39. Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea
You can thank the spirit of competition for this towering presence on Pyongyang’s skyline. In 1986, the Westin Stamford Hotel opened in Singapore and became the tallest hotel in the world. The Communist leadership of North Korea wanted to prove that their engineers could build something even grander, so construction for the Ryugyong Hotel began in 1987. Nearly 30 years—and roughly $750 million—later, this pyramidal building still sits unfinished (although people claimed to see LED panels light up on the hotel back in April 2018). Like most of the country to anyone outside it, the interior of the 105-story hotel remains a mystery.
40. St. George’s Church, Luková, Czech Republic
Originally built in 1352, St. George’s Church (Kostel Svatého Jiří) has had quite the history. The church was nearly destroyed by fires many times over the centuries, and its roof partially collapsed during a funeral service in 1968. After that event, the congregation became convinced the church was haunted (we get it) and refused to enter; as a result, the building was stripped by robbers and fell prey to vandalism. That all changed in 2012, when an art student at the University of West Bohemia had an idea to draw visitors back to the church: a collection of 30 ghost sculptures sitting in the pews with their heads bowed. Today, tourists have flocked to the “Ghost Church” to snap photos and even sit among the unmoving specters while praying (as of now, there’s no signs of the installation being removed).