AP6380

Check out:

http://www.n7w.com

The candidates are:

Acropolis
Athens, Greece

Alhambra
Granada, Spain

Angkor
Cambodia

Chichen Itza
Yucatan, Mexico

Christ Redeemer
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Colosseum
Rome, Italy

Easter Island Statues
Chile

Eiffel Tower
Paris, France

Great Wall
China

Hagia Sophia
Istanbul, Turkey

Kyomizu Temple
Kyoto, Japan

Kremlin / St. Basil
Moscow, Russia

Machu Picchu
Peru

Neuschwanstein Castle
Füssen, Germany

Petra
Jordan

Pyramids of Giza
Egypt

Statue of Liberty
New York, USA

Stonehenge
Amesbury, United Kingdom

Sydney Opera House
Australia

Taj Mahal, Agra
India

Timbuktu
Mali

How many have you seen?

Intrepid1

All but three of them and, frankly, whoever decided that Neuschwanstein was more of a "wonder" than some of the other Ludwig castles obviosuly never visited any of those...sounds more like a list from "Travel and Leisure" compiled by the "Traveled and Bored"

AP6380

I've been to 4. I hopefully have 40 years + more of traveling, so hopefully someday I will have seen all of them!

Worktowander

Three, but I'll be knocking off a fourth in a few months. (Likewise, in the realm of Mayan ruins, I love Chichen, but Palenque would get my vote.)

DownUnder

I've been to seven. The Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Acropolis, Colloseum,Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and of course the Sydney Opera House. Apparantly the Taj Mahal is leading in the voting so that should be a definite with the Pyramids another certainty. I'll be upset if the Opera House doesn't make it, but then I am biased!

DownUnder

I forgot about Stonehenge, so I have seen 8.

david_west

I've seen eight.

My seven would be:

taj Mahal
Eiffel Tower
Angkor Wat
Colosseum
easter Island Statues
Pyramids
Great Wall

And of that lot I've seen three.

Geordie

For me I think a Wonder of the World should be something that is totally unique and very difficult to reproduce even today, that's why I think some of these selections mean more as symbols rather than Wonders

For example, for me the Eiffel Tower is a symbol but easy to reproduce i.e. 'Blackpool Tower', the same with the Statue of Liberty, Christ Redeemer, Neuschwanstein etc.

I would also leave out Stonehenge & Easter Island etc as they were obviously great achievements in transporting and building them and they have a lot of mystique but this sort of thing is found in other areas. The same goes with the Colosseum, Angkor (Borobudur, Java), Kremlin, Petra, Acropolis

The Mexican, Turkish & Japanese wonders I know nothing about, but I have seen 10 of them and my selection would be,

Taj Mahal - Unique, mystical, beautiful
Great Wall - Easy to design, a bugger to build
Machu Pichu Unique, mystical, beautiful
Pyramids -Unique, mystical
Sydney Opera House - Not sure, maybe its still too modern but it certainly fits the criteria as its unique, beautiful and a bugger to build

Geordie

fuzzylogic

Well! I've visited 14 out of the 21. Apart from the one location in Japan all the ones I haven't are in the Americas. That's the big unexplored continent for me.

I don't understand how Neuschwanstein got onto the list (IMO only a one star attraction - seeing as we are talking in those marketing-driven terms).

Why the Alhambra rather than the Mesquita? Why no gothic cathedrals on the list?

Looks like a list drawn up by someone who has only been to those places that travel agents say you should.

RufusTFirefly

By some of the criteria I've read in this thread, nothing man-made would qualify as a wonder.

Anyway, as to Neuschwanstein, I don't see it as any less worthy than some of the other candidates. For some reason there are people who have an intense dislike for this building. I've never really seen any logical reason why.

It is a truly fantastic confection born of a fevered or insane mind (depending on which history books you've read), and it has an unreal beauty in its mountain setting.

Beyond that, it has great symbolic historical value not only in the changes taking place and soon to take place in the German states of that time, but of the entire period following the Congress of Vienna through the First World War as the Europe's monarchical governments began to unravel for a variety of reasons--including the squandering of wealth epitomized by Ludwig's castle-building spree.

Beyond its ethereal "beauty," its position as a 20th Century cultural icon (the "Disneyland castle&quot should not be underestimated.

Just because it isn't old, it had no practical purpose as a fortification, and lots of people like it, does not necessarily make it a bad thing or a one-star attraction.

Beyond that, the rooms that were finished have some examples of superb 19th Century craftsmanship--especially in woodworking.

As to manmade wonders of the world--of those listed, I'd go for the Angkor complex, the Colosseum, the Pyramids, and the Great Wall. I'd nominate the personal computer, the internal combustion engine, and vaccines.