Imagine the world’s most fascinating buildings and wonders like Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia and Bavaria’s Neuschwanstein Castle probably spring to mind. While you might think these man-made feats look pretty much perfect, they’re actually not quite complete. From cathedrals and temples to fairy-tale fortresses, we reveal the amazing world landmarks that have never been finished.



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The Hassan Tower, in Morocco’s capital, was an ambitious project dreamt up in the 12th century by Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, who ruled from 1184–99. The caliph was well known for his grandiose building plans and this Rabat tower was to be the mother of them all. It was intended to be part of a titanic mosque – the largest in the world in fact – and it would be the biggest minaret on the planet too. Building began in 1195.



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However, when Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur died in 1199, work on the mosque and its mighty minaret stopped and construction was never resumed again. The Hassan Tower still stands in its half-competed state today, having reached a height of 140 feet (43m), about half its planned size. The foundations of the unfinished mosque are visible on the site too.



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This half-finished landmark might look more at home perched on a craggy outcrop in Athens but it actually sits atop Edinburgh’s Calton Hill. Envisaged as a tribute to fallen Scottish fighters in the Napoleonic Wars, the monument was to be an exact replica of the Parthenon, the ancient temple that forms part of the Acropolis. Funds were raised in the early 1820s by a group of Edinburgh’s wealthy elites and ground broke in the same decade. The structure is pictured here circa 1881.



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Standing head and shoulders above the rest of Pyongyang’s skyscrapers, this gigantic pyramidal structure has been a work in progress for decades. Ground first broke in 1987 and the building was intended to be a 3,000-room hotel with bells and whistles such as revolving restaurants. However, its construction has been plagued with issues – so much so that the landmark has been nicknamed the “Hotel of Doom”.



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This Big Apple cathedral may look mighty impressive today but it’s actually still not finished. The idea for a huge episcopal cathedral in New York City was first floated in the 1820s but, for economic reasons, the cornerstone of St. John the Divine wouldn’t be laid until 1892. From then on, building was in full swing, with services held in a chapel of the crypt as early as 1899. It’s pictured here in the continued throes of construction in 1927.



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Right in the heart of Myanmar is the tiny town of Mingun and its star attraction, the Mingun Pahtodawgyi, a hulking stupa commissioned by King Bodawpaya in the late 18th century. If completed as planned, the monument would have been the largest of its kind in the world – but it stopped around two-thirds short of its 490-foot (149m) blueprint. The king used forced labor to construct his vision and the project unsurprisingly proved unpopular with locals at the time.



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Smoldering on a Toronto hilltop, this early 20th-century castle could have been plucked straight from Europe. Indeed, the man who spearheaded its construction – wealthy Canadian financier Sir Henry Pellatt – was inspired by his travels on the Continent as a teenager. He plunged his fortune into building the 98-room castle, moving into the sumptuous pile himself. It’s pictured here under construction circa 1912.



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Sadly, Pellatt’s economic situation took a turn for the worse. Buried under mountains of debt, Pellatt sold his many treasures, including his palace, and moved from the premises. When he left, areas of the castle were still left unfinished. The third floor was never completed and today the shell is used to house a museum: the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum.



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One of the world’s most awe-inspiring ancient wonders, the Great Sphinx, part of the Giza pyramid complex, is shrouded in mystery. Constructed with the head of a man (thought to be then-ruler King Khafre) and the body of a lion, the Sphinx stretches out for 240 feet (73m) and rises to 66 feet (20m). Despite its great bulk, some experts believe that the Great Sphinx, photographed here buried in sand circa the 1870s, was never actually finished.



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The interior mosaics were envisioned by the cathedral’s architect, John Francis Bentley, an ecclesiastical specialist who began constructing the landmark in 1895. However, he died in 1902, before its completion, leaving behind no finished mosaic works in the cathedral, and just a smattering of pencil sketches and written intentions. The job fell to other architects and designers, and work to finish the masterpiece continued throughout the century to this day.



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A stone’s throw from the famous Angkor Wat, Tao Keo, also within the ancient city of Angkor, is a somewhat humbler temple. Built under the Khmer Empire around the start of the 11th century, it’s enveloped in greenery, just like its famous sister, and comprises five towers and a stepped pyramid. But, unlike Angkor Wat, it lacks the ornamental decoration Khmer buildings are renowned for and, most importantly, was never finished.



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It’s not known for sure why the temple wasn’t completed. Work may have been halted upon the death of Angkor king Jayavarman V, for whom the temple was built. It was also apparently struck by lightning which could have led locals to believe the temple was cursed. Today the stark, stepped temple stands out among its highly decorated neighbors.



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This opulent Neo-classical palace can be found within the limits of the Portuguese capital. It was predominantly built in the first half of the 19th century and was a replacement for an earlier royal palace, which had been demolished by fire. However, a series of obstacles – from economic woes to political turmoil – meant that the glittering Ajuda National Palace was fated never to be finished.



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The unfinished palace was abandoned dramatically when it was invaded by Napoleonic soldiers in 1807, forcing the royal family to flee for their lives. Work eventually picked up again but was stopped once more in the early 20th century, as the Kingdom of Portugal was overthrown in 1910 (giving way for the modern Portuguese Republic). The western wing of the palace (pictured) was never completed but other parts of the palace serve as a public museum.



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The tale of this dramatic castle in New York’s Alexandria Bay is ultimately bound up with a love story. It was built for wealthy hotelier George C. Boldt, who intended it as an extravagant gift for his beloved wife, Louise. The family indeed passed several happy summers in their unfinished island castle until 1904, when Boldt’s world came tumbling down. Louise died suddenly and Boldt ordered that construction be stopped indefinitely and he never returned to the island.



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The mausoleum of Ali Adil Shah II was never completed and no one really knows why. Some say it was because the young ruler’s mighty mausoleum may have cast a shadow (literally) over Gol Gombaz, the mausoleum of king Muhammad Adil Shah, his father and predecessor. Either way, the unfinished site was still the burial place of the late king and remains a tourist attraction in its own right.



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The king moved in before his beloved castle was even completed, but was only able to enjoy it for 172 days. He died in 1886, leaving behind his incomplete fortress. After his death, many of the king’s elaborate plans for the castle were abandoned but several areas were quickly finished in order to welcome the paying public. Even today many of the rooms remain unfinished and off limits to visitors.



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Lauded architect Antoni Gaudí sprinkled the Catalan capital with landmarks, and no feat of his is more impressive or famous than the Sagrada Familia. Despite its international stardom, Gaudí’s basilica – with its flying buttresses and soaring huddle of spires – is still not complete. Work on the landmark began in 1882 (originally under the watch of Spanish architect Francisco de Paula del Villar) and it’s pictured here, unfinished some 60 years later, circa 1940.



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