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Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu Underground Cities in a Single Day
Historical Sites

Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu Underground Cities in a Single Day

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Most people know Cappadocia from above, from the tops of its fairy chimneys and the rims of its valleys. Yet one of the region's most astonishing faces lies underground.

Derinkuyu, Nevşehir
Historical Sites
Radar Editör
October 19, 2026

About Trip

Most people know Cappadocia from above, from the tops of its fairy chimneys and the rims of its valleys. Yet one of the region's most astonishing faces lies underground. Heading south from Nevşehir on the road to Niğde, within half an hour you reach two large underground cities: first Kaymaklı, then Derinkuyu. Both are carved into the same volcanic tuff and answer the same needs, but walking through them offers two quite different experiences. This piece proposes a plan that fits both into a single day and, by setting the two cities side by side, explains what to look for.

Cities beneath the soft stone

These structures exist because of the region's rock. Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı are carved into layers of tuff formed when ash erupted by ancient volcanoes was compacted. English Wikipedia notes that Derinkuyu's name in Cappadocian Greek was Malakopia, and that the name is probably related to the Greek word malakos, meaning "soft". The ease of working the stone allowed people to descend floor by floor into the ground. The underground cities page of Derinkuyu Municipality stresses that such structures are unique to the geological formation of Cappadocia and that nothing similar is found in other regions.

The number of underground settlements in the region is far from small. The municipality's page lists Özkonak, Mucur, Örentepe, Gümüşkent, Tatlarin, Ovaören and Gökçetoprak alongside Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu, and states that Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu are the largest. The Turkish Wikipedia article on Derinkuyu district says there are thirty-six underground cities in Cappadocia and that Derinkuyu is the largest of them.

When, and by whom, were they carved

There is no definite answer to this question, and an honest trip should say so from the start. Derinkuyu Municipality's page writes that it is not known in which period construction began, that there is information suggesting the cities existed in the Hittite period, that they were enlarged in later centuries and that they were used above all as shelters against raids. The ministry's museum page states that Kaymaklı's first floor dates from the Hittite period and that it became an underground city in the Roman and Byzantine periods as further spaces were carved out. English Wikipedia relates that the first caves may have been dug by the Phrygians in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, and that Derinkuyu took its full form in the Byzantine era. So the corridors you walk today are not the work of a single period but the product of additions made over centuries.

Getting there

Both cities lie on the highway linking Nevşehir to Niğde. According to the ministry's page, Kaymaklı is about twenty kilometres from Nevşehir and Derinkuyu about thirty. Derinkuyu Municipality gives the distance between the two cities as nine kilometres. This proximity makes the day easy to plan: you enter Kaymaklı in the morning and move on to Derinkuyu, further down the road, in the afternoon. Kaymaklı is a small town within Nevşehir's central district, while Derinkuyu sits at the centre of the district that bears its name. It is no coincidence that both entrances are inside the towns, among the houses, because the underground cities stretch precisely beneath those houses.

First stop, Kaymaklı

According to the ministry, Kaymaklı has eight floors, four of which have been lit and opened to visitors. The city opened to the public in 1964. Turkish Wikipedia notes that Ottoman sources record the place as Anaku or Enegüp, while local people called it Eneği. What strikes a first-time visitor to Kaymaklı is how intertwined the underground and the surface are. According to English Wikipedia, the village houses were built around the nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city, and these tunnels are still used today as storage areas, stables and cellars.

Inside, the first floor is a stable. Turkish Wikipedia offers a sensible explanation: because it was hard to bring animals further down, the top floor was set aside for them. As you descend come living spaces, kitchens, food stores and grape presses. Some rock-cut structures on these floors also form part of the settlement. On the third floor there is a stone you should not miss: an andesite block covered with many hollows. According to English Wikipedia, this stone was cut from an andesite layer exposed while the underground city was being carved, and the fifty-seven holes made in it were used for cold-forming copper. The last floor open to visitors is entered through a very narrow tunnel.

The most important note about Kaymaklı's corridors is that they differ from Derinkuyu's. English Wikipedia writes that the tunnels here are lower, narrower and more steeply inclined. The layout of the rooms also depends on the ventilation shafts; every space is shaped around a shaft. Turkish Wikipedia notes that these shafts were used both for ventilation and for communication, while the water wells were built without any connection to the surface as a precaution against poisoning. As you walk, look at the grilled openings in the ceilings and walls; those openings explain best how the system worked.

Kaymaklı has six rolling stones. These are large stone wheels, pierced in the middle, cut and shaped from the rock on the spot; rolled from the inside, they close the passage and are almost impossible to open from outside. Passing a rolling stone and looking at its socket and the space for moving it makes you feel that these cities were in fact defensive mechanisms.

Afternoon in Derinkuyu

Leaving Kaymaklı and continuing along the road, you soon reach Derinkuyu. According to Turkish Wikipedia, the district takes its name, meaning "deep well", from the fact that people drew their drinking water from wells sixty to seventy metres deep. The town stands at an average of 1354 metres above sea level, within the Misli Plain, which lies like a volcanic basin between Erciyes, Hasan Dağı and the Melendiz Mountains. That the underground could reach so deep is also related to this geology.

Derinkuyu's rediscovery came in the second half of the 20th century. English Wikipedia relates that in 1963 a local resident, while renovating his house, broke through a basement wall and found a room behind it, and that further digging led to the tunnel network. Sources differ on the opening date: the ministry's museum page gives 1965, Turkish Wikipedia 1967. Either way, the city has been open to visitors since the mid-1960s.

The first thing that sets Derinkuyu apart from Kaymaklı is depth. The ministry's page gives the depth of the city as about eighty-five metres. Derinkuyu Municipality writes that visitors can descend to the eighth floor at a depth of fifty-five metres. Turkish Wikipedia likewise expects that if all floors were cleared, the total depth would rise to eighty-five metres and the number of floors to around twelve or thirteen. The ministry's page notes that only ten percent of the city can be visited. The best explanation for the difference between these figures is that the city has not yet been fully opened.

Inside you see stables, cellars, refectories, kitchens and storerooms. English Wikipedia writes that the kitchens were equipped with tandoor ovens still used in Cappadocian villages today. On the second floor there is a large hall covered by a barrel vault; the ministry's page notes that such a vault is rarely found in underground cities. The real subject of this journey is the traces of everyday life carried on underground.

Derinkuyu's most impressive feature is its ventilation system. According to the ministry's page, a ventilation shaft descending to a depth of fifty-five metres was also used as a water well. English Wikipedia relates that the main shaft measures roughly three metres by two point eight metres and that its openings on different levels never overlap, a layout that appears deliberately designed to maximise airflow. The fact that each floor could be closed off separately, and that the city could be sealed from the inside with large round stone doors, also shows defensive thinking. Derinkuyu Municipality and English Wikipedia estimate that the city could shelter about twenty thousand people.

Comparing the two cities

As you end the day, set the two cities side by side in your mind. According to Derinkuyu Municipality, Derinkuyu's total area is about twice that of Kaymaklı; Kaymaklı is roughly half its size. The visitable part of Kaymaklı descends to the fourth floor at a depth of about twenty metres, whereas in Derinkuyu you go much deeper. Kaymaklı's tunnels are lower and narrower, and its fabric, interwoven with the village, is more pronounced; Derinkuyu is a vertical city that draws you down with its shafts and stairways. In Kaymaklı the andesite stone and the layered storerooms stand out, in Derinkuyu the shaft system and the vaulted hall. English Wikipedia also writes that the two cities were connected by a tunnel eight to nine kilometres long; this is not something you can see on the visitor route, but a detail to keep in mind as you read.

A suggested day plan

Entering Kaymaklı early in the morning is the best way to see both cities comfortably. Kaymaklı is one of the most visited places in the region; Turkish Wikipedia notes that in 2023, with more than half a million visitors, it was the most visited site in Cappadocia. The hours before the crowds arrive are therefore calmer. An hour and a half is enough for Kaymaklı. Then move on to Derinkuyu, take a lunch break in the town and enter the underground city in the afternoon. Because Derinkuyu is deeper and its stairways longer, allow nearly two hours. At the end of the day, if you like, you can walk among the stone houses above ground on your way back to Nevşehir.

Practical notes

Both are archaeological sites run by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Opening hours change between the summer and winter seasons; check current hours and admission fees on the official museum page. According to the ministry's site, there is a Cappadocia museum pass covering the ministry's museums and sites in Nevşehir and Aksaray; confirm its validity before you go.

The corridors are narrow, low and steep in places. Wear comfortable, non-slip shoes, leave large backpacks behind and be ready to stoop to protect your head. For visitors who feel uneasy in enclosed spaces, the narrow tunnel leading to Kaymaklı's last floor and the stairways down to Derinkuyu's lower levels can be challenging; staying on the upper floors without pushing yourself does not spoil the visit. Follow the direction signs and do not enter unlit sections. Derinkuyu Municipality also reminds visitors to follow the signs from the entrance onward.

Finally, remember that these structures are fragile. Nevşehir Governorship's page on the underground cities stresses that they require a careful conservation approach in the face of heavy visitor numbers and environmental effects. Not touching the walls, not writing on them and not wearing away the rock is the only way for these cities to reach the next generation in the same state.

Sources

Location - Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu Underground Cities in a Single Day

Trip Info
CityDerinkuyu, Nevşehir
TypeHistorical Sites
DateOctober 19, 2026
SourceRadar Editör
Radar TürkiyeAuthorRadar TürkiyeVisit SourceGet Directions