Maravillas del Mundo: Machu Picchu es una de ellas

Magnificent masterpieces

Over the years there have been many lists of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Aparajita Bhattacharya looks at the three most acknowledged ones
It’s been just one year since that glittering ceremony in Lisbon in which the New Seven Wonders Foundation announced which manmade masterpieces had finally made it to the list of the New Seven Wonders of the world. Remember the pride you felt at the fact that your vote had helped put our very own Taj Mahal on the list? Over the years, there have been many lists of the Seven Wonders of the World. Let’s look at the three most widely acknowledged ones. The original list of the Seven Wonders were:
1. Hanging Gardens of Babylon
2. Temple of Artemis (or Diana) at Ephesus
3. Statue of Zeus at Olympia
4. Pyramid of Giza
5. Mausoleum of Mausolus
6. Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria
7. Colossus of Rhodes

All of these are now in ruins, except for the Pyramid of Giza. Subsequently, Seven Wonders of the Medieval World were identified as:
1. Pyramid of Giza
2. Great Wall of China
3. Stonehenge
4. Taj Mahal
5. Colosseum of Rome
6. Leaning Tower of Pisa
7. Porcelain Tower of Nanjing

In some lists, the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing is substituted by a wide range of alternatives like the Hagia Sophia (Turkey), statues of Easter Island (Chile), the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, and the Statue of Liberty.
In 2001 an initiative was started to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments for profit and 21 finalists were announced on 1 January 2006. Egypt was not happy that the only original wonder would have to compete with the likes of the Statue of Liberty, Sydney Opera House, and other landmarks. To solve this, Giza was named an honourary candidate. The New Seven Wonders of the World include:
1. Great Wall of China
2. Colosseum of Rome
3. Taj Mahal
4. Machu Picchu (Peru)
5. Statue of Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
6. Petra (Jordan)
7. Chichen Itza (Mexico)

Now let’s take a closer look at all the Seven Wonders through the ages.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon:
Built between 605-562 BC. The story goes that the then ruler of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II, married Amytis of Media, who felt alienated in her new surroundings. To please her, Nebuchadnezzar had the gardens of her homeland recreated in Babylon. The gardens were built on several levels reaching 22 metres in height, complete with machinery for circulating water. An earthquake destroyed the gardens sometime after the first century BC.Temple of Artemis, Ephesus: Built in the sixth century BC, it took about 120 years to be completed. It was dedicated to the Greek goddess of the moon, Artemis, also known as Diana. The temple was destroyed on 21 July 356 BC in a fire started by Herostratus. Apparently, his motivation was to achieve lasting fame at any cost (hence the phrase ‘herostratic fame’). It is said that Artemis was so busy with the delivery of Alexander the Great - who was born that night that she couldn’t save her burning temple. Alexander later offered to pay for the temple’s rebuilding, but the Ephesians refused. The temple was restored after Alexander’s death in 323 BC only to be destroyed again around the fifth century AD by a violent mob.

Statue of Zeus, Olympia (Greece):
Built around 432-435 BC by the sculptor Phidias. Twelve metres in height, the statue occupied the whole width of the aisle of the temple built to house it. The statue was destroyed by a fire or an earthquake sometime around the sixth century AD.

Pyramid of Giza:
It is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo. The pyramid was built as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu and constructed over a period of 20 years concluding around 2560 BC. It is the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. When the New Seven Wonders Foundation began their project in 2001, the Great Pyramid of Giza was made an honourary member in the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World, outside the purview of voting.

Mausoleum of Mausolus:
Built between 353 and 350 BC at Halicarnassus (Turkey) for Mausolus, a satrap (noble) in the Persian empire and his wife, the structure was designed by Greek architects Satyrus and Pythius. It stood about 45 metres tall with each of the four sides adorned with sculptural reliefs. (The word mausoleum has since come to be used to refer to any grand tomb.) It was initially damaged by an earthquake and was eventually destroyed by European Crusaders in the fifteenth century AD.Pharos Lighthouse, Alexandria Constructed around 270 BC. With a height of 115-135 metres, it was easily one of the tallest manmade structures for many centuries. Built from large blocks of light-coloured stone, the lighthouse was made up of three stages: a lower square section with a central core, a middle octagonal section, and a circular top section. At the apex was positioned a mirror which reflected sunlight during the day, while a fire was lit at night. The lighthouse was destroyed by two earthquakes in 1303 AD and 1323 AD.

Colossus of Rhodes:
“Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world/ Like a Colossus, and we petty men/ Walk under his huge legs and peep about/ To find ourselves dishonourable graves.” Those are lines from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II, if we remember correctly — lines that clearly allude to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Colossus was a giant statue of the Greek god Helios, standing over 35 metres high. It was built around 280 BC near the island of Rhodes. The statue was damaged by an earthquake in 226BC, when it snapped at the knees and fell over. Even so, the ruins were so impressive that people travelled to see them until the scrap was finally removed in 654 AD.

Great Wall of China:
It is nothing but a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt and maintained between the 6th century BC and the 16th century AD to protect the northern borders of the Chinese empire from attacks by foreign invaders during the rule of successive dynasties. The Great Wall stretches over approximately 6400 km from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west. Several years back, it was claimed that the Great Wall of China could be seen from the moon, that was subsequently proved to be false.Stonehenge: It is a prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, England, and composed of earthwork surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that the standing stones were erected sometime around 2200 BC, while the surrounding earthwork date back to the 4th century BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the Unesco’s list of World Heritage Sites in 1986.

Taj Mahal, Agra:
We’re well aware of the history of the Taj Mahal. Built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the seventeenth century AD in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj Mahal is seen as an epitome of love. It took 22-23 years to complete the Taj Mahal; the monument was designed, executed and completed under the guidance of the architect Ustad Isa. The mausoleum is made of pure white marble, but in recent years, the pollution in the city of Agra has affected it, corroding the marble and leaving it yellowish in colour. Following a Supreme Court order, steps are being taken to protect the environment around it.

Colosseum, Rome:
Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, it is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome. Its construction started between 70-72 AD under the Roman emperor Vespasian, and was completed in 80 AD under the emperor Titus. Originally capable of seating around 50,000 people, the amphitheatre was used for gladiatorial contests and other public spectacles like mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles and dramas based on Classical mythology. The Colosseum remained in use for nearly five centuries, ceasing to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for other purposes such as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, etc. Presently, the Colosseum is in a ruined condition due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, but is still one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rome.

Leaning Tower of Pisa:
It is actually the freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of Pisa. Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower was constructed in three stages over a period of 177 years. Construction of the first floor of the tower began in August 1173. The tower began to sink after construction progressed to the third floor in 1178. The foundation was just three metres deep, and set in weak, unstable subsoil. Construction was halted for almost a century as Pisa remained involved in continual battles with Genoa, Lucca and Florence; this allowed the underlying soil to settle, thus preventing the tower from toppling over. In 1272, construction resumed under the architect Giovanni di Simone. In an effort to compensate for the tilt of the tower, engineers built higher floors with one side taller than the other; this caused the tower to start leaning in the other direction. Construction was halted again in 1284, when Genoa defeated Pisa. The seventh floor was finally completed in 1319, while the bell-chamber (built in the Gothic style as opposed to the Romanesque style of the rest of the tower) was added in 1372. In 1934, Mussolini ordered that the tower be returned to a vertical position, and so concrete was poured into the foundation. However, the result was that the tower sank further into the soil and presently leans to the southwest.The other wondersThe Porcelain Tower of Nanjing: Considered one of the Seven Wonders by some, it was built in the early fifteenth century AD by the Chinese emperor Yongle. It was built of white porcelain bricks that were said to reflect the sun’s rays during the day, while at night, as many as 140 lamps used to be hung from the tower to illuminate it. Glazes and stoneware were worked into the porcelain and created a mixture of green, yellow, brown and white designs on the sides of the tower, including animals, flowers and landscapes. When it was built, the tower was one of the tallest buildings in China, rising up to a height of 260 feet with nine storeys and a staircase in the middle of the pagoda, which spiralled upwards for 130 steps.Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, . This is also considered to be one of the Seven Wonders by some. It was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 AD on the orders of the Byzantine emperor Justinian and was designed by architects Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and Islamic features such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Turkish government.

The Easter Island, Chile:
It has Moai statues that are also considered by some to be one of the wonders of the world. Easter Island is one of the most remote islands on Earth. It is in the southern Pacific Ocean, 2,300 miles west of the coast of Chile and 2500 miles southeast of Tahiti. The closest island is 1400 miles away and is uninhabited. Easter Island is only 15 miles long and 10 miles wide. Yet, almost uninhabited when it was discovered on Easter Day in 1722 by a Dutch captain, it is covered with 887 giant statutes - each weighing several tons and some standing over 30 feet tall. Who built these statutes? Why and how did they get there? Nobody knows for sure.

Machu Picchu:
This is an Inca site located 2400 metres above sea level on a mountain ridge above Urubamba valley in Peru. Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, Machu Picchu was built around the year 1450, but abandoned a century later. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Forgotten for centuries, Machu Picchu was brought to the attention of the world in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. The site was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1983.One of the most mysterious things about Machu Picchu is why and how it was abandoned. Machu Picchu was deliberately - and rather suddenly - abandoned by its inhabitants, when, we do not know.

Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
It is about 40 metres tall, weighs 700 tons and is located at the peak of the Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. Local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa designed the statue and it was sculpted by Paul Landowski, a French monument sculptor of Polish origin. The structure is made of reinforced concrete, while the outer layers are soapstone, chosen for its enduring qualities and ease of use. Construction took nine years and the monument was opened to the public on 12 October 1931.Petra: It is an archaeological site in Jordan, and is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe which settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria. Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter. The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra to the local people until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. It was designated a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1985.Chichen Itza: It is a large archaeological site built by the Mayan civilisation. A pyramidal structure, Chichen Itza was actually dedicated to the Mayan sun god. 365 steps (91 on each of the four sides, with one extra step on one side) corresponding to the 365 days of the year lead to the top of the structure. An interesting fact is that if one stands in front of the pyramidal structure and claps one’s hands, the echo produced resembles the cry of the Quetzal bird - a symbol of the Mayan sun god - almost exactly, as experts have found out.Words and pictures, no matter how articulate, or realistic, can never bring alive the magic of any place the way our eyes can. So if reading this does not satisfy your desire to know more about the Seven Wonders of the World, you could just pack your bags and see the masterpieces - at least the ones that still exist!Coordinator, ex-The Future Foundation School

Sources:www.wikipedia.org, www.harvard.edu, www.qsl.net, www.visitjordan.com
The Mystery of Machu Picchu - from Peru Handbook/Footprint Handbooks, Peter Frost, 1996.