Derinkuyu Mysterious Underground city | Ancient Mysteries | Cappadocia Tour | Amazing Places Turkey

Mysterious Underground city

An ancient and surprising underground city where thousands of people lived.

Derinkuyu also known as Elengubu, is an ancient multi-level underground city near the modern town of Derinkuu in Nevşehir Province, Turkey, extending to a depth of approximately 85 metres. It is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20,000 people together with their livestock and food stores. It is the largest excavated underground city in Turkey and is one of several underground complexes found throughout Cappadocia

Although the Derinkuyu underground complex, located in Turkish Cappadocia, gained popularity in the 1970s, when Swiss researcher and author Erich Von Däniken revealed it to the world through "The Gold of the Gods", Derinkuyu had long been raising questions. especially among archaeologists in his country.
It was discovered accidentally when a man knocked down the wall of his basement. Upon arrival the archaeologists revealed that the city was 18 stories deep and had everything necessary for underground life, including schools, chapels and even stables.
Derinkuyu, the underground city of Turkey, is almost 3,000 years old, and once housed 20,000 people.

The city at Derinkuyu was fully formed in the Byzantine era, when it was heavily used as protection from Arab Muslims during the Arab–Byzantine wars 780–1180 AD. The city was connected with another underground city, Kaymakli, through 8–9 km of tunnels. Some artifacts discovered in these underground settlements belong to the Middle Byzantine Period, between the 5th and the 10th centuries.

These cities continued to be used by the Christian natives as protection from the Mongolian incursions of Timur in the 14th century.

The underground city at Derinkuyu could be closed from the inside with large rolling stone doors. Each floor could be closed off separately

The city had amenities found in other underground complexes across Cappadocia, such as wine and oil presses, stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, and chapels. Unique to the Derinkuyu complex and located on the second floor is a spacious room with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. It has been reported that this room was used as a religious school and the rooms to the left were studies.

Starting between the third and fourth levels are a series of vertical staircases, which lead to a church on the lowest fifth level.

The large 55-metre (180 ft) ventilation shaft appears to have been used as a well. The shaft provided water to both the villagers above and, if the outside world was not accessible, to those in hiding.