2nd underground city discovered in Iran

Tehran, Jan 30, IRNA - The second hand-dug underground shelter under Iran’s urban texture has been discovered in the course of archeological explorations in the north of Isfahan Province. The Public Relations Office of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) quoted Zahra Sarookhani, head of the archeology team as saying on Tuesday that the hand-dug shelter has been found under the historical texture of the city of Sefid Shahr in Aran and Bidgol. According to the archeologist, the main entrance to the hand-dug underground city is through a well with a depth of 2 meters which is located in the corner of a hand-dug room in the cellar of the historical house of Baqqal (the grocer). Referring to the beginning of archeological explorations in the underground city of Sefid Shahr since two days ago, she said: “No exact information has yet been obtained about its archaism and how it has been developed.” Sarookhani noted that inside the mentioned spaces have been filled up to the height of 120 cm and therefore exploration in them is very hard and time-consuming. “The underground Sefid Shahr city after Nooshabad is the second identified underground city in Iran (hand- dug shelter under the urban texture),” she said. The underground city of Nooshabad which is called the “Ouyi” underground city, is located in the central part of the city of Aran and Bidgol in the historical complex of Chaleh Si and dates back to 1500 years ago to the Sassanid era. 1378/IRNA