In this episode of History Channel's Secret Passages series, we visit: The Fairies Mound of New Grange in Ireland. The mausoleum of the first Chin Emperor of China and his Terra Cotta army. The Catacombs of Rome The Paris Underground.....and you thought "French Underground" was simply a name for the French Resistance movement! The 17th century grave robbers route to the fledgling anatomy program of the newly established University of Maryland.
In this episode, the spotlight is on war, and our journey goes from the frontlines of World War II tunnels. As a legacy of a global conflicts, Europe is literally riddled with holes. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this is found in the Dutch town of Maastricht, which sits atop over 200 miles of tunnels and chambers. A descent into them is a trip back to the dark days of the Nazi occupation. In Switzerland, military tunnels and hidden rooms are still very much in use. In fact, the Swiss Alps conceal a maze of caverns and passages large enough to house the entire Swiss military.
An exciting adventure into the fabled world of castles and palaces Where Royal power struggles and political intrigue play out in abandoned corrordores and hidden stairwells. Where the condemned disappear into concealed cooridoors leading to dungeouns of terror and death. While the hunted hide in ingeniously carved out holes and recesses. And where the medieval tunnels become the covert underground headquarters for 20th century warfare.
Ancient unexplained monoliths on the side of a New Hampshire hillside. Could this be a mysterious oracle chamber? hidden rooms inside a three-hundred year old farmhouse provide clues to the secret history of slaves in early America. Hidden staircases and hidden passageways reflect a designer's obsession for the unexpected. Mansions cling to a German hillside hiding miles of heavily armored tunnels and bunkers constructed beneath them.
Fruit trees burst through the ceiling of a bizarre subterranean compound with mysterious passages and rooms - all built by one man. An English village filled with passageways and hiding places becomes a smuggler's paradise. An eccentric Englishman hires hundreds of workers to construct and elaborate labyrinth of passages beneath the streets of Liverpool. On the run from a notorious sheriff, train robbers hide $70000 inside the hidden caves of Arizona's Rincon Mountains.
Drug smugglers use innocent-looking homes, businesses, and even a church to hide secret entrances to an extensive tunnel system along the US border with Mexico. One of the largest cities in France is home to secret passageways and hiding places that have been used for centuries by heroes and thieves. Black gold from Oklahoma oil fields helps build a palace in the prairie field with secret passages and disguised tunnels.