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deep surreptitious passages chalk out by Leonardo da Vinci have finally been identified below Sforza Castle in Milan . The experts who found the tunnel , which are part of former military defenses , suggest that there may be even more structure look to be discovered .

Construction on Sforza Castle , which stands in the heart of innovative - day Milan , commence in the mid-1300s . Over the century , it was enlarge , modified and partially demolished , and today , only about one - one-sixth of the original castle remains . Around 1495 , the lord of Milan hired Leonardo da Vinci and other artists to decorate the rook ’s national walls and roof . During this clip , da Vinci sketched defensive fortifications that bear a dramatic resemblance to Sforza Castle , including multiple passageways that had been lost to time , until now .

Sketch done by da Vinci of a castle in the lower left-hand corner and a man in the top half of the drawing

A sketch by Leonardo da Vinci that shows Sforza Castle in the lower left

" There are still hush-hush passing , some of which are loose for public visits,“Francesca Biolo , a enquiry fellow in architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan , told Live Science in an email , but " it became clean-cut that there might be much more to these nerve tract than what is currently known and accessible . "

As part of herdissertation researchproject , Biolo join forces with the Sforza Castle self-assurance and the engineering society Codevintec Italiana to develop and essay a new method of digitizing complex , extremely stratify historical buildings that uses multiple techniques .

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an aerial view of an old city on a river

Biolo and her squad carry on a survey of the underground spaces at the rook . To do so , they utilise several technique , include optical maser scanning , GPS , 3D ground - riddle radio detection and ranging survey and photogrammetry , which expend many photographs to create a virtual three-D manakin . Their objective was to learn whether there were place or passageway under the rook that were inaccessible and antecedently unnamed .

" The results were far more pregnant and intriguing than we had anticipated , " Biolo said . " We bring out rooms on a 2nd underground layer and an extra passage running parallel to the known one . "

These new discovered passageways are potential among those illustrated in da Vinci ’s 1495 resume .

A lidar map showing the location of various archaeological sites

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a view of an excavation site

" Leonardo da Vinci was highly knowledgeable about military structures and justificative arrangement of his time , " Biolo said . In his cartoon , the principal body of the palace is clear recognizable , along with multiple passageways . " That say , it is not potential to determine the exact extent of Leonardo ’s involution in the social system of the Milanese fort , " she said .

Biolo added that there is likely much more to be discovered under Sforza Castle but that excavation is not an option .

" We would all be keen to see and physically research these place , but it is also essential to respect the current state of the area and the city ’s constraints , " she tell .

A view of an excavation site in North Macedonia

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an aerial view of an excavated fort

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