Though churches, theatres, mountains, and museums are staple attractions when getting to know a new location, a look below the surface can reveal spectacular and little-known sights you probably wouldn’t find on a postcard.
Originally carved inside an active salt mine, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira sits 660 feet underground in Cundinamarca, Colombia. In 1950, work began on a space for workers to pray before starting their shift, with the site inaugurated in 1954, dedicated to Our Lady of Rosary, patron saint of miners. Though technically not a cathedral (it doesn’t have a bishop), the Roman Catholic church is a sight to see and serves as many as 3000 churchgoers each Sunday mass.
Spectacularly illuminated by pink, purple, green, and blue lights and entirely carved by hand, this underground attraction is worth the hour to two-hour train ride from Bogota, and can be paired with a visit to the museum of mining and mineralogy.
Daytime temperatures higher than 48C make underground living a necessity for the 1700 or so locals of Australia’s very own Coober Pedy.
The northern South Australia town is as big a destination for opal mining as it is for tourism, its subterranean hotels, restaurants, and art galleries attracting visitors below desert ground.
Hide from the heat or brave the outdoors for some grassless golf. It’s not for everyone, but it’s certainly unique.
A 30 metre-tall golden Buddha is the centrepiece ” and guardian ” of the sacred Dambulla Cave Temple in Sri Lanka, located 148km east of Colombo, 72km north of Kandy, and 183m below a slab of cold, hard rock.
Though there are plenty of cave temples around Southeast Asia, few are as majestic as this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With more than 150 Buddha statues as well as images of deities and kings, this five-cave complex is the largest and best preserved in the country.
At the end of the eighteenth century Paris had a problem: its cemeteries were full. In a bid to prevent overcrowding, authorities dove beneath terra firma, converting quarries which built the city into catacombs. These underground passages, walled with bone, house the remains of generations of Parisians, including victims of the guillotine and some of its most famous names. It is estimated there are six to seven million held within the catacombs. Five stories down and constantly 57 degrees, a tour of the spooky site covers 1.2 miles of passageways.
You’ve probably heard of the Terra Cotta Warriors, uncovered near Xi’an, China. But did you know that they were buried under an almost 30-storey-tall funeral mound at the heart of a massive necropolis constructed for the first Qin emperor?
These life-size clay soldiers, each with a different face, were modelled after real people and ” along with their terra cotta horses and weaponry ” have sat waiting for their emperor’s command for thousands of years.
Until then, they stand guard in excavated tunnels, which attract thousands of visitors below ground every year.
No matter how you feel about worms, a visit to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves in New Zealand is certain to leave an impression.
Found below rolling green hills about two hours south of Auckland, these native glow-in-the-dark worms make for one of the coolest sci-fi shows in nature.
Tours will take you on a boat ride down an underground river, and while there are other activities available in the caves, seeing the glow-worms scattered like stars is a highlight.
