The 13 Most Sheltered Areas of the World Where No One Was Taken

With the superior travel opportunities offered by the modern age, it is now much easier to explore many parts of the world -even in the pandemic period- compared to the old times. However, in the world through money or influence There are places where you cannot step. While some of these places are reserved for the richest, others are forbidden because they are related to the secret affairs of the states.

Let’s take a look at these places that we cannot travel even if we wanted to.

The 13 most sheltered places in the world:

• Cheyenne mountain complex from the Cold War era
• Gold store Fort Knox
• Korea’s demilitarized zone
• Greenbrier hotel not accessible to non-elite
• Pionen Data Center in the heart of the nuclear bunker
• Area 51 in the middle of the desert
• Vatican Secret Archives, where the most sacred and rare documents are kept
• Svalbard Global Seed Repository containing all the seeds of plants in the world
• North Sentinel Island, where the departed cannot return
• Smoke River guarded by North Korean soldiers
• ADX Florence prison where escape is next to impossible
• Bohemian Grove, the meeting place of the club, which has met for two weeks every year for 143 years
• Art-filled Lascaux Cave

Cheyenne mountain complex from the Cold War era

• Who is protecting?: Peterson-Schriever garrison
• Why is it so protected?: Because it’s a base of operations.

Located in the US state of Colorado, the Cheyenne mountain complex was used as a base of operations during the Cold War in the 1950s. In those years, a base was built inside the mountain because the possibility of bombing from the Soviets to the USA was very high. Although the Cheyenne mountain complex has lost some of its function over the years, it is still used by the US Air Force.

Gold store Fort Knox

• Who is protecting?: US Army
• Why is it so protected?: Home to $10 billion worth of gold

Also a military base in the US state of Kentucky, Fort Knox was built in 1918, the year the First World War ended, and has since been home to more than a million troops. Used by the US Treasury Department, Fort Knox houses more than half of the country’s gold reserves.

Korea’s demilitarized zone

• Who is protecting?: Korean People’s Army and UN peacekeepers
• Why is it so protected?: Buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea

When Korea was divided into two in 1945, two separate countries emerged as North Korea and South Korea. On July 27, 1953, the Korean demilitarized zone was established with the agreement of North Korea, China and the UN. This region is 250 kilometers long, 4 kilometers wide and constantly monitored, separating North and South Korea. The border is completely closed. No one is allowed to pass and the area is very well guarded. The only way to get from North Korea to South Korea (or vice versa) is to go to a connected country like Russia and cross from there.

As its name suggests, the area is a demilitarized zone, but the borders beyond the zone are the most heavily deployed borders in the world.

Greenbrier hotel not accessible to “non-elite”

• Who is protecting?: USA
• Why is it so protected?: Inside is a bunker from the Cold War era.

It may sound strange, but there is a hotel on the list of the world’s best-protected places. Founded in 1778 and still in service, this luxury hotel has hosted 26 US presidents. What makes the Greenbrier hotel so sheltered is that a huge bunker was built in the hotel during the Cold War. The bunker was built to protect congressmen should something happen. The project remained secret until 1992 when The Washington Post reported the bunker’s existence. Of course, after the news, the shelter was deactivated by the government.

Pionen Data Center in the heart of the nuclear bunker

• Who is protecting?: company named Bahnhof
• Why is it so protected?: The protected data is unknown, but due diligence indicates that this information is important.

Pionen is possibly the only data center housed in a former nuclear bunker. Originally a former civil defense center in Sweden, Pionen was turned into a data center in 2008 by internet provider Bahnhof.

Since the facility is located under the mountain, it has a 40-centimeter thick door and can only be accessed via a tunnel. The data center, capable of withstanding the hydrogen bomb, is one of the most sheltered places in the world.

Area 51 in the middle of the desert

• Who is protecting?: US Air Force
• Why is it so protected?: A top secret air force base

Area 51, which you may have seen in news filled with alien theories, is known to be used as a center for aircraft and enemy weapons investigation, analysis and research. Civilians approaching the borders of the region are warned first, and large fines are imposed if they do not leave. Security forces in the region also have the authority to kill civilians who try to approach.

Vatican Secret Archives, where the most sacred and rare documents are kept

• Who is protecting?: Vatican
• Why is it so protected?: It contains important documents belonging to the church.

We have bad news for curious travelers. Another place you’ll never be able to enter: the Vatican Secret Archives. The Vatican Secret Archives, which contain government documents, account books, correspondence and many other important documents that the church has accumulated over the centuries, was founded by Pope XIII at the end of the 19th century. It was closed to everyone until it was opened to researchers by Leo. A small part of the archive is still open to researchers today.

Svalbard Global Seed Repository containing all the seeds of plants in the world

• Who is protecting?: Norway
• Why is it so protected?: It gives humanity the opportunity to regain all plants after a possible disaster.

The Doomsday Warehouse (formally called the Svalbard Global Seed Warehouse), which has an extremely dystopian appearance in the middle of nowhere, is a warehouse established to ensure that humanity can preserve and replant plants in the event of a global disaster. The preparations for the warehouse, which was opened in Longyearbyen, Norway in 2008, started all the way back in 1983. Located in a highly isolated location, the warehouse is protected by various elements such as motion sensors, airlocks and reinforced concrete walls. When fully filled, there will be 2.5 billion seed samples in storage.

North Sentinel Island, where the departed cannot return

• Who is protecting?: India
• Why is it so protected?: There is no special situation due to natural conditions.

North Sentinel Island, one of the islands in the Andaman Islands community of India, is the home of the Sentinel tribe. The tribe kills foreigners who try to approach the island. The tribe, which is estimated to have lived on that island for about 60 thousand years, was accepted as a conservation area because it was wanted to be protected by India.

Smoke River guarded by North Korean soldiers

• Who is protecting?: North Korea
• Why is it so protected?: Because it borders North Korea

Contrary to the previous examples, this time we will talk about a river, not a building or settlement. The Smoke River, also known as the Tuman or Tumen River, is a 521-kilometer-long river that forms part of the border between China, North Korea, and Russia. The Smoke River region, which North Korea protects by keeping plenty of soldiers within its territory, has witnessed many times in history those who tried to illegally move the country in the hope of finding money and food.

ADX Florence prison where escape is next to impossible

• Who is protecting?: US Federal Bureau of Prisons
• Why is it so protected?: For hosting the most notorious criminals

This prison, which hosts the most dangerous male criminals in the US state of Colorado, is a high security prison. Escape is almost impossible in the prison, which is protected by extreme security measures such as motion-sensing laser beams, attack dogs, and three-metre-high barbed wire walls.

Each cell of this facility, which is mostly underground, has a table, chair and bed made entirely of cast concrete. In addition, each cell has a toilet that shuts itself off when clogged, a timer-operated shower to prevent flooding, and a sink with a safety faucet.

The windows are designed to prevent inmates from determining their position in the prison. When they look outside, they can only see the sky and the roof. Thus, making an escape plan becomes almost impossible. ADX Florence prison usually holds the most dangerous members of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

The meeting place of the club, which has been meeting for two weeks every year for 143 years, is the Bohemian Grove.

• Who is protecting?: Private club called Bohemian Club
• Why is it so protected?: Said to host the richest and most influential people in the world

Bohemian Grove, which belongs to the Bohemian Club, a private men’s club based in San Francisco, is spread over an area of ​​approximately 10 thousand square kilometers. Protected by extremely high security measures, the Bohemian Grove hosts rich and important people from all over the world for two weeks every summer.

The event lasts for two weeks once a year, but the grove is protected throughout the year. High-end security cameras, motion detectors and vibration sensing alarm systems are used to protect the area. Of course, security measures are increased when club members are at the camp. Although it is not known exactly what they are doing inside, it is thought that they do various activities to relieve stress in general.

Art-filled Lascaux Caves

• Who is protecting?: UNESCO
• Why is it so protected?: It contains works of art from the prehistoric period.

There is nothing mysterious. The Lascaux Caves in southwest France are so sheltered because they contain more than 900 examples of prehistoric art. The caves have been closed to the public since 1963. The reason is that an unknown mushroom wave started to damage the artifacts in the cave. Naturally, people’s entry into the cave is now considered both dangerous and destructive. Security guards can only enter the caves from time to time, and they stay for only a few minutes.

The story of the discovery of the caves is not like the movies. In 1949, the entrance to the Lascaux Caves was discovered when 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat and his dog fell into a pit.

Sources: The Travel, Leisure Guide Security, ListVerse