(Hurriyet Newspaper, 28 December 2014)
Who made 7 kilometers of tunnels, 5,000 years ago?
TOKI (Turkish public housing administration) began work
recently on urban renewal projects in Nevsehir, which is
known for its underground cities and fairy-like stone castles,
and in Nevsehir Fortress and surrounding areas. Firstly,
1,500 risky structures were demolished and then excavtion
work began to construct new homes.
However, during the work traces of another underground
city dating back 5,000 years were encountered. The Ministry
of Culture and Tourism and university archeology faculties
were notified and research began. Despite having spent 90
million TL ($45 million) already, TOKI halted its urban renewal
project.
According to archeologists, the underground city stretches for
7 kilometers, making it Nevsehir's biggest. TOKI Chairman
Mehmet Ergun Turan provided the following information about
the hidden city: "the area has been declared a 3rd degree SIT
(protected) site. The underground city was not previously known
about and it has 7 kilometers of tunnel roads. While we were
doing construction in the area the underground city was
encountered so we stopped our work."
"We want to do what's best for Nevsehir, that's why we're
working here. We'll move the urban renewal project to the
outskirts of the city. We spent 90 million TL here but we don't
consider it a loss. The discovered underground city may be
the biggest in the world."
Nevsehir Mayor Hasan Unver said this about the underground
city: "the known underground cities in Nevsehir's districtst are
hardly anything compared to this place. The urban renewal
project comprised 750,000 square feet and 450,000 of this is
where the underground city is. We started work on the project
in 2012 and so far 44 historical works have be placed under
protection."
Nevsehir province.
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