Welcome to the New Wonders
By BARRY HATTON
By Barry Hatton
The Associated Press
LISBON, Portugal
The Great Wall of China, Rome’s Colosseum and India’s Taj Mahal were among seven architectural marvels named the new wonders of the world Saturday.
The other winners, chosen by a global poll, were Peru’s Machu Picchu, Brazil’s Statue of Christ Redeemer, Jordan’s Petra and Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid.
About 100 million votes were cast by the Internet and cell phone text messages, the nonprofit organization that conducted the poll said.
The seven beat out 21 other nomin ees, including the Eiffel Tower, Easter Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Acropolis, Russia’s Kremlin and Australia’s Sydney Opera House.
The campaign was launched in 1999 by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber. Almost 200 nominations came in, and the list was narrowed to 21 by the start of 2006. Organizers concede there was no foolproof way to prevent people from voting more than once .
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only surviving structure of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
The six others were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
The six were located around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East .
The ancient wonders came from a list compiled by Greek philosophers at the time.
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