5,000-year-old city stretches 4.8 km underground in Türkiye

The underground city consists of many tunnels and rooms. Photo:Ancient Origins.

Workers discovered a 5,000-year-old underground city while investigating the cause of flooding in central Türkiye's Nevşehir province. The partially submerged city stretches over 3 miles (4.8 kilometers). Preliminary explorations have revealed the complex has three levels, with numerous tunnels, houses, and places of worship.

Earlier, residents of the town of Çalış, Avanos District, Nevşehir Province, complained about unexplained flooding. During an inspection, a group of workers opened a tunnel that had been sealed for decades for safety reasons. When they entered, they found an underground city. The rooms in the city were located directly below the flooded houses. In the area, they discovered a small human statue.

Nevşehir Province in the Nevşehir region. Photo:Ancient Origins.

According to Kazım Yılmaz, Mayor of Çalış, archaeologists will have to work to find out the origin and exact area of ​​the underground city. But those who have been there in the past say the underground city covers about 1,036 square kilometers.

Locals used the underground city's surface areas as a livestock shelter before the 20th century. About 25 years ago, a child fell into the tunnel, leading to the entrance to the city being sealed off to prevent a similar accident from happening again.

Nevşehir Province is home to many long-lost underground cities. Nevşehir is located in the Cappadocia region, which is made of soft volcanic rock, making it easy for ancient people to carve houses out of the rock to protect them from the wind and rain. Over time, these houses expanded into large cities.

The most famous underground city in the region is the Derinkuyu cave, discovered in the 1960s. Archaeological research indicates that the deepest underground city in Cappadocia could have housed 20,000 people.