During the ongoing excavations under the ruins of Saint Polyeuktos Church in Istanbul's Saraçhane neighborhood, which was destroyed during the Latin invasion, a 1,500-year-old underground passage has been discovered.
On June 8 2022, the teams from Istanbul Municipality's Cultural Heritage Department began digging in the vicinity of the church.
The excavation teams discovered a subterranean passageway during ongoing construction that is 1,500 years old. The building stones of the hallway were formed from marble and decorated with reliefs.
According to Mahir Polat, deputy secretary general of the municipality, the building is a model for staying strong and undamaged despite the tremors that Istanbul experienced throughout the years.
What is one of the most significant elements of this 1,500-year-old passage's discovery? In these 1,500 years, Istanbul, which is currently at risk for earthquakes, has experienced dozens of shocks. This building has been able to withstand all of these earthquakes. Türkiye should understand this and discover the secret, according to Polat.
Polat noted that scientific consultants and civil engineers with expertise in earthquakes had also helped with the municipality's excavation projects and that the experts will also release a report outlining the earthquakes the region had previously experienced.
According to Polat, the location of the church from 524 is crucial for urban archaeology since ongoing excavations may uncover previously undiscovered historical information about the city.
"We just finished a project that will turn it from a run-down location where homeless people stay and where all types of criminality occur into a tourism place within 10 months," Polat added.
After the site is opened to visitors, archaeological excavations will still be taking place, giving locals in Istanbul the chance to learn more about archaeology, according to Polat.
We'll conduct simultaneous excavations while visitors are there. Also, we will be able to use that to demonstrate the significance of the historical structure, he added.
A statue that is believed to date back to the Roman era and is almost 1,900 years old was recently found in the same location by a team from the municipality.
In addition to the statue, the excavation workers in the region also discovered 681 bronze coins, stamped bricks, marble fragments, ceramics, oil lamps, glass, and metal objects.
