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Selon cette source, il y aurait des catacombes ici.

Selon cette source, il y aurait des catacombes ici.
According to this source, there are reportedly catacombs here.
From Lesson 245:The journalistic conditional·French

Questions & Answers about Selon cette source, il y aurait des catacombes ici.

Why is the conditional il y aurait used here instead of the present tense il y a?
This is the journalistic conditional (le conditionnel de l'information non confirmée). It is used to report something that hasn't been verified as fact yet. In English, we often express this by adding words like 'reportedly,' 'allegedly,' or 'supposedly.' If you used il y a, you would be stating the existence of the catacombs as an absolute fact.
How exactly is il y aurait formed from il y a?
The expression il y a (there is/there are) revolves around the verb avoir. To make it conditional, you keep the il y and change the verb to the conditional form of avoir for il (he/it), which is aurait. So, il y a becomes il y aurait (there would be / there are reportedly).
Could I use d'après instead of selon?
Yes! Both selon and d'après mean 'according to' and they are usually interchangeable. You could easily say D'après cette source, il y aurait des catacombes ici with no change in meaning at all.
Do I need to change des to de because of the conditional tense?
No, you generally only change un, une, or des to de or d' in negative sentences (for example: il n'y aurait pas de catacombes). The conditional tense alone doesn't trigger this rule, so des catacombes stays exactly as it is.

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