From the ancient underground tunnels of Europe that scientists can’t explain to the spooky
tunnels leading to the Mexican underworld of the dead!
Here are ten of the most mysterious ancient underground tunnels!
10: England’s Ancient Tunnels There have been at least a dozen ancient tunnels
found in Cornwall, England that have so far mystified researchers.
These tunnels are unique to Britain and nobody can pinpoint why exactly the people from the
Iron Age built them in the first place.
These ancient tunnels date back about 2400 years.
And they aren't the only things that can be found across the Cornwall countryside.
Cornwall is also littered with hundreds of ancient stones and man-made features, from
ramparts to cliff castles, forts to cattle enclosures.
Cornwall has at least 74 structures from the Bronze Age, 80 from the Iron Age, and 55 from
the Neolithic age.
There are even a few sites from the Mesolithic age, dating back up to 8000 years ago.
And those are just the ones we have found so far!
This place has always been popular!
Throughout the years, about 150 generations of people have worked the land of Cornwall.
But they left no written record to explain why they dug dozens of mysterious tunnels
deep underground, often located beneath prehistoric settlements.
One of the best- preserved tunnels in Cornwall is a place called Halliggye Fogou (holly-guy
Fogu).
The tunnel itself is about 6 feet in height, nearly 20 feet long, and branches off into
other tunnels and other chambers.
But what's really mysterious is that the tunnel never appeared to be used for anything.
It's simply a tunnel going from one place to another without any obvious significance.
Some have speculated that the tunnels could have been used by ancient people for hiding.
Others claim the tunnels are secret burial chambers.
The truth is that nobody has any idea why these tunnels were made – nor why they were
made to last for thousands of years.
9: Pilsen Historical Underground The Pilsen Historical Underground is an ancient
complex of tunnels located beneath the city of Pilsen, in Czechia.
And yes, this is the same Pilsen that’s responsible for the famous Pilsner beer.
In fact, the historical tunnels underneath the city have been used to store beer for
centuries.
The tunnels were constructed during a period of around 600 years, from between the 13th
century and the 19th century.
The underground network of tunnels is the longest in all of Central Europe.
They were first made to transport water and sewage but were later used for dealing with
beer.
But the reason for the complexity of the tunnels goes back to the beginning of the 13th century.
It all began when citizens in Pilsen began to build cellars deep beneath their houses,
which they would then connect together with tunnels.
People used these cellars and tunnels to store food and other supplies, including beer.
By the time the 19th century rolled around, Pilsen had over 12 miles of underground passages
and one of the most complicated and advanced sewer systems in not only Czechia, but also
much of Europe.
Unfortunately, the tunnels eventually became ignored, people didn't use them anymore, and
it wasn't until archaeological interest unveiled some curious artifacts from the Middle Ages
buried in the remains of the crumbling tunnels that anyone took an interest in the Pilsen
Historical Underground.
Today, you're able to explore many of the tunnels to see what it looked like during
the city’s peak.
Have you ever been there?
What was it like?
Let me know in the comments below!
8: Tunnels to the Mexican Underworld Researchers working with the National Institute
of Anthropology and History (INAH) of Mexico have discovered a unique set of tunnels leading
beneath an ancient pyramid down into a previously unknown underworld.
According to the INAH, the researchers discovered the tunnel system underneath the tomb of King
Pakal II in the ancient city of Palenque.
The tunnel is fairly small, hardly large enough for a person to walk through without feeling
like suffocating.
An inscription on King Pakal II’s tomb stated that a god was to guide the dead into the
underworld by submerging them in water.
The tunnels were most likely created to serve as a symbolic guide to lead Pakal to the afterlife.
This is the same King Pakal who was found inside a sarcophagus with a carving of what
looked to be him blasting off in a spaceship.
He was discovered in 1948, wearing a jade mask and bead necklaces.
But judging by this new tunnel evidence, archaeologists are certain that King Pakal did not in fact
blast off into outer space.
Instead, he was probably sent spiraling down into the earth!
The tunnel network found underneath his tomb had likely been some sort of drainage system
that the ancient Maya thought would help lead the spirits of the dead down into the underworld.
The city of Palenque is famous for its architecture, temples and treasures.
The temple of inscriptions is one of the most famous monuments of the Maya and was the funerary
monument for Pakal.
The newly discovered water channels are still being excavated and it looks like there is
still much to learn about engineering and burial customs of the Maya.
7: Underground Europe There is a mysterious underground network
of ancient tunnels stretching all across Europe, from Turkey to Scotland.
And as of right now, researchers don't really know why they are there.
According to the German archaeologist Dr. Heinrich Kusch, who actually wrote a book
about these very tunnels, they were dug under hundreds of Neolithic settlements all across
the European continent, and their construction began as far back as 12,000 years ago.
This same archaeologist claims that because so few tunnels actually survived throughout
the ages to be discovered and explored, the real network of tunnels across Europe was
probably much larger than what the evidence of today shows.
In Bavaria, there have been almost 2000 feet of underground tunnel networks discovered,
with another almost 1000 feet being found in Austria.
Most tunnels are very small.
They're only just large enough for a single person to crawl through.
Some have small rooms and some have storage chambers.
But the suggestion here is that Stone Age human beings didn't just spend their days
mindlessly hunting and gathering.
They did indeed start building things, and they may have started with these strange tunnels.
But unfortunately, researchers have been unable to determine whether the ancient tunnels ever
came into contact with one another, creating an underground network of passages beneath
Europe.
And just as equally unfortunate is that nobody has been able to figure out what the tunnels
were used for.
6: Ancient Mesopotamian Cult Tunnels The city of Ani is over 5000 years old but
until recently, nobody really paid any attention to it.
But there is an entire underground world mentioned in ancient Mesopotamian texts and it turns
out, they are real!
Located on a hill, Ani is on the border of Turkey and Armenia.
This city rivaled many of the ancient world for its large size, urbanization, and magnificent
buildings.
At its peak, Ani was known as the City of 1001 Churches’ and ‘The City of 40 Gates’.
Thousands of years ago, this city was more affluent and influential than even Cairo or
Baghdad.
It was a huge deal in the 11th century with a population of over 100,000 people!! but
was eventually run over, destroyed, and ultimately abandoned.
The hundreds of churches that once glistened in the light are now in ruins.
Excavations have revealed hundreds of ancient churches, Zoroastrian temples, secret water
channels, a secret monk’s cell, massive corridors and intricate tunnels.
The area has been inhabited since ancient times, from at least as early as the Bronze
Age.
More evidence has been discovered since then.
An inscription found underground revealed that the subterranean tunnels had once been
used as a special esoteric school by the Mesopotamians, showing just how old Ani really is.
There are about 823 underground structures and caves inside Ani, including food shops,
stables, water reservoirs, and even tombs.
The city may have been more impressive below than it was above!
5: The Catacombs of Rome Under the streets of Rome there are underground
burial chambers and spooky tunnels that most tourists don't get to see.
The history behind the strange and mysterious Roman catacombs is fascinating.
The catacombs were used by early Christian Roman citizens between the 2nd and 5th century
as a place to bury the dead.
At the time, Romans practiced the Pagan custom of burning their deceased.
This was a common way to get rid of a dead body without taking up space or needing to
buy any land or build an underground cemetery.
But the Christians weren't having any of it.
So, the Romans allowed them to stockpile their dead in the underground tunnels and as Christianity
spread, so did this burial custom.
By the end of the 5th century, the catacombs underneath Rome spread like tentacles beneath
the ground for several miles.
Inside the tunnels, niches had been carved in which corpses were put to rest.
The body would be wrapped in a sheet, stuffed into a niche carved out of the tunnel wall,
then either covered with a gravestone of marble or baked clay, before finally getting the
deceased's name carved on to the stone.
And because during this time Roman law prohibited burying dead people inside the city, all the
catacombs can be found today slightly outside the original city walls.
Before the year 313 when Christians stopped being persecuted, the only place they could
bury their dead was here.
Then in the 8th century when Rome was invaded by barbarians, much of the catacombs were
destroyed and pillaged.
4: Derinkuyu Underground City A man was renovating his home in 1963 when
he accidentally discovered a tunnel that would change everything.
The man tore down his wall, he found the ancient opening into an underground city, and today
you’ve probably heard of Derinkuyu – the Turkish city in Cappadocia where thousands
of years ago the residents lived in an underground beehive.
After breaking into the tunnel entrance to Derinkuyu, archaeologists were alerted to
the man's discovery.
What they found behind the wall of his house was an elaborate subterranean network of ventilation
shafts, interconnecting passageways, and so much more.
The ancient city had hidden entrances all over the mountainous region.
It was probably used by the ancient Hittite culture to protect themselves against attack
by the Phrygians, especially between the 15th and 12 century BC.
Either that, or Derinkuyu was built by the Phrygians after they defeated the Hittite
and stole all their stuff!
But how was this underground city formed?
It was carved out of naturally formed rock and is currently the deepest underground city
anywhere on Earth.
It has about 8 floors and reaches a depth of 280 feet below the surface.
There are miles of tunnels here that have been blackened by centuries of people walking
through them carrying torches.
There are churches, livestock stalls, and even schools set up inside the underground
city.
There was even an early irrigation system that transported drinking water to the people
living underground.
3: St. Peter’s Cathedral In St. Peter’s Cathedral, Germany, there
are eight naturally mummified corpses currently on display inside glass coffins and housed
within a creepy underground crypt.
The mummified corpses were discovered in the late 17th century when an organ maker was
given a small part of the basement crypt of St. Peter’s Cathedral to work in.
The crypt had apparently been used originally for storing renovation materials, including
lead.
The naturally mummified corpses were probably preserved in such immaculate condition because
of either the lead in the air or the extreme dryness of the crypt.
The corpses had been sitting there underground for about 400 years.
When they were discovered, nobody really knew why they were there.
But eventually, each corpse was identified.
Here's what we know about the creepy corpses found in the underground tunnels beneath the
cathedral.
One mummy belonged to a man who had been killed and then mummified with his mouth twisted
open in a soundless scream.
Another of the corpses was a murdered student, another was an English countess, and yet another
was the Swedish administrator for the very cathedral he was discovered in.
His wife’s body was buried there too!
Today, you can see these magnificent mummies petrified in the dark and dank tunnels beneath
the cathedral.
2: Edinburgh Vaults The Edinburgh Vaults are a series of scary
tunnels leading beneath the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, where disturbing vulgarity, and
all kinds of mischief once ran rampant.
To understand the Edinburgh vaults, we first need to take a look at the city itself.
Edinburgh was constructed on a series of hills.
Today, the only hills visible from the city center are Castle Hill and Calton Hill, with
Edinburgh Castle perched nicely on Castle Hill.
The other hills are invisible thanks to bridges built in the 18th century, masking the valleys
that would otherwise break the city into small islands.
The most famous of all the bridges is South Bridge.
According to Historic-UK, it was constructed in the late 1700s as a way to connect Old
Town’s High Street with the University on the other side of the city.
To build the bridge, one of the poorest quarters of Edinburgh was destroyed and the bricks
were used as recycled material.
But here's where all the skullduggery comes in.
The area around South Bridge became very popular.
Space for businesses began selling at a premium.
People started to build businesses all along the South Bridge and its economy trickled
down into the dark and vaulted chambers of the bridge itself, far below the street.
These underground spaces became a hive of activity.
But then everything slowly changed yet again.
The bridge was not waterproof, meaning most of the businesses became flooded.
Illegal trade eventually prospered, and the damp and dark vault became home to the poorest
and worst people in society, including mercenaries and body snatchers!
Today, the Edinburgh Vaults have a dark and very dismal history.
The tunnels have mostly been sealed off due to the danger and have been voted one of the
most haunted places in the world.
1: The Shanghai Tunnels During Portland's industrial heyday, around
the 1850s, there was a phenomenon known as shanghaiing.
This was when a man would be kidnapped and sold as a slave to a ship captain who needed
extra crew members.
To facilitate this disturbing crime, tunnels beneath old Chinatown, nicknamed the Shanghai
Tunnels, were used to sneak illegal goods between the city and the ships, including
shanghaied victims.
The tunnels created a huge labyrinth, with many entrances and exits.
The labyrinth was also filled with underground brothels, opium dens, houses of gambling,
and illegal prisons.
The Shanghai Tunnels are still underneath Portland today and can be seen as part of
a walking tour.
The tunnels may not be that ancient, but they’re an excellent view into the illicit activities
that went on during the early days of the American port town.
Thanks for watching!!
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