What are the seven wonders of th
Oliver Smith,digital travel editor , The Telegraph
27 JULY 2016 • 2:45PM
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were a collection ofremarkable constructions listed by various Greek authors, including Antipaterof Sidon and Philo of Byzantium. The classic list featured seven wonderslocated in the Eastern Mediterranean.
1. Great Pyramid of
Giza
Built between 2584 BC and 2561 BC, the Great Pyramid of Giza is
the only surviving ancient wonder. It is 230.4 metres wide at its base and
146.5 metres tall, and is the largest of three that sit beside the city
Cairo. It was the tallest man-made structure for more than 3,800
years, until the completion of Lincoln Cathedral around the year 1300.
The modern alternative?Modern pyramids include the glass entrance to theLouvre in Paris, the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, and the
30-storeyLuxor Hotel in Las Vegas. The world's tallest pyramid-shaped structure is the
colossalRyugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North
Korea- dubbed the
"Hotel of Doom" - at 330 metres tall. It is followed closely byThe Shard in London(309.6m).
2. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Temple of Artemis was reckoned by Antipater of Sidon, the
Greek poet, to be the finest of the ancient wonders. He wrote: "When I saw
the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their
brilliancy, and I said, 'Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught
so grand'." After being destroyed twice, by floods and arson, the third -
and greatest - incarnation began in 323BC. It survived until 268AD, when it was
damaged or destroyed during a Goth raid. The site of the temple was
rediscovered in 1869, andfragments of it can be found
in the British Museum.Ephesus was given World
Heritage Site status in 2014.
The modern alternative?Among the world's most striking modern temples are
Chiang Rai's impossibly intricateWat Rong Khun, opened in 1997;Harmandir Sahib, or the "Golden
Temple", completed in Amritsarin 1604; Kinkaku-ji inKyoto; theSagrada Familia in
Barcelona(its full name - Basílica i Temple
Expiatori de la Sagrada Família - is a bit of a mouthful); and theLotus Temple in New Delhi, a place of worship of the Bahá'í faith built in 1986, which
has won numerous architectural awards.
3. Hanging Gardens of Babylon
This is the only ancient wonder whose exact location has notbeen established. While some believe they were purely mythical, other sourcessuggest they were built by King Nebuchadnezzer II around 600BC. The site mayhave comprised an ascending series of tiered gardens which resembled a largegreen mountain rising from the centre of ancient Babylon, near present-dayHillah in Iraq. If the gardens did exist at all, they were destroyed soon afterthe first century AD.
The modern alternative?Given its location, theDubai Miracle Gardenis an obvious choice. Opened on Valentine’s Day in
2013, it contains over 45 million flowers covering a 72,000m² site, with blooms
fashioned into the shapes of hearts, stars, igloos and pyramids. Other options
include Kew Gardens,the Keukenhof Gardens, the gardens at Versailles, and those atVilla d'Este in Tivoli, Rome.
4. Lighthouse ofAlexandria
Built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 280BC and 247BC, the
Lighthouse of Alexandria measured up to 137 metres in height, making it one of
the tallest man-made structures in the world for centuries. It was damaged by
three earthquakes between 956 and 1323, surviving as a ruin until 1480, when
the last of its stones was used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay, which still
stands on the site.
The modern alternative?Among the most beautiful lighthouses around the world are
those at Lindau in Germany, Key Biscayne in Florida, and Andenes in Norway. The
tallest? Jeddah Light, a 133-metre building in the Saudi Arabian city,
built in 1990.
5. Statue of Zeus at Olympia
This giant seated representation of the Greek god Zeus was builtby the sculptor Phidias around 435BC in the Temple of Zeus at the sanctuary ofOlympia. It consisted of a wooden framework covered with ivory plates and goldpanels, while the throne was decorated with ebony, ivory, gold and preciousstones. It was mentioned by the Roman historian Suetonius (apparently Caligulagave orders for it to be shipped to Rome so its head could be replaced with asculpture of his own). The statue may have been destroyed when the Temple ofZeus was lost to fire in 425. Alternatively, it was taken to Constantinople(now Istanbul), where it burnt with the Palace of Lausus in 475. Phidias'sworkshop was rediscovered at Olympia in the 1950s.
The modern alternative?The Golden Buddha inBangkok, the world's heaviest solid gold statue at 5.5 tons, is one
option. Or how about the world's tallest statue: the Spring Temple
Buddha in Henan, China, at 128 metres tall?
6. Mausoleum at
Halicarnassus
Built between 353BC and 350BC, this tomb - for Mausolus, a
Persian satrap (a provincial governor) - was 45 metres in height and covered in
ornate reliefs by four different Greek sculptors. It stood at Halicarnassus,
near modern-day Bodrum,Turkey, until it was
destroyed by successive earthquakes between the 12th and 15th centuries. Since
its construction, the word "mausoleum" has come to represent any
above-ground tomb.
The modern alternative?The most famous mausoleum in the world is theTaj Mahal, built in 1643 on the Yamuna River near Agra to house the
body of Mumtaz Mahal, the favourite wife of the Mughal emporer Shah Jahan. For
something eerie, there's Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow - the leader's
embalmed body is still on public display.
7. Colossus of Rhodes
This statue to the Greek god of the sun, Helios, once stood at
the entrance to the harbour atRhodes, on the Greek
island of the same name. It was built in 280BC to mark victory over the ruler
of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, but survived for just 54 years, when it
was destroyed by an earthquake. It was more than 30 metres tall and made of
bronze and iron with a marble pedestal.
The modern alternative?Christ the RedeemerinRio de Janeirois an obvious choice. It is of similar height, not far
from the sea, and suitably impressive.
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