Iranians Discover A 2000 Year Old Underground City Under An Actual City!

An Underground City Of A Different Kind

Discovering a 2000 year old underground city is always amazing. But what makes this discovery unique is that the ancient city is under the actual city of Samen, in the province of Hamedan. Samen is about 400km south-west of Tehran.

Excavations Triggered By Optical Fiber Installation Works

Excavations which continue right now, began in 2007 under the direction of the Iranian Organization of Cultural Heritage. There were always rumors from the older generations talking about secret underground houses. These rumors were intensified when the telecommunication technicians noticed some constructions underground during their work related to the new optical fiber installation in the city. The hard work of excavation of an area of approximately 3 acres around the suspected spot, finally led to the results that you see in the pictures. The city being placed in area of granite rock, made their work hard, but it is also the reason why the underground city has been kept almost unchanged since 20 centuries ago! The ancient city is just 6 meters (18 feet) below the modern one.

Parthians Era (247 BC–224 AD)

The objects and the remains discovered (around 100 people) are most likely dated from the era of Mithridates I, Parthian King of Persia (195-135 B.C.).