- Kaymakli is an underground city originally named Enegup, and is one of 36 Underground Cities located in the Province of Cappadocia in modern Turkey.
- It is connected by a 5 mile (8 km) tunnel to another Underground City called Derinkuyu.
Visits
- Kaymakli, levels 1-4, have been open to the Public since 1964.
- Currently, levels 5-8 are not open to the Public.
The Eight Levels
- Level 1: Stable, Church, Living Quarters, closed off by a Millstone door.
- Level 2: a complete church layout with graves and living quarters.
- Level 3: Kitchens, Storage rooms with Presses for Olive Oil or Wine.
- There is a Smithy for working Copper using a block of Andesite stone drilled with 57 holes. Copper was then placed in each of the 10 cm wide holes and hammered until it achieved strength.
- Level 4: Storage rooms for Earthenware Jars.
- Levels 5-8: Closed to the Public.
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 also had deep wells in order to remain self sufficient.
History
- The underground cities possibly date as far back as 1,500 BCE, during the Period of the Hittite Empire.
- To conceal themselves from invading armies the population built an underground city of 100 tunnels built out of the soft tufa rock, below their existing city.
- Tunnels connect the underground cities to each other.
Sources
Kaymakli underground city, Turkey