Inside the Mysterious Underground City That's 5,000 Years Old

— -- The discovery of a previously unknown ancient city came as a late Christmas present for archaeologists in Turkey when they made a major find on Dec. 28.

A series of ruins that contain buildings, hidden churches and water channels was found in the Turkish town of Nevsehir, which is known for 'fairy chimney' rock formations.

The city was discovered beneath an old portion of Nevsihir where the state housing development agency was hoping to build a new housing project.

"We stopped the construction we were planning to do on these areas when an underground city was discovered," Mehmet Ergün Turan, the head of the state housing development agency told Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, which reported that the new discovery is the largest that they have found in the region to date.

The city is believed to date back 5,000 years, though little else is known as researchers are likely going to launch into their analysis in the coming months.