1. Mecca’s Great Mosque
Where: Saudi Arabia
Completed Year: Unfinished; Total Cost: $100+ Billion
For almost two millennia, the Great Mosque in Mecca has been undergoing renovations at an astounding cost of $100 billion and growing. Up to four million worshippers can fit within the Great Mosque’s expansive ninety-nine acres of indoor and outdoor prayer areas at any given time.
The Mecca Great Mosque, ©Shutterstock/Mohamed Reedi
It makes sense that an oil-rich nation like Saudi Arabia would spend billions to maintain one of the holiest locations on Earth in the most aesthetically pleasing and easily accessible manner. The Great Mosque of Mecca underwent its first significant restoration in 692 and has continued ever since.
At that time, the prayer hall’s wings were expanded, and marble was used in place of the outdated wooden columns. As part of the 2008 expansion initiative started by his predecessor, King Abdullah, King Salman launched five more massive projects in 2015.
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