The New Seven Wonders of the World

[Portuguese]

I was there, in the Stadium.
(How the heck such a thing happened in Portugal? )

About the Pyramids: They are already in the ancient list: Why to be in this one too?

Latin America got 3 in 3, showing how western tourism is important & is pointing more and more in that direction.
India & China got their ones in also, not surprisingly.
Europe only included 1!
I agree with 6. Petra is clearly out of place, IMHO.
I was surprised by the Eiffel Tower, but I would prefer the ACROPOLIS.

About the organization: 165€ for my ticket was too much, specially in Portugal. Not surprisingly, the stadium was not full. And a series of gaffes were made, including the UN representative arrival. And the Portuguese 7 wonders announcement was poorly done, IMO.

​

By the way, Portuguese 7 wonders are:

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guimaraes Castle (cradle of Portugal)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obidos Castle
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_Batalha Monastery
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_Alcoba%C3%A7a Monastery (XII century, built by the 1st king and always connected to the royalty till the 20th century)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jer%C3%B3nimos_Monastery Monastery (or Monastery of the Hieronymites), in Lisbon
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pena_Palace Palace (a Palace similar to the german wonder candidate, but smaller and less militar and more romantic)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belem_Tower Tower (Bombard Tower in the middle of Tagus, nowadays a touristic site in the shore, due to river sand movement!)

Other good candidates in the 21 finalist list included:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convent_of_the_Order_of_Christ Convent (center of the religious order behind the Discoveries)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafra_National_Palace Monastery (Built with the gold from Brasil, one of the biggest in Europe)
None made its path to the 21 world finalists.

 

[EdCase]

Hmm wonders...oddly none but the ancient fill me with a sense of "wonder".

The pyramids ...prime example....built using low tech tools and raw musclepower (slaves)..they inspire in me a sense of wonder.

Statues made of steel and concrete and sub 100 years old (unless atop a VERY high mountain) do not inspire any wonder.

All very subjective I guess.

 

[Granolaking]

This whole thing made me laugh from the first time I heard about it... it's like the American Idol of the 7 wonders of the world. Next we'll find out that Christ the Redeemer is going out with Flava-Flav. :rolls eyes

 

[LordRahl]

"I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York's skyline. Particularly when one can't see the details. Just the shapes. The shapes and the thought that made them. The sky over New York and the will of man made visible. What other religion do we need? And then people tell me about pilgrimages to some dank pesthole in a jungle where they go to do homage to a crumbling temple, to a leering stone monster with a pot belly, created by some leprous savage. Is it beauty and genius they want to see? Do they seek a sense of the sublime? Let them come to New York, stand on the shore of the Hudson, look and kneel. When I see the city from my window - no, I don't feel how small I am - but I feel that if a war came to threaten this, I would throw myself into space, over the city, and protect these buildings with my body." --The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

 

[aaglo]

I think the choises are quite good.

The only thing that I would consider as a "not in the same league" is the Christ redeemer statue. It's pretty impressive though, built in such a ridiculously difficult place, but I think that Angor Wat would have been a bit better choice there.

But I really can't complain, since it was a democratic decision. Right?

 

[toft]

About your RELIGIOUS argument, I did not say anything about religion... If there was a statue with ARABIAN or BUDHIST symbols so impressive like the CHRIST is for me (MY opinion), I would vote for them too.

Well I think if people voted more objectly instead of subjectly, we would get another result, that didnt have the Christ Redeemer included. Even if it was a demographically unevenly spread vote, that had a majority in South America.

 

[Melo-Franco]

I disagree.. As a history student, I think the only people who are truly qualified to judge these buildings ARE people who know how to judge the many different wonders of the world on their many different distinctions.. And it shouldn't just be historians, but also archeologists, architects, engineers and so on..

OK, you're a history student... Then what kind of history are you into? You know the former writing of history was made strictly by the winners. It mustbe rethinked. Since Walter Benjamin's philosophy of history, for example, the researchers propose new historigraphy models based on the anonymous people, for they are the real heroes of the sociological development.

The insertion of "minor" populations in Civilization is a kind of answer to a more sensitive historical sense. I know de Gaulle, von Bismarck and Elizabeth are great characters, but when it comes to the real thing they represent, well, it's Joe, Jacques and Fritz that really counts.

I'm Brazilian and I think the poll is ridiculous. But it's not about the popular criteria it promotes. I find it ridiculous because it opposes the countries in a XIXth century fashion. The poll's organization focused patriotic and nationalistic endeavour.

My personal list is:

The Kremlin
Schloss Neuschwanstein
Tour Eiffel
Taj Mahal
Sidney's Opera House
The Moai
Broadway (lol)

Well, let's play Civ. There, any Country can have all the wonders. I hope it's mine.

 

[kcbrett5]

Egypt asked for the Pyramids to be taken away from the vote, because they thought the Pyramids shouldn't fight any challenger to merely retain their status.
By giving them this status, it actually place the Pyramids above (or at least in another category: old world wonders) the New 7 World Wonders.

I disagree. I think Egypt actually diminished the Pyramids by doing this. Now when people talk about the "New 7 Wonders", the Pyramids arent included. Even this thread reports them with the rest of the 14 losers. Since they almost certainly would have been voted in anyway (probably voted #1), Egypt should have just left it alone and had them on both the ancient and "New" lists. As it is now, they are only on the ancient list.

 

[EMan]

...The Great Pyramids of Giza, the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world, retained their status in addition to the new seven.

Excuse my ignorance, but what does The Pyramids "retaining their status" mean?

It looks to me like the masses voted for 7 Wonders and if Egypt requested, and was granted, that TP be removed from The List Of Candidates, how do they get to retain their status? Status as what? Why would the organizers remove them from The Candidates anyways? (I thought it was up to the people to decide!?)

(I would have voted for The Pyramids.......well, if I'd known about The Vote, that is!)

 

[Marsden]

Good point! Does that mean there are 8 wonders, the pyramids plus the other 7, or what? I guess there could be 8 wonders of the world.

 

[EMan]

Perhaps, then, we could have a recount on 08-08-2008?

 

[mythmonster2]

Excuse my ignorance, but what does The Pyramids "retaining their status" mean?

It looks to me like the masses voted for 7 Wonders and if Egypt requested, and was granted, that TP be removed from The List Of Candidates, how do they get to retain their status? Status as what? Why would the organizers remove them from The Candidates anyways? (I thought it was up to the people to decide!?)

(I would have voted for The Pyramids.......well, if I'd known about The Vote, that is!)

If you didn't know already, it means that the Pyramids retain their status as a wonder of the world, as they were the only surviving wonders from the ancient list.

My list(in order):
1: Pyramids
2: Stonehenge
3: Great Wall
4: Easter Island Statues
5: Taj Mahal
6: Hagia Sophia
7: Machu Picchu

 

[Thunderfall]

Excuse my ignorance, but what does The Pyramids "retaining their status" mean?

I heard Egytian officals were angry that Pyramids had to compete for a spot, and they asked the poll organizer to remove it from the poll. So Pyramids retain their status as an "old" wonder, but in the new list of wonders, it's a "honorary candidate".

 

[Bucca]

Hmm wonders...oddly none but the ancient fill me with a sense of "wonder".

Actually, the ancient Greeks didn't use the word "wonders". They used the word theamata, which means "must-sees". Therefore, the list of the 7 ancient "wonders of the world" is just an ancient version of the lonely planet...

By the way, the number "7" had a magical meaning for the ancient Greeks (they knew of 7 planets, 7 colors, 7 weekdays, 7 sciences etc.). Since the number 7 has no magic meaning for us anymore, we shouldn't be limited to only 7 "wonders"... As someone proposed, the list of UNESCO is a very good list...

p.s. this whole contest is a joke, try not to take it to serious...
p.p.s. democracy is over-rated...

 

[commofdoom]

well there are a few structures coming within the next couple decades to blow these all out of the water so this really doesn't matter. not to mention this list seems to be largely popularity based. and like has been said before it is largely a joke.

that being said... things that could have also easily made the list and in a few cases deserved it more (i'll stick to the largest because beauty is too subjective):
Mall of America (largest mall),
Boeing Everett Factory (largest building in the world by volume),
Aalsmeer Flower Auction (largest floorspace in the world),
The Pentagon (the largest military structure),
Great Pyramid of Cholula (largest pyramid/monument),
Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro (largest church),
Georgia Dome (largest dome),
Forbidden City (largest palace)
Foxwoods (world's largest casino)

 

[kcbrett5]

Yes. I was also very upset that Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut was not one of the choices to vote for. When you think of world wonders, you naturally think of Foxwoods.

 

[NikNaks]

Personally, I hadn't even heard of some of the entrants. It's blatantly an advertising exercise. *sigh*

Yes. I was also very upset that Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut was not one of the choices to vote for. When you think of world wonders, you naturally think of Foxwoods.

Now there's no need for sarcasm, is there.

 

[bkn42]

Mall of America (largest mall)

The MOA is not the largest mall and never was, and West Edmonton Mall isn't even the largest anymore, although it used to be. The South China Mall is the largest, with 600,000 square meters, compared to 236,000 sq m for the MOA and 300,000 sq m for the WEM. The Mall of America is, however, the most visited mall in the world, with 40 million visitors annually. (the SCM doesn't keep track.)

There are plans for the MOA to double in size, but the developers have failed so far as to gain the tax exemptions and other financial concessions from the city deemed by the developers to be necessary to do the expansion.

Another couple bits of trivia: the MOA and WEM are owned by the same company, the Triple Five Group; the MOA and WEM have roughly the same amount of parking spaces (20,000) with WEM holding the world's largest parking lot title (the MOA has two garages plus an overflow lot), but the South China Mall only has half the amount of parking spaces (10,000.)

The next mall that will claim the size crown will be the Dubai mall, when completed around 2008, with 836,000 sq m.

From a MOA local

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

My list of seven wonders would be
1. Pyramids
2. Great Wall of China
3. Taj Mahal
4. Statue of Liberty
5. Macchu Picchu
6. Angkor Wat
7. Eiffel Tower

 

[illram]

And I should listen to this poll because...