The Underground City of Derinkuyu

Lore & Background

The underground city at Derinkuyu was carved mostly into tuff, a soft volcanic rock formed from compacted ash. It could be closed from the inside with large rolling stone doors, and each floor could be sealed separately. The complex included wine and oil presses, stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, chapels, and kitchens equipped with tandoor ovens, a type still used in the region. A unique barrel-vaulted room on the second floor is reported to have been used as a religious school, with adjacent studies. Vertical ventilation shafts, including a main central shaft measuring roughly 3 by 2.8 metres, provided air and water; this shaft never had openings of two different levels overlapping, a design that maximised airflow. The city could shelter up to 20,000 people with their livestock and food stores. Its tunnels and rooms may have been initially cut by the Phrygians, but the city was fully formed in the Byzantine era and significantly enlarged during the Arab–Byzantine wars from roughly 780 to 1180, when it protected local Christians from raiding armies. It was connected to the underground city of Kaymakli by tunnels. The site continued to be used by Christian natives during Seljuk and Mongol invasions, and as late as 1909, Cappadocian Greeks took refuge there during massacres. After the 1923 population exchange, the city was abandoned until its rediscovery in 1963, when a resident renovating his home found a hidden room behind a wall, leading to the tunnel network. Over 600 separate entrances have since been discovered, some concealed under private homes.

Reader's Guide

Derinkuyu’s significance stems from its enormous scale and its repeated use as a refuge over many centuries. The city was initially carved into the soft volcanic tuff by the Phrygians in the 8th–7th century BC. During the Late Roman Empire, Christian inhabitants expanded the simple caves into deep, multi-level structures, adding chapels and Greek inscriptions. The city reached its fully formed state in the Byzantine era and was significantly enlarged during the Arab–Byzantine wars (c. 780–1180), when it sheltered local Christians from Umayyad and Abbasid raids. It was likely during this period that the population neared its peak capacity of 20,000 people, along with their livestock and food stores. The city was connected to the underground complex at Kaymakli by 8–9 km of tunnels. Its defensive design allowed inhabitants to seal off individual floors with large rolling stone doors, isolate sections, move internally, and even mount organized counterattacks if a part was breached. The complex features a sophisticated ventilation system: vertical shafts, including a central well measuring roughly 3 m by 2.8 m, were deliberately engineered so that openings on different levels never overlapped, maximizing airflow. Unique to Derinkuyu is a barrel-vaulted room on the second floor, reportedly used as a religious school with adjoining study rooms. The city continued to shelter Christian natives during Seljuk invasions in the 11th century and Timur’s Mongol incursions in the 14th century. In the 20th century, Cappadocian Greeks and Armenians still used the underground chambers to escape persecution, as recorded by linguist Richard MacGillivray Dawkins in 1909. After the 1923 population exchange, the city was abandoned. It was rediscovered in 1963 when a resident renovating his home broke through a basement wall and found a hidden room, leading to the discovery of over 600 tunnel entrances, many concealed beneath private houses.

Did You Know?

• The name Derinkuyu means 'deep well' in Turkish.
• The city could be closed from the inside with large rolling stone doors.
• A 55-metre vertical shaft served as a well, providing water to both the village above and those in hiding.
• The city was connected to another underground city, Kaymakli, through 8–9 km of tunnels.