Pitong Kamangha-mangha sa Mundo 2012(Seven Wonders of the World 2012)

Isang Proyekto sa Filipino

Ipinasa ni:Ilene R. Onia

IV-Reuben

Christ the Redeemer, Brazil

The newest of the New Wonders, this 124-foot-high statue was built between 1926 and 1931 on rainforest-covered Corcovado Mountain, overlooking Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. To get to the statue, visitors take a 20-minute-long “cog-wheel” train ride through the Tijuca forest to the top of 2,329-foot-high peak. From there, they can walk up 220 steps or take a combination of panoramic elevators and escalators to the statue’s base.

Petra, Jordan

What makes Petra a Wonder are its beautiful buildings, tombs, and amphitheater, which are all literally carved in stone right into the rocky red hillsides. One of the most amazing structures that survives is “Al Khazneh,” or “The Treasury.” The artisans of Petra carved this grand structure out of a soft sandstone cliff. Its elegant exterior includes twelve columns, sculptures of eagles, reliefs of numerous ancient mythological characters such as Medusa, friezes of flowers and leaves, and other fine details. The interior of the Treasury is a simple square room, but its walls of stone echo with the secrets of Petra’s age-old inhabitants. (Nickolay Vinokurov/ Shutterstock)

Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu was a remote Inca city located nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in the mountaintops of Peru. It was built around A.D. 1450 when the Inca Empire was expanding its power.

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1532—led by Francisco Pizarro—they destroyed most Inca cities. However, Machu Picchu high up in the Andes Mountains remained untouched. The conquistadors didn’t even know the city was there. When the residents of Machu Picchu mysteriously abandoned the area a few years later—no one knows exactly why—the temples, tombs, and agricultural terraces were left intact.

After its abandonment, Machu Picchu’s structures were soon swallowed and covered over by jungle vegetation. In 1911, Machu Picchu was rediscovered by archaeologist Hiram Bingham, and has since become both an important archaeological site and a tourist destination.

Taj Mahal, India

In 1631, the city of Agra in northern India was the capital of the wealthy Mughal Empire, which ranged across most of modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. That year the Mughal emperor, whose name was Shah Jahan, suffered a terrible tragedy. His wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died unexpectedly. Shah Jahan was full of grief. To honor Mumtaz Mahal, he ordered that an enormous tomb be built—a tomb so elaborate and so richly adorned that it was more like a palace.

Chichen Itza, Mexico

At its peak from about A.D. 800 to 1200, Chichen Itza was a military, cultural, and religious center for the Mayan, Toltec, and Itza people—all who influenced its architecture and life. For hundreds of years, the elite of Chichen Itza ruled the Yucatan Peninsula. By around A.D. 1250, however, civil war among the different peoples had taken its toll, and the powerful city of Chichen Itza had fallen into decline.

Today, the city of Chichen Itza is a haunting ruin and archaeological site. Located just 100 miles inland from the beach resorts on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, Chichen Itza attracts 1.2 million visitors each year. Among its features are wide abandoned avenues, a stunning stepped pyramid, several temples, an ancient ball court, and stone masks of the long-nosed Mayan rain god Chaac carved into structures around the site.

Great Wall, China

Leaders in Ancient China were always worried about being invaded by their enemies to the north. So around 500 B.C., a few Chinese states started building defensive walls. When these Chinese states were unified in 221 B.C., Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered that the existing walls be joined. That was the beginning of the Great Wall of China.

Building the Great Wall took hundreds of thousands of workers, soldiers, and prisoners more than 2,000 years to build and re-build the wall that stands today. Stretching for about 4,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean at Shanhai Pass to Jiayu Pass in central China, the Great Wall is an average of 33 feet high and 15 feet wide.

Some sections were constructed of large limestone and granite blocks. Others were made from bricks. Still others were built from wood and dirt. The workers along the wall’s route used the best materials they could find nearby. They even sometimes used a mixture of sticky rice and egg whites to make the mortar that held the stones and bricks together.

Coliseum, Italy

The Coliseum in Rome is a stunning ruin—the remains of a gigantic stadium. Built in the capital of the Roman Empire, it could hold 50,000 spectators. Opened in A.D. 80 and used as a stadium for nearly 500 years, the Coliseum hosted brutal competitions for the “entertainment” of the Roman citizens. Gladiators wearing armor were pitted against one another in fights to the death. Specially trained gladiators, called beast fighters, would sometimes fight wild animals, such as lions, tigers, bears, or elephants. The floor of the arena was actually covered with sand to soak up the blood of the combatants.

Although no one knows who the architect was, the Coliseum was a triumph of engineering. Made of stone blocks, concrete (which the Romans had just invented), bricks, and iron clamps, the oval-shaped Coliseum was 615 feet long, 510 feet wide, and 157 feet tall. There were four floors of seating, and each of the first three floors had 80 arches separated by half-columns. On the first floor, the columns were Doric; on the second, they were Ionic; and on the third, they were Corinthian. While the first floor arches were used as entryways for spectators (each numbered with Roman numerals from I through LXXX), the upper arches housed statues of the Roman gods and emperors made of marble, bronze, and gold. Lit by torchlight at night, the Coliseum must have been an overwhelming sight.