Seven Wonders of the World
Listing the seven wonders of the world began during the time of the Greeks. The first lists were for travelers of that time, listing man-made objects of particular architectural or sculptural note. The list of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World generally includes the Pyramids of Giza; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the temple of Artemis at Ephesus; the mausoleum at Halicarnassus; the Colossus of Rhodes (a statue of the sun god Helios); the Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria; and the statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece.
Today there are many such lists, including the Seven Modern Wonders, the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World, the Seven Natural Wonders, the Seven Wonders of Medicine, etc. According to several encyclopedias, some of the lists are as follows:
The Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages: The Colosseum
of Rome, the catacombs of Alexandria, the Great Wall of
China, Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, Stonehenge, the
Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Porcelain Pagoda of Nanjing.
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World: The Grand Canyon
(U.S.), Iguazú; Falls (Argentina), Yosemite Valleys giant
sequoias (U.S.), Mount Everest (Tibet/Nepal), the harbor of Rio
de Janeiro (Brazil), the Nile River (Egypt), and the aurora
borealis (the northern lights). Among the natural wonders
included on other lists are Niagara Falls (U.S./Canada), Rainbow
Natural Bridge (U.S.), and the Petrified Forest (U.S.), among others.
The Seven Wonders of Today (compiled in 1931 after the completion
of the Empire State Building): The Great Pyramids (Egypt), Hagia
Sophia (Turkey), Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy), Washington Monument
(U.S.), Eiffel Tower (France), Taj Mahal (India), and Empire State
Building (U.S.).
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There are many other such lists; none are definitive, of course. But the United Nations World Heritage Convention (part of UNESCO) has compiled an inventory of the worlds wonders that it plans to preserve and protect. To qualify, a site must be judged to have outstanding universal value, either natural like Canadas Wood Buffalo National Park and Australias Great Barrier Reef, or cultural like Haitis Citadel and Sans Souci and Frances Chartres Cathedral. Among the hundreds of sites listed by the World Heritage Convention are the ancient city of Cuzco in Peru, Virunga National Park in Zaire, the U.S.s Statue of Liberty, Altamira Cave in Spain, and Sri Lankas sacred city of Anuradhapura. You can read more about some of the World Heritage Sites in the Societys book Our Worlds Heritage, published in 1987.
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