Cities of the Underworld - Season 3

First aired: 10/26/2008 13 episodes

Episodes

1. City Of Blood

Aired: 10/26/2008

Jack the Ripper terrorized the city with his gruesome slaughters. Secret pagan societies raised Hell. Thieves made a killing stealing fresh corpses. London's streets ran red with blood, and it seeped into the underground. It was a city filled with disease, misery and chaos, making it ripe for grisly murders and horrific rumors to spread like the plague. Tales of witches and killers, the Antichrist and pagan rituals filled the city... but behind every ghost story is the terrifying truth of what happened here. From creepy caves scrawled with warnings of witches to the sewers and crypts where murderers and thieves lurked beneath the city streets, London's underground is hiding dark secrets and clues to the bloody truth.

2. Tunnels Of Hell

Aired: 11/2/2008

The largest naval armada in U.S. history descended on the Japanese island of Okinawa in April of 1945. Instead of a swift victory for the American's it became the bloodiest battle of the Pacific. Much of the battle wasn't on land it was underneath it--from the beehive of combat tunnels to the caves where thousands of civilians hid. Join host Don Wildman as he discovers what it was like to live through the Battle of Okinawa. Watch as he delves into the subterranean tunnels, caves, and bunkers, and then dives to explore the lost naval destroyer sunken deep in the waters off Okinawa's coast.

3. Real Mafia Underground

Aired: 11/9/2008

The mafia instills fear around the world, but in Sicily, its presence can't be ignored. This is where the mob got its start, with the help of the underground. We'll trace the Mafia's roots back to a vigilante secret society that created an underground network where they would hold trials against corrupt city officials and execute the accused. We'll track the escape route of a most-wanted mob boss through ancient subterranean waterways, and discover a bone-crypt that holds the key to Sicily's violent past. We'll even find out how the mafia teamed up with the Allies during WWII, undermining the Axis' line of bunkers deep within the hillside and embedding themselves into Sicilian society for good.

4. Secret Sin City

Aired: 11/16/2008

Welcome to Las Vegas, America's Sin City, where billions of dollars are lost and made every year on our national vices. In order to protect their cash, casinos have made security the highest priority. From underground vaults to secret surveillance nerve centers, we'll uncover how the latest technology beats the cheaters. But Vegas wasn't always this high-tech. We'll show how a massive engineering feat transformed the city from a barren desert into a mobster metropolis where thieves ran the show from underground tunnels dating back to Prohibition. And just when it looked like all the thugs were behind bars and the city would fall off the map for good, Vegas became the come back kid. It's the only city in the world where you can be in Egypt one moment and Italy the next, thanks to a secret underground that allows the show to get bigger and better every time.

5. Hitler's Trenches

Aired: 11/23/2008

World War I was the bloodiest war the world had ever seen. A young Adolf Hitler served in the trenches and tunnels of Belgium's Western Front. Join host Don Wildman as he explores the subterranean web where 24,000 Allied soldiers waited to ambush the enemy, to the indestructible fortress that endured thousands of bombs daily. Discover the underground that made World War I one of the most brutal wars in history... and turned Hitler into the terrifying madman of World War II.

6. Barbarians' Lair

Aired: 12/1/2008

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was plunged into chaos for centuries, with vicious carnage and rampant disease regularly raging through the streets. However, below the streets was another world designed to keep the people alive and the enemy guessing. Join host Don Wildman as he uncovers immense quarries of a secret society, Templar torture chambers and the tunnels of medieval "ghost knights."

7. Land of Manson

Aired: 12/8/2008

He was the ringleader behind some of the most notorious murders in history. He terrified the world and plunged the city of Los Angeles into a state of paranoia and fear. He's Charles Manson, and the deserts around Los Angeles were his home... and he hoped the underground would be his haven. But Manson and his followers weren't the only things lurking beneath the streets of LA. We'll take you beneath the most congested streets in America, into the tunnels where corrupt cops ran the city in secret and the largest subway system in the world lays in waste. From earthquakes to UFOs, this city has to be ready for anything. But with military bunkers protecting our shores and subterranean disaster relief war rooms, LA's underground also holds the key to its survival.

8. Gladiators: Blood Sport

Aired: 12/15/2008

The gladiators of ancient Rome were the ultimate fighting machines. They waged bloody battles to the death for the entertainment of the masses--and to earn their freedom. From the depths of the vicious and magnificent Flavian amphitheater, to the buried brothel where they lived their last days, these are the secret lives of Rome's famed slave warriors. Peel back the layers to uncover the origin of these fierce fighters, as host Don Wildman heads into ancient crypts, subterranean chambers used for pagan worship, and to the school that taught the gladiators how survive... and how to kill.

9. Secret Holy Land

Aired: 12/22/2008

Ethiopia is home to some of the oldest settlements in the world. This cradle of mankind is a country born from legend and shrouded in mystery. Underground Ethiopia is explored. Included: tombs of emperors; subterranean cathedrals; and the palace of the Queen of Sheba. Also: theories regarding the possible resting place of the Ark of the Covenant.

10. Under the Rock

Aired: 1/12/2009

While most people think of San Francisco as a haven for peace-loving hippies, this city by the Bay is actually one of the biggest military defense installations in America. We'll take you beneath its picturesque hills and uncover the biggest ammunitions depot on the West Coast before plunging into a deadly arsenal that once stored nuclear missiles with more than six times the destructive power of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. From the secret Civil War fortification buried beneath Alcatraz to the human trafficking tunnels winding below Chinatown, San Francisco's underground is evidence of its sordid past.

11. Tomb of the Lost Mummies

Aired: 1/26/2009

When you think of Egypt, you think of the Pyramids, vast deserts and infamous leaders like Cleopatra. But there's more to the story. Underground Cairo is explored, focusing on ancient structures that have withstood time and countless invasions. Included: a step pyramid built a century before the Giza pyramids; and a tomb containing 2000-year-old mummies. Also examined: the Book of the Dead.

12. Gods of War

Aired: 2/2/2009

Located on the coveted gateway between the East and West, Turkey has a history marked by ambitious conquerors and great empires vying for control of the trade routes. Left behind was a rich mythology of gods and men with tales of epic battles which soaked Turkey's soil in blood. We'll uncover the truth behind these mysterious legends revealing how a nation at war turned underground for its only means of survival, a maniacal king's plot to overturn consecrated ground to build one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and even an ancient healing spa of the gods!

13. Alcatraz Down Under

Aired: 2/9/2009

Beneath the sunny façade of Sydney, Australia lies a dark past. Underground Sydney is explored. Included: a 19th-century prison; caves that were once home to fugitive outlaws; gold mines. Also: a secret World War II storage place for chemical weapons is toured by those who once worked there.