Dogala Underground City and The Til Village of Cappadocia Turkey

Dogala Underground City and The Til Village of Cappadocia Turkey,

Dogala Underground City
One of the underground cities of the region referred to earlier is situated at the village of Dogala on the south slope of ErtaHilll, 7 km. to the west of Derinkuyu. All the entrances to this are blocked with the exception of one air duct which is barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The interior, though partially fallen in and blocked, is very interesting. As at Derinkuyu there are stone doors, storage chambers, bedrooms, water tanks and three halls placed side by side and with niches at both ends. The first and second stories are accessible, but the stories below are now flooded so that it is impossible to ascertain the extent of the city and the number of its stories.

 The Til Village (Till Koy)
Til village is a small village 9 km. to the east of Derinkuyu, on the main road to SoOanli and is situated on the slope of a hill. What makes this place remarkable is the presence of a so far little explored, unrestored underground city. Between 1969-71, the author, together with Dr. Martin Urban, the noted German writer of books on tourism, visited this underground city twice. Because of the rubble and earth with which it is filled, it is impossible to tell how large it is or of how many levels it consists, yet we were able to explore the two upper levels which can be reached. As at Derinkuyu and other underground cities, this one also has stone doors separating the different levels, living quarters, stables, storage rooms, kitchens and ventilation chimneys. The bottom of these wells is filled with water which is drawn by the people of the village by means of pulleys. Also here, some parts of the top story serve as storage rooms or tables even today. On the west side of the village, there is a large mound containing hundreds of graves of uncertain date. The remains of a not so well preserved caravanserai dating from the Seljuk period are seen to the south. In that period the shortest caravan route from Istanbul to Iran passed they through this region and the inns of Sultan Hani, YeVhisar, Incesu, Til Koy, Dogala, Agzi Karahan, Alayhan between Sivas and Kayseri, and Sultan Hani between Aksaray and Konya were parts of a chain of caravanserais established on this route for the convenience of travellers.