One and a half million tourists visited the dungeons of Turkey – almost as many tourists were received by the underground cities of Cappadocia in 2023. In general, the number of tourists there, as reported by the Turkish press, was 1 million 495 thousand 210 visitors.
According to the Turks, Kaymakli, which was visited by 559,527 people, attracted the most attention among the underground cities. It is considered one of the largest underground cities in Turkey and is convenient for tourists to visit – as it is only 18 km from the provincial capital. In the city, extended underground in soft tuff, archaeologists counted nine floors, four of which are accessible to tourists. Tourists can see the chapel, stables, kitchens, wine cellar, food warehouses, and two-room “apartments” where people lived, discovered in the caves. In total, up to 15,000 people could live in the underground city.
As a rule, Kaymakli is visited together with another underground city, Derinkuyu, because they are connected by an underground passage. Tourists also visit the underground cities of Tatlaryn, Mazy, and Ozkonak, as well as Kayasehir, which was discovered during the city’s transformation in 2014.
Most often, tourists visit underground cities in the summer season, probably to escape from the heat. The most visited months were July and September, when 176 and 174 thousand tourists arrived there, respectively.