#video #hidden beneath the cities s01e04
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00:00In Ybor City, Florida, workers uncover hidden tunnels, raising questions surrounding their purpose.
00:08Who had the means, who had the motive to build them?
00:11And what might they suggest about the hidden activity that once moved beneath Ybor City?
00:17In Naples, Italy, a hidden tomb was uncovered deep underground.
00:22We believe the necropolis once held dozens of tombs.
00:28But key questions persist.
00:31Who was buried here?
00:32And what do these elaborate chambers tell us about the Hellenistic Neapolis?
00:37In Nushabad, Iran, a local digging a well unearths a massive underground complex known today as Ui.
00:45Ui had largely stayed hidden from the modern world until its rediscovery in 2006.
00:50And the question remains, why was it built in the first place?
00:55Below the busy streets of the world's cities exists a hidden realm of wonder.
01:02Sprawling ancient complexes.
01:06Mysterious tombs.
01:08Top secret military bases.
01:12Strange structures.
01:13And lost artifacts.
01:16Buried beneath our feet and long forgotten.
01:21Until now.
01:23Underground marbles are exposed to reveal what lies hidden beneath the cities.
01:40Three miles northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida lies Ybor City, a vibrant neighborhood born of industry and shaped by immigrants.
01:49But long ago, it was a haven for organized crime, where ambition and vice collided.
01:57In 1885, Spanish-born magnate Vincent Martinez Ybor moved his operations from Key West to Tampa, pushed by labor unrest,
02:07weak infrastructure, and political instability in Cuba.
02:10Attracted by Tampa's rail lines and port, he bought 40 acres northeast of downtown and built a planned community of
02:18factories and worker housing, laying the foundation for the city's rise as an industrial powerhouse.
02:27In 1896, cigar industrialists expanded their reach by founding the Florida Brewing Company.
02:33Set near Key Rail Lines and Government Spring, a crucial water source, the brewery thrived.
02:40By 1900, it was reportedly exporting more beer to Cuba than any other American brewery.
02:47As Ybor City expanded, so did Tampa's underworld.
02:51From the late 1800s through the mid-20th century, the city gained a reputation for organized crime that was so
02:58entrenched that federal authorities ranked it as one of America's most corrupt cities.
03:03In November 2018, demolition crews working at 12th Street and 6th Avenue in Eber City uncover a brick-lined tunnel,
03:13reigniting questions about the neighborhood's rumored subterranean past.
03:19The tunnel has rounded ceilings and a flat, mostly dirt floor, and modifications like intersecting pipes, electrical wiring, and double
03:30locks.
03:31Reinforced by three layers of brick, the ceiling sits roughly one foot beneath street level.
03:38While a small segment of the tunnel was initially exposed during streetcar construction in the early 2000s, the 2018 excavation
03:47revealed additional details.
03:49Glass bottles, traces of a spring, and a direct connection into the basement of the Florida Brewing Company.
03:56At least three tunnels have been documented beneath Ybor.
04:02At the former Blue Ribbon Store on 7th Avenue and 15th Street, a local news report mentioned three separate passages
04:08extending from the 26,000-square-foot building.
04:12A fire in 2000 destroyed the building and sealed any existing entrances, leaving the extent of these tunnels unknown.
04:21In a region where basements are uncommon, these tunnels raise important questions.
04:26Who had the means, who had the motive to build them?
04:30And what might they suggest about the hidden activity that once moved beneath Ybor City?
04:36The straightforward design of the tunnels suggests they might have initially served a practical purpose.
04:43The tunnel discovered in 2018 appears to date to between 1885 and the late 1890s, right in line with Ybor
04:54City's early expansion.
04:56Structurally, it matches dual-use sewer systems designed to manage both wastewater and stormwater that were constructed in other U
05:06.S. cities around that time.
05:09Could the tunnels represent the city's first attempts at sanitation and stormwater control?
05:17In the 1700s and 1800s, cities along the eastern seaboard built brick storm drains that doubled as sewage channels.
05:25Gravity would transport waste toward the bays or channels.
05:29The tunnel discovered in 2018 likely once extended directly to the Ybor channel before being sealed off,
05:36which supports the idea that it originally functioned to carry wastewater toward the waterfront.
05:43At the time, Tampa was experiencing explosive growth.
05:46The arrival of the railroad in 1883, the construction of the ultra-luxurious Tampa Bay Hotel in 1891,
05:53and the rise of the cigar manufacturing and brewing industries transformed the city.
05:57By 1900, Tampa's population had tripled to 16,000.
06:01Dealing with sewage and drainage would have likely been a concern.
06:07Roughly 1,000 miles north, in New York City, similar challenges led to groundbreaking infrastructure innovations.
06:18By 1849, New York's population had surged to nearly 500,000 people.
06:24Sewage flowed into the rivers, and the city was struck by one of its worst outbreaks of cholera.
06:29In response, 70 miles of sewer pipe were laid in just five years.
06:35It's reasonable to think that other fast-growing cities like Ybor may have looked to similar solutions.
06:41In Ybor, a team laser scanning the 2018 tunnel found an artesian spring still flowing through the tunnel,
06:51one that was documented nearly a century earlier.
06:54While the spring alone doesn't confirm the tunnel's purpose,
06:59its presence, along with the drainage pipes,
07:03strongly suggests the structure was intended for early water management or sewage.
07:10Interestingly, some of the pipes date to the 1970s or 80s,
07:15indicating later reuse or modification.
07:17While this particular tunnel was eventually identified as a stormwater sewer on a 1927 city plan,
07:25other tunnels don't appear in official records.
07:30Some of the tunnels also have flat dirt floors, which make them less effective for drainage.
07:34While they may have started as part of Ybor's early sanitation efforts,
07:38more advanced systems were in place by 1905.
07:41So it's possible their use evolved beyond any original civic function.
07:46Local lore, combined with the location of the tunnels,
07:50has led some to question whether they were built or later used for covert activity.
07:56Even before national prohibition, Florida had enacted its own ban on alcohol,
08:01which meant that Tampa was dry.
08:04But by the 1920s, liquor arrived by boat from Cuba and the Caribbean,
08:08and it also came in from local stills across Hillsborough County.
08:14Given the hundreds of bootlegging arrests on record,
08:17could these tunnels have offered smugglers a protected route underneath Ybor?
08:22By 1930, Tampa had roughly 130 underground liquor retailers.
08:30In Ybor, bootlegging became a thriving cottage industry.
08:34Some estimates suggest half the neighborhood's families were involved,
08:38as homemade stills supplied cafes, restaurants, and speakeasies.
08:44With that level of activity, the tunnels may have offered a discreet way to move cash and contraband,
08:52especially for Tampa's Italian community, who profited heavily from the trade.
08:57That underworld economy overlapped with the rise of mob figures,
09:02like Charlie Wall, who built an empire on gambling,
09:05and by the 1890s, had taken over Tampa's Bolida rackets,
09:09an illegal numbers game with an 80-to-1 payoff,
09:13reportedly with backing from local business leaders eager to keep profits in the city.
09:19By the 1930s, Italian bootlegging operations were encroaching on Wall's territory.
09:24A violent turf war broke out, and in the late 30s,
09:27assassins tried to kill Charlie Wall in broad daylight,
09:30blasting at his car with a sawed-off shotgun.
09:32But Wall escaped into his home,
09:34slipping through a tunnel-like passage that linked his garage to the house.
09:38In that climate, tunnels would have offered a secure way to transport contraband
09:42and an essential means of escape and protection.
09:45Just 20 miles southwest in St. Petersburg,
09:49another tunnel offers a possible glimpse into how criminal networks in Florida
09:53may have operated below ground.
09:57Beneath the historic Snell Arcade,
09:59a reinforced concrete tunnel extends roughly 30 feet under the sidewalk.
10:05It's only accessible through a hidden four-square-foot hatch in the basement,
10:09and Al Capone was rumored to have kept an office there.
10:12During Prohibition, the Snell Arcade housed a rooftop nightclub rumored to be a speakeasy
10:19and a taxi office linked to several moonshine arrests in the 1930s.
10:25Given that history, the tunnel may have offered a way to move alcohol
10:31without drawing attention from the police or the public.
10:35While the Snell Arcade tunnel might have initially served as utility access,
10:40some suggest it continues beyond the basement wall,
10:44possibly extending beneath the street toward a former bank.
10:47This alignment has led some to believe that the tunnel was later adapted
10:52for secretly transporting cash or other contraband.
10:56But here's the thing.
10:58There's been no reported conclusive evidence linking Ybor's tunnels to organized crime.
11:03In the 1920s, public corruption and limited policing,
11:06at times just nine officers for the entire city,
11:09meant organized crime related to Belita and Prohibition
11:12could operate without relying on elaborate tunnel systems.
11:15But that doesn't mean they didn't serve another nefarious purpose.
11:20Historians are now confident that Ybor's tunnels
11:24originated as part of an early sewage system
11:27abandoned by the city before the 1920s.
11:31And while the passageways have never been definitively tied to running contraband,
11:37it's not a stretch to wonder if bootleggers and smugglers
11:40use these secret corridors for their illicit purposes.
11:45The tunnels beneath Ybor City offer traces of a complex past
11:50and could illustrate a town defined as much by what was hidden below ground
11:54as by what was built above it.
12:07On the western coast of the Italian peninsula,
12:10120 miles southeast of Rome,
12:13Naples sits on the sweeping curve of the bay that bears its name.
12:19Naples sits within a natural arc of hills
12:22that stretches from the promontory of Posilipo to the Sorrentine Peninsula.
12:27This coastal setting helped define its long role as a maritime hub,
12:33first in Greek antiquity and later as one of the Mediterranean's most influential port cities.
12:41Greek colonists arrived between the 9th and 8th centuries BCE,
12:46first on the island of Pithikusai and then later at Kumai on the mainland.
12:51By around 600 BCE, they founded Neapolis, meaning new city,
12:57a planned settlement with temples and a theater and a major port,
13:01as well as a defined civic center.
13:05Neapolis was absorbed into the Roman Republic in 327 BCE,
13:10but retained autonomy for another 200 years,
13:13allowing Greek customs to persist under Roman rule.
13:17From the 6th century CE onwards,
13:20Naples transitioned through Byzantine, Norman and Swabian rule.
13:24From 1265 on, under Angevin rule,
13:27Naples flourished as a dynastic capital,
13:30notable for its Gothic architecture blending French, Greek and Arab cultural elements.
13:38In 1889, beneath the courtyard of a 19th century palazzo in Naples' Sanita district,
13:44a barren digging for water pierces the ceiling of a long buried chamber,
13:50uncovering one of the city's most extraordinary archaeological sites.
13:55Forty feet below the palazzo, a steep staircase leads to the hypogeum of Kristallini Street.
14:01Four rock-cut tombs carved directly into the volcanic rock hillside.
14:07Each has its own monumental entrance.
14:10One is even framed by ionic columns.
14:12These entrances originally opened onto the ancient necropolis pathway,
14:17actively used between the 4th and 1st centuries BCE.
14:20Each tomb follows a two-level plan.
14:24The lower chambers built in the Hellenistic period contained carved stone beds,
14:29statues, and symbolic offerings consistent with traditional Greek burial customs.
14:36Later Roman adaptations introduced niches for urns and Latin inscriptions on the upper levels.
14:43In all, 700 artifacts were discovered reflecting the tomb's extensive and evolving use.
14:52After centuries of activity, flooding and mudslides buried the necropolis beneath layers of sediment,
14:57eventually concealing it entirely.
15:00By the 1500s, the Sanita was built above it.
15:03Now, workers may have encountered the site in the 1700s,
15:06but even today, its full extent is unknown.
15:09We believe the necropolis once held dozens of tombs.
15:16The hypogeum of Kristallini Street opened to the public for the first time in 2022.
15:22But key questions persist.
15:24Who was buried here?
15:25And what do these elaborate chambers tell us about the ancient beliefs,
15:29identity, and ramifications of social status in Hellenistic Neapolis?
15:36The vivid frescoes and symbolic motifs inside the hypogeum of Kristallini Street
15:42raises questions about whether these tombs were more than resting places.
15:47The deepest and most intact chamber, Tomb C,
15:52is framed by fluted columns, scarlet painted steps, and elaborate frescoes.
15:57The density of symbolic detail raises the question,
16:01was this space designed for cultic ritual or commemorative rites?
16:07Dominating one wall is a 20-inch limestone medusa head,
16:12a common protective emblem in Hellenistic tombs meant to ward off evil.
16:18Nearby lies a silver wine jug and meticulously carved offerings.
16:24These features imply the chamber may have been deliberately crafted
16:29to blend symbolic protection with rituals of remembrance.
16:34Near the tomb's entrance, there's this painted golden dish
16:37that depicts two characters who are believed to be Dionysus and Ariadne.
16:41Those are characters associated with fertility, rebirth, and divine ecstasy.
16:47Now, there are also laurel and myrtle garlands.
16:50Those are plants that are associated with Dionysus.
16:55Unlike public ceremonies conducted at the civic level,
16:59Dionysian mystery cults practiced private, initiatory rituals
17:03for individuals or small groups seeking favorable afterlives.
17:07Kristallini's iconography may indicate similar private rites were enacted here.
17:15500 miles east at Amphipolis in northern Greece,
17:19archaeological discoveries provide clear evidence of ritual spaces dedicated to cult worship.
17:26Excavations in 2024 beneath a later Byzantine basilica
17:31revealed a dedicated cult building reconstructed during the 4th century BCE.
17:38Archaeologists found dense ritual deposits, including female figurines, womb effigies, oyster shells,
17:45and animal bones, indicating sustained cultic activities, likely honoring a female deity, possibly Artemis.
17:54Antipolis provides definitive evidence of cult activity, votive offerings, ritual objects, and a clear devotional setting.
18:04While artifacts were found at Kristallini, the most striking elements are the carefully arranged architecture
18:12and evocative imagery, raising an important archaeological distinction.
18:18Is this a genuine cult space or a commemorative tomb that only mimics sacred ritual forms?
18:28In 1968, about 50 miles southeast of Naples at Paestum, the Tomb of the Diver was discovered.
18:35The tomb is dated to around 480 to 470 BCE, and it consists of five slabs of limestone forming this
18:45small painted chamber.
18:47The interior walls depict young men crowned with laurel who are eating and making music,
18:53but the most striking feature is the tomb's ceiling.
18:57It shows this solitary figure diving headfirst into shallow water framed by trees and by sky.
19:05That image is unique. It's unlike any other from that time in history.
19:10The burial contents are unusually sparse, with no human remains or inscriptions.
19:17This absence of typical offering suggests that the tomb's meaning may have relied heavily on its painted imagery,
19:23with visual symbolism itself serving as a key form of commemoration, perhaps replacing material offerings.
19:34Interpretations of the Diver's imagery vary from metaphors on the soul's passage into the afterlife to depictions of suicide.
19:42Some even argue these scenes were borrowed from popular attic base motifs
19:47and may not reflect a fully developed or unified funerary belief system.
19:52Crystalline, by contrast, represents a more integrated ritual environment.
19:59Its carved architecture and mythic iconography points to deliberate planning aimed at shaping commemorative practice.
20:08But the limited evidence makes it difficult to determine which rights or beliefs, if any, were actually tied to the
20:15space.
20:16The architecture, materials, and detailed iconography at Crystalline hint at a particular social standing.
20:26The tombs clearly reflect high-status decorative traditions observed in the 4th century BCE at Macedonian burials
20:33and at Greek-speaking cities across southern Italy.
20:37You've got monumental facades, you've got richly painted interiors, you've got symbolic imagery.
20:42All of that aligns with their customs and beliefs.
20:46So, given these parallels, is it safe to assume that these tombs were commissioned by the prominent Greek families of
20:56Neapolis?
20:57HypoGMC exemplifies this substantial investment.
21:01Carved directly into the rock, its furnishings include stone beds with intricate palmette and geometric patterns
21:08resembling inlaid precious stones.
21:11Painted pillows with carefully detailed bread stitching, along with expensive pigments like matter yellow and Egyptian blue,
21:19reinforce the exceptional resources of the tomb's patrons.
21:24Perhaps the strongest evidence of Greek patronage lies in the Greek inscriptions of personal names
21:30and six headstones bearing the word kyra, meaning farewell.
21:34These inscriptions, coupled with sophisticated design elements,
21:39indicate a deliberate expression of cultural identity and elite status.
21:44Over 450 miles south, the Tholos tombs at Pylos highlight a different approach to elite burial practices.
21:54Excavations at Pylos uncovered two beehive-shaped tombs 15 feet underground and dating back 3,500 years.
22:03Although looted in antiquity, the chamber floors were once lined entirely in gold foil.
22:11It was clearly intended as a powerful visual statement of wealth and prestige.
22:17Look at these artifacts.
22:19You've got Baltic amber, you've got Egyptian amulets,
22:21you've got a gold pendant depicting the Egyptian goddess Hawthor, protector of the dead.
22:27There's a pattern to these.
22:29They are rare and they're imports.
22:31Those two things suggest that early rulers deliberately displayed objects like this
22:37to broadcast their trade connections and their cosmopolitan tastes.
22:43This outward-facing strategy contrasts with Crystallini's more narrow focus
22:48that linked them back to their Hellenistic roots.
22:51At Crystallini, elite status was asserted not through lavish foreign goods,
22:55but through culturally specific visual narratives, inscriptions, and localized symbolic motifs,
23:02indicating a tightly defined community identity rather than a broader Mediterranean cosmopolitanism.
23:09In 2023, archaeologists uncovered the remarkably intact tomb of Cerberus,
23:15the tomb's painted garlands and vivid mythological scenes include a rare depiction of Hercules capturing Cerberus,
23:30the three-headed hound of the Roman underworld.
23:33The tomb's impressive scale and intricate imagery suggests it was commissioned by an elite family
23:39for a prominent Roman patriarch in ancient Laeternum.
23:44Inside, archaeologists found libation vessels, glass ointment jars, and a scregal,
23:50which is a grooming tool used by ancient Greeks and Romans in bath rituals.
23:55Based on these findings, it seems that the tomb's lavish elements were strategically chosen
24:02to assert the social standing and enduring legacy of its occupant.
24:08At Crystallini, imagery of Dionysus could also reflect elite status,
24:14particularly for families involved in the wine trade.
24:17Because in Hellenistic southern Italy, Dionysus embodies big-picture themes
24:21like transformation and immortality, but he's also explicitly linked to wine and rituals around wine.
24:28So this imagery could be doing two things at once here.
24:31It could be signifying spiritual aspirations, but also professional and economic identity.
24:38The visual language at Crystallini corresponds with philosophical ideas
24:42circulating in southern Italy at the time.
24:45From 530 BCE onwards, Pythagorean philosophy was centered in southern Italian cities,
24:51like Croton, and likely influenced local views of immortality, cosmic order, and the afterlife.
24:58Although a direct link can't be established,
25:00these ideas may have informed how some elite community used tombs
25:04to express beliefs in harmony, identity, and continuity beyond death.
25:11Around 20 Hellenistic tombs have been documented beneath Naples' Sunita district.
25:16But the hypogeum of Crystallini is by far the most intact.
25:21Still, questions remain about the individuals behind its construction,
25:26their motivations, and the precise beliefs embedded in its design.
25:41Deep inside central Iran's Ishfahan province,
25:45about six miles north of the historic city of Kashan,
25:49is the desert town of Nushabad.
25:52Now, as I understand it, the Persian name Nushabad
25:55is traditionally translated as something like
25:57city of cold, tasty water.
26:00And listen, in this part of the world,
26:02cold water is going to taste really good.
26:04The climate is very hot,
26:06but Nushabad's 12,000 or so inhabitants
26:08have been using a freshwater spring
26:10at the foot of the nearby mountains.
26:12And for more than 1,500 years,
26:15that underground water system
26:17has supported not only drinking water,
26:19but also agriculture,
26:20and even public baths.
26:22But the design of the city itself is also ingenious.
26:26Towering over the streets
26:27are vertical towers called windcatchers,
26:29which are designed to harness the slightest breeze
26:31and funnel it indoors.
26:34These impressive structures
26:36have towered above Nushabad's desert skyline for centuries.
26:39But in 2006,
26:42an accidental discovery shines a light
26:44on what lies beneath this ancient city.
26:49A local resident in a nearby village
26:51was digging a well on his property
26:53when he unearthed what appeared
26:55to be an underground tunnel.
26:57Upon closer inspection,
26:58it was clear that this was a man-made corridor
27:00that had been cut into the earth and rock.
27:03By 2007, formal excavations had begun,
27:06and what they found at the end of this tunnel
27:08would blow your mind.
27:10It's this Byzantine complex of interconnected rooms
27:14with three stories of narrow hallways
27:18and stairwells
27:19that led to this dense concentration
27:21of hidden chambers and canals
27:23going all the way down between 13 and 60 feet.
27:27Each room had a height of approximately 6 feet,
27:30which strongly suggested
27:31they'd been designed for human occupation.
27:33But there didn't appear to be a main entryway
27:35into this underground city.
27:37As the site was more thoroughly investigated,
27:39a number of secret entrances were discovered.
27:41These doorways were cleverly concealed
27:43within some of the town's older residences.
27:46The scale of this thing is enormous.
27:49It's estimated to be over 3 1⁄2 acres,
27:51and it seems to have been dug out
27:53continuously over years.
27:55But who built it, and why?
28:00Researchers date the structure
28:01by examining its architectural details,
28:04along with stone tools and pottery
28:06that were excavated from the site.
28:09Their analysis places the construction
28:11of this underground edifice
28:13to about 1,500 years ago.
28:16This was the era
28:18of the Sasanian dynasty in Iran.
28:21The Sasanians were one of the most influential empires
28:24in that country's entire history.
28:27Under their regime, academia flourished
28:29and an artistic renaissance began to bloom.
28:33Archaeologists have found evidence of expert metalwork
28:36and gem engraving from this period.
28:39New Shabbat itself was situated
28:41along a valuable trade route
28:42between Tehran and the Persian Gulf,
28:44which was part of the Silk Road.
28:46This made the city a valuable stop
28:49for travelers and merchants alike.
28:51To this day, there are ruins of centuries-old inns
28:55buried in the surrounding desert.
28:56But New Shabbat's geographical location
28:59also made it vulnerable to attack.
29:03During the 7th century's Muslim conquest,
29:06the Sasanians were crushed by the Arabs.
29:09But evidence suggests the underground city of New Shabbat,
29:12which had been built during their reign,
29:14continued to be extensively used for hundreds of years.
29:17The subterranean underground world
29:19was locally known as Ui.
29:22But despite its incredible size and 1,500-year history,
29:26Ui had largely stayed hidden from the modern world
29:28until its rediscovery in 2006.
29:31And the question remains,
29:32why was it built in the first place?
29:36A subterranean complex hints at subterfuge,
29:40and there may have been a good cause
29:41for secrecy in Sasanian Iran.
29:45The kingdom adopted Zoroastrianism as its state religion.
29:49And while there was tolerance for other beliefs,
29:52some did face religious persecution.
29:55One such religion might have been Mithraism,
29:58which was gaining popularity in Rome
30:00at the same time Christianity was exploding across the empire.
30:05Mithraism was inspired by the Iranian deity Mithra,
30:08and worshippers would congregate
30:10at these underground temples called Mithraia.
30:14There's almost no literary evidence of Mithraic practices,
30:18but hundreds of these temples have been discovered
30:20in underground chambers throughout the former Roman Empire.
30:25In the northwestern part of the country,
30:27the Mithra Temple of Morage
30:28features multiple rooms, domed ceilings,
30:31and a grand entrance corridor.
30:33It's possible New Shabbat's Ui
30:35also could have served as a secret place of worship.
30:39But there's been no reported discovery
30:41of any Mithraic artifacts or iconography
30:44at New Shabbat's underground city.
30:46And a dedicated Mithraim
30:48was usually only about 75 feet long and 30 feet wide.
30:53It would have held no more than 20 or 30 people,
30:57far fewer than the sprawling complex
30:59buried under New Shabbat.
31:03The harsh living conditions in the desert
31:05may have been motivation enough
31:07for the construction of an underground city.
31:11One obvious reason to build a complex of this size below ground
31:14is to shield the people
31:16from the punishingly hot weather you get in that region.
31:20The structure's cooler temperature
31:22was achieved by this brilliant series of air ducts
31:25throughout the complex that could circulate the cooler air.
31:29The complex appears to have been built
31:31around the freshwater spring
31:33that was the town's namesake,
31:35and it used water pipes and canals
31:37to move the water from one place to another.
31:39This was part of an ancient Iranian water system
31:42called a kanaat,
31:43which delivered groundwater to the surface
31:46through a series of gently sloping underground tunnels.
31:49It's highly plausible that the need to get cool air
31:53and fresh water to its residents
31:54in the most efficient way possible
31:56is what drove the design of this structure.
32:01And while the structure itself may appear too grandiose
32:04for such a utilitarian purpose,
32:06architecture during the time of the Sasanians
32:08could be over the top.
32:10But the sheer scale of this underground complex
32:12betrays a larger, more important purpose.
32:14The secret entrances into the underground
32:16suggest that residents could quickly
32:18and easily go into hiding.
32:20But why?
32:23The town of New Shabad
32:24may have created this mysterious habitat
32:27as a means of escaping an imminent threat.
32:31Around 1220, Genghis Khan,
32:34the leader of the Mongolian Empire,
32:36marched his armies into the Khwarazmian Empire,
32:39which included much of present-day Iran.
32:41Now, because of New Shabad's proximity
32:44to a valuable trade route,
32:46it was a likely target.
32:47The city's giant underground shelter
32:49could easily have served
32:51as a wartime refuge for its residents.
32:54By entering through secret entrances above ground,
32:57the population could effectively disappear from view.
33:00And because of the access to the spring water,
33:03people could have sustained themselves there
33:05for weeks at a time.
33:06There are also many architectural details
33:09throughout the halls
33:10that were clearly built for defensive purposes.
33:13One of the more ingenious features
33:15is the corridors between the interconnected rooms,
33:18which are often angled
33:20to eliminate direct sight lines between spaces.
33:23This would make it much easier
33:25to hide from your enemy,
33:27or conversely, it's the ideal space
33:29to mount a surprise defensive maneuver.
33:31In certain corridors,
33:33there's also evidence of booby traps
33:35and disguised pits,
33:36which could ensnare unsuspecting intruders.
33:40Whether it was built in a time
33:41of the Sassanians' conflicts with the Romans
33:43or during their later battles with the Mongols,
33:45the fact that this shelter and water system
33:47were hidden underground
33:50strongly suggests
33:51that safeguarding New Shabad from invaders
33:54was the main reason it was built this way.
33:58Today, researchers believe
34:00that this enormous structure
34:02may be even larger than previously thought.
34:06Currently, locals and tourists
34:08can enter the underground city
34:09through an adjacent cistern,
34:11but this isn't thought to be the original entrance.
34:14So there's a very real possibility
34:16that this underground network of tunnels
34:17may extend far beyond the walls of New Shabad.
34:21Many of the rooms were amalgamated
34:23in the centuries following the Sassanian dynasty,
34:26and modern infrastructure,
34:28such as water pipes, storage spaces,
34:29and even toilets,
34:31were eventually incorporated.
34:33This complex is a wonder of engineering
34:36that was continually updated
34:38right until the beginning of the 20th century,
34:41until it was reportedly abandoned in the 1920s.
34:44It took the accidental discovery in 2006
34:48for current generations
34:49to bring their own ingenuity and adaptations
34:51to this incredible underground city.
34:54Today, the site is recognized
34:56as one of the oldest underground structures in the world,
34:59and as researchers continue their exploration,
35:03new mysteries are likely waiting to be uncovered
35:06within New Shabad's secret subterranean city.
35:22Situated near the center of Italy
35:24and within 200 miles of iconic cities
35:27like Naples and Florence
35:29is the nation's capital, Rome.
35:34Rome is one of the most prominent centers
35:37of culture and power in the history of the world,
35:40and there's a reason that it's known as the Eternal City.
35:43It's existed for almost 28 centuries,
35:46making it one of the oldest cities in Europe.
35:48And within Rome,
35:50there's the sovereign country of Vatican City,
35:53which is the administrative center of the Catholic Church.
35:55For centuries, the Roman Empire
35:58was a colossus of cultural and economic power.
36:01At its height, it spanned about 2 million square miles,
36:05with its highly professionalized military controlling territory
36:08in Western Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.
36:12At one point, Rome ruled over 60 million people,
36:16which at the time was more than 20% of the world's population.
36:21Today, 1,500 years after the fall of the Roman Empire,
36:25the city is an archaeological gold mine.
36:28Priceless artifacts are pulled out of there every year.
36:33In 2016, the city is in the middle
36:36of undertaking an excavation of a different kind.
36:40The Metro Sea Project is a years-long expansion
36:44of public transportation from Rome's eastern suburbs,
36:47but the construction of one of its underground tunnels
36:50leads to an unexpected discovery.
36:54Near the Aurelian walls on Rome's Kylian Hill,
36:58workers came into contact with a large structure
37:01buried 30 feet below ground.
37:05Archaeologists were brought in
37:07to conduct their own analysis and excavation
37:10and soon realized that what they were looking at
37:13was the remains of a large military complex
37:17spanning over 9,000 square feet
37:20and containing 39 dormitory-style rooms.
37:25Two years later, they announced the discovery
37:28of another mysterious building buried below the barracks
37:31at a depth of about 40 feet.
37:33It appears to be the remains of a luxurious Roman house,
37:36or domus.
37:37Like the barracks, these remains are remarkably intact,
37:41intact, but their lavish decor stands in stark contrast
37:44to the military building.
37:46There's evidence that suggests the home
37:48was deliberately dismantled and covered up.
37:50The walls were raised, and the room seemed to have been
37:53carefully and purposefully filled with earth.
37:56This is not your typical Roman ruin.
37:58This house appears to have been intentionally buried.
38:02So who lived in this place, and why was it buried?
38:06As the excavation continues, it becomes evident
38:09that the domus was designed for comfort.
38:13The house covers an area of about 3,000 square feet
38:16with 14 rooms.
38:18It also looks like the property had a large courtyard
38:21with a fountain and a bathhouse.
38:23Even by today's standards, this was a pretty sweet pad.
38:27The interiors of the home are no less decadent.
38:31Many of the rooms have floors covered in black and white mosaics
38:35made from marble and gray slate.
38:38And there are two rare figurative mosaics as well.
38:42One panel depicts a solitary bird perched on a branch.
38:47Another depicts two figures, possibly deities,
38:51who appear to be locked in combat.
38:54Further excavation places the construction of the house
38:57and the barracks in the 2nd century BCE.
39:00During the reign of Emperor Hadrian.
39:05In this century, Kylian Hill,
39:07where the barracks and domus were discovered,
39:09was an area with a conspicuous display of wealth and power.
39:14The Roman emperor's secret police,
39:16known as the Frumentari, were stationed here,
39:18as were the emperor's horse brigades.
39:21The city's firefighters and police forces
39:23were also located on Kylian Hill.
39:26The hill was also a fashionable neighborhood
39:29for the city's aristocracy.
39:31And given the amenities in the courtyard of the buried house,
39:34the mosaics and the private bathhouse,
39:37it's clear that they likely belonged to one of Rome's elites.
39:41The fact that the home was situated within the barracks grounds
39:44on Kylian Hill suggests that the resident
39:47could have been a Roman senator with connections to the military.
39:51A politician living in this domus
39:55would have effectively had their own private security force
39:59living on the property with them.
40:01Is it possible that this individual
40:04was caught in some kind of intrigue
40:07or political upheaval and needed protection?
40:10In 271 BCE, Kylian Hill was home to a violent uprising
40:16when workers at the Mint revolted.
40:19The emperor implicated several senators in the plot,
40:22and they were eventually put to death.
40:24Could one of those senators have been the owner
40:26of the domus behind the barracks?
40:28If so, the burial of his opulent home
40:31may have followed soon after his execution.
40:35If this senator had loyalists inside the barracks,
40:38it's conceivable he could have taken up residence there.
40:42But maintaining a private army
40:44in the middle of one of the most powerful
40:46and influential regions in Rome
40:48would hardly have gone unnoticed,
40:50nor would it have been acceptable
40:52to the neighboring power brokers,
40:54much less the leaders of the military.
40:58The burial of the barracks and the domus
41:00may have been a public erasure.
41:03Edicts like this were well within the powers of the state.
41:06There was this formal punishment in the Roman world
41:09called damnatio memoriae,
41:11which means condemnation of memory.
41:15And this was a death penalty,
41:17but it was more than just that.
41:18It also removed a person from the public record.
41:21A perceived traitor within the ruling class
41:24would be executed,
41:25and then their name would be removed
41:27from any inscriptions and public monuments.
41:30Their statues and their property
41:32would also be demolished.
41:34Is it possible that this is what happened
41:37to the owner of the mystery house?
41:39The buried villa certainly suggests
41:42some kind of deliberate erasure has taken place.
41:46Whoever lived in the domus prior to its burial
41:49may have been under house arrest
41:51and watched over by military guard
41:53until his scheduled execution.
41:55However, there's no physical evidence
41:58to corroborate the theory.
42:01Ultimately, the best explanation
42:03for why this luxury home
42:05was nestled on military grounds
42:07may be the simplest one.
42:09The proximity of the luxury home
42:11to the military barracks
42:12seems like it should tell us a lot
42:14about who lived here.
42:15In this context,
42:17it seems highly likely
42:18that this was the private residence
42:20of the commanding officer
42:21of the adjacent barracks.
42:24It wouldn't have been unusual
42:26for a Roman general
42:27to have lived in luxury.
42:29A commander's residence
42:30was known as a praetorium,
42:32and it was essentially the nucleus
42:33of any military facility.
42:35A praetorium that was unearthed
42:37at Castor in Cambridgeshire
42:39was truly palatial
42:41and one of the largest structures
42:43from the Roman Empire
42:44ever discovered in England,
42:46far exceeding the size
42:47of the mysterious villa
42:48on Kylian Hill.
42:50If the buried domus
42:52in Kylian Hill
42:53really was the home
42:55of a high-level military officer,
42:57that would make it
42:58the first time
42:59within the city of Rome
43:00that a military barracks
43:01has been found
43:02with the private residence
43:04of its commander.
43:07But the mystery
43:08of why it was deliberately buried
43:10remains.
43:11It would have taken
43:13a lot of effort
43:14to cover up the domus,
43:16so what was the motivation
43:18to do so?
43:18Both structures
43:20have now been
43:21painstakingly taken apart
43:23and removed piece by piece,
43:25but the plan
43:26is to rebuild them
43:27when the transit stop
43:29is completed.
43:32Romans of today
43:33will be able
43:34to puzzle over the remains
43:35when the domus
43:36and the barracks
43:37are reinstalled
43:38near the metro station.
43:42The questions
43:43surrounding the barracks
43:44and its neighboring villa
43:45may never be fully answered.
43:49For now,
43:50it seems the people
43:51who buried
43:52these mysterious structures
43:53have successfully erased
43:55their true origins
43:56from Roman history.
44:02or like,
44:02you
44:02know?
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