Qualla: Nushabad https://qualla.com/nushabad en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:32 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/h/9/nushabad-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Nushabad https://qualla.com/nushabad Nushabad: Introduction https://qualla.com/nushabad/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Beneath the streets of Nushabad lies a second city. Three levels deep, connected by curving passages designed to confuse intruders, fitted with trapdoors that swallow the unwary, and accessible through secret entrances hidden inside ordinary houses -- this is Ouyi, one of the most elaborate underground refuges in the ancient world. Above ground, Nushabad is a modest Iranian city of roughly 12,000 people in the desert heartland of Isfahan Province. Below ground, it is a masterwork of defensive architecture born from centuries of insecurity.

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/h/9/nushabad-wp/tnh9-nushabad-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Nushabad: The City of Cold, Tasty Water https://qualla.com/nushabad/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0. The name tells an origin story. In ancient times, a Sassanian king passing through the region stopped to drink from a local well and found the water extraordinarily clear and cold. He was so impressed that he ordered a city built around it, naming the settlement Anoushabad -- whi...

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/h/9/nushabad-wp/tnh9-nushabad-the-city-of-cold-tasty-water.mp3 0:06 2 full Nushabad: Architecture of Survival https://qualla.com/nushabad/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0. This region of central Iran endured centuries of raids and invasions. The inhabitants of Nushabad responded by carving a network of tunnels beneath the entire city, connecting homes, public buildings, and the main fort through underground passages. Multiple entrances were built i...

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/h/9/nushabad-wp/tnh9-nushabad-architecture-of-survival.mp3 0:06 3 full Nushabad: Traps for the Unwelcome https://qualla.com/nushabad/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0. The underground city's designers were not merely builders -- they were military engineers. The three-level structure was laid out so that movement between levels required going from lower to higher ground, giving defenders the advantage of elevation against anyone who managed to ...

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/h/9/nushabad-wp/tnh9-nushabad-traps-for-the-unwelcome.mp3 0:06 4 full Nushabad: Hidden in Plain Sight https://qualla.com/nushabad/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0. What makes Nushabad's underground city remarkable is its integration with the surface world. This was not a fortress or a bunker built apart from daily life. The entrances were woven into the fabric of ordinary existence -- a trapdoor beneath a kitchen floor, a passage behind a m...

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/n/h/9/nushabad-wp/tnh9-nushabad-hidden-in-plain-sight.mp3 0:06 5 full