Cappadocia – underground Turkey – living and hiding underground

While the fairy chimneys above ground in Cappadocia delight, there is magic below ground too. The tufa volcanic stone in parts of Turkey is very porous and easy to carve, so when wars broke out or there were marauders, people started to build their cities underground where they were protected. You can see similar carvings in many of the fairy chimneys too.

Although the digging began hundreds of years BC, the caves and tunnels were used and expanded over until the 20th century. They were most recently used by Christians to hide from Arabs and Mongols, and were most recently populated in the 1920s! Because people lived in them full-time (they weren’t just a temporary refuge), they are full cities and could hold tens of thousands of people with all the things a city that size would need, and could go 7 or 8 levels into the ground. There are schools, warehouses, stables, worship areas, and everything else a troglodyte could want.

To protect the inhabitants, there are large rolling stone doors to the surface and often on the entrance to other levels and large areas. Also, there were dead ends and pits, which the locals knew of, but any invader wouldn’t.

Underground it is always 55 degrees, and you will likely have to stoop to go through the tunnels as they are usually only 5 to 6 feet tall. The floors thankfully are pretty smooth, so walking isn’t very difficult.