In Saratlı town, Gülağaç, a multi-level underground city whose doors slide shut from inside; barns, kitchens, wells and ovens survive on its floors.
Saratlı Kırkgöz Underground City is a place (Underground city) in Turkey, Aksaray. Main periods: Byzantine Period.
At Saratlı Kırkgöz the doors at the entrance and between rooms slide shut from the inside, and nobody outside can force them open. The underground city lies in the town of Saratlı in Gülağaç district of Aksaray, south of the settlement, a little over twenty kilometres from Aksaray.
History and excavation
Cleaning work began in 2000, and in 2002 one more sealed space was opened. Its plan and building technique point to the Byzantine period. The complex is thought to have seven levels in all, of which three have been reached so far.
Layout
Passages link the floors, and the rooms of daily life sit side by side: a barn, a kitchen, water wells, a tandoor (an oven sunk into the ground), a hearth and storage chambers. Besides about 40 cleared rooms, toilets, bathrooms and cellars can be seen. The ventilation system differs from that of other underground cities in Cappadocia.
The ground level has a barn area with 14 feeding troughs, and the second level has seven more. A water well ten metres deep lies on the second level, reached by tunnels; an air shaft opens above it and a tandoor is cut into the floor nearby. Three more rooms continue from that chamber, while several tunnels fanning out from there were never finished. A sloping tunnel from the second to the third level leads to a room with a well, called Kuyulu Dam. One room lies to the right of the well and two to the left.
Visiting
Saratlı sits on the Silk Road, at the entrance to Cappadocia. Hours and fees can change; check the official page on muze.gov.tr for current information. The MüzeKart is valid for Turkish citizens.
