5 Forbidden Destinations of the World

No matter how attractive some places are, they are off-limits to almost everyone. Most of these places are either too dangerous to traverse or they hold some top-secret information that cannot be shared with the general public. Let’s have a glance at the 5 of the most interesting forbidden destinations in the world.

The Red Zone, France

The usual perception about France suggests that it is the combination of sprawling metropolitan area and lush green villages. While that is true to a certain extent, France also hosts a place that has been deserted for nearly a decade. The forbidden forest, called the Zone Rouge, is located in Verdun and was used to be farmland before World War II. The transformation of this forbidden destination was caused by excessive artillery fire, which burned all signs of life to ashes. Given the fact that most of the munitions and unexploded shells are still in the area, it is forbidden for anyone to enter the 1190 square-kilometer zone. The French government did consider the idea of rehabilitating the land but ultimately decided to relocate the local villagers.

Fort Knox, Kentucky

Fort Knox is not completely hidden from everyone, unlike some other forbidden destinations in the list. In fact, this United States Army post is located in Kentucky and visible in plain sight. Having said that, many unanswered questions are left about the place as there are very few who have entered the ‘Gold Fortress’. It earned the nickname due to its location being right next to the US Bullion Depository, a gold vault full of precious items. The construction of Fort Knox was completed in 1936 and that was the time when the gold was shipped into the depository, by trains. It is forbidden for potentially everyone to enter the fort so whatever happens there, stays in Fort Knox. Quite obviously, the facility has one of the most advanced security systems of the world.

Mirny Diamond Mine, Siberia

Mirny Mine, also known as Mir Mine, is one of the larger man-made excavated holes in the world. It is an enormous open-pit and is located in the old Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, now Eastern Siberia. The Diamond rich deposit was discovered on June 13th, 1955 by Soviet geologists during the larger scale Amakinsky expedition to the Yakut ASSR. The mine is over 525 meters deep, making it the 4th deepest of its kind in the world and has a diameter of about 1,200 meters. There are some who say it can suck helicopters from the sky but to date, there have been no confirmed accidents of this kind. Don’t expect to be let in the area to find diamonds laying around because it is a forbidden destination for outsiders.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, also known as the doomsday vault, is the coldest place among all the forbidden destinations on the list. It is a storage area tucked away deep inside a mountain on a remote island in Svalbard.  It is the world’s largest seed storage and is home to crates of seeds for safe and secure long-term storage in cold and dry rock vaults. The vault holds tens of thousands of varieties of essential food crops and more than 4,000 plant species. It is a long-term seed storage facility, built to stand the test of time — and the challenge of natural or man-made disasters. The Seed Vault represents the world’s largest collection of crop diversity. In 2018, the vault received upgrades to further enhance its protective measures.

Surtsey, Iceland

The island is named Surtsey after the Norse god of fire as the island was created in 1967, following a volcanic eruption. During this massive natural disaster, columns of ash rose up to a whopping 9200 meters from the Atlantic. Despite the considerable amount of early erosion caused by the pounding seas, the island core quickly solidified as rock and it now holds its own. Having said that, the island is under close scientific observation because it homes a long-term biological research program to study the colonization process of new land by plant and animal life. Despite this program, only a handful of scientists have access to the volcanic island. In 2008, UNESCO declared Surtsey a World Heritage Site.