A Video Tour of Cappadocia Turkey’s Underground City

Underground City of Yeralti Sehri

Located in the very heart of Turkey the Cappadocia region is a mysterious region full of strange mushroom shaped spires, rugged terrain, and a vast network of underground cities.  I invite you to join me in this quirky video as a friend and I leave the surface behind and descend into Yeralti Sehri – the largest of Cappadocia’s 17 underground cities. The city has 8 levels, though only 4 remain open, and descends to a depth of more than 40 meters. It can be found underneath a small Turkish city and is located in the heart of the Cappadocia region.

As Galen and I wound our way (nearly crawling in most places) through the underground city the acoustics were fairly curious. The city was mostly empty which left Galen with a strong urge to randomly break into song. I’ve captured a few of the songs and included them in the video. The songs are not professional or planned, just random fun in celebration of the adventure we were in the midst of. I hope you enjoy.

I took this footage in February 2012.  You may note that it looks quite cold. In fact, there is snow at the bottom of the well and the surface was covered in several inches of it.  My visit coincided with one of the worst cold fronts to hit Turkey in more than 25 years. The evening before we arrived in Cappadocia was -21 degrees Celsius and the days hovered between 0 and -10.

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I am a travel blogger and photographer. I also am involved in academic research into the study abroad and backpacker communities.

8 Comments

  1. The caves are amazing. I am glad I did it but felt very claustrophobic at the time. Could not help but think what I would do if there was an earthquake. Love the singing BTW! Did not understand a word but he has a good voice 🙂

    1. Yeah, it can be a bit rough. I wasn’t sure how I would fare after my recent incident in Budapest but was relieved when it didn’t bother me. Only time I started to feel it a little bit was when I thought about “what if” and earthquakes, lol!

    1. It is an amazing destination! I think you’ll love it! I really wish I had more time to explore the region more. I imagine it looks completely different in summer (up top). Have a blast, and practice your squats before hand – it’s made for little people!

  2. we are going in sept to turkey and have done the first half – istanbul and the works and are dyding to go to cappadocia – arruve at 6am from south africa and wondering how to get off the cappadocia immediately and looking for budget hotels as we only need a bed and bathroom or shower toilet we spend most of our time on the road and are 68 and 72 – so let me know how u feel about our idea thanx avis and danie nel

    1. My friend and I stayed in the city of Goreme at http://rockvalleycappadocia.com which was in a great location and very affordable. Make sure to keep in mind that Cappadocia is an entire region. I assume you’re flying into Kayseri? We did a shuttle which was arranged form the airport to Rock Valley and cost us 25 Lira each way. Then did a combination of the Red and Green tours which are what took us to the underground city.

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