the underground cities

The Underground Cities

Xenophon, in volume four of his 6th-century-B.C. account "The Retreat of the Ten Thousand," tells of corning upon an underground city in eastern Anatolia.The entrance, he says, "was like the mouth of an unusual sort of well that widened as it grew deeper. Animals are kept in separate stables dug out of the earth and reached by way of descending stairs. One finds sheep, goats, cows, chickens and other domestic stock, together with their young. All the animals were fed on dry grass, while oil, wheat and wine were stored in great jars. Those who became thirsty and wished to imbibe could make use of hollow reeds, various lengths of which stood beside the jars. The barley wine was quite strong and had to be watered down before drinking."

Lying as it did across the migration routes of diverse tribes and peoples, Anatolia was the scene of frequent wars, whether the struggle was to establish a homeland, build a dynasty, or simply survive the crossing to some territory beyond. There were those who came to trumpet the glory of empire, and those who came merely to plunder and destroy.

But what a roll-call! The Hittites, Assyrians, Hurrians, Phrygians, Mushkies, Cimmerians, Lydians, Medes, Persians, Macedonians, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Galatians, Romans, Sassanids, Goths. The lirst Christians fleeing Roman persecution: the endless sectarian strife under Byzantium: the struggle over the keeping or casting out of icons: the Arab invasions, the Turkish conquest, the Mongols.

It would be very difficult to say who first conceived of hollowing out underground cities here, or who they were defending themselves against. But seeing that such cities existed as early as the 6th century B.C. they must go back a long way indeed. No doubt they were used and then abandoned in cycles, and gradually enlarged over the ages.

 In today's Cappadocia certain parts of the underground cities at Kaymakh, Derinkuyu and Özkonak have been cleaned and lit for the public, but none of them has yet been completely explored. There are others, such as Mazikoy, which will soon be open, while one hears of tunnels branching out from ancient citadels like Ürgüp, Ortahisar and Uçhisar -tunnels which have collapsed at key points and which thus guard their mystery.

The Underground City at Derinkuyu, a product somehow of greater care than the rest, is first broached by way of a partly concealed entrance like the one at the Hittite capital, Hattusas. There are seven levels, delving to a depth of seventy meters. Ventilation shafts connecting the lowest floors with the surface ensured a constant supply of fresh air, while wells within the city guaranteed good drinking water even if an enemy should poison all the wells above.

Kaymaklı Underground City

Kaymaklı lies 18 km. south of Nevsehir, and is an extremely complex underground city in seven layers comprising rooms forgrain storage, the stabling of animals,aging of wine, and every possible necessity of rural life. There are safe, strong doors, chapellike places of worship, and secret escape routes, with labyrinths and dead-end corridors to give an intruder some very bad moments atthe least.

Derinkuyu Underground City

Derinkuyu (literally, "Deep Well") is 29 km. from Nevsehir on the road to Nigde. Seven levels reaching to a depth of 90 meters have thus far been discovered in this underground city, which in large measure has been cleaned and electrically illuminated.

As well as being ventilated by vertical air shafts, the levels communicate via wells dug for water. Stone doors in the shape of great wheels can be rolled across the passageways to seal them off. The city, which branches out horizontally in seemingly endless concatenations to cover some four square kilometers, was able to house a population of 20,000. Apart from storage rooms, sleeping chambers and kitchens, there are large halls and what would seem to be a cruciform church.

Tatlarin

A 10-km. road goes north from Acigöl to Tatlarin, with its underground city and churches. Unlike other underground cities in Cappadocia, these have kitchen and toilet facilities. The Tatlarin Church, only recently made fit to visit, has the freshest paintings in the entire region. They subject matter may adhere to the usual lines; but the style is that of an idiosyncratic artist. There is also a mosque in Tatlarin, architecturally a product of its region, although few examples are still extant.