Vote: new seven wonders of the world

Stonehenge makes list in new seven wonders vote

Only one of the ancient wonders of the world still survives — now history lovers are being invited to choose a new list of seven.

An original list of nearly 200 sites nominated by the public was narrowed to 21 by the organizers and experts, including the former director general of Unesco Professor Federico Mayor.

The vote is organized by a non-profit Swiss foundation called New7Wonders which specializes in the preservation, restoration and promotion of monuments, and the results will be announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon.

Votes can be made online, at www.new7wonders.com.

The 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World, alphabetically - (my comments in italics):

1 Acropolis, Athens, Greece - good choice, old, center of western civilization

2 Alhambra, Granada, Spain - nah, not important enough

3 Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia

4 Chichen Itza Aztec site, Yucatan, Mexico

5 Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - too new

6 Colosseum, Rome - another good choice, old, center of western civilization

7 Easter Island Statues, Chile

8 Eiffel Tower, Paris - maybe too new

9 Great Wall, China - absolutely, you can see it from outer space (see comments), a monument of one of the world’s great civilizations

10 Hagia Sophia church, Istanbul, Turkey

11 Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan

12 Kremlin/St.Basil’s, Moscow

13 Machu Picchu, Peru

14 Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany - too new, it was fake to begin with

15 Petra ancient city, Jordan

16 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt - great choice, a must

17 Statue of Liberty, New York - too new

18 Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom - another great choice, a must

19 Sydney Opera House, Australia - too new

20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India - great choice, a monument representing both Islam and India

21 Timbuktu city, Mali

I bold-faced six choices. What should be the seventh? I’m inclined to Easter Island, Chitzen Itza, the Eiffel Tower, or Hagia Sophia.

Comments

  1. Hans wrote:

    You may want to revise that comment about Great Wall: snopes.com

  2. Marked Hoosier wrote:

    I say Machu Picchu. It was built without the wheel… or so I read elsewhere.

  3. Protocol wrote:

    The Eiffel Tower is too new. Angkor Wat gets my vote. Easily one of the most impressive temples of ancient civilization.

  4. SeanH wrote:

    My vote would be Easter Island and I’d rule anything new too. My theory being that something called a wonder should inspire wonderment.