Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries: Uncovering Mysterious Sites, Symbols, and Societies
So begins this thrilling guide to the most secretive sites around the globe, from ancient shrines to off-limits military installations, that few travelers have or will ever visit-including many that most of us don't even know about.\ Gain unprecedented access to such secret places and hidden sanctuaries as:\ The former chapter-house of Valencia Cathedral in Spain, where it's claimed the Holy Grail is held\ Montecristo, the most closely guarded island on earth, where a fabulous treasure waits...
Search in google:
The doors of some of the world’s best-hidden places and most secretive organizations have now been thrown wide open! Some of the names are familiar: Area 51, Yale’s Skull and Bones, Opus Dei, the Esalen Institute. Others are more obscure, hidden by fate or purposeful deception, such as the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, the super-secure facility where Vice President Dick Cheney was secreted after the 9/11 attacks, and Germany’s Wewelsburg Castle, which was intended to become the mythological centerpiece of the Nazi Regime. Readers can take an unprecedented look deep inside the off-the-map military installations and shadowy organizations that operate in the murkiest corners of our world.
Introduction 1Chapter 1 Mysterious Heritage 7Investigating (and, where necessary, debunking) the "Usual Suspects"Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian, Scotland 8Rennes-le-Château, France: Wholly Bunk, Hoary Tale 12Villa Tevere: The Headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome 16The Hotel de Bilderberg and the Bilderberg Group, The Netherlands 19Vauxhall Cross: London's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Headquarters 22Rosicrucian Park, San José, and Club 33, Anaheim, California 24Chapter 2 Shrines and Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern\|27Places of primordial spiritual impulses and folklore-and a psychedelic West Coast enclaveIse Shrine, Japan 28Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo 31Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet 34The Shrine of the Oracle at Delphi, Greece 36The Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California 41Chapter 3 The Temple, the Ark, and the Grail 45Undeniable surprises on the sober trail of Knights Templars, Freemasons, Holy Grail hunters, and GnosticsThe Bååtska Palace, Stockholm 46The Chapel of the Ark, Aksum, Ethiopia 53The Chapel of the Holy Grail, Valencia Cathedral, Spain 54Significant Masonic Temples from Rome and Paris to Washington and Pushkin (Russia) 55Gnosticism Today 59Chapter 4 Gothic Nightmare 61Himmler's "Black Camelot" and Nazi spiritual center, with side trips to other Germanic esoteric sitesWewelsburg Castle, Westphalia, Germany 62The Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland 71Bollingen Tower, Lake Zurich, Switzerland 74Chapter 5 Citadels of Chivalry 79Remaining outposts of ancient noble and charitable brotherhoods at the service of humanityThe Knights of Malta, Rome 81The Tuscan Order of St. StephenPope and Martyr, Pisa 88The Teutonic Order 93Chapter 6 Grottoes and Grotesques 98Strange and historic passageways, caverns, and hiding placesThe Passetto di Borgo, Rome 99The Magic Door, Rome 105The Grotto of the Beati Paoli, Palermo, Sicily 109Priest Holes in England 112Chapter 7 Modern-Day Bolt-Holes 119Secret government installations, well-oiled for use in time of war or crisisMount Weather Emergency Operations Center, Bluemont, Virginia 120The Federal Relocation Arc 128Area 51: The Facility That Does Not Exist, Nevada 129RAF Menwith Hill, Yorkshire, England 134Chapter 8 Islands of Mystery 139Five special island sanctuaries with their unique treasure hoards, inaccessibility, or spiritual significanceMontecristo: The Forbidden Island, Off the Italian Coast 141Easter Island: Mysterious Graven Images 150Isle of Lewis, Scottish Hebrides 153Iona: St. Columba's Scottish Island Sanctuary 155Svalbard: Norway's Arctic Eden 156Chapter 9 Holies of Holies 159Places on the trail of a higher reality, ultimate human destiny-and according to some, ApocalypseSancta Sanctorum, Rome's Lateran Palace 161The Pauline Chapel, The Vatican's Apostolic Palace 163The "Prophecies" of St. Malachy 164The Monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai, Egypt 165The Autonomous Monastic Republic of Holy Mount Athos, Greece 167The Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux, France 169The Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey 171Her Majesty's Chapels Royal of the Mohawks, Ontario, Canada 172Counterfactual History: The Eternal "What If ...?" 175Chapter 10 Hidden Totems 176Treasured objects or talismans of great antiquityThe Stone of Destiny 177The Holy Crown of St. Stephen of Hungary 183The British and Polish Crown Jewels in Canada 188The Holy Ampoule of the Kings of France 190Joyeuse, the Sword of Charlemagne 192The Holy Lance of St. Longinus: The "Spear of Destiny" 193Oliver Cromwell's Head 195Chapter 11 (Very) Private Banking 197A discreet tour through the great temples of high finance and private wealth managementRothschilds, London 198Banks That Are No More 199The Great Survivors: Goldman Sachs and the House of Lazard 201The Wealth Managers, Including Coutts & Co.-the Queen's Bankers 202The Swiss Banks: Models of Discretion 204The German Private Banks: Oppenheim, Warburg, and Others 207A Well-Connected American House: Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 209C. Hoare & Co. 210The Enduring Allure of Gold 210Chapter 12 University Secret Societies and Dueling Corps 212Inside the closely guarded doors of fraternities and societies for the future eliteThe Apostles of Cambridge and the Bullingdon Club of Oxford 213Princeton's Eating Clubs 215Harvard's Eating Clubs 216Yale's Senior Societies: Skull and Bones and Its Rivals 217Rivals to Skull and Bones 221The German University "Corps" 224The Mensur 229Chapter 13 Jolly Good Fellowship 223The lore, elegance, humor, and eccentricities of the great private clubs of London and the worldLondon's Private Clubs 235White's The Oldest Club 235Boodle's, Brooks's, and Others of Distinction 238Other London Clubs of Distinction 240Clubs Outside London and in Europe 245America's Private Clubs 247Sanctuaries: The Enduring Tradition 251Index 253About the Authors 259
