ISIS invaded Manbij in 2014. During this time, Abdulwahab Sheko, head of the Exploration Committee at the Ruins Council in Manbij, was studying the area. In an interview with Fox News, Sheko noted that the site was lucky to have escaped the group's attention. He kept quiet about the ruins until 2016, when ISIS was driven out by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

During their two-year occupation of the area, ISIS forces failed to notice the tip of an old gate on an empty mound of land where they dumped garbage. But Sheko explained that the gate, which ran several feet into the ground down, leads straight to the old Christian ruins. (Image: Fox News Video screengrab/via Faithwire)

"I was so excited, I can't describe it. I was holding everything in my hands," Sheko said of the discovery.

Several crosses etched into columns and walls, and writings carved into stone indicate that the underground ruin was a special place where persecuted Christians under the Roman Empire congregated.

"This place is so special. Here is where I think the security guard would stand at the gate watching for any movement outside," Sheko explained as he led reporters through the "first location" of the site. "He could warn the others to exit through the other passage if they needed to flee." (Image: Fox News Video screengrab/via Faithwire)

American archaeologist John Wineland told Fox that the discovery of this "secret church" could be crucial to understanding the lives of Christians under Roman rule...

Click here to continue reading, and scroll down after clicking to watch the Fox News video tour of the archaeological dig.

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