� 2001-2006 by Shiloh
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drainedIt's Februrary for another day and a quarter. Let's "romance" some ruins. The other day Mom had the tv on the Travel Channel, and we were only half paying attention for a lil while as I think we had Mike, Jen and Cannon here for a bit. But after they left and I'd had my lunch a show called, Incredible Catacombs came on. And indeed, the catacombs featured in that documentary were fascinating! Some were quite macabre and gruesome, others were just plain, well, incredible. All carried echoes from the past, reverberating silent voices and footsteps of former generations against the empty rock walls and ceilings. Anita Marie, a new friend of mine from Soul Food, would have loved watching it, I know.
It is one of the featured catacombs that I've chosen to romance today. Travel with me in your mind, if you will, to an ancient exotic realm in the ancient country of Turkey. To the Central Anatolian Plateau, which boundaries (the Eastern and Western) are marked by two magnificent volcanoes, Mt. Erciyes (to the east) and Mt. Hasan (to the west). To Cappadocia.
Cappadocia is unique, both above and below ground. Here the climate is moderate and the soil is fertile, but the exotic landscape owes its unique beauty and mystical magic to the wonders and elemental powers of Mother Nature herself and to erosion over time. Thousands of years ago, eruptions from both volcanoes covered the land with ash and lava, which solidified. The ash became the softer rock, or tufa, while the lava became the harder, protective cap over portions of the tufa. Over the years, erosion has done its inevitable work, carving and cutting into and eating away at the exposed tufa and volcanic rock, forming valleys and gorges and the one-of-a-kind, strangely beautiful "fairy chimneys" that set this region apart from any other.
Let us go below ground now, to a surprising new world that many (myself included) never suspected existed. To the eerie subterranean cities of Cappadocia. (If you're claustrophic, I'd suggest you stay and enjoy the fairies. I'm sure they won't mind the human intrusion. Much.)
Ok, watch your step, folks, the terrain is rough and rocky--ha ha. We'll be visiting the excavated city of Derinkuyu. Descending 18 storeys into the Anatolian Plateau--don't worry, only eight floors of tunnels are open to the public--Derinkuyu was once the temporary home (in times of attacks from invaders) of aproximately 20,000 people. There were churches, schools, homes, bathrooms, food storage...anything a community needed to survive for periods of time underground.
The eight floors of tunnels open to the public are enough to give you an idea of the sensation of living in a labyrinth like this. The ventilation shafts, circular and descending from the surface to the lower levels, bring home the scale of such an enterprise while the massive circular doors (boulders)--which were rolled across the passages and sealed from the inside by another, smaller rock against the boulders--remind you of the motivation for moving underground in the first place.
I can. Even though it has long been abandoned by its inhabitants and is no longer used as a temporary hideout from would-be conquerors, Derinkuyu and its people are not forgotten by all means, they're still alive and have many stories to tell.
Derinkuyu is not the only subterrean city you can visit. There are actually 40 or so subterranean settlements in the area, though only a few are open to the public. Kaymakli, 10 kilometers to the north of Derinkuyu, is smaller and less excavated, but there are five levels accessible and the experience is pretty much the same.
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