The Wonders of the World
The Wonders of the World are a list of seven monumental structures of Classical Antiquity, based on guidebooks popular among the inhabitants of the Mediterranean and especially the Ancient Greeks. As such, the list only includes monuments that existed in that region, despite many today considering other monuments elsewhere in the world from around the same time being just as deserving of the title of Wonder. The traditional list of Wonders, as recorded by Herodotus and Callimachus of Cyrene, were the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Statue of Jupiter at Olympia, and the Colossus of Rhodes.
Of the Seven Wonders, only the Pyramid of Giza remains standing to this day, and even then in a damaged state because the Bahri dynasty of Mamelukes plundered the outer casing of white limestone in 1356 to build the mosques and fortresses of nearby Cairo, and the rest of the casing except for the topmost part was looted following the Coalition Wars to repair parts of Cairo that had been damaged. The Colossus of Rhodes was the first of the Wonders to be destroyed, collapsing in an earthquake in 226 BC just over half a century after it was built. Aside from the Pyramid, the Hanging Gardens survived longest, until the Mongol invasions of the Middle East which destroyed it.
Of the Seven Wonders, only the Pyramid of Giza remains standing to this day, and even then in a damaged state because the Bahri dynasty of Mamelukes plundered the outer casing of white limestone in 1356 to build the mosques and fortresses of nearby Cairo, and the rest of the casing except for the topmost part was looted following the Coalition Wars to repair parts of Cairo that had been damaged. The Colossus of Rhodes was the first of the Wonders to be destroyed, collapsing in an earthquake in 226 BC just over half a century after it was built. Aside from the Pyramid, the Hanging Gardens survived longest, until the Mongol invasions of the Middle East which destroyed it.
Other Wonders
Aside from the traditional Seven Wonders, many other lists have been made of Wonders in other regions and time periods, or else amending the original list; those typically substitute the Flavian Amphitheater, the Ishtar Gate, the Library of Alexandria, and/or the pseudohistorical Tower of Babel for various other traditional Wonders. One of the most famous alternative lists, dating to the Enlightenment, attempted to name Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages, which includes the Great Wall of China, Hagia Sophia, Notre-Dame de Paris, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, Stonehenge, and the Taj Mahal. Many other lists of Seven Wonders have been devised in the modern period, including of the natural world, of cities, of industry, and of the Solar System.