All of This Is Underground (10 Photos)

November 5, 2026

By Vidar

A motel room, a cathedral, a lake and a sports field, all underground

None of these rooms has a window, and none of them needs one. They were dug out of rock or salt, some by hand and some by a century of mining, and today people sleep, pray, row boats and play basketball in them.

More: Houses in the Wrong Place (12 Photos vol. 2)

⛪ Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá — Zipaquirá, Colombia 🇨🇴

The cross at the end of the nave is lit from behind. The Salt Cathedral sits in the tunnels of a salt mine 180 meters (590 feet) underground, in a mountain of halite 49 kilometers (30 miles) north of Bogotá.

💡 Second Try Fact: This is the second cathedral in the mine. The first opened in 1954; the one in the photo was dug below the old one and inaugurated in December 1995.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSalt Cathedral of ZipaquiráRoswell Garavito Pearl · 1995 · Zipaquirá, ColombiaInaugurated 1995Three naves180 m underground1The first salt cathedral opened in 1954 and closed in 1992; the current one, by architect Roswell Garavito Pearl, opened in 1995.Catedral de Sal2The cathedral lies 180 metres underground and ends in three naves, each with an altar.Colombia Travel1954First salt cathedral opened1995Present cathedral inaugurated20074 FebDeclared First Wonder of Colombia20127 JanCentral nave photographed20266 OctVisitor programme publishedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Jonny Green / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🏀 Ważyn Chamber, Bochnia Salt Mine — Bochnia, Poland 🇵🇱

A wooden court with a basketball hoop, under a ceiling of striped salt. The Ważyn Chamber in Bochnia is the mine’s biggest, 255 meters (837 feet) long and 248 meters (814 feet) below ground.

💡 Health Fact: As the largest preserved chamber, it has been converted into a sanatorium. The mine was founded in 1248 and produced salt until 1990.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsWażyn Chamber, Bochnia Salt MineBochnia Salt Mine · 1697 · Bochnia, Poland248 m deep255 m longMined from 16971The chamber lies 248 metres underground and stretches 255 metres.Bochnia Salt Mine2Its salt was mined from 1697 until the 1950s; since 1993 it has been a health resort.Zabytek.pl1697Salt mining begins1993Health resort opens202315 AugSports field photographedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Adrian Tync / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🛏️ Underground Motel Room — Coober Pedy, Australia 🇦🇺

Three beds, wall lamps and a ceiling of bare sandstone. Summer days in Coober Pedy often pass 40 °C (104 °F), so several motels offer rooms dug into the hillside, where the temperature stays steady.

💡 Opal Fact: The town is sometimes called the “opal capital of the world” for the amount of precious opal mined there.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsCoober Pedy Experience MotelCoober Pedy Experience Motel · Coober Pedy, Australia16 underground roomsFormer opal mine1The motel has 16 en suite guest rooms, all of them underground.Coober Pedy Experience Motel2A local listing says the mine was worked from 1918 into the 1960s and became a motel in 1990.cooberpedy.com1990Mine turned into a motel200718 NovRoom photographedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Kerry Raymond / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

✨ Chapel of St. Kinga, Wieliczka Salt Mine — Wieliczka, Poland 🇵🇱

The floor, the altar, the carvings on the walls and the chandeliers are all salt. The chapel in Wieliczka lies 101 meters below ground, in a chamber dug out in 1896.

💡 Miner Fact: It was carved by miner-sculptors. The mine names Józef and Tomasz Markowski and Antoni Wyrodek, and says later generations kept adding to it.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsChapel of St. KingaJózef and Tomasz Markowski, Antoni Wyrodek · 1896 · Wieliczka, Poland101 m undergroundChamber from 189654 m long1The chamber was created in 1896; its floor is one block of salt and its chandeliers are salt crystal.Wieliczka museum2The museum says the decoration took almost 70 years, led by the Markowski brothers and Antoni Wyrodek.Wieliczka museum1896Chapel chamber created1914Salt St. Kinga set in the altar1994Relics placed in the altar1999John Paul II statue added202611 MarChapel photographedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Andrey Romanenko / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🚣 Terezia Mine, Salina Turda — Turda, Romania 🇷🇴

Those small dots on the black water are rowing boats. The Terezia Mine at Salina Turda is a bell-shaped hall 90 meters (300 feet) high, with a salt lake on its floor and an island in the middle made of leftover low-grade salt.

💡 History Fact: During World War II the mine was used as a shelter, and afterwards for storing cheese. It reopened to visitors in 1992.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTerezia Mine, Salina TurdaSalina Turda · 1690–1880 · Turda, RomaniaMined 1690–188090 m high1Salt was cut in this bell-shaped chamber from 1690 to 1880; it is 90 metres high.Salina Turda2The lake covers about 80% of the floor, around an island of salt left after 1880.Salina Turda1690Salt cutting begins1880Salt cutting ends2010JanReopens after modernisation202411 AugLake and island photographedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Rkoster / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

🕌 Salt Mosque, Khewra Salt Mine — Khewra, Pakistan 🇵🇰

The walls glow pink and orange. Deep in the Khewra Salt Mine, the small mosque is made of salt bricks and lit from inside.

💡 Legend Fact: Khewra is the world’s second largest salt mine, and local tradition says the salt was found in 326 BC by the horses of Alexander the Great’s army, licking the rocks.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSalt Mosque, Khewra Salt MineKhewra Salt Mine · Khewra, PakistanRock-salt bricksInside Khewra Salt Mine1The mosque is built of rock-salt bricks in different shades.PMDC2PMDC says its hollow salt-brick walls cast a captivating shadow when lit.PMDC201820 JanSalt mosque photographed (camera date)20193 AprZameen.com describes the mosqueRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Khubabshinwari / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🚋 Strataca — Hutchinson, Kansas, USA 🇺🇸

Hard hats on, and the tram heads into the dark. Strataca is a museum inside a working salt mine in Kansas, 650 feet (200 meters) below the prairie, reached by a 90-second ride in a double-deck elevator.

💡 Hollywood Fact: Another part of the mine is a secure storage vault that holds original camera negatives of films such as Gone with the Wind and Ben-Hur.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsStratacaStrataca · 2007 · Hutchinson, Kansas650 ft undergroundOpened 2007Mine from 19231The museum opened in 2007 inside an active salt mine 650 feet underground.Strataca2The mine was opened in 1923 by the Carey Salt Company and has over 150 miles of passages.Hutchinson Salt1923Mine opened2007Museum opened200930 JunGreat Hall tram photographedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: undergrounddarkride / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🕳️ Derinkuyu Underground City — Cappadocia, Turkey 🇹🇷

A lamp at each bend, and the tunnel keeps going. Derinkuyu was carved into soft volcanic tuff and reaches a depth of about 85 meters (280 feet), with stables, wine presses, kitchens and chapels on its many levels.

💡 Size Fact: It was large enough to shelter as many as 20,000 people with their animals and food, and big rolling stone doors could close each floor from inside.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDerinkuyu Underground CityDerinkuyu, Nevşehir, TurkeyAbout 85 m deepOpened 19651The museum authority gives Derinkuyu’s depth as about 85 metres.Nevşehir Museum Directorate2Opened to the public in 1965, only about ten percent of it can be visited today.Türkiye Museums1965Opened to visitors20091 AugTunnel photographedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

🪞 Brine Mirror, Nemocón Salt Mine — Nemocón, Colombia 🇨🇴

It looks like a deep blue shaft, but it is a pool of brine reflecting the lit rock above. The Nemocón mine has 28 of these brine mirrors, left where water dissolved the salt.

💡 Tunnel Fact: Visitors walk 1,600 meters of tunnels 80 meters underground, where about eight million tons of salt were dug out between 1816 and 1968.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsBrine Mirrors, Nemocón Salt MineNemocón Salt Mine · Nemocón, Colombia28 brine tanks1,600 m of tunnelsMined 1816–19681The mirrors are 28 concrete tanks once used to dissolve rock salt into brine.Mina de Sal de Nemocón2Visitors walk 1,600 metres of tunnels where salt was extracted between 1816 and 1968.Colombia Travel1816Salt extraction begins1968Extraction ends201812 MarBrine mirror photographedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Dsguarin93 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🏛️ Unirea Salt Mine — Slănic, Romania 🇷🇴

Look for the person at the bottom of the wall. The Unirea mine in Slănic was opened in 1938 by Belgian engineer Maurice Bodart, with trapezoid chambers that are 35 meters wide at the floor and narrow toward the ceiling.

💡 Work Fact: Salt was dug here until 1970, when mining moved to the newer Victoria mine.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsUnirea Salt MineSalina Slănic · 1938 · Slănic, RomaniaOpened 1938Tourist site since 197014 chambers1Unirea was opened in 1938 and has been a tourist site since 1970.Primăria Slănic2Digging out 2.9 million cubic metres of salt left 14 trapezoidal chambers.SALROM1938Mine opened1943Extraction begins1970Becomes a tourist site200619 MarUnirea level photographedRead the full file →