Ağırnas Yeraltı Şehri

Useful Information

Location:	Ağırnas Mahallesi 38225 yeraltı şehri, 38225 Melikgazi/Kayseri. (38.8136402, 35.7166846)
Open:	All year daily 9-18:30, last entry 17. [2024]
Fee:
Classification:	Underground City
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	A=400 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Ağırnas Yeraltı Şehri, Ağırnas Mahallesi 38225 yeraltı şehri, 38225 Melikgazi/Kayseri, Tel: +90-538-714-03-54.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

Ağırnas Yeraltı Şehri (Ağırnas Underground City) is one of numerous underground cities in Cappadocia. The city has beneath passages and living quarters for the people a chapel and public refectory. There are the typical round millstones which were used to block the entrance in a well-preserved state. The stories about dungeons and torture rooms are obviously fantasy.

Unfortunately, there is almost no information available about this underground city. The given age of 3,000 years is definitely wrong, like the other underground cities it was built around It seems the municipality renovated the site, equipped it with electric light, and opened it to the public a few years ago. The owner of the house at the entrance is the warden. The site is free, so there is no entrance fee as far as we know, nevertheless it has open hours. It is the last underground city which was opened to the public, and as the others are so famous it drows very few visitors. Definitely a great site off the beaten track.

The land around Ağırnas is dry and not very fertile, so it was not possible to live from agriculture. The inhabitants had to have a second income, and since the 19th century the town was famous for its thin, soft white cotton cloth called Agirnas bull. It was exported to England, France and the Netherlands. Other inhabitants acquired construction craftsmanship and mastery in different fields like stone processing, masonry, miniaturism, painting and plastering. Numerous inhabitants worked in the centers of the Empire, since the mid-20th century they are renowned for the restauration of historic buildings with traditional techniques. The returning craftsmen brought

Pozzo Sacro di Santa Cristina