Derinkuyu underground city. How Derinkuyu was built

While traveling, you can see approximately 50 underground cities in Cappadocia. But it is the city of Derinkuyu that attracts the most attention. It goes 55 m into the ground, and in total occupies almost 4 square meters. km. Researchers suggest that there may be 20 floors here, but only 8 of them have been excavated.

How was Derinkuyu built?

Historians believe that the beginning of construction Derinkuyu started by the Hittites, approximately 2000 BC. The first Christians slightly rebuilt what they started and brought it to perfection. It was a safe refuge from the annoying Romans, nomadic tribes who constantly wanted to capture Cappadocia - a major trade route at that time.

Initially, everything was provided here for a comfortable life. Air was supplied underground from 52 mines for ventilation. At the level of 85 m, shafts were also dug, which were wells underground (groundwater was taken for needs). It was cool here in the summer. The air temperature ranged from +13 to +15°C. Every hall, room, and tunnel was well lit.

City layout

Even before today rock city not completely excavated. From what is already in sight you can see how the city itself was planned and what was in it. The first two floors were occupied by churches and places of prayer and baptism. Also on this level were missionary schools, storerooms, kitchens, barns for storing supplies, living quarters, bedrooms, wine cellars and cattle sheds. You can clearly see that the first floors were vital for the population. No less significant were the 3rd-4th floor, where there were also churches, security rooms, weapons depots, workshops and production rooms. The eighth floor was intended for conferences, where important issues of the entire community were resolved.

Defense of Derinkuyu

Cities can be seen from the inside. There are more than 600 secret passages that lead to the surface. Moreover, these zones are difficult to see on the ground, since they are well camouflaged. in case of danger, the inhabitants hid in the underground kingdom, where it was impossible to get through. The exits were blocked by large boulders that could only be opened from the inside. Even if the invaders got to the first floor, they would get lost in the web of the labyrinth. Some underground tunnels stretched for almost 10 km. Thus, even if the first floors were captured, it would be impossible to get to the lower floors, since all exits were immediately blocked. Therefore, while here, the residents were completely safe.

Derinkuyu, Türkiye

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To complete the picture in Cappadocia, after walking through the valleys, you should visit the underground city of Derinkuyu. About two hundred underground cities are known in Cappadocia, but the largest is Derinkuyu. Behind it comes Kaymakli, which is ten kilometers from Derinkuyu. Smaller ones are scattered throughout Cappadocia, including near Goreme, but they are less interesting.

It is convenient to combine an independent visit to this underground city with a walk around. You can also explore Derinkuyu as part of the Green tour from Goreme.

The underground city of Derinkuyu is a cave carved into soft tuff that connects underground rooms intended for various purposes. The city is very large, it has 8 floors, going approximately 60 meters deep (to groundwater). It is believed that about 20 thousand people could live in it, and they also kept livestock and provisions underground.

This city was accidentally discovered by a local resident in 1962, when he dismantled the wall of his house and found a “mysterious room” behind it. He continued his excavations and discovered a complex tunnel system with additional cave rooms. Archaeologists became interested in the find, and two years later the city was opened to tourists.

This city still has many secrets - even its actual size has not been determined precisely. There are versions that only a tenth of the entire city has now been explored and that it may have 4 more hidden floors. And some very brave researchers claim that the city consists of 20 floors and 60 thousand people lived in it. If we consider that the underground city of Derinkuyu in Cappadocia is connected by a 10-kilometer tunnel (currently impassable due to rubble) with another underground city of Kaymakli, then the opinion about the number of inhabitants of such a metropolis at 60 thousand seems quite plausible.

There is even more uncertainty about the exact age and origin of the city. Some suggest that Derinkuyu began to be created 20 centuries before the birth of Christ, while others believe that the city is only 27 centuries old. In any case, both are very respectable ages.

It is not clear how it was used: either they lived in it permanently, or temporarily, when they had to hide from the enemy. The creation of the city is attributed to the Hittites, Phrygians, and Persians. In general, there is still a lot of uncertainty in this issue. It is only known for certain that the last inhabitants were Christians, who somewhat expanded the city.

The underground city certainly has an ingenious design. It was built in such a way that it is even surprising how people at that time could do it. Just look at the cost of ventilation shafts and water wells. But what is most impressive is the architecture of the passages, which are designed to destroy the unexpected guest, while the residents themselves knew their way around it well. That’s why, be careful and don’t go where you shouldn’t.

The city has the following premises: wineries, living rooms, temples, stables, kitchens, meeting places, schools, wine cellars, chapels, bakeries, dining rooms, rooms where oils were pressed, various workshops, and armory warehouses. There is even an underground cemetery.

Also interesting are the stone doors that blocked tunnels and entire floors. I saw the same ones in the rock church. Such doors are about one and a half meters in diameter and weigh half a ton.

underground city currently has five floors open to the public, or rather not even floors, but pieces of them. These areas are lit by electric lamps, but it is still quite dim inside. It would be a good idea to take a flashlight with you to illuminate dark places.
Narrow passages can cause attacks of claustrophobia in people prone to it.
The city was built this way so that the enemy gets lost in it. Sometimes there are dark passages that are not covered with bars. To avoid getting lost underground, do not go into these passages under any circumstances.
Dress warmly: the temperature below is about 15 degrees – a sweater or windbreaker will be useful.
The entrance is in the building equipped with a turnstile. There is no special place to leave a large backpack, but you can ask, and things will be stored in the storage room.
Exit from the city is located not far from the entrance, that is, to his surprise, the visitor exits in a slightly different place.

Operating mode. Cost of visit

Working hours: daily, from April to October from 08.00-19.00, from November to March from 08.00-17.00.
Cost of visit: 25 TL. Tickets stop selling half an hour before closing.

How to get to Derinkuyu

How to get to the underground city of Derinkuyu is described based on the assumption that you are coming from Goreme. First of all, take a minibus to the city of Nevkheshir (11 km). The bus will take you to a stop where you need to change to another minibus that goes to the town of Derinkuyu (32 km). Derinkuyu may be the end, or it may be that the bus goes further, so warn the driver so that he can indicate where to get off.

Derinkuyu is an old land town located south 29 km from Nevsehir. Derinkuyu is considered the largest underground complex in Cappadocia and the largest underground city in Turkey. The name of the town is translated into Russian as “deep well”. Derinkuyu tunnels are connected with other underground towns of Cappadocia, including Kaymakli.

Archaeologists say that the appearance of this underground city dates back to the era when these lands were inhabited by the Hittites (1900-1200 BC). This is also evidenced by countless archaeological finds. Later the labyrinths were expanded by other tribes. The churches, underground schools and even wine cellars present here obviously indicate that Christian communities settled in the underground.

The city was found in 1963, partially studied, and in 1965 it opened to tourists. The underground city is located on 8 levels with an area of 1500 m2. It was probably built in the 6th-10th centuries. At the moment, only 10% of its terrain is available for free access.

The underground galleries are well lit. Here, by the way, there is a ventilation system from the times of the first builders of these “caves” (an interesting fact is that only on the 1st tier were ventilation shafts found, of which there are more than 15,000 - an unprecedentedly complex system for such an ancient time). They were disguised from the outside as wells, but, in fact, through these passages you can get inside the complex. They are quite deep, and their lower parts descend to the level of groundwater, which the inhabitants used for water supply.

The size of this settlement has not yet been clarified, because almost all the holes and drifts are very narrow, some of which are difficult for a child to climb through. According to archaeologists, only the 4th part of all the premises has been excavated.

The main halls amaze the imagination with their large size, the passages go 50-55 m deep, and 1 drift reaches a depth of 9 km. Before visiting the town, you will definitely need some warm clothes, because the temperature inside does not exceed +15 degrees. Celsius.

In the underground town you can see a huge number of large stone disks. These discs were used as doors and were used to block access to rooms or entire floors from others. They had a design in which the door could only be opened from the inside.

Various workshops were located everywhere here, in which everything needed for a long stay was produced. In the town you can find a bakery with stones used to grind flour, several kitchens, a winery, oil presses, pottery workshops and much more. In the dungeons there are also several stables, barns, warehouses and wine warehouses. If you go up the stairs, between the 3rd and 4th floors you can find a small church.

The main difference between Derinkuyu and the underground cities is the large hall located on the 2nd floor, which has beautiful vaulted ceilings, and is used as a religious school. Not far from it there are several other smaller rooms used for similar needs.

You should not neglect the services of a guide when visiting Derinkuyu, even if you prefer to explore the sights on your own. The city was built in such a way that only the people living in it could navigate it, therefore, without an expert on all the roads and paths, you can simply get lost or go astray. It is also worth keeping in mind that the further you go down, the lower the height of the ceilings becomes, not exceeding 1 m 60 cm in some areas, and the passages are narrower. Having descended quite deeply, some tourists feel a slight panic.

Despite the beauty of the underground town, there is also a lot of fascinating things to explore on the surface. 100 m south of the town there is a beautiful, although slightly gloomy, Greek Orthodox monastery. At the moment it is abandoned, although it once began its history as a Christian church. You can visit it if you find the guard who will open it.

The town has chapels and wells. A small tunnel leads down, with empty chambers located to the sides.

You can get from Aksaray and Nevsehir to Derinkuyu by bus. Apart from this, you can book a 1-day tour in Avanos or Goreme.

In the region of the same name in the territory of modern Turkey, 29 km from the largest underground city - Nevsehir. Together with the neighboring city of Kaymakli, this is one of the best examples of underground residential structures.

During the period of Persian rule (-IV century BC), the city first became a haven for refugees. During the Byzantine Empire, the city began to be called Malakopia(Greek Μαλακοπαία ), and around the 5th century AD. e. Christians settled here and expanded the dungeon. Their residence in the city is evidenced by the presence of underground schools, churches and wine cellars. Here they hid from the raids of nomads and persecution from the Muslim states of the Umayyads and Abbasids. Active life continued in Derinkuyu until the 8th century, although some finds here date back to the 10th century.

For a long time the city was in oblivion. Over time, local farmers began to use its well-ventilated, cool halls as warehouses. In 1963, the city was discovered by archaeologists when one local resident accidentally discovered a mysterious room behind the wall of his house. By 1965, the city's caves were cleared and opened to tourists.

Living conditions

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. Therefore, it was easy to dig a home here, and people settled underground with whole families: at one time, the underground city of Derinkuyu could accommodate 20 thousand people with livestock and food supplies. There were all the necessary amenities found in other underground complexes of Cappadocia: living quarters, ventilation shafts and wells, barns and stables, kitchens and dining rooms, bakeries, oil and grape presses, barns and wine cellars, churches and chapels, as well as workshops where everything needed was made. There is evidence that there was even a cemetery in the underground city.

The Derinkuyu dungeon is a complex branched system of rooms, halls, tunnels and wells, diverging down (covered with bars), up and to the sides. The city was built in such a way that it was impossible to capture it. All precautions were taken: in case of danger, the entrances were closed with huge boulders, and even if the enemy had overcome them, he would hardly have been able to get back to the surface without knowing the secret passages and the layout of the labyrinths. Probably, the city was built in this way precisely with the expectation that only its inhabitants would be well versed in its structure, while enemies, on the contrary, would be instantly lost.

There is no consensus on whether people lived underground permanently or periodically. According to one version, the inhabitants of Derinkuyu came to the surface only to cultivate the fields, according to another, they lived in a surface village and hid underground only during raids. In the latter case, they quickly eliminated signs of life on the surface and went underground to hide there for several weeks.

Description

The underground city is located on eight levels, reaching a depth of 55-60 m. The dimensions have not yet been fully clarified: the area of the city varies between 1.5-2.5 km² (according to other sources, 4 × 4 km). The lower floor is located at a depth of 54 m from the level of the main entrance. Scientists say that at the moment only 10-15% of the entire city territory is open. It is assumed that the city has not only 8, but as many as 12 tiers, although some hypothesize about the presence of another 20 undiscovered floors.

The entrance to the dungeon is located in a one-story house in the village of Derinkuyu, located on a plateau 1355 m above sea level. All halls and tunnels are sufficiently well lit and ventilated. The temperature inside ranges from 13 to 15 °C. For communication between floors, there are small holes in the floor in many places.

Vertical ventilation shafts (52 in total) below reach groundwater and previously served simultaneously as wells. The city 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 village of Derinkuyu met their need for water from these wells. To avoid water poisoning during enemy invasions, the outlets of some wells were carefully closed and camouflaged. In addition, there were special ventilation shafts, skillfully hidden in the rocks. Secret passages were often disguised as wells, of which about 600 have been discovered so far. Some of them are located directly in above-ground huts.

Other underground cities

In the province of Nevsehir there are other underground cities connected by many kilometers of tunnels. One of them, Kaymakli, 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.

Nowadays, the underground cities of Cappadocia attract many tourists, but inside they are mostly empty.

Filmography

"Ancient Aliens. "(English) Ancient Aliens. Underground Aliens ) - popular science film (History Channel, 2011)

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Notes

Literature

Dorn Wolfgang. Zentralanatolien. - Cologne: DuMont Verlag, 1997. - ISBN 3-7701-2885-0.(German)
Kostof Spiro. Caves of God: Cappadocia and its Churches. - Oxford University Press, 1989. - ISBN 0-19-506000-8 978-0195060003.(English)

Excerpt characterizing Derinkuyu (underground city)

The Viceroy will take possession of the village [of Borodin] and cross his three bridges, following at the same height with the divisions of Morand and Gerard, which, under his leadership, will head to the redoubt and enter the line with the rest of the army.
All this must be done in order (le tout se fera avec ordre et methode), keeping the troops in reserve as much as possible.
In the imperial camp, near Mozhaisk, September 6, 1812.”
This disposition, written in a very unclear and confused way, if we allow ourselves to regard his orders without religious horror at Napoleon’s genius, contained four points - four orders. None of these orders could be or were carried out.
The disposition says, first: that the batteries set up at the place chosen by Napoleon with the Pernetti and Fouche guns aligned with them, a total of one hundred and two guns, open fire and bombard the Russian flashes and redoubts with shells. This could not be done, since the shells from the places appointed by Napoleon did not reach the Russian works, and these one hundred and two guns fired empty until the nearest commander, contrary to Napoleon’s orders, pushed them forward.
The second order was that Poniatowski, heading towards the village into the forest, should bypass the left wing of the Russians. This could not be and was not done because Poniatovsky, heading towards the village into the forest, met Tuchkov there blocking his way and could not and did not bypass the Russian position.
Third order: General Kompan will move into the forest to take possession of the first fortification. Compan's division did not capture the first fortification, but was repulsed because, leaving the forest, it had to form under grapeshot fire, which Napoleon did not know.
Fourth: The Viceroy will take possession of the village (Borodino) and cross his three bridges, following at the same height with the divisions of Maran and Friant (about which it is not said where and when they will move), which, under his leadership, will go to the redoubt and enter the line with other troops.
As far as one can understand - if not from the confused period of this, then from those attempts that were made by the Viceroy to carry out the orders given to him - he was supposed to move through Borodino on the left to the redoubt, while the divisions of Moran and Friant were supposed to move simultaneously from the front.
All this, as well as other points of disposition, was not and could not be fulfilled. Having passed Borodino, the viceroy was repulsed at Kolocha and could not go further; The divisions of Moran and Friant did not take the redoubt, but were repulsed, and the redoubt was captured by cavalry at the end of the battle (probably an unexpected and unheard of thing for Napoleon). So, none of the orders of the disposition were and could not be executed. But the disposition says that upon entering the battle in this way, orders will be given corresponding to the actions of the enemy, and therefore it would seem that during the battle Napoleon would make all the necessary orders; but this was not and could not be because during the entire battle Napoleon was so far from him that (as it turned out later) the course of the battle could not be known to him and not a single order of his during the battle could be carried out.

Many historians say that the Battle of Borodino was not won by the French because Napoleon had a runny nose, that if he had not had a runny nose, his orders before and during the battle would have been even more ingenious, and Russia would have perished, et la face du monde eut ete changee. [and the face of the world would change.] For historians who recognize that Russia was formed by the will of one man - Peter the Great, and France from a republic developed into an empire, and French troops went to Russia by the will of one man - Napoleon, the reasoning is that Russia remained powerful because Napoleon had a big cold on the 26th, such reasoning is inevitably consistent for such historians.
If it depended on the will of Napoleon to give or not to give the Battle of Borodino and it depended on his will to make this or that order, then it is obvious that a runny nose, which had an impact on the manifestation of his will, could be the reason for the salvation of Russia and that therefore the valet who forgot to give Napoleon On the 24th, waterproof boots were the savior of Russia. On this path of thought, this conclusion is undoubted - as undoubted as the conclusion that Voltaire made jokingly (without knowing what) when he said that the Night of St. Bartholomew occurred from an upset stomach of Charles IX. But for people who do not allow that Russia was formed by the will of one person - Peter I, and that the French Empire was formed and the war with Russia began by the will of one person - Napoleon, this reasoning not only seems incorrect, unreasonable, but also contrary to the whole essence human. To the question of what constitutes the cause of historical events, another answer seems to be that the course of world events is predetermined from above, depends on the coincidence of all the arbitrariness of the people participating in these events, and that the influence of Napoleons on the course of these events is only external and fictitious.
Strange as it may seem at first glance, the assumption that the Night of St. Bartholomew, the order for which was given by Charles IX, did not occur at his will, but that it only seemed to him that he ordered it to be done, and that the Borodino massacre of eighty thousand people did not occur at the will of Napoleon (despite the fact that he gave orders about the beginning and course of the battle), and that it seemed to him only that he ordered it - no matter how strange this assumption seems, but human dignity tells me that each of us, if not more, then no less a person than the great Napoleon orders that this solution to the issue be allowed, and historical research abundantly confirms this assumption.
In the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon did not shoot at anyone and did not kill anyone. The soldiers did all this. Therefore, it was not he who killed people.
The soldiers of the French army went to kill Russian soldiers in the Battle of Borodino not as a result of Napoleon’s orders, but of their own free will. The entire army: the French, Italians, Germans, Poles - hungry, ragged and exhausted from the campaign - in view of the army blocking Moscow from them, they felt that le vin est tire et qu"il faut le boire. [the wine is uncorked and it is necessary to drink it .] If Napoleon had now forbidden them to fight the Russians, they would have killed him and gone to fight the Russians, because they needed it.
When they listened to the order of Napoleon, who presented them with the words of posterity for their injuries and death as a consolation that they too had been in the battle of Moscow, they shouted “Vive l" Empereur!” just as they shouted “Vive l"Empereur!” at the sight of an image of a boy piercing the globe with a bilboke stick; just as they would shout “Vive l"Empereur!” at any nonsense that would be told to them. They had no choice but to shout “Vive l" Empereur!” and go fight to find food and rest for the victors in Moscow. Therefore, it was not as a result of Napoleon’s orders that they killed their own kind.
And it was not Napoleon who controlled the course of the battle, because nothing was carried out from his disposition and during the battle he did not know about what was happening in front of him. Therefore, the way in which these people killed each other did not happen at the will of Napoleon, but happened independently of him, at the will of hundreds of thousands of people who participated in the common cause. It only seemed to Napoleon that the whole thing was happening according to his will. And therefore the question of whether or not Napoleon had a runny nose is of no greater interest to history than the question of the runny nose of the last Furshtat soldier.
Moreover, on August 26, Napoleon’s runny nose did not matter, since the testimony of writers that, due to Napoleon’s runny nose, his disposition and orders during the battle were not as good as before are completely unfair.
The disposition written out here was not at all worse, and even better, than all previous dispositions by which battles were won. The imaginary orders during the battle were also no worse than before, but exactly the same as always. But these dispositions and orders seem only worse than the previous ones because the Battle of Borodino was the first that Napoleon did not win. All the most beautiful and thoughtful dispositions and orders seem very bad, and every military scientist criticizes them with a significant air when the battle is not won, and the very bad dispositions and orders seem very good, and serious people prove the merits of bad orders in entire volumes, when the battle is won against them.
The disposition compiled by Weyrother at the Battle of Austerlitz was an example of perfection in works of this kind, but it was still condemned, condemned for its perfection, for too much detail.
Napoleon in the Battle of Borodino performed his job as a representative of power just as well, and even better, than in other battles. He did nothing harmful to the progress of the battle; he leaned toward more prudent opinions; he did not confuse, did not contradict himself, did not get scared and did not run away from the battlefield, but with his great tact and war experience, he calmly and with dignity fulfilled his role as an apparent commander.

Returning from a second anxious trip along the line, Napoleon said:
– The chess has been set, the game will start tomorrow.
Ordering some punch to be served and calling Bosset, he began a conversation with him about Paris, about some changes that he intended to make in the maison de l'imperatrice [in the court staff of the Empress], surprising the prefect with his memorability for all the small details of court relations.
He was interested in trifles, joked about Bosse's love of travel and chatted casually in the way a famous, confident and knowledgeable operator does, while he rolls up his sleeves and puts on an apron and the patient is tied to a bed: “The matter is all in my hands.” and in my head, clearly and definitely. When it’s time to get down to business, I’ll do it like no one else, and now I can joke, and the more I joke and am calm, the more you should be confident, calm and surprised at my genius.”

The unique underground city of Derinkuyu is located 40 kilometers from the Goreme National Park, together with which, as well as other cave settlements of Cappadocia, it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. This is one of the largest and most ancient underground cities on our planet. The time of its foundation is not known for certain, but according to various estimates it dates back to the 2nd-1st millennium BC. At one time we had the opportunity to visit it and, I must admit, the city makes a very strong impression.

The city of Derinkuyu (Turkish Derinkuyu - “deep well”) is multi-tiered and goes underground 65 meters, descending to the very groundwater, and on each tier there is a huge system of branched underground passages and labyrinths, which allowed the former residents to establish a way of life with minimal dependence on the external surfaces. Here, in a space of a couple of square kilometers, there were living quarters, meeting halls, schools and chambers for spiritual studies, churches, as well as various warehouses and storerooms with large supplies of food, and weapons arsenals. The underground city also had its own production and there were presses for squeezing out oil. And there were even rooms for stalls where sheep, cows and horses were kept.

A1. Approximate diagram of an underground city.

02. The entrance is nearby.

No one knows for sure the reason why this city was created. It is only assumed that this happened during the time of the Phrygians (immigrants from the southern Balkans), in the 8th-7th centuries BC. e, or even the Hittites, an Indo-European Bronze Age people who inhabited these places in 1900-1200 BC. e. There is a version that the city was founded by fire worshipers, and it is argued by the fact that in the famous holy book of the Zoroastrians - “Vendidad”, there are references to underground cities. In fact, it has been established that, starting around the 5th century AD, Christians began to use the underground cities of Cappadocia to hide from their persecutors in the person of Muslim rulers and various other ill-wishers.

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All passages and rooms are carved into volcanic tuff rock, and interestingly, despite the huge size of the city and its multi-tiered nature, as well as the softness of the rock itself, there are no rubble or collapses inside the city, which indicates sufficient experience and professionalism of the ancient builders. It is believed that Christians expanded the ancient city and brought it to the form we have now. However, for a long time after their departure, the underground chambers were used by local farmers as warehouses for food. And then they completely forgot about the city, and all the entrances to it were lost among the vegetation and buildings of the new era.

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A2.

The city was rediscovered only in 1963, when, during the repair of one of the houses behind a collapsed wall, a passage to the underground city opened. And archaeologists immediately began to study the unique object, and in 1965 the city was opened to tourists. Afterwards, many other underground cities were discovered; in Cappadocia there are dozens of them, but Derinkuyu remains the most significant and most studied among them to this day.

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And yet, despite this, only part of the underground settlement has been put in order, approximately 15%. Eight underground floors have been studied, the lowest is at a level of 65 meters. But some have suggested that there are more floors. What’s interesting is that there is good ventilation at all levels, this is achieved through 52 ventilation shafts, which reach the groundwater below and also serve as the city’s wells. At the top, all these entrances were carefully disguised so that potential enemies could not enter the city through them or poison the water.

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It’s really good to breathe underground, but this place is clearly not for people with claustrophobia. The passages in the labyrinths of the city are very dark and narrow, many tunnels are quite long and the ceiling is much lower than human height. Sometimes it even gets a little creepy. Researchers believe that up to 20,000 people could have found shelter in these dungeons. And various Internet resources generally take numbers out of thin air and write about 30, then 50 thousand... I don’t know, according to personal estimates, it would be quite crowded here for a couple of hundred, not to mention the fact that in many tunnels and It’s difficult for a couple of people to pass each other... But regardless of all this, the underground city is impressive!

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A complex branched system of labyrinths and floors made it possible not only to optimally configure the internal functioning of the city, but also to prevent its conquest and destruction. Firstly, the passages to the floors and some tunnels and rooms were closed by huge, weighing half a ton, round stone doors, similar to millstones. These doors could only be opened from the inside and with the effort of at least two people.

And secondly, even if the enemy were able to overcome this obstacle, he would immediately become entangled in the complex system of the underground city, which the inhabitants, in turn, knew perfectly well. Plus, there were many emergency exits to the surface, sometimes very far from the main settlement. Derinkuyu was also connected with other underground cities by passages, for example, a 9-kilometer tunnel was dug towards Kaymakli.

A3. Another diagram of the underground city.

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Despite the abundance of narrow passages and closets, the city also has relatively large rooms, some of which were necessary for keeping livestock, some for holding various meetings and religious events, and also had their own schools. One of the largest halls of Derinkuyu is located on the 8th underground floor; it is believed that meetings were held there and decisions were made on the most important issues.

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As I said above, the underground city is open to tourists. The corridors are illuminated with electric lamps, the main directions are marked with arrows, there seems to be no danger of getting lost, and special signs tell about the most important sights. The entrance ticket, if I remember correctly, costs about 10 liras. We got to Derinkuyu by minibus from Nevshivir, they go quite often. And we were quite pleased with our visit to the underground city. In the future, I hope that I will be able to see some other underground cities of Cappadocia. And in general, there is something to do there.

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19. On the way out, we bought ourselves some terribly sticky oriental sweetness and ate it with pleasure. There was a long road ahead to Istanbul.

20. Map of the area. From Nevsehir to Derinkuyu 40 kilometers. From Istanbul it is approximately 800, from Antalya - 540.