Some construction are design to last perpetually — we’re looking at you , Great Pyramid of Giza . Those that are n’t can sometimes be saved through drastic technology measures and a transatlantic relocation . Here ’s a spirit at eight buildings around the world that have been lift off their foundations ( either in one man or chiliad ) and rebuilt in a safer space , ensuring that their bequest subsist on .
1. THE TEMPLE OF DENDUR // NEW YORK, NEW YORK
commission by the first Roman Catholic emperor Caesar Augustus and complete in 10 BCE , theTemple of Dendur — originally in Egypt — was at endangerment of being glut by theconstructionof the Aswan High Dam and the subsequent formation of Lake Nasser in the sixties .
UNESCOestablishedthe International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia in 1960 , and countries worked quickly to save as many artifacts as potential before the lake submerged 2000 square mile of ancient lands . Egypt gave the Temple of Dendur to the United States in 1965 for its participation in the rescue travail , and President Lyndon Johnson awarded it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art .
The modest stone temple was dismantled in Egypt , and the 642 patch were ship to the U.S. on the SSConcordia Star . Upon arriver in New York , flatbed trucks carried the pieces from the dock to the museum on Fifth Avenue . When the blocks were unpacked , " not all were numbered and some were found to be numbered incorrectly . Section drawings exist — but they are in French,“The New York Timesreported [ PDF ] . Still , a squad of stonecutters , cutter , Freemason , and museum conservator were able to reassemble the temple in the custom - built Sackler Wing .
2. LONDON BRIDGE // LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA
In the mid-20th one C , London Bridge was quite literally falling down : The weight of New cars was pushing the Georgian - era bridge into the River Thames . To make room for a new bridge , the granite anatomical structure was put up for auction sale in 1968 .
The winning bidder was Robert McCulloch , the genius behind the resort community of Lake Havasu City , Arizona . He believe the nosepiece ’s reinstallation in the plan growing would attract tourer — and he was willing topay$2.46 million for the British watershed . The bridge deck was disassembled , each musical composition of stone Freemasonry was numbered , and the whole thing was sent off on a ship that traversed the Panama Canal on its way to California . From the Port of Long Beach , the span ’s pieces were trucked to Arizona , where they were rebuilt accord to the original plans .
3. COOK’S COTTAGE // MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
The great British adventurer and naval captain James Cook has a longlistof achievements , like being the first European mariner to cover the Antarctic circle and circumnavigate New Zealand , Tonga , and Easter Island . The Yorkshire - gestate sailing master spent time between his dangerous undertaking at family , reportedly ina small cottagein Great Ayton make by his family . When that house go up for cut-rate sale in 1933 , industrialist Sir Russell Grimwade purchased itfor £ 800and donate it to the state of Victoria , Australia , in recognition of Cook ’s exploration of the continent and to celebrate the centenary of Melbourne .
After the star sign was take apart and packed into about 300 crateful and barrels , it was ship to Australia aboard thePort Dunedin , along with some of the ivy that once grew up its walls . It was reconstruct in Melbourne ’s Fitzroy Gardens , where it stands today . Since then , scholars have check that there ’s no concrete grounds that Cook ever stayed in the house , though members of his kinfolk certainly did .
4. BELLE TOUT LIGHTHOUSE // BEACHY HEAD, UK
The originalBelle Tout Lighthousein Beachy Head , England , was measuredly set back 100 feet from the edge of the cliff when it was built in 1832 . If the light disappeared from persuasion , approaching ship at ocean would have sex they were in the risk zone . But through the twist of the twentieth C , cliff erosion made the lighthouse less effective , and it was decommission in 1902 . novel owners bought it for a individual home ( and it also suffice as target area practice by Canadian troop stationed on the slide during World War II ) . The sharpness of the drop crept closer and closer .
In 1999 , the owners of the beacon light had tomove itback 56 foot . locomotive engineer apprehend beneath the 900 - ton structure to elevate it — in one piece — onto four concrete beams , then slid it back on the beam to its current placement . It is now a bed - and - breakfast . If erosion go along at the same pace , the beacon will have to bemoved againin about 30 years .
5. HAMILTON GRANGE // NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Alexander Hamiltonreportedlyownedonly one house in his life , and that wasHamilton Grangein New York City . turn up in what was then Manhattan ’s uptown countryside ( which is now Harlem ) , the large , airy house sat on 32 Akka of land withviewsof both the Hudson and Harlem river . Hamilton ’s widow woman Elizabeth sell the domicile in 1833 , and the city grew up around it .
The mansion was relocated for the first time in 1889 , when the owner , St. Luke ’s Episcopal Church , moved it 250 feet north to be closer to the church — and toprevent itfrom being smash by the construction of 143rd Street , which would have run right through it . The National Park Service ( NPS ) acquired the Grange in 1962 and , in 2008 , adjudicate to move it again . Having deteriorated quite a act over the tenner in that location , the house was in desperate motivation of a overhaul . But since new buildings had sprout up around it , a full renovation at that site would have been out of the question . The NPS finalise on go it a few block away to St. Nicholas Park — oncepartof the original plot of land owned by Hamilton — where it would no longer be crammed between other structures and could be fully restored . The 200 - ton house was jack up up , impound by the foundation to brand beams for support , then carefully lift 38 feet up in the air on hydraulic lift to short-circuit a porch on another construction [ PDF ] . The Grange was then wind onto a massive system of dolly on the street that fundamentally drive the sign of the zodiac to its new land site .
6. NEWARK LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BUILDING 51 // NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
Newark Liberty International Airport might be one of theworst - rankedairports in the U.S. , but that was n’t always the pillowcase . build up in 1935 , Building 51 was one of the most luxurious , state - of - the - art rider terminals in the world — in fact , Amelia Earhartparticipated in itsdedication ceremonial . ( She keep one of her own woodworking plane at the airport , as did Charles Lindbergh . )
7. THE ABU SIMBEL TEMPLES // ABU SIMBEL, EGYPT
Like the Temple of Dendur , the Abu Simbel synagogue were put at risk of infection by the Aswan High Dam . Built into the sandstone cliffs along the Nile under the rule of Ramses II in the 13th 100 B.C.E. , there aretwo temples — a main one with four 66 - understructure - tall statues of the king surrounding its entrance , and a modest one dedicated to the goddess Hathor . To avoid having the temples submerged beneath Lake Nasser ’s rise waters , preservationist disassembled and impress them to higher footing . Engineersdug downfrom the top of the drop-off , dismantled the structures bycarving theminto 20 - ton blocks , and move them piece by piece to the new site , a 200 - foot - gamey unreal pitcher’s mound build atop their original placement . Like the Temple of Dendur , this project was part of UNESCO ’s International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia .
8. ST. BERNARD DE CLAIRVAUX CHURCH // MIAMI, FLORIDA
In the 1920s , media big businessman William Randolph Hearstsent teamsacross Europe to buy artwork to stock his new castle in San Simeon , California . One of his acquisitions was a 12th - one C Spanish cloister , which he had workers break apart , compact into 11,000 crateful , and send on a ship across the ocean to New York .
There , the crate were impounded : Customs agents fear the hay used to slog the crateful might be contaminated with hoof - and - mouth disease , and the whole consignment was left in one of Hearst ’s warehouse . Eventually the hay was burned , and the pieces of the cloister were declared safe for transportation — but by this sentence , the stock market had doss down and Hearst had lose all his money . The pieces of the cloister were placed on the auction mental block in 1952 , one year after Hearst ’s death , and get by two Florida men who rebuilt it in Miami as a tourist attraction . The religious residence run out to entice visitor , however , and the proprietor ended up donate it to alocal parish .
