Underground City, Derinkuyu, Turkey

What was once the ancient city of Elengubu, is now known today as Derinkuyu. It once held up to 20,000 inhabitants at one time and is the largest underground city in the world. It plunges to a depth of 85 meters below Cappadocia and has 18 levels of tunnels. The city was in consistent use for thousands of years, presumed originating from the Phrygians to the Persians and finally to the Christians of the Byzantine Era. It was then abandoned in the 1920s by the Cappadocian Greeks fleeing the Greco-Roman Turkish war. The city itself spans many square miles containing kitchens, cattle rooms, schools, storage rooms, church's, graves, ventilation shafts etc. it's thought that more than 200 small, separate underground cities that have been discovered in the area may be connected to these tunnels, creating a massive subterranean network.
Derinkuyu was "rediscovered" in 1963 by a local who kept losing his chickens. While he was renovating his home, the chickens would disappear into a small crevasses during remodeling never to be seen again. After some time the owner grew suspicious and did some digging and found one of many entrances to the city. It was the first of more than 500 entrances found within homes in the area leading to the subterrestrial city of Derinkuyu.

The shear depth of the city is astounding and after exploring it in the morning hours it was apparent how easy one could get lost. The staircases kept leading down to deeper and deeper levels some taking 5 minutes to traverse. It was an absolute marvel in engineering at the time as well as an unforgettable experience for the both of us.

One awe inspiring fact about this massive underground city is that no one has ever found organic material inside to do carbon dating. So the exact age is unknown. They only know some civilizations that used it and some theorized to have used it. There is a documentary on Netflix that talks about Derinkuyu that we enjoyed called, Ancient Apocalypse. We recommend it! I want to caveat that recommendation by saying I think the hosts premise is unsupported. He doesn't really give any evidence of his thesis. Regardless, he does give you a lot of interesting information, about a lot of archeological sites you may have never heard of, including Derinkuyu. It's a very interesting watch regardless. I just haven't drank the Kool-Aid he's selling.

Ancient Apocalypse on Netflix
https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81211003?s=a&a…

If you'd like to read about Derinkuyu, this article has some good info, including a map showing that we were only in a small part (yellow highlighted area). Maybe 1/4 of the whole city.
https://cappadocia4u.com/derinkuyu-underground-…Read more