Sightseeing is one of the main reasons to visit another country, or at least a neighboring city. But it also happens that famous places visited by thousands of tourists every year are in fact fake. Introducing you top 7 most popular fake attractions in the world.
7. Sherlock Holmes Museum, England
Most people understand that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, but the museum dedicated to the genius detective cannot complain about the lack of tourists.
But while the Sherlock Holmes Museum is located on Baker Street, and has a plaque indicating the address 221B, the building's real address is 239 Baker Street. Number 221 on Baker Street did not exist when the first stories of Holmes and Watson were released. Then the building numbers reached 100S.
6. Bran Castle, Romania
Bran Castle has long been associated with the sinister vampire Dracula, but reality is a different matter. Dracula's "dad", Irishman Bram Stoker, has never visited Romania. It is believed that the description of Dracula's castle in the book was indeed inspired by the description of Bran Castle. However, the prototype of the famous bloodsucker was Vlad Tepes, the prince of Wallachia, who lived for a long time in the Poenari castle.
5. Juliet's house and balcony, Italy
In fifth place in the ranking of fake attractions is the so-called "Juliet's house" with a balcony, standing on which the young heiress of the Capulet family listened to Romeo's love confessions. And in the courtyard of the house there is a bronze statue of Juliet. It is believed that touching it brings good luck.
However, this pair of young lovers from Verona existed only in Shakespeare's imagination. Moreover, the balcony scene is not part of the original story, as balconies were not known in Shakespeare's England. In fact, Romeo came under Juliet's window. However, even this does not stop tourists from visiting this false attraction.
4. Checkpoint Charlie, Germany
Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin is a historic site. It was the border between East and West Germany and during the Cold War was the only point of contact between US and Soviet troops. But the real checkpoint Charlie was dismantled in 1990, when the unification of Germany took place. And the checkpoint that exists now is a copy of the original. For added authenticity, fake soldiers stand at the checkpoint, always ready to take a proud pose for photographs with visitors.
3. Shangri La, China
There are many places that claim to be the mystical paradise of Shangri La. In 2001, the authorities of Zhongdian County in southwestern China decided to take matters into their own hands and changed the name of the county to Shangri La. Thanks to this cunning move, crowds of tourists flock to this false landmark. However, they do not lose anything, as Zhongdian is famous for its beautiful emerald green forests, snow-capped mountains and many ancient Tibetan temples.
2. Bridge over the River Kwai, Thailand
Pierre Boulle, who created the Planet of the Apes, is also known for his other book, The Bridge over the River Kwai.It tells about the construction of a railway in Burma, which during the Second World War was led by many prisoners of war under the leadership of Japanese invaders. In reality, the construction site was the Maekhlong River.
In 1957, a hugely successful film of the same name was released based on the book, which caused an influx of tourists to Thailand. For their sake, the Thai authorities in 1960 changed the name of the course of the Mekhlong River upstream of the confluence of the Khuena tributary (which translates as "small tributary") to the Khweyai ("large tributary").
1. Philae Island, Egypt
If you decide to travel to Egypt to learn more about its ancient history, admire the pyramids and mysterious hieroglyphs, you will not be disappointed. However, a trip to Philae Island can be somewhat deceiving. The island with this name was once home to a temple built in honor of the goddess Hathor and decorated with hieroglyphs, which is more than 2000 years old. The hieroglyphs and temple are real and have survived to this day, but the original island of Philae was threatened with flooding as a result of the construction of the nearby Aswan Dam. As a result, the temple was dismantled and then rebuilt literally brick by brick on another island. Therefore, the landmark that is now called Philae Island was previously known as Agilkia Island.