You never know what you will find until you go looking for it. Little did this man from the Nevşehir Province of Turkey know what surprise lay waiting for him when he knocked down a wall in his home during remodeling.

According to reports from 1963, the man who discovered the massive underground city in his basement was not documented. However, the said man was living in the Nevşehir Province in Turkey, in an area known as Cappadocia.

The man wanted to renovate and remodel his home, as homeowners periodically do. Whether you’re purchasing new stuff to fit into your home or decluttering your space, you might need a little remodeling.

First, he took out the supplies and everything else out of the storage to make room for knocking down one side of the wall as part of a renovation project. He got his tools and was in the process of tearing it down.

He found a hidden room carved from the wall. This is commonplace during home renovations and remodeling. Homeowners have knocked down walls to find small wine cellars or storage. But this man finds something else.

Anyone in this man’s position would be excited and agitated about finding a secret hallway right inside his basement. The hallway led the way into cave-like rooms which opened to more passageways down the basement.

Slowly, he began to realize that he had just discovered something out of the ordinary: an entire subterranean city attached to his home. The surprise sent waves of shock down his spine as he explored deep into this massive underground city.

According to the reports, the man relayed what he had just witnessed under his basement to the authorities, who swung into action and identified the hidden city.

Derinkuyu, the hidden city, was built and abandoned for decades before rediscovery. While it looked empty, the city had been built with basic amenities to help sustain its inhabitants and shield them from the outside world.

According to expert archeologists at the Turkish Department of Culture, Derinkuyu was carved during the 8th – 7th century BCE. 

One of the notable accounts written about Derinkuyu is credited to a 370 BCE text written by Xenophon of Athens, who mentions the people of Anatolia who had excavated their home underground. 

The rock – in which the hidden city was carved – is made of different layers of solidified volcanic ash, referred to as “tuff.” While it looks tough on the outside, it is actually fragile, which explains how the inhabitants were able to use tools such as their hands, shovels, and picks to carve out the city beneath the ground. 

The entire area of Cappadocia has a notable volcanic history, as it sits on a plateau of about 1,000 meters high. 

According to records from the Turkish Department of Culture, the first gallery of the underground city was carved by the Phrygians, an ancient Indo-European culture that were the founders of the Anatolian Kingdom (between the 12th – 7th century BCE)

While the theory about the Phrygians is popular, other theories allude that the hidden city underground was constructed by the Hittites or Persians. 

Durinkuyu was designed to house about 20,000 people. It was a large community by itself. And not only that, it was also constructed to house a massive amount of livestock. It spans an area of 445 square kilometers (172 square miles).

There are several theories to why the city was developed. One theory suggests that the Phrygians built Derinkuyu to shield themselves from the extreme conditions threatening their survival. The underground settlement also served as protection from invaders and enemies.

The city was deigned to be a massive, relatively comfortable bunker to protect individuals from wars or natural disasters. 

Beyond the Phrygians tipped to have constructed this underground metropolis, there are several accounts of people who may have inhabited this place. It includes Early Christians who fled to the hidden city to escape extreme persecution from the Roman Empire.

There are over 100 entrances leading in and out of the hidden underground city of Derinkuyu. The fascinating thing about this is that each of these entrances, upon discovery, was hidden behind bushes or walls like the one that this man unearthed.

It is noted that some of the major entrances leading to meeting rooms and places of worship were guarded by giant stone doors that were hand-carved, weighing up to 1,000 pounds. 

The underground city was fully equipped with all the amenities that its inhabitants would need to survive and thrive. For instance, the typical Derinkuyu living quarters consisted of several rooms, including kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms.

The underground tunnels and chambers also lead to massive rooms that house livestock corrals, shops, arsenals, escape routes, and oil press rooms.

The amount of detailing and effort in the underground city shows that the builders were intentional about everything in its proper place. For instance, the wine cellars were designed with wall shelves to hold various wines.

The walls of the underground city have been blackened over the years by the flames from torches. This is particularly innovative because the alternative would mean they’d be bumping into each other.

While constructing the hidden city, the residents must have thought about how they would get water. They dug underground shafts 55 meters deep (about 180 feet) to link up with underground water systems. The well was designed to supply the residents underground and be cut off from the surface.

Derinkuyu was prepared for just about anything, as the passageways led to schools and other training complexes. This meant the builders thought about staying there for extended periods of time.

Derinkuyu is also noted to have several underground chambers designed to be places of worship. Thus, the inhabitants with religious inclinations gathered at the various chambers for worship.

As earlier mentioned, the city was constructed with up to 18 levels. So, how did the inhabitants move from one level to the next? Well, with the aid of vertical staircases.

Derinkuyu isn’t the only hidden underground city in the Cappadocia area of Turkey. The terrain is home to over 250 subterranean cities carved out of tuff. These cities did not bear semblance with Derinkuyu but shared similar features like churches and meeting rooms.

The hidden city of Derinkuyu, located under this man’s basement, is currently open to public visit. It has been slightly improved with lighting on passageways and chambers for efficient illumination.