Derinkuyu: Mysterious underground city in Turkey found in man's basement | Hacker News Reader

Derinkuyu: Mysterious underground city in Turkey found in man's basement

bigthink.com

106 pointsBrajeshwar24 comments

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32633382 (1 year ago, 154 pt, 28 comments)

"Another theory says the underground city served as a temperate refuge for the region’s extreme seasons. Cappadocian winters can get very cold, the summers extremely hot. Below ground, the ambient temperature is constant and moderate. As a bonus, it is easier to store and keep harvest yields away from moisture and thieves."

Some Aussie opal miners already took note.

Could have rented that out

I really hope this stays top comment.

Also nearby is the similar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaymakli_Underground_City

And also maybe the one from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mind_Parasites

BASEMENT:

This is a musty basement in need of repair. One wall appears more cracked than many of the others.

> swing sledgehammer

sounds like a DC 10 challenge vs perception

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/71340/if-a-secret-do...

https://www.enworld.org/threads/perception-in-5e-discuss-how...

Dont knock down too many bearing walls....

Here are a dozen photos that someone took down there: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nikidel/albums/721576265156426...

I've been there, it is super interesting!

Same! As a rather tall person (1m95, 6'5"), I had to duck a lot in some of those doorways and tunnels.

This is so nice, this tops the design of the varied kind of cities you'd find in fantasy RPG games, but it's real life!

For those that didn't read the article, this happened 60 years ago. It is now a huge tourist attraction and only one of many underground cities in Turkiye.

I hope there isn't a grue down there.

Where would you prefer he go? That's right where I expect him!

It is lit up so...

I wonder how it never flooded.

By exploiting existing long-established natural underground rivers and water basins ..

The article actually says the reason is in the name, which translates as Deep Well.

They just didn’t build below the water table…simple…. They probably improved it by digging the wells good and deep…

Yes, I’m concurring with the first reply.

Or how nobody ever noticed the ventilation shafts.

Prior to mechanically pumped water, wells were within walking distance pretty much everywhere. I believe most/all of the ventilation shafts at least looked like wells, if not doubling as wells.

Maybe, but it seems like a well that doubles as a ventilation shaft for a labyrinthine underground city wouldn't be very good at either job.

Why wouldn't they work well as wells?

They wouldn't be optimal ventilation shafts, but they'd be hidden, and apparently generally sufficient.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com