My Additions to the Wonders of the World

Wonders of the World… given this title because of their magnificence and awe-inspiring presence.  The number seven was chosen because the Greeks believed that the number seven represented perfection and plenty.  But what are the Wonders of the World?

The Pyramid of Giza… standing tall in the desert on the outskirts of Cairo… it is the last of the 7 Wonders of the ANCIENT World.  Interestingly enough- it is said it is the oldest of all of the Wonders of the World.  So one could say “they don’t make them like they used to.”  The other Wonders of the Ancient World were:

• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

• The Lighthouse of Alexandria

• The Colossus of Rhodes

• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

The NEW 7 Wonders of the World include:

• The Great Wall of China

• Petra in Jordan

• Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil

• Machu Picchu in Peru

• Chichen Itza in Mexico

• The Colosseum in Italy

• The Taj Mahal in India

The 7 NATURAL Wonders of the World include:

• The Northern Lights

• The Grand Canyon

• Paricutin Volcano

• Mount Everest

• The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro

• Victoria Falls

• The Great Barrier Reef

The NEW 7 Wonders of Nature include:

• Table Mountain in South Africa

• Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina

• Ha Long Bay in Vietnam

• The Amazon Rainforest

• Komodo Island in Indonesia

• Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in The Philippines

• Jeju Island in South Korea

Wow… you’ve read through the lists!  Phew!  LOL

The world is a big place… I mean a really, really big place!  So with all of these Wonders there has to be someplace, somewhere, something you think could be added to the list, right?  

Here are a few places I think should be added to a Wonder list…

The Matterhorn

A mountain in the Alps straddling the border of Switzerland and Italy.  Its peak is almost a symmetrical pyramid, with the north, west, and east side watershed in Switzerland, and the south side watershed in Italy.  The Swiss town of Zermatt is a great place to visit to see the Matterhorn, with the Gornergrat Platform a great vantage point to see the east side of the Matterhorn.

Temple of the Emerald Buddha

Wat Phra Kaew, in English it is known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, is the most sacred Buddhist Temple in Thailand.

The Emerald Buddha (actually made of jade), merely 26 inches in height, is the temple’s main image, and shows Buddha meditating in a lotus position.  Clothes of the Emerald Buddha are made of gold and precious gems and are changed three times a year, correlating to three seasons (hot, rainy, winter).  The clothes are changed in a ceremony by the King of Thailand himself.

The temple grounds house golden chedis, mythical figures, guardians, and ornate buildings.  As the temple grounds are a part of the Royal Palace, monks do not reside at the temple.

The Nazca Lines

Located in southern Peru, these drawings were etched into the earth right around 2000 years ago.  But the drawings are huge, up to 1,000 feet long, and are best seen from the air.  There are many theories as to why the Nazca people created these drawings (one is that it helps aliens land!) But the pictures keep coming, as a new drawing has been discovered in October 2020… it’s a 120-foot cat carved into a hillside!

Stonehenge

In the countryside of England stands a prehistoric monument, stone monoliths weighing many, many tons standing in outer and inner rings.  Stonehenge is believed to have been constructed from 3,000 BC to 2,000 BC.  Whether Stonehenge was a burial site, a site for pagan rituals, or a compass for aliens to direct them to a landing site, Stonehenge is oriented towards the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

Mosquito Bay

Mosquito Bay is located in the isle of Vieques of Puerto Rico and is the best place to see the phenomenon of bioluminescence.  A special type of plankton (dinoflagellates) emit a blue-green light when agitated.  Although bioluminescence happens all over the world there are six places on earth where this phenomenon happens regularly, but Mosquito Bay has so many of the plankton that it holds the Guinness World’s Record for the brightest luminescence recorded.  That’s A LOT of plankton!  Obviously this is easiest to see at night.

Angkor Wat

More than three times the size of Vatican City, Angkor Wat is the largest religious temple structure in the world (by land area.). Angkor Wat means “Temple City,” and it made out of five to ten million sandstone blocks that were quarried 25 miles or more away from the temple site.

The main tower of the temple was aligned to the morning sun of the Spring Equinox; and where most Khmer temples are oriented to the east, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west.  Perhaps the Khmer king Suryavarman II wanted this temple to serve as his funeral temple?

Uluru

Rising abruptly from the desert floor, this sandstone formation rises 1,142 feet high.  However, like an iceberg, the majority of the rock is underground.  Also known as Ayers Rock, during different times of the day, Uluru seems to change color with the most dramatic at dawn and dusk when it seems to glow red.

So these are my top votes for new Wonders, and I listed seven so does that mean I'm perfect?  LOL  I know, I know, no one is perfect, but I can dream right?  Hahaha… what would you vote in?