11.
Bull Rock
Bull Rock is an abandoned island located just 5.6 miles (9 km) off the coast of County Cork,
Ireland.
The first thing you might notice about Bull Rock is that it’s covered in steep, rocky
cliffs.
In fact, it looks almost entirely inhospitable.
But people actually used to live there, carving out their homes from the rock face but who
they were, no one knows.
Living on a cliff face would not be easy!
There’s also a deserted lighthouse on the island, as well as a tunnel that allows boats
to pass through.
According to legend, the tunnel is a gateway to the underworld and it’s hard to pass
through unless the weather is good.
The lighthouse was built in 1889 as a replacement for a lighthouse that was located on nearby
Calf Island before it was destroyed in a storm.
From 1901 to 1991, up to seven lighthouse operators lived on Bull Rock at any given
time.
They left when an automatic lighting system was installed.
Bull Rock island is open to visitors, but getting there is somewhat of a challenge.
The only way to reach it is by boat, and there’s no way for the boat to dock.
But it’s perfect for those who are looking for an enchanted experience in a seemingly
forbidden land.
10.
Vanderbilt Tennis Club
As many as 750,000 commuters pass through New York City’s iconic Grand Central Terminal
every day.
Many, if not most of them are unaware that there’s a hidden tennis facility and ski
slope on the third level, behind the building’s famous vaulted windows.
During the 1960s, a Hungarian immigrant named Geza A. Gazdag founded the Vanderbilt Athletic
Club, which he named after the original station’s builder, Cornelius Vanderbilt, millionaire!
Gazdag had two clay tennis courts installed, as well as a 65-foot (20 meters) ski slope.
But the space was ultimately neglected, and by 1980, it had fallen into disrepair.
Donald Trump took over the facility in 1984 and turned it into a high-end tennis club
for those who could afford to shell out $155 per hour to play.
Then, in 2009, it was closed down to make room for a Metro North employee lounge.
A new ceiling was installed, creating a fourth floor where new tennis courts were built in
2011.
Today, the club is open to the public, but it remains rather obscure.
Rumor has it that even some of the employees at Grand Central are unaware of it or don’t
know exactly where it is.
9.
Devil’s Bridge
You might expect something called the “Devil’s Bridge” to look terrifying.
But this arched structure, located in Kromlau, Germany, is set against the serene backdrop
of lush foliage and is not scary at all.
Built in Kromlauer Park during the mid-19th century, the bridge was purposely built so
that it’s reflection forms a perfect circle in the water below.
Like several other bridges throughout Europe, it got its name from the superstitious belief
that Satan must have had a hand in its construction since it appears almost miraculous.
It’s too beautiful to almost be real!
But it was built by human hands using locally sourced stone after a local knight commissioned
it in 1860.
The bridge is more pleasing to the eye than it is practical since it’s kind of delicate.
It’s near the Polish border, roughly a two-hour drive from Berlin.
Visitors are welcome, but for the sake of preservation, nobody is allowed to cross the
Devil’s Bridge.
8.
A Royal Waiting Room
The Stazione Centrale (or the Central Station) is the main railway station in Milan, Italy.
Over 300,000 people pass through it daily, with most paying no mind to a series of closed
doors that they walk right past.
Behind those doors is a lavish waiting room called the Padiglione Reale, or the Royal
Pavilion.
It was added onto the station in 1926 at the urging of Italy’s Minister of Communications,
Costanzo Ciano.
He thought it would be a good idea to create an elegant waiting space for the country’s
royal family, the Savoias, who traveled by train to their countryside palace.
Must have been nice!
Italy’s monarchy ended immediately following World War II, but the Padiglione Reale still
exists.
It consists of two floors, the first of which is situated at ground level.
It’s filled with empty rooms that were once covered in Fascist symbols, but the imagery
was removed after the war.
The upper floor features a series of different marble interiors, as well as royal emblems,
high-end furniture, and a balcony overlooking the public square.
There are swastikas engraved into the wood flooring as an embellishment meant to impress
Hitler if he ever dropped by, although he never visited the station.
And there’s also a small bathroom, where a large mirror conceals a ladder leading to
an emergency escape route.
The Padiglione Reale is hardly ever open to the public, so most people have never seen
it firsthand and most don’t even know it’s there.
7.
Secret Chambers At Drum Castle
In 2013, archaeologists working at Drum Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland discovered a secret
chamber.
It was found on the first floor of the 700-year-old medieval structure, where it was hidden by
19th-century bookshelves.
The team already knew that there were several passages throughout the castle that had been
blocked off when a library was built during the 1840s.
This much was evident based on the fact that there are windows on the outside of the castle
that couldn’t be seen from inside.
But they didn’t expect to find a perfectly preserved room that had sat untouched for
at least 150 years.
It still has its original doorway and toilet!
Shortly after announcing the discovery, the archaeologists found another secret chamber.
They initially suspected that it was the infamous space where Queen Mary Irvine hid her brother
for three years after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
According to rumors, she deceptively guided the British Redcoats away from the castle
while he was in there.
But this turned out not to be the case.
After sending in a remote video camera, it became clear that the chamber had a more ordinary
use, perhaps as a butchery and/or a kitchen.
King Robert the Bruce gifted Drum Castle to the Irvine family in 1323, and it remained
in their possession until 1975, when it fell into the hands of the National Trust for Scotland.
It is the oldest building under the organization’s care.
6.
Haiku Stairs
There’s a steep outdoor staircase nicknamed the “Stairway to Heaven'' nestled in the
mountains of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Also known as the Haiku Stairs, the structure consists of 3,922 steps that once led to a
top-secret U.S. Navy facility called the Haʻikū Radio Station, which was used for transmitting
radio signals to Navy ships throughout the Pacific.
After the naval base was decommissioned during the 1950s, it functioned as a base for OMEGA,
the first-ever global-range radio navigation system.
Around that time, the wooden steps that originally made up the Haiku Stairs were replaced with
the metal steps and ramps that remain today.
The staircase was once open to the public, but it attracted too many curious visitors
for the government’s comfort level, and in 1987, both the Haiku Stairs and the station
were closed.
In 2003, the City of Honolulu paid $875,000 to repair the stairs with plans to reopen
them to the public.
But that never happened, and in 2018, the city made it clear that it never will due
to safety concerns.
Trespassing has been a constant problem – officials estimate that thousands of people have carelessly
walked right past the No Trespassing signs and ignored warnings that they could face
a $1,000 fine for going any further.
The hike offers stunning views of the landscape and a nearby Kāneʻohe Bay, and it’s proven
nearly impossible to keep people away.
Sadly, the Haiku Stairs will not exist for much longer.
Realizing that there’s only one way to get the trespassing to stop, the fed-up Honolulu
city council voted to remove the staircase, and the mayor has given the greenlight.
Would you want to see these stairs??
Have you ever been to Hawaii??
Let me know in the comments below!
5.
Little Compton Street
London is filled with literal layers of history – one era built on top of another – that
have accumulated over many centuries as the street level grew higher.
In the middle of Charing Cross Road, there’s a nondescript traffic island that offers a
rare firsthand glimpse into the city’s past.
Beneath a metal grate, there’s a wall with the words “Little Compton Street” embedded
in tile.
This is the name of the road that ran through the area at least as far back as the 1790s.
Back then, the bustling area was home to one of London’s most notorious slums.
A public house called Coach and Horses once sat along Little Compton Street.
It was demolished in 1886 to make room for the paving of Charing Cross Road.
An office tower was eventually built where Little Compton Street once stood, according
to Atlas Obscura, and the former road was converted into a utility tunnel.
But not everyone agrees that the signs beneath Charing Cross Road mark a buried street.
A detective blog dedicated to solving mysteries like this, called Marmont Road, found evidence
that the signs beneath the grate may have been put there to help utility workers navigate
underground tunnels.
For now, nobody can say for sure, but it’s clear that the signs are old, and that they
represent just one of London’s many buried historical features.
4: The Underground City of Naours The Underground City of Naours is a mysterious
underground cave system in France.
It's about 72 feet(22m) underground and has at least 300 chambers.
It began life as a limestone quarry built by the Romans in the 2nd century AD but when
it was abandoned ancient people used it as storage!
The local people discovered the temperature was perfect for preserving goods inside the
deep tunnels.
During the Middle Ages it became a place of refuge, as fighting and battles increased
the underground city was the perfect place to hide.
At its peak, the underground city had a population of about 3000 people.
Over the years people added wells, stables, bakeries, and chapels.
They planned things extremely well and the chimneys from the bakers’ ovens and any
other fires were routed through buildings above ground so no one would have any clue
as to what was going on below.
Evidence also suggests that in the 9th century AD, Viking invaders let themselves into the
underground settlement and just decided to stay there.
The city remained in use until Europe became a little more stable and it was no longer
needed.
The secret city was then abandoned and not rediscovered until 1887 when a man renovating
his house found a mysterious hole in his wall that led down into the city.
A very similar story to the discovery of Derinkuyu in Turkey!
Did you know about this city in France or were you surprised??
Let me know in the comments below!!
3.
Eiffel Tower Apartment
Shortly after the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, word leaked that its designer, civil
engineer Gustave Eiffel, had a private apartment built for himself near the top of the structure.
It’s a small but cozy space, and it was originally decorated in a simple style that
Eiffel favored.
Situated nearly 1,000 feet (305 meters) in the air, the apartment was equipped with wooden
cabinets, several desks, a kitchen, a bathroom with a separate toilet cubicle, and even a
grand piano.
It was surrounded by an open-air balcony.
Eiffel wanted it to be appealing to scientists, so he filled an adjacent space with scientific
equipment.
Parisian socialites were green with envy when they heard about Eiffel’s apartment.
He reportedly received numerous offers from elites hoping to rent it from him, but he
declined them all.
He just wanted to make everybody jealous!!
After all, he had the cozy abode put there for his own use as a reflection space and
for entertaining prestigious company, like Thomas Edison.
The apartment didn’t even have a bedroom, because it wasn’t meant to be lived in.
Today, it’s open to the public for tours, offering a long-awaited glimpse into the high-demand
space that the Eiffel Tower’s designer awarded himself for his hard work.
2.
Devil’s Hole Cave
Everyone’s heard of the world-famous Niagara Falls.
But many visitors completely miss the opportunity to visit the little-known Devil’s Hole State
Park.
Nicknamed the Cave of the Evil Spirits, these limestone caves are carved into the side of
the Niagara Gorge and can be found just down the road from the falls.
Getting there requires a potentially dangerous climb down a stone staircase to the Niagara
River.
The Cave of the Evil Spirits has a long history of being haunted!
While passing through in 1763, a British wagon train was attacked by 500 Seneca Natives in
what became known as the Devil’s Hole Massacre.
Afterward, the bodies of around 80 British soldiers were found floating in the river.
The Senecas warned the British that if they trespassed again in the future, they would
be plagued by tragedy and misfortune.
According to modern-day superstition, anyone who removes a rock from the site will suffer
in similar ways.
1.
Trafalgar Square Police Station
London’s famous Trafalgar Square is home to the city’s smallest police station, which
is barely bigger than a phone booth.
In fact, it’s easy to walk past without even noticing it.
It’s cleverly hidden inside an ornamental light fitting, and the only clue to its presence
is an inconspicuous door on the outside.
Built in 1926, the tiny station was installed into the hollowed-out fixture as a watchpost
where police could keep an eye on protesters and demonstrators.
It could hold up to two prisoners at a time if need be, but was primarily used for performing
surveillance on unsuspecting bystanders.
Inside, there was a direct telephone line to Scotland Yard in case the lone officer
on patrol needed to call for backup.
Any time someone picked up the phone, the light on top of the station started flashing
like a beacon to alert any nearby officers that there was trouble nearby.
The first police station at Trafalgar Square was a temporary structure that was built after
the Bloody Sunday Riots of 1887, when 10,000 rioters took to the street to protest unemployment
and coercion in Ireland.
After World War I, plans were made to renovate the building.
But the public objected to its presence, so the police got rid of it and replaced it with
the less noticeable one-man command center.
Thanks for watching!
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