ST.

JOHN BAPTIST DE LA
SALLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL
SOCIAL STUDY INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

ROBSON SOLOMON
GRADE 7A ROLL NO 47
 7 Wonders of the World
The New 7 Wonders of the World was a campaign started in 2001 to choose Wonders of the World from a
selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll via free Web-based voting and small amounts of
telephone voting was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the New 7 Wonders Foundation
(N7W) based in Zurich, Switzerland, with winners announced on 7 July 2007 in Lisbon, at Estádio da Luz.
The poll was considered unscientific partly because it was possible for people to cast multiple votes.
According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York-based polling
organization Zogby International, New 7 Wonders Foundation drove "the largest poll on record".

Giza pyramid complex

The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis) in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid,
the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and
the Great Sphinx. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, between
2600 and 2500 BC. The site also includes several temples and cemeteries and the remains of a workers' village.
The site is at the edges of the Western Desert, approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) west of the Nile River in
the city of Giza, and about 13 kilometres (8 mi) southwest of the city centre of Cairo. It forms the northern
most part of the 16,000-hectare (40,000-acre) Pyramid Fields of the Memphis and its
Necropolis UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1979. The pyramid fields include the Abu
Sir, Saqarra and Dahshur pyramid complexes, that were all built in the vicinity of Egypt's ancient capital
of Memphis.
The Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Khafre are the largest pyramids built in ancient Egypt, and they have
historically been common as emblems of Ancient Egypt in the Western imagination. They were popularized
in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of
the World. It is by far the oldest of the Ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders
of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian
Steppe. Several walls were built from as early as the 7th century BC, with selective stretches later joined
by Qin Shi Huang (220–206 BC), the first emperor of China. Little of the Qin wall remains. Later on, many
successive dynasties built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The best-known sections of the
wall were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
Apart from defense, other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition
of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of
immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by
the construction of watchtowers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of
smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor.
The frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses. Collectively, they stretch
from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, from the present-day Sino–Russian border in the north
to Tao River (Taohe) in the south; along an arc that roughly delineates the edge of the Mongolian steppe;
spanning 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi) in total. Today, the defensive system of the Great Wall is generally
recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history.

Petra
Petra originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is a historic and archaeological city in
southern Jordan. It is adjacent to the mountain of Jabal Al-Madbah, in a basin surrounded by mountains
forming the eastern flank of the Arabah valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. The area
around Petra has been inhabited from as early as 7000 BC, and the Nabataeans might have settled in what
would become the capital city of their kingdom as early as the 4th century BC. Archaeological work has only
discovered evidence of Nabataean presence dating back to the second century BC, by which time Petra had
become their capital. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra's proximity to the incense
trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub.
The trading business gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth.
The Nabataeans were accustomed to living in the barren deserts, unlike their enemies, and were able to repel
attacks by taking advantage of the area's mountainous terrain. They were particularly skillful in harvesting
rainwater, agriculture and stone carving. Petra flourished in the 1st century AD, when its Al-Khazneh structure
– believed to be the mausoleum of Nabataean king Aretas IV – was constructed, and its population peaked at
an estimated 20,000 inhabitants.
Although the Nabataean kingdom became a client state of the Roman Empire in the first century BC, it was
only in 106 AD that it lost its independence. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed Nabataea and renamed it
as Arabia Petraea. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after an earthquake in
363 destroyed many structures. In the Byzantine era several Christian churches were built, but the city
continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era it was abandoned except for a handful of nomads. It
remained unknown to the western world until 1812, when Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig
Burckhardt rediscovered it.
Access to the city is through a 1.2-kilometre-long (3⁄4 mi) gorge called the Siq, which leads directly to the
Khazneh. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system, Petra is also called the "Rose City"
because of the colour of the stone from which it is carved. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since
1985. UNESCO has described Petra as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural
heritage". In 2007, Al-Khazneh was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Petra is a symbol of
Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. Tourist numbers peaked at 1.1 million in 2019,
marking the first time that the figure rose above the 1 million mark. Tourism in the city was hit hard by
the COVID-19 pandemic, but soon after started to pick up again, reaching 905,000 visitors in 2022.

Colosseum
The Colosseum is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum.
It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world,
despite its age. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79 AD) in 72 and was completed in 80
AD under his successor and heir, Titus (r. 79–81). Further modifications were made during the reign
of Domitian (r. 81–96). The three emperors who were patrons of the work are known as the Flavian dynasty,
and the amphitheatre was named the Flavian Amphitheatre by later classicists and archaeologists for its
association with their family name (Flavius).
The Colosseum is built of travertine limestone, tuff (volcanic rock), and brick-faced concrete. It could hold an
estimated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at various points in its history, having an average audience of some
65,000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, re-
enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Roman mythology, and briefly mock sea battles. The
building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as
housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
Although substantially ruined by earthquakes and stone robbers taking spolia, the Colosseum is still
an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and was listed as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. It is one of
Rome's most popular tourist attractions and also has links to the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good
Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin.
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period.
The archeological site is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán State, Mexico. Chichen Itza was a major
focal point in the Northern Maya Lowlands from the Late Classic (c. AD 600–900) through the Terminal
Classic (c. AD 800–900) and into the early portion of the Postclassic period (c. AD 900–1200). The site
exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and
Chenes styles of the Northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to
have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary
interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.
Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities,
or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature.[2] The city may have had the most diverse population in
the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site. The ruins
of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site's stewardship is maintained by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de
Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History). The land under the monuments had
been privately owned until 29 March 2010, when it was purchased by the state of Yucatán.

Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a 2,430-
meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge. Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of
the Inca Empire. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley,
which is 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Cusco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the
Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
For most speakers of English or Spanish, the first 'c' in Picchu is silent. In English, the name is
pronounced /ˌmɑːtʃuː ˈpiːtʃuː/ or /ˌmætʃuː ˈpiːktʃuː/, in Spanish as [ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu] or [ˈmatʃu ˈpiktʃu], and
in Quechua (Machu Pikchu)[10] as [ˈmatʃʊ ˈpɪktʃʊ].
The Inca civilization had no written language and no European visited the site until the 19th century, so far as
is known, so there are no written records of the site while it was in use. The names of the buildings, their
supposed uses, and their inhabitants are all the product of modern archaeologists on the basis of physical
evidence, including tombs at the site.
Most recent archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca
emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later, at the
time of the Spanish conquest. According to the new AMS radiocarbon dating, it was occupied from c. 1420–
1532. Historical research published in 2022 claims that the site was probably called Huayna Picchu by the
Inca, as it exists on the smaller peak of the same name. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with
polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room
of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give visitors a better
idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration
continues.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in
1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet
poll. Due to widespread protests in Peru against President Dina Boluarte and the Congress of Peru, Machu
Picchu has been closed to visitors indefinitely since January 2023.

Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city
of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of
his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece
of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens
bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the
project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653
at a cost estimated at the time to be around ₹32 million, which in 2020 would be approximately ₹70 billion
(about US $1 billion). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board
of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, the emperor’s court architect. Various types of symbolism have
been employed in the Taj to reflect natural beauty and divinity.
The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim
art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as
the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts more than
6 million visitors a year and in 2007.
Christ the Redeemer (statue)
Christ the Redeemer is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French
sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with French
engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida sculpted the face. Constructed between 1922
and 1931, the statue is 30 metres (98 ft) high, excluding its 8-metre (26 ft) pedestal. The arms stretch 28 metres
(92 ft) wide. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone. Christ the Redeemer differs considerably from its
original design, as the initial plan was a large Christ with a globe in one hand and a cross in the other.
Although the project organisers originally accepted the design, it later changed to the statue of today, with the
arms spread out wide.
The statue weighs 635 metric tons (625 long, 700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre
(2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. A symbol
of Christianity around the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil
was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.