Five Amazing Places In The World You'll Never Get to Visit

These are places in the world that have since been destroyed or damaged by time, natural events, or war. These are five amazing places we'll no longer get to see but can remember them.

#1: Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afganistan

This amazing statue of Buddha stood at an impressive 170Ft (51.8 Meters) high. That's only 10 feet higher than Frances Arc de Triomphe! And in its time was the tallest known statue of Buddha to exist.

Its age is carbon-dated to that of the 6th century (roughly 544 AD to 644 AD) making it roughly over 1,400+ years old. This is the "west" Buddha, there is a smaller version of this statue in the east that was paired with this statue.

However, its destruction wasn't an impulsive decision either, it was a months-long negotiation process with terrorists.

The Taliban formally declared on February 27, 2001 (a little over 6 months ahead of the 9/11 attacks), that they will destroy this statue. Many countries in the world offered to do what they could to formally preserve the attributes of this location. India offers to receive any artifacts to be kept safe in a museum.

Countries like Sri Lanka, China, and Japan were the strongest advocates to delegate with the Taliban to reserve this statue. Japan even offered a large monetary settlement to TRANSFER the statue in its entirety to Japan among other lists of multiple solutions to save it.

The Taliban rejected all of it and destroyed both the "West" and "East" Buddhas completely.

There is the spirit of celebrating where these statues once stood. Modern technology and 3-D projection mapping are used to demonstrate the impressive size of this statue for many to remember and remark on where this once stood.

#2: Ninevah, The Capitol of Old Mesopotamia (AKA Assyria)

This sprawling metropolitan rivaled Rome and Egypt in business enterprise, and advancement of humankind during the Bronze (3300 BC to 1200 BC) and Iron age (1200 BC to 550 BC).

Because of its central location near the Tigris River between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, it became a central hub for trade and expansion of culture.

It became the capitol of the ancient city of Assyria (now located in Mesopotamia, Iraq). It centered around multiple access gate points seen in the image below:

This city isn't new to turmoil. In fact it was during a major war with Babylonians that was partially responsible for its crumbled economy and fall as a metropolitan.

From then, it became a landmarked spot of a once-great city that could be traveled to and visit any of the 15 gates that stood at the edge of this 3,000 year-old city.

However, in 2015 the entire location of Nineveh and all of its standing gates were leveled with tractors and bulldozers. This was by the radical group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Also known as ISIS).

All of Nineveh is turned to rubble.

#3: H.H. Holmes Murder Castle

If you haven't been introduced to this prolific American serial killer from Chicago... allow me.

His real name was "Herman Webster Mudget" but carried many aliases such as "Henry Mansfield Howard", but history mostly remembers him as H.H. Holmes (Henry Howard Holmes). In short, this man is a monster. But why does the place he murdered people hold so much fascination?

The building pictured above appears to be very mundane with a floor of shops and living quarters above it. HH Holmes ran a jewelry business on the bottom floor and rented out rooms on the second and third floors.

This was especially useful during the 1893 Chicago Worlds fair where a huge influx of strangers came to Chicago to find work and experience the next phase of future technology.

The Chicago 1893 Worlds Fair became known for the first Ferris Wheel, a Westinghouse presentation of Nikola Teslas AC (Alternating Current) induction, its many incandescent lightbulbs, and the mix of plaster that made the buildings look like white stone giving it the nickname "The White City".

Holmes was a master of fraud. Insurance fraud to be exact. He was also known for stiffing multiple construction crews and architects mid-build so no one EVER had all the blueprints to know all the rooms built there.

But what secrecy did he preemptively have in mind for his room renters? He had secret hallways/staircases in between bedrooms, one-way trap doors, homemade gas chamber rooms, one-way locked doors, stairs that led nowhere, and a human-sized incinerator in the basement.

The purported 100 rooms of the building stretched the entire city block. While the first floor had been shops, the third-floor regular rooms... it's rumored the unlucky ones who were invited to the second floor were met with mazes, trap doors, and gas chambers alike.

Holmes had a history of medical study from the University of Michigan Medical School. While there (before coming to Chicago) he did make it a habit of taking out life insurance policies on the medical schools cadavers. He'd then disfigure or burn them making the additional damage look like they had just died of an accident.

He'd take out FAKE life insurance policies on these cadavers, and then plant the bodies to be found. He'd then collect the insurance.

I know that sounds STUPID easy to be caught on, but you have to understand. This era of police work was basic at best and even then, France (not the US by a long shot) was the leading investigative firm in the world at the time with Alphonse Bertillion leading the industry with mug shots and the first exploration of any sort of forensic analysis.

This habit of life insurance fraud on people extended to the actual living when Holmes would kill them himself in his murder castle. His crimes not only collected on the insurance of his victims, but he inherited the building as a whole from a prior business partner (Who owned the jewelry store first before Holmes was running it.)

The building was set on fire shortly after HH Holmes arrest by an unknown and never identified arsonist. It did not consume the entire building, it continued to be leased through the next few decades. But it was torn down outright in 1938.

#4: The Saltair Grand, Magna Utah

The Saltair Grand was built in 1893 in Magna Utah on top of the Great Salt Lake. At the time it was nicknamed "The Coney Island of the West" due to its entertainment of dances, social gatherings, and swimming activities as a resort.

The Grand Saltair had a very lush layout that was a central visiting respite for those taking the train cross country and could diverge to the Saltair on their travels.

It was a grand business venture funded by the Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railway (In conjunction with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, AKA "Mormons")

In the coming years, it expanded and at one point had the tallest roller coaster in America for the time. They also included a carousel and a few other smaller buildings for movies and roller skating.

However, in 1925 a fire broke out destroying much of the building, and nearby structures. The roller coaster survived the massive fire.

It was rebuilt as best as possible shortly after that and dubbed Saltair II. but as the Saltair was an event venue for movies, dances, rides, and other items that have given it credence as one of the first amusement parks in the USA when the depression hit in 1929 many people shunned excessive entertainment and hitting the Saltairs solvency hard.

But then a second fire broke out in 1931 causing over $100K in damages.

In the wake of World War II in 1941, it was the last nail in this business' coffin. The Saltair closed its doors and remained closed for 40 years. In that time, the roller coaster blew over and buckled in 75MPH wind in 1957, and the Saltaire was handed over to the state of Utah in 1959.

The desolate place was the shooting location for the independent horror film "Carnival of Souls" in 1962. This film would be widely ignored until it was screened at a film festival in the 80s.

A Saltair III would be built in the 80s as well. but much of its original design and grandeur were not replicated. Saltaire III is a concert venue that has hosted many modern bands like Disturbed and Evanescence.

#5: Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China

Unlike the rest of this list, much of this tomb still exists today. So much so in fact that the Chinese government has forbidden any further excavation of this tomb. However, The tomb resides in an underground Palace nearby the 7,000 terracotta warriors and horses.

The terracotta warriors are no small figurines, each on average 6 feet in height (1.8 meters tall). And some as tall as 7ft (2.2 Meters). Each warrior has a unique set of features.

While you can go see the terracotta warriors at this museum, the actual Tomb still remains unopened to this day at the center under a mound of rock. This has caused some debate for archeologists since the terracotta warriors were discovered in the mid-70s, but the Chinese government has been firm and very protective of this site.