Inner Sanctums - and What's Inside Them

Mount Rushmore holds more than just giant faces. Behind Abraham Lincoln's head sits the unfinished, closed-off Hall of Records.Mount Rushmore National Memorial is described in 'Inner Sanctums - and What's Inside Them'.Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum planned this spot as a place for America's story, including founding documents. Borglum stopped the plan after he died, but he carved a section of the mountain for the project. In 1998, porcelain enamel tablets with founding document text were sealed in a box under a 1,200-pound capstone in the unfinished hall. No one plans to open the box soon; they will be buried for millennia.

Talk about a view: Eiffel Tower designer Gustave Eiffel.It built a private apartment.at the top of what might be the world's most famous structure.The Eiffel Tower is the world's most famous.The monument ... the public could not enter until 2015! Eiffel let guests like Thomas Edison into the space during his life. Now, the apartment functions as a mini-museum, featuring Eiffel and Edison mannequins.

General Pershing and Franklin D. Roosevelt used Track 61 at Grand Central Station, a secret train platform in New York City that is now out of service. Closed to the public, FDR used Track 61'sTrack 61 at Grand Central Station holds a veil of secrecy.to hide his disability and access the Waldorf-Astoria hotel directly. They drove the limo off the train and into the hotel.

Between August 2000 and May 2002, a thief used a lost map to enter a hidden chamber in the Mont Saint-Odile Abbey library in Alsace, France. He stole over 1,000 rare books before CCTV caught him. It isThe Hidden Chamber at Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey is speculated.that the secret chamber—which lets passage into the library via a cupboard's back—was used by monks to spy during the Middle Ages.

This is not on the official tour: a bathroom holds pornographic paintings at the Vatican. These are not crude pictures; famous Renaissance painter Raphael painted them. A future Cardinal commissioned the images, and they showThe Secret Porn-Filled Bathroom at the Vatican contains various sexual scenes.ranging from innocent nymphs to raunchy figures like an aroused Pan. Some paintings have been destroyed over time, including one showing rape.

The New York Public Library's Underground Bryant Park Vaults hold 84 miles of shelf storage space.These vaults are under Bryant Park.This space sits 17 feet below ground. It stored the library's collection during renovations and serves as a permanent home for thousands of books. The library uses motorized carts to pull books from underground storage when needed, but the so-calledThe New York Public Library's Underground Bryant Park Vaults contain the Milstein Research Stack.are not open to the public.

In the event of a nuclear war, aThe Greenbrier functions as a secret emergency relocation center.codenamed "Project Greek Island" for the U.S. Congress sat under a resort in Sulphur Springs, VA, from the 1950s to the early 1990s. The location surfaced in aThe Greenbrier is the Washington Post.The bunker contained a dorm, hospital, kitchen, and six months of supplies. It was designed to survive a nuclear blast, but the resort guests upstairs did not.

Many speakeasy-style bars globally count as inner sanctums. Restricted access alone does not create that dream feeling once you enter.

Room 13 in Chicago is a speakeasy bar. Getting in needs a password, and it also...Only the current password.It uses Prohibition-era alcohol. A working rotary phone exists too. Sounds cool? You cannot just walk in. The password changes constantly. How do you get...This is the current password.? You have two choices: (1) join and pay an annual fee, or (2) book a night at the Old Chicago Inn upstairs. Want to stay for free? You can also visit as a guest of a current member.

What if you found an empty hidden room behind an office vent? Pixar animator Andrew Gordon and his boss Andrew Stanton faced this. They decided to build a...small private cocktail lounge! Famous people, including Steve Jobs and Tim Allen, have visited. Gordon then created a second lounge behind a hidden panel. Access requires pressing a secret button inside a statue.

Around 16,000 military-inspired artworks, some from the 1840s, fill a modern warehouse in Fort Belvoir, VA. This is not a museum. The works—including some original Norman Rockwells—are...Not.currently public. The hidden collection will move to a proper museum space once the military...raises enough money!

Not as exclusive as Disneyland'sClub 33., New York City's Please Don't Tell bar remains hard to reach. To enjoy the artisan cocktails and speakeasy feel, make a reservation starting at 3:00 p.m. the day you plan to enter. Seats in the small bar fill fast. After you reserve, to...Enter PDT.you must call them using a phone booth at the next hot dog stand (seriously). Then walk through a hidden door in the phone booth. The best part? You can enjoy the hot dogs (and other late-night food) while having the cocktails at PDT.

Under the east wing of the White House sits the nuclear bomb-proofThe Presidential Emergency Operations Center.The PEOC was built for FDR during World War II. The PEOC served as a shelter and communications center during emergencies. Military officers staff the PEOC around the clock. It was famously used during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

If you love Disney and have $27,000, plus an extra $12,000 yearly, you can joinClub 33.Disneyland's private club. You wait for swanky food and drink options, including the park's only alcohol, inside. As of 2011, a five-year waitlist existed to become a member.

Insurance broker Oberto Airaudi and his friends spent over ten years carving out a different kind of man cave.These are colorful subterranean temples.Airaudi started The Temples of Humankind beneath his Alpine home. He began this project after visions he claimed to have from a past life, starting around age ten. Nine chambers show impressive murals, mosaics, secret doors, and statues.

Hidden inside the U.S. Capitol building is...a small room.Congress uses this room for interfaith prayer; the public cannot enter. Built in 1955, it has a small altar, candles, a Bible, plants, a flag, and a stained-glass window showing George Washington praying. To see it, you must join Congress (it is not on any Capitol tour).