Photo: iStock
Loretta Tóth
20/03/2023 17:00
Derinkuyu is an ancient underground city located in Türkiye, near the Nevsehir province of Cappadocia, about four hours away from the capital Ankara. The world-famous underground cave system, which once housed over 20,000 people and their livestock, is one of Cappadocia's most remarkable attractions.
It contains many sophisticated structures like ventilation, church, stable, and cellar, but only one-tenth of the town is accessible.
This incredible archaeological discovery was stumbled upon by pure chance in 1963 by a local inhabitant while renovating his house. When he knocked down a wall in his basement he made more room than he intended, while he stumbled upon a gallery that led to an extensive 18-story-deep underground city we know today as Derinkuyu.
The bulk of the caves might have been built initially in the soft volcanic rocks by the Phrygians, an ancient Indo-European speaking people in the 8th–7th centuries BC, according to the Turkish Department of Culture.
The author is an editor of Eurasia Magazine