10 LONG-LOST SUBTERRANEAN CITIES

Abandoned Underground: 10 Long-Lost Subterranean Cities
By Steph, Web Urbanist, 24 March 2014.

Subterranean spaces now silent, dank and cobwebbed once bustled with activity - often of the illicit variety - housing secret speakeasies, opium dens, bootlegging operations and hubs for human trafficking. Others were literally entire cities unto themselves, complete with roller skating rinks. Some are still a mystery, decades after their discovery. These 10 once-thriving underground complexes were abandoned for many years and nearly forgotten as the cities above them evolved.

1. Ancient Underground Tunnels of Germany

Nobody has any clue why a network of claustrophobic stone tunnels emerge into the kitchens of farmhouses, the aisles of churches and the centre of cemeteries in a small town near Munich. The German state of Bavaria is packed with at least 700 such tunnel systems but perhaps none are so mysterious as the Erdstall, which was discovered when a grazing dairy cow suddenly fell into the earth, revealing an opening.

The tunnels are uncomfortably cramped, leading to local legends that they were constructed by elves. Archaeologists have ruled out their use as storage space or livestock housing and have found very few artefacts inside, deepening the mystery. It’s believed that only about 10% of the total tunnel system has been explored.

2. Burlington Bunker, England

A secret rail line leads from London’s royal palaces directly to a nuclear blast-proof bunker with sixty miles of roadways and its own underground lake, about 100 feet below the small town of Corsham.

Built in the ’50s to house 4,000 central Government employees during a nuclear strike, the Burlington Bunker is truly a city unto itself with kitchens, laundry facilities, its own pub and a communications hub from which the Prime Minister would have addressed the nation in the event of an attack.

Capable of withstanding bombs, radiation and poison gas, it was designed to keep its inhabitants safe and healthy for a three-month stretch. But nobody outside those with the right level of clearance even knew this facility existed until 2004, when it was decommissioned. The walls are covered in murals, the kitchen equipment still seemingly ready to churn out food for hundreds at any moment, the beds dressed in white sheets and red pillows. Read more and see hundreds of photos at BBC.

3. Shanghai Tunnels: Portland, Oregon

Unconscious men and women who had been drugged with opiates, knocked out or otherwise incapacitated were once carried through the dank tunnels leading from Portland, Oregon’s hotel and business basements out to the Willamette River at a rate of up to ten per day. The ‘Shanghai Tunnels‘ were initially built to keep ship equipment out of the rain and transport supplies to the city, but between 1850 and 1941, they were the shadowy setting for a booming slave trade. Portland became known as the “Forbidden City of the West” thanks to the ‘Shanghaiing’ trade, in which men were captured and sold to ship captains as slaves. But of course, women weren’t safe from the dangers, either: they were often kidnapped, sold and sent off to faraway cities to be held as sex slaves.

Most of these subterranean spaces have since been filled in as Portland has grown over the decades, and as far as anyone knows, there aren’t any that still lead to the waterfront. But the Cascade Geographic Society conducts tours of the parts that are still accessible, and is currently digging out new tunnels.

4. The Speakeasy Tunnels of Moose Jaw, Canada

On the surface, the town of Moose Jaw doesn’t seem much different from many other historic small towns in Saskatchewan, Canada. But just beneath the pavement is a labyrinth of tunnels constructed during the late 19th century that ultimately became known as ‘Al Capone’s Hangout.’ They were originally built so building staff could move from one building to the next to keep the furnaces going in the frigid winters, but Chinese migrants escaping persecution during the Yellow Peril eventually moved into them and started their own little subterranean society. Sleeping three to a bed, they worked long hard hours for little money and soothed themselves with opium. Then, once prohibition hit, the town became a hub for rum-running, gambling and prostitution. The Al Capone reference comes from a legend that the mobster had interests in the bootlegging operations, but no written or photographic proof exists that he ever visited.

Today, the tunnels are open for tours year-round, though the living inhabitants have long since been replaced with animatronics, and the barrels of contraband booze with empty containers.

5. Mystery Storefronts Under Leavenworth, Kansas

Who built the mysterious city beneath the streets of Leavenworth, Kansas, and why? Years after it was discovered during construction work, nobody knows. The strangest part is that this secret subterranean space isn’t just a network of tunnels - it’s block after block of actual storefronts, very similar to those built above-ground. The town appears to date back to the 1800s, and some have speculated that it was used for slavery or fugitives. Others wonder whether perhaps they were just the bottom stories of the above-ground architecture, which became hidden as the streets were built up over more than a century. Unfortunately, the residents of Leavenworth may never learn the true story of this fascinating historic space, as on-going construction threatens to bury it forever.

6. Beijing’s Underground City

While some of China’s historic subterranean spaces have been renovated into (literal) underground bars, clubs and hotels, Beijing’s Underground City remains just as dark, damp and creepy as it was when it was genuinely abandoned.

Built as a bomb shelter during the 1970s in anticipation of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, the complex of tunnels covering an area of 33 square miles includes restaurants, clinics, schools, theatres, factories, a roller skating rink, warehouses for grain and oil, and spaces for cultivating foods that require little light, like mushrooms. It has thick concrete doors and elaborate ventilation systems.

Amazingly, the tunnels were mostly dug by hand by 300,000 local citizens, including young children. While it was maintained by the government over the decades, disuse and the time-capsule effect has lent the complex an unsettling air. An official tour of one small stretch of the city was offered between 2000 and 2008, but it has since been closed for renovation.

7. Seattle Underground

The growth - and vertical rise - of a city is the explanation for the dark, boarded-up spaces beneath Seattle. When the city was founded in the mid-19th century, these spaces were at ground level, and as the streets were elevated, they fell into disuse. The decision to raise the street level came about after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed 31 blocks of the city.

Seattle’s Pioneer Square had been built on filled-in tidelands that were prone to flooding, a recurring problem. So rather than rebuilding the lost structures as they were, city officials decided to regrade the streets one to two stories higher, burying the remnants of the original city. For decades they were used as gambling halls, opium dens, speakeasies or illegal flophouses for the homeless. A small section of Seattle Underground has been restored, with wooden boardwalks and railings added to accommodate tours.

8. Wieliczka, Poland

Poland’s Wieliczka Salt Mine was built in the 13th century and produced table salt continuously until 2007, when mining was discontinued due to flooding. It’s one of the world’s oldest and longest-operating salt mines and features an underground lake.

Known as the ‘Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland,’ the complex reaches 1,073 feet into the ground and features historic statues, mythical figures and intricate ‘crystal’ chandeliers carved out of rock salt. During World War II, it was occupied by German soldiers, and it’s still home to a private rehabilitation and wellness complex. But the vast majority of this incredible space has been closed off, with only 2% open to the public for a 2.2-mile touring route.

9. Kish, Iran

The island of Kish is best known as a luxurious partying destination akin to South Beach, filled with palm trees, swimming pools, shopping malls and modern condominiums. There’s no historic architecture to speak of, or anything else that would give you any clue as to what’s hidden under the streets and manicured lawns. Underground Kish, known as Kariz-e-Kish or Kish Qanat, is a hydraulic system dating back 2,500 years. Water flows down from the mountains and is naturally filtered by the island’s coral foundation before being carried to the dry valleys. The complex of coral tunnels near the wells takes up more than five miles of space and has recently been reinforced with stone and mortar to open it up for tours.

10. Vaults of Edinburgh, Scotland

The city of Edinburgh, Scotland is built upon seven major hills, but you wouldn’t know it today - they’re masked by five bridges that span the valleys, creating a network of underground spaces and creating a man-made barrier that fortified the city. While this protected the city’s inhabitants, it also forced them to live in cramped and claustrophobic conditions, building up to 14 stories high rather than out into the surrounding countryside.

One of the bridges, the South Bridge, consists of 19 stone arches and spans a chasm just over 1,000 feet long. When it was completed in 1788, the eldest resident, a well-known and respected judge’s wife, was given the honour of being the first to cross it. Unfortunately, she died three days before the grand opening - so in a quest to honour their commitment, city officials carried her across it in her coffin. The superstitious residents of Edinburgh took this as an omen, deciding the bridge was cursed.

The city was built up higher and higher until 18 of the original 19 arches were buried, becoming home to the poorest of the poor as well as anyone looking to work in illegal trades of any sort. After a while, however, a lack of light, heat, ventilation and sanitation made these spaces uninhabitable, and they were abandoned and forgotten. Finally, in 1985, an excavation revealed them to the modern world, and like many such spaces, they’re now open for tours.

[Source: Web Urbanist. Edited.]