Unleash your inner Indiana Jones: The most remarkable and remote art in the world revealed (and you wont find ANY in a museum)

• Discover artefacts from the real lost city of Atlantis, Heracleion in Egypt
• Rarely seen 5th century masterpieces in Ethiopian clifftop church
• 20,000 year old tribal paintings in Colombia's tropical mountains

By Dana Arnold For Mailonline

Published: 02:03 EST, 1 August 2015 | Updated: 10:45 EST, 1 August 2015

As you pace the white corridors of a slickly curated museum or gallery this summer have you ever wondered where the collections were originally sourced and what still lies hidden undiscovered? 

We’ve all encountered the art selected for us but some of the most astonishing and original art can be found where you would least expect it.

Encouraging travellers to ditch the museum and head off the beaten track, professor and author of A Short Book About Art, Dana Arnold reveals to MailOnline Travel the most remote and remarkable places to discover art and architecture around the world.

Madina Azahara, Spain

Spain was run by wealthy Islamic rulers during the medieval period which is reflected in its architecture

Madina Azahara, the ruins of an extravagant palatial city built at the foot of the Sierra Morena, five miles from Córdoba

Not many people realise that southern Spain was run by wealthy Islamic rulers during the medieval period.

As a result the art and architecture is an incredible mix of western and Islamic styles. 

Approximately five miles outside of Córdoba lays Madina Azahara, the ruins of an extravagant palatial city built at the foot of the Sierra Morena in the 10th century AD by Spanish-Arab Caliph Abd al-Rahman III. 

The city is still an active archaeological site and approximately only 10 per cent of it has been uncovered. 

The city is still an active archaeological site and approximately only 10 per cent of it has been uncovered

The city was established in the 10th century AD by Spanish-Arab Caliph Abd al-Rahman III 

Unique influences: The art and architecture of Spain is an incredible mix of western and Islamic styles

Haḍḍa, Afghanistan

Not one for the faint hearted, Haḍḍa is an archaeological site located 10km from the city of Jalalabad in East Afghanistan, now in the middle of a warzone.

However it features some of the most unusual cross-cultural sculptures in the world. 

The site’s significance came to light during the 20th century when over 23,000 Greek-Buddhist sculptures were discovered alongside what are thought to be the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts, believed to date from the 1st century BC. 

The site was instrumental in mapping the influence of classical Greek sculpture on Buddhist art. 

Dambulla Cave Temple, Sri Lanka 

Dambulla Cave Temple in Sri Lanka was occupied by prehistoric islanders over 2700 years ago

The site is thought to have been occupied by prehistoric islanders over 2700 years ago, but the temple caves you can visit today dates back to the 1st century BC. 

They contain over 2,100 square metres of intricate wall murals and Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes. The biggest statue is found in being approximate 15 meters long.

The vast amount of murals and sculptures in the caves make this one of the most important sites to see Sinhala art in the world.

The site contains over 2,100 square metres of intricate wall murals and Buddha statues

This awe inspiring Buddhist temple and UNESCO world heritage site is composed of five caves and can be found approximately 148 km east of Colombo and 72 km north of Kandy in central Sri Lanka. 

The site is thought to have been occupied by prehistoric islanders over 2700 years ago, but the temple caves you can visit today dates back to the 1st century BC. 

They contain over 2,100 square metres of intricate wall murals and Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes. The biggest statue is found in being approximate 15 meters long.

The vast amount of murals and sculptures in the caves make this one of the most important sites to see Sinhala art in the world.

The Lightning Fields, USA 

The Lightning Fields is a monumental piece of land art, completed in 1977 by American Sculptor, Walter De Maria. 

Located in an officially undisclosed location (in the desert near Quemado, New Mexico), the piece comprises of a desert place, measuring approximately 1 mile by 1 km, which contains 400 lighting rods each around 20 feet tall.

Set against an brilliantly atmospheric mountain range, if you happen to catch the piece during a storm the experience is something you will never forget. 

Official visits to the site are in great demand, and the site commissioner and maintainer, The Dia Art Foundation, won’t start taking booking for the 2016 visiting season until February 1st next year.

Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia

The lush vegetation of Colombia's Chiribiquete National Park hides remote and unique artworks

If you fancy chartering your own helicopter to see some remote art, Chiribiquete National Park, otherwise known as Parque Nacional Natural Sierra de Chiribiquete is the place for you. 

This area of incredible natural beauty occupies 3 million hectares of tropical forest, savannahs and rivers cantered around the Serranía de Chiribiquete Mountains. 

In June 2015, British filmmaker Mike Slee discovered a series of paintings on a sheer rock face that could be up to 20,000 years old.

It is thought that the paintings were made by the Karijona tribe, some of whom still live in the region.

Stairway to Heaven, Morocco

Headed to Morocco this summer? Be sure to check out the remote ‘Stairway to Heaven’ sculpture located in Plaine de Marha, approximately 30 km east of Erfoud. 

Built by German artist and architect Hannsjörg Voth in 1987, the sculpture is a 16m high stairway with 52 steps which leads down to a ‘living accommodating’ inside the structure. 

You won’t find this incredibly remote sculpture in any guide books and it isn’t signposted, and the artist asks that you only visit with one of his official guides to protect the site, and you must speak French, but if you’re looking for remote modern art, this is one place you can’t miss.  

Callanish Standing Stones, Scotland

Callanish is a 5000 year old complex of stone circles, avenues and a chambered tomb

The prehistoric site can be found on the coast of the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides

If you’re looking for some remote art a little closer to home, head to the western-most coast of the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.

There you will discover Callanish, a 5000 year old complex of stone circles, avenues and a chambered tomb. 

As with many stone circles, no one really knows why they were built, but they remain one of the most important examples of brutish prehistoric art and architecture around.

Intrepid art enthusiasts can visit remote sites a little closer to home at the Callanish

The 5000 year old complex features stone circles, avenues and a chambered tomb.

The City of Heracleion, Egypt

A French underwater archaeologist studies a large statue of the god Hapi, god of flooding, which is part of the sunken city of Heracleion

Statues, sunken ships, gold coins and jewelry are among the submerged treasures that French Marine archaeologist Frank Goddio has uncovered in the ancient submerged city of Heracleion off the coast of Alexandria

Explore the ancient underwater city of Heracleion in Egypt

We’ve all heard of the lost underwater city of Atlantis, but The City of Heracleion (also known as Thonis) located in Egypt’s Abu Qir Bay is the real deal. 

Millennia ago the city sank into the Mediterranean Sea, leaving behind a only rumours of its existence, until it was re-discovered in 2000, at which time hundreds of artefacts, including gigantic 16 foot statues were brought to the surface along with hundreds of smaller statues, 64 ships, and numerous sarcophagi littering the sea floor.

Abuna Yemata Guh Church, Ethiopia

Unleash your inner Indiana Jones: Visitors have to pass through a farm (left), and up the cliffs (right) to reach Abun Yemata Guh Church in Yemata Guh, Hawzien, Tigray Region, Ethiopia

A priest holidain a hundred year old Bible in the unique clifftop church

An Orthodox monk inside Abuna Yemata Guh church, Tigray, Ethiopia, Africa

Precariously carved into a clifftop in Northern Ethiopia in the 5th Century AD, reaching this ‘church in the sky’ is an adventure in itself: it requires a 6m climb up a sheer wall of rock with no ropes, and crossing narrow ledges with 200m drops. 

Yet the church is still in use today, with a regular Sunday service attended by locals and intrepid travellers – and for good reason.

Painted in primary colours, the frescoes that decorate the interior of the church with extraordinary depictions of angels, apostles, and other biblical figures are some of the oldest Christian art in the world, as Ethiopia’s links to Christianity date back to the Old Testament.

Alchi Monastery, India

Some of the oldest surviving paintings of the Indo-Tibetan world can be found at Alchi monastery

It’s best to dress warmly if you’re off to see this stunning Buddhist monastic complex, located in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains.

Replete with huge statues of the Buddha and elaborate wood carvings and art-work, it also contains some of the oldest surviving paintings and iconography from the Indo-Tibetan world.

Fascinating for its cross-cultural art, depicting a mix of Tibetan and Kashmiri figures and clothes, scholars believe that the artwork could be the key to rediscovering a lost civilization that once thrived along the Silk Road!

The Wellington Caves, Australia

One of the world's largest stalagmites dominates the main chamber of the Cathedral Cave near Wellington

The limestone formation known as The Altar is 15 metres high, has a circumference of 32 metres

This one’s more for those who enjoy feeling like Indiana Jones, hacking their way through a tropical jungle in a sparsely-populated area of Australia. 

The Wellington Caves are sandstone galleries that contain Aboriginal artworks thought to be at least 15,000 years old! Adorning the walls of the multiple inter-connected caves, the paintings represent the entire history of the Dreaming – the Aboriginal myths and stories. 

The cave includes the world’s only known indigenous rock-art stencils depicting whole birds, while further in the caves are images dating from the arrival of Europeans on the continent.

As heritage laws are currently being ‘streamlined’ and many Aboriginal historical sites losing heritage protection, now is the time to go explore the caves.

• A Short Book about Art by Dana Arnold is published by Tate £12.99 (www.tate.org.uk).

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