An underground concrete city was established under the Dimona textile plant. The cover story will soon be buried under a new neighborhood

• A mystery under the textile factory

  Photo: 

  Ofer Petersburg

Produced by the Department of Special Additives

A new neighborhood planned to be built in Dimona reveals a secret from the early days of the state. The neighborhood will be erected on the ruins of the Mythan Kittan plant. What many don't know is that thousands of square meters of mysterious subterranean concrete tunnels are hidden beneath the textile plant.

The plant was built in the mid-1950s, in tandem with the establishment of the nuclear reactor - two huge pits a few hundred meters apart. The factory occupies more than 50,000 sq.m.

What was the real purpose of setting up the huge bunker under the Katan plant? If asked by Dimona Mayor Benny Bitton, it is an attempt to deceive the world and conceal the real purpose of the reactor.

The new neighborhood will change the city // Photo: Clal Industries

We go down the tunnels that hide behind a locked iron door at the abandoned Katan factory, trying not to get lost in the dark maze as we fumble our way through the concrete chambers.

A huge housing project will soon be built here by British businessman George Horesh - 1,600 new housing units, which are set to revolutionize Dimona. Some of the historic factory will be preserved, some will be converted into public buildings and some will be demolished.

And the tunnels hiding underground? They will be demolished for the benefit of the new neighborhood, so we probably won't leave unsolved questions for the next generation

Produced by the Department of Special Additives