Man discovers underground structure while cleaning house in central Anatolia

KAYSERİ – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

A man in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri’s Melikgazi district has discovered an extensive underground structure while cleaning a house that he inherited from his family.

Mustafa Bozdemir, 50, spent 80,000 euros and removed more than 100 trucks of soil to bring the underground area to light. “We thought that it was a single-story house, but it was five stories,” he said.

The house in the Ağırnas neighborhood, where the famous Ottoman architect Sinan lived, was bequeathed Bozdemir, who is living in France, five years ago. He came to see the house at the time and discovered the underground city when cleaning the house. He informed the Kayseri Governor’s Office and the Culture and Tourism Directorate. Examinations showed that the house probably dated back to the Roman era. With necessary permissions, Bozdemir continued excavations to completely unearth the underground city.

“When restoring the house, I decided to clean the lower floors. As we cleaned it, we reached four more floors under the house. It was a single-floor house but it was five-stories. Nearly 80 percent of the excavations have been completed. The soil was removed manually and 10 people worked for the cleaning of an area of 2,500 sqaure meters. We also found some remains during the cleaning works such as human bones. They were examined by a team from Erciyes University,” he said, adding that he would allow tourists to visit the underground city.