Humans have been trying to outdo and impress one another by building massive structures since the earliest days of civilization. We’ve improved our architectural knowledge and construction skills quite a bit since the great pyramids of Giza and Teotihuacan were built, and it seems like ever since the first skyscrapers started going up in the late 19th century the world has been engaged in a non-stop contest to see who can build bigger and better. Although money isn’t everything, the expense put into a building does often translate to a heightened sense of luxury and prestige. So who is currently spending the most to win the battle of the buildings?

Countries like Singapore, with its Marina Bay Sands complex ($5.5 billion), and the United Arab Emirates, whose Emirate’s Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi cost around $3 billion, have certainly made a good run of it. But neither takes the top spot for most money dropped on a single building. At the moment that title belongs to the Abraj Al Bait in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which cost a whopping $15 billion.

A new historic monument

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