The secrets inside Turkiye's city-under-a-city

Imagine finding a city in your basement. Sounds a lot like science fiction, but it's science fact. 

Archaeologists in Turkiye discovered a 'city-under-a-city' in the town of Midyat four years ago. Now, as workers excavate the site, the underground landscape is starting to become clearer. Midyat is giving historians a unique perspective on ancient peoples and their approach to tough times. 

"They needed to protect themselves from climate conditions, enemies, predators or contagious diseases," says art historian, Mervan Yavuz.  "People sought refuge in these caves, and they later became an underground city." 

No one knows when the city took shape, but some estimates suggest people first found shelter there nearly 3,000 years ago. Excavation teams have already cleared 50 rooms, all connected by a tunnel that runs for 120 meters. But that's just a fraction of the total area, which spans 900,000 square meters. Yavuz says it may be the biggest underground structure on the planet. 

Midyat is in a region once called Mesopotamia. It's known as the cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations. It also changed hands over the centuries as different empires took control of it. 

"The Arabs were here," says historian, Ekrem Akman, "but before that, these lands were fiercely disputed by the Assyrians, the Persians, the Romans and then the Byzantines."

Experts say some groups may have seen Midyat as a refuge when their beliefs and traditions were pushed to the margins. 

"Christians from the Hatay region fled from the persecution of the Roman Empire," says Yavuz. "They built monasteries in the mountains to avoid their attacks." 

He thinks Jews and Christians may have used the 'underground city' as a place to practice their religions after they were banned. But there are plenty of layers to Midyat's history. "Pagans, Jews, Christians, Muslims - all these believers contributed to the underground city," says Yavuz. 

The 'city-under-a-city' served a purpose even after the threat of persecution or invasion disappeared. "People continued to use this space," says curator, Gani Tarkan. "Some rooms were used as catacombs, which are underground cemeteries. Other rooms served as storage space."

Midyat's municipality will continue the excavation until it can open the site to the public. Then, perhaps, the city will reveal all its secrets - secrets that have been just under the surface for thousands of years. 

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