Duckburg

	Duckburg

Duckburg: the city of the ducks created by Carl Barks is the place where DUCK AVENGER acts and before him where Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika performed their missions.
This page briefly shows its story, a map indicating the most significant places, the two most credible and reasonable hypothesis about its supposed geographical location (based on Barks' and Don Rosa's stories) and details of some mysterious and secret places shown in several adventures (some of those related to DUCK AVENGER) of famous Disney artists.
For those who want to know much more about this argument, there is a complete analysis of Duckburg history and facts based on Barks' and Rosa's universe in the interesting website by Sigvald Grosfjeld Jr.: Life and times in Duckburg.
The Duckburg map is mainly based on the awesome and detailed research made by the German group DER DONALDIST : Der Standtplan von Entenhausen their Duckburg map takes references from the various places shown in the Carl Barks stories.

Sir Francis Drake is the first European to step in the new land called New Albion, changing the name into Drake Borough.
Francis Drake built a fort on the hill overlooking the area and he hide in the basement of the fort many volumes of what remained of lost library of Alexandria. During an indians attack Fenton Penworthy summarize in a single volume the most important informations contained in the ancient books.

Together the crew of Francis Drake was also Duke Richard Quackett who also remained in Drake Borough after the departure of Francis Drake. The Duke, better known by the nickname of Mad Duke becomed famous not only for his extravagant behaviour but also for having stolled of part of the treasure that Fracis Drake would lead to Queen Elizabeth I and for having commissioned the construction of some medieval style manors around the area.

To try to recover the missing treasure and the precious volumes of the lost library of Alexandria Francis Drake returned back to Drake Borough in 1585. But the Mad Duke was able to hide the treasure and to escape. Francis Drake was thus not able to find neither the missing treasure nor the books of lost library of Alexandria being destroyed during the indian attack to the fort. The Corsair sail back to home and he never come back again in the area because he died of fever during one of his trips in 1596.

After the death of Duke Richard Quackett his three abandoned manors fell into disrepair and especially the "Mad Duke's castle" was partially destroyed in 1800 by the new settlers who arrived in the area and used the stones to build new houses. In local popular legends only the confused memory of this mysterious character with the nickname of "Mad Duke" remained.

The fort (Fort Drake Borough) was given by the english soldiers to Cornelius Coot in the 1818. He thus renamed the fort as "Fort Duckburg" and after having accidentaly avoid that the area felt under the Spain garrison he founded the Woodchucks Militia to protect the fort from the indians attack.

A short time later after having reached peace with the Indians Cornelius Coot obtained in that area some lands from the Indian chief Laughing Duck.

In 1830 Cornelius' son Clinton Coot was born. In 1901 he founded the Junior Woodchucks to teach the young Duckburgians how to keep the good ideals, like making good actions, protecting nature and preserving knowledgement. For this purpose he uses the famous guidebook which is nothing more than the summary of the knowledge contained in the volumes of Alexandria's lost library.

In 1898, his son Casey Coot brother of Elvira "Grandma" Coot (Grandma Duck) gave the property of the Fort and relevant hill (Killmule Hill) to a young scottish gold-digger in the Klondike named Scrooge McDuck, who takes possess of the property together with his two sisters Matilda and Hortense in 1902.

In a few decades, also thanks to the investments of Scooge McDuck and other rich peoples, Duckburg is transformed from a small farmer village to a modern American city.

From 1910 to 1931 the mysterious gentleman thief Fantomallard acts in Duckburg, behind whose mask there is Lord John Lamont Quackett a nobleduck of Anglo-French origin who pretends to be inept and bungling.
During his period of activity Fantomallard helped by his accomplices girl friend (First Lady Mustard then Dolly Paprika) and by his inventor friend Copernicus Gearloose (Gyro Gearloose' great-grandfather) carries out countless and daring thefts always against wealthy citizens, sometimes even with philanthropic purposes.

According to the legendary narrative about the character of Fantomallard and about some events of the history of Duckburg in 1929-1930 taking advantage of the great economic crisis, the absence of Scrooge, the perfidious South African tycoon Flintheart Glomgold manages to take power in Duckburg in order to then govern it in a despotic way by inventing absurd taxes and rules to enrich themselves at the expense of already impoverished citizens. These events seem decidedly very legendary since, as can be seen from the story of Barks UNCLE SCROOGE AND THE MONEY CHAMP which took place in the 1950s, none of the citizens of Duckburg seem to have ever heard of Flintheart Glomgold which is unlikely if these only twenty years before he managed the power in the city. These legendary events are therefore to be interpreted as part of the series of myths relating to the events of the gentleman thief and probably take their cue from the mismanagement of the city of Duckburg during the great crisis by some shady local figure.

Perhaps following the global economic crisis and presumably having received news of the worrying economic/social situation in Duckburg, Scrooge McDuck decided to return permanently to the city at the end of 1930 discovering that, despite the crisis (or perhaps thanks to this), he had become the richest person in the world.

The first apperance of name Duckburg is shown in a traffic indication in the last sketch of a Barks' story published in WDCS #49 October 1944.

As for Carl Barks' indications, Duckburg is a city-state like the Italian San Marino or Vatican City. In this point of view, the state of Calisota where Duckburg is located can be considered like a nation itself a little bit bigger than the city.
A clear indication that Duckburg is a city-state comes from Carl Barks' story UNCLE SCROOGE "TREASURE OF MARCO POLO" where the Duckburg embassy (in a foreign country) and the relevant national flag (a duck on a green-blue background) are shown in a sketch.

As for Barks indications Duckburg is located in the Duck County, closer to the Goose County which main city is Gooseville. The other nearest towns are Hentown and Catville. If we analize some of Barks' stories, (Duckburg is on the US west coast, not far from the desert, not far from the mountains and from the city of Los Angeles, near the old California-Spanish missions area etc..) Duckburg could be logically placed along the California coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles aproximately in the Morro Bay area.

On the other hand, Don Rosa in chapter 10 of his saga The life and times of $crooge McDuck, based on the fact that Barks also takes reference of his homestate Oregon to depict the Ducks' living environment, prefers to place Duckburg up to the north of San Francisco, practically in the same bay where corrently the city of Eureka is located.
The state of Calisota in this point of view is a real state of the union placed between a reshaped California and the state of Oregon.

Mysterious and secret places of Duckburg

NOTRE DUCK The cathedral of Notre Duck certainly is one of the most suggestive and mysterious places in Duckburg, as is widely shown in Carl Barks' story THE PHANTOM OF NOTRE DUCK US#60 Nov. 1965.
The peculiarity of this reproduction of an old Gothic church, which is basicly a copy of the Notre Dame of Paris, are the wishing well, the various secret passages, the underground and the mysterious traps well known and utilized by the worrying and mysterious lodger (maybe related to the designer?) the Phantom of Notre Duck.


At the beginning there were no indications about the period of the building of this huge cathedral located in Duckburg. Therefore it must be a medieval reproduction probably manufactured, because of its impressiveness and relevant high realization costs, during the first decades of the twentieth century of growth and expansion of Duckburg due mainly to the presence and the investments of several managers and bilionaires, first of all Scrooge McDuck.
	The Duckburg cathedral is also shown in a Brasilan story O CASAMENTO DO PATO DONALD of Irineu Soares Rodriguez, Luiz Podavin, Verci de Mello and Euclides Miyaura, in the occasion of the presumed (or better dreamed) wedding between Donald and Daisy celebrated in Notre Duck.

Notre Duck is shown again in a Brasilian story titled A VOLTA DO FANTASMA DE NOTRE DAME.
In this adventure, which clearly takes reference from Barks, Scrooge McDuck and his nephews meet the mysterious phantom again. This time they suddenly discover that it is not the same one as in Barks' adventure, but the witch Magica de Spell in one of her impressive disguises.

In the italian story PAPERINIK E IL TESORO DI DOLLY PAPRIKA (DUCK AVENGER AND THE TREASURE OF DOLLY PAPRIKA) Marco Gervasio shows a very beautiful image of Notre Duck. In this interesting story there are also some indications about the possible connection between the mysterious Phantom of Notre Duck, the Mad Duke and the gentleman thief Fantomallard.

The cathedral of Notre Duck is again shown in the story of Pesce and Asaro PAPERINIK E L'ARCHITETTURA SPICCIOLA (DUCK AVENGER AND THE PETTY ARCHITECTURE) where in this case it is inhabited by a new phantom named Lord of the manholes alter ego of an eccentric Monetary Architect who is expanding the project of the previous ghost making in the basement of Notre Duck a scale reconstruction of the whole city of Duckburg by using coins coming from his robbery. Furthermore this new ghost is also planning to rob the Scrooge's Money Bin but at the end of the adventure he is stopped by the intervention of DUCK AVENGER.

A very interesting representation of the Notre Duck is made by the talented Architect/Disney artist Blasco Pisapia in one of his speciat article titled: Duckburg city guide published in Italy on TOPOLINO comic book in the august of 2014.

Notre Duck is shown again by Marco Gervasio in the eighteen episode of the saga dedicated to Fantomallard titled NOTRE DUCK. In this adventure the talented italian artist and writer takes references to the famous Barks story UNCLE SCROOGE AND THE PHANTOM OF NOTRE DUCK showing several internal and external locations of the Duckburg cathedral as well as its underground hideouts.

Always in the same story Gervasio reveals the origin of the Phantom of Notre Duck that corresponds to the architect Henry Quackett older brother of John Quackett alias Fantomallard. Henry retreats in 1924 within the Notre Duck Cathedral, which has been designed by himself and built in 1916.
In the story It is also shown the beginning of the construction, in the underground hideout, of the model of the Notre Duck made with the coins stollen from the fountain.

Gervasio also shows us the origin of the black costume worn by Henry Quackett which is based on the costume worn by a relative of Marie Lamont (mother of John and Henry) who in 1700 in Paris was a royal tax collector. He dressed in that way to afraid the debtors when he was charging taxes.

At the end of the story it is not clear if Henry Quackett might have continued to play the role of the Phantom of Notre Duck also in the future and give us a possible clue why, some decades later, his appearance could remember that of Scrooge. The reader could therefore imagine that during the attempt to steal the money from the Money Bin the could have been used the mask of Scrooge, or that Henry Quackett in old age could looks like Scrooge McDuck. However being its physiognomy definitely too high and different compared to that of the Phantom of Notre Duck shown by Barks it is more logical to suppose that the phantom met by Scrooge is another person who has replaced Henry Quackett (perhaps his brother John Quackett many years after finishing his business as a gentleman thief?)

In fact, Gervasio confirms that Henry Quackett left Notre Duck in the story THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF THE DAWN OF FANTOMIUS set at late 1930.

In the same story the lower level of the Notre Duck dungeons is shown where there is a living environment. The presence of the Fantomallard's costume and some of his gadgets is a clear indication that the masked thief is using the cathedral as an emergency refuge and that in the future he could actually become the second ghost meet from Scrooge and nephewes in the famous Carl Barks story.

Always in history THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF THE DAWN OF FANTOMALLARD Gervasio shows us a beautiful image of the entrance to Notre Duck with the fountain of wishes and the relative secret passage.
the intriguing adventure also shows us that from the basement of Notre Duck it is possible to access the old underground Duckburg.

A beautiful image of the lower level of Notre Duck dungeons with the living environment is also shown by Gervasio di the THE DOWN OF FANTOMALLARD.

THE PHANTOMS OF NOTRE DUCK

Over the years Notre Duck was thus inhabited by several "phantoms":
The first phantom of the Cathedral was Henry Quackett (Architect and designer of Notre Duck whose construction began in 1916) who in the mid-20s wore the black costume first.
Henry Quackett also began, in the Notre Duck secret basement the construction of the Cathedral model with coins.
The second phantom of the Cathedral is the one encountered by Scrooge Mc Duck, Donald Duck and nephews, around the middle of the 50's. The identity of this character, who resembles Scrooge, is still a mystery, even if probably having inherited the deeds of the first ghost, it can be supposed to be a relative of his, or at least someone aware of the identity of the first phantom. We can therefore reasonably suppose that the phantom encountered by Scrooge is none other than John Quackett (aka Fantomallard) who in old age has taken the place of his brother as the phantom of Notre Duck.
The third ghost, reasonably met by Scrooge and nephews a few years after the adventure with the second phantom, others is not that the sorceress Magica de Spell in one of his many disguises. In this case it is logical to imagine that even the second phsntom is no longer present at Notre Duck.
The fourth phantom who is called the Lord of the Manholes is instead a petty thief nicknamed Architect monetary. This maniacal individual has expanded (probably in the early 60s) the dungeons of Notre Duck where he is realizing with the coins even a model of the entire Duckburg. After having managed to penetrate the secret lair of Phantom Duck and made several thefts using his gadgets, he is faced and defeated by the masked avenger who "erases his memory" with a good dose of coco-nonos.

THE CASTLE OF THE MAD DUKE OF DUCKBURG
This creepy manor (obviously another mediaeval reproduction) is shown in Barks' story HOUSE OF HAUNTS US#60 May 1966.

This dismal castle has the bad fame to be ghost-infested and it is considered a place to avoid because it is full of traps and a mysterious dead-end underground. In the above mentioned story, some of these are restored and utilized for a short time by Scrooge as a secret hiding place for his money.

Very little is known about the building period of the castle or the identity of the mysterious Mad Duke. The only image of him is shown by Barks in a picture in the relevant story. Considering the Duke outfit we can suppose that he was living no later than the end of 1500s, in this case the castle has been built long before the foundation of Duckburg, probably during the time of Fracis Drake thus around the year 1580 (The Mad Duke could have been part of Drake's crew). In this poin of view the supposed deeds of the Mad Duke could be only a legend passed down from the native population of the area to the first colonists placed in Duckburg after Cornelius Coot arrived.
This hypothesis is confirmed on the number one of the Italian comic book series DEFINITIVE COLLECTION edited by PANINI and dedicated to the character of Fantomallard where in the biography of Lord Quackett alias Fantomallard it is said that the Mad Duke of Duckburg, who his real name is Duke Richard Quackett, was one of his ancestors who arrived in New Albion with the ship Fracis Drake in 1579. Having taken possession of various land he thus built its castle and other possible manors. In fact in the story of Marco Gervasio LE STRABILIANTI IMPRESE DI FANTOMIUS-LADRO GENTILUOMO- IL NOBILE DIETRO LA MASCHERA (THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- THE NOBLE BEHIND THE MASK) palced in the Duckburg of the 1910 it is visible inside Villa Rose a portrait of the Mad Ducke and his castle. On a plate his name Richard Quackett is also indicated.
	The mysterious side of this character and the fact, as Scrooge said, that he could imitate anybody, lets us reasonably suppouse that the Mad Duke could be in such a way also related (an ancestor?) to the Phantom of Notre Duck. This hypothesis seems to be confirmed in the italian story *PAPERINIK E IL TESORO DI DOLLY PAPRIKA* (*DUCK AVENGER AND THE TREASURE OF DOLLY PAPRIKA) where in the Fantomallard' mansion Villa Rose some pictures of the Phantom of Notre Duck* and the Mad Duke are present.

An interesting representation of the Castle of the Mad Duke is made by the talented architect/Disney artist Blasco Pisapia in one of his special articles entitled: Duckburg city guide published on the Italian comic book TOPOLINO in September of 2014.

The castle of the Mad Duke is shown again by Panaro and Baldoni in the story ZIO PAPERONE E IL CASTELLO DELLA DOPPIA BATTAGLIA (UNCLE SCROOGE AND THE THE CASTLE OF THE DOUBLE BATTLE) published on Italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 3093 on march 2015.
In this adventure the Beagle Boys after having stollen the Scrooge's first dime use the Mad Duke's castle as headquarter using the various booby traps present inside the manor against the intruders.

In the story THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- THE TREASURE OF FRANCIS DRAKE the italian Disney artist Gervasio shows the castle of the Mad Duke both in the 1585 when the Duke Richard Quackett alias Mad Duke was still living there and during the 20s thus in the period of Lord John Quackett alias Fantomallard.

In this aventure is finally clarified the story and the identity of the Mad Duke. The Duke Richard Quackett arived in New Albion (renamed Drake Borough) together the crew of Francis Drake in the 1579. The Duke remained in Drake Borough together other settlers after having stollen part of the booty that Francis Drake should have given to the Queen Elizabeth I of England. Than he vested some lands and he built some medieval style castles and manors like his famous castle, the Three Towers Castle and the Dismal Valley Manor.

In the 1585 Sir Francis Drake come back to Drake Borough in order to get back the part of his trasure stolled by the Mad Duke. But the Duke warned by his friend Count of Malasorte was able to hide what was left of the trasure and he moved to a friend or probaly in one of his other misterious manors like the Three Tower Castle or the Dismal Valley Manor not known by Francis Drake.

In fact in the story by Gervasio LE STRABILIANTI IMPRESE DI FANTOMIUS-LADRO GENTILUOMO- DOLLY PAPRIKA (THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- DOLLY PAPRIKA) it is shown that the Mad Duke after leaving his castle was guest for a short period at the manor of his friend Duckermensil, who was probably another rich person moved in that period from England to Drake Borough. The Mad Duke trailed by Francis Drake and his men also escaped from this manor via a secret passage.

In the prologue of the CLASSICI DISNEY THE MYSTERIES OF FANTOMALLARD published in July 2022 it is shows when in 1577 in the arbour of Plymouth Richard Quackett to escape some creditors is forced to embark with the crew of Sir Francis Drake .

A simple model of the Mad Duke's castle is made by the italian publisher CENTAURIA in the issue 88 and 89 of the collection I LOVE PAPEROPOLI. In these two booklets included with the model it is descibed the origin of the castle and the one of the three towers both built by Richard Quackett alias Mad Duke of Duckburg.

THREE TOWER CASTLE This other beautiful reproduction of a mediaeval castle it was shown for the first time in the Italian story of Guido Martina and Massimo de Vita PAPERINIK E IL CASTELLO DELLE TRE TORRI (DUCK AVENGER AND THE THREE TOWER CASTLE) TOP. n�875-876 September 1973.
This castle is famed for scary legends, one of which says that a ghost is living in one of the castle's towers. We know from the story that he castle belonged to a certain Spokius Spektrus, who died in the second half of the 1800s who is described as a mad person who likes to scare the people with tricks and fake apparitions .

This first story does not show any images of this mad character, but his description, his maniacal taste for the creepy tricks, fit well to be related in such a way with the above mentioned Mad Duke. In this case the three tower castle could have been buit in the same period as the Mad Duke one.

A restored Three Tower Castle it is shown again in the story of Panaro and Zanchi PAPERINIK E IL CASTELLO DEI SEGRETI (DUCK AVENGER AND THE CASTLE OF THE SECRETS) published on TOPOLINO n. 2996 April 2013.
From this adventure we know that after the castle was restored by the Duckburg municipal comunity DUCK AVENGER installed inside it a second secret hideout. The secret access of this hideout was hide behind a wall of the castle main living room, it can be opend pulling the big halberd placed in the wall.

In this story some internal rooms of the castle are shown as well as the secret passages and tunnels. Furthermore also the real image of Spokius Spektrus and his secret laboratory are shown.
This character was a strange inventor who enjoy to create absurd machinery and misterious tricks used to scare the population living in the area and also his own friends.
The Three Tower Castle is fully described on the related page Three Tower Castle

The Three Tower castle is shows how it was during the 20s by Gervasio in the fourteenth episode of the Fantomallard saga titled THE TRASURE OF FRANCIS DRAKE. In this adventure is told that the castle was originally buit by the Mad Duke. On one of his portrait in fact the Duke is represented in front of the Three Tower Castle instead of his usual manor.
It is thu is logical to suppose that the castle was sold in a later period to Spokius Spektrus (or to some of his ancestors) by some heir of the Mad Duke.

In the same story Gervasio also shows that during the 20s Cartesius Gearloose, twin of Copernicus, has his secret laboratory in the underground of the castle. We can thus presume that Cartesius was a friend or a student or an assistant of Spokius Spektrus who also was a extravagant genius and inventor.

The Three Tower castle is shown again during the 20s in the sixteenth episode of the Fantomallard saga titled THE THIEF AND THE BILIONARE. In this adventure Cartesio Gearloose is back and he use the castle secret hideout as his laboratory.

In this adventure Gervasio also shown other rooms of the castle included the large living room with the portrait of Spokius Spektrus last owner of the manor.

In some vignettes connecting some stories of the Fantomallard saga reprinted in the special Classic THE MYSTERIES OF FANTOMIUS it is shows again Spokius Spektrus towards the end from 1800 when he wrote his will concerning the castle of the three towers.

In the story of Bertani,Gervasio and Baccinelli DUCK AVENGER AND THE GOLDEN TOWER published on italian comic books TOPOILINO n.3479-3481 The lawyer Raymond Bum who had managed the will of Spokius Spektrus announces the existence of another letter where the owner of the castle informs the one who will inherit the castle of the presence of a mysterious treasure in one of the towers (probably the gold that the Mad Duke stole from Francis Drake), a treasure that the Spokius Spectrus himself was not in able to find.

The story is set in the period in which Duck Avenger with the help of Gyro Gearloose is forced to create the alternative refuge in one of the secret rooms of the castle, being the refuge under the Donald's house uninhabitable due to sudden flooding. In the story we are again shown different areas of the castle, the dungeons and the various mechanisms to access the secret rooms.

At the end of the story DUCK AVENGER AND THE GOLDEN TOWER Duck Avenger and Gyro discover that originally the castle had four towers and therefore the treasure of Richard Quackett was hidden in the tower which was later destroyed.

Reading better one of the diaries of Fantomallard the two friends discover that the gentleman thief had already sought his ancestor's gold but that he found only a gilded canvas. It seems that Richard Quackett used that gold to help the first settlers in the area build the Cape Quack lighthouse.

The three towers castle is also described in the issue 89 of the italian publisher CENTAURIA of the collection I LOVE PAPEROPOLI.

VILLA ROSE
Created by Guido Martina and drawn for the first time by Giovan Battista Carpi, this ruined (than destoyed) Villa, located in the Squash County area outside the Duckburg city limit, is the hideout of the gentleman thief Lord Quackett alias Fantomallard, and it is for sure one of the most mysterious and evocative Duckburg localities.

Both Villa Rose and its mysterious owner are well described in the relevant pages: Villa Rose e Fantomallard.
Also in this case, it can be taken into account that due to the typical characteristics of the mysterious gentleman thief (eccentricity, ability to disguise, darkness, maniac for mysterious places full of traps, etc..) it is reasonable to think that this character could be related to the previous ones or even better, he himself could be the The Phantom of Notre Duck

.

These hypotheses have been partially confirmed in the biography of Lord Quackett published on the number one of the special volume DEFINITIVE COLLECTION edited in Italy by PANINI and dedicated to Fantomallard as well as by the various portraits of both the Mad Duke and the Phantom of Notre Duck represented by Gervasio in the various rooms of Villa Rose

ERMINE's HOUSE
Created by Bruno Sarda and Marco Gervasio this other mysteroius hideout of Fantomallard is located in the mountains several miles outside Duckburg. This place is fully described in the relevant page Ermine's House.

VILLA LALLA
The summer hideout of Fantomallard created by Fabio Michelini and Marco Gervasio is located near the sea in the north part of Duckburg bay. Also in this case this dismal mansion is fully described in the relevat page Villa Lalla.

DISMAL VALLEY MANOR

This other reproduction of Medieval Castle is one of several secret hideout of Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika it is located in a difficult accessible area in the north-east of Duckburg.
Considering the owner and style of construction also this castle was presumably made by the Mad Duke that we know being an ancestor of Lord Quackett.
The Manor of Dismal Valley is fully described in the relevant page Dismal Valley Manor.

DUCK AVENGER's HIDEOUT
Created by Guido Martina, this hideout designed and built by Gyro Gearloose under Donald's house is certainly one of the most secret and well protected places in Duckburg. All the informations about this secret hideout are available in the relevant page The Hideout.

THE HADA's HOUSE
This creepy mansion in Duckburg's suburbs is shown in Marco Rota's story DONAL DUCK-THE HADA's HOUSE Anders & Co. n�31 July 1998.

The sinister but handsome Count Rothaz Von Hada lives in this mansion together with his butler Dalan Dedon. The Count, who seems to be a vampire, comes from one of the oldest and noblest families of central Europe. During the XVII century one of his ancestors settled in the Duckburg area long before the city was founded.


The house as in the best horrorfying tradition has a family cemetery, several secret passages and many traps. In this adventure Marco Rota hides in some sketches references to Barks (in a wall painting there is a caricature of the great artist, another one shows Barks' Zombie, and in one occasion Magica de Spell is mentioned etc...).

THE UNDERGROUND OLD DUCKBURG
Don Rosa in the story UNCLE SCROOGE IN A LITTLE SOMETHING SPECIAL shows us the old village of Duckburg as it was at the end of the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s, whose remains are still part of the modern city underground.

In this story the ghost underground village is utilized as a hideout by the baleful gang Magica de Spell, Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold who together try to accomplish a devilish plan against Scrooge McDuck.

In the story THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF THE DOWN OF FANTOMALLARD Gervasio show us a beautiful image of the old underground Duckburg which can also be accessed from the basement of the Notre Duck cathedral.

MONEY BIN's UNDERGROUND LIBRARY
Don Rosa again in the story GUARDIAN OF THE LOST LIBRARY shows us a uptil now unknown underground under Scrooge's Money Bin.

This secret place was realized by Sir Francis Drake under Fort Drakeborough as an escape tunnel and to hide several books raided from a Spanish ship. Those books were the summary of the remains of the famous and lost Alexandrian library.


The story tells that those volumes have been summarized in one single manual by Fenton Penworthy the last Fort Drakeborough survivor after the Indian's attack. This manual has been later found by Cornelius Coot who gave it to his son Clinton Coot. He utilized this book as a base for the Junior Woodchucks's infallible guidebook.