In 1963, a man in Turkey bought a house and started renovating it. While exploring the property, he stumbled upon an unfamiliar room. He soon discovered several more rooms. To his surprise, he discovered that they were all part of the great underground city of Derinkuyu. When archaeologists began working there, they confirmed that the rooms originally discovered were only a small part of a much more complex and branching system of chambers.
Excavations continued for several years, and by 1969 the site was open to tourists. However, only a part of the chambers was accessible to the public, while a much larger part remained closed to all but specialists.
Derinkuyu is simply an amazing complex that has existed for thousands of years and it is completely unclear how the ancients managed to build this meticulously planned underground city. The architects of that time must have been very careful when building underground rooms and corridors. They managed to ensure sufficient strength of the columns so that the upper floors would not collapse under the weight of the lower ones.
Without the precise calculations of the ancient builders, the underground city would have collapsed. However, archaeologists have not found any evidence of a collapse in Derinkuya to date. The underground city has a total of eight floors, which reach a depth of one hundred meters. Some artifacts found at the site suggest that it was built by the Phrygians in the 8th-7th century. century before Christ. However, Hittite-style seals discovered at the site point to a much later date – 1900-1200 BC.
The underground complex is located above the town of the same name, Derinkuyu. The city is said to have at least 600 entrances scattered in different parts, accessible from the surface. In the underground Derinkuyu there were churches, warehouses, wine cellars, stables and even a school. If you go down to the third and fourth floor, you can find the church. Access to most floors was facilitated by a complex staircase system.
Not on every floor, but quite often, there were wells with water. It was a preventive measure against poisoning the population. If the water in one well was unsuitable for use, the others were always available. In addition, ventilation openings were made on each floor for the supply of fresh air. There are about 15 thousand ventilation shafts in the entire Derinkuyu underground complex.
There is a hypothesis that this ancient city was not intended for permanent residence. It served as a refuge. Although it could undoubtedly accommodate thousands of people and domestic animals, it seems more like a place of refuge than a place for permanent and long-term residence. It is built very skillfully, safely and durable. The city had numerous passages and interconnected rooms, enabling people to move freely, work and perform religious ceremonies.
It was well designed, with niches for oil lamps, stables, chimneys, storerooms and water tanks. There were even special areas where the bodies of the deceased were stored until it was safe to bury them on the surface.
The underground Derinkuyu was well protected. Heavy stone doors were installed in various parts, which ensured the quick closing of the passage in the event of an attack. Interestingly, a door weighing hundreds of kilograms could easily be operated by one person. Each floor and passageway could be securely closed in case of emergency, similar to compartments on a submarine.
Official historians believe that the purpose of building this city was to protect the inhabitants from the invasion that took place around 800 BC.
However, many scientists do not agree with this.
The city was too large, too complex an engineering project to serve as a mere defense against the attacks of hostile neighbors. Some theorists suggest that the intricate Derinkuyu system was created to survive and protect against attacks by enemies who control the airspace. It was logical to go underground and remain unnoticed from the air. It is unlikely that anyone could have guessed that 20 thousand people were hiding under the seemingly abandoned city.
Despite this, there are still many unanswered questions about Derinkuy, and it is unlikely that we will ever get answers to them. Who built this huge underground city? What hostile force forced tens of thousands of people to hide and live underground?
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Source: HIS Education