Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/7-famous-landmarks-that-almost-looked-completely-different/
Have you ever stopped to wonder what the world would look like if the Eiffel Tower had ended up in Barcelona instead of Paris? Or what if New York’s Lady Liberty was actually standing along the Suez Canal? History hangs on such fragile threads. Some of the world’s most recognizable structures almost took completely different forms, and the stories behind these near misses are more fascinating than you’d think. From rejected architectural visions to last minute design changes, these seven landmarks could have looked entirely unrecognizable. Let’s take a journey through the alternate realities that almost were.
The Statue of Liberty Nearly Guarded the Suez Canal
Here’s a twist that might surprise you. Before Lady Liberty became the beacon of American freedom, she was actually destined for Egypt. French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed a colossal statue of a robed Egyptian peasant woman bearing a torch, titled “Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia,” intended to stand at the entrance of the Suez Canal in Port Said. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine.
The statue was planned to stand 86 feet high with a pedestal rising to 48 feet, but the Khedive rejected the proposal citing its expensive cost. Khedive Ismail was focused on the Canal opening ceremony and said he couldn’t afford the project. Instead of giving up, Bartholdi rethought his idea and hatched a plan for France to…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-02-16 12:02:00
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