Imagine living in an underground world that has everything you need. You travel through a winding maze of tunnels and caves to get food and see your friends. You don’t even have to step foot outside to go to school!
That’s what life was like in Derinkuyu—an underground city in Cappadocia, a region in Türkiye (Turkey). Some historians believe the Phrygians (FRIH-jee-uhns), local people known for their ironwork, likely dug out the city during the 7th century b.c. Over the roughly 2,600 years that followed, different empires controlled the area.
In 1963, a local man rediscovered the city. He stumbled upon a tunnel while knocking down a wall in his home.