The Seven Wonders of the World : Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, Taj Mahal, and Colosseum. Itza, Christ the Redeemer, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, Taj Mahal, and Colosseum.

These Seven Wonders of the World are chosen through voting from 2000-2007 from all over the world through telephone voting, web based voting, etc. This poll was organised by New7Wonders Foundation (N7W). Around 100 million ( 10 crore) people have voted. The poll was considered unscientific partly because it was possible at that time for people to cast multiple votes. These selection was done from 200 existing monuments. Only seven of them was chosen as the wonders of the World. The seven monuments name were announced on 7th July, 2007.


These seven wonders are known to be world's famous place. Let us know about every wonder one by one :

Taj Mahal (India) :

The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum. It is situated on the southern bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It is also known as Crown of the Palace. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned from 1628 to 1658) to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself.

The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Taj Mahal 

Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2020 would be approximately 7,000 crore (about U.S. $916 million).

The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts 7–8 million visitors a year.

Colosseum (Italy) :

The Colosseum or Coliseum is also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. It is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of travertine limestone, tuff (volcanic rock), and brick-faced concrete. It was the largest amphitheatre ever built at the time. The Colosseum could hold an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at various points of its history over the centuries.

It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles (for only a short time as the hypogeum was soon filled in with mechanisms to support the other activities), animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Roman mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

Colosseum

Construction was done under the emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed in AD 80 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).

Although substantially ruined because of earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is still an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and also has links to the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum. It has an average audience of some 65,000.

Chichen Itza (Mexico) :

Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people. It is a part of Maya Civilization and it's official name is Pre-Hispanic city of Chichen-Itza. It is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán State, Mexico. It was created from the late classic to early Postcassic period. It was designated in the year 1988.

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is one of the largest Maya cities. it is
likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city in the past may have the most diverse population in the Maya world.  The diverse population contributed the variety of architectural styles at Chichen Itza.

The ruins of Chichen Itza is federal property. It's stewardship is maintained by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History). The land under the monuments had been privately owned until 29 March 2010, when it was purchased by the state of Yucatán.

Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archaeological site in Mexico with over 2.6 million visitors in the year 2017.

Christ the Redeemer (statue in Brazil)  :

Christ the Redeemer is a type of Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was created by a famous French sculptor known as Paul Landowski. It was constructed between 1922 and 1931 by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida fashioned the face.

Christ the Redeemer

The statue is 30 metres (98 ft) high, excluding its 8-metre (26 ft) pedestal. The arms stretch 28 metres (92 ft) wide. It is made with reinforced concrete and soapstone. It weighs around 635 metric tons which contains 625 long stones and 700 short stones.

It is located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. The statue is a symbol of Christianity across the world. It has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.

Great Wall of China (China) :

The Great Wall of China was built across the historical northern borders of China to protect and consolidate territories of Chinese states and empires against various nomadic groups of the steppe and their polities. Several walls of  were being built from as early as the 7th century BC by ancient Chinese states. These selective stretches were later joined together by Qin Shi Huang (220–206 BC), who was the first emperor of China. Little of the Qin wall remains.

Later on, many successive dynasties have built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The most well-known sections of the wall were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).

Apart from defense, 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.

Great Wall of China 

Thee defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor.

The frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses. Collectively, they stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, from the present-day Sino–Russian border in the north to Taohe River in the south; along an arc that roughly delineates the edge of Mongolian steppe. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the walls built by the Ming dynasty 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. Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measures out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi). Today, the defensive system of the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history.

Machu Picchu (Peru) :

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca Citadel. It is located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a 2,430-metre (7,970 ft) mountain ridge. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, above the Sacred Valley. Which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). It is often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas". It is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate in 14th century. It was built in the classical Inca style with polished dry-stone walls. It has three primary structures that are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows.

Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the year 1983. 

Petra (Jordan) :

Petra is originally known by its inhabitants in Nabataean Aramaic. It is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. Petra lies around Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin surrounded by mountains which form the eastern flank of the Arabah valley that runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. The area around Petra has been inhabited from as early as 7000  BC.

The Nabataeans might have settled in what would become the capital city of their kingdom, as early as the 4th century BC. However, archaeological work has only discovered evidence of Nabataean presence dating back to the second century BC,by which time Petra had become their capital. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra's proximity to the trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub.

The trading business gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth. The Nabataeans were accustomed to living in the barren deserts, unlike their enemies, and were able to repel attacks by taking advantage of the area's mountainous terrain.

Petra

They were particularly skillful in harvesting rainwater, agriculture and stone carving. Petra flourished in the 1st century AD, when its famous Al-Khazneh structure. It is believed to be the mausoleum of Nabataean king Aretas IV. It was constructed, and its population peaked at an estimated 20,000 inhabitants.

Access to the city is through a 1.2-kilometre-long (0.75 mi) gorge called the Siq, which leads directly to the Khazneh. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system, Petra is also called the 'Rose City' because of the colour of the stone from which it is carved. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. UNESCO has described Petra as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage".

Petra is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. Tourist numbers peaked at 918,000 in 2010, but there followed a temporary slump during the political instability generated by the Arab Spring, which affected countries surrounding Jordan. Visitor numbers subsequently increased and reached a record-breaking 1.1 million tourists in 2019, marking the first time that the figure rose above the 1 million mark.


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