Derinkuyu Underground City Tour

Derinkuyu is a small farming town on the road from Nevşehir to Niğde, and under its streets lies the largest underground city known in Turkey. Local sources put the full depth at around 85 metres, with more levels below than anyone has fully mapped. Visitors see a fraction of it, roughly the upper eight levels, on a marked one-way route. It was rediscovered in 1963 when a resident knocked through a wall in his house and found a passage behind it, and it opened to the public a few years later.

Nobody knows exactly who dug the first chambers. What is clear is that the city grew over centuries, and that in the Byzantine period people from the villages above moved down here, with their livestock and their grain, when raiders came across the plateau. Our underground cities guide covers the history in more detail.

What you see on the way down

The first levels are the busiest in every sense. Near the entrance are the stables, low rooms with feeding troughs cut into the walls, placed near the surface so the animals didn't have to be dragged far. Then come storerooms, a room for pressing grapes, and communal kitchens with ceilings blackened by centuries of smoke.

Keep an eye out for the rolling stone doors. These are round slabs, like millstones taller than a person, set in slots beside the passages. From the inside, a few people could roll one across and seal off a level. From the outside, there was nothing to grip.

The ventilation shafts are the real engineering story. More than fifty of them bring fresh air down through the rock, and the main shaft, running through the centre of the complex, also reached groundwater and served as a well. Stand at one of the openings and you feel the draught. On the lower levels you reach a cross-shaped chapel and a large barrel-vaulted room often described as a school or meeting hall.

Derinkuyu or Kaymaklı?

For one visit, we'd choose Derinkuyu. It goes deeper, the rooms are bigger, and descending level after level gives you a real sense of how far underground people lived. Kaymaklı, about 10 km to the north, has four levels open and spreads sideways into a warren of small rooms. It is closer to Göreme and makes sense on a tight schedule, but it takes most of the tour groups, so it fills up from mid-morning. Tradition says a tunnel once linked the two cities. You can't walk it.

Low tunnels and claustrophobia

The rooms themselves are often roomy. The passages between them are not. Some stretches are under a metre and a half high, and on the steep ramps down to the lowest levels you walk bent over for a minute or more with people in front of and behind you. If tight spaces bother you, go down the first three or four levels and come back up the way you came. Anyone with serious mobility, heart or breathing problems should stay near the top.

There are two ways to do it: as part of a tour, or on your own.

The Green Tour. Every agency in Göreme, Uçhisar and Ürgüp sells this full-day trip to the south of the region. It usually combines one underground city (Derinkuyu or Kaymaklı, so ask which), a walk in Ihlara Valley, lunch by the river, Selime Monastery and a viewpoint or two. Transport, a guide and lunch are normally included, entry tickets sometimes are and sometimes aren't. Look for a licensed agency (a TÜRSAB registration), a small group size, and a guide who comes inside the underground city with you rather than waiting at the gate.

Independently. With a car, it is an easy drive south from Göreme through Nevşehir. Without one, take a bus to Nevşehir, then a minibus (dolmuş) towards Niğde, which passes through both Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu and runs frequently through the day. The ride to Derinkuyu takes around half an hour. Our getting there guide has more on buses in the region.

Tickets. Buy at the gate or through the official Ministry of Culture site, muze.gov.tr. Derinkuyu is covered by the Museum Pass Türkiye and the Museum Pass Cappadocia. The Müzekart is only for Turkish citizens and residents. Prices change often, so check the official site before you go.

• Arrive at opening time. Tour coaches reach the underground cities from mid-morning, and a line of people in a one-person tunnel slows everything down.
• Follow the arrows. The route is one-way, marked for going down and coming back up. Stick to it and you can't get lost.
• Bring a light layer. It stays cool underground all year, a welcome change on a summer afternoon. Our what to wear guide covers the rest.
• Leave the big bag behind. Backpacks catch on the ceilings in the low tunnels.
• Get a guide or read up first. Without context it can feel like a series of empty rooms. Knowing what each space was for makes the visit.
• Pair it with the valleys. Do Derinkuyu in the morning, then head back north for an afternoon walk, as in our 2-day itinerary.