The Seven Wonders of The World

Last Updated 20/05/2022.

What are the seven wonders of the world? That depends which version of the seven wonders you’re interested in. The original, official, seven wonders, the modern seven wonders, new seven wonders, or the seven natural wonders of the world? In this post we look into the versions of the seven wonders and how you can see them today.

The 7 wonders of the world photos — What are the real 7 wonders of the world?

Looking at these various lists of 7 wonders is a great way to build a global travel bucket list, but there are many international landmarks that would be higher up my travel must-see list than some of these places.

It seems that everyone feels that “their” wonder should be on a list of 7 Wonders and various bodies, such as the BBC, CNN, and USA today have published their own lists.

You’ll even find lists for the 7 wonders of the USA, Australia, Asia, Europe, and more. Many are based on public opinion polls, making these lists a popularity contest, of sorts.

The lists on this page are the most official we could find and we give sources. To me the only 7 wonders, are the Seven Ancient Wonders.

The Seven Wonders of the World

Many lists of seven wonders of the world exist. In this post we cover several important versions, and the original seven ancient wonders.

Some lists of ancient wonders are more “official” than others.

The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World
Seven Manmade Wonders of the World
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World
The Seven Modern Wonders of the World
The New Seven Wonders of Nature

7 wonders of the world pictures — You can save this picture to Pinterest, just hover and a red button will appear.

The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World

The pyramid complex at Giza, outside Cairo, Egypt. Of these incredible monuments it is only the Great Pyramid, the pyramid of pharaoh Khufu of the fourth dynasty. In this picture it is the pyramid on the right, the largest of the 3 main pyramids at this site, and the oldest. It was built during 26th century BC and took almost 30 years to complete. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World remaining today, and by far the most intact.

First we’ll name the seven ancient wonders of the world and then we’ll explore where they are and which you can still see today. If they no longer exist in their entirety, some fragments do remain, and you can see them.

The Great Pyramid at Giza
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Lighthouse of Alexandria or Pharos of Alexandria

Origins of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Travels, writing and poetry, in the regions around the Mediterranian Sea, inspired the creation of the original Seven Wonders of the World.

The original seven wonders of the world first came about in Hellenistic times. They were reported by travellers in the Mediterranean region of Europe, Asia and North Africa.

You’ll notice that all of the original Seven Wonders are very close to the Meditteranean Sea.

These are constructions of classical antiquity, and the list dates back to at least 100 years BC. The list became “official” during the Renaissance era.

Most of these wonders were fully or partially destroyed, one, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, may never have existed, and one remains fairly intact today, ironically, the oldest of these seven wonders.

As a homeschooling family, one of the first topics we covered was the seven ancient wonders of the world. I felt it was important that the kids knew about them and I well remember D building his own version of the temple of Artemis out of paper tubes, drawing the statue or Artemis, the hunter.

I’ve mentioned often how much my kids love ancient history and this interest has often inspired our travels. One child is taking history A level today after years of worldschooling history.

We made a point of visiting the sites, or remnants of the list of seven wonders of the ancient world. Let’s get into the wonders!

The Great Pyramid at Giza

Only the Great Pyramid at Giza is listed as one of the original ancient wonders of the world, not the entire Giza complex, which features 2 more main pyramids, plus the sphinx, mortuary temples and queens’ pyramids.

There are also many other pyramids in Egypt and in other parts of the world, including the pyramid complex at Saqqara in Egypt

Giza lies just outside the modern city of Cairo Egypt, west of the river Nile. There are many resort hotels and simpler guest houses nearby, or you can visit from a central Cairo hotel.

Giza has a train station and will be home to the new GUM, or Great Egyptian Museum, which will run alongside the old Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

You can visit the Great Pyramid, tour the complex, and even go inside the Great Pyramid where you will see a stone sarcophagus.

You can very much visit this wonder of the world today.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon would be in present day Iraq,in Babil province, however, no remains have ever been found.

They may have been fully destroyed at some point, or there is another theory that they actually existed, but elsewhere.

There are references to the gardens in classical literature.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

The statue of Zeus at Olympia in Greece, an artist’s impression of the giant seated statue and what remains today in Olympia Greece. There is an on-site museum where we saw a recreation of the Zeus statue, plus innumerable other relics and sculptures. It’s well worth visiting this ancient wonder site.