[Gocamino] The Santiago Cathedral and "modern" wonders

[Blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
Way back when... (way, way back)... a Greek-Egyptian engineer from 
Alexandria, Filon di Bizancio,  organized groups of  notable architects, engineers, 
artists and culture scholars  to classify the more significant man-made works of 
sculpture and architecture,  so that the then affluent Athenians could visit 
them. We know the resulting classification as the "Seven Wonders", all created 
and built in the years between 2,500  and 200 Before Christ.  Of those wonders 
only the pyramids in Giza, Egypt, have perdured to our own time, as imposing 
evidence of their being the greatest and best architectonic achievement ever 
accomplished by human effort.
A few years ago a Swiss philanthropist, adventurer (in a positive sense) and 
all-around "Renaissance"  man  of our times (he has even assisted Federico 
Fellini in  film making!), Bernard Weber, took it upon himself to begin an effort 
to classify seven modern "Wonders" by soliciting the views, and votes, of 
everyone anywhere that has access to the Internet.
After seventeen MILLION votes were received, the potential "modern" wonders, 
created and built between 200 B.C. and 2,000 A.D.  were simmered down to 150.  
By prearranged accord, a group of multinational,  recognized and renowned,  
cultural scholars, architects, engineers and artists are perusing and  studying 
 the merits of the  150 candidates  to narrow them down to 21, which will be 
announced, at the end of this month, to the Internet voters so that, through 
their direct voting, the seven "Modern Wonders" may be chosen, by universal 
consensus  and announced by January 2006.
The Santiago Cathedral is, presently, number 74; other monuments in Spain are 
included in the 150, such as the Alhambra in Granada (that got my vote), the 
Giralda in Seville, the great Mosque in Cordoba and the church of the Holy 
Family in Barcelona.
Presently, the Great Wall of China is number one, the Potala Palace in Lhasa, 
Tibet, number two,  The Coliseum in Rome number three, the Taj Mahal in Agra, 
India, number four, and the Teotihuacan Pyramids in Mexico number five.
Because  everyone's vote was taken into consideration,  at first I thought 
that China having the most people would have had the most votes and its citizens 
would have voted for their own Wall.... But, the Potala palace in little 
Tibet?  (which, in my view, MOST certainly deserves the distinction), how many 
people know about it, let alone have seen it? ........ Impressive, indeed.
Other impressive monuments in the 150 list include the awesome Abu Simbel 
temple in Egypt, the Holy City of Machu Pichu in Peru and, of newer vintage, the 
Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Opera house in Sidney, Australia.
After the 21 finalists are announced next month anyone, from anywhere, can 
vote to select the final seven. 
If you are interested, go to
                                www.new7wonders.com
for one's vote to be counted it is necessary to phone a particular number 
directly to get an identification code.  The call costs a couple of bucks, but 
the 
 funds so collected will be used for the recovery and restoration  of world 
monuments in peril or damaged, such as the centuries-old giant Bamiyan Bhuddas  
in Afghanistan that were dynamited by the Taliban in 2001.
Many world organizations, such as UNESCO, as well as  religious and 
educational  groups, fully support the effort.
Regards,
Rosina