Wonders of the World

[Cutlass]

There are far more wonderous bridges in the world than the Golden State bridge.

But the Brooklyn was, as far as I know, the first of the modern mega bridges. So that should get the prize.

 

[RavenKing]

I like the Golden Gate bridge. When it was built in 1937 it had the longest span, and it still ranks as one of the top 10 even today, so it was a pretty amazing feat of engineering. It also had the tallest towers when it was built. And it's just as iconic as the Brooklyn Bridge. The Golden Gate just has something special. Like the Empire State Building. It isn't the tallest building anymore, but when it was built, it was something amazing.

 

[RedRalph]

I love the Hagia Sophia. Its incredibly beautiful, the most beautiful building ever IMO.

Is it just me or are the ancient wonders far, far better than the modern ones?

 

[REDY]

I agree. And also for example ships - galleons or frigates I like much more than modern ships.

 

[Gilder]

you could say that about alot of things.

you could say that about the Statue of Liberty, or the Empire State Building, the Pyramids, or Stonehenge... I mean, the Statue of Liberty is a statue made of copper that even chemically changed color, the Empire State Building isn't the tallest building in the world, the Pyramids are just giant blocks of limestone stacked on top of each other meant to house one dead person, and Stonehenge is just a strange assortments of rocks.

I'm not saying that you have to feel that Christ the Redeemer in Rio means anything to you, but I am saying that you can't deny it is a symbol of Brazil and the rest of South America as a whole, along with representing it today.

Hell, I don't even like any of the newer lists, it's just the Redeemer statue is one of the silliest choices as a wonder. The original wonders usually had some impressive architecture feats for the age. The Pyramids, for example, is quite the amazing feat when you consider the context; huge buildings made of stone, larger than most other buildings in the middle of the desert.

The Redeemer? A statue made of concrete. That's it. Tt's big in South America, and that's it. Did many people know of it outside of South America before it got voted into the "new" seven wonders list?

Oh, there were also campaigns to get it voted on the list in Brazil. I take issue with that.

 

[Taras Bulba]

It also depends on how you define "in", but that doesn't change the fact that out of all the bridges in the world, the golden state bridge does not stand out in any sort of wonderous way.. except for a purely sentimental one.

Golden Gate Bridge was the longest spanned bridge, and had the tallest towers under its completion.

also, its completion was that of a nation growing to be the next world power. I believe the Golden Gate Bridge is the epitome of the American Innovation that put us on the 'top of the world' so to speak

But the Brooklyn was, as far as I know, the first of the modern mega bridges. So that should get the prize.

naw... if you wanna' go with first, Menai Suspension Bridge beats it out... Menai was constructed in 1826, whereas the Brooklyn Bridge wasn't finished until 1883.

Hell, I don't even like any of the newer lists, it's just the Redeemer statue is one of the silliest choices as a wonder. The original wonders usually had some impressive architecture feats for the age. The Pyramids, for example, is quite the amazing feat when you consider the context; huge buildings made of stone, larger than most other buildings in the middle of the desert.

The Redeemer? A statue made of concrete. That's it. Tt's big in South America, and that's it. Did many people know of it outside of South America before it got voted into the "new" seven wonders list?

Oh, there were also campaigns to get it voted on the list in Brazil. I take issue with that.

I can agree with you on some points, but if you are going for engineering feats that were difficult to create when they were created, there wouldn't be much room for modern wonders unless you go back a good 50 years MINIMUM. Not to mention that I'm sure 2 out of the 7 wonders would be in the UAE, specifically Dubai, especially with what they've got going on now.

Burj Dubai, Shanghai World Financial Center, and Taipei 101 would be candidates that I can think of off the top of my head, but leaving it at engineering marvels that are very difficult narrows it down to very few things.

 

[privatehudson]

you could say that about the Statue of Liberty, or the Empire State Building, the Pyramids, or Stonehenge... I mean, the Statue of Liberty is a statue made of copper that even chemically changed color, the Empire State Building isn't the tallest building in the world, the Pyramids are just giant blocks of limestone stacked on top of each other meant to house one dead person, and Stonehenge is just a strange assortments of rocks.

On a slightly related note I remember reading an article in the Daily Mail about 3 months ago which listed the 6 attractions that tourists considered the most over-rated. Near the top of the British list came Stonehenge, and one of the list of World attractions was the Pyramids.

What amused me however was the comments some tourists gave about why they felt it was overated. For example one visitor complained that stonehenge was "Just a bunch of rocks".

Makes you wonder why the person bothered going in the first place, its rather like spending money to go and see the Grand Canyon then complaining that its basically just a big hole in the ground...

 

[RavenKing]

I've been to Stonehenge twice, and despite all the crowds and the distance you have to keep from the stones, it was massively impressive. Funny thing is a month or so ago I met a couple of British tourists from the midlands (Wolverhampton? Huddersfield? something like that) when I was in a remote town in northern BC and they had never been to Stonehenge in their lives. There they were driving across the wilds from Edmonton to Prince Rupert, but they hadn't been to visit one of the great wonders in their own country. Why do we ignore the things so close to hand?

 

[Kadazzle]

I've been to Stonehenge twice, and despite all the crowds and the distance you have to keep from the stones, it was massively impressive. Funny thing is a month or so ago I met a couple of British tourists from the midlands (Wolverhampton? Huddersfield? something like that) when I was in a remote town in northern BC and they had never been to Stonehenge in their lives. There they were driving across the wilds from Edmonton to Prince Rupert, but they hadn't been to visit one of the great wonders in their own country. Why do we ignore the things so close to hand?

Ha! I know exactly what you mean. I've lived in Toronto, Ontario for 8 years, and I can reach the CN Tower by the subway or street car in less then 20 minutes, but I have never been up the tower, let alone in the building! I just have never had the time to go up in it. On the other hand, I traveled to Australia earlier this year and visited Sydney's Opera house and climbed the big bridge there. (I'm bad with names of buildings >.>)

 

[Huayna Capac357]

Ancient:

1. Stonehenge
2. Pyramids
3. Hanging Gardens
4. Terra Cotta Army
5. Parthenon
6. Coliseum
7. Great Wall


Middle Ages:

1. Hagia Sophia
2. Notre Dame de Chartres
3. Machu Picchu
4. Mayan Observatory at Caracol
5. Cluny Abbey
6. Shwedagon Paya
7. Church of the Holy Sepulchre+Al Azhar+Dome of the Rock (East Jerusalem Group of Holy Buildings)

Renaissance/Baroque:

1. St. Peter's Basilica
2. St. Basil's Cathedral
3. Versailles
4. Forbidden City Complex
5. Murahharh (sp) Mosque, that one w/ all the windows
6. Globe Theatre
7. Taj Mahal

Industrial:

1. Eiffel Tower
2. Cristo Redentor
3. Arc De Triomphe
4. Slater's Mill
5. Empire State Building
6. Statue of Liberty
7. ???

Modern:

???

Will be edited later.

 

[Dachs]

6. Globe Theatre

Didn't last very long to be a Wonder of the World.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

7. Church of the Holy Sepulchre+Al Azhar+Dome of the Rock (East Jerusalem Group of Holy Buildings)

Al-Azhar? I think you mean Al-Aqsa. Al-Azhar is a university in Cairo.

Anyway, I think you're leaning on cultural significance, rather than the impositional one by which the wonders, both ancient and modern, have been defined. The Pyramids or The Mausoleum weren't picked because they were important, it was because they were freakin cool. Now the Dome of the Rock is one gorgeous structure, but the rest of the complex, apart from Al-Aqsa, which isn't particuarly impressive as far as Mosques go, is just a bunch of rubble. Who cares. Rubble ain't cool.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher is on the other side of town, so you can't really combine the two, unless you just make the whole city a wonder of the world, which might be more doable.

5. Murahharh (sp) Mosque, that one w/ all the windows

I have no idea which one you're talking about. Maybe the Blue Mosque, in Istanbul?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Now this Masjid is cool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_Djenn%C3%A9

 

[RavenKing]

Originally posted by Cheesy the Wiz

Now this Masjid is cool.

Exactly. That's why the Great Mosque of Djenné made my list. Very different. And it must have been quite an undertaking.

 

[Arwon]

ALHAMBRA, damn you all!

 

[jessiecat]

ALHAMBRA, damn you all!

I'll see your Granada and raise you a Cordoba or a Seville. The Mezquita (Great Mosque) or the Alcazar tops it for me.

 

[Arwon]

I didn't like the Alcazar so much actually. Possibly 'cos i saw Alhambra first.

 

[aronnax]

The Hagia Sophia is just simply breathtaking. It looks kinda lumpy on the outside but when you step inside and take a look at how high the entire dome is, you gasp in amazement at the Sheer emptyness of the entire dome that you wont be able to tell on the outside. Add that with how much effort was gone into constructing it that is already an engineering difficulty to replicate in modern day.

I have also been to the Forbiden Palace.
The compound is huge. I was 7 when I first saw it and was amazed by the stretch of space between the gates the Throne room where the emperor would had sat. My father than explained to me that rows of Guards would stand and shout out "Huang Shang Jia Dao!" which means "The Emperor has arrived" to intially annouce to the other officers of the Emperors arrival so they could prepare. My father then explained the amount of guards needed to pass on the message as the main plaza was giagantic! The palace is amazing.

I loved the church, Church of Our Lady in front of Týn, located in Prague at the Old town square. I think it is much more beautiful than St Vitus Catherdal. The Gothic style stands out greatly among the Baroque structures in the square.

 

[privatehudson]

I've always been somewhat awed by the enormous size and beauty of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, one of the largest* in the world and certainly the biggest in the UK. All the rest seem rather minute in comparison frankly. The tower is over 300 feet from the floor of the Cathedral and sits on high ground. The view from up there on a clear day is amazing.

*Largest being at best a loosely defined term when referring to buildings since there is more than one way to define size.

Not bad considering it only took 74 years to complete.

As big as the Anglican is though it would have been outdone by Lutyen's design for the city's Catholic Cathedral. It was never completed due to a shortage of materials and cash after WW2, but had it been built it would have rivalled St Peters. I've heard it said that you could have fit London's St Paul's inside the building with room to spare. From the lantern on the dome to the floor of the building would have been over 500 feet! A model was constructed to help raise funds for the project which survives as a reminder of what might have been.

The project was scaled back then cancelled before a competition held in the 1960s produced a modern building that was completed in just 5 years.

I doubt most people would consider them wonders of the world but the Anglican is one of the few religious buildings that took my breath away when I first went inside, and the Catholic is one of the very few modern buildings I actually like, so they're good enough for me

 

[privatehudson]

I've been to Stonehenge twice, and despite all the crowds and the distance you have to keep from the stones, it was massively impressive. Funny thing is a month or so ago I met a couple of British tourists from the midlands (Wolverhampton? Huddersfield? something like that) when I was in a remote town in northern BC and they had never been to Stonehenge in their lives. There they were driving across the wilds from Edmonton to Prince Rupert, but they hadn't been to visit one of the great wonders in their own country. Why do we ignore the things so close to hand?

That's quite normal to be honest, we have some truly amazing buildings in Liverpool and yet many people barely even know they exist let alone have visited them. I think for many other people the fact that you can go and see an attraction anytime means you never quite get the time to do it. Its on your doorstep so to speak, so you're always busy with work, family, tidying the house, walking the dogs or all the other every day things that fill our day. When you're on holiday you usually have a certain freedom and the time to visit the sights.