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STANDARDS
Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.4, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.4
NCSS: Culture • Time, Continuity, and Change • People, Places, and Environments
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RalucaHotupan/Getty Images
Derinkuyu is a giant underground city in Türkiye (Turkey). It is thousands of years old. Some of its tunnels connect to smaller underground cities nearby.
GEOGRAPHY
The Secret City
You’re looking at an ancient underground hiding place for thousands of people!
Jim McMahon/Mapman®
Imagine living in an underground world that has everything you need. You travel through a winding maze of tunnels and caves to get food and see your friends. You don’t even have to step foot outside to go to school!
That’s what life was like in Derinkuyu—an underground city in Cappadocia, a region in Türkiye (Turkey). Some historians believe the Phrygians (FRIH-jee-uhns), local people known for their ironwork, likely dug out the city during the 7th century b.c. Over the roughly 2,600 years that followed, different empires controlled the area.
In 1963, a local man rediscovered the city. He stumbled upon a tunnel while knocking down a wall in his home.
Yasir999/Creativecommons.org/via Wikimedia Commons
This illustration shows a side view of the underground city.
The city descends about 280 feet below Earth’s surface. That’s nearly as far down as the Statue of Liberty is tall! The area is divided into 18 floors, with enough living space for about 20,000 people. There are storage rooms for food and livestock as well as schools and a chapel. Fresh air flows through a system of vents, and water was supplied by a well.
Archaeologists suspect the cave city was originally built to store goods. Later, people likely used it to hide from invaders. Huge stones could be rolled in front of the entrances to secure the city. Talk about a rock-solid defense!
danm/Getty Images
Cappadocia is famous for its rock formations, called fairy chimneys. Derinkuyu is hidden below them.
Question: How do we transform our surroundings to meet our needs?