Archaeologists in central Turkey have revealed a unique subterranean banquet hall built directly over a natural spring. The structure, dating to the late Phrygian period, features stone benches carved into the bedrock and a central channel that allowed the spring water to flow through the dining area during ritual meals.
Evidence of specialized drinking vessels and botanical remains of local wildflowers suggests the hall was used for a spring-opening festival. These rites likely celebrated the return of the water and the fertility of the land, reflecting the deep connection between the Phrygian people and the subterranean hydrology of the Cappadocian landscape.