Thursday 9 May 2013

Trog City

Last day in Cappadocia before I return to Konya.

I've read about underground cities populated by troglodyte Christians hiding from marauding Arabs. In Cappadocia there are about 40 of these hidden cities.

I choose to visit Derinkuyu, which had a population of 10,000 people, and was excavated on seven levels and even included stables. The chimneys and air-shafts were cunningly disguised as wells and apparently the porous rock would absorb any telltales signs of smoke.

It took me 2 hours and three buses to get there but it was worth it. Unfortunately I didn't want to use a flash when taking pictures and so not many of my shots are worth publishing. Anyway, here's some that will give you some idea of how claustrophobic things can get when you're in a tiny tunnel seven floors underground in earthquake country.




Two trogs approaching

The Stables
Finally daylight again

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