The Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Lisbon, Portugal recently reported on the selection of the 7 ‘new’ world wonders during a celebrity-studded ceremony held at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light on July 7, 2007. The AFP-Lisbon report mentions the names of the 7 ‘new’ world wonders, as follows: (1) the Great Wall of China, (2) the Colosseum in Rome, (3) the Taj Mahal in India, (4) the ruins of Petra in Jordan, (5) the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, (6) the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, and (7) the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico.
According to the AFP-Lisbon report, "The shortlist of 21 (sites) was drawn up by a panel of world renowned architects and ex-UNESCO chief Federico Mayor in January last year." Losing out among the frontrunners on the short list were seven sites that are equally deserving of the honor. They are listed below in alphabetical order, each briefly described from recorded historical facts and accounts:
1. Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Famous as the "Moorish Paradise," the Alhambra recalls Spain’s Islamic past. It is a palace-fortress that conceals an interior of unsurpassed beauty and sits high above an ancient city, framed against the spectacular backdrop of the Sierra Nevada’s shimmering snow-capped peaks. The ancient palace of the Moorish rulers of Spain dominates the modern city of Granada just as its builders once dominated their extensive empire. A glowing red citadel, the Alhambra includes a maze of perfectly proportioned shady courtyards, filigreed galleries, sunlit patios and arcades.
2. Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Famous as the "City of Temples and Mystery" and hidden for centuries in the depths of the Cambodian jungle, the venerable crumbling stone temples of Angkor, capital of the medieval Khmer Empire, are among the world’s greatest cultural treasures. While hacking a pathway through the dense Cambodian jungle in 1850, the French missionary Father Charles-Emile Bouillevaux stumbled upon the sprawling ruins of an ancient city. Among them stood one of the world’s greatest religious shrines, Angkor Wat. The ruined city of Angkor lies about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia (formerly Kampuchea), near the great lake of Tonle Sap. At the height of its development in AD 1000, it covered an area of 75 sq. miles (190 sq. kilometers), making it the largest city of the medieval world.
3. Easter Island in the watery expanses of the South Pacific (annexed by Chile in 1888). Famous as the "Home of Stone Giants," the Easter Island has a history of unique sculpture. Huge stone statues, the most enigmatic in the world, were hewn from the island’s extinct volcanic crater and dragged into place. The first Europeans to set foot on the island, on Easter Sunday 1722, were Dutch sailors. They stayed long enough to name the island and for their admiral to note that the islanders appeared to worship colossal statues carved from stone. In fact, the statues were cut from badly eroded volcanic rock.
4. Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous as the "Byzantine Marvel," this architectural masterpiece has had a profound influence on Christian and Islamic architecture. For 1,400 years, the dome of Hagia Sophia (the words mean ‘holy wisdom’ in Greek) dominated the spiritual life of the city of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). This massive construction of semi-domes, buttresses and outbuildings is offset by four elegant minarets, one at each corner, for Hagia Sophia was conceived and built as a Christian church, then converted by one of the world’s most gifted architects to serve as an Islamic mosque. In 1934, Hagia Sophia was stripped of any religious significance and is today a museum. To the many visitors drawn here each year, however, it remains a spiritual oasis in a bustling metropolis.
5. Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. A triangular-shaped site of 90 acres (36 hectares) on the banks of the Moscow River houses the Kremlin. The original "wooden citadel," or kremlin, erected in 1156, was rebuilt in brick in the 14th century. Later alterations and additions have resulted in a rich variety of palaces and cathedrals which reflect the architectural styles of their period: Byzantine (St. Basil’s Cathedral), Russian, Baroque and classical among them. The home of the Tsars until 1712, in 1918 the Kremlin became the administrative and political headquarters of the USSR.
6. Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany. A tribute to the knights of Germanic legend, the castle of Neuschwanstein represents the fusion of the dreams and wealth of King Ludwig of Bavaria and the artistic vision of the composer Richard Wagner. The fairytale castle of Neuschwanstein, perched above the rugged gorge of the River Pollak in the Bavarian Alps, is the "world’s most magical castle." Against a backdrop of dark green fir trees, its ivory towers seem to hang in the air. Neuschwanstein, conceived and constructed by King Ludwig II (1845-1886), looks more genuinely ‘medieval’ than anything built in the Middle Ages. One man’s dream transformed into reality by limitless wealth, Neuschwanstein is the epitome of theatrical design. And as the most magical castle in the world, it seems only fitting that it should have been the model for the princess’s palace in Walt Disney’s "Sleeping Beauty."
7. Stonehenge in England. An enduring monument to bygone mysteries of religion and science, the great megalithic circle of giant stone slabs at Stonehenge provides the modern world with a timeless puzzle, an architectural wonder and a tribute to the human imagination. Was it a sacred burial ground or a prehistoric observatory? The extraordinary concentric stone circles that occupy the site today represent thousands of years of archaeological changes. Bridging the Late Stone Age and Early Bronze Age, the monument was constructed in three or even four stages over a period of roughly 1,500 years, though mainly between 1800 and 1400 BC. But what remains of Stonehenge today is but a shadow of its former glory. More than half the stones have either fallen, or are missing, or lie buried. More recently, astronomers claiming to have ‘decoded’ the stones propose that Stonehenge is a prehistoric computer, an astronomical calendar or an astrological calculator, since the alignments of the stones seem to bear a direct relationship to the movements of the sun, moon, and planets and their ever-shifting relationships. While mathematical and statistical evidence can be produced to support nearly every new theory, no single theory has yet solved the riddle of Stonehenge’s fabled past.
The selection of the 7 ‘new’ world wonders was a result of voting made by people from around the world in which the event’s organizers tallied nearly 100 million votes cast on the Internet and through telephones. Clearly, the sites included in the short list (including the 7 ones listed above) which did not make it to the final "magic 7" lost out because of lesser number of votes received and not necessarily because of being of lesser natural and cultural value than those selected.
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