Tatlarin Underground City in Cappadocia

Cappadocia means the "Land of Beautiful Horses".  It was the only location on our itinerary where we stayed for two nights.  We had nine places to visit on 17 October which was the following day of our arrival. However, after our visit to the Salt Lake, our Turkish Guide, Yavuz, suggested that we visit the following places a day ahead, before we check in at Kalsedon Cave Suitesin:

-Esentepe Hill
-Goreme Open Air Museum
-The Tatlarin Underground City

I read that the Tatlarin underground city we visited, at the end of the day, was first discovered by the village people in 1975. It is located on a hill called "Kale" (Castle) near the province of Nevsehir in Cappadocia .  The site was cleaned and opened to tourism in 1991. I want to write about it first because there are lots of history about the underground cities of Cappadocia. 

This is a view of part of its exterior.

Here is a closer view from the inside.  It was the terrace of the dugout shelter according to a sign on the wall. This was where meals were eaten so as to avoid the smells and smoke from firewood used for cooking food in the kitchen.

How was it possible for the inhabitants of the time, to build such rock-hewn shelters? We were told that the rock formations there are made of volcanic ash ejected during volcanic eruptions. I referred to Wikipedia and found out that it was over the course of a twenty million year period ending in prehistoric times. Such rock known as tuff is relatively soft and porous which is why they are easy to be carved out. 

Cappadocia is well known for its strange rock formations which were created over time by the erosion of layers of solidified volcanic tuff. Since 1985, the 'rock sites of Cappadocia have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Don't you agree that this rock formation we were shown at Devrent Valley looks like a camel?

This photo was taken while we were waitng for our air balloon ride.  Look at the rock formation in the background. 

This was taken while we were up in the air in the air balloon.  

Such tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion of alternating hard and softer rock layers is known as hoodoo or tent rock, fairy chimney or earth pyramid. You can see many of them at Love Valley which is located between Avanos and Goreme road.  Looking at the phallus shaped rock, you may think otherwise, but according to what I read, it is called Love Valley because it is a popular site for marriage proposals.

I read that the dugout shelters were initially built during the eighth and seventh centuries BCE by the Phrygians.  Following are some of the reasons why people were living in them:

-to escape persecution by the pagan Roman authorities
-for protection during raids by the Sassanid Persians and by the Islamic Caliphate 

You will have a better idea of about Cappadocia and its underground cities by watching this video.  

As the site had also been occupied by Christians fleeing war and persecution, one of the rooms we checked out was actually a church. As the interior was dark, most of the photos we took were not clear. 

We could see paintings on the ceilings. 

You can view them by looking at this brochure I found at link to General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. Based on the brochure, the fact that the areas are large with churches, plenty of storages and toilets, it is possible that it was a monastery complex or military garrison instead of an underground settlement. If you check out this link to the Turkish Museums you can view 20 photos of the interior.

The sign above this entrance indicated that it leads to a tunnel.

It was dark in some of the rooms and the ceiling was of uneven height.

Some rooms were lighed up by daylight coming through from small dugout windows.  According to the signs, there is a fireplace (SOMINE) right below this window. Light was also coming through from an entrance to the terrace which also provided ventilation (HAVALANDIRMA) for the kitchen.

This entrance led to the terrace where they had their meals.

Holes were dugged out on the floor for storing containers of food or wine.

Dwellers drunk from water wells dug within the caves.

This sign, "GUVERCIN KUMESI", means pigeon coop.  But the pigeons raised there were not for food. They were essential as messengers and pets. I also discovered that the pigeons are still being reared in fairy chimneys for their manure to grow vegetables for personal consumption. They also grow grapes to trade.  

Not all rooms are opened for visits. 

In one of the rooms, we saw a wheel made of stone with a sign "MILLSTONE" above it.  There was another sign below it in Turkish that said, "SURGU TASI" which means "slide (to) move". The millstone was used as a door to block the entrance from intruders.  The hole in the centre of the wheel, allowed the inhabitants to see what was happening on the other side and to attack the intruders to prevent them from moving it. 

Yavuz showed us how the door should be rolled into place but he was not able to. The stone door can weigh as much as a ton so two people will be required to move it. If you watched this video from UNESCO, you can see how that can be accomplished with two men.  

We walked out of the site through this exit.

These are the homes of the inhabitants living near the site.

Some of the inhabitants were selling sourvenirs like this by the roadside.

There are more than 200 underground cities in the Cappadocia region. Whenever I travel, I am always on a look out for brochures on places to visit at the hotels I stayed in or at tourism centres that I may come across. I did not see them in Turkey and if there are available, they were printed in Turkish language.

However, from Goreme Mansion Cave Hotel website, I managed to find many useful information about underground cities like how and why they were constructed that way:

-it started with the digging of an air shaft to provide clean air.

-a well have to be dug at the bottom of the airshaft as they need water to soften the tuff to carve it out.

-the carved surface would harden after drying.

-the debris removed by digging was probably dumped in nearby rivers as there are no existence of large man-made mounds.

-the temperature inside is constant throughout the year at about 15°C.
-the dryness of the air and constant temperature make them ideal places for food storage.

-different sections of the city were connected to each other by narrow tunnels.

-only one man could pass through the tunnel in a crawling position as a deterrent to possible enemy attack.

-to avoid detection by the enemy, smoke from the kitchen was emitted via several little chimneys rather than a single large one. 

-the Hittites may have used the underground cities to safeguard their agricultural produce.

-thieves after grain and other kinds of food stored could enter and leave only one at a time.

-to leave through the narrow tunnels, they could only steal small quantities.  

We did not visit the underground city of Derinkuyu but the story about it is interesting. It was rediscovered in 1963 when a man knocked down a wall in his basement and stumbled across a hidden room. When you watch this video, you will get an idea how massive the underground city can be and relate it to the above information I shared about the underground cities.