This’s How 7 Ancient Time Wonders Looked Like In Their Bloom

What’s the first thing you do when wanderlust gets the best of you? Hop on one of the thousand websites available for advice, interesting facts, and candid traveler’s photos. Back in the day, convenience was shoved down the pit as people had to discover everything first-hand, and sharing their experience on social media wasn’t an option either. Ancient tourists had to turn to scholarly advice when it came to beautiful sights to behold.

The greatest examples of human ingenuity, amazing architecture, and genius engineering conducted by various Hellenic authors in guidebooks and poems date from 1st-2nd century BC.

Even though most of the Seven Wonders have fallen into disrepair, they continued to inspire masterful artists to use their imagination and turn the intangible relicts of Earth’s early civilizations to life.

One company, Budget Direct decided to give the modern culture-lovers a chance to visit the majestic ancient structures through a series of photo-realistic 3D renderings with lifelike recreations depicting how the seven wonders would have looked in their heyday. The result is seven beautiful animated reconstructions that bring these unique structures to life before your very eyes

Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus was a towering 104ft tall triumphal statue of Greek sun-god Helios. It was built over Mandraki Harbour in Rhodes on 49ft marble pedestals allowing ships to pass between his legs. The Rhodians built the statue from the melted-down remains of the recently-defeated Cypriot army’s arsenal.

The Colossus, a symbol of unity, was sculpted during twelve years beginning in 304 BC by Chares of Lindos. Unfortunately, despite its huge size, the marvel couldn’t withstand a powerful earthquake 56 years later. The statue remained in decline for almost a millennium until after the invasion of Arabs when it was melted down by the Muslim caliph Muawiyah and sold for the scrap.

Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza held the record of being the world’s tallest man-made structure for more than four thousand years until the 19th century when the modern man was able to build something taller.

The 481ft-tall pyramid was built on 13 acres as a tomb for the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu in 2560 BCE. This largest and most impressive construction of 2.3 million stone blocks took 100,000 skilled Egyptians and years of hard labor to complete. For modern-day tourists, this is the only ancient wonder left to admire.

Statue of Zeus

The 43ft tall remarkable piece is a Statue of Zeus, the God of Thunder. Built-in Olympia, the wooden structure depicting the God of Thunder on a throne has, however, not stood the test of time

Built as an attempt to overshadow the Athenians, it didn’t shine for long. Its wooden frame and cedar throne were destroyed in 426CE, and its rich gold, ivory, ebony decorations, and precious stones went missing, presumed pilfered.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

This temple was a tribute to the Greek goddess of chastity, hunting, wild animals, forests, and fertility and was certainly provocative as its god- owner. Perhaps its aesthetic beauty was also its source of troubles as it was built and destroyed three times: Herostratus was first, in an act of attention-seeking arson; then the Goths, who destroyed the city on the run; and finally, in 401 CE, the Christians left behind only the foundations and a single column which can still be visited today in Turkey.

Lighthouse of Alexandria

The monumental Lighthouse of Alexandria, commissioned by Ptolemy I was built in 300 – 280 BCE by Sostratus of Cnidus. It is believed to be the first lighthouse in the world and set the bar high for other lighthouses to follow.

The spectacular 330ft tall building houses A burning fire on top of the structure of three levels: a square level at the bottom, an octagonal level in the middle and a cylindrical top, guided men at sea The lighthouse was gradually demolished by earthquakes between the 12th century and late 15th century and transformed into a medieval fortress by Mamlūk sultan Qāʾit Bāy.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

There’s some speculation over whether this entry really exited in real life or was simply an imagination., It certainly would’ve been great a challenge to build this epic 65ft high complex engineering masterpiece.

Legend has it, that The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built near the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq as a gift from Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to his wife, Amytis, who was homesick for the verdant mountains of the Median Empire. This was certainly paradise on earth

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

This was a rather elaborate tomb built for Mausolus, king of Caria. This masterpiece was so spectacular that the late ruler’s name became a word describing a large funeral monument.

The massive 148ft mausoleum was built in present-day Bodrum around 350 BCE. The structure was made of white marble, and historians think much of its architectural style has Greek, Egyptian and Lycian origins. The Mausoleum gradually fell into disrepair from numerous earthquakes in the 13th century.