SUMMARY; HOW THEY WERE BUILT

 SUMMARY; 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD 

THE CITY OF PETRA, JORDANIA

The city develops thanks to the trade of the incense route. This historic overland route started in Yemen along the west coast of Arabia and divided at Petra into two branches: one to the northwest leading to Gaza, and the other northeast to Damascus. Water and security made Petra an oasis for caravans from South Arabia, laden mainly with luxury goods, spices and silk from India, ivory from Africa, pearls from the Red Sea and incense from South Arabia, among other highly sought-after products). Boswellia resin (the "frankincense tree") was coveted in the ancient world as a religious offering, especially valuable, and also as a medicine. Trade intermediation and tariffs produced important benefits for the Nabataeans, who gave the caravans water and housing to spend the night, in exchange for a payment.

The city reached its peak in the 1950s. It had 20,000 inhabitants, but sources differ widely from this number: other estimates range from 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants.

During the reign of the Nabataean king Obodas III the kingdom experienced an important cultural development. At that time most of the tombs and temples are built.

TAJ MAHAL, INDIA

The Taj Mahal was built as a mausoleum by the Muslim emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute to Mumtaz Mahal, his fourth wife, who passed away in childbirth with their fourteenth child. A great mausoleum, of 17 hectares in which are a mosque, several gardens and different houses.

 

About 20,000 workers were in charge of the construction of the Taj Mahal. It was built with the best materials, such as white marble, quartz, and diamonds. It is estimated that the total cost of construction was Rs 50 million, which would be equivalent to around 450 million euros today.

No one knows for sure who the architect was who designed the mausoleum. Legend has it that the emperor himself ordered the murder of the architect's wife so that the latter would feel the same pain and thus be able to express it with the work.

MACHU PICCHU, PERU

The mystery of the origin of Machu Picchu, the most representative and visited city of ancient Peru, has been clarified thanks to the carbon 14 test, which places the date of its construction in the year 1450 of the Christian era, during the reign of the Inca Pachacutec.

No one doubts that the environment played a very important role in the decision made by Pachacútec to build his city, but another reason was undoubtedly the religious characteristics of that time; the place seems surreal and unusually energetic. The Urubamba River and the Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu mountains surround the Inca city of Machu Picchu, and these are surrounded by even larger mountains, some of them covered in snow. During the time of the Incas, the deities or spirits of the mountain were called Apus.

The snow-capped mountains were especially sacred to the Incas, as they were an inexhaustible source of water. But it is not all, the city also contains many sacred places or huacas with rock.

THE CHICHEN ITZA PYRAMID, YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO

According to the information on how the Chichen Itza Pyramid was built, the pyramid-shaped geometric design has nine levels, four main fronts each with its respective central staircase. With this construction, KUKULCAN, who was a Mayan god, was worshiped. Its name means: "Feathered Serpent" which is why you can see some heads of serpents on the main staircase.

Each stairway has 91 steps each, which added to the entrance to the upper temple are equivalent to 365 days a year. So some experts think that it is possible that the Pyramid of Chichen Itza was built in order to worship the Sun.

THE COLOSSEUM OF ROMA

The Roman Colosseum began its works in 70 AD, when the Roman Empire was under the command of Emperor Vespasian, and it was completed in 80 AD, during the mandate of Emperor Titus, although it was his son who would finish to build the upper level of the work and inaugurate it in the same year.

Later, the emperor Domitian carried out some renovations by building a gallery at the top of the Colosseum, increasing its capacity, as well as a hypogeum and a series of underground tunnels that would be used to house animals and slaves.

It was originally called the Flavian Amphitheater, in honor of the Flavian Dynasty of emperors who ruled in the years in which it was built, but it was renamed the Colosseum (Today's Colosseum in Rome) because of a large statue that was located next to it. the Colossus of Nerón, work that is not conserved at the moment.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA 

The Great Wall of China is an ancient Chinese fortification built and rebuilt between the 5th century BC. C. and the 16th century (Modern Age) to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire during the successive imperial dynasties from the attacks of the Xiongnu nomads of Mongolia and Manchuria

Most of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty was built with bricks. To build a strong wall with bricks, they used lime mortar. The workers built brick and cement factories with local materials close to the wall.

THE STATUE OF CHRIST THE REDEEMER, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

The first time someone thought of building a giant religious monument in Corcovado, in Rio de Janeiro, was in 1859, when the French Lazarist father Pierre-Marie Boss had that idea. He even recorded his wish in a book, called "Imitation of Christ", published in 1903

The priest's wish only began to come true in the preparations for the centenary of Independence, celebrated in 1922. A dispute to decide the project for the monument was opened, with Heitor da Silva Costa the winner. The idea was that Christ the Redeemer would be built only with the money of donations from Brazilians. Several fundraising campaigns were carried out, including a request to obtain authorization from President Epitácio Pessoa for the monument to be built. In total, the construction cost about 2,500 “contos de réis”, which is equivalent to 9,500,000 reais, all with donations from Brazilians from all over the country.

The only parts of Christ the Redeemer that were not built in Brazil are the hands and the head, which were molded in Paris. The body of the statue was made entirely of soapstone, cut into triangles, glued by hand to a fabric and applied by a pillbox to the structure made of reinforced concrete. The monument was made to resist winds of up to 250 km per hour.

The construction lasted nine years, from 1922 to 1931, and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931, during the festivities of the day of Our Lady Aparecida.