May 12 - The high plains of central Anatolia have been invaded from east and west many times over the millennia. Instead of building walled cities, the usual way of protection, the inhabitants stumbled upon a novel way to survive. Under their villages, they dug elaborate tunnels and chambers where they could hide and wait for the enemy to pass. Presumably the Persians and others passing through, finding a deserted village, assumed that the people had fled.
We drove above 15 miles to see the largest of these underground cities, Derinkuyu. In it's heyday, they estimate it could hold 10,000 people. It consists of ten levels of tunnels and rooms, the bottom four or five levels which are inaccessible. They had places to feed livestock, very deep wells, air shafts leading to the surface, places for worship and smaller niches in the rock for bedrooms.
No comments:
Post a Comment