A cool find in Turkey.


Derinkuyu: the ancient underground city, once home to 20,000 people

In the 1960s, a Turkish man was doing some casual home decor when he made one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries in history. When he knocked down a wall in his basement he made more room than he bargained for, stumbling across a gallery that led to an extensive 18-story-deep underground city we now know as Derinkuyu.


Derinkuyu, found in the province of Cappadocia, about four hours away from the capital Ankara, was carved bit by bit into the volcanic rock and consists of numerous subterranean settlements connected by tunnels that run for miles, similar to a man-sized ant colony. Parts of the underground network run as deep as 75 meters (250 feet).

The rock into which Derinkuyu was carved is made of layers upon layers of compact volcanic ash, known as tuff. This soft rock is porous and fragile, which explains how ancient people were able to carve the underground city extensively using simple tools like a pick and shovel.

The entire Cappadocia region of Anatolia has a rich volcanic history and sits on a plateau around 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) high. The region is littered with numerous cone-shaped tuff formations that rise from the landscape like minarets — and the region is no less impressive below ground.


According to archaeologists at the Turkish Department of Culture, the first gallery was carved at Derinkuyu during the 8th-7th century BCE by the Phrygians, an ancient Indo-European culture that founded the Anatolian kingdom (12th-7th century BCE). The Phrygians were among the foremost architects of the Iron Age and are known for engaging in complex mega construction projects. Other theories suggest that the underground city was founded by Persians or Hittites.
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