Seven Wonders of the World

When you buy a globe from Great Globes, you and your family can begin to dream about all of the places that you want to visit together. You might want to visit the beaches and others in your family might want to see the big cities. When you dream about places to go, why not dream about seeing some of the Wonders of the World.

The original Seven Wonders of the World still exist, even though they are getting quite old. In the last few years, many global organizations took it upon themselves to name other wonders of the world. By doing this, they gave travelers ideas for other vacation destinations and they preserved the original Seven Wonders for more generations.

Wonders of the Ancient World

The original Seven Wonders of the World are now called the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. These include pieces that were named by Herodotus, the ancient historian. His list includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Lighthouse in Alexandria, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Statue of Zeus in Olympia, the Hanging Gardens in Babylon, Artemis’s Temple in Ephesus, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Some lists have the Ishtar Gates instead of the Lighthouse. Tourists can see the locations where these ancient wonders once existed, but only wonder that is still standing is the Great Pyramid at Giza.

New Wonders of the World

There are several other wonders of the world that do exist today. These wonders inspire a significant amount of awe, as many people wonder how they were created so many years ago. The newer wonders of the world are still standing and they include places like Stonehenge, the Colosseum in Rome, the Great Wall of China, the Leaning Tower of Piza, the Taj Mahal, Cluny Abbey, and the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing.

In 2001, a group in Switzerland decided it was time to ask the world what it thought the newest seven wonders should be. There were approximately 200 places and structures that were considered and six years later the organization named the New7Wonders of the World, despite much controversy. The newest wonders included the Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, Macchu Picchu in Peru, Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Colosseum in Italy, the Taj Mahal in India, and the Great Pyramid in Egypt as an honorary member of the list.

Wonders of the Natural World

Along with the man-made structure that dominate the Seven Wonders lists, there are also lists that show the Seven Natural Wonders, too. There are so many natural wonders of the world that it is challenging to narrow the list down to just seven, but this list was compiled by the people at CNN. Their list includes the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Mount Everest, the Harbor in Rio de Janeiro, Aurora, Victoria Falls, and Paricutin Volcano. Other similar lists include places like the Galapagos Islands, Table Mountain, and Komodo Island.

Once you purchase a globe from Great Globes, you and your family can decide on your own seven wonderful places that you would like to visit together.

Old vs New: The Seven Wonders of the World

In our fast-paced, modern lives, it is sometimes easy to forget that the world is still full of ancient and awe-inspiring wonders.  That all it takes is a week and a plane ticket, and you can be anywhere in the world… soaking up a foreign sun, exploring another culture, being amazed by the beauty of the world.

Now most people have heard of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but few could name perhaps more than two or three of them - at best! 

Originally compiled almost 2,500 years ago by the Greek historian, Herodotus, these ancient monuments conjure up a sense of awe and wonder that sometimes seems lost in our new world of technology and 24 hour living.

Here’s the original list that was compiled thousands of years ago -

The 7 Ancient Wonders of the World:

1.    Great Pyramid of Giza
2.    Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3.    Statue of Zeus at Olympia
4.    Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
5.    Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
6.    Colossus of Rhodes
7.    Lighthouse of Alexandria

Controversial – The 7 New Wonders…

Recently a new list of world wonders has been causing some controversy.

Since antiquity, a number of different lists were created to replace this famous ancient selection of  ‘wonders’ because when Herodotus first put his list together, the known world was a much smaller place based mostly around the Mediterranean Sea.  It was very limited and only included monuments from the local area, completely excluding the rest of the as yet, unknown world.

However, it was only very recently that an entirely new and generally accepted list was put together by the New7Wonders Foundation a not for profit  organization based in Switzerland. 

This new list was compiled based on the votes of over 100 million people from around the globe, and was historically announced on the date of 07-07-07 in homage to the number seven.

It was extremely controversial with some countries upset that they did not receive a place in the top seven wonders.  And because nothing prevented multiple votes from being cast during the contest, some countries tried to sway the results in their favor.  Many actually ran vigorous campaigns for their citizens to vote on a national monument, including Brazil, where phone companies allowed people to vote for free, and even sent them text messages to remind them!

Now that the hype and controversy has settled down the New Seven Wonders of the World has been generally accepted by most people, although not everyone is happy. 

What do you think?  Here is the new list:

The New Seven Wonders of The World:

1.    Taj Mahal, India
2.    Chichen Itza, Mexico
3.    Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
4.    Colosseum, Italy
5.    Great Wall of China, China
6.    Machu Picchu, Peru
7.    Petra , Jordan

Probably the most exciting thing about this list is that unlike the ancient and myth-like wonders… these are all still in existence.  They are truly magnificent places that you can visit just as soon as you get the time, money and the inclination!

What About You?
Have you been lucky enough to travel to any of these thrilling locations? 

If you have been to any of these amazing places we would love to see your photos on our facebook page. 

And if you think that somewhere else should have been included in the top seven, tell us where and why!

We would love to hear your comments.