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These video explore the beauty and preservation of iconic landmarks around the world. Discover the changing colors of the Taj Mahal, secrets of new world wonders, and the endangered state of the Colosseum along with other vanishing landmarks
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00:01Let's play a little guessing game.
00:03I'm going to name the sites you have on your bucket list.
00:07Machu Picchu, The Colosseum, Petra, Taj Mahal.
00:12Did I get at least one of them right?
00:14I have to confess, I was just taking them off the list of the new seven wonders of the world.
00:20It was officially finished in 2007 after a worldwide vote.
00:25What happened to the old list?
00:26Well, it was put together in the second century BCE.
00:30And there is just one site currently still standing.
00:34The Pyramids of Giza.
00:37Pack your bags.
00:38We're going to Peru.
00:40The home of the mighty Machu Picchu.
00:44When it was first discovered in 1911,
00:47its explorer thought he had managed to find the lost city of the Inca.
00:50Several decades later, it turned out it wasn't the same city.
00:54Plus, there were still three farmer families living there.
00:57So, it couldn't be really called lost and forgotten.
00:59No wonder they like it so much there.
01:02The stones making up the buildings are cut so precisely and sit together so tightly
01:06that you can't even insert a credit card between them.
01:09It has saved the city from some serious earthquakes which are common here.
01:13The buildings just dance through all the shaking and then go back into place.
01:18And because of the way it's arranged,
01:21you can see the sun rise or set exactly behind the important peaks on important days for the Inca.
01:27More than half 60% of all the construction in Machu Picchu was done underground, so you can't even see
01:34it.
01:35The best part is that there are still things to be discovered if you want to get your name inked
01:40in history.
01:42Our next stop is on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
01:45The mighty Chichen Itza sits here for well over 1,500 years.
01:51The structure has exactly 365 steps.
01:54You can count when you go next time if you don't trust me.
01:58The Maya, who built the whole thing, were really into astronomy.
02:02So it's not surprising they made as many steps as there are days in a year.
02:07Also, if you happen to be here during the spring or fall equinox,
02:11you'll notice the shadows the setting sun casts make it look like there's a snake going down the stairs.
02:17The feathered serpent was one of the main deities in ancient Mexico.
02:22Chichen Itza used to be a busy urban center.
02:24It had its ups and downs.
02:26And by the time the Spanish arrived, the 16th century,
02:30it had been mostly abandoned.
02:33The first photos we have from the spot are from the end of the 19th century.
02:38Looks like the terraced pyramid had a lot more vegetation on it back in 1892.
02:43The only source of fresh water in this dry climate is the cenotes, or water-filled sinkholes.
02:50There are four visible cenotes, and the temple pyramid most likely stands on top of one more.
02:57Archaeologists are looking for tunnels to enter it.
03:00To see our next wonder, you must be prepared to share it with around 15,000 others.
03:05That's how many people visit the Statue of Christ the Redeemer every day.
03:10The statue sits above the Corcovado mountain and weighs roughly 635 tons.
03:16Must have been tricky to lift it all the way up there.
03:19Actually, it came in parts.
03:21A French sculptor, Paul Landowski, made several pieces of the future sculpture out of clay.
03:28The head and the hands were made in full size and the body would be made larger on the spot.
03:33The parts of the statue were cut into cubes and then cast into concrete and put together.
03:39Workers prepared the cement right on the spot and transferred all the tools by a small cogwheel railroad which tourists
03:45used to get up the hill.
03:47The statue is the best proof that lightning does strike in the same place more than once.
03:52It must be because of its position on top of the mountain, its fingers, head and eyebrows got damaged by
03:57storms.
04:00Time to move on.
04:02This time, we're going to Agra, India.
04:04Yep, to see the Taj Mahal, that beautiful pink construction.
04:09Wait, wasn't it always white?
04:11Well, the Taj Mahal changes its color depending on what time it is.
04:15It looks pale pink or pearly gray at sunrise.
04:18Crystal white at noon.
04:20And the sunset paints it orange bronze.
04:23In the evening, it may even seem translucent blue.
04:27And that's not the only optical illusion here.
04:29When you move towards the main gate, the building seems gigantic.
04:33But the closer you get to it, the smaller it looks.
04:38The minarets or towers on both sides might seem to be standing perfectly straight.
04:43But in reality, they're leaning outward.
04:45It's done for aesthetic balance.
04:47And also to prevent the towers from falling on the main building in case of an earthquake.
04:52For construction finished in the 17th century, the Taj Mahal looks good as new.
04:58That's because it regularly gets a spa day.
05:01They apply a proper facial mud pack to it, which is a traditional recipe to keep the radiance.
05:07I'm feeling peckish from all the traveling.
05:10How about we go to Italy and have some pasta?
05:13Just kidding.
05:14The real reason would be to see the Colosseum, of course.
05:17Its original name was the Flavian Amphitheater because it was built by the Flavian dynasty.
05:22The new name is most likely after the colossal bronze statue of Emperor Nero that was once next to the
05:28building.
05:29The model for the statue was the Colossus of Rhodes.
05:33In its nearly 2,000 years, the Colosseum has lived through at least three major fires and four earthquakes.
05:40It was damaged, repaired and rebuilt many times.
05:43The impressive construction once hosted up to 80,000 spectators.
05:48What they watched wasn't necessarily as cruel as Hollywood made us believe.
05:53Most gladiator matches went under strict rules.
05:57Sometimes the public would get bored with the show and the participants would draw out of the arena.
06:03Once the Colosseum stopped serving as an arena for those scary shows, it was used as a cemetery, a place
06:10of worship, for housing, workshops for artisans and merchants, the home of a religious order and a fortified castle.
06:19Now it's open to the public, and you can check out its underground labyrinth.
06:25Are you ready for the next wonder?
06:28It's the lost city of Petra, or rather, the rediscovered city, which was once super rich and vibrant, then got
06:35abandoned and found again in 1812.
06:38The whole city is made of sandstone, and even though it's in the desert, it has seen some pretty heavy
06:44rains.
06:45Still, it has lasted 2,000 years thanks to some very skilled workers.
06:50Modern laser scanning showed that they put giant steps into the mountain to check the quality of the rock and
06:55carve out the buildings without risking their lives.
06:59And how did people survive here in the desert without any water?
07:04The Nabataeans, who lived here, developed a whole complicated system of conduits, dams and cisterns to make sure they have
07:11enough vital fluid for the whole year.
07:14In case you're in your Indiana Jones mode, there's still a lot to discover here in Petra.
07:20Archaeologists believe we only know 15% of the city by now, and the rest is still hidden underground.
07:27Let's finish our tour with the largest human-made project in the world.
07:31Yep, I'm talking about the Great Wall of China.
07:34It stretches for over 13,000 miles from the Bohai Sea in the east all the way to the Gobi
07:40Desert in the west.
07:42But don't trust the popular myth. You won't really see the wall from the moon.
07:47It took over 2,000 years to finish, and a good amount of building materials.
07:52Mostly bricks and cut stone blocks.
07:55Have you ever scratched your name on a tree, or even worse, some famous place?
07:59No worries, I won't tell anyone.
08:02People who built the wall did the same.
08:04Some of the bricks, which are mostly from the Ming Dynasty, have some data like production location, brick household name,
08:11and the responsible officials.
08:13This was a form of quality control.
08:15If something happened to any of the bricks, it would be easy to find out who to blame for it.
08:22What if I told you you just won a round-the-world trip to visit the planet's most famous landmarks?
08:28Nice, right?
08:29But there's a catch.
08:30You might be visiting them for the last time in your life.
08:33That's because these landmarks are threatened to disappear during your lifetime.
08:39Yikes!
08:40Ah, Paris, the city of love.
08:42For our modern eyes, it's hard to imagine the city without its most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower.
08:49But it wasn't always there, of course.
08:52Gustav Eiffel, the tower's architect, was commissioned to expose it during the 1889 World Fair.
08:58But the so-called Iron Lady was only meant to stand for 20 years.
09:02After that, it was going to be demolished, except that, um, this plan was never implemented.
09:09The tower wasn't taken down because of an antenna built on top of the tower, and it conducts wireless signals.
09:16But there's a problem.
09:18The Iron Lady is made of iron.
09:20And with time and bad weather, which Paris happens to get a lot of, iron deteriorates.
09:26It rusts.
09:27And this rusting makes the iron weak, up until the point where it can crack.
09:31And if a tower that is made purely of iron starts to crack, you know what this means.
09:36No more selfies eating croissants in front of the famous Tour Eiffel.
09:41Apparently, French authorities are aware that this is happening.
09:45But instead of repairing the whole tower, they're kind of just painting over the rust.
09:50Your next stop is in beautiful Rome.
09:53You are here to visit, you guessed it, the Colosseum.
09:57One of the world's most visited monuments.
09:59The gladiators used to put on shows there.
10:02Well, you might as well say, arrivederci to it while you can.
10:06Like a lot of ancient monuments, the Colosseum is in danger of disappearing.
10:10It survived for almost 2,000 years since it was commissioned by Emperor Vespasian.
10:17But due to yearly exposure to harsh weather, the monument is getting weaker.
10:21The problem here is mainly snow.
10:24When snow falls upon the Colosseum, the freezing water infiltrates the cracks of the rocks and makes them bloat.
10:30You know, like when you put a soda can into the freezer and the bottom pops out.
10:34I know, snow is a kind of infrequent visitor in Rome.
10:38But even rare below zero temperatures can damage the Colosseum seriously.
10:44And since we can't control the weather, who knows how long we'll get to see this beauty around.
10:50After hopping on a red-eye to India, you arrive at the unique Taj Mahal.
10:55It's even more mesmerizing in person than it is in pictures.
10:59The Taj is one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
11:03But why is it at risk of disappearing, you might ask?
11:06The monument was finished way back in 1643.
11:09It was made with pristine white marble as a gift from Emperor Shah Jahan to his beloved wife.
11:16But if our white shirts get dirty just by stepping outside the house,
11:20imagine an open-air monument that has existed for over four centuries.
11:25The Taj Mahal is located in the city of Agra, right beside the Yamuna River.
11:31Over the years, the region has become very polluted.
11:34And all of this pollution is helping to destroy the Taj.
11:38India's Supreme Court has been on the case for many years now.
11:41And they say the monument is turning greenish and brown.
11:46So, high authorities decided that either the local government restores the Taj Mahal completely,
11:51or they'll shut it down.
11:52Or worse, destroy it.
11:55For the good of humanity, I hope they decide to restore it already.
11:59Otherwise, we'll be down to only six wonders.
12:02Ah, finally, you've made it to South America.
12:05More specifically, you're now in the mountainous country of Peru.
12:10If you're not used to such high altitudes, you might get a little dizzy.
12:13But it's worth it to see the mesmerizing Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.
12:18The city is located at over 7,000 feet above sea level.
12:23And no one knows how the Incas built such a sophisticated village.
12:26That's why the site attracts around 440,000 visitors every single year.
12:33But since regulation is not so strict, the site is also slowly deteriorating.
12:39Machu Picchu may be the victim of something known as overtourism.
12:44I mean, if you look at any footage from the site on a normal day, it's pretty packed up.
12:48And even if it's a stone-made town and stones are pretty resistant, they do suffer from erosion.
12:55Man-made or weather-made.
12:57Oh boy, I really don't like the sound of that.
13:01There's another stone monument that you need to check off your list.
13:05Can you guess which one it is?
13:07Yup, Stonehenge.
13:09Located in the peaceful hills of Wiltshire, England, Stonehenge has been around for over 5,000 years.
13:15Well, nobody knows exactly when it was built, but bear with me.
13:20If the only cause for disappearance would be erosion, then it would make the monument millions of years before it
13:26disappeared.
13:27But that's not the case.
13:28Since 1995, there have been multiple proposals from British authorities to build an underground tunnel that connects southeast and southwest
13:37England.
13:37The thing is, the tunnel passes underneath Stonehenge, and it might rock the site's foundation.
13:43Get it? Rock?
13:44Anyway, since the project was suggested, local supporters of the monument have found a safe Stonehenge alliance to keep the
13:52monument safe.
13:53They strongly believe that any enterprise, such as this tunnel, will severely harm the site.
14:00Ah, Egypt.
14:01This time, to arrive at your destination, you travel in style.
14:06And by that, I mean camels.
14:07Just for the photo op, of course.
14:10But why are you here?
14:11You came to check out the Great Sphinx.
14:14You know, the one with the broken nose?
14:17The Sphinx was also built way, way back in the day.
14:21Try over 4,000 years ago.
14:23And back then, they used what they had at their disposal.
14:27Limestone.
14:28Now, some researchers think that hazardous weather may be damaging the Sphinx's limestones.
14:34You see, they're very porous types of rock, so water easily infiltrates inside of them, making erosion stronger and faster.
14:43But water is also coming from down below.
14:47Unlike the pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx was carved directly from the bedrock.
14:52And right underneath the monument, there's a riverbed, which also infiltrates into the Sphinx, making it weaker.
15:00Fingers crossed that Egypt doesn't get a lot of rainfall in the next few centuries.
15:05I hope you brought your swimsuit, because it's time to dive deep into the Dead Sea.
15:10Except that you probably won't get too deep.
15:13You know, since there's so much salt in the water that you basically only float.
15:17Fun fact.
15:18This sea is ten times saltier than the ocean.
15:22It may be a little ironic that the Dead Sea is at risk of actually perishing.
15:27But it's true.
15:28The lake level is dropping four feet every year.
15:32It has to do with one of the sea's main tributaries.
15:35A tributary is a river that flows into a much larger body of water.
15:40The thing is, the region is not so rich in natural water.
15:44So some of the local authorities ended up diverting small tributaries for basic human uses.
15:50But since every action has a reaction, the Dead Sea is now facing some difficulties.
15:57Back in the USA, it's time to visit the city that never sleeps.
16:01And if you've understood this trip by now, you already know the landmark we're visiting.
16:07It's Lady Liberty.
16:08It may come as a surprise to some, but the famous Statue of Liberty was originally copper.
16:14It's turned green due to oxidation.
16:17I mean, maybe I would also turn green if I was constantly exposed to New York's harsh weather.
16:23Some researchers say that air pollution can also speed up oxidation processes, threatening the long life of Lady Liberty.
16:30Of course, New York City does its share of maintenance.
16:34Hopefully, it'll be enough for us to keep seeing the statue during our lifetime.
16:37.
16:38.
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