Question

A man renovating his home in Turkey discovered a massive, ancient, underground city.

Answer 1

This is true.

An unidentified local man in Cappadocia, Turkey discovered an ancient, underground city in 1963.

While renovating his home, he discovered his chickens were disappearing into a gap in one of the walls. According to the New York Post, "In an effort to recapture his escaping poultry, the unidentified man knocked down the wall in the 1960s to reveal a dark tunnel leading to the ancient city of Elengubu, known today as Derinkuyu."

BBC stated the city, which is located 85m below the Earth's surface, is the largest excavated underground city in the world, with 18 levels of tunnels and the capacity to hold up to 20,000 inhabitants. (Eighty-five meters converts to about 279 ft.)

The exact date of the city's construction is "contested," but it is believed to have originated around the 8th century B.C.

The underground city is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985 and can be toured.

According to Snopes.com, "Due to ongoing excavation efforts, the details surrounding the scope of Derinkuyu's discovery have not yet been fully revealed."

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/man-unearths-underground-city-turkey/

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/inside-turkey-underground-cities

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/?search=Derinkuyu&components=0&order=country

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220810-derinkuyu-turkeys-underground-city-of-20000-people

https://www.businessinsider.com/abandoned-underground-city-derinkuyu-turkey-photos

https://nypost.com/2023/06/15/ancient-turkish-city-discovered-after-man-knocked-down-basement-wall/

Comments

Although the original claim links to a reddit source, I appreciated you taking the time to look at numerous other reliable sources for the answer. It can be seen that you are knowledgeable about the claim and took the time to dissect the claim and give information on your findings. Linking 6 sources further proves the legitimacy of your fact checking, but it gives the readers the opportunity to read and make the conclusion on their own.

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This is a great fact check. You have done multiple layers of work to find the truth about this claim. I appreciate that you even incorporated the current status of the excavation to the discovery of Derinkuyu. I also appreciate that you have taken the step to prove that this city is in fact something that has already been talked about as I see it having more of a base to this claim.