00:00Scientists have recently discovered Leonardo da Vinci's hidden passages
00:04under a medieval castle in Italy. They followed a newly found 15th-century sketch by the creator
00:11of the Mona Lisa and found one of the unexplored architectural wonders from the age of the Renaissance.
00:18Construction of the Sforza Castle started back in 1358, but it was destroyed about a century later
00:24during a local crisis. Then, in 1450, Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan, decided to rebuild it
00:32on the old ruins. After he passed away, his son Ludovico took over and kept improving the castle.
00:39He brought in some of the best artists of the time, including Leonardo da Vinci,
00:43to decorate its walls. We can still see Leonardo's frescoes today in the Room of Wooden Boards.
00:50While he was working at the castle, da Vinci also recorded some historical underground passages
00:56hidden beneath the outer wall. The drawing, dated between 1487 and 1490, was found at the
01:02Institut de France in Paris. The sketch is highly precise, and it proves that Leonardo
01:08was really interested in fortification design and was great at documenting existing structures.
01:15Historical records show that Ludovico ordered the building of an underground passageway
01:20that led straight to a basilica where his wife was buried. Ludovico married Beatrice in 1491,
01:26and they had a happy but tragically short marriage as Beatrice passed away while giving birth in 1497.
01:33The Duke locked himself away for weeks, grew a beard, and wore only black clothes while he was
01:39mourning his beloved wife. The secret tunnel may have stretched over half a mile and would let
01:45Ludovico visit her grave in private. It could've served as an escape route if the castle was ever
01:51under siege. The existence of the tunnels remained one of the mysteries of the Renaissance for years,
01:56as no one knew for sure they were there. But now, scientists finally uncovered the
02:02secret history. They used a combination of ground-penetrating radar and laser scanning
02:07to build up an accurate 3D model of all the structures under the castle.
02:12They found the tunnels da Vinci alluded to in his drawings, and it looks like they may have only
02:17been a small part of a whole system of historical underground passages. The goal is to create a
02:23complete digital twin of the castle that will not only show all the preserved constructions,
02:28but also the ancient ones that are no longer visible. They also plan to add augmented reality
02:34to the virtual paths to let visitors discover Leonardo da Vinci's hidden passages.
02:39Now, we don't know if the genius actually took part in constructing the hidden passages
02:44that scientists recently discovered. But we do know about some other Leonardo da Vinci inventions.
02:50He created the first satellite-like map in 1502, long before photography or satellites were even
02:56a concept. A famous figure in Italy, Cesare Borgia, invited Leonardo to a small town called
03:04Imola near Bologna to create a highly detailed map for him. Back then, maps were not very precise,
03:11as no one had figured out how to show exact distances on a smaller scale. Instead, people
03:17spent a lot of time decorating them with dragons, roses, fancy castles, mountain ranges, flowers,
03:23and other artistic details. These maps looked more like beautiful paintings meant to be displayed,
03:28rather than practical tools for navigation. But Cesare Borgia wanted something truly functional,
03:34and Leonardo managed to create something revolutionary in the field of cartography.
03:40If you compare satellite images of Imola today with Leonardo's map, the similarities are
03:44striking. He captured every alley, curve of the streets, roadways, and even the exact sizes of
03:51the buildings. And he did it all by hand, using just a pencil, ruler, compass, and several of
03:57his own clever inventions. To gather all the necessary data, the genius walked through the
04:03streets for weeks, using a large wheel that spun as he moved, recording the distance with a cable.
04:09Using the magnetic compass, he determined precise directions. He also developed a tool called the
04:15busola, which measured angles inside a circle. With this, he could track the exact turns of each
04:21street and the size of the intersections. He figured out the distances between houses and
04:26major roads. Then, back at home, he used his notes and calculations to draw the map to scale
04:33with incredible precision. In his work, da Vinci also used a technique developed by Florentine
04:39humanist Leon Battista Alberti. He created a mapping method where you could place an entire
04:45city inside a circle using polar coordinates. At the center of the city, 8 straight lines met,
04:51representing the main directions of a compass. Leonardo used this system to divide the town
04:57into 8 sections. He didn't overlook even the smallest buildings, which made his map one of
05:02the most advanced of its time. The Italian genius had a big dream
05:08to build a machine that could let people fly. He studied how birds, bats, and kites moved through
05:14the air and designed a special flying machine. He believed that if he could copy their movements,
05:19humans might be able to soar like them. Da Vinci's design looked a lot like a bat,
05:25with two large pointed wings that stretched over 33 feet wide. He planned to build the frame from
05:31lightweight pine wood and cover it with raw silk to make it strong but not too heavy. The person
05:37flying it would lie on their stomach on a wooden board in the center. To make the wings flap,
05:42the pilot had to pedal a crank with their feet, which was connected to a system of rods and
05:47pulleys. There was also a hand crank for extra power and even a headpiece to help steer. As the
05:53person moved their hands and feet, the wings would flap and twist, just like a bird's.
05:58But there was one big problem – humans aren't strong enough to make the machine lift off the
06:03ground. Even though it might've worked once in the air, there was no way for a person to get it
06:08flying on their own. Leonardo probably realized this, but his amazing idea still inspired flying
06:15machines that came centuries later. Da Vinci was way ahead of his time with many
06:21of his inventions, but his idea for a humanoid robot was especially futuristic. He was working
06:27under the patronage of the Sforza family, the one that had those ancient tunnels of Italy built.
06:33The genius designed a mechanical knight that could move its arms, turn its neck,
06:38and even open and close its mouth. Da Vinci had good knowledge of anatomy and the mechanics of
06:43body movements that helped him. His unusual creation used an external system of cables.
06:49A hand crank set it in motion, and there was also an internal gear-driven mechanism.
06:54About 450 years later, Da Vinci's detailed sketches of the robotic knight were rediscovered
07:00in the 1950s. Several researchers tried to recreate the robot from those sketches.
07:06In 2002, a roboticist who developed systems for NASA and Lockheed Martin took inspiration from
07:12the old notes and built a functioning model of Da Vinci's robotic knight.
07:17Another design Leonardo created for Duke Sforza was a special kind of bridge that could be taken
07:23apart and carried easily. It was made for defense forces who needed to cross rivers or moats while
07:29traveling. This bridge would swing across the water and land on the other side. It had wheels
07:35and used a rope and pulley system, so it could be set up quickly and packed away just as fast.
07:40To keep it steady, it even had a special weight to help balance it.
07:44Leonardo wrote in his notes that the bridge was light yet strong, and he designed several
07:50bridges like this for the Duke. One of his other designs was a bridge that could be built very
07:54quickly, and the defense forces would move across multiple rivers.
07:59As scientists continue to study Leonardo Da Vinci's hidden passages, they reveal new chapters
08:05in human history. Who knows what other unexplored architectural structures they will find?
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