Map of the Moscow underground When a thin crack appeared on the Mausoleum building in the early 1960s, it was decided to explore the subsoil next to it to find out the reasons for its occurrence. Imagine the surprise of the researchers when, at a depth of 16 meters, they came across an oak-lined vault of a secret passage. It led from the Mausoleum to the Kremlin and to Kitay-Gorod. It is possible that the passage was quickly concreted to prevent the information from becoming available to the public. But rumors about dungeons under the Mausoleum still swept the city...
It should be noted that underground Moscow is of great interest, and at the same time gives rise to many rumors and legends. No one knows for sure about dungeons and secret passages. But they are constantly talked about. Underground Moscow is a huge mystery. They say that this is a whole city, and diggers count 12 levels.
And researchers claim that the capital’s subsoil resembles a termite mound or a wheel of Dutch cheese: early XIX century, the center of Moscow was already dug in all directions. And the 20th century added new passages to the existing ones, along which metro trains passed and communications were extended.
Why does Moscow need dungeons?
Although the secret passages known to us date back to the 15th-17th centuries, the underground space of the city was used in ancient times. In some dungeons they set up hiding places and stored valuables, church relics, and weapons. Others became necropolises. Thirdly, they kept prisoners. Underground cellars were often built. Moscow often burned, and such hiding places made it possible to save valuables and food supplies from the fire. Moscow alchemists and counterfeiters set up their laboratories and workshops underground.
But special meaning underground passages were in wartime! In the towers of China Town, for example, there were rumor dungeons and passages for secret attacks. And the underground galleries of the Novodevichy and Simonov monasteries led to ponds for hidden water intake in case of a siege.
Some hiding places were lined with planks or massive logs, the walls of others were lined with white stone or red brick. Some passages could only be reached through basements, while others could be accessed via stairs built in the walls of chambers and towers. Some dungeons were filled with water and suffocating gas, and some were almost entirely filled with sand and silt.
Research of underground passages in Moscow.
Caches near Moscow have long attracted attention, but only a few attempts are known to explore them. And even then, something always got in the way.
For example, in the 17th century, on the orders of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, master Azancheev repeatedly tried to build an underground passage under the Moscow River. All was unsuccessful, although soon the peasant master was suddenly granted nobility. And they never mentioned the tunnel under the river again.
And during the time of Peter I, sexton Konon Osipov asked to be allowed to explore “two chambers full of chests.” It was assumed that the famous Liberia - the library of Ivan the Terrible - could be hidden there. The tsar allowed the investigation, but the sexton “did not find any luggage.” And soon he died completely.
IN late XIX century, Prince N.S. took up research. Shcherbatov, but he was prevented by the First World War.
“Underground Moscow” by Stelletsky.
IN Soviet era Ignatius Stelletsky, an enthusiastic archaeologist who devoted his entire life to searching for the book treasures of Ivan the Terrible, tried to explore the Kremlin dungeons. Repeatedly he contacted different organizations, raising the question of the use of underground structures of antiquity and referring to the experience of Paris, Rome, London:
The Kremlin Dungeons Everywhere and everywhere, time and people have reduced the dungeons to a state of, if not complete, then very great destruction. The Kremlin did not escape the common fate, and therefore one cannot delude oneself with the thought that it is enough to open one passage and it is already easy to pass through it under the entire Kremlin, if not under all of Moscow. In reality, a journey through underground Moscow is a race with obstacles, and very significant ones at that, the elimination of which will require great effort, time and money. But all this is nothing in comparison with the possible ideal result: cleaned, restored and illuminated by arc lamps, underground Moscow would reveal itself as an underground museum of scientific and any interest...
Stelletsky’s appeals remained unanswered, all his finds and discoveries were concreted or preserved according to the principle “no matter what happens.” And soon Stelletsky’s research was completely prohibited: the increased interest in dungeons was interpreted as a conspiracy against Soviet power.
The final chord of this story was the 1949 law “On Subsoil,” which declared the country’s subsoil the exclusive property of the state. It was then that Stelletsky’s discoveries were classified.
And there were many discoveries. For example, an archaeologist warned that the building of the Lenin Library could collapse if the “historical voids” beneath it were not explored. And the cracks and faults did not take long to appear. Similar deformations appeared in the buildings of the Bolshoi and Maly theaters and the Metropol. A Historical Museum, according to Stelletsky, quicksand was also threatening. Perhaps this is why the monument to Georgy Zhukov is so deeply sunk into the ground with its pedestal: it serves as additional support for the building, like forest plantings that strengthen the slopes of a ravine.
Stelletsky’s research was remembered during the years of Khrushchev’s “thaw” and even a commission was created to search for the library. But with Brezhnev coming to power, the Kremlin was closed to scientists, and diaries containing the documentary history of the royal library were stolen from Stelletsky’s widow.
Where were underground passages discovered in Moscow?
The capital's authorities admit that there is no map of Moscow's underground passages. There are diagrams drawn from the results of digger research, from Stelletsky’s memoirs, from archival materials... but even their authenticity cannot be vouched for.
Perhaps this was done to ensure that data on caches did not become available to the enemy side in wartime. Therefore, when listing known hiding places and underground passages, you always have to say the word “possible.”
Perhaps underground passages connect the Tainitskaya, Nikolskaya and Spasskaya towers of the Kremlin. Perhaps the passage from the Senate Tower leads to Kitay-Gorod, to the Staro-Nikolskaya pharmacy. Perhaps there is a hiding place under the chambers of Averky Kirillov. Perhaps you can go down into the secret passage on Myasnitskaya and Lubyanka. Perhaps you can walk unnoticed from Lubyanka to the infamous House on the Embankment. Perhaps there are underground galleries under the Sukharev Tower, under Bruce’s house on Prospekt Mira, under the building English Club on Tverskaya and in the courtyard of Yusupov’s house. Perhaps there is a many-kilometer chain of dungeons in Tsaritsino. Possibly through an underground passage. The Church of the Resurrection of the Word in Barashi is connected with the Apraksinsky Palace. Perhaps it will be possible to go underground from the Kremlin directly to Pashkov’s house.
Or perhaps it's all fiction. For example, a certain A. Ivanov, who published an article in 1989 about the dungeons of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, assured that it was this underground passage that led to Liberia. But in fact, it led into the river and turned out to be a drainage system...
Underground bunkers of Moscow.
There is no doubt that the 20th century added several mysterious dungeons to Moscow. These are government bunkers that were created in case nuclear strike. In Moscow, three government bunkers are definitely known: on Taganka, in Izmailovo (from it there are two road tunnels to the Kremlin and to the Sokolniki metro station area, and the bunker itself can be reached from the Partizanskaya station) and in Kuntsevo (there too there is a car tunnel from the public reception of the Ministry of Defense on Myasnitskaya).
They tell a lot of interesting things about the underground bunkers of Moscow:
Under our feet - under the asphalt, under the thickness of the earth - there is a whole gigantic dead city, designed for survival. In its multi-storey buildings there is air conditioning, expensive carpets on the floors, electronic clocks that measure time with second accuracy, untouched sheets of paper on the tables, special compartments with beds covered with clean linen. “The bomb shelter is in conservation mode,” say the military. It is unlikely that anyone other than them would dare to call these underground mansions bomb shelters. Bomb shelters for mere mortals are completely different... Elite houses built in Stalin's time, government institutions, factories, some shops are connected by a system of so-called poterns - long underground corridors at a five-meter depth, leading to the actual bomb shelters... Poterns are connected by small canals with water supply and sewer wells, which in the event of blockages or destruction will serve as emergency exits. Theoretically, it is possible to get into the interior of the administrative building from an ordinary hatch...
They began digging the first posterns even before the war and actively continued until 1953, the year of Stalin’s death. They built it, as was supposed then, reliably: not a single crossing has yet collapsed. Their location is secret, full maps Only the Ministry of Emergency Situations has it. There are especially many underground corridors inside the hills on which Moscow stands: near Taganka, Kitay-Gorod, under the Sparrow Hills. The all-encompassing, branched system of poterns is the first, upper level of underground defensive structures our city.
Their second level began to be made after 1953. The buildings of the Central Committee, the KGB, and the Ministry of Defense grew deeper and deeper into the ground - sometimes five floors. No expense was spared... These comfortable buildings, like in a real city, are connected by “streets” and “alleys.” So, from Lubyanka there is a direct underground passage to the Kremlin, and the tunnel leading to it from the Central Committee building on Old Square is so wide that you can drive through it by car...
At the end of Khrushchev's reign, the danger nuclear war seemed much more real than it does now. Then projects of the third level of underground structures appeared. They began to implement them in the early 70s. ...the so-called underground monorail. His first route is from the Central Committee to the Kremlin. Now it is more than 600-800 meters and passes mainly under the Kremlin and in the immediate vicinity of it... And modern shelters, going 8-10 floors underground, could easily qualify for five stars in terms of comfort, with “presidential” level rooms "
Riddles and secrets of Metro-2.
But if we know for sure about underground bunkers, it is still impossible to say with certainty whether there is a special one. metro or "Metro-2". Some say that it exists, and there are even witnesses who saw these mysterious government lines. Others claim that this is just a story. And the name “Metro-2” was given with the light hand of the magazine “Ogonyok”.
Metro-2 diagram Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that the first information about these metro tunnels appeared in 1992 in one of the issues of AiF, where they talked about a certain cleaning lady in the KGB, who was taken to special objects by special metro lines. The editors, in response to this, stated that this metro system was described in the annual publication of the US Department of Defense on the Soviet Armed Forces for 1991 and even published a simplified diagram. It showed that, for example, from the Kremlin it was possible to get to the Domodedovo airport and the Bor forest boarding house with a government and General Staff bunker.
Here’s what Vadim Mikhailov, head of the Digger-Spas service, says about the government metro:
Of course, the secret “Metro-2” exists, we diggers have not only seen it hundreds of times, but also explored many areas of it. We followed it to Ramenki. However, today part of Metro-2, in the area of Arbat Square, has received additional secrecy status; there is now no way to penetrate there. And today Metro-2 is being built, but at a snail’s pace - as always, there is no money. However, the secret metro is only part of underground Moscow. In total, there are 12 levels of communications (these include pipes, collectors, shafts, etc.). The maximum habitable depth is 840 meters, there are military bunkers there. They would have dug deeper, but further there are granite rocks.
Underground rivers do not have muslin banks, and secret passages are dangerous and difficult to pass. But underground Moscow has its own special romance. Of course, the dungeons of the capital have not been fully explored. But what has been researched is not open to all eyes. Scientists admit that even the secret passages of the Kremlin have not yet been studied. And now, when the Kremlin towers are being restored, underground Moscow may reveal one of its secrets, which will either excite the public or hide for a long time under the heading “Top Secret”.
But they say that once you get into the capital’s underground labyrinths, it’s easy to get lost among the many galleries, passages, wells, halls, walled-up doors and flooded passages.
And perhaps, somewhere here, very close, the famous library of Ivan IV the Terrible is hidden and, perhaps, someday will fall into the hands of a lucky dungeon explorer.
Mysteries of monastery dungeonsOne of them may contain the treasures of Ivan the Terrible
It is not for nothing that the Moscow region is called the heart of Russia. These places have long been marked by the grace of God. That is why holy monasteries were built here. And each monastery near Moscow has its own legend, its own secret. It is especially often associated with dungeons and treasures hidden in them.
Popular rumor has preserved legends about mysterious underground galleries stretching for many kilometers from the monasteries. Most of these stories are fiction. A cache once made in the basement of the church for storing the monastery treasury turned, thanks to popular speculation, into huge underground passages. But it happened that scientists, local historians, and just local residents actually came across dilapidated, previously unknown underground structures.
The most persistent rumors that circulate among the population are usually those that mention mysterious underground galleries connecting two monasteries - male and female. Moreover, the narrator, grinning, will definitely clarify that nine-tenths of the underground passage was dug by women. But sometimes these jokes unexpectedly turn out to be true.
Saved sin from the adversary
The most famous, most revered monastery in the Moscow region, without a doubt, is the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Two legends about secret galleries are associated with it.
The first “underground” legend dates back to the Time of Troubles. It's the summer of 1608... The boyar Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky sits on the Moscow throne. And around the Russian capital, like a wolf around a poorly guarded sheepfold, wanders another False Dmitry, popularly nicknamed “ Tushino thief" He does not dare to take Moscow by storm. On the advice of his Polish allies, False Dmitry plans to seize the shrine of the Russian people - the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. And in September 1608, a 35,000-strong army, led by experienced Polish hetmans Sapega and Lisovsky, besieged the monastery.
The siege lasted for a year and a half. Its defenders - monks, surrounding residents and archers - withstood dozens of assaults. According to all military laws, the laurel had to fall - neither gunpowder nor food had been prepared for such a long period. And yet the monastery survived, and on January 12, 1610 Polish army retreated in disgrace.
What is the secret of the inaccessibility of the monastery-fortress? 12 kilometers from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery is the Intercession Monastery for women. Legends speak of an underground passage connecting these two monasteries. It was along this route that gunpowder, food, and weapons were continuously delivered to the besieged monastery. This is mentioned in the history of the siege of the Lavra, written by cellarer Abraham Palitsyn. Thus, the anecdote about a mysterious underground passage suddenly takes on a true shape.
The mystery of the Chernigov monastery
Another legend arose much later - in the 19th century. It is also connected with the underground passage connecting the Trinity-Sergius Lavra with the Chernigov monastery. The monastery was founded by Elder Barnabas. Dissatisfied with the well-fed, prosperous life in the monastery, the elder founded a cave monastery 6 kilometers from it. Moscow ufologist Pyotr Sharygin claims that extensive natural caves were adapted for the monastery. But most historians believe that the monks who left with the elder dug 14 cells and a small underground church.
The Chernigov monastery was widely known in pre-revolutionary Russia. Orthodox philosophers often visited here. Within the walls of the monastery, Vasily Rozanov and Konstantin Leontiev, who became famous not only throughout Russia, but also throughout the world, found their last refuge. Pavel Florensky, who later ended his days in the Solovetsky camp, often came to the Chernigov monastery special purpose. According to the philosopher, in this wondrous place the grace of God descended on him.
The beneficial effect of the Chernigov monastery not only on the soul, but also on the human body was well known throughout Russia. People with their ailments flocked here from the Moscow province and from very distant regions. It was enough to spend only a few hours in the cave hermitage for the disease to recede.
After the revolution, the flow of sufferers stopped, and completely different legends began to emerge about the abandoned monastery. With fear, local residents spoke about a black monk of gigantic stature, who would suddenly appear and then disappear without a trace in the middle of an open field that stretched near the monastery. Huge black figures were also seen by ufologists from the Association of the Unknown who were conducting research anomalous zone, located in the area of the former monastery.
Not so long ago, the legends about the underground Chernigov monastery received quite material confirmation.
The earth's surface on which we live has two properties: firstly, it is dissected by numerous faults, and secondly, it is in constant oscillatory motion. This movement is concentrated in the gaps and especially at their intersections. It was in such a zone that the Chernigov monastery was erected. On satellite images It is clearly visible in the Moscow region that it is here that two large ruptures intersect. Compression and extension in such zones lead to the emergence of geophysical fields that change their intensity. It was these fields that influenced people, helping some to strengthen their spirit, awakening in others the hidden forces of the body that helped them cope with ailments, and leading others into a state close to hallucination, often manifested in the form of moving dark pillars with unclear outlines or black figures.
Like the convent in Khotkov, the Chernigov monastery was connected to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra by an underground passage. This became clear in 1990, when a leaky heating main was being repaired near the Chernigov monastery. At a depth of 2.5 meters, the excavator's bucket unexpectedly opened an underground passage lined with so-called antique oversized bricks.
“Disease” of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery
The Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, famous throughout Russia, has its own secret underground galleries. They were discovered by the famous Moscow dowsing operator Igor Prokofiev, who came to the monastery at the invitation of the monks who were restoring it. Unlike other Russian shrines, the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery was largely spared by both time and Soviet power. The entire architectural ensemble of the monastery has been perfectly preserved with its amazing paintings of the central Assumption Cathedral, which practically does not require restoration. Only its unique bell tower, which surpassed in height the famous bell tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, disappeared. In 1941 it was blown up Soviet troops, as it served as an excellent reference point for fascist aircraft bombing Moscow.
Igor Prokofiev came to the monastery for a very utilitarian reason. Suddenly, groundwater rose on its territory, which began to wash away the foundations of buildings, seeping into the basements of the monastery buildings.
Wandering with dowsing frame, Igor quickly found out the reasons for the “dropsy” that the monastery “sicked with.” Next to its walls there is a huge man-made lake. To protect the buildings from flooding, the builders of the monastery created a unique drainage system: they laid numerous underground galleries filled with large pebbles underground. It was they who removed excess groundwater from its territory.
Restorers almost destroyed the monastery buildings. To provide convenient access to it for numerous tourists who dream of visiting the ancient Orthodox monastery, an excellent highway was laid between the lake and the monastery wall. It has become really convenient to travel along it, but the galleries through which groundwater flowed into the lake and were completely destroyed.
But the most incredible discoveries were made, so to speak, during a free search on the territory of the monastery. First, Igor Prokofiev “traced” a forgotten secret underground passage leading beyond the fortress walls. The monks did not believe the dowsing operator. Several excavations were made above the roof of the proposed underground passage. They were all buried in the stonework!
Then Father John, who led the restoration of the monastery, decided to take advantage of Prokofiev’s presence to get an answer to several questions that interested him. Firstly, where a spring of holy water came out of the ground; secondly, are there any dangerous “gifts” from the Second World War left on its territory? The operator immediately resolved both problems. The key was discovered under an ancient wooden frame, and several unexploded artillery shells were actually found in a small pond.
But the biggest surprise awaited the monks when Igor Prokofiev began to “trace” on the ground the location of the gallery that once connected the cathedral with the refectory. Where the gallery made a sharp bend, the operator discovered an ancient burial place. Prokofiev told the monks that, in his opinion, this is where the grave of the famous “backpack master” Malyuta Skuratov is located. At first, the operator’s words were treated with distrust, until one of the monks remembered a legend preserved among the residents of the ancient village of Teryaevo, near which the monastery is located. Long before his death, Malyuta wished to be buried in front of the threshold of the church, so that “everyone who enters God's temple I prayed, trampling his ashes with my feet!”
After the death of Malyuta, his body was secretly brought to the monastery, located on the very edge of the Moscow lands, so that the numerous relatives of the tortured victims of the “chain dog” Ivan the Terrible would not abuse him. It was here, at the foot of the gallery, that the man before whom the most eminent Russian princely families stood in awe found his final refuge.
Palestines near Moscow
Probably the third in ecclesiastical importance should be called the huge New Jerusalem Monastery, built by order of the all-powerful Patriarch Nikon. According to his plan, a semblance of the holy places of Palestine was created near Moscow. The hill on which the construction of the main cathedral of the monastery, the Resurrection Cathedral, began, was named Zion, the Istra River was renamed Jordan. The Church of Constantine and Helen, buried in the ground, the round chapel of the “Holy Sepulchre” with a magnificent tent roof and other analogues of Jerusalem churches appeared on the territory of the monastery.
The territory of the monastery and its surroundings was explored for several years by a Moscow group of dowsing operators “Radunitsa”. They discovered underground passages leading from the center of the monastery to the Istra River and to a secluded monastery hidden in a grove. From this small elegant building there was another small passage leading out into a deep ravine. There is a legend that when the disgraced patriarch lived in this monastery for eight years, Stepan Razin was brought to him through an underground passage for secret negotiations, and that it was because of them that the disgraced patriarch was exiled to the North.
New traces of the library of Ivan the Terrible
There are many legends associated with the monasteries underground secrets, walks among the residents of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. Under Ivan the Terrible, the settlement from 1565 to 1582 became the de facto capital of the Russian state. A small hunting estate was turned into impregnable fortress. It was not only surrounded by a powerful stone wall, but also extensive dungeons were built. In them, as the legend says, the treasures of the Russian tsars transported from the Moscow Kremlin were kept, including the famous Liberia of Ivan the Terrible.
According to some historians, the legendary library did not burn down during countless Moscow fires, but was reliably hidden in advance in the stone labyrinths of the Alexander Sloboda. This hypothesis was confirmed by the research of dowsing operator Ivan Koltsov, who specializes in solving historical mysteries using his unique gift. He managed to reconstruct the plan of underground passages leading far beyond the fortress walls, and even determined the location of caches with books. They, according to the researcher, are located at a depth of 40 meters.
The results of Ivan Koltsov’s research are confirmed by the testimony of the last abbess convent, founded in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda in the 17th century. She said that she saw chests filled with books in a cache hidden in the underground passages under the Trinity Church.
Mikhail BURLESHIN
Does it hold any secrets, or is it just a simple and straightforward mini-hotel?
It is worth recognizing that a person will never be old enough to stop loving all kinds of secrets. If there is one thing that we all, without exception, would like to have in our home, it is our own secret hideout, with some secret door that opens if you pull the right book. And in some places such places really exist.
10. Death Castle on the corner of 63rd and Wallace Streets, Chicago, USA.
H. G. Holmes is one of the most notorious serial killers in US history. There were suggestions that he carried out his dirty deeds not only in Chicago, many considered him to be the same Jack the Ripper. While this is pure speculation, Holmes owned a hotel which he turned into the now infamous "death castle".
Holmes had enough money and lived happily when he decided to build big building, which he positioned as a hotel. But in fact, it was just a cover, or rather a death trap for lonely female travelers. Thanks to Holmes's money and connections, his castle of death was able to please its owner for a long time, delivering only the pleasure he understood.
The hotel eventually counted approximately 40 secret rooms, and when detailed plan the hotel became public knowledge, many alternative signs were immediately invented for it. Among them were the "torture house", "black cabinet" and "house of three corpses". The hotel had huge amount secret passages, stairs that led to nowhere, hidden doors, secret passages and hatches. I would especially like to note the hatches that led to the basement, where operating tables, torture devices, a crematorium and pits with lime were found.
The so-called castle of death no longer exists, but in its place one can still find the remains of Holmes's works. There is post office, under which the remains of tunnels are located. The tunnels, built from bricks, are essentially the remains of a house full of terrible secrets, where the lives of several hundred women were cut short.
9. Tunnels and caves of Predjama Castle, Slovenia.
Predjama Castle does not look like a typical 13th century castle, to put it bluntly, it does not look like it at all. Built directly into the rock and connected to a cave, the castle is surprisingly well fortified, as the unrighteous knight and robber Baron Erazem Yamsky was able to verify in the 15th century.
A local lord in the late 15th century rose up against the Habsburgs after an insult to his dead friend and decided to take revenge. According to history, he hid with his loyal followers in the castle when the Habsburg army laid siege to it. He had a secret tunnel total length about 5 kilometers, which passed under the castle and led to neighboring caves. At night he used the cave to leave the castle and restore food supplies. He was so cocky that he was said to regularly taunt the army by throwing fresh berries at them. But everything comes to an end, and not always well. The lord's servant gave it away and gave away the location of the tunnel and raised the flag when the lord went to the restroom - the outbuilding of the castle. A single shot into the bathroom wall was the end of the shameful lord.
In 1818, the tunnels were opened to tourists, in 1945 a railway was built there, along which electric locomotives began to run, and the caves were used by the German army as a warehouse.
Today you can tour the castle and the tunnels underneath. Every summer, a medieval tournament according to 16th-century rules is held on site.
8. The castle that Sherlock Holmes built...
The popular image of Sherlock Holmes includes a deerstalker's cap, a pipe and the phrase "Elementary, Watson!" But we also know that all these things were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They were the invention of a man who took William Gillett as the standard Sherlock Holmes.
Not surprisingly, Gillett was a true eccentric who loved mysteries, as evidenced by the mansion he built. His house overlooks the Connecticut River, where he looks extremely out of place. Built from local stone between 1914 and 1919, it resembles a medieval German castle. But inside it looks more like a hunting lodge and keeps so many secrets that even a seasoned investigator will appreciate it.
There is a huge amount in the castle secret passages, which the theater actor built in such a way as to certainly surprise the guests. Of course there are many secret doors, which he installed in case he wanted to quickly send unwanted company away, and there was a series of mirrors that allowed him to observe what was happening in various rooms.
There are 47 doors in the house, each one is unique and each has a specially designed closing mechanism. Externally, some of them look more like doors from a psychedelic novel than from a medieval castle. Pieces of furniture are placed on the floor in such a way that they can be moved with the flick of a switch, or by pressing a button, and by flipping another switch you will discover a secret staircase to a secret room behind the fireplace.
Gillette's wife died before the mansion was built, and the couple had no children. Gillette was a big fan of cats, and their number sometimes reached up to 17. They all wandered through the secret passages of the mansion along with their owner.
7. Mysterious passages of Gilmerton Bay, Edinburgh.
Gilmerton Cove is essentially a series underground tunnels, which pass under the Gilmerton area of Edinburgh. According to legend, the tunnels were carved from stone approximately 300 years ago by a blacksmith named George Paterson, which took him approximately five years. Paterson created an apartment for himself with 3 bedrooms and a forge, where he presumably lived until his death in 1735.
This is just one version of the origin of the tunnels. While records show that they were indeed Paterson's home for just over a decade, they are also believed to have been around for a long time before him. Another version connects the tunnels with more early history, namely with the Templars. The tunnels are widely believed to have been a hideout for the Covenanters, members of an organization that had opposed the king since 1638.
After Paterson used the tunnels as a home, they continued to become quite overgrown interesting legends. It is believed that they were used as a secret meeting place for the Hellfire Club, where noble gentlemen were rumored to engage in every known form of obscenity. For a time, the tunnels were also used as a tavern, a smuggler's hideout, and even a gambling club.
Now it is a tourist attraction, a dark, damp passage into Scotland's underground.
6. Hidden rooms in Drum Castle, Scotland.
Secret rooms and passages are really well done if they remain unknown to the public for many centuries.
Relatively recently, in 2013, archaeologists carried out work at Drum Castle, Scotland. They were restoring part of the wall to help maintain the integrity of the watchtower when they discovered something surprising - rooms hidden behind these walls.
Archaeologists repeatedly noted the presence of windows that did not seem to quite fit with the idea and layout of the castle, and when they moved the bookcases that covered the windows, they discovered that they were windows into a secret room. Exploration of the room led to the discovery of a medieval toilet and a secret passage to the main hall.
Moreover, they found another secret room hidden in one of the castle towers, which served as the home of Alexander Irvine. According to legend, he was pursued and his sister hid him in a secret room in the castle for three years, and finally the room was found.
5. Pixar's secret "office"
Secret tunnels and secret rooms don't always serve to stir up intrigue, sometimes they're just fun.
Pixar is one of the largest animation companies in the world, and if anyone would even think of creating corporate offices with hidden rooms, then it is to them.
Animator Andrew Gordon, while wandering around Pixar's new offices in Emeryville, California, noticed a valve the size of a man. He did what any of us would do, he took it off and climbed inside. At the end of the pipe there was a secret room.
Steve Jobs would have called it the Meditation Room, but everyone else just called it the Love Hall. The room was a secret for a relatively short time - people who went there left marks on the walls, signatures and original works of art.
4. Secret room of priests in the Mosley estate, Wolverhampton, England.
Being a Catholic during Queen Elizabeth's reign was quite dangerous, and being a priest was even worse. Secret places were a necessity, and so the secret room of the priests appeared. Conveniently hidden behind the walls, the room lived up to its name. It was here that the priests hid from persecution. The idea of using such rooms to hide priests was not new, and to stay one step ahead of their pursuers, those who designed and built them had to come up with increasingly sophisticated tricks.
The priests' room at Mosley Manor not only saved the lives of the priests, but also the life of the king himself. When Charles II fled after defeat at the Battle of Worcester, he found himself in Wolverhampton, in the home of Thomas Whitgreave. Whitgrieve, along with a man named Father Huddlestone, gave shelter to the king and hid him in the priests' room at Mosley Manor until he had healed his wounds and those seeking him had moved on.
This was back in 1651, but even today this house is located in perfect condition; the priests' room is still there, along with the bed on which Charles II slept while he remained in the house. The priests' room is absolutely simple - small, dark and stuffy. It was quite normal to hide in the dark and end up dying in this tiny secret room that was meant to provide security for the priests.
Charles II, of course, did not survive. He returned to Europe and regained his status less than a decade later. He never forgot the people who helped him at the Mosley estate, rewarding them with generous lifetime pensions.
3. Underground Railroad: Levi Coffin House, Indiana, USA.
When asked why he risked his life to do what he did, Levi Coffin replied: "When I was a boy, I read in the Bible that it was right to help strangers in need, and I thought I could do it." of your life."
When Coffin was a boy, he encountered a group of men who changed the way he viewed the world. On their journey to the South, where they were to be sold into slavery, the men were chained and sent off to a life of suffering. In 1826 he moved to Newport, Indiana, and turned his home into one of the underground stations. railway.
An active businessman, Coffin used his reputation to persuade community members to assist fugitive slaves trying to reach Canada and finally gain freedom. Those who could not provide shelter provided food and clothing to those who were trying to save their lives. Levi and his wife, Catherine, lived in their Newport home for 2 decades, during which time more than 2,000 slaves took refuge in their home.
In the room at the top of their house there was a tiny door that led into a tiny room. The beds could be quickly moved to the door to hide it, and these were small secret rooms that were the border between slavery and freedom, not only for those who escaped, but also for those who helped them.
2. Tunnels of Dover Castle.
Few underground tunnels have played such a role important role in history like those under Dover Castle. On the way across the English Channel, back in the 11th century, Dover Castle stood.
But it was only in the 18th century that it was decided that the tunnels under the castle should play a major role in expanding the capabilities of the fortress. During Napoleonic Wars several thousand soldiers called the tunnels home. After the war, the tunnels were left untouched in order to later fight smugglers.
After a century of disuse, the tunnels began to be used during World War II. The castle and tunnels were on the front line of the confrontation. Now open to the public, the tunnels are a well-preserved monument to Britain's recent past. The centuries-old tunnels were equipped with communications equipment, barracks and public canteens were built in them, and walking through them today, you can hear the sound of artillery fire and the work of anti-aircraft guns. In 1940, when the entire Channel became a huge battlefield, 338,000 people from Dunkirk visited the castle tunnels.
Several decades later, the tunnels are ready for war again. The underground bunker could provide shelter to three hundred government officials in the event of a nuclear war. The tunnels also remained a place that could be used in case of evacuation until 1982.
According to rumors, the tunnels are not completely empty, and the ghosts of the dead never leave them. Stories from those who still watch the tunnels include tales of the ghost of a woman in a red dress, and sobs that can be heard on the castle stairs. Another man dressed in blue cloak, walks through the halls of the palace, and many visitors to the tunnels hear screams and slams of heavy wooden doors.
1. Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California.
The story of the Winchester Mystery House is much more suited to a supernatural romance than to the real world.
In 1862, a young woman named Sarah married William Winchester, owner of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Tragedy struck in their lives - their daughter died when she was only six months old, and William himself contracted tuberculosis and died a few years later. Sarah became so distraught over her losses that she fell into a coma.
When she recovered, she consulted a psychic to find out why such grief had happened in her life. According to the psychic, the souls of those killed by their company's weapons have cursed her, and to escape the curse, she must build a house.
But it had to be unusual house. After construction there should not have been any plans or drawings left. Construction had to continue 24 hours a day, and a labyrinth of rooms, hallways, secret passages and tunnels had to be created under the house to confuse the spirits that followed her. She moved to California in 1884 and began building. Construction only stopped in 1922, when she died in her sleep at the age of 82.
Inside the house everything is very beautiful: mahogany and rosewood, German silver, artistic stained glass windows and silver chandeliers. But the house... the house is really very strange.
According to the story, Sarah communicated with her spirits every night, and in the morning, when she met with her contractor, she told him what he had to do with the house that day. There were no designs, but the number 13 was everywhere. The floors were divided into 13 sections, there were 13 glasses in the windows, there were 13 gas burners on the chandeliers in the house, many staircases had 13 steps and in many objects decoration there was something to do with the number 13.
There are hallways that lead to nowhere, staircases that go into various directions, there are secret passages, secret doors and doors that don't open. The company employees thought that there was something supernatural about the hostess herself, since she could appear and disappear into nowhere. Those who own the house today and offer excursion tours are not sure that they know the location of all the secret passages, they are so well hidden. Supposedly, there is a wine cellar somewhere in the house, which Sarah boarded up after she saw a handprint on the wall and took it as an evil omen.
To this day, the Winchester Mystery House is associated with numerous legends. After Sarah died, her private safe was opened, in which she kept main jewel the widow's was a photograph of her husband and daughter whom she had lost, and a lock of her little girl's hair.
Material prepared by GusenaLapchatay and Admincheg website
P.S. My name is Alexander. This is my personal, independent project. I am very glad if you liked the article. Want to help the site? Just look at the advertisement below for what you were recently looking for.
Copyright site © - This news belongs to the site, and is the intellectual property of the blog, is protected by copyright law and cannot be used anywhere without an active link to the source. Read more - "about Authorship"
Is this what you were looking for? Perhaps this is something you couldn’t find for so long?
None of the Muscovites had ever seen how the country's leaders got to the stands of the Mausoleum during parades and demonstrations. And this is not surprising. After all, the way there lies through a comfortable tunnel connecting the Kremlin with Lenin’s tomb and many other city objects. In fact, underground Moscow is like a “holey” Dutch cheese - it’s all criss-crossed with secret passages...
Historical information: Ivan the Terrible’s famous grandmother began to explore underground Moscow Byzantine princess Sophia Paleolog. Having married the Russian Tsar, she brought with her as a dowry double headed eagle- coat of arms of Byzantium, which has since become state emblem Russia, and your personal library. And in order to preserve the priceless scrolls, she ordered Aristotle Fioravanti, the largest specialist in underground structures, from Europe, and ordered him to build a three-tiered white stone “safe” near Moscow.
Ivan the Terrible, like his grandmother, became a big fan of underground romance. Already worked under him a whole army diggers. A web of passages stretched from the Kremlin towards the future Zemlyanoy Val, into a distant forest thicket - now the Red Gate, towards the future Myasnitskaya Street...
Later, from this gallery a road was built whole network branches under the Menshikov Tower, under the “Masonic houses”, under a whole scattering of buildings in the triangle Khokhlovka - Solyanka - Vorontsovo Field, under the former house of Prince Pozharsky, under the former house of the Secret Chancellery...
One of the exits to the underground labyrinth from the time of Ivan the Terrible still exists today and is located in the basement of a house on the corner of Herzen Street and Vosstaniya Square.
Our first encounter with the problem of the existence of the underground kingdom of Moscow happened completely by accident.
In a lake in one of the capital's parks, all the fish suddenly died. The park management indignantly reported: “The underground plant located under the park is misbehaving again. From its emergency emissions, it’s not like a fish, soon half of Moscow will die..."
A second similar object also surfaced unexpectedly. When asked why, given the acute shortage of housing space, a huge wasteland was built up with metal garages, the architects explained: “You can’t build anything massive there - it will fall into the underground workshop...”
And then a natural task arose: to find out what is hidden under the capital’s pavements, except for the world-famous Moscow metro? In search of information, we met stalkers - a group of young treasure hunters who, at their own peril and risk, comb the Moscow dungeons in the hope of finding ancient coins, icons, books...
It was from them that we learned a lot interesting facts about the secret womb of Moscow.
These very young guys consider themselves followers of the little-known historian and archaeologist Stelletsky in Russia and use his developments in their searches. Ignatius Yakovlevich Stelletsky devoted more than forty years of his life to the search for the “library of Sophia Paleolog,” or, as it is more often called, “the library of Ivan the Terrible.”
At the beginning of the century, he explored many underground passages of the Kremlin. And after the revolution, he turned to the GPU for permission to search for new dungeons. He was granted such permission, but on the condition that he would never publish the results of his research anywhere without special permission. Stelletsky agreed to this enslaving agreement.
He worked together with the subway builders, studying all the underground corridors that came across the route of the subway. And all his notes and diaries invariably ended up in the safe of the state security service... After all, under Soviet rule, the underground kingdom of Ivan the Terrible was taken under the guardianship of the KGB Bunker Directorate.
Bit by bit, the stalkers collected information regarding ancient secret passages. Along the way, we also learned about the so-called “new buildings.” Bolshoi Theater employees told them about a wide tunnel leading to the Kremlin.
As you know, Stalin loved to spend Bolshoi Theater party conferences. During these events, all the props (stands, slogans, etc.) were delivered to the theater by truck through an underground passage. Having estimated where this path should approximately lie, the stalkers tried to penetrate it from the communication tunnels. But they failed, as they were stopped by tightly closed metal doors.
But they entered the underground garage of the former CMEA building with ease. A “little trick” helped: press out the contact roller of the alarm, fix it with something - and go through any door. In principle, anyone who is not afraid to go into the “underground world” can get through sewer, cable and other passages into the basement of almost any building in Moscow.
But I must say that this is very unsafe. Stalkers say:
“The belly of Moscow is quite densely populated. Firstly, it was chosen by homeless people. Secondly, mafia groups like to set up warehouses there for illegal products. And, God forbid, you catch their eye! Thirdly, the tunnels are inhabited by feral dogs that hunt rats, each other, and generally all living things that come their way. Well, fourthly, if you accidentally get into the “closed area” of the dungeon, then there is a risk of running into a guard’s bullet. After all, there is something underground, and there are plenty of “secret objects.”
...An inconspicuous hatch at the bottom of the fountain, right behind the monument in the very center of the capital, hides one of the most important secrets countries. Surprisingly, this entrance is not guarded by anyone. Probably because not every daredevil dares to descend into the pitch darkness of a thirty-story abyss along the slimy and rusty brackets of a narrow metal staircase.
And yet such people were found. They said that there was hidden an entrance to the mysterious Metro-2 system, the lines of which are not indicated on any diagram. One can only guess where the trains with dimmed lights come from and where they go.
Vladimir Gonik, who worked as a doctor in the Ministry of Defense for six years, claims that these branches serve a grandiose government bunker built in case of nuclear war.
How did he know about this? The fact is that his patients were people who performed special tasks who were subjected to increased physical and mental stress - pilots, submariners, illegal immigrants working abroad...
From time to time, he came across people with surprisingly pale skin, as if they had not seen the sun for years. Little by little, they collected information from their individual phrases and short answers, which ultimately formed a fairly complete picture.
If you believe the words of Tonic, then in the south of the capital a Cyclopean structure is hidden deep underground, capable of providing shelter for ten thousand people for many years. Special security and service personnel in perfect order they contain underground “streets”, “houses”, cinemas, gyms with swimming pools...
One of the Moscow newspapers wrote that Boris Yeltsin was simply shocked when he visited a certain underground city located under a huge wasteland near Vernadsky Avenue. This story surprisingly coincides not only with Tonic’s information, but also with a map published in the annual publication of the US Department of Defense “Soviet Armed Forces. 1991.”
It shows three special metro lines connecting the underground point under the Kremlin with country and city bunkers. The southwestern underground line passes by Vernadsky Avenue and leads to the government airfield Vnukovo (27 kilometers from Moscow), the southern line ends 60 kilometers from the city in the shelter of the General Staff and the country's leadership, the eastern underground stretches 25 kilometers to the air defense command complex.
And in the American collection “Soviet Armed Forces” for 1988, there is even a diagram of floors and premises underground bunker for the Soviet leadership.
But the bunker state security department carefully keeps the secrets of the dungeons from its compatriots. And here's proof of that. After the failure of the putsch, the former first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, Prokofiev, disappeared from the building of the CPSU Central Committee through one of these secret passages, and they could not detain him, since even those who were entrusted with this did not know the secrets of the Bunker Directorate.
However, in lately the curtain of secrecy that hid the Moscow dungeons began to open slightly under the wind of change. According to data leaked to the press, it can already be judged that at least fifteen large underground factories, connected by many kilometers of tunnels.
Journalists have already been allowed into the bunker of the fire department headquarters under Smolenskaya Square, the underground ITAR-TASS building under one of the stations, the headquarters bunker civil defense under Tverskaya street...
With reluctance, the doors of the heavy doors of the A-type buildings also swung open. Huge anti-nuclear bomb shelters for civilian population, began to appear relatively recently - since 1984. Now there are about a hundred of them, and, naturally in our time, they do not stand idle in anticipation of an unknown war, but regularly serve business.
“Some have underground parking for cars,” says V. Lukshin, head of the engineering and technical department of the Moscow Civil Defense Headquarters, “others house gyms, shops, warehouses... Not a single one was left without work square meter. And there is even a waiting list for the use of facilities still under construction.”
You can't hide underground life here - everything is in plain sight. But the “underground city for the government” still remains a sealed secret. And this is understandable: if the underground kingdom exists, then it can serve ten thousand “chosen ones” only on the condition that millions of “ordinary” people do not know about it!
Irina Tsareva, from the book “Unknown, Rejected or Hidden”
None of the Muscovites had ever seen how the country's leaders got to the stands of the Mausoleum during parades and demonstrations. And this is not surprising. After all, the way there lies through a comfortable tunnel connecting the Kremlin with Lenin’s tomb and many other city objects. In fact, underground Moscow is like a “holey” Dutch cheese - all criss-crossed with secret passages...
Historical information: Ivan the Terrible’s grandmother, the famous Byzantine princess Sophia Paleologus, began to explore underground Moscow. Having married the Russian Tsar, she brought with her as a dowry a double-headed eagle - the coat of arms of Byzantium, which has since become the state emblem of Russia, and her personal library. And in order to preserve the priceless scrolls, she ordered Aristotle Fioravanti, the largest specialist in underground structures, from Europe, and ordered him to build a three-tiered white stone “safe” near Moscow.
Ivan the Terrible, like his grandmother, became a big fan of underground romance. A whole army of diggers already worked under him. A web of passages stretched from the Kremlin towards the future Zemlyanoy Val, into a distant forest thicket - now the Red Gate, towards the future Myasnitskaya Street...
Later, a whole network of branches was laid from this gallery under the Menshikov Tower, under the “Masonic houses”, under a whole scattering of buildings in the Khokhlovka-Solyanka-Vorontsovo Pole triangle, under the former house of Prince Pozharsky, under the former house of the Secret Chancellery...
One of the exits to the underground labyrinth from the time of Ivan the Terrible still exists today and is located in the basement of a house on the corner of Herzen Street and Vosstaniya Square.
Our first encounter with the problem of the existence of the underground kingdom of Moscow happened completely by accident.
In a lake in one of the capital's parks, all the fish suddenly died. The park management indignantly reported: “The underground plant located under the park is misbehaving again. From its emergency emissions, it’s not like a fish, soon half of Moscow will die..."
A second similar object also surfaced unexpectedly. When asked why, given the acute shortage of housing space, a huge wasteland was built up with metal garages, the architects explained: “You can’t build anything massive there - it will fall into the underground workshop...”
And then a natural task arose: to find out what is hidden under the capital’s pavements, except for the world-famous Moscow metro? In search of information, we met the stalkers - a group of young treasure hunters who, at their own peril and risk, comb the Moscow dungeons in the hope of finding ancient coins, icons, books...
It was from them that we learned many interesting facts about the secret womb of Moscow.
These very young guys consider themselves followers of the little-known historian and archaeologist Stelletsky in Russia and use his developments in their searches. Ignatius Yakovlevich Stelletsky devoted more than forty years of his life to the search for the “library of Sophia Paleolog,” or, as it is more often called, “the library of Ivan the Terrible.”
At the beginning of the century, he explored many underground passages of the Kremlin. And after the revolution, he turned to the GPU for permission to search for new dungeons. He was granted such permission, but on the condition that he would never publish the results of his research anywhere without special permission. Stelletsky agreed to this enslaving agreement.
He worked together with the subway builders, studying all the underground corridors that came across the route of the subway. And all his notes and diaries invariably ended up in the safe of the state security service... After all, under Soviet rule, the underground kingdom of Ivan the Terrible was taken under the guardianship of the KGB Bunker Directorate.
Bit by bit, the stalkers collected information regarding ancient secret passages. Along the way, we also learned about the so-called “new buildings.” Bolshoi Theater employees told them about a wide tunnel leading to the Kremlin.
As you know, Stalin loved to hold party conferences at the Bolshoi Theater. During these events, all the props (stands, slogans, etc.) were delivered to the theater by truck through an underground passage. Having estimated where this path should approximately lie, the stalkers tried to penetrate it from the communication tunnels. But they failed, as they were stopped by tightly closed metal doors.
But they entered the underground garage of the former CMEA building with ease. A “little trick” helped: press out the alarm contact roller, fix it with something, and go through any door. In principle, anyone who is not afraid to go into the “underground world” can get through sewer, cable and other passages into the basement of almost any building in Moscow.
But I must say that this is very unsafe. Stalkers say:
“The belly of Moscow is quite densely populated. Firstly, it was chosen by homeless people. Secondly, mafia groups like to set up warehouses there for illegal products. And, God forbid, you catch their eye! Thirdly, the tunnels are inhabited by feral dogs that hunt rats, each other, and generally all living things that come their way. Well, fourthly, if you accidentally get into the “closed area” of the dungeon, then there is a risk of running into a guard’s bullet. After all, there is something underground, and there are plenty of “secret objects.”
An inconspicuous hatch at the bottom of the fountain, right behind the monument in the very center of the capital, hides one of the country's most important secrets. Surprisingly, this entrance is not guarded by anyone. Probably because not every daredevil dares to descend into the pitch darkness of a thirty-story abyss along the slimy and rusty brackets of a narrow metal staircase.
And yet such people were found. They said that there was hidden an entrance to the mysterious Metro-2 system, the lines of which are not indicated on any diagram. One can only guess where the trains with the lights dimmed come from and where they go.
Vladimir Gonik, who worked as a doctor in the Ministry of Defense for six years, claims that these branches serve a grandiose government bunker built in case of nuclear war.
How did he know about this? The fact is that his patients were people who performed special tasks and were subjected to increased physical and mental stress - pilots, submariners, illegal immigrants working abroad...
From time to time, he came across people with surprisingly pale skin, as if they had not seen the sun for years. Little by little, they collected information from their individual phrases and short answers, which ultimately formed a fairly complete picture.
If you believe the words of Tonic, then in the south of the capital a Cyclopean structure is hidden deep underground, capable of providing shelter for ten thousand people for many years. Special security and maintenance personnel keep the underground “streets”, “houses”, cinemas, gyms with swimming pools there in perfect order...
One of the Moscow newspapers wrote that Boris Yeltsin was simply shocked when he visited a certain underground city located under a huge wasteland near Vernadsky Avenue. This story surprisingly coincides not only with Tonic’s information, but also with a map published in the annual publication of the US Department of Defense “Soviet Armed Forces. 1991.”
It shows three special metro lines connecting the underground point under the Kremlin with country and city bunkers. The southwestern underground line passes by Vernadsky Avenue and leads to the government airfield Vnukovo (27 kilometers from Moscow), the southern line ends 60 kilometers from the city in the shelter of the General Staff and the country's leadership, the eastern underground stretches 25 kilometers to the air defense command complex.
And in the American collection “Soviet Armed Forces” for 1988, there is even a diagram of the floors and rooms of an underground bunker for the Soviet leadership.
But the bunker state security department carefully keeps the secrets of the dungeons from its compatriots. And here's proof of that. After the failure of the putsch, the former first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, Prokofiev, disappeared from the building of the CPSU Central Committee through one of these secret passages, and they could not detain him, since even those who were entrusted with this did not know the secrets of the Bunker Directorate.
However, recently the curtain of secrecy that hid the Moscow dungeons has begun to open slightly under the wind of change. According to data leaked to the press, it can already be judged that in Moscow today there are at least fifteen large underground factories connected to each other by many kilometers of tunnels.
Journalists have already been allowed into the bunker of the fire department headquarters under Smolenskaya Square, the underground ITAR-TASS building under one of the stations, the bunker of the civil defense headquarters under Tverskaya Street...
With reluctance, the doors of the heavy doors of the A-type buildings also swung open. Huge anti-nuclear bomb shelters for the civilian population began to appear relatively recently - since 1984. Now there are about a hundred of them, and, naturally in our time, they do not stand idle in anticipation of an unknown war, but regularly serve business.
“Some have underground parking for cars,” says V. Lukshin, head of the engineering and technical department of the Moscow Civil Defense Headquarters, “others house gyms, shops, warehouses... Not a single square meter was left without work. And there is even a waiting list for the use of facilities still under construction.”
You can’t hide underground life here—everything is in plain sight. But the “underground city for the government” still remains a sealed secret. And this is understandable: if the underground kingdom exists, then it can serve ten thousand “chosen ones” only on the condition that millions of “ordinary” people do not know about it!
Irina Tsareva, from the book “Unknown, Rejected or Hidden”
