366:"None the less, at the beginning of the 20th century, Greek still had a strong presence in Silli, north-west of Konya (ancient Ikonion), in Pharasa, and other villages in the region drained by the Yenice river (some 100 km south of Kayseri, ancient Caesarea), and in Cappadocia proper, at Arabison (Arapsu/Gulsehir) north-west of Nevşehir (ancient Nyssa), and in the large region south of Nevşehir as far down as Nigde and Bor (close to ancient Tyana). This whole area, as the home of St Basil the Great (329–379), his brother St Gregory of Nyssa (335–394) and his friend St Gregory of Nazianzos (330–389), was of great importance in the early history of Christianity, but is perhaps most famous today for the extraordinary landscape of eroded volcanic tufa in the valleys of Goreme, Ihlara and Soganh, and for the churches and houses carved into the ‘fairy chimneys’ to serve the Christian population in the middle ages. Many of the rock cut churches, which range in date from the 6th to the 13th centuries, contain magnificent frescos. Away from the valleys, some of the villages have vast underground complexes containing houses, cellars, stables, refectories, cemeteries and churches, affording protection from marauding Arabs in the days when the Byzantine empire extended to the Euphrates, and serving later as places of refuge from hostile Turkish raiders. The most famous of these are at Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, formerly the Greek villages of Anaku (Inegi) and Malakopi (Melagob), where the chambers extended down over several levels of depths of
459:"On May 1st, 1923, the agreement on the exchange of the Turkish and Greek minorities in both countries was published. A shock went through the ranks of the people affected – on both sides. Within a few months they had to pack their belongings and ship them or even sell them. They were to leave their homes, which had also been their great-grandfathers’ homes, they were to give up their holy places and leave the graves of their ancestors to an uncertain fate. In Cappadocia, the villages of Mustafapasa, Urgup, Guzelyurt and Nevşehir were the ones affected most by this rule. Often more than half the population of a village had to leave the country, so that those places were hardly able to survive… The Greeks from Cappadocia were taken to Mersin on the coast in order to be shipped to Greece from there. But they had to leave the remaining part of their belongings behind in the harbor. They were actually promised that everything would be sent after them later, but corrupt officials and numberless thieves looted the crammed storehouses, so that after a few months only a fraction of the goods – or even nothing at all – arrived at their new
443:, because ‘they went underground in holes, clefts and labyrinths, as it were in dens and burrows’. This brief note was probably not based on first-hand knowledge but it might have been prompted by an awareness of the vast number of rock-cut cavities in an area to the west and southwest of Kaisareia (Kayseri in modern Turkey). Had Leo been more inclined to garrulous digression (or perhaps just better informed), he might have supplied more details of the troglodyte region and the task of bringing scholarly order to the hundreds of rock-cut monuments and other cavities in the area might have been much similar. ... At this time the region was still inhabited by a mixed population of Turkish-speaking Moslems and Greek-speaking Christians. The latter group left for Greece in the early 1920s, during an exchange of population of minorities that was part of the radical social re-ordering initiated by Kemal Atatürk; they were replaced by Turks from Greece, mostly from Thrace. In the two decades before this upheaval, however, members of the local Greek population acted as guides to
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and cliffs in the Goreme and
Soganli areas, giving Cappadocia its fame today. ... At any rate here they flourished, their churches remarkable for being cut into the rock, but interesting especially for their paintings, relatively well preserved, rich in coloring, and with an emotional intensity lacking in the formalism of Constantinople; this is one of the few places where paintings from the pre-iconoclastic period have survived. Icons continued to be painted after the
71:
382:, who may have found a refuge here, perhaps from Roman, from Iconoclast, or later from Turkish and Mongol threats. Urgup itself was the Byzantine Prokopion; the Emperor Nicephoros Phocas is said to have passed this way, after his Cilician campaign; and the neighborhood was populous enough to support, at different times, a number
348:
had been tunneled and chambered to provide underground cities where a settled if cautious life could continue during difficult times. When the
Byzantines re-established secure control between the 7th and 11th centuries, the troglodyte population surfaced, now carving their churches into rock faces
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of the area in the 11th century, and the
Ottoman conquest did not interfere with the Christian practices in Cappadocia, where the countryside remained largely Greek, with some Armenians. But decline set in and Goreme, Ihlara and Soganli lost their early importance. The Greeks finally ending their
394:"... these excavations are referred to as long ago as the campaigns of Timour Beg, one of whose captains was sent to hunt out the inhabitants of Kaisariyeh, who had taken refuge in their underground dwellings, and was killed by an arrow shot through the hole in one of
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shortly before he became emperor. Perhaps to recapture the attention of readers beginning to tire of troop movements he also offers a scrap of information about a curiosity of the region to which the emperor was heading: its inhabitants were once called
51:, Turkey, extending to a depth of approximately 85 metres (280 ft). 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
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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.
214:, a Cambridge linguist who conducted research from 1909 to 1911 on the Cappadocian Greek-speaking natives in the area, recorded such an event as having occurred in 1909: "When the news came of the recent
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Today the old houses of the Greek people are the only testimony that reminds us of them in
Cappadocia. But these silent witnesses are in danger, too. Only a few families can afford the maintenance of
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In 1963, the tunnels were rediscovered after a resident of the area found a mysterious room behind a wall in his home while renovating. Further digging revealed access to the tunnel network.
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The underground city at
Derinkuyu could be closed from the inside with large rolling stone doors. Each floor could be closed off separately.
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344:"The area became an important frontier province during the 7th century when Arab raids on the Byzantine Empire began. By now the soft
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Starting between the third and fourth levels are a series of vertical staircases, which lead to a church on the lowest (fifth) level.
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570:
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The city could accommodate up to 20,000 people and had amenities found in other underground complexes across
Cappadocia, such as
418:, a great part of the population at Axo took refuge in these underground chambers, and for some nights did not venture to sleep
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ceiling. It has been reported that this room was used as a religious school and the rooms to the left were studies.
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447:, who made several visits to the volcanic valleys and wrote his meticulous descriptions of many painted Byzantine
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In 1969, the site was opened to visitors, with about half of the underground city accessible as of 2016.
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times, the inhabitants expanded their caverns to deep multiple-level structures adding the chapels and
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In 1923, the
Christian inhabitants of the region were expelled from Turkey and moved to Greece in the
901:. World Multidisciplinary Civil Engineering-Architecture-Urban Planning Symposium 2016, WMCAUS 2016.
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Caves might have been built initially in the soft volcanic rock of the
Cappadocia region by the
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The study of
Derinkuyu underground city in Cappadocia, located in pyroclastic rock materials
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98:. Unique to the Derinkuyu complex and located on the second floor is a spacious room with a
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In the 20th century, the underground cities were still used by
Cappadocian Greeks and
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long history here with the mass exchange of populations between Turkey and Greece
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These cities continued to be used by the Christian natives as protection from the
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Modern Greek in Asia Minor: A study of dialect of Silly, Cappadocia, and Pharasa
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Nývlt, Vladimír; Musílek, Josef; Čejka, Jiří; Stopka, Ondrej (2016-01-01).
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167:(780–1180 CE). The city was connected with another underground city,
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in Turkey and is one of several underground complexes found throughout
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Bilingualism in Ancient Society: Language contact and the written word
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506:"Massive underground city found in Cappadocia region of Turkey"
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The room with the barrel-vaulted ceiling, possibly a school
628:. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 246–266.
488:"Ancient underground city once housed 20,000 people"
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those buildings ... ." — Oberheu & Wadenpohl (2010)
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Derinkuyu & The Underground Cities of Cappadocia
596:"The story behind the underground cities in Turkey"
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972:Underground Cities of Cappadocia - Myth and Truth
694:Greek: A History of the Language and Its Speakers
203:) by the natives from the Turkish Muslim rulers.
156:era, when it was heavily used as protection from
554:. Nevşehir Provincial Government. Archived from
175:, between the 5th and the 10th centuries.
758:Within the Taurus: A journey in asiatic Turkey
152:The city at Derinkuyu was fully formed in the
1049:Buildings and structures in Nevşehir Province
854:Oberheu, Susanne; Wadenpohl, Michael (2010).
307:
223:population exchange between Greece and Turkey
8:
594:Yalav-Heckeroth, Feride (21 December 2022).
571:"Turkey's underground city of 20,000 people"
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198:
943:Caves of God: Cappadocia and Its Churches
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830:. Cambridge University Press. p. 1.
1059:Tourist attractions in Nevşehir Province
1039:Archaeological sites in Central Anatolia
828:Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia
434:records a journey to Cappadocia made by
225:, whereupon the tunnels were abandoned.
801:. Cambridge University Press. pp.
479:
414:, and when the news came of the recent
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880:"8 Mysterious underground cities"
384:of bishoprics." — P.B. Kinross (1970)
905:. Vol. 161. pp. 2253–2258.
34:
7:
1044:Christianity in the Byzantine Empire
449:rock-cut churches." — Rodley (2010)
368:up to 85 metres." — Horrocks (2010)
193:, the cities were used as refuges (
112:A deep ventilation well in the city
967:Cavetowns and gorges of Cappadocia
23:A passage in the underground city.
16:Ancient underground city in Turkey
14:
723:Martin, Anthony J. (2017-02-07).
698:. John Wiley & Sons. p.
620:Swain, Simon; Adams, J. Maxwell;
210:to escape periodic persecutions.
1034:Underground cities in Cappadocia
514:. March 26, 2015. Archived from
420:above ground." — Dawkins (1916)
690:Horrocks, Geoffrey C. (2010).
1:
430:"The tenth-century historian
396:the doors." — Dawkins (1916)
189:After the region fell to the
912:10.1016/j.proeng.2016.08.824
548:"Derinkuyu underground city"
530:"Derinkuyu underground city"
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212:Richard MacGillivray Dawkins
945:. Oxford University Press.
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978:Derinkuyu Underground City
760:. J. Murray. p. 168.
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272:Nooshabad underground city
247:Churches of Göreme, Turkey
186:in the 14th century.
90:, cellars, storage rooms,
726:The Evolution Underground
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356:in 1923." — Darke (2011)
277:Özkonak underground city
858:. BoD. pp. 270–1.
445:Guillaume de Jerphanion
309:Derinkuyu Yeraltı Şehri
173:Middle Byzantine Period
729:. Simon and Schuster.
378:"Its inhabitants were
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32:Turkish pronunciation:
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986:Sometimes Interesting
658:Darke, Diana (2011).
518:on February 21, 2021.
133:century BC. When the
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903:Procedia Engineering
826:Rodley, Lyn (2010).
666:. pp. 139–140.
534:cappadociaturkey.net
36:[derˈinkuju]
1010:38.3735°N 34.7351°E
1006: /
664:Bradt Travel Guides
536:. January 26, 2014.
511:National Geographic
494:. 2 September 2019.
252:Eskigümüş Monastery
165:Arab–Byzantine wars
1054:Derinkuyu District
600:theculturetrip.com
416:massacres at Adana
380:Cappadocian Greeks
216:massacres at Adana
147:Greek inscriptions
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952:978-0-19-506000-3
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709:978-1-4051-3415-6
673:978-1-84162-339-9
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139:Phrygian language
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974:(in German)
884:History.com
622:Janse, Mark
575:www.bbc.com
441:troglodytes
163:during the
131:the 8th-7th
92:refectories
84:oil presses
1028:Categories
1001:34°44′06″E
998:38°22′25″N
856:Cappadocia
808:25 October
580:2023-10-27
474:References
461:home ... .
57:Cappadocia
921:1877-7058
410:καταφύγια
294:Footnotes
208:Armenians
200:καταφύγια
180:Mongolian
154:Byzantine
127:Phrygians
45:Derinkuyu
28:Derinkuyu
941:(1989).
795:(1916).
756:(1970).
624:(2002).
333:Malakopi
325:Μαλακοπή
306:in full
267:Mokissos
235:See also
191:Ottomans
169:Kaymakli
141:here in
63:Features
41:Elengubu
605:23 June
161:Muslims
121:History
96:chapels
88:stables
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242:Avanos
94:, and
803:16–17
282:Petra
184:Timur
143:Roman
947:ISBN
917:ISSN
860:ISBN
832:ISBN
810:2014
762:ISBN
731:ISBN
704:ISBN
668:ISBN
630:ISBN
607:2023
346:tufa
158:Arab
82:and
80:wine
907:doi
700:403
129:in
47:in
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