Sunday, July 08,

Seven Wonders of The World - Ancient and Medieval

The ANNOTICO Report

Only One of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World (BC) has physically survived, The Great Pyramid of Giza.

But the Great Pyramid of Giza was NOT included on the  Seven Medieval Wonders of the World.

On the Seven Medieval Wonders of the World were both the Colosseum, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa

And from the Seven Medieval  Wonders of the World Only the Colosseum, and the Great Wall of China  repeat on the Seven Current Wonders of the World

The SEVEN MEDIEVAL Wonders of the World

STONEHENGE  .... Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe the standing stones were erected around 3200 BC, although the Stonehenge complex was built in several construction phases spanning 3,000 years, although there is evidence for rudimentary activity dating back to around 8000 BC..

COLOSSEUM... is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome Italy. Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. It was built just east of the Roman Forum, with construction starting between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian. The amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign.

The Colosseum remained in use for nearly 500 years with the last recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century ? well after the traditional date of the fall of Rome in 476. The building was later reused for such varied purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry and a Christian shrine.Although it is now in a severely ruined condition due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum has long been seen as an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and is one of the finest surviving examples of Roman architecture. It is one of modern Rome's most popular tourist attractions

CATACOMBS OF KOM el SHOQAFA ...in Alexandria, Egypt The necropolis consists of a series of Alexandrian tombs of the Pharaonic funeral cult with Hellenistic and early Imperial Roman influences. A circular staircase leads down into tombs that were tunneled into the bedrock during the age of the Antonine emperors (2nd century AD).

GREAT WALL OF CHINA ...is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately  4,000 miles) from Shanhai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass.

While the First walls were built from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, by the states of Qi, Yan and Zhao, they were merely earthen. In 220 BC the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang conquered those states, unified China, had all walls separating those states destroyed, and built a  wall that was much further north than the current wall, and little of it remains. Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of that wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.

The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the Mongols in the Battle of Tumu in 1449. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the Mongols out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert, the wall followed the desert's southern edge.

PORCELAIN TOWER OF NANJING...also known as the "Temple of Gratitude", is on the south bank of the Yangtze in Nanjing, China, and was constructed in the 15th century. Warfare and subsequent destruction overtook it in the 19th century, and it is now under reconstruction

From an octagonal base about 97 feet in diameter, the tower's nine stories rose pyramidally to a height of about 260 feet. The brilliant white porcelain bricks that faced the tower were what made it so unforgettable. By day, the bricks glittered in the sun, and at night they were illuminated by perhaps as many as 140 lamps hanging around the exterior of the pagoda. Worked into the porcelain panels were colorful stoneware tiles with green, yellow, white, and brown glazes forming images of animals, landscapes, flowers, and bamboo.

HAGIA SOPHIA..... was  first a patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It was the largest ever cathedral built in the world for more than a thousand years, until the completion of the Seville Cathedral in 1575, during the Renaissance

LEANING TOWER OF PISA  ....is a campinile of the cathedral  of Pisa. Although intended to stand vertically, it began to lean in south easterly direction soon after construction in 1173. It is 183 ft high, the tower has 294 steps, weighs 14,500 metric tonnes, and leans at 5 degrees, which means it is 4.5 metres off vertical which means it is 14.75 feet off vertical at the top.

The construction started to sink after completing the third of 8 floors, and in order to compensate engineers built the higher floors with one side taller than the other, this made the tower lean in the other direction, and because of this the tower actually is curved.

Other sites that have been mentioned include:  Taj Mahal, Saladin Cairo Citadel, Ely Cathedral , and Cluny Abbey

The SEVEN ANCIENT Wonders of the World

Wonder	Date of construction	Builder	Notable features	Date of destruction	Cause of destruction
Great Pyramid of Giza	2650-2500 BC	Egyptians	Built as the tomb of Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu.	Still standing	-
Hanging Gardens of Babylon	600 BC	Babylonians	Herodotus claimed the outer walls were 56 miles in length, 80 feet thick and 320 feet high (although some archaeological findings suggest otherwise).	After 1st century BC	Earthquake
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus	550 BC	Lydians, Persians, Greeks	Dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis, it took 120 years to build. Herostratus burned it down in an attempt to achieve lasting fame.	356 BC	Arson
Statue of Zeus at Olympia	435 BC	Greeks	Occupied the whole width of the aisle of the temple that was built to house it, and was 40 feet (12 meters) tall.	5th-6th centuries AD	Dismantled by Christian rulers to discourage paganism
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus	351 BC	Persians, Greeks	Stood approximately 45 meters (135 feet) tall with each of the four sides adorned with sculptural reliefs. Origin of the word mausoleum.	by AD 1494	Damaged by an earthquake and eventually disassembled by European Crusaders
Colossus of Rhodes	292-280 BC	Hellenistic Greece	A giant statue of the Greek god Helios roughly 3/4ths as large as today's Statue of Liberty in New York.	224 BC	Earthquake
Lighthouse of Alexandria	3rd century BC	Hellenistic Egypt	Between 115 and 135 meters (383 - 440 ft) tall it was among the tallest man-made structures on Earth for many centuries.	AD 1303-1480	Earthquake

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