Ukraine, Bessarabia, the city of Izmail. A bomb shelter built by the Romanians, approximately 1918-1940, connected by a network of underground passages built by the local residents of the city, about 200 years ago, for safe movement underground, between streets, neighborhoods, houses.
Dungeons were divided into three types: offensive, defensive, and household. The first two types are related to military fortification, with the first type of dungeons used in the Crimean War (1768-1774) by Russia and Turkey. The Russians crawled under the walls of the Turkish fortress and rolled barrels of gunpowder there. Adits of this kind were called "mines." Gunpowder was blown up, resulting in a gap in the wall for the advance of the troops. There were no such catacombs in Izmail, but, nevertheless, the word “mine” took root. Izmail fortress had only defensive and economic catacombs, the task of which was:
- hidden long-term storage of water and food or their extraction and delivery to the garrison;
- landing in the rear of the attacking sabotage and reconnaissance groups;
- rescue of documentation and material assets;
- shelter from the effects of damaging factors and the weapons used;
- covert communication with support forces.
The dominant place in old Izmail was occupied by Islamic clergy and merchants. Merchants earned money to fulfill the mission set by the Sultan: “To populate the Budzhak steppes with a settled Turkish population.” And the clergy, in turn, prepared missionaries for this, leased them vineyards, land, water, and conducted international trade. Five mosques were built in Izmail to train missionaries. Merchants also worked in connection with the confessors: both Turkish and Greek. The Turks gladly took the Greeks to the service: traveling around the world they knew the languages ​​well and could communicate with many peoples. Therefore, they served as Turks translators in diplomatic missions and even tax collectors. Moreover, they were more brutal pickers than the Turks themselves: it was necessary to take the dues, and not to offend themselves. The Greeks had their two churches in the city. In those days, houses were made of clay in the form of dugouts, and churches, mosques, monasteries were built of stone and were almost fortresses. The stone houses of the nobility, wealthy Muslims, were built in the same way. In their "small fortresses" the clergy accumulated considerable wealth.
Flocked here during the holy wars, gained from the sale of women and slaves, their property, as well as profits from rent, trade and agricultural production.
All these treasures were safely hidden in the dungeons of stone houses and places of worship. The dungeons communicated among themselves in secret passages with various secret traps, of which only a few knew.
Mosques and stone houses were well fortified, and during the assault on the fortress by Suvorov soldiers, they showed fierce resistance, which is why they were blown up without unnecessary ceremonies. Later, other churches and monasteries were built on the site of these buildings. Did they find anything there during the construction - history is silent, but the dream of finding a treasure has been tormenting the souls of people for centuries, but the lucky ones rarely talk about the treasure found.