Derinkuyu and Kaymakli

One of the most popular tourist sites in Cappadocia, the underground town of Derinkuyu is the largest known troglodyte city in Turkey. It was discovered accidentally by a local resident in 1963, when he was renovating his home. By breaking down a wall, the Turk was surprised to discover a city buried beneath his house.

Several years of excavations revealed a vast network of underground passages, including churches, wine cellars and a school. Built around 1400 BC to protect itself from the invasions that were disrupting the region, the city of Derinkuyu is a veritable labyrinth over 85 metres deep. Of the city's 20 levels, visitors can explore the first 8 since it was opened to the public in 1965.

The entrance to the underground city of Derinkuyu is right in the centre of the town of Derinkuyu-Nevşehir. So you'll find a number of restaurants and cafés close to the site, with a local, family-friendly atmosphere. In a simplistic, unpretentious setting, the Keskin and Doyum restaurants serve good traditional dishes at low prices. For a meal on the go or a break at snack time, the Bey Konağı café also remains a safe bet.

Around 10 kilometres from Derinkuyu, the underground city of Kaymakli also has an underground section. Smaller than Derinkuyu, Kaymakli has only 4 floors accessible to the general public. However, it is still the second-largest underground city in Cappadocia.

The city of Kaymakli is made up of countless galleries dug into the volcanic tuff. To protect themselves from invaders, the inhabitants of the time, as in Derinkuyu, built a veritable city several metres underground. On level -1, the various rooms were used at the time to store livestock, as a larder and as accommodation for the upper classes. The poorest were housed on the lower floors, where space was more limited and air was scarcer. Now uninhabited, this troglodyte city can be visited all year round.

⭐ Where to stay near Derinkuyu and Kaymakli?

The cave cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymakli are close to each other, so you'll have no trouble finding accommodation that allows you to visit both sites in a day. On the Derinkuyu-Nevşehir side, the Cappadocia Nar Cave Hotel is a real nugget, allowing you to sleep in luxurious cave rooms. Just a stone's throw from the Kaymakli site, the Crystal Kaymakli Hotel & Spa also invites you to relax in a more contemporary setting. Finally, just a few kilometres away, the town of Göreme also offers a wide range of accommodation opportunities in idyllic surroundings.

As well as the underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymakli, Cappadocia is famous the world over for its troglodytic dwellings, carved out of the rock. To discover and appreciate these amazing dwellings, be sure to visit the towns of Göreme, in the valley of the same name, and Uçhisar. A little less touristy, but just as fascinating, is the village of Ürgüp, which has also managed to retain all its charm, with its dwellings nestling between rock formations.