Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid of Giza – all incredible historical monuments
and impressive engineering feats!
But have you ever wondered how much it would cost to build these awe-inspiring landmarks
nowadays?
(Spoiler warning: The Great Pyramid isn’t even the most expensive!)
13.
Big Ben Completed in 1859, the name refers both to
the tower and the massive bell inside.
The very first bell broke and was replaced with a second one, which also broke and had
to be repaired!
Does that come with a warranty?
Probably should use more durable materials?
On that note…
Let’s say you just want to make yourself a Big Ben Bell.
You’ll need to get hold of $63,000 for copper, 67,000 for tin, 90,000 for the workers, and
3,000 for cranes and the whole installation process.
In total, it’s $223,000.
A modest price compared to the rest of the items on this list!
MY budget’s rather limited.
Can we do a pretty-big Ben for a lot less?
12.
The Statue of Liberty The iconic Liberty Enlightening the World
(which is the statue's original name) was constructed in France and then delivered to
the US as a gift in 1886.
It took almost a decade to create this iconic landmark whose height from the ground to the
tip of the torch is 305 ft – that’s about 30 stories!
To build the same statue nowadays, you’d need $780,000 for the materials (copper, steel,
and concrete) and half a million for the construction work.
Meaning the total cost of your Statue of Liberty project would be almost $1.3 million.
11.
Stonehenge This is one of the world's oldest remaining
monuments, and it’s easily one of the most recognizable.
If you squint, it looks like someone left a gigantic set of dentures.
The construction is made up of gigantic 25-ton megaliths – large upright stones put in
place by people thousands of years ago.
The whole thing took 1,500 years to build, but let’s hope your project goes a little
faster…
The landmark consists of two types of stones.
So, that’ll be $1 million for the sarsen stones (the smaller ones), 100,000 for bluestones
(those are the big ones), another 100,000 for trenching, and 2.3 million for the labor
and cranes.
The final bill: around $3.5 million.
Hmm.
I don’t have that much.
How about “Fiberglas Henge”?
10.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa The tower’s construction started in the
12th century and took 200 years to complete.
Unfortunately, the soil under the foundation was too soft to hold the 15,000 tons of the
tower's weight.
That's why it became known as “leaning”!
It’s rumored the architect had one leg shorter than the other, and so didn’t notice any
difference…
If you decided to build your own Tower of Pisa, you’d need to spend almost $3 million
on the white marble it’s made from.
The cranes and labor would add 1.2 million to that.
If you're willing to shovel over $4.2 million in total, remember to build it in a suitable
place!
(I’d rather buy a Leaning Tower of Pizza, myself!
Imagine all the pepperoni!)
9.
The Eiffel Tower Even though Parisians weren't happy about
the iron giant once it completed its 2-year construction in 1889, the thing turned out
to be a hit!
The Eiffel Tower is usually 985 ft tall, but I say “usually” since its height changes!
When it's cold, it can shrink by 6 inches.
In any case, to build an Eiffel Tower in your backyard, you’d need the permission of your
neighbors (good luck with that!) plus $1.2-million-worth of materials like iron, rivets, paint, and
light bulbs.
Additionally, the construction team wouldn't agree to work for less than 30 mil.
In the end, you’ve spent a little over $31 million.
(Well with my budget, I’d settle for an Awful Tower.
Pretty ugly, huh?)
Any of these projects piquing your interest?
Let me know down in the comments which one you’d like to build!
But I’ve got more offers, so let’s keep going…
8.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon No one knows whether the ancient hanging gardens
are a real thing or just a legend.
But if they did exist, they must’ve been breathtaking!
The tiered gardens had an impressive collection of different vines, shrubs, and trees and
resembled huge green mountains made of mud bricks.
If you wanted to create the same oasis for yourself, you’d have to spend 21.5 million
on the materials and landscape designers.
The workers will take their 10 million, and you can say goodbye to a total of $31.5 million.
Hopefully that garden will still manage to keep you calm!
7.
The Parthenon It took 9 years to finish building this Greek
temple with a base a little over half the size of a football field.
These days, re-constructing the famous landmark would demand over $35 million!
That’s a little over $30 million for the 100,000 tons of marble you’ll need, more
than $100,000 for the 69 columns, and 90,000 for those 50 marble figures decorating the
place.
And don't forget about the cranes and workers – they’ll need about 4.5 million for their
hard work!
Well I could afford just a part of the Parthenon.
That little bitty part over there…
6.
Angkor Wat Deep in the Cambodian jungle, you’ll find
an astounding temple complex that’s said to be the largest on Earth!
The landmark stretches for more than 400 acres – 4 times the size of the Mall of America!
To build it, people brought 5 million tons of sandstone from the mountains 31 miles away.
Whew that’s a haul!
To make a modern replica of this magnificent place, you’d have to spend almost $2 million
on the land plot alone!
Add an additional 20 mil for the basic structure and labor.
Exquisite sculptures like the ones decorating the original monument would cost you another
20 million.
So, $42 million later, you have yourself a new Angkor Wat!
What?
Sorry hard of hearing.
5.
Machu Picchu At more than 7,000 ft above sea level in the
Peruvian Andes, Machu Picchu is quite a sight!
It was built around 1450 BCE, and in 2007, it was named one of the New Seven Wonders
of the World.
The magnificent landmark consists of 150 buildings, and it's believed that during the construction,
hundreds of builders pushed 50-pound rocks up steep mountain slopes.
Luckily, you wouldn't have to use such exhausting methods today.
You would spend 57 million on the materials (mainly granite) and 13 million on the labor
and cranes.
A total of $70 million - and voila!
You have a cool mountainous city!
But sadly I’ll never be able to Macho that budget!
4.
The Taj Mahal To see the beauty of the majestic Taj Mahal
mausoleum, you have to travel to Agra in India.
This marble masterpiece took more than 20 years to build.
Its full height is 561 ft (almost 2 Lady Liberties stacked on top of each other), and the materials
were brought from all over Asia.
To build one today, get ready to pay 3 million for the bricks, 23.5 million for the marble,
15 million for the garden, and 2.5 million for the dome!
And that's not all: add 60 million for the workers and 10 million for semi-precious stones.
Altogether, expect to shell out about $115 million!
Or for many dollars less, you could build the Motel 6 Mahal.
3.
The Colosseum Built from stone and concrete, Rome’s Colosseum
is the world's largest amphitheater.
The magnificent structure could seat 50,000 spectators and had 80 entrances to avoid congestion.
Emperors tried to get citizens' support by not taking any entry fee and serving free
food!
And hey, you got to see some, you know, “wildlife” like lions in the arena)”.
You, on the other hand, might need to charge people so that you can make back the money
you spent…
Because you’ll need $200 million…just for the limestone alone!
The elliptical structure would be 215 million.
And with 22 million spent on cranes and workers, the total cost of the modern Colosseum would
reach $437 million.
And I’m not, you know, Lyin’.
2.
The Great Pyramid of Giza Another member of the Seven Wonders of the
World, the Pyramid was built around 4,000 years ago.
The whole thing was made with more than 2 million limestone blocks, each weighing about
2.5 tons.
And it took tens of thousands of workers up to 30 years to complete the construction!
If you decided to build such a colossal monument nowadays, the total price tag would be a jaw-dropping
$1.2 billion!
Yeah, with a “B”!
This number would include the cost of the limestone blocks (around 1.1 billion), cranes
(about 60 million), and the money paid to the workers (more than 40 million).
But it’s still not the most expensive project on this list…
Geez, given the centuries it would take me to pay that off, I’d be a really old man.
We’d need to call it the Great Pyramid of Geezer.
So, any guesses who our winner will be?
Go on, I’ll wait.
Ok, fine…
1.
The Great Wall of China The construction of the original wall took
over 2,000 years to complete!
Its total length is 13,000 miles, which is half as long as the Earth’s circumference!
And the Great Wall is not just one wall - it’s actually a collection of many!
But returning to our financial question: it would cost you around 21 billion to get all
the necessary materials.
You’ll need the same amount to talk the builders into getting down to work.
Meaning if you want to have a Great Wall of your own, you'll need to come up with $42
billion.
(Me, checking my wallet here…I could afford the Great Picket Fence of China, for about
maybe two city blocks…impressive huh?)
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