these iconic structures very nearly
joined the legendary Hanging Gardens of
Babylon welcome to watchmojo.com 10th
everyday so be sure to subscribe to our
Channel and ring the bell to get
notified about our latest videos for
this list we’re looking at iconic and/or
historic structures and landmarks that
we almost lost due to natural disaster
natural decay or war but which
thankfully survived today number 10 the
Washington Monument
at approximately 555 feet tall this
colossal obelisk is the largest of its
kind in the world standing proud on the
grass of Washington DC’s National Mall
the Washington Monument is an enduring
symbol of American pride commemorating
founding father George Washington the
nation’s first president in 2011 however
this iconic landmark was quote
significantly damaged by an earthquake
with a magnitude of 5.8 the seismic
activity resulted in falling stones and
mortar displaced joints throughout the
building and cracks in the pyramidion
that tops the structure thankfully the
epicenter of the earthquake was over 80
miles away any closer and who knows what
would have happened even so the monument
was closed for three years of repairs
number nine the Coliseum among Italy’s
most iconic landmarks the Coliseum was
built in between 70 and 80 AD
during its heyday it could accommodate
between 50,000 and 80,000 Romans who
would crowd the structure to witness
everything from gladiatorial combat to
mock naval battles today it still
receives an average of about 4 million
tourists per year well the structure
shows its age we should consider
ourselves lucky that anything remains in
217 AD lightnings started a fire
destroying the roof after the fall of
the Roman Empire it suffered repeated
looting and pillaging then in 1349 a
major earthquake caused the collapse of
the south side after which stones from
the structure continued to be repurposed
elsewhere thankfully pope benedict xiv
consecrated the building in 1749 and the
church subsequently undertook
restoration efforts number 8 the Cologne
Cathedral by all means considering the
bombardment it was subjected to during
world war two it’s a wonder there’s a
city of Cologne at all
the survival of the Cathedral though
that feels downright miraculous
throughout the war the building was hit
by fourteen bombs a testament to its
sturdy construction the cathedral
remains standing despite substantial
damage an outlier in a sea of otherwise
crumbling buildings aerial images taken
at the end of the war are equal parts on
spiring and horrifying of course the
cathedral by no means came out of the
war unscathed many of the vaults
collapsed repairing the building was a
major undertaking but at least something
remained to actually be repaired number
seven the Dome of the rock located in
the old city of Jerusalem
this Islamic shrine has weathered more
than its fair share of destructive
forces it was built in between 688 and
692 on the site of the second Jewish
temple as well as the Temple of Solomon
before it on the Temple Mount
unfortunately the architectural wonder
was damaged by earthquakes in both 808
and 846 a third earthquake in 10:15
proved most devastating resulting in the
collapse of the dome only for it to be
rebuilt within the next decade most
recently in 1984 there was a terrorist
plot by the Jewish underground to blow
up the iconic structure thankfully it
was never carried out and the landmark
survives its architecture and mosaics
continuing to inspire awe to this day
number six the Forbidden City
China’s Forbidden City is a must visit
for anyone traveling to this powerful
nation but no amount of might economic
military or spiritual can stop a force
of nature having been primarily
constructed out of wood the Forbidden
City is particularly vulnerable to fire
it’s something that for centuries the
massive compound was aware of and
prepared for from torch protocols to
huge vats of emergency water but when
lightning strikes there’s only so much
you can do in 1421 just one year after
construction was completed lightning
started a fire that consumed three
palaces fires again caused major damage
in 1557 and 1597 then in 1644 the
Forbidden City was nearly decimated when
it was set ablaze by the army of Lisa
Cheung luckily it was
rebuilt every time number five
Westminster Abbey and the Palace of
Westminster originally built in 960 and
1016 respectively the Abbey and Palace
have required a lot of love throughout
history the palace suffered a major fire
in 1512 alongside the Abbey it just
narrowly escaped the Great Fire of
London in 1666 in 1834 however it would
largely succumb to yet another blaze
thus the old palace was replaced by the
Gothic structure we know today which
incorporated the surviving Westminster
Hall and other vestiges of the original
structure even so we very nearly lost
the new palace during World War two when
it was severely damaged by air raids
Westminster Abbey for its part should
have been destroyed in the 16th century
as part of the dissolution of
monasteries process but it was saved
from destruction by King Henry the
eighth’s himself number four Buckingham
Palace and st. Paul’s Cathedral England
sure has a lot of iconic landmarks to
its name and wouldn’t you know it
in keeping with their long and storied
history many of them faced annihilation
at some point or another both Buckingham
Palace and the famous st. Paul’s
Cathedral were ravaged during the Second
World War the palace and the Cathedral
weathered multiple direct hits during
the Battle of Britain but thankfully due
to their solid construction and more
than a little luck both survived
that being said Buckingham Palace isn’t
the only residence that the Queen has
nearly had to say farewell to in 1992
another of her royal residences Windsor
Castle suffered a major fire which
blazed for fifteen hours number three
the Leaning Tower of Pisa honestly given
its namesake lien we’re kind of always
worried that this iconic landmark is
teetering on the brink of destruction
despite appearances however it is safe
though that hasn’t always been the case
in the 90s a major and costly
engineering project was undertaken to
partially correct the lien the angle had
progressed to 5.5 degrees and the
structure was finally at risk of
collapsing they needed to move 70 tons
of earth to do it but the tower was
returned to its 1838 position and with
that it was deemed structurally sound
once more funnily enough the same soft
soil that gives the tower its lien is
also what has allowed it to survive
multiple earthquakes over the centuries
number
– Nullah damned Apache this one is still
painfully fresh in our minds on April 15
2019 the world watched in horror as the
blaze quickly consumed the oak roof and
the spire causing substantial damage to
the upper part of the Cathedral the
heavy oak that made up the structures
roof often referred to as the forest and
which dated back to the 13th century is
irreplaceable but thankfully the largely
stone structure survives and the city
will be able to rebuild had the flames
been allowed to continue much longer
however it might have been a very
different story experts estimate that
the iconic landmark was only quote 15 to
30 minutes from potential collapse
number one the Parthenon it might be in
a rough state but considering it dates
back to 432 BC we think the Parthenon
looks quite good for its age the
crowning jewel of the Acropolis of
Athens the Parthenon still stands today
largely thanks to the ingenuity of the
ancient Greeks but also courtesy of an
extensive restoration project spanning
decades which began in 1975 in 1687
however an explosion caused significant
damage to the structure nearly bringing
it down this was during the Malayan war
and the Ottoman Turks used the Parthenon
as a gunpowder magazine which was
inevitably ignited during the conflict
though we’re grateful to have what
remains it’s hard not to think about all
that was lost due to the senseless acts
of war do you agree with our pics check
out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and
ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos
joined the legendary Hanging Gardens of
Babylon welcome to watchmojo.com 10th
everyday so be sure to subscribe to our
Channel and ring the bell to get
notified about our latest videos for
this list we’re looking at iconic and/or
historic structures and landmarks that
we almost lost due to natural disaster
natural decay or war but which
thankfully survived today number 10 the
Washington Monument
at approximately 555 feet tall this
colossal obelisk is the largest of its
kind in the world standing proud on the
grass of Washington DC’s National Mall
the Washington Monument is an enduring
symbol of American pride commemorating
founding father George Washington the
nation’s first president in 2011 however
this iconic landmark was quote
significantly damaged by an earthquake
with a magnitude of 5.8 the seismic
activity resulted in falling stones and
mortar displaced joints throughout the
building and cracks in the pyramidion
that tops the structure thankfully the
epicenter of the earthquake was over 80
miles away any closer and who knows what
would have happened even so the monument
was closed for three years of repairs
number nine the Coliseum among Italy’s
most iconic landmarks the Coliseum was
built in between 70 and 80 AD
during its heyday it could accommodate
between 50,000 and 80,000 Romans who
would crowd the structure to witness
everything from gladiatorial combat to
mock naval battles today it still
receives an average of about 4 million
tourists per year well the structure
shows its age we should consider
ourselves lucky that anything remains in
217 AD lightnings started a fire
destroying the roof after the fall of
the Roman Empire it suffered repeated
looting and pillaging then in 1349 a
major earthquake caused the collapse of
the south side after which stones from
the structure continued to be repurposed
elsewhere thankfully pope benedict xiv
consecrated the building in 1749 and the
church subsequently undertook
restoration efforts number 8 the Cologne
Cathedral by all means considering the
bombardment it was subjected to during
world war two it’s a wonder there’s a
city of Cologne at all
the survival of the Cathedral though
that feels downright miraculous
throughout the war the building was hit
by fourteen bombs a testament to its
sturdy construction the cathedral
remains standing despite substantial
damage an outlier in a sea of otherwise
crumbling buildings aerial images taken
at the end of the war are equal parts on
spiring and horrifying of course the
cathedral by no means came out of the
war unscathed many of the vaults
collapsed repairing the building was a
major undertaking but at least something
remained to actually be repaired number
seven the Dome of the rock located in
the old city of Jerusalem
this Islamic shrine has weathered more
than its fair share of destructive
forces it was built in between 688 and
692 on the site of the second Jewish
temple as well as the Temple of Solomon
before it on the Temple Mount
unfortunately the architectural wonder
was damaged by earthquakes in both 808
and 846 a third earthquake in 10:15
proved most devastating resulting in the
collapse of the dome only for it to be
rebuilt within the next decade most
recently in 1984 there was a terrorist
plot by the Jewish underground to blow
up the iconic structure thankfully it
was never carried out and the landmark
survives its architecture and mosaics
continuing to inspire awe to this day
number six the Forbidden City
China’s Forbidden City is a must visit
for anyone traveling to this powerful
nation but no amount of might economic
military or spiritual can stop a force
of nature having been primarily
constructed out of wood the Forbidden
City is particularly vulnerable to fire
it’s something that for centuries the
massive compound was aware of and
prepared for from torch protocols to
huge vats of emergency water but when
lightning strikes there’s only so much
you can do in 1421 just one year after
construction was completed lightning
started a fire that consumed three
palaces fires again caused major damage
in 1557 and 1597 then in 1644 the
Forbidden City was nearly decimated when
it was set ablaze by the army of Lisa
Cheung luckily it was
rebuilt every time number five
Westminster Abbey and the Palace of
Westminster originally built in 960 and
1016 respectively the Abbey and Palace
have required a lot of love throughout
history the palace suffered a major fire
in 1512 alongside the Abbey it just
narrowly escaped the Great Fire of
London in 1666 in 1834 however it would
largely succumb to yet another blaze
thus the old palace was replaced by the
Gothic structure we know today which
incorporated the surviving Westminster
Hall and other vestiges of the original
structure even so we very nearly lost
the new palace during World War two when
it was severely damaged by air raids
Westminster Abbey for its part should
have been destroyed in the 16th century
as part of the dissolution of
monasteries process but it was saved
from destruction by King Henry the
eighth’s himself number four Buckingham
Palace and st. Paul’s Cathedral England
sure has a lot of iconic landmarks to
its name and wouldn’t you know it
in keeping with their long and storied
history many of them faced annihilation
at some point or another both Buckingham
Palace and the famous st. Paul’s
Cathedral were ravaged during the Second
World War the palace and the Cathedral
weathered multiple direct hits during
the Battle of Britain but thankfully due
to their solid construction and more
than a little luck both survived
that being said Buckingham Palace isn’t
the only residence that the Queen has
nearly had to say farewell to in 1992
another of her royal residences Windsor
Castle suffered a major fire which
blazed for fifteen hours number three
the Leaning Tower of Pisa honestly given
its namesake lien we’re kind of always
worried that this iconic landmark is
teetering on the brink of destruction
despite appearances however it is safe
though that hasn’t always been the case
in the 90s a major and costly
engineering project was undertaken to
partially correct the lien the angle had
progressed to 5.5 degrees and the
structure was finally at risk of
collapsing they needed to move 70 tons
of earth to do it but the tower was
returned to its 1838 position and with
that it was deemed structurally sound
once more funnily enough the same soft
soil that gives the tower its lien is
also what has allowed it to survive
multiple earthquakes over the centuries
number
– Nullah damned Apache this one is still
painfully fresh in our minds on April 15
2019 the world watched in horror as the
blaze quickly consumed the oak roof and
the spire causing substantial damage to
the upper part of the Cathedral the
heavy oak that made up the structures
roof often referred to as the forest and
which dated back to the 13th century is
irreplaceable but thankfully the largely
stone structure survives and the city
will be able to rebuild had the flames
been allowed to continue much longer
however it might have been a very
different story experts estimate that
the iconic landmark was only quote 15 to
30 minutes from potential collapse
number one the Parthenon it might be in
a rough state but considering it dates
back to 432 BC we think the Parthenon
looks quite good for its age the
crowning jewel of the Acropolis of
Athens the Parthenon still stands today
largely thanks to the ingenuity of the
ancient Greeks but also courtesy of an
extensive restoration project spanning
decades which began in 1975 in 1687
however an explosion caused significant
damage to the structure nearly bringing
it down this was during the Malayan war
and the Ottoman Turks used the Parthenon
as a gunpowder magazine which was
inevitably ignited during the conflict
though we’re grateful to have what
remains it’s hard not to think about all
that was lost due to the senseless acts
of war do you agree with our pics check
out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and
ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos
Please follow and like us: