I wasn't talking about delaying religion. I mean delaying the cities picks up an advantage from religion, since they convert sooner if pressure is there from size 1 rather than if they grow first. Even if there aren't any city benefits from the religion, they do start exerting pressure sooner, onto Ragusa and Monaco.
I beileve both Aristocracy and marble work for national wonders including the NC. NC at 2 cities does save quite a lot of hammers. I'm starting to think it saves more than the next two cities would produce by starting sooner. Devotion would go library next, with Faith starting its library later and timed to complete at the same time. Then Devotion does a settler, maybe two, while Faith builds the NC. We also regain a few turns by having roads to the new sites built in the meantime.
I beileve both Aristocracy and marble work for national wonders including the NC. NC at 2 cities does save quite a lot of hammers. I'm starting to think it saves more than the next two cities would produce by starting sooner. Devotion would go library next, with Faith starting its library later and timed to complete at the same time. Then Devotion does a settler, maybe two, while Faith builds the NC. We also regain a few turns by having roads to the new sites built in the meantime.