The New Seven Wonders of the World

Remove all ads!

I was reading the article in the newspaper today, and I must say I was a little surprised. Apparently the jury has a rather classical taste. For those who missed it, here are the monuments classified as the new 7 wonders of the world, according to a survey that took place over the course of several years:

- The Colliseum in Rome
- The great Chinese Wall
- Taj Mahal in India
- Petra in Jordan
- The statue of Jesus the Savior in Brasilia
- The Machu Pikchu complex in Peru
- The Chichen Itza pyramid in Mexico

While the project was not officially endorsed by UNESCO (in fact, sources say the organization is rather irked it was not consulted), its former general secretary was in the jury in the jury, and various world-renowned figures were involved in the ceremony. The last vote in early 2006 eliminated several monuments, including the St. Sophia church/mosque in Istanbul, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Statue of Liberty in New York, the Acropolis in Athens and the Opera in Sydney.

I myself am a little disappointed - I did not expect the statue in Brazilia or Petra to be among the seven. Oh well, there is bound to be another poll like that, especially as the UNESCO and - strangely enough - the Vatican seem to be quite unhappy about it

 

Actually, I voted about a month ago, and those items, including Neuschwanstein Castle and a few others were on the ballot.

My vote included Neuschwanstein Castle, the GWoC, Machu Pikchu, the Colliseum, the Acropolis, the Angkor Wat Temple, and the Easter Island Statues.

 

The Sydney Opera House should be there. Thats my favourate

 

Yeah, the Jesus statue as a World Wonder is retarded.

 

I agree, it's big and a lot of people in and around Brazilia aparently consider it important, but a wonder of the world? Top seven? I don't think so.

That being said, I do think the more classical trends on this issue are understandable on a number of counts. Anything new may not last, and there's a new tallest tower, biggest damn, most expensive X, or whatever being put up frequently. For it to make the top seven, it has to be REALLY significant. I think the original seven really achieved that. On top of that, I just have the feeling that the 'lasting products' of human civilization have become less lasting and less significant. I mean, what modern construction, except for a few damns, had anywhere's near the shear amount of stone used in the Great Pyramids? Maybe it has something to do with the decentralization of power, or the elimination of open slave labor, or the rampant conservation efforts around the world, but I just don't feel like we're making things as grand as they used to be.

Plus, where's the Great White Pyramid?

 

That's EXACTLY what I thought when I read the list. If something was on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world, and it's still standing today, I think it gets priority over anything else on the list. The Great Wall of China did get included, but the Great Pyramid did not? WTF?

 

Just a little correction the Statue of Christ the Redeemer is in Rio de Janeiro, not in Brazilia. I completely agree with you guys, It was a joke. The statue in my opinion shouldn’t even be one of the nominees. But that’s what you get when you do Internet polls.

What a shame…

 

The Pyramid of Cheops was not included in the vote because of Egyptian request and is considered a honorary member of this group.

In my opinion it's impossible to make these kinds of lists and measure the value of different wonders. It all boils down to individual appreciation and opinions. This is nothing more than a stupid poll and will hopefully be forgotten soon enough.

 

Does anyone know under what criteria these were illiminated?

 

vox spamirati probably. This was an internet poll, remember.

GWoC, 'the big pointy tomb' @ Giza, Chichen Itza, la Tour Eiffel, and the Statue of Liberty are definitely on my list of Wonders, but I don't think I'd be able to stop at seven...

I'm ashamed to say I had to look up Petra - I'd seen it before, and I AM impressed with it; I'm just horrible with names!

 

I fell the same way. The others are 'wonders' because the effort to build them was extraordinary at their time.

 

If only I had a dollar for everytime I was reminded to go vote for the Taj Mahal in this voting...

He he .. with a country that has a billion votes, its kind of a shoo-in, I think.

Atleast we won't be bothered about this anymore...

 

The new wonders doesn't necessarily mean they have to be built after the "old" wonders. Just that only one of the 7 old wonders are here now, so they think we should need to find the new 7. Old wonders are great because they, to some extend, are mysteries. For example, we have no idea how the pyramids were built, and this contributes to its legendary-ness.

i voted for Easter island but sadly it doesn't make it.

 

I can't believe how much MONEY got poured into this fiasco. This was a multimillion dollar venture, and for what? The voting was flawed in so many ways that I can't even begin to describe.

But if I had thought it worthwhile voting, I would have voted for cool mysterious ancient stuff like Easter Island, Stonehenge, Chichen Itza, Macchu Picchu, Tiwanaku, etc

 

How you can make a list of wonders of the world and not list Stonehenge is beyond me. Even before I saw it I thought it was great, but after seeing it at at summer solstice and how it all lined up perfectly it was just like wow.

And that statue is pathetic compared to the rest of the list, and that list doesn't even include most of what I think should be on there.

[ July 11, 2007, 05:34: Message edited by: iLLusioN' ]

 

Now, I take a differing view; the statue overlooking Rio is quite impressive. I would have the site on my list of wonders...

...admittedly, it'd be around the teens or twenties, but still...

Which just reinforces my belief that trying to LIMIT oneself to seven wonders of the world is leaving off many amazing things that humankind has created...

 

Oops, sorry, that is what I get from blindly rehashing the newspapers...

 

I've never even heard of this Jesus statue ... and after googling some images of it I don't really see why it's in the list. Sure - it's very large, but I don't see how it's any more interesting or wonderous than, say, the Statue of Liberty.