This Underground City in Türkiye Is One of the World’s Largest and Most Advanced
“The name Sarayini essentially means ‘the palace cave,’” says Davide Tanasi, archaeologist, professor of history, and associate department chair at the University of Florida. “It is what 19th-century travelers and locals have always called it, because the architecture is so spacious. We imagine underground refuges as desperate places, and Sarayini turns that on its head [with features like] wide corridors, wine production, and water for thousands. Even in hiding, these people insisted on living well.”
The winery is one of the greatest indicators of the lifestyle in Sarayini and is complete with a marble grape-crushing installation that was found with grape seeds still in place, and grooved channels designed to funnel the juice into storage cubicles. Archaeologists have also identified what appear to be stables among the excavated chambers, spaces large enough to have sheltered livestock alongside the human residents. Small chapels carved into the rock have likewise been noted. It’s details like these that also reveal how Sarayini was truly built to sustain daily life, not just shelter its inhabitants temporarily.
How was Sarayini built?
“It was not ‘built’ so much as carved,” explains Tanasi, “subtracted from the rock over generations, with picks, patience, and a very good understanding of the ground. Everything people needed came with them, such as wells, cisterns, ovens, kitchens, and workshops.” Like one of Türkiye’s most famous underground cities, Derinkuyu, Sarayini relies on a network of ventilation shafts to keep air circulating through even its deepest chambers.
This technique had been ongoing for years before Sarayini’s creation. Konya sits in the heart of Anatolia, a region with a long history of underground construction. The Hittites and Phrygians, ancient civilizations that once dominated much of central Anatolia, are credited with some of the earliest known rock-cut chambers in the region, and their engineering traditions are thought to have been the basis for many underground building techniques. By the time they were expanding and inhabiting Türkiye’s now most-famous sites during the Byzantine era, the practice of carving entire communities into tuff (soft volcanic rock) was already a well-established regional tradition.
“The engineering is remarkable,” adds Tanasi. “These were not people cowering in a hole; they were running an economy underground.”
How was Sarayini discovered?
“It was never really lost; this is a story about listening to people,” says Tanasi. “Village elders told the survey team they had explored the tunnels as children and described an enormous underground city. The archaeologists were skeptical, then realized at least half of it was true.”
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