- 2 days ago
Imagine knocking down a wall during a home renovation… and discovering an entire underground city beneath your feet. That’s exactly what happened to one man, and the deeper he explored, the stranger the story became. In this video, we’ll uncover how a simple construction project turned into one of the most shocking archaeological finds ever made inside someone’s house. You’ll see hidden tunnels, ancient rooms, and clues hinting at a civilization that lived completely out of sight. And as experts dig into the mystery, the scale of the city keeps growing. Let’s explore the incredible discovery that turned an ordinary renovation into a journey into the past. Animation is created by Bright Side.
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For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00Imagine discovering an ancient city without leaving the comfort of your home.
00:05In 1963, a man in the Nevzahir province of Turkey did exactly that.
00:11He was renovating his house.
00:13He knocked down a wall in his basement and found a mysterious room.
00:18He continued digging and saw a tunnel.
00:21This is how Derinkuyu Underground City was found.
00:24Derinkuyu is one of the deepest multi-level underground settlements of Tappadocia and in all of Turkey.
00:33This engineering masterpiece has eight levels.
00:35The inhabitants living on those floors had access to cellars, storage areas, chapels, a school, a study room, and other structures.
00:45All floors are connected by an extensive network of tunnels.
00:49It's believed that the underground city was built as a shelter.
00:52You can't see the construction from the outside.
00:55Its depth is approximately 279 feet.
00:59The complex was large enough to shelter about 20,000 people, plus their livestock and food supplies.
01:06There's also a 180-foot ventilation shaft.
01:09People used it both for ventilation and as a well.
01:12The well supplied water both to the villagers living on the surface and to those hiding in the underground city.
01:18Interestingly, those living on the bottom levels were able to cut off the water supply for the upper and ground levels.
01:27This kept the water safe from potential poisoning.
01:31The place was designed for protection.
01:34The tunnels could be blocked from the inside with huge round rolling stone doors.
01:38The passageways were extremely narrow.
01:41Potential invaders had to enter the tunnels one at a time.
01:44It seems like they thought of everything in the 7th century BCE.
01:50Archaeologists believed the Phrygians were the ones who first built the levels.
01:54After them, the structure was used and enhanced in Roman times.
01:58This was when the chapels were added.
02:00The golden time of Derinkuyu, however, was during the Byzantine era.
02:04But how did these people manage to create such tunnels?
02:09Well, the rock they carved them into wasn't usual.
02:13It was soft volcanic rock.
02:15It appeared due to a geological process that began millions of years ago.
02:20Volcanic eruptions covered the area in thick ash.
02:23It then solidified into this soft rock.
02:26When the natural forces of wind and water eroded softer parts, only hard elements remained.
02:31Fun fact, fairy chimneys are also made of intricately shaped volcanic soft rock.
02:39But they formed naturally without any human intervention.
02:44I'm still in Turkey, but this time, my destination is Kanekale, where a myth came to life.
02:50For 3,000 years, people believed that Homer's Iliad was fiction and that Troy never existed.
02:57In 1863, everything changed.
03:01Ex-patriate Frank Calvert discovered ancient ruins in western Turkey.
03:07He was convinced they belonged to the ancient city of Troy.
03:10Heinrich Schliemann examined this area in 1868.
03:14That's when Troy saw sunlight again after all those centuries.
03:18Troy has complex layers.
03:20Over the years, nine ancient cities were built on top of one another.
03:24Historians say that the area was strategically located between Europe and Asia, so it became
03:31a prosperous trade and cultural center.
03:34This strategic position made Troy attractive throughout history.
03:39After the Trojan conflict, the city was abandoned between the years 1100 to 700 BCE.
03:45Then, Greek settlers rediscovered the area, and Alexander the Great ruled there.
03:51The Romans then invaded the city.
03:53Speaking of this event, the first thing you would see when visiting the site is a replica
03:58of the wooden Trojan horse from a movie shot in 2004.
04:02The next stop is Lothal.
04:05In the 1950s, Lothal and several other Harappan sites were discovered in India.
04:11These new provinces extended the boundaries of the Indus Valley civilization.
04:17Lothal was an important part of the Harappan civilization.
04:21It had vast cotton and rice fields.
04:24Plus, it had a bead-making factory.
04:27Beads were made from semi-precious stones, like agate.
04:30Many of these beads were later found in Mesopotamia, which serves as evidence that Lothal was a
04:36thriving trading port.
04:39Archaeologists believe that the city was part of an ancient trade route.
04:43Traces of agriculture?
04:44Check.
04:45Traces of trade?
04:46Check.
04:47What else?
04:48The remains of residential buildings, streets, bathing pavements, and drains.
04:53Some real city planning.
04:55And impressive examples of early urbanization.
04:57The town was well-constructed.
05:01They were modern houses.
05:03Some of them had six rooms, bathrooms, a large courtyard, and even a veranda.
05:08Lothal also had the world's oldest known dock.
05:11It linked the city with the Sabermati River and the trade route.
05:15The ancient Mayan city of Calakmul is located in southern Mexico in the tropical forest of
05:23the Tierra's Bajas.
05:25From 500 CE to 800 CE, Calakmul was home to over 50,000 people.
05:31There was a central plaza surrounded by outer districts.
05:34And if we count both the inhabitants of all those outer areas and those who lived in the
05:38center, Calakmul had a population of more than 1.5 million people.
05:43It was a city that was habitable for 12 centuries.
05:49It's believed that the place had more constructions than any other excavated Maya settlements in
05:54the region.
05:55After 1,000 CE, the Maya civilization there faced a downfall.
05:59The settlement that was once the center of Mesoamerica was almost completely abandoned.
06:04The ancient city was at the heart of the second largest tropical forest in America.
06:10The site is well preserved, so today, if you were to visit it, you would be able to picture
06:16what life looked like in ancient Mayan times.
06:18The city remains include architectural complexes and sculpted monuments, defensive systems, quarries,
06:26water management features, agricultural terraces, massive temple pyramids, and palaces.
06:33Not to mention a variety of body ornaments and other accompanying objects.
06:36It proves that complex, state-organized societies lived in this tropical forest.
06:43The Mayans depicted nature in their paintings, pottery, sculptures, rituals, and even food.
06:51I'm moving on to a place people thought didn't really exist.
06:55The city of Thonis Heracleion appeared only in a few inscriptions and ancient texts.
07:01Turns out, it was waiting to be discovered for thousands of years.
07:04Scientists searched the majority of the coast of Egypt.
07:08But then, archaeologist Frank Gaudio and his team detected a colossal face looking at them from under the water.
07:15The ancient city of Heracleion was discovered completely submerged, four miles off Alexandria's coast.
07:23In the ruins of the lost city, there were 64 ships, 700 anchors, and a treasure trove of gold coins.
07:30Archaeologists consider a 16-foot-tall statue and the temple remains the most important findings discovered by the expedition.
07:39Back then, the city had ceremonies and celebrations that took place in the Temple of Amun.
07:45The ruins and artifacts were made from granite and diorite, so they were in good condition even after having been in contact with water for centuries.
07:55They give people a glimpse into what life was like 2300 years ago in one of the most important trade ports of the world.
08:02The city had a network of canals.
08:06You can think of it as an ancient Egyptian Venice.
08:09The canals linked many separate harbors and anchorages.
08:13Towers, temples, houses, and other structures were also linked by bridges.
08:18Thonis-Heracleion was the country's main port for international trade and the collection of taxes.
08:24No one really knows how the city ended up submerged, but archaeologists connect it with natural causes.
08:32At the end of the 2nd century BCE, most probably after a flood, Heracleion got covered with water.
08:40Then, Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great, became more glorious than Heracleion.
08:47Before Alexandria's fame, Heracleion was the main port of entry to Egypt.
08:52So, after the disaster, many ships heading for Heracleion had to change their route and go to Alexandria.
08:59Heracleion lost its glory until its rediscovery in 1933.
09:06Mesa Verde is an American national park in Colorado.
09:10The park is the largest archaeological preserve in the U.S.,
09:14with more than 5,000 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings.
09:18Mesa Verde means Green Table in Spanish.
09:22The name comes from the shape of the mountains in the area, with flat tops and steep sides.
09:27The park is an ancestral Puebloan archaeological site.
09:32Starting from 7500 BCE, a group of nomadic Paleo-Indians seasonally lived in Mesa Verde.
09:40They were hunters, gatherers, and crop farmers.
09:43They built the first Pueblos in the region.
09:46By the end of the 12th century, the Mesa Verdeans began constructing massive cliff dwellings,
09:52which are now the best-known structures in the park.
09:56Tunnels, metro, underground systems, and even secret passageways to the houses of the rich and famous.
10:03Why else do we need tunnels, you may wonder?
10:05To hide.
10:07Many cities have underground tunnels and even underground doppelgangers.
10:11Now, let's make it clear.
10:13Those passages are normally not connected, contrary to the popular rumor claiming that it was possible to get from Scotland to Turkey
10:20using underground passageways built around 5,000 years ago.
10:26I mean, it sounds insane even today.
10:28Imagine building it back in the day.
10:30These tunnels have an official name, the Erdstall Tunnels, and they were most likely built in the Middle Ages.
10:39However, we still don't have the exact information about the date.
10:43The highest concentration of those tunnels are in Bavaria, Germany, but there are many of them in Great Britain and France, too.
10:52Erdstall Tunnels, a unique type of earthen passage found globally, are characterized by their narrow, oval-shaped corridors and tight choke points, known as schluffs, or slipouts.
11:03Despite speculation, their purpose remains a mystery.
11:08However, some of those tunnels have fireplaces and even vents, which might mean those were used primarily for shelter.
11:17Dating back to the Middle Ages, possibly as early as the 12th century, Erdstall Tunnels lack archaeological signs and historical records.
11:26So, it's not a surprise that there are many rumors about their use.
11:30Some scientists are sure those were storage spaces, though their narrowness makes this impractical.
11:38Another idea is that they provided hiding spots for farmers during tribal raids.
11:44However, their single entry point raises doubts about their effectiveness in evading threats.
11:50Now, if you're feeling like Indiana Jones and want to venture into those tunnels, you're in luck.
11:55A few structures, like the Erdstall Radkobluchen in Austria, welcome visitors to explore these enigmatic structures.
12:03Most of them are close to the public eye, though.
12:06The origins of Erdstall Tunnels remain largely unknown, just like their real functions.
12:13And if you think, hey, it's the 21st century here, we can study pretty much everything.
12:18Well, you're wrong.
12:19What makes these tunnels hard to study are the tight confines.
12:23Traditional surveying methods often prove inadequate in such spaces.
12:28To solve this problem, scientists use a handheld device that integrates an RGB camera, a gyroscope, and high-resolution depth sensors,
12:38allowing them to capture intricate details of the tunnels.
12:41They also use modern techniques like 3D surveying in hopes of uncovering the true origins and purposes of those tunnels.
12:50One hypothesis even suggests they may have been poorly conceived dwellings, abandoned when their inadequacies became apparent.
12:58Still, not everyone quite agrees with this idea.
13:02Other theories suggest they served spiritual purposes, while the most intriguing idea speculates that those tunnels may be remnants of extraterrestrial civilizations.
13:14Experts believe they may have been used for practical matters, such as granaries or hiding spots from looters.
13:21As we don't have exact info on who built it and when, it may be pretty much anyone, even a sloth.
13:28Nope, I'm not a lunatic. Sloths can build giant tunnels.
13:33Check this out.
13:34In 2009, a farmer in southern Brazil was driving his tractor through a cornfield when it suddenly sank into the ground.
13:43He quickly discovered he had broken through the top of an underground tunnel.
13:47When researchers came to investigate, they found a tunnel around 6.5 feet high and the same 6.5 feet wide, extending about 50 feet long, right beneath the farmer's house.
14:00When they looked closer, they instantly saw deep claw marks on the walls.
14:05That was the proof the tunnel wasn't human-made.
14:08So that thing the farmer uncovered was a megafauna paleoborough, a prehistoric tunnel dug by ancient creatures like giant ground sloths or giant armadillos from over 10,000 years ago.
14:23I know, it's hard to imagine those beasts, but let me help you.
14:28Take a hamster.
14:29Now, increase it to the size of an elephant.
14:32Ah, don't forget, this 13-foot-tall hamster could also walk on two legs.
14:39During their time, around 15 million to 10,000 years ago, many species of sloths and giant armadillos roamed the Americas, some even digging similar tunnels.
14:51Today, many of these tunnels are filled with sediment, though some remain clear, similar to the one the farmer discovered.
14:58This 2009 find sparked significant interest, leading to the discovery of over 1,500 paleoboroughs across southern Brazil, making it the era with the highest concentration of such sites worldwide.
15:13But no one knows exactly why there are so many of them in southern Brazil.
15:17While some paleoboroughs exist throughout South America, none have been found in North America, which is weird, since those huge sloths roamed the entire continent.
15:30The exact purpose of these large tunnels remains a mystery, but scientists believe they may have served as nursing spaces, temperature regulation, or hibernation areas.
15:40Tunnels likely developed over centuries as successive generations of sloths and armadillos expanded them.
15:48Now, let's take a look at fugu's.
15:51No, not the Japanese fatal delicacy, and no, not a town in New Guinea.
15:57To see them, we got to travel to the UK.
16:00So fugu's are underground structures too, but they don't look exactly like tunnels.
16:05They are dry stone structures.
16:07They look as if a cave had been decorated with stones from the inside.
16:13There are only around 15 of them found so far, and most of them are located in Cornwall.
16:20According to the estimates, those tunnels were built about 2,400 years ago, and they're still in pristine condition, which is truly fascinating.
16:29I mean, back in the day, people had no cool machinery whatsoever, yet their structures still last.
16:38And if you dare to buy an apartment today, well, chances are you won't be too happy about the quality.
16:45Going back to our fugu's, there's nothing extraordinary about their supposed purpose.
16:51They could be used for spiritual purposes, as a place to hide, or a food storage.
16:56The latest application, though, is a bit weird.
17:00I guess it's not a secret for anyone that England is famous for its excessive humidity.
17:05And if you want to store your food properly, you gotta avoid the humidity at all costs.
17:10Otherwise, say, welcome to mold and fungi.
17:14But ancient people weren't dull-witted at all, or they wouldn't have survived, and you and I wouldn't be around now.
17:20So, they might have adapted those fugu's to store just some products, those that already had natural molds in them,
17:28assisting in the preservation of perishable food, like milk, butter, and cheese.
17:33But hey, those are just speculations.
17:36The true reason why they were built remains unknown.
17:39What makes fugu's unique is that they are intentionally built tunnels, not just excavated mines like those in Wales.
17:48They were crafted by digging deep trenches, lining them with stone slabs, covering them with capstones, and then filling over them.
17:56All of which took significant time and effort.
17:59Still, no matter how hard those were to construct, cities around the globe are often built over intricate tunnel systems, each unique to its location.
18:10For instance, Paris is famous for its extensive underground quarries, which were abandoned years ago, but still pose a risk of collapse in certain areas above.
18:20London boasts one of the largest tunnel networks in the world, including many that were specifically created for military purposes.
18:30In New York City, there are rumors of secret tunnels, while Los Angeles has old tunnels from the Prohibition era used for speakeasies.
18:40Many other cities also have their share of enigmatic tunnels, and surprisingly, Florida is no exception.
18:47It happened in the year 2011, in Ybor City.
18:50Near a former post office, flooding uncovered something weird, a section of an unknown structure.
18:57Back then, people didn't pay much attention to that, so it took another seven years to discover something truly fascinating.
19:05This historic neighborhood was founded in the 1880s, but it remained unknown until 2018 that it also has a hidden tunnel network.
19:15We only learned of it because of renovation work.
19:17The exact purpose, of course, is unknown, but most scientists are pretty sure that they serve to connect to early gaming spots and the Port of Tampa.
19:28Figuring out how extensive the tunnel network is, is tricky.
19:32In 2018, a historic home in Seminole Heights revealed locked doors leading to tunnels from the 1920s.
19:39One local even said he traveled through a tunnel for 20 minutes.
19:44Rumors suggest some tunnels connect to the Hillsborough River and Ybor City.
19:50Research is ongoing, but no new info has emerged yet.
19:53That's it for today.
19:58So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
20:03Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side.
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