What really happened to doomed Seven Wonders of Ancient World & lost mega-tomb

JUST one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still stands – with the rest lost to plunder, fire, earthquakes and the mysteries of time.

Here’s what really happened to those lost wonders, and what traces still remain after thousands of years.

#1 Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was the newest of the Seven Ancient Wonders.

And it was also the most recently destroyed.

It was an enormous lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt between 280 and 247 BC.

The lighthouse was located at Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great.

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And at somewhere between 338 and 387 feet, it was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world for a long time.

Sadly, the lighthouse was damaged significantly by earthquakes in 956 and 1303 AD.

This left it as an abandoned ruin, with its remains finally disappearing in 1480 when a fort was built by the sultan of Egypt using fallen stone.

But remains of the original lighthouse were found on the sea floor by French archaeologists in 1994 in a stunning discovery.

#2 Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic – or rather colossal – statue of the Greek sun god Helios.

It was erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes in 280C.

And it was meant to celebrate Rhodes’ successful defence against an attack by Demetrius I of Macedon.

It’s believed that the statue stood around 108 feet high, which would’ve made it the tallest in the ancient world.

But like the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Colossus of Rhodes was ultimately doomed by an earthquake.

It collapsed during an earthquake in 226 BC, and was never rebuilt.

And during an Arab conquest of Rhodes in 653, the remains of the statue were destroyed and sold off.

#3 Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was an enormous tomb built between 353 and 351 BC.

It was created for Mausolus, an Anatolian who ruled over Halicarnassus and the surrounding area for 24 years.

He was an admirer of the Greeks, and spent significant amounts of tax money to fill the city with statues, temples, and plenty of marble.

He died in 353 BC, leaving his sister-wife Artemisia to rule alone.

But he had planned the construction of a giant tomb that was so lavish, it was considered to be an ancient wonder.

It stood around 148 feet tall and was adorned with Greek sculptures.

And it was so iconic that this is where the modern use of mausoleum as a way to describe a tomb originates.

WHO BUILT THE SEVEN ANCIENT WONDERS?

Here’s who historians believe constructed each of the wonders…

Great Pyramid of Giza – Egyptians

Hanging Gardens of Babylon – Babylonians or Assyrians

Statue of Zeus at Olympia – Greeks

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus – Greeks, Lydians

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus – Greeks, Persians, Carians

Colossus of Rhodes – Greeks

Lighthouse of Alexandria – Greeks, Ptolemaic Egyptians

Picture Credit: Getty Images – Getty

The mausoleum survived several attacks, but was ultimately destroyed by a series of earthquakes, leaving just the base.

And its stones were used to fortify Bodrum Castle in 1494.

Over the years, the remains were plundered, leaving little of the mausoleum behind.

Several statues from the mausoleum were obtained from Bodrum Castle in the 19th century by a British consul. They’re now in the British Museum in London.

And polished stone and marble blocks can still be seen in the castle at Bodrum, built into its walls.

#4 Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The Temple of Artemis was a Greek temple in Ephesus, which is near Turkey’s present-day town of Selçuk.

An early form of the temple dates back to the 7th century BC, but was destroyed by a flood.

It was then built even bigger and better, starting in 550 BC, over the course of 10 years.

But this was destroyed by an arsonist in 356 BC.

Not to be deterred, the temple was built once more, and better thane ever.

Work began in 323, with the third and final temple measuring 450 feet long, 225 feet wide, and 60 feet high.

It reportedly had more than 120 columns, and was filled with beautiful sculptures and paintings.

VISIT THE SEVEN WONDERS IN VIRTUAL REALITY

If you want to see what the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World look like up close, now’s your chance…

If you’re visiting London this December, you could pop along to 7 Wonders of the World: An Immersive Experience.

It reimagines the ancient (and modern) wonders by combining walking VR and 360-degree projections.

So you can take a look at the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon almost as if you were really there.

“Guests will step into immersive environments, embarking on a journey across time and cultures, where marvels of the ancient world stand side by side with today’s modern icons,” events company Fever said.

The experience, which is spread across three floors in the heart of London, kicks off in December and tickets are available here.

Picture Credit: Fever

Sadly the temple was lost to plunder, including a raid in 268 that saw the Goths set fire to it.

The temple’s location was rediscovered in 1869 by John Turtle Wood, after a long expedition funded by the British Museum.

The site is now marked by a single column that is made up of fragments found at the location.

#5 Statue of Zeus at Olympia

This was a giant seated figure of the Greek god Zeus, which reportedly stood 41 feet tall.

It was created by Greek Sculptor Phidias around 435 BC.

And it was erected in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia in Greece.

The statue was commissions by the Eleans who were the custodians of the Olympic Games.

And it was a bid to outdo the rival Athenians with their large statue of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon.

The Statue of Zeus is believed to have been made from ivory plates and gold panels set on a wooden frame – with a painted cedar wood throne ornamented with precious materials.

In 391 AD, Roman emperor Theodosisus I – who was a Christian – banned pagan worship.

The Olympia sanctuary fell into disuse, and one report suggests that the statue was reassembled at Constantinople, where it was destroyed by fire in 475 AD.

#6 Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are perhaps the most mysterious of all the Seven Ancient Wonders.

That’s because we’re not entirely sure that they existed – or at the very least, that they were located in Babylon.

They were meant to be a series of tiered gardens with a vast array of trees and vines.

And it was supposed to have been built in the ancient lost city of Babylon, which is near Hillah in Iraq.

Sadly, we don’t know exactly where the Hanging Gardens were located.

One theory is that they didn’t exist at all, while another suggests that they were in Babylon but destroyed early in the first century AD.

And another theory is that the wonder is actually a beautiful garden that belonged to Assyrian King Sennacherib, whose capital city of Nineveh was built on the banks of the River Tigris near modern Mosul.

#7 Great Pyramid of Giza

Last but certainly not least: the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Despite being built long before the other Ancient Wonders, the Great Pyramid of Giza is ironically the only one still standing.

It’s the largest Egyptian pyramid and functioned as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu.

The pyramid took about a quarter of a century to build, around the year 2600 BC.

It stood 481 feet tall when it was built, and lasted as the world’s biggest man-made structure for around 3,800 years.

And it was originally cased in white limestone, which was removed over time, leaving the pyramid at a more shrunken 454 feet.

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It took around 2.3 million blocks weighing an estimated six million tonnes to build.

And today, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an extremely popular tourist destination.