The Great Wall of China is the world's largest architectural monument located in northern China. The distance between the edges of the wall is 2500 kilometers, and the total length of the wall, taking into account the branches, is 8852 km.
The Great Wall of China is a symbol of pride and greatness of the Chinese nation, a symbol of the centuries-old struggle against nomadic barbarians. In honor of this architectural monument, the Great Wall National Athletics Marathon is held every year. Part of the distance, marathoners run along one of the well-preserved sections of the Great Wall.
Construction history
Construction of the Great Wall of China began in the 3rd century BC to protect against nomadic raids, as well as to clearly delineate the borders of the Chinese Empire. About a million people were employed during the construction of the wall. In the II century BC, the Chinese Empire was finally formed as a single whole, and the construction of the Great Wall takes on a new scale: the old sections are strengthened, built on, lengthened. Thanks to the joint efforts of slaves, soldiers and landowners, the work was completed within 10 years.
The parameters of the wall differed from site to site, but on average were: 5.5 m wide, 7.5 m high, 9 m high with battlements. Numerous towers and signal towers were built into the wall. The distance between the towers is 200 m, equal to the flight range of the arrow. The distance between the signal towers is 10 km, within sight of the fire. Also, 12 gates were provided in the wall, which later turned into well-fortified outposts. A system of ditches or ditches was arranged around the most dangerous sections of the wall.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a line of watchtowers was built deep into the desert to protect caravans from nomads. These later buildings are the best preserved to our time.
Starting during the Qin Dynasty (1644-1911), the wall quickly collapsed under the influence of time. Only a small area near Beijing was given the attention of the authorities and care about its preservation. Many sites were destroyed due to vandalism, many were dismantled for building materials.
The great wall in our time
However, since 1984, the Chinese government has adopted a program to restore the Great Wall of China as a cultural heritage site. The restoration and restoration is funded by the government, Chinese and foreign firms and companies, and private individuals.
Currently, the Great Wall is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is China's greatest historical landmark. A section of the wall near Beijing has been restored and is open to tourists. More than 40 million guests from different countries visit it annually.
When laying the stone blocks of the Great Wall, a mixture of slaked lime and glutinous rice porridge was used.
It is believed that the Great Wall of China is clearly visible from space. However, it is not. It is impossible to see the wall with the naked eye from the spacecraft. In photographs taken from a height of 160 km, the wall is barely visible, and only under ideal photographing conditions. At the same time, the use of apparatus with glass lenses gives very poor results.
Among the Chinese, the Great Wall during construction was nicknamed the Great Cemetery because of the huge number of builders who died during its construction. According to various estimates, from 300 thousand to a million people died in the troika. There is a legend that the dead were walled up directly into the wall in order to strengthen the structure with human bones. But studies of the destroyed walls have shown that there are no human remains in them.
