{"id":182375,"date":"2025-10-01T11:09:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T11:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/182375\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T11:09:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T11:09:07","slug":"structure-thought-to-be-first-known-mental-health-hospital-unearthed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/182375\/","title":{"rendered":"Structure Thought to Be First-Known Mental Health Hospital Unearthed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archaeologists have revealed a discovery beneath Turkey\u2019s Cappadocia mountains which they believe to be the world\u2019s first mental health hospital, reported Turkey Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Aya Maryeros Underground Monastery, located in Derinkuyu, dates back to the 4th century A.D. and was originally discovered in 1990, though experts have only recently determined its use as both a religious hub and a groundbreaking psychiatric treatment center during the Byzantine era. The discovery was made beneath a building that had long ago deteriorated, and now the city\u2019s Governor\u2019s Office has launched a plan to make the site a museum. Within the complex, archaeologists found living quarters, storage rooms, and galleries carved from rock, all of which were connected via tunnels. These features have been found in all of Cappadocia\u2019s underground cities.<\/p>\n

\"<p>Nevit<\/p>\n

Nevit Dilmen&sol;CC BY-SA 3&period;0<\/p>\n

Taner Ince, Derenkuyu\u2019s mayor, called the site “the world’s oldest and first mental hospital,” though the outlet stressed that there are further archaeological investigations which must take place before this can be confirmed. However, Eray Karaketir, a historian who has spent extensive time studying Cappadocia\u2019s underground cities, contended that the site has been historically celebrated for catering to mentally ill individuals during a time when there was no established care for such afflictions.<\/p>\n

The structure incurred significant damage during centuries of looting, with many of its wooden doors completely destroyed and supporting columns dangerously compromised. Prior to reopening as a museum, experts will stabilize the structure and add modern lighting. They will also reopen some of the blocked tunnels to see if the structure connects to the previously discovered Derinkuyu Underground City network of tunnels. Officials say the restoration effort to turn the site into a museum will not be a short process, but ultimately it will provide Cappadocia\u2019s already thriving tourist industry with another impressive attraction.<\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Men’s Journal<\/a> on Sep 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Archaeologists have revealed a discovery beneath Turkey\u2019s Cappadocia mountains which they believe to be the world\u2019s first mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[64,63,116887,116889,137,514,116888,515,116890],"class_list":{"0":"post-182375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-aya-maryeros-underground-monastery","11":"tag-derinkuyu-underground-city","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-mental-health-hospital","15":"tag-mentalhealth","16":"tag-underground-cities"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}