“This new discovery will be added as a new pearl, a new diamond, a new gold,” the regional capital’s mayor in Turkey has gushed.
The discovery of the underground city began in 2013, when a housing project cut into some mysterious rooms and tunnels underneath a Byzantine-era hilltop castle. The project was stopped and the scientists were called in, who promptly followed the tunnels and discovered living areas, kitchens, wineries, chapels, staircases and linseed oil presses. These presses were vital – the underground city was kept alight with oil lamps.
According to the Washington Post, air shafts and water channels were also discovered among plenty of artifacts – grindstones, stone crosses and ceramics. These discoveries date the site from the Byzantine era all the way to the arrival of the Ottomans in Turkey.
But the discovery begs the question: Why did the Turks need to keep so well hidden 5,000 years ago?