Petra was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World chosen by some 100 million voters around the globe. The 2000-year-old rose red city ranked second with the Great Wall of China taking first place, organizers of an international contest declared in a special ceremony held in Lisbon said.
The ceremony was broadcast live on Jordan Television, which devoted Saturday evening airtime to a national celebration held in front of Petra’s main monument, the Treasury.
As soon as the results were announced after 1:00am local time Sunday, fireworks lit the sky of Amman, Petra reported.
The Nabatean-built city has been running for a spot in the international contest along with 20 other landmark sites around the world since March 2006.
According to the New 7 Wonders organizers, a tally of 100 million votes had been cast since voting for the global campaign kicked off in March 2006. Officials in Jordan said 22 million votes were cast for Petra, which was officially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
Brazil’s Statue of Christ Redeemer, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid, the Colosseum in Rome and India’s Taj Mahal were named the other New Seven Wonders of the World. Among the places left out were the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, the Statues of Easter Island, Chile, Cambodia’s Angkor, Turkey’s Hagia Sophia, and Russia’s Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral.
The ancient city, located 210 km to the south of Amman, has been among the leaders for the past weeks, as a result of a nationwide campaign to rally votes for the stone-carved town, an emblem of Jordan.
Petra is known for its dramatic tombs and temple facades, including one that served as a church during Byzantine times. The city’s inhabitants, Nabataean Arabs, carved structures into the soft sandstone more than two millennia ago.
The once bustling city was the capital of the Nabataean Arabs, who controlled the trading routes that passed through Petra to Gaza in the west, Basra and Damascus in the north, Aqaba in the south, and across the desert to the Arabian Gulf.
The New 7 Wonders campaign was launched in 2000 by Swiss film producer, author and aviator Bernard Weber to select the seven new wonders of the world via the first global voting campaign.
Jordan spared no effort with millions of votes cast by government and private sector entities, including ministries, schools, universities, professional associations, hospitals and businesses.
