Археологийн малтлагаар Хагиа Софиа сүмийн дор 5.6 миль үргэлжлэх нууцлаг хонгилын систем илэрч, эрдэмтэд түүхэн байгууламжийн далд бүтцийг дахин шинээр нээлээ.
Хагиа Софиа сүмийн атриум хэсэгт явуулсан сэргээн засварлалтын ажлын үеэр урьд өмнө баримтжуулагдаагүй өргөн уудам хонгилын сүлжээ илэрсэн байна. Уг ажлыг удирдан явуулсан профессор Хасан Фырат Дикерийн мэдээлснээр, сэргээн засварлах явцад 300 тонн шороо, нуранги зайлуулсны үр дүнд нарийн төвөгтэй, олон давхаргат газар доорх байгууламжууд ил гарчээ. Энэхүү нээлт нь уг сүмийн доорх дэд бүтцийн цар хүрээ өмнө нь таамаглаж байснаас хавьгүй том болохыг харуулж байна.
Судалгааны явцад илэрсэн хонгилуудын дийлэнх нь ус дамжуулах зориулалттай байсан нь тухайн үед уг байгууламжийг тойрсон суурин газрын усны хэрэглээ өндөр байсныг илтгэж байна. Эдгээр хонгил нь Византийн эрин үеийн эхэн үед хамаарах бөгөөд үе үеийн хэрэгцээ шаардлагад нийцүүлэн удаа дараа өөрчлөн засварлаж байжээ. Нэгэн танхимд долоон тусдаа ус дамжуулах суваг зэрэгцэн оршиж байгаа нь энэхүү байгууламжийн түүхэн хөгжлийн нарийн төвөгтэй байдлыг илэрхийлж байна.
Олон тооны хонгилын дундаас “Бүтэц 6” хэмээн нэрлэсэн хэсэг нь эрдэмтдийн анхаарлыг хамгийн их татаж байна. Уг хонгил нь бусад шугаман хэлбэртэй хонгилуудаас ялгаатай, тогтворгүй, олон салаатай, нуман хаалга бүхий нарийн бүтэцтэй ажээ. Дотор нь ус дамжуулах хоолой байхгүй, харин хананд нь найман тэгш өнцөгт хэлбэрийн хонхорхой байрласан нь энэ хэсгийг ус дамжуулахаас өөр зориулалтаар ашиглаж байсан байж болзошгүй гэсэн таамаглалыг төрүүлж байна.
Хонгилын сүлжээний ихэнх хэсэг нь нуранги болон шавраар дүүрсэн хэвээр байгаа тул археологичид цэвэрлэгээний ажил үргэлжлэхийн хэрээр шинэ бүтэц илрэх боломжтой гэж үзэж байна. Уг судалгаа нь Хагиа Софиагийн газар доорх дэд бүтцийн талаарх шинэ мэдээллийг нэмж байгаа ч цаашид хийгдэх малтлагын үр дүнд илүү ихийг тодруулах шаардлагатай байгаа юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Restoration crews working under the Hagia Sophia‘s atrium have exposed another 5.6 miles of tunnels, dwarfing earlier finds of a few hundred feet. Most were built to carry water, but one branching passage has no obvious purpose, and archaeologists say more is still waiting to be found.
Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, built between 532 and 537 C.E. under Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, has long drawn archaeologists. It has had several lives: a Christian cathedral, a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453, a museum in 1935, and a mosque again in 2020.
The latest discoveries came almost by accident. Restoration efforts eventually took crews below ground, and what they found has pushed the known extent of the underground system well beyond anything previously documented.
A Cleaning Job That Turned Into A Discovery
The work began as a cleaning operation, and it was not easy. According to Türkiye Today, the restoration effort ultimately led crews underground. They needed people with mining expertise because of the conditions. Professor Hasan Fırat Diker, who documented the work, described spaces that were in some cases extremely narrow, dark and poorly ventilated.
Even so, the team hauled out 300 tons of soil and rubble. Along the way, structures nobody knew about came to light. Diker wrote that:
“As the cleaning process advanced, previously unknown subterranean structures were revealed. This process has yielded remarkably valuable data concerning the multilayered and complex underground system beneath the atrium of Hagia Sophia.”
This isn’t the first announcement of the year, either. Earlier in 2026, the ministry reported seven connected tunnels spanning just a few hundred yards, and the team, led by Diker, pledged to keep searching. They did, and the results far outstripped what the researchers had imagined.
Water, And Lots Of It
Most of what Diker catalogued was built to carry water. One chamber held seven separate conduits, which he says reflects a site repeatedly reworked to serve its users’ changing needs. Conduits ran in multiple directions and date to different periods.
Diker argued this demonstrates both the ceremonial significance of the atrium’s superstructure and the critical water-distribution role of its infrastructure. The sheer number of tunnels, the article notes, points to a dense settlement overhead that consumed water on a substantial scale.
According to the study, the tunnels date to the earlier years of the Byzantine era, when wooden structures stood on the site before succumbing to fire.
Structure 6, The One Nobody Can Explain
Of the six main structures uncovered, Diker singled out Structure 6 as the most significant and the most “enigmatic.” Earlier surveys had documented part of it, but the cleaning revealed a connection to Structure 1. An archway near the junction of Structures 1 and 3 marks where it begins.
Its layout is unlike the others. Where the rest follow linear, clearly defined plans, Structure 6 is complex and irregular, which Diker compared to an open-ended frame with multiple attached branches. Past the archway, a vaulted passage leads to a tunnel, more arches and a previously undocumented wall.
In one section, eight rectangular niches line the walls beneath vaulting of unusual craftsmanship. There are no terracotta pipes, a strong hint that this passage served some purpose other than carrying water. Diker also noted that:
“It is particularly notable that this tunnel appears to have been connected at both ends to a parallel tunnel, likely during a later construction phase, forming a route running in the northwest-southeast direction.”
Much of the network remains choked with mud and debris from old collapses, and the archaeologists expect additional passages to emerge as the clearing continues.
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