“Many People Still Believe It”: 25 Silly Yet Popular Myths About Iconic Landmarks Around The World

A couple of weeks ago, a thread appeared in the r/AskTheWorld community. The author, the user u/Familiar-Arrival-470, asked netizens: “What’s a widely believed historical myth about a famous landmark in your country that isn’t actually true?” The topic starter originates from India, so it’s not surprising that the story they proposed concerned perhaps the country’s most famous landmark - the Taj Mahal.

According to one legend about this place, Emperor Shah Jahan, after builders erected a magnificent mausoleum for his late wife, Mumtaz Mahal, ordered their hands cut off - so that none of them would ever build anything more beautiful.

Of course, this is nothing more than a legend. Firstly, there is historical evidence that the architects who built the Taj Mahal subsequently erected other buildings. Secondly, similar legends are associated with almost every remarkable ancient building. So there’s no need to worry about the architects’ health - they were all right.

Another popular story concerns Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Even if you haven’t seen a photo of it, well, it served as the inspiration for the castle on the Disney intro. So, for some reason, many people are convinced that Neuschwanstein is a medieval castle. In fact, of course, this is not true.

Firstly, medieval castles weren’t built like that. A typical medieval castle is a stone colossus with tiny windows, designed to protect the owner and garrison from attackers, not to impress their aesthetic senses.

Secondly, and most importantly, Neuschwanstein was built less than 200 years ago by the Bavarian King Ludwig II. Interestingly, this guy was incredibly romantic and extravagant, building a dozen more equally beautiful palaces across the country.

Eventually, his confidants, realizing there was no money left in the treasury for another lavish project, simply declared the monarch insane and removed him from power. Ironically, all the palaces built by Ludwig II now generate no less insane amounts of money for the budget from tourism, so the “mad king” gave the country a considerable financial boost.

The popular stories in the Middle Ages about a particular building (usually a monastery) housing the tomb of an iconic historical figure (like King Arthur) were also legends created by enterprising monks.

Many monasteries in the old days were quite profitable commercial enterprises, and competition for parishioners and new monks was as fierce as the NCAA’s race for five-star athletic prospects. In fact, when the offspring of a wealthy noble family entered a monastery, their relatives would usually make a hefty contribution on their behalf or bequeath a plot of land to the monastery.

And what determines a monastery’s prestige? A beautiful legend, of course! So it’s no surprise that the wealthier and more famous the monastery, the more spectacular and convoluted its legend. And today, many folks simply believe these legends…

By and large, many of these stories and myths are based on simple misunderstandings. For example, the myth that the Great Wall of China is visible from space. Apparently, the source of this myth lived in Great Britain in the 18th century and never saw the wall with his eyes.

In one of his letters, the English scientist William Stukeley, describing Hadrian’s Wall, noted that it was second in size only to the Great Wall of China - though the latter was supposedly visible even from the Moon. Later, in the late 19th century, many popularizers of science picked up on this “fact,” and even numerous statements by astronauts couldn’t completely refute it.

The fact that the Great Wall of China is invisible to the naked eye has been asserted by many, including Neil Armstrong, William Pogue, Leroy Chiao, and even the Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei. Moreover, when the European Space Agency published an article claiming that the wall could indeed be seen from space, it turned out that the authors had confused the wall with a river. Period.

In any case, all these myths, misconceptions, legends, and fairy tales only add a certain charm to iconic landmarks, increasing people’s interest in them (and also filling the coffers of local businesses serving tourists). So now, please feel free to read this selection to the very end, and if your country also has a landmark myth not mentioned here, maybe add the story in the comments below.