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,
Actually, whenever I saw the photos, I was excited to visit the city, the hotel manager organized car for us. I did not tell my family about it. Once we went through the first underground tunnel( barely you can move), I felt my heart beating unusually, so I asked the tour guide( ask someone at the ticket office, 30-50 TL…
I've rated this as very good even though this is a claustrophobic experience for me. We visited at a busy time and you are literally in smaller and smaller passages sometimes on hands and knees which grind to a halt as it gets very busy. The place is fascinating all the same.
Unbelievable !
Another must see place in Turkey.
This is an ancient city under the surface. It is really tight there so be prepared to have a lot of gymnastic inside. You can reach 4 flows below and so there are a lot of stairs, holes and curves.
The air is not that good so if you have some problems keep in…
From surface, it looks like normal sand dune area. But once you are inside, it looks like a habitat of someone living underground. There are proper underground tunnels hosting many families during the Roman occupations, complete with stone doors, like a hide-out sanctuary. The interesting part of this underground city is its ventilation system. Smoke from cooking can disperse out…
Do not visit if you have knee or back problems or do not like closed in spaces. My guide did warn me of all of this and said there is a secret exit after you go into the first set of rooms. I wanted to plunge ahead so we did. Being very tall I found that I had to be…
This is incredible from historical point of view. How it was designed and built thousands years ago, with water supplies lying underneath and vents to provide air, with all the storage and living spaces. We never felt claustrophobic or that there was not enough air. We visited two underground cities.
Kaymakli and Derinkuyu Underground cities, each one is worth seeing..
Kaymakli, Turkey in the area of Cappadocia is a unique spot with dwellings you will never see again. Plus you can go hot air ballooning over them to get a better view. This is an amazing place. It also has great hiking. We went in Sept. and avoided the heat and some of the crowds.
The history of these underground cities is just fascinating – the amount of time and effort that must have gone into creating and maintaining these cities is hard to imagine. What a great strategy though, if you want to avoid an invading army or other persecuting force – how better than to disappear underground! The sheer size and complexity of…
Kaymakli underground city tour is amazing, beautiful, mindblowing, educational and is an excellent thing to do !