We invite you to look underground and visit the extraordinary underground city of Coober Pedy, where about 2 thousand people currently live.
At first, when you find yourself on these sun-baked red plains of Australia and see an absolutely “clean” landscape that is not particularly rich in buildings, it seems that the place is completely lifeless. But in fact, here is a stunning, mysterious town called Coober Pedy.
And what makes it special is the fact that this city is located underground.
There are no trees here, and the sun bakes with merciless force, but underground there are many kilometers of tunnels and rooms furnished as in ordinary residential buildings.
However, there is also accommodation for tourists who come here. From this corridor the doors lead directly to the guest rooms.
The locals settled here quite comfortably. Some houses are only half underground, which only adds to their uniqueness. It is worth noting that in terms of comfort they are in no way inferior to ordinary modern houses.
The history of the original city began in 1915, when a father and son ended up here while traveling in search of gold.
They didn’t find gold here, but they did find beautiful opals, which quickly gained no less popularity.
The miners who came here could not withstand the high temperatures of the local climate and therefore built their houses not above the ground, but right between the mines.
They began to dig long tunnels, so over time about 1,500 dugout houses appeared in Coober Pedy.
In the modern world, Coober Pedy has long become the main supplier of opals. However, people come here no longer to look at precious stones, but to see the strange dugouts, the homes of the people living here.
The city's name means "white man's hole", an expression that appeared here in the 1920s.
Besides the mines, hotels and houses, there is also a beautiful church underground in Coober Pedy.
And also an underground bookstore.
And an underground jewelry store offering charming opal mined in the mines nearby.
Of course, you should also visit the underground bar for a drink with friends.
And then go upstairs and play golf on a platform specially equipped for this.
Coober Pedy – small town underground in Australia, which is located in the central region of the country. It received the title of the opal capital of the world thanks to the huge deposits of these minerals, which shine in rainbow colors. There are approximately 30% of all opal deposits on the planet. No place on Earth can compare with it in this indicator.
This mining town is also known for its unusual underground houses. It is believed that its name has something to do with them. It comes from the language of the indigenous people of the country. The combination “kupa-piti” is translated as “white man’s hole.”
More than 1,600 people live in the underground “holes” of the town of Coober Pedy, dug at a depth of an average of 4-5 meters. The main business of local residents is the extraction of precious opals.
The city is located in the Great Victoria Desert, in the south of the country. This is one of the driest and most sparsely populated areas of the continent. With the advent of the twentieth century, precious opals began to be actively mined there. Since this place was always hot, dry, and sand storms periodically raged, the miners, along with their relatives, began to move into houses carved out of the mountains. Many of them had a direct passage into the mine. The conditions in these “apartments” were quite comfortable, no worse than in traditional dwellings. At any time of the year, the temperature in them did not rise above 22-24°C. There were the same rooms we were used to. The only thing missing was windows, since due to the extremely high summer temperatures, a maximum of two windows could be made.
If you build a home in a town with the largest deposit of precious opals, you can get rich, because approximately 96% of these stones are mined here. Some time ago, they were drilling for a hotel in Coober Pedy and found specimens worth approximately $360,000.
A valuable deposit was unexpectedly discovered a hundred years ago, in 1915, when they were searching for water sources in the area. The very next year, prospectors began to flock there. It is estimated that approximately 60% of Coober Pedy's population was from European countries. They moved there when World War II ended to work in the mines. Thus the city became the largest producer of high-quality opals in the world and still remains.
The distinctive properties of noble opals include rainbow tints. This is explained by the diffraction of light on its spatial lattice. The high cost of a stone is determined not by its size, but by how unique this play of color is. The value of opal depends on the number of rays.
The Aborigines have a legend that in very ancient times, spirits took the colors of the rainbow from the rainbow and hid it in opals. The second legend says that the Creator descended to earth and rainbow stones appeared in the places where his foot stepped.
Nowadays, stone mining is carried out only by private entrepreneurs, but this activity still brings the country about 30 million dollars a year.
Previously, opals were mined by hand, using shovels and picks. The rock was removed in buckets, and along the discovered precious vein it was necessary to crawl on one’s bellies.
The majority of mines are located at shallow depths. Their main passages were made using special drilling machines that cut tunnels about two meters high. Branches extend from the tunnels. These devices consisted of an engine and gearbox from a small truck. After this, they began to use a machine called “blower”. A high-power compressor was built into it, which sucks in the rock through a pipe placed in the depths. If you turn it off, the barrel opens. This is how a new small hill, or waste heap, appears. At the entrance to the opal capital, you can see a large sign depicting this car.
In the 80s, they decided to build an underground hotel in the city. Since then, there has been an influx of tourists every year. Here you can even go into two underground churches (one of which is Orthodox!).
Among the most visited attractions in the capital of opals is the house of the recently dead person, who was nicknamed Crocodile Harry. He gained popularity due to his countless love affairs and eccentric lifestyle.
Coober Pedy is considered the driest place in Australia. Only 175 millimeters of precipitation falls there per year. This is more than three times less than in European countries. It almost never rains there, which means Coober Pedy is not rich in vegetation. There are no big trees or beautiful flowers. You can find only a few shrubs and plants that retain moisture in their tissues (for example, cacti).
However, such conditions do not prevent local residents from finding entertainment in nature. They love to play golf, but can only do it at night when the heat subsides. For this purpose, there are specially equipped fields with movable grass and spherical lanterns that allow you to see in the dark.
In the city you can go to underground shops, souvenir shops, museums, bars, a jeweler's workshop, and also see cemeteries.
Coober Pedy has a desert climate. Summer time lasts from December to February, and average temperature reaches 30-40°C. With the onset of night it drops sharply (to 20°C). It is very difficult to get used to such changes. Sometimes sand storms rage here. To escape the heat, local residents dig underground apartments for themselves. Many descendants of the first miners decorate the interior of their homes in the “a la naturel” style, which involves covering the walls with a solution of PVA glue. This way you can eliminate dust and, moreover, preserve the natural color and texture of the stone. In these unusual apartments, the toilet and kitchen area are located right at the entrance, because in Coober Pedy there is no sewage system underground. All other rooms are usually dug deeper. Columns are built to support ceilings in large rooms. Their diameter can reach one meter.
Lovers of modern interiors apply plaster to walls and ceilings. Thanks to this design solution, the underground “apartment” looks just like an ordinary one. Residents of the city also prefer to install such a luxury item as an underground swimming pool - a real salvation for those who live in one of the hottest regions of the planet.
The capital of opals has become one of the main points of most routes around Australia for tourists. Of particular interest to visitors is that Coober Pedy itself and its surroundings are considered very photogenic, which is why filmmakers often come here. For example, in 2006, the Australian film Opal Dream was filmed there. In addition, it became the setting for the film “The Black Hole”, and scenes of the movie “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” were filmed in underground houses.
On the edge of the town is the largest cattle farm on the planet, as well as the famous “Dingo Fence”, stretching for 8,500 kilometers.
Each mound that is visible on the surface is connected to the underground using a shaft. This is the only way to survive in such an unfavorable climate.
Currently, over 45 nationalities can be found among the residents of Coober Pedy, most which are the Greeks. Drinking water comes through an artesian well, which was drilled 25 kilometers from the city.
The opal capital of the world does not have a common power grid. Diesel generators are used to produce electricity, and the premises are heated using solar water heating panels.
From a bird's eye view, this unusual underground city in Australia may surprise you not with the buildings familiar to our eyes, but with rock dumps dotted with thousands of holes dug in the red desert. This is an incredible sight that makes you feel like you are on another planet.
Coober Pedy is a small town in the central part of the Australian state of South Australia. The estimated population in 2008 was approximately 2 thousand people.
The city is known as the Opal Capital of the World because it has one of the richest opal deposits, containing about 30% of the world's reserves. The name Coober Pedy is translated from the Australian Aboriginal language as “white man’s hole” or “white man underground.”
Due to the harsh temperature regime and the predominant mining industry, people permanently reside in underground caves, in mine shafts remaining after mining. Standard home cave bedrooms with a lounge, kitchen and bathroom are located in caves drilled inside the mountain, similar to houses on the surface. This maintains a constant optimal temperature, while on the surface it reaches 40 °C (maximum 55 °C), at which temperature many household appliances become unusable. But relative humidity rarely reaches 20% on hot days.
Much of Coober Pedy's attraction lies within the mines, such as the cemetery and underground churches. The first trees that could be seen in the city were welded from pieces of iron. The city has local golf courses with movable grass and golfers lay out small pieces of "turf" around for tee shots.
Coober Pedy is one of many tourist routes across Australia. Coober Pedy was the backdrop for films such as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Black Hole. Around 2012, they are planning to conduct an experimental exercise for an expedition to Mars.
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In which city do people live underground? and got the best answer
Answer from Dark Knight[guru]
Coober Pedy (eng. Coober Pedy) (28°56′S 134°45′E / 28.933333°S 134.75°E (G) -28.933333, 134.75) - a small town with a population of 3,500 people in South Australia, 846 km north of Adelaide along the Stuart Highway. The city is also known as the Opal Capital of the World because it has one of the richest opal deposits, containing about 30% of the world's reserves. Common opal was first discovered in Australia in 1849 during the gold rush, but fine opal was not discovered in Coober Pedy until 1915. The name Coober Pedy is translated from the Australian Aboriginal language (kupa piti), as “white man’s hole” or “white man underground”.
Situated in outback Australia hundreds of kilometers from the nearest settlement, Coober Pedy is located in the Stuart Ranges of South Australia, at the eastern edge of the Great Victoria Desert, where Railway from to Alice Springs. Due to the harsh temperature regime and the prevailing mining industry, people constantly live underground in caves, in mine shafts left after mining. Standard home cave bedrooms with a lounge, kitchen and bathroom are located in caves drilled inside the mountain, similar to houses on the surface. This maintains a constant optimal temperature, while on the surface it reaches 40 degrees Celsius (maximum 55 degrees), at which temperature many household appliances become unusable. But relative humidity does not often reach 20% on hot days.
Much of Coober Pedy's attraction lies within the mines, such as the cemetery and underground churches. The first trees that could be seen in the city were welded from pieces of iron. The city has local golf courses with movable grass and golfers lay out small pieces of "turf" around for tee shots.
Coober Pedy is included in many tourist routes in Australia. Coober Pedy was the backdrop for films such as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Pitch Black. The second season of The Amazing Race was held in Coober Pedy. In the Coober Pedy area, around 2012, they are going to conduct an experimental exercise for an expedition to Mars. Also on the edge of the city is the world's largest cattle farm and the world's longest "Aussie" fence.
With funds from the development of opals, about 30 million dollars a year, city residents could annually buy the world's largest Ruslan aircraft, which could accommodate the entire population of Coober Pedy [source?].
An article about a city underground in 1927 and the people living in it like rabbits contributed to the appearance in 1937 of J. R. R. Tolkien's second most popular literary work after the Bible, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings [source?] .
Answer from 2 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: In what city do people live underground?
They live underground, grow cacti in their gardens, and play golf at night - this is what life looks like for the inhabitants of a small town in the Australian desert. We are talking about the opal capital of the world - the mining town of Coober Pedy. Residents of a town located in the southern Australian desert, where summer temperatures sometimes exceed 40°C in the shade, have found a simple way to cope with the heat. In their houses, even in the most terrible heat, it is always cool, but not at all because they use air conditioners; moreover, they do not need to wash the windows or hang blinds on them to avoid the prying glances of their neighbors, but all because the residents of Kuber- Pedis build their homes... underground. Take a look with us into opal underground city Coober Pedy.
16 PHOTOS
1. Most likely, the name of the city is associated with its unusual houses underground. In the Aboriginal language, Koopa Piti, from which Coober Pedy gets its name, means 'white man's hole'. The city is home to about 1,700 people who are mainly involved in opal mining, and their houses are nothing more than underground “holes” made in sandstone at a depth of 2.5 to 6 meters. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography) 
2. Due to the lack of underground sewerage, the restroom and kitchen in the houses are located immediately at the entrance, i.e. at ground level. Bedrooms, other rooms and corridors are usually dug deeper. The ceilings in large rooms are supported by columns, the diameter of which reaches up to 1 meter. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography) 
3. Building a house in Coober Pedy could even make its owner rich, as it is home to the largest deposit of precious opals. Deposits in Australia, mainly in Coober Pedy, account for 97 percent of the world's production of this mineral. Several years ago, while drilling for an underground hotel, stones worth about 360 thousand dollars were found. Their detection was made possible thanks to modern geodetic equipment - enough to find out which one. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography) 
4. The roofs of Coober Pedy. A common sight and distinctive feature of the underground city are ventilation holes protruding from the ground. (Photo: Robyn Brody/flickr.com). 
5. The Coober Pedy opal deposit was discovered in 1915. A year later, the first miners began to arrive there. It is believed that about 60 percent of Coober Pedy's residents were immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who came there after World War II to work in the mines. For almost a hundred years, this city has been the world's largest producer High Quality opals (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography) 
6. Underground Church in Coober Pedy. (Photo: Jacqui Barker/flickr.com).
Since the 80s, when an underground hotel was built in Coober Pedy, thousands of tourists visit it every year. One of the most visited places in the city of opals was the home of its recently deceased famous resident, nicknamed Crocodile Harry, an eccentric, alcoholic and adventurer who became famous for his many love affairs.
7. Both the city and its suburbs, for various reasons, are very photogenic, which is why they attract filmmakers there. Coober Pedy was the filming location for the 2006 Australian drama Opal Dream. Scenes for the film “Mad Max” were also filmed in the underground houses of the city. Under the Dome of Thunder." (Photo: donmcl/flickr.com). 
8. Average annual precipitation in Coober Pedy is only 175 mm (in central Europe, for example, about 600 mm). This is one of the driest areas in Australia. There is almost no rain here, so the vegetation is very sparse. There are no tall trees in the city; only rare shrubs and cacti grow. (Photo: Rich2012) 
9. Residents, however, do not complain about the lack of outdoor entertainment. They spend their free time playing golf, although due to the heat they have to play at night. (Photo: Les Pullen/South Cape Photography) 
10. In Coober Pedy, underground there are also two churches, souvenir shops, a jewelry workshop, a museum and a bar. (Photo: Nicholas Jones/Flickr.com). 
11. Coober Pedy is located 846 kilometers north of Adelaide, the capital of the state of South Australia. (Photo: Georgie Sharp/Flickr.com). 
12. Coober Pedy has a desert climate. In summer, from December to February, the average temperature is 30 ° C, and sometimes reaches up to 40 ° C. At night, the temperature drops significantly, to around 20 ° C. Sandstorms are also possible here. (Photo: doctor_k_karen/Flickr.com).
