Who built underground cities and why?
In the Turkish region of Cappadocia, a city called Derinkuyu is well known. Under Derinkuyu there is a vast underground city built in antiquity and preserved to this day. Until now, it remains a mystery who and for what purpose built this city … In addition, Cappadocia is famous throughout the world for a real branched labyrinth of underground cities. The same region is historically associated with the side that suffered a crushing defeat in the famous "War of the Gods" (which began in 7050 BC) … All this makes us take a closer look at this Turkish region.
On the surface, Cappadocia looks impressively beautiful. Its quaint landscape is covered with ancient volcanic stone pillars known as "fairy chimneys". Over the centuries, one civilization replaced another here; the inhabitants of certain cultures within these natural formations carved or decorated their surface, turning them into unique monuments.
Derinkuyu city (translated from Turkish - "Deep Well") is not the only underground city in Cappadocia. There are about 50 such cities in total. Some cities may not be open yet. But the most impressive is the underground city of Derinkuyu. It was accidentally opened in 1963, when a local family was doing renovations in the house and discovered a room and a passageway leading to an underground labyrinth outside the wall of their house.
Some of the underground cities have already been fully explored, some have begun to be explored, the next are waiting in line. Derinkuyu is the most famous and most explored of this group of underground cities of antiquity. The city covers an area of about 4 square meters. km, going underground to a depth of about 55 m. Researchers believe that the city may have 20 floors, or so, however, so far they have managed to explore only 8 of them. Also, researchers and historians suggest that up to 50 thousand inhabitants could simultaneously live in Derinkuyu! According to historians, the foundation of the underground city was started by the Hittites around 2000 BC. But if you take a closer look at the details of underground cities, you realize that the Hittites could hardly have anything to do with them …
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Who and why led this underground construction is still a mystery. In the underground city, everything necessary for life support was perfectly thought out. Residents have equipped 52 ventilation shafts, even at the lower levels it is easy to breathe. Water through the same mines was discharged to a depth of 85 m, reached groundwater and served as wells (again hydraulic systems!), While simultaneously cooling the temperature, which was kept at the level of + 13 - + 15 C, even in the hottest summer months …
Derinkuyu has many underground secret passages (600 or more), which had access to the surface in various secret hidden and highly classified places.
The inhabitants of Derinkuyu took great care to protect their city from penetration and capture. In case of danger of attack, all the passages were either disguised or filled up with huge boulders, which could only be moved from the inside. It's incredible to imagine, but even if the invaders somehow managed to capture the first floors, the security and protection system was thought out in such a way that all entrances and exits to the lower floors were tightly blocked. In addition, potential invaders could easily get lost in endless meandering labyrinths, many of which deliberately ended in traps or dead ends.
Some underground tunnels were incredible in length and reached ten kilometers! This resembles similar tunnels in South America, which were associated with the same "gods" that ruled here in Anatolia, but were completely destroyed and defeated during the intra-clan conflict of highly developed rulers …
Today only a small part is accessible for inspection - about 10% of the city.
The fact that people lived here in later times is beyond doubt. But the analysis shows that human "buildings" and additions were erected on a more ancient basis, which demonstrates the exceptional level of skill of the architects. By the way, the dating of obsidian tools takes us back to the 7th-8th millennia BC, and even to earlier, Paleolithic times - when there was no smell of Hittites here yet …
Myths and legends, as in South America, link the existence of these underground cities with certain "dwarfs" who erected them in a very fast time. This is indirectly confirmed by narrow manholes between underground halls and rooms. Unfortunately, there are simply no other, more solid data (capable of telling about the "gods" themselves or the people who lived here benefiting from them).
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