Mediterranean Sea
In High School (this would have been back in the dark ages), I remember studying the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World. How amazing and exotic they sounded—hanging gardens, temples, statues, architecture–all larger than life! Never, in a million years, did I think I would ever see such sites. And I didn’t; but Roger saw the Pyramid of Giza (the only wonder still existing) when he visited Egypt! Now, how cool is that! The other 6 wonders have all been destroyed either by fire, plunder or earthquake. Never-the-less, In Olympia, Greece, today, you will find a single column remaining from the Statue of Zeus. The statue had been removed to Istanbul where it was later destroyed in a fire around the 5th or 6th century AD. The Temple of Artemis was destroyed in a fire in 356BC. But if you visit Ephesus today, you will walk through the ruins. Both the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt and the Mausoleum of Halicarassus in Turkey were destroyed by earthquakes in the 14th century AD. Salvaged artifacts from both can be seen in the British Museum in London. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Nineveh, Iraq disappeared sometime after the 1st century AD. No one knows exactly when or even how.
Last Sunday, we visited Rhodes, Greece. This is the site of the Colossus of Rhodes. Now the colossus was destroyed by an earthquake in 226BC. But the bases that supported each leg are still at the mouth of the little harbor. Each base has a statue of a deer marking the footprint of the Colossus.
Rhodes, today, is a charming city. We had a great day walking through the streets, shopping, eating and drinking—those things travelers all do!
RovingRaconteurs.com 