The underground cities in the Turkish region of Cappadocia received more than 1.3 million tourists during the first 10 months of this year.
The tourist region of Cappadocia is located in the province of Nevşehir in central Turkey and is famous for its underground cities and fairy chimneys, or what are called in the Arabian deserts “Devil’s Tables”, which were formed as a result of erosion and weathering.
The region includes 5 underground cities: Kaymakli, Derinkuyu, Özkonak, Tatlarin and Mazı.
Throughout history, the aforementioned cities have been a refuge for local residents to protect themselves from external attacks and invasions, as they include rooms and warehouses that can accommodate tens of thousands of people and their livestock.
Data from the Nevşehir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism showed that the ancient cities received 1,322,598 tourists during the first 10 months of 2024.
Canadian tourist Vanessa Dewson said that watching history in underground settlements is interesting.
She added that she wanted to see Cappadocia and its charming landscapes decorated with “fairy chimneys”.
She pointed out that she had no idea about the underground cities.
It is believed that the name “fairy chimneys” goes back to ancient popular beliefs that genies live in the caves and rocks of the region known as “chimneys”, which are the result of the interaction of natural factors over millions of years and the erosion of volcanic rocks in general by flood waters and strong winds, and took on conical shapes with a rock mass on top over time.
