From a mysterious corridor snaking through Florence to a room behind Lincoln's head at Mount Rushmore: The secret spaces of 12 world famous landmarks hidden in plain sight
- Monuments including the Eiffel Tower have hidden rooms and compartments
- Grand Central Terminal is home to an exclusive members tennis club and courts
- London's streets hide historic secrets including a police station in a lamp post
Think you're well acquainted with the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building or Trafalgar Square?
Think again, if you stop for a moment and look closely at some of the world's most famous landmarks, busiest train stations and bustling walkways, you'll find unexpected spaces and rooms hiding in plain sight.
From a mysterious room at Mount Rushmore to an abandoned ballroom above Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, MailOnline Travel unlocks the secrets of top tourist attractions across the globe.
Britain's smallest police station, Trafalgar Square, London
The unassuming Lilliputian Police Station in Trafalgar Square contained a phone line connecting officers directly to Scotland Yard and was reportedly big enough to hold two prisoners at a time
Back in rowdy 1926, a year dogged by strike action, London's police force wanted an incognito way to observe crowds in the capital.
So they hollowed out an unassuming ornamental lamp post to create a space reportedly large enough to hold two prisoners at a time.
The diminutive Lilliputian Police Station contained a phone line connecting officers directly to Scotland Yard and it would cause the outside light to blink when in use. This would notify passing officers to an emergency situation unfolding.
Nowadays the former police station is used by the council's cleaners to store their equipment, according to Historic UK.
The hidden room, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota has a hidden room behind Abraham Lincoln's head. The Hall of Records - a hidden room that would tell the story of the US to future generations, including the country's charter documents - is through a doorway
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the US but few realise that behind the chiselled granite depicting Abraham Lincoln's head is a hidden room.
When he designed the monument, sculptor Gutzon Borglum had wanted to create a much larger image that included several important moments in American history as well as the images of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
Unfortunately his plan was too intricate to be completed and Gutzon was instead allowed to start work on a Hall of Records - a hidden room that would tell the story of the US to future generations, including the country's charter documents.
In the late 1990s the project was revived to an extent and the chamber room was completed with several porcelain enamel panels featuring America's history placed inside the time vault
However, Gutzon died before the project was finished and the Hall work ground to a halt for several decades.
Eventually, in the late 1990s the project was revived to an extent and the chamber room was completed with several porcelain enamel panels featuring America's history placed inside the time vault.
Sadly, tourists are not able to access the secret room as it's too difficult to reach.
The decaying ballroom, Flinders Street Station, Melbourne
The crumbling space at Melbourne's Flinders Street Station evokes the haunting decadence of a bygone age and has been closed off to the public since 1985
Beyond the bustle of commuters coursing through one of Australia's busiest train stations is an eerie abandoned ballroom dating back to 1899.
The crumbling third-floor space at Melbourne's Flinders Street Station evokes the haunting decadence of a bygone age and has been closed off to the public since 1985.
It was originally designed as a Victorian Railways Institute lecture hall to host staff events and training.
The derelict third floor also featured a library, a table tennis room, a gym, boxing ring and billiard room.
The derelict third floor also featured a library, a table tennis room, a gym, boxing ring and billiard room
During the 1950s and 1960s the ballroom hosted public events but it fell into disuse in the 1980s.
Despite 10,000 travellers using the station each day it was slated for demolition several times until the Victorian Government opted to invest AUD$100million into redeveloping it in 2015.
The government is reportedly considering fixing the derelict parts of the building with the whole project due for completion in 2019.
103rd floor viewing platform, The Empire State Building, New York
Few tourists know that there is a 'secret' deck on the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building
The floor's tiny balcony is reached via a series of elevators that take visitors past the inner workings of the building — its electricity boxes and pipes — with the final approach to the summit being up a cramped, steep metal stairway-cum-ladder
For tourists in New York, the Empire State Building's 86th floor observation deck has a magnetic pull, thanks to the sweeping views of Manhattan that can be seen through its high safety fence.
And those who want to gaze out to the very horizon head still further up to the 102nd floor 'Top Deck', to gaze out across America from behind sturdy windows.
But little do they know that there's yet another deck - a 'secret' deck, revealed by The Gothamist and photographer Navid Baraty — that is one floor further up and accessible only by those in the know.
Taylor Swift was pictured on the vertigo-inducing balcony in 2014
While the publicly accessible floors have safety measures to ensure that nobody can possibly fall from the iconic building, the 103rd floor has just a small knee-high ledge topped with a low railing.
The floor's tiny balcony is reached via a series of elevators that take visitors past the inner workings of the building — its electricity boxes and pipes — with the final approach to the summit being up a cramped, steep metal stairway-cum-ladder.
The space isn't open to the public but is mostly just visited today by celebrities, such as Taylor Swift, who was pictured on the vertigo-inducing balcony in 2014.
The art-filled corridor, Florence, Italy
This mysterious kilometre long passage-way, which is set to open to the public soon, connects Uffizi Gallery to Pitti Palace in Florence
Not only did they cut through several medieval towns and people's homes to create the tunnel but they also forced all the butchers beneath it to relocate and be replaced by jewellery stores as this offered a more pleasant view and smell for their daily journeys
This mysterious kilometre-long passage-way, which is set to re-open to the public soon, connects the Uffizi Gallery to Pitti Palace in Florence.
The art adorned corridor, named Vasari, after its architect, dates back to 1565 and was created to commemorate the wedding of Francesco I and Joanna of Austria.
Francesco's father, Cosimo de' Medici, commissioned the corridor so that the family could easily travel between their residence in Palazzo Pitti and government offices.
According to Visit Florence the elaborately decorated tunnel is undergoing renovation work but should be open to the public next year
Not only did they cut through several medieval towns and people's homes to create the tunnel but they also forced all the butchers beneath it to relocate and be replaced by jewellery stores, as this offered a more pleasant view and smell for their daily journeys.
The lavishly decorated passageway, containing art from the 16th and 17th centuries, was used exclusively for this purpose for 200 years until the gallery became private property and then was destroyed in parts by WWII bombings.
According to Visit Florence the elaborately decorated tunnel is undergoing renovation work but should be open to the public again next year.
The Eiffel Tower's secret apartment, Paris
Visitors to the top of the structure are not only rewarded with breath-taking views of the photogenic city but can also glimpse a secret apartment and office that has only recently been opened up to the public
Parisian icon, the Eiffel Tower is so well-known it may surprise holidaymakers that it houses any secrets at all.
But visitors to the top of the structure are not only rewarded with breath-taking views of the photogenic city but can also glimpse a secret apartment and office that has only recently been opened up to the public.
Back in 1889, engineer Gustave Eiffel built himself a private apartment, which only he could access during his lifetime.
It has been restored to its original condition featuring wax models of Gustave, his daughter and the American inventor Thomas Edison.
Tennis club at Grand Central Terminal, New York
Few realise that Grand Central Terminal has been home to a tennis club since the 1960s
While you're energetically speeding through Grand Central Terminal on your commute, Manhattanites in the know are working up a sweat elsewhere at the station.
Few realise that Grand Central Terminal has been home to a member's tennis club serving local sports fans and corporate groups since the 1960s.
Vanderbilt Tennis Club is situated on the upper levels of the station and includes one full sized indoor hard court, one junior court and a fitness room.
Waldorf Astoria's secret railway station, New York
Underneath the lavish Waldorf Astoria hotel is a wartime escape route used by Roosevelt
Hidden underneath the opulent Waldorf Astoria hotel is a secluded platform that allowed President Franklin D Roosevelt to travel between his presidential suite and his childhood home in Hyde Park, without attracting public attention.
Grand Central Terminal's 'Track 61' was particularly important during the war years.
The president's private railway car was able to pull inside the station, at which point he could travel straight off the carriage, unseen, into an elevator connected directly to the hotel.
Crystal Palace subway, London
This Victorian Grade II listed subway connected to the Crystal Palace station until the structure was demolished in the 1960s
Children played in the abandoned walkway and occasional raves were thrown there until the 1990s when it was closed off
Beneath an ordinary stretch of the A212 in London lies a Victorian construction that few still living knew existed until recently.
Dating back to 1865, the arched Crystal Palace station was a stop on the city’s High Line until it was ravaged by fire in 1936.
Its subway was used as an air raid shelter in WWII then the station itself was closed in 1954 and demolished in 1961, leaving the subway untouched.
Children played in the abandoned Grade II listed walkway and occasional raves were thrown there until the 1990s when it was closed off.
In the past couple of years the local community has been trying to raise funds to reopen the vaulted structure as a tourist attraction.
Until then, it does open once a year for a guided tour with limited tickets available.
Access to the Statue of Liberty's torch, New York
Until 30 June 1916, tourists at the US landmark could access a room in the torch and enjoy panoramic views across the city
Anyone who has visited the Statue of Liberty will realise that they cannot climb higher than the crown but the reason for this may have been long forgotten, as it was over 100 years ago it was rendered off limits.
Until 30 June 1916, tourists at the US landmark could access a room in the torch and enjoy panoramic views across the city.
But when a pier between Black Tom Island and Jersey City was blown up by German agents, the explosion ripped through several buildings, killing and injuring hundreds of people.
The debris ricocheted across the city with some becoming embedded in the statue’s arm, making the route to the torch’s inner room unsafe.
A secret hatch in a Leonardo Da Vinci statue, Rome
The 60ft bronze statue of Leonardo Da Vinci was unveiled at Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci airport in 1960 but it wasn’t until its renovation in 2006 that workers found a hidden hatch half way up the structure
Standing at Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci airport welcoming fliers as they arrive into Rome, the Leonardo Da Vinci statue contained one secret that lay undiscovered for 46 years.
The 60ft bronze statue was unveiled in 1960 but it wasn’t until its renovation in 2006 that workers found a hidden hatch half way up the structure, according to Atlas Obscura.
Inside, they reportedly discovered two parchments – one detailing the area’s history in Latin and the other listing the attendees of the opening ceremony.
Street signs beneath a street, London
From an island on Charing Cross Road, through underground grills, two ‘Little Compton Street’ signs can be spotted
Anyone wandering around London on foot will be rewarded with a glimpse beneath the surface into the capital’s history and inner workings on Charing Cross Road.
From an island in the road, through underground grills, two ‘Little Compton Street’ signs can be spotted.
Little Compton Street fell off the map around 1896 but rather than the street having sunk below Charing Cross Road, the signs are thought to be a part of the old utility tunnels.
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