The mansion inherited from my grandfather revealed a 2,000-year-old underground city beneath it.

13.07.2025 18:20

Mustafa Halıcıoğlu, who is cleaning his ancestral mansion in the Melikgazi district of Kayseri, has uncovered an underground city that is approximately 2,000 years old beneath his house. Halıcıoğlu stated, "The marks of the pickaxe and hand from 2,000 years ago are still preserved in the same way. We are trying to pass this on to the present and future generations. This history needs to be preserved."

In the Ağırnas neighborhood of the Melikgazi district of Kayseri, the Halıcıoğlu Mansion, which is adjacent to the house where Mimar Sinan was born, has been passed down from grandfather to grandson.

AN UNDERGROUND CITY WAS DISCOVERED BENEATH THE MANSION PASSED DOWN FROM GRANDFATHER

Mustafa Halıcıoğlu, who acquired the mansion and is responsible for its maintenance, discovered that there is an underground city beneath the house. Halıcıoğlu, who cleaned and maintained the underground city, stated that the finger and pickaxe marks on the walls were untouched and expressed their desire to pass on the emerging history to future generations.

"THE HANDPRINT FROM 2000 YEARS AGO STILL REMAINS"

"The place we are in was inherited from my father from his father, and to us from our father," said Mustafa Halıcıoğlu, adding: "These areas were abandoned over time, and those who lived here moved to the other side of the village. We hadn't touched my father's house for about 20 years; it had also been left empty. We came here to restore it for the sake of our ancestral home. The insides of these caves were filled with rubble, and we cleaned them. We brought these places to light, and a kind of history emerged. This made us happy. I want the world to see this place. Our village has a great value like Mimar Sinan. Mimar Sinan must have walked around here; there are traces of his footsteps because his house is 50 meters away. Therefore, this history needs to be preserved. Of course, we shouldn't expect everything from the state. If everyone in our village took care of the houses passed down from their grandfathers and fathers, and contributed to tourism, it would benefit future generations. You cannot find a pickaxe mark that was made later here. We only did cleaning here. The pickaxe mark and handprint from 2000 years ago still remain the same. We are trying to pass this on to the present and future generations," he said.

"SUCH A HISTORY SHOULD NOT BE LOST"

Halıcıoğlu, who stated that he is trying to uncover history as much as his means allow, but is also seeking support from the city's leaders to prevent history from being lost, said: "We knew that these areas were caves, but the conditions were very different back then; we couldn't enter. However, when we removed the rubble inside, history came to light. That's how we found the history. We sat down with our professors, talked, they came and examined it. Our state leaders came. Our governor, Gökmen Çiçek, contributed greatly and continues to do so. But it cannot be done with just our governor; we want our city leaders to pay more attention to this issue. Such a history should not be lost," he expressed.

"ALTHOUGH THEY MAY SEEM ORDINARY TO THE RESIDENTS HERE, THEY ARE QUITE ATTRACTIVE WORLDWIDE"

Prof. Dr. Osman Özsoy, the Kayseri Provincial Representative of the Foundation for the Protection and Promotion of Environmental and Cultural Values (ÇEKÜL), stated that there are many carved structures in the Koramaz Valley, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage Temporary List: "There is a community suitable for the society it is in, perhaps three, five, or ten carved religious structures side by side, even facing each other, under its own house, in the same village. We see carved religious structures in the Koramaz Valley. Therefore, it may be possible to roughly say that the dating point is around 2000 years. Additionally, there are some frescoes. It is possible to date these paintings because art historians can analyze the artistic understanding, techniques used, expressions or stories depicted, the source of the root dye of the material used, whether it was made by the same artist, and their signatures. In our region, the dating of these carved religious structures is approximately plus or minus one year from the 1000th year after Christ. For example, Prof. Katrin from the University of Paris is an expert in this area and visits the region from time to time. They can easily provide such dating. However, these may have changed functions over time; previous functions, etc. Studies on these will be conducted based on the stones, whether they have changed over time, or based on the organisms or traces here. If a fire was lit here, we hope that a more qualitative and precise dating will be made based on how long the source of the fire has been on the ceiling or the dating of the found ceramic piece," he said.

Prof. Dr. Özsoy stated that such structures are remarkable in Anatolia and the world: "We are in Ağırnas, a place known for its underground cities and stones. Especially in the old Ağırnas, in the area where Mimar Sinan's house is located, the height between the upper fields and the level of the Koramaz Valley contains underground cities that may have three to five times more layers. Ağırnas has a classic Cappadocia appearance. Due to its stone, it is easy to carve, thus it contains all kinds of life, with spaces for animals, kitchens, toilets, sleeping, and sitting all used in common. Now, when we see the sections here, we can actually feel that this way of life has been continuing for a very long time. Although these images may seem ordinary to the residents here, they are quite interesting both throughout Anatolia and worldwide. But for the people of Ağırnas, it is a part of life. Over time, houses have moved up, and people have found life below, spending their entire lives here, reflecting an ordinary culture. Moreover, one of the frequently asked questions is, 'How far back does this go?' In other words, as far back as the history of all Cappadocia goes, we are also going back that far. Over time, it has been used by other people who visited here. When you go up to the upper layer or to a place where you can see the sun, the lower parts are used as spaces for animals or storage," he expressed.

"IT IS POSSIBLE TO DATE IT TO 2000 YEARS"

Prof. Dr. Osman Özsoy also added that it is possible to date the underground city to 2000 years: "Here, especially in the old part of Ağırnas, we can explore the entire city from below. There are parts that have been closed for privacy and security reasons. When we remove these, we will see that the entire town, the city is interconnected layer by layer. It is possible to reach the mosque from here without seeing the sun or to go up to Hanönü Square or down to Koramaz Valley. We have such a feature. We encounter examples of vertical and horizontal underground cities in Cappadocia. More horizontal underground cities are found here. We see that carved religious structures are prominent, and that people have a community suitable for their family or society, with carved religious structures under their own houses, even side by side or facing each other in the same village.

He stated that "dates such as 2000 years can be mentioned."