In 1963, a man renovating his home in Turkey noticed his chickens kept disappearing into a crack in his basement wall, when he dug it open, he found the ancient city of Derinkuyu, an 18-level city 85m underground that could shelter 20,000 people

A curious resident’s discovery in 1963 revealed Derinkuyu, a vast underground city. This ancient settlement, carved into volcanic rock, housed nearly twenty thousand people. Ingenious ventilation shafts and stone doors provided essential life support and defense. Historians believe successive civilizations expanded the complex over centuries. Today, a portion of this remarkable underground city is open for tourists.