Derinkuyu

I really enjoyed a restful night in the quiet of the country. After breakfast, I joined a day trip.

First they drove us in a van to the nearby town of Uçhisar where we viewed the tuff rock outcrop and had the geological stuff explained to us.

Then we went to the piece de resistance, the Underground City complex at Derinkuyu. These cities, of which Derinkuyu is the best known, were believed to have been first excavated in the 7th or 8th centuries BC and then enlarged by Christians in the Byzantine era. They were used to hide from marauders in times of invasion. The figures are awesome: 11 floors extending to a depth of 85m, capable of housing tens of thousands of people together with their livestock and food stores. Entrance to the city was controlled by a "millstone" with a peephole that could be rolled to seal the passage from the inside only. What's more, many such cities were connected in a network by kilometers of underground tunnels. Naturally, the electrical wires you see here do not form part of the original installation, hahaha.

Only about 10 percent of the city is open to tourists. I'm sure archaeologists are kept busy studying these cities.


This is a small chapel in the depths of the city. I admit to feeling uneasy with the tons of rock above me.

Then they took us to see an impressive gorge.

After lunch, they showed us the odd conical mounds that were used as a backdrop for the original Star Wars film. Certainly looks other-worldly out of context.

More of those mounds.

They took us to see a caravanserai. Caravan is a group of travellers, and serai is related to the Turkish word saray for palace or an enclosed space. Remember Topkapı in Istanbul? Its full name is Topkapı Sarayı.


These rest stops were set up by rulers to provide safe lodging for travellers, especially merchants. Asked about charges and so forth, the Turkish guide joked: It's like a motel, $30 for a bed, $10 for dinner, etc.

Finally we ended up back in Göreme, within sight of the fairy chimneys. You can plainly see the effects of differential erosion. Somehow you have the feeling that this is what an elf's dwelling might look like, if they existed.

Here it's plain to see that the harder rock "hats" belong to the same stratum.

A closer look with a telephoto lens.

Wonder how much longer before these topple.

There is a church carved into the rock here.


Guided tours often end in some inducement to shop and this one was no exception. They left us near some pottery shops. This was within walking distance of my pension so I decided to leave the party there and then. There had been a pair of NYC sisters on the van. One of them had just returned from teaching in Russia. I wondered if I would bump into them again in the evening in town, but it never happened.


At dinner the Canadian regaled us with an incredible story of being grilled by Israeli customs officers on leaving the country. Now that's paranoia.