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The Subterranean City Where People Live in Tunnels Surrounded by Millionaire Jewels! In Coober Pedy, Australia, more than 60% of the inhabitants live in subterranean caves to escape the 45°C heat in the desert. Carved out of old opal mines, the city has houses, churches, schools, and even a cemetery below the ground. Known as the “World Capital of Opal,” the place attracts 150 thousand tourists a year and has already been the setting for movies like Mad Max.
Have you ever imagined living in a place where the scorching sun never hits your window because… well, there’s no window? In the middle of the Australian desert, there is a subterranean city where life literally happens underground. And it’s not just any place; we’re talking about one of the most unique places on the planet, where the inhabitants live surrounded by precious stones worth a fortune.
This city is Coober Pedy, known as the “World Capital of Opal.” But don’t think it’s just a bunch of miners looking for gold. Here, the houses, shops, churches, and even the cemetery are underground. And why? Because the heat on the surface can reach absurd levels of 45°C in the summer! Living underground isn’t just a quirky detail; it’s a matter of survival.
Coober Pedy, The Subterranean City
If you look at Coober Pedy on the map, you’ll see a small town in the middle of nowhere, lost in the Australian desert. But the truth is that this “hole in the map” hides a true treasure. Since the first opal was found by a young man named Willie Hutchison in 1915, the city has become a magnet for adventurers and miners.
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Without a blueprint, without an engineer, and using scrap from the dump, a father spends 15 years building an 18-room castle for his daughter, featuring tram tracks, 13 fireplaces, and over 700 m², which may now be demolished.
The name “Coober Pedy” comes from the Aboriginal language and means something like “White Man’s Hole.” And it makes sense because, since then, thousands of people have dug their homes underground, not only to find more opals but also to escape the insane heat of the surface, earning the nickname of the subterranean city.
Houses Carved in the Earth
Living underground here doesn’t mean giving up comfort. On the contrary! The subterranean houses, known as “dugouts,” are cool all year round, maintaining a stable temperature of around 23°C. And it’s not just a hole in the ground — these houses have everything a normal house would have: electricity, running water, internet, and even some with underground pools.
The only strange thing? Most don’t have windows. If you need to see sunlight to wake up in the morning, you might not do well here…
Besides the houses, the subterranean city has everything underground: school, shops, church, and even an underground cemetery. Yes, even after life, people continue to be underground here.
Gold? Not Here! The Treasure is Stone!
Unlike the gold rush, in Coober Pedy, what made everyone move to the middle of nowhere was the opal. This precious stone is found in abundance here, and some residents have made real fortunes digging in their backyards.
Many began digging their homes with the thought of finding something valuable along the way. Imagine remodeling your bathroom and suddenly finding a stone worth thousands of dollars? Well, here that happens!
Mining is still strong in the subterranean city, but today tourism has also become one of the engines of the economy.
A Scenery From Another World That Attracts Tourists and Hollywood
With its post-apocalyptic look, Coober Pedy has ended up attracting attention from around the world. The city receives about 150 thousand tourists a year, people who come to see up close what it’s like to live underground.
And if you found this place familiar, it might be because it has already appeared on the big screen. Movies like Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Total Darkness, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert were filmed here. After all, with this lunar landscape and underground houses, the place already looks like a natural film set.
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