New 7 Wonders

[the sound]

(Searched before posted)

 

Most of the worlds Ancient Wonders of the world have been destoryed, so now, the world needs a new 7. The voting is open for all people of all ages, so get in now and vote for your favorite 7 out of the following:

 

The Acropolis, Athens Greece

The Alhambra, Grenada Spain

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The Pyramids at Chichen Itza, Yutucan Mexico*

Chirst Redeemer, Rio Brazil*

The Colloseum, Rome Italy

Statues of Easter Island, Easter Island Chile*

The Eiffel Tower, Paris France

Great wall of China, China*

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Turkey*

Kiyomizy Temple, Kyoto Japan

Kremlin/Red Square, Moscow Russia*

Machu Picchu, Peru

Neuschwantstein, Schwangau Germany

Petra, Jordan

The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Statue of Liberty, New York USA

Stonehenge, Amesbury UK

Sydney Opera House, Sydney Australia

Taj Mahal, Agra India*

Timbuktu, Mali*

 

Vote now at www.new7wonders.com . The places i vote for have an * beside them.

 

PS, i can add photos of these places if people are to lazy to search for them on Google.

[BiCoastal Kid]

I put my votes in. I'll explain here and put my votes in white.

 

The Acropolis, Athens Greece

No doubt the Acropolis is beautiful, but the structures themselves are nothing unique, in a sense. If it weren't for it's location, the structures would probably not be around today. The hilltop location really makes the Acropolis.

 

The Alhambra, Grenada Spain

This too is beautiful, but again I think this is largely location. There are many other examples of finely detailed Moorish, many of which would be just as breath taking on the same position. Not Moorish, but still similar, would be the Alcazar de Segovia. That combined with their beautiful Roman aqueduct would make it equally as worth of wonder status, in my opinion.

 

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

I voted for Angkor for two main reasons: 1) It exhibits one of the oldest and most beautiful demonstrations of a structured culture on the planet, 2) its massive complex encompasses many different structures from different eras, making it significantly more relevant than any singular structure would be.

 

The Pyramids at Chichen Itza, Yutucan Mexico

Beautiful, great setting, and some really amazing astronomically guided engineering, but once again this is just a sample of a culture. Other site demonstrate the same craftsmanship and cultural values in a similar fashion. This one just happens to be the most popular.

 

Chirst Redeemer, Rio Brazil

I would never vote for this simply because there is nothing special about the thing itself. It's a giant statue of a religious figure, they have those in many places. In fact, this isn't even the most impressive: the Quito Virgen del Penecillo is in fact about 10-15 feet taller and far more detailed. If you placed her on the same spot as Christ Redeemer she would be just as popular as the current figure. To me, just because it's set on one of the most beautiful vantages available does not make it World Wonder worthy.

 

 

The Colloseum, Rome Italy

The Colloseum is indeed amazing, it's an excellent example of Roman architecture and grandeur, but there were many others like it. It is one of the more intact Colloseums remaining, and should be treasured and maintained forever, but with the expanded palette of the currently nominated sites it just can't stand up.

 

Statues of Easter Island, Easter Island Chile

I voted for these because of the massive and long-lasted undertaking they were. Each statue is uniquely carved to resemble the person it represents. That detail, combined with their MASSIVE size and intricate placement just amazes me. There's no way anything like this would be done today, people don't place enough value on each other. I think these represent such a beautiful self-respecting culture. Their numbers could not have been large, so the large number of these statues shows that there must have been many praised individuals within the group and not just a select few like kings or emperors.

 

The Eiffel Tower, Paris France

Voted for this, too. The Eiffel Tower is so bold it has to be a wonder. It's HUGE, and most of all, it's also gorgeous. It's gorgeous and made of nothing but steel. It's so gorgeous that the French have come to adore it, when almost the entire country despised it upon it's construction. If anything, I think that alone proves its worthiness of being a wonder. If it isn't voted in now, something tells me it will be unspokenly recognized as one more than many of those that are voted on.

 

Great wall of China, China

Sheer size makes this happen. It's the single greatest defense structure ever constructed. Not only that, but it's not JUST a wall. The entire thing had to be custom fit, every stone custom edged. There are many statues along its length, (3000+ miles, yeah hi) and it was also very functional for transportation and mail along it's path as well, in addition to defense. Plus you can see it from space.

 

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Turkey

It really hurts me to not vote for the Hagia Sophia, really. It's so beautiful. However, it is kind of an orphan mosque. It was originally a Christian basillica, if I'm not mistaken, and was later converted and the minerettes added later. Even on top of that, there ARE larger domes from earlier times. Also, the fact that this was listed and Vatican City wasn't just BAFFLES me.

 

Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto Japan

Kiyomizu is really beautiful, as are most Japanese temples, but I think it's hard to justify singling this one out in particular. I mean, a lot of Japanese temples and monasteries, and Chinese/Korean temples/monasteries as well, are just as beautiful but not here. I, personally, would definitely nominate Kumamoto Castle over this.

 

Kremlin/Red Square, Moscow Russia

The Kremlin and St Basil's are definitely beautiful, but for some reason I wouldn't say they are World Wonders. The Kremlin is really a huge fortified palace. For Palaces, wouldn't you go with Versailles? And St Basil's, while the snow-dodging domes are cool, couldn't you say that Stephansdom Cathedral in Vienna has an equally intricate roof, and even more, St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City overall AGAIN for churches. I am still baffled by its exclusion.

 

Machu Picchu, Peru

How mysterious! And I mean, the locale is great. And not just because it’s beautiful, but because they thought it very sacred. They would go THAT far out of their way to be faithful. Wow. There isn’t much left there, but wow, just the idea of an entire city almost completely dedicated to beliefs and tradition THAT high up. One could argue that the Monasteries at Meteora are more dramatic for their placement, but this is an ENTIRE city perched on a mountain completely separated from the outside world. Just amazing.

 

Neuschwantstein, Schwangau Germany

Again, here I say it’s beautiful, but the setting again makes this. It’s on a hill Just as Alhambra, Segovia, and Oravsky Hrad is situated in such a manner. Neuschwanstein isn’t the most dramatic, but it’s that fairytale castle that everybody envisions. Really beautiful, but nothing too extraordinary when compared to other similar structures.

 

Petra, Jordan

YES. It’s a city carved INTO stone. INTO mountains. Not quarried, so there are no blocks. The city literally is one giant rock, and that is just awesome. Not only that, but it’s HUGE and beautiful. I mean, how striking to be traveling through the desert and come upon THIS.

 

The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

I would love to vote for these, but can’t. Pyramids are so common, and these aren’t even the most impressive. I would vote for Chichen Itza before this, but before that and possible make it on the list I would actually really only vote for the massive pyramid city/complex of Teotihuacan.

 

Statue of Liberty, New York USA

Kinda like Christ Redeemer. This is a definite World Heritage Site, but it’s really nothing wonderous. It’s beautiful. But all it is a big copper statue in a harbor…. it has fare more symbolic meaning than actual wonder at all. To me, a World Wonder really needs to be something truly striking, and sadly, in this day and age a 200’ statue made of copper doesn’t cut it for me. I can see how they made the Colossus of Rhodes connection here, but yeah, back than it was huge, now it’s just kind of a novelty.

 

Stonehenge, Amesbury UK

Stonehenge is cool. It’s big, it’s all set up around the sun, but beyond that it is just a circle of simple stones. Chichen Itza does the sun thing, so does Giza, and Machu Picchu, so if you’re gonna do the sun thing, at least do it awesomely. Granted, Druid culture was very simplistic in itself, and I can recognize this as an important artifact of their culture, but I don’t think this is a World Wonder. Not of those given, at least.

 

Sydney Opera House, Sydney Australia

I’m not sure why this is listed here. Seriously, I disagree with it THAT much. This is simply a popularity thing. It’s just beautiful, but it really has not symbolism or power behind it. It’s pretty to be pretty. The wedges are cool, but not overly impressive. I think the wave on the Tenerife Opera House is much more dramatic and impressive, engineering wise. I’d rather vote for the Sydney Harbor Bridge than the Opera House.

 

Taj Mahal, Agra India

WOWOWOWOW! Yes. Taj Mahal, not only is breathtaking beautiful, it’s also extremely precise. Everything about this was laid out and planned to a T. The entire complex is symmetrical, constructed almost exclusively of Indian marble, which actually make it translucent to an extent, and it’s just so striking. From every angle it’s wonderful. When entering through the main gate your vision is controlled, purposely, until you come to the door and BANG the fountains and ponds lead you straight to this huge temple of white, inlayed with precious gems and cartography everywhere. It’s intimidating.

 

Timbuktu, Mali

This place is very historically important, but I don’t think it’s very Wonder worthy. There’s nothing that impressive about it. It just happens to have been one of the most prominent trading spots in history.

 

 

 

Sorry, I probably went off there! Hahaha, I just really love important sites like this and I think it’s really hard to narrow it down to these. Popularity definitely played a big roll this poll, so even when these are voted on the results will still be crap. If you want to just see a huge list and explanations of the World’s most beautiful and important sites, check out UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites list and maybe get into that more.

 

UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites List

[the sound]

^ I totally agree with the Sydney Opera House not being included. It is architecturally wonderful, it lacks the magic of say the Neuschwanstein castle or The Red Square. I can tell you that the Alhambra is nothing special, and shouldn't of been included. While it is a great palace and has beautiful gardens, when i was there, i just couldn't see the reason to excited. Sure, its has wonderful paintings and great arches but as you said before about the Red Square, what about Versailles or in fact some of the palace's outside of Lisbon in Portugal.

 

EDIT: I'm wondering about the original 72 that the list was cut down from, and what they were. Does anyone know where i can find one?

[CommanderLock]

Hey, if the Opera House got this far, it must have some merit.

I must say though, Machu Pechu is up there for me.

This is quite interesting, indeed.

[the sound]

I'll explain my choices now:

 

Pyramids at Chichen Itza

I decided i would pick either these, or the Pyramids of Egypt. I choose these because of its more adventurous look. The pyramids of Egypt are tombs to me, whilst the Pyramids of the Yutucan are Adventurous voyages. Hard to explain i guess.

 

Christ Redeemer

I beautifully mad statue giving life to a bustling city. It is the most incredible feeling statue i have seen. Its location atop Sugarloaf Mountain just influenced my vote even more.

 

Statues of Easter Island

Much more Mysterious than any other place on earth, in my opinion. How they got there, no one knows. Who made them, no one knows. How are they all different? no one knows. Historical and Archaeological mystery is needed in this group of 7.

 

Great Wall of China

Just Staring along the wall, while standing on it would seem absolutely magnificent. Staring into the hills where this man-made snake of incredible architecture and engineering would be incredible. How could this not be one of the great wonders of the world?

 

Hagia Sofia

It's incredible spires, endless domes and mix of beautiful religious interior seems to be to irresistible to me for reasons I'm not sure of. It seems to tower over Istanbul, a city starting to catch up with technology.

 

Red Square

St Basil's on its own would win my vote. Its incredible patterned onion shaped domes call difference and freedom, yet the Kremlin calls a completely different message, yet it has that beautiful Russian Architecture, often seen in St Petersburg more often than Moscow.

 

Taj Mahal

Ditto Bi Coastal Kid.

 

Timbuktu

It's mud brick... well city i guess shines out to be one of the most incredible places in all of Africa. It's oddly shaped Mosque give off an innocent beauty not seen in the other wonders. It's in my list because of what the people have shown the world they can do with some mud.