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This the widets underground city of
cappadocia region, it was carved out underneath a rock hill (Kaymakli
Castle). |
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The first three floors were probably
carved out by Hittites about 2000 B.C.
After that; Assyrians, Lycians, Persians, Kimmerians
settled down in the region. |
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By the forth century B.C. the world
famous greek comander Alexander the great occupied the region
and become dominant. Ýn the year of 1000 B.C. Cappadocia
Kingdom was established. The kingdom made war against
Mecodomans, Galatians, Romans and Pontuses. |
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The Romans occupied the region in the
beginning of the 1st. Century B.C. Roman empire accepted
Christran Religion in 376 A.D. |
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Before that romans didn’t have
official religion, Eraly Christian suffered a lot from the
romans, Pagans and arab invaders. There fore they refugied in
the Underground cities and they enlarged them. |
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Kaymakli Underground city was opened to
the public in 1964. People of the town built their housed
around the underground city and they linked their houses to
the underground city with the underground tunnels. |
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First floors of the
underground city served as stables for the domestic animals,
because upper floors were higher and convenient for this use.
On the second floor a lying down blocking stone, some living
rooms, cometery and Christian Church are available. |
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On the third floor too
many storage rooms, mill stone to make flour, wineries to make
wine and wine cellars to store wine. In some of the wine
cellars, some of the broken wine jugs can be seen. |
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On the forth floor, there are some more
wineries and grape storages. A long gallery leads people to
the communial hitchen, In the kitchen too many food storage
areas, ovens, a kind of hard stone which served multi
functions, such as morter, melting copper, barricade to block
the passage to stop enemies (bazalt or andezit stone). |
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In the underground city there are some
main galleries and inside them same sub division were carved
out make the city very complicated to make the enemies
confused. |
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There were also some wide areas where
some of the important matters were talked and ceremanies were
hold. The ventilation shaft is vertical and passes all floors
down like on the elevator in an apartment. The depth of the
ventilation shaft is abaut 120 meters in total. |
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The underground city was originally
carved out as eight floors (eight storoyed), how ever four
floors are visitable. In war time about 5000 people refigied
in. |
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