The most recent ‘New
Seven Wonders of the World’ was hotly contested in 2007. UNESCO distanced
itself from the public poll which drew 100 million votes and was strongly
believed to have been manipulated by the governments and big businesses of
countries wanting to benefit from the tourism a top 7 position could bring.
In Ancient Greek times the known
world was much smaller so the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are all found in the Eastern Mediterranean. Those compiling the lists were mainly Greek
hence the bias towards Greek accomplishments. Of their time though they were
remarkable constructions - the biggest and brashest around. Of the seven only
one remains relatively intact today – the Great Pyramid at Giza. Foundations of
others exist but there is no trace of the Lighthouse of Alexandria or the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. All seven only actually existed at the same time for a short period
of about 60 years as they were built and destroyed, mainly by earthquakes or
fires, over many centuries.
So following in the Hellenistic
tourists footsteps, of the 1st and 2nd BC, we find ourselves here at Olympia,
where the Statue of Zeus stood at a whopping 12.4m high …….
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| Model in the museum showing the size comparison |
We can tick a few others off the list
too. We used to sail in and out of Rhodes harbour where the huge Colossus
bronze statue allegedly straddled the entrance. On past visits to Turkey we
have been to Ephesus a number of times where the Temple of Artemis once stood (on
this trip we just drove by though avoiding the heat and the crowds). And back in
the 1908’s we lived in Turgurtreis Cadessi in Bodrum - just a few doors down
from the ruins of the Mausoleum. For a
site of such importance it received very little promotion and it was some time
before we actually realised we were living next to one of the Seven Wonders of
the World! So that’s four covered…
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| Dave went out to buy a box of matches - he nearly came back with 7! |
As for the other 3….we've seen some modern day
lookie like-ies on our current trip!
Our first night in Greece was spent
in Alexandroupoli where a huge lighthouse stands in the centre of the town
serving a dual function to alert vessels out at sea and also to guide the
parading locals up the high street!
In Methoni we came across this odd
building with a pyramid shaped roof within the castle walls……
And as for the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon I can only imagine what
might have been there.....
Various lists existed even back then
but the best known was written around 140 BC by Antipater of Sidon who wrote –
I have gazed on the walls of impregnable Babylon along which chariots may
race, and on the Zeus by the banks of the Alpheus, I have seen the hanging
gardens, and the Colossus of the Helios, the great man-made mountains of the
lofty pyramids, and the gigantic tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the sacred
house of Artemis that towers to the clouds, the others were placed in the
shade, for the sun himself has never looked upon its equal outside Olympus.
Maybe at the end of our trip we
should draw up our own ‘Wonders List’. I'm not sure where to start really but my descriptions won't be as poetic as Antipater's that's for sure!
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| Wondering....... |
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