Take the Seven Wonders Tour:

I: The Great Pyramid of Egypt

II: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

III: The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

IV: The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

V: The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

VI: The Colossus of Rhodes

VII: The Lighthouse of Alexandria

As a bonus, try visiting some marvels that might have made the list a top ten, but didn't:

The Tower of Babel

Stonehenge

Sphinx


Special Features

MAP PAGE


Also Visit the

Seven Wonders of the Modern World

Seven Wonders of the Natural World

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

See the famous Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Walk through the lush Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Climb the great Lighthouse at Alexandria. Stand before the immense statue of Zeus at Olympia. Marvel at the beauty of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus...

The ancient Greeks loved to compile lists of the marvelous structures in their world. Though we think of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as a single list today, there were actually a number of lists compiled by different Greek writers. Antipater of Sidon, and Philon of Byzantium, drew up two of the most well-known lists.

Why seven? The Greeks thought that the number had mystical significance. Perhaps because it was the total of the known planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) along with the Sun and Moon.

Many of the lists agreed on six of the seven items. The final place on some lists was awarded to the Walls of the City of Babylon. On others, the Palace of Cyrus, king of Persia took the seventh position. Finally, toward the 6th century A.D., the final item became the Lighthouse at Alexandria.

Since the it was Greeks who made the lists it is not unusal that many of the items on them were examples of Greek culture. The writers might have listed the Stonehenge if they'd seen it, but this placs was beyond the limits of their world.

It is a surprise to most people to learn that not all the Seven Wonders existed at the same time. Even if you lived in ancient times you would have still needed a time machine to see all seven. While the Great Pyramid of Egypt was built centuries before the rest and is still around today (it is the only "wonder" still intact) most of the others only survived a few hundred years or less. The Colossus of Rhodes stood only a little more than half a century before an earthquake toppled it.

Take Our Tour

So pack your bags and start this impossible tour through time and space. Some of the pages have 3D images, so if you're not familiar with how to view them, click here to visit our 3D page before you start.


Other Lists

Over time other groups have created lists using the magical number seven. Though none of these lists are as old as the ancient wonders list, they are a starting point for exploring the marvels of our world:

 

Wonders of the Modern World

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World isn't the only list of marvels people have created. In 1994 the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) decided to put together a list of the most remarkable civil engineering feats of the 20th century. This list is often referred to as The Seven Wonders of the Modern World and you can visit them by going to our Modern World Wonders page.

Wonders of the Natural World

In 1997 the Cable News Network (CNN) put togeather a list of ecological wonders. To visit these locations go to our Seven Wonders of the Natural World page.

Bon voyage!

Book: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Copyright Lee Krystek,1998-2011. All Rights Reserved