Konya's Mysterious Underground City: Extraordinary Space Discovered

The underground city located in Konya, which has been shrouded in mystery, is gradually expanding its area.

In the second year of the collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Sarayönü Municipality, the discovered area of the underground city, which also gives its name to the district, has expanded to up to 20,000 square meters.

In the district of Sarayönü in Konya, new discoveries in the underground city known as "Sarayini," which dates back to the Roman period, reveal that this ancient site consisted of structures providing high comfort and extensive facilities for its time.

The history of the place, which includes domestic residential spaces, interconnected galleries, room-like living areas, water wells, hearths, workshops, chimneys, places for lamps used for lighting, cellars, storage rooms, ventilation, and areas whose nature is still being researched, is dated back to the 8th century.

Hasan Uğuz, the Archaeologist and Excavation Director of Konya Museums Directorate, indicated that they might have discovered the largest underground city ever found in Turkey in terms of horizontal architecture. He said, "We didn't think it could spread over such a vast area. During surface surveys, the elderly residents mentioned that they had explored this place during their childhood and that it was a very large underground city. This year, we realized that half of what they had described turned out to be true. So, if the other half is also accurate, it's spreading over a very large area."

Uğuz stated that they have discovered an interesting space unlike any other in the area and continued as follows:

"During the excavations, we encountered a wall built using dry masonry technique, with some parts made of natural stones and others utilizing recycled architectural blocks. As we delved deeper into our investigation, we realized it was connected to the surface. We lifted the stones and found that some of them were altar-style tombstones from the Roman period, some were memorial inscriptions, some were column drums, and the column drums had been transformed into tombstone style in their own time, filling up a room with them. We also found a north-south oriented structure with a wooden roof resembling a cross, built in a pool-like manner. Our research into the purpose of this area is ongoing."