Özlüce Yeraltı Şehri

Özlüce Yeraltı Şehri - Ozluce Underground City

Useful Information

Location:	Yeraltı Şehri Sk., Özlüce, West of Kaymakli, North of Derinyuku. (38.454472, 34.681385)
Open:	closed. [2020]
Fee:	closed. [2020]
Classification:	Cave House Underground City
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Özlüce Yeraltı Şehri, Yeraltı Şehri Sk., 50700 Özlüce/Derinkuyu/Nevşehir,
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

Özlüce Yeraltı Şehri (Özlüce Yeraltı Şehri) is different from other nearby cities. It has only one level and the different rocks give the city a different colour. A 15 m long passage which was built of boulders leads to the entrance. Quite exceptional is the double arch of the entrance which was made of basalt instead of being cut into the rock. The entrance has a huge millstone with a diameter of 1.75 m, made of granite. It was used to close the entrance in case of emergency. The whole entrance area is younger than the rest of the underground city, it seems it was later added to make the city safer.

Behind the entrance is a sort of central place, which is the biggest chamber of the city. To the right are storage rooms and to the left are living rooms. It is also the starting point of long corridors with cell-like rooms on both sides. There are several traps in the main corridors in case of enemies entering the city.

The status of this underground city is unclear. It is on many webpages, even with pictures, and it is listed on Lonely Planet. On the other hand some webpages state that it has never been opened to the public, other tell about guards and guides. Obviously there is some kind of problem and we were not able to find any reliable statement that it is open. We did not even find contact data. And its not no tripadvisor. That's a bad sign and the reason we listed it as being closed.