As of: February 29, 2024, 9:28 a.m
By: Martina Lippl
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Surprising find while renovating: Farmer in Austria discovers secret passage from the Middle Ages on his farm.
© Thomas Scheucher, State Association for Speleology in Upper Austria
While renovating, a farmer makes an unexpected discovery: a large hole under his old concrete floor.
Experts arrive and reveal a secret.
Dobersberg – By chance, a farmer came across traces of the past on his farm in Austria.
During the renovation of a room, an almost two meter deep hole opened up under an old concrete floor.
A sensation for archaeologists, as it turns out.
“While I was digging out the concrete, I suddenly found myself with one leg stuck in a hole,” Florian Schmied tells the Austrian news portal
meine.at
.
What exactly was hidden behind the cavity was initially unclear.
However, he informed the Federal Monuments Office in Austria.
Farmer discovers underground secret passage from the Middle Ages in Austria
Cavers and specialists examined the cavity and finally made a fascinating discovery: under the farm there is a secret passage from the Middle Ages - around 900 years old.
The underground corridor system is 16 meters long in total, has walkable corridors with a round arch profile, a narrow horizontal passage with a diameter of 42 centimeters and 15 lamp niches.
As well as a trachea leading vertically upwards and a dry stone wall that ends in front of a fountain.
According to the researchers, it is a so-called medieval earth stable.
The secret passage probably served as a refuge and hiding place for residents of a house during robberies, said Austrian Erdstall researcher Josef Weichenberger on the website
erdstallforschung.at
.
Earth stables are usually between 30 and 40 meters long.
According to the expert, around 50 of these secret passages have been preserved in Lower Austria.
Earth barn researcher Josef Weichenberger examines secret passages under a farm in Austria.
© Thomas Scheucher, State Association for Speleology in Upper Austria.
Underground secret passage submerged in water under farm in Austria
The newly discovered underground passages in Dobersberg (Waidhofen an der Thaya district) were almost completely submerged in water.
The water level had to be lowered using a pump in order to examine the structure closely.
According to Weichenberger, efforts are being made to preserve this medieval complex and to build a secure entrance.
According to researchers, six earth stables in Upper Austria are currently open to the public.
An Italian local historian made a horrifying discovery in the Alps - a mass grave of Austrian soldiers from the First World War.
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