7 most famous monuments of the ancient world. Wonders of the world: how many there were and how many have survived. Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt

Over the centuries, people have compiled a variety of lists of wonders of the world in order to highlight from the total number the most outstanding creations of human architectural genius or the most amazing manifestations of natural perfection. Most often, such lists were limited to seven laureates, following the ancient Greek seven wonders of the world, but more expanded or narrow lists are also found.

The Seven Wonders of the World (or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a list of the most famous sights of the Oecumene culture. Compiling a list of the most famous poets, philosophers, generals, great kings, as well as monuments of architecture and art is a traditional “minor” genre of Greek Hellenistic poetry and a kind of exercise in rhetoric. The choice of number itself is sanctified by the most ancient ideas about its completeness, completeness and perfection; the number 7 was considered the sacred number of the god Apollo (Seven against Thebes, Seven Wise Men, etc.). Like collections of sayings of famous sages, collections of anecdotes and stories of wonders, writings on the Seven Wonders of the World were popular in ancient times and included descriptions of the grandest, most magnificent, or technically most amazing buildings and monuments of art. That is why they were called miracles, while the list does not include many genuine masterpieces of ancient architecture and art - the Acropolis in Athens with the creation of Phidias - the Parthenon statue of Athena, the famous statue of Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles, etc.

Mentions of the Seven Wonders appear in the writings of Greek authors starting from the Hellenistic era. You had to know them already at school; scientists and poets wrote about them. The text of one Egyptian papyrus, which was a kind of educational manual, mentions the names of famous legislators, painters, sculptors, architects, inventors, which must be memorized, then the largest islands, mountains and rivers and, finally, the seven wonders of the world. The “selection” of miracles occurred gradually, and some miracles replaced others.

Herodotus

The walls of Babylon were included in the list of the Seven Wonders of the World, but were later replaced by the Lighthouse of Alexandria

The first list of wonders of the world is attributed to Herodotus. The list appeared in Ancient Greece in the 5th century BC. e.. All the miracles were on the island of Samos. This listing consisted of three wonders of the world: an Aqueduct in the form of a tunnel, a dam in the port on the island, and the Temple of the goddess Hera.

Samos Island today

Aqueduct

Later the list expanded to seven wonders. In the 3rd century BC. e. a new list of miracles has appeared. Historians consider its source to be a small poem by Antipater of Sidon (there is also a version that it was written by Antipater of Thessalonica:

"I have seen your walls, Babylon, on which there is spacious
And chariots; I saw Zeus at Olympia,
Miracle of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Colossus of Helios
And the pyramids are the work of many and hard labors;
I know Mausolus, a huge tomb. But I just saw
I am the palace of Artemis, the roof raised to the clouds,
Everything else faded before him; outside Olympus
The sun does not see beauty equal to it anywhere."

The description of Antipater follows the work of Philo of Alexandria (orator of the 4th century AD or the famous mechanic of the 3rd century BC) “On the Seven Wonders.” Probably, after the construction of the Alexandria Lighthouse, this miracle of engineering replaces the walls of Babylon on the list (as a wonder of the world it is mentioned by Pliny the Elder in Natural History). In a number of works, instead of the hanging gardens, the walls of Babylon appeared again, and the lighthouse on the island. The Pharos was replaced by the Library of Alexandria; The list was also supplemented by the Pergamon altar of Zeus, the palace of Cyrus in Persepolis, the “singing” statues of Memnon near Egyptian Thebes and Thebes itself, the temple of Zeus in Cyzicus, the statue of Asclepius in Epidaurus, the Athena Parthenos by Phidias on the Athenian Acropolis, and in the Roman period - the Colosseum and the Capitol. Subsequently, the list in various combinations was also supplemented by the Temple of Solomon, Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel, the Temple of Sophia in Constantinople, etc.

Classic list

Around the 3rd century BC. a classic list of seven wonders of the world has been formed:

Pyramid of Cheops (Giza, 2550 BC),
Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Babylon, 600 BC),
Statue of Zeus at Olympia (Olympia, 435 BC),
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (Ephesus, 550 BC),
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Halicarnassus, 351 BC),
Colossus of Rhodes (Rhodes, between 292 and 280 BC),
Lighthouse of Alexandria (Alexandria, 3rd century BC).

The Pyramid of Cheops

The Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) is the largest of the Egyptian pyramids, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that has survived to this day. An Eastern proverb says: “Everything in the world is afraid of time, but time is afraid of the Pyramids.” It is assumed that construction, which lasted twenty years, ended around 2540 BC. e. The architect of the Great Pyramid is considered to be Hemiun, the vizier and nephew of Cheops. He also bore the title "Manager of all Pharaoh's construction projects." For more than three thousand years (until the construction of the cathedral in Lincoln, England, around 1300), the pyramid was the tallest building on Earth.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A more correct name for this structure is the Hanging Gardens Amitis (according to other sources - Amanis): this was the name of the wife of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, for whose sake the gardens were created. Presumably they were located in the ancient city-state of Babylon, near the modern city of Hill. The Hanging Gardens existed for about two centuries. After Amytis's death, they stopped caring for the garden, then powerful floods destroyed the foundation of the columns, and the entire structure collapsed. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the most mysterious structure of all the Wonders of the World. Scientists even doubt whether they actually existed or are just a figment of someone’s imagination, carefully copied from chronicle to chronicle.

Zeus statue in Olympia

The statue of Zeus at Olympia is the work of Phidias. An outstanding work of ancient sculpture, one of the seven wonders of the world. It was located in the temple of Zeus, in Olympia - a city in the region of Elis, in the north-west of the Peloponnese peninsula, where from 776 BC. e. to 394 AD e. Every four years the Olympic Games were held - competitions between Greek and then Roman athletes. The Greeks considered those who did not see the statue of Zeus in the temple unfortunate. The Olympic Games, held for 300 years in honor of the god Zeus, were extremely popular among the people. Despite this, there was no main temple of Zeus in Greece and only in 470 BC. began collecting donations for its construction. According to legend, the temple was magnificent. The entire temple, including the roof, was built of marble. It was surrounded by 34 massive columns made of shell rock. Each was 10.5 meters high and more than 2 meters thick. The area of the temple was 64x27 m. On the outer walls of the temple there were slabs with bas-reliefs depicting the 12 labors of Hercules. Bronze doors, 10 meters high, opened the entrance to the cult room of the temple. In the 5th century BC. e. The citizens of Olympia decided to build a temple of Zeus. The majestic building was erected between 466 and 456 BC. e. It was built from huge stone blocks and was surrounded by massive columns. For several years after construction was completed, the temple did not have a worthy statue of Zeus, although it was soon decided that one was necessary. The famous Athenian sculptor Phidias was chosen as the creator of the statue. Around 40 AD e. The Roman Emperor Caligula wanted to move the statue of Zeus to his home in Rome. Workers were sent for her. But, according to legend, the statue laughed, and the workers fled in horror. The statue was damaged after an earthquake in the 2nd century BC. e., then it was restored by the sculptor Dimophon. In 391 AD e. The Romans closed the Greek temples after adopting Christianity. Emperor Theodosius I, who affirmed Christianity, banned the Olympic Games as part of a pagan cult. Finally, only the base, some columns and sculptures remained from the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The last mention of it dates back to 363 AD. e. At the beginning of the 5th century AD. e. The statue of Zeus was transported to Constantinople. The statue burned down in a temple fire in 425 AD. e. or in the fire in Constantinople in 476 AD. e.

Ancient ruins in Olympia

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was located in the Greek city of Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor (currently the city of Selcuk in the southern province of Izmir, Turkey). The first large temple was built in the middle of the 6th century BC. e., burned by Herostratus in 356 BC. e., soon restored in a rebuilt form, in the 3rd century it was plundered by the Goths. In the 4th century it was closed by Christians due to the ban on pagan cults and destroyed. The church built in its place was also destroyed.

Artemis of Ephesus

Model of a temple in Turkey in Miniaturk Park

View of the temple ruins

This is what the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus looked like

Halicarnassus Mausoleum

Halicarnassus Mausoleum is a tombstone of the Carian ruler Mausolus (Greek: Μαύσωλος), built in the middle of the 4th century BC. e. by order of his wife Artemisia III in Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum, Turkey), one of the ancient wonders of the world. The mausoleum stood for 19 centuries. In the 13th century it collapsed from a strong earthquake, and in 1522 the remains of the Mausoleum were dismantled by the Knights of St. John for the construction of the fortress of St. Petra. In 1846, the ruins were explored by an expedition from the British Museum led by Charles Thomas Newton. Based on the results of the research, several options for reconstructing the original appearance were compiled, one of which was used as the basis for the Grant Mausoleum in Manhattan.

Carian king Mausolus

Perhaps this is what the Colossus of Rhodes looked like

The Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes (Greek Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, lat. Colossus Rhodi) is a giant statue of the ancient Greek sun god Helios, which stood in the port city of Rhodes, located on the island of the same name in the Aegean Sea, in Greece. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The sculptor Hares, a student of Lysippos, worked for twelve years to create an almost 36-meter bronze giant. When the work on the statue was completed, a tall and slender young god with a radiant crown on his head appeared before the eyes of the amazed Rhodians. He stood on a white marble pedestal, leaning slightly back, and intensely peered into the distance. The statue of the god towered right at the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes and was visible from the nearby islands. The statue was made of clay, had a metal frame at its base, and was covered with bronze sheets on top. The production of the grandiose monument required 500 talents of bronze and 300 talents of iron (about 13 and about 8 tons, respectively). The colossus also gave rise to a kind of fashion for giant statues in Rhodes already in the 2nd century. BC e. About a hundred colossal sculptures were installed. The colossus stood for sixty-five years. In 222 BC. e. The statue was destroyed by an earthquake. As Strabo writes, “the statue lay on the ground, overthrown by an earthquake and broken at the knees.” But even then the Colossus caused surprise with its size. Pliny the Elder mentions that only a few could wrap both hands around the thumb of the statue's hand (assuming the natural proportions of the human body are observed, this indicates the height of the statue at 200 feet or 60 m). The remains of the Colossus lay on the ground for more than a thousand years, until they were finally sold by the Arabs, who captured Rhodes in 977, to a merchant who, as one chronicle says, loaded 900 camels with them.

Alexandrian lighthouse

The Alexandria (Faros) lighthouse is one of the 7 wonders of the world, built in the 3rd century BC. e. in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, so that ships could safely pass the reefs on their way to the Alexandria Bay. At night they were helped in this by the reflection of flames, and during the day by a column of smoke. It was the world's first lighthouse, and it stood for almost a thousand years. The lighthouse was built on the small island of Pharos in the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of Alexandria. This busy port was founded by Alexander the Great during his visit to Egypt in 332 BC. e. The building was named after the island. Its construction was supposed to take 20 years, and it was completed around 283 BC. e., during the reign of Ptolemy II, king of Egypt. The construction of this gigantic structure lasted only 5 years. Architect - Sostratus of Cnidus. The Faros lighthouse consisted of three marble towers standing on a base of massive stone blocks. The first tower was rectangular and contained rooms in which workers and soldiers lived. Above this tower was a smaller, octagonal tower with a spiral ramp leading to the upper tower. The upper tower was shaped like a cylinder in which a fire burned. By the 12th century AD. e. Alexandria Bay became so silted that ships could no longer use it. The lighthouse fell into disrepair. The bronze plates that served as mirrors were probably melted down into coins. In the 14th century, the lighthouse was completely destroyed by an earthquake. A few years later, its ruins were used to build a fortress. The fortress was subsequently rebuilt several times. Interestingly, before the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the seventh wonder of the world was the walls of Babylon. Before its construction, the walls of Babylon were considered the second wonder of the world. When a 130-meter lighthouse was built at the mouth of the Nile, contemporaries were so amazed by this outstanding technical achievement that they simply crossed out the walls of Babylon from the list of the Seven Wonders of the World and added the lighthouse to it as the latest, newest miracle.

The Colosseum was also added to the list of wonders of the Ancient World

Subsequently, there were repeated attempts to create various lists of attractions based on this list. At the end of the 1st century, the Roman poet Martial added the newly built Colosseum to the list. Later, in the 6th century, Christian theologian Gregory of Tours added Noah's Ark and Solomon's Temple to the list.

The first mention of the Seven Wonders in Rus' is found in Simeon of Polotsk, who was familiar with their description from some Byzantine source. In modern Europe, they became widely known after the publication of Fischer von Erlach’s (1656–1723) book “Sketches on the History of Architecture,” which also contained the first known reconstructions of famous monuments of ancient architecture.

Everyone has heard about the wonders of the world, but there is often confusion about what exactly is considered such. Often this list includes those buildings and monuments that, of course, have enormous historical and cultural value, but are not included in the official list. In addition, in 2007, new “miracles” were chosen in Portugal, so we can say that there are already more than seven of them. All of them made a huge contribution to the culture of mankind. Wikipedia and other encyclopedias write in great detail about the seven wonders of the world. Let's look at a brief description of each.

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The wonders of the Ancient World are studied in history lessons at school. It included those structures that were created before our era. Not a single one of them has survived to this day, except for the Cheops pyramids. These include:

Pyramid of Cheops.
Statue of Zeus at Olympia.
Colossus of Rhodes.
Alexandrian lighthouse.

Pyramid of Cheops and Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Both structures belong to the legendary tombs, but the time of their construction is very different.

It is interesting that the Cheops pyramid - the most ancient wonder of the world and, at the same time, the only one that has survived to this day. It was created approximately two thousand years BC. e., and there are still debates about the mysteries of its construction and sometimes completely incredible theories are put forward. For example, the shape of the pyramids exactly repeats the location of the stars in the constellation Orion, so some consider the pyramids a gift from alien civilizations. Every year thousands of tourists from all over the world come to see them. Indeed, the building amazes once and for all.

This structure, like all the mausoleums built later, received the name of King Mausolus, who, after his death, ordered the erection of a monument similar to the pyramids of Egypt, glorifying the king himself and his wife. The building was not only a tomb, but also a temple. On the first tier the king rested, and on the second one it was possible to conduct divine services. In the mausoleum, both statues of gods and statues of Mausolus himself and his wife Artemisia were installed. The statues of the royal couple have survived to this day; you can find photos of them and even look at them in the British Museum.

The gardens got their name from the legendary Queen Semiramis, but, oddly enough, she has nothing to do with them. Two centuries after her death, the Babylonian king decided to marry the daughter of the king of Media - a country surrounded by gardens and greenery. Babylon stood in the desert, and in order to amaze the bride, the ruler ordered the creation of gardens of unprecedented beauty. The tubs with plants bloomed so magnificently that they almost hid the building on whose walls they were located, and seemed to hang in the air. The structure looked especially majestic in the middle of the barren desert, when the traveler saw a magical garden in the endless sands, symbolizing the greatness of Babylon and its king.

Supreme Greek god reached the height of a five-story building, to work on it, the architect Phidias demanded the creation of a workshop replicating the temple in which the statue was installed. At the same time, Zeus, sitting on the throne, seemed to “not fit” into the temple; if the statue could stand up, it would break the vault. This emphasized the greatness of God.

The materials were also selected appropriately: ivory and gold. Interesting: Phidias, in those distant times, when physics had not yet reached its peak, managed to choose the material and location of the statue in such a way that it seemed that the light falling on it was reflected, and it seemed to glow from within. After the establishment of Christianity and the closure of pagan temples, Zeus was transported to Constantinople, where, unfortunately, he burned down.

Its significance was great; the building was used not only for religious ceremonies, but also for public meetings and even trade. The best sculptors and architects worked on the structure; the building amazed with its beauty and majesty. It is also famous for the fact that it was burned by the hot-tempered young man Herostratus, who thus decided to leave his name in history. It is worth noting that he really succeeded. Fortunately, the temple was restored.

The Colossus of Rhodes

The colossus on feet of clay collapsed seventy years after its construction, but rightfully takes its place among the wonders of the world. There is some debate about its height; estimates range from forty to sixty meters. There is a legend that ships sailed easily between his legs, although this theory is now controversial. According to the descriptions found, the colossus could have been located not in the port, but on land, in the city of Rhodes. It was erected as a thank you to the god Helios for protecting the city from enemy troops who left after a year of siege. Interestingly, the main sculptor of the colossus committed suicide, because to complete his creation he borrowed a huge amount, which he was unable to return.

Alexandrian lighthouse

Alexandria Lighthouse - this structure saved the lives of more than one ship, as its light spread over sixty kilometers. Built among reefs and rocks, the one hundred and thirty-five meter high lighthouse pointed the way to a saving bay in one of the most dangerous places at sea. According to surviving descriptions, the sculptures inside the lighthouse were very interesting:

One of them pointed to the position of the sun all day, and at night her hand dropped.
The other was built like a clock, striking the hour every sixty minutes.
The third always pointed with her hand in the direction where the wind was blowing, and was thus used as a weather vane.

To perpetuate his name, the sculptor, who was required to glorify the king, resorted to a trick - he carved his name on a stone, covered it with plaster and wrote the name of the king. Centuries later, the plaster crumbled, and the name of the architect came to us - Sostratus of Knidos.

Masterpieces created by the hands of ancient masters still amaze the human imagination - with their beauty, grace, ideal proportions, and precision of calculation. But even among these impeccably made works of art, works periodically appeared that were so magnificently and competently made both technically and artistically that they simply could not help but delight both local residents and world-famous traders, sailors, and travelers.

Usually they caused such a strong reaction that they were almost immediately and unconditionally included in the list of “Seven Wonders of the World”, after which they almost never left it, except for the only case when the Lighthouse of Alexandria confidently displaced the famous Babylonian walls from there.

The fact that the list included precisely the seven wonders of the ancient world is not an accident. This number belonged to Apollo and symbolized completeness, completeness and perfection, and therefore was especially revered by the ancient Greeks.

People have always loved to compile lists in which they included all the best, beautiful and original, and the residents of Greece, as true admirers of everything beautiful, were no exception.

Therefore, among the classical genres of poetry of this people there were movements glorifying both the most eminent cultural figures (poets, philosophers, rulers) and the most beautiful architectural monuments of the ancient world.

First list of wonders of the world

The first list of wonders of the ancient world was compiled by Herodotus in the 5th century BC. All of them were in Greece, on the island of Samos, the homeland of Pythagoras, Epicurus, Aristarchus and other eminent figures of Hellas. True, it was short and consisted of only three points:
Aqueduct - was a one-kilometer-long canal that supplied local residents with water;
Temple of Hera - was built back in the 8th century BC. The vault of this graceful structure was supported by about a hundred tall columns, the base of which was processed by a machine specially invented for this purpose;

Damba-mol.

Over time, more and more interesting wonders and amazing structures began to appear in Greece and neighboring countries, which easily eclipsed Herodotus's list, expanded it and completely modified it.

Second list of miracles

Walls of Babylon

In his list of the seven wonders of the world, Antipater first of all mentioned the walls of ancient Babylon, which was located on the territory of modern Iraq (they were later displaced from there by the Lighthouse of Alexandria).

The old walls of Babylon were created by Nebuchadnezzar in the 7th century BC. - and were absolutely impregnable, since in order to penetrate the city, the enemy had to overcome not only them, but also a moat, cedar gates covered with metal plates, a defensive rampart, bastions and water obstacles. Since the city itself was planned in the shape of a square, the walls with which it was surrounded had the same shape.

A century after their construction, the ancient city was nevertheless captured - despite the fact that the walls of Babylon continued to faithfully serve the city, its inhabitants themselves opened the gates to the king of Persia, Cyrus.

Zeus statue in Olympia

Naturally, in his list of “Seven Wonders of the World,” Antipater could not help but mention the one built in Greece in 435 BC. a statue of the most important god of Olympus - Zeus. People, seeing her for the first time, always came to inexpressible admiration: the head and shoulders of the god emitted divine light, and his eyes shone so brightly that it seemed as if they were throwing lightning. Moreover, the height of the statue ranged from 12 to 17 meters, the clothes of the Thunderer were made of gold, and the body was made of ebony and covered with ivory plates.

The statue was so majestic that after Greece officially adopted Christianity, even ardent fanatics did not dare to destroy it. The statue was sent to Constantinople, where it was in the palace of the local ruler and burned down during a major fire.

The idea to create a flowering garden (7th century BC) in the middle of a dry plain belonged to Nebuchadnezzar, who wanted to console his young wife, who felt extremely uncomfortable in Babylon, since she grew up among mountains covered with abundant vegetation.

Despite the complexity of the idea, the engineers and architects of Ancient Babylon (located on the territory of modern Iraq) coped with this task and erected a four-tiered structure, externally extremely similar to a green hill - not only grass and flowers grew on each floor, but also shrubs and even trees. They were able to grow, bloom and bear fruit thanks to a specially designed complex irrigation system.

After the collapse of Babylon, the city fell into decay, and with it the gardens perished - without artificial watering and care they could not exist for long.

Helios, the sun god, was revered throughout Greece, but he was especially worshiped by the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes. Therefore, when after a long siege the enemy retreated, the inhabitants of the island, grateful to Helios for this, dedicated the victory to their main deity and decided to create a statue of an unprecedented scale at that time and install it at the entrance to the port.

It should be noted that they succeeded: it took about 10 years to make the statue - and the world saw it somewhere between 292 and 280. BC. Despite the fact that there is no exact data on what exactly the sculpture looked like, the height of the monument was definitely at least thirty meters. Three huge stone pillars were used as a frame for the statue, fastened together with hoops, which the craftsmen lined with bronze sheets, after which clay was poured into the prepared mold.

The clay statue could not survive for long and was destroyed by the first major earthquake: Helios’s legs buckled and the statue collapsed, falling apart.

The Pyramid of Cheops

The only architectural monument from the list of “Seven Wonders of the World” that has survived to this day is the ancient Egyptian pyramid of Cheops, whose age exceeds 4.5 thousand years. Its height immediately after construction was completed was 147 m, then it became somewhat lower - 138 m (the top of the tomb was destroyed over time). Until the 14th century, the pyramid was the tallest structure of the ancient world.

To build a pyramid of such a scale, the ancient Egyptians needed to use 2.5 million blocks weighing about 2.5 tons. Moreover, in order to fasten them together, the ancient architects did not use absolutely any solutions; the blocks were connected using a special technology, so the distance there was no more than half a millimeter between them.

Antipater, speaking about the “Seven Wonders of the World,” could not fail to mention the world’s first mausoleum, built in 353 BC. It was located in Caria (the territory of modern Turkey), and the ruler Mavsol began to build it.

The height of the tomb was 46 meters; 36 columns were installed along the walls, between which the sculptors placed statues of mythical animals. The roof had a triangular shape, and on its top there was a six-meter sculpture - a chariot. Its drivers were a married couple, Mavsol and his wife Artemisia, who were later cremated and buried here (the construction was completed by the wife, since Mavsol died before the work was completed).

The mausoleum existed for about nineteen centuries and suffered more than one earthquake. The tomb could not resist the crusaders - they dismantled the tomb and built St. Peter's Castle in its place.

Temple of Artemis

But what most captivated Antipater with its beauty was the Temple of Artemis, built in 550 BC. on the territory of modern Ephesus (Turkey) - despite the fact that in his list of “Seven Wonders of the World” this building was in last place, he dedicated the largest number of lines to it. The building was made entirely of marble and was supported by 127 columns, each about 18 meters high.

The structure itself was approximately 131 m long and 79 m wide. In the middle was a fifteen-meter statue of Artemis, made of gold and ivory, decorated with precious stones. The most famous sculptors of ancient Greece were involved in decorating the temple, thanks to which the goddess’s house surpassed all the world’s famous temples in beauty.

Third final list

Who knows, maybe Antipater’s list of “Seven Wonders of the World” would have remained unchanged, if not for the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which managed to displace the walls of old Babylon from the list (the first memories of it as a wonder of the world are found in Pliny the Elder).

The huge lighthouse, whose height was about 120 meters, was erected in the 4th century. BC. on the island of Pharos near Alexandria (Egypt). It turned out to be the only miracle of the ancient world that had a practical purpose - it was supposed to not only illuminate the path for ships and show them the way to the harbor (the signal lights of the lighthouse were visible even at a distance exceeding 60 km), but also served as an observation post from which the surroundings were visible and the enemy could be seen from afar.

This building stood for almost a millennium, until the 14th century, and survived several serious earthquakes, until one of them completely wiped out the man-made miracle from the face of the earth.

The primacy of compiling a list of the 7 Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is attributed to Antipater of Sidon, who sang them for centuries in his poem:

I saw your walls, Babylon, on which there is spacious

And chariots; I saw Zeus at Olympia,

Miracle of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Colossus of Helios

And the pyramids are the work of many and hard labors;

I know Mausolus, a huge tomb. But I just saw

I am the palace of Artemis, the roof raised to the clouds,

Everything else faded before him; outside Olympus

The sun does not see beauty equal to it anywhere.

At different times, with the construction of new buildings, they tried to change the list of 7 wonders of the world of antiquity, but in the final version, only the Lighthouse of Alexandria appeared among the new ones, which eclipsed the greatness of the walls of Babylon.

Some include here all the pyramids of Egypt, some of the great pyramids of Giza, but for the most part only the largest of them, the Pyramid of Cheops, is perceived as a miracle. The pyramid is also considered the oldest miracle on the list - its construction is estimated to be around 2000 BC. Despite its old age, this is the only structure of the 7 old wonders of the world that has survived to our times.

Created by order of the king of desert Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II, for his wife, these gardens were supposed to console her and remind her of her distant homeland. The name of Semiramis, the Assyrian queen, appeared here by mistake, but, nevertheless, was firmly entrenched in history.

The statue was created for a temple in the major religious center of Ancient Greece - Olympia. The giant Zeus of the sculptor Phidias amazed the local residents so much that they decided that Zeus himself personally posed for the master.

In the ancient large port city of Ephesus, the goddess of fertility Artemis was especially revered. In honor of her, a huge and majestic temple was created here, which was included in the list of 7 ancient wonders of the world.

The rich king Mausolus wished to erect a mausoleum-temple in Halicarnassus, incomparable in beauty. The best craftsmen of that time worked on the construction. The work ended only after the death of Mavsol, but this did not prevent him from going down in history forever.

In honor of the great victory, the inhabitants of Rhodes decided to build a huge statue of the god Helios. The plan was carried out, but this miracle did not last long, and was soon destroyed by an earthquake.

To navigate ships near the large port of Alexandria, it was decided to build the largest lighthouse at that time. The building immediately eclipsed the walls of Babylon and took a place on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The beautiful creations of nature and humanity in different centuries were considered the most amazing. But another era has come and today “I and the World” will show you the wonders of the world of our time.

At the beginning of the 21st century, they decided to update the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. To achieve this, almost 100 million people around the world voted for the beautiful creations of the planet. And in 2007, the results of a survey were announced, where the modern beauties of the Earth were presented.

How many and what curiosities have survived to this day? Let's start in order.

Colosseum (Italy)

Of all the buildings of that time, the Colosseum is the most grandiose and almost preserved to this day. Here, hundreds of slave gladiators, as well as many exotic animals, fought and died for the amusement of the citizens of Rome.

The amphitheater is 57 meters high and 527 meters in circumference. A huge canopy was attached at the top, and everything inside was covered with marble. 36 elevators were raised manually by slaves, each with 10 people.

Eight years later, when the amphitheater was completed, a festival was held that lasted for 100 days, and thousands of animals and hundreds of gladiators were killed in the arena. Entrance was free, so everyone could watch the bloody spectacles, especially many women. The battles always began at dawn and ended when the last rays of the sun touched the horizon. And on holidays everything lasted for several days.

Great Wall (China)

The wall stretches across northern China for 8,851.9 km. Construction began in the 3rd century BC. e., where more than 1,000,000 people took part. Construction lasted 10 years, but there were too many problems: there were no roads, no sufficient water or food for the builders, and epidemics were raging. As a result, the local population rebelled against further construction and the ruling dynasty.

The next government that came to power continued construction. But this drained the people and the treasury, and the wall itself did not provide the protection that the authorities hoped for. Enemies could easily penetrate weakly fortified places, or simply bribe the guards.

Ancient city in Peru

Machu Picchu is an old “lost city of the Incas” built high in the mountains. This city, one of the world's wonders, was built in the 15th century at an altitude of 2450 meters above sea level. The architecture of the stone buildings harmoniously fits into the beauty of the mountain landscapes.

In the city, astronomical structures were invented that made it possible to observe the celestial bodies - this is a water mirror 0.92 by 0.62 m, a gnomon monolith and a temple resembling an observatory.

Fruits and vegetables, medicinal plants, and coca (cocaine) were grown here. And higher in the mountains there were pastures for domestic animals and useful metals were mined here.

During the entire existence of the city, the Spaniards and other conquerors never managed to reach it. After the collapse of the Inca Empire, the inhabitants left the city and it was abandoned for 400 years.

Nabataean city

The ruins of ancient Petra were located at the intersection of trade routes of the Red and Mediterranean seas. In the city you could admire more than 800 attractions. The structure was considered an artificial oasis, built among rocks and sand, and consists almost entirely of stone buildings.

At one time, Petra was conquered by the Roman Empire, but after the fall of Rome, the city was forgotten for almost 2,000 years. And only at the beginning of the 19th century it was discovered by a Swiss traveler.

Tomb in India

One of the most beautiful wonders of the world is. The architecture seamlessly intertwines Persian, Islamic and Indian styles. Construction lasted 21 years, day and night. The temple was built in honor of the emperor's beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during childbirth.

To build the tomb, building materials were brought to India from all over Asia, and the temple was built by more than 20,000 workers. The building rises 74 meters. At one time, British soldiers and officials plundered the Taj Mahal, picking out precious stones from the walls of the temple. At the end of the 19th century, the tomb was reconstructed and modified, and the garden was given an English appearance.

The beautiful snow-white mausoleum with five domes and four minarets seems to hover over an artificial reservoir, reflected on the water surface.

Statue of Christ (Brazil)

The famous 38-meter statue of Christ the Redeemer. It is regularly struck by lightning and therefore there are always stones nearby for restoration.

Every year, almost 2,000,000 tourists visit the huge monument to see not only it, but also the picturesque picture that opens at the foot of the statue. You can get to the top by highway or by rail with a miniature train. Funds were collected “from the whole world” for the construction of the statue and the work lasted about 9 years.

In the initial version, the pedestal was supposed to have the shape of a globe of the earth, but then they settled on a statue of Christ with outstretched arms in the form of a cross.

Holy Mayan City (Mexico)

Chichen Itza is the sacred city of the Mayans. People came to these places in the 4th century, and in the 10th century it was captured by the Toltecs and turned into the most powerful city of that time. In the 12th century the city began to decline and gradually collapse. But it is still unknown why the inhabitants left the great city.

Beautiful buildings have survived to this day: the Kukulkan pyramid, dedicated to the God of winds and rains, the “Temple of Time”, grounds for ball games (it is believed that the losing team was beheaded), the Temple of Warriors, the observatory, the Sacred Cenote for sacrifices.

The wonderful creations of mankind still amaze us with their beauty and uniqueness. Maybe in many years there will be a new list of the seven wonders of the world, but for now we are admiring the photos and reading the descriptions of these beautiful structures.