The Love Valley in Cappadocia is a place with strong winds, where nearly all the soft earth is blown into the air. The pink and yellow slopes adorn the undulating landscape with deep red canyons, and the low-hanging chimney-shaped rock formations can be seen in the distance. It is arid, hot, windy, and brutally beautiful. Millennia ago, this volatile volcanic environment naturally sculpted cone-shaped towers and caps, now attracting millions of tourists for hiking or hot air ballooning in Central Turkey.
This city is the largest excavated underground site in the world.
But beneath the ruined surface of Cappadocia lies a colossal wonder that has been hidden for centuries; an underground city capable of sheltering 20,000 residents for months at a time.
The ancient city of Elengubu, now known as Derinkuyu, is located more than 85 meters below the Earth’s surface, consisting of 18 levels of tunnels. This city is the largest excavated underground site in the world, having been in almost continuous use for thousands of years, from the Phrygians to the Persians and the Christians of the Byzantine era. It was ultimately abandoned in the 1920s by the Cappadocian Greeks when they faced defeat in the Greco-Turkish War and fled abruptly to Greece.
Not only do its cave-like rooms stretch for hundreds of miles, but it is also believed that over 200 separate small underground cities have been discovered in the area that may be connected to these tunnels, creating a massive underground network.
In 1963, a resident of Cappadocia, Turkey, discovered a secret underground tunnel while renovating his home. After the man struck the old wall of his house with a hammer, he uncovered this astonishing architectural structure.
The underground city of Derinkuyu.
Following the tunnel, he continued to uncover a forgotten ancient city underground, the city of Derinkuyu.
The city of Derinkuyu is entirely underground, designed to house around 20,000 people. Artifacts found indicate that agriculture and livestock farming took place in this 18-level city.
This city has enough space for 20,000 inhabitants.
The underground city discovered in Turkey includes churches, tombs, kitchens, stables, wells, schools, and even shelters for wartime or natural disasters. The city has about 600 doors connecting different areas.
Each level has its own escape routes in case of danger. Derinkuyu also features heavy stone doors with wheels that can be closed from the inside to prevent intruders. Researchers have also found traces of inscriptions from the Greek period.
The city has about 600 doors connecting different areas.
Who were the creators of this underground city? And why did they build it?
Among the designs that make up the underground city of Derinkuyu, archaeologists have particularly noted its entrances. Most are made from rolling stones that can be hidden from the inside, camouflaged so well that outsiders find it hard to detect.
Therefore, one hypothesis suggests that this underground city was designed to evade enemies. Derinkuyu is located in a crucial area that frequently experienced wars. Many experts believe that the Phrygians were the ones who built this city between 1200 and 800 BC.
After the Phrygians, the region of Cappadocia was subsequently occupied by the Persians, Greeks, Macedonians, and Armenians.
The earliest texts referring to the underground city in Cappadocia come from Xenophon’s “Anabasis” – a prominent Greek historian who wrote in 370 BC.
He wrote that the Cappadocia region had houses underground. Their entrances resembled wells, with people entering the city via ladders while livestock used separate pathways.
Aside from the Phrygian hypothesis, some archaeologists speculate that the oldest part of the underground city of Derinkuyu was built by the Hittites around 2000 BC.
It was later gradually upgraded by the Phrygians. The engineers who finally completed this city are believed to be local Christians living in the early centuries AD. Thus, the latest designs in Derinkuyu bear significant Christian influences.
During this time, documents indicate that the underground city of Derinkuyu sheltered Christians during the Roman invasions.
It continued to serve as a refuge for locals during the wars between the Byzantines and Arabs from the late 8th century to the late 12th century. This was followed by Mongol raids in the 14th century and finally the conquest by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire.
It wasn’t until the 20th century, when the Turks attacked and forced the Greeks to leave this land, that the underground city of Derinkuyu officially became part of Turkey. It is unclear why this city was abandoned since then, and its presence remained unknown until the man in Derinkuyu decided to renovate his basement.
However, the reason may be that its entrances were too well camouflaged. Ironically, some wells in Derinkuyu were dug deep and reached this underground city. But it seems that the well diggers overlooked its anomalies.
For decades, it turned out that water buckets visited the underground city of Derinkuyu every day. Unfortunately, they did not have mouths to tell their owners about Derinkuyu’s presence.
Interestingly, “derin kuyu” in Turkish also means “deep well.” Today, this underground city has become one of the top tourist attractions in Cappadocia. Thus, it is no longer considered an unexplored world.
But perhaps, somewhere behind the basement walls of someone’s house in the world, there may still be entrances leading to another unknown underground city. Or it could even be in your basement; who knows? You might want to grab a sledgehammer and see for yourself.
