Tuesday 11 September 2012

Cappadocia (Part 4–Uchisar & Derinkuyu), Turkey (11 Sept 2012)

VIEWS OF UCHISAR:

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The Uchisar rock castle is the tallest point in the Cappadocia region.


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Cave houses in the rocks

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DERINKUYU UNDERGROUND CITY:

There are a number of underground cities in the Cappadocia region but the Derinkuyu underground city is the largest and deepest. The city goes down 11 floors, though not all of it has been excavated. At the moment 8 floors is open to visitors. The portion that have been excavated were amazing. The underground city had everything a community would need from stables to house and feed livestocks, kitchen, food and other storage rooms, meeting hall, wine and oil presses, religious school and study rooms. There is a church that have been dugged in the shape of a crucifix, indicating Christians must have hidden here in the past. Oh yes, there is a grave site too. It made me wonder what the portion that have yet to be excavated holds. As I take the tunnel deeper underground, so many things ran through my mind – what a resourceful group of people they were and how much hardship they had to go through to have dug through so deep underground. It is also hard to imagine how it must have felt like to be driven underground and living in enclosed space.

I tried to keep tab of which floor I was on but after going through so many tunnels, I lost tract. Good thing there are coloured arrows to show you the way in and out. There are also tunnels linking the Derinkuyu underground city to other underground city such as Kaymakli.

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Ticket booth and entrance into the underground city. For a fee, this guy can give you a tour of the underground city with very detailed commentary.


Derinkuyu underground city–entrance and kitchen

Derinkuyu Underground City–Stable for larger animals

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Meeting hall just next to the church.

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This is the church. Further up, the space opens to the left and right making the church shaped like a crucifix.

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A well.

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Left – Entrance to the grave. The tunnel leading to the tombs are narrow and dark. I walked in a bit but in seconds made a u turn. Scary stuff are not my cup of tea at all.

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This rectangular space is the religious school. There are smaller side rooms to the left used as studies.

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View of the back of the religious school.

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If I recall correctly, this is the area used for baptism.

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A souvenir shop near the entrance to Derinkuyu underground city.


SAINT THEODOROS TRION CHURCH (ORTHODOX CHURCH) AT DERINKUYU:

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