Visit Underground Cappadocia • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

when you visit underground Cappadocia the first thing you might think is the people were very short, not taller than 3 feet. They built these catacombs by digging in the rock for so many years is probably difficult to determine how many. They made the passages short so any people raiding the area would have to crouch down to get through the passage and that means it would be extremely difficult for them to fight. Try walking through the many levels of carved tunnels and you will come to understand why people left these rock dwellers alone. It’s one of the most interesting living arrangements made by humans.

Staircase to another level — The stairways to other levels are narrow and curve around so enemies could never see what’s in the distance.

Difficult lighting — I really wonder how they would have lighted these tunnels without creating a deadly breathing environment. But maybe the breathing environment was deadly.

Gathering area — There are larger areas where they lived and stayed for longer periods of time and which branch off to different tunnels and levels

Very short passage ways — You can see how difficult it is to get through this place quickly which was probably the purpose of the structure. If you visit you will find yourself getting extremely tired bending down and walking at the same time. These people must’ve been very sturdy

Holes in the walkways — There are holes in the passage ways which the guide explained were used for storing things but also for providing traps for enemies coming through. But can you imagine rotting bodies in those holes? Maybe they had a removal crew.

Grates on the holes — now there are grates over the holes but they are good traps once the grates are removed

Cross-section showing levels — This cross-section shows six or more levels carved inside the limestone rock but they were probably more

Snowing on the roads — Driving back to the hotel in the snow. Yes it snows heavily in Turkey and I hit a lot of of it

Beautiful snowy countryside — But you can see that the snow adds beauty to the countryside

A Turkish beer — The Turkish beer is very tasty and very good after a long day of driving and walking through tunnels and avoiding the large Chinese tour groups

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