Up next in 10
Many countries in the world are home to famous landmarks and monuments that attract millions of visitors each year. But some landmarks have areas inaccessible to the public - or anyone at all. These rooms might be a secret to most visitors, but they're usually not built for secretive reasons. These spaces have all sorts of purposes, from record keeping to providing a living space to recreation - or even no real purpose at all.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Every year, millions of visitors flock to historical landmarks all over the world
0:05
But many of them feature fascinating hidden passages, unknown and inaccessible to all but the most skilled clue players
0:13
So, today, we're uncovering secret rooms hidden in historical landmarks. One of the most recognizable structures in the world is the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
0:26
It was completed on March 31st, 1889. and was a major accomplishment in terms of architecture and science
0:34
Also romance. Sappy movies cannot get enough of that tower. Designer Gustave Eiffel completed the tower ahead of schedule
0:41
just in time for the Paris World's Fair, and used the extra time to add some serious perks
0:47
including his own apartment at the top. The 1,000-square-foot room boasted a full kitchen, bathroom, and living room
0:54
containing a table, couch, and a whole piano. But does it come with its own parking spot
0:58
or is it street only? The lack of a bedroom leads historians to believe Gustav never slept there
1:04
Or maybe he just crashed on the couch after a long night. Just don't get buzzed and stumble out the door for snacks, Goose
1:10
That's a long way down. The best view in the city seemed to be for Gustav alone
1:15
He would never rent it out and rarely invited anyone up. But today, the apartment is visible to the general public
1:21
dressed up how it would have been over 100 years ago. The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1869 and was, at the time, the longest suspension bridge in the world
1:36
Creating something so incredibly large was no small feat, pun intended, and portions of neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn had to be demolished in order to build the bridge's two anchorage sections
1:47
which attached the bridge to land. In an effort to compensate local merchants, and maybe offset some of that hefty $15 million budget
1:54
construction officials made sure the pillars had wine cellars and storage areas built inside them
1:59
Wine merchants and local alcohol shops began renting out the space in 1883
2:04
after the bridge was completed. But storage operations ceased once World War II rolled around
2:10
Legend says you could store one million gallons of wine in those bad boys. So if any wine moms or sideways fans are trying to plan a very specific heist
2:18
you know where to start. When you make the decision to venture into the Paris catacombs
2:26
you're mostly going to find a cartoonish amount of skulls and bones lining the walls
2:31
Okay, wait, that one moved. Sorry, couldn't resist. But what French authorities in 2004 never expected to discover
2:38
was a restaurant and small movie theater deep in the tunnels under the city
2:43
Once more they were still showing Titanic The unexpected movie house wasn even the strangest part of the discovery Further investigation revealed writings and symbols on the walls that seemed to be connected to some kind of secret society
2:55
Maybe some kind of secret movie club. Actually, that wasn't far from the literal truth
3:00
In 2011, a representative for the group called Urban Experiences took credit for the unorthodox site
3:06
The group boasts about 100 members who worked together to transform abandoned or unused spaces in Paris
3:12
into unique theater-going experiences. You can even get Big Gulp served in a novelty skull cap
3:18
At least, we hope it's a novelty skull. Back in 1901, steel baron Andrew Carnegie
3:28
gave New York City a bunch of money to build a system of 67 public libraries
3:33
We're talking $5.2 million 1901, which equals about 100 million smackaroos in today's money
3:39
These libraries were all heated by coal furnaces, which might as well have been ticking time bombs for how prone these giant pressure cookers were to exploding
3:48
As such, they required constant upkeep from live-in custodians. And you can't expect a guy keeping your furnace alive to sleep in a pile of books
3:56
So, some New York City public libraries included apartments to house these caretakers and their families
4:02
Kind of like The Shining, except without the violent ghosts. We hope
4:06
It is a 100-year-old library. Most of these rooms have been unused since the 1970s
4:11
However, renovations started in 2016. And knowing New York real estate, any available rooms would run you about $18,000 a month
4:19
with no toilet and a 20-year waiting list. In the United Kingdom in 1926, mining wages were cut 13% while weekly labor increased
4:33
Angry miners went on strike for nine days, bringing other working industries together in solidarity and causing an all-out ruckus
4:40
London's Trafalgar Square was particularly lousy with protests, and the police did not have a nearby command post
4:47
The Bobbies wanted to build a temporary building, but public outcry squashed that notion real quick
4:53
So in a compromise that doubled as a passive-aggressive insult, police built an itty-bitty station right into one of the square's large light posts
5:02
Hidden in plain sight, the former base of operations is now used for custodial storage
5:07
In other words, a base of mopperations. Okay, we'll see ourselves to jail
5:12
Thank you. It may surprise you to know that the gigantic and powerful marble archway that welcomes you to Washington Square Park is not a completely solid building
5:25
The 72-foot arch includes a doorway in its base leading to a weirdly shaped spiral staircase
5:31
which leads to a completely hollowed upper portion By not filling in the 17 ceilings in the upper area the whole shebang became less top and less costly to construct
5:42
While the archway attic is not open to the public, it is occasionally accessed for maintenance
5:46
and even once held a parks department office. Can you imagine going to work and staring at 17 feet of bricks all day
5:52
Let's ask Shaq at the free throw line. We all know Mount Rushmore as a former mountain
6:02
that got a facelift into some of the United States' most prominent leaders
6:06
But sculptor Gutzon Borglum dreamed of so much more than just four giant heads
6:11
Concerned the meaning of the mountain art would eventually be lost, Borglum had grandiose plans to carve massive blocks of text
6:18
explaining the monument's history. Hopefully, someone was ready to carve the cliff notes into a nearby mountain
6:23
for those who didn't feel like reading all that. Perhaps that idea was impractical at best
6:27
and perhaps completely bonkers. Borglum compromised with a new idea to build an underground chamber deep in the mountain
6:34
to house all the important documents and artifacts, Richie Rich style. Construction on Mount Rushmore started in 1927
6:41
but Borglum never got to see it completed. He passed away in 1941
6:46
His hall of records remained unfinished for almost half a century before being completed in 1998
6:51
Some say his ghost still haunts the underground chamber to this day
6:56
wailing on and on about how much cooler this monument could have been
7:00
if they had just let him write directly on the mountain. The Lincoln Memorial holds the distinction of being the only monument in Washington
7:12
that transforms the nation's 16th president into a creature from Attack on Titan
7:16
But underneath that enormous gargoyle of honest Abe lies a 43,800 square foot vault known as
7:23
The Undercroft. Okay, so technically, The Undercroft is more of a load-bearing unfinished basement
7:30
than a dungeon from a classic horror movie. But that's a little spooky in its own way, no
7:34
It was built in 1914 on the Potomac Flats, with dozens of concrete columns poured in to support Mr. Lincoln's giant frame
7:42
Then, The Undercroft was basically abandoned and forgotten about, with graffiti on the walls and even stalactites forming up under there
7:49
However, as of 2023, Washington, D.C. is planning a $69 million makeover
7:55
to turn the empty space into a museum and visitor's center. Fingers crossed for a patriotically spooky B&B
8:06
Ask anyone on the street how many floors the Empire State Building has
8:10
and they'll say, leave me alone. Then you'll go home and look up that the official number is 102 floors
8:17
However past the official 102nd floor lies a more exclusive and dangerous observation deck on the hidden 103rd floor This area is smaller than the general public observation deck and was built into the antenna added to the tower in 1950
8:32
On the 103rd floor, the only thing protecting you from the open air of the New York City skies
8:39
is a small two-foot-high stone barrier. Not high enough to protect you from falling 103 stories
8:45
but the perfect height to accidentally trip over. Obviously, floor 103 is closed off to the public
8:51
but that hasn't stopped celebrities like Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and King Kong from making the climb
9:03
On the fifth floor of the United States Supreme Court building, just one floor above where the Supreme Court hears some of the most important cases in the land
9:11
sits an honest-to-God b-ball court. The former storage room was converted from a storage area into a multi-purpose workout space in the 1940s
9:19
where various activities and classes were held for the staff. Since then, the gym has seen all sorts of action
9:25
from women's-only yoga classes to pick up basketball games with the Supreme Court justices
9:30
You should have seen Ruth Bader Ginsburg's finger roll. It was notorious
9:39
Visitors to the Statue of Liberty are only allowed to climb as high as her crown
9:43
But the actual highest accessible point to Lady Liberty is inside the torch and has been closed to the public since 1916
9:51
which is a shame because you could have some ' sleepovers in there
9:55
Back during World War I, a shipment of military supplies exploded in the city's harbor
10:01
In what would eventually be known as the Black Tom Explosion, German agents were found to have sabotaged the shipment meant for Britain's use
10:09
Shrapnel from the explosion damaged the Statue of Liberty's torch, and the city was forced to close it off for precautionary reasons
10:15
It hasn't been opened since, which is totally understandable. Have you ever tried cleaning up glass
10:20
You can never get every piece. If you could afford $250 an hour to play tennis
10:29
your new favorite court might be inside New York City's Grand Central Station
10:34
Beyond the iconic rail lines that run in and out of the city, tennis has existed in the station for decades, in one form or another
10:41
A Hungarian entrepreneur named Geza A. Gossdag founded the station-centered Vanderbilt Tennis Club back in the 60s
10:48
Named after Cornelius Vanderbilt, who built the first railway depot on the site back in 1871
10:53
the athletics club eventually fell into disrepair. Then, some guy named Donald Trump purchased the site in 1984, transforming it into an exclusive club for the wealthy
11:03
In 2009, it was sold again. And though it went through a bit of a makeover
11:07
the hidden and expensive tennis court still remains. Game, set, match