What the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World Were Like, Which We Will Never See in Their Original Appearance

Several authors have already made attempts to create lists with the greatest wonders of the world. One of the first was the famous historian of antiquity Herodotus. In his version, only three of the creations of the Ancient World, located on the Greek island of Samos, were included: a tunnel through the mountain, a reinforced wall that surrounds the harbor dock and a temple to the goddess Hera. The other seven wonders were mentioned by the Greek poet Antipater of Sidon in his poems. The literary work served as the basis for the list of Philo of Byzantium (a Greek engineer who lived between 280 and 220 BC), the creator of the list of the seven wonders most accepted until today.

Sadly, only one of the gems on Philo’s list has survived to the present day. O awesome.club gathered information about what the lost wonders of our world looked like in antiquity.

Reconstruction of the original appearance of the Pyramid of Giza

It is the only relic from the list of wonders of the ancient world that still exists today. At the same time, it is the oldest, with an estimated age of 4,500 years old.

The construction of the tomb of Cheops, which is 138 meters high, required the use of about 2.3 million stone blocks. It is believed that it took 20 years to complete. Inside are the burial chambers of the pharaoh and his wife, as well as an intricate system of corridors and mines. Probably, the pyramid was originally lined with white marble or lime, characteristics that did not resist over the centuries.

Pyramid of Giza today

The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II, ordered the construction of hanging gardens on the palace grounds in order to please his wife. With the work, the site began to resemble a green hill, which became an oasis in the midst of arid and dusty Babylon – a city that was in the territory where Iraq is now. Every day, hundreds of slaves had to turn the wheel that carried water from the Euphrates River to the top of the structure, which had a system of pipes to water the plants.

Later, the palace was occupied by Alexander the Great. After his death, nobody cared about the gardens, which were relegated to neglect. Large floods destroyed the structure and only ruins of ancient Babylon survive to this day.

In the city where the Olympic Games were born, the authorities decided to erect a marble temple in honor of the main Greek god. Inside, there was an ivory statue of Zeus. According to reports, she was between 12 and 17 meters tall. About 200 kilos of pure gold were used to decorate the monument. The material was used in the god’s cape, in the scepter adorned with an eagle that he holds in his left hand and in the statue of the goddess Nice (in Greek, Nike, the same one that inspired the name of the tennis brand), present in his right hand from Zeus.

The conquest of Greece by the Roman Empire and subsequent wars resulted in the destruction and looting of the temple. Fragments of the building were found during excavations.

Ruins of the Temple of Zeus in Olympia

Model reconstructed in the “Miniaturk” park in Istanbul

Residents of Ephesus (a city located in what is now Turkey) spent 120 years building the temple in honor of Artemis, the goddess of fertility. The roof of the building was supported by 127 columns, each 18 meters high. The sanctuary was decorated with reliefs, sculptures and paintings, and the statue of Artemis stood right in the middle of the building. In addition to religious ceremonies, business meetings were also held there.

The temple was rebuilt twice. In 356 BC, a mentally ill person burned the original building to the ground in order to make his name go down in history. At the beginning of the next century, the structure was completely restored with funds from Alexander the Great.

In the 4th century, Christians banned pagan worship and closed the temple. Soon after, the building was destroyed. Excavations revealed the foundations of the temple and one of the columns was restored, while other fragments ended up being taken to the British Museum. A miniature replica of the architectural monument was built at a scale of 1:25 in Miniaturk park in Istanbul, Turkey.

Restored column of the Temple of Artemis, Turkey

Construction, 46 meters high, began to be erected during the lifetime of the ruler of Caria and is also located in what is now Turkey. The first level is made of large marble bricks and decorated with statues representing scenes from a Greek epic. On the second level there was a temple with 36 columns, on which a pyramidal roof with 24 steps rose. Above the building was a sculpture of Mausolus and his wife, Artemisia, on a cart.

After 1,500 years, the mausoleum was destroyed by an earthquake. Crusaders arriving in Asia Minor used fragments of the mausoleum as building material for the Castle of Saint Peter of Halicarnassus. Later, the Turks built Bodrum Castle on the site.

Mausoleum ruins in present day Bodrum territory, Turkey

The citizens of Rhodes (an island belonging to Greece), when released from the attacks promoted by the Macedonians, decided to erect a statue in honor of the god Helios, as a thank you for his help. The bases for the sculpture were made of marble. Huge bronze pieces reinforced the impressive 33-metre frame, while the cavities were filled with clay. The work consumed 8 tons of iron and 13 tons of bronze.

The colossus was the least enduring of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, standing for only 60 years. It was destroyed by an earthquake that broke the deity’s knees. For a long time, the statue was lying on the ground, giving rise to an expression that became famous in many countries: “a colossus with feet of clay”. In 2008, the project was born to recreate the monument in the form of a luminous installation. The project, which would cost 200 million euros (the equivalent of R$ 870 million), is still awaiting execution.

Current view of the bay of the island of Rhodes

The lighthouse, 120 meters high, was built on the small island of Pharos, 1.3 kilometers from Alexandria — a city that currently has more than 5 million inhabitants and is located in Egypt. At the bottom there were residences and spaces to store supplies and fuel. The central part, in the shape of an octagon, was decorated with statues used as weathervanes. The upper part functioned as the lighthouse itself, using a system of mirrors to make the firelight reach up to 48 kilometers out to sea. The top of the lighthouse was adorned with a statue of the protector of sailors, Isis Faria.

The lighthouse remained in operation for almost a thousand years and was destroyed by an earthquake. At the end of the 15th century, the Sultan of Qaitbay decided to build a fortress on the site. For this purpose, materials left over from the lighthouse were used. The fort is still standing and bears the name of the sultan.

Citadel of Qaitbay, where the Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood

Several factors prevented us, people of the 21st century, from seeing all the seven wonders of the Ancient World, but luckily we have those of today. In 2007, Swiss aviator and film director Bernard Weber announced a popular vote. According to the results, the list of new wonders of the world is formed by the Colosseum in Rome, the Great Wall of China, the ancient city of Machu Picchu, in Peru; through the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan; by the Taj Mahal, by Christ the Redeemer, in Rio de Janeiro; and the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá, located in present-day Mexico.

Countries with postcards that did not make the list of new wonders of the world began to create their own records. For example, there are the seven wonders of Russia, as well as the seven wonders of Ukraine. Do you know other places that could be among the greatest wonders of the contemporary world? Comment!