According to IRAN DAILY, a large number of Iranian and foreign travelers from Switzerland, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Turkey, China, the US, Peru and Canada travel to the region every year to visit its tourist attractions, said Ali Mashhadi Tafreshi, a resident of the city.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Iran Daily, he added that there are a number of old caves in the region, showing that the area has been used as a human settlement since the Middle Paleolithic Period.
Mashhadi Tafreshi, working as a tour guide in an ancient underground city located under the old section of Tafresh, continued that city was settled by people in the Median, Achaemenid (550-330 BCE), Parthian (247 BCE-224 CE) and Sassanid (224-651 CE) periods.
It was an important governmental center during the Seljuk Period (1037-1194) and a number of valuable monuments, dating back to the era, were found in the city.
He noted that the ancient underground city, the Paleolithic caves located in Kohin Village, Gabrian Castle in Kabouran Village, dating back to Sassanid Era, and the ancient Sheshnav Mosque, dating back to Seljuk Era, are among the important historical sites of Tafresh.
The ancient underground city of Tafresh dates back to about 1,000 years ago. The multistory hand-carved structure has been opened to the public since March 22, 2022.
According to local people and narratives passed from generation to generation, the complex, known as one of the largest hand-carved structures of the Middle East, consisted of several underground slums in the past time. Almost all ancient inhabitants of the city were aware of what was happening under their homes. However, the paths, built under some houses to access the structure, are not passable anymore.
The archeological excavations, which have so far been carried out in the area, show that the complex was used until the early Safavid Period (1501-1736).
The houses of local khans had private access to the amazing structure, extending with an area of 150 hectares. Several entrances, built for the ancient underground structure, were discovered in the old neighborhoods of the city.
Archeological digging, carried out in the structure, brought surprising results. They showed that during the construction project, a huge amount of debris and soil was moved out of the complex using very simple tools. It is estimated that about one million person-hours worked in the complex. However, the exact start and end time of the huge project is unknown.
Thanks to the efforts made by Tafresh Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization and the city’s municipality, the first phase of the excavation project was carried out in the past Iranian year that ended on March 21, 2020.
During the project, launched after finding one of its entrances, digging operations were carried out in its four corridors and several rooms.
During the second phase of the project, undertaken in Diavar neighborhood of the city in the year ended on March 21, 2021, more rooms and corridors were excavated. Studies were also conducted on the relationship between a qanat, transporting water to the area, and the underground city.
A number of tallow lamps, metal objects, pottery fragments and animal skeletal remains were unearthed during the excavations.
Carbon dating is presently used to determine the age of the artifacts discovered in the structure. The objects are expected to be showcased in Tafresh Museum at the end of the research process.
Despite the fact that more than 1,000 years have passed since its construction, the structure remains strong and stable.
The conglomerate architecture of the complex has made its walls and dome-shaped ceiling strong. In recent years, no landslide or subsidence was recorded in Tafresh.
A number of vertical air ducts, reaching the ground surface, were found in the excavated parts of the structure. There is a wind brace on the ground surface and a well, filled with water, at the end of each duct. Air flow enters the air duct through the wind brace, hits water and transports fresh air to all corridors of the structure.
Many questions are still unanswered about the use of the structure and it is likely that more floors would be found under the complex.
Archeologists hope to find new evidence during the next phases of excavations in the old structure.
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