Beyond the Seven Wonders: The Handful of World Marvels Snubbed from World Wonder Lists

[Music] for more than 2000 years people have attempted to capture the world's beauty and lists of the most wondrous places listicles apparently nothing new it's unclear just who the first person was to tally up their favorite sites maybe it was herodotus or filo or maybe someone else entirely we can't know for sure there are five or six generally accepted wonders of the ancient world but search up the list and you'll find some minor variation of the sixth and seventh entries the same is true for the list of medieval wonders for some reason though the number just caught on today there are lists of seven wonders of the ancient world and medieval worlds the new seven wonders the usa today seven wonders the seven natural wonders have been engineering wonders there are at least a dozen different lists and they always seem to be seven entries long but the world is big and without fail some marvellous sights are excluded every time so we're at side projects we've decided to fix that we've decided that we can go beyond seven we're going to look at a few of the most beloved places in the world that somehow always get the cut bumping the number from seven to say ten and along the way we're going to get a better understanding of what it is that makes something a wonder how exciting [Music] among all the ones in the world perhaps the most ridiculous one to never be included on a seven wonders list is anchor what i've been to angkor wat it's it's very impressive no matter what you look for in a world wonder angkor wat probably has it the structure was built by the climate king suryavarman ii in the early 12th century and has been used as a buddhist temple for the last 800 years at the time of its completion the surrounding city was the capital of the kaimur empire not much of that city remains but the ruins that still stand are referred to as angkor which literally means city while the main attraction angkor wat means temple city strangely enough though the building wasn't originally meant to be a temple at first its sole purpose was as a mausoleum for the king who built it but before long it was dedicated as a hindu temple to vishnu even today subtle signs of the temple's past nomination remained though when it was turned into a buddhist temple statues and other overt motifs were removed or covered up nowadays the temple is among the most significant sites but followers of buddhism particularly cambodians while much of angkor was built of perishable materials the temple made of sandstone has stood firm since its construction angkor wat has been an important pilgrimage site for buddhists throughout southeast asia for centuries yet the western world didn't know of his existence until about 150 years ago the first westerner to lay eyes on it the french explorer ori mujo declared it grander than anything left to us by greece or rome by most accounts he's absolutely right that's because angkor wat has one of the most essential factors in determining a wonder scale angkor wat is the largest religious structure in the world covering an area of 1.6 square kilometers or over 400 acres the land that the temple stands on is separated from the rest of the ancor complex by way of a 190 meter wide five kilometer long moat once on this makeshift island the temple is surrounded by a 4.5 meter high wall this unique setting conspicuously separate from the city's ruins also plays a vital role in the sense of wonder that the building inspires the temple itself is made up of three graduated platforms and five towers the base level gallery measures 187 by 215 meters with the following two galleries slightly smaller and raised higher the five towers stand on the smallest and tallest platform though the central tower is raised above the rest reaching 65 meters or 213 feet now cambodia's government will tell you that it's 213 meters but it's not it's 213 feet trust us to reach the shrine to buddha at the top of the tower visitors must ascend a steep staircase the structure still houses a shrine to vishnu but it's blocked from public view by a series of walls added in the late 12th century today angkor wat is mainly known as a tourist destination with several million visitors each year but it is still an active buddhist temple visitors have to follow certain customs to ensure that the site receives the reverence that it holds in the hearts of the devout today angkor wat is a symbol of international buddhism and the country that it calls home this may seem like cheating but it's not red square in moscow belongs on this list for a whole host of reasons not only is it the site of some of the 20th century's most impactful history but it also hosts some of the most unique and eye-catching architecture in the world most of all some basil's cathedral while its most intriguing history is relatively recent the site near the center of moscow has been inhabited for more than 2 000 years russia's rulers have lived in various iterations of the kremlin located in part on red square for the better part of a millennium if you're still not convinced well let's go on a little virtual tour you're standing in the middle of red square looking to the west at the kremlin's eastern wall the red wall stands 19 meters high protecting an intricate complex of palaces cathedrals and towers not to mention the homes of sars and at times vladimir putin most of the complex is blocked to viewers in red square but three of the kremlin's towers including the 70 meter high nikolaustrom stand proudly above the wall the kremlin arsenal is visible just on the other side of it the entire kremlin complex is vast and intricate but only bits can be seen from red square before you turn just look in front of the wall and you'll see lennon's mausoleum the sharp angular structure bears the same red color as the kremlin wall that it stands in front of believe it or not lenin's embalmed corpse actually lies within the structure which is over to visitors the mausoleum and the lavish display of its interior are chilling symbols of russia's soviet era now turn clockwise and you'll see the state historical museum marking the northwest of the square despite being built in the late 19th century the red walled green roofed building is considered a prominent example of old russian architecture with arched windows ornamental towers and a shape similar to the kremlin palace that sits just a few hundred meters away the mausoleum hosts everything from exhibitions on the areas prehistoric tribes to artwork from the romanov dynasty continue turning clockwise past the resurrection gate the gazan cathedral and even the massive 35 000 square meter gum department store all of which are magnificent in their own right you see while these buildings are all full of history and compelling design we're about to reach the main attraction on the south end of the square stands the cathedral of vasily the blessed or saint basil's cathedral dating from almost 500 years ago the technicolor onion domed church looks like something out of an acid-infused disney film yet its origins are much more sinister its construction was ordered by ivan the terrible one of the most brutal rulers in the country's long history to commemorate the capture of kazan and astrakhan some basils became moscow's tallest structure for 40 years after its completion at one time during stalin's reign soviet officials sought to tear the chapel down after all soviet russia was a secular society the moscow communist party boss lazar keganovich was tasked with implementing joseph stalin's urbanist plans throughout the capital in one meeting kaganovich presented a display of the red square and picked up the model of some basils to show stalin what the area would look like without it stalin responded lazar put it back so instead of tearing it down the church was converted to a museum in 1929 in 1997 though it was rededicated as a russian orthodox christian church it should be obvious from one quick glance why stalin and many other devout communists were so against tearing down the iconic structure the cathedral bears nine onion domes each one standing above a distinct chapel the tallest one the church of the intercession stands 46 meters tall and is just off center giving the entire structure an asymmetrical yet strangely appealing shape some basil's uniqueness has been well documented even today architectural historians have no idea what inspired its stunning appearance as it has no analog in russian or byzantine architecture maybe onions some basils is truly one of a kind the cathedral's unique or inspiring design combined with the classic russian architecture nearby under the centuries of history make red square a wondrous sight to behold [Music] our 10th wander of the world comes from china but it's not the great wall which sits comfortably on the list of medieval wonders the terracotta army found just outside chiang in central china was built around 210 bc by the first emperor ching chi huang coincidentally the man who also began construction on the great wall the terracotta army combines characteristics that make both angkor wat and saint basil's members on this list impressive scale combined with intricate detail the first emperor had the army built to stand with him in his below-ground necropolis a massive complex that holds all sorts of things that the emperor wanted to take with him into the afterlife the army is found in three separate subterranean pits housing 8 000 soldiers 130 chariots 520 horses and 150 cavalry of course the emperor didn't just want protection in the afterlife he also wanted entertainment so he made sure to include plenty of non-military figures like acrobats strongmen and musicians the massive project required contributions from up to 700 000 workers the figures were most likely built in a nearby workshop then assembled once they were brought to the mausoleum altogether it's estimated that necropolis covers almost 100 square kilometers however most of the soldiers stand in one of three pits the most enormous pit is 230 by 60 meters containing 11 3 meter wide rows and at least 6 000 troops speaking of the troops they are all life size ranging from 175cm centimeters to 200 centimeters tall or about five foot eight to six foot six modern scholars have determined that the soldiers all bear one of ten distinct face shapes and their bodies equipment and facial features often correspond with their ranking in the army still no two of the terracotta warriors are precisely alike for instance they wear different forms of armor and clothing some wear shin pads or long trousers while others wear shorts and ocean pads they also wear their hair in different ways often corresponding with their rank in the unit despite its vast size though the terracotta army went undiscovered for most of its existence and not just to outsiders locals had long told stories of finding fractured pieces of the warriors or other fragments from the necropolis but no one knew quite where they came from then in 1974 a group of farmers accidentally uncovered a bit of the mausoleum while digging a well near the site archaeologists flooded the area to discover what was laying beneath the ground today visitors can see most of the army some of whom are paraded around the world to stand in museums still many figurines stand in a sealed area to ensure that the artwork doesn't decay in fact the emperor's mausoleum has never been exposed to the air as other portions of the necropolis showed decay within 15 seconds of exposure to the elements visitors can enter the largest pit but another areas can only look on through glass panels historically the only statues to earn a spot on the list of wonders have been gigantic ones in this video today though it's the army of life-size soldiers that makes the cut as the tenth wonder of the world and that's our eighth ninth and tenth wonders of the world together they paint a picture of what all the world's wonders must possess history scale detail and uniqueness of course in the end there's only one fundamental requirement in determining a world wonder and that's the wow factor no matter the reason the site needs to leave viewers with a sensible as shaky of a definition as that may be it's obvious when you come across any of these sites i really hope you enjoyed this video for more content for more wonders of the world please do check out the sister channel of this channel megaprojects which i will link to below and thank you for watching [Music] you

Channel: Sideprojects

Views: 222,814

Keywords: megaprojects, construction, engineering, projects

Id: MUTi7DSC5TY

Length: 11min 34sec (694 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021