How big is it, where is it and why does it exist?
The largest UNDERGROUND city in the WORLD
Imagine renovating your house: you are tearing down the walls and suddenly you find yourself among the ruins of an ancient underground city. Well, now think that this unlikely scene really happened in 1963, when a Turkish citizen turned into an archaeologist, discovering the largest underground city in the world: Derinkuyu. How big is it and why was this underground architectural gem built?
# It has existed since the eighth century but we discovered it in the 1960s
In 1963 the city of Derikuyu was discovered, but its origins date back many years. The first evidence of Derinkuyu’s existence dates back to the 7th – 8th centuries: Xenophon, an Athenian historian of the time, described the underground life of entire populations. The excavations were most likely started by the Phrygians, an Indo-European people very present on Turkish territory as early as the eighth century BC.
The years passed and the city continued to be used and expanded, but the period of greatest development was undoubtedly the Byzantine age. In fact, Christians used the underground city to take refuge from the persecutions of Constantinople, building places of worship next to the houses.
# 20.000 inhabitants at a depth of over 85 meters, on 11 levels
Derinkuyu – located in the heart of Cappadocia – was built to meet all the needs of the people who lived there, moving their daily lives underground, from children to animals. The city is 85 meters deep and stretches for kilometers, with tunnels connecting it to other Turkish cities. The area is characterized by a volcanic rock that is rather easy to work with and for this reason over 200 underground cities have been found, but Derinkuyu is undoubtedly the largest: 20.000 inhabitants divided over 11 levels of depth in which alternated houses, stables, “cellars” where wine was produced, and obviously places of worship (for example small chapels).
# How did the largest underground city in the world breathe?
20.000 people are not few, it is as if all the inhabitants of a provincial town moved to an underground city… it would really take a great organization. And apparently the people who lived there in Derinkuyu had organized themselves really well. Security was certainly not lacking, in fact the entrances to the city were closed with large stone portals weighing over 400 kilos, to prevent invaders from entering.
You are wondering: “But how did 20.000 people breathe in underground tunnels?” and the answer could be the envy of the best students of the Polytechnic. They used an excellent engineering system, thanks to which the city “breathed” through ventilation chimneys that took the air from the outside and made it circulate through the tunnels.
A destination that is certainly not recommended for those suffering from claustrophobia. Would you visit the largest underground city in the world?
ROSITA GIULIANO
