Have you ever thought about the beauty of our land to be sought not only on the surface, but also under it? And it's not just about the mysterious tombs of the pharaohs and whole underground cities.
Some of the sights of our planet are so amazing that many scientists are puzzled over how ancient people managed to build such beauty. Are you ready to travel to the very center of the earth? Are you ready to see some evidence that our world is beautiful?
1. The Lungyu Grottoes
They are also called "caves of a floating dragon". They were discovered by the Chinese in 1992 during a series of works on cleaning local ponds. As a result, all the water was pumped out, which also exposed the entrance to these beauties. Lunyu Grottoes are 36 caves, which are over 2,000 years old. And the average area of each room is more than 1,000 m2. To date, five caves are open to tourists. Moreover, they hold various cultural events, arrange music concerts.
2. Puerto Princess
The world's longest underground navigable river (8 km), located in the Philippines under the island of Palawan. River cruises are prohibited here, but the boats are allowed 1.3 km into the depth of the cave. In it every tourist has the opportunity to admire stalactites and stalagmites. By the way, the cave, under which the Puerto Princess flows, is the largest in the world (the dome height is 65 m and the width is 140 m).
3. The Caves of Ozarka
Ozark State Park in Missouri is home to many amazing caves, including the Wedding Cave, the Cave of Jacob and Ozark. For the first time they were investigated in the late 1880s, and since the 1930s the park began to receive tourists. All these caves are famous for their unusual shape, and inside of each of them you can see a unique phenomenon called "angelic shower" - from the ceiling like water flows.
4. Greenbury bunker
During the Cold War, the US President and Army General David Eisenhower were interested in ensuring that, in the event of a nuclear war, they could rule the country while in a safe place. So, the bunker "Greenbir" was built, which, fortunately, was never useful. Today it is a wonderful sight from the past, which annually attracts thousands of tourists.
5. Underground gardens of Forestier
This beauty is in California, USA. And created her Sicilian immigrant Balthasar Forestier, who in the period from 1906 to 1946 built an underground house like the ancient catacombs that could be seen in his homeland. You will not believe, but this brave man with only agricultural tools dug a house with an area of 930 m2, a chapel and even his strength was enough for an underground fishing pond!
6. Turda Salt Mine
In the industrial town of Turda, there is a small but very beautiful attraction - an old salt mine, the first mention of which dates back to 1075. It was excavated in the 17th century and since then has managed to visit both a cheese factory and a bunker (during the Second World War). Now it is an underground park, in which there are not only attractions, but also a golf course, as well as an area where you can play table tennis.
7. Cane of the Reed flute
What a wonderful name! This fabulous place is in China, northwest of Guilin city. The cave of the Reed flute got its name because of the reed thickets growing in the district, from which local people made flutes. It was formed about 180 million years ago. The decoration of all the halls of the cave was artificial color illumination, thanks to which this place turns into something fabulous, magical.
8. Shkotjanske-Yam
This is a whole system of amazing beauty of limestone caves located in the south-west of Slovenia. Today it is the most popular place for studying karst processes. Here live unique representatives of flora and fauna. It is not surprising, why Shkotsyanske-Yama is a biosphere reserve.
9. Coober Pedy
It is an underground city located in Australia. Literally, Cooper-Pedi translates as "the burrow of a white man." What is striking here is the dwellings cut through the mountains. Do you know what are the most important sights in this area? So this is the cemetery and the church, which are also located underground.
10. The cave temple of Dambulla
This Buddhist temple is carved in a rock in Sri Lanka. By the way, it is the largest cave temple in South Asia. This is a whole complex consisting of several caves, located at an altitude of 350 m. Go inside, you will admire the wall paintings and numerous statues.
11. Waitomo caves
This beauty is in New Zealand. It is known for its luminous fireflies, creating a truly surreal spectacle. These caves in 1887, the English geodesist Fred Mays opened. Once upon a time the present caves were ruled by the ocean. Water has created here mysterious cobwebs of courses and grottos. And today inside it all the walls are covered with mosquitoes Arachnocampa Luminosa, which emit a green-blue glow. Some researchers argue that the fireflies in the caves of Waitomo glow from hunger. And the hungrier the insect, the brighter it radiates light.
12. Cheyenne bunker
In the state of Colorado, USA, is located one of the most protected and inaccessible bunkers, which was created in the 1960s during the Cold War. It is located at a depth of 600 m under the rock. He had to be able to withstand the direct nuclear strike of the Soviet Union with a capacity of up to 30 megatons. The complex has its own source of drinking water, as well as a source of electricity.
13. Cemetery of West Norwood
In December 1837, the Norwood cemetery appeared in London. It is a unique monument of Victorian ritual architecture. Here there are 95 crypts, and the whole territory of the cemetery covers 16 hectares. In the land of West Norwood, the bodies of the inventor of the Maxima machine gun, Sir Harem Maxim, engineer Henry Bessemer, who had over 100 patented inventions in various fields of technology, James Greatight, architect of the London subway, sugar magnate and founder of the famous gallery Henry Tate, founder of the news agency Baron Paul Julius Reuter and Mrs. Isabella Biton, known to every Englishman as the author of the "Book on housekeeping."
14. Mayakovskaya metro station
In St. Petersburg you can see one of the most architecturally impressive metro stations. It was built in 1935 in the style of Stalinist neo-classical, but the architects argue that the presence of avant-garde details gives the station the features of art deco. And its floor is decorated with marble slabs, laid out from the stones of three courts (yellowish gasgan, red "salieti" and olive "sadahlo").
15. Poko Encantado
It is located in Brazil and is also known as the Enchanted Well. Inside this dungeon is a 36-meter reservoir. When sunlight hits its surface, crystal clear water begins to shine with an amazing azure color, from the beauty of which it is impossible to tear off the look.
16. Tunnels of Ku-Chi
The Ku-Chi district, which is in South Vietnam, is called an underground village. Here there are labyrinths with a length of 187 km. They spent 15 years digging the locals with the help of improvised means. Part of this system of tunnels created during the war of the United States against Vietnam includes numerous entrances, warehouses and living quarters, hospitals, field kitchens, weapons workshops and command centers.
17. Tomb of Belzoni or Seti I
It was found in 1817 by archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni. True, it turned out that in former times it was visited by robbers. As a result, a sarcophagus was opened and the mummy of the king Seti was abducted, which later, in 1881, was found in the cache of Deir el-Bahri. The walls of this tomb are decorated with hieroglyphs, astronomical signs. And at the end of the corridor, connecting several halls of the Egyptian landmarks, there are the gates, on which the king is depicted in magnificent military clothes and arms, sitting on a golden throne.
18. Catacombs of Paris
This is a whole system of underground tunnels with a length of 300 km, where from the end of the XVIII to the middle of the XIX century the remains of 6 million people were brought. If you decide on an excursion to the Parisian catacombs, then know that the spectacle is not for the faint-hearted.
19. Churchill bunker
Like Stalin, Churchill had his own bunker, which at the moment is a museum. It was built in 1938. And during the Second World War there were meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers, coded journalists and signalmen were sitting, from where the BBC broadcasts sometimes took place. Fortunately, the bunker did not come in handy.
20. Underground city of Derinkuyu
From Turkish it is translated as a "deep well". This is an ancient city, which is under modern Turkey in the vicinity of the village of Derinkuyu. It was built in the II-I millennium BC, and was found in 1963. Previously, this city could become a home for 20,000 people, including their livestock and food. Underground Derinkuyu consists of 8 tiers, the last of which reaches 60 m. Scientists still disagree about whether people lived here permanently or, perhaps, used an underground dwelling only during raids.
21. Cave of Crystals
It was found in Chihuahua, Mexico, and is located at a depth of 300 m. The cave is unique due to the presence of crystals, and the dimensions of some of them reach 11 m in length and 4 m in width. True, until now it has not been fully investigated. The reason is that the cave has a very high air temperature of +58 ° C.
22. Underground hotel
Believe it or not, but in the Grand Canyon is a small hotel built in a cave, which is about 65 million years old. Due to zero humidity there are no representatives of fauna, which means that if anyone decides to spend the night in a cave room, he may not worry about attacking wild animals.
23. House-im-Berg
The house-im-Berg is a cave with numerous tunnels, which used to be a refuge for many people during the Second World War. Today, this Austrian landmark is turned into a nightclub, which holds about 1,000 visitors.
24. Edinburgh warehouses
For 30 years they have been used to house taverns, shoemakers' workshops, various traders, and also as storage facilities. In the 1820s, this place became home to hundreds of homeless people. Here criminals were hiding, an illegal distillery was located where, according to rumors, serial killers hid the bodies of their victims. As the conditions for living in these premises worsened, by the 1860s all of them were emptied. And in 1985, all this was discovered during excavations.
25. Tomb of the Emperor Qin Shihuandi
This is the most stunning mausoleum complex in the world, the construction of which lasted 40 years. Over its creation, 700,000 people worked. The mausoleum itself is full of statues of terracotta warriors. It contains a golden sarcophagus. The ceiling is decorated with a starry sky, and the map of the empire flaunts on the floor. Here treasures of the imperial treasury were brought and thousands of servants and close emperors were buried alive.