Wonders

Civilization 4's world wonders are buildings only one civilization can finish in a game. The base game's chart lists 26 of them plus seven religious shrines, from Stonehenge at 120 hammers to the Space Elevator at 2,000; Warlords added three and Beyond the Sword added five more plus the Apostolic Palace. Each adds culture and Great People points, and many lose their effect when anyone learns a set technology.

Civilization 4's world wonders (the manual calls them great wonders) are buildings only one civilization can complete in a game: the base game manual's reference chart lists 26 of them besides the seven religious shrines, from Stonehenge at 120 hammers to the Space Elevator at 2,000, and the expansions added more. Whoever finishes a wonder first owns its effect for the rest of the game, or until a rival captures the city. Before release, Firaxis's own feature comparison counted 25 wonders and 11 small (national) wonders, against 24 and 10 in Civilization 3. National wonders, which every civilization may build once, and projects such as the Apollo Program have their own page: National Wonders and Projects.

Rendered panorama of a sprawling ancient city under an orange and pink sky: rows of houses, two pyramids, a tall obelisk, an arena and a lighthouse on the shore, with birds over the water. — A wonder scene from 2K's Civilization IV page: a city of terracotta roofs by the sea at sunset, with pyramids, an obelisk, a lighthouse and an amphitheater. Firaxis Games and 2K

Quick facts

Kinds	World (great) wonders, one per game; national wonders, one per civilization
World wonders in the base game	26, plus 7 religious shrines built by a Great Prophet
Added by Warlords	3: the Great Wall, the Temple of Artemis, the University of Sankore
Added by Beyond the Sword	The Statue of Zeus, Cristo Redentor, the Shwedagon Paya, the Mausoleum of Maussollos, the Moai Statues and the Apostolic Palace, plus 7 Corporate Headquarters
Cheapest	Stonehenge, 120 hammers
Most expensive	The Space Elevator, 2,000 hammers
Every world wonder	Culture in its city and +2 Great People points per turn
Built faster with	A resource (Stone, Marble, Copper and others double the speed), the Industrious trait, a Great Engineer
Lost race	Part of the spent production becomes gold
Obsolete	The effect ends when anyone learns a set technology; the culture stays

Sources: Civilization 4 manual, pp. 95-98 and charts pp. 211-215; Warlords manual, pp. 16, 34-35; Beyond the Sword manual, pp. 27-28; 2K's Beyond the Sword announcement.

How wonders work

A world wonder can be built only once in a game, and only one of your cities may work on a given wonder at a time, the Civilization 4 manual explains on page 95. If another civilization finishes it first, your city stops building it and part of the production already spent turns into gold. National wonders never trigger that race, since every civilization builds its own copy.

Three things speed a wonder up, per the manual's page 96. A resource connected to your trade network doubles the build speed of particular wonders (Stone for the Pyramids, Marble for the Oracle); a Great Engineer can be sacrificed in the city to finish or greatly speed the wonder; and leaders with the Industrious trait build wonders faster. The manual disagrees with itself on how much faster: its Wonders section says "at twice the usual rate", while its trait list on page 159 gives +50%, the figure GameSpot's walkthrough of Jan 18, 2006 also uses.

Every wonder raises its city's culture and speeds its Great People, and each world wonder adds +2 Great People points per turn that favor one type: Stonehenge and the Oracle lean toward Great Prophets, the Parthenon toward Great Artists, the Pyramids toward Great Engineers and the Great Lighthouse toward Great Merchants, per the manual's early wonder list (pp. 97-98). That culture is why wonders matter for a culture victory: the Parthenon, Notre Dame, the Sistine Chapel, the Taj Mahal and Versailles give 10 culture each in the Warlords manual's chart.

Wonders change hands with their city. Capturing a city gives you its world wonders, while any national wonders in it are destroyed; a city that is razed loses all its wonders, and a destroyed world wonder can never be built again, the manual says on page 96. Nuclear weapons are the exception that cannot touch them: "Wonders cannot be destroyed by nukes!", in the manual's words on page 134.

Obsolete wonders

A wonder goes obsolete when any civilization, not only its owner, learns a particular technology: its special effect ends, but it keeps producing culture. The manual's example on page 96 is the Great Lighthouse, which loses its trade routes but keeps its culture; the same manual names Steam Power as the technology in that example and Corporation in its wonder list two pages later, and GameSpot's walkthrough also gives Corporation.

Since patch 1.61, an obsolete wonder still generates Great Person points, per the 1.61 patch notes repeated in the Warlords manual (p. 104). Beyond the Sword moved Stonehenge's obsolescence from Calendar to Astronomy, per the Beyond the Sword manual (p. 46). The Pyramids, the Oracle and the Great Wall never go obsolete. The Technologies page lists what each tech unlocks.

Every world wonder

The table gives the base game and Warlords wonders with the Warlords manual's costs in hammers. "Not listed" means no allowed source gives an obsolescence technology; the in-game Civilopedia does.

Wonder	Tech and requirement	Cost	Double speed with	Effect	Obsolete with	Added in
Angkor Wat	Philosophy	500	Stone	+1 hammer from Priests in all cities; 3 Priests	Compass or Computers (GameSpot gives both)	Base
Broadway	Electricity	800	none	5 hit musicals (+1 happy)	Not listed	Base
Chichen Itza	Code of Laws	500	Stone	+25% defense in all cities	Not listed	Base
The Colossus	Metal Casting, Forge, coastal city	250	Copper	Water tiles +1 gold	Astronomy	Base
The Eiffel Tower	Radio, Forge	1,250	Iron	Free Broadcast Tower in every city	Not listed	Base
The Great Library	Literature, Library	350	Marble	2 free Scientists in its city	Scientific Method	Base
The Great Lighthouse	Masonry, Lighthouse, coastal city	200	none	+2 trade routes in all coastal cities	Corporation	Base
The Great Wall	Masonry	250	Stone	Barbarians cannot enter your borders on that continent; double Great General points from battles inside your borders	Never	Warlords
The Hagia Sophia	Engineering	550	Marble	Workers build improvements 50% faster	Steam Power	Base
The Hanging Gardens	Mathematics, Aqueduct	300	Stone	+1 health and +1 population in all cities	Not listed	Base
Hollywood	Mass Media	1,000	none	5 hit movies (+1 happy)	Not listed	Base
The Kremlin	Communism	1,000	Stone	-33% hurry cost (-50% before patch 1.61)	Fiber Optics	Base
Notre Dame	Music	650	Stone	+1 happy in all cities on the continent	Not listed	Base
The Oracle	Priesthood	150	Marble	1 free technology	Never	Base
The Parthenon	Polytheism (Beyond the Sword: Aesthetics)	400	Marble	+50% Great Person birth rate in all cities	Chemistry	Base
The Pentagon	Assembly Line	1,250	none	+2 experience for new units in all cities	Not listed	Base
The Pyramids	Masonry	450	Stone	Allows all Government civics	Never	Base
Rock 'n Roll	Radio	800	none	5 hit singles (+1 happy)	Not listed	Base
The Sistine Chapel	Theology	600	Marble	+2 culture per specialist in all cities	Not listed	Base
The Space Elevator	Robotics	2,000	Aluminum	+50% spaceship production in all cities	Not listed	Base
The Spiral Minaret	Divine Right	550	Stone	+2 gold per state religion building (+1 before patch 1.61)	Computers	Base
The Statue of Liberty	Democracy, Forge	1,500	Copper	+1 free specialist in all cities on the continent	Not listed	Base
Stonehenge	Mysticism	120	Stone	Free Obelisk (Monument from Warlords) in every city; centers the world map	Calendar (Beyond the Sword: Astronomy)	Base
The Taj Mahal	Nationalism	700	Marble	Starts a Golden Age	Not listed	Base
The Temple of Artemis	Polytheism	400	Marble	+100% trade route yield; 1 free Priest	Chemistry	Warlords
The Three Gorges Dam	Plastics	1,750	none	Power for all cities on the continent	Not listed	Base
The United Nations	Mass Media	1,000	none	Global elections; guaranteed eligibility for diplomatic votes	Not listed	Base
The University of Sankore	Paper	550	Stone	+2 research from state religion buildings	Computers	Warlords
Versailles	Divine Right	800	Marble	Reduces maintenance in nearby cities	Not listed	Base

Sources: Warlords manual, charts pp. 136-139 and pp. 34-35, 104; Civilization 4 manual, pp. 96-98 and charts pp. 211-215; Beyond the Sword manual, p. 46; obsolescence of the base game wonders not covered by the manuals from GameSpot's walkthrough, Jan 18, 2006.

The seven shrines are also world wonders: the Church of the Nativity, Dai Miao, Kashi Vishwanath, Kong Miao, Mahabodhi, Masjid al-Haram and the Temple of Solomon, one per religion. Each can be built only by a Great Prophet in its religion's Holy City and gives 4 culture, +1 gold per turn for every city in the world with that religion, and 3 Priest slots, per the Warlords manual's chart (pp. 136-138); see Religions.

The early wonders

The Oracle is the cheapest wonder after Stonehenge: 150 hammers with Priesthood, halved with Marble, and it grants one free technology on completion, per the Civilization 4 manual (p. 98). It never goes obsolete, and its 8 culture keep counting all game.

The Pyramids cost 450 hammers with Masonry, halved with Stone, and allow their owner to use every Government civic, per the manual (p. 98); the Civics page lists those civics.

The Great Library (350 hammers with Literature and a Library in the city) places 2 free Scientists in its city, per the Warlords manual's chart, and like every specialist they add Great People points of their own type, here Great Scientist points. GameSpot's walkthrough gives Scientific Method as the technology that makes it obsolete.

The Great Wall, new in Warlords, costs 250 hammers with Masonry, keeps barbarians out of your borders on its continent and doubles the Great General points earned in battles inside your borders, per the Warlords manual (pp. 33-34). GameSpot's Warlords review of Jul 25, 2006 noted that it draws "a huge wall around the borders" of the civilization that builds it.

Beyond the Sword's wonders

Beyond the Sword added five world wonders by 2K's announcement of March 2007: the Statue of Zeus, Cristo Redentor, the Shwedagon Paya, the Mausoleum of Maussollos and the Moai Statues. The Beyond the Sword manual (p. 27) lists those five, the Apostolic Palace and the National Park under "New Wonders", but gives only their names; their costs and effects are in the game's Civilopedia, and no allowed source copies them.

Rendered interior of a temple: a huge seated figure with a gold robe and a scepter, a carved frieze above, columns on each side and fires burning in front. — A wonder scene from 2K's Beyond the Sword page: a giant seated statue in gold and white inside a temple of columns, with braziers burning. Firaxis Games and 2K

The Apostolic Palace is the one the manual describes: a Medieval-era wonder that works like the United Nations, except that voting power comes from faith rather than from the size of a civilization. Beyond the Sword also added seven Corporate Headquarters, one for each corporation (Aluminum Co., Cereal Mills, Civilized Jewelers, Creative Constructions, Mining Inc., Sid's Sushi Co. and Standard Ethanol), and made various wonders a source of Great Spy points, per the same manual (pp. 28, 46).

Wonder movies

Civilization 4's wonders come with movies of their own. In the manual's afterword (p. 186), lead designer Soren Johnson credits Rob Cloutier with the system behind the "time-lapse construction animations" that suit the wonder movies, and Nick Rusko-Berger with researching and building all the Wonders, Shrines and Cathedrals. The Advanced Menu's Movies option replays the game's animated movies, per the same manual (p. 11).

Frequently asked questions

How many wonders are in Civ 4? The Civilization 4 manual's chart lists 26 world wonders plus 7 religious shrines in the base game. Warlords added 3 and Beyond the Sword added 5 by 2K's count, plus the Apostolic Palace and 7 Corporate Headquarters.

What does the Oracle do in Civ 4? The Oracle gives one free technology when it is completed; it costs 150 hammers, needs Priesthood, is built twice as fast with Marble and never goes obsolete, per the Civilization 4 manual (p. 98).

What do the Pyramids do in Civ 4? The Pyramids let their owner use all Government civics; they cost 450 hammers with Masonry, double speed with Stone, and never go obsolete, per the Civilization 4 manual (p. 98).

What does the Statue of Zeus do in Civ 4? The Statue of Zeus is one of Beyond the Sword's five new world wonders, but the Beyond the Sword manual lists only its name. Its cost and effect are in the in-game Civilopedia.

When do wonders go obsolete in Civ 4? A Civ 4 wonder goes obsolete as soon as any civilization learns its technology (Calendar for Stonehenge in the base game, Chemistry for the Parthenon), losing its effect but keeping its culture, per the Civilization 4 manual (pp. 96-97). The Pyramids, the Oracle and the Great Wall never do.

What happens if someone else builds a wonder first in Civ 4? In Civilization 4 your city stops building the wonder and part of the production already spent is converted into gold, per the manual (p. 95).

Which resources speed up wonders in Civ 4? Stone or Marble double the build speed of 18 of the 29 Civ 4 world wonders in the Warlords manual's chart, Copper the Colossus and the Statue of Liberty, Iron the Eiffel Tower and Aluminum the Space Elevator. See Resources.