Catacombs, Abandoned Train Stations, Secret Doors...etc

[Jamshyd]

One of my big interests that I don't get to engage in much (if at all) is a fascination with underground passages, abandoned train stations, elaborate sewer passages, secret doors...etc.

I'm wondering if anyone else shares this fascination. It has always been a fantasy of mine to explore the Paris Catacombs or the abandoned platforms of the London underground, for example. Of course, these are likely to remain fantasies since such practises are illegal. But still, I can dream... and read about them on the 'net .

At the very least, I'd love to live in such cities and continuously wonder about what might be under this floor or where that dark tunnel I saw as my train passed by might lead to. I remember in Tokyo I had my own little discovery in a world of illegible Japanese script. I discovered that a conspiracy theorist's book about secret pasages in the subway was not entirely useless, as parts of the subway were compromised for the construction of "G-Cans" - huge underground cisterns that protected Tokyo from flooding, parts of which I always saw and wondered about from the school I worked at at the edge of the city...

 

[pallidamors]

I clicked on this with the desperate hope that it'd include photos of the subject material.

I, like you, have been fascinated with the underground routes that link banal overhead locations. I've heard theres an entire series of underground tunnels in my town that link together cold war era research areas, escape routes, and sundry bunkers. Last time I checked, though, all was blocked off.

I guess look up Urban Exploration and the name of your town, people will explore regardless of local regulations. most local law enforcement take a tame view of such matters, too, as long as said explorers observe some safety regulations...

 

[nuke]

I love this sort of stuff! http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/ is one of my favourite sites.

 

[Fabric 22]

love this site; http://sleepycity.net/viewpost.php?b=67

 

[Mazey]

have you watched Cities of the Underworld on the History channel ? One of the shows they did was the underground cisterns you spoke of ,
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?mini_id=53900

 

[papa]

a fascination with underground passages, abandoned train stations, elaborate sewer passages, secret doors...etc.

I too am facinated by these things. I saw something on national geographic about underground dwellings.

 

[Slay]

oh i love this kind of stuff:D secret graves, crypts, dungeons, ancient places, specially they are underground:D

 

[papa]

the shang hi tunnels under san francisco. unbelievable!

 

[virtualReality]

Oooh i love urban exploration. There's a movie about it called After.... it's pretty good but it just kind of scrapes the surface of the topic. there's a pretty cool website/forum out there, http://infiltration.org/. check it out. I think they have groups that go out and do this kind of stuff together, they're knowledgeable on the subject and whatnot.

There's an abandoned subway system in the city I live in, and I'm dying to go down there and explore! Some people are apparently into going into drainage and sewer systems, i personally would never do that but i hear there's some crazy shit that you can find underground that way.

 

[2oclockbeanfiend.2]

have you watched Cities of the Underworld on the History channel ? One of the shows they did was the underground cisterns you spoke of ,
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?mini_id=53900

I saw a commercial the other day about this show I think. It was about the secret underground area in Sicily where La Cosa Nostra was originally founded. I too share a fascination of this sort of thing.

 

[Cyc]

Last year I stumbled on an entire sub-culture dedicated to exploring abandoned dwellings, old factories, sewers and the like.

I bet if you look, you can find a group close to home.

 

[thujone]

i've always had an obsession with dark corridors. i got over my fear of the dark when i was really young and since then i've always been drawn to what lies under the surface. i've always had some interest in archaeology so finding hidden passages is like a second nature to me. in most cases, i'm quite willing to get lost just to decipher a route.

my biggest worry is being caught trespassing. sometimes i've been so caught up in walking the full length of a passage that i wind up in unexpected places, sometimes behind locked doors :S

halifax is a big change from toronto for me, because everything is pretty much out in the open and there are few dark places left that are truly forgotten. though, there is a cool speakeasy here that is definitely a "secret door." if someone didn't steer you there, you'd have no idea that it existed. the only way in is to go up on an elevator and walk through an unmarked door.

to get my fix i try and hang around older buildings and auditoriums

 

[L2R]

Last year I stumbled on an entire sub-culture dedicated to exploring abandoned dwellings, old factories, sewers and the like.

I bet if you look, you can find a group close to home.

as did i.

there are both legal and illegal groups who regularly go down. there's some amazing things below sydney.

 

[Captain Commie]

as did i.

there are both legal and illegal groups who regularly go down. there's some amazing things below sydney.

hook us up lol

 

[Jamshyd]

Yes! I'm so glad so many people here share my obsession!

Here are pics of locations I am very interested in:

The king of them all: The mines of Paris

Abandoned stations of the London Underground and other things below London

(Check here for more goodies)

Rome's Catacombs and Mithraia

The Catacombs of Alexandria (Egypt)

G-Cans project, Tokyo

Sydney Drains

The layers of cities beneath Jerusalem

(I actually managed to see tiny parts of this one)

 

[Slay]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_Cistern check this out cool as hell

 

[Jamshyd]

*slaps head* How could I forget Byzantium? Of course...

 

[~*geNeRaTiOn E*~]

^ that's fucking stunning! i love how it looks like the floor is covered in a thin layer of water (maybe it is?). fascinating stuff!

 

[Slay]

its water and its not thin, some parts are deep actually

 

[Jamshyd]

Yep, this is part of the cisterns beneath the old city of Constantinople (part of what is now Istanbul). To my limited knowledge, their basic function was flood-protection and an effective way to drain out rain water. So at different times of the year these might be more or less filled with water but would generally maintain a minimal level of water from on-going drainage.

Although as a city that was in a state of almost constant warfare, I would not be one bit surprised that these also served a secondary function as secret escape routes, treasuries, prisons, or shelters.

It seems to me that Tokyo's G-Cans Project is essentially the same thing, just much bigger and slightly more high-tech.

Geez, I got so excited just typing this! I don't know why the hell do these things interest me so damn much!

What I find even more interesting is what academics call palimpsest (after a method of using oil paints in layers) - its when buildings of one era are constructed on top of existing infrastructure, so you'd find parts of a 14th century drain canal opening up into a 7th century cistern, with WWI-era added secret tunnels between the two that serve as secret escape routs.

The Old City of Jerusalem is particularly known for this kind of thing.

It really is one of my biggest dreams to explore any one of the places mentioned above in full-detail.