- Derinkuyu is an underground city in Cappadocia, Turkey, dating back to 1500 BCE. It has eight levels and could accommodate 20,000 people and is open to the Public.
- It is connected by a 5 mile (8km) tunnel to another underground city called Kaymakli.
Visits
- Derinkuyu has been open to the Public since 1969.
- Currently, only half of its levels can be visited.
Construction
- The tunnels were protected by huge circular millstones in niches that could be rolled into a blocking position to close the tunnel, or rolled back into the niche to reopen the tunnel. They could only be leveraged from the inside via a hole through which outsiders could also be viewed.
- The rooms are grouped around vertical air shafts, and some of which are deep wells in order to remain self sufficient.
History of Derinkuyu Underground City (1500 BCE)
- Derinkuyu, along with Kaymakli, is one of 36 Underground Cities located in the Province of Cappadocia. in modern Turkey. The Underground Cities had tunnels connecting to each other. Derinkuyu is connected to Kaymakli by an 8 km tunnel.
- The underground cities possibly date as far back as 1500 BCE during the Period of the Hittite Empire.
- The Underground Cities are mentioned by Xenophon (431-360 BCE) in his ‘Anabasis’.
- To conceal themselves from invading armies the population built an underground city of hundreds of tunnels built out of the soft tufa rock, below their existing city.
- Derinkuyu is the deepest Underground City with 8 Levels going down 85 m, and able to accommodate around 20,000 people.
Derinkuyu Underground City