Underground City from 5,000 Years Ago Discovered in Turkey

An urban renewal project in Turkey yielded an unexpected archaeological bonanza: a 5,000-year-old, underground city.

1 minute read

January 1, 2015, 7:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Turkey Tunnel City

Katpatuka / Tatlarin (Nevşehir)

Erdinç Çelikkan reports on what could potentially be the year's largest architectural discovery, an underground city located in Turkey’s Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir.

"The city was discovered by means of Turkey’s Housing Development Administration’s (TOKİ) urban transformation project. Some 1,500 buildings were destructed located in and around the Nevşehir fortress, and the underground city was discovered when the earthmoving to construct new buildings had started," according to Çelikkan.

"Stating that they were going to move the urban transformation project to the outskirts of the city, Turan said they had paid 90 million Turkish Liras for the project already, but did not see this as a loss, as this discovery may be the world’s largest underground city."

The newly discovered city joins other such ancient cities found in the area, thought his one may end up being the largest of all the cities found so far.

Sunday, December 28, 2014 in Hurriyet Daily News

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