Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The original list of seven wonders is the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which is made up of a selection of ancient architectural and sculptural accomplishments.

The ancient Greeks and Romans are said to have initiated the original "Seven Wonders" list. Classical writers later disagreed on the final list, It was "completed" during the Middle Ages.

The seven wonders that are most widely agreed upon as being in the original list are outlined below. Only one, the Egyptian Pyramids at Giza, has survived the ravages of time.

History: The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and only surviving member of the ancient wonders. The Great Pyramid of Giza is called the first wonder of the world.When it was built, the Great pyramid was 145.75 m (481 ft) high. Over the years, it lost 10 m (30 ft) off its top.

It ranked as the tallest structure on Earth for more than 43 centuries, only to be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century AD. It was covered with a casing of stones to smooth its surface. The sloping angle of its sides is 51 degrees and 51 minutes. Each side is carefully oriented with one of the cardinal points of the compass, that is, north, south, east, and west. The horizontal cross section of the pyramid is square at any level, with each side measuring 229 m (751 ft) in length. The maximum error between side lengths is astonishingly less than 0.1%.

The structure consists of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. It has been suggested that there are enough blocks in the three pyramids to build a 3 m (10 ft) high, 0.3 m (1 ft) thick wall around France. The area covered by the Great pyramid can accommodate St Peter's in Rome, the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, and Westminster and St Paul's in London combined.

History: In about 450 B.C., the city of Olympia -- where the first Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C. -- built a temple to honor the god Zeus.
Many considered the Doric-style temple too simple, so a lavish 40 foot statue of Zeus was commissioned for inside. Athenian sculptor Phidias created an ivory Zeus seated on a throne, draped in a gold robe. Zeus had a wreath around his head and held a figure of his messenger Nike in his right hand, and a scepter in his left.

Eventually, wealthy Greeks decided to move the statue to a palace in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey). Their effort prolonged its life, as fire later devastated the Olympia temple. However, the new location couldn't keep Zeus eternally safe: a severe fire destroyed the statue in 462 A.D.
All that remains in Olympia are the temple's fallen columns and the foundation of the building.

History: The great Ionian city of Ephesus was chosen as the site for one of the largest and most complex temples built in ancient times. The Temple of Artemis (Diana) had a marble sanctuary and a tile-covered wooden roof.
Conceived by architect Chersiphron and his son, Metagenes, the temple's inner space featured a double row of at least 106 columns, each believed to be 40 to 60 feet high. The foundation was approximately 200 feet by 400 feet.

The original temple burned in 356 B.C. and was rebuilt on the same foundation. Fire devastated the second temple in 262 A.D., but its foundation and some debris have survived. The British Museum in London counts some of the second temple's sculptures among its treasures.

History: This enormous white marble tomb was built to hold the remains of Mausolus (Mausollos), a provincial king in the Persian Empire, and his wife, Artemisia . Greek architects Satyrus and Pythius designed the approximately 135-foot-high tomb, and four famous Grecian sculptors added an ornamental frieze (decorated band) around its exterior.
Word of the grandeur of the finished structure spread though the ancient world, and the word "mausoleum" came to represent any large tomb.

The monument was damaged by an earthquake in the early 15th century and eventually disassembled. Only the foundation and some pieces remain. The British Museum in London has several of the mausoleum's sculptures.

History: The Greek sculptor Chares and his shop worked 12 years to build a giant bronze statue in honor of the sun god Helios. The statue, celebrating the unity of Rhodes' three city-states, is believed to have stood on a promontory overlooking the water.

At approximately 120 feet, the bronze Colossus stood almost as high as the Statue of Liberty in the United States. Interior stone blocks and iron bars supported the hollow statue. Just 56 years after it was built, a strong earthquake destroyed it.

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