The original seven wonders of the world, as described by the Greek poet Antipater of Sidon, only existed simultaneously for about 60 years, the time between when the Colossus of Rhodes was completed in around 280 B.C. and when it was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 B.C. Yet the reputation of these great towering structures, unrivaled in scale and in artistry, lives on. At the turn of the millennium, a Swiss-born Canadian filmmaker named Bernard Weber began a campaign to designate seven new wonders of the world. Of the 20 candidates, only two came from the 20th century: the Sydney Opera House, built in 1959, and Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue, finished in 1931. The other 18 were ancient: the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China. Even the Statue of Liberty was more than a century old at that This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Eight Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Dr. Woo Meet the tattoo artist who's inked LA. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Walt Odets The author and clinical psychologist on why self-acceptance is the key to a gay man's well-being. Arts & Culture Fashion Issue 47 A Picture of Health Xiaopeng Yuan photographs the world’s weirdest wellness cures. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi Inside the astrology company on a mission to prove workplace well-being is more than a corporate tagline. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Julia Bainbridge On the life-enhancing potential of not drinking alcohol.
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