Wonders of the World Quiz: Ancient and New Seven Wonders

This wonders of the world quiz covers both lists, the ancient wonders like the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the new wonders such as Chichén Itzá and Petra. Ten questions, 90 seconds.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 90s

Ancient Wonders
Which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing?
New Wonders
In which year were the New Seven Wonders of the World announced?
Ancient Wonders
Which ancient wonder was a giant bronze statue of the sun god Helios?
Ancient Wonders
The Lighthouse of Alexandria stood in which modern country?
New Wonders
Which of the New Seven Wonders is a Maya city on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula?
Ancient Wonders
Which ancient wonder may never have existed, since no Babylonian records describe it?
Ancient Wonders
The word mausoleum comes from the tomb of which ruler?
Ancient Wonders
Which ancient wonder stood at Olympia in Greece?
New Wonders
Which of the New Seven Wonders is found in Jordan?
Ancient Wonders
The Temple of Artemis stood near which ancient city in today's Turkey?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing?
Answer: Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza was built around 2560 BC for the pharaoh Khufu and was the tallest human-made structure for nearly 4,000 years. All the other ancient wonders were destroyed by earthquakes, fire or war.
Q2: In which year were the New Seven Wonders of the World announced?
Answer: 2007
The New Seven Wonders were announced in Lisbon on July 7, 2007, after a global vote organized by the New7Wonders Foundation. Organizers said more than 100 million votes were cast.
Q3: Which ancient wonder was a giant bronze statue of the sun god Helios?
Answer: Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes stood about 33 meters tall near the harbor of Rhodes. It was finished around 280 BC and toppled by an earthquake only about 54 years later.
Q4: The Lighthouse of Alexandria stood in which modern country?
Answer: Egypt
The Lighthouse stood on the island of Pharos at Alexandria, Egypt, and was over 100 meters tall. The word for lighthouse in several languages, such as the French phare, comes from Pharos.
Q5: Which of the New Seven Wonders is a Maya city on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula?
Answer: Chichén Itzá
Chichén Itzá's pyramid, El Castillo, has 365 steps, one for each day of the year. At the spring and autumn equinoxes, shadows create the image of a serpent sliding down its stairs.
Q6: Which ancient wonder may never have existed, since no Babylonian records describe it?
Answer: Hanging Gardens of Babylon
No Babylonian text mentions the Hanging Gardens, and archaeologists have not found them. One theory suggests the gardens were really in Nineveh, built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib.
Q7: The word mausoleum comes from the tomb of which ruler?
Answer: Mausolus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, in today's Bodrum, Turkey, was built for Mausolus, a Persian satrap, and his wife Artemisia around 350 BC. Its name became the word for any grand tomb.
Q8: Which ancient wonder stood at Olympia in Greece?
Answer: Statue of Zeus
The sculptor Phidias made the seated Statue of Zeus from ivory and gold around 435 BC. It was about 12 meters tall and was later lost, possibly in a fire in Constantinople.
Q9: Which of the New Seven Wonders is found in Jordan?
Answer: Petra
Petra, carved into rose-red rock, was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom. It joined the New Seven Wonders in 2007 and is Jordan's most visited site.
Q10: The Temple of Artemis stood near which ancient city in today's Turkey?
Answer: Ephesus
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was rebuilt several times, and in 356 BC a man named Herostratus burned it down to make himself famous. Only a single rebuilt column stands at the site today.

Wonders of the World Quiz – Two Lists, Many Stories

The idea of listing the world's greatest wonders goes back more than 2,000 years. Greek travelers and writers drew up lists of the most impressive things to see, or theamata, around the eastern Mediterranean. The best-known version names seven: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Only the Great Pyramid survives. The others were lost to earthquakes, fires and looting, and one of them, the Hanging Gardens, may never have existed at all. What we know about them comes from ancient writers, coins, ruins and modern archaeology.

In 2007, a worldwide vote produced a new list: the Great Wall of China, Petra, Christ the Redeemer, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, the Colosseum and the Taj Mahal. The Great Pyramid was given honorary status. The vote was not run by UNESCO, but it brought huge numbers of visitors to the winners.

This quiz mixes questions from both lists, so you will need to know a little ancient history as well as modern travel geography.

Both lists tell us as much about the people who made them as about the monuments. The ancient list reflects the Greek world, so every wonder sits around the eastern Mediterranean. The modern list was chosen by an online and phone vote, so it reflects which countries campaigned hardest and which places are already famous with travelers.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz suits history students, travelers and anyone who enjoys the stories behind famous monuments.

Which ancient wonder still stands
When and how the New Seven Wonders were chosen
What the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus looked like
Where the Lighthouse of Alexandria stood
How the word mausoleum came about
Why historians doubt the Hanging Gardens existed

Quick Facts About the Wonders

The Great Pyramid was originally about 146 meters tall and covered in smooth white limestone.
The Great Wall of China, including all its branches, is more than 21,000 kilometers long.
The Colossus of Rhodes is said to have inspired the design of the Statue of Liberty.
Lists of natural wonders, such as the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef, are separate from the man-made lists.
Antipater of Sidon wrote one of the earliest surviving lists of the seven wonders.
Machu Picchu limits daily visitor numbers to protect the site.