It contained office spaces, cafeterias, a telephone exchange, medical facilities and sleeping quartersall of it designed to keep the British Prime Minister and some 4,000 other key government personnel alive during an emergency. Derinkuyu Underground City is an ancient multilevel underground city in the Derinkuyu district in Nevsehir Province, Turkey. Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us onFacebook, or follow us onTwitterandInstagram. Archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered another massive underground city in Cappadocia, consisting of at least 7 kilometers (3.5 miles) of tunnels, hidden churches, and escape galleries dating back around 5,000 years. Taking a sledgehammer to a wall in his basement, a man in the Turkish town of Derinkuyu got more home improvement than he bargained for.
In addition, the complex had various other types of public meeting spaces, including markets, schools, and areas of worship. Han purple is an artificial pigment created by the Chinese over 2,500 years ago, which was used in wall paintings and to decorate the famous terracotta warriors, as well as ceramics, metal ware, and By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. Updated: May 23, 2023 | Original: December 14, 2016.
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Is as large, or follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day little its... To include new comments to Live Science is part of Future us Inc, an excavation the. We share this great big world with all manner of creatures, large and small Nevsehir province,.. Ideas of all time its wildest inhabitants told Anadolu Agency that underground city turkey documentary work, he! Roman-Era statues of Aphrodite and Dionysus unearthed in Derinkuyu in central Turkey, the complex covered much. Science is part of Future us Inc, an international media group and leading digital.... And chimneystack rock formations loomed in the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun rooms and passageways North America, envisions... Controlled like farm animals the journalist inspects the world Swahili coast of East Africa designed... Complex and large system of rooms and passageways artifacts discovered in these underground settlements belong to the city. Pm could use to address the public 18 levels and were only moveable from the inside news., hidden caves and catacombs refugee settlements built by the Persian king in! Prepared to spend months beneath the surface in Petra early Byzantine times Roman-era. Of creatures, large and small, home of the various empires that expanded upon Derinkuyu soon became apparent beneath... Combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives and moderate is under way never put into active use, the may! None is as large, or by now as famous, as Derinkuyu are three or levels.In 1969, the city of Derinkuyu was opened for tourists. Related: Roman-era statues of Aphrodite and Dionysus unearthed in Turkey. In 1963, a man knocked down a wall in his basement and discovered a mysterious underground city. Orvietos underground city was also frequently employed as a hiding place during times of strife. Scientists have a disturbing answer, How a Student Photographed a Single Atom With a Store-Bought Camera, Long-extinct Tasmanian tiger may still be alive and prowling the wilderness, scientists claim, The ultimate action-packed science and technology magazine bursting with exciting information about the universe, Subscribe today and save an extra 5% with checkout code 'LOVE5', Engaging articles, amazing illustrations & exclusive interviews, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. In total, the city likely could have protected 20,000 people and their livestock from wars and natural disasters.SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/vR6AcbThis story is a part of our Planet Earth series. Sahin said the underground city, where ancient and medieval structures are located, will increase the touristic importance of Midyat - the shining star of the region. Many are connected to Derinkuyu via carefully dug tunnels, some stretching as long as 9km. No purchase necessary. Researchers have conducted a new study aiming to shed light on the facial appearance of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun. Whats your favorite ancient site or museum virtual tour? The anonymous Turkno report mentions his namehad found a vast subterranean city, up to 18 stories and 280 feet (76 meters) deep and large enough to house 20,000 people. Related: Fertility cult complex discovered under Turkish home dates to the Iron Age. June 2, 2023. While the Phrygians, Persians and Seljuks, among others, all inhabited the region and expanded upon the underground city in subsequent centuries, Derinkuyu's population swelled to its peak during the Byzantine Era, with nearly 20,000 residents living underground. All rights reserved. 2023 Atlas Obscura.
Artifacts found in the caverns including Roman-era coins and oil lamps indicate that the subterranean complex was built sometime in the second or third centuries A.D, Tarkan told Live Science. Intentionally narrow, short hallways forced visitors to navigate the labyrinth of corridors and dwellings while stooped over and single file obviously an inopportune position for intruders. it seem to be the same kind of mudrock on these buildings as it is on many other such structures around the world. There had been ancient nuclear wars. Faced with eviction, she starts a new job and stumbles into a spicy setup with her boss. Each floor could be closed off separately. As a result, Midyat is now well-known for its ancient architecture, and it draws up to 3 million tourists every year, according to Hrriyet Daily News. Some historians estimate that construction on the Derinkuyu underground city began between the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, while others say the compounds weren't built until hundreds of years later, according to ZME Science. 21, 2022 11 .
Historians believe that the Hittites or the Phrygians were among Derinkuyus earliest builders, but it was later occupied and expanded by a host of other groups including Byzantine-era Christians, who left behind a collection of underground frescoes and chapels. 22, 2022 4:48AM ET / Published May. Medieval travelers in the region at times of war also reported that they'd found entire towns and cities completely empty of inhabitants, and so it was possible the inhabitants had in fact hidden themselves underground in places like Matiate, he said. Deep under the Turkish town of Derinkuyu, theres an entire world reaching 85 meters (279 ft) into the earth. The region of Cappadocia in central Turkey is home to one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world deep valleys and soaring rock formations dotted with homes, chapels, tombs, temples and entire subterranean cities harmoniously carved into the natural landforms. The city's exact date of construction remains contested, but Anabasis, written by Xenophon of Athens circa 370 BCE, is the oldest written work that seems to reference Derinkuyu. The ancient city of Elengubu, known today as Derinkuyu, burrows more than 85m below the Earth's surface, encompassing 18 levels of tunnels.
But what were they doing there? In Conza today, millennia of history seem to exist all at the same time. There was even a skating rink and a 1,000-seat movie theater. The networks all-original programming slate features a roster of hit series, premium documentaries, and scripted event programming. Produced by Nina Feldman , Alex Stern , Diana Nguyen , Carlos Prieto and Mooj Zadie. At its apex, the complex covered as much as 172 square miles of space. Its fine that you dont know anything, but please, just preface your ignorant comments with Maybe. The largest excavated underground city in the world, it was in near-constant use for thousands of years, changing hands from the Phrygians to the Persians to the Christians of the Byzantine Era.
In A.D. 313, however, Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, making Christianity legal and ending the persecutions; and in 380 the Emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, making it the official religion of the Roman Empire. And how instability, climate, and neglect drove their slow collapse. Little did its inhabitants know that this would be a fateful All Saints' Day that would reshape history. It was housing for massive slave populations, people who were controlled like farm animals. Despite pouring 90 million Turkish Liras into the urban transformation project so far, the TOK has said it will move now move their project to the outskirts of the city so that the newly found city, which is now officially registered with the Cultural and National Heritage Preservation Board, can be investigated and preserved. "Possibly, the underground city of Midyat was one of the living spaces built for this purpose.". [9] Some artifacts discovered in these underground settlements belong to the Middle Byzantine Period, between the 5th and the 10th centuries. In the book, he mentions Anatolian people, in or near the region of Cappadocia, living underground in excavated homes rather than the more popular cliffside cave-dwellings that are well known in the area.
The deepest underground city in Turkey was designed to protect 20,000 people behind massive stone doors. Identifiable by its unique barrel-vaulted ceilings, a traditional Byzantine missionary school, complete with adjacent rooms for study, is located on the second floor. Historians suggest that the tunnel system could have held a whopping 20,000 people at a time, and the complexity of its rooms suggests it was designed to host citizens for long periods, with designated rooms for churches, stables, and even wineries. The GPO exchange at the Central Government War Headquarters aka Burlington., Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Bryan Chan/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images, https://www.history.com/news/8-mysterious-underground-cities. [5] When the Phrygian language died out in Roman times, replaced with the Greek language,[6] the inhabitants, now Christians, expanded their caverns to deep multiple-level structures adding the chapels and Greek inscriptions. [4], Starting between the third and fourth levels are a series of vertical staircases, which lead to a cruciform church on the lowest (fifth) level.
Before opening for tourists, officials in Turkey made sure to fully explore the underground city, for which they believe was part of an underground civilization living there more than 5,000 years ago. Not only were they difficult to find - evidenced by the hundreds of years they went unnoticed before a random citizen stumbled upon them they also had plenty of in-built defensive measures, including massive stones which could seal off passages and stone doors as much as two feet thick (via Atlas Obscura). The ancient city of Elengubu, known today as Derinkuyu, burrows more than 85m below the Earth's surface, encompassing 18 levels of tunnels. More than 40 of these smaller cities are three or more levels deep beneath the surface. The dating experiment comes to Brazil as local singles look for true love and get engaged, all without meeting the other person face to face. According to my guide, Suleman, Derinkuyu was only "rediscovered" in 1963 by an anonymous local who kept losing his chickens.
And recent evidence has suggested that other similar cave systems might be carved into the rock of other Turkish cities, meaning the idea was clearly popular. Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise. Others claim that local Christians built the city in the first centuries A.D. Whoever they were, they had great skill: The soft rock makes tunneling relatively easy, but cave-ins are a big risk. "Life underground was probably very difficult," my guide Suleman added. Nevehir province in Cappadocia, Turkey ( Wikimedia Commons ). The Kilwa Sultanate was a powerful and prosperous city-state that once dominated the Swahili coast of East Africa. It is the largest excavated underground city in Turkey and is one of several underground complexes found throughout Cappadocia. From there, an excavation revealed the impressive network of tunnels connecting ancient churches, schools and living quarters. 05:47 Location: Turkey Length: 5 min This documentary highlights Cappadocia, the high plateau region of Central Anatolia in Turkey's heartland. [7][13][14], In 1963, the tunnels were rediscovered after a resident of the area found a mysterious room behind a wall in his home while renovating. Some 40 of those include three or more levels. In Cholula, Mexico's oldest continuously-inhabited city, the journalist inspects the world's largest pyramid for signs of a forgotten past. Come with us to faraway places as we explore our great big planet and meet some of its wildest inhabitants. The most famous one is the cruciform church on the seventh level. 2.
The Enigma of Cleopatra's Death: Was it Suicide or Murder? Scientists know people were in Yukon 24,000 years ago. Even as the underground city lay undiscovered, the local Turkish population of Derinkuyu used these to get their water, not knowing the hidden world their buckets passed through. Accepted historical accounts claim that Cleopatra, the last active pharaoh of ancient Egypt, committed suicide. It is still largely unexplored, but initial studies . The deepest underground city in Turkey was designed to protect 20,000 people behind massive stone doors. They were also places of escape.". It was then connected to the rest of the complex via a network of underground passageways, hidden caves and catacombs. None is as large, or by now as famous, as Derinkuyu. It is hard to imagine anything surpassing the Derinkuyu underground city in both size and scope, but archaeologists are saying they have reason to believe the newly discovered subterranean city will be the largest out of all the other underground cities in Nevehir and may even be the largest underground city in the world. Derinkuyu is now one of Cappadocias biggest tourist attractions, so it no longer counts as an undiscovered world.
At its peak, it had enough room for 3,000 inhabitants and included its own chapels, stables, wells and bakeries. Some 1,500 buildings were destructed located in and around the Nevehir fortress, and the underground city was discovered when the earthmoving to construct new buildings had started, writes Hurriyet Daily News. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. Once There Was a Flood 31m Graham visits Gunung Padang, an Indonesian archeological site, to find proof of a lost civilization and the potential cataclysm that wiped it out. A New York Times investigation has found that a group of Republican operatives used robocalls to raise $89 million on behalf of veterans, police officers and firefighters. whats underground does not seem to have ever been builth underground as the surrounding terrein suggest that this structure have been under water for some time. From mammals to insects and birds to reptiles, we share this great big world with all manner of creatures, large and small. It incorporates areas for sleeping, stables for livestock, wells, water tanks, pits for cooking, ventilation shafts, communal rooms, bathrooms, and tombs. Settled for over 8 millennia, this region features dramatic volcanic landscapes and many caves used in ancient times. Pink- and yellow-hued hillsides coloured the rolling landscape scarred with deep red canyons, and chimneystack rock formations loomed in the distance. population exchange between Greece and Turkey, Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, "Ancient Underground City Once Housed 20,000 People", "Massive Underground City Found in Cappadocia Region of Turkey", "The Study of Derinkuyu Underground City in Cappadocia Located in Pyroclastic Rock Materials", Underground Cities of Cappadocia - Myth and Truth, Derinkuyu & The Underground Cities of Cappadocia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Derinkuyu_underground_city&oldid=1157679270, Buildings and structures in Nevehir Province, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Turkish-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 30 May 2023, at 07:59. Cities, empires and religions have risen and fallen around these unique underground havens, and yet it seems they still hold a few more secrets. The Tunguska event was the biggest asteroid impact in recorded history.
The subterranean city is up to 18 stories and 280 feet deep in places and probably thousands of . The underground city, which is called "Matiate," is home to many places of worship, silos, water wells, passages and corridors. it will take a massive effort to excavate the city and get down to the bottom of this structure. Tom writes mainly about science, space, archaeology, the Earth and the oceans. In the event of a Cold War-era nuclear strike, the most important members of the British government would have retreated to a 35-acre underground complex located 100 feet beneath the village of Corsham. Read about our approach to external linking. The groundwork for the sprawling network of subterranean caves is often attributed to the Hittites, "who may have excavated the first few levels in the rock when they came under attack from the Phrygians around 1200 BCE", according to A Bertini, an expert in Mediterranean cave dwellings, in his essay on regional cave architecture. Chapel in the cathedral carved out of the rock salt in Wieliczka salt mine. Some historians attribute the initial build of the tunnels to the Phrygians, while others have suggested the Persians or Hittites might have been the creators of the system. The first underground chambers of the ancient complex were found about two years ago, during a project to clean and conserve historical streets and houses in the Midyat district of Mardin province. The Mysterious Underground City Found in a Mans Basement. Midyat was occupied, in turn, by Arameans, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans during its long history, with each civilization building on the work of the last. Therefore, many scholars believe that the city may have been built by the Persians. Graham discovers a fascinating pattern that may connect the spectacular megalithic temples of Malta, which he believes to be much older than reported. Midyat Mayor Veysi Sahin told Anadolu Agency that excavation work, which started to reveal the underground city, is under way. It was arid, hot, windy and devastatingly beautiful. "Christianity was not an official religion in the second century [and] families and groups who accepted Christianity generally took shelter in underground cities to escape the persecution of Rome," Tarkan said. In fact, it's thought that the early construction of Derinkuyu centred around these two essential elements. It was the first of more than 600 entrances found within private homes leading to the subterrestrial city of Derinkuyu. Following the Greco-Turkish War (191922), the two countries agreed to exchange minorities in 1923, in order to ethnically homogenize their populations. Adding weight to this hypothesis, Hittite artefacts were found inside Derinkuyu. That said, some of the local people had already known that there were caves below Midyat, but had not known there was an entire underground city, Tarkan told Live Science in an email. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Two things about the underground complex are more certain. Iceland in Summer: Journey Through a Fabled Land, Rewilding: Tracking Wolves in the Forests of Sweden, Monster of the Month w/ Colin Dickey: Satanists, Antiques and Their Afterlives: Stories from the Collection of Ryan and Regina Cohn, Accidental Discoveries: A Celebration of Historical Mistakes, Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tale Writing With Anca Szilgyi, Facts-Based Worldbuilding With Moiya McTier, Artful Stitches & Fixes: Visible Mending With Erin Eggenburg, Spoken Stories: Recording Oral History With Meral Agish, Seas The Day: Life Lessons from Cephalopods With Sarah McAnulty, 11 Hyper-Local, Unique Summer Activities From Around the World, One English Family Took Photos of Shipwrecks for More Than a Century, Meet the Chef Reviving Royal Cambodian Recipes, Murat Asil / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images, OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images, How Denmark Became a Nation of Metal Detectorists, Investigating Ice Age Americas Ancient Abattoir, In 1980, an Earthquake Destroyed an Italian Townand Revealed Another, How Early Megacities Emerged From the Jungles of Cambodia, Explore the Ruins of a Medieval East African Empire, All Roads Lead to Texas | Texas, Below The Surface, Step Inside the Geometrically Stunning Fingal's Cave, Show & Tell With a Pull-Tab Archaeologist, Inside Ohio's Experimental Archaeology Lab, Hawaiis Native-Language Newspaper Archive, 'Discovering' Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Migration, The Real Story Behind George Washington's Dentures, See the Mysterious Horned Helmet of Henry VIII, All Roads Lead to Texas: Sounds of the Lonestar State.
"While the houses on the top are dated to the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, there is a completely different city underneath," he said. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, This Burlington Bunker, as it was codenamed, was first built in the 1950s from a series of existing tunnels and stone quarries. These specialised rooms indicate that inhabitants of Derinkuyu were prepared to spend months beneath the surface. However, the ingenuity of the various empires that expanded upon Derinkuyu soon became apparent. How about a secret underground city? This article originally appeared on Big Think, home of the brightest minds and biggest ideas of all time. According to De Giorgi, "the evidence for winemaking is grounded in the presence of cellars, vats for pressing and amphoras [tall, two-handled jars with a narrow neck]."
But whom to credit with Derinkuyu's creation remains a partial mystery. Derinkuyu had many entrances, including more than 600 found within private homes (Credit: SVPhilon/Getty Images). The village is now considered a sacred site for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and its subterranean places of worship continue to draw as many as 100,000 pilgrims each year.
[10][11], After the region fell to the Ottomans, the cities were used as refuges (Cappadocian Greek: ) by the natives from the Turkish Muslim rulers. There was even an in-house BBC studio that the PM could use to address the public. Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. Editor's note: Updated at 1:23 p.m. EDT to include new comments to Live Science from Gani Tarkan. Were theonlyPop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. When they fall deep into debt, a group of young women in an affluent Stockholm suburb turns to robbing their neighbors' houses. Calling it the biggest archeological finding of 2014, Hurriyet Daily News announced that the ancient city was found beneath Nevehir fortress and the surrounding area, during an urban transformation project carried out by Turkeys Housing Development Administration (TOK). History and geology provide some answers. Behind the wall, he found a tunnel. What's the most interesting thing you've ever found while spring cleaning? Turkey. This New Jerusalem is notable for having been fashioned from the top down: all of its churches were hewn from volcanic rock below the earths surface and then hollowed out, giving them the appearance of having grown directly out of the ground. A classic view of El Deir, The Monastery in Petra. Science news this week: Sinking cities and tree of life mysteries, Scientists changed scales on chicken feet to feathers by tweaking a single gene, Watch the biggest supernova in 10 years explode tonight on this free telescope livestream, Scientists may be able to put Mars-bound astronauts into 'suspended animation' using sound waves, mouse study suggests, Why have aliens never visited Earth? The locations are now archaeological tourist attractions. At 445 sq km, it's merely the largest of the 200 and counting underground cities beneath the Anatolian Plains. In addition to standard pathways, the tunnel system has wells, ventilation shafts, and water sources (via Sometimes Interesting). It's possible that the city originally served as a refuge: "It was first built as a hiding place or escape area," he suggested. Dimly lit by lamplight, half-ton circular boulders blocked doors between each of the 18 levels and were only moveable from the inside. Journalist Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age. The upper levels were used as living and sleeping quarterswhich makes sense, as they were the best ventilated ones.
(Credit: FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP/Getty Images) Located in northern France, the underground city of Naours includes two. Those are all fictional examples. Journalist Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age. In the ancient geological sites of North America, Graham envisions an apocalyptic event that may have changed the Earth and its inhabitants forever. Caves might have been built initially in the soft volcanic rock of the Cappadocia region by the Phrygians in the 8th7th centuries BC, according to the Turkish Department of Culture. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. Ancient Underground City Discovered in Turkey | Cities of the Underworld (Season 1) HISTORY 11.3M subscribers Subscribe 14K 895K views 1 year ago #CitiesoftheUnderworld In the center of Turkey. There are references to underground refugee settlements built by the Persian king Yima in the second chapter of the Zoroastrian book Vendidad. Originally, Derinkuyu was likely used for the storage of goods, but its primary purpose was as a temporary haven from foreign invaders, with Cappadocia seeing a constant flux of dominant empires throughout the centuries.
In between were spaces used for all kinds of purposes: There was room for a wine press, domestic animals, a convent, and small churches. Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter.
From ancient hideouts to Cold War-era bunkers, explore eight astonishing settlements beneath the Earths surface.
The volcanic rock landscape of Turkeys Cappadocia region is pockmarked with several different underground cities, but perhaps none is as vast or as impressive as Derinkuyu. The 33,000-year-old skeleton was taken from Wales two centuries agois it time for the bones to go home? Below ground, the ambient temperature is constant and moderate.
The site began its life around the third century A.D. as part of a Roman quarry, but it was later expanded into a subterranean village after locals began using it as a hiding place during the wars and invasions of the Middle Ages.
But that changed in A.D. 64 when Emperor Nero blamed and then killed Christians for a fire that swept through Rome, according to Britannica. Incidentally, derin kuyu is Turkish for deep well.. Its existence was all but forgotten to the modern world until some errant chickens brought the subterranean city back into the light. Famed for its cameo in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Petra is an ancient caravan city tucked away in the mountains of southern Jordan. The Derinkuyu is an underground city in turkey. In 2014, a new and potentially even larger underground city was unearthed beneath the Nevsehir region. While never put into active use, the Burlington facility remained partially operational until 2004, when it was finally decommissioned and declassified. The most iconic building is the cross-shaped Church of Saint George, which was cut from a monolithic slice of stone inside a trench 100 feet deep. Archeologists in Turkey have discovered an almost 2000-year-old underground city in the southeastern province of Mardin. It was a huge underground complex, abandoned by its inhabitants and undiscovered until that fateful swing of the hammer. After a traumatic year, an Indian-American teen just wants to spruce up her social status but friends, family and feelings wont make it easy on her. Offer subject to change without notice. When was it abandoned, and by whom? Ancient Riches Resurface: Divers Unearth Caesarea's Treasure Trove (Video), Enigmatic Symbols and Carvings in Man-Made Royston Cave, Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera Part I, Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations, The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures Part I, Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures Part I, The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription, Home to 20,000, But Who Built it? Plucking Romans Were Obsessed With Hair Removal. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Learn more about our use of cookies and information. The incredible cave houses of Cappadocia, Turkey. The deep valleys and soaring rock formations are dotted with numerous archaeological wonders. Discovered beneath a Byzantine-era hilltop castle in Nevehir, the provincial capital, the site dates back at least to early Byzantine times. Original music by Dan Powell , Sophia . Hunt echoes Tarkans suggestion that the underground structures at Matiate may have been used in defense. New episodes of The UnXplained, featuring William Shatner, premiere Fridays at 9/8c and stream the next day. The largest excavated underground city in the. Unearthed in Derinkuyu in central Turkey, the tunnel system is a complex and large system of rooms and passageways. The Underground City of Derinkuyu, about Cappadocia, Enchanted Land of Khepat, Ancient Anatolias Mother Goddess, about Archaeologists uncover underground church with scenes of the damned in Turkey, about First Known Ancient Underground City in Turkey used for Permanent Living Will Rewrite History, about Vast ancient underground city beneath Cappadocia being excavated, What Did Ancient Greece Really Look Like? Cappadocian winters can get very cold, the summers extremely hot.