Underground city in Central Anatolia arouses curiosity

KAYSERİ

A 376-kilometer-long underground city in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri continues to veil its mysteries in obscurity.

The tunnels, which pass under almost all of the houses in the region and whose entrances were closed by the residents of the houses over time, was once an important trade center for the region.

Speaking to local media, Mustafa Aksu, the previous mayor of the district, said that the people that came to Zincidere in time built 250 mansions in the neighborhood.

“They were a wealthy society that lived on trade. Zincidere was the heart of cotton trade in Central Anatolia at that time. There were 52 cotton merchants here in 1873. They established a significant trade center here,” he remarked.

“The main starting center of the underground city is the monastery in Zincidere Commando Brigade. It passes through all the houses in Zincidere. The road goes all the way from here to Cappadocia. From Cappadocia, it goes to Aksaray and then to Dulkadirli in Kırşehir. The total length of the underground tunnels is 376 kilometers.”

Noting that the tunnels were built mainly for defense and security purposes, Aksu said that the tunnels also kept people cool during the summer months.

Aksu added that the tunnels passed through many houses but the citizens closed the passageways by blocking the entrances over time. “Since the tunnels pass under almost all of the houses, everyone built a wall on the entrance so that no one would trespass their property.”