Wonders of the World

Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been compiled from antiquity to the present day, to catalogue the world’s most spectacular natural wonders and manmade structures.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the first known list of the most remarkable creations of classical antiquity; it was based on guidebooks popular among Hellenic sightseers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim and in Mesopotamia. The number seven was chosen because the Greeks believed it represented perfection and plenty, and because it was the number of the five planets known anciently, plus the sun and moon. Many similar lists have been made.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The historian Herodotus (484 – ca. 425 BC) and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca. 305–240 BC), at the Museum of Alexandria, made early lists of seven wonders. Their writings have not survived, except as references.

The classic seven wonders were:

• Colossus of Rhodes
• Great Pyramid of Giza
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Lighthouse of Alexandria
• Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The only ancient world wonder that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Lists from other eras

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, some writers wrote their own lists with names such as Wonders of the Middle Ages, Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind, and Architectural Wonders of the Middle Ages. However, it is unlikely that these lists originated in the Middle Ages, because the word “medieval” was not invented until the Enlightenment-era, and the concept of a Middle Age did not become popular until the 16th century. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable refers to them as “later list[s]”, suggesting the lists were created after the Middle Ages.

Many of the structures on these lists were built much earlier than the Medieval Ages but were well known.

Typically representative are:

• Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
• Colosseum
• Great Wall of China
• Hagia Sophia
• Leaning Tower of Pisa
• Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
• Stonehenge

Other sites sometimes included on such lists:

• Cairo Citadel
• Cluny Abbey
• Ely Cathedral
• Taj Mahal

Recent lists

Following in the tradition of the classical list, modern people and organisations have made their own lists of wonderful things ancient and modern. Some of the most notable lists are presented below.

American Society of Civil Engineers

In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers compiled a list of Seven Wonders of the Modern World, paying tribute to the “greatest civil engineering achievements of the 20th century”