00:00If you are looking for an exceptional accommodation in Paris, why not consider an apartment located directly in the Eiffel Tower?
00:08When designing its emblematic masterpiece, Gustave Eiffel took care to include a private apartment at its top.
00:15With a surface area of 100 square meters, this space is particularly large, especially for a city like Paris, where housing is often ten times less spacious.
00:24This apartment included a workshop, a living space, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom and even a piano.
00:31But it did not have a bedroom, which suggests that no one ever spent the night there.
00:37Today, no one occupies it, except for the models representing Eiffel, his daughter and Thomas Edison.
00:43At the time, eminent members of the scientific community, as well as other prestigious guests, had the privilege of visiting this place.
00:51Edison was one of these few elected.
00:53On the other side of the Atlantic, the public library of New York also has secret apartments, once intended for his staff.
01:00These accommodations were commonplace in the buildings of the library spread throughout the city.
01:05But today, only 13 out of the original 30 survive.
01:09For many years, a director lived in the library on 42nd Street, where his daughter was even born.
01:15The sizes of the apartments varied, some including up to 8 rooms.
01:19In 2006, the last resident guardian retired, and these spaces are now used for other administrative or logistical purposes.
01:28Although it is known as the tallest building in the world, culminating at 828 meters, the Burj Khalifa is actually a set of interconnected structures.
01:37Its plan in the shape of an Ike, seen from above, evokes the silhouette of a smooth spider.
01:43Thanks to a design of great flexibility, the building can bend slightly under the effect of strong winds, or even during earthquakes, thus guaranteeing its safety and stability.
01:53The Burj Khalifa has more than 24,000 windows, of which cleaning requires a team of 36 people working for about 3 months.
02:01Under the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., is a crypt that visitors cross daily.
02:07The first architect of this emblematic monument had initially imagined this space as a large lobby, a vast entrance hall.
02:15A few years later, the plans evolved, and the room was intended to become the last resting place of George Washington and his wife, Martha.
02:24She had given her consent, which led the architects to modify the plans to integrate a tomb under the famous rotunda.
02:31They had also planned to erect a statue of Washington at the top, with a 3-meter hole in the ceiling to allow visitors to admire his tomb from the rotunda.
02:40However, the Congress failed to agree on the details of this memorial, leaving the tomb unoccupied.
02:47A few years later, workers sealed the opening to the ground, initially designed to illuminate the tomb, because it let cold air through the rotunda.
02:56At one time, the crypt even served as a parking lot for bicycles.
02:59Today, it hosts statues depicting the illustrious figures of the 13 original colonies, but George Washington and his wife do not rest here.
03:07They are actually in Mount Vernon.
03:09On the Place Saint-Pierre in the Vatican, a solar dial and a discreet calendar have been integrated.
03:15The 25-meter obelisk functions like a huge gnomon, projecting its shadow to indicate the time and mark specific events such as solstices.
03:25When the sun reaches its zenith, known as the midday sun, the shadow of the obelisk falls precisely on a line of stones embedded in the ground.
03:35During the winter solstice, on December 21, the shadow reaches its furthest point, while in the summer solstice, on June 21, it is much shorter.
03:44Five other particular landmarks mark the moments when the sun enters in different signs of the zodiac.
03:51A thin line of granite extends from the obelisk to the Pope's window, indicating precisely the time of noon.
03:57The city of Brighton rests on a vast network of underground tunnels, including Victorian sewers and a hidden road.
04:04Legend has it that these tunnels were built under the Royal Pavilion to allow King George IV to hold secret meetings.
04:11However, historians refute this theory, claiming that the king used them so that his servants could move between the pavilion and the sewers without being seen.
04:21With more than 150 years of existence, the 50 kilometers of Brighton tunnels are partially accessible during guided tours.
04:29However, some sections remain operational.
04:32One serves as a discharge valve for heavy rains, while another houses a shooting range.
04:37The swivel chambers located inside the Tower Bridge are among the most fascinating hidden spaces in London.
04:44These vast rooms, measuring 27 meters high, were designed as functional areas to allow the huge counterweights to move to open the bridge.
04:54They represent the final phase of the construction of the Tower Bridge.
04:58With a little luck, you can visit these chambers during an exclusive tour of the bridge's backstages.
05:03You will have to walk 115 steps under the water to reach this cold and humid space, where the rumbling of the mechanisms resonates above you.
05:12Sometimes, concerts are held there, and the acoustics are absolutely remarkable.
05:18In the early 1930s, New York had a real competition to build the tallest skyscraper.
05:23Once the 40 Wall Street was completed, it won the title of the tallest building.
05:28However, the Chrysler Building architect had an arrow installed at its top, thus taking the first place.
05:35This arrow had been discreetly prepared and was already waiting at the top of the building.
05:39The workers had to carefully lift each section of the arrow to assemble it at the top.
05:44Nearly 4 million bricks, laid by hand, were necessary to complete the building.
05:49The architecture also includes elements from the Chrysler automobile empire, such as anvils, wings, and radiator caps.
05:57At the top was a private apartment and an office for the founder of the Chrysler Corporation,
06:02who loved to boast of owning the tallest toilets in Manhattan, a real source of pride for him.
06:08The Capitol Records Building, in Los Angeles, has been sending secret messages since its inauguration.
06:13To understand them, you have to master the Morse code.
06:16The message in question is Hollywood.
06:18This bright signal has been broadcast since 1956, although it has been slightly modified several times.
06:25In 1992, to mark the 50th anniversary of Capitol Records, the bright message displayed,
06:32Capitol 50.
06:34Then, before the release of Katy Perry's album in 2013, it was modified to indicate.
06:40But few people noticed this change.
06:42Another interesting detail, this building is the very first office building in the world.
06:47The producer Samuel Lionel Roxy Rotafel imagined a secret apartment in the Radio City Music Hall in New York.
06:55Now known as Suite Roxy, this space decorated in the Art Deco style,
07:00has 6-meter ceilings decorated with gold leaves and walls adorned with rich tents from the ground to the ceiling.
07:07Among the famous guests of this apartment were Judy Garland, Walt Disney, and Samuel Goldwyn.
07:14Today, the suite is only open on special occasions and has retained its original appearance from 1936.
07:22It is possible to rent it for a private event, but the rates are reputedly exorbitant.
07:27The Grand Central station in New York offers a surprising hidden activity for travelers.
07:32A secret space called the Annex, formerly a recording studio,
07:36now houses tennis courses known as Vanderbilt Tennis Club.
07:41Visitors can access it and play tennis.
07:44The building of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C. has a secret gym.
07:50Lawyers, police officers and other employees can play basketball there.
07:56This court, sorry, this basketball court, located on the 5th floor, is nicknamed the Highest Court in the Land.
08:05A humorous sign near the court says,
08:08Basketball and alterophily are forbidden during the hearings.
08:12Of course, no one would want to see the judges abandon their work for a game of horse,
08:17but it would certainly be entertaining.
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