Secret Tunnels
September 5, 2015 9:33 PM   Subscribe

Urban Myth Confirmed True as Archaeologists Discover Hidden Tunnels in Mexico "Talk of a maze of underground tunnels beneath the Colonial city of Puebla in Mexico have long been disregarded as mere urban legend. However, city authorities have now confirmed that their existence is no myth. Believed to date back as early as 1531, when the city was founded, the subterranean tunnels are believed to extend as far as 10 kilometers beneath the historic center of the city." (more here (in spanish))
posted by dhruva (15 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
Those are the Halls of Montezuma.
posted by ph00dz at 10:11 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


How can they have been unknown for so long?
posted by Segundus at 10:57 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


I assume they mean "10 kilometers horizontally, beneath the city".
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:58 PM on September 5, 2015 [6 favorites]


Segundus: "How can they have been unknown for so long?"

No one was actively looking.
posted by Mitheral at 11:05 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ancient Origins is a website for kooks. The Spanish report on this is more sober, but the only image shows someone walking through a modern-looking tunnel with what appears to be electric lighting and a concrete base. So I have no idea what these tunnels are like, how "unknown" they really are, or whether there's any substance to this.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:08 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Spanish report is more somber, but there are quite a lot of photos, including several of people crouching and standing in both fully and partially excavated tunnels, illuminated by what looks to be a run-in light source. (For example, in case your computer's loading the page oddly.) The photo captions support some of the claims of the Ancient Origins article, as well, including the size and age of the tunnels. Which seems pretty legit to me, and also totally awesome.

I super love tunnels under cities and am delighted to have seen this.
posted by MeghanC at 1:30 AM on September 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Thanks MeghanC. I'm not seeing the other photos at all, but that does make the excitement make more sense.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:49 AM on September 6, 2015


I assume they mean "10 kilometers horizontally, beneath the city".

Nope, vertically. Mexico has a substantial minority mole people population. They're poor, but very rich culturally.

(They shouldn't be confused with the molé people, who are also poor, but very rich and chocolatey.)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:53 AM on September 6, 2015 [21 favorites]


So now we know what 'El Chapo' has been up to....
posted by Fizz at 7:12 AM on September 6, 2015


I can't help it... I love when this sort of thing, some benign but long-cherished urban myth (especially a myth about the urban place itself) turns out to be true.. Cool.
posted by pt68 at 8:51 AM on September 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


How can they have been unknown for so long?

They weren't "unknown," they've never been unknown. People have known about them ever since they were built, the phrase "urban myth" is a white American scientist construction to describe/denigrate the organic knowledge of native people about their own land.
posted by mrbigmuscles at 4:32 PM on September 6, 2015 [2 favorites]


Nope, vertically. Mexico has a substantial minority mole people population.(They shouldn't be confused with the molé people, who are also poor, but very rich and chocolatey.)

And they should not be confused with the Mole people of Summa Nulla ... particularly chief Molière, his brother Molet and Moleena.
posted by Twang at 9:09 PM on September 6, 2015


Mr. Bad Example: "(They shouldn't be confused with the molé people, who are also poor, but very rich and chocolatey.)"

Nice try, but there is no accent on the e in mole, neither in English nor in Spanish.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:12 AM on September 7, 2015


Legend, not "urban legend." Not all legends are "urban legends."
posted by ethnomethodologist at 7:05 PM on September 7, 2015


Stories about hidden tunnels are common, and they almost necessarily are set in built-up areas. I think if anything counts as an urban legend, these do.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:23 PM on September 7, 2015


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