1.

Statue of Zeus in Olympia

The great seated statue as fashioned by Phidias

occupied half the width of the aisle of the temple
built to house it. "It seems that if Zeus were to
stand up," the geographer Strabo noted early in
the 1st century BC, "he would unroof the temple."
The Zeus was a chryselephantine sculpture, made
with ivory and gold. No copy in marble or bronze
has survived, though there are recognizable but
only approximate versions on coins of nearby Elis
and on Roman coins.
In the 2nd century AD, the geographer and traveler
Pausanias gave a detailed description. The statue
was crowned with a sculpted wreath of olive
sprays. It had gold sandals, and a golden robe
carved with animals and lilies. In its right hand
there was a small chryselephantine statue of

crowned Nike, goddess of victory. Its left hand held

a scepter inlaid with many metals, supporting an
eagle. The throne was decorated in gold, precious
stones, ebony, and ivory. According to the Roman
historian Livy, the Roman general Aemilius Paulus
saw the statue and was moved to his soul, as if he
had seen the god in person, while the 1st century
AD Greek orator Dio Chrysostom declared that a
single glimpse of the statue would make a man
forget all his earthly troubles.
According to a legend, when Phidias was asked
what inspired himwhether he climbed Mount
Olympus to see Zeus, or whether Zeus came down
from Olympus so that Phidias could see himthe
artist answered that he portrayed Zeus according
to Book One, verses 528 530 of Homer's Iliad.

Dimitra, class C2

2. The Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek

Titan god of the sun, Helios. According to a legend
Helios saved the people in Rhodes from a war with
the Macedonians. So, they built the statue to
honour the god. It was sculpted by Haris, Lysippos
student. It was erected at the entrance of the
harbor in Rhodes. The construction began in 292
BC and it was completed after twelve years, in 280
BC. The size of the statue was breathtaking, over
thirty metres tall. It was more than twice taller than
Zeus statue in Olympia. Its main materials were
marble, iron and bronze. It is estimated that its
weight must have been about 250 tones. The
Colossus of Rhodes stood for fifty-four years until
the island was hit by the 226 BC earthquake. That
earthquake caused significant damage to a large

part of the island including the harbor and

commercial buildings which were totally destroyed.
Finally the statue snapped at the knees and fell
over onto the land. It stood there for about one
century. Nine hundred years later, in 654 AD
Saracens conquered Rhodes and sold the pieces of
the statue to Syria. Nine hundred camels were
used to carry all the pieces. In the Greek language
the word kolossiaios means huge and impressive.
The Roman theatre in Rome was named Colosseum
in 80 BC.because of its huge and impressive size.
Marios, class C2

3.The lighthouse of Alexandria

The lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the seven

ancient wonders of the world. It was built between
280-247 BC and it was in Egypt. It was 140 metres
tall and made with stone and marble. It was
connected with the mainland with a bridge named

Heptastadion and it formed one part of the harbor.

The lighthouse had four levels. The first level was
the lower square section. The second one was a
square building. The third level was an octagonal
building. At the top of the fourth level there was
the statue of Poseidon. On the fourth level there
was a mirror which reflected the light of the sun in
order to guide the ships. At night there was a fire
to show the way to captains. Sostratis, the
architect wasnt allowed to write his name on the
walls, so he left a message under the name of the
king, Ptolemaios II. His name became visible after a
long time. The lighthouse existed for about 1,500
years. It was destroyed by three earthquakes in
796, 1303 and in 1323 AD. The tower was
destroyed by the third earthquake in 1323.Now you
can visit the ruins of the lighthouse of Alexandria
or by diving. You can also visit the replica
constructed in 2005 which is found at the Window
of the World Cultural Park in the Chinese cities of
Changsha and Shenzhen.

Zafiro P. class C2

4.THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS IN EPHESUS

The temple of Artemis or Artemission was a Greek

temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis. It was
located in Ephesus, in present Turkey. Ephesus was
50 km away from Smyrna. It was built by the king
Croesus in 440 BC .It is remarkable that it was built
in 120 years. African Amazons worshipped the
goddess Artemis for the first time. Alexander the
Great visited the temple and offered money for the
temple to be built but the residents didnt accept
his offer.
In 356 BC mad Irostratos put a fire in the temple in
order to become famous! After the fire the temple
was rebuilt, this time as the wonder. People of
Ephesus raised money and rebuilt the temple. This
time it was larger than ever, double in size of the
Parthenon. Praxiteles , the sculptor, made some
statues of the glorious temple.
Apostle Paul arrived in Ephesus in 53 AD. He
stayed there for two years and his preach caused

quarrels about the temple. People who gained

money from the temple didnt want him there
because as an Orthodox didnt believe in the
ancient Gods. Finally , the temple was destroyed
by Ioannis Chrysostom in 401 AD when he was in
exile in Ephesus. He was against the worship of the
Gods of Olympus as an Orthodox Patriarch. In May
1863 the architect, John Wood started excavations
and it took him eleven years to find ruins of the
temple. Today a visitor of the British Museum in
London can see some pieces of the temple.

Alexandra@Cathrine, class C2

5. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , is the only
one whose location has not been definitively
established. The Hanging Gardens were a
distinctive feature of ancient Babylon. They were a
great source of pride to the people. Possibly built
by King Nebuchadnezzar II in 600 BC, in the
gardens there were all kinds of trees and vines.
The gardens were said to have looked like a large
green mountain made of mud bricks. According to
one legend, Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging
Gardens for his wife, Queen Amytis, because she
missed the green hills and valleys of her homeland.
He also built a palace known as 'The Marvel of the
Mankind'. There was also the Hanging Garden,
which was built by a later Syrian king to please one
of his concubines; for she, being a Persian by race
asked the king to imitate the landscape
of Persia. There is some controversy as to whether
the Hanging Gardens were an actual construction
or a poetic creation, owing to the lack of
documentation in Babylonian sources. There is also
no mention of Nebuchadnezzar's wife Amytis,

although a political marriage to a Median or Persian

would not have been unusual. Herodotus, writing
about Babylon does not mention the Hanging
Gardens in his Histories. Furthermore, no
archaeological evidence has been found in Babylon
for the Hanging Gardens. It is possible that
evidence exists beneath the Euphrates, which
cannot be excavated safely at present. The river
flowed east of its current position during the time
of Nebuchadnezzar II. Rollinger has suggested that
Berossus attributed the Gardens to
Nebuchadnezzar for political reasons and that he
had adopted the legend from elsewhere.
Panagiotis , class C2

6. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was designed by

the Greek architects Satiros and Pitheos. It was a
magnificent tomb where the Persian king Mausolus
was buried. Since then the word mausoleum
means a significant mans majestic tomb. Its
height was 45 metres and its colour was white
because it was made of marble. It was built at the
centre of Halicarnassus. Artemisia, Mausolus sister
and wife adored the King and had the idea to build
this wonder. Artemisia died in 351 BC, two years
after Mausolus death. So, she did not see the
Mausoleum finished. After Artemisias death the
architects and the sculptors continued working on
it. Five famous sculptors decorated the Mausoleum.
They competed one another for the best sculptures
and carvings. They created over one hundred
statues of which only two of them exist today. The
roof of the building was a pyramid. The Mausoleum
existed for 1,900 years. It was partially destroyed
by an earthquake in the 13th century. In the 16th
century Ioannites knights needed marble and
bronze for the Saint Peters castle in the small
Turkish town Bodrum in order to face a Turkish
attack. . So, at first admired the Mausoleum and
then took as much material as they could.
Fortunately some sculptures still exist since they
were taken to decorate St. Peters castle. Finally,
the Turks attacked Rhodes and not Halicarnassus.
So the knights abandoned the castle after they had
destroyed one of the seven wonders of the world,
the Mausoleum.

7. The Pyramid of Cheops

The Pyramid of Cheops is also named the Pyramid

of Giza because it is in the town of Giza, Egypt. It is
the oldest and the only one of the seven wonders
which still exists today. It was built as a Pharaoh

tomb in 2,560 BC. It took them about fifteen years

to build it. It was 146.5 meters tall and the tallest
building of the world for over 3,800 years. It was
made up of 2.3 million stones of limestone and
granite! It is estimated that about forty thousand
men worked for the pyramid to be built.It has got
three chambers, the king and the queens
chambers and the chamber which is dug under the
pyramid. In the pyramid there were many corridors
which lead upstairs and downstairs. The complex
of the pyramid includes two temples, a roofed
corridor that unites the temples, three smaller
pyramids for the pharaohs wives and a small
satellite pyramid. The pyramid of Cheops has
been violated according to Herodotus and Stravon.
The pyramid and Cheops have inspired modern
authors and directors who have created poems,
narratives and science fiction films.

Source for the 7 wonders of the world

https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/__
__