Top 7 Underground Worlds
The world is full of remarkable creations - both natural and man-made.
From coast to coast - hemisphere to hemisphere - the Earth is wondrously comprised of amazing
sights, creations and landscapes.
Ancient Hellenic sightseers claimed there are “Seven Wonders Of The World”, but
as with almost anything, there’s much more beneath the surface than the eye can see.
Underneath our feet, we walk above some of the most mysterious and intriguing worlds
- hidden from the naked eye.
Today, we count down seven of of the most fascinating underground worlds.
Starting at number 7, let’s take a look at the Cabinet War Rooms in London.
Offering a glimpse into a more intimately painted picture of Winston Churchill’s life
and legacy, this secret World War II bunker is a set of converted basement offices, located
in Whitehall, that served as the center of the War Cabinet under Prime Minister Churchill’s
command from 1939 to 1945.
Located near Parliament, the rooms also provided a safe and anonymous place for information
to be collected for the armed forces and King George VI.
The center was also occupied and operated by some of the leading military strategists,
government ministers and other important British figures of the time.
Becoming fully operational in 1939 and used 24 hours a day until 1945, the perfectly preserved
rooms now showcase confidential and of-the-minute war history as part of the Churchill Museum.
Keeping with underground bunkers, the Sonnenberg Shelter Tunnel comes in at number 6.
Constructed between 1971 and 1976, the Sonnenberg Tunnel was constructed near Lucerne, Switzerland
as a means to provide civilian nuclear fallout shelter relief - offering protection to over
20,000 civilians in case of war or catastrophe.
In 1963, Switzerland made it federal law for all municipalities to provide nuclear fallout
shelter to the entire population of the country.
As no exception, Sonnenberg is a massive $32 million dollar construction - consisting of
two motorway tunnels, an urban center infrastructure, an emergency hospital, a prison, an operating
theater and even a radio studio.
After many safety concerns and constructional problems with the installation following the
end of the Cold War, the cavern was steadily weened out and sized down, eventually leading
to most of its functions being abandoned and wholly unfit for true use.
Coming in at number 5 is SubTropolis - the world’s largest man-made underground storage
facility.
Sized at a whopping 55,000,000 square foot (or 1,100-acres for perspective), SubTropolis
is located in the bluffs above the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri.
Dug into the limestone of the Bethany Falls mine, this grid system of 16 foot wide tunnels
stretches over almost seven miles of illuminated paved road tunnels and railroad tracks.
Temperatures inside of the mine never fluctuate outside of 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit, making
it an ideal storage and facility location for the United States Postal Service, the
United States Protection Agency, amusement park complexes - and even the NFL.
Because of its ideal conditions and hundreds of millions of square foot potential, plans
for everything between mushroom farming and crude oil storage solutions are being considered
and expanded upon.
Speaking of caves, the fascinating Waitomo Glowworm Caves come in at number 4.
Situated inside of a cave two hours south of Auckland at Waitomo on the North Island
of New Zealand, this visitor and tourist attraction is home to an indigenous species of glowworm,
the Arachnocampa luminosa.
Beginning with a wooden-built modern visitor center at the entrance of the cave, guided
tours are offered to take visitors through the triple tiered limestone cave and catacombs,
finally arriving at an underground grotto on the Waitomo River that is completely darkened
- except for the blue and green luminescent light emitted from the glowworms.
Dangling from sticky webs above the travelers, the eerie lighting creates a star-like effect
not too far removed from a science fiction movie scene.
Moving on to a more human-populated area - The Underground City of Montreal comes in at number
3.
Officially named La Ville Souterraine (or RÉSO in French), the Underground City is
a set of interconnected complexes that weave in and around downtown Montreal in Quebec,
Canada.
Also known as the indoor city, La Ville Souterraine is the largest underground complex in the
world.
RÉSO contains sprawling, connected areas that include apartment / condominium / hotel
complexes, offices, banks, universities, 7 Metro stations, shopping malls, and amphitheater
/ arena and even full commuting and transit solutions.
Because of the unbelievably harsh winters known to strike Montreal, over 500,000 people
are estimated to use the city every day during wintertime - making it a thriving shelter
and working environment for its inhabitants.
Bearing the same name, the Underground City, located in Beijing, comes in at number 2.
This complex network of tunnels is unique in that it’s massive construction and scope
of design was created - then never used as intended.
Built at the height of Soviet-Chinese tensions around the time of the Cold War, its construction
has been referred to as the Underground Great Wall (as it was built & intended solely for
military defense).
The sprawling underground structure facilitated clinics, schools, factories, warehouses for
grain and oil - even theaters and amusement attractions - designed to withstand nuclear,
biochemical or conventional catastrophes when ordered to be constructed by Chinese chairman
Mao Zedong in 1969.
Originally able to accommodate 300,000 people for four straight months in wartime - the
location has been closed to tourists since 2008 and largely described by The New York
Times as “dark, damp, and genuinely eerie”.
Finally, the number one underground world on our list: the Catacombs Of Paris.
Holding the remains of an estimated six million people, the Catacombs Of Paris are underground
networks of ossuaries located in Paris, France - as just one subsection of the ancient Mines
Of Paris tunnel network (which itself boasts an extremely intricate and massive gallery-connected
subterranean mine system).
Built as a solution to an overpopulated and dangerous burial epidemic in 1700s France,
remains from cemeteries were transferred to the tunnel network via nightly processions
for over two years straight, culminating in a catacomb that measures over 186 miles.
Its massive size attracts tourists, who have been visiting this terrifying trip beneath
the streets of Paris since 1874.
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