From wartime tunnels and salt mines to temples and shrines deep inside the earth’s crust to historic cisterns and ancient settlements beneath the modern-day metropolis, from nuclear shelter to a treasury carved inside the rocky mountain, the world under the ground presents a series of attractions to tourists who love to explore. In this Snapshot we have dug up the most interesting subterranean sights around the world for our readers.
1. Al Khazneh, Jordan The ancient city of Petra in Jordan is known to all. One of the most imposing attractions here is the Al Khazneh treasury. This is a structure carved directly into a sandstone rock face. It is believed to be an ancient tomb of Nabatean King Aretas IV dating to 1st century AD. In the 19th century it got the name of ‘treasury’ because the local Bedouins believed that a large amount of wealth was stored inside. As you enter through the six-column facade, deep inside the womb of the earth you get to see a colossal inner chamber and sanctuary.
2. Stockholm metros, Sweden The underground rail network in Stockholm is important for reasons other than fast commuting. Each metro station in the city is a treat for the eyes, replete with unique art, murals and installations. Considering a hundred odd stations, if you plan to spend a day looking at the art in each of them, you will feel like being in the world’s longest art exhibition.
3. Cango Caves, Oudtshoorn, South Africa 29 km from Oudtshoorn, in the picturesque Cango Valley, one finds the spectacular underground wonder of Cango Caves. These are limestone formations on the foothills of the Swartberg Range. There are two types of tour here, the Standard Tour which is a one hour long heritage tour and the Adventure Tour which lasts for 1.5 hours.
4. Raufarhólshellir lava tunnel, Iceland While this is the fourth largest lava tunnel in Iceland, it is a popular tourist attraction due to its proximity to the capital city of Reykjavík. It is a 100 foot-wide tunnel that was formed when lava gushed out through it during a volcanic eruption more than 5,000 years ago. There is a metal pathway with lighting that allows visitors to see the impressive colours and geological formations inside the earth.
5. Greenbrier Bunker, West Virginia, US A great memoir of the Cold War is this bunker that was built in the late 1950s to house all 535 members of the Congress in the event of a nuclear war. The US government asked the owners of the 700-room Greenbrier Hotel, a luxury hotel with white Sulphur Springs, in West Virginia, for permission to build this emergency relocation center underneath the property. The hotel authorities agreed, and construction was begun in 1957. Built 720 feet underground, it could easily survive a nuclear attack. It has two levels and each level is the size of a football field. The bunker was kept a secret even from the members of the con-gress and the entrance was heavily guarded by undercover government employees. The bunker would be fully stocked with food, medicines and other essentials for about 1000 people for 60 days at a time for 30 years and the same would be replaced with fresh stock regularly. The place was decommissioned in the early 1990s. Today it is West Virginia’s most popular attraction. There are daily tours of the place.
6. Ajanta Caves, India A cliff-face in the Maharashtra state of India hides beautifully preserved murals, carvings and sculptures dating from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD deep inside the earth’s crust. In this UNESCO World Heritage Site there are a total of 30 rock-cut Buddhist caves with a network of halls that remained lost until in 1819 the tiger-hunting party of Captain John Smith accidentally stumbled across an entrance hidden inside the forest. The paintings inside depict the various lives and rebirths of the Buddha and have pictorial narrative of various Jataka Tales. These are considered as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art.
7. Colosseum underground, Rome, Italy While we all know about the Colosseum in Rome, not many know that there is a lot to explore beneath the surface of the world-famous monument. There are dungeons where gladiators and animals waited before their fight. There is a reconstructed trap door and wooden elevator that was used to lift the fighters to the arena level.
8. Salt cathedral of Zipaquirá, Colombia About 650 feet under the ground, in an abandoned salt mine, in the vicinity of the Colombian capital city of Bogota, the Zipaquirá salt cathedral is located. The underground cathedral is built in the area hollowed out by miners. It is a place of pilgrimage of both locals and tourists. A tunnel leads visitors to the depth of the cathedral. It is open to visitors on all days except on Sundays when it is reserved for Catholic services.
9. Basilica Cistern, Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul is known to have several ancient cisterns beneath it. The Basilica cistern is the largest and most popular of them all. This subterranean colossal tank was built underneath an ancient basilica under orders of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 532 AD. Under the Ottomans it came to be known as Yerebatan Saray. It was gradually lost and was only rediscovered in the 16th century when a Frenchman, intrigued by locals who could fish from their basements, began investigating. Today it is open to public and is an important tourist attraction in Istanbul. Supporting the structure, there are a total of 336 columns, many of which originally belonged to ruined temples. The bottom is filled with water and there are raised platforms for visitors to move around.
10. Kiek in de Kök Tunnels, Tallinn, Estonia Kiek in de Kök is an important tourist attraction in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. There are secret tunnels under these fortifications that are rich in history. The mysterious bastion passages were built during the 17th and 18th centuries to hide soldiers defending the city, redeployment of troops from one site to another, the movement of arms and ammunition and other equipment from the watchful eyes of the enemy. They were also used to monitor the enemy’s activities of planting mines. The massive walls surrounding the passages and the vaulted ceiling are made of limestone. Galleries are 1.5m - 2.5m in width and 2.5 - 3m in height. The scarp wall is over 3m, in places almost 4m thick. The bastions and passages were never really used for their intended purposes, but for storage space. Post the Crimean War, in 1857 it was no longer listed as military site and local municipality built parks on top of these man-made hills. In course of time the passages were completely abandoned, yet the curious people managed to get in through some opening and explore these from time to time, thus giving birth to countless stories and legends about the underground labyrinth. During World War II the bastions were used as shelter during the air raids and saved many lives. The shelters got a complete makeover during the Soviet era with stone slabs on the floors, ventilation, toilets, three-level metal bunk beds, electricity, telephone lines, pipelines for running water and all other necessary equipment to provide accommodation for people during a nuclear war. The nuclear war shelter was abandoned in the second half of 1970s. Thereafter it was temporarily used as a venue for storage of sculptures of the Art Foundation, documents etc. After the collapse of the erstwhile Soviet Union, many people of re-independent Estonia were unable to cope up with rapid changes around and ended up living on the streets and in these tunnels. Finally these were vacated in 2004, and the local administration started renovating them to make them accessible for public. While the exact length of these tunnels underneath the Old Town is not known, a total length of 470m has been renovated and is open to visitors.
11. Metros of Moscow, Russia Of all the tourist attractions in Moscow, its metro stations feature among the top. They are spectacular examples of Soviet art and architecture, and are replete with impressive mosaics, columns, statues and chandeliers. Many tour providers take visitors on a guided trip to the most interesting stations.
12. Coober Pedy, Australia Located 846km from Adelaide, Coober Pedy is also known as the Opal capital of the world because of the many mines of precious opals located here. But it also has another claim to fame. To escape the extreme heat of the desert, its residents have dug their residences deep down the earth. There is an underground opal museum, a hotel, a restaurant, shops, campsite and even a Serbian Church. The subterranean town is a tourist attraction. It has been aptly named ‘Coober Pedy’ which comes from the Aboriginal term ‘kupa piti’ meaning ‘white man’s hole in the ground’.
13. Waitomo Caves, New Zealand In the North Island of New Zealand’s one finds the Waitomo Caves which presents a series of sculpted tunnels with stalactites and stalagmites. One can take a boat trip on the Waitomo River here. The caves are more famous for the vast cathedral grotto, where one can see the otherworldly constellations created by thousands of a particular glow worm species found only in New Zealand.
14. Bunker 42, Moscow, Russia This bunker was originally built in Moscow as a protection during nuclear tests by Soviet Union but was never used for the purpose. Rather it was used as an airstrike command base to communicate with aircrafts transporting bombers carrying nuclear weapons for over three decades from 1956 to 1986. After change in political power and disintegration of the Soviet Union, it was made a Cold War Museum and today it houses an interesting restaurant. The bunker is 180 feet (equal to the height of 18 floors) under the ground and a lift takes visitors into the depth in only a few seconds. The Cold War Museum and the restaurant, both are worth checking out.
15. Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan Also known as the ‘Door to Hell’, this is a natural gas field that later collapsed into a cavern. In the Karakum desert of Turkmenistan, this ever burning sinkhole presents a surreal picture. While the exact story behind the fire is not known, it is believed that Soviet scientists, after the end of their drilling operations in 1971, set it on fire either by mistake or intentionally. This led to the collapse of a huge part of the land. The gas inside is still burning. This crater is one of the most famous tourist attractions of Turkmensitan.
16. Wieliczka salt mine, Krakow, Poland This is a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Poland. It is a nine levels-deep salt mine that has been mined since the 13th century up until 2007. Today the first three levels are open to the public. Inside one finds chilly corridors leading to illuminated chambers that have sculptures carved from salt and vast underground chapels carved out by miners. The chandeliers here are also made from rock salt.
17. Chu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam This underground network of tunnels in Vietnam was once home to Viet Cong guerillas who fought against the US troops and South Vietnamese government. The tunnels were used during the Vietnam War as living quarters, hospitals, supply routes and storage areas. There are two complexes of extensive tunnel network located northwest of Ho Chi Minh City where underneath hundreds of miles of area are extremely narrow, claustrophobic tunnels, some of which have been actually widened for visitors. A 120km-long complex now serves as a war memorial and visitors, those who can squeeze through the tiny holes can explore the tunnels while literally crawling on their hands and knees.
18. Derinkuyu underground city, Cappadocia, Turkey In 1963, one of the greatest discoveries was made – that of the hidden multi-leveled underground cities in Cappadocia region of Turkey. With the knocking down of a wall in his basement, a local resident found a honeycomb of secret passageways that led to bedrooms, bathrooms, and even churches, schools and tombs that had been carved into the soft rock beneath. Soon about 200 underground cities were discovered in the region. These were capable of sheltering thousands of people in the event of an invasion. The carving of the cities had started way back in the 8th century BC. It is not known as to who built these cities, but they have been home to people of different races and tribes across the centuries. Of all these cities Derinkuyu, that once housed 20,000 people and their livestock, is the largest one and extends to a depth of 60m.
19. Crypt at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, England This Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London, is known for its impressive dome, but it also has an interesting attraction under the ground. In the crypt there are many tombs including that of Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, Lord Nelson who was killed in the battle of Trafalgar and Sir Christopher Wren, the cathedral architect.
20. City Market Catacombs, Indianapolis, USA Among the thousands of people who visit the bustling City Market area of Indianapolis, very few know about the network of crisscrossing tunnels underneath. Built of limestone and bricks and connected by archways, the eerie feeling here is more because of the name and the grim history. Spread across 20,000 square feet, this place once used to be the basement of Tomlinson Hall, a vast municipal building that was demolished after a fire in 1958. The new City Market grew up gradually on top of it later. Today there are organised tours to explore the musty underground and is especially a favourite with ghost hunters.
21. Catacombs, Paris, France Housed in an abandoned quarry beneath the streets of Paris, the catacombs are a labyrinth of eerie underground passageways and galleries that display the bones and skulls of six million Parisians arranged in a decorative manner. The bones and skulls, interred between 1785 and 1860, were moved here from the city graveyards in the 18th and 19th centuries when the city’s cemeteries became full. Faced with a difficult situation, the city known for art and fashion, thought of giving these an artistic shape. The result was this place with a dark side. The neatly stacked piles of bones include the remains of many who lost their heads to the guillotine during the French Revolution. Of the 180-mile-long maze of tunnels, visitors can tour around one mile at a depth of 20m.
22. Berber village of Matmata, Tunisia The Berber village of Matmata in southern Tunisia where part of the Star Wars series was filmed is yet another underground attraction. Here one finds typical Berber troglodyte homes that were built by first digging out a large pit to form the central courtyard. Thereafter outer subterranean rooms are carved out of the soft sandstone.
23. Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh, Scotland Mary King’s Close was once over the ground, a busy street of Edinburgh until plague struck in 1645. The densely inhabited place was badly infested and quarantine was imposed on the people living here to contain the disease. Most of the inhabitants were left to die, leading to stories of haunting today. The close was later opened and the place was inhabited by people until 1753, when the residents were finally evicted to make way for new buildings to be built above the old street. This led to the permanent sealing of Mary King’s Close for 250 years. It was recently reopened for tourists who wish to have a glimpse of the 18th-century life.
24. City of Caves, Nottingham, UK This is a network of caves carved out of sandstone that were used for various purposes like housing, tannery, cellars and air raid shelters from the 11th until the mid 19th century, when St. Mary’s Enclosure Act banned the rental of cellars and caves as homes for the poor. Today it is open to visitors who can see medieval wells and cesspits inside. The entrance to the cave network is located in Broadmarsh Shopping Center.
25. De Ruien, Antwerp, Belgium The second largest city of Belgium is known for many modern attractions. But its history flows underneath the city. In the Middle Ages there were sewers, streams and ramparts criss-crossing the city which provided the city with water and a port. They were later covered with vaulted ceilings and disappeared from view and soon from memory too. Today, one can rediscover the old city by making a trip to De Ruien. It is a walk along vaulted ceilings, narrow canals, bridges and sewers in semi-darkness. The guide narrates the history as you walk along.
26. G-Can flood surge tunnels, Tokyo, Japan This is the world’s largest underground flood water diversion facility that was built to solve the problem of flooding of the city’s major waterways and rivers during the rainy season. It brings to visitors excellent example of impressive underground engineering. There are 50 meters deep tunnels that are 6.4km-long which connect five containment silos with a height of 65m and a diameter of 32m. The highlight of this subterranean structure is the enormous, temple-like main tank, which contains 78-horsepower pumps and is supported by 59 enormous pillars.
27. Shanghai Tunnels, Portland, Oregon, United States The old Portland Underground, more popularly known as Shanghai Tunnels, are a series of passages that connect basements of many bars and hotels of the erstwhile Chinatown area to the waterfront on the Willamette River. The passages were in use prior to the 1800s to move goods from ships that docked here. These are also believed to be used for kidnapping men to serve as sailors, a practice more known as ‘shanghaiing’, from which the tunnels got the name. Regular tours are available now.
28. Domus Aurea, Italy After the great fire of 64 AD destroyed a large part of the ancient city of Rome, Emperor Nero built a huge landscaped palace on the ruins and it came to be known as Domus Aurea, Nero’s ‘Golden House’. A palace of unbelievable scale and magnificence, it got lost to humanity over the centuries until in the 15th century a young man accidentally fell through a cleft and found himself surrounded by beautiful frescoes. Later many locals and notable artists volunteered to be let down on shafts to study the art and architecture. The huge palace is now under the ground and excavation and renovation is going on for last few decades; frescoes are visible in excavated rooms and VR goggles allow visitors to see it as it was. Domus Aurea was built and destroyed before the Colosseum was constructed and today it lies next to the Colosseum.
29. Salina Turda, Turda, Romania It is an interesting museum of salt mining history (the largest salt mine museum in the world). It displays machineries used for the purpose that are in excellent state. The ancient mine was in continuous use for extraction of salt till 1932. During the Second World War it also acted as a shelter from bomb, and later as a place of storage for cheese. The underground mine is open to tourists and today there are add on facilities like swimming pool, spa, sunbathing, bar terrace, and so on.
30. St. Michael’s Cave, Gibraltar This cave forms part of a network of limestone caves inside the Rock of Gibraltar and receives about 10,00,000 visitors a year. The Cathedral Cave, the largest of the chambers inside, had natural acoustic properties for which it was converted into an auditorium. It has a concrete stage and a seating capacity of 100. Regular show including musical concerts, light and sound shows, beauty pageants etc. are held here.
31. Burlington Bunker, Corsham, England Underneath the historic market in Corsham there lies buried a secret underground city. The 35-acre city has living quarters with kitchens, laundries, storerooms, a hospital, a cafeteria, a phone exchange, a television studio, about 100km of road and even an underground lake to supply fresh drinking water to the inhabitants. There was also an internal communication system throughout the city. 100ft below the busy market, this subterranean city was built as a bunker during the Cold War as a shelter from bombs, poison gas and radiation for three months for about 4,000 people. Although never really used for the intended purpose, the bunker was kept a secret till 2004.
32. Port wine cellars, Porto, Portugal A visit to Porto, Portugal’s second largest city, is incomplete without a trip to its famous port wine cellars. In the underground cellars the fortified wine is aged in tanks or wooden barrels for years and then exported. There are many guided tours available.
33. Copenhagen Cisterns, Denmark Underneath the Søndermarken Park across the Frederiksberg Castle, there is a cathedral-sized underground reservoir that was once filled with 16 million litres of drinking water. Today it is a part of the Frederiksberg Museum and a venue for art exhibitions and events. The beautiful architecture of the former cistern adds value to the exhibitions.
34. Seattle Underground, Washington, United States After the Great Seattle Fire destroyed swathes of the city in 1889, the city authorities decided to rebuild it one or two stories higher. Located on mudflats, the original settlement was prone to flooding. The new one was built 3 - 10 meters above the old. But one can still take a guided tour to the original Seattle and pass through shop-lined subterranean streets.
35. Khor Virap Monastery, Armenia This monastery is located in the Ararat plain of Armenia close to the Turkish border. From here one can have a great view of the Ararat Mountain on the Turkish side. It is here that St. Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned for 13 years before he successfully cured King Trdat III of a disease. This resulted in the conversion of the King to Christianity and Armenia became the first nation in the world to officially adopt Christianity in 301 AD. On a visit here one can see the underground chamber in which St. Gregory was imprisoned.
36. Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, Shanghai, China If you are visiting Shanghai, this is a ‘must do’. The 647m-long Bund Sightseeing Tunnel runs underneath the Huangpu River and connects the Bund and Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zones close to the Pearl Tower. It is a special public transport that costs more than the metro, but the journey is an unmissable experience. The 3-5 minutes of travel takes the passengers on rail cars through a fascinating sound and visual effect.
37. Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Gwynedd, Wales These are underground slate caves near Blaenau Ffestiniog in northern Wales that depict the history of slate quarrying in the region. Today the site has been renovated and made an interesting subterranean playground with huge trampolines, zip lines and more for visitors. The highest trampoline at 180ft is almost the same height as a cathedral spire.
38. Postojna Cave, Slovenia With a length of 24km, this karst cave system in Slovenia is one of the longest in the world. Underground tourism at this place is more than 200 years old. There are interesting artworks on limestone created by the Pivka River inside. It is the first underground cave in the world to have a railway. It was illuminated much before the city of London, and has the only underground post office in the world. There are also hidden tunnels to explore and adventure activities to pump up the adrenaline.
39. Dambulla Cave Temple, Srilanka Also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla, this cave temple located in central Srilanka is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the complex there are about 80 caves of which 5 are particularly important. They contain paintings and statues related to the life of Gautama Buddha. There are a total of 153 Buddha statues here, three statues of local kings and four of gods and goddesses like Ganesha and Vishnu. These caves have been inhabited by local people for 2700 years, much before Buddhism came to the country. The temples were built in the first century BC.
40. The underground city, Canada Above ground, Montréal is a fascinating city, but one must see the underground city here as well. La ville souterraine or the underground city consists of 14 miles of passages that provide access to the metro, ice skating rinks, hotels, restaurants, shops and underground parking. It might sound unbelievable, but the underground city is decorated with chandeliers, modern art and Canada’s largest indoor water fountain.
41. Portuguese Cistern of El Jadida, Morocco The Moroccan port city of Mazagan (present day El Jadida) was ruled by the Portuguese for 250 years before being reoccupied by the Moroccans in 1769. Preserved remnants of the former Portuguese occupation of the place can still be found here. The fortress in the old town and the magnificent cistern underneath it still remain. The cistern was a filming location for Orson Wells’ Othello.
42. Butte underground city, USA The secret world beneath Butte includes a barber shop, shoe shops and a prison. The place was an important copper mine and there are wellpreserved relics from early 20th century when mining was at its peak. Over ground it was highly populated and property prices were high. So people started using the underground for living and doing business. These were connected by tunnels. Today the underground city is open to tourists.
43. Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada Underneath downtown Moose Jaw, tunnels were built in early 1900s with a view to protecting Chinese railway workers from persecution during the Yellow Peril, a racist panic that gripped the city and affected the Asian immigrants who had arrived to find work. Immigrant families lived in the tunnels while working above ground, but when the immigration was prohibited the tunnels came to be used for smuggling. Al Capone was among the smugglers who are believed to have used these tunnels. Today there are interesting daily tours led by an Al Capone look-a-like.
44. King Arthur’s Labyrinth, Wales Underneath the mountains of southern Snowdonia, lies a disused slate mine. Visitors can explore it by booking a tour with a cloaked boatman who takes guests past a waterfall, along winding tunnels and into vast underground caverns, while narrating the myths and legends associated with King Arthur and wizard Merlin.
45. Blair Street Vaults, Edinburgh, Scotland Underneath the Old Town of Edinburgh, there exists a dark subterranean network of passages where the Blair Street Underground vaults from the 18th century were discovered in the 1980s. These underground vaults were once the haunt of the city’s most despicable criminals. Today there are spooky trail tours that take you inside to show the gloomy past of smuggling, murders and body snatching.
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