The entrance looks like a modest stone doorway set into a hillside on the edge of a small town. Then the passage narrows, drops, and keeps dropping. The air changes. The temperature settles around 13°C regardless of whether it is July or January. The ceiling presses closer. And slowly it becomes clear that the village of Kaymakli is sitting on top of a city — a fully functioning underground city carved eight levels deep into the volcanic tuff, capable of sheltering up to 3,500 people, with stables, a church, a winery, ventilation shafts, and doors that could seal from the inside against an army.
When I take travelers down here, most are quiet for the first few minutes. Not from unease, but from trying to recalibrate. The scale of what you’re looking at doesn’t match anything in the world above.
Kaymakli is one of roughly 200 underground settlements identified in Cappadocia’s Nevşehir province — 36 of them large enough to qualify as underground cities. It is not the deepest, and it is not the largest by volume. But it is the most accessible, the most thoroughly excavated, and the one that gives visitors the clearest picture of what underground life in Byzantine Cappadocia actually required.
Why People Built a City Underground
The volcanic tuff that makes Cappadocia’s landscape so distinctive — soft, pale, workable — is what made underground construction possible. Carving a room into tuff takes weeks. Carving an eight-level city takes generations.
The earliest evidence of underground habitation in the region points to the Hittite period, around 1200 BC, when subterranean spaces may have been used as storage cellars and shelter during raids. But the Kaymakli that visitors explore today was shaped primarily during the Byzantine period, from the 7th century onward, when Arab raids from the south began moving through central Anatolia with increasing frequency.
The logic was direct: go deep enough, seal the entrance, and wait. The raids were brutal but not permanent — raiding parties moved through an area, took what they could find, and moved on. A community that could disappear underground for days or weeks at a time could survive what a community that fought or fled could not.
What makes the engineering extraordinary is not the depth but the planning. The 52 ventilation shafts that run from the surface down through multiple levels served double duty as communication wells — people on different levels could pass messages up or down through the same shafts that brought them air. Water sources were incorporated at upper levels. Food storage was distributed across the complex. The designers thought not just about how to go underground, but about how to live there for an extended period without surfacing.
Secrecy was part of the system. The main entrances were concealed within existing buildings. The ventilation shafts were disguised at surface level. And the internal passage design — narrow, low, requiring a traveler to move single-file and bent at the waist — made organized military entry into the city nearly impossible. You cannot swing a sword in a corridor that requires you to crouch.
What’s Down There
Only four of Kaymakli’s eight levels are currently open to the public. The deeper levels are still being excavated and assessed. What the open section contains is enough to give the full picture.
The rolling stone doors are the detail that stays with visitors longest. Shaped like millstones — circular, roughly a meter and a half in diameter, weighing around 500 kilograms — these doors were positioned at the entrances to each level and at key chokepoints along the passages. A single person inside could roll the stone to seal the entrance. From the outside, with no handle and a perfectly flush fit into the carved doorframe, it could not be moved. Several of these doors survive intact, and your guide can show you the pivot point and the niche the stone rested in when open.
The winery and storage areas occupy the first and second levels, closest to the surface. Temperature underground stays consistent year-round, which made the upper levels ideal for storing wine, oil, and food for extended periods. The large carved niches and the remnants of ceramic storage vessels are still visible.
The stables were kept on an upper level as well — both for the animals’ access to fresh air through the nearby shafts and to keep the noise and smell from penetrating deeper into the living quarters. The tie-rings carved into the walls are intact.
The church sits on the third level. Cross-shaped in plan, it is small but fully formed — nave, apse, and side arms all carved from the same solid rock. The early Christian community that lived here built a functional place of worship underground, in the dark, hidden from the surface world.
The ventilation shafts are worth pausing at when you pass one. They run vertically through all levels, and when you look up through one you can sometimes see a pale disc of sky, far above. The same shafts were used to lower water and food to deeper levels and to receive messages from above — a communication system built into the structure of the building itself.
The experience of moving through the city is physical. Passages are genuinely narrow in places — wide enough for one person at a time, low enough to require ducking for anyone above average height. The tuff walls are smooth from centuries of passage. The air is cool and slightly damp. Going down feels like something earned.
Kaymakli vs. Derinkuyu
The two underground cities most visitors compare are Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, located about 9 kilometers apart. The practical differences matter when you’re deciding which to visit — or whether to visit both.
Depth and scale: Derinkuyu goes deeper — 18 levels, compared to Kaymakli’s 8 — and has a confirmed capacity of around 20,000 people. Kaymakli is smaller but more thoroughly excavated in its open sections, which means more rooms are accessible and better explained.
Layout: Kaymakli is wider than it is deep, with more horizontal movement between chambers on each level. Derinkuyu is more vertical — a long descent, with the levels stacked tightly below each other. Kaymakli’s layout makes it feel more like a city; Derinkuyu’s depth makes it feel more like a descent into something ancient and deliberately hidden.
Accessibility: This is where the practical difference is most significant. Kaymakli’s passages are narrow but the overall gradient is gentler. Derinkuyu requires more sustained crouching in the tighter sections, and the descent is steeper. Travelers who have any concerns about confined spaces, knee stability on steep steps, or extended time in a bent posture will find Kaymakli noticeably more manageable. Neither city is fully accessible in the mobility-aid sense, but Kaymakli is the more forgiving of the two.
What to choose: If you have time for one, Kaymakli gives you the more complete picture of how the space was actually used — the rooms are better labeled, the features more visible. If you have time for both and want to understand the difference in scale and depth, Derinkuyu adds something that Kaymakli doesn’t have: the feeling of being genuinely, disconcertingly far underground. They are different experiences, not redundant ones.
The Practical Side
Tickets: Kaymakli is a Turkish national museum site. Admission is included in the Müzekart (Turkey museum pass), or tickets can be purchased at the entrance. Current pricing is in line with other Cappadocia sites.
Opening hours: Generally 8:00 am to 7:00 pm in summer, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm in winter. Hours shift seasonally. Confirm before you go.
How long: A focused visit takes 45 to 60 minutes. If you’re moving unhurriedly and spending time with the details — the stone doors, the ventilation shafts, the church — allow 90 minutes.
What to wear: The temperature underground holds at around 13°C regardless of the season. A light layer is worth bringing even in July. Flat, closed-toe shoes with grip are important — the carved stone floors can be smooth and slightly sloped. Avoid sandals or heeled shoes.
Claustrophobia and tight spaces: The passages are narrow and the ceilings low in several sections. If confined spaces cause you significant distress, Kaymakli is worth thinking about carefully before you go. That said, most travelers who describe themselves as mildly claustrophobic find it manageable, particularly with a guide who can set an unhurried pace and explain the logic of the spaces as you move through them. Knowing why the corridor is shaped the way it is tends to reframe the discomfort.
Crowds: Kaymakli is one of Cappadocia’s most visited sites, and the narrow passages concentrate visitors in a way that the open valleys do not. Mornings at opening time and late afternoons are measurably quieter. The summer midday rush is real.
With a Private Guide
The difference a private guide makes at Kaymakli is not just about information — though the information matters, because the rooms are not all explained by the signage.
When I take travelers here, I can tell them what the unmarked chambers were likely used for: grain storage, communal sleeping areas, spaces set aside for the sick during extended stays underground. The official signage covers the major features. A private visit covers the rest.
The pace question is significant. Moving single-file through a narrow passage with thirty strangers ahead and behind you is a different experience from moving through it with a guide who stops when you want to stop, waits while you look, and doesn’t have a bus schedule to meet. The space rewards attention. Attention requires time, and time requires the kind of flexibility that only comes with a private visit.
The timing question also matters. Kaymakli at 8:30 am on a weekday in October is a different place from Kaymakli at noon on a Saturday in August. A private guide can build the visit around when the site will actually be quiet — which often means adjusting the rest of the day’s itinerary to accommodate the best window.
Plan Your Cappadocia Visit
Kaymakli sits about 20 kilometers south of Göreme, making it a natural pairing with a valley walk, a stop at the Derinkuyu rock-cut church, or a visit to one of the valley villages where the tuff formations give way to orchards and farmland. Cappadocia rewards two to three days of unhurried exploration — the underground cities are one thread of a larger story that includes Byzantine frescoes, Ottoman-era architecture, and a landscape unlike anywhere else in Turkey.
If you’d like to visit Kaymakli and the rest of Cappadocia at your own pace, with a private guide who can shape the day around what interests you, we’d be glad to plan it with you.
Explore our Cappadocia tours →
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kaymakli Underground City claustrophobic?
The passages are genuinely narrow and the ceilings are low in several sections. Travelers with significant claustrophobia may find it uncomfortable. That said, most people who describe themselves as mildly claustrophobic manage it well, particularly with a private guide who can set an unhurried pace. Knowing that you can turn back at any point — and that the passages are designed to be navigated, not endured — helps considerably.
How many levels of Kaymakli can you visit?
Four of the eight levels are currently open to the public. The remaining levels are still being excavated and assessed for visitor access. The four open levels include the winery and storage areas, the stables, the church, and the residential quarters — enough to give a complete picture of how the city functioned.
Kaymakli or Derinkuyu — which underground city is better?
They offer different experiences rather than one being better than the other. Kaymakli is wider, more thoroughly excavated in its open sections, and generally more accessible for travelers concerned about mobility or tight spaces. Derinkuyu is deeper (18 levels vs. 8), with a greater sense of descending into something genuinely subterranean. If you have time for one, Kaymakli gives a more complete picture of daily underground life. If you have time for both, the contrast is worth experiencing.
How long does it take to visit Kaymakli?
A standard group visit runs 45 to 60 minutes. On a private visit at an unhurried pace — stopping at the rolling stone doors, spending time at the church, looking up through the ventilation shafts — plan for 90 minutes. The site rewards slower attention, but it doesn’t require marathon stamina.
Is Kaymakli suitable for older visitors?
It is more manageable than most visitors expect, with a few caveats. The passages require ducking and some crouching in the lower sections. There are steps between levels — not a continuous ramp — and some surfaces are uneven. Travelers with good knee and hip mobility find it accessible. Those with significant joint issues or balance concerns may find certain sections difficult. A private guide can assess the route in real time and choose the sections that work best for whoever is in the group.
When was Kaymakli Underground City built?
The earliest evidence of underground use in the region points to the Hittite period around 1200 BC, when caves and cellars may have been used for basic shelter and storage. The multi-level city that visitors explore today was developed and expanded primarily during the Byzantine period, from the 7th century onward, as communities sought protection from Arab raids moving through central Anatolia. Construction and habitation continued through subsequent centuries, with the city likely in regular use through the medieval period.
