In 1963, a man from Nevsehir Province, Turkey, decided that it would be time to make some changes to his home. He would have never imagined discovering a true treasure of the ancient world. A dilapidated wall revealed a long lost city that no one knew had existed until that moment.
Wanting to rebuild his home, a Turkish man had a huge surprise. Behind one of the walls of the house, he discovered a secret door that would open a world long bygone. This man’s home was built on the ancient city of Cappadocia, dating from the twelfth century BC, which was populated for about four centuries.
Behind the door there was a tunnel leading to a cave. He first thought he discovered only a large hall, but as he ventured on, he realized that dozens of corridors located on nearly 30 floors were connected through such tunnels, and each room seemed to have a particular purpose. He found homes, schools, churches, rooms where olive oil or wine was made, shops, gravesites and much, much more.
The old town of Cappadocia has over 100 entrances, but each of these is very well hidden. In this way the risk of invasion must have been rather low. Also, because the inhabitants feared that the surface water was poisoned, people living in this city set up a network of underground channels that provided them with the necessary drinking water.
At present only 10% of the total area of this old city has been opened to the public. Only 11 floors were excavated, but it is suspected that 18 others are hiding underground. When you think that all these rooms dug in stone were made by the hand of man, you can’t enter this underground city without amazement and awe.