opal mining

Coober Pedy: The Australian Outback Town Where Life Underscores Underground

Coober Pedy in South Australia has evolved from a 1915 opal discovery into the world's largest producer of precious opal, with residents adapting to extreme desert heat by living underground. The town features dugout homes, underground churches, restaurants and hotels carved into sandstone, with the first underground church built in 1967. Today, visitors can tour underground homes, mines and churches, experiencing a settlement designed for survival in harsh outback conditions.