The Secret Life of Hidden Places Concealed Rooms, Clandestine Passageways, and the Curious Minds That Made Them

by Bachmann, Stefan; Tucholke, April Genevieve

• ISBN13: 9781523516988
• ISBN10: 1523516984
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-02-13
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company

Summary

A spellbinding tour, filled with stories and photographs, of some of the world’s most fascinating architectural mysteries.

This wondrous guide for the curious and the intrepid takes readers on a lushly photographed and lyrically written tour of eighteen of the world’s most captivating architectural mysteries. Delve into both the secretive places themselves and the eccentric and obsessive minds that created them. Visit a chamber of skulls high in the Swiss Alps, a Japanese temple full of traps, a Parisian apartment locked and untouched since World War II, a Prohibition-era speakeasy in Washington, DC, and a spooky “initiation” well in Portugal built by a secret society. How far down can you climb before losing your nerve?

Author Biography

April Genevieve Tucholke grew up on a farm, where she spent her time wandering the prairie and daydreaming. Her acclaimed, award-winning books have been published in sixteen countries. April lives in Savannah, Georgia. She loves coffee, forests, and gothic cities.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
 
1: The Sunken Manor
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE • ENGLAND
 
2: The Book Thief of Mont Sainte-Odile
BARR • ALSACE • FRANCE
 
3: A Room Like Warm Honey
TSARSKOYE SELO • RUSSIA
 
4: A City on an Anthill
PUEBLA • MEXICO
 
5: The Oddly Built Temple
KANAZAWA • JAPAN
 
6: Doll’s Eye View
AMSTERDAM • NETHERLANDS
 
7: Alchemy, Frankenstein, and “Evil Scientist” Laboratories
VARIOUS
 
8: The Winchester Mystery House
SAN JOSE • CALIFORNIA
 
9: The Initiation Well, the Knights Templar,
& the Freemasons
SINTRA • PORTUGAL
 
10: The Gateway to Hell
PARIS, FRANCE
 
11: The Labyrinth
VARIOUS
 
12: Marie-Antoinette’s Secret Escape
VERSAILLES • FRANCE
 
13: The Krazy Kat Klub Speakeasy
WASHINGTON • DC • USA
 
14: The Shocking Things in Cupboard 55
LONDON • ENGLAND
 
15: The Bone Chamber
LEUK • SWITZERLAND
 
16: Saints Below
THE VATICAN • ITALY
 
17: The Sleeping Beauty Apartment
PARIS • FRANCE
 
18: King Tut’s Tomb, Treasure Hunts, and the Need to Dig
VALLEY OF THE KINGS • EGYPT