A vast underground city, maybe the biggest in the nation, can be accessed through a basement entrance in southeast Turkey. Historians believe the city was founded in the ninth century, predating the birth of Jesus.
The discovery of the city-under-a-city occurred “almost by accident” in 2020 when a large network of caves was found during the excavation of home cellars in Midyat, close to the Syrian border.
More than fifty underground rooms have already been cleaned by workers, and a 120-meter tunnel dug out of the rock connects them together.
However, that only makes up a small portion of the site’s estimated 900,000 square meters, making it the biggest underground city in the southern Anatolia province of Turkiye.
The director of conservation at Midyat, Mervan Yavuz, who oversaw the excavation, remarked, “Maybe even in the world.”
“People sought sanctuary in these caves, which they developed into an actual city, to protect themselves from the climate, enemies, predators, and diseases,” Yavuz continued.
According to the art historian, King Ashurnasirpal II, who governed the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 883 to 859 BC, is credited with founding the city.
The empire spanned from the Gulf in the east to Egypt in the west at its height in the seventh century BC.
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