It was a huge complex built in a neogothic architectural style. It housed a number of comfortable guest rooms as well as individual cells for the more dangerous of its inhabitants.[1]
Helen Magnus founded the Old City Sanctuary at some point in time during the span of thirty-nine years between her ill-fated voyage to America aboard the Titanic in April 1912 [2] and when Bigfoot was shot in 1951.[3] She created it to serve as her new home and main base of operations for the Network while James Watson was left in charge of the original Sanctuary back in London.[4]
For the next several decades, the Old City Sanctuary housed many abnormal inhabitants and staffers, and served as a refuge from the dangers of Old City and the rest of hostile world.
Destruction[]
In early 2012 the Old City Sanctuary was invaded by group members of the abnormal insurgency, led by Caleb. Helen Magnus was able to defeat them, but also triggered the self-destruction of the facility in order to go into hiding at the new Underground Sanctuary. The Old City facility was completely destroyed by a number of huge explosions. Its fiery end could be observed even from skyscrapers on the other side of the river in New City.[5]
During her preparation just prior to the destruction of the building, Helen Magnus had removed all of the Old City Sanctuary's data from its computer systems, likely moving it all to the Network's secure off-site cloud that was mentioned in Episode 4x09 - "Chimera".
The auto-destruct program was located on the computer system under: *\PORT1\DRIVE3\SYSTEM\SECURITY*\PLANS\A1.HTF4
Resulting from the Cabal attacks, twenty shipping container truck loads of several abnormal species were temporarily transferred from damaged Sanctuaries around the world to the Old City Sanctuary. This included abnormals from Beijing, London, Moscow, and Tokyo.
Near the end of the episode, Helen Magnus, Will Zimmerman, Henry Foss, and Bigfoot depart the Old City Sanctuary to capture a loose coleantropus, temporarily leaving Kate Freelander the only staff member (who's currently undergoing an onboarding process) at the facility before returning. Offscreen Henry returns and attempts to feed the sorkel finding it not hungry. Magnus returns and encounters Kate in an upper level hallway and gives Kate a permanent bedroom. It is unknown if the captured coleanthropus was brought to this facility offscreen, albeit for temporarily holding if transferred to another Sanctuary for permanent oversight.
Will Zimmerman and Henry Foss depart the Old City Sanctuary to transport a lepidoptera larvae before their double date with Abby Corrigan and Erika Myers (respectively) at Alfredo's; a fine Italian restaurant. Helen Magnus remains at the facility to tend to a diprotodon who's about to go into labor. It is presumed that the Mothman was brought back to the facility offscreen, considering that the species Lepidoptera hominin can only be transferred during early larval stages.
Mentioned by Will Zimmerman and Helen Magnus at the end of episode. Will asks why they weren't taken to the Sanctuary for treatment. Magnus says that they need to head home. Doctor Lim's name is seen typed on the label of Helen Druitt's medication prescription bottle.
Helen Magnus and Will Zimmerman depart the Old City Sanctuary, traveling to caverns underneath a desert high up in the Bolivian Andes. Henry Foss remains at the facility and films a video diary to his unborn child as he works on building his FOSSSS jacket.
The facility was invaded by Caleb and other Hollow Earth insurgents in early 2012. All in-house residents were evacuated offscreen at the very end of the episode prior to the self-destruction of the Old City Sanctuary.
There are several featured areas in and around the Sanctuary property. The mass majority are located within one of two prominent sections of the facility. Please explore the following two listed article pages for more details about what areas each section contains.
"Navigational markers"
Depending on which elevator or set of stairs characters use, it helps to orient the viewer on where the person is around the property.
Sanctuary by numbers: There are seven floors in the Old City Sanctuary.[13]
Continuity Error: In part of the general grounds of the Sanctuary, in Episode 1x08 - "Edward", Episode 2x03 - "Eulogy" and Episode 2x06 - "Fragments" a garden with tall hedges and trees is featured. However, from aerial shots of the Old City Sanctuary, this location does not exist on or anywhere near the property. Same goes for the external perimeter fence Henry Foss was working next to in Episode 1x03 - "Fata Morgana".
Trivia: The side entrance Ashley Magnus and Henry Foss use in Episode 1x02 - "Sanctuary for All, Part II" when they arrive in the van with an unconscious John Druitt is the exact same building loading area that was previously seen as part of the hospital as the emergency room entrance.
Leadership: The primary head of house for the Old City Sanctuary is Helen Magnus. Will Zimmerman serves as a temporary head of house during the times that Helen Magnus is ill or away.
Speculation: Based on how fast and secretly all of the abnormals in the Old City Sanctuary had been evacuated in Episode 4x13 - "Sanctuary for None, Part II", especially out of the awareness of Nikola Tesla who himself had been present in the main lab before leaving to assist Henry Foss to return not long later finding ALL of the enclosures empty, it is highly likely that Ashley Magnus (who is indeed alive and living at the Underground Sanctuary) had teleported them out. Being that Ashley grew up at this location and had intimate knowledge of its infrastructure and inhabitants as of early 2009, it is very plausible.
Note: Helen Magnus's fate at the moment of explosion is carefully not seen by viewers, potentially indicating that Ashley Magnus had returned one final time to grab her mother within the remaining seconds before the self-destruct occurred.
Gallery[]
Wallpaper: 1920x1200
Old City Sanctuary
Old City Sanctuary
A sitting room in the Old City Sanctuary (Web series)