What a Wonder-full World...
Not only did the 7-7-07 date elicit wedding glee from the enthusiastically engaged, but it also served as the release date of the New 7 Wonders of the World, voted on globally at the New7Wonders Foundation site. The Foundation was created in 2001 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, with a mission to "protect humankind's heritage across the globe." This venture was part of an effort by Weber and others to raise awareness of the decay of many of our world's most significant monuments and man-made structures. Their hope is not only to recreate some buzz around some significant historical and anthropological sites, but to raise money to preserve and/or rebuild these wonders as well. Find out more about their efforts here.

Well, voting is now over, and you can find the revised, er updated, ummm...well, the New 7 Wonders here.

They are:
Chichén Itzá, Mexico
Christ Redeemer, Brazil
The Great Wall, China
Machu Picchu, Peru
Petra, Jordan
The Roman Colosseum, Italy
The Taj Mahal, India

The original Seven Wonders, chosen by Philon of Byzantium as a travel guide for fellow Athenians were:
  • The Lighthouse of Alexandria
  • The Temple of Artemis
  • The Statue of Zeus
  • The Colossus of Rhodes
  • The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
  • The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
  • The Pyramids of Egypt
All had been built between 2,500 B.C. and 200 B.C., and only the Pyramids of Egypt remain. Sadly, not only were they not selected as part of the New7Wonders, they didn't even make the list of finalists.

Perhaps that, along with other concerns, led to a critical response regarding the project from UNESCO , the UN body for Culture. Among those concerns were 1)the desire of the foundation to rebuild and/or repair certain monuments, which would cause the destruction of the sites as a whole, and 2) the limiting of the voting to 7 sites, noting that cultural world has grown immensely from the time of Philon.


What do you think?
1 Response
  1. http://misadventuresofmonsterlibrary.blogspot.com/2007/07/seven-wonders-of-todays-world.html

    Hey, I wrote about this too! I voted also!


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