New Seven Wonders of the World

A new list of Seven Wonders will be announced at midnight local time in Lisbon, Portugal today. Lisbon time is 6 hours ahead of US Central time. The private effort is generating a lot of controversy. And that's before the list is announced - just wait for the home town howling when the final 7 are named.

Here's the list of 21 finalists.

The 21 finalists
Click on the links to read Times and Sunday Times travel guides to each destination.
1 Acropolis (Athens, Greece)
2 Alhambra (Granada, Spain)
3 Angkor (Cambodia)
4 Chichen Itza (Yucatan, Mexico)
5 Christ Redeemer (Rio de Janiero)
6 Colosseum (Rome)
7 Easter Island Statues (Chile)
8 Eiffel Tower (Paris)
9 Great Wall (China)
10 Hagia Sophia (Istanbul)
11 Kiyomizu Temple (Kyoto, Japan)
12 Kremlin/St Basil (Moscow)
13 Machu Picchu (Peru)
14 Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany)
15 Petra (Jordan)
16 Pyramids of Giza (Egypt)
17 Statue of Liberty (New York)
18 Stonehenge (England)
19 Sydney Opera House (Australia)
20 Taj Mahal (Agra, India)
21 Timbuktu (Mali)



The Vatican is reportedly aghast and claiming the organizers are "deliberately ignoring Christian monuments." Whiners. Hey, the new Monona shelter isn't on there!

The voting was done on-line and by phone so it's going to have all the problems such polls always have - mainly who gets the best campaign going locally to jigger the vote. Look for the Taj Mahal to be on the list as a result of a concerted campaign.

For a more rationally sel;ected, if less exclusive list, check out UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list.