New wonders

 

Did you hear the results of that international contest to name seven ‘new’ wonders of the world? They were announced last week, but now the effort is getting slammed by UNESCO.

THE UN body for culture overnight blasted a private initiative that drew nearly 100 million Internet and telephone voters to choose seven “new” wonders of the world.

“This campaign responds to other criteria and objectives than that of UNESCO in the field of heritage,” said Sue Williams, the spokeswoman for the UN cultural body that designates world heritage sites.

Yes, it was a popular vote contest, modern culture being so keen on texting or emailing our choices for candidates to win anything from American Idol to presidential debates.

Voters chose the Great Wall of China; India’s Taj Mahal; the centuries-old pink ruins of Petra in Jordan; the Colosseum in Rome; the statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro; the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru; and the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico.

I’ve been to four of the seven…sort of. Near Machu Picchu I suffered severe mountain sickness and couldn’t get to the site. There’s no question these are all wonders, each in their own way.

According to its backers, the campaign aimed to update the original list of seven world wonders, drawn up about 200 BC, of which only the pyramids of Giza remain today.

Shortlisted sites that missed the final cut included Sydney Opera House; the Acropolis in Athens; Paris’ Eiffel Tower; the Easter Island statues; Britain’s Stonehenge; Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples; New York’s Statue of Liberty; and the Alhambra in Spain.

Wonders, all. So maybe the problem is that the list should be longer?

Christian Manhart, UNESCO’s press officer, criticised the ballot, saying it sent out a “negative message to countries whose sites have not been retained”.

Ah, it’s not PC. Actually, I can understand some of this sentiment.

Egypt, home of the Giza pyramids, was also critical, dismissing the new list of wonders as worthless.

“This contest will not detract from the value of the pyramids, which is the only real wonder of the world,” Egypt’s antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass said. “This competition has no value because it is not the masses who write history.”

I’ve been there, and do have to wonder (no pun intended) about the merit of a new list that leaves off the pyramids and Sphinx!

Wonders, natural and man-made, are awesome enough to behold. But there’s a special joy for cultural groups in having ‘their’ wonder officially recognized with this designation.

In Peru, hundreds gathered at 2430 metres to greet the announcement that the ruins of Machu Picchu had made it on the new list.

“The selection of Machu Picchu is an example of what Peruvians can achieve when we unite” as they did by voting in favour of “the new marvel”, trade and tourism minister Mercedes Araoz said.

Thousands also cheered, waved flags and broke into Mayan dances at the archaeological ruins on Mexico’s Yucatan, when Chichen Itza, which attracts more than one million tourists a year, made it to the final list.

In Rio de Janeiro, which hosted one of the Live Earth concerts, hundreds of thousands of singing and dancing revellers broke into huge applause as they were told the city’s landmark Christ the Redeemer statue was a new “wonder”.

I’m really glad Christ was recognized as a wonder. Even (and especially!) if they see him as “new.”