Blurs

In 1994, a discovery in southeastern Turkey began to transform our understanding of the ancient world. On a barren hilltop near the city of Şanlıurfa, archaeologists uncovered enormous carved stone pillars arranged in circular structures. The site was far older than the great pyramids of Egypt, older than Stonehenge, and older than most known monumental architecture. The discovery was Göbekli Tepe. Dating back roughly 11,000–12,000 years, Göbekli Tepe challenged long-held assumptions about the origins of civilisation. For decades, many archaeologists believed that agriculture came first, followed by permanent settlements, religion, and monumental construction. Göbekli Tepe suggested a more complicated story: Could large-scale religious and social organisation have existed before farming? The site became one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the modern era. The Discovery of Göbekli Tepe The site is located in the Anatolia region of modern-day Turkey, near the northern ...

Beneath the surreal landscape of Cappadocia in central Turkey lies a hidden world that seems more at home in a fantasy novel than in reality.  While tourists marvel at the region's famous fairy chimneys, cave churches and hot-air balloons, an even more astonishing mystery lies underground: vast subterranean cities capable of sheltering entire communities. Carved deep into soft volcanic rock, these underground labyrinths contain homes, churches, wells, kitchens, stables, storage chambers and ventilation systems. Some descend more than 80 metres below the surface and may once have housed tens of thousands of people.  Even today, archaeologists continue to debate exactly how these remarkable complexes were developed and how they functioned during times of danger. A Hidden World Beneath the Earth Cappadocia contains dozens of known underground cities and hundreds of smaller cave complexes carved into the region's unique volcanic tuff.  The soft rock is relatively easy to exca...