Saratlı Kırkgöz Underground City

The Saratlı Kırkgöz Underground City lies to the south of the town of Saratlı, about twenty-five kilometres from Aksaray. Clearing work began in 2000, and in 2002 another closed chamber was uncovered. Judging by its plan and building technique, the complex dates to the Byzantine period. It is thought to have seven floors in total, of which three have been uncovered.

Everything a community needed to shelter here is present: stables, kitchens, water wells, a tandır oven, hearths and storage chambers, joined by narrow tunnels. On the ground floor an area set aside as a barn has fourteen animal feeders, and seven more were found on the second floor. A well about ten metres deep is reached through tunnels on the second level, with a ventilation shaft above it and a tandır cut into the floor nearby.

Two features stand out. The complex has a ventilation system that differs from those in other Cappadocian underground cities, and the security doors at the entrance and between rooms slide from the inside in a way that prevents outsiders from entering. A sloping tunnel from the second to the third floor leads to a room with another well, called Kuyulu Dam. The site sits on the Silk Road, at the entrance to Cappadocia.