Our wonderful planet has so many wonders to explore. However, there are some places that are too protected, too dangerous, or too special to visit. Below you’ll find ten such places!
1. Snake Island, Brazil...
Brazil’s Ilha de Queimada Grande – dubbed Snake Island – is home to a large population of one of the world’s deadliest snakes. The golden lancehead viper’s venom is so poisonous that it can melt human flesh, and some claim that there’s one snake per square meter in certain areas. Therefore, for safety reasons, the Brazilian government doesn’t allow visitors, and a doctor is required on the team of any research visits.
2. U.N. Buffer Zone, Cyprus...
Turkish troops invaded Cyprus in 1974, sparking a civil war between the Turkish and Greek inhabitants. When the fighting ended in a ceasefire, the United Nations took control of a no-man’s land “buffer zone” in the country’s capital, Nicosia. There, walls separate the Turkish community in the North from the Greek community in the South. Behind the walls are abandoned homes and businesses. Some “Civil Use Areas” allow civilians, but other areas have been left untouched for many decades.
3. Tomb of the Qin Shi Huang, China...
In 1974, farmers discovered the tomb of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, and archeologists have since found about 2,000 clay soldiers and estimate that there are still another 8,000 to be discovered. Despite the excavation, the Chinese government has forbidden archeologists from touching the central tomb with Qin Shi Huang’s remains, which has been closed since 210 B.C.E. This is partly to respect the dead, but also out of fear that current technology isn’t up to scratch for excavating such delicate ancient artifacts.
4. Area 51. Nevada
The American government wouldn’t admit that Area 51 existed until 1992 documents released in 2013 mentioned the Nevada military base. Officials still haven’t revealed the type of research that goes on there, though conspiracy theorists claim that alien activity is studied there.
You can get a birds-eye view of the spot on Google Maps, but the sprawling desert makes it difficult for anyone to sneak in, and security is really tight. Even visitors with security clearances reach Area 51 on private planes that keep the windows drawn until landing.
5. Chernobyl, Ukraine...
On 26th April, 1986, an explosion near Chernobyl, Ukraine caused the worst nuclear accident in history. Although the death counts caused by radiation are impossible to estimate, experts suggest that between 9,000 and one million people will die of cancer from radiation. More than 30 years since the disaster, clean-up operations are still ongoing, and the power plant’s director guesses that the area won’t be inhabitable for at least another 20,000 years.
6. Vatican Secret Archives, Vatican City...
Housed in a heavily protected area of the Vatican are 53 miles of shelves containing documents relating to the Catholic Church, dating back to the 8th century. Some of these artifacts include a letter from Mary Queen of Scots begging Pope Sixtus V to save her from beheading and documents of Martin Luther’s excommunication. The archive was opened to researchers in 1881, but it’s not easy to get a pass inside.
7. Svalbard Seed Vault..,
Plunging more than 320 feet into a mountain between Norway and the North Pole, the Svalbard Seed Vault holds a huge collection of seeds in a vault which has been designed to withstand man-made and natural disasters.
Therefore, if a major catastrophe happened, the 890,000 preserved seed samples from almost every country in the world would ensure diverse food options. The vault is opened just a couple of times per year, and a limited number of depositors are allowed inside to add seeds to the shelves.
8. Fort Knox, Kentucky...
The Fort Knox vaults, home to the most U.S. gold reserves, is one of the most heavily guarded places on earth. No single person can make it into the vault; several combinations are needed to gain access, and various staff members know just one. So, even they wouldn’t be able to gain access without the help of their colleagues.
9. Lascaux Cave, France...
The prehistoric paintings in the Lascaux Cave were found back in 1940, and it became a tourist site after World War II. However, the carbon monoxide from visitors’ breath started to damage the paintings, which are now named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so the cave was closed to the public in 1963.
Replicas opened for business after it closed, but only preservationists and researchers are allowed into the original.
10. North Sentinel Island, India...
In the Bay of Bengal sit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Sentinelese tribe of North Sentinel Island is thought to have been there for 60,000 years, and it’s one of the last communities in the world to remain isolated from the outside world. In 2006, a boat of two fishermen drifted to the shallows of North Sentinel Island, and they were killed by the tribe. Since then, there have been reports of the tribe shooting arrows at passing helicopters. Since the Sentinelese haven’t been in contact with the diseases others have built resistance to, contact with outsiders could decimate the tribe, so the Indian government has agreed not to attempt any contact.
