Nobody knows just how many underground sites there are in Cappadocia although the number has been estimated at around 300. Some say that there is one for every village and settlement in the region but certainly not all of the sites can be described as cities.
This subterranean way of life resulted from several different factors. The dramatic landscape of Cappadocia is formed from tufaceous rock which is easy to work (and actually gets easier the deeper you go) but which dries to a hard surface resistant enough to allow the excavation of wide rooms with horizontal ceilings. Trees producing wood suitable for building use are scarce in Cappadocia (and apparently always have been) so even the surface dwellings are barrel vaulted using squared tufaceous stone.
This negative building culture, making use of existing formations rather than creating specialist building materials, can be found throughout the world but is particularly strong in the Mediterranean region. Cappadocia`s underground cities are however unique in their range, their complexity, their variety and possibly in the time periods in which they were developed.
The first mention of these subterranean sites occurs in the works of Xenophon written around 400 BC. Xenophon was a Greek mercenary who took charge of the Ten Thousand after the death of Cyrus, marching across Cappadocia with them:
Some authorities suggest that the underground cities were created during the earlier period, as storage areas, by the Hittites and were much later extended and brought into use as refuges for Christians persecuted by the Romans. Others maintain that the cities were created somewhat later, by the Phrygians, as a line of defense against the Assyrians. The most commonly held view is that the cities were excavated during Roman and/or Byzantine times. Certainly during these years the region was often beset by internal strife in the form of persecutions of (and by) local Christian communities, and external attacks by the Arabs. After the region was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, in the 14th Century, the external threat abated, the Byzantines were forced to leave the area and, with the outbreak of peace, the abandonment of the underground cities began.
It is unlikely that the underground cities were ever intended as permanent, or even long stay, settlements, but they were clearly built to withstand attack and could support large numbers of people and their domestic animals, for long periods of time. The urban organization was very complex, and there was probably always work in progress. Extensive networks of passages, tunnels, stepped pits and inclined corridors link family rooms and communal spaces where people would meet, work and worship. The cities were complete with wells, chimneys for air circulation, niches for oil lamps, stores, water tanks, stables and areas where the dead could be placed until such time as conditions on the surface would allow their proper disposal. Most importantly, carefully balanced moving stone doors, resembling mill stones, were devised to quickly block the corridors in the event of an attack. Of course, these doors operated from one side only!
Kaymakli underground city
Kaymakli underground city is built under the hill known as the Citadel of Kaymakli, in the centre of the town 19km from Nevsehir, on the Nevsehir - Nigde road. It was opened to visitors in 1964. In the village of Kaymakli, the ancient name of which was Enegup, the people have constructed their houses around nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. The inhabitants of the region still use the most convenient places in the tunnels as cellars, storage areas and stables, which they access through their courtyards.
Kaymakli Underground City is different from Derinkuyu Underground City in terms of both form and organization. The passages are low, narrow and sloping. Only 4 floors are open to the public, in which the spaces are organized around the ventilation shafts. On the first floor of this underground city is the stable. The small size of this area suggests that there could be other stables in sections that have not yet been opened. The passage to the left of the stable contains a millstone door and leads into the church. To the right of the corridor are rooms hollowed out as living areas. The church of the 2nd floor has a single nave and two apses. In front of the apses is a baptism stone, and on the sirdes are seating platforms. The graves on this floor are located next to the church which supports the idea that these graves belonged to religious people. There are also some living areas on this floor.
The most important areas of the underground city are on the 3rd floor. Besides numerous storage places, wineries and kitchen, the block of andesite with relief-texture found on this floor is very interesting. Recent research has proved that this stone was used as a melting pot for copper. The stone was not brought here from outside but was part of the andesite layer unearthened while hollowing. To be able to use it as a melting pot, 57 holes were carved on the surface of the stone. The copper ore , about 10 cm in length, would be put into one of those holes and would be hammered using a hard piece of rock. This technique has been known since the Prehistoric Periods. The copper brought to Kaymakli Underground City was probably dug from a quarry between Aksaray and Nevsehir. (The same quarry was also used by the people of Asiklihöyük, the oldest known settlement in Cappadocia Region.) The fact that there are a lot of storage rooms and places to put earthenware jars in the wineries on the 4th floor indicates that the people living in this underground city were economically stable. Even though the whole city has not been completely opened, and since only 4 floors have been uncovered, it is certain that Kaymakli is one of the largest underground settlements in the region. The number of the storage rooms in such a small area supports the idea that a great number of people resided here.
Derinkuyu underground city
Derinkuyu is situated 29km from Nevsehir, on the road to Nigde. The city is approximately 85m deep. It contains all the usual rooms found in an underground city (stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, churches, wineries etc.). Apart from these, a large room with a barrel vaulted ceiling on the second floor was a missionary school, the rooms to the left being study rooms.
From the 3rd and 4th floors onwards the descent is by way of vertical staircases which lead to a cruciform plan church on the lowest floor. The 55m deep ventilation shaft was also used as a well. Not every floorwas provided with a well, however, and some wells were not connected with the surface in order to protect the dwellers from poisoning during raids. Derinkuyu Underground City was opened to visitors in 1965, but so far only 10% can be visited.
