Some of the most interesting cultural riches in the Cappadocia Region are the 150-200 known undergruond settlements of varying sizes. However, since there are cliff settlements of different sizes, in all the towns and villages in the region covering an area of 25 000 square km., this number maybe underestimated. Most of the rock settlements of this kind were built by hollowing out the tufa from the ground.

Except the traces made by tools while hollowing , we do not have much information about the techniques they used. The name "underground city" is widely used, however, only some of them were big enough to accommodate 30000 people and can be called "underground cities" but it is possible to call other small ones as "underground villages." Since the Cappadocia region was subjected to frequent raids, the aim of building these cities was to provide people with places where they could take shelter temporarily during times of danger. The underground cities were connected by hidden passages to almost all the houses in the region. To provide greater protection from their ernemies, the people living in the region made the rooms difficult to get into and laid traps in various places of the rock dwellings. When needed, they hollowed out new rooms under the floors of the existing rooms. In this way, the passages and chambers, increasing in number, formed underground settlements.


Structural Features:

Hundreds of rooms in the underground cities were connected to each other with long passages and labyrinth-like tunnels. The corridors were made long, low and narrow, to restrict the movements of enemies. Small indentions were also hollowed out on the wall surfaces of these corridors, in which to put candles and oil lamps filled with gold-colored linseed oil. However, so far, in none of the underground settlements has an oil-press (a place used to make linseed-oil) been found. Therefore, it is assumed that linseed oil was made outside and then taken to the underground settlements. The linseed oil lamps were used not only to lit the places but also to heat them. There are millstones for defence purposes between the floors to separate the various areas. The millstones, which can be opened only from the inside, are 1-1.5 m in height, 30-50 cm in width and 200-500 kg in weight. A hole bored in the center was used to open and close the millstone, as well as to see the enemies behind it, or to attack them with arrows and spears. These millsote doors, with one or two exceptions, were carved out in situ. Another type of doors used in the underground settlements is wooden doors. These doors, not used for defense purposes, were mainly used for privacy and had two or three bolts. In the Ozkonak Underground Settlement, unlike the other ones, above the tunnels, next to the millstone, small vertical holes were hollowed out to pour hot oil on their enemies or to spear them. Another defense precaution in the underground settlements were long and narrow tunnels with traps, from 2-3 m in depths, designated to capture the enemies. The oldest floors of the underground settlements are generally the ground floors. They were ususally used as stables, due to the fact that it was difficult to take the animals to the lower floors. On the lower part of the stable walls were unevenly hollowed out pits in which to put fodder for the animals, and holes to tie them. The kitchens and the wineries are also found on the upper floors of the underground settlements, warm both in summer and in winter. The wineries, where wine was made from local grapes, were built on the upper floors so that the grapes could be transported easily. Taking the number of the kitchens into consideration, it is obvious that the kitchens were communal areas. In the kitchens were ovens called "Tandir", which are still used in towns and villages of Cappadocia. Large earthernware jars were placed in small holes in the ground next to the kitchen walls. These jars were filled in with barley, wheat, corn and various vegetables, as well as beer and wine. There are communicaton holes, not bigger than 10-15 cm in diameter, on the floors and the ceilings of the rooms between the various levels. Using these holes, underground city inhabitants did not have to walk through the long and tiring tunnels, they also could take defense precautions easily and quickly during times of danger. What they did about the toilet facilities is still unknown because in only two of the underground settlements, Tatlarin and Güzelyurt (Gelveri),are toilets found. In these settlements, there are living areas and even graveyards, to be used during the times of lengthy wars. However, whether these graves belonged to priests or important people is still unknown. Inside the underground settlements, usually connected with the lowest level, are shafts used for both ventilation and communication. These shafts were also used as wells. Some of the wells did not have access at the ground level, to prevent the enemy from poisoning the water supply. Although some researchers claim that the underground settlements were connected to each other with tunnels, no conclusive evidence to support this idea has been found to date.

History:

Although there are settlements belonging to the Prehistoric Peroid in the Cappadocia Region, it is still unknown whether these settlements were connected with the underground cities. However, the people of the Prehistoric Period must have lived in man-made rock shelters consisting of only a couple of rooms. There are a great number of high-reliefs on the rock surfaces, and monuments with inscriptions, both dating from the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. There are also well-made underground passages called "Potern", which were used in the defense systems of Hittite towns, which can be accepted as an evidence that the construction and development of underground settlements owe much to the Hittites. These hidden passages in the Hittite towns would generally be used to lay ambush for the raiding enemies to surround them from behind. If it was the Hittites who hollowed out some parts of these settlements, they did so for military purposes. Therefore, it is normal not to find any archaeological artifacts in these passages, other thoughts suggest that the artefacts were removed by later dwellers. Although the Cappadocia region was not one of the main dwelling areas of the Hittites, it is possible to see traces of the Hittite civilization in all the ancient settlements of the region. There was no reason for the Hittites not to hollow out the soft tufa or live in these places. Besides, the presence of underground settlements near the incribed rock monuments in Topada (Agilli) and Sivasa supports this idea. The rock-tombs belonging to the Roman Era, especially near Nevsehir, are situated near the underground settlements, and like those, were spread widely throughout the area. In addition to this, it is possible to see the kinds with niches both in the rooms of of the rock-tombs and in the underground settlements. This supports the idea that the people of the Roman Era also played a role in the construction of the underground settlements. Everything discovered in these underground settlements belongs to the Byzantine Peroid between the 5th and the 10th centuries A.D. The number of the underground settlements, generally used for taking refuge and for religious reasons, increased during this era. The Christian communities in the region had to take refuge closing millstone doors when they were subjected to the Arab-Sasanid raids, which started in the 7th century during the Byzantine period. The enemy, being aware of the dangers waiting for them inside, usually tried to make the local people leave their shelters by poisoning the wells. It is assumed that the Seljuks also used these underground cities as dwellings and for military purposes, because the Seljuk Caravanserais in the Cappadocia Region are 5-10 km from these underground settlements; Dolayhan Caravanserai - Til Underground Settlement, Saruhan Caravanserai - Özkonak Underground Settlement, Agzikarahan Caravanserai - Pinarbasi (Geyral) Underground Settlement.

The earlest document source regarding the underground settlements is Xenephon's book, "Anabasis". Xenephon mentioned that the people living in Anatolia and Caucasia hollowed out their houses into the ground and that these houses were connected to each other with passages. Since Xenephon lived in the 4th century B.C., it is possible to date the underground settlements to near and around that era. German Martin Urban, who did the earliest researches in the region between 1960 - 1970, dates the underground settlements to the 8th-7th centuries B.C. Consequently, in the light of all the information we have, to date the underground settlements as early as the same time as the first civilizations in the region, that is , the Prehistoric Period, is not inaccurate. To hollow out the soft tufa using simple tools would not be difficult for the people of the Prehistoric Period, who could use stone effectively. The underground settlements, consisted of few rooms at that time, were enlarged by other people living in the area in the later periods, giving them today's shape but diminishing the artifacts from the previous people. However, that the underground settlements were used most widely during the Byzantine Peroid should not be disregarded.