hill over looking the French market town,
Among its glories are its stained glass windows (173 in all) which produce a
unique 'Chartres-blue' light.
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