Amazing Wonders: The Taj Mahal

The big and the wonderful always inspire awe. This sense of amazement led the
ancient world to name seven wonders that travelers should see. Most of those
sites are gone now, but we’re still so hungry for awe that a worldwide vote was
held in 2007 to name seven new ones. Here’s a gallery of fantastic sights, from
the New 7 Wonders to places that are just simply amazing.

As far as funeral monuments go, you could do worse than having one of the New
7 Wonders erected in your memory. The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, is an ornate
mausoleum built by a Mughal emperor in the 17th century to honor his wife. Her
tomb is in the main structure, an immense building made of white marble and
topped with an onion dome soaring 115 feet high, flanked by four tall minarets.
The surrounding complex includes gardens, reflecting pools, and a mosque and
other buildings.
Amazing Wonders: Christ the Redeemer statue
Built between 1922 and 1931, Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer statue is by far the
most modern of the New 7 Wonders. The Art Deco statue overlooks Rio de
Janeiro, towering 130 feet above the peak of the 2,300-foot Corcovado hill, with
outstretched arms spanning almost 100 feet. A tram takes guests most of the
way up the hill. From there you can either climb a few hundred steps or take an
escalator to the base of the statue.
Amazing Wonders: Petra
Jordan’s stunning, rock-hewn city of Petra gained fame with modern generations
via its featured appearance in 1989’s "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
Perhaps its most amazing features, though, didn’t make it into that movie —
features such as a theater seating 4,000 and a water system that effectively
created an oasis for Petra's desert-dwelling population. A member of the New 7
Wonders, Petra was founded approximately 2,500 years ago by the ancient
Nabatean culture but has been known to the West for only the past couple of
centuries.
Amazing Wonders: The Great Wall of China
Far from being a single structure, the Great Wall of China is a series of defensive
barriers built across two millennia, but that makes its sheer scale — rambling for
approximately 5,500 miles through northern China — no less impressive. Most of
what we think of as the Great Wall, named one of the New 7 Wonders, was
constructed during the Ming Dynasty to keep out the nomadic tribes to the north.
Some of the most popular sections are at Badaling, Shanhaiguan and
Jinshanling, near the eastern end of the wall.
Amazing Wonders: Machu Picchu
The Inca city of Machu Picchu was inhabited for only about 100 years before it
was abandoned, but it's captivated imaginations around the world since
American historian Hiram Bingham brought "The Lost City of the Incas" to
international attention in 1911. The dry-stone architecture is a testament to the
builders' craftsmanship, still in good shape six centuries after construction began.
Located high in the Peruvian mountains 50 miles from capital city Cuzco, this
new addition to the New 7 Wonders escaped plunder by the conquistadors,
providing a largely unfiltered view into Incan culture.
Amazing Wonders: The Colosseum
Rome's Colosseum was built in the first century A.D., centuries after the first
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World came into vogue among Hellenistic
travelers. Two thousand years later, though, the colossal amphitheater got its
due when it joined the New 7 Wonders. Up to 50,000 people once flocked
through its gates for gladiator contests and other events. Now in ruins, the
Colosseum is the site of official Roman Catholic ceremonies and one of Rome’s
biggest tourist attractions.
Amazing Wonders: Chichén Itzá
Back in Mayan times, the temple city of Chichén Itzá was a sacred focal point of
this pre-Columbian empire. These days the site, on the northern end of Mexico's
Yucatán Peninsula, is still awe-inspiring enough to be named to the New 7
Wonders list. Much of Chichén Itzá’s stone architecture remains, including
temples such as the pyramid of Kukulkan, often called El Castillo; the El Caracol
observatory; and the 545-feet-long Great Ball Court. The structures are
connected by a network of once-paved roads, called sacbeob.
Amazing Wonders: The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World might have indeed been wonderful, but
we know most of them only through historical records. The only one still standing
is also the oldest: the Great Pyramid of Giza, constructed from more than 2
million blocks of limestone around 2600 B.C. near present-day Cairo. At about
450 feet tall, the Great Pyramid is the biggest of the three giant pyramids at Giza,
where you’ll also find the Giant Sphinx and several smaller pyramids and tombs.
Amazing Wonders: The Acropolis
Looming commandingly over Athens, the Acropolis is a powerful symbol of Greek
history and, by extension, the history of Western culture. The ancient Greeks
built the citadel in about the fifth century B.C. in tribute to the goddess Athena,
patron of Athens; today much of the original complex remains, including the
Parthenon and the Old Temple of Athena. Many ancient artifacts from the site
are housed in the on-site Acropolis Museum.
Amazing Wonders: Sydney Opera House
There may be no more iconic building of the 20th century than the Sydney Opera
House, a landmark of modern architecture. The roof of the expressionist-style
structure consists of huge concrete panels, often called "shells," that sail above a
hall covering 4.5 acres. Several theaters occupy the Opera House,
accommodating performances of opera, drama, music and more.
Amazing Wonders: The Statue of Liberty
Lady Liberty is younger than most of the wonders on this list, but the space she
occupies in the collective consciousness of the U.S. and the world is profound. A
gift from France dedicated in 1886, the copper statue became a famous symbol
of hope for immigrants arriving in New York Harbor, and is an enduring point of
pride for their descendants as well as Americans of every stripe.
Amazing Wonders: Stonehenge
We don’t know just how Stonehenge was built several thousand years ago or for
what exact purpose, but given that each of the stones weighed many tons —
some of them up to 50 — Stonehenge is an amazing accomplishment for its
prehistoric construction team. Archaeologists have theorized that the horseshoe-
shaped monument, rising from the fields of southwest England’s Salisbury Plain,
served as a religious center and burial site.
Amazing Wonders: Grand Torii Gate and Itsukushima Shrine
One of the most iconic images of Japan is the sight of the great orange torii gate
seeming to float above the waters surrounding the island of Miyajima, not far
from Hiroshima. At low tide, you can walk to the structure across the mud. In
Japanese culture, the presence of a torii marks the transition from the secular to
the sacred, and just beyond the torii is the magnificent Itsukushima Shrine,
founded 1,500 years ago.
Amazing Wonders: The Eiffel Tower
In the 221 years since its dedication, the latticework tower standing sentinel over
Paris has become perhaps the most instantly recognized structure on the planet,
and no city on Earth may be more associated with a single building. The Eiffel
Tower pierces the sky at more than 1,000 feet tall, and is the world’s most
popular paid tourist attraction. Different shades of paint are used, with the
darkest at the bottom, in order to maintain a uniform appearance to observers at
ground level.
Amazing Wonders: Timbuktu
In the 12th century, Timbuktu sat in the middle of several thriving trade routes
crossing West Africa, and the wealth that passed through turned the city into a
major player in Islamic culture and scholarship. Now part of the modern nation of
Mali, Timbuktu still boasts several examples of its classic architecture, including
three beautiful mud mosques.
Amazing Wonders: The Hagia Sophia
Istanbul's Hagia Sophia dates from the sixth century and the golden age of the
Byzantine Empire, and is thought of as the height of the era’s architectural
techniques. The Hagia Sophia — Greek for "Holy Wisdom" — was constructed
as part of the church and was the world’s largest cathedral for almost 1,000
years, as well as the center of the Eastern Orthodox Church. After the city was
conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, it served as a mosque until 1935,
when it became a state museum.
Amazing Wonders: Angkor Wat
The temple of Angkor Wat has been a focal point for Hindus since its
construction nine centuries ago, and it remains so important to the Cambodian
people that they put its picture on their flag. The intricate temple is considered
perhaps the most significant extant example of Khmer architecture, featuring
intricate bas-reliefs and other detailed imagery throughout.
Amazing Wonders: Red Square and the Kremlin
The Kremlin in Moscow has been the power center of Russia, and the former
Soviet Union, since the 14th century. The citadel was the home of czars for
centuries; today, it’s still the official residence of President Dmitry Medvedev.
Just to the east is historic Red Square, home of the stunning St. Basil’s
Cathedral.
Amazing Wonders: The Potala Palace
Tibet’s Potala Palace dates from 1645, when Lozang Gyatso began construction
on a magnificent residence that would be the primary home of the Dalai Lama
until the current one, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled to India in 1959. These days, the
Potala Palace has been turned into a museum and is well worth visiting: Its
buildings stand 13 stories tall, with more than 1,000 rooms and 10,000 shrines.
And at a Himalayan elevation of 12,100 feet, the palace occupies some very rare
air.
Amazing Wonders: Easter Island's Moai
The monolithic, stylized statues of Easter Island are considered a major feat of
engineering, and the details of how they were carved, transported and raised
between approximately 1250 and 1500 are still not fully known. Hundreds of
moai were erected, ranging up to 33 feet high and weighing up to 86 tons, but
nearly as many were left by their masons at the main moai quarry.
Amazing Wonders: Neuschwanstein Castle
By the time Bavaria’s King Ludwig II built Neuschwanstein Castle in the late 19th
century, castles weren’t necessary anymore for strategic defense — so it makes
sense that he went all out in the aesthetics department. The result was a fanciful,
many-turreted confection, romantic enough that it became the inspiration for the
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. Ludwig didn’t live to see it completed, but
more than 60 million people have visited his finished creation.
Amazing Wonders: Samarkand
Camels, caravans, silks and spices: Samarkand is a city of history, beauty and
artwork, and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Founded by the
Persians in approximately 700 B.C., it was conquered by Alexander the Great in
329 B.C., and later was controlled by the Mongols, Timurids and Turks. As one of
the major cities on the Silk Road, Samarkand became a center for Islamic
learning, and some of the most stunning examples of Muslim building and art can
be found here. Today, Samarkand is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan.
Amazing Wonders: Kiyomizu Temple
Kyoto’s lovely wooden Kiyomizu temple, founded in the eighth century and rebuilt
in 1633, features a main hall perched over a cliff, and a huge veranda held up by
139 49-foot-tall pillars — which is especially impressive given that no nails were
used in the temple’s construction. The temple is also home to a number of
gorgeous orange-and-white pagodas, considered among the loveliest in Japan.
While you’re there, drink from the Otowa waterfall, said to have healing
properties — Kiyomizu means “pure water.”
Amazing Wonders: The Alhambra
Harking back to the days when present-day Spain was a Muslim land, the
Alhambra is a 700-year-old palace complex built by the Moors near Granada, in
what is now the Andalusia region. Its name translates to "red fortress," reflecting
the color of the clay used for much of its construction. The Alhambra's Islamic
architecture and artwork are breathtaking, as are its outdoor features, including
gardens and fountains.