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A Turkish Man Discovered a Whole City in His Basement
Floor8beta ^ | 25 January 2018 | Lindsey Young

Posted on 01/28/2018 1:23:11 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion

​In 1963, a Turkish man accidentally uncovered an underground city while making renovations to his home. In the region of ​Cappadocia, the man was knocking down a wall in his basement when he unintentionally came across a secret room, which led to an underground tunnel, which opened up to a ancient hidden city: Derinkuyu.

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This ancient city was lying 18 stories beneath the Earth's surface. With about 600 entrances, it could house over 20,000 people and the preservation from the photos show the possibility of livestock, food supplies, churches, tombs, communal rooms, schools and stables all hidden in the underground city (Chapel featured in image above).


The subterranean tunnels stretch for miles and even connect Derinkuyu with other underground ancient cities nearby.

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Believed to be created during the Byzantine era in 780-1180 AD, the city's elaborate architecture was most likely used to protect its creators from war and natural disasters. The massive stone doors could close Derinkuyu from intruders on the outside, and each story was able to be cut off separately. 

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Astonishing enough, Derinkuyu is not the only city of its kind, though it is up there for one of the largest underground cities. Now, about only half of the city is accessible, becoming a popular tourist destination, along with the natural geological makeup of the region, including rock formations and spires known as "fairy chimneys."


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: anatolia; archeology; basements; cappadocia; catacomb; catacombs; derinkuyu; godsgravesglyphs; kaymakli; turkey; undergroundcities; undergroundcity
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To: montag813

That was the old byzantine cistern. It was the water supply for the old city. Pretty cool architecture. One of the places we went for our field history of Istanbul class when I was stationed at Cakmakli in the 1980’s.


21 posted on 01/28/2018 1:41:02 PM PST by Tailback
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

Very cool story. Every day I learn something on F/R.

I wonder how many other forgotten cities remain buried under the Earth. Hail, Atlantis!


22 posted on 01/28/2018 1:41:11 PM PST by Flick Lives
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To: Ciaphas Cain

Bkmrk.


23 posted on 01/28/2018 1:42:55 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Screw The NFL!!!!!! My family fought for the flag!)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

Derinkuyu: where dying farts have lingered for decades.


24 posted on 01/28/2018 1:45:33 PM PST by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all white armed conservatives)
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To: mairdie

Thanks mairdie!


25 posted on 01/28/2018 1:49:07 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (Q is Baron Trump, time-traveling back from the future, to help his dad set things right.)
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To: heterosupremacist

You’re welcome heterosupremacist!


26 posted on 01/28/2018 1:51:20 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (Q is Baron Trump, time-traveling back from the future, to help his dad set things right.)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

lol


27 posted on 01/28/2018 1:52:56 PM PST by aces
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

I hate when that happens. I know the feeling. I was demo’ing a house we bought and the idiots had installed a ceiling right over the old one.


28 posted on 01/28/2018 1:54:51 PM PST by ExpatCanuck
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To: aMorePerfectUnion
"Believed to be created during the Byzantine era in 780-1180 AD, the city's elaborate architecture was most likely used to protect its creators from war and natural disasters."

Initially, I suspected Islam/Arab influences but that wasn't the main threat until the late 10th and early 11th centuries.


29 posted on 01/28/2018 1:55:16 PM PST by wtd
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

What amazes me is that so many people knew about this underground city at one time, but everyone had forgotten until this man was working on his basement.


30 posted on 01/28/2018 1:55:25 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (Q is Baron Trump, time-traveling back from the future, to help his dad set things right.)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

The last guy that left turned out the lights?


31 posted on 01/28/2018 1:58:38 PM PST by ExpatCanuck
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To: aMorePerfectUnion
Second floor: 1,150 square feet.
First floor: 1,200 square feet.
Basement: 1,453,450 square feet.
As is.
32 posted on 01/28/2018 2:01:31 PM PST by Interesting Times (WinterSoldier.com. SwiftVets.com. ToSetTheRecordStraight.com.)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

To protect from the mussie hoards


33 posted on 01/28/2018 2:08:28 PM PST by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

Bmk


34 posted on 01/28/2018 2:15:54 PM PST by Popman (My sin was great, Your love was greater  What could separate us now…)
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To: heterosupremacist; Hodar; aMorePerfectUnion
The locals in Cappadocia were carving underground complexes out of the soft local rock long before islam, or Christianity.

They took refuge underground in complexes that were already ancient when Alexander the Great marched through the area.

People continued to expand them over the millenia.

Genetic analysis shows that descendants of the ancient population continue to live in the area.


35 posted on 01/28/2018 2:16:04 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

All my kids could sleep in there.


36 posted on 01/28/2018 2:20:09 PM PST by Tax-chick (Harvey Weinstein was married to a beautiful model.)
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To: BeauBo

BeauBo wrote:

**The locals in Cappadocia were carving underground complexes out of the soft local rock long before islam, or Christianity.

They took refuge underground in complexes that were already ancient when Alexander the Great marched through the area.

People continued to expand them over the millenia.**

A testimony to the human need for shelter... Awesome photos!


37 posted on 01/28/2018 2:29:31 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: heterosupremacist

I forgot to add: human ingenuity...


38 posted on 01/28/2018 2:30:30 PM PST by heterosupremacist (Domine Iesu Christe, Filius Dei, miserere me peccatorem!)
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

Fascinating, inhabited until 1100 AD, I’m surprised it took so long to uncover. It’s not like it was ancient 3,000 year old lore.


39 posted on 01/28/2018 2:52:23 PM PST by DAC21
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To: BeauBo

Cappadocia today holds more than a thousand churches, dating from the earliest days of Christianity to the thirteenth century. For many centuries the religious authority of the capital of Cappadocia, Caesarea (present-day Kayseri), extended over the whole of southeast Anatolia, and it was where Gregory the Illuminator, the evangelizer of Armenia, was raised.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/fairy-chimneys-turkey-180956654/


40 posted on 01/28/2018 2:53:45 PM PST by Hodar (A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.- Burroughs)
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