ILLUSIONS COLLECTION: New Wonders of the World

Showing posts with label New Wonders of the World. Show all posts

Friday, September 24, 2010

Taj Mahal ( India )

Taj Mahal is kind of a building in which no construction error can be judged. It is considered as the symbol of love for all the mankind as was actually a symbol of love between Shahjahan ( Emperor of India ) and Arjumand Banu Begum commonly known as Mumtaz. She died at the young age of 39 and Shahjahan ordered to construct this great monument to keep her memory alive. He was already famous as a great builder of his time but after the death of Mumtaz he thought that he would give the World such a monument that will remain forever. The contruction of this great monument started in year 1633 AD with around 20,000 labours for about 17 years consectively. The specialists for its construction were hired from other than India as well including Persia and Turkey to complete it.

taj mahal agra location map new wonders of the world

The above shown is location of Taj Mahal in the map of India in state Utter Pardesh Known as UP and in that there is city of Agra Highlighted in red. In second map exact location of Taj Mahal is shown for the ease of understanding of readers.

aerial view taj mahal new wonders of the world

The above picture is of aerial view of Taj Mahal.

taj mahal sandstone gateway to the inner compound with ornamental gardens new wonders of the world

If you have carefully viewed the aerial view photograph then you must have observed that that they are two smaller buildings on either side of Taj Mahal. The above photograph is of the left hand side ( Eastern ) building if Taj Mahal is viewed from the front as shown in the aerial view. It is a picture of standstone gateway to the inner compounds having ornamental gardens.

inner view red sandstone mosque taj mahal new wonders of the world

redstone mosque taj mahal new wonders of the world

The above images are of the right ( Western ) building of Taj Mahal and is inner and outer view respectively of red sandstone mosque.

taj mahal vaulted arch scrollwork quotations from quran

The image above is of the enternace of one of its gates which is a great piece of architect as a lot of verses from Quran are engraved into it in a very beautiful manner.

Taj mahal wallpaper animated at night new wonders of the world

taj mahal image at night new wonders of the world

The 2 of above images are showing that how night adds to the beauty of this monument. First one is animated wallpaper and the second one is original photograph at night.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Machu Picchu ( Peru )

It was also included in the final list of new official seven wonders of the World in 2007. It is located in Peru ( South America ) about 80 kilometers from the city of Cusco in the mountains of Machu Picchu. Its height is 7710 feet above mean sea level. It is considered to be the most important place of South America and atteracts maximum tourists in Peru. This city was a military secret due to its location in mountains and provided excellent defences.

The lost city of Incas in Machu Picchu is the most important symbol of Inca Empire. Its history goes back to around 550 years as it was built in 1460 AD and was discovered in 1911 AD by an American Historian Hiram Bingham.

intihuatana stone machu picchu new wonders of the world

Intihuatana Stone is one of the worthseeing places in Machu Picchu and was considered to be the sacred by the people of Inca Empire.

machu picchu Huayna picchu new wonders of the world

Huayna Picchu is located at the back of Machu Picchu lost city of Incas. Huayna means young mountain and vuew of city from top of this mountain is marvellous. There are some tarraces at the base of Huayna in the ruins and this mountain is climb able for the atteraction of tourists.

There are four strange squares in the city which are inter connected with eachother by steps dug out on platforms and tarraces.

Last but not the least that UNESCO has declared this city dangerous and as it is visited by a large number of tourists which is maximum in South America so there are plans that its approach would be made with the help of a bridge till site from the main route. A no fly zone exists above this area and UNESCO is planning to include this site in the endangered World Heritage sites.

Petra

This ancient piece of art was included in the new official wonders of the World in year 2007. Petra was an ancient city in present Jordan and presently atteracting a huge amount of visitors/tourists from all over the World. It is supposed to be somewhat 2000 years old and was oocpied by an Arab tribe known as Nabataeans. Enterance of this city is through a narrow gorge and at the end of city you will find an opening or enterance of Al Khazaneh ( Arabic word means Treasury ) as shown in th image above. This city consists of a lot of wonders but in these all this treaury is most worthseeing sight of all. Otherwise it takes about four to five days to completely explore this wonderful ancient city. The city consists of hundreds of rocks and tombs out of which many have been destroyed due to earthquakes in the past, however, about 500 of them are still intact.

petra roman style theatre wonders of the world

It had a roman style theatre which was built in 1st century AD has a capacity of about 6000 people to sit. Its image is shown above. It has got 45 rows of seats and the theatre faces North West direction to avoid the effect of direct sunlight into the eyes of spectators. Front portion has been destroyed by a lot of floods in the past.

Place of high sacrifice in ancient city of Petra. It was known to recieve the sacrifices of young boys and girls to make God Al Uzza happy.

There are two museums in Petra a new one and an old one built by carved by Nabataeans in the Habis mountains. The old one has some very unique things to see however, the new one has got a huge collection of items.

The petra approach is through siq to the main city ruins but no motorized vehicles are allowed to move in that area. If you cannot walk then the transport shown above canbe hired locally.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Christ Redeemer ( Brazil )

The Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, was announced as one of the "New 7 Wonders of the World" in 2007, in a ceremony held in Portugal. The election, the largest ever conducted by Internet and cell phone messages, featured more than 100 million votes worldwide. The monument Brazil was in third position, behind the Great Wall of China and the ruins of Petra in Jordan.

The statue of Christ, voted one of the seven wonders of the modern world, went through a process during these four months of cleaning, catering and placement of stones, soap, material used in building the monument in 1931. Domestic and foreign tourists were delighted with the view from the top Paineiras and totally refurbished with Christ.

This monument is located at on of the peaks of Carioca Mountain Range called Corcovado Mountains and constitutes part of Ticuja National Park. Over 600 thousand people per year make this tour unforgettable. On the journey the visitor enjoys one of the most beautiful landscapes of the River Walk on the Train of Corcovado to travel through the history of Brazil and a chance to see up close the beauty of the Atlantic.

Another view of a zigzag road leading to monument is also shown in the picture above for those who do not travel by train pass through this road.

To prevent further attacks by vandals to the monument, which took place during the repair work, the direction of Tijuca National Park, where the statue is promised to soon install security cameras in place and expand the number of security guards who roam in the region. There will be other innovations as the construction of a plateau of access to Christ. There is also the possibility of building a hotel in the region to host national and international tourists.
The repair work cost 7 million dollars, and there is anticipation that the new works will cost at least 20 million dollars. As with the stage of restoration, the Archdiocese of Rio and the direction of the National Park will seek support in private.

A beautiful view of Rio de Janerio from top of monument at night.

Measurements Christ Redeemer

Some of the important facts regarding its size are given below which are awesome and took it in position to stand in the row of new official wonders of the World.

Location (Peak of Corcovado Mountain)         710m above sea level
Total height of monument                              38m
Height of the statue                                   30m

Height of pedestal                               8m
Height of Head                                            3.75 m
Weight of the statue                               1.145 tones

Friday, September 10, 2010

Chichen Itza

It is one of located in Mexico about 120 km South of city of Merida. Chichen Itza is not a single building rather it is composed of a number of places and is a complex. The above picture shows the temple El Castlillo in the ruins of ancient civilization of Maya. Maya was the ancient civilization existed in South of Mexico and Central American states where presently coutries of Guatemala, Honduras Belize and El Salvador are located.
Word Chichen Itza means “at the mouth of the well of Itza “. According to archeologists it is assumed that this was the site where the temple city of Itza was built was around in first millennium BC. Chichen Itza came to its present condition at the end of Early Classic Period that is around 600 AD. Later on it became the capital city and important religious centre when a lot of buildings were constructed.
It is considered to be the 2nd most visited archeological site of Mexico.

An observatory is also located in the vicinity of Chichen Itza which was called The Caracol celestial observatory built in 9th century. El Caracol is Spanish word which means snail, and it has got snail like spiral stairs till its top.

It is also famous for its ball court which is has a huge pair of walls on its both sides and is the largest tennis court in Mesomerika (picture below).

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Colosseum

Construction of Colosseum began under Emperor Vespasian and was completed under supervisionm of his son Titus in 80 AD. It was built on the site of an artificial lake created by Nero in this valley between Rome's many hills, in front of his Domus Aurea palace. It was the largest ever built structure in the Roman Empire. Its considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture of old times.

The Colosseum was Capable of seating 50,000 spectators used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era.