New Delhi: While it is good to travel and explore the world, there are some places where common people cannot go. These places are shrouded in mystery with an atmosphere of perpetual mystery always haunting those areas. For centuries, those places have been deemed as secrets and fraught with danger. These forbidden destinations tell the tales of lost civilisations, natural wonders and secretive organisations which should never be disturbed. In this article, we take a look at some of the most restricted and inaccessible places in the world.
World’s most restricted and inaccessible places
North Sentinel Island
It is one of the Andaman Islands and is a protected area of India. The Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe live in the island in voluntary isolation and they fiercely protect their freedom from the outside world. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation 1956 prohibits travel to the island, and any approach closer than five nautical miles to protect the tribe from the diseases of the mainland against which they probably have no immunity. The Indian Navy patrols the area. The Sentinelese are known for their hostile nature against outsiders.
Vatican Apostolic Archive
The Vatican Apostolic Archive, previously known as the Vatican Secret Archive, is the central repository in the Vatican City of all acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Pope owns all its materials until his death or resignation. The archive also contains state papers, correspondence, account books, and many other documents that the church has accumulated over the centuries. Its access is incredibly stricter and only a select group of scholars can peruse the materials and the general public cannot access them.
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
It is a secure backup facility for the world’s crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. It provides long-term storage for duplicates of seeds from around the globe conserved in gene banks. The access to the vault is strictly limited to authorized personnel. The vault’s mission is to safeguard genetic diversity and it cannot be visited by general public.
Coca-Cola Recipe Vault
In the world of business, the formula of Coca-Cola is one of the most closely guarded secrets. In 2011, the secret formula was moved to the World of Coca‑Cola in Atlanta. Thousands of people visit the Vault of the Secret Formula every year. Moreover, only a few people in the world know the secret formula. The vault has advanced security measures, including guards, hand scanners, and stringent protocols.
Lascaux Caves
Lascaux is a network of caves in southwestern France with more than 600 parietal wall paintings in the interior walls and ceilings. The paintings represent primarily large animals, typical local contemporary fauna. Because of the outstanding prehistoric art in the cave, Lascaux was inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. The caves were closed in 1963 after it was found that the carbon dioxide from the breath of the visitors was leading to the deterioration of the delicate paintings. The general public can see the replicas of the caves.
Snake Island
Its original name is Ilha da Queimada Grande and it is an island off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is called Snake Island due to abundance of snakes there. The island is the only natural home of the critically endangered, venomous Bothrops insularis (golden lancehead pit viper), which has a diet of birds. The snakes became trapped on the island thousands of years ago. Due to evolution, the snakes adapted to their new environment, rapidly increased in population which made the island dangerous to public visitation. The general public cannot go there and only the Brazilian Navy and selected researchers vetted by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation can go there.
Area 51
Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. While the details of the operations in Area 51 have not been made public, the USAF has stated that it is an open training range and it is commonly thought to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems.
Ise Shrine
The Ise Shrine is located in Ise in Japan’s Mie Prefecture and is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu. The shrine buildings are made of solid cypress wood and use no nails but instead joined wood. It is one of the most sacred sites in Japan and only members of the Japanese imperial family can enter the inner sanctum of the shrine.
This article explores eight of the world’s most inaccessible locations, from the isolated North Sentinel Island and the secretive Vatican Apostolic Archive to the high-security Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the legendary Area 51. These forbidden places, ranging from protected indigenous lands to top-secret government facilities, offer glimpses into human history, technological advancements, and the mysteries that remain unsolved. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
