A new underground city in Konya
A new underground city connected to each other by tunnels was discovered in Konya’s Sarayönü district, one kilometer north of the Roman era “Sarayini” underground city.
The underground city, which is within the scope of the work carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Sarayönü Municipality, includes places such as a cistern that can meet the water needs of approximately 20 thousand people, workshops of various sizes and a large winery.
The number of places identified in an area of 20 thousand square meters increases to 41
Konya Museums Directorate Archaeologist and Head of Excavations Hasan Uğuz said that they were able to date the history of the underground city to the 8th century with the findings they obtained. Uğuz stated that in the underground city there are domestic spaces, connected galleries, room-like living spaces, water wells, cisterns, wineries, furnaces, workshops, chimneys, oil lamp places for lighting, cellars, warehouses, ventilation and spaces whose characteristics have not yet been investigated.
Uğuz stated that “We expanded the georadar study in the region with the support of Konya Metropolitan Municipality. We detected a new underground city one kilometre north of the existing underground city. We determined that there were tunnel systems connecting these two underground cities. This heralds that the underground city will spread over a much larger area. “We will continue our georadar studies in the new year.”
“THERE IS ENOUGH WATER TO SINK A SHIP”
Uğuz said “We discovered a large cistern while cleaning the ruined tunnels, and that the cistern consisted of a feeding well and three interconnected galleries. The width of the cistern is 63 square meters. During the summer months, water at a height of 1 meter 20 centimetres accumulates here. In other words, there are 63 cubic meters of water as reserves here. We calculate how many people can live in the underground city and for how long without going outside, by looking at how many people the 63 cubic meters of water reserve can suffice. With the wells feeding the cistern, there is a water source for almost 20 thousand people. In other words, there is enough water in the cistern for an army. When we had the water analysed, we determined that the source had high quality water for its period. The filtering of water from the soil and the storage method ensures this quality.”
He also stated that “There are locking mechanisms with round stones for security purposes in the tunnels leading to the Cistern. He stated that the source is protected against the risk of poisoning by enemies and to prevent plunder in times of siege or crisis. In the space connected to the outside, closed with stone blocks and wooden flooring, we found finds that shed light on the agricultural activities of the region in ancient times. When we intensified our excavation and cleaning efforts, we determined that the workshop we found was a winery. There is a grape crushing place made of marble stones. There is a grooved place where the grape must flows and jars where it is stored. We found grape seeds and sediment in the samples from the winery. We will have their analysis done in the new period. We hope to obtain an ancient seed from the grape seeds we found. If we come across a grape species that grew in these lands a thousand years ago, this will crown our work. “The discovery of both the cistern, the fortified areas and the winery reveals that this place has a wide area of use beyond our expectations.”
