THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD

Why are there exactly seven wonders? Why specifically this number? And why are they so important?

There is no specific reason, but the number "seven" appears in many parts of mythology and religion. People always talk about the seven gates of heaven, the seven days of the week, and the seven seas, etc. This shows that there are some relations between these specific number and the people who lived on the earth in the past.

The Seven Wonders of the World usually refers to the list of remarkable constructions that are the most attractive of all. Actually the seven wonders of the world were brought by the Greek people who lived in the fifth century BC and in the European countries and in the Middle East.

There are two main people described in history who are believed to have made the first list of ‘the seven world wonders’, as they thought that those were the most important and attractive places the people should see. Those two people are the Greek writers, the Antipater of Sidon and Philon of Byzantium. These seven wonders came to be known as the actual seven world wonders and are known as ‘the seven wonders of the Ancient world’. All of these except the pyramids of Egypt have been ruined.

Continuously through the ages these world wonders have been changed by the great men and women who lived in those years (now too) and came to be known as a number of versions of the world wonders.

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

The ancient Greeks made a list of places they thought people should see. This list was named the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Greeks chose seven wonders, because in their culture this number symbolized perfection. The only one of the ancient wonders that still exists is in Giza, Egypt. This wonder is the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was one of three great pyramids built around 2500 B.C. It is the oldest wonder of the seven. People do not know how these pyramids were built but we know that they took over 20 years to complete. For a long time, the Great Pyramid was believed to be the tallest structure in the world. Pyramids were built as tombs for the leaders of Egypt called Pharaohs. Many travellers still visit the Great Pyramid today.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are another ancient wonder. This wonder is special because people do not know for sure if it existed. Old books say the garden was built around 600 B.C. It was located on the bank of the Euphrates River. Today, this area is near Baghdad, Iraq. These gardens were built by a king for his wife. Living in the desert, she missed the plants at her old home. The king wanted to make his queen like their new home more. It may never be known if the Hanging Gardens of Babylon truly existed, but the descriptions of this beautiful place have made their place in history.

The Greeks also added a couple of their own structures on the list of ancient wonders. The Statue of Zeus was built in Olympia, Greece in 457 B.C. This statue was built to honour the Greek god Zeus. The statue was as tall as a four-story building! It was made of wood and decorated with gold and ivory. Unfortunately, the statue was destroyed by a fire and no longer exists for us to see.

In addition to Zeus, the Greeks also built a very big statue to honour the Greek sun god, Helios. This wonder is known as the Colossus of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes took twelve years to build. It was finished in 226 B.C. It was 110 feet high. That is about the same size as the Statue of Liberty. Also like the Statue of Liberty, the Colossus of Rhodes was placed at the entrance to a harbour.

Built around 550 B.C., the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was considered the most beautiful structure on earth. It was built to honour the goddess of hunting, nature, and fertility. Ephesus was an ancient city that was located in what is now Turkey. The temple was made of marble and had many bronze statues. People used to come from all over the world to worship Artemis. The temple was later burned down and now there is only a marshy field where this wonder once stood.

Another wonder was also located in what is now Turkey. It was the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. This tomb was built for King Mausolus of Caria. Some of the best artists and craftsmen of the time period helped build and decorate this beautiful tomb. The mausoleum was finished around 350 B.C. Later, several earthquakes damaged the mausoleum. A group called the Knights of St. John later used the ruins to build a castle. King Mausolus’s name and his connection with such a special tomb led people to use the word mausoleum.

The only wonder built for a practical use was the Pharos of Alexandria. This was a lighthouse off the coast of Egypt. It was once the tallest building in the world. There was a very large mirror inside this lighthouse. It was used to reflect sunlight to help to warn ships that they were getting close to the shoreline. At night, a fire was lit inside the Pharos of Alexandria to help sailors. The design and building of this lighthouse started in 290 B.C. It was later ruined by earthquakes. However, it remained longer than any of the wonders, other than the Great Pyramid.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are unknown to many people because most of these structures were destroyed so long ago. While it is sad people cannot see most of these wonders in person, the detailed stories about them help people know how special they were.

(TIMELINE OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE SEVEN ANCIENT WONDERS _TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA)

Clear details of the seven ancient wonders are given next.

i. THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu of the fourth dynasty who ruled in Egypt around the 26th century BC. This pyramid is located in Giza. Giza is a city which is situated near to the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Out of the three pyramids situated in the Giza complex, the pyramid of Khufu is the largest and is the one which stands on the top of the seven ancient world wonders. This pyramid was built by the pharaoh Khufu to serve as his tomb. It has taken over twenty years to be built. This pyramid was so large that it was called ‘the mountain of pharaoh’. When it was built the pyramid’s height was 145.75 meters high, but by the years the height has decreased by 10 meters as the top has been sliced off. The sides are on an elevation of 51 degree. The horizontal cross-section off the pyramid is square measuring 229 meters each side. The word "pyramid" literally means "fire in the middle". The structure consists of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. The area covered by the Great pyramid can accommodate St. Peter's in Rome, the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, and Westminster and St Paul's in London combined. On the north face, is the pyramid's entrance. A number of corridors, galleries, and escape shafts either lead to the King's burial chamber, or were intended to serve other

functions. The King's chamber is located at the heart of the pyramid, only

accessible through the Great Gallery and an ascending corridor. The King's stone tomb is made of red granite, as are the interior walls of the King's Chamber. Most impressive is the sharp-edged stone over the doorway which is over 3 m (10 ft) long, 2.4 m (8 feet) high and 1.3 m (4 ft)

thick. All of the interior stones fit so well, a card won't fit between them.

The tomb is oriented in accordance with the compass directions.

ii. THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the second most fascinating world wonder. This is the only World Wonder which has not been proved where it was exactly located and if it was there or not. However, the importance and beauty of the wonder has been given in many evidential scripts. One legend says that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were created by Emperor Nebuchadnezzar II, the king of Babylon, for the Persian wife, Queen Amytis, because she missed the green hills and valleys of her homeland. Emperor Nebuchadnezzar II also built a grand palace that came to be known as 'The Marvel of the Mankind'. Because of the lack of evidence it has been suggested that the Hanging Gardens are purely legendary, and the descriptions found in ancient Greek and Roman writers including Strabo, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus represent a romantic ideal of an eastern garden. This was a palace which contained all plants although it was in the middle of the desert. In ancient writings the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were first described by Berossus, a Babylonian priest of Marduk who wrote around 290 BC, although his books are known only from quotations by later authors (e.g., Flavius Josephus). There are five principal writers (including Berossus) whose descriptions of Babylon are extant in some form today. These writers concern themselves with the size of the Hanging Gardens, why and how they were built, and how the gardens were irrigated. It is thought to be located on the east bank of the River Euphrates, about 50 kilometres south of Baghdad, Iraq. Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence, before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the Gardens, their irrigation system, and their true appearance. More recent archaeological excavations at the ancient city

of Babylon in Iraq uncovered the foundation of the palace. Other findings include the Vaulted Building with thick walls and an irrigation well near the southern palace. A group of archaeologists surveyed the area of the southern palace and reconstructed the Vaulted Building as the Hanging

Gardens. On the river banks, recently discovered massive walls 25 m

thick may have been stepped to form terraces.

iii. THE STATUE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure, about 13 m (43 ft) tall. It is a sculpture of ivory plates and gold panels over a wooden framework, it represented the god Zeus sitting on an elaborate cedar wood throne ornamented with ebony, ivory, gold, and precious stones. No copy of the statue has ever been found, and details of its form are known only from ancient Greek descriptions and representations on coins. This statue was located in the town of Olympia in Greece which is 150 kilometres away from Athens. The ancient Greek calendar starts in 776 BC, for the Olympic games are believed to have started that year. The magnificent temple of Zeus was designed by the architect Libon and was completed in 456 BC. Since the temple was not considered lavish enough the Athenian sculptor Pheidias was assigned for the "sacred" task of creating a majestic statue of Zeus around 440 BC. For the years that followed, the temple attracted visitors and worshippers from all over the world. The statue had been transported by wealthy Greeks to a palace in Constantinople, present day Istanbul, Turkey, where it survived until it was destroyed by a severe fire in AD 462. Today nothing remains at the site of the old temple except rocks and debris, the foundation of the buildings, and fallen columns. Pheidias' workshop in Olympia still exists. There, he sculpted and carved the different pieces of the statue, before they were assembled in the temple. The sculptor is to be commended, not criticized. It is this size impression that made the statue so wonderful. It is the idea that the king of Gods is capable of unroofing the temple if he stood up. The base of the statue was about 6.5 m (20 ft) wide and 1.0 meter (3 ft) high. The height of the statue itself was 13 m (40 ft), equivalent to a modern 4-story building. The statue was so high that visitors described the throne more than Zeus body and features. The legs of the throne were decorated with sphinxes and winged figures of Victory. Greek Gods and mythical figures also adorned the scene: Apollo,

Artemis, and Niobe's children. The statue was occasionally decorated with gifts from kings and rulers. Copies of the statue were made, including a large prototype at Cyrene (Libya). None of them, however, survived to the present day. For us, we can only wonder about the true appearance of the statue -- the greatest work in Greek sculpture.

iv. THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek, Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name, by Chares of Lindos in 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. In 305 BC, the Antigonids of Macedonia who were also rivals of the Ptolemies, besieged Rhodes in an attempt to break the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance. They could never penetrate the city. When a peace agreement was reached in 304 BC, the Antagonids lifted the siege, leaving a wealth of military equipment behind. To celebrate their unity, the Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect an enormous statue of their sun god, Helios. “From its building to its destruction lies a time span of merely 56 years. Yet the colossus earned a place in the famous list of Wonders. "But even lying on the ground, it is a marvel", said Pliny. The Colossus of Rhodes was not only a gigantic statue. It was rather a symbol of unity of the people who inhabited that beautiful

Mediterranean island, Rhodes. The construction of the Colossus took 12 Years and was finished in 282 BC. For years, the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at its weakest point - the knee. The Rhodians received an immediate offer from Ptolemy. Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument. However, an oracle was consulted and forbade the reerection. Ptolemy's offer was declined. For almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins. In AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes. They disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew

from Syria. It is said that the fragments had to be transported to Syria on the backs of 900 camels. The project was commissioned by the Rhodian sculptor Chares of Lindos. To build the statue, his workers cast the outer bronze skin parts. The base was made of white marble, and the feet and ankle of the statue were first fixed. The structure was gradually erected as the bronze form was fortified with an iron and stone framework. When the colossus was finished, it stood about 33 m (110 ft) high on a 15 m (50 ft) base.

v. THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AT EMPHESUS

The Temple of Artemis also known less precisely as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis and was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was located in Ephesus (near the modern town of Selçuk in present-day Turkey), and was completely rebuilt three times before its eventual destruction in 401. Only foundations and sculptural fragments of the latest of the temples at the site remain. It was built in honour of Artemis (Diana), the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and fertility. Although the foundation of the temple dates back to the seventh century BC, the structure was built around 550 BC by the Lydian king, Croesus and was designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron. The Temple was decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon. The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution. For years, the sanctuary was visited by merchants, tourists, artisans, and kings who paid homage to the goddess by sharing their profits with her. Recent archaeological excavations at the site revealed gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of Artemis made of gold, ivory and many other artefacts from as far as Persia and India. On the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name. Oddly enough, Alexander the Great was born in the same night. The great historian Plutarch later wrote:

“… the goddess was too busy taking care of the birth of

Alexander to send help to her threatened temple".

When Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he offered to rebuild the destroyed temple, but the Temple was not restored until after his death in 323 BC. The temple was again destroyed by the Goths in AD 262, but the Ephesians vowed to rebuild. St. Paul visited Ephesus to preach Christianity in the first century AD, and was confronted by the Artemis' cult who had no plans to abandon their goddess. By the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted to Christianity and the temple lost its religious glamour. The final chapter came when in AD 401 the Temple of Artemis was torn down by St John Chrysostom, and Ephesus was eventually deserted. Excavations carried out in the late 1880s revealed the temple's foundation and the road to the now swampy site. Only the foundation and a few columns remain today. The foundation of the temple was rectangular in form. Unlike other sanctuaries of its time, the building was made of Parian marble, with a decorated facade overlooking a spacious courtyard. Marble steps surrounding the building platform led to the high terrace which was approximately 80 m (260 ft) by 130 m (430 ft) in plan. There were 127 columns, 20 m (60 ft) high, with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides. The temple housed many works of art, including four ancient bronze statues of Amazons sculpted by the finest artists at the time. When St Paul visited the city, the temple was adorned with golden pillars and silver statuettes, and was decorated with paintings. There is no evidence that a statue of the goddess herself was placed at the center of the sanctuary, but there is no reason not to believe so. Its true beauty lies in the architectural and artistic details which will forever remain unknown.

vi. THE MAUSOLEUM AT HALICARNASSUS

This is another one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The mausoleum was situated in the city of Bodrum (formerly, Halicarnassus) on the Aegean Sea, in south-west Turkey and was built for King Mausollos of Cadria.

When the Persians expanded their ancient kingdom to include Mesopotamia, Northern India, Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor, the king could not control his vast empire without the help of local governors – the Satraps. From 377 to 353 BC, king Mausollos of Caria reigned and moved his capital to Halicarnassus(now Bodrum). Nothing is exciting about Maussollos life except the construction of his tomb. The project was conceived by his wife and sister Artemisia, and the construction might have started during the king's lifetime. The Mausoleum was completed around 350 BC, three years after Maussollos death, and one year after Artemisia's. For 16 centuries, the Mausoleum remained in good condition until an earthquake damaged the roof and the colonnade in AD 1304. In the early fifteenth century, the Knights of St John of Malta invaded the region and built a massive castle using the stones of the Mausoleum. By 1522, almost every block of the Mausoleum had been disassembled and used for construction on the castle. Today, the massive castle still stands in Bodrum, and the polished stone and marble blocks of the Mausoleum can be found in the walls of the castle. Some of the sculptures survived and are today on display at the British Museum in London. These include fragments of statues and many slabs of the frieze

showing the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons. At the site of the Mausoleum itself, only the foundation remains of the once magnificent Wonder. The structure was rectangular in plan, with base dimensions of about 40 m (120 ft) by 30 m (100 ft). Overlying the foundation was a stepped podium with sides decorated with statues. The burial chamber and the sarcophagus of white alabaster decorated with gold were located on the podium and surrounded by Ionic columns. The colonnade supported a pyramid roof which was in turn decorated with statues. A statue of a chariot pulled by four horses adorned the top of the tomb. The total height of the Mausoleum was 45 m (140 ft). This is broken down into 20 m (60 ft) for the stepped podium, 12 m (38 ft) for the colonnade, 7 m (22 ft) for the pyramid, and 6 m (20 ft) for the chariot

statue at the top. The beauty of the Mausoleum is not only in the structure itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the outside at different levels on the podium and the roof. There were tens of life-size as well as under and over life-size freestanding statues of people, lions, horses, and other animals. The statues were carved by four Greek sculptors: Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus, each responsible for one side. Because the statues were of people and animals, it holds a special place in history as it was not dedicated to the gods of Ancient Greece.

vii. THE PHAROS OF ALEXANDRIA

Pharos of Alexandria, sometimes called the Lighthouse of Alexandria, was a lofty tower built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 280 and 247 BC and between 120 and 137 m (393 and 450 ft) tall, it was one of the tallest man-made structures on Earth for many centuries, and was regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Badly damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1323, it then became an abandoned ruin. It was the third longest surviving ancient wonder (after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the still extant Great Pyramid of Giza) until in 1480 the last of its remnant stones were used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site. In 1994, French archaeologists discovered some remains of the lighthouse on the floor of Alexandria's Eastern Harbour.

Shortly after the death of Alexander the Great, his commander Ptolemy Soter assumed power in Egypt. The project was conceived and initiated by Ptolemy Soter around 290 BC, but was completed after his death, during the reign of his son Ptolemy Philadelphus. Sostratus, a contemporary of Euclid, was the architect. The monument was dedicated to the Savior Gods, Ptolemy Soter and his wife Berenice. For centuries, the Lighthouse of Alexandria (occasionally referred to as the Pharos Lighthouse) was used to mark the harbour, using fire at night and reflecting sun rays during the day. In AD 956, an earthquake shook Alexandria, and caused little damage to the Lighthouse. It was later in 1303 and in 1323 that two stronger earthquakes left a significant impression on the structure. The final collapse came in AD 1326. The final chapter in the history of the Lighthouse came in AD 1480 when the Egyptian Mamelouk Sultan, Qaitbay, built a medieval fortress on the same spot where the Lighthouse once stood, using the fallen stone and marble. Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, The Lighthouse of Alexandria had a practical use in addition to its architectural elegance. Of the six vanished Wonders, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was believed to be the last to disappear. Therefore we have adequately accurate knowledge of its location and appearance. The mysterious mirror could reflect the light more than 50 km (35 miles) away. It was composed of three stages: The lowest square, 55.9 m (183.4ft) high with a cylindrical core; the middle octagonal with a side length of 18.30 m (60.0 ft) and a height of 27.45 m (90.1 ft); and the third circular 7.30 m (24.0 ft) high. The total height of the building including the foundation base was about 117 m (384 ft), equivalent to a 40-story modern building. The internal core was used as a shaft to lift the fuel needed for the fire. At the top stage, the mirror reflected sunlight during the day while fire was used during the night. In ancient times, a statue of Poseidon adorned the summit of the building. From an architectural standpoint, the monument has been used as a model for many prototypes along the Mediterranean, as far away as Spain. The structure inspired the word ‘pharos’ which means lighthouse in French, Italian and Spanish.

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, some writers wrote their own lists with names such as Wonders of the Middle Ages, Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, and Architectural Wonders of the Middle Ages. However it is unlikely that these lists originated in the Middle Ages, because the concept of a Middle Age did not become popular until the 16th century. Many of the structures on these lists were built much earlier than the Middle Ages, but were well known. The seven wonders are:

· Stonehenge

· Colosseum

· Catacombs of Alexandria

· Great Wall of China

· Porcelain Tower of Nanjing

· Hagia Sophia

· Leaning Tower of Pisa

i. STONEHENGE

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. Archaeologists believe it was built anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Radiocarbon dating in 2008 suggested that the first stones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, whilst another theory suggests that bluestones may have been raised at the site as early as 3000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and the phase of the monument have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge. It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown (a company in UK) and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust. Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no written records. Many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate. These multiple theories are often called the "mystery of Stonehenge. A number of myths surround the stones. There is little or no direct evidence for the construction techniques used by the Stonehenge builders. Over the years, various authors have suggested that supernatural or anachronistic methods were used, usually asserting that the stones were impossible to move otherwise. Another theory, brought forth in 2012, suggests that the monument was intended to unify the different peoples of the British island. This theory suggests that the massive amount of labour involved in the construction of Stonehenge necessitated inter-regional cooperation, especially as many of the stones were moved over very long distances, for example from quarries in Wales. On 18 December 2011, geologists from University of Leicester and the National Museum of Wales announced the discovery of the exact source of the rock used to create Stonehenge's first stone circle. The researchers have identified the source as a 70-metre (230 ft) long rock outcrop called Craig Rhos-y-Felinin north Pembrokeshire, located 220 kilometres (140 mi) from Stonehenge. The Heel Stone lies north east of the sarsen circle. It is a rough stone, 16 feet (4.9 m) above ground, leaning inwards towards the stone circle. It has been known by many names in the past, including "Friar's Heel" and "Sun-stone". Today it is uniformly referred to as the Heel Stone or Heelstone. At summer solstice an observer standing within the stone circle, looking north-east through the entrance, would see the sun rise above the heel stone.

ii. THE COLLOSEUM OF ROME

The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it was the largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire, and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. It is the largest amphitheatre in the world. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in 70 AD, and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir Titus. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (81–96). These three emperors are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named in Latin for its association with their family name (Flavius). The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators, and was used for boxing/wrestling contests and games such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era (early middle ages). It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of the Roman Empire. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church also. It is elliptical in plan and is 189 meters (615 ft / 640 Roman feet) long, and 156 meters (510 ft / 528 Roman feet) wide, with a base area of 6 acres (24,000 m2). The height of the outer wall is 48 meters (157 ft / 165 Roman feet). The perimeter originally measured 545 meters (1,788 ft / 1,835 Roman feet). The central arena is an oval 87 m (287 ft) long and 55 m (180 ft) wide, surrounded by a wall 5 m (15 ft) high, above which rose tiers of seating. The outer wall is estimated to have required over 100,000 cubic metres (3,531,467 cubic feet) of travertine stone which were set without mortar held together by 300 tons of iron clamps. However, it has suffered extensive damage over the centuries, with large segments having collapsed following earthquakes. The north side of the perimeter wall is still standing; the distinctive triangular brick wedges at each end are modern additions, having been constructed in the early 19th century to shore up the wall. The remainder of the present-day exterior of the Colosseum is in fact the original interior wall. This historic wonderful place is also an UNESCO World Heritage site similar to other historical sites in Rome.

iii. THE CATACOMBS OF KOM el SHOQAFA

The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (meaning "Mound of Shards") is a historical archaeological site located in Alexandria, Egypt and is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. It consists of a series of Alexandrian tombs, statues and archaeological objects of the Pharaonic funeral cult with Greek and early Roman influences. Due to the time period, many of the features of the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa merge Roman, Greek and Egyptian cultural points; some statues are Egyptian in style, yet bear Roman clothes and hair style whilst other features share a similar style. A circular staircase, which was often used to transport deceased bodies down the middle of it, leads down into the tombs that were tunneled into the bedrock. The catacombs lie on the western necropolis of Alexandria and consist of three levels cut through solid rock, the third level being now completely underwater.Scholars believe that the catacombs were originally built for one family, but were later expanded to accommodate many additional burials.A stone staircase descends to the second level, an area eerily alive with sculptures. In the lobby of the building two pillars are topped by the papyrus, lotus, and acanthus leaves of ancient Egypt and two falcons flanking a winged sun decorate the frieze.There are three huge stone coffins with non-removable covers along the sides of the chamber. It’s assumed that bodies were inserted in them from behind, using a passageway which runs around the outside of the funeral chamber.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 this hall the bones of horses and humans were found.The Catacombs were named Kom El Shoqafa, meaning Mound of Shards, because the area used to contain a mound of shards of terra cotta which mostly consisted of jars and objects made of clay. These objects were left by those visiting the tombs, who would bring food and wine for their consumption during the visit.

iv. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger, are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. More than 60 km (37 mi) of the wall in Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms. In places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than 5 metres (16 feet) to less than 2 metres (6.6 ft). The square lookout towers that characterize the most famous images of the wall have disappeared completely. Many western sections of the wall are constructed from mud, rather than brick and stone, and thus are more susceptible to erosion. In August 2012, a 30-meter (98 ft) section of the wall in north China's Hebei province collapsed after days of continuous heavy rains. A speciality or miracle is that the Great Wall only is the man-made structure that can be seen from outer space. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance.

v. THE PORCELAIN TOWER AT NANJING

The Porcelain Tower (or Porcelain Pagoda) of Nanjing, also known as Bao'ensi (meaning "Temple of Repaid Gratitude"), is a historical site located on the south bank of external Qinhuai River in Nanjing, China. It was a pagoda (which means an Asian temple) constructed in the 15th century during the Ming Dynasty, but was mostly destroyed in the 19th century during the course of the Taiping Rebellion. In 2010 Wang Jianlin, a Chinese businessman, donated one billion yuan (US$156 million) to the city of Nanjing for its reconstruction of the tower of Nanjing. This is reported to be the largest single personal donation ever made in China. The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing was designed during reign of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402-1424), shortly before its construction in the early 15th century. It was first discovered by the Western world when European travellers like Johan Nieuhof visited it. In 1801, the tower was struck by lightning and the top three stories were knocked off, but it was soon restored. In the 1850s, the area surrounding the tower erupted in civil war as the Taiping Rebellion reached Nanjing and the Taiping Rebels took over the city. They 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 or from superstitious fear of its geomantic properties.

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 spiralled 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.

vi. HAGIA SOPHIA

Hagia Sophia is a former Greek church, later the mosque of the Ottoman Empire, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its construction in 537 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (Constantinople was a past name for Istanbul), except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized (made not as a religious place) and opened as a museum on the first of February, 1935. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who ordered this main church of the Orthodox Christianity to be converted into a mosque. By this point, the Church had fallen into a state of disrepair. However, the Christian cathedral made a strong impression on the new Ottoman rulers and they decided to convert it into a mosque. The bells, altar, and sacrificial vessels and other relics were removed and the paintings showing Jesus, his Mother Mary, Christian saints and angels were also removed(scratched away) or plastered over and Islamic symbols like the four minarets, text from the holy Al-Kurrhan were added. It remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Turkish government. Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine(relating to the people of the Eastern Orthodox/the Byzantine empire) architecture. Its interior is decorated with paintings (mosaics) and marble pillars and coverings of great artistic value. The temple itself was so richly and artistically decorated. Justinian(the Byzantine emperor) himself was too amazed to see this extremely large cathedral which as the largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years until the completion of the cathedral in Seville in Spain. The dome of Hagia Sophia has spurred particular interest for many art historians, architects and engineers because of the innovative way the original architects envisioned it. The original cupola collapsed entirely after the quake of 558; in 563 a new dome was built. Hagia Sophia is famous for the light that reflects everywhere in the interior of the nave, giving the dome the appearance of hovering above this. This effect was achieved by inserting forty windows around the base of the original structure. Moreover, the insertion of the windows in the dome structure lowers its weight. The church was richly decorated with mosaics throughout the centuries. Now it is still a wonderful museum.

vii. THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA

White marble campanile in Pisa, Italy, famous for the uneven settling of its foundation, which caused it to lean 5.5 degrees (about 15 ft [4.5 m]) from the perpendicular. The Tower of Pisa was built to show the rest of the world the wealth of the city of Pisa. The laying of the first stone of the Tower took place August 9,1173. The original architect was Bonanno Pisano. The people of Pisa were very good sailors and they conquered many lands, including Jerusalem, Carthago, Ibiza, Mallorca, Africa, Belgium, Britannia, Norway, Spain, Morocco, and other places. But they had only one real enemy, the people from Florence. To show how well they were doing they started to build a bell tower to go with the rest of the buildings near it – the Cathedral, Baptistery, and Cemetery. They started to build the tower in the year 1173. After a while the war with Florence started again and they stopped. In 1180 the restarted and in 1185 they had finished the 1st,2nd, and the 3rd floor. And again war with Florence, which of course meant that they put all their money in warfare. In this year the tower started to lean to one side, so while they were building, it was already the leaning tower of Pisa. They must have been thinking that a bell tower without bell wasn't a bell tower so they put some bells on the top of the 3rd floor in 1198. After another war with Florence, they started again for a period of nine years, from 1275 till 1284. In 1392 Pisa was sold to Florence, a big humiliation for the people

of Pisa. Height: 55.863 meters(185 feet) 8 stories.

Outer Diameter of Base: 15.484 meters

Inner Diameter of Base: 7.368 meters

SOME OTHER WONDERS OF THE MODERN WORLD:

THE HOOVER DAM

Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. The dam was controversially named after President Herbert Hoover.

Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power.

A company called Six Companies started the project. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and the lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned over the dam to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.The dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 25 mi (40 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million people tour the dam each year. Before the dam could be built, the Colorado River needed to be diverted away from the construction site. To accomplish this, four diversion tunnels were driven through the canyon walls, two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona side. These tunnels were 56 feet (17 m) in diameter. Their combined length was nearly 16,000 ft or more than 3 mi (5 km). The contract required these tunnels to be completed by October 1, 1933, with a $3,000 per day fine to be assessed for any delay. To meet the deadline, Six Companies had to complete work by early 1933, since only in late fall and winter was the water level in the river low enough to safely divert. With most work finished on the dam itself (the powerhouse remained uncompleted), a formal dedication ceremony was arranged for September 30, 1935, to coincide with a western tour being made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The morning of the dedication, it was moved forward three hours from 2 p.m. Pacific time to 11 a.m.; this was done because Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes had reserved a radio slot for the President for 2 p.m. but officials did not realize until the day of the ceremony that the slot was for 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Despite the change in the ceremony time, and temperatures of 102 °F (39 °C), 10,000 people were present for the President's speech in which he avoided mentioning the name of former President Hoover, who was not invited to the ceremony. To mark the occasion, a three-cent stamp was issued by the United States Post Office Department—bearing the name "Boulder Dam", the official name of the dam between 1933 and 1947. After the ceremony, Roosevelt made the first visit by any American president to Las Vegas. There are two lanes for automobile traffic across the top of the dam, which formerly served as the Colorado River crossing for U.S. Route 93. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, authorities expressed security concerns and the Hoover Dam Bypass project was expedited.

THE SIMPLON TUNNEL

The Simplon Tunnel is a railway tunnel that connects Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, but not under Simplon Pass itself. It is straight except for short curves at either end. It actually consists of two single-track tunnels built nearly 20 years apart. The first to be opened is 19,700 meters (64,600 ft) long, the second is 19,824 meters (65,039 ft) long, making it the longest railway tunnel in the world until the opening of the Daishimizu Tunnel in 1982. Work on the first tube of the Simplon tunnel commenced in 1898. The Italian king Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the president of the National Council of Switzerland Ludwig Forrer opened the tunnel at Brig on 10 May 1906. The builders of the tunnel were Hermann Häustler and Hugo von Kager. Work on the second tube of the tunnel started in 1912 and it was opened in 1921. In 1871 the first line was completed through the Alps, connecting Italy and France with the Fréjus Rail Tunnel. The construction of the tunnel was carried out by the Hamburg engineering company Brandt & Brandau of Karl Brandau and Alfred Brandt. On average, 3,000 people a day worked on the site. They were mostly Italians, who suffered under very poor working conditions: 67 workers were killed in accidents; many died later of diseases. During the work, there were strikes, which led to the intervention of vigilantes and the Swiss army. Construction time was 7½ years, rather than 5½ years due to problems such as water inflows and strikes. During the Second World War, on both sides of the border there were preparations for the possible detonation of the tunnels. The explosives attached to the tunnel on the Swiss section were not removed until 2001. In Italy, the German army planned, as part of its 1945 withdrawal, to blow up the tunnel. On June 9, 2011, a 300 m (1,000 ft) section of the Simplon II tunnel's roof was seriously damaged when a northbound BLS freight train suffered a fire and was stopped 3 km into the tunnel. The temperature exceeded 800 °C (1,500 °F) and took more than two weeks to cool back to normal.

THE TAJ MAHAL

The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer. In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. The minarets, which are each more than 40 metres (130 ft) tall, display the designer's penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minarets—a traditional element of mosques. The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays, or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms. Throughout the complex, passages from the Qur'an are used as decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that the passages were chosen by Amanat Khan.

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the mile-wide, three-mile-long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County, bridging both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. Ferry service began as early as 1820, with regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for purposes of transporting water to San Francisco. Many wanted to build a bridge to connect San Francisco to Marin County. San Francisco was the largest American city still served primarily by ferry boats. Because it did not have a permanent link with communities around the bay, the city's growth rate was below the national average. Many experts said that a bridge couldn’t be built across the 6,700 ft (2,042 m) strait. It had strong, swirling tides and currents, with water 372 ft (113 m) deep at the center of the channel, and frequent strong winds. Experts said that ferocious winds and blinding fogs would prevent construction and operation. Strauss was chief engineer in charge of overall design and construction of the bridge project. However, because he had little understanding or experience with cable-suspension designs, responsibility for much of the engineering and architecture fell on other experts. Strauss' initial design proposal (two double cantilever spans linked by a central suspension segment) was unacceptable from a visual standpoint. The final graceful suspension design was conceived and championed by New York’s Manhattan Bridge designer Leon Moisseiff. The project was finished by April 1937, $1.3 million under budget. The Bridge Round House diner was then included in the southeastern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, adjacent to the tourist plaza which was renovated in 2012. The Bridge Round House, an Art Deco design by Alfred Finnila completed in 1938, has been popular throughout the years as a starting point for various commercial tours of the bridge and an unofficial gift shop. The diner was renovated in 2012 and the gift shop was then removed as a new, official gift shop has been included in the adjacent plaza. The weight of the roadway is hung from two cables that pass through the two main towers and are fixed in concrete at each end. Each cable is made of 27,572 strands of wire. There are 80,000 miles (129,000 km) of wire in the main cables. The bridge has approximately 1,200,000 total rivets. As a prominent American landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge has been used in numerous media, including books, films and video games.

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