Some places cannot be reached by car or are invisible from the road: a village of canals, a town in a rocky ravine, a fortress on an island, a settlement at the edge of the Arctic ice and a town where people live underground. Here are five of them.
Giethoorn (Netherlands). The historic part of the village has almost no roads: thatched houses sit on little islands, and people get around by boat along canals and over wooden footbridges. In summer the gardens overflow with hydrangeas and roses.
Furore (Italy). This Amalfi Coast town is called “the town that doesn’t exist”: houses are scattered across the slopes, and its famous fjord-like ravine with a tiny beach and bridge can only be seen from certain spots.
Monemvasia (Greece). A medieval town on a rocky island off the Peloponnese, joined to the mainland by a narrow causeway. It is almost invisible from the shore — hence its name, meaning “single entrance”.
Ittoqqortoormiit (Greenland). One of the most isolated settlements in the Arctic, on Greenland’s east coast, cut off by ice for much of the year.
Coober Pedy (Australia). An opal-mining town in the desert where, because of the heat, many residents live in underground “dugouts”, and there are even underground churches and hotels.
Why is Furore called “the town that doesn’t exist”?
Because it has no obvious centre: its houses are scattered over steep slopes, making it hard to see as a whole.
Why do people in Coober Pedy live underground?
The desert summers are extremely hot, while underground the temperature stays comfortable all year.
Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
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