Seven wonders of the world: who created the masterpieces of antiquity. Wonders of the world: how many there were and how many have survived What are the wonders of the world on our land

Long ago, sages and travelers compiled a list of 7 wonders of the world, including the most beautiful and, in their opinion, most majestic buildings of the whole world.

The most majestic buildings of antiquity - the seven wonders of the world

Initially, in the 5th century BC. There were only 3 wonders of the world on the list. After this, in the 3rd century BC, thanks to the poem of Antipater from Sidon, 4 more wonders of the world were added to the list and so the list received the name 7 wonders of the world. Here is the list of 7 wonders of the world:

The Pyramid of Cheops

This pyramid is the largest of all the Egyptian pyramids and the most popular among the 7 wonders of the world. It was erected in 2540 BC. e.

The height of this giant is approximately 138.75 m. The heaviest stone module of the pyramid weighs 15 tons. Imagine! The pyramid consists of 2.5 million blocks, which weigh 2.5 tons each.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

This wonder of the world still has one name - Hanging Gardens Amytis was the name of the wife of the king of Babylon. These gardens were created for her. The Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar II, having twice given the city to his enemy, decided to join forces with the king of Media. Having won the war, Nebuchadnezzar II and the ruler of Media divide the territory of Assyria.

To confirm the military alliance, Nebuchadnezzar II marries the daughter of the Median king, Amytis. Amitis, who was accustomed to green gardens, was not happy with the “dusty” Babylon and in order to console his wife, Nebuchadnezzar builds her these hanging gardens.

Third of the Seven Wonders of the World - Statue of Zeus at Olympia

This statue was made in the Temple of Zeus by the brilliant architect Phidias. The temple was built much earlier than the statue itself.

It took 10 years to build the temple alone, only this fact allows it to be included in the list of 7 wonders of the world! The sculpture of Zeus sits on a throne, holding a scepter with a falcon in his left hand, and in his right hand a sculpture of the goddess of victory - Nike.

Temple of Artemis of Ephesus

The temple was located in the old town of Ephesus and was built in the 6th century BC. e. In 356 BC. burned by Herostratus. This temple was built for Artemis because, according to legend, she had a special gift: she could cause the growth of all vegetation, took care of animals, blessed happiness in marriage and the birth of babies.

mausoleum in Halicarnassus

This wonder of the world was built in the mid-4th century BC. e. by order of Mausolus's wife, Artemisia III.

Construction of the mausoleum began even before the death of Mausolus, for whom the monument was actually built. The wife of the Carian ruler called the most notorious architects of Greece, Satyr and Pytheas, and the most recognized architects of those times - Leochares, Skopas.

The Colossus of Rhodes

This huge statue of the ancient Greek sun god Helios was located in Rhodes. The statue was created by the majestic architect Hares. The height of the statue was 36 m and was made entirely of bronze. 13 tons of bronze and 12 years of work by the architect Hares were spent on the statue.

The seventh wonder of the world of the seven wonders of the world is the Lighthouse of Alexandria

The lighthouse would have been built in the 3rd century BC. e. in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Alexandrian lighthouse was the very first lighthouse in history. This lighthouse stood for about a thousand years!

At the end of the 15th century, Sultan Qait Bey built a fortress on the site of the Alexandria Lighthouse, which still exists today.

That's the whole list of 7 wonders of the world or just wonders of the world.

Daria Nessel | Dec 15, 2016

The Pyramid of Cheops

Neither he nor his wife lived to see the completion of construction. The architects and sculptors completed the work they started on their own initiative so that people could admire this masterpiece of architecture.

The crypt of Mausolus stood in Halicarnassus for 1700 years, until an earthquake destroyed the three-tiered 50-meter walls, decorated with bas-reliefs and sculptures.

Four marble horses at a gallop, with the royal couple, crowned this tombstone, called the mausoleum. Since then, all such structures are called mausoleums.

From 270 to 220 BC on the shore of the island of Rhodes stood, amazing in its size, a monument to the sun god Helios in the form of a young man with a torch in his raised hand. Delightful on the outside, in reality it consisted mainly of mortar, its power was only a mirage that soon dissipated.

The statue of the radiant handsome man collapsed, unable to withstand the vibrations of the earth's surface, and lay there for 900 years, until the iron and bronze were sent for smelting, leaving no mention of the place where it was located.

The 32 m clay-filled giant is the progenitor of the colossi that appeared later, such as, for example, the Statue of Liberty in the USA. There is a project for a virtual embodiment of the Colossus of Rhodes.

Alexandrian lighthouse

The signal tower on the island of Pharos at the entrance to the harbor was erected in 280 BC. in five years and served for almost 1000 years, showing the right path to sailors and reliably protecting the capital of Egypt from attack from the sea.

The design proposed by the architect Sostratus was implemented so successfully that in the future all coastal lighthouses decided to build according to its model.

The giant fire, which burned day and night on the third level, was visible at sea almost 100 km away, thanks to mirror reflectors made of polished bronze plates, first used here.

Strong seismic shocks destroyed the building, leaving only the ruins on which another fortress was built.

In 2015, the Egyptian authorities decided to restore the Alexandria Lighthouse.

Some of the disappeared ancient wonders of the world have been reconstructed as mini-copies in the miniature park in Istanbul: the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the Halicarnak Mausoleum.

It is better to see in reality once than to hear (read) a million times in order to understand and appreciate these beautiful works of art.

The 7 wonders of the ancient world are the results of human genius, covered with a veil of mystery and legend, created many centuries ago and almost all of them sank into the abyss without a trace.

Why exactly 7 wonders of the world? Were there really so few of them? In fact, this list should be much longer, but seven has been revered since ancient times as a magical, divine number in which providence manifests its will.

Maybe that’s why so many colors of the rainbow, notes, and days of the week are known. This is where the expressions come from: behind seven seals, seven circles of hell, in seventh heaven...

In those distant times, the Greeks annually determined a list of wonders, making it a kind of lottery, because there was so much to choose from. Until the ancient Greek poet Antipater of Sidon, in his famous poem about the 7 wonders of the world, named the objects that he considered worthy of this title.

I’m an Image Caption ready-to-use.

Later it became fashionable and ancient historians, poets and writers began to repeat it. The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World were built within 2,500 years before Christ. The geography of their location is the Mediterranean region: the territory of modern Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Turkey. This unprecedented surge of creative energy and talent took place here, leaving a bright mark on world culture.

The Pyramid of Cheops

The greatest of all existing pyramids in the Giza Valley, dating from 2540–2560 BC, 146 m high (currently 138 m), with a base of just over five hectares. This is the memorial complex of Pharaoh Cheops and the only one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world that has survived to this day.

A stone monolith, completely filled with heavy, weighing more than 2 tons, blocks of cut limestone with three granite burial chambers inside. Today you can hear many hypotheses about the purpose of rooms and new ones are constantly being put forward.

More than 5 million tons - this is the weight. Over the course of twenty years, 4 thousand builders laid them out in a geometrically correct form during a period when wheels were unknown in Egypt.

Looted in ancient times, the tomb of Khufu keeps the secret of its creation, continuing to attract the attention of scientists and archaeologists.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Babylonian miracle, built by order of Nebuchadnezzar 3000 BC. for his wife, the daughter of the Median king, so that she could dispel longing for her native land.

Four platforms, placed in tiers on powerful supports, were like a mountain hill, planted with rare trees and bushes. It was an oasis of peace and coolness in the sultry and noisy Babylon.

The name of Semiramis, a legendary woman who lived several centuries earlier, was connected by people's rumors with this unique creation, creating beautiful fairy tales. Amytis, for whose sake the birds sang and the streams gurgled, is forever forgotten by history.

Statue of Olympian Zeus

In Olympia from the 7th century BC. popular athletic competitions were held. The patron of athletes participating in competitions and citizens of the polis was the formidable head of Olympus. He was feared and respected, so a palace was built for him, suitable for such a powerful protector.

The marble temple was the largest ever dedicated to deities. An impressive ivory and gold statue of the thunder god, created by the sculptor Phidias, sat on a throne in the center of the building.
The optical effect, thanks to which the figure of the Thunderer seemed to shine in the twilight of the room, amazed those present.

For almost a millennium, the Olympians brought gifts to, until Emperor Theodosius the Second ordered the burning of the temple of the supreme pagan god in order to strengthen the formation of the Christian religion.

The Temple of Zeus at Olympia is reproduced in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Residents of Ephesus in the 5th century BC. In honor of their patroness, Artemis, the always young goddess of the hunt, they erected a magnificent temple. They worked for almost a hundred years, experiencing serious difficulties with the foundation, located on shaky, swampy soil.

A lover of glory, Herostratus fifteen years later burned the pride of the Ephesians, thus wanting to become famous. Since then, his name has become a proverb, so he managed to achieve his goal.

Everyone has definitely heard about the legendary 7 wonders of the world - the greatest creations of mankind - in childhood, even if not everyone can remember them in order. And although most of the monuments from the history textbook will no longer be able to be seen, people have managed to compile, to the delight of tourists, many other, alternative, lists of outstanding attractions that have survived to this day.

Ancient wonders of the world

The first attempts to highlight the exceptional achievements of mankind in the list of wonders of the world took shape in the written heritage of ancient Greek authors, starting from the Hellenistic era. The “selection” of the main monuments of all times occurred gradually.

Thus, Herodotus was one of the first to compile a historical list of “miracles”: in his “History” we talk about three grandiose structures on the island of Samos - a mountain tunnel, a dam and the temple of Hera.

Soon other thinkers expanded the list to seven attractions: seven in ancient Greece was considered a holy number and was an indispensable attribute of the solar gods and myths about them.

The classic “7 Wonders of the World” of the Ancient World, familiar to many from the school curriculum, are historically associated with the empire of Alexander the Great - the second half of the 4th century BC. e. Of these, two attractions were ancient Egyptian, four were located in the territories Ancient Greece and one - in Mesopotamia (or more precisely - in Babylon).

The Pyramid of Cheops is the oldest, the first wonder of the world and the only one that has survived to this day. Part of the pyramid complex in Giza - the main attraction of Egypt.

The legendary Babylonian Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the second wonder of the world, supposedly existed from the end of the 7th century BC. e. until the 1st century BC e., destroyed due to floods.

The temple statue of Zeus at Olympia, reaching about 12-17 meters including the pedestal, was made of ivory, ebony and gold, and stood for about nine centuries: from 435 BC. e. until the 5th century - burned down in a fire.

The ruins of the fourth wonder of the world, Artemis in Ephesus (from the 6th to the 4th or 3rd centuries BC), are now part of the Turkish city of Selcuk (near Izmir).

Of the lost landmarks, the most enduring was the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Unusual for the mid-4th century BC. e. The architectural monument existed for 19 centuries: it was destroyed by an earthquake, then partially dismantled for building materials. The ruins of the mausoleum can be seen in Bodrum, Turkey, which is the current name for the city with the historical location of the fifth wonder of the world.

Earthquakes caused the death of two more ancient wonders: the bronze statue of the Colossus on the island of Rhodes (lasted only 65 years, destroyed in the same 3rd century BC) and the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt (the seventh wonder of the world, collapsed in the 14th century).

Panorama Google Maps"At the foot of the Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)"

New seven wonders of the world

The list of new wonders of the world, each of which continues to amaze tourists, was compiled in the first decade of the 21st century, in 2001-2007. Currently, this is the most famous of such ratings and therefore, along with the list World Heritage UNESCO, the main must-see landmark for tourists actively traveling around the world. It was compiled by a specially created non-profit foundation The New 7 Wonders of the world based on international voting using the Internet and other means of communication. Some 100 million votes were taken as part of the selection of attractions, but since the conditions allowed for multiple votes, the list began to be questioned almost immediately after publication.

One of the undisputed leaders of the list is the Great Wall of China. It stretches across the north of the country for almost 9 thousand kilometers, and taking into account the ruins - more than 20 thousand kilometers. China's most famous landmark blends seamlessly into the landscape and is a truly impressive sight. Several areas are open to tourists. The most popular is Badaling, connected by transport to Beijing.

The ancient Colosseum is an iconic landmark of Rome, its signature silhouette. This amphitheater, a masterpiece of architectural thought from the 1st century AD, was declared a wonder of the world almost immediately after its creation by the Roman poet Martial, his contemporary.

The symbol of Rio de Janeiro - the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Mount Corcovado - blesses the city, extending its arms over it from above. At night, the illuminated figure of Christ is clearly visible from almost any part of the city, however best view it appears from Mount Pan de Azúcar. In the list of the new 7 wonders of the world, the statue erected in honor of the centenary of Brazilian independence is the youngest attraction, its age is less than a hundred years.

Lost in the middle of the desert in Jordan, Petra, the capital of the ancient kingdoms of Idumea and Nabatea, opened to Europeans only in the 19th century. The main attractions of Petra, " stone city", - crypts and the rock temple of El Deir carved into the rocks of red sandstone.

The pearl of Muslim architectural art in India is the Taj Mahal mausoleum-mosque in Agra, built in the 17th century by the will of the padishah Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth. It is not surprising that today the Taj Mahal is considered not just an outstanding architectural and spiritual monument, but also a symbol of love. Every year, the marble complex becomes a place of pilgrimage for millions of people from all over the world.

The lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, is located in what is now Peru. This sixth new wonder of the world was created as a sacred mountain refuge when the Incas ruled Pachacutec in the mid-15th century. However, the high mountain city remained inhabited for less than a century - until the invasion of the Spaniards, who, however, never reached it. The worldwide discovery of the Incan “city among the clouds” occurred only in 1911. Many mysteries of Machu Picchu remain unsolved; they still haunt researchers.

Completes the list modern miracles light is the legacy of the Mayans, another lost civilization of America. Holy City Chichen Itza in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula was founded around the 7th century AD; the Toltecs who captured it later contributed to the architecture of the complex. It is not known exactly why such a developed city was deserted at the end of the 12th century. The complex of surviving Chichen Itza monuments includes pyramid temples, gaming “stadiums,” ruins of colonnades, a sacrificial well, and an observatory.

The classic list of the Seven Wonders of the World has been known to us since our school days, when we studied Ancient History. Only the pyramids of Egypt have survived to our times, which can be seen by anyone who visits this country. The Pyramid of Cheops at Giza is the only surviving wonder of the world. The rest of the wonders - the Colossus of Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Lighthouse of Alexandria - were destroyed over the centuries, some by fires and earthquakes, others by floods.

The classic list of wonders of the world includes:

1. Pyramid of Cheops (burial site of the Pharaoh of Egypt) - created by the Egyptians in 2540 BC. e. ;
2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Babylon - created by the Babylonians in 605 BC. e. ;
3. Statue of Zeus at Olympia - created by the Greeks in 435 BC. e.;
4. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (built in honor of the goddess Artemis in Turkey) - created by the Greeks and Persians in 550 BC. e.;
5. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus - created by the Carians, Greeks and Persians in 351 BC. e.;
6. The Colossus of Rhodes was established by the Greeks between 292 and 280. BC e.;
7. Lighthouse of Alexandria - built in the 4th century BC. e. by the Greeks a lighthouse, and named in honor of Alexander the Great.

All the photographs presented below with the wonders of the world are either models of what the majestic structures used to look like, or what remains of them at the present time. It's a pity that they couldn't withstand natural disasters.

Some time later, cultural figures began to add additional attractions to this list, “miracles” that still surprise and inspire. So, at the end of the 1st century, the Roman poet Martial added only the rebuilt Colosseum to the list. After a while, in the 6th century, Christian theologian Gregory of Tours added Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple to the list.

Different sources mention different combinations of wonders of the world, for example, English and French writers and historians equated the Alexandria Catacombs, the Leaning Tower in Pisa, the Porcelain Tower in Nanjing, and the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul as wonders of the world.

New list of wonders of the world

In 2007, a UN organization organized a vote to approve a new list of modern wonders of the world. They voted by phone, Internet and SMS messages. And this is the final list:

Colosseum in Italy;
Great Chinese Wall;
Machu Picchu – ancient city Incas in Peru;
Taj Mahal in India is a magnificent mausoleum-mosque in India;
Petra is an ancient city, the capital of the Nabataean kingdom, located in modern Jordan;
Christ the Redeemer statue flying over Rio de Janeiro in Brazil;
pyramids of Giza in Egypt;
Chichen Itza in Mexico, an ancient city of the Mayan civilization.

All of them have been preserved from ancient times, except for the statue of Christ the Redeemer, which was finally built in 1931 of the last century and has since become a symbol of Brazil and one of its largest cities - Rio de Janeiro.

How to see them?

The new list of wonders has been officially approved by the UN, and now everyone who travels to the country can see them. No one excursion route will not avoid visiting these attractions. They try to carefully preserve them for future generations, but also use them for modern needs.

For example, the Colosseum is known for its excellent acoustics. Famous singers and musicians from all over the world often perform there, and operas are staged in the open air.

The Taj Mahal is also open to tourists, but this is the tomb of the padishah’s beloved wife, so people only inspect it and admire the beauty of its architectural forms and interior paintings.

Be in China and not visit Great Wall is considered simply indecent. There are many excursions to it, but you cannot climb it: it is a huge obstacle course and walking on it is dangerous. That's why everyone takes pictures near her plots in the most picturesque places.

The Pyramids of Giza can be viewed from the outside and inside, and nearby you can see the grandiose statues of ancient sphinxes.

Excursions to the ancient cities of Machu Picchu, Petra and Chichen Itza are extremely interesting, but physically difficult - you will have to walk for a long time through the ruins. However, tourist holidays in these countries are well organized, and you will not regret if you spend a day or two visiting these magnificent places.

Chichen Itza - ancient Mayan city

Why exactly 7 wonders of the world, and not 10 or 15?

As you have probably already noticed, people used to have a special attitude towards the magical number seven. Everyone knows that there are 7 holes on the human head - 2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears and a mouth. When a person sees seven objects at the same time, he can immediately count them with his eyes, without even thinking, however, if there are more of them, he will have to count them in his mind.

Thus, due to seemingly such primitive conclusions, people began to strive to reduce the number of something to seven. For example, highlight 7 days in a week, seven colors in a rainbow, 7 tones in a sound series, and so on.

It is not at all surprising that the ancient Greeks identified the Seven Wonders of the World, because the number 7 was the sacred number of Apollo, the god who patronized art.

The seven wonders of the world are ancient monuments architecture that is rightfully considered the greatest creations of human hands. The number 7 was chosen for a reason. It belonged to Apollo and was a symbol of completeness, completeness and perfection. At the same time, the traditional genre of Hellenistic poetry was the glorification of a list of the most famous cultural figures - poets, philosophers, kings, generals, etc., or outstanding architectural monuments.

The first mentions of the Wonders of the World are found precisely in this era, when the victorious troops of Alexander the Great had already marched across Europe. The wide dissemination of Greek culture in the territories that were part of the states that the great commander conquered ensured the great popularity of individual monuments and architectural structures. But it should be noted that the “selection” of miracles occurred gradually. Some names replaced others, and today the list of the most majestic works of art and architecture includes:

Briefly about everything

Historians and scientists believe that the most ancient is the first attraction - Egyptian pyramids . A distinctive feature of this Wonder of the World is that it is the only one that has survived to this day in almost its original form. The construction of the Pyramids of Giza dates back to approximately 1983 BC, and the largest structure of the complex is the tomb of Cheops.

The rest of the Wonders of the World were not so lucky, and only the ruins of some of them have survived to this day. Eg, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were created in the 6th century BC, were destroyed by floods in the 2nd century. But even the dilapidated remains of this majestic structure are breathtaking.

Statue of Zeus from Olympia, created around 435 BC. by the famous ancient sculptor Phidias, burned down almost a thousand years later in Constantinople. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was erected in 550 BC, but after two centuries it was also destroyed by a severe fire.

Halicarnassus Mausoleum created by the architect Pytheas in 351 BC. In 1494, earthquakes occurred in southwestern Turkey, after which only the foundations and architectural fragments of the structure were preserved. Concerning Colossus of Rhodes, built at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Greeks, it fell as a result of a series of powerful earthquakes somewhere between 224 and 225 BC.

Alexandrian lighthouse, built in the 3rd century BC. at the direction of the ruling Ptolemaic dynasty, it is the pinnacle of engineering and technical thought of that time. The structure lasted until 1480, providing reliable lighting to the coastal waters. In the 15th century, the lighthouse was partially destroyed by an earthquake.

We can talk endlessly about each of the Seven Wonders of the World. Any schoolchild knows about them. Ancient epics and ancient legends are associated with them. Each of them is covered in a shadow of mystery and uncertainty. But one thing can be said with all confidence - these are the most significant monuments of civilization of all that humanity has managed to create.