Hospital Monastery and Ayan in Derinkuyu of Cappadocia

Hospital Monastery and Ayan in Derinkuyu of Cappadocia,

Hospital Monastery
Within Derinkuyu there is a monastery which is said to be the first lunatic asylum in the world. Two Christians, Ayanaryeros, and Ayasozori, who lived in Derinkuyu before the time of the Turkish Republic, restored this monastery. Inside we see various artifacts, a dispensary, a cell for holy water, places where lunatics were tied, and rooms where people were given information concerning the treatment of the patients.

Ayan in Cappadocia
Around a Byzantine church, one km. to the west of Derinkuyu there exist hundreds of rooms. The secret tunnel which joins these rooms with Monastery at Derinkuyu was open as recently as 1945, after which date the roof fell in many parts and blocked the way; all the same, it is a very interesting place. Those parts which can still be visited have only one story; the twelve columns hewn out of the rock represent the twelve saints. The blocked passageways have unfortunately prevented us from making an accurate assessment of the area covered by this underground settlement; nor do we know how many levels it was built. The ventilation ducts of this underground city in some cases have been blocked by the villagers living in the neighborhood or natural causes, such as rain, snow and wind have deposited earth and rocks in them, rendering them useless.Owing to natural causes again the tunnel is blocked; in the part where one can walk one can see rooms on both sides. The Greeks who used to live at Derinkuyu called this place the church of the Twelve Saints.The world for Saint in Greek is Aghia, hence the present name was given to the place: Ayan. The structural characteristics of Ayan closely resemble those of the underground city of Ozkonak, which, alongside with Derinkuyu and Kaymakli, is one of the three underground cities open to visitors among more than thirty such places in this region.