🌍 7 Wonders of the World: a journey through the most impressive historical monuments 🏛️

There are a lot of beautiful and unusual places in the world, created both by nature and by human hands. So how many wonders of the world are there and when did they appear? The most ancient structures included in the list of 7 wonders of the world appeared in antiquity. Unfortunately, due to cataclysms, many of them were not preserved. Only the pyramids of Cheops have survived to this day. What did the others look like and what is now in their place? We talk about it in this article.

The Pyramid of Cheops

It's hard to comprehend, but the huge Egyptian structure was built around 2560 BC. One can only guess how many people were involved in this project. According to scientists, the number is in the hundreds of thousands. The construction took about 20 years.

As a result, the world has a historical landmark of 147 meters in height (it is believed that it used to be higher, but “sank” due to earthquakes) and an area of ​​7 football fields! There are many theories put forward about how the pyramid was built and how the blocks were raised to the top – a version with aliens also exists! By the way, the weight of the heaviest block is 35 tons. Therefore, we can only guess how the Egyptians created this masterpiece.

The historical landmark, which is visited by about 3 million people annually, is located half an hour's drive from Cairo. It is in the city of Giza that there is a large museum complex, which includes three large pyramids, several smaller pyramids, a statue of the Sphinx and the Temple of the Valley.

Entrance to the territory costs 540 Egyptian pounds, which is about $17. The opportunity to go inside the pyramid will cost 600 pounds – $20. By the way, the Pyramids of Giza are on our list of 13 places everyone should see. And you can visit these places with excursion tours.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

This is truly a wonderful phenomenon, since it is not known for sure whether they existed or not. The location is simpler – scientists say that they were located in Babylon. The origin story of the name is also mysterious. Queen Shammuramat hides under the beautiful name Semiramis. She became famous for ruling alone, which rarely happened to women in those days.

This is all interesting, of course, but why gardens and why hanging ones?! In fact, no one was hanging anywhere. According to the descriptions found in the chronicles, it becomes clear that the construction looked like a large stepped pyramid, the four floors of which rose above each other. That is, all the plants were on 4 platforms on columns 25 meters high.

Behind the beautiful external picture was hidden hard human labor. In the middle of one of the columns there was a pipe through which water entered the garden. The slaves constantly had to turn the wheel around the perimeter to irrigate the plants. The water first entered the upper tier of the pyramid, from where it flowed through channels to the lower floors.

It is assumed that the gardens were lost due to floods, which washed away the foundation and, accordingly, damaged the structure.

Where are gardens now in the modern world? According to the main version, they were located near the city of Hilla, which is located in the center of Iraq on the Ephrat River.

Zeus statue in Olympia

Another attraction from the list of the Seven Wonders of the World that has not survived to this day was located in the religious center of Ancient Greece. It was approximately built in 435 BC.

The god Zeus sat on the throne. According to the descriptions found, his head was decorated with a wreath, in his hands he held a scepter, and in the other – a statue of the goddess of Victory Nike.

The huge, 15-meter-high, monumental sculpture was made of ivory. The god's clothes and accessories were made of gold.

What happened to the wonder of the world is not known exactly. According to one version, the statue of Zeus burned down along with the temple in 426 AD. BUT! In Olympia, the ruins of the Temple of Zeus and other sanctuaries have been preserved, and in the archaeological museum you can see a painting in which a statue of Zeus is recreated. The entrance ticket will cost 12 €.

Temple of Artemis

In the city of Ephesus – now 75 km from the modern city of Izmir in Turkey – a temple was built in honor of the goddess of hunting and fertility Artemis in the 5th century BC. To understand its greatness, there will be a lot of numbers: in size it reached 115 meters in length, and approximately 46 meters in width. The construction took a long time – more than 100 years! 127 columns 18 meters high were installed in the temple, so it really looked very large.

Inside were various sculptures and paintings and a statue of the goddess herself. Unfortunately, due to various events – first arson, and after restoration due to destruction and looting – the temple has not survived to this day. Only ruins remain, which you can see on the outskirts of the Turkish city of Selcuk. No entrance ticket is required, since the territory is not guarded in any way. Of the numerous columns, only one has survived, assembled from debris.

But, if you do plan to visit Turkey, be sure to check out the Miniaturk miniature park in Istanbul. For $8.5 you can see the most famous historical and modern attractions – including the Temple of Artemis.

Halicarnassus Mausoleum

Turkish Bodrum is best known to us as an excellent holiday resort. Few people know that this is where a historical monument was located, which is included in the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. The mausoleum was built for the ruler – Mavsol. If it seems that Mausoleum and Mausolus are consonant words, then you don’t think so. Mausoleum is the origin of the word “mausoleum”. Let's return to history: it was under Mausolus that Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) reached its greatest prosperity.

The three-story building was erected in 350 BC. Its walls were decorated with bas-reliefs depicting military operations. At the top was a chariot driven by statues of Mausolus and his wife Artemisia. Unfortunately, the mausoleum was destroyed by an earthquake in the 14th century.

Today, all the ruins can be viewed in a small open-air museum in Bodrum. Admission costs almost $2.50. 

Statue of the Colossus of Rodovsky

First, let's understand that Colossus is not the same name as the man who was immortalized in the statue. From Greek this word is translated as something majestic, large. And for good reason: various sources indicate that the height of the statue reached more than 30 meters! And Rhodes is the name of the island on which the pedestal was located. In fact, the man who towers over Rhodes is the ancient Greek god of the Sun – Helios. One of the most revered by the islanders.

It is not known exactly what the statue looked like, but historians believe that it was erected from 294 to 282. According to various sources, the sculpture took about 8 tons of iron and 13 to 15 tons of copper. True, not a single piece of the wonder of the world was preserved, because the Arabs who subsequently conquered the island sold all the pieces of the sculpture to merchants after the earthquake.

In place of the statue in the port there are now two columns, on top of which there are images of deer. If you go to watch and want to stay overnight, keep in mind that the island has one of the best resorts for adults. You can find out more about it here.

Alexandrian lighthouse

The largest lighthouse in antiquity was built in the 3rd century BC. It was created to alert ships to avoid reefs. During the day, the path was indicated by clouds of smoke from the lighthouse, and at night by fire. The design and architecture of the building were very advanced for its time. A huge structure approximately 50-story high (for a second, the tallest for that time) stood for more than 1,500 years! The cause of destruction was an earthquake.

However, due to the fact that the lighthouse stood for so long, many descriptions of sailors from different countries have been preserved. Their impressions helped scientists recreate the shape and scale on the graph.

Now in Egyptian Alexandria, on the site of the seventh wonder of the world, there is the Qait Bay fortress, built in 1480 for the purpose of protection from the Ottoman Turks from the sea. Entrance ticket inside costs almost $2. Please note that a visa is required.

Write which of the attractions, if all seven wonders of the world had survived to this day, would you visit?