The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall, through mountains and rivers, remains one of the great wonders of the world and many of the stones that were used in its construction are over eight feet beyond the ton.
It has an area of 8,851 kilometers instead of the 6,300 miles that were attributed to him so far. Not that has grown miraculously. While the above calculations are based on estimates and stories for new measurements has been used infrared technology and GPS.
The foundations of this jewel of Chinese architectural heritage, declared World Heritage two decades ago the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), were built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210). The main sections into the new map of the wall, increasing its overall size, are built with the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Built in several stages, the first at the suggestion of Qin Shi Huangdi, also Shi Huangdi, or Ts’in She Huang-Ti (259-210 BC), first emperor of China and founder of the Ch’in dynasty. There is talk of 400,000 people worked in construction during the reign of Qin Shi Huanti and their descendants, however, the Great Wall continued to grow for over 1500 years, with different materials and characteristics depending on the region, the rulers of the Han Dynasty , followed by preserving and extending the wall. Its construction ceased definitively in the seventeenth century during the Ming Dynasty dominance.
To carry out the slaves and used as labor conscripts in the first stories of Jesuits who visited the site, they talk about how cruel and ruthless treatment of slaves. Historians recorded reference that describe groups of workers carrying stones shoulder donkey carts and dragging heavy loads.
It is said that a fifth of China’s population contributed at different times in the construction of the Great Wall and many bodies of the workers who died, added historical documents were used to repay the weight of the stones.
The most famous part of the Great Wall, located near Beijing, in the locality known as Badaling, was built in 1381, during the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming imperial dynasty (1368-1644), Jiumenkou section is 1704 m long and has been repaired and restored many times.
The wall has a height of seven to eight feet, reaching some ten points seven meters wide at the base and six in the ridge, the floors were based on a mixture of stone and mortar made with roller compacted tree trunks in four or six layers.
They wore regular towers at distances as the slope of the land, these terraces had to be optical signals from one to another, the floors were paved and had very good circulation, also avoided the stairs and put ramps, which tells us that used as a means of communication.
The main reason for the construction of the Great Wall of China was to fend off the attacks of nomadic peoples from the north and was used to move people and weapons at high speed from one side to another, also transported caravans going from Chinese cities to the Persian Gulf and from there to eastern Mediterranean ports, so you have access to European markets.