July 15
We visited an underground city, one of several in the area, was a refuge from invaders. The cities were originally created and lived in by early settlers 5000 years ago and, in later times, by Christians escaping persecution. The entrances were just large enough for cattle to enter the front rooms which were stables with niches chipped out of the walls at chest height to hold fodder. The passageways were narrow, low ceiling and twisting and we had to bend over to transit many of them. The passageways gradually went lower away from the surface. Just beyond the stables was a narrow entry to the living areas with a large stone wheel which could be rolled to block the entry and stone columns on each side to block the wheel from being pushed inward. There was a smaller stable area beyond the wheel to keep chickens & goats so, if they had to abandon the cattle, they still had meat & milk. Most rooms had ventilation tubes carved from the ceiling to the surface and temperatures remained constant year around. There was a large stores room with a large clay grain storage pot. There was also a tunnel, which could be sealed off, to bring in large items and supplies from the surface. One of the rooms was a winery. The city was quite extensive and we didn't visit all the rooms, which would have taken more than one day.
We
returned to the hotel to freshen up and collect our luggage and left at
noon for the airport at Kayseri (the name means Caesar) At Turkish
airports you put your luggage on and carry-on items on a screening belt
and go through security before going to check in. After check in, you
again go through security. The airports aren't air conditioned and it
was quite hot. We arrived in Istanbul and checked into the Ritz
Carlton, which was part of the package. All plans to go out for dinner
were dashed by the time we got to the hotel at 5:30pm in 100 degree
temperatures. After 2 weeks of intensive touring we all decided to take
it easy, clean up and eat at the hotel. We had been to Istanbul
previously and opted not to take a tour.We visited an underground city, one of several in the area, was a refuge from invaders. The cities were originally created and lived in by early settlers 5000 years ago and, in later times, by Christians escaping persecution. The entrances were just large enough for cattle to enter the front rooms which were stables with niches chipped out of the walls at chest height to hold fodder. The passageways were narrow, low ceiling and twisting and we had to bend over to transit many of them. The passageways gradually went lower away from the surface. Just beyond the stables was a narrow entry to the living areas with a large stone wheel which could be rolled to block the entry and stone columns on each side to block the wheel from being pushed inward. There was a smaller stable area beyond the wheel to keep chickens & goats so, if they had to abandon the cattle, they still had meat & milk. Most rooms had ventilation tubes carved from the ceiling to the surface and temperatures remained constant year around. There was a large stores room with a large clay grain storage pot. There was also a tunnel, which could be sealed off, to bring in large items and supplies from the surface. One of the rooms was a winery. The city was quite extensive and we didn't visit all the rooms, which would have taken more than one day.
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