All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E11.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und]

[narrator] A cosmic wreck
that seemed to have
made contact.

It really looked like
the signal was coming from

a faraway planet.

[narrator] Clandestine ruins
that decided a nation's fate.

A lot of what went on here
was top secret,
for good reason.

[narrator] And a fantastical
old castle built on
a deception.

[narrator] And a fantastical
old castle built on
a deception.

I see a lot of storybook.

There's a lot more to
this place than meets the eye.

[narrator] Decaying relics,

ruins of lost worlds,

sights haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

In Georgia's Piedmont region,

two lonely structures
gaze at the heavens.

You've got all these trees.

And then all of a sudden,
it breaks through

and you see something
that you completely
don't expect to see here.

There's no mystery as to
what these are.

They're two great, big
satellite dishes.

They're two great, big
satellite dishes.

They've clearly been
sitting there in the weather

and not being used
for some time.

[narrator] Built at
great expense,

what is unclear is
the exact purpose
of this facility.

[Jaega] Cold, white walls,
no windows, air vents,

these two great, big
dishes on top,

surrounded by fencing.

It's like some sort of
villain's lair.

[Jim Meigs] When you get
inside, you can see that it'd
been stripped pretty bare.

Any valuable equipment
was taken away long ago.

Any valuable equipment
was taken away long ago.

Now, it's just kind of a
hodgepodge of junk.

There's stacks of
wooden chairs,

there's even
an old refrigerator.

[narrator] Once occupied by
brilliant scientists,

this complex was engaged
in the search for
something extraordinary,

beyond planet Earth.

There was a moment
when we thought we had proof
that something was out there.

And this complex was
at the center of that story.

When these structures were
built in 1976,

it was called
the Woodbury Earth Station.

It was built by AT&T,
the giant telecoms company.

[Jim] In the 1970s,
the telephone industry was
going through a revolution.

It was becoming feasible to

send all kinds of data,
including telephone calls,

up to satellites in orbit.

So, AT&T built these
two dishes to serve as
an uplink and downlink

for this satellite phone
transmission system.

for this satellite phone
transmission system.

[narrator] The unique
landscape here made it
perfect for the Earth station.

Scott Harris is
a planetary geologist,

who has investigated
its extraterrestrial origins.

[Scott] Well, we're in this
unique depression,
called the Cove.

My colleagues and I have been
researching the site for
about 20 years,

looking at the possibility
that these radio telescopes

actually sit in the middle of
an ancient impact structure.

[Jim] This cove dome crater
appears to be the remnant

[Jim] This cove dome crater
appears to be the remnant

of a large meteor strike.

Whatever hit this,
hit it hard enough

to pulverize rock,
even melt the rock,

and then leave that
crater ring around the side.

[Scott] There's no coincidence
that these dishes are
in the middle of that crater

because the deep depression,
about 300 feet deep,

provides a radio and microwave
free zone.

[Jim] You can build your
big dishes here,

and they'd have
very little interference

and they'd have
very little interference

from surrounding
electromagnetic sources.

[narrator] But Woodbury
Earth Station's service
would be short lived.

The thing about
satellite technology is
it changes so rapidly.

So by 1980, just a few years
after they'd built it,

AT&T retired this facility
and abandoned it.

But that was not the end
of the story here,
far from it.

Soon, these giant dishes
would be involved
in a close call.

Something truly
out of this world.

Something truly
out of this world.

[narrator] Paul Steffes
is a former NASA scientist

and was on the ground when
the Woodbury site

was at the center
of this "close call."

[Paul] Our team leader always
kept a bottle of champagne
in her refrigerator.

After this detection was made,

they made sure the bottle
was still there and full.

[narrator] In 1996,
Paul wasn't working for NASA,

but an independent
organization known as SETI.

[Katherine] This was
an organization that
originally had been funded by

[Katherine] This was
an organization that
originally had been funded by

the American Federal
Government.

Their funding gets cut
and they become a non-profit.

Their mission is
to find evidence of
extraterrestrial intelligence

by searching space for signs
that something is out there.

[narrator] And Woodbury
would play a key role
in their latest search,

Project Phoenix.

[Paul] We operated as part of
the Project Phoenix
of the SETI institute

from 1996, all the way
through the year 2000.

Project Phoenix was
a successor
to our NASA program

Project Phoenix was
a successor
to our NASA program

of searching the skies
for artificial signals

emanated by foreign,
or rather,
distant civilizations.

[Jim] Why would you wanna
use a radio telescope
to look for intelligent life?

Well, the theory is,

that if some intelligent
civilization developed
anything like humans did,

at some stage, they might
invent something like radio,

or something like television,

beaming signals
around their planet.

So, that's what they
started looking for.

So, that's what they
started looking for.

[narrator] SETI had big plans
for the Woodbury Earth Station

But it had not been built to
scour the heavens for
signs of life.

The requirement for
the SETI program

to be able to point precisely
at given targets,

was far in excess of
the previous pointing
capability of this facility.

In 1996, SETI provided
a million dollars
to upgrade one of the dishes

so it could become part
of Project Phoenix.

[Katherine] They put in
a new motor,

[Katherine] They put in
a new motor,

they took out an old stairway,

and they put in a new
flexible cable carrier,

called the "Twister."

[Paul] The horn that we
installed on the center

of the southern dish
on this facility,

was built so that we could
monitor signals over a wide
range of frequencies.

[narrator] When the upgrades
were complete,

it was renamed the
Woodbury Research Facility.

It would provide
follow up detection for
another SETI station

in Green Bank, West Virginia.

in Green Bank, West Virginia.

So, having this device,
which we called a "FUDD,"
Follow Up Detection Device,

was the key for being able
to quickly scan the skies

and excise any
radio frequency interference.

If you watch the movie,
Contact, after their detection
of a signal,

Jodie Foster kisses the screen
and says, "Thank you, Elmer."

And of course, the software
that ran the FUDD
was named Elmer.

[narrator] Woodbury was
essential to making sure that

[narrator] Woodbury was
essential to making sure that

any signals from one facility,

could be immediately
verified by the other.

They were there
to double check.

To confirm signals
identified as alien.

[narrator] Less than
a year later,
SETI made contact.

[Jim] Woodbury's sister
facility got a signal

that looked
really distinctive.

This might be the greatest
scientific breakthrough
in human history.

This might be the greatest
scientific breakthrough
in human history.

[narrator] In 1997,

scientists from
the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence,

or SETI,

were using the Woodbury
Research Facility

to support their search
for alien civilizations.

At 6:00 a.m., on June 23rd,

they made contact.

They were scanning a star
named "YZ Ceti"

They were scanning a star
named "YZ Ceti"

about 12 light years away
from our sun,

when they started to hear
something that they thought
might be promising.

So, this really looked
like it might be the big one.

[Jaega] Being in that room,
in that moment,

you'd go crazy
with excitement.

[narrator] They needed to use
Woodbury to check that
the signal was genuine.

But disaster had struck.

It was offline.

About a week and a half
before the close call,

About a week and a half
before the close call,

a lightning storm
struck the dish

and caused damage to one of
the receivers that was
used to monitor

for Project Phoenix.

So, as a result, we were
unable to run the Follow Up
Detection Device those days.

So, the dish was down.

It wasn't available to confirm
this possible sighting

of an alien intelligence.

The researchers were
biting their nails,

they were trying to figure out
how they could confirm it.

[narrator] While Paul's
colleagues were prepping
the champagne glasses,

[narrator] While Paul's
colleagues were prepping
the champagne glasses,

he had to catch a flight
to SETI headquarters
in California.

This gave him
some time to think.

As I was flying on the plane,
I had with me

a paper copy of
all of the space craft

that we had in our database.

And the more I looked,
the more I realized that

this specific frequency

corresponded to one that
had been assigned to
a satellite called SOHO.

SOHO was a deep space explorer
designed to monitor the sun.

SOHO was a deep space explorer
designed to monitor the sun.

[narrator] The SETI telescopes
were pointed into deep space.

And on its orbit
around the sun,

the SOHO satellite
had crossed their path.

[Jaega] The signal was
being made by
intelligent life.

Unfortunately, it was us.

[Katherine] Of course,
if Woodbury had been online
at that moment in time,

this would all very quickly
have been squashed.

But they weren't there
at the moment that
they were needed.

[narrator] SETI continued to
operate the Woodbury Research
Facility until 2000,

when technological innovations
outpaced this site once again.

It has remained dormant
ever since,

silently watching the skies.

Today, although SETI
has left Woodbury behind,

they remain committed to
searching the universe
for intelligent life.

After all these years,
SETI is still at it.

After all these years,
SETI is still at it.

They have a new project
called Breakthrough Listen,

where they are continuing
to search for any kind of sign

that we're not alone,
that there's someone else
out there.

The legacy of Woodbury is that

it shows if we don't look for
this extraterrestrial
intelligence,

we'll never find it.

I think we should cast our
eyes to the heavens

and keep on searching.

You know what? I do think
the truth is out there.

[narrator] In the Indian state
of Rajasthan,

is an engineering marvel
that protected an empire.

[Rob] There are mountains
all around.

And then,
dominating this landscape,

is this huge
majestic structure.

[Geoff] Looks almost like
the Great Wall of China.

But we're definitely not
looking at that 'cause
we're not in China.

But we're definitely not
looking at that 'cause
we're not in China.

[Lynette]
And as we get closer,

we get a feeling, not only
for how massive these
walls are,

but we get a feeling for
what a huge amount of ground
they cover.

[narrator] Commanding gates
guard the treasures
held within.

There are buildings full of
beautifully carved statues

and tall pillars supporting
vaulted roofs.

And there's really
a distinctly religious feel
to the place

because many of these
interior structures
look like temples.

because many of these
interior structures
look like temples.

All of this massive imposition

of human will
on the wilderness,

is part of the vision
of one man.

And its history tells
a story of faith,

conquest and betrayal.

[narrator] Sandeep Sharma is
a local historian fascinated
by this site's past.

Today, it is bereft of life.

When first occupied,
it was a hive of activity.

[narrator] This is
the Kumbhalgarh Hill fort.

[narrator] This is
the Kumbhalgarh Hill fort.

This place was built
by Rana Kumbha,

who was the ruler of Mewar,
one of the great kingdoms

in Rajasthan, in India.

Mewar was a part of
a far more fragmented India
than we know today.

This was a time of
conquest and conflict.

All of the ruling families
were constantly fighting
over land.

The threat of an invading army
was very real.

[narrator] With the kingdom's
capital over 50 miles east
in Chittaurgarh,

[narrator] With the kingdom's
capital over 50 miles east
in Chittaurgarh,

this fortress was a second
line of defense.

[Lynette] If Mewar
is attacked,

Rana Kumbha wants to take
the capital,

the administration,
the civil service,

everything required to
run his kingdom,

and tuck it safely
behind walls
in the mountains.

[narrator] Kumbhalgarh
was the crown jewel in
the Mewar kingdom's defenses.

But the first blood
spilled here was before
construction even began.

But the first blood
spilled here was before
construction even began.

[Sandeep speaking]

Locals, still to this day,
say that

when they started building it,
each time they placed a stone,

or built part of a wall,

that evening the whole thing
would crumble back down
to the ground again.

[Rob] King consulted one
of his spiritual advisers

[Rob] King consulted one
of his spiritual advisers

who said that the fort
couldn't be built

until somebody
voluntarily gave their life
as a sacrifice.

So they say that
a wandering pilgrim,

or perhaps one of
the King's troops,

came forward, volunteered to
be the sacrificial lamb,
so to speak.

As the story goes,
he began walking up a hill.

And as he climbed,
he was beheaded.

His head, struck off
by a sword,

rolled to a stop
where one temple was built

rolled to a stop
where one temple was built

in his memory.

[narrator] Once the curse
had lifted,

construction began
in around 1443

and took 15 years to complete.

[Sandeep speaking]

[Geoff] And it's really
just staggering,
the scale of this place.

[Geoff] And it's really
just staggering,
the scale of this place.

We're talking seven
massive gates.

Seven massive bastions.

When finished, it proved to be
one of the most impenetrable
fortresses known to man.

The heavily fortified
battlement stretched
for 22 miles,

completely surrounding
the fort
and the settlement within.

[narrator] But this
impregnable bastion

could not protect the pious
King from an internal enemy.

[narrator] Brutally murdered,
this would be the first of two
great betrayals

that would see Rana Kumbha's
impregnable fortress fall.

[narrator] The sprawling
Indian fortress of Kumbhalgarh

was built to protect
the Mewar kingdom
from invasion.

But despite its
formidable defenses,

its devout ruler Rana Kumbha
would soon meet
a grisly end.

Inside its walls.

[narrator] The murderous heir,
Uday Singh,

was driven by
ruthless ambition.

But he didn't get to rule
for long.

Uday Singh wanted the power,
wanted the prestige.

He then set out on the road
and was struck by lightning.

He then set out on the road
and was struck by lightning.

[Rob] Many believe that
his untimely death

was a divine punishment
for his betrayal.

[narrator] After his
father's murder,

and Uday's dramatic demise,

the fort lost its importance
to the rulers of Mewar.

Until a great, new ruler
decided to resurrect it

in the late 1500s.

[Rob] The new King's
arch enemy was
Akbar the Great,

the leader of
the Mughal empire.

Pratap spent his entire life
fighting the Mughal empire.

And its armies tried,
on many occasions,
to capture the fortress.

But every time,
they were unsuccessful.

[narrator] Kumbhalgarh
remained impervious
to direct assault.

It would take yet another
act of treachery
to finally breach it.

It would take yet another
act of treachery
to finally breach it.

Some say a traitor
inside the fort
poisoned the water supply.

[Lynette] And that meant that
with the walls abandoned,

and the gates abandoned,

Akbar and his Mughal army
were able to come in
and take over the city.

[narrator] According
to legend,

Pratap eventually managed
to take back what was
rightfully his.

Pratap eventually managed
to take back what was
rightfully his.

But after his death in 1597,

Kumbhalgarh's significance
went into a long decline.

Following India's independence
from the British,

the fort stopped being used
as a residence
by rulers in the region.

And it's been empty
ever since.

[narrator] In 1951,

Kumbhalgarh became
a protected monument.

Kumbhalgarh became
a protected monument.

Today, its gates are
open to all

who want to witness
its grandeur.

This is really one of
the more spectacular sites
in the world.

And it gives us a really
fascinating insight

into the glories of
Indian civilization.

And into the ferocity
of competition

between these warring
Indian city states.

[narrator] In the quiet
countryside, north of London,

lie remnants of Britain's
incendiary past.

The urban sprawl ends
and suddenly, there's this
vast expanse of countryside.

It looks like most of
this area is surrounded by
fences with barbed wire

on the top.

[man] It was patrolled
24-hours a day,
seven days a week,

by armed security guards

because of the materials
they were dealing with.

And some of the secret work
that went on to this site.

[narrator] Scattered across
a vast area,

are traces of a vital
and deadly industry.

[Jim] Some look like
they could be hundreds
of years old.

Others look like they're from

a more recent industrial era.

[Jaega] Smashed windows,
peeling paint,
cracked concrete,

[Jaega] Smashed windows,
peeling paint,
cracked concrete,

birds nesting in the rafters.

It's quite an eerie place
to be.

You can't help but be drawn by
this unusual curved tunnel,

which leads into
a circular room,
inside the hill.

[narrator] Propelled by
a moment of incredible
scientific advancement,

these overgrown structures
would play a key role

in unleashing violence
on a scale never seen before.

[narrator] In the quiet
countryside, north of London,

lies a site that is still
shrouded in secrecy.

As you go past the "No Entry"
sign, into this dark tunnel,

you find yourself in
a concrete bunker

with a strange fortified room
in its center.

[Dominic] You can tell
it is relatively modern.

But that really is
all you can tell.

[Laurence] Very little
is known.

[Laurence] Very little
is known.

Probably all still covered by
the Official Secrets Act.

[narrator] Laurence Burnett
is a local expert who has
spent 20 years

uncovering the history
of this site.

[Laurence] They provide
a very strong chamber
that can withstand

enormous pressures,
enormous stresses.

Um, and that's really
the only...

evidence we've got of, um,

what was going on in this
part of the site.

[Jim] It's possible we'll
never know all the details.

A lot of what went on here
was top secret
for good reason.

[narrator] But a ruined
building nearby suggests
that this place

is part of a much
longer story.

[Laurence] This collection of
buildings and structures is
known as press house number 2.

On the left hand side,
we got the press.

A metal structure.

Directly behind me,
you got the big blast wall.

And on the right hand side,
you got the hydraulic house,

And on the right hand side,
you got the hydraulic house,

which generated
hydraulic power

to actually work
the base of the press.

This place was definitely
producing something dangerous.

Why else would they put
a big, thick wall between
the waterwheel

and the metal machine?

This whole thing was
set up, um,

as a process,
one of the 17 steps
to make gunpowder.

[narrator] Spread over an area
of 170 acres,

this is the Royal
Gunpowder Mills,
Waltham Abbey.

this is the Royal
Gunpowder Mills,
Waltham Abbey.

Originally,
a private enterprise,

it is rumored to have
supplied gunpowder

to some rather
infamous clients.

It's even possible that
the gunpowder that Guy Fawkes,
famously,

tried to use to
blow up Parliament,

might've been
manufactured here.

[narrator] But its biggest
client by far,

was the British government.

So much so, that they
bought it in 1787.

[Jim] They took it over
and said,

"This is too important
to be left to some
private owner.

"This is too important
to be left to some
private owner.

We need to run this as
a national defense priority."

[Dominic] It developed over
centuries to become
one of the most important

centers of gunpowder
production in Britain.

Trafalgar, Waterloo,
the Crimea,

the Boer war,
the American war
of independence,

the first Indian war
in independence
and countless other battles.

The gunpowder made here
helped fuel the unstoppable
British military machine.

[narrator] But as scientists
were making explosive
new breakthroughs

[narrator] But as scientists
were making explosive
new breakthroughs

in the mid-1800s,

Europe was teetering
on the edge of Armageddon.

[Dominic] The discovery
of new chemical compounds,

and new processes
to manufacture them,

resulted in an arms race,

that was to
lead to industrialized
chemical warfare.

[narrator] Dubbed,
"The Chemist's war,"

this conflict would see
the deployment of new
and evermore deadly weapons.

this conflict would see
the deployment of new
and evermore deadly weapons.

A ruin, hidden in
the undergrowth shows
how Britain was working to

keep ahead of its competition.

The material that was
produced on this site
was a liquid.

And it's so sensitive,
so volatile,

that the only way you could
produce it

was at the top of
a manmade hill.

And this is what
this structure is here.

[Jim] This was a new type
of explosive.

It was far more powerful

and made a faster,
moving explosion
than gunpowder.

[Laurence] This building is
the nitrator.

[Laurence] This building is
the nitrator.

And this was solely built
to produce nitroglycerine.

[narrator] The inner structure
which has rotted away,

was where the nitroglycerine
was produced.

And all that remains today,

is proof of just how volatile
this new chemical was.

Nitroglycerine is made
by the combining
of two acids.

Nitric acid and sulfuric acid
with glycerin.

It's very dangerous work.

And it's only stable between
60-70 degrees Fahrenheit.

And it's only stable between
60-70 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Laurence] This is actually
a big blast vault.

So, if there anything does
go wrong,

the energy from the blast,

would go out through
the curved exit way,

go straight up in the air.

Fortunately, it never
happened here.

Um, otherwise this building
probably wouldn't still
be here.

[Dominic] The highly explosive
qualities of nitroglycerine

made it absolutely ideal
for the purpose.

But the problem was
its extreme volatility.

And it couldn't be transported
in its pure form,
to the frontlines.

And it couldn't be transported
in its pure form,
to the frontlines.

[narrator] The raw
nitroglycerine needed
to be combined

with other compounds
to stabilize it.

This led to the development
of a revolutionary new product
in 1889.

Cordite.

[Laurence] Cordite,
as a propellant,
was absolutely fantastic

compared with the previous
propellants that were used.

Um, it's smokeless,

there was more energy
per given mass.

And it was used from,

And it was used from,

uh, anything from
pistols, rifles,

large cannons, naval guns.

It was just
a revolutionary product.

[narrator] When the first
World War erupted in 1914,

the demand for cordite
would skyrocket,

pushing the Royal Gunpowder
Mills to breaking point.

[narrator] In 1914,
the Royal Gunpowder Mills,
north of London,

was racing to supply
the frontlines

with a revolutionary explosive
called cordite.

The British Expeditionary
Force, in 1914,

was modern, agile and mobile.

But when it arrived
on the continent,

they were expecting
one kind of warfare,

and it soon turned into
something very different.

and it soon turned into
something very different.

[Jim] People could be
manning artillery guns
miles from the front,

raining death down on
an enemy they had
never seen,

out of the sky. Both sides did
this relentlessly.

Month after month,
year after year.

[Laurence] If Waltham Abbey
wasn't producing cordite,

then we would've been in
serious trouble.

At the time, there was no
other factory that could
produce that amount of

high quality propellant.

high quality propellant.

[narrator] But as the scale
of the war became
all encompassing,

to keep Britain in the fight,

cordite production had to be
ramped up.

And fast.

[Laurence] You had
belt driven equipment,

belt driven presses
which made a hell of a noise.

You have the clattering
of the machinery, the pumps,

um, the belt slapping about.

At the height of production,
the factory was producing

75 tons of cordite every week.

75 tons of cordite every week.

[narrator] But it soon
became clear that
there was a problem.

They were short-staffed.

[Jaega] With all the men away
fighting in the war,
and the demand for cordite

like never before,

they hired over 3000
new employees to help
produce it.

And most of them were women.

[Laurence] They kept the place
going, really.

Bit of initial training,

and they got on with it.
It was maintenance,

production, transport,

production, transport,

absolutely everything on site

to keep the site going.

That is... absolutely amazing,
really.

[narrator]
As the war progressed,

even the scaled up facilities
here couldn't keep up.

The government built new,
larger factories around
the country to meet demand.

But it was the Royal
Gunpowder Mills that pioneered
the production of cordite

at a moment when
all might've been lost.

[Laurence] The legacy to
the country is that it saved
our bacon, really.

It was vital, absolutely vital
to the success

of the, you know, our forces.

Incredible. [chuckles]

[narrator] The complex
closed down in 1945.

But as the mysterious bunker
at the heart of the complex
suggests,

it would still play
a vital role in protecting
Britain for years to come.

it would still play
a vital role in protecting
Britain for years to come.

[Jaega] Just three days
after the mills were
shut down,

it was reopened again.

It was turned into a place
for weapons research
and for experimentation.

[narrator] The Cold War
facility was finally
decommissioned in 1991,

ending over 300 years
of cutting-edge research
at Waltham Abbey.

[Jaega] But lots of what went
on here is still classified.

Still, to this day,
we don't really know

Still, to this day,
we don't really know

to the true extent,
what happened here.

I mean,
maybe we'll never know.

[narrator] In France's
Loire Valley,

a fairy tale castle
dominates the landscape.

When I look at this place,
I see a lot of Disney.

It's sophisticated,
symmetrical.

It's sophisticated,
symmetrical.

Just gorgeous.

It's got these beautiful
porticos, balustrades,
terraces.

All done in renaissance style.

[narrator] Surrounded by
a deep moat,

it was clearly built
to be defended.

But that's not the only
excavation that's
taken place here.

[Claire] If we move
further in,

that's when it starts
to get interesting.

[Lynette] There is
an entrance down there

that shows that there is
a great deal going on
beneath the surface.

that shows that there is
a great deal going on
beneath the surface.

[In French] We are now heading
to a part of the castle which
is much more mysterious,

as it remained closed off
until the beginning of
the 2000s.

[Lynette] It's cool, it's damp
and it's dark.

There are places where,
as you walk, you realize

you're walking down a ramp.

And that you're no longer
walking on a corridor,

And that you're no longer
walking on a corridor,

you're not walking
on a steady floor,

the floor is dropping away
beneath you.

We're talking hundreds
and hundreds of meters,

the corridors
and little alleyways,

and all sorts of different
tiny rooms and caverns
and spaces.

[Lynette] This is a place that
was dug out with hand tools.

We can almost,
when we look at these marks,

imagine the sweat

of good, French stone cutters

of good, French stone cutters

digging their way
into this hilltop.

[narrator] Herve Chaudron
has spent 10 years uncovering
this hidden world

below Chateau de Breze.

[Herve] Currently,
we find ourself
in Breze's foundations.

In other words,
the underground castle.

This castle was built
manually during
the 9th century.

[narrator] This was a place
of last resort.

Built out of the fear
of a rampaging band
of warriors,

advancing up the nearby
river Loire.

advancing up the nearby
river Loire.

[Lynette] This is a river
that leads right into
the Atlantic Ocean.

It was a highway
for peaceful trade

and it was a highway for
moving goods to market.

And it was a highway
for the Vikings.

[narrator] In the 9th century,

Viking raids across France
grew in their frequency
and ferocity.

Including an event in 885 AD

that would shock
the entire country.

that would shock
the entire country.

The siege of Paris.

That siege went on for
nearly a year.

It was absolutely brutal
and vicious.

The Vikings took no quarter.

They slaughtered people,
they enslaved people.

They took whatever
wasn't nailed down.

[narrator] These cutthroat
warriors might soon turn
their attention

to Chateau de Breze.

[Lynette] And when the Norse
people went Viking,

they were coming for plunder.

they were coming for plunder.

[narrator] In the 9th century,

Viking raiders were
marauding through France.

And the lords of
Chateau de Breze

turned to the ground
beneath their feet
for protection.

If you were a big landowner
in France at the time,

you had to take
countermeasures.

You had to prepare to
defend yourself
against the Vikings,

or hide from them.

or hide from them.

[narrator] Their survival
would rely on a deception.

Convince the Vikings
there was only one castle.
Not two.

So, secrecy was
its first defense.

And the Chateau de Breze
is unique in that,

they decided, "Okay,
we're gonna have a relatively
modest palace above ground.

You would abandon
the structure above.

You would let the Vikings
take it, loot it,
have their way with it,

and you would vanish
into this secret
underground labyrinth.

[narrator] It wasn't only
people's lives at risk,

[narrator] It wasn't only
people's lives at risk,

but their livelihoods.

This was an ancient
survivalist bunker.

[Claire] They didn't
keep money in banks.

Wealth wasn't in something,
you know, that was
hidden away.

It was literally within
the food and the chattels

that you had in your location.

That's all you had.
That's all the wealth you had.

And that had to be protected
at any cost.

These stables were carefully
designed for animals
living underground.

This is why we have a trough,

which was used to distribute
hay and water.

[narrator] With these
extensive preparations,

its inhabitants could survive
down here for some time.

How long exactly,
unfortunately, we do not know.

But we think around 15 people
could survive underground
for a few months.

[narrator] If the raiders
above somehow discovered
the hidden entrances

[narrator] If the raiders
above somehow discovered
the hidden entrances

to this subterranean refuge,

it was designed to be defended
to the very last.

The only access is through
a narrow ramp,
or narrow stairs,

so where people
could come down,
at most, two abreast,

so troops at the bottom could
hack them up as they tried

to come down
in relatively small numbers.

To protect the entire site,

holes were drilled into
the walls in order to have
a clear shot of this corridor.

A single archer,
a determined fighter,

could defend the entire
underground system.

[narrator] It's not known
whether these defenses
were ever discovered

or put to use.

And eventually, the threat
of Viking raids passed.

But that was just the start
of the fortifications here.

There was still a threat of
civil war in France between

candidates for
the French throne,

which this family
might become involved

and might need
a defensive position.

and might need
a defensive position.

But also, I imagine there were
all sorts of pandemic diseases

circulating around France,
Europe and the world
at the time.

[narrator] Beginning in
the 15th century,

and taking more than
200 years to complete,

the deep moat was dug,

and the new owners used
the excavated stone

to build a more imposing
castle above.

They really fixed it up,
they expanded,

they built it out
in classic renaissance style.

[narrator] Faced with
the prospect of
deadly diseases,

[narrator] Faced with
the prospect of
deadly diseases,

and the development of new,
more destructive weaponry,

the Lords of Breze, again,

turned to the ground
beneath their feet.

The main threat to a castle
is cannon.

Great, big gunpowder cannon

smashing the walls to pieces.

And if all of the working
parts of your castle

are below ground level,

where the cannon
can't get them,

where the cannon
can't get them,

then it doesn't matter
what the enemy does

to the top half,
to the part above ground.

[narrator] Matching
the opulence of the new
construction above ground,

the stronghold below
was also overhauled.

[Geoff] You had a relatively
crude refuge

created in the medieval period
against the Vikings,

that was now expanded into
a much more expansive
tunnel network.

[narrator] But these new
tunnels came with a few
important upgrades

[narrator] But these new
tunnels came with a few
important upgrades

to deal with the latest
military technologies.

Right now, we're at
the very end of the long
underground passageway.

Its purpose was to connect
the overhead castle to
the bottom of the moat.

Thanks to these two
firing posts,

it was possible to protect
the entire corridor

and shoot attackers
through the grate.

[narrator] Using the same
principles as
the earliest tunnels,

the new construction would
allow the defenders

the new construction would
allow the defenders

to hold out against even
the most well-armed intruders.

People are going to be
blazing away at you
with muskets

and handguns, and arrows
and boiling oil.

And all of this place
is going to be a deathtrap

for anybody who tries
to get in.

You have sort of fake tunnels
installed to deceive

invaders who would go down
the wrong tunnel,
become trapped in a dead end

and be overwhelmed.

[narrator]
Despite its formidable
defensive capabilities,

[narrator]
Despite its formidable
defensive capabilities,

Chateau de Breze
was never put to the test.

If your fortress is
good enough,

if everybody knows that even
if they destroy the towers,

the fortress will keep on
fighting from below,

nobody's going to attack.

And you know what? It worked.

This fortress was
well enough built

that nobody ever even tried
to get in.

that nobody ever even tried
to get in.

But had anybody
ever tested it,

they would've had
a very bad, bloody nose.

[narrator] Kept as
a close secret over
the following centuries,

the underground stronghold
faded into obscurity.

This site was hidden for many
centuries because, aside from
the local lord and his family,

nobody else had access
to the hideout.

It only recently reopened to
the public in 2000.

It only recently reopened to
the public in 2000.

[narrator] Today,
Chateau de Breze's
dank tunnels

have found a very fitting
new purpose.

These cool, dark caverns
are perfect for storing wine

that's still made here
on the estate today.