Two Wonders of The New 7 Wonders

New 7 Wonders of the World (2001-2007) was an initiative started in 2001 to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber[1] and organized by the New7Wonders Foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon.[2] The New7Wonders Foundation is regulated by the Swiss Federal Foundation Authority as all nationwide-active foundations in Switzerland are. The New7Wonders Foundation claimed that more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Nothing prevented multiple votes, so the poll was considered "decidedly unscientific".[3] According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York-based polling organization Zogby International, New7Wonders Foundation drove "the largest poll on record".[2]
The program drew a wide range of official reaction. Some countries touted their finalist and tried to get more votes cast for it, while others downplayed or criticized the contest.[2][2][3] After supporting the New7Wonders Foundation at the beginning of the campaign, by providing advice on nominee selection, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) distanced itself from the undertaking in 2007.[4][5]
The New7Wonders Foundation, established in 2001, relied on private donations and the sale of broadcast rights and received no public funding or taxpayers' money.[6] After the final announcement, New7Wonders said it didn't earn anything from the exercise and barely recovered its investment.[7]
It was the first in a planned series of lists; in 2007 the foundation launched New7Wonders of Nature, which was the subject of voting until Nov. 11, 2011. New7Wonders Cities is the next project.


Petra

Petra (Greek "πέτρα" (petra), meaning stone; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ) is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduit system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans,[2] it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited tourist attraction.[2] It lies on the slope of Mount Hor[3] 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. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate Prize-winning poem by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's
cultural heritage".[4] Petra was chosen by the BBC as one of "the 40 places you have to see before you die".


Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza (( /tʃiːˈtʃɛn iːˈtsɑː/,[1] Spanish: Chichén Itzá [tʃiˈtʃen iˈtsa], from Yucatec Maya: Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha' [tɕʰɨɪʼtɕʼeːn˧˩ iː˧˩tsʰaʲ];[2] "at the mouth of the well of the Itza"), was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization. The archaeological site is located in the municipality of Tinum, in the Mexican state of Yucatán.[3]
Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic (c.600–900 AD) through the Terminal Classic (c.800–900) and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period (c.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.[4] 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.[5]
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.[nb 1]
Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico; an estimated 1.2 million tourists visit the ruins every year.