Copycat Landmarks

Whilst reading a blog on another site (sorry, JetPunk is still my favourite but I do look around the web sometimes), I was struck with an idea for my next random blog.

As the title suggests, this blog is about famous landmarks that have been copied. Most of us know about the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but did you know there are over eighty replicas around the globe ? From Las Vegas to China and many places in between. Some are the same size, whereas others are many times smaller. In fact there are many parks that have a section of miniature landmarks.

Most major landmarks have copies or replicas, or even slightly different landmarks that are inspired by the original. Some inspired objects bare little similarity with the original.

Oscar Wilde may have been correct when he said “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”....

The aforementioned Eiffel Tower, or Tour Eiffel as the French say, was first constructed for the 1889 Worlds Fair by Gustave Eiffel. It is the most visited paid for tourist attraction in the world with almost seven million visitors in 2015 alone. So it comes as no surprise that replicas were being constructed in may places, some as early as a few years later than the originals construction.

Here's a few pictures of other copies.....

There are obviously more copies than there is space for here, unless you guys just want endless photographs of the same thing. If you want to check out some others, heres the Wikipedia page.

Perhaps one of the world's oldest landmarks is Stonehenge in the southwest of the United Kingdom. Originally thought to have been constructed between 3000 BC and 2000BC, and as an astrological guide and is aligned to sunrise on the summer solstice. Other similarly aligned stone circles have been found around the world.

There have been several replicas built, although only a few are at a one to one scale. Many have been made of different materials such as wood, foam, concrete and even cars. Replicas have been built as film sets, and demolished after their use was over.

The original Stonehenge has been renovated several times, compare the difference in the above two photos. It is now a major tourist attraction with restrictions on access to protect the stones.
Some replicas in photos as before....

Other temporary structures have been built with even more bizarre materials. A full size replica was built from straw at a musci festival in Bavaria, Germany in 2003. At the 2007 Glastonbury Festival in the UK, graffitti artist Banksy created a replica from portable toilet cubicles. Other materials include military tanks, a bouncy castle, and refridgerators. There has even been a minute version made by scientists at the National University of Singapore that measured just 80 micrometres in diameter.

The original in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India is often regarded as one of the New Wonders of the World. Built by the Mughal Emporer, Shah Jahan, in 1631 to house the tomb of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The building was said at the time to have cost the equivalent of around a billion US dollars.

Such an iconic building will obviously have copycats and there are a few, although not as many as some other well known landmarks. The Shah's son actually built a copy, the Bibi ka Maqbara, a few years later in a different part of India with the objective of surpassing the originals grandeur.

A copy in Dhaka, Bangladesh was built in 2004 by a local film-maker as a tourist attraction for low income families.

A smaller, more glitzy copy was built in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA as a theme for the Trump Taj Mahal Casino.

Lastly in this section, a sad story about an aging pensioner of 81 years that constructed a "Mini Taj Mahal" in his village of Kaser Kalan, also in the Uttar Pradesh region of India. He built it as a memorial for his wife who died of cancer in 2011. The constructor,  Faizul Hasan Qadri, was a retired postmaster. He died in a traffic accident in 2018 and is buried at the replica alongside his wife.

The original statue was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. Cast in copper it stands on Liberty Island in New York City harbour. It was dedicated in 1886 and is a symbol of freedom.

There are hundreds of copies worldwide including many in France. The replica on the Île aux Cygnes in Paris was actually a gift from the US citizens living in Paris to the French people three years after the original was built. It was a gift to celebrate the French Revolution.

There is a copy of the torch situated at the entrance to the tunnel in Paris that was the site of the accident that claimed the life of Princess Diana, and as such has become a symbol of rememberance.

There is even a copy built out of Lego in the Legoland Park in Billund, Denmark.

As you may imagine there are many versions in the United States. From almost identical statues to personal and commercial interpretations.

Obviously I haven't included photos of all the variants of Liberty, there are new ones being constructed almost daily I would imagine, as well as older examples being demolished. Some are only temporary anyway. 
In general though, the Statue of Liberty in all of it's glory is a symbol of freedom to many nations.

I have only featured a few of the many landmarks worldwide. The above examples are the most copied, I think. Around the world there are miniature worlds open for tourists that feature replicas of such places as Uluru, Mount Rushmore, Tower Bridge and many, many, more. 
For example....

That's pretty much it from me in this blog, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did making it. I never knew there were so many replicas around the world.
Until the next time....... Adios, Amigos !