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When you think of some of the world’s most iconic tourist attractions, landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty or the Colosseum might come to mind.

But you might bump into them far from New York or Rome.

All around the world, copies of famous buildings, statues and other monuments have been built – ���˿��� Bitesize explores four of them.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy was competed in AD80 and is one of the most famous buildings in the world. It’s the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, thought to have had a capacity of up to 80,000 people in its day.

It was originally used in ancient Rome for gladiatorial contests and other public spectacles – a far cry from its copy in Macau.

At an entertainment and retail complex in the Chinese Special Administrative Region, there is a smaller version of the world-renowned amphitheatre. It has 2,000 seats and is used for outdoor concerts and performances.

The replica Colosseum in Macau was built in the same visual style as the one in Italy, albeit around seven times smaller. It even mimics the damage that the Roman building suffered in a 7th-Century earthquake.

The architectural style of the Colosseum has influenced many other buildings around the world, including McCaig’s Tower in Oban, Scotland.

Local banker John Stuart McCaig had planned a lasting monument to his family based on the Colosseum, but he died with only the outer walls constructed.

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty has been an iconic landmark in New York City since its dedication in 1886. A gift from France to the people of the United States, the statue itself is 46m (151ft) tall – with a height of 93m (305ft) including its plinth.

But while sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s work will forever be associated with the Big Apple, there are hundreds of replicas of this statue around the world.

Americans living in France returned the favour, gifting a 11.5m (38ft) version of the statue to Paris three years after the New York counterpart’s inauguration, in celebration of the centennial of the French Revolution. It’s one of eight copies of the statue in the city – and was also briefly erected in Tokyo.

The statue was temporarily dismantled and moved to Japan for a year as part of a celebration of French culture in the country in 1998. It proved so popular that a permanent version was unveiled two years later.

There have also been versions of the statue in the UK as well. A smaller replica was stood on top of a shoe shop in Leicester until 2002 – the statue was moved when the building was demolished.

Student halls of residence were built in the shop’s place, but developers said the new structure was unable to take the weight of the statue – so it was placed on a nearby roundabout instead.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous landmarks.

Construction of the stone circle site on Salisbury Plain is thought to have begun around 3000BC. Some experts believe it was used for funerals, others say it may have been used to study the Sun and Moon - but its main purpose may never be known.

While the original has stood in Wiltshire for around 5,000 years, a number of replicas have been built around the world.

Tributes to Stonehenge have been built out of straw, mud, telephone booths and even bouncy castles and cars. These versions weren’t astronomically aligned – unlike several other, more accurate replicas.

Foamhenge in Virginia, United States is a full-scale replica constructed out of polysterene. It was created initially as an April Fool’s Day stunt to promote local tourism in 2004. The monument took just ten days to build – as opposed to the approximately 1,000 years that Stonehenge took.

The copy was originally built in Natural Bridge, Virginia before moving to Centerville in the state in 2017, after repairs and restoration. The foam stones were re-sited with help from an astronomer to ensure Foamhenge was as accurate as possible.

Christ the Redeemer

In 2014 and 2016, the eyes of the sporting world were on Brazil as they hosted the men’s football World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

While images of elite competition dominated screens, the tournaments also shone a light on the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro – and one monument in particular.

Christ the Redeemer is a statue located at the top of the Corcovado mountain in Rio and stands 30m (98ft) tall. Its construction was completed in 1931 after a nine year process.

There are dozens of similar statues around the world – but perhaps the most notable is just outside Lisbon, Portugal.

The Sanctuary of Christ the King was inaugurated in 1959 in Almada, overlooking the capital. It was directly inspired by the Brazilian monument, with the idea coming in the aftermath of a Portuguese delegation visiting Rio de Janeiro in 1934.

The statue in Portugal is smaller than its Brazilian counterpart at 28m (92ft) but dominates the skyline, placed on a pedestal 82m (269ft) high.

This article was published in March 2022