The only man-made structure that astronauts can see from orbit is the Great Wall of China. The beginning of construction dates back to the 4th-3rd centuries BC, as a defensive structure against raids by Asian tribes in a strategically important place on the border. 400 thousand soldiers took part in the construction of this monumental structure. The wall originates in Shaikhanguang. This huge earthen rampart, lined with stones, runs like a huge python through dangerous gorges, steep cliffs and dry deserts. The length of the Wall is almost six thousand kilometers, its height is 7.8 m, its width is 5.8 m. Signal towers are built along the entire length of the wall at a certain distance from each other. This great structure ends at the Jiayguan outpost. Necessary cargo was transported along the top of the Wall and ammunition was delivered during hostilities. Nowadays, tourists who climb the Wall on foot are given a colorful diploma “I was on the Great Wall of China.”

The oldest Chinese monument

The symbol of China, a symbol of national pride, the “eighth wonder of the world” and one of the world’s oldest architectural monuments is the Great Wall of China. There is not a single person on the globe who has not heard or read about this great, largest, grandiose monument of antiquity. This wall is located on an area covering an area from the Liaodong Gulf (northeast of Beijing), through northern China to the Gobi Desert. There are several opinions about the specific length of this attraction. But we can say about it with complete accuracy that it spreads over a distance of more than two thousand kilometers. Taking into account also the ramparts that extend from it, the result is approximately 6000-6500 km.

Officially, this Great Wall began to be built in 220. BC. by order of the ruler Qin Shi Huang. It defended the northwestern border from attacks by nomadic peoples. Its construction took hundreds of years. After the reign of the Qing Dynasty was established, its construction ceased.

In order to get inside the state, it was necessary to go through all the checkpoints that closed at night and did not open until the morning. Rumors spread among the people that in order to get into his state, even the Chinese emperor himself waited until dawn.

Over the course of 2,700 years, the construction of the wall took place three times. Prisoners, prisoners of war, as well as peasants who were taken from their families by force were sent to the north to build the wall. About two million people died during the construction of this wall. At its base were their remains. Based on this, to this day, people call the Great Wall of China the “Wailing Wall.”

Casemates, signal towers and guard towers were built at various places on the Great Wall, which was 6 to 10 meters high and 5.5 to 6.5 meters wide. Fortresses were built near the main passes of the mountains.

Interesting legend and story about the Chinese Wall

It took a lot of people to build the Chinese wall. There is one Chinese legend, according to which, after the wedding, the husband of the girl, whose name was Mung Jiangnu, was exiled to the construction of the Great Wall. After three years of waiting, the young wife still did not see her husband. He did not return home. In order to take warm clothes to her husband, she set out on a very long, dangerous and difficult journey. A young woman reached the Shanhaiguan outpost and learned that her husband had died from hard work and was buried under the wall, sobbed loudly. Then it collapsed large plot walls, and she saw the corpse of her beloved husband. Chinese legends immortalize the memory of the hard work of those involved in the construction of the wall. The construction of the wall included several conditions. Thus, each of the wall towers had to be located in the visible zone of two neighboring towers. Messages between them were transmitted using smoke, drumming or fire at night. The width of the wall was also calculated. It was 5.5 meters. This was done on purpose, because then five infantrymen could march in a row or five cavalrymen could ride side by side. Now its average height is nine meters. The watchtowers are twelve meters high.

Badaling Wall

Tourists in China consider it a must to visit the Wall of China. Every year, millions of people come to see this magnificent historical landmark. In the area of ​​Mount Badaling, located 60 km from the city of Beijing, there is the most visited section of the Chinese Wall by tourists. There are always a lot of people here. This area was restored in 1957.

The length of this ancient monument is approximately 50 kilometers. Entrance: Y45. In summer it is open from 6.00 to 22.00, and in winter from 7.00 to 18.00. The ticket includes a 15-minute film about the history of the construction of the wall, which is shown in the circular amphitheater from 9.00 to 17.45, as well as an introduction to the Chinese Wall Museum from 9.00 to 16.00. You can also get to Badaling by bus number 919 (depending on the number of stops Y5-10), which runs every 10 minutes from the ancient Deshengmen gate, located 500 m east of Jishuitan metro station. Warning: at 18.30 the last bus departure from Badaling.

For 8 hours, that is, for the whole day, you can rent a taxi with 4 passengers (maximum), costing Y400, or maybe more.

Among other things, there are hiking routes. One of them is Line C with a cost of Y80 round trip, which includes the cost of visiting the wall. Opening hours: from 6.30 to 22.00. Another route is Line C, stopping at the Tomb of Minh for Y140, which includes entrance fees and lunch. Hours from 6.30 to 22.00.

Secrets of the Great Wall of China

Mutianyu Wall

Mutianyu is the second famous site walls. It is located 90 km north of Beijing. It can be visited from 6.30 to 18.00. Entrance ticket costs 35 yuan. The Mutianyu site is located in a mountainous area. You can climb it using the funicular. On the cable car, spend another 50 yuan for a round-trip ticket or 35 yuan for a one-way ticket only. A happier, cheaper descent is the iron chute that runs under the cable car. You can ride down on it, in a special capsule. Bill Clinton also rode in one of the cable car cabins. You can read this on a special sign. Maybe you will be able to take a ride in the president's cabin.

This wall has great dignity. It is located in a very picturesque place. There are much fewer people here than in Badaling. There are no people after the fourteenth tower. Therefore, this place is very suitable for capturing beautiful and interesting moments and taking photographs.

Here it is necessary to take into account that this section of the wall, which consists of stairs going down and up, was made very thoughtfully. To slow down the enemy who had made his way onto the wall, they came up with these uneven stairs of various sizes. Not all visitors enjoy so many obstacles during their walk.

By taking bus number 916 to the last stop you can reach the tower. To get to the wall you need to transfer to a minibus. This stop is located 200 meters east of Dongzhimen Station. You will pay 11 yuan for travel. Bus operating hours are from 6.00 to 19.00.

Simatai Wall

110 kilometers northeast of Beijing is the next section of the wall - Simatai, 4.5 km long. 30 yuan is the entrance fee to this site. Visiting hours are from 8.00 to 17.00. In order to climb the wall, you must ride the cable car, paying 50 yuan for a round trip ticket or 30 for one way only.

From the same Dongzhimen stop, two buses go to Simatai Wall. The first bus number 970 goes to Simatai at 5:40, and the last return bus leaves at 18:30. The second bus, number 980, goes there at 5:50, and the last one at 19:00. In the same way, you need to go to the last stop and then transfer to a minibus.

There are much fewer people here. People need good physical fitness to visit this wall, which goes up along the mountains and down the cliffs. There are 35 watchtowers located close to each other, with a minimum distance between them of 40 meters. The main tower, which features mythical creatures and is decorated with carvings, is the most beautiful of them all. The tallest one, the sixteenth tower, is the Beijing Tower. For an elevation of one kilometer above sea level, it lacks several meters. Incomparable, magnificent and interesting view opens from it.

There are two places in this area that are especially surprising and dangerous. These are the Heavenly Bridge and the Heavenly Staircase. The Sky Bridge at the top narrows to 30 centimeters. Can you imagine how brave Chinese soldiers in ancient times could overcome it? Tourists are not allowed on the Sky Bridge and the Sky Staircase. The climb to the top of the Heavenly Staircase is very steep. The staircase is very narrow and the angle of climb is 85 degrees. There are no parapets there.

Jinshanling Wall

Jinshanling is located 130 kilometers from Beijing, west of Simatai. Entrance tickets to this site cost 40 yuan from mid-November to mid-March, and 50 yuan at other times of the year. You can get there by cable car in the same way and at the same cost, i.e. 50 yuan round trip and 30 one way. Here, as in Simatai, the opening hours are the same, i.e. from 8.00 to 17.00.

This section of the wall has been little restored. Here, there are very few visitors and few places where people can be allowed.

The length of the Jinshanling wall is 10.5 kilometers. There are 24 watchtowers here. They all have different shape. The height of the additional walls that enclosed the watchtowers was 2.5 m. These walls were made to protect the soldiers. Warriors, being in a safe place, in case of an attack, could attack the enemy, even after they were able to climb the wall.

Near the tower, which is called Hudin, there are bricks in the wall on which there are signatures of hieroglyphs. The date of manufacture of the bricks and the departments involved in the construction of each site can be found out from them.

You can get to Jinshalin in the same way and by the same buses that go to Simatai. Then you need to take a minibus. There is another way to get there - by train No. 6453, which departs at 6:38 from Beijing North Station to Gubeikou Station. After which it remains to take a short bus ride to the wall.

Other famous pieces of the wall

There are three sections of the wall that are built from purple marble. Two sites are located in Jiang'an City, and the other is in the Yanyshan Mountains, which is called Baiyanyu. They are considered the most reliable, strongest and most beautiful. Unfortunately, not every tourist can visit this wall.

The essence of the inscription left by Mao Zedong at the entrance to the reconstructed part of the wall is that a Chinese who has not visited the Great Wall of China is not a real Chinese.

The Great Wall of China is also called " Long wall". Its length is 10 thousand li, or more than 20 thousand kilometers, and to reach its height, a dozen people must stand on each other's shoulders... It is compared to a writhing dragon, stretching from the Yellow Sea to the Tibetan Mountains. There is no other place on earth one similar structure.


Temple of Heaven: Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing

Construction of the Great Wall of China begins

According to the official version, construction began during the Warring States period (475-221 BC), under Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, in order to protect the state from the attacks of the Xiongnu nomads, and lasted ten years. About two million people built the wall, which then amounted to a fifth of the total population of China. Among them were people of various classes - slaves, peasants, soldiers... The construction was supervised by the commander Meng Tian.

Legend has it that the emperor himself rode on a magical white horse, plotting the route for the future structure. And where his horse stumbled, then a watchtower was erected... But this is just a legend. But the story about the dispute between the Master and the official looks much more plausible.

The fact is that the construction of such a huge building required talented builders. There were plenty of them among the Chinese. But one was especially distinguished by his intelligence and ingenuity. He was so skilled in his craft that he could accurately calculate how many bricks were needed for such a construction...

The imperial official, however, doubted the Master's ability and set a condition. If, they say, the Master makes a mistake by only one brick, he himself will install this brick on the tower in honor of the craftsman. And if the mistake amounts to two bricks, then let him blame his arrogance - severe punishment will follow...

A lot of stones and bricks were used for the construction. After all, in addition to the wall, watchtowers and gate towers also rose. There were about 25 thousand of them along the entire route. So, on one of these towers, which is located near the famous ancient Silk Road, you can see a brick, which, unlike the others, noticeably protrudes from the masonry. They say this is the same one that the Official promised to lay in honor of the skilled Master. Consequently, he escaped the promised punishment.

The Great Wall of China is the longest cemetery in the world

But even without any punishment, so many people died during the construction of the Wall that this place began to be called “the longest cemetery in the world.” The entire construction route was covered with the bones of the dead.

In total, experts say, there are about half a million of them. The reason was poor working conditions. According to legend, she tried to save one of these unfortunate people loving wife

. She hurried to him with warm clothes for the winter. Having learned on the spot about the death of her husband, Meng - that was the woman’s name - began to cry bitterly, and from the profuse tears her part of the wall collapsed. And then the emperor himself intervened. Either he was afraid that the whole Wall would crawl from the woman’s tears, or he liked the widow, beautiful in her sadness, - in a word, he ordered to take her to his palace.

And there was no doubt that such a “fence” was an object of great national importance. According to historians, the wall not only protected the great “Celestial Middle Empire” from nomads, but rather guarded the Chinese themselves so that they would not flee from their dear fatherland... They say that the greatest Chinese traveler Xuanzang had to climb over the wall, stealthily, in the middle of the night, under a hail of arrows from the border guards...

The longest defensive structure in the world is the Great Wall of China. Interesting facts about her today are quite numerous. This masterpiece of architecture is fraught with many mysteries. It causes fierce debate among various researchers.

The length of the Great Wall of China has not yet been established precisely. It is only known that it stretches from Jiayuguan, located in Gansu Province, to (Liaodong Bay).

Wall length, width and height

The length of the structure is about 4 thousand km, according to some sources, and according to others - more than 6 thousand km. 2450 km is the length of a straight line drawn between its end points. However, it must be taken into account that the wall does not go straight anywhere: it bends and turns. The length of the Great Wall of China, therefore, should be at least 6 thousand km, and possibly more. The height of the structure is on average 6-7 meters, reaching 10 meters in some areas. The width is 6 meters, that is, 5 people can walk along the wall in a row, even a small car can easily pass. On its outer side there are “teeth” made of large bricks. The inner wall is protected by a barrier, the height of which is 90 cm. Previously, there were drains in it, made through equal sections.

Start of construction

The Great Wall of China began during the reign of Qin Shi Huang. He ruled the country from 246 to 210. BC e. It is customary to associate the history of the construction of such a structure as the Great Wall of China with the name of this creator of a unified Chinese state - the famous emperor. Interesting facts about it include a legend according to which it was decided to build it after one court soothsayer predicted (and the prediction came true many centuries later!) that the country would be destroyed by barbarians coming from the north. In order to protect the Qin Empire from nomads, the emperor ordered the construction of defensive fortifications, unprecedented in scale. They subsequently turned into such a grandiose structure as the Great Wall of China.

Facts indicate that the rulers of various principalities located in Northern China erected similar walls along their borders even before the reign of Qin Shi Huang. By the time of his accession to the throne, the total length of these ramparts was about 2 thousand km. The emperor first only strengthened and united them. This is how the unified Great Wall of China was formed. Interesting facts about its construction, however, do not end there.

Who built the wall?

Real fortresses were built at checkpoints. Intermediate military camps for patrolling and garrison service, and watchtowers were also built. "Who built the Great Wall of China?" - you ask. Hundreds of thousands of slaves, prisoners of war and criminals were rounded up to build it. When workers became scarce, mass mobilizations of peasants also began. Emperor Shi Huang, according to one legend, ordered a sacrifice to the spirits. He ordered that a million people be immured in the wall under construction. This is not confirmed by archaeological data, although isolated burials were found in the foundations of towers and fortresses. It is still unclear whether they were ritual sacrifices, or whether they simply buried dead workers in this way, those who built the Great Wall of China.

Completion of construction

Shortly before Shi Huangdi's death, the construction of the wall was completed. According to scientists, the reason for the impoverishment of the country and the turmoil that followed the death of the monarch was precisely the enormous costs of building defensive fortifications. It stretches through deep gorges, valleys, deserts, along cities, across the whole of China. Great Wall, turning the state into an almost impregnable fortress.

Protective function of the wall

Many later called its construction pointless, since there would have been no soldiers to defend such long wall. But it should be taken into account that it served to protect against the light cavalry of various nomadic tribes. In many countries, similar structures were used against steppe inhabitants. For example, this is the Trajan Wall, built by the Romans in the 2nd century, as well as the Serpentine Walls, built in the south of Ukraine in the 4th century. Large detachments of cavalry could not overcome the wall, since the cavalry needed to break through a breach or destroy a large area to pass. And without special devices it was not easy to do this. Genghis Khan managed to do this in the 13th century with the help of military engineers from Zhudrjey, the kingdom he conquered, as well as local infantry in huge numbers.

How different dynasties cared for the wall

All subsequent rulers took care of the safety of the Great Wall of China. Only two dynasties were an exception. These are the Yuan, the Mongol dynasty, and also the Manchu Qin (the latter, which we will talk about a little later). They controlled the lands north of the wall, so they did not need it. The history of the building went through different periods. There were times when the garrisons guarding it were recruited from pardoned criminals. The tower, located on the Golden Terrace of the Wall, was decorated in 1345 with bas-reliefs depicting Buddhist guards.

After it was defeated during the reign of the next one (Ming), in 1368-1644 work was carried out to strengthen the wall and maintain the defensive structures in proper condition. Beijing, the new capital of China, was only 70 kilometers away, and its safety depended on the safety of the wall.

During the reign, women were used as sentries on the towers, monitoring the surrounding area and, if necessary, giving an alarm signal. This was motivated by the fact that they treat their duties more conscientiously and are more attentive. There is a legend according to which the legs of the unfortunate guards were cut off so that they could not leave their post without an order.

Folk legend

We continue to expand on the topic: “Great Chinese Wall: Interesting Facts"The photo of the wall below will help you imagine its greatness.

Folk legend tells about the terrible hardships that the builders of this structure had to endure. The woman, whose name was Meng Jiang, came here from a distant province to bring warm clothes to her husband. However, upon reaching the wall, she learned that her husband had already died. The woman was unable to find his remains. She lay down near this wall and cried for several days. Even the stones were touched by the woman’s grief: one of the sections of the Great Wall collapsed, revealing the bones of Meng Jiang’s husband. The woman took the remains of her husband home, where she buried them in the family cemetery.

Invasion of the “barbarians” and restoration work

The wall did not save the “barbarians” from the last large-scale invasion. The overthrown aristocracy, fighting with the rebels representing the Yellow Turban movement, allowed numerous Manchu tribes into the country. Their leaders seized power. They founded a new dynasty in China - the Qin. From that moment on, the Great Wall lost its defensive significance. It completely fell into disrepair. Only after 1949 did restoration work begin. The decision to start them was made by Mao Zedong. But during the “cultural revolution” that took place from 1966 to 1976, the “Red Guards” (Red Guards), who did not recognize the value ancient architecture, decided to destroy some sections of the wall. She looked, according to eyewitnesses, as if she was subject to an enemy assault.

Now it was not only forced laborers or soldiers who were sent here. Service on the wall became a matter of honor, as well as a strong career incentive for young people from noble families. The words that one who was not there cannot be called a fine fellow, which Mao Zedong turned into a slogan, became a new saying right then.

The Great Wall of China today

Not a single description of China is complete without mentioning the Great Wall of China. Local residents say that its history is half the history of the entire country, which cannot be understood without visiting the building. Scientists have calculated that from all the materials that were used during the Ming Dynasty during its construction, it is possible to build a wall whose height is 5 meters and thickness is 1 meter. It is enough to encircle the entire globe.

The Great Wall of China has no equal in its grandeur. This building is visited by millions of tourists from all over the world. Its scale still amazes today. Anyone can purchase a certificate on the spot, which indicates the time of visiting the wall. The Chinese authorities were even forced to restrict access here in order to ensure better preservation of this great monument.

Is the wall visible from space?

For a long time it was believed that this was the only man-made object visible from space. However, this opinion has recently been refuted. Yang Li Wen, China's first astronaut, sadly admitted that he could not see this monumental structure, no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps the whole point is that during the first space flights the air over Northern China was much cleaner, and therefore the Great Wall of China was visible earlier. The history of its creation, interesting facts about it - all this is closely connected with many traditions and legends that surround this majestic building even today.

SOME Russian researchers (President of the Academy of Basic Sciences A.A. Tyunyaev and his like-minded person, honorary doctor of the University of Brussels V.I. Semeiko) express doubts about the generally accepted version of the origin of the protective structure on the northern borders of the Qin Dynasty state. In November 2006, in one of his publications, Andrei Tyunyaev formulated his thoughts on this topic as follows: “As you know, to the north of the territory of modern China there was another, much more ancient civilization. This has been repeatedly confirmed by archaeological discoveries made, in particular, in Eastern Siberia. The impressive evidence of this civilization, comparable to Arkaim in the Urals, not only has not yet been studied and comprehended by world historical science, but has not even received proper assessment in Russia itself.”

As for the so-called “Chinese” wall, it is not entirely legitimate to talk about it as an achievement of ancient Chinese civilization. Here, to confirm our scientific correctness, it is enough to cite only one fact. THE LOOPS on a significant part of the wall ARE NOT DIRECTED TO THE NORTH, BUT TO THE SOUTH! And this is clearly visible not only in the most ancient, unreconstructed sections of the wall, but even in recent photographs and works of Chinese drawing.

It is generally accepted that it began to be built back in the 3rd century BC. to protect the state of the Qin dynasty from the attacks of the “northern barbarians” - the nomadic Xiongnu people. In the 3rd century AD, during the Han Dynasty, construction of the wall was resumed and it was expanded westward.

Over time, the wall began to collapse, but during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), according to Chinese historians, the wall was restored and strengthened. Those parts of it that have survived to this day were built mainly in the 15th - 16th centuries.

During the three centuries of the Manchu Qing dynasty (from 1644), the defensive structure became dilapidated and almost everything was destroyed, since the new rulers of the Celestial Empire did not need protection from the north. Only in our time, in the mid-1980s, did restoration of sections of the wall begin as material evidence of the ancient origin of statehood in the lands of Northeast Asia.

Previously, the Chinese themselves made the discovery that ancient Chinese writing belonged to another people. There are already published works proving that these people were the Aryan Slavs.
In 2008, at the First International Congress “Pre-Cyrillic Slavic Literature and Pre-Christian Slavic Culture” in Leningrad state university named after A.S. Pushkin Tyunyaev made a report “China is the younger brother of Rus'”, during which he presented fragments of Neolithic ceramics from the territory
eastern part of North China. The signs depicted on the ceramics did not look like Chinese characters, but demonstrated almost complete coincidence with the Old Russian runica - up to 80 percent.

The researcher, based on the latest archaeological data, expresses the opinion that during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages the population of the western part of Northern China was Caucasian. Indeed, throughout Siberia, right up to China, mummies of Caucasians are being discovered. According to genetic data, this population had the Old Russian haplogroup R1a1.

This version is also supported by the mythology of the ancient Slavs, which tells about the movement of the ancient Rus in an eastern direction - they were led by Bogumir, Slavunya and their son Scythian. These events are reflected, in particular, in the Book of Veles, which, let us make a reservation, is not recognized by academic historians.

Tyunyaev and his supporters point out that the Great Wall of China was built similarly to European and Russian medieval walls, the main purpose of which was protection from firearms. The construction of such structures began no earlier than the 15th century, when cannons and other siege weapons appeared on the battlefields. Before the 15th century, the so-called northern nomads did not have artillery.

Pay attention from which side the sun is shining.

BASED ON THIS DATA, Tyunyaev expresses the opinion that the wall in eastern Asia was built as a defensive structure marking the border between two medieval states. It was erected after an agreement was reached on the delimitation of territories. And this, according to Tyunyaev, is confirmed by the map of that
time when the border between Russian Empire and the Qing Empire passed precisely along the wall.

We are talking about a map of the Qing Empire of the second half of the 17th-18th centuries, presented in the academic 10-volume “World History”. That map shows in detail a wall running exactly along the border between the Russian Empire and the empire of the Manchu dynasty (Qing Empire).

There are other translation options from the French phrase “Muraille de la Chine” - “wall from China”, “wall delimiting from China”. After all, in an apartment or in a house, we call the wall that separates us from our neighbors the neighbor’s wall, and the wall that separates us from the street the outer wall. We have the same thing when we name borders: Finnish border, Ukrainian border... In this case, the adjectives indicate only the geographical location of Russian borders.
It is noteworthy that in medieval Rus' there was a word “kita” - a knitting of poles that were used in the construction of fortifications. Thus, the name of the Moscow district Kitai-Gorod was given in the 16th century for the same reasons - the building consisted of a stone wall with 13 towers and 6 gates...

According to the opinion enshrined in the official version of history, the construction of the Great Wall of China began in 246 BC. under Emperor Shi Huangdi, its height was from 6 to 7 meters, the purpose of construction was protection from northern nomads.

Russian historian L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The wall stretched for 4 thousand km. Its height reached 10 meters, and watchtowers rose every 60-100 meters.” He noted: “When the work was completed, it turned out that everyone armed forces There won't be enough China to mount an effective defense on the wall. In fact, if you place a small detachment on each tower, the enemy will destroy it before the neighbors have time to gather and send help. If large detachments are placed less frequently, gaps will be created through which the enemy can easily and unnoticed penetrate into the interior of the country. A fortress without defenders is not a fortress.”

Moreover, the towers of the loophole are located on the South side, as if the defenders were repelling attacks from the NORTH????
Andrey Tyunyaev proposes to compare two towers - from the Chinese Wall and from the Novgorod Kremlin. The shape of the towers is the same: a rectangle, slightly narrowed at the top. From the wall there is an entrance leading into both towers, covered with a round arch made of the same brick as the wall with the tower. Each of the towers has two upper “working” floors. On the first floor of both towers there are round-arched windows. The number of windows on the first floor of both towers is 3 on one side and 4 on the other. The height of the windows is approximately the same - about 130-160 centimeters.
What does a comparison of surviving towers say? Chinese city Beijing with medieval towers of Europe? The fortress walls of the Spanish city of Avila and Beijing are very similar to each other, especially in the fact that the towers are located very often and have practically no architectural adaptations for military needs. The Beijing towers have only an upper deck with loopholes, and are laid out at the same height as the rest of the wall.
Neither the Spanish nor the Beijing towers show such a high similarity with the defensive towers of the Chinese Wall, as do the towers of Russian kremlins and fortress walls. And this is something for historians to think about.

The visiting card of the Celestial Empire - the Great Wall of China - has been under the protection of UNESCO since 1987 as a historical heritage of the whole world. By decision of the public it is considered one of the new wonders of the world. There is no other defensive structure of this length on the planet.

Parameters and architecture of the “wonder of the world”

Contemporaries calculated the length of the grandiose Chinese fence. Taking into account areas that have not been preserved, it is 21,196 km. According to some studies, 4000 km have been preserved, others give the figure - 2450 km, if you connect the starting and ending points of the ancient wall with a straight line.

In some places its thickness and height reaches 5 m, in others it grows to 9–10 m. outside The wall is complemented by rectangles of 1.5-meter battlements. The widest section of the wall reaches 9 m, the highest from the ground surface is 7.92 m.

Real fortresses were built at the guard posts. On the most ancient sections of the wall, every 200 m of the fence there are towers made of brick or stones of the same style. They contain observation platforms and loopholes with rooms for storing weapons. The further from Beijing, the more often towers of other architectural styles are found.

Many of them have signal towers without interior spaces. From them, the watchmen lit a fire, signaling danger. For that time it was the most quick way warnings. According to legend, during the reign of the Tang family, women were placed as watchmen on the towers and their legs were deprived so that they would not leave their post without permission.

"The longest cemetery in the world"

The beginning of the construction of the grandiose Chinese structure dates back to the 7th century BC, the end - to the 17th century. According to historians, at least 10 rulers of small Chinese provinces made efforts to build it. They fenced their possessions with high mounds of earth.

Qin Shi Huang united the lands of small principalities into a single empire, ending the two-hundred-year era of the Warring States. With the help of defensive fortifications, he decided to ensure reliable protection of the state from attacks by nomads, especially the Huns. He ruled China from 246–210 BC. In addition to defense, the wall fixed the borders of the state.

According to legend, the idea was born after a court soothsayer predicted the destruction of the country by nomads who would come from the north. Therefore, they initially planned to build a wall on the northern borders of the country, but then continued to build it in the west, turning China into an almost impregnable possession.

According to legend, the direction and place of construction of the wall was indicated to the emperor by a dragon. The border was laid in his footsteps. Some researchers claim that the view of the wall from above resembles a soaring dragon.

Qin Shi Huang appointed the most successful general Meng Tian to lead the work. By combining the existing earthworks, they were strengthened and completed by more than half a million slaves, peasants, prisoners of war and prisoners. The emperor was opposed to the teachings of Confucius, so he shackled all the Confucian scholars and sent them to construction sites.

One of the legends says that he ordered them to be walled up in the wall as a sacrifice to the spirits. But archaeologists have not found confirmation of the rituality of the single burials found in the towers. Another legend tells of a farmer's wife, Meng Jiang, who brought clothes to her husband, who was mobilized to work on a construction site. But he had died by then. No one could say where he was buried.

The woman lay down against the wall and cried for a long time until a stone fell out, revealing the remains of her husband. Meng Jiang brought them to her native province and buried them in the family cemetery. Perhaps the workers who participated in the construction were buried in the wall. That's why people called it the “wall of tears.”

Construction spanning two millennia

The wall was completed and rebuilt in parts, from various materials- earth, bricks, stones. Active construction was continued in 206–220 by the emperors of the Han clan. They were forced to strengthen China's defenses against the attacks of the Huns. The earthen ramparts were reinforced with stones to protect them from destruction by nomads. All rulers of China monitored the safety of defensive structures, except for the emperors of the Mongol Yuan family.

Most of the grandiose structures that have survived to this day were built by the Ming emperors who ruled China from 1368 to 1644. They were actively engaged in the construction of new fortifications and repair of defensive structures, because the new capital of the state, Beijing, was only 70 kilometers away, so high walls were a guarantee of its safety.

During the reign of the Manchu Qing family, defensive structures lost their relevance because the northern lands were under its control. To a grandiose building They stopped paying attention, the wall began to collapse. Its restoration began at the direction of Mao Zedong in the 50s of the twentieth century. But during the “cultural revolution” most of it was destroyed by opponents of ancient art.

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