Inspire Me Seven Wonders of the World
Ek Balam - Temple of the Jaguar
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step”
Quote Source - Lao Tzu
Why not see some of the Seven Wonders?
Seven Wonders of The Modern World
Machu Picchu - Peru
The Colosseum - Italy
Great Wall of China - China
Chichén Itzá - Mexico
Petra - Jordan
Christ the Redeemer - Brazil
Taj Mahal - India
Footnotes The Great Pyramids of Giza - Egypt - as the only “surviving”* wonder of the ancient world the Great Pyramids are often given an honorary 8th wonder of the world - in our opinion they should be No 1.
*There are several “surviving” wonders (see next column) but this is the only one in a recognisable condition.
Seven Wonders of The Ancient World.
The Great Pyramids of Giza - Egypt
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Statue of Zeus
Temple of Artemis.
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
Pharos (Lighthouse) of Alexandria
Colossus of Rhodes
Footnotes You can still see remnants of some of the ancient wonders and it is a shame that more is not made of this. The Temple of Artemetis is at Ephesus in Turkey is a good example and you still see the ruins today. You can still get a flavour of how they might of looked at Balbeck in Lebanon, albeit different eras.
The Museums Alternative Seven Wonders
Ek Balam Yucatán Mexico Temple of the Jaguar meets Indiana Jones
Persepolis Iran - Cuneiforms tell its amazing story
Copan Honduras - grisly game of ball
The Jokhang Temple Qoikang Monastery - Lasha Tibet
The Tomb of Emperor Ming - China
The Palatine Hill Rome - Italy
Balbeck - Lebanon
Footnotes Many people say all roads lead to Rome - but it should be all roads “Lead from Rome”. They don’t of course, but they did make a lot of them. The start of the Apian way can be found at Palatine Hill.
Why not see some of the other Seven Wonders?
Seven Wonders of Ancient Britain
Stone Henge
Avebury
Ness of Brodgar (Capital of the Bronze Age)
Standing Stones of Calanaise
Silbury Hill
Hadrians Wall
Maiden Castle
Footnotes - The great temples of Stone Henge , Avebury and Silbury Hill can be visted in a day.
Maiden Castle is not a castle but an ancient Iron Age hill fort - a series of fortified positions conquered by the Romans and defended by Celtic Britains. Salisbury Museum is a great place to start to get you in the mood. Don’t forget to find the so called “King of Stonehenge” - The “Amesbury Archer.”
The Roman Hadrians Wall and the earlier Antoine Wall were build to keep out the Pictish tribes, the original inhabitants of Scotland, before being conquered and ultimately completely vanquished by a combination of the Britons, Romans, the Norse and finally merging with the Irish.
At 39.3 Meters (129ft) Silbury Hill was the tallest structure in the prehistoric world in Europe - made by hand.
Seven Wonders of Natural World
Mount Everest, China and Nepal.
Paricutin Volcano, Michoacan, Mexico.
Aurora Borealis, various locations.
Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S.
Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia.
Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa
Harbour of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Footnotes - We are not sure about this list, some worthy entrants - who can deny the worlds tallest mountain shouldn’t be there, the Grand Canyon or Aurora Borealis, but a harbour taking precedence over Antartica? We don’t think so. But that is the great thing - we all have different views - what do you think should be on the list?
A sad note is that the Great Barrier Reef is being trashed by a combination of mining and global warming
Mosi-oa-Tunya - The Smoke that Thunders is the local name for the Victoria Falls - what a description! One we can certainly vouch for.
The Museum’s Seven Alternative Wonders of the Natural World
Antartica
North Pole - Arctic circle
Giant Redwoods
The Moon
Angel Falls
Uluru Ayres Rock
The Sahara Desert
Footnotes - There are so many worthy entrants - what would be on your list!
You don’t have to follow the crowd - your wonders can be what you want?
We wonder why the moon never makes it to any of the lists - surely this has to be one of the most iconic sights of all? Very very few will every actually go there but most of us have seen it, and cannot failed to be inspired by a full blood red moon.
Those in bold we have been to or seen
Stone Henge from the Inside - c 2500 BC
Chichen Itza - Temple of Kukulcán (El Castillo) -Mexico - AD 600 Pre Columbian - One of the Wonders of the World
Roman Coliseum - 72 AD - Flavian Amphitheatre
The Great Pyramid of Giza - The Largest of them all - Khufu - 26th century BC - 146m (481ft)
Palenque - a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Uxmal - The Pyramid of the Magician - Pre Columbian - UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Governor's Palace (“Palacio del Gobernador”) - Uxmal - Mexico
“Images of the Wonders of the World from the Museums Photo Collection
— Quote Source - The Curator