In the Turkish region of Cappadocia there is a city called Derinkuyu; near Derinkuyu there is a vast underground city, built in ancient times and preserved to this day. It still remains a mystery who built this city and for what purpose?
Cappadocia is known throughout the world for its labyrinth of underground cities. On the surface it looks no less impressive. Its bizarre landscape is covered in ancient volcanic stone pillars, which are known as "fairy chimneys". Over the centuries, one civilization has replaced another here; Individual cultures within these natural formations carved or decorated their surfaces into unique monuments.
“Despite the fact that this area has been widely used and modified by man over the centuries, the landscape has retained the beauty of the natural relief and looks very harmonious,” says the UNESCO page dedicated to the Goreme National Park and the rocky landscapes of Cappadocia.
The city of Derinkuyu (translated from Turkish as “Deep Well”) is far from the only underground city in Cappadocia. There are about 50 such cities in total. Some cities may not be open yet. But the most impressive is the underground city of Derinkuyu. It was discovered by chance in 1963, when a local family was renovating their house and discovered a room and passage behind the wall of their house that led to an underground labyrinth.
Some of the underground cities have already been fully explored, some have begun to be explored, the next ones are waiting for their turn. Derinkuyu is the best known and most explored of this group of underground cities of antiquity. The city covers an area of about 4 square meters. km, going underground to a depth of about 55 m. Researchers believe that the city may have 20 floors, or so, but so far they have only been able to explore 8 of them. Also, researchers and historians suggest that up to 50 thousand inhabitants could live in Derinkuyu at the same time! According to historians, the foundation of the underground city was begun by the Hittites around 2,000 BC
For what purpose they began this underground construction still remains a mystery. In the underground city, everything necessary for life support was thought out to perfection. Residents have installed 52 ventilation shafts; even at the lower levels it is easy to breathe. The water, through the same mines, drained to a depth of 85 m, reached groundwater and served as wells, at the same time cooling the temperature, which remained at + 13 - + 15 C, even in the hottest summer months. Halls, tunnels, rooms, all areas of the city were well lit.
On the upper first and second floors of the city there were churches, places for prayer and baptism, missionary schools, barns, storerooms, kitchens, dining rooms and living quarters with sleeping rooms, stables, cattle pens and wine cellars. On the third and fourth floors there are armories, security rooms, churches and temples, workshops, and various production facilities. On the eighth floor is the "Conference Room", a general gathering place for selected representatives of families and communities. They gathered here to resolve vital issues and make global decisions.
Historians have differing opinions about: - whether people lived here permanently or periodically. Some scientists believe that the inhabitants of Derinkuyu came to the surface only for agricultural work. Others believe that they lived on the surface, in small villages nearby, and hid underground only in times of danger. In any case, Derinkuyu has many underground secret passages (600 or more), which had access to the surface in various secret hidden and strictly classified places.
The inhabitants of Derinkuyu took utmost care to protect their city from infiltration and capture. In case of danger of attack, all passages were either camouflaged or filled with huge boulders, which could only be moved from the inside. It’s incredible to imagine, but even if the invaders were somehow able to capture the first floors, the security and defense system was designed in such a way that all entrances and exits to the lower floors were tightly blocked.
Moreover, not knowing the city, the invaders could easily get lost in the endless winding labyrinths, many of which deliberately ended in traps or dead ends. And the local residents, without engaging in clashes, could either calmly wait out the cataclysm on the lower floors, or, if they wished, get to the surface in other places through the tunnels of the lower floors. Some underground tunnels had an incredible length and reached ten kilometers!!! As, for example, in the same underground city of Kaymakli.
The underground city was accidentally discovered in 1963. Local farmers and peasants, not understanding the true historical value of what was found, used these well-ventilated rooms for warehouses and storage areas for vegetables. This happened until scientists and researchers took over the city. After some time, it began to be used for tourism purposes.
Only a small part is accessible for inspection - about 10% of the city. Numerous rooms, halls, ventilation shafts and wells have been preserved in the underground city of Derinkuyu. Between the levels of the city, small holes are cut into the floor for communication between adjacent floors. The rooms and halls of the underground city, according to published sources and explanatory tablets, were used as living quarters, kitchens, dining rooms, wineries, warehouses, barns, cattle stalls, churches, chapels and even schools.
In the underground city of Derinkuyu, everything necessary for life support was thought out to perfection. The city is saturated with air by 52 ventilation shafts, so even at the lower levels it is easy to breathe. Water was obtained from the same mines, since, going to a depth of 85 m, they reached groundwater, serving as wells. To prevent poisoning during enemy invasions, the outlets of some wells were closed. In addition to these carefully guarded wells with water, there were also special ventilation shafts, skillfully disguised in the rocks.
In case of danger, the passages to the dungeons were filled with huge boulders, which could be moved from the inside by 2 people. Even if the invaders were able to get to the first floors of the city, his plan was thought out in such a way that the passages to the underground galleries were tightly blocked from the inside by huge stone wheel-doors. And even if the enemies were able to overcome them, then, without knowing the secret passages and the layout of the labyrinths, it would be very difficult for them to get back to the surface. There is a point of view that underground passages were specially built in such a way as to confuse uninvited guests.
Modern science has not yet fully discovered all the secrets of the creation of this miracle of architecture, and one often has to guess about the methods used by ancient architects over centuries or millennia. The upper - more ancient floors - were roughly carved using primitive techniques, the lower ones - more advanced in terms of finishing.
What do historical chronicles say about the time of construction of underground structures in Cappadocia?
The oldest known written source about underground cities dates back to the end of the 4th century BC - this is the “Anabasis” of the ancient Greek writer and historian Xenophon (c. 427-c. 355 BC). This book tells about the sleeping arrangements of the Hellenes in the underground cities. In particular, it states:
“In populated areas, houses are built underground. The entrance to the houses was narrow, like the throat of a well. However, the interior was quite spacious. Animals were also kept in carved-out underground shelters, and special roads were built for them. The houses are invisible if you don’t know the entrance, but people entered these shelters using the stairs. Sheep, kids, lambs, cows, and birds were kept inside. Local residents made beer from barley in clay vessels... and residents made wine in wells...".
"We discovered Anabasis by accident and were surprised by its size. The tunnels leading down are such that you could drag an elephant through them. Many large and small staircases. Huge wells. Underground squares for public dancing. These cities are made so that no one notices them from surface. People were the enemies of their inhabitants."
Another ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo (c. 64 BC - c. 24 AD) reported: “This country, from Lycaonia to Kaeserea including Megegob, despite the lack of irrigation of the area, contains the deepest wells."
Professor of archeology from Nevsehir Suleyman Komoglu explained: “Officially, the underground cities of Cappadocia are considered the refuge of the first Christians. Christians hid underground since the time of Emperor Nero, when the Romans began to persecute them. However, they found the caves already empty - having accidentally discovered the labyrinths. According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture, " underworld"existed back in the 6th century BC, during the reign of King Midas of Phrygia - the same one who, according to legend, turned things into gold. The inhabitants of the dungeons not only built developed cities, spiraling down to the center of the earth, but also They connected them to each other with tunnels. Each tunnel was so wide that a horse-drawn cart could pass through it."
According to archeology specialist from Los Angeles Raul Saldivar, who lives and works in Nevsehir: “Both Christians and Phrygians have already found these rooms empty. In 2008, radiocarbon dating was carried out. It showed that the megacities were carved out of the rocks approximately ... 5 thousand years ago. Individual cells were used as banks - tons of gold were stored there. Excavations brought to the surface hundreds of bones of domestic animals, but... not a single skeleton of a local resident."
These statements by ancient Greek authors and modern scientists confirm the previously stated assumption that the underground cities of Cappadocia existed in the 1st millennium BC. (VI-IV centuries BC). Taking into account the finds of obsidian tools, Hittite writings, objects of the Hittite and pre-Hittite eras and the results of radiocarbon analysis, the time of their construction can be attributed to both the II-III and (according to the results of a study of the Neolithic of Central Turkey) to the VII-VIII millennia BC ., and even to earlier, Paleolithic times. But as far as earlier ones are concerned, neither historical nor archaeological data allow us to judge this.
“Who were the builders of these mysterious underground structures?” After all, according to research by British archaeologists who worked in 2002-2005. in Nevsehir, in the underground cities of Cappadocia, “rather specific” people could live. According to scientists, their height did not exceed one and a half meters, which made it possible to squeeze into narrow passages between underground halls and rooms. The rooms in which they lived were also small - it’s hard to believe that people of normal height could live in cramped spaces for decades.
And the fact that “rather specific people” lived underground for a long time is proven by the branched structure of underground cities, going deep down and interconnected by numerous tunnels. With depth, the number of rooms, food warehouses, wine cellars, meeting rooms and ceremonial meetings only increases. We ourselves have witnessed this more than once. Dungeons can by no means be called temporary shelters in which people lived for several weeks or months (although they were periodically used as such in later times) - in them, as the director of the department of foreign interviews and investigations of AiF quite rightly noted, they settled thoroughly, entire underground streets: they had fun on holidays, got married, gave birth to children.
Raul Saldivar wrote:
“No one can clearly explain why such huge cities were built underground and why their population preferred to live in the dark, not knowing sunlight? Who were they hiding from and why? It turns out that another, separate world existed underground then. And only in Turkey? Perhaps there were such cities all over the world...” “So think about it after that,” continued Raul Saldivar. - Or maybe medieval legends about gnomes - not a fairy tale at all, but reality?
In the works of other researchers, the idea sometimes also creeps in about a special underground race of dwarfs (and here) - residents of underground cities. As was written at the beginning of the work, as a result of researching the underground structures of Mareshi, Bet Gavrin, Hurvat Midras, Luzit and others in Israel, I also came to the conclusion that they were built by the disappeared dwarf people, reminiscent of fairy-tale gnomes. Moreover, this was a very long time ago - hundreds of thousands or several million years ago.
Amazing Cappadocia is famous not only for its fabulous landscapes, flights balloons, but also the largest and most ancient cave cities. Some underground settlements are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The cave city of Derinkuyu (translated from Turkish as a huge well) was discovered by accident in 1963, when a wall was pulled back during the renovation of a Cappadocian house. But at first, local residents did not understand the importance of the discovery and used the premises as barns and warehouses.
underground city
The scale of the underground city is amazing; its labyrinths will take you 12 floors down, to a depth of 85 meters. The total area of the caves occupies about 2.5 sq. km. But only 8 levels are open to the public, and as archaeologists say, only 10-15% have been discovered today.
Presumably Derinkuyu was hollowed out in the 3rd -1st century BC.
Cave city of Derinkuyu
Fabulous Cappadocia was located at the intersection of trade routes, thanks to which they lived quite prosperously. But because of this, raids by nomads occurred very often. In the 5th century AD, Christians settled here to escape persecutors from Muslim countries.
Local residents came up with an original way: they hollowed out huge underground cities. Fortunately, the local rock type is quite soft (volcanic tuff), and contributed to the development of a large cave settlement. Although the passages and corridors were narrow, the living rooms, halls, and kitchens were spacious.
Meal room
There was everything for a comfortable stay for several months: cattle stalls, chapels, oil and wine complexes, wells, churches, missionary schools, workshops, armories, wine cellars, ventilation systems and even cemeteries. According to some estimates, up to 20,000 people could be in one city at the same time.
Winery in the underground
The room where the wine was made
People could hide for several months in such cities, only sometimes rising to the surface when it was necessary to cultivate the fields or when the raids were over.
The city is completely invisible from the ground, but more than 600 secret entrances lead to Derinkuyu. The city's creators had a truly unique engineering mind. Without the proper equipment, they were able to build 12 levels and install an excellent ventilation system that still allows air to flow to the lowest floors. The water in the wells came from groundwater.
Room in the underground city
Staircase to lower levels
The city was closed with the help of a round stone boulder, which could only be opened from the inside using a lever, but even one person could handle it. Each floor had a similar door, and when danger came, residents went down to the lower floors, from where they could not be smoked out. And even if uninvited guests found themselves in these labyrinths, not knowing the exits, they quickly became entangled in them.
City retractable door
Boulder closing the entrance to the city
Lighting in the city was provided by lamps, which also served to heat the premises. The tuff walls hold the temperature well and the constant temperature in the cave settlement is usually 12-15 degrees.
Several floors are currently open for self-guided tours. Don't worry, you won't get lost. All routes are marked with arrows and signs of different colors, so you can easily find the exit. But if you are afraid to go underground alone, you can safely book a tour with a guide, at the same time he will tell you everything about the different rooms, where there was a kitchen and where the school is.
Narrow passages of the lower floors
Transitions between floors
The deeper you go, the lower the passages become and are narrower and are not designed for tall people, so when walking along the corridors you will have to duck your head.
In the cave city of Derinkuyu, there was a lively life until the 8th century, after which it fell into oblivion.
Staircase to the upper level
Tunnel in a cave
There are about 40 different settlements or underground cities in Cappadocia, but Derinkuyu is the largest and most studied.
8 km from Derinkuyu, there is another famous cave city Kaymakli. Previously, there was a connection between them, but now, due to landslides, there is no direct connection, but you can easily get to it by bus.
You will need 2 hours to visit the caves on your own. If you wish, you can visit another, no less famous underground city of Kaymakli.
Underground labyrinths
How to get to Derinkuyu
An excursion to the underground city is included in the program of the Green or Blue Tour of Cappadocia. You will be picked up from your hotel in the morning and brought back in the evening. You can find out more about the routes around Cappadocia.
If you want to get to Derinkuyu or Kaymakli on your own, you need to take a minibus in Nevsehir to Derinkuyu, the last stop is next to the museum. The fare is 6 Turkish lira, travel time is about 40 minutes.
Nevsehir can be reached from the central bus station in the heart of Cappadocia, the town of Goreme, in just 3 Turkish lira and 15 minutes of time. Buses run frequently, every 20-30 minutes.
If you are interested in how to get to Cappadocia or Nevsehir, you can read
Ticket price to the cave city
Ticket price is 25 Turkish lira. But if you have a Cappadocia Museum Pass, admission is free. We bought a Museum Pass at the Museum under open air in Goreme. If you plan to visit other cave attractions (Kaymakli, for example) or cave churches, such a ticket will save you a lot of money. The cost of the Museum pass for 72 hours is 45 Turkish lira.
Opening hours from 8:00 to 18:00
Where to stay in Derinkuyu
Of course, you can rent a hotel in the village of Derinkuyu itself, but it is quite small and apart from the cave town and the Greek monastery, there is not much to see here. The best towns are Goreme or Urgup. From here you can quickly get to the main attractions of Cappadocia on foot or by bus. I can confidently recommend the cave hotel where we stayed.
Enjoy your holiday in Cappadocia!
A Turkish family was renovating their house in the town of Derinkuyu when one of the walls suddenly collapsed, revealing an incredible sight. They stood on the threshold of an underground city, which, as it turned out later, was at least 3000 years old. More than 50 years have passed since then, but Derinkuyu is in no hurry to part with his secrets.
An unusual city discovered by chance in Turkey turned out to be one of three underground settlements carved out of soft volcanic rocks in the mountains. All together they form the famous Cappadocia complex, which is an object World Heritage UNESCO and annually attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world.
Derinkuyu is the grandest and most explored of this group of underground cities. It covers an area of about 6.5 square meters. km (although exact data has not been confirmed) and goes underground to a depth of more than 80 m. Archaeologists believe that the city may have about 20 floors, but so far only 8 of them have been excavated and explored. According to historians, the underground city was founded in the 2nd-1st millennium BC, and up to 20,000 inhabitants could live in it at the same time.
It seems incredible, but it was just as comfortable to live in the underground city as on the surface. Here everything was arranged for long-term living and farming. On the top two floors of the city there were churches, schools, barns, wine cellars, kitchens and living quarters with sleeping rooms. Livestock was also kept here. On the third and fourth floors there were armories, security rooms, workshops, and various production facilities. On the eighth, the very last of the excavated floors, there was a hall for general gathering and holding meetings. 
All entrances to the dungeon were closed from the inside with huge round stone barriers that could only be moved by two strong men. The structure of the city itself is more like a labyrinth, and some tunnels end in traps or lead to a dead end. Foreigners who got here most likely would not have found a way out to the surface - the scheme of underground passages and corridors is so complex. In addition, Derinkuyu was connected to the neighboring underground city by an 8-kilometer tunnel, which today is under rubble.
Hundreds of ventilation shafts were very skillfully arranged in the underground city, so even today it is easy to breathe on the lower floors of the city. These shafts also served to drain water, which flowed down to a depth of 85 meters and reached groundwater. Wells were dug to the level of these waters, serving as a source of drinking water for the inhabitants of the unusual city. The air temperature in Derinkuyu remained at + 13–15 degrees, without increasing even in the summer heat.
As researchers suggest, the city was used by different ethnic groups and peoples to live in different periods of history. For example, in the 4th century AD there were refuges here for Christians hiding from Arab conquerors. But no written sources were found that mentioned the construction of this mysterious dungeon. But there are many legends dedicated to the construction amazing city, among many peoples who inhabited these places in different historical periods. Therefore, as to who was the first to build this dungeon, the opinions of scientists are divided. Some researchers believe that these were the Hittites, others believe that the first inhabitants of Derinkuyu were the even more ancient Hattians, and still others are inclined to think that the Persians or Medes were involved in its formation. 
What made this happen? a large number of people to abandon life on the surface and settle underground? Scientists have not yet found a clear answer to this question. The most likely version is that the city was a temporary shelter. Its inhabitants lived on the surface, and in the event of the arrival of conquerors, they hid underground, taking with them livestock and valuable property. Although a number of researchers believe that people lived here permanently. The same is said in some folk legends, according to which in the underground city people experienced the terrible winter that came to these parts. In this regard, some experts associate the construction of the city with the time of the last ice age.
Despite the fact that Derinkuyu is the most studied among the other dungeons of the complex, it raises a lot of questions among historians, instead of helping them restore the picture of the past. But excavations of this amazing city continue, and perhaps on the lower floors it will be possible to discover new artifacts that can shed light on the secrets of this dungeon. 
In Cappadocia there are about 50 underground cities, and the city Derinkuyu (translated from Turkish as “Dark Well”) is one of them. Some of them have already been fully explored, some have begun to be explored, the next ones are waiting for their turn. Derinkuyu is the most famous and most explored of this group of underground cities of antiquity.
There is a very famous underground city of Saklikent. It is also called “The Invisible City.” But if it can be called a city purely symbolically, then Derinkuyu is a real underground city. A city in the full sense of the word. Its territory can even be called huge! The city covers an area of about 4 square meters. km, going underground to a depth of approximately 55 m.
Researchers believe that the city may have 20 floors or so, but so far they have only been able to explore 8 of them. Also, researchers and historians suggest that up to 50 thousand inhabitants could live in Derinkuyu at the same time!
According to historians, the foundation of the underground city was begun by the Hittites around 2,000 BC. For what purpose they began this underground construction still remains a mystery.
The first Christians remade, rebuilt and brought to perfection what the Hittites had started. For them, the underground city became a reliable refuge from the Romans, who were persecuting adherents of the Christian faith, and from the attacks of nomadic tribes and simply gangs of robbers and renegades, who saw a tasty morsel in Cappadocia, because a busy trade route passed through it.
In the underground city, everything necessary for life support was thought out to perfection. Residents have installed 52 ventilation shafts; even at the lower levels it is easy to breathe. Water flowed through the same mines to a depth of up to 85 m, reached groundwater and served as wells, at the same time cooling the temperature, which remained at + 13 - + 15 C even in the hottest summer months. The halls, tunnels, rooms, all areas of the city were well lit.
On the upper first and second floors of the city there were churches, places for prayer and baptism, missionary schools, barns, storerooms, kitchens, dining rooms and living quarters with sleeping rooms, stables, cattle pens and wine cellars. On the third and fourth floors there are armories and security rooms. , churches and temples, workshops, various production facilities. On the eighth floor is the “Conference Hall,” a general gathering place for selected representatives of families and communities. They gathered here to resolve vital issues and make global decisions.
Historians have differed in their opinions about whether people lived here permanently or periodically. Opinions differ, and scientists cannot come to one conclusion. Some scientists believe that the inhabitants of Derinkuyu came to the surface only for agricultural work. Others believe that they lived on the surface, in small villages nearby, and hid underground only during raids.
In any case, Derinkuyu has many underground secret passages (600 or more), which had access to the surface in various secret hidden and strictly classified places, including huts and buildings of above-ground villages and settlements.
The inhabitants of Derinkuyu took utmost care to protect their city from infiltration and capture. In case of danger of attack, all passages were either camouflaged or filled with huge boulders, which could only be moved from the inside. It’s incredible to imagine, but even if the invaders were somehow able to capture the first floors, the security and defense system was designed in such a way that all entrances and exits to the lower floors were tightly blocked.
Moreover, not knowing the city, the invaders could easily get lost in the endless winding labyrinths, many of which deliberately ended in traps or dead ends. And the local residents, without getting into conflicts, could either calmly wait out the cataclysm on the lower floors, or, if they wanted, get to the surface in other places through the tunnels of the lower floors. Some underground tunnels had an incredible length and reached ten kilometers!!! Like, for example, in the same underground city of Kaymakli.
How did ancient people, without machines and mechanisms, without knowledge of engineering, manage to create such a grandiose underground city in the rock?
The answer is simple - thanks to the very extraordinary properties of the tuff rocks from which these rocks are made - from the inside they are very easy to process, and under the influence of air they acquire enormous strength and hardness in a few months. For centuries, people, once accidentally noticing this natural ability of stone, used this feature of Cappadocia for their own protection, to create cave dwellings or underground cities.
The population of Derinkuyu led an active life until the 8th century. Then, for many centuries, the city was abandoned and forgotten, almost lost. The reasons why residents left the underground cities are unclear. Most likely, this happened due to the appearance of gunpowder and other explosive substances, due to which penetration into underground cities became easier, and protection became no longer so reliable.
The underground city was accidentally discovered in 1963. Local farmers and peasants, not understanding the true historical value of what was found, used these well-ventilated rooms for warehouses and storage areas for vegetables. This happened until scientists and researchers took over the city. After some time, it began to be used for tourism purposes.
Only a small part is accessible for inspection - about 10% of the city. But even this is quite enough for unforgettable vivid impressions! For safety reasons, all unnecessary and little-explored tunnels and passages are closed. There are signs along the route. It is simply impossible to get lost and lost. Naturally, the inconveniences remained. These are narrow, low corridors (the height of the vault is only 160-170 cm). You have to walk along the route on bent legs. The route is also complicated by the stairs leading from the lowest of the explored floors. A stone staircase of 204 steps, which is difficult to climb.
The entrance to the underground city of Derinkuyu is located in a one-story building in the village of the same name, located in the middle of a plateau at an altitude of 1355 m above sea level, 26 km south of Nevsehir.
Derinkuyu (“Dark Well”) is open for inspection daily from 8.00-17.00. The cost of visiting is 10 liras. You can get there by bus from Aksaray, running once a day. Or dolmus, running every 30 minutes, from Nevsehir.
Numerous rooms, halls, ventilation shafts and wells have been preserved in the underground city of Derinkuyu. Between the levels of the city, small holes are cut into the floor for communication between adjacent floors. The rooms and halls of the underground city, according to published sources and explanatory tablets, were used as living quarters, kitchens, dining rooms, wineries, warehouses, barns, cattle stalls, churches, chapels and even schools.
In the underground city of Derinkuyu, everything necessary for life support was thought out to perfection. The city is saturated with air by 52 ventilation shafts, so even at the lower levels it is easy to breathe. Water was obtained from the same mines, since, going to a depth of 85 m, they reached groundwater, serving as wells. Until 1962, the population of Derinkuyu village met their water needs from these wells. To prevent poisoning during enemy invasions, the outlets of some wells were closed. In addition to these carefully guarded wells with water, there were also special ventilation shafts, skillfully disguised in the rocks.
The air temperature in the underground city of Derinkuyu is kept at + 13 +15 C. All halls and tunnels are quite well lit. On the ground floors of the city there were baptismal places, missionary schools, warehouses, kitchens, dining rooms, sleeping rooms, animal stables and wine cellars. On the third and fourth floors there are weapons warehouses. There were also churches and temples, workshops, etc. here. On the eighth floor there is a “Conference Hall”. There is information that there was even a cemetery in the underground city.
Researchers have differing opinions about whether people lived in the underground city of Derinkuyu permanently or periodically. Some of them claim that the inhabitants of the underground city came to the surface only to cultivate the fields. Others say that they lived in an above-ground village and hid underground only during raids. In any case, the city has many secret passages (about 600), which had access to the surface in various places, including to above-ground huts.
The inhabitants of Derinkuyu took care to protect the city as much as possible from the penetration of invaders. In case of danger, the passages to the dungeons were filled with huge boulders, which could be moved from the inside by 2 people. Even if the invaders were able to get to the first floors of the city, his plan was thought out in such a way that the passages to the underground galleries were tightly blocked from the inside by huge stone wheel-doors. And even if the enemies were able to overcome them, then, without knowing the secret passages and the layout of the labyrinths, it would be very difficult for them to get back to the surface. There is a point of view that underground passages were specially built in such a way as to confuse uninvited guests.
This is what he writes A.V. Koltypin
What we were able to see in the underground city of Derinkuyu largely does not correspond to the prevailing opinion among archaeologists and historians both about the time of construction of the underground city (1st millennium BC - 10th century AD), and about its purpose (underground shelters used as temporary shelter). See and read the photo report with comments about the visit to Derinkuyu below. See also the continuation in the section “Crusts and deposits of secondary minerals on the walls and vaults of underground cities in Turkey.”
We also managed to see on the lower, 8th floor of Derinkuyu a large room (church?) in the form of a cross, which partly resembles in shape the “Cave Columbarium” of Mareshi in Israel. Taking into account the fact that in the rock city of Cavusin we discovered many symbols of the sun carved in underground rooms (the cross is also a symbol of the sun), this may indicate that the builders of these underground structures were followers of the solar gods.
Immediately after entering, on the first floor of the underground city of Derinkuyu, you find yourself in an amazing underground world, “smelling of hoary antiquity” (deep antiquity). With the experienced eye of a geologist, you pay attention to the weathered surfaces of the walls and the crusts and films of secondary formations covering them, as well as the wavy corrugated surface of the floor with thin deposits of calcareous deposits, indicating that the underground structures were flooded with water for quite a long time. This is not mentioned in any published source about Derinkuyu and other underground cities of Cappadocia. But I had to see the same thing more than once in Maresh, Bet Gavrin, Susiya and other underground structures in Israel. In the central photo there are dark “cellular” walls in the background - a modern cement wall
The underground city of Derinkuyu is a complex branched system of rooms, halls, tunnels and wells, diverging downwards (covered with gratings), up and to the sides. It’s no wonder that those who accidentally found themselves in this underground labyrinth soon lost all orientation. In Derinkuyu and Ozkonak, a significant surface area of the walls and ceilings is covered with green formations. Our study of them showed that they are heterogeneous. In some cases these are minerals, apparently from copper compounds, film and crust, in others - modern mosses and lichens, widespread under lamps
Continuation of what was said above. In the central photo, in the foreground on the left is a modern staircase, in the background on the right (the dark “cellular” part) is a modern concrete wall. This suggests that the underground cities of Cappadocia are being built up to our time. Now this is being done for the convenience of tourists. Did anyone even think that tourists could have been taken to these cities 10 thousand, 100 thousand or a couple of million years ago?
On the left is one of those going down underground tunnels. In the center and to the right is a round stone wheel-door that blocked it. Note the degree of secondary alteration of the walls, covered with green, in this case, mineral formations, and the rather thick (about mm) gray crust of secondary minerals covering the stone wheel-door. At the top of the wheel, the mineral crust has partially peeled off, revealing the brown surface of the tuff (ignimbrite) from which the wheel was made. All this indicates the great age of this section of the wall and the wheel.
On the left is another stone wheel-door covered with a gray mineral crust. It lies on later (calcareous?) deposits covering the floor of the underground hall. Next to the wheel-door there is an obviously man-made rectangular block covered with the same gray crust and a fragment of a brown slab. Both of these objects are buried in calcareous sediments. This may indicate that they lay here before the underground city of Derinkuyu was flooded with water. In the center is another stone wheel-door in a groove in the wall. Both the wheel and the wall are covered with a rather thick coating of mineral deposits and bear obvious signs of antiquity. On the right is a stone wheel-door, shown in the top row, in a smaller shot.
More tunnels and rooms of the underground city of Derinkuyu
And further. On the left in the right photo is a modern wall
The so-called “Conference Hall” on the lower, 8th floor of the underground city of Derinkuyu. Views from different sides
Downward tunnels in the lower levels of the underground city of Derikuyu. The staircase on the tunnel floor in the right photo (as in many other places) appears to have been carved later than the walls and ceiling of the tunnel from calcareous (?) deposits carried by water. The same thing was repeatedly observed by me in Maresh, Bet Gavrinea and other underground structures in Israel. In the photo in the center, at the bottom of the tunnels and halls of the underground city of Derinkuyu, formations such as wave-breaking ripples are widely developed, less likely karrs (products of groundwater activity) in a thin layer of sediments overlying the floor, most likely limestones, anhydrites or gypsum. Again, such structures are very widely developed in underground structures in Israel
Rocks, in which the underground structures of Derinkuyu were cut down. In all likelihood, ignimbrites
The nature of secondary changes in ignimbrites (?) on the walls of underground structures. In the left photo, the wall is covered with a fairly thick crust of gray secondary minerals (quartz?). It preserves rounded potholes and linear marks from chisels, which apparently reveal the primary brown rock (although it cannot be ruled out that, on the contrary, they are covered with iron oxides and hydroxides). In the middle photo, the entire wall is covered with iron oxides and hydroxides. Finally, in the right photo, the ignimbrites are covered with a thin film of green (copper) secondary minerals. I have collected samples of secondary minerals for chemical analysis, which can be carried out when a sponsor becomes available
In the photo on the left, chisel marks in the ignimbrites (?) are clearly visible. The photo in the center shows that the chisels pierced the crust of secondary minerals (in the depressions - unaltered ignimbrite?, on the ridges - altered rock). The photo on the right also clearly shows that secondary oxides and hydroxides of iron were deposited in cracks in the rock and marks (depressions) from chisels
To the left and right are two more halls of the underground city of Derinkuyu. Note the floor of these and other rooms, on which formations such as wave-breaking ripples are widely developed, less likely karrs in a thin layer of sediments overlying the floor - most likely limestones, anhydrites or gypsum. In the central photo there is a close-up of the surface of the ripples on the dungeon floor.
To the left and in the center is a room (church?) with a vaulted ceiling on the lower 8th level open to visitors, built on a cruciform plan. On the right is the town of Derinkuyu
The geological feature of Cappadocia is soft volcanic tuff - an ideal rock for the construction of underground cities, as it is easy to process and hardens when exposed to air.
There is no consensus on whether people lived underground permanently or periodically.
On the first level there were stables, a grape press and a massive vault. The living quarters, kitchen and church were located deeper. On the second tier there is a room unique for underground cities; a distinctive feature of Derinkuyu is a large hall with a vaulted ceiling. Apparently, a theological school was located in it and in the adjacent rooms. On the third and fourth tiers there were weapons warehouses. Along the stairs between them you can get into a cruciform church measuring 20 × 9 m. Further down there is a narrow tunnel (ceiling height 160-170 cm), on the sides of which there are empty chambers. As you go down, the ceilings become lower and the passages become narrower. On the lower eighth floor there is a spacious hall, possibly intended for meetings.
From the inside, the city was closed with large stone doors; they could block access to individual rooms or even entire floors. Each door is a large stone disk 1-1.5 m high, 30-35 cm thick and weighing 200-500 kg. The doors were opened using the holes located inside them, and only from the inside.
Vertical ventilation shafts (52 in total) below reach groundwater and previously served at the same time as wells. The underground city of Derinkuyu is famous for its very complex ventilation and water supply system, which is amazing for such an early historical period. Until 1962, the population of the land-based village of Derinkuyu met their water needs from these wells. To avoid water poisoning during enemy invasions, the outlets of some wells were carefully closed and camouflaged. In addition, there were ventilation shafts skillfully hidden in the rocks. Secret passages were often disguised as wells, of which about 600 have been discovered so far. The entrances to some of them are located directly in the above-ground huts.
There are other underground cities in the province of Nevsehir, some connected by many kilometers of tunnels. One of them - Kaymakli (*Kaymakli Underground City) is connected to Derinkuyu by a tunnel 8-9 km long. In the area between the cities of Kayseri and Nevsehir, more than 200 cave cities have been discovered, each of them going at least two floors underground. Moreover, 40 of them reach a depth of three tiers. The underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymakli are some of the best examples of underground residential structures.
TRANSPORT.
- Nevşehir Kapadokya Airport is 30 km from the city center of Nevsehir.
Nearest railroad station located in the city of Kayseri (Kayseri, on the map). Express trains from Ankara to Kayseri take about 7 hours.
Bus operator Nevtur runs every 2 hours from the main bus station Isletmesi Sehirlerarasi in Ankara to Nevsehir and vice versa. The trip takes 4 hours, including a 30 minute break. Nevsehir Seyahat operated 6 times a day from Ankara to Nevsehir and 2 buses a day from Istanbul.
Nevsehir is 75 km (travel time: 1 hour) from Aksaray, 140 km (2 hours 15 minutes) from Aladaglar National Park, 30 km (40 minutes) from Derinkuyu, 10 km (15 minutes) from Goreme, 110 km ( 2 hours) from Ihlara Valley, 8 km (10 minutes) from Uchisar and 23 km (25 minutes) from Urgup.
