I had no real favourites, there were too many I liked, but as I love all things historical so I was hoping the "older" monuments would win. It seems the world agreed with me and most of the chosen ones were representative of ancient cultures. Only Brasil's Christ the Redeemer left me with some doubts, although an imposing monument it's basically a concrete statue and the design is a regular representation of Jesus Christ. In it's place I would have picked Spain's Alhambra.
I'm glad they removed the Pyramids of Gyza from the competition. It made no sense to me to have the only remaining of the ancient 7 wonders competing with the new ones.
We also elected the 7 Wonders of Portugal and unfortunately my favourite - Mafra's Monastery - did not make it. I must admit it was also a difficult choice and all the 7 elected Monuments are something special. Here's the list of the winners so you can see a little bit of my country:
Mosteiro de Alcobaça
Mosteiro da Batalha
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
Palácio da Pena
Castelo de Óbidos
Torre de Belém
Castelo de Guimarães
Do you live anywhere near any of these?
ReplyDeleteWell compared to Australia I would say everthing is close by ;-) But the closest to me are Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and Torre de Belem both 40 km away.
ReplyDeleteOh and Palácio da Pena is about 25 km away so its actually closer. I completely forgot about it on my previous post.
ReplyDeleteThe Castelo de Guimarães is a powerful historical symbol but in no way a "wonder", imho. I was so disappointed when I saw it for the first time as a little girl.:)
ReplyDeleteLast time I was in Lisbon, I took my boyfriend to the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and he was in awe for several minutes. Even if you saw it countless of times, it's always impressive.
I liked the choices and have the same doubts about the Cristo Redentor. Though if you think of the whole landscape, not just the statue, with the bay and the beaches and the Pao de Açucar, well, maybe. But yeah, I think I'd like the Alhambra better. Or Stonehenge.
ReplyDeleteLove the 7 wonders of Portugal!
Oriana,
ReplyDeleteI was in Guimarães this year, I liked the Castle yes but with so many beautiful monuments to choose from I wouldn't have chosen this one too. However for me the weakest was Obidos castle. Jeronimos is fabulous isn't it? I feel the same with Batalha. All that manueline style just gets to you.
Ro,
besides the Alhambra I think I would also go with Cambodia's Angkor.
I agree that picking the castle was a bit odd. It's just an empty wall. Otherwise, good choices, but I am heartbroken that Convento de Tomar was left out.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with Rosario on Cristo Redendor. The whole landscape, yes. Just the statue, no way.