In Turkey, cave dwellings have been a common accommodation option since the Bronze Age, but it is the Cappadocia cave cities, located southeast of Istanbul in the arid centre of the country, where this time honoured trend has been best preserved. Amongst the original reasons cited for ancient peoples here to have chosen underground above overground are as an escape from winter weather and as a retreat from first wild animals and later Roman soldiers.
A Brief Cave History
What started out as natural dwellings in Cappadocia's soft volcanic rock, became a series of inter-connected settlements, as neighbouring cave dwellers expanded their own living quarters. Ante-rooms, cellars, churches, wine presses and even stables became features of these subterranean cities as people began to live in them for extended periods, until it was deemed safe to return to ground level.
Artifacts found in these labyrinthine communities can date them as places of Christian refuge to the 4th century BC and as dwelling spots to the 7th or 8th century BC, although some experts believe the cave systems here could have been used up to 4000 years ago. Regardless, they stand out in Cappadocia history as some of the first-known inhabited places.
Many of these subterranean settlements lay undiscovered for centuries. The most visited cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymakli were not uncovered until the 1960's. Today, unusually for a country that has cottoned on to cave tourism in a huge way and even offers tourists cave resorts to stay on, of the 40 underground city complexes, and the 100 known ancient troglodyte communities in Cappadocia only six sites are open to the public.
Derinkuku Underground City
The best-known of the underground cities, Cappadocia's Derinkuyu dates from the 5th to 10th centuries BC and is the deepest of the cave cities here. A mammoth eight floors contain everything from storage rooms through to wine and oil presses, chapels and stables. Built by the Phrygians and extended during the Byzantine era, the builders of this metropolis really had though of everything, including the installation of ventillation shafts and the digging of a well which could also be used by people on the surface, as well as vast doors that could be closed from the inside in times of defense.
- 30km south of Nevsehir on the Ndige road
Kaymakli Underground City
Along with Derinkulu, Kaymakli is the most frequently visited subterranean settlement and the largest, despite having only four floors open to visitors. The hundred or so tunnels here have been in constant use for milennia and are lower, narrower and steeper than Derinkulu's. The third floor, with its wonderfully-preserved kitchens, is most intriguing, although the second floor church and cemetery are fascinating in that they point to notable people having been buried here, suggesting Kaymakli was, far more than a convenient bolt hole in tough times, a much revered place.
- 30km south of Nevsehir on the Ndige road
Tatlarin Underground City
Only opened to tourists in 1991, Tatlarin has suffered from substantial collapse, but its two currently-open floors contain several churches and historically, it is one of Cappadocia's most important subterranean discoveries. One of the first known toilets in Anatolia and a major Roman burial ground have been uncovered here.
- 10km north of Acigol and 15km west of Nevsehir
Mazi Village Underground Settlement
More authentic than the better known underground cities, Mazi (also known as Mazi Village) was hollowed out of the valley side to the west of the homonymous more modern village, with neat features including steep tunnels and an entrance which can be covered by rolling a stone across, fulfilling more traditional visions of troglodyte living.
- 18km south of Urgup and 10km east of Kaymakli
Ozkonak Underground City
Not quite as impressive (or as underground) as the other cities here, Ozkonak has evidence of a winery, several tombs and, like Mazi, striking millstone doors which could still be used to roll across to cover the entrance. Small holes found in the Ozkonak doors suggest boiling oil could have been poured through them at enemies. The city was discovered in 1972 by a muezzin trying to discover where his water supply kept disappearing.
- 14km northeast of Avanos or 32km north north-east of Nevsehir
Gaziemir Underground City
Only opened to the public in 2007, Gaziemir contains some of the best remains of wineries of any of Cappadocia's cave cities. There are even remnants of a Turkish bath here! Artifacts found suggest similarities with those of the Hittite culture. A Bronze Age Anatolian people with their capital at Hattusa, near modern-day Bogazkale, on the Turkish Black Sea coast.
- Near Guzelyurt, 45km east of Aksaray
Stay in a Cave Hotel
Anyone not fully satisfied with their subterranean experiences in Cappadocia's underground settlements can stay in a Cappadocia cave hotel. Many of the once-derelict cave systems have been revamped in recent years. The original cave hotel here is Esbelli Evi, with more of a luxuriant troglodyte-like feel.
- Address: Esbelli Sokak, 8 (P.K. 2) 50400, Ürgüp, Cappadocia
- Telephone: +90 (384) 341-3395
Luke Waterson - Author Luke Waterson writes, or has written, for various publications including Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Moon Guidebooks and The ...
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