Kaymaklı Underground City is contained within the citadel of Kaymaklı in the Cappadocia Turkey. First opened to tourists in 1964, the village is about 19 km from Nevşehir, on the Nevşehir-Niğde road. The ancient name was Enegup. The houses in the village are constructed around the nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. The tunnels are still used today as storage areas, stables, and cellars. The underground city at Kaymaklı differs from Derinkuyu Underground City in terms of its structure and layout. The tunnels are lower, narrower, and more steeply inclined. Of the four floors open to tourists, each space is organized around ventilation shafts. This makes the design of each room or open space dependent on the availability of ventilation.
A stable is located on the first floor. The small size of the stable could indicate that other stables exist in the sections not yet opened. To the left of the stable is a passage with a millstone door. The door leads into a church. To the right of the stables are rooms, possibly living spaces.
Located on the second floor is a church with a nave and two apses. Located in front of the apses is a baptismal font, and on the sides along the walls are seating platforms. Names of people contained in graves here coincide with those located next to the church, which supports the idea that these graves belonged to religious people. The church level also contains some living spaces.
The third floor contains the most important areas of the underground compound: storage places, wine or oil presses, and kitchens. The level also contains a remarkable block of andesite with relief textures. Recently it was shown that this stone was used as a pot to melt copper. The stone was hewn from an andesite layer within the complex. In order for it to be used in metallurgy, fifty-seven holes were carved into the stone. The technique was to put copper ore into each of the holes (about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in diameter) and then to hammer the ore into place. The copper was probably mined between Aksaray and Nevsehir. This mine was also used by Asilikhoyuk, the oldest settlement within the Cappadocia Region.
The high number of storage rooms and areas for earthenware jars on the fourth floor indicates some economic stability. Kaymaklı is one of the largest underground settlements in Cappadocia the region. The large area reserved for storage in such a limited area appears to indicate the need to support a large population underground. Currently only a fraction of the complex is open to the public.
Kaymaklı underground city ( Turkish: Kaymakli yeraltı şehri ). Admission TL15; 8am-5pm, last admission 4.30pm) features a maze of tunnels and rooms carved eight levels deep into the earth (only four are open). As this is the most convenient and popular of the underground cities, you should get here early in July and August to beat the tour groups, or from about 12.30pm to 1.30 pm when they break for lunch.
Kaymakli Underground City, Cappadocia,
So fun to walk through the cave, we did do some adventuring off the beaten path (meaning in the dark caves) which we were later told was dangerous but we were fine with a iPhone flashlight app.
When touring Capadokia, the Kaymakli Underground city cannot be missed. This complex of caves and tunnels is breathtaking! But, just one advice: if you have any health problem, skip it. Sometimes it is very narrow, difficult to go through the tunnels and smalls passages. Watch your heads always. Tall people be careful.
Through the small door, walking down the narrow tunnels, time has ingrained both the wall and ground. Sandy grains are loosely covering the floor makes it slippery to walk on the inclining slop. Caves are subdivided into many small chambers and stairs led to many different directions, makes it an underground labyrinth.
This was a place, underground, where early Christians hid from their prosecutors… and it's underground – not a place for those that can not take "closeness". It's one way in and one way out and they do not cross. Once you are in you can't turn around and go out; you have to continue on. Lighting is very limited so…
This underground "city" is part of the area's Christian history during times of persecution.
The effort, ingenuity and tenacity of these people defy imagination.
How they managed to live and survive is seen via the excellent excavation /preservation carried out by Turkey.
Some tunnels are tiny and quite lengthy, so if you visit then be aware that one must semi…
Even though I had some concerns with being underground, I was curious to visit this popular sight. At first, after each short corridor, you step into a large room which was ok. Then corridors got smaller and longer, plus as the corridors are filled with tourists, you are stuck at where you are. It probably triggered panic attack for me,…
We had a great time wandering around the underground city and were lucky that there were not many other people around at the time otherwise I can see how it could get very crowded very quickly. It's incredible to think that people actually lived down in this city (even just for short periods of time).
Seeing this underground city is a unique and most interesting experience. It is a tough physical walk, especially if you are tall, but worth the effort. Some passageways are low and narrow, and often require bending. Use a guide to get the most out of it because there is so much history.
I couldn't believe that this cave can enter 5,000 people. but I have look around there, I thought capacity was enough to enter 5,000 people. I think, this cave was well-made in view of engineering, because of water supply, air supply, trap, etc. Because of narrow path, sometimes it was difficult to pass in the cave.
Kaymakli Underground City – one of the largest underground cities here, said to have existed since Hittite period and gradually expanded over the centuries. It is an interesting experience to see how the ancient people adapt to living in Central Anatolia, a crossroad of invading armies.