Petra was named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World! Chosen by around 100 million voters around the globe, the New 7 Wonders were selected and announced on 07-07-2007 during a large scale ceremony in Lisbon.

The ceremony, which took place at Portugal’s largest venue, the Estadio da Luz Stadium in Lisbon, included award-presentation appearances by Hilary Swank, Ben Kingsley, Bipasha Basu, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neil Armstrong and Bertrand Piccard, and also featured performances by Chaka Khan, Jennifer Lopez, Jose Carreras, Alessandro Safina, Joaquín Cortés and Dulce Pontes.

The award was received by H.E. Osama Dabbas, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, and was welcomed by cheering Jordanians who gathered in Petra for a folklore night in which singers and dabka dancers performed.

The skies of Jordan lit up with fire works as soon as the results were announced, and Jordanians continue to celebrate this global recognition of the Kingdom’s historic treasure. 

In a telephone call with Jordan Television prior to the announcement of the results, Her Majesty Queen Rania commended the zeal shown by Jordanians in supporting the ancient city. She also commended the efforts of all people from the four corners of the globe for supporting Petra in the competition. In the call, Queen Rania said: “His Majesty King Abdullah and I have been following closely the activities and the efforts exerted to introduce the rose-red city, which is a historical site that we are proud of.”

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. Local officials said 22 million votes were cast for Petra, which was officially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

The 2000-year-old rose red city was crowned a World Wonder alongside the Great Wall of China, Brazil’s Statue of Christ Redeemer, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid, the Colosseum in Rome and India’s Taj Mahal.

Those that have been to Petra would testify to its true majesty and will agree that it is truly a wonder of the world, carved in red rose rock and popularized by the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, Petra is celebrated for its dramatic tombs and temple facades, including one that served as a church during Byzantine times. The city’s inhabitants, Nabataean Arabs, carved an entire city into the rose red sandstone more than two millennia ago, and it continues to amaze its visitors. Petra was forgotten for centuries until Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burchhardt, disguised as a Bedouin nomad, went into the city and rediscovered it in 1812. The ancient city was hidden behind an almost impenetrable barrier of rugged mountains.

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. Half of the profits generated will be donated to global good causes for restoration and preservation of monuments. The organizers have said the competition is not intended to replace the Ancient Seven Wonders declared by Philo of Byzantium in 200BC, but rather to preserve other historical landmarks and enhance global cultural heritage awareness. 

The Jordan Tourism Board has dedicated its efforts for the past year to raise awareness of this competition, and encourage the dedicated Jordanian citizens to support the city’s bid. 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. Jordan spared no effort with millions of votes cast by private as well as public sector entities, including schools, universities, professional associations, hospitals and businesses.