━━ Nevşehir is characterized by its rock formations.
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Accidental discoveries tend to be the most interesting. And above all, the most surprising. One such unexpected find occurred in the Turkish city of Nevşehir. In order to build new buildings, they demolished dilapidated neighbourhoods and discovered that a secret underground city was hidden beneath them.
The city of Nevşehir is located in Turkey in an area called Cappadocia, which is known for its rock formations and valuable historical sites. It was here that an underground city was discovered in 2014 , which had been hidden under the feet of the locals for centuries. Although the area is known for its underground complexes, these discoveries always arouse great interest and fascination as they point to incredible architectural and engineering skills.
When the workers started to demolish the dilapidated houses, they had to stop after a while. The ground revealed cavities and corridors. Archaeologists were immediately called to the site and were thrilled by the discovery. They had accidentally discovered an underground city that would probably have otherwise escaped attention for years. They found it to be a very elaborate complex.
The city is quite different from other underground cities, according to the archaeologists. “We call it the ‘city of fairy chimneys’. There are nearly a thousand rooms that open horizontally upon entry to form a hillside settlement. Other underground cities normally dip down, but this place has a different concept,” said lead archaeologist Semih Istanbulluoğlu
━━ The underground city is probably 5000 years old.
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The city is believed to be about 5,000 yearsold. It is estimated to have held at least 20,000 people, but the number is likely to be much higher. It is also interesting to note that many apparently lived here permanently. According to the findings, it was inhabited from the Byzantine era until the Ottoman rule.
This is a truly unique complex. A network of corridors and rooms reveals many other internal structures such as chapels, oil presses, ventilation shafts, and it also has a 186 metre long water tunnel, which was a great technology in ancient times. These underground passages apparently go to a depth of 113 metres.
The Cappadocia area is an ideal place for the exhibition of rock and underground structures, as the ground is made up of soft volcanic rock. In ancient times, many rock formations were created to serve as shrines, chapels in Christian times or as shelters when Persian, Mongolian and other invaders came here.
In 2015, part of the tunnels were opened to visitors The spaces are quite wide, so it is easy to move around. However, excavations are still ongoing today and continue to uncover new interesting facts. It is not clear how big the city can get, but it is estimated that it could surpass the famous Turkish underground city of Derinkuyu in size.
