I recently watched a video regarding [the unbuilt monuments of Washington D.C.](https://youtu.be/hkmNEO95xcE) It got me thinking about if other countries had proposals for monuments that were considered but were rejected because something else was chosen or some other reason (finance, politics,etc).
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Well There is a place where Norway, Finland , Sweden share borders and there was supposed to be a monument there of brotherhood or something else. This what it became.
https://kiruna.se/konst-och-kulturhistoria/modalpuffar/kulturmiljo/treriksroset.html
Honestly, there are probably more for London than virtually anywhere.
For example, following the Napoleonic wars there were proposals for a 300ft tall pyramid to celebrate the Battle of Trafalgar, and a huge victory column to be built on top of a huge semicircular arch footbridge over a major road to celebrate the Battle of Waterloo. Both weren’t built because, frankly, they were silly and too over the top. There was also a planned extension to the Houses of Parliament which would’ve doubled them in size, including building a second tower twice the height of the Elizabeth Tower (where Big Ben is). That was also canned for being ridiculous. And then, when the French built the Eiffel Tower, we became really jealous and decided to build an even bigger Eiffel Tower (called the Watkins Tower). That was actually worked on for three years before people decided it was insane and pulled the budget.
The Palace of the Soviets in Moscow. It was supposed to be a skyscraper with a gigantic statue of Lenin on the top. The thing was to be built where the original Cathedral of Christ the Saviour used to be, they’d even built the foundation for the Palace. But then WWII broke out, and the construction was first suspended and later cancelled. The foundation was repurposed as an open-air swimming pool. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the pool was replaced by the restored Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
There’s half a copy of the Parthenon on a hill in Edinburgh, that was planned as a monument to the dead of the Napoleonic Wars and funded by subscription, but they ran out of money half way through. It’s colloquially known as Edinburgh’s Disgrace (officially as the National Monument).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_of_Scotland
If this counts, every few years there will be some proposal out there to rebuild the Saxon Palace, one of the pre-war Warsaw landmarks that was destroyed by Germans during war, with only small alcove of columns remaining today, serving as the Cenotaph to the unknown soldiers of Poland.
PIS actually started to do something about this, but the entire affair remains highly controversial.
If I remember correctly, Mussolini wanted to build a colossal skyscraper in the centre of Rome, the ‘Mole Littoria’ or ‘Eternale’, after which nothing was done, also due to the fact that many called it a disgrace, an affront to Rome.
[Read more…](https://www.brown.edu/academics/public-humanities/sites/public-humanities/files/Neumann%20Skyscraper%20for%20Mussolini%20AA%20Files%202014.pdf)
Nevertheless, there were, in Rome, many of the so-called ‘urban gutting’, aimed at isolating the major monuments, such as the Vittoriano, the Imperial Forum, St Peter’s Basilica and the Mausoleum of Augustus, but which led to the demolition of several medieval quarters, this would no longer be possible today.
I don’t know if it counts and I am strongly grabbing at something here but the Stonehenge.
If you don’t know – the reason why the Stonehenge gets so much recognition is because men, thousands and thousands of years ago, carried those great big rocks there to try and build a monument of some sort. It was never finished.
The part that still isn’t agreed on is where the rocks came from because that dictates how far the men walked with the rocks.
Since others mentioned Mussolini’s and Stalin’s plans we can’t ignore Hitler’s plans to turn Berlin into the [world capital Germania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germania_(city)).
Center piece would have been the [Volkshalle, the People’s Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkshalle). Based on Hadrian’s Panthenon, it would have been 320m tall.
Not sure if it’s a monument, but there’s the plan to build [a man-made mountain.](https://www.businessinsider.com/400-billion-manmade-mountain-netherlands-2011-8?international=true&r=US&IR=T)
There are no mountains in the Netherlands. There are people who like to ski, climb and cycle. Thus the plan was made to create a 2000 meter (1,24 miles) high, hollow mountain to facilitate those people. The inside would be used for indoor farming and storing green energy. Calculations were made, blueprints were drawn, sponsors and investors were called, a province was prepared to supply a location.
The main reason building hasn’t started yet: it would cost about $432 billion dollars and take about 30 years to complete. That, and because it’s completely ridiculous of course.
Not a monument exactly, but before WWII there were serious plans to build a proper mosque in Warsaw, since our muslim community back then was much bigger. [This](https://grafik.rp.pl/g4a/952849,501862,9.jpg) grand Modernism project has been chosen.
Unfortunately, money were really scarce and Egyptian king that finally agreed to sponsor it, had died inconveniently just before the construction started.