Posted on 12/15/2008 9:37:10 AM PST by BGHater
In 1963, an inhabitant of Derinkuyu (in the region of Cappadocia, central Anatolia, Turkey), knocking down a wall of his house cave, discovered amazed that behind it was a mysterious room that he had never seen, and this led him room to another and another and another to it ... By chance he had discovered the underground city of Derinkuyu, whose first level could be excavated by the Hittites around 1400 BC
Archaeologists began to explore this fascinating underground city abandoned. It managed to forty meters deep, but is believed to have a fund of up to 85 meters.
At present 20 levels have been discovered underground. Only eight can be visited at the highest levels; others are partially blocked or restricted to archaeologists and anthropologists who study Derinkuyu.
The city was used as a refuge for thousands of people living in the basement for protection from the frequent invasions suffered Cappadocia, at various times of their occupation, and by the early Christians.
The enemies, aware of the danger that enclosed inside the city, usually the people who were trying to leave the area by poisoning wells.
The interior is striking: the underground galleries of Derinkuyu (where there is room for at least 10,000 people) could hang on three strategic points moving circular stone door. These heavy rocks that shut down the aisle prevented the entry of the enemies. Were between 1 to 1.5 meters in height, about 50 centimeters wide and weighing up to 500 Kilos.
In the picture above shows how the circular stone door closed the aisle, isolating the inhabitants of the subsoil
In addition, Derinkuyu has a tunnel about 8 miles long that leads to another underground city of Cappadocia, Kaymakli.
Of the underground cities of this area spoke the Greek historian Xenophon. In his work Anábasis explained that people who lived in Anatolia had dug their homes and were living in underground shelters large enough for a family, your pets and supplies of food stored.
Recovered at the stables have been located, dining, a church (cruciform plan of 20 by 9 meters with a ceiling of more than three meters high), kitchens (yet ennegrecidas by soot from the fires which was lit for cooking ), Presses for wine and olive oil, wine, food shops, a school, numerous rooms and even a bar.
The city benefited from the existence of an underground river, water wells and had a wonderful ventilation system (52 wells have been discovered vents) that amazes engineers today.
Not new, maybe pass around to the peeps. Nice pics.
So, did Dr. Rodger Bentley find any mole people?
|
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks BGHater. Not sure there has ever been a topic about this anyway, so pingin' the peeps. And the chocolate bunnies as well. |
||
|
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing!
Cool pics, but who wrote the story and descriptions? Yoda?
It’s no mystery-—and a travesty that the Turks are making money off their savagery
Been there— hiding places for Christians hiding from muslims both Arabs and Turks.
the diagram shows four vertical pipe looking things which appear to originate at ground level and have water flowing out at the bottom into a reservoir.
I wonder if those structures at ground level were baths/toilets or if the diagram is really showing water pipes sucking up water for wells.
If 10,000 people lived in there, and there were no toilets...
many thanks, I’ve always been fascinated by this underground complex and wondered who originally constructed it.
Interesting. I wonder if the water table had simply continued to fall and the inhabitants built the city to gain access to the water table. As it descended, so too did their excavations, while coincidentally providing secondary living spaces. They still needed food.
The underground cities of Cappadocia are worthy of a visit. Let’s take Derinkuyu for example. The one time home of up to 20,000 people, it’s 18 storeys descend into the Anatolian plateau 50 kms south of Goreme. Stop and think about that for a while. A large, market town sized community digging a settlement out to guarantee themselves a degree of protection.
There are 8 floors of tunnels open to the visitor and this is enough to give you an idea of the sensation of living in a labyrinth like this. The ventilation shafts, circular and descending from the surface to the lower levels, bring home the scale of the enterprise while the massive circular doors - which were rolled across the passages and sealed from the inside - remind you of the motivation for moving underground in the first place.
Derinkuyu is by no means the only such city you can visit here. There are actually 40 or so subterranean settlements in the area although only a few are open to the public. Kaymakli, 10 kilometers to the north of Derinkuyu, is smaller and less excavated but 5 levels are accessible and the experience is pretty much the same. Not For The Claustrophobic.
http://www.hitit.co.uk/tosee/cappy/ucities.html
“In addition, Derinkuyu has a tunnel about 8 miles long that leads to another underground city of Cappadocia, Kaymakli.”
Kaymakli Underground City, Cappadocia
http://www.goreme.com/kaymakli-underground-city.php
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
