| Apparently, it's time to turn the page on the original | | | | 1500 years before falling victim to an earthquake in the |
| Seven Wonders of the World ... | | | | 1300s; and |
| Since only one of them is left standing, and since most | | | | 7. The Pyramids of Egypt, the lone wonder still |
| people can't remember what the rest of them are, | | | | standing. |
| anyway, this is a good idea for someone who has too | | | | Once Weber confirmed there was no official Seven |
| much time on their hands and the ability to raise | | | | Wonders of the World being sanctioned by any |
| money. | | | | recognized bodies, he established a website, gathered |
| In this instance, that would narrow the candidates | | | | an impressive list of professionals --- architects, |
| down to one Bernard Weber. He's a Swiss idealist | | | | engineers and the like --- and began the process of |
| who is behind the New 7 Wonders Foundation, which | | | | nominating structures worldwide as potential Wonders. |
| he founded in 2000. | | | | During the subsequent years, visitors to his site |
| Weber's motivation is simply to call attention to the | | | | answered his call to vote and the nominees were |
| marvels made possible when mankind applies positive | | | | pared to 77. |
| energy. In fact, should his foundation actually generate | | | | Recently, these were winnowed to 21 --- another |
| profits, he intends to use at least a portion of them to | | | | multiple of seven, if you hadn't noticed --- with the |
| rebuild lost marvels. Specifically, he cites the Bamiyan | | | | voting set to continue throughout 2006. The new |
| Buddha statue, a cultural masterpiece which dated to | | | | Seven Wonders will then be announced on New |
| the Fifth Century AD and was senselessly destroyed | | | | Year's Day, 2007. |
| as a blasphemous icon by the Taliban when their | | | | I've gone to Weber's site, perused the finalists and did |
| stilted act tyrannized Afghanistan. | | | | my cyber-duty by voting. All are truly worthy choices, |
| The original Seven Wonders were so anointed by an | | | | but I didn't find it difficult at all to quickly make my |
| ancient geek, Philon of Byzantium, and an ancient | | | | decisions: |
| Greek, Antipater of Sidon. Those were the days | | | | - The Great Wall of China, where the term |
| before travel agents and tour guides, so perhaps each | | | | 'breathtaking' is an understatement; |
| felt a need to fill the void. Whatever their inspiration, | | | | - The Easter Island Statues, also known as Stone |
| they were not the first to get the idea. | | | | Clones Gone Wild; |
| The concept of such a list was first mentioned by | | | | - Petra in Jordan, for its mixture of intricacy and |
| Herodotus in his seminal 'The History' in the Fifth | | | | magnitude in its status as the world's most spectacular |
| Century BC. Later, around the Third Century BC, | | | | city carved out of sandstone; |
| Callimachus of Cyrene, the top logster at the | | | | - Stonehenge, a Druidic version of the ultimate |
| legendary Museum of Alexandria in ancient Egypt, | | | | perpetual calendar with a timeless design; |
| wrote "A Collection of Wonders around the World." | | | | - Neuschwanstein Castle in Fssen, Germany, because |
| These lists varied in content, but Philon's prevailed, due | | | | that's the way castles are supposed to look; |
| in part to its mention in engravings by the Dutch artist | | | | - The Taj Mahal at Agra, India, because Richard |
| Maerten van Heemskerck (1498-1574) and Johann | | | | Halliburton said so in one of my favorite childhood |
| Fischer von Erlach's 'History of Architecture.' | | | | tomes, 'The Book of Marvels,' and his vivid description |
| Here are Philon's seven wonders: | | | | therein sold me on it forever; and |
| 1. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, although some | | | | - The Hagia Sophia cathedral at Istanbul, because I |
| historians believe they were an ancient urban legend | | | | think at least one Wonder should contain Viking graffiti, |
| and never really existed; | | | | and Halfdan did the honors --- which are still |
| 2. The Statue of Zeus, which honored the first Olympic | | | | prominently visible --- during his stint with Byzantium's |
| games, was later moved to Constantinople and | | | | Varangian Guard. |
| ultimately destroyed by fire; | | | | One interesting twist to Weber's foundation is that its |
| 3. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the largest known | | | | home is cited as the Heidi Weber Museum in Zurich, |
| building in ancient times which took a century to build | | | | which also happens to be a landmark structure |
| and was subsequently senselessly destroyed as a | | | | designed by the Swiss architect and visual artist |
| blasphemous icon by Christians when their intolerance | | | | Charles Edouard Jeanneret, who became famous |
| tyrannized southern Turkey; | | | | under his nom-d'art of Le Corbusier. This building was |
| 4. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which stood for | | | | commissioned by Mrs Weber, to be named after its |
| 1500 years until the Maltese Knights of St John used | | | | designer and to house various artworks created by |
| its stones to build their own mega-castle nearby; | | | | him. It was completed and opened to the public in 1962. |
| 5. The Colossus of Rhodes, which towered 120 feet | | | | However, disputes arose between the two parties, |
| high at the city's harbor entrance until it was destroyed | | | | and when Le Corbusier died, the entity which survived |
| in an earthquake, and which later served as the | | | | him took up the case against the Webers. Among |
| inspiration for French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi when | | | | other things, this resulted in a re-christening of the |
| he created the Statue of Liberty as a gift to the USA; | | | | building to its current title and legal squabbling over |
| 6. The Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, whose | | | | everything from exclusivity for artwork sales rights to |
| beacon had a range of 100 miles and which stood for | | | | website domain names. |