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UER Mobile > Canada: Alberta / BC > Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels. (Viewed 1888602 times)

post by nd31

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 20 on 5/31/2005 1:46 AM >

Not that I really care, but are location entrance details really supposed to be posted on the general forum?

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post by kowalski

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 21 on 5/31/2005 1:48 AM >

Posted by muse
I found this forum while looking for info today for a friend about this. The tunnels do exist. There are multiple entrances. I have not been down there myself, but my boyfriend and a good half a dozen of our friends have. (I missed the trip.) They used an entrance near Hillside mall and went down to the "cave of wonders" (which would be more aptly named "long hall of mediocre graffiti").

Ah hah, that's a storm drain, darling. I was in there 15 months ago. Reduxzero was in there this past December. It's a pretty one though, the best I've seen in Victoria so far.

But hardly a secret Chinese gambling tunnel. You're all very cute though.

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post by muse

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 22 on 5/31/2005 2:19 PM >

Hah! I didn't realize there was more than one place people liked to crawl around underground in this city.

From some further research, the city seems to disavow any knowledge of the tunnels. I poked my boyfriend a bit more, and he said there was indeed a section below The Patch that was walled off, and had an old room and "an ancient toilet". I'm sure The Patch won't be letting people tromp through their basement looking for a door, though. ;)

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post by reduxzero

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 23 on 5/31/2005 2:54 PM >

The sealed door under the car rental parking lot is obviously the old tunnel to the empress. It was sealed pretty well when we checked it out.

I didn't find any proper tunnels when I was there, but I think I heard all the rumours. I don't doubt they exist in some form.

Personally, if I lived in Victoria, I'd be all about trying to get into their better storm sewers. The "Hall of Wonders" was fairly cool, but I'm sure there's better. For instance- I found maps that point out the location of old, walking-height brick storm sewers under downtown. Getting in seemed difficult, but if someone was determined it could be done.

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post by KublaKhan

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 24 on 5/31/2005 7:34 PM >

Posted by ndillon31
Not that I really care, but are location entrance details really supposed to be posted on the general forum?

True enough. However, most (if not all) of these stories are basically red herrings. This is mainly an urban legend-type thing. There are places all over the city that, to the active imagination, would seem to be tunnel entrances.

So I'm really not too concerned about breaking protocol re: revealing etc. etc. etc.

If, however, any of the moderators or higher-ups on this message board have an opinion regarding this matter, I'd be very pleased to entertain your suggestions.

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post by KublaKhan

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 25 on 5/31/2005 7:39 PM >

Posted by kowalski

But hardly a secret Chinese gambling tunnel. You're all very cute though.

What I've heard is that the buildings that make up the surroundings of Fan Tan Alley are all, in some way or another, connected. Apparently, you can walk through every room of every building and not have to leave the structure proper. Meaning that every room leads to another and another and another until you've covered every room of every building. You just have to keep opening doors and following them from room to room.

And thanks...I am kinda cute. You're generous and kind.

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post by lopix

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 26 on 5/31/2005 8:42 PM >

I lived in Victoria for a few years a while back and heard about the tunnels as well. For all my invesitgating, I found squat. Rumour had it that they were for the heroin/opium smugglers from the turn of the century, or that they form a pentagram due to the massive satanic influence in the area. Whatever may or may not have been there, not much left that I could find. Mind you, this was my start in UE and did not know how to check things out the way I do now, nor was there an internet to search for further info.

Would love to have found them though!

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post by KublaKhan

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 27 on 5/31/2005 9:29 PM >

Posted by lopix
Rumour had it that they were for the heroin/opium smugglers from the turn of the century, or that they form a pentagram due to the massive satanic influence in the area.

That's pretty much it...rumour. However, there was a LEGAL opium production/trade at that time (thanks to British rule...it was they who brought opium into China and fought a war to keep it there).

As for the pentagram, I've heard that story as well. I've heard that there are assorted esoterica...from pentagrams to other, more obscure symbols...that make up a basic map of the tunnel's vast networks, and that the points at which two lines intersect are the entrances. Find the correct symbol, apply it to scale over an original grid/map from the city (circa 1890's) and you have the tunnel network.

[last edit 6/1/2005 3:23 AM by KublaKhan - edited 1 times]

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post by konk

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 28 on 6/1/2005 9:22 PM >

The Janion might be a good start. There used to be access to some sort of tunnels at the Johnson street bridge (right by the Janion), but that was cemented over by the cities.

The archives at one point did have some information about the tunnels, mostly saying they don't exist. This is because a lot of people inquire at the city archives about them... I guess everyone is interested in the mystery.

Kowalski: Is the 'Cave of Wonders' simply the Bowker Creek storm drains from Oak Bay to Hillside mall?

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post by kowalski

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 29 on 6/2/2005 12:11 AM >

Posted by konk
Kowalski: Is the 'Cave of Wonders' simply the Bowker Creek storm drains from Oak Bay to Hillside mall?

Hi, the "Cave of Wonders"/"Bowker's Tomb" draws Bowker Creek from just North of North Dairy Rd. down past Hillside Mall to around Townley and Pearl Sts.

Two other short drains bury Bowker again further downstream, one between St. Patrick's School and Cadboro Bay Rd. (I called this the "Bowker Thumper") and the other from the West side of Monterey Ave. to East of Monteith St. (I called this the "Firemen's Slide")

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post by KublaKhan

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 30 on 6/2/2005 6:18 PM >

Posted by konk

The archives at one point did have some information about the tunnels, mostly saying they don't exist. This is because a lot of people inquire at the city archives about them... I guess everyone is interested in the mystery.

The city actually released a press statement a few years back saying that the tunnels did not exist. My thinking on this is that if you have to deny something officially, there's at least a bit of truth to the story. Or you have to protect yourself against some bonehead kid breaking into something he/she shouldn't be breaking into blah blah blah liability etc. etc., lest kid fall/breaks leg/dies/etc.

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post by BimmiN

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 31 on 6/3/2005 3:41 PM >

Posted by konk
The Janion might be a good start. There used to be access to some sort of tunnels at the Johnson street bridge (right by the Janion), but that was cemented over by the cities.

I believe these were for transporting Coal/Supplies between ships and supply warehouses. For example, the Swans building used to be a supply/Grain warehouse. Apparently there was also a coal tunnel that ran from Market Square down to the water.

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post by NeuWerld

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 32 on 6/6/2005 4:23 AM >

I've spent many summers in Victoria, beautiful old city, I must say. My mother grew up in oak bay. She seems to think there is some truth to these rumors, specifically the tunnels leading out from the Empress and that old club (forgot the name, and btw her grandfather was a mason!). I'm probably driving out west this August and will definitely make time for some exploring. I might phone my uncle, he's in realestate and has an extensive knowledge of the city, so he must know something about these tunnels. I'll post again if i find out anything new.

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post by PoT.

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 33 on 6/8/2005 6:52 AM >

Posted by NeuWerld
I've spent many summers in Victoria, beautiful old city, I must say. My mother grew up in oak bay. She seems to think there is some truth to these rumors, specifically the tunnels leading out from the Empress and that old club (forgot the name, and btw her grandfather was a mason!). I'm probably driving out west this August and will definitely make time for some exploring. I might phone my uncle, he's in realestate and has an extensive knowledge of the city, so he must know something about these tunnels. I'll post again if i find out anything new.

I really hate to go on an off-topic tangent. But what does her grandfather being a mason have to do with anything? Masons aren't anywhere near as interesting as they're made out to be. Some of their buildings do have some pretty funky "secret" passages in them. The one in North Vancouver on Lonsdale is a great example of that.

I have heard something about some tunnels on the island around an old Colonial-era prison for transporting prisoners and such. I, for the life of me, can't remember any details about it, something I caught on the idiot box one night. So I have no clue how much help that can be, but, I'm pretty sure that it was somewhere in Victoria.

Cheers!
-PoT

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post by KublaKhan

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 34 on 6/8/2005 6:36 PM >

Posted by PoT.

But what does her grandfather being a mason have to do with anything? Masons aren't anywhere near as interesting as they're made out to be.

Well...Masons are something of a secret society.

Some of their buildings do have some pretty funky "secret" passages in them. The one in North Vancouver on Lonsdale is a great example of that.

Which is exactly why I'm interested in Masons, their architecture, their place in culture.

I have heard something about some tunnels on the island around an old Colonial-era prison for transporting prisoners and such. I, for the life of me, can't remember any details about it, something I caught on the idiot box one night. So I have no clue how much help that can be, but, I'm pretty sure that it was somewhere in Victoria.

That might be Bastion Square. The 'prison' in question here held, among other things, condemned men and women awaiting the gallows. Also, Bastion Square, part of Original Fort Victoria, is where these condemned men and women were hanged publically. Also, there is a rumour that their remains are interred beneath the Square in underground catacombs.

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post by PoT.

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 35 on 6/9/2005 12:22 AM >

Yeah, Bastion Square, that's what it's called. It was Creepy Canada that we were watching (not a bad place to get some UE ideas..) They showed some narrow passageways and such, can't really be sure how far underground anything they showed was.

Cheers!
-PoT

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post by KublaKhan

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 36 on 6/9/2005 3:12 AM >

Posted by PoT.
Yeah, Bastion Square, that's what it's called. It was Creepy Canada that we were watching (not a bad place to get some UE ideas..) They showed some narrow passageways and such, can't really be sure how far underground anything they showed was.

Cheers!
-PoT

Rumour has it that if you stand in a certain place at a certain time of day, you can hear the trap door open and the condemned's neck snap.

The tourists eat this stuff up.

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post by lopix

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 37 on 6/9/2005 7:08 PM >

Posted by PoT.Masons aren't anywhere near as interesting as they're made out to be.

This is true, being a Mason myself, I can vouch for that. Mainly sit around and drink beer and smoke ;) Not that there's anything wrong with that...

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post by KublaKhan

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 38 on 6/9/2005 7:29 PM >

Posted by lopix

This is true, being a Mason myself, I can vouch for that. Mainly sit around and drink beer and smoke ;) Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Sounds like the Legion, where war vets hang out, drink beer, watch hockey, smoke packs of butts and generally sit around bullshitting.

As for Masons...don't they make those little jars that granny puts jam in? And grampa puts his moonshine in?

Do Masons have a secret handshake?

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post by PoT.

Re: Under the Garden City: Victoria B.C. secret tunnels.
<Reply # 39 on 6/9/2005 8:32 PM >

Posted by KublaKahn

Sounds like the Legion, where war vets hang out, drink beer, watch hockey, smoke packs of butts and generally sit around bullshitting.

As for Masons...don't they make those little jars that granny puts jam in? And grampa puts his moonshine in?

Those are wide-mouth masons. You can tell those kind of masons by the huge smile they always have.

Do Masons have a secret handshake?

Yes, several even.

Cheers!
-PoT

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