The Seven Wonders of the World

THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

More than 2,000 years, a Greek writer named Antipater of Sidon, gave an account of which he considered the most spectacular buildings of its time. Over time their relationship called the seven wonders of the world. No one knows why this list was Antipater, perhaps intended to write a guidebook primitive Eastern Mediterranean countries ...

What distinguishes these other wonders of ancient and modern buildings is that they have something that impresses because of its size, how they were built or its undeniable beauty. And they all have one thing in common: their ability to amaze those who contemplate.

Unfortunately, over the centuries, some of the wonders are gone, and others since have made their own list, but the original was made by:

* THE PIR? MIDES OF EGYPT

* The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

* The Statue of Zeus

* The Temple of Artemis

* The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

* The Colossus of Rhodes

* THE LIGHTHOUSE ALEJANDR? A

1 .- THE PIR? MIDES OF EGYPT:

They are in the desert near the Nile were built 5,000 years ago, are the wonder of the world's oldest and the only one that survives to this day.

The pyramids were tombs for the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. The Egyptians believed in life after death, and for their Pharaohs have everything you need in the afterlife, they buried all their treasures with them. In the burial chambers of the pyramids, archaeologists have found jewelry, food, furniture, musical instruments and weapons for hunting.

The Giza is the largest and most impressive. It ended in 2580 BCE for the pharaoh Khufu, and employs thousands of men over 30 years. Has a height of 137 m. and built with about 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing about 2,300 kg.

2 .- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon:

No one knows exactly where were the hanging gardens. Have not been preserved

descriptions of them written by the authors of the time, but legend has passed from mouth to mouth and has become an ancient paradise in the desert.

A Roman writer visited the gardens long after the fall of Babylon and was still able to watch them. He described as a series of superimposed terraces, almost like a pyramid, and flanked by walls 7.6 m thick. It was like a green pyramid where exotic plants and flowers hung from the terraces. Cypress and palm trees provided shade and the air was heavy with the scent of plants and flowers.

Legend has it that the gardens were made by Semiramis, in the ninth century BC, or by King Nebuchadnezzar II, in the sixth century BC, for his wife Amytis, who missed the green and hilly landscape of his native country. To water the garden water pumped from the nearby Euphrates River.

3 .- THE STATUE OF ZEUS:

In 433 BCE Phidias the Greek sculptor, ended a magnificent statue of Zeus, king of the Greek gods, at Olympia. This was placed in a temple built especially for her and was soon considered one of the wonders of the world. For the ancient Greeks was the symbol of perfection, and every year thousands of people came to pay homage to Zeus in the Sanctuary.

The statue occupied the whole width of a wing of the Temple. A writer of the time that was 12 m. high and that if he could stand up, his head would have gone through the roof.

He remained in the temple for centuries, but the sanctuary was neglected in Roman times. In the year 394, possibly the statue was taken to Constantinople where it appears that ended up being destroyed by fire.

Zeus's body was of ivory, hair and golden beard and eyes of precious stones. She was sitting on a throne of cedar inlaid with ivory, gold, ebony and precious stones.

4 .- The Temple of Artemis:

By the year 550 B.C. After conquering the Greek city of Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor, Croesus, King of Lydia, he built an imposing temple to the goddess Artemis. Inside was a camera, called the sanctuary, with a splendid statue of the goddess, covered with precious metals and stones. Called the "Artemision", the temple became famous and attracted people from everywhere.

However, one night in 356 BC, a disturbed, called Erostat, set fire to the temple. The roof and columns collapsed and the statue of the goddess fell. When Alexander the Great conquered Ephesus, years later, decided to rebuild. By the year 250 B.C. the temple had regained its former glory and was soon considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Alexander did not see his project completed, because the people of Ephesus, it took 120 years to rebuild the temple of Artemis.

5 .- The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus:

King Mausolus, reigned in Caria (modern Turkey), in the s. IV BCE It was an ambitious king and attacked many cities and neighboring countries. With the spoils of his conquests built a new capital at Halicarnassus.

At the end of his life Mausolus decided to build a tomb, a monument to his power. No expense was spared and the result was so impressive mausoleum was called by the name of the king.

Designed to be both temple and tomb, was made of gleaming white marble and has three floors, on top there was a temple surrounded by columns and statues. About the temple was a pyramidal roof, on which was a huge sculpture of Mausolus and his wife, Artemis mounted on a chariot drawn by horses.

The mausoleum withstood centuries, but eventually fell into ruin. In 1581 we used the tomb stones to build a fortress.

6 .- The Colossus of Rhodes:

In ancient mythology, the island of Rhodes (off the coast of Turkey) was the island of Helios, the sun god. After successfully defending their island from invasion in 304 BC Rhodes town erected a huge statue of Helios to thank God's protection.

The giant statue is called by its enormous size. Had a height of 37 m. and was visible from shore. It was made of polished brass with a crown of rays on his head to symbolize his character of god of the sun.

No one knows exactly where the statue was not as it was. Some think it was astride the harbor entrance, so that ships could pass between his legs. More likely, however, was in town, overlooking the harbor from its height. A violent earthquake, 66 years after the end, destroyed the giant that fell into the sea.

7 .- THE LIGHTHOUSE ALEJANDR? A:

In the year 279 BC, after 20 years of work, completed the Lighthouse of Alexandria. It was the first great lighthouse was being built, his strength was so great that remained standing over a thousand years, surviving earthquakes.

The lighthouse was named after the island of Pharos, where he built. The island was near the port of Alexandria and joined to the mainland by a bridge.

We can get some idea of ​​the appearance of the lighthouse for Roman coins and descriptions that made writers of the time. It was built with white marble and reached a height of 122 m. At the top is kept burning day and night and light a fire could be seen for many miles. to sea.

In 796 the lighthouse was badly damaged by an earthquake, then a fortress built on its ruins. The foundations of the old lighthouse can still be seen in the strong Quait Bay.