Travel
12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit
Slide Nr 1From elaborate ancient cave cities, to tunnels ruled by Prohibition bootleggers, these underground marvels have a story to tell – and you’re going to want to listen.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 2The Salt Cathedral Of Zipaquirá, Colombia – The salt mines under Zipaquirá (around an hour from Bogotá) have been a source of wealth for centuries – first for the indigenous Muisca, then for mining companies in the Spanish colonial era and beyond. At some point in the early 21st century, miners carved out a small underground chapel, which was expanded in the 1950s and dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary of Guasá, the patron saint of miners. Structural and safety concerns led to the cathedral being rebuilt in the ‘90s, with the Colombian Society of Architects holding a competition for the best redesign. Today, the cathedral is considered one of the Wonders of Colombia for its architectural importance.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 3Prohibition Tunnels Under Moose Jaw, Canada – In the 1920s and ‘30s, the Prohibition heyday of the American mafia, gangsters led by Chicago mobster Al Capone started creeping beneath the streets of the quiet Canadian town of Moose Jaw, where a labyrinth of tunnels built in the early 1900s proved perfect for smuggling liquor from Prohibition-free Canada into the US – and provided a comfortable bolthole complete with distilleries, brothels and gambling halls. Fast forward to the year 2000, when entrepreneur Danny Guillaume turned this old bootlegging route into a local – and legal – attraction, The Tunnels of Moose Jaw, where visitors today can join tours and learn about the town’s storied past.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 5The Village Of Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain – Although it’s technically 650 metres above sea level, the village of Setenil de las Bodegas in Cádiz is worth a special inclusion on this list. Why? Because much of the town is built into the rock walls of a gorge, with huge boulders and overhangs looming over the narrow streets and dwellings, particularly on the street Calle Cuevas de la Sombra. Dating back to the 13th century, the unique setting of this hamlet makes for an exciting and photogenic visit.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 6The Caves Of Camerano, Italy – Ancient marvels are many in UNESCO World Heritage-rich Italy, and while the bulk of visitors stick to cities like Venice, Naples and Rome, the Italian countryside is littered with treasures worth seeking out. Try Camerano in the Marche region, for example, where you’ll find a subterranean maze of sandstone corridors and chambers, thought to be the remains of ancient quarries or cellars used for wine storage. However, a number of architectural embellishments and seemingly religious decorative details found on the walls – bas-reliefs, friezes, patterns and symbols – link these labyrinths to the first prehistoric settlements in the area, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 7Historical Tunnels In Pilsen, Czech Republic – Originally created as a storage space for food supplies and barrels of beer, as well as a refuge in case of attack, the Pilsen Historical Underground is an ingenious 20km-long system of underground cellars and passageways located below the Czech city of Pilsen. In addition to exploring this 14th-century structure on an organised tour, you can also get a sense of everyday life in medieval times, learning how food was stored and books were bound, and checking out a replica of a unique water wheel from the early 16th century. As a reward for all that learning, you’ll even get a voucher for a local beer to enjoy after the tour.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 9Longyou Cave In Shiyan Beicun, China – Located near the village of Shiyan Beicun in Zhejiang province, these man-made caves can be considered a wonder of the ancient world, even though they’re not (yet) included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The caves were discovered 30 years ago by a farmer who crowdfunded the means to drain a local pond that was said to be bottomless – and found that it was no pond, but rather a flooded cave. Created more than 2,000 years ago, the question of who made this mind-boggling subterranean complex and why remains unanswered. 24 caves have been excavated to date, only one of which is open to the general public. Inside, visitors will find pillars and walls covered in astonishing works of embellishment, which have left scholars from around the world in awe.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 11The Monolithic Churches Of Lalibela, Ethiopia – Never heard of the town of Lalibela, in northern Ethiopia? You may be surprised to learn that it’s home to the world’s largest monolithic churches – 11 of them, to be exact. These astounding, rock-hewn places of worship – built in medieval times and connected with each other via passageways – are found only in this Ethiopian village, which has become a destination for around 100,000 Coptic Christian pilgrims every year. The largest of the structures is the Medhani Alem, with 5 aisles around 20 metres wide, but the most iconic is doubtlessly the Biete Ghiorgis, with its cruciform plan whose design, legend has it, was supervised by Saint George himself.
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12 Amazing (And Lesser-Known) Underground Places To Visit.
Slide Nr 13The Town Of Coober Pedy, Australia – Our ancient ancestors weren’t the only ones digging out underground dwellings for themselves. Just ask the residents of the isolated town of Coober Pedy, about 9 hours north of Adelaide. Blessed with 95% of the world’s opal, this is mining country (though it’s now very regulated), and the people here don’t just work underground – they live there, too. Boring into the hillsides of the Outback desert, subterranean homes called “dugouts” protect dwellers from temperatures that frequently exceed 40 degrees. Other underground amenities include a church, a gift shop, a pub and even hotels, like the Coober Pedy Underground B&B. [Photo: Steve Collis/Flickr]
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