The voting closes on July 7th, (yes, 07-07-07) and the official declaration of the winners will be made in Lisbon,Portugal that day. Of the 21 options, my favorites are, of course, the Taj Mahal and the Neuschwanstein Castle.
Here are the finalists:
01 Acropolis
The Acropolis hill (acro - edge, polis - city), so called the "Sacred Rock" of Athens, is the most important site of the city and constitutes one of the most recognizable monuments of the world. It is the most significant reference point of ancient Greek culture.
02 Alhambra
The name Alhambra comes from an Arabic root which means "red or crimson castle", perhaps due to the hue of the towers and walls that surround the entire hill of La Sabica which by starlight is silver but by sunlight is transformed into gold.
03 Angkor
Located in Northwestern Cambodia, Angkor, the Capital of the Ancient Khmer Empire was possibly founded around the Ninth Century AD by King Jayavarman II.
04 Chichen Itza
Chichen - Itza, world famous archaeological zone, is located 120 km from Merida via federal highway 180 in the State of Yucatan Mexico. The name Chichen - Itza is derived from the Mayan language: "Chi" - mouth, "Chen" - well and "Itza" - the tribe that inhabited the area.
05 Christ Redeemer
30 metres (98ft) tall, weighing 1,145 tonnes (2.5 million lbs.), arms spanning 92 feet, overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro, the statue represents Jesus standing with outstretched, welcoming arms.
06 Colosseum
Emperor Vespasian, founder of the Flavian Dynasty, started construction of the Colosseum in AD 72. It was completed in AD 80, the year after Vespasian's death.
07 Easter Island Statues
Easter Island (Rapa Nui in Tahitian and today also in Rapa Nui language, Isla de Pascua in Spanish) is an island in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to Chile. The island is famous for its numerous moai, the stone statues located along the coastlines.
08 Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel {y'-ful} Tower, an immense stucture of exposed latticework supports made of iron, was erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of England) officiated at the ceremonial opening.
09 Great Wall
The Great Wall of China was built over 2,000 years ago, by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty (221 B.C - 206 B.C.). In Chinese the wall is called "Wan-Li Qang-Qeng" which means 10,000-Li Long Wall (10,000 Li = about 5,000 km).
10 Hagia Sophia
Constantine I, known as "the Great," first made Christianity his state religion, then began building huge Christian churches throughout Byzantium. One of those was Hagia Sophia whose name means "holy wisdom."
11 Kiyomizu Temple
Kiyomizudera is said to have been constructed from 778 by Enchin, a buddhist priest, in honor of the Kannon Bosatsu (Bodhisattva of Mercy and Compassion). A bodhisattva is one who can achieve enlightenment but decides to remain on earth to assist others in achieving nirvana.
12 Kremlin/ St. Basil
The famous St. Basil's Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible and built on the edge of Red Square between 1555 and 1561. Legend has it that on completion of the church the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, to be blinded to prevent him from ever creating anything to rival its beauty again.
13 Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a city located high in the Andes Mountains in modern Peru. It lies 43 miles northwest of Cuzco at the top of a ridge, hiding it from the Urabamba gorge below. The ridge is between a block of highland and the massive Huaynac Picchu, around which the Urubamba River takes a sharp bend.
14 Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle is a late 19th century castle, near Hohenschwangau and Füssen in southwest Bavaria, not far from the Austrian border. It's built on a rock ledge over the Pollat Gorge in the Bavarian Alps. The castle was begun in 1869 & left unfinished at King Ludwig's death in 1886. Neuschwanstein served as the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.
15 Petra
Petra (from πέτρα "petra", rock in Greek; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Butrā) is an archaeological site in Jordan, lying in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.
16 Pyramid of Giza
The monument was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty around the year 2560 BC to serve as a tomb when he dies. The tradition of pyramid building started in Ancient Egypt as a sophistication of the idea of a mastaba or "platform" covering the royal tomb.
17 Statue of Liberty
Construction of the Statue began in France in the year 1875, by sculptor Auguste Bartholdi. The final completion date of the individual sections was in June of 1884, and it stood in Paris until it was dismantled in early 1885 for shipping to the US. Engineering of the structure's assembly was done by Gustave Eiffel.
18 Stonehenge
Construction of Stonehenge took place between ca. 3000 and 1600 B.C. With each stone weighing around 50 tons, it is regarded as a truly amazing feat of engineering. Although it is not clear who built the monument, nor for what purpose, it has been speculated that it was either a temple dedicated to the worship of ancient earth deities, an astronomical observatory or a sacred burial site.
19 Sydney Opera House
When the Sydney Opera House was finished in 1973, this landmark building - in the true sense of the expression, - put the whole continent of Australia on the world map. The Opera House is situated on Bennelong Point, which reaches out into the harbour.
20 Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim, Emperor Shah Jahan (died 1666 C.E.) in the memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra, India. It is an "elegy in marble" or some say an expression of a "dream." Taj Mahal (meaning Crown Palace) is a Mausoleum that houses the grave of queen Mumtaz Mahal at the lower chamber.
21 Timbuktu
Timbuktu was founded by the Tuareg Imashagan in the 11th century. During the rainy season, the Tuaregs roam the desert up to Arawan in search of grazing lands for their animals. During the dry season, however, they returned to the Niger river where the animals grazed on a grass called "burgu."
