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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,280 Tom ward (narrates): A region littered with ruins. 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:09,800 Home to an extraordinary deception. 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:15,960 Spies behind enemy lines, danger, espionage, warfare, 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,360 could almost be the pitch for a Hollywood blockbuster. 5 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:23,520 The grand remnants 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,240 of a mystical city of stone in Tanzania. 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,080 It's kind of like an Amazon warehouse 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,400 where it's collecting, distributing, 9 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,320 producing and then exporting all over the globe. 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:40,680 A derelict facility in buffalo that would produce an American icon. 11 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,040 It's hard to describe, 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,040 it's like you're touching kind of cotton 13 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,280 like, very, very soft cotton 14 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,360 and it's whiter than white colour 15 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,000 like the colour of virtue, the colour of purity. 16 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:58,400 And a secret complex in Taiwan built to serve a brutal regime. 17 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,440 A guest house was actually a smoke screen 18 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:02,840 for its real purpose. 19 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,440 Decaying relics. 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:13,280 Ruins of lost worlds. 21 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,440 Sites haunted by the past. 22 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,080 Their secrets waiting to be revealed. 23 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,880 The golan heights, a politically explosive region, 24 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,480 strewn with the remains of warfare. 25 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,800 There's military vehicles littering the area, 26 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,840 there's mine field warning signs everywhere. 27 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:56,600 This is a military zone. 28 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,080 This is the flash point, 29 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:07,400 the centre of conflict which over and over again 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:12,360 has resulted in tremendous violence on a vast scale. 31 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,040 At its heart a battle scarred ruin. 32 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,080 It looks a little bit perhaps like a parking garage 33 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,080 or some kind of office building but all windows are blown out. 34 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,600 And it was clearly hit by something pretty powerful, 35 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:29,056 there's a hole that goes from the roof 36 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:30,240 all the way to the basement. 37 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:35,400 But before destruction rained down on these defaced walls, 38 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,920 it was the site of an astonishing deception. 39 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,960 Through these halls walked a man whose ability 40 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:44,480 to pretend to be what he wasn't, 41 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:50,040 his ability to be trusted and get sensitive secret information 42 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,520 was unparalleled and he just might have changed 43 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:53,680 the course of history. 44 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:07,240 Damascus Syria, the 18th of may 1965. 45 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,840 10,000 onlookers packed the martyr square 46 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,760 where a lone man hung from a noose. 47 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:18,560 The trusted him, 48 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,040 they promoted him in the government, 49 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,640 they almost made him defence minister of Syria 50 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,800 and in order to expunge that shame, 51 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,040 they don't just decide to kill him, 52 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,920 they sentence him to death and they hang him publicly. 53 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,560 This man's journey to the gallows is inextricably linked 54 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,480 to this collection of ruins less than 40 miles from Damascus. 55 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,800 Today, the golan heights are occupied by Israel 56 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,640 but this structure's distinctive style suggests 57 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:53,160 an outside influence. 58 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,920 You can tell by the brutalist architecture 59 00:03:57,960 --> 00:03:59,600 that there was a heavy Soviet influence 60 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:00,960 on its design. 61 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,560 This site was built in the 1950s with the help of Russian engineers 62 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:05,680 and Russian materials. 63 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,320 The Soviet union however was no ally of Israel. 64 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:13,760 In the 1950s this terrain 65 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,520 was controlled by Syria and it was heavily fortified. 66 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,320 Access in and out of the golan heights 67 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,720 was strictly controlled by the Syrian military and police. 68 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,880 It was a front line province in a front line state. 69 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,360 And Syria confronted Israel actively. 70 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,520 This is the former Syrian military headquarters. 71 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,600 Ilan shulman is a retired Israeli paratrooper 72 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,440 and an expert on the history of this troubled region. 73 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,200 So, first of all we're standing 74 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,400 and it's you know, quite unbelievable 75 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:04,240 but this was the main office of the commander 76 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:06,760 that was in charge on the Syrian forces 77 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,520 on the golan front, the southern front. 78 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,200 The headquarters was the centre of military operations 79 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,360 in the golan heights and the centre of intelligence. 80 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,960 But this structure was soon drawn in to war. 81 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,360 So, in the entrance of the headquarters 82 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:26,440 and we see here an entrance 83 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:28,960 of a bomb that managed to penetrate the roof, 84 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,040 the floor and got all the way down here 85 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,360 to the lobby of the headquarters. 86 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,280 The root cause of this damage can be found just 10 miles away 87 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,600 in the shattered remains of a Syrian border fortification. 88 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,480 So, we're here in tel faher 89 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,400 in the biggest Syrian bunker in the golan heights. 90 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,760 It's a net of bunkers and trenches and, 91 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,560 and firing positions and barbed wires and mine fields. 92 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:04,040 The irony is that, er, every soldier that was station here 93 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,240 er, for him this was the Syrian defence line. 94 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:10,560 But from the Israeli perspective things looked 95 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:11,960 very different. 96 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:19,680 Attacks on the Israeli settlements below tel faher were common 97 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,520 and although the Israeli defence forces responded 98 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,560 in kind the Syrians had one key advantage. 99 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:29,320 It's an elevated position. 100 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,960 It looks out over the sea of galilee and importantly Israel. 101 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,440 The tactical advantages of this location are very obvious. 102 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,680 So, this was the firing positions, one of many 103 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,120 that were around the main bunker 104 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,040 and the machine gun was right over here 105 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,400 and you can see that those guys, doesn't matter what you do 106 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,040 you're eventually being a sitting duck. 107 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,880 With tensions at an all time high in October 1962 108 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,560 a visitor arrived at the military headquarters. 109 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:09,680 In the early 60s a man shows up in Damascus 110 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,680 by the name of Kamil amin thaabet, 111 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:17,080 he was a Syrian who'd been living in Argentina. 112 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:21,000 Now, he had moved to Damascus to try to set up businesses 113 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:22,360 in his home country. 114 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,400 With an extraordinary rise through the Syrian political establishment, 115 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,760 he was soon in a position of great power. 116 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,720 He becomes the transport minister of Syria, 117 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,240 he becomes deputy defence minister of Syria 118 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,320 and he is implicitly trusted 119 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:46,400 by the Syrian regime. 120 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:51,880 His initial story was he wanted to visit 121 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,080 the fresh mountain Springs in the golan 122 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:56,520 but because he was friends 123 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,480 with so many high level military officials, 124 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,480 the officials on the ground thought they could maybe earn 125 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,240 a few brownie points by showing him around 126 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:06,680 and treating him like a big shot. 127 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,720 But this man was not who he appeared to be. 128 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,400 Well, Kamil amin was really Eli Cohen, 129 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,240 a Mossad intelligence agent. 130 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:21,760 Sent by Mossad, 131 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,360 Israel's foreign intelligence service 132 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,040 he was a spy deep behind enemy lines. 133 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,000 Before being given the grand tour of the military installations, 134 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:36,200 Cohen had to sign in at the headquarters. 135 00:08:38,680 --> 00:08:43,000 The amazing part was that Eli Cohen was here. 136 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:44,920 He managed to get to the headquarters 137 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,440 of the Syrian army, it was in this structure, 138 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,000 in each of those rooms there was a commander, 139 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:52,520 there was an officer, 140 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:57,720 there was an intelligence officer gathering information about Israel. 141 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,600 Cohen had almost unimaginable access to the golan heights 142 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,560 and it's military secrets. 143 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,000 Cohen was able to observe various installations, 144 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,160 different listening posts where the trenches were, 145 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,280 where the artillery guns were located. 146 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,920 Eli Cohen is going out to places like tel faher 147 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:21,800 on the golan heights 148 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,560 and he's saying hey all the soldiers come here, 149 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,680 pose with the deputy defence minister. 150 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:32,560 And he comes away with pictures of all the fortifications 151 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:34,080 on the golan heights. 152 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,400 And of course he sends them all back to Israel. 153 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,600 But as more and more intelligence leaked out of Syria 154 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,080 the net was closing around Mossad's inside man. 155 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:53,800 Cohen is an immensely valuable asset to Israel intelligence 156 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,240 right up until the moment that he's caught. 157 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,640 Syrian agents burst in to his apartment 158 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:02,960 and found him literally at his radio set. 159 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,840 They captured him, tortured him, interrogated him 160 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,000 and finally sentenced him to death. 161 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:14,520 But Eli Cohen's incredible work would soon prove invaluable. 162 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,560 In 1967, tensions between Israel and Syria 163 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:22,560 had reached a fever pitch. 164 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,000 War was coming to the golan heights. 165 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,080 In 1967, the arab countries around Israel 166 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,480 were preparing for a massive attack, 167 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:35,040 Israel knew this was coming and decided to counter attack first 168 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,360 and this was the beginning of the famous six-day war. 169 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,240 They'd already done the surveillance, 170 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,080 they'd already done the intelligence analysis, 171 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,200 they'd already done the contingency planning, 172 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,960 all they had to do is take a plan off the shelf 173 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:51,360 and put it into motion. 174 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,160 With war already under-way with their neighbours to the south, 175 00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:58,720 the Israeli defence force, 176 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,680 the idf decided to take the high ground. 177 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:07,840 After neutralising the bunker at tel faher 178 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:13,760 in just a few hours the idf advanced towards the military headquarters 179 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,240 where the Syrians had fallen in to disarray. 180 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:21,880 They had not had time to destroy the papers, 181 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,200 the secret papers that were there 182 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:28,320 so, the full contents of the secret vaults 183 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,880 of this facility fell in to the hands of the idf. 184 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:37,760 So, for the Israeli's this place was a little bit of a gold mine. 185 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:45,640 When a seize fire was called on the 10th of June 1967 186 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:48,680 Israeli military leaders met in the headquarters 187 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,280 to discuss Israel's control of the captured golan heights. 188 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:55,440 But only a few years later 189 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,120 war would erupt around this structure again. 190 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,440 On the Jewish holiday of yom kippur 1973 191 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,800 the Syrian army thundered past the headquarters 192 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:10,000 briefing taking the strategic high ground. 193 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,880 This is the site of the largest tank battle 194 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,360 since the second world war. 195 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:24,160 This is the epicentre of a war between 196 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:29,960 the United States ally Israel and the Soviet ally Syria. 197 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:34,680 This could easily have been 198 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,160 the beginning of world war 3. 199 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:43,360 Seemingly against the odds, the idf retook the golan heights. 200 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:46,560 After a seize fire line was drawn 201 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,160 less than 300 feet from the headquarters, 202 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:50,760 it served briefly as a base 203 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,200 for the United Nations peace keepers. 204 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:57,000 But this imposing structure was soon abandoned to the elements. 205 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:02,760 The military hq was serious damaged in the 73 war, 206 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,680 left it more or less in the state you see it today, 207 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,760 the impact of bombs and shells. 208 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:19,760 Today, control of the golan heights is still being fought over. 209 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,000 Most countries in the world consider 210 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:27,040 the golan heights to be occupied by Israel, 211 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,120 most countries in the world consider that occupation to be 212 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:35,240 at best dubious under international law. 213 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,680 Israeli leaders have made clear how reluctant they would be 214 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,480 to give up this strategic terrain 215 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,240 it was used to threaten them for decades. 216 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,696 Now, they're in a position to be able to use this high ground 217 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,920 as a first line of defence for their country. 218 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,400 And the extraordinary legacy of Eli Cohen, 219 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,720 israels spy inside the golan heights 220 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:05,160 continues to be felt to this day on both sides of the conflict. 221 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,920 When Eli Cohen is unmasked as an Israeli spy 222 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,120 the resulting national shame and the embarrassment 223 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,080 for the Syrian government directly results 224 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,160 in the Syrian air force commander 225 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,640 hafez al-Assad taking power. 226 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,360 And that ushers in decades of Assad family rule 227 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:29,840 which is ruthless, brutal and continues to this day. 228 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,600 In the city of buffalo usa, 229 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,360 an industrial relic stands apart from those surrounding it. 230 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:54,400 Here there's a lot of poverty, there's a lot of empty store fronts, 231 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,160 there's a lot of run down areas. 232 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,120 Here's this very impressive building 233 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:02,920 but you can tell it's not a high school 234 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,920 or an office building, it's got a large smoke stack 235 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,240 and there's a rail line running right next to it. 236 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:13,840 The inside is littered with abandoned machinery, 237 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:18,280 dark basements and open elevator shafts. 238 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,680 It's derelict, it's run-down. 239 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,920 There's still rubbish strewn around the floor there's paper, 240 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,040 there's bits of detritus but there's also elements 241 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:27,560 of grandeur left in here. 242 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,640 This building once proudly displayed it's name 243 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:34,960 but now that display is in pieces. 244 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,480 On the roof of this very impressive building 245 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:41,800 is a sign that once proudly displayed 246 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,800 its purpose but doesn't make a lot of sense now. 247 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:48,640 Clearly we're missing some letters here. 248 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,400 Chris hawley first came to this site 10 years ago. 249 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:03,480 I felt a sense of wonder 250 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,480 when I first walked in to this space. 251 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,680 It clearly symbolised to me er, what er, 252 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,640 buffalo was at its apex of industrial greatness. 253 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:14,160 Inside this building 254 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,560 has been mostly stripped of whatever equipment was here 255 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,600 but you can see the graffiti artists have gotten in and left their Mark. 256 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:26,160 Evidence of the last people who were here can still be found. 257 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,120 You can imagine the day this place closed down, 258 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,720 that everyone had to just pack up 259 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,880 and leave and the remnants were just left. 260 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,920 2004, (indistinct) Brands, companies. 261 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,840 On someone's desk er, before the factory closed. 262 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:51,040 It's a nice desk. 263 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,560 Few clues remain of what happened in this place. 264 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,120 But the largest piece of the puzzle can be found on the roof. 265 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,560 You see the back of the broken sign 266 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:05,880 looming from the edge 267 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,920 of the building precariously down over the street. 268 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,520 And on the floor is one of the missing letters. 269 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,160 Anyone who grew up in the United States 270 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,080 in the latter part of the 20th century 271 00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:20,240 you put that in place and you immediately recognise 272 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,560 the logo for wonder bread. 273 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,800 Wonder bread and hostess cakes were iconic American products, 274 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,880 we all remember it even growing up in the 1980s like me 275 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,560 er, going to a gas station or coin, or convenience store 276 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,400 and grabbing off the shelf some twinkies, some hohos 277 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:38,920 or snowballs and those were some of the products 278 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:40,280 that were made here at this site. 279 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:44,800 But the most important American product made 280 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,360 in this factory was their classic loaf of bread. 281 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,400 Soft as sponge and pure white. 282 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,440 Wonder bread was a staple 283 00:17:57,480 --> 00:17:59,240 of the modern American kitchen 284 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,360 especially in the second half of the 20th century. 285 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,000 The texture of it just feels, it's hard to describe, 286 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,240 it's like you're touching kind of cotton 287 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:14,560 like very very soft cotton and it's whiter than white colour, 288 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,240 like the colour of virtue, the colour of purity. 289 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,600 Long before wonder bread became an American icon 290 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:27,040 the company faced a major challenge. 291 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,920 In the 1920s the problem with a bread factory 292 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:33,800 is exactly the word factory 293 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,440 because in most people's mind at that time a factory 294 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,520 was a big dirty grimy place but if you're producing bread 295 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:42,680 you want people to feel that 296 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,040 it's clean, it's hygienic, it's wholesome. 297 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:49,360 So, how do you convince people that something that comes out 298 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:54,400 of this dirtiest of locales is the cleanest thing possible? 299 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,400 They are going to launch this massive advertising campaign 300 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,560 er, to try to reassure people that the world might be 301 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:06,560 a dangerous place and full of germs but this bread, this bread is safe. 302 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:09,640 When this factory opened 303 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,360 they invited every housewife in buffalo 304 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,760 to come tour the plant with the so called 305 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,040 scientific and sanitary practices in place. 306 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,560 As you can see also on the walls er, much like the rest 307 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,760 of the other factory, the walls are aligned with tile, 308 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,080 concrete and tile were used throughout the building 309 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:29,720 as a sanitary measure. 310 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:32,856 If you look at the way the building's built 311 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:34,600 with that white exterior 312 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:39,080 it's designed to look like sort of a temple to cleanliness, 313 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:40,960 not a dirty grimy factory. 314 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,520 Now, these days we would be suspicious about that, 315 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,720 a company that keeps kind of pound 316 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:49,216 that message home like it's clean it's clean 317 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:50,496 we start to think well what are they, 318 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:51,560 what are they hiding. 319 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:55,640 The company hoped to entice customers 320 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,000 by removing as many contamination risks 321 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,600 as possible but they went one step further. 322 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,800 Removing people from the process. 323 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,160 They advertise an industrial process free from human touch 324 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,440 so, not a single human hand was to touch 325 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:16,680 any part of the food product itself so, any person employed 326 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,080 in this plant was only handling machinery. 327 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:26,240 The advertising campaign helped establish wonder bread 328 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,880 as one of American's favourite brands. 329 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:32,840 Wonder bread was a pioneer in the movement 330 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,520 towards national brands 331 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:37,280 for products that used to be locally produced. 332 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,760 And to do that it had to be completely uniform, 333 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,160 the loaf you buy in bangor Maine 334 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,640 has to be identical to the loaf you would buy 335 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:46,480 in San Diego California. 336 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,680 So, we're here on the 5th floor and the 5th floor played 337 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,000 a critical role in the plants in the early 20th century 338 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,360 because of air conditioning was revolutionary. 339 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,320 It meant for the plant that every single loaf of bread, 340 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:01,520 every single pie, 341 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:03,560 every single cake that came out of this plant 342 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:06,040 was more or less the same to the customer. 343 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,480 By the 1960s Americans were consuming 344 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,720 over half a kilogram of white bread every week. 345 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,160 But the public was about to realise 346 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,440 that the manufacturers baking process 347 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:21,560 had a flaw. 348 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,560 They milled the flour in a more aggressive way 349 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,320 than previous bakers had. 350 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:29,800 A grain of wheat has 3 parts, 351 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,960 you have an outer layer of kind of fibrous bran, 352 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,720 then you have the wheat germ and inside the wheat germ 353 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:41,160 you have the interior endosperm which is the white heart 354 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:42,240 of the wheat. 355 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,240 And when you only produce bread with that endosperm 356 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,920 you get this incredibly white spongy bread 357 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,360 that's completely uniform in consistency. 358 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,080 The problem with super processed white bread 359 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:01,376 is that you're also throwing away all the nutritional content, 360 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,040 all the fibre, all the good stuff in it. 361 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:09,040 In the 1980s the public came to realise that white bread 362 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,440 might not be as healthy as they once thought. 363 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,560 People were starting to learn more about nutrition, 364 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,720 learn more about the importance of fibre in the diet. 365 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,400 And realising that this browner wheat bread 366 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,160 that they had been staying away from was actually healthier for you. 367 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:29,880 Sales of white bread tumbled 368 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,680 and baking companies moved to other recipes. 369 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,960 But wonder bread was slow to change. 370 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,680 And wonder bread's dominance of the market gets smaller 371 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:45,480 and smaller and smaller and finally in 2010 america 372 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,440 you have brown bread outselling white bread. 373 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,480 In 2004, with demand decreasing 374 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,000 the buffalo factory closed its doors. 375 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,520 150 people were laid off, the building was cleared, 376 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,840 for the past 16 years, er, the building 377 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:05,600 has very slowly deteriorated. 378 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,360 When I was first in this building 379 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:09,680 one decade ago it was perfectly fine. 380 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,840 White bread never recovered it's market dominance in the us 381 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,760 but now wonder bread is back with a whole wheat alternative. 382 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,840 For nearly two decades buffalo's wonder bread factory 383 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,520 has remained derelict, 384 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,640 a monument to an old way of doing things. 385 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,120 So, there's a lesson there for how economics works, 386 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,960 advertising and the message that you send 387 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:48,120 has an incredibly powerful effect on the people hearing it. 388 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:53,280 And producers whether of slogans or bread should think 389 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:58,200 about not just will we sell it but should we be selling it. 390 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:10,520 On the outskirts of a city in Taiwan lies a curiously shaped complex. 391 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,280 You've got this bustling city of two million 392 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,320 and then you come to this kind of this opening 393 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:26,280 this clear space on the edge of the city 394 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,880 where none of this urban sprawl infringes. 395 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,160 It's almost like the surrounding buildings 396 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,800 don't dare encroach in to this zone. 397 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:40,880 When you look at a satellite picture 398 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,440 or a drone shot of this piece of ground 399 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,960 it looks like somebody has dropped a bagel. 400 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,440 There is no apparent evidence of the requirement 401 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:55,320 for these giant circles. 402 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,520 It's a maze like complex, every corner you turn 403 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,080 there's another strange shaped building. 404 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:08,200 In the centre there's this green building broken up 405 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,760 in to rooms with padded walls. 406 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,960 The variety of infrastructure suggests the site 407 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,320 has been subject to multiple uses. 408 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,040 "There are two major phases, 409 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:25,920 "the bright side and the dark side. 410 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,960 "They are two very contrasting sides." 411 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,040 What darkness descended on this place 412 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,880 and how is it connected to Taiwan's fight for independence? 413 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:45,160 Some of these structures were undoubtedly built 414 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,560 with defence and fortification in mind. 415 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,240 One of the doors has a circular plate, 416 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,240 almost like a water tight hatch 417 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,760 that you'd find on a submarine or a battleship. 418 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:02,960 Bomb proof case-mates 419 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,000 with thick earth roofs over top, 420 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:11,800 to absorb bombs and artillery shells if they come under attack. 421 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,360 What was inside these buildings that warranted such protection? 422 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,080 One large structure in the centre of the complex contains 423 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:24,200 a vital clue. 424 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,280 There are quite a few circular holes in the brickwork 425 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,320 suggesting that at one time something was attached to it 426 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:34,960 or protruding from it. 427 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,560 These holes are the key to understanding 428 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,640 the original purpose of this place. 429 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,520 Professor kuang a local university lecturer 430 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,600 has spent years piecing together the scant evidence 431 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:51,720 that remains here. 432 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:56,320 "There were cables here 433 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:58,120 "for wireless radio communications. 434 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,320 "They went from the roof connecting to a main tower 435 00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:07,080 "which was 200 metres tall, 436 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:10,120 "the signals were then transmitted to 18 additional towers. 437 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,040 "Each of them 60 metres tall." 438 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:22,960 So, what we're looking at here is an array of antennas 439 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:28,800 and because you've got this full array, you're able to be, 440 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:33,440 er, directional and that enables you to transmit with great efficiency 441 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:38,480 and also it enables you to receive optimally signals 442 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,600 that are coming from all over the pacific. 443 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,120 All these cables coming from different areas joined up 444 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,080 in the middle, it must have looked seriously impressive. 445 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:52,880 Like some kind of work of art. 446 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,720 Built in 1917 447 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:01,200 this is the fongshan wireless communications centre, 448 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,960 a state of the art facility central to Japan's plan 449 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,000 to take over the western pacific. 450 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:12,520 Once Japan and next Taiwan from China in 1895 451 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:14,600 they saw the value of Taiwan 452 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,880 as kind of an outpost off the coast of China 453 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,480 and, er, great sort of accelerant for their naval expansion. 454 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,920 Radio communications centre like fongshan is absolutely vital 455 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:30,640 to the spread of Japanese power. 456 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,000 Yes, this buildings role 457 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,320 as a Japanese communications facility 458 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,560 would only be revealed with a recent discovery, 459 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,720 when a hidden naval emblem emerged from beneath cleared rubble. 460 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,640 "A lot of evidence of the Japanese being here 461 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,080 "during world war two has vanished 462 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,200 "that's because after the Japanese were defeated 463 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,080 "in world war two they destroyed most of it 464 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,200 "when they were being interrogated for war crimes." 465 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,920 How exactly Japan employed this high tech station 466 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,080 during world war two may never truly be known... 467 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:16,880 Yet what transpired here later 468 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,480 is remembered all too painfully by many Taiwanese. 469 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,840 At the end of the second world war 470 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:29,360 and as the allies are occupying 471 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,440 the Japanese empire, 472 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,640 one of those allies is nationalist China. 473 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:39,000 And this station on Taiwan 474 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:43,440 becomes part of the new China. 475 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:48,240 The new nationalist China also known as the republic of China 476 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:52,640 was fighting a bitter civil war against communist forces 477 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,240 and they had a very different plan for this place. 478 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,520 It is newly dedicated to the requirements 479 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,640 of nationalist China. 480 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:08,520 The Chinese Navy moved in and added the fongshan guest house. 481 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,120 Sounds nice doesn't it? Think again. 482 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,080 The guest house was actually a smoke screen 483 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:16,920 for its real purpose. 484 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,680 Imprisonment and interrogation. 485 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:26,360 Taiwan it becomes the last bastion 486 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,440 of the republic of China 487 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,240 and the republic of China government 488 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,040 is really worried about communist subversion 489 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,320 and as a result 490 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:41,720 they are prepared to act ruthlessly 491 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,400 against anyone they consider a communist, 492 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,240 anyone they consider a traitor. 493 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,840 As well as communists many of those suspected 494 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,160 of supporting Taiwan's independence 495 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,080 from a united China also ended up here. 496 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,080 "They confiscated your belongings, 497 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,720 "if you were lucky you will get them back 498 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,920 "but stuff like belts were taken away 499 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:09,880 "because they were scared you'd kill yourself." 500 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:16,360 The torture and interrogations here sent screams echoing for miles. 501 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:21,240 "There would be whaling's 502 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:22,840 "at around midnight, 503 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:24,336 "some villagers from the neighbourhood 504 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,560 "couldn't stand it and moved to the city." 505 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,200 There are some cells where the walls are padded 506 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,440 and electrified to stop the prisoners using them 507 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:37,560 for suicide. 508 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,440 To think people may have been locked up 509 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:47,400 and treated this badly here as recently as 2001 510 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:48,640 it's shocking. 511 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,840 What we've got to remember that democratisation 512 00:31:55,880 --> 00:32:00,040 in Taiwan is a recent phenomenon. 513 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:06,000 Taiwan was a scary dictatorship 514 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:07,960 until recently. 515 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:12,160 A cultural shift towards protecting basic human rights 516 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:16,240 finally forced this place to be shut down for good in 2002. 517 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,520 These horrors were just no longer acceptable 518 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:22,480 in the 21st century. 519 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:26,480 It's doors were closed and the site abandoned. 520 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:35,120 These structures are now preserved as monuments to the past 521 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,760 and centres of learning 522 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,520 and while the impressive technological achievements 523 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,320 of the Japanese Navy should not be forgotten, 524 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,360 it is the human hardship endured here later 525 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,200 that deserves greater reflection. 526 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,400 There were martyrs and innocents, 527 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:57,720 "there were some who were released after a while 528 00:32:57,760 --> 00:32:59,280 "but some died tragically. 529 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,840 "That's the relatively dark side 530 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,160 "but it is a lesson to be learned from history." 531 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:12,200 And with Taiwan's long time adversary 532 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:16,800 the people's republic of China increasingly flexing its muscles, 533 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,240 the lesson is more important than ever. 534 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,040 Just off the coast of Tanzania in east Africa 535 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,760 is the island of kilwa kisiwani. 536 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,200 Once home to a thriving community. 537 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,280 The island is littered with ruins 538 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,600 and they have an ancient feel to them. 539 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,600 It looks almost like it could be some kind of mythical city made 540 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,520 out of coral stone. 541 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,160 The two best preserved structures 542 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:50,760 offer up contrasting styles of architecture. 543 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:56,400 One is a powerful fortified building on the waters edge 544 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,040 but the other is something entirely different. 545 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,600 The masonry really is beautiful, 546 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,320 it's precise and delicate. 547 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:11,160 So, this is ancient engineering with a lot of class and thought 548 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:12,960 and effort put in to it. 549 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:17,680 These pointed arches and domed roofs are so evocative, 550 00:34:17,720 --> 00:34:19,640 you can almost imagine walking around 551 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:24,080 a buzzing thriving community that clearly once lived here. 552 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,400 When a real life Indiana Jones encountered 553 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:32,840 this settlement in the 1300s he was astonished with what he saw. 554 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,560 Ibn battuta, he's a kind of arab Marco Polo 555 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,560 and he called kilwa 556 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,760 one of the most beautiful cities he had ever seen. 557 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,360 What was this place that amazed all who encountered it? 558 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:53,320 And what did these mysterious ruins tell us about a clash of empires 559 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,880 that would bring about kilwa's downfall? 560 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:04,080 Abdallah Ahmad is a kilwa native. 561 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:05,280 Born and raised here 562 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,080 he is caretaker of this remarkable site. 563 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,600 "Here we are at gereza fort, 564 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,600 "it's a fortress in kilwa and the former prison 565 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,040 "of kilwa kisiwani." 566 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:30,000 The fort sits on the same site as an earlier fortification 567 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:32,640 built by the Portuguese in 1505. 568 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,360 These Portuguese explorers had launched a devastating attack 569 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:40,840 before seizing the island. 570 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,960 This was a place with something worth fighting for 571 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,760 and then striving to protect. 572 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,480 "Even if I stretch my arms 573 00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,080 "I can't span the breadth of this wall 574 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:00,640 "which surrounds the whole building." 575 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:06,720 The Portuguese and subsequent conquerors 576 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,120 were desperate to secure this island 577 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,680 because they had stumbled upon a gold mine. 578 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:17,440 A kingdom famed across the region that by the 11th century 579 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,800 had developed in to a booming seaport. 580 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:24,400 "And why specifically 581 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,720 "did people like this area, to live here 582 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,120 "and build architecture like this, they liked this area 583 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,040 "because it was easy for trade 584 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,680 "with sea faring vessels like barges." 585 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:43,520 Trade was the key and the island had geography on its side. 586 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,520 It's perfect for trade because it's connected 587 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,480 to the African continent and the Indian ocean. 588 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:55,600 And the Indian ocean is like commercial super highway. 589 00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:01,360 The currents literally propel ships across the Indian ocean 590 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:02,800 from all over the world, 591 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:04,400 we're talking about the arabian coast, 592 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:06,720 the persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent 593 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:08,720 and all the way up from China. 594 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,280 And then 2 months later the currents reverse 595 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,320 and push the ships back across in the other direction. 596 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,360 Directly north is the middle east 597 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:23,440 er, a trading centre and a hub of cultural exchange. 598 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,600 You're also right at the mouth of a bunch of river estuaries, 599 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,000 now that might not mean a lot to us now 600 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:34,880 but back in the day rivers were really the highways 601 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:36,080 of the ancient world. 602 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,240 It's what people and people bought trade. 603 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,840 It was importing goods from all over the world, 604 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,960 arabian ceramics and Chinese porcelain 605 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,000 but there was a lot more going on in kilwa 606 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,680 than simply importing and exporting goods. 607 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,880 The ornate dome structure stands out 608 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,640 in stark contrast to the utilitarian fortress. 609 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:04,360 It suggests outsiders took charge and put their stamp on the island. 610 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:09,520 "Even as we examine 611 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:11,680 "it's architecture and construction 612 00:38:11,720 --> 00:38:14,120 "it is different from most other buildings in kilwa." 613 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,720 It's domes clearly speak to a strong islamic influence. 614 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:26,040 "Where I am here 615 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:30,120 "is the area of the great mosque which was added in the 13th century. 616 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,680 "And there's the stairs that the museum went up 617 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:38,360 "to call for prayer. 618 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:39,960 "So, people would come to worship." 619 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,680 The best relic of islamic on kilwa kisiwani 620 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:52,640 has to be the great mosque. 621 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:56,680 The shiraz people from a region in modern day Iran 622 00:38:56,720 --> 00:38:58,880 established firm roots here 623 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:02,440 and by the 1300s were displaying their cultural influence 624 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,960 with glorious coral stone buildings. 625 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:09,560 In charge was an arab sultan who further enlarged 626 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:11,600 the iconic great mosque 627 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:15,760 just in time for the arrival in around 1331 628 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,000 of the most famous travel writer of the day. 629 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:20,760 The Moroccan explorer ibn battuta. 630 00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:27,480 He's a kind of arab Marco Polo who travelled all across this part 631 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:30,280 of the world and left this incredibly rich record 632 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,480 of the cities that he visited and the people he met. 633 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:42,040 Travelling as far as Spain, Iraq, India and China 634 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:46,000 he was still struck by the buildings on display here 635 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,400 and welcomed by the shiraz sultan 636 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,680 he was bought in to an elaborate and exotic world. 637 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:55,760 At its heart the great mosque 638 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:59,440 built in at least 2 distinct stages, 639 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:02,240 first the small northern prayer hall 640 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:05,120 built in the 11th and 12th centuries 641 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:08,240 with 16 domed and vaulted bays 642 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:13,240 divided by 9 pillars holding a flat coral plaster roof. 643 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:16,200 And then the 14th century enlargement 644 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:20,360 with a further 30 bays adorned with dressed coral panels, 645 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,480 taking centre stage though was the biggest dome 646 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:26,080 in east Africa at the time. 647 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:30,760 It was up until the 16th century the largest mosque 648 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:32,520 in Sub-Saharan Africa. 649 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:37,960 "This mosque spread islam far and wide 650 00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:40,240 because in the southern saharan desert, 651 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:42,240 this was the best known mosque. 652 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:49,320 The nearby ruins of a palace completed around the same time 653 00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:51,320 as the great mosque 654 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:55,280 reveal a fusion of islamic and local customs 655 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,200 that over time became known as Swahili. 656 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,720 The ruins included some traditional Swahili elements 657 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,320 like a stepped greeting court bordered 658 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:08,200 by guest rooms for visiting merchants 659 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:12,920 but it also borrowed elements from traditional islamic palaces 660 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,840 such as an octagonal swimming pool 661 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,360 er, rooms for hundreds of guests. 662 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:23,400 After leaving kilwa, 663 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,840 battuta continued to explore the medieval world, 664 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,920 he's believed to have travelled more than any other explorer, 665 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:35,000 covering 10 times the distance of Marco Polo. 666 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:38,440 Robberies, kidnappings and ship wrecks 667 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:40,560 couldn't prevent him reaching China. 668 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:45,560 So, even battuta who saw just so many remarkable things 669 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:49,880 he still described kilwa as one of the most beautiful cities 670 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:50,960 he had ever seen. 671 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,880 Described by some as a real life Indiana Jones 672 00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:58,840 he eventually died back in his home land of Morocco 673 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:00,560 in around 1369. 674 00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:04,400 And kilwa's days were also numbered. 675 00:42:05,720 --> 00:42:09,960 The 16th century marks the beginning of Europe's great merchant empires. 676 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,400 Portuguese explorer vasco da gama, 677 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:17,280 launched an attack as he ruthlessly attempted 678 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:19,000 to arrest control of trade. 679 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:22,320 The Portuguese had this grand strategy 680 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:23,776 for how they were going to take control 681 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:25,840 of the Indian ocean which was essentially 682 00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:28,160 to seize all the major ports. 683 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:32,440 So, it's no surprise that they took kilwa in 1505. 684 00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:36,200 They built the gereza fort to cement their dominance here 685 00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:37,440 in kilwa kisiwani. 686 00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:41,640 Spain and Portugal had reclaimed land and independence 687 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:44,240 from islamic control during the crusades 688 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:45,336 and now they were going to move 689 00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:49,320 from reclaiming land to expanding overseas. 690 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:50,600 Therefore it was a symbol 691 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:52,920 of the Christian advance against islam. 692 00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:58,640 Rather than a centre of trade, 693 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,800 the island itself became a prized possession 694 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:07,040 fought over and traded between numerous competing empires. 695 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:10,040 Never again achieving the same success 696 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:12,880 the city was abandoned in the 1840s. 697 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:21,160 The site is now protected by unesco 698 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:23,200 who face a constant battle 699 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:26,840 to prevent the ruins from further collapse. 700 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:31,600 Now, there's been extensive digs and excavations here 701 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:34,320 so, we've learned a lot about this site 702 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:37,680 but there's a lot that we still could discover here, 703 00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:39,600 the place is thick with mystery. 704 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:48,240 Captioned by ai-media ai-media. TV 58095

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