In the town of Burjassot, Spain, a historic underground excavation was recently opened to the public for the first time in 100 years. The 47 underground grain silos were used for food storage for several hundred years, then converted to a wartime bunker system, then closed.
In 16th-century Valencia, grain storage was a problem. The province didn’t have enough of its own, and imports from other Iberian regions were uncertain, as there were frequent bad harvests and peninsula-wide shortages. The best option was to import grain from Sicily over the Mediterranean Sea, but this made sense only if it could be done in great quantities, meaning Valencia needed a large storage solution.
So the first silos of Burjassot were authorized. This outlying town was chosen because of its elevated position and proximity to the capital. Three underground silos were initially built, but this would expand to 47 over the course of the centuries. Soil would be dug out of the ground, in the shape of an enormous vase, and then its walls would be fortified. These underground containers provided perfect conditions in which to store grain, and the silos remained in use until the beginning of the 20th century.
From the outside, all you see are small, capped holes in the ground. Inside is a different story. Read about the silos and see pictures, plus images of the picturesque town of Burjassot at For 91 Days.