Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Alice Irazari.
Speaker 2: And I'm Andrew Davis. Spotlight uses a special English method
Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1: A man is working on his home in Drinkuyu, a
Speaker 1: city in Turkey. The build is going well, but there
Speaker 1: is one problem. His pet chickens keep disappearing. He watches
Speaker 1: one of these birds go down a hole in the floor.
Speaker 1: It never returns.
Speaker 2: One day, the man decides to follow his disappearing chickens.
Speaker 2: He starts hitting the side of the hole that leads
Speaker 2: into the ground. The hole opens up onto a large
Speaker 2: passageway in the rock. This is not a natural place.
Speaker 2: The man discovers rooms, doors, and even Christian churches. He
Speaker 2: has found a whole underground city cut into the rock.
Speaker 2: One day, experts will call this place de Linkuyu. They
Speaker 2: will find that it is eighteen stories deep and once
Speaker 2: held twenty thousand people.
Speaker 1: On today's Spotlight, we will explore the mysteries of Dirinkuyu's
Speaker 1: underground city. We will ask how such a huge place
Speaker 1: could remain hidden. We will examine the lives of the
Speaker 1: people who lived there.
Speaker 2: The Dolnkuyu underground city is the largest below ground settlement
Speaker 2: in Turkey's Cappadocia area. This area is known for its
Speaker 2: fairy chimneys. These rock formations seem like tall structures, but
Speaker 2: they formed from a natural process.
Speaker 1: Long ago, ash from volcanoes covered the area. The ash
Speaker 1: ultimately turned into rock called tough. Tough is very soft rock.
Speaker 1: Wind and water can easily push it away. This leaves
Speaker 1: castles of harder stone that stick up out of the surface.
Speaker 2: Tough also makes for easy digging. Andrea dig Giorgi is
Speaker 2: an expert at Florida State University. He told the British Broadcasting.
Speaker 3: Company Cappadocia is specially good for this kind of underground building.
Speaker 3: This is because of the lack of water in the
Speaker 3: dirt and its flexible, easily shaped rock.
Speaker 1: It is difficult to know who first began building in Dirinkuyu.
Speaker 1: Some experts believe some parts of the city were built
Speaker 1: as far back as twelve hundred BCE, but these building
Speaker 1: were only the first parts. Probably many generations of people
Speaker 1: built the city together. Each one used the space for
Speaker 1: different reasons.
Speaker 2: The people who built the first several floors of their
Speaker 2: Incuyu were either the Hittites or the Prigeans. These ancient
Speaker 2: kingdoms either used the city for defense or for storing food.
Speaker 2: In times of war, the underground would be a good
Speaker 2: place to hide. In times of peace, it would keep
Speaker 2: food cool from the hot Cappadocian sun.
Speaker 1: Whatever the reason, whoever built the city hid it with purpose.
Speaker 1: Most entries are cut into natural holes in the rock.
Speaker 1: Builders used the land to hide their buildings. Even ventilation
Speaker 1: shafts holes that brought air to those below ground were hidden.
Speaker 1: Builders hid these as wells places where people pulled up
Speaker 1: water from the ground. Interestingly, this is exactly what Dirinkuu
Speaker 1: means deep well.
Speaker 2: Di Dinkuyu only reached its full size and population in
Speaker 2: the seventh century CE. During this time, the Byzantine Empire
Speaker 2: occupied Cappadocia. This Christian kingdom often wared with nearby Muslim groups.
Speaker 2: Various Arab caliphates controlled parts of Cappadocia from time to time.
Speaker 2: The Byzantine Empire could not always protect its people.
Speaker 1: To stay safe, the Cappadocian Christians dug farther down. Much
Speaker 1: of the Dirinkuu underground city shows their clever inventions. Hidden
Speaker 1: traps caught attackers off guard before reaching the living spaces.
Speaker 1: The holes were very small, Invaders would need to walk
Speaker 1: one by one to reach the inner parts. Secchoal stone
Speaker 1: doors could close off each entrance. Each door had a
Speaker 1: hole in its center. Those inside could fight off invaders
Speaker 1: if needed, but behind the door they would be safe.
Speaker 2: Suliman is a guide who brings visitors through Drinkuyu's underground city.
Speaker 2: He said.
Speaker 4: Life underground was probably very difficult. The citizens used special
Speaker 4: jars as toilets. They lived by the light of fires.
Speaker 4: They placed their dead in special areas.
Speaker 1: Each place in the city had its own purpose. People
Speaker 1: lived in the middle floors. Livestock like cows and goats,
Speaker 1: lived on the upper floors. This had two purposes. First,
Speaker 1: it made the smell from the animals easy to remove. Second,
Speaker 1: it kept the people living underneath warm in the winter.
Speaker 1: The lower floors were probably used for storing food.
Speaker 2: But Duvinkuyu's underground city was not without its pleasures. Explorers
Speaker 2: discovered places in the city used for making wine. The
Speaker 2: city's many churches show their devotion to their religion. Life
Speaker 2: may have been difficult, but these underground people must have
Speaker 2: taken comfort in their community. They were pulled together by
Speaker 2: a common cause and a common fear.
Speaker 1: People lived in this underground city for many centuries. This
Speaker 1: was not a continuous occupation. At first, citizens would have
Speaker 1: fled to this city in times of war. For example,
Speaker 1: they would use the city as protection from the Mongolian
Speaker 1: invasion led by Timor. This model may have changed in
Speaker 1: the twelfth century when the Seljic Turkic people took over
Speaker 1: the area.
Speaker 2: Cappadocia came under control of Muslim rulers. Most Muslims respected Christianity,
Speaker 2: calling them fellow children of the Book, but Christians in
Speaker 2: the area outnumbered their Turkish rulers. These new leaders punished
Speaker 2: the Christians for their faith, trying to weaken their hold
Speaker 2: on the area. Many Christians fled underground for months and
Speaker 2: even years, hoping for a change.
Speaker 1: This change never really came. The Turkish people came to
Speaker 1: Cappadocia and stayed. The state became the Ottoman Empire, one
Speaker 1: of the largest Muslim empires in history. The Ottoman attitudes
Speaker 1: towards Christians changed over the years, and the Christians would
Speaker 1: often flee to their city underground during times of strife.
Speaker 2: The last people to use their Inclu's underground city hid
Speaker 2: there in nineteen nine. These people were fleeing the violence
Speaker 2: of a war between Turkey and Greece. After this war,
Speaker 2: Dirincuyu's inhabitants left the country. People in the area forgot
Speaker 2: it even existed until a man building a house when
Speaker 2: searching for his chickens.
Speaker 1: Today, Dirinkuyu is one of the area's most famous places
Speaker 1: to visit. It is a part of UNESCO's World Heritage
Speaker 1: Site in Cappadocia. For a small price, guides take visitors
Speaker 1: through some of the places that citizens lived. To an invader,
Speaker 1: the underground city would be huge and complex, but now
Speaker 1: guests can wonder at the literal depths a person will
Speaker 1: go to protect their faith. Fernando Serdio is a writer
Speaker 1: at Kultura Collectiva.
Speaker 5: She said, Derinkuyu is not just a wonder of building.
Speaker 5: It is a look into humanity's strength and ability to
Speaker 5: change as we uncover its secrets. This ancient city reminds
Speaker 5: us that modern society is built on layers of history
Speaker 5: waiting to be discovered.
Speaker 2: Are you a person of faith? What would you do
Speaker 2: to keep your faith alive? What things would you do
Speaker 2: to protect your family In times of trouble. You can
Speaker 2: leave a comment on our website at www dot Spotlight
Speaker 2: English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook,
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Speaker 2: official Spotlight English app.
Speaker 1: The writer and producer of this program was Dan Christman.
Speaker 1: The voices you you heard were from the United States
Speaker 1: and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this
Speaker 1: program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called Turkey's
Speaker 1: Ancient Underground Cities.
Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
Speaker 2: Spotlight program. Goodbye,