Seven Wonders of the World, 2,000 years later
WONDERS GALORE: July 7 will change the world. It is the day
that people around the world will know what the new Seven Wonders of the
World are. And it will be their choice. From India's Taj Mahal to
Mexico's Mayan ruins, suggestions for seven new Wonders of the World
have flooded in from more than 70 million people in one of the biggest
global polls ever conducted.
With just over two weeks to go until the result is announced, Tia
Viering, spokeswoman for the Zurich-based New 7 Wonders campaign, said
on Wednesday: "We have votes pouring in and are now one of the most
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A camel drinks water at the Yamuna River, with a backdrop of the Taj
Mahal, in the north Indian city of Agra. The Taj Mahal is among the
leading contenders to be a new Seven Wonder of the World. AP
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popular websites in the world."
National pride has played a role in the contest's widespread
popularity, she told Reuters.
Politicians have seized the opportunity to promote their national
monuments in hopes of raising their country's profile and boosting
tourism.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was seen embracing Rio
de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue after using his weekly radio
address to pass on instructions on how to vote for the landmark.
Students in some of China's schools and universities have campaigned
for the Great Wall while Jordan's royal family has been lobbying for the
rose-red desert city of Petra.
The government of Peru encouraged its people to vote for the ruined
Inca city of Machu Picchu by setting up free computer terminals, while
Coca-Cola cans in Mexico carry adverts calling on people to vote for the
Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.
Mexico's tourism board created a simulation of the Mayan ruins in the
virtual world of Second Life, which has its own economy, currency, and
more than 7 million registered users, to lobby for votes in the
competition.
The leading sites so far included the Taj Mahal, the Coliseum in
Rome, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the mysterious stone statues of
Easter Island. The list also includes a number of more modern candidates
such as New York's Statue of Liberty and the Sydney Opera House.
However, the contest has caused concern that excessive tourism may
threaten sites in countries such as Peru, where the filming of a beer
commercial several years ago damaged an Inca artefact in Machu Picchu.
"There are some groups that have expressed their concern about the
contest but there is no such thing as bad publicity," Viering said,
adding that the worst fate for a historical landmark was that it should
be forgotten. The Pyramids of Giza are the only one of Seven Wonders of
the ancient world still standing.
The organisation conducting the poll was set up by Swiss-Canadian
adventurer Bernard Weber. The results will be announced in Lisbon on
July 7.
The contest is being organised by a privately funded organisation,
the New 7 Wonders Foundation. It has put forward a shortlist of 21
landmarks from across the globe.
The Great Pyramid of Giza, which is included in the new list, is the
only original wonder to remain in contention. The Seven Wonders of the
ancient world were selected by a Greek philosopher, Philon of Byzantium,
over 2,000 years ago. All of his choices were situated around the
Mediterranean basin.
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Great Pyramids in Egypt
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The seven Wonders of the Ancient World are: The Great Pyramid of Giza,
Hanging Gardens of the Babylon, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the
Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse at Alexandria.
To be included on the new list, the wonders had to be man-made,
completed by 2000, and in an "acceptable" state of preservation. The New
Seven Wonders Foundation, which includes among its members the former
head of the United Nations cultural agency, Unesco, says it is using its
survey to alert the world to the destruction of the world's cultural
heritage.
Vote for your favourite site or building at www.newsevenwonders.com.
There are only 15 more days to go.
The 21 shortlisted candidates are: Acropolis, Alhambra (Spain),
Angkor Wat, Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, Colosseum, Waster Island,
Eiffel Tower, Great Wall, Hagia Sophia (Turkey), Kiyomizu temple,
Kremlin and Red Square, Machu Picchu, Neuschewanstein castle (Germany),
petra, Pyramids. Statue of Liberty, Stonehenge, Sydney Opera House,
Timbuktu (Mali) and Taj Mahal.
It is a pity that no Sri Lankan cultural or natural site is included
in the list, though. Sigiriya would have been an obvious candidate.
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What do you think ?
We would like to invite our readers' views on the list, the
non-inclusion of any Sri Lankan sites and whether any of the 'new'
wonders would be able to stand the test of time.
Send in your views to New Seven Wonders, Daily News, P.O.Box 1217,
Colombo. Fax 2429210 or email
editor@dailynews.lk
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