Over the last four years of sweat and blood discovering new artifacts in the Zerzevan Castle, it is all made worthy as archeologists finally found a 1,700-year-old Roman-era underground temple. This temple is said to be under the care of Mithra religion.
The archeologists found out that this 1,700-year-old Roman-era underground temple once served military premises. Also, this castle has been described having a 55,200 square meter area surrounded by a wall stretching 12 to 15 meters high and 1,200 meters long, with a 21 meters high guard castle.
According to Ismail Sanh, the district governor of Cunar said in an interview with the Anadolu Agency reporter, that this kind of discovery like the 1,700-year-old Roman-era underground temple will add value to the tourism and economy of the region in the near future. He also added that ever since this castle was discovered, it has been visited by numerous tourists, especially during weekends.
Sanh emphasized that through the discovery of this 1,700-year-old Roman-era underground temple, it can be a good way to end terrorism in their region and in Turkey. As it will be a way for them to reach success in terms of economic growth and high level of employment rate.
On the other hand, assistant professor Aytac Coskun, head of the excavations believed that this 1,700-year-old Roman-era underground temple belongs to Mithra religion. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, this religion is said to be the powerful one before Christianity. Its followers mostly are roman soldiers who believed the power of both sun god and consensus.
Along with this 1,700-year-old Roman-era underground temple, archaeologists also discovered an underground church and underground shelter. While the vast space of the temple has a ruined homes, weapon storage facilities, rock tombs and water basin. This excavation started in 2014 with the help of Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Diyarbakir Museum, the Diyarbakir governoship, the Cinar district and the Dicle University.
