Seven New Wonders

A worldwide poll to decide on the new Seven Wonders of the World (given that only one of the originals is still around) came to a close last week, with the seven winners announced on Friday.

The new Wonders are:

• The Great Wall, China
• Petra, Jordan
• Christ Redeemer, Brazil
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Chichén Itzá, Mexico
• The Roman Colosseum, Italy
• The Taj Mahal, India

Photos of all of them are available on the official site.

The one thing that surprises me is that the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt didn't make the cut - it's just one of the runners-up. The pyramid is the only surviving original Wonder, on top of which it's an astounding feat of engineering.

To be honest, I'm not sure why Christ Redeemer is in the top seven instead of the Great Pyramid. Yeah, it's a brilliant landmark and very impressive, but it was built less than a century ago. Compared to the Great Wall (built 5 BC), the Roman Colosseum (completed 80 AD) and even the Taj Mahal (finished 1648), Christ Redeemer is brand new.

I don't know that it inspires "wonder" the same way the others do.