As the builders began making space beneath the property for new storage areas, they discovered, just a few metres below the ground, the entrance to a rock-cut tunnel. Four storeys of underground dwellings, thought to date to the Roman period, covering an area about 2,500 sq.m, have so far been cleared by the workers. 

Estimates suggest that about 80% of the tunnels have now been unearthed, at a cost of around €80,000. Among the finds have been bones, which since analysed by staff from Erciyes University in Kayseri. Once work is complete, Bozdemir plans to open the site to tourists.

Central Anatolia is famous for its rock-cut dwellings, which are typically multilevel and could house thousands of people. Although it is unclear when some of these underground cities were first dug and occupied, some were created by local Christians in the eighth-century, and included kitchens, stables, wine presses, chapels and tombs.