New Seven Wonders

The new seven wonders!





In 2001 an initiative was started by Swiss corporation New Open World Corporation (NOWC) to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World.The results were announced on July 7, 2007 and in this chapter, we will tell you what those wonders are, and a litle information about them.

Great Wall of China

Is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties.

Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built with stones and wood, but then they started using bricks. Stone can hold under its own weight better than brick, but is more difficult to use.

Many western sections of the wall are constructed from mud, rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion, those will possibly disappear in the next 20 years, because the erosion from sand storms.

Near tourist centers it has been preserved and even reconstructed, but in many locations the Wall is in disrepair. The stone of some parts has been taken of to rebuild houses and roads and other parts are full of graffitis and paintings.

Petra

Is an archeological site in Arabah.
It has a monastery, a theatre,a part called “the treasury” and is fulled of tombs, the most important one is the Urn tomb.

History

So far, no method has been found to determine when the history of Petra began, but it combines Greek, Egyptian and Syrian elements.

Petra today

Is a popular sight and featured in various works of art such as the movies Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, passion in the Desert and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

Christ the Redeemer (statue)

Is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue stands 39.6 metres tall, weighs 700 tons, and is located at the peak of the 700 m Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city.


Construction took nine years — from 1922 to 1931 and the monument was opened on October 12,1931. The cost of the monument was $250,000.

The statue was struck by lightning during a violent electrical storm on Sunday, February 10,2008 which caused havoc in Rio, falling trees in several neighbourhoods, but the statue itself remained unharmed.

Machu Picchu

Is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,400 meter above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, near Cuzco. Machu Picchu is probably the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. Forgotten for centuries, the site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction.

History

Machu Picchu was constructed around 1450 at the height of the Inca Empire. It was abandoned less than 100 years later. It is likely that most of its inhabitants wiped out by smallpox (a disease) before the Spanish conquistadores arrived.

Although the citadel is located only about 80 kilometers from Cuzco, the Inca capital, it was never found and consequently not plundered and destroyed by the Spanish, as was the case with many other Inca sites. Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew over the site, and few knew of its existence.

Location

The location of the city was a military secret because its deep precipices and mountains were an excellent natural defense.

Architecture

Most of the construction in Machu Picchu uses the classic Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar.

Peru is a highly seismic land, and mortar-free construction was more earthquake-resistant than using mortar. Inca walls show numerous subtle design details that would prevent them from collapsing in an earthquake.
The Incas never used the wheel in any practical manner. How they moved and placed enormous blocks of stones is a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up inclined planes.

Chichen Itza

Is a large pre-Columbian archeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, present-day Mexico.

There are two large, natural sink holes, called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at Chichen, making it attractive for settlement. Of the two cenotes, the "Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote, is the more famous. American Consul Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, and recovered artifacts of gold, jade, pottery, and incense, as well as human remains. A recent study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice.

The site

The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation; the buildings were formerly used as temples, palaces, stages, markets, baths, and ballcourts. The most importants are el castillo and the great ball court.

El Castillo

This step pyramid has a ground plan of square terraces with stairways up each of the 4 sides to the temple on top. On the Spring and Fall equinox, at the rising and setting of the sun, the corner of the structure casts a shadow in the shape of a plumed serpent - Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl - along the side of the North staircase. On these two days, the shadows from the corner tiers slither down the northern side of the pyramid with the sun's movement.

By digging from the top, they found another temple buried below the current one. Inside the temple chamber was a Chac Mool statue and a throne in the shape of jaguar, painted red with spots made of inlaid jade.

The Great Ball Court

Archaeologists have identified seven courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame in Chichén, but the Great Ball Court about 150 meters to the north-west of the Castillo is by far the most impressive. It is the largest ball court in ancient Mesoamerica.

























Colosseum











Is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering.




















Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century. As well as the traditional gladiatorial games, many other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.












Although it is now in a ruined condition due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum has long been seen as an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. Today it is one of modern Rome's most popular tourist attractions.





Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Is considered the first example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles.
The Taj Mahal attracts 2 to 4 million visitors every year. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourist must either walk from the carparks or catch an electric bus.