Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey 3031293738, 9783031293733

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Ali Yamaç

Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey

Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey

Ali Yamaç

Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey

Ali Yamaç OBRUK Cave Research Group Istanbul, Türkiye

ISBN 978-3-031-29373-3    ISBN 978-3-031-29374-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Acknowledgements

Eight years ago, when we started working together, none of us expected such a result. Over the years that have passed, “Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project” reached an unbelievable level. It would be impossible without his dedicated attitude and extraordinary efforts. So, it is a pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Osman Özsoy, Kayseri Coordinator of ÇEKÜL Foundation. Also, I would like to thank Prof. Metin Sözen, President of ÇEKÜL Foundation, not only for this project but also for years of ongoing support for many different projects all over Turkey. I am deeply grateful to all Kayseri Metropolitan Mayors who wholeheartedly supported this project for the past 8 years. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Ezgi Tok, not only for the beautiful maps she drew, but also for her support for the creation and re-reviewing of this book, to Ellen Jewitt and Henry Carrigan for their exceptional help during the final preparation of the manuscript, to Bilgin Yazlık, who is an extraordinary guide and an authority about Koramaz Valley, to Ali Ethem Keskin, Rainer Straub, and Dmitry Albov, who unconditionally allowed me to use their beautiful photos in this book and in my other publications, and to Bülent Erdem, for his unbelievable documentary support. And my honest thanks to all my caver friends; Beniamino Polimeni, Berenice Lecardeur, Boaz Langford, Conny Straub, Çağan Çankırılı, Dmitry Albov, Efraim Cohen, Ekaterina Ianovskaia, Emre Aydın, Eric Gilli, Lena Straub, Melike Ocakdan, Michael Berkal, Oğuz Demir, Sebahat Bahadır, Yinon Shivtiel, and Yotham Zissu, who have supported every stage of this project with their exploration, survey, and mapping skills.

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Contents

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Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������    1 1.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������    1 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������    3

2

General Information��������������������������������������������������������������������������������    5 2.1 Geology of the Region����������������������������������������������������������������������    5 2.2 Caves, Rock-Cut Architecture and Civilization��������������������������������   11 2.3 Rock-Cut Architecture in Turkey������������������������������������������������������   14 2.4 Previous Researches in Cappadocia��������������������������������������������������   20 2.5 Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project��������������������������   29 2.6 Koramaz Valley ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������   32 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   35

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 Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley������������������������������������������������������   43 3.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   43 3.2 Küçük Bürüngüz Cliff Settlements ��������������������������������������������������   45 3.3 Ağırnas Cliff Settlements������������������������������������������������������������������   47 3.3.1 Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements������������������������������������   49 3.3.2 Ağırnas Northwest Wall Cliff Settlements����������������������������   51 3.3.3 Ağırnas East Wall Cliff Settlements ������������������������������������   54 3.4 Dimitre Cliff Settlements������������������������������������������������������������������   57 3.5 Vekse Cliff Settlements��������������������������������������������������������������������   61 3.6 Discussion ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   65 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   70

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 Rock-Cut Churches of Koramaz Valley������������������������������������������������   73 4.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   73 4.2 Subaşı Rock-Cut Complex and Church��������������������������������������������   74 4.3 Churches of Ağırnas Village ������������������������������������������������������������   78 4.3.1 Ağırnas Underground City Church��������������������������������������   79 4.3.2 Gilaburu Church��������������������������������������������������������������������   80 4.3.3 Gormis Church����������������������������������������������������������������������   81 vii

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4.4 Churches of Dimitre Village ������������������������������������������������������������   82 4.5 Churches of Vekse Village����������������������������������������������������������������   84 4.5.1 Vekse Church No 1 ��������������������������������������������������������������   85 4.5.2 Vekse Church No 2 ��������������������������������������������������������������   87 4.5.3 Vekse Church No 3 ��������������������������������������������������������������   88 4.5.4 Vekse Church No 5 ��������������������������������������������������������������   90 4.6 Churches of Ispıdın Village��������������������������������������������������������������   92 4.6.1 Ispıdın Church No. 1������������������������������������������������������������   94 4.6.2 Ispıdın Churches No. 2, 3 and 4��������������������������������������������   96 4.6.3 Ispıdın Church No. 5������������������������������������������������������������   99 4.6.4 Ispıdın Church No. 7������������������������������������������������������������  100 4.6.5 Ispıdın Church No. 10����������������������������������������������������������  101 4.6.6 Ispıdın Church No. 11����������������������������������������������������������  102 4.6.7 Ispıdın Church No. 12����������������������������������������������������������  104 4.7 Discussion ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  105 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  111 5

 Underground Cities of Koramaz Valley ������������������������������������������������  113 5.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  113 5.2 Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City ������������������������������������������������  114 5.3 Subaşı Underground City������������������������������������������������������������������  119 5.4 Mimar Sinan Underground City ������������������������������������������������������  121 5.5 Ağırnas Underground City����������������������������������������������������������������  126 5.6 Discussion ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  128 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  134

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Funerary Architecture of Koramaz Valley��������������������������������������������  137 6.1 Introduction��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  137 6.2 Rocky Graves������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  138 6.3 Pithos Graves������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  140 6.4 Floor Graves��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  141 6.5 Wall Tombs ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  142 6.6 Tumulus (Plural Tumuli)������������������������������������������������������������������  145 6.7 Columbarium (Plural Columbaria) ��������������������������������������������������  147 6.8 Discussion ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  151 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  153

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Conclusion������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  155 7.1 Conclusion����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  155 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  157

Glossary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  159 Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  163

About the Author

Ali Yamaç  is a Turkish speleologist. He was born in 1957 and caving since 1976. He had explored and surveyed hundreds of caves during those years, of which some of which are among the deepest and longest caves of Turkey. He was the President of the Speleological Federation of Turkey during 2007–2009 and the President during the establishment of three different caving organizations. He was the leader of the team that had prepared the Cave Inventory of Turkey. In addition to his natural cave explorations, as a part of his artificial cave projects, he explored and surveyed numerous rock-cut dwellings and underground cities around different regions of Turkey. Starting with the underground structures of Hagia Sophia Church and Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, his artificial cave projects continue with underground structures inventory projects in Kayseri and Gaziantep provinces. Both projects had been accepted to UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tentative List. Meanwhile, upon the requests of directorates of Nevşehir and Aksaray archaeological museums, he surveyed Derinkuyu, Mazıkoy, Mazıkoy 2, Tatlarin, Avanos, Golgoli, and St. Mercurius underground cities. He had explored and surveyed several rock settlements and rock-cut churches within the “Euphrates River Cliff Settlements Project” and “Kura River – Ardahan Region Survey Project”.

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Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract  With hundreds of rock-cut buildings, the Koramaz Valley in Eastern Turkey close to Kayseri is one of the most significant natural, historical, and cultural treasures in the area. This valley was just added to the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of its worth. All of these rock-cut cliff settlement towns in the valley, which we have inventoried one by one after a 6-year research, are described in this book after the geological aspects of the valley are discussed. Churches, underground cities, and funeral structures—the most significant rock-cut buildings in these settlements in terms of their historical significance—are covered in separate chapters. Keywords  Koramaz Valley · Kayseri · Rock-cut villages

1.1 Introduction This book offers an overview of the interaction between man and land during the near past within the context of the architectural components of daily practices that some of these structures represent the earliest examples of its kind in the region. While attempting to make a humble contribution to the research for a better understanding of the history of our ancestors, nothing is more than natural, considering every single human being ever walked as a member of the same lineage of the enormous family tree for life, that the lineage is referred in the text with the word “We”. Caves have always been our home and we have always lived in caves. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, caves were our first shelters as Homo sapiens (Lewin, 1993). Many of our distant relatives such as Homo erectus, Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis, and Homo Neanderthalensis also lived in the caves before us (Stringer, 2011). The vast majority of the oldest known fossils of us and all our relatives have been found during excavations in these caves (Cameron & Groves, 2004; Richard et al., 2020). Tens of thousands of years have passed since we lived in caves, and we are now living in our houses built on the surface, but we still could not break away fully from © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0_1

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a cave-dwelling life. A troglodyte lifestyle is so easy and comfortable that this time when we found suitable rock formations, we began to dig and settle into these rocks (Kempe, 1988). As Homo sapiens, it was meaningless to expect our habits, which had persisted for hundreds of thousands of years, to change in such a short time. Maybe we had built villages or even cities on the surface, but some of us just moved from natural caves to artificial caves. Although there are artificial cavities in countless different parts of the world and in almost every part of Turkey, the Cappadocia region is very different from all these other regions. Hundreds of rock-cut churches and other rock structures in the famous and touristic part of Cappadocia have been the subject of countless books, articles, and scholarly research. But, despite being the capital of Cappadocia during ancient times, no comprehensive scientific research has been carried out on the rock-cut architecture in Kayseri Province until now. To fill this deficiency we, as the OBRUK Cave Research Group, started to work for the “Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project” in January 2014. This project includes the research, surveys, and documentation of all the underground structures located in Kayseri. So far, during the last 8 years covering the entire province, 46 Byzantine rock-cut churches, 33 underground cities, 10 Assyrian tin mines, three underground aqueducts, and six cliff settlements have been explored, researched, and inventoried for the first time. In each new study of this ongoing project, new rock-cut structures are discovered in the region. Regarding all the rock-cut structures identified and inventoried so far, Koramaz Valley, which has been explored for about 3 years, is the most important part of this project. Although there are valleys with rock-cut structures in many different parts of Cappadocia, Koramaz Valley is the only known example having a total of 476 dwellings, 42 rock-cut churches, and four major underground cities. Though most of these structures were houses, dovecotes, and barns, at least 18 of them have been carved as the Roman rock-cut tombs and 21 of the structures are columbarium (Gilli, 2017; Yazlık, 2019). Considering its historical value, this valley was accepted to the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s tentative list 1 year ago. All these rock-cut structures of Koramaz Valley are explained in detail in this book. We have divided these structures into three different chapters as churches, underground cities, and funerary structures. The rock-cut cliff settlement villages, where all these structures are located, are described in a separate chapter. Chapter 2 begins by describing the general geology of the entire region. After explaining how this geological formation, which allowed the formation of rock-cut structures, was formed, the transition process of humanity from caves to rock-cut architecture is explained. After the summary of rock-cut structures in Turkey and especially in Cappadocia, the project we are carrying out in Kayseri and Koramaz Valley, which is the most important part of this work, is explained in general. The detailed explanation of the structures in Koramaz Valley begins with Chap. 3. This chapter describes four different cliff settlements in the valley. In Chap. 4 we describe

References

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in detail 14 selected rock-cut churches from a total of 42 explored and found in the cliff settlements mentioned in the previous chapter. Chapter 5 explains the four major underground cities researched and surveyed in Koramaz Valley and their surveys. The final chapter, Chap. 6, discusses the establishment of the funerary architecture of Koramaz Valley with an emphasis on their development. In the ‘Discussion’ sections at the end of each chapter, we both provided comprehensive information about the historical background of the structures described in that chapter and tried to shed light on the controversial issues about these structures. Although there is a glossary at the end of the book, we find it useful to make an explanation for the terminology we use throughout the book. In the past decades, countless articles and books on artificial cavities have been published all over the world and scientific studies have gained momentum. However, there is no consensus in the academic world regarding the terminology of these structures and a common terminology has not been established. For example, although the term ‘artificial cavity’ is accepted as a general definition for all such structures, the words ‘rock-­ cut’ or ‘rock-hewn’ are used with the same meaning in different sources. Similarly, in many different sources, all structures carved from a rock cliff are referred to as a ‘cliff settlement’, ‘rock-dwelled settlement’, or ‘cliff dwelling’. To avoid terminological confusion, in this book we prefer to use the term ‘cliff settlement’ for all structures excavated on the slopes of Koramaz Valley. On the other hand, for structures that were dug gradually on top of each other on a steep wall and can only be reached by steps dug into the bedrock, we used the term ‘wall settlement’. Similarly, there are differences in the naming of underground defensive structures in Cappadocia. These structures, which were carved out to hide during a raid and whose tunnels are protected by millstone doors, are called ‘underground city’ in many works. However, some experts discriminate between ‘underground city’ and ‘underground shelter’ arguing that the second term is more appropriate for singular structures. They state that the term ‘underground city’ can only be used for the complex structures formed as a result of the combination of ‘underground shelter’s. Details regarding this terminological discussion are found in Chap. 5. We also find it useful to write a short note regarding the bibliography. In Chap. 2 we gave a comprehensive bibliography of rock-cut structures in Anatolia, and also mentioned the works where many more sources can be found, especially concerning the Cappadocia region. It can be seen that there are not many sources about the Kayseri Province in general and Koramaz Valley in particular in terms of rock-cut and underground structures. This is because this region has not been studied extensively in this respect before now.

References Cameron, D., & Groves, C. (2004). Bones, stones, and molecules: “out of Africa” and human origins. Elsevier Academic Press.

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Gilli, E. (2017). From columbaria to dovecotes: Two thousand years of use of cave dwellings in Ağırnas (Kayseri, Turkey). Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Cappadocia, Turkey. Kempe, D. (1988). Living underground. Lewin, R. (1993). The origin of modern humans. W.H. Freeman. Richard, M., Falguères, C., Pons-Branchu, E., Richter, D., Beutelspacher, T., Conard, N., & Kind, C. (2020). The middle to upper Palaeolithic transition in Hohlenstein-Stadel cave (Swabian Jura, Germany): A comparison between ESR, U-series, and radiocarbon dating. Quaternary International, 556, 49–57. Stringer, C. (2011). The origin of our species. Penguin Books. Yazlık, B. (2019). Koramaz Vadisi Columbarium Mezarları. Turkish Studies, 14(3), 669–733.

Chapter 2

General Information

Abstract  This chapter presents a brief explanation of Cappadocia’s geological and geomorphological characteristics followed by an overview of the rock-cut structures and studies on those rock-cut structures found not only in the Cappadocia region but throughout Turkey. There are thousands of these artificial cavities and most of them have not been extensively studied. An inventory that includes all of them is not yet available. Following that, a broad summary will be presented of the existing research and studies on rock-cut architecture in the Cappadocia region in general and Kayseri, in particular. In the last two sections, brief information is given regarding all previous research and surveys on the artificial cavity, including Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project carried out by OBRUK Cave Research Group, and then the geological, historical, and geographical features of Koramaz Valley, which is the subject of this book, are explained. Keywords  Cappadocia geology · Koramaz Valley · Kayseri · Rock-cut structures · Artificial cavity

2.1 Geology of the Region The region, which is defined as the Central Anatolian Volcanic Province (CAVP) in the geological literature, is one of the most important volcanic areas of Turkey. It encompasses several provinces including the Kayseri Province where Koramaz Valley is located (Figs. 2.1 and 2.2). It extends approximately in the NE-SW direction, the long axis of this area is 200 km and its width is around 100 km. The formation of CAVP began with the converging of the Arabian and Eurasian plates in the Middle Miocene period, around 16–11.6 million years ago, and developed the post clash regimes after the Upper Miocene period. Because of this, different types and origins of volcanic rocks were formed within the CAVP. The orogenic activity of the Taurides continued during the Miocene period causing deep fractures in the crystalline mountains in the north. These deeply located fractures caused a weakening of the crust followed by the © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0_2

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Fig. 2.1  Location map showing Kayseri and Koramaz Valley. (After Google Maps and Google Earth-elaboration A. Yamaç)

generation of a chain of volcanic mountains at the heart of central Anatolia (Andolfato & Zucchi, 1971). This continental clash brought shortening and thickening together with the north-south compression regime that is still going on today in Eastern Anatolia. The thickness of the Eastern Anatolian Crust is about 45–50 km and at the end of this clash, the Anatolian block moved to the west through the two strike-slip faults. This movement that pulled apart the basin and reverses faults, is the basic reason for the inner deformation within the Anatolian block (Alıcı et al., 2004). Wide-scale volcanism was formed in Anatolia from the Neogene to Quaternary periods as a result of the convergence of plates and continental clashes. Around the Cappadocia region, the mountains of Erciyes, Develi, Hasan, Melendiz,

2.1  Geology of the Region

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Fig. 2.2  Map of Central Anatolian Volcanic Province (CAVP). (Adapted from Toprak, 1998)

Keçiboyunduran, and Göllü continued their volcanic activities until the Early Holocene, creating numerous cones and increasing the heights of those principal volcanoes (Aydar et al., 2012; Innocenti et al., 1975; Le Pennec et al., 2005). After extensive research in the Kayseri Region, in his article dated 1995, Prof. İhsan Ketin summarizes the geomorphological formation in the region as follows (Figs. 2.3 and 2.4): There are 68 volcanic cones, large and small, with or without a crater, with diameters of 600–3000 m around the 3917 m high central cone of Mount Erciyes, which is the most prominent with its size and height among the extinct volcanoes of Central Anatolia. Thus, Mount Erciyes is not a single volcano, but a group of volcanoes. Located between Kayseri-­ Develi-­İncesu, the Erciyes Mountain volcanic group covers an area of approximately 1500 km2 together with the Erkilet region (Ketin, 1995).

It is known that the widespread volcanism in the area between Kayseri and Nevşehir generally started in the Late Miocene period, approximately between 11–seven million years. The volcanic activity in the west of this area outside the Erciyes Mountain cone started with andesitic lavas. The Erkilet region in the north, on the other hand, is covered by tuffs and ignimbrites. These pyroclastic rocks, which form wide plateaus, constitute the most common unit in the region. The oldest volcanic rocks exposed and dated in ancient Cappadocia, which cover a large part of this region,

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2  General Information

Fig. 2.3  Erciyes Mountain. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

are 10.1 million years old andesitic lavas, which are observed in the west of Erciyes Mountain and southeast of Ürgüp. The “Akköy ignimbrites“of the following pyroclastic activity are dated to 8.5 million years, and the overlying “Velibaba Tepe ignimbrites“, which are spread over an area of approximately 2.000 km2, are dated to 2.7–three million years (Şen et  al., 2003). In addition, the following different radiometric ages were also determined in the vicinity of Mount Erciyes (Ketin, 1995): • • • •

Andesitic lava on the western slope of Erciyes Mountain: 300,000 years Dacitic lava on the southern slope of Erciyes Mountain: 900,000 years Ignimbrite near Erkilet: 2.8 million years Dacitic ignimbrite near İncesu: 3.0 million years

As a result of several different age determinations, it is understood that the activity of the main caldera of Erciyes Mountain continued until 150,000 to 200,000 years ago and after this period, the caldera was blocked (Alıcı Şen et al., 2004). But, cosmogenic datings show that several smaller lava flows occurred from monogenetic vents during the Early Holocene (ca. 10,000–8000 years ago). On the other hand, a paragraph about Erciyes Mountain in “Geographica”, written by Strabo in the first century AD, was interpreted by some scholars as the mountain was active in this period as well. In Book 12, Chap. 2 he wrote: At a little distance further there are burning plains, and pits full of fire to an extent of many stadia, so that the necessaries of life are brought from a distance…. In some parts the bottom is marshy, and flames burst out from the ground by night. Those acquainted with the country collect wood with caution; but there is a danger to others, and particularly to cattle, which fall into these hidden pits of fire (Jones, 1929).

2.1  Geology of the Region

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Fig. 2.4  Map showing both the small volcanic vents and volcanoes around Kayseri. (Adapted from Ketin, 1995)

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Fig. 2.5  Wall painting from Çatalhöyük site, dated ca. 6600 BC has been interpreted as one of the oldest known maps showing the village and eruption of the Hasandağı volcano (Mellaart, 1967)

But, no Late Holocene volcanic eruption from Erciyes Mountain has ever been evidenced. Therefore, Strabo must have probably seen methane vents rising to the surface and catching fire in the Sultan Sazlığı marshes, which lies in front of Erciyes Mountain (Aydar et al., 2019). On the other hand, a mural excavated at the Neolithic Çatalhöyük site (Central Anatolia, Turkey) has been interpreted as one of the oldest known maps (Fig. 2.5). Dating to 6600  BC, it putatively depicts an explosive summit eruption of the Hasandağı volcano located 130 km east of Çatalhöyük, and a birds-eye view of a town plan in the foreground. Geological and geochronological evidence support previous interpretations that residents of Çatalhöyük artistically represented an explosive eruption of Hasandağı volcano (Schmitt et  al., 2014). It reveals that a Holocene explosive eruption of that volcano was most likely witnessed by humans in the area. Two major stratovolcanoes, Erciyes (3917 m) and Hasandağı (3253 m) pose significant volcanic hazards for Central Anatolia. Kayseri in particular, extending from Mt. Erciyes to an area of peripheral lava domes to the north of the volcano, is exposed to hazards from lava dome and pyroclastic eruptions as well as lahars. Both volcanoes erupted during the Holocene and all the scientific data indicate that Erciyes and Hasandağı should be considered active. The rocks that lie underneath the widespread volcanic cover all over the region are considered to be the basic rocks. Those are Paleozoic-Mesozoic aged metamorphic rocks and over these rocks, Upper Cretaceous aged Mid Anatolia Ophiolits are overlapped and plutonic rocks cut through all of these. The Eocene Period was characterized by marine limestone and this section is overlapped irregularly by the Oligo-Miocene aged continental clasts. The intensive types of continental volcanism that were launched in the Middle-Upper Miocene and continued during the Quaternary Period, covered up all these sections (Aydın, 2009). These continuous eruptions have piled pyroclastic rocks with an enormous thickness on the surface. Both the elevations on the north and wide plateau to the south of Kayseri are completely covered by these volcanic rock deposits. The amount of pyroclastic deposits shows significant differences regionally and is known to reach

2.2  Caves, Rock-Cut Architecture and Civilization

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Fig. 2.6  There are 8 different rock layers on this 12-meter-high wall situated near Koramaz Valley. Each pyroclastic rock of different color and thickness is the result of a different eruption, and after being stacked, all these layers were folded as a result of tectonic movements over time. (Photo A. Yamaç)

a thickness of 400 m in the north of Kayseri, especially around Erkilet (Şen et al., 2003; Temel et al., 1998) (Fig. 2.6). Laying in the NE-SW direction and being left slip, Ecemiş Fault Zone, which passes 20 km east of Kayseri, through Koramaz Valley, is the second-largest fault in Anatolia after the North Anatolian Fault. With a total length of over 700 km, it is one of the most important neo-tectonic elements in Central Anatolia. Various field studies carried out by geologists indicate that the vicinity of this fault has an extremely young topography and it has developed under the effect of an active uplift, and the tectonic activity that causes this uplift is still active (Tatar et al., 2000). Moreover, it is quite natural for an intense tectonic movement to occur in a region with such large volcanism. There are several small, active faults around the Ecemiş Fault Zone. Sultan Sazlığı, located in the middle of this fault zone, is a tectonic depression. This basin is surrounded by small but active faults such as Erkilet and Gesi in the north, Yeşilhisar in the southwest, and Develi in the southeast. This fault zone in the region is fully active and has produced numerous earthquakes throughout history (Ambraseys & Finkel, 1995).

2.2 Caves, Rock-Cut Architecture and Civilization For over 300,000 years Homo sapiens have lived and continue to live in caves on every continent from Africa to Asia and Europe (Kempe, 1988; Murray, 2001). Human fossils from the Lower and Middle Paleolithic periods have been discovered

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during excavations in different caves such as Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, Sterkfontein and Dinaledi in South Africa, and Qesem, Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh, Shkul, Qafzeh in the Middle East (Akazawa et al., 1998; Fagan & Durrani, 2016; Sponheimer, 2005). In addition, other fossils dating to the same period were also found in several caves such as Gran Dolina in Spain and Zhoukoudian in China (Cameron & Groves, 2004; Lewin, 1993; Stringer, 2011). During the Last Ice Age 40,000  years ago, Homo Neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens were able to survive thanks to caves, despite the fact that the environment was 6–10 degrees colder than today (Flannery, 2020). Cave paintings, the oldest of which are dated to 45.000 BP, are some of our first works of art. There are extraordinary examples of these paintings, found in various caves such as Altamira in Spain and Lascaux, Chauvet, and Niaux in France. Also, similar ones are present in hundreds of caves almost all over the world, from Indonesia to Borneo and South America (David, 2017; Lewis-Williams, 2002). The earliest evidence of figurative art and musical instruments, such as ivory figurines and flutes made of bone and have been dated between 42.000 and 43.000 BP, were found in the Höhlenstein Cave in Germany (Richard et al., 2020). We can easily assume that new discoveries will be made in various caves in the future. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, we inhabited natural caves in order to protect ourselves from wild animals and the weather. After this very, very long way of life, we started to build houses from around 10.000–9.500 BP (Taşkıran, 2016). Some of the earliest known examples of small villages formed during this period have been discovered in several different sites in Anatolia such as Çatalhöyük, Can Hasan, Aşıklı (Clare & Weninger, 2015; Özbaşaran & Duru, 2011). This can be considered a transition period from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic. There are also several cave findings dating to the same period as these Neolithic villages in Anatolia which shows us that natural caves were in use during the same period as the establishment of villages (Taşkıran, 2016). These people most probably lived in their village homes, but kept their old hunter-gatherer habits during certain seasons and periodically continued to live in caves. Natural caves continued to be used for thousands of years for different purposes such as sacred places for rituals and as cultic centers (Harmanşah, 2015). There are countless such examples in Turkey. Karain Cave, for example, is one of the most important archaeological caves in Anatolia. Starting from the Lower Palaeolithic Age, it was continuously inhabited throughout the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age periods (Taşkıran, 2018). Also, the inscriptions found by the entrance indicate that the cave was used as a cultic center during the Hellenistic and Roman periods (Taşkıran, 2018; Yamaç et al., 2021). Other examples include the Kadıini and Yassıkaya caves with their Bronze Age findings and the Birkleyn caves with carved royal inscriptions of Assyrian kings Tiglath Pileser I (1114–1076 BC) and Shalmaneser III (858–824 BC) (Schachner, 2009). Zindan Cave was a cultic center dating back to the third century AD and Cennet Cave contains a Byzantine period church (Aygen, 1984; Öcal, 2012). All these caves in a sense, show a continuation of this ancient, archaic habit of humanity (Harmanşah, 2015; Yamaç et al., 2021).

2.2  Caves, Rock-Cut Architecture and Civilization

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Tens of thousands of years have passed since we lived in caves, and we are now living in our houses built on the surface, but we still could not break away fully from a cave-dwelling life. A troglodyte lifestyle is so easy and comfortable that this time when we found suitable rock formations, we began to dig and settle into these rocks (Kempe, 1988). As Homo sapiens, it was meaningless to expect our habits, which had persisted for hundreds of thousands of years, to change in such a short time. Maybe we had built villages or even cities on the surface, but some of us just moved from natural caves to artificial caves. Although there are artificial cavities in countless different parts of the world (Kempe, 1988), it is not known exactly when they were first excavated, and such a discovery is very difficult, if not impossible to happen since they have been constantly in use and altered throughout the ages. As you will read in the next chapter, we know that this troglodyte life has continued for thousands of years in Anatolia. Even today, some of us continue to live in caves. Maybe the structure and comfort of all these caves we live in have changed a bit, but that’s all. Considering that approximately 30,000,000 people still live in cave-houses dug underground, called ‘yaodong‘, on the Loess Plateau in northern China, we can say that our troglodyte population has not decreased, but rather increased (Canavas, 2021). The most famous yaodongs in China are those in Yan’an. Mao Zedong and his followers lived in these cave-houses between 1935 and 1948 (Kempe, 1988). People continue to live in cave dwellings in different parts of the world, and although most of these artificial caves have become cultural assets and are under protection, countless people still live in simple cave-houses(Pekin, 2014). For example, in Cappadocia, a cave-dwelling resident living right next to a five-star cave-hotel sleeps in this cave-house every evening and goes to work in his field in the morning. This phenomenon continues not only in Cappadocia but also in various regions of Anatolia. There are different reasons for choosing to live in an artificial cavity rather than building a structure on earth. The first and perhaps most important reason is that these dwellings are much easier to construct than the surface structures (Öztürk, 2009). Another important advantage of a cave-dwelling when compared to a structure built on the surface is that, in regions like Cappadocia where the summers are very hot and the winters are cold, these cavities can be heated much more easily during the winter than a surface house and are also cooler in the summer (Öztürk, 2009). The most difficult problem with these dwellings, which are quite easy to carve out is the structural collapse of the rock. This is especially true for cliff settlements that are carved side by side on a wall (Pekin, 2014). These soft rocks, erode and are weakened by water or snow infiltrating their cracks which over time, break into large blocks. This problem is accelerated by the fact that most of their regions are in earthquake zones (Ambraseys & Finkel, 1995). Some rock-cut villages such as Zelve and Dimitre in Cappadocia were in use until very recently and were abandoned due to this rock collapse problem.

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2.3 Rock-Cut Architecture in Turkey Artificial cavities and rock dwellings are common not only in the Cappadocia region but also in almost every region of Anatolia. Although located hundreds of kilometers apart and spanning thousands of years, all these structures, excavated in different rocks, such as volcanic and limestone, serve similar but varied purposes from residential to the storehouse, and from religious to defensive structures. Singular structures, especially rock-cut tombs, exist all over Anatolia and have been a common tradition throughout Anatolia history from west to east. Such tombs excavated in rock walls or underground have a history of thousands of years and include Lycian, Greek, and Roman tombs in Western Anatolia as well as Urartian tombs, dated to 800–700 BC which are common in the eastern provinces (Çevik, 2000). Roman rock-cut tombs with ornamented front façades carved into a flat wall are found in or around different antique sites such as Telmessos, Kaunos, Myra in Western Anatolia. There are also Roman rock-cut tombs carved directly into the bedrock on the ground, with several klines and occasional sarcophagi, examples of which can be seen throughout different provinces of southeast Anatolia, such as in Diyarbakır-Hilar or Gaziantep-Dülük. In addition to the thousands of rock-cut tombs found in numerous graveyards throughout Anatolia, several singular rock-cut structures have been carved in provinces such as Konya - Kilistra and Sille, Bitlis, Ankara-Nallıhan, Batman, Mardin Midyat or Çorum, when the geological formation is suitable for carving. Although some of these singular structures are churches, as in the example of Konya - Sille (Yamaç & Gilli, 2018), rock-dwelled houses and defense structures are also encountered locally (Bixio et al., 2011; De Pascale & Bixio, 2010). Among these, the rock-­ cut settlement located in Çıralı Doline within the province of Konya is the only rock-cut village dug in a doline discovered until now in the world. On the other hand, unlike these singular structures, there are also dense rock-­ dwellings carved close to one another in different parts of Anatolia. Apart from Cappadocia, one of the most common places where such structures are seen is the region known as the ‘Phrygian Highlands’, in the provinces of Eskişehir - Afyon in Northwest Anatolia. There are hundreds of rock-cut shrines and settlements in this area of approximately 4000 km2. The rock-cut structures in this region were first carved by the Phrygians in 600–700 BC, some of the structures were used for residential purposes or converted into churches over time. In addition, more rock-cut churches were carved during the Byzantine Period, and Uçkan describes in detail 42 rock-cut churches located in this region that can be dated to this period (Uçkan, 2010). It is very difficult to determine which of the structures outside the protected areas were carved during the Phrygian Period; because of the constant changes to the structures over time, there is no clear inventory of such structures. Aside from the difficulty of collecting all these rock-cut monuments, shrines, cisterns, dwellings, found in a very large area and carved over at least 2700 years, in a single inventory, it is debatable how accurate such a study would be. Nevertheless, the studies of Berndt-Ersöz and Haspels on the rock-cut structures found in this region and

2.3  Rock-Cut Architecture in Turkey

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dated to the Phrygian period are quite comprehensive (Berndt-Ersöz, 2006; Haspels, 1971). In “Phrygien und Pisidien”, written by Belke and Mersich and published as the seventh book of the “Tabula Imperii Byzantini” series, there is both an inventory of Byzantine buildings in this region and a comprehensive bibliography of works about this period in the region (Belke & Mersich, 1990). In Karaman Province in Central Anatolia, there are also numerous rock-cut structures carved into the neritic soft limestone. Although first discovered by the Russian geographer Pierre De Tchihatcheff in the middle of the nineteenth century, only some of these structures which are concentrated around Manazan and Gödet villages and which have become a large cliff settlement, have been subjected to scientific studies. In the second volume of his monumental work “Asie Mineure: Description physique, statistique et archeologique de cette contree”, published in five volumes between 1853–60, Tchihatcheff stated regarding Gödet Village “This rock settlement, on the walls of a deep canyon, is very impressive” (De Tchihatcheff, 1853–60). These cliff settlements at Gödet Village, which we studied in 2012, were composed of an enormous number of dwellings on both walls of an 11 km long canyon, and some of these structures were still in use. This troglodyte settlement in the canyon is very large and requires extensive research (Yamaç, 2012). Soft limestone found in Southeast Anatolia, especially around Hasankeyf, Urfa, and Gaziantep, has been carved for centuries and several different structures, from houses to churches, have been built using it. There are hundreds of dwellings carved on the walls of the Tigris River and ancient citadels in Hasankeyf, and in Urfa and Gaziantep, both on the walls of the Euphrates River and inside the cities. Among these structures, some of which have been studied by us in recent years, there are houses, churches, and even a five-story monastery. Although a rock-cut church with Armenian inscriptions on its walls that we found during our studies around Urfa – Halfeti, along with the well-known Hromgla Castle on the opposite shore can be dated to the 12th or thirteenth century, we are aware that this date cannot be valid in any way for other dwellings in the region. Another interesting fact is that some of the dwellings in these regions are still being used by local people. Although some of the cave dwellings in the city of Gaziantep and Urfa are used for storage purposes, some other artificial caves in both cities are now restaurants or cafés. Apart from two different inventories developed by us and some articles we have published, hundreds of rock-cut structures in this region have not been the subject of scientific research until now (OBRUK, 2012, 2019; Yamaç, 2013; Yamaç & Okuducu, 2017). In contrast, in eastern Anatolia, especially in Ani and Ahlat, hundreds of rock-­ dwelled settlements were explored, surveyed, and documented during years of archaeological work. Dwellings carved in volcanic rocks in the east of Kars, on the slopes of the ancient Armenian site of Ani facing the Arpaçay River (Ahurian) and in the citadel attracted the attention of various researchers in the early 1900s. In 1915 those structures were investigated by Kipshidze. After his death, Kipshidze’s notes were published by Tokarski in the Armenian Academy of Sciences in 1972. These notes mention the impressive number of 823 underground structures, mostly dwellings, but also churches, passages, cemeteries, and dovecotes in Ani (Kipshidze,

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1972). Most of these artificial cavities found in Ani were extensively researched and published by Centro Studi Sotterranei of Genoa (Bixio et al., 2009). Although these dwellings in Ani can be dated to the ninth-tenth centuries AD, like other structures of the city, hundreds of years of uninterrupted use make it impossible to determine the first construction date. Although a dense rock settlement is observed in this ancient site, researchers working here do not accept “A huge Ani underground”, proposed by previous researchers who claimed that more than a thousand underground structures, where almost all the inhabitants of Ani lived in underground dwellings until the structures on the surface were built (Bixio et al., 2009). During the four-year surface investigations in Ahlat, on the west coast of Van Lake, more than 400 rock-cut structures were identified and surveyed in 17 different zones. Although it is difficult to determine the age of all these structures carved in the thick pyroclastic rocks, piled up as a result of intense volcanism in the region is quite difficult, which is not unusual in the case of artificial cavities, the structures are likely to date to a period between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, both by comparing the architectural features of the Armenian church and by examining the potteries found during the underground tunnels excavations (R Bixio & De Pascale, 2011; Bixio et al., 2013, 2014, 2015). Last year, a comprehensive survey of cliff settlements and rock-cut churches was started at 26 different locations in northeastern Anatolia, in the region stretching from Ardahan to Georgia, especially in the Kura River basin. In this archaeological survey, we carried out the part that is related to artificial cavities, which aims to investigate the entire region. Although we have carried out only the first season of the study and it is too early to make any comment from an archaeological point of view, a cliff settlement with a total of 68 different rock-dwelled structures, containing three rock-cut churches, was explored and surveyed at only one of the 26 different spots mentioned above (Fig. 2.7). Although there are rock-cut structures in almost every part of Turkey, the Cappadocia region is very different from all these other regions we mentioned above. Located in the Nevşehir - Ürgüp - Avanos triangle with its fairy chimneys, rock-­ cut churches, valleys, and incredible natural beauty, Cappadocia is one of the most unique regions of Turkey and has become an attraction point for thousands of tourists every year. The rock-cut churches of Göreme National Park, which date to the eighth - eleventh centuries, have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1985. In this tiny area, there are countless rock-cut churches adorned with beautiful frescoes, as well as rock-dwellings and underground cities. This sheer number of rock-cut structures in Cappadocia region shows that there is a troglodyte civilization in this area that lasted hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years. It is possible to make some interpretation in the light of the facts depending on the archeological findings within area. The long history of human presence in this region goes back up to the Early Paleolithic Age. Kaletepe Deresi 3 Site, on the eastern slopes of Göllü Dağ in Niğde district, represents the longest Paleolithic sequence of Anatolia for today (Kuhn et al., 2009; Sagona & Zimansky, 2009; Slimak et al., 2008). Using tephra analyses

2.3  Rock-Cut Architecture in Turkey

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Fig. 2.7  Locations of some dense cave settlement areas mentioned in this chapter. Signs do not indicate a specific point, but a larger area in that region: 1 Cappadocia, 2 Koramaz Valley, 3 Phrygian Highlands, 4 Gödet Village, 5 Gaziantep, 6 Halfeti, 7 Hasankeyf, 8 Ahlat, 9 Ani, 10 Kura River (Compiled by A. Yamaç, Google maps)

of different eruptions at this archaeological site, a framework was created, and because of this study, some findings in this archaeological site can be dated to approximately 800,000 years ago. Researchers emphasize the importance of these findings as follows: … and provides a fundamental tephrostratigraphic framework to examine spatial and temporal variation in hominin behavior comparable to that of other regions, such as eastern Africa (Tryon et al., 2009).

Apart from this site, findings dating to the Mid and Late Paleolithic ages were found at numerous different locations in the Cappadocia region. Çakmaktepe, Kömürcü and Kışla (Niğde), Suvermez (Nevşehir) are some of these settlements (Balkan-Atlı et  al., 2007). Aşıklı Höyük (Aksaray), the lowest layers of which date back to 7000 BC, is the most important Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement of the Cappadocia region, with numerous dwellings excavated to date and numerous grave gifts found in intramural graves (Kuzucuoğlu et al., 2020; Özbaşaran & Duru, 2011). Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age Sites are also well documented in the region. There are many more Neolithic sites in the region such as Köşk Höyük, Tepebağları (Niğde), Avladağ, Hasanlar, Sofular Höyük (Nevşehir). According to the data obtained as a result of archaeological excavations and surface explorations, almost all of the Neolithic Period settlements extended their settlement characteristics in the Chalcolithic Period (Esin, 1998). In some other settlements excavated, such as Çakıltepe Höyük, Yassıhöyük and Topakhöyük (Nevşehir), uninterrupted settlements are observed from the Early Bronze to the Medieval ages. Located 6  km west of Koramaz Valley, Kültepe (Kanis  - Karum) is the most important Bronze Age settlement of Cappadocia. The archaeological excavations initiated by E.  Chantre in 1893  in Kültepe, a settlement that is approximately

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5.000  years old and the most important trade center in the region throughout its entire historical past, continued at different intervals and have been ongoing since 1948. Tens of thousands of clay tablets and numerous other findings unearthed during the excavations reveal the rich commercial relations between Mesopotamia and Anatolia between 1900 and 1700 BC, which began during the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3100 BC) when it was a rich city of Hatti. Kültepe is a settlement that provides valuable information about all phases of the Early Bronze Age, as well as the transition from the Early Bronze Age to the Middle Bronze Age south of the Halys River (Kulakoğlu, 2011; Kulakoğlu & Kangal, 2011). In addition to these archaeological works, various different studies have examined the Assyrian, Hittite, Hellenistic, and Roman Empire periods of Cappadocia. There are Hittite inscriptions and monuments at several different locations in Kayseri and Nevşehir. Field surveys carried out in the region and excavations in ancient settlements such as Sobesos, Tyana, and Mokisos dating to the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods provide information about this period of the region (Akyürek, 1998; Darga, 1998; Equini Schneider, 1997; Tekin, 1998). The Byzantine Empire period of Cappadocia is the most studied and most heavily examined period. There are numerous studies that examine the history and architecture and other features of this period. Kayseri is the eastern neighbour of Cappadocia. The name of this city, which was mentioned in various ancient sources from Herodotus to Strabo, changed from Mazaca to Caesarea in 14 AD in honor of Caesar Augustus (Baydur, 1970). In the third century AD, Caesarea was the largest city in mid-Anatolia and played an important role in the history of Cappadocia as a capital. In the early stages of Christianity, Caesarea became home to several early Christian saints and, in a sense, can be seen as the cradle of Christianity in Anatolia. Despite all these studies on the history of Cappadocia, very limited archaeological or historical data are available about the underground settlements in this region. When the volcanic rocks covering the entire area first started to be dug, as well as when the inhabitants started to use the underground as their dwellings is unknown. It is possible that local people dug this easy-to-carve soft rock for centuries, and that a troglodyte civilization was established in the region that is known as Cappadocia today. Although there is a general tendency to date this troglodyte civilization in Cappadocia to the Byzantine Empire period because of rock-cut churches and underground defensive structures thought to be dug by local people to protect themselves from Arab raids from the seventh to eleventh centuries, Kostof and some other researchers think; “there is no reason to disbelieve that the practice was more ancient than Christianity” (Kostof, 1972). The numerous Roman rock-cut tombs seen in the region today confirm Kostof’s proposal. The continuous use of the rock-hewn structures for thousands of years has made precise dating nearly impossible. As scientists researching the region have argued, it is almost impossible scientifically to determine the date of the first carving of a rock settlement. In time, a Roman rock-cut tomb becomes a house, then a warehouse, or a barn. The walls are destroyed or built and you cannot see these changes

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because not much remains of the past structures. Perhaps a rock decoration indicates that a warehouse used to be a Roman rock-cut tomb or a rock-cut structure that used to be a church and which later became a dovecote. Or the tunnels and rooms of an underground city become a dwelling in time. This practice, which can be found in almost every part of Cappadocia, also makes it impossible to determine the first construction date of these structures carved into the rocks. We believe that until a rock-cut structure is discovered that was carved 4000 years ago, left untouched, and abandoned with the pottery inside that we’ll be unable to determine the date of the first construction of these structures. It is good to make a statement at this point: The archaeological findings uncovered in the Civelek Cave near Nevşehir / Gülşehir, discovered by Italian researchers in 1992, are dated from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze (5500–2000 BC). But Civelek is a natural cave opened in limestone and there are no traces of carving or trimming (R Bixio, 2012). Excluding this example, the earliest dated rock-hewn structures encountered in Cappadocia are probably Roman rock-cut tombs. There are several rock-cut tombs in Nevşehir / Mazıköy (Ousterhout, 2017) and south of Kayseri, especially the vicinity of Ayşepınar and Yeniköy (Durukan, 2012). On the other hand, numerous other Roman rock-cut tombs close to the settlements have been changed over time for different purposes. Near Ağırnas, there are several rock-cut structures on the walls of Koramaz Valley, which are clearly Roman rock tombs with their entrance gates and klines inside, and which have been converted into barns or dovecotes over time. At the same time, for building a defensive structure, an artificial underground cavity is always preferred over a surface structure. Such underground defense structures, of which there are hundreds of examples all over the world from northern France to Vietnam, are also common in Anatolia. It is known that there are more than a hundred defense structures called ‘underground cities’ in the Cappadocia region, whose tunnels are protected by millstone doors. Defensive structures in the form of an artificial cavity are not the only examples of the so-called ‘underground cities’ whose tunnels are protected by millstone doors and which weave the bottom of a village like a cobweb. ‘Rocky castle villages’, examples of which are seen in Uçhisar and Ortahisar in Cappadocia, are also excellent defensive structures. Detailed information about these defense structures, which are thought to have been built by residents to protect themselves from raids against the region between the seventh and eleventh centuries, is available in Chap. 5. Cappadocia‘s underground and rock-cut structures are both incredible in number and variety. There are numerous types of rock-cut structures ranging from structures used as dwellings, storage, barns to apiaries and dovecotes. There are numerous hydric structures such as irrigation tunnels and cisterns, religious structures such as churches, monasteries, tombs, and defensive structures such as underground cities. There are many studies on the classification or typology of rock-cut and underground structures, but such classification is very complex and difficult (Çorakbaş, 2012). For example, although the “typological tree of artificial caves“in the article published by the Italian Speleological Federation, Artificial Cavity Commission is

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extremely detailed, it is very difficult to apply to Cappadocia (Galeazzi, 2013). Yet, taking into account Cappadocia, typology proposed by Bixio for the functional and architectural classification of all the structures identified so far in this region, which divides these structures into 12 different groups is partially sufficient for the time being. These artificial cave groups are (Bixio, 2012): –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– –– ––

Cone dwellings/village Cliff dwellings/village Rocky castle-village Rocky courtyard settlement Rocky monastery Rocky church Rocky tomb Rocky dovecote Rocky apiary Underground shelter Underground city Hydric systems

However, in a region such as Cappadocia where troglodyte life continued uninterrupted and is ongoing, even such a simple and easy classification of rock structures can become controversial. For instance: What is the reference for typology? Is it the initial purpose or the final state of the structure? There are numerous examples where a rock-cut structure carved as a church in the tenth century was transformed into a dovecote at some indefinite time, for instance. If we take the original purpose of construction as a reference, then we must also accept that all the structures carved for defensive purposes were initially small “underground shelters” and merged over time and became an “underground city”. The exact number of rock-cut structures in Cappadocia is unknown, and no comprehensive inventory is available. Apart from rock-cut structures, even the total number of rock-cut churches, on which so much research and study have been done is debatable. This topic will be discussed in detail in Chap. 4.

2.4 Previous Researches in Cappadocia The different natural formations of Cappadocia and numerous rock-cut structures dug in these formations, especially the rock-cut Byzantine churches, have drawn the attention of western travellers since the eighteenth century and have been the subject of various scientific studies. These works and studies started for the frescoes in numerous rock-cut churches found in the area have expanded to other rock-cut structures. Today, the articles and books on the rock-cut structures—from the underground shelters to the hydraulic structures and from the dovecotes even to the rock-cut

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apiaries--of the Cappadocia number in the thousands. Published as the second book of Tabula Imperii Byzantini series in 1981, Hild and Restle’s ‘Kappadokien’ is highly comprehensive in terms of bibliography as well as including a detailed inventory of a wide area (Hild & Restle, 1981). The works of Restle and Jolivet-Levy on rock-cut churches and frescoes also have a long bibliography (Jolivet-Lévy, 2015; Restle, 1967). The first author to mention Cappadocia is Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC). In his book ‘The Histories’, he mentions that in 547 BC, Thales of Miletus changed the directional flow of the Halys River, allowing the armies of Croesus to cross the river and thus to take Pteria, the capital of Cyrus in northern Cappadocia (De Selincourt, 2003; Gilli et  al., 2014). Following Herodotus, several ancient writers provided some general information about the region over the centuries but did not offer much detail about it. For instance, it is strange that although Pliny and Strabo mentioned Cappadocia in their works written in the first century AD, there is no information about the most important feature of this region, namely the troglodyte life, which we almost certainly know existed at that time. Almost all works related to this area written during the Byzantine period are of a religious basis; therefore, in the ancient documents we have today, there is almost no information about Cappadocian cave dwellings. The only exceptions are the short paragraphs mentioning these structures in three different ancient sources. Xenophon, in his Anabasis (Book IV, 5, 25), written around 400  BC, which describes the 10,000 Greek warriors’ great march from Sardis to Babylon and back to Greece from the coast of Black Sea, on their way back to their homeland, writes as follows: The houses of these villages are underground: their entrance doors look like well mouths, but the internal rooms are large. The animals enter through passages purposely dug; men enter by means of staircases. There they breed goats, sheep, cows, chickens with their offspring; all the cattle are fed exclusively with hay (Brownson, 1922).

Although it has been stated by some researchers (Giovannini, 1971) that these underground dwellings mentioned by Xenophon may be in Cappadocia, it is almost certain that this return path of Greek warriors did not pass through Cappadocia. Since Xenophon wrote that this place is close to the source of the Euphrates River, it is much more likely that the area he described was Ani or Georgia (Bixio, 2012; Urban, 1973a). Anyway, this may prove that the underground dwellings were already a fact in Asia Minor at the end of the fifth century BC. Regarding the underground structures in Cappadocia, the oldest ancient reference found to date is probably from the second half of the tenth century AD. On this date, historian Leo the Deacon records an invasion to Cappadocia made by Nikephoros Phocas against the Arabs, he writes: …. driving its chariot in the sign of the Bull, Nikephoros left Byzantium and crossed over to the opposite shore of Asia. Upon arrival in Cappadocia, whose people were formerly called troglodytes, because they dwelt in caves, hollows, and labyrinths, as if in dens and holes, he established his quarters there (Talbot & Sullivan, 2005).

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Almost in the same era, Arab geographer Ibn Hauqal makes another reference to the same Cappadocian cave dwellings and their inhabitants, whom he also describes as ‘troglodytes’ in his work ‘Kitab surat al-ard’ (Hauqal, 1964). Paul Lucas was the first western traveller who saw Cappadocia. While passing through Asia Minor, Lucas, who was commissioned by the French King Louis XIV in 1704 to explore the eastern countries, saw near the Halys River (Kızılırmak) a large number of ‘pyramidal houses’ with conspicuous entrances and stairs and big windows to light all the rooms and paintings inside. Likening the fairy chimneys as “monks with hoods” and the rocks on the fairy chimneys to the busts of “Mother Mary holding baby Jesus”, he thought at first that the curious houses might be the ancient dwellings of Christian hermits (Lucas, 1712) (Fig. 2.8). It would take more than a century for a more detailed description of Cappadocia after Lucas to emerge. Charles Texier revisited the region in 1833 and then in 1837. Countless engravings and plans in Charles Texier‘s three-volume comprehensive work (Texier, 1839) revealed the rock-cut structures of Cappadocia for the first time and provided a more realistic description of Ürgüp and Göreme (Fig. 2.9). English traveller W. F. Ainsworth, who visited Cappadocia during 1840, wrote:

Fig. 2.8  This engraving by Lucas is the first visual depiction of Cappadocia. (Lucas, 1712)

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Fig. 2.9  An engraving of Ürgüp - Cappadocia. (Texier, 1839) Turning up a glen which led from the river inland, we found ourselves suddenly lost in a forest of cones and pillars of rock, that rose around us in interminable confusion, like the ruins of some great and ancient city (Ainsworth, 1840).

A few years after these two travellers, W.  J. Hamilton, who passed through Cappadocia as part of a long Anatolian crossing, writes that he stayed in Tatlar Village and examined some of the frescoed rock-cut churches in the vicinity. Again, as he states in his book, he studied the churches in Ürgüp in detail, as he was influenced by Texier‘s notes, and from there he went to Uçhisar (Hamilton, 1842) (Fig. 2.10). Pierre de Tchihatcheff, whose name was mentioned above when explaining Gödet Cliff Settlements, carried out six different trips and research in Anatolia between 1848 and 1853, as a result of his studies, he became the first scientist to evaluate the physical geography, geology, and botany of Cappadocia with a scientific approach. During his research in the region, he discovered numerous fossils and endemic plants; in addition, he carried out the first investigations on volcanic sedimentation and geological stratification (De Tchihatcheff, 1853-60). Although not as comprehensive as Texier and Hamilton, H. Tozer came to the region in 1881. His memoir describing Kayseri and Nevşehir is interesting in several respects. Tozer met with Christian and Muslim villagers living in the region and in addition to his extensive ethnographic studies, he made a very difficult climb to the summit of 3917 m high Erciyes Mountain during his .stay in Kayseri (Tozer, 1881).

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Fig. 2.10  An engraving of Uçhisar - Cappadocia. (Hamilton, 1842)

From the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, the research of western travellers who came to Cappadocia began to be more detailed and scientific. The works of Hans Rott, W.M.  Ramsay  - G.  Bell, and H. Gregoire are three fruitful examples of this kind of research. These works, which mainly depict the inscriptions, rock-cut churches, and frescoes in this region, can be considered as a ‘first step’ even though they are insufficient to cover the whole region (Grégoire, 1909; Ramsay & Bell, 1909; Rott, 1908). J.R.S. Sterrett’s publications about his trips in Anatolia and especially his article “The Cone Dwellers of Asia Minor” published together with 52 photographs of J.H.  Haynes in National Geographic Magazine in April 1919 is remarkable. To Sterrett’s astonishment, he found people still living in rock-cut dwellings when he visited Cappadocia and wrote that; [t]here is no earthly reason why they should live there, as the country is safe and land abundant.

Although the publication date of this article is 1919, Haynes‘photographs are from the years 1884–1887 and are probably the oldest known photographs of Cappadocia (Fig. 2.11) (Ousterhout, 2011; Strerrett, 1919). The magnificent five-volume work of Guillaume de Jerphanion, “Une nouvelle province de l’art byzantin, les églises rupestres de Cappadoce” (Jerphanion, 1925-42) is perhaps the most fundamental work on the rock-cut churches of Cappadocia. This work of Jerphanion, who was a Jesuit priest and stayed in the region for more than 30  years, tells about almost all the rock-cut churches of Cappadocia known until that time and can be considered as the database of the

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Fig. 2.11  One of the earliest photographs of Uçhisar - Cappadocia by J.H. Haynes dated 1884. (Photographs of Asia Minor, 2014)

period, and after so many years, still continues to be a reference. In the first volume of this work of Jerphanion, there is also a comprehensive list showing the settlements visited by all the western travellers who researched the region before the 1900s. Since the 1950s some other churches that are not included in Jerphanion‘s work have been researched and published in different books and articles. For instance, rock-cut churches located in Peristrema Valley (Ihlara) that are not included in Jerphanion‘s work were studied by Nicole and Michel Thierry in 1963 (Thierry & Thierry, 1963). Increasing academic interest in the region after the 1960s expanded the number of articles and books about it. Nevertheless, apart from a few articles, there has not been much scientific work on other rock-cut structures except the churches in the area. Most of the works describing the cliff settlements or structures in the valleys are at the ‘touristic guide book’ level. Apart from churches, the most comprehensive research and publications on rock-cut or underground structures in the region are about underground cities. The first study on this subject belongs to Urban, followed by works of Yörükoğlu and Triolets (Triolet & Triolet, 1993; Urban, 1973a, b, c; Yörükoğlu, 1989). Numerous articles and books have been published, showing the results of years of extensive studies initiated in 1991 to explore underground cities in

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Cappadocia by the members of the Artificial Cavity Commission, which is an organization of the Italian Speleological Federation (Bertucci et al., 1995; Bixio, 2012; Bixio et al., 2002). In contrast to the extensive exploration carried out since the 1800s on this small piece of Cappadocia located in the Nevşehir  - Ürgüp  - Avanos triangle, Kayseri Province and other parts of Cappadocia have been little explored. As Ousterhout observes: The high plateau of rocky Cappadocia (ca. 1000–1500 meters above sea level), bounded by Kayseri in the east, Aksaray (Koloneia) in the west, and Niğde (Tyana) in the south, has been of considerable interest to scholars and tourists alike because of the rock-cut settlements from the Byzantine period (Ousterhout, 2017).

The above-mentioned area is really a very small part of ancient Cappadocia. This region, mentioned in numerous historical sources since Herodotus, was a province of the Roman and the Byzantine empires covering at least 50.000 km2 area, almost all Aksaray, Nevşehir and Kayseri and even a part of the Kırşehir, Yozgat, and Niğde provinces of Turkey today. In Tabula Peutingeriana, the original of which dates to the first century AD, we can see how large this province was (Fig. 2.12). As various scholars, such as W. M. Ramsay have stated, Cappadocia was the largest province of the Roman Empire in AD 314 (Ramsay, 1890) (Fig. 2.13). Significant changes were made in the formation of Cappadocia during both empires. For example, in AD 371, the western part of this province was named Cappadocia Prima, with its capital being Caesarea, today Kayseri (Mitchell, 2018). From the time of Hattians to Strabo, Kayseri was named “Mazaca“and it was changed to “Caesarea“in the honor of Caesar Augustus in 14 AD. During the third

Fig. 2.12  Cappadocia in Tabula Peutingeriana Map. (Tabula Peutingeriana, 2021)

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Fig. 2.13  The region of Antique Cappadocia in Kiepert’s map. (Kiepert, 1903)

century AD, Caesarea was the largest city of Central Anatolia with a population of 50.000 inhabitants (Cooper & Decker, 2012). Until now, however, all rock-cut structure surveys carried out in this part of Anatolia have been carried out in the west of Kayseri. Kayseri Province was also visited by many of the western travellers mentioned above, but they generally wrote about Ottoman architecture and none of them mentioned rock-cut structures. The only exception to this is Simeon of Poland, who came to Kayseri in 1609, a century before Paul Lucas, and who was probably the first western traveller there. In his travel memories, Simeon writes: We saw old and vast underground buildings in the east side of the city [Kayseri]. It is rumored that this place where there are horrifying tunnels and cliffs is the location of the old city of Kayseri (Bournoutian, 2007).

These ‘underground buildings’ that Simeon tells about are underground structures located in the valleys to the east of Kayseri. However, as will be discussed in detail below, there are seven different valleys in this region, all of which have ‘underground buildings’. However, there are few ‘underground buildings’ in any of the valleys other than Koramaz and Derevenk valleys where there are a ‘vast’ number of ‘underground buildings’ and where the cliffs can be considered as ‘horrifying’. Therefore, Simeon must have seen Derevenk Valley or the Dimitre part of Koramaz Valley, which are only a few kilometers away from each other. Kinneir, who is one of the western travellers who came to the region in the 1800s, described the Kayseri city and its surroundings in detail. Kinneir was followed by Texier and then Ainsworth and Hamilton who also described this province in their books (Ainsworth, 1840; Hamilton, 1842; Kinneir, 1818; Texier, 1839) (Figs. 2.14 and 2.15).

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Fig. 2.14  One of the early engravings of Kayseri. (Texier, 1839)

Fig. 2.15  An early photo of Kayseri. (Banse, 1919)

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What is interesting is that several other travellers like these also saw western Cappadocia before or after Kayseri and described the rock-cut structures there in detail, but never mentioned this type of structure in Kayseri province. For example, Bernardakis, who researched Kayseri and the surrounding area in 1908, published even the smallest ancient inscription he found, but he did not mention any rock-cut structures (Bernardakis, 1908). There is only one sentence in Ainsworth‘s book that might refer to such structures: The system of hemi-subterranean [sic] dwellings is preserved in several of the neighbouring villages and rock valleys (Ainsworth, 1842).

On the other hand, Jerphanion, Rott, and Grégoire studied rock-cut churches in Soğanlı Valley in the southwest of Kayseri Province and several different valleys in the same region, possibly because of the frescoes in the churches. Thierry, Jolivet-­ Lévy, and Peker recently continued studies around Güzelöz – Başköy villages in the aforementioned region (Jolivet-Lévy, 1991; Peker & Uyar, 2012; Thierry, 1970). Nilay Karakaya, who also has a small study of Byzantine rock-cut structures in Erdemli Valley near Soğanlı Valley, has carried out a study about rock-cut structures around Kayseri-Gesi (Karakaya, 2005, 2010, 2014). There are several different studies on the dovecotes found in the vicinity of Gesi, 12 km east of Kayseri, but dovecotes in this region are not entirely rock-cut like the other examples commonly found in Cappadocia. There is a tower on the surface above the nest, which is carved into the soil or rock. This interesting dovecote architecture, unique to Kayseri  – Gesi, draws attention especially with these towers and has been taken under legal protection (Imamoğlu et al., 2005; Tok & Yamaç, 2015). There are Hellenistic and Roman rock-cut tombs in several different regions of Kayseri Province. As mentioned above, although the rock-cut tombs near the settlements were changed over time and reused for different purposes, a total of 15 rock-­ cut tombs, which have survived without any deterioration, were found in Yahyalı and Develi and examined in Durukan’s work (Durukan, 2012). In addition to the typological examinations of these structures, Durukan’s work also contains a comparative dating study. Among the Roman rock-cut tombs mentioned in the work, five different rock-cut tombs carved side-by-side on a rock wall near Ayşepınar village, south of Kayseri, are particularly remarkable. In our survey, we found that two of these tombs have six klines and the other three have three klines each.

2.5 Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project As OBRUK Cave Research Group, our first project on artificial underground structures was the exploration, survey, and mapping of underground tunnels and cisterns of Istanbul - Hagia Sophia Church and Topkapı Palace during 2008–2009. This study can be regarded as an important turning point in terms of investigating these structures of great historical importance without damaging the structure; it was carried out by expert cavers using vertical caving techniques, also known as the

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‘Single Rope Technique’. Within the scope of this project that started in 2008, 32 Byzantine and Ottoman cisterns were surveyed in the area known as the “Historical Peninsula” in Istanbul, and the total length of explored tunnels, most of them under Hagia Sophia Church, exceed 2000 m, (ÇÖ Aygün, 2010; Aygün & Eğilmez, 2015). After this project, during 2011 we started the “Gaziantep Underground Structures Inventory Project”, which was carried out based on a triple protocol with ÇEKÜL (Foundation for the Protection and Promotion of the Environment and Cultural Heritage) and the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality. The city of Gaziantep, located in southwestern Turkey, is built entirely on a soft Upper  - Middle Eocene aged limestone. This argillaceous and chalky limestone formation, which is fairly easy to carve into, has determined the city’s development and character in many respects. Inhabited continuously since 3000 BC, Gaziantep has hundreds of underground structures carved in chalky limestone. Some of those underground structures were used as storage facilities or cisterns, while others are used as yarn ateliers today. In addition, underground water structures, only a small part of which can be researched due to destructions, are another important phase of our project. It is extremely difficult to determine the roots of this extensive, technologically advanced water distribution system. This water distribution system is a network of water canals carved into limestone rock layer, locally known as “livas”, onto which the city was built upon. Although this system displays a set of characteristics unique to Gaziantep, is similar to the one first applied in Persia 2.000–3.000 years ago and used today in some countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, China, and known as “qanat” or “karez”. The system relies on the principle of distributing water originating from a source far away from the settlement area, by using well-designed underground canals with gentle slopes to distribute the water to a large area and by using wells or clear water underground reservoirs known as “qastel” in locations of need. During this project, we explored 46 underground structures in and around Gaziantep city, as well as very important artificial cavities such as “Cemetery Caves” -with a total area of 90,000 m2-, the underground aqueducts, and historical underground water usage structures; we surveyed livas and qastels in detail (Uçar, 2018). Our support to protect and restore all these underground structures, which were accepted to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tentative List during 2018, continues. While these projects were continuing, we began the “Euphrates River Cliff Settlements Project” to explore, survey, and inventory rock settlements on the walls of the Euphrates River. Birecik Dam, which was built in 2000, raised the water level of the Euphrates River to the north by 20 m, and dozens of villages as well as countless ancient settlements at a distance of about 80 km from the lake of this dam were submerged. There are hundreds of rock-cut structures carved into the rocks in this region, where the Euphrates River flows partly between steep limestone walls. To date, these structures have not been extensively researched and inventoried. These structures, some of which are rock-cut churches or monasteries, and which include 3–4-story rock-cut complexes, are an important part of the historical heritage of this

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region. In this project, we planned to mark with GPS, photograph and create inventory for all important rock settlements located on the Euphrates River walls from Halfeti to the north, to the Atatürk Dam, and to map all important structures. During our three reconnaissance trips to the region, we identified, measured, and mapped most of these rock structures along the Euphrates River coast. During our underwater and above-water research, dozens of rock-dwelled structures were explored for the first time. Among the structures we surveyed and mapped, the churches and monasteries dated back almost a thousand years (Yamaç, 2015). Within the same period, at the requests of directorates of Nevşehir and Aksaray archaeological museums, we surveyed and mapped seven different underground cities in Cappadocia, some of which are Turkey‘s largest underground cities -namely Derinkuyu, Mazikoy, Mazikoy 2, Tatlarin, Avanos, Golgoli and St. Mercurius- all of which have been or will be opened to tourism. Mazikoy and St. Mercurius underground cities were cleared and opened to tourism after we carried out the research, surveying, and mapping. The plans of these underground cities we drew are used in the brochures of these structures today. All these works of OBRUK Cave Research Group have been presented in several national and international congresses and published in different journals (Yamaç et al., 2014; Yamaç & Gilli, 2016; Yamaç & Tok, 2015b). During these studies, the water tunnel of Güvercinlik (Pigeon) Valley of Cappadocia was surveyed and mapped. With a total length of 3600 meters, 51 separate surface connections, and several side tunnels, that water channel is the longest underground hydraulic system documented in Turkey so far (Yamaç & Gilli, 2015). Despite being the capital of Cappadocia during ancient times, no comprehensive scientific research of the rock-cut architecture in Kayseri has been carried out until now. To fill this deficiency, we, as OBRUK Cave Research Group, started to work for the “Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project” in January 2014. Just like in Gaziantep, this project was also carried out based on a triple protocol with ÇEKÜL Foundation and Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and includes the researching, surveying, mapping, and documentation of all the underground structures in this province. This project, which covers the entire 17.500 sq. km area of the Kayseri province and which has been ongoing for more than seven years, has a distinctive place as one of Turkey‘s, and the world’s, most important underground structures research projects. We have explored, researched, and surveyed 46 Byzantine rock-cut churches, 33 underground cities, 10 Assyrian tin mines, three underground aqueducts, and six different cliff settlements. Each ‘Cliff Settlement’ is a village whose structures such as houses, barns, storage buildings, churches, defense structures, and dovecotes are carved into rocks. Given the fact that only one of these six cliff settlements -Dimitre Cave Settlements, located in Koramaz Valley- has a total of 229 different rock-dwelled structures, the magnitude of the work should be better understood. Within the scope of the “Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project”, five preliminary reports have been published so far; the fifth report completely covers Koramaz Valley.

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2.6 Koramaz Valley The land, which lies from Kayseri to the east towards Büyük Bürüngüz and Ağırnas villages, quickly gains altitude, rising about 300 meters, to the east of these two settlements, forming a sequence of mountains oriented in a southwest-northeast direction. Ivriz Mountain, which is located to the east of Büyük Bürüngüz, and Kilise Tepe and Sivridağ, further to the north, are among the highest peaks of this mountain range. Seven kilometers to the east of Ağırnas there is the Koramaz Mountain, which is the highest point of this mountain range, with an altitude of 1907 meters. The name of this mountain, the entire region, in fact, is ‘Koramaz’ in the oldest known records and has not changed for centuries (Inbaşı, 1993). Koramaz Mountain and the hills around it are approximately 700–800 m higher than the plain where the city of Kayseri is located. Although different rocks such as limestone are partly encountered in small pieces, the top cover of the entire region is pyroclastic rocks. This type of pyroclastic volcanic rock is highly vulnerable to erosion, and in regions where such rocks are found, surface waters have eroded these rocks and formed deep valleys. This geomorphological phenomenon is widely observed not only in this region of Kayseri but also around Ürgüp and Göreme. There are numerous small and large valleys formed by erosion in all of Cappadocia. Soft pyroclastic rocks eroded with streams formed various valleys all around the region and almost all of those valleys have rock-cut structures. Similarly, the west-facing sides of these high hills to the east of Kayseri were broken into pieces by the melting snow waters and deep valleys were formed. While some of these surface waters continue to flow westward and erode their valleys, others have percolated underground and come to the surface as springs in different locations. On the east of Kayseri, there are seven different valleys eroded by these streams flowing down to the valley from the high hills. As an interesting geographic feature, most of these valleys are parallel to each other from north to south. Possibly as a result of the bifurcation of the streams, several other valleys connect these parallel valleys. All these valleys -Avedik, Ötedere, Değirmendere, Nize, Gesi, Derevenk, and Koramaz valleys- are separated from one another by only a few kilometers, are of great importance not only for their natural beauty and endemic plants but also for their historical and archaeological value. Some of these valleys have a depth of 70–80 m and a width of 200 m, and all these valleys are much wider, deeper, and longer than the valleys around Ürgüp and Göreme. The only reason for this difference is the amount of water that erodes these valleys. While the streams around Ürgüp and Göreme, which are on a relatively flat plateau, have less slope and less flow rate, all valleys east of Kayseri have been eroded by larger amounts of water descending from high altitudes. These pyroclastic rocks, which make up the entire region, not only eroded and formed these valleys, but also allowed the people who lived here for centuries and even millennia to carve structures for themselves. The people who lived in the region used these structures, which they carved into the rocks, as tombs, dwellings, warehouses, and feedlots, and they continue to use them even today. The walls of all

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these seven valleys are full of structures carved hundreds or thousands of years ago. During our studies in the region, dozens of cliff dwelled structures were explored and surveyed in each of the above-mentioned valleys. The most important study of the “Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project” was carried out in Koramaz Valley, the longest and largest of these valleys. This valley, which starts with a small, spring-fed stream near Büyük Bürüngüz Village, flows towards the northwest until it reaches Ağırnas Village where it turns westward. Koramaz Valley is fed by several different streams coming from the tributaries starting in Ağırnas, and these tributaries have formed their own small valleys. The valley ends by opening onto the Kayseri Plain after 3.5 km from Ispidin Village. While the base altitude of the valley is 1500 m at its easternmost end, it slopes to 1165 m at its westernmost end. There are seven villages on the slopes of Koramaz Valley, which has a total length of 16  km from east to west, these are Büyük Bürüngüz, Üskübü, Küçük Bürüngüz, Ağırnas, Dimitre, Vekse, and Ispidin. (Figs. 2.16 and 2.17). The oldest Ottoman registration of Kayseri dates to the year 1500, and all these seven villages located on the slopes of the Koramaz Valley are recorded in this register (Inbaşı, 1993). There are structures built before the sixteenth century both inside and around the Villages. On the other hand, both the interior and the areas surrounding these seven villages located on the slopes of Koramaz Valley are full of artificial caves. Although it is very difficult to date these rock structures, as they were constantly used and changed over time, experts date some rock churches in the valley to the tenth and eleventh centuries. Again, it is a generally accepted assumption that the underground cities in the Koramaz Valley, whose tunnels are protected by millstone doors, were carved by the Christians living in the region between the seventh and tenth centuries to defend themselves from the Arab raids of this region. Experts examining the rock-carved structures in the vicinity of Ağırnas stated that, based on the entrance decorations and interior architecture, the first purpose of

Fig. 2.16  The relief base map of Koramaz Valley with the locations marked with red dots was prepared by E. Tok with QGIS

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Fig. 2.17  Koramaz Valley. (Photo B. Yazlık)

construction of some structures may be Roman rock tombs, although they might have been used for different purposes over time. To sum up, it is possible to say that all these structures carved in rocks in Koramaz Valley dates back at least 2000 years and probably to even older times (Gilli, 2017). The road connecting these seven villages in the Koramaz Valley is four kilometers south of and parallel to the main road from Kayseri (Caesarea) to Sivas (Sebasteia), and has been used since ancient times. This road was also used to reach from Kayseri to Ağırnas (Aragena), which was a bishopric center during the Byzantine period (Hild, 1977; Talbert & Bagnall, 2000). In total 476 different rock-cut structures have been explored and surveyed in different parts of Koramaz Valley and there are 42 rock-cut churches and 11 underground shelters among these structures. Though most of the other rock-cut structures surveyed were houses, dovecotes, and barns, at least 18 of them have been dug as the Roman rock-cut tombs and 21 of the structures have been dug as a columbarium (Gilli, 2017; Yazlık, 2019). Koramaz Valley is the only known example containing this number of rock-cut structures with such a rich historical background. During this study, we made a great effort to document and transfer to the future, as completely as possible, all the cliff dwellings and underground structures in this valley, which is getting more and more degraded by rock collapses and illegal diggings. We believe that by taking necessary protection measures and making restorations, as well as its recent inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tentative List will ensure that this valley is protected from further destruction,

References

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Although there are so many Roman and Byzantine ruins in Kayseri Province, in general, and in Koramaz Valley, in particular, it is sad that almost no exploration, excavation, protection, or restoration are being done in this region. Although around 300 archaeological excavations are carried out in Turkey every year, only two archaeological excavations were carried out in Kayseri Province in 2019. One of them centers on the Bronze Age and the other is a Seljuk excavation. The situation is the same for surface explorations and scientific publications. Numerous ancient structures are being destroyed day by day because they are not preserved and restored, and if such destruction continues, these structures will disappear completely after a while. It is also useful to give brief information about the nature and vegetation of the Koramaz Valley. There are traces of agriculture from ancient times in some parts of this wide valley; slopes were flattened and terraces were built where the structure of the valley was suitable. Although fruits and vegetables are still grown on these terraces in a small area near Vekse Village, all other terraces are now left to nature. Moreover, since all seven existing villages in the valley are not inside the valley but are built on it and the cliff-dwelled villages on the valley walls are no longer used, the villagers do not practice farming in the valley anymore. This change enabled the revival of nature in Koramaz Valley. Today, at least 20 different tree species grow naturally in the valley. Among these species, the hazelnut tree, which grows naturally in the region and differs from the species found in the Black Sea region, and the endemic plant Gilaburu (Viburnum opulus L.) are of particular interest. The unique work was written about Koramaz Valley so far is the work of Hüseyin Cömert and generally describes the Ottoman Empire period of the seven villages in the valley (Cömert, 2008). Before our project started, there was only one article and a paragraph in an encyclopedia by Nilay Karakaya (Karakaya, 2013, 2014). While our work was going on, the members of our project team published several different articles about the rock-cut structures in various parts of the Koramaz Valley (Yamaç, 2019a, 2021; Yamaç & Tok, 2015a; Yazlık, 2019) and made presentations at various congresses (Gilli, 2017; Yamaç, 2017a, b, 2018, 2019b).

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Chapter 3

Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Abstract  This chapter describes four different rock-cut cliff settlements located in the Koramaz Valley that we explored and surveyed, following a brief introduction on rock-cut cliff settlements. The concept of rock-cut cliff settlement will be displayed comprehensively in the introduction, giving prominent examples from the Cappadocia and the examples that shaped under the different cultural practices and the historical backgrounds from the near distant lands of Anatolia such as Greece, Italy, Spain, France. Subsequently, the four rock-cut cliff settlements of Koramaz Valley will be presented: Küçük Bürüngüz Cliff Settlements, Vekse Cliff Settlements, Ağırnas Cliff Settlements, and Dimitre Cliff Settlements. Küçük Bürüngüz Cliff Settlements, a small settlement with only eight structures, and Vekse Cliff Settlements, located on both walls of the valley with few rock-cut structures, are too small to be a village on their own. These relevant structures, together with the dwellings on the surface, probably had been used as storage rooms, feed-lots, or dovecotes. In the other two rock-cut villages, Ağırnas and Dimitre Cliff Settlements, which are located in the same valley only three kilometers apart, there are 476 rock-­ cut structures. These two complexes, with all their structures from churches to defense structures and dwellings, are probably the biggest two rock-cut villages of Turkey that have been explored until now. The significance of the Koramaz Valley Settlements, as a part of this cosmopolitan culture of Anatolia, will be discussed in the final chapter compared with the other remarkable examples of Cappadocian rock-cut settlements. The similarities and differences between the rock-cut architectural practices of the Koramaz valley dwellers and the nearby communities will be investigated. Keywords  Cliff settlement · Koramaz Valley · Kayseri

3.1 Introduction A cliff or wall settlement is a rock-dwelled village with all its structures such as dwellings, storage rooms, barns, cisterns, religious buildings and defense shelters. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0_3

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Throughout history, in various regions of the world, people have dug all these structures into the rocks, and all these dwellings dug side by side merged over time to form troglodyte villages (Kempe, 1988). There are countless settlements, some of which have been abandoned and become a cultural heritage, and some others still inhabited. For example, today, in several regions from France - Loire Valley to Iran Kandovan or Italia  - Masraffa, Matera or Ginosa to Greece  - Santorini or Spain -Saragossa, people continue to live in these types of cliff settlements and this type of troglodyte living has become a touristic attraction point. Currently, in these types of rock-dwelled structures, there are hotels, restaurants, museums, and bars. Especially Saumur, Doue le Fontaine, and Rochemenier troglodyte structures located in France - Loire Valley host hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Probably the most obvious change observed from the past to the present in this lifestyle continuing for centuries or even for thousands of years is the improved comfort and quality of the rock-cut structures nowadays. The first and probably the most important reason is that the rock-dwellings are easier than surface structures to construct. It has been documented with experimental archaeological studies that a person can remove one cubic meter of rock from the bedrock in a day. If the rock one is planning to dig is a relatively soft pyroclastic rock suitable for digging, a few people working together can dig a small house in a short time, and it will cost much less than a house built on the surface.(Öztürk, 2009). The other superiority of a rock-dwelling is, especially in these regions, that the summers are very hot and winters are really cold, it is easier to keep such a rock-­ cut dwelling warmer during the winter and cooler during the summer than to do the same with a house on the surface. Along with the small settlements consisting of few dwellings dug side by side and housing a small population, there are huge troglodyte villages; two examples will be explained below. Also, the rocks on which the relevant rock-dwelled villages are dug differ from region to region. Just like in all these other countries, there are cliff settlements in several different regions, on the wide variety type of rocks from tuff to sandstone or lime stone, in Turkey. On the east of Kayseri, there are seven different valleys eroded by the streams flowing down to the valley from the high hills, similar to these valleys on the west of Cappadocia. In all the valleys of Avedik, Ötedere, Değirmendere, Nize, Gesi, Derevenk, and Koramaz, which are just a few kilometers apart from each other, there are several cliff settlements. We have explored and surveyed most of the structures located in these relevant valleys in the past years (OBRUK, 2017a, b, c, 2018, 2020). The number of rock-dwelled structured explored in the cliff settlements in Kayseri differs a lot from valley to valley. For example, though there are 35 rock-cut structures in the cliff settlements of Değirmendere Valley, there are in total 476 different rock-cut structures in four different cliff settlements of Koramaz Valley, which is the longest of all these valleys. Though two of these settlements have few dwellings, the other two troglodyte villages include not only dwellings, storage rooms, barns, or underground shelters

3.2  Küçük Bürüngüz Cliff Settlements

45

Fig. 3.1  Sketch of different rock-cut structures found in a cliff or wall settlement. (Modified from Bixio, 2012)

but also Roman tombs, churches, and columbarium, as well as hundreds of dwellings, require comprehensive archaeological research (Fig. 3.1). Below are detailed descriptions of these four cliff settlements in Koramaz Valley, from the beginning to the end of the valley, respectively.

3.2 Küçük Bürüngüz Cliff Settlements This small group of cliff settlements consists of eight independent structures. Located on the rocky slopes of Koramaz Valley, it is 400 m west of Küçük Bürüngüz Village and extending on a line with a length of 200 m in total in the north-south direction. There are small defense shelters reached by tunnels in two of these structures, most of which are dwellings or feed-lots (Fig. 3.2). The singular structure on the northernmost part of the wall is two-storied. The other two rock-cut structures extending to the south and with quite rough workmanship can be barns. The functions of three different structure groups extending to the south, one after another, are quite uncertain. Though the first and second structures can be considered as storage rooms or barns because of the niches opened on their walls, the second structure (fifth on the wall extending in the south direction) has a big side-chamber which has a second floor that reached with a chimney, in addition to the 11 niches certainly dug as a feeder. At the entrance to this chamber, entered through a short tunnel, though the millstone door is out of place, there is a very apparent operation room. This operation room and the small top floor of the same chamber show that this relevant room is a small underground shelter. The sixth structure located adjacent to this structure extending to the south has been dug as three different levels. A figure has been engraved on one of the columns separating two sections on the entrance floor and dug from the bedrock (Fig. 3.3). This structure has a narrow tunnel extending on a line with a length of 8 m to the south and, though the millstone door is out of place, there is a door shaft on the wall

46

3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.2  Küçük Bürüngüz Wall Settlements (Drawn A. Yamaç)

of the tunnel. The tunnel ends in a small room and on the top floor there is another five sq. m room, reached with a chimney from this room. These last two rooms would have been the last protection room of this small underground shelter. There is another triple tunnel system extending in the southeast direction of this sixth

3.3 Ağırnas Cliff Settlements

47

Fig. 3.3  The columns of the sixth structure of Küçük Bürüngüz Wall Settlements (Photo R. Straub)

structure. All three of these tunnels protected with an in situ millstone extending in the south direction are blocked after a short distance. The interesting thing is that a blocked tunnel extending to the east goes under the bedrock block on the ground of a rock wall. In this segment of the structure, there is probably another floor that we cannot reach under the ground which we walk on. And the last two structures that dwelled to the rock wall and were interconnected with a short tunnel have been destroyed to such an extent that it is impossible to predict their functions. Compared to those similar rock-cut settlements located in Ağırnas and Dimitre, more of this relevant rock-cut settlement located in Küçük Bürüngüz has been destroyed. Though one of the reasons for this destruction is illegal diggings, the other more important reason is that this dwelling was abandoned much earlier than the other two cliff settlements located in Koramaz Valley and exposed to the destruction of nature. The rock collapses and erosion in the region make it impossible even to predict the purpose of construction of certain structures in this rock-cut settlement.

3.3 Ağırnas Cliff Settlements Koramaz Valley bends in a southwest direction 500  m after passing by Ağırnas Village. At this point, there is another small branch extending in the northeast direction. In this region, there is a huge rock-dwelled village constructed by digging in three different walls of Koramaz Valley. Though similar cliff settlements are

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

encountered in different regions of Cappadocia, Ağırnas Cliff Settlements are different from those, yet similar to, in many respects. The first and most important difference is the size of this relevant complex structure. Here, on three walls of the valley, 195 rock-cut structures in total have been explored and surveyed (Fig. 3.4). Though most of these structures are dwellings, storage rooms, barns, or dovecotes, there are 15 churches. There are four more small underground shelters in this valley, in addition to the two located in Ağırnas Village as explained in Chap. 5. The other important difference of Ağırnas Cliff Settlements compared to the other cliffdwelled villages in Cappadocia is the fact that the construction and use of these relevant structures have extended to a longer period than similar structures. Though it is known that the use of rock-cut structures in Cappadocia dates back thousands of years—because of the continuation of the use of these structures for centuries illustrated by their changing functions and because of the destruction caused by ongoing erosion--it is quite difficult to predict the first excavation date of most of these structures. Considering the churches and underground shelters in Ağırnas Cliff Settlements, it is easy to date the rock-cut architecture in this region to the seventh to eleventh centuries (Lamesa, 2011). On the other hand, certain structures in this region are very apparently Roman rock-cut tombs (Gilli & Yamaç, 2017). Though these types of tombs comprehensively explained in Chap. 6 are found as singular structures in certain other regions of Kayseri and Cappadocia (Durukan, 2012), generally, the only region with structures as old as these are among the cliff settlements dating back to the Medieval Period is Ağırnas.

Fig. 3.4  Koramaz Valley passes from the south of Ağırnas Village, with another small branch tow ards the north and the walls of all these valleys are full of rock-cut structures (after Google Earth-­ elaboration A. Yamaç)

3.3 Ağırnas Cliff Settlements

49

Most of the rock-cut structures located in the valley and predicted to be dwellings have two or three rooms, and there are niches on the walls of most rooms. Other rock-cut structures, which are mostly located at lower levels than the houses and are presumed to be barns because of their mangers carved into the bedrock, are single structures that do not have any rooms, unlike dwellings. Besides, some of the dovecotes located in Ağırnas Cliff Settlements are considered to be columbarium dug in ancient ages. These relevant rock-cut structures, to be more comprehensively explained in Chap. 6, store the urns in which the ashes of the deceased are put in small niches dug in the wall and common in the Roman Empire. Therefore, it is possible to state that these relevant rock-cut structures date back at least 2.000 years ago (Gilli, 2017a; Gilli & Yamaç, 2017; Yazlık, 2019). Another interesting aspect is that under the current Ağırnas Village, which is only 500 m away from these cliff settlements, there is a huge underground defense structure covering almost the entire village. According to the Ottoman Registrations, dated 1500, there were 53 houses, in total, in Ağırnas Village (Inbaşı, 1993). However, this huge underground city, which is located under the existing village and the tunnels of which are protected with the millstone doors, show that this village dates back farther, at least to the seventh to 11th centuries, just like the cliff settlements nearby. Moreover, the fact that the name of Ağırnas is referred to as Aragena in numerous different medieval resources also shows that this village dates back to the medieval period (Hild, 1977). On the other hand, even though the Ağırnas Cliff Settlements and the underground complex in Ağırnas Village were excavated at different dates, these structures -which are located in both places and whose construction dates are known- indicate that both structures were used together at least between the seventh and eleventh centuries and inhabited in these two different sections. This means that Ağırnas Village, the population of which was only 53 houses in 1500, had hosted a higher population in two different settlements 600–700 years before this relevant date. Were the residents of this settlement living both in these cliff settlements and current Ağırnas Village in the Medieval Period or a while before the eleventh century, or did they abandon their cliff settlements in Koramaz Valley and settle in Ağırnas Village? Without any archaeological excavation and with the limited architectural findings available, it is impossible to answer this question today. It will be appropriate to examine Ağırnas Cliff Settlements in three different segments, according to the valley wall they are located in.

3.3.1 Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements These dwellings, constituting the main group of Ağırnas Cliff Settlements, extend on a line with a length of 570 m on the west wall of Koramaz Valley (Fig. 3.5). We explored and surveyed 154 structures, in total, in this wall. And the rock-cut structures on the other rocky piece extending on a line of 110 m to the east, independent

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.5  A small part of Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements (Photo A. Yamaç)

from the wall extending in a northeast-southwest direction and separated by a small stream, are mostly home-style dovecotes. There are not so many dovecotes on the main wall extending on a line of 570 m. Such an absence of dovecotes can be based on the reason that while living on this cliff settlement, people did not want to be so closely in contact with the pigeons, as well as since all structures on these walls were dug as columbarium in ancient times. The inhabitants wanted to protect the ashes of the deceased in a different place outside the settlement so that it was considered a type of necropolis. Among the structures in the main axis extending in the northeast-southwest direction of the cliff settlements, there are ten churches, four small underground shelters, and an infrastructure considered to be previously dug as Roman wall tombs. There are several Roman wall tombs among the structures on the north of the wall and this segment mainly consists of dwellings and storage rooms. And in the middle of the wall, with the increase in the difference in the elevation, two three-­ storied pass-through structures can be observed. As it can also be seen in the plan, some structures are interconnected with tunnels and in some of these tunnels, which were dug for defense purposes, there are still millstone doors. Since there are ovens and chimneys inside, it can be stated that the major part of these structures on the upper parts of the wall is dwellings. The structures can be considered to be barns because of their rough workmanship and big feeders, compared to the dwellings are located on the lower parts of the cliff settlements. Interestingly, five out of ten churches located in this segment are at the lowest levels close to the ground of the valley. On the segment extending to the southwest direction of the valley, 120 m

3.3 Ağırnas Cliff Settlements

51

Fig. 3.6  General Plan of Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements (Drawn E.  Tok, Ç, Çankırılı, A. Yamaç)

after the point where the structure density ends, there is another detached rock-cut complex with six structures, including a church. It is possible that this group of structures, including a big chamber and a church supported with columns, dug in the bedrock can be a monastery. In this segment, on the flat area in front of the church, there are 12 rock-cut graves (Figs. 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10).

3.3.2 Ağırnas Northwest Wall Cliff Settlements The Northwest Wall Cliff Settlements, starting from the north entrance of Koramaz Valley on the Ağırnas side, extend to the south, and the total length is 330 m, including the segment bending to the west. Four different rock-cut settlements on the northernmost point of the wall cannot be measured since they are still used as feed-­ lots today. Apart from these relevant four structures located on the northernmost point of the valley, which cannot be surveyed, 36 different rock-cut structures have been explored and surveyed in the south direction on this wall (Fig. 3.11). These structures have architectural qualifications similar to other rock-cut structures extending to the south of Koramaz Valley and most of them have significantly changed over time. Different from the West Wall Cliff Settlements, there are three chambers on this wall that are too big for a dwelling or storage room and each of which is wider than 50 square meters. The only possibility is that certain old

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.7  Plan of Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 1 (Drawn E. Tok)

rock-­cut structures have been expanded to be used as barns recently. The fact that all these relevant chambers are located by the roadside and still used today, as well as that there exist still four different rock-cut barns on the north of the same road supports this possibility. Among the structures surveyed, there are three different rockcut churches, all located on the top level. Almost in the middle of the wall, there is

3.3 Ağırnas Cliff Settlements

53

Fig. 3.8  Plan of Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 2 (Drawn Ç, Çankırılı, A. Yamaç)

a big chamber of 16 × 4.50 m. The main entrance of the church, which is located in front of the west wall of this structure and can be reached through a chimney, has been blocked with rubble. This relevant structure probably was converted into a dovecote much later after its construction, and now the entrance has been blocked and a chimney has been opened. There is a small double apse chapel next to this church. Though there are millstone doors in one of the tunnels located among the structures on the wall and dug for defense purposes, they are all blocked. And the defense structure located behind the millstone door on the northernmost point of the structures has been destroyed with a nearby feed-lot dug quite recently (Fig. 3.12).

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.9  Plan of Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 3 (Drawn Ç, Çankırılı, A. Yamaç)

3.3.3 Ağırnas East Wall Cliff Settlements Though all the rock-cut structures found in the Koramaz Valley near Ağırnas are excavated on the western walls of the valley, there are a few rock-cut settlements on the eastern wall of the valley. These five rock-cut settlements and two churches located under the newly constructed houses of the village at the fork of the valley are interesting in certain different respects. On the most southeast point of the complex, there is a small double apse church, some frescos of which glimpses can still be seen despite their being quite destroyed. The north nave of this rock-cut church, which is 66 sq. m and the ceiling of which is supported with only one column dug in the bedrock, is bigger than the one on the south. There are silo-like underground structures dug on the ground in front of both apses.

3.3 Ağırnas Cliff Settlements

55

Fig. 3.10  Entrance of a Roman tomb in Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements (Photo R. Straub)

In addition to this church, there are two more structures extending to the north and probably these relevant structures are dwellings and/or feed-lots. As well as these structures, there is another rock-cut church. Next to this neatly excavated church with a 6.5 m long nave, the last rock-carved structure at the north end of the wall is the largest dovecote in the region. The neat workmanship of the niches covers all walls of this structure, consisting of three big rooms. The triangle shape of the niches, rather than the oval shape like the other pigeon niches and cavities encountered in between, are bigger than the normal pigeon holes and similar to the niches opened to present gifts to the deceased in the Roman period. Thus, these characteristics confirm the idea that the relevant structure was first constructed as a columbarium. This structure is connected to a quite big chamber, which is 10.5 x 4 m and

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.11 Ağırnas Northwest Wall Cliff Settlements (Drawn E. Ianovskaia, D. Albov)

3.4  Dimitre Cliff Settlements

57

Fig. 3.12  Some rock-cut structures of Ağırnas Northwest Wall Cliff Settlements (Photo D. Albov)

has six big niches on its wall, and the purpose of construction of which cannot be understood, with a hole, apparently dug later on (Fig. 3.13).

3.4 Dimitre Cliff Settlements Koramaz Valley reaches ‘Dimitre Cliff Settlements’ 3 km after Ağırnas Village. In Dimitre Cliff Settlements, the dwellings are not located on the mainline of Koramaz Valley but on the north slope of a branch extending to the east (Fig.  3.14). This region is the deepest point on the entire route of Koramaz Valley and in this segment, the depth of the valley reaches 80 m. Different from the dwellings dug on three different walls of the valley in Ağırnas, the entire Dimitre Cliff Settlements have been dug in only one wall and the rock-cut structures on the wall of this wide and deep segment of the valley continue for 900 m. The residents of Dimitre Village have continued to live in these cliff settlements until very recently. When the village became uninhabitable due to the collapses in 1966, it moved to its current settlement, to the plain on the valley. During the relocation of the village in 1966, the householders removed the rocks of the dwellings and used them in the construction of the new dwellings. Due to the removal and relocation of the rocks of these relevant dwellings, the wall of the valley is completely ruined today (Fig. 3.15). As a result of the removal of the constructed dwellings, the old rock-cut structures beneath have come to light.

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.13 Ağırnas East Wall Cliff Settlements (Drawn A.Yamaç)

According to Ottoman Registrations dated 1500, there were 37 dwellings in Dimitre Village, and this number increased in the intervening three centuries, reaching 119 dwellings in the census of 1831 (Cömert, 2008; Inbaşı, 1993). It is impressive that all these dwellings counted for centuries in this village are located in these cliff settlements and connected with a rock-cut structure. The explorations and surveys carried out in the region have also confirmed this fact. For example; during our study, while we were preparing to measure the tunnel behind a house where all the structures in front of and behind it were dismantled years ago, and the parts that were not dismantled collapsed, an elderly village resident who came to visit us said that this building was his aunt’s house and that he spent his childhood in this house. On the back wall of this house, which her aunt used as her residence until 50 years ago, there were two tunnels, one of which was 30 m long, dug into the main rock, and there were two large millstone doors in these tunnels. It is clear that an underground shelter dug for defense purposes centuries ago had been converted into a dwelling–storage room when it was not needed anymore. As a tradition of constantly living in rock-cut structures for centuries or even for thousands of years, the examples of which can be seen almost at every point of Koramaz Valley, the underground structures are constantly changing in parallel with the changing needs of the residents.

3.4  Dimitre Cliff Settlements

59

Fig. 3.14  Dimitre Cliff Settlements are located in a branch of Koramaz Valley extending approximately 900 m to the southeast (after Google Earth-elaboration A. Yamaç)

Fig. 3.15  Northwest end of Dimitre Cliff Settlements (Photo B. Langford)

The biggest problem created by this phenomenon is that it has become almost impossible to understand the original construction date and purpose of these

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

rock-­cut structures after so many years of constant change. Though the fact that no scientific and archaeological research has been carried out in this settlement until now makes it impossible to determine the first date of construction of these structures. Based on the underground shelters and Byzantine rock-cut churches, Dimitre Cliff Settlements are dated back to the seventh and eighth centuries at the earliest. Since they have been used until recently, the number of rock-cut structures located in this troglodyte village is greater than those in Ağırnas and the rock-cut structures have changed more. During this survey, 229 rock-cut structures were explored and surveyed in Dimitre Cliff Settlements. Among these structures, most of which are dwellings, barns, and storage rooms, there are also seven churches and eight underground shelters. When all these numbers are taken into consideration, it is apparent that this rock-dwelled complex is the largest cliff settlement in Turkey surveyed until now. Although we can only partially distinguish the last period of use of the buildings by looking at the shape of the entrance door and the condition of the niches and feeding troughs inside, as we wrote above, the use spanning such a long time makes it difficult for us to distinguish between a dwelling, a warehouse, and a barn. These 229 structures spread over 900 m are denser in the northwest and southeast parts of the wall; however, they occur rarely in the middle parts. The dwellings among the dense structures extend for three or even four floors along with the entire wall height and interconnect with rock-cut stairs. In the segments, where the rock structure is appropriate for digging, the relevant floors extend at full length, one on top of another. However, all these dwelled structures are not aligned properly side by side. The general structure has a complex formation one on top of another and is interconnected. The soft and fragile structure of the rock has caused collapses inside or at the entrance of numerous structures; moreover, it has completely blocked certain segments. These rock-dwelled structures extending for four floors from place to place especially in the northwest part of the wall are mostly not on the exterior surface but interconnected with inside rock-cut stairs (Figs. 3.16, 3.17, 3.18, 3.19, 3.20, 3.21, 3.22). Eight different underground shelters with in situ millstone doors are spread to almost all segments of the cliff settlements. The millstone doors and/or operation rooms in the tunnels and shelters explored are incomparably smaller than the underground cities of Büyük Bürüngüz or Ağırnas Villages. Most of the shelters have one, or at most two, rooms and the biggest underground shelter we explored is a three-­ room structure with a tunnel with a length of 55 m, in total, located on the southeast of the cliff settlements (Fig.  3.23). Another reason why the defense shelters in Dimitre Cliff Settlements are fewer in number and smaller, compared to the other villages, is that the residents of this village have lived in these dwellings until recently and, probably, constantly changed and adapted the structures to today’s conditions. Moreover, the fact that quite narrow tunnels connect certain structures confirms that these structures were constructed as defense structures but lost their functions over time. As opposed to Ağırnas Cliff Settlements, there are not many dovecotes in Dimitre. On the other hand, just like in Ağırnas, seven small rock-cut churches

3.5  Vekse Cliff Settlements

61

Fig. 3.16  General Plan of Dimitre Cliff Settlements (Drawn E. Ianovskaia, Y. Soboliev, E. Tok, A. Yamaç)

spread in the cliff settlements are architecturally quite similar; all with a length of 6–7 m and horseshoe apse. Three of these churches are located on the northwest part and the other four on the southeast part of the wall (Figs. 3.24, 3.25, 3.26). The top of this valley wall, where these cliff settlements are located, is a flat rocky plateau; on this upper plateau, there are several rock-cut graves on the ground. The number of these graves belonging to the Roman or Byzantine periods is much higher than the number encountered in different parts of Koramaz Valley.

3.5 Vekse Cliff Settlements Vekse, located 2.5 km to the east of Dimitre and on the south slope of Koramaz Valley, is the smallest village in the entire valley. Though an underground city has been explored under this settlement, just like in Ağırnas and Büyük Bürüngüz Villages, it has not been surveyed because all tunnels are blocked. There is a 1.60 m diameter millstone door in one of the structures, which is located under two

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.17  Plan of Dimitre Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 1 (Drawn E. Ianovskaia)

different houses and which is clearly a defense structure. This structure, whose tunnels are all clogged, is used as a warehouse today. On the rocky wall on the south slope of the valley, where the village is located, there are four rock-cut structures side by side; on the rocky wall on the opposite north slope, there are five rock-cut churches and two dwellings. Both two rock-­ dwelled structures located among the churches on the opposite north slope of the village are too big to be a dwelling. In the first structure, there are four big chambers aligned in doubles. The first chamber encountered at the entrance is 29 square

3.5  Vekse Cliff Settlements

63

Fig. 3.18  Plan of Dimitre Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 2 (Drawn E. Ianovskaia)

meters, and the other chamber on the north of this chamber is 25 square meters. The fact that this relevant structure has four such large rooms and no niche on the walls of any room except for the north room illustrates that this structure was not constructed as a dwelling (Fig. 3.27). And the other structure is located approximately 50 m east of Vekse Church No. 2. There is a tunnel constructed for defensive purposes between two floors of this large structure which spread to three floors. Though there is no millstone door at the tunnel, there is an operation room in which the relevant millstone door will be located. Given the size of both rock-cut structures and the presence of only these two structures on the north wall, out of the five

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.19  Plan of Dimitre Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 3 (Drawn Y. Soboliev)

churches, this part of the wall can be considered to have been used purely for religious purposes. There is a high rock wall about 50 m after the last house of the village on the road of Vekse leading down to Koramaz Valley. There are four different rock-carved structures excavated near the village of this wall, which reaches a height of 14 m and continues for 200 m to the west. Two of the structures are feeding lots: one is an unfinished defense structure and the last one is a dovecote. In Koramaz Valley, from Subaşı to Ispıdın, there are countless dovecotes carved in rocks. However, it is not possible to compare the workmanship and beauty of any of these dovecotes with the one in Vekse. This structure, which is considered to be first dug as a columbarium, will be more comprehensively examined in Chap. 6.

3.6 Discussion

65

Fig. 3.20  Plan of Dimitre Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 4 (Drawn Y. Soboliev)

3.6 Discussion As explained comprehensively in Chap. 2, in various regions such as Gödet in Central Anatolia, Ahlat and Ani in Eastern Anatolia, and Ardahan in the Northeast Anatolia, there are rock-cut villages, used for hundreds of years but completely abandoned now. When examined in terms of the cliff settlements, Cappadocia is different from all these other regions in Anatolia in certain respects. Unlike other parts of Anatolia, a troglodyte life continues today in Cappadocia and countless local people still live in these rock-cut houses. Thus, the first and most important difference is that; while there is a single settlement in one or two valleys in the regions such as Gödet, Ahlat, Ani, and Ardahan, the number of cliff settlements in Cappadocia is extensive, as mainly the result of soft pyroclastic rocks which easily erode by the streams forming various valleys all around Cappadocia. Just in the provinces of Aksaray, Nevşehir, and Kayseri, there are more than 30 cliff or wall settlements of all sizes all dug in a rocky wall.

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3  Cliff Settlements of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 3.21  Plan of Dimitre Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 5 (Drawn E. Tok, A. Yamaç)

For instance, Çavuşin, located between Göreme and Avanos and 15 km northeast of Nevşehir, which contains more than a hundred rock-cut structures, is a good example of a wall settlement. This village, which was dug as vertical levels on a 60 m high slope and along the hill, was abandoned in the 1950s with the start of the rock collapses, and afterward, the frontage of the hill has completely collapsed. Today, the image of Çavuşin is in the form of a cross-section of the rock-dwelled structures on this wall, and strangely enough, this situation, which cannot be seen otherwise, provides detailed information about rock-cut architecture. Zelve, which is two different valleys intersecting each other and forming a triangle, has a rock-cut village with four churches, a mosque, and a total of 67 rock-cut structures. Until 1954, people lived in these rock-cut dwellings and as happened in Çavuşin, the village was abandoned due to the rock collapses (Pekin, 2014). For another instance, Peristrema Valley, extending on a line with a length of 12 km between the villages of Ihlara and Selime and located 90 km southeast of Göreme, is different from all other valleys stated above and probably is the most famous valley of Cappadocia. In this valley, in which the Melendiz River flows and the walls of which are 100  m high in some places, there are numerous rock-cut Byzantine churches, which were constructed between the eighth and 13th centuries.

3.6 Discussion

67

Fig. 3.22  Plan of Dimitre Cliff Settlements, Segment No. 6 (Drawn E. Tok, A. Yamaç)

In most of these churches, there are frescos one more beautiful than the other. Despite much research, and many works and articles -starting with Nicole and Michel Thierry in 1963- there is still no database for all the churches in Peristrema Valley. Though most research mentions “hundreds of” churches, the number of churches scientifically researched is more likely around 50, until now (Hild & Restle, 1981; Kalas, 2000, 2006; Ötüken, 1989; Thierry & Thierry, 1963; Varnacı Uzun, 2012). In addition, since the researches in Peristrema in the past years have completely focused on the churches with frescos, no attention has been paid to other rock-cut structures located in the valley. However, in this valley, there are many more rock-cut dwellings than there are churches. Despite their different sizes, on numerous other walls of the valleys such as Meskendir, Kızılçukur, and Kılıçlar around Göreme and Gesi, Değirmendere and Derevenk around Kayseri, there are also numerous rock-dwelled settlements and churches of all sizes (Bixio et al., 2017, 2018; Castellani, 2002). However, though there were rock-dwelled structures or even churches inside, other valleys such as Zemi, Güvercinlik, and Gomeda, were mainly used for agricultural purposes during

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Fig. 3.23  An underground shelter in Segment No. 5 with a millstone door (Photo R. Straub)

Fig. 3.24  View of Koramaz Valley from the interior of Dimitre Church No. 3 (Photo D. Albov)

the Byzantine era. Thus, though some of them have few rock-cut churches, their main rock-cut structures are underground irrigation/flood control aqueducts and

3.6 Discussion

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Fig. 3.25  Storage room of Dimitre Church No. 1 (Photo R. Straub)

Fig. 3.26  General view of Segment No. 1 (Photo R. Straub)

dovecotes (Gilli, 2017b; Gilli & Yamaç, 2017). There is still no detailed archaeological research or even a survey of most of these troglodyte villages -many of which date is thousands of years old- either in Cappadocia or in many different parts of Anatolia, as we mentioned above. Cliff settlements of Koramaz Valley are very different from those similar in Cappadocia by its size. This valley, which has 476 different rock-cut structures in four different cliff settlements, is the topmost one in the number of structures, around Cappadocia. The four most important examples of the cliff settlements were

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Fig. 3.27  Plan of Vekse Cliff Settlements (Drawn A. Yamaç)

presented earlier in this chapter. Although these troglodyte villages, whose first construction date is unknown and for which no scientific research has been conducted until now, are structurally and functionally similar to each other, we think that their historical backgrounds are different. For example, it is clear that due to the erosion and destruction observed in the dwellings, Küçük Bürüngüz Cliff Settlements were abandoned a long time ago and the smallness of this relevant structure complex is due to the small size of the population of the village. However, just two kilometers apart from this village, Ağırnas Cliff Settlements with their 195 different rock-­ dwelled structures dug in three different walls of Koramaz Valley is a huge rock-cut village. The third cliff settlement on Koramaz Valley is completely different from the other two structures stated above. As in Ağırnas Cliff Settlements, Dimitre Cliff Settlements includes rock-cut churches and underground shelters dating back to the seventh to eleventh centuries and is located three kilometers away from Ağırnas. It is, with a total of 229 rock-cut structures the biggest troglodyte village not only in Cappadocia but also the whole of Anatolia. This village had been inhabited for more than a thousand years until it was abandoned in 1966 due to the rock collapses.

References Bixio, R. (2012). Cappadocia: Records of the underground sites. Archaeopress. Bixio, A., Bixio, R., De Pascale, A., Maifredi, A., & Traverso, M. (2017). The concentric refuge of Kılıçlar Kilisesi complex. Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Cappadocia, Turkey. Bixio, A., Bixio, R., De Pascale, A., & Maifredi, A. (2018). Kılıçlar Kalesi: una fortezza “lineare” a Göreme (Cappadocia, Turchia). Opera Ipogea, 2(2018), 109–126. Castellani, V. (2002). I condotti idrici della valle di Meskendir. In C.  V. Bixio R., Succhiarelli C. (Ed.), Cappadocia. Le città sotterranee (pp.  279–290). Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato. Cömert, H. (2008). Koramaz Vadisi. Kayseri.

References

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Durukan, M. (2012). Kappadokia'da, Argaios Dağı Çevresinde Hellenistik-Roma Dönemi Mezarları ve Ölü Kültü (Graber und Totenkult In Der Hellenistisch-Römischen Zeit In Der Umgebung Des Argaios In Kapadokien). Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları. Gilli, E. (2017a). From columbaria to dovecotes: Two thousand years of use of cave dwellings in Ağırnas (Kayseri, Turkey). Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Cappadocia, Turkey. Gilli, E. (2017b). Underground hydraulic works related to artificial crop areas in Cappadocia. Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Cappadocia, Turkey. Gilli, E., & Yamaç, A. (2017). More than four thousands years of underground solutions in Cappadocia (Turkey). Paper presented at the AFTES, Paris. Hild, F. (1977). Das byzantinische Strassensystem in Kappadokien. Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Hild, F., & Restle, M. (1981). Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos). Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenshaften. Inbaşı, M. (1993). 16. Yüzyıl Başlarında Kayseri. Kalas, V. (2000). Rock-cut architecture of the Peristrema Valley: Society and settlement in byzantine Cappadocia. (PhD), New York University. Kalas, V. (2006). The 2004 survey of the byzantine settlement at Selime Yaprakhisar in the Peristrema Valley, Cappadocia. Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 60, 271–293. Kempe, D. (1988). Living underground. . Lamesa, A. (2011). Détermination des intervenants lors de chantiers d’églises rupestres en Cappadoce médiévale (VIIe-XIIIe siècle): méthodes d’analyses croisées. In J.  Lorenz & J. Gély (Eds.), Carrières et construction V (pp. 177–190). Paris. OBRUK. (2017a). Kayseri Yeraltı Yapıları Envanteri (Vol. 1). Kayseri Municipality. OBRUK. (2017b). Kayseri Yeraltı Yapıları Envanteri (Vol. 2). Kayseri Municipality. OBRUK. (2017c). Kayseri Yeraltı Yapıları Envanteri (Vol. 3). Kayseri Municipality. OBRUK. (2018). Kayseri Yeraltı Yapıları Envanteri (Vol. 4). Kayseri Municipality. OBRUK. (2020). Kayseri Yeraltı Yapıları Envanteri (Vol. 5). Kayseri Municipality. Ötüken, Y. (1989). Ihlara Vadisi. . Öztürk, F. (2009). Rock carving in Cappadocia from past to present. Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları. Pekin, F. (2014). Kapadokya Kayalardaki Şiirsellik. İletişim Yayıncılık. Thierry, N., & Thierry, M. (1963). Nouvelles églises rupestres de Cappadoce. Région du Hasan Dagi. Varnacı Uzun, F. (2012). Ihlara Vadisinde Kültürel Peyzaj Alanında Sürdürebilir Turizm. (PhD), Ankara University, Ankara. Yazlık, B. (2019). Koramaz Vadisi Columbarium Mezarları. Turkish Studies, 14(3), 669–733.

Chapter 4

Rock-Cut Churches of Koramaz Valley

Abstract  Cappadocia, in general, and Kayseri, particularly, is considered the cradle of Christianity in Anatolia. In this region where Christian communities began to take shape in the second century, the first religious buildings started to be built in the fourth century, influenced by important religious figures such as St. Basil, and numerous rock-out churches were excavated in the following centuries. These more than 300 rock-cut churches -which can be dated to between the sixth and thirteenth centuries- these rock-cut churches have always been the most significant cultural artifacts of Cappadocia. The rock-cut churches of Cappadocia, some of which are located within Göreme National Park, which was accepted as a World Heritage Site in 1985 by UNESCO, are covered with frescoes, some of which date back to the sixth and seventh centuries. During the inventory studies we carried out in Kayseri— Koramaz Valley in the east of this territory, we surveyed 42 rock-cut churches. 40 of these churches had never been the subject of any scientific publication. In this chapter, we explain the churches located in Koramaz Valley in detail from a general introduction to the beginning of Christianity in Cappadocia to the architectural characteristics of the rock-cut churches in the region. Keywords  Rock-cut church · Koramaz Valley · Cappadocia

4.1 Introduction Christianity left its mark on the culture of Cappadocia during the Byzantine period. In the late second century, the first Christian communities had already been formed in Kayseri (Caesarea) and Malatya (Melitene). When it comes to the Christian history of Cappadocia, three clergymen important to Eastern Christianity and known as “Cappadocian Fathers”, must be mentioned: Basil the Great (330–379), who was bishop of Caesarea; Basil’s younger brother Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395), who was the bishop of Nyssa; and Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), who became Patriarch of Constantinople. These three bishops, who lived in Cappadocia in the fourth century, and advanced the © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0_4

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development of early Christian theology, are considered the most important authorities of the Byzantine Church. According to the letters of the Cappadocian Fathers and several other letters that belong to the same period, the first churches in Cappadocia were built before the fourth century (Heine, 1999; McSorley, 1907; Norris, 1999). St. John Basilica in Çavuşin, attributed to the fifth or sixth century, is the earliest surviving rock-cut church in Cappadocia, and its huge three-nave plan is one of the largest among churches of the Early Byzantine Period (Korat, 2003; Pekin, 2014). During the studies regarding rock-cut structures that have been carried out in Koramaz Valley so far, a total of 42 different rock-cut churches were identified and surveyed in and around five different villages of the valley. A list of rock-cut churches according to the villages of Koramaz Valley is as follows: Villages Büyük Bürüngüz Subaşı Küçük Bürüngüz Ağırnas Dimitre Vekse Ispıdın Total

No. of churches – 1 (monastery?) – 15 7 5 14 42

Although we researched, surveyed, photographed, and inventoried 42 rock-cut churches in Koramaz Valley -considering that most of them are similar to each other with single naves, approximately the same size and without frescoes- in this chapter, we found it appropriate to describe in detail only 14 rock-cut churches in this valley that are architecturally different from one another. Rock-cut churches are present only in five out of seven villages in the valley, and we provided different samples from each of these villages.

4.2 Subaşı Rock-Cut Complex and Church The previous name of Subaşı Village was Üskübü and earlier it was Skopi. There is a huge rock-cut complex, located 200 m northwest of Subaşı Village, dug on a rocky slope, with a church as well. The phrase “Ruined church and Christian monastery” in the Ottoman registration dated 1872, which includes the records of this village, shows that these old structures were abandoned long ago (Cömert, 2008). In this settlement, excavated on a steep wall and located on a line with a length of 180 m, there are 11 different structures of all sizes (Fig. 4.1). The church is in the center of the complex. Along with Vekse Church No 1., this free-cross plan structure is one of the two largest rock-cut churches in Koramaz Valley At the

4.2 Subaşı Rock-Cut Complex and Church

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Fig. 4.1 Subaşı Rock-cut complex. (Photo A. Yamaç)

Fig. 4.2  Plan of Subaşı Rock-cut complex and church. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

entrance of the church, there is a barrel-vaulted narthex with a rectangular plan and a grave niche on the partly destroyed wall of the narthex (Fig.  4.2). The square-shaped central section, where the arms of the cross meet, is covered with a pendentive striped dome (Fig. 4.3). On the ground, there is a grave in the southern arm of the cross. In the excavation technique, the strips at the starting line of the half-round dome covering the horseshoe apse in the east of the church are remarkable. Plaster traces on the upper sections of the walls indicate that the church had been covered with frescoes in its original form. In her article, Karakaya dates this structure to the tenth–eleventh centuries, close counterparts of which are seen in the churches in Göreme, at least in terms of the plan and architectural specifications, (Karakaya, 2014). Although the other small structure to the east of the church, excavated parallel to it, is very damaged, there is a possibility that it may be a “funerary chapel”.

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Fig. 4.3 Subaşı Rock-cut church. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

In the southeast section of the church, there is a chamber with a flat slab ceiling, a neat rectangular plan, which is 20 × 5 m in size and that is in a sense the last structure of the complex. There are semi-circular large and deep niches on the walls of the destroyed entrance part of this structure, which is 100 square meters in size and the function of which is unclear. To the west of the church are the other structures of the complex. Completely connected to each other, these units terminate, respectively, with the structure which we consider to be a barn, based on the niches of large feed box, a refectory connected to this structure with a gate, a kitchen, living units, and then the dovecote.

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The refectory and the living units open towards the main entrance area which can be considered a court. The sides of these entrance galleries covered with barrel vaults have elaborate workmanship. The first site in the north of this court, which we consider to be a refectory has a square plan and is covered with a large dome, which has a ventilation chimney in the center. This structure which has niches on its wall is connected to the kitchen in the north. There is a fireplace on the west wall of the kitchen, which was dug with very smooth workmanship that is 2.7 m in length and that has a chimney on the ceiling, as well as a silo in the southwestern corner. And the independent section in the west of the refectory with an amorphous square plan and three entries must be the living unit. Although the final structure in the northwest of the complex, which has a square plan and is covered with a conic dome has a dovecote appearance now, with its conical dome and the pendentive strips surrounding it, it has a very elaborate architecture. With this unexpectedly beautiful craftsmanship, its initial building purpose might have been different, and it may have been turned into a dovecote later on. In her article, Karakaya states that these structures may not be a monastery as a whole, and she further writes: This building complex in Subaşı Village must be a dwelling that belongs to a small community. The spaces contained by the complex do not have the arrangement that is generally seen in the monasteries and they do not include some essential sections (i.e., court, refectory) (Karakaya, 2014).

On the other hand, the chamber that Karakaya assumes is the kitchen in her article—with its domed ceiling, large niches, and the gateway connecting to the other chamber to the south—is one of the largest structures of this complex and is most likely it must be a refectory. Again in the same article, the author describes another room, which the author assumes to be a cellar, and located to the north of the previous chamber. There is a very large fireplace with a chimney, as we wrote above, and this must be a kitchen. Although the ‘table and sitting places’ called ‘trapeza’ (plural trapezai) carved into the bedrock, which are found in many monasteries in Cappadocia and used only for dinner, are not present in this building complex, it is still a matter of speculation if the refectory of a monastery must definitely have a ‘trapeza’ and there is as yet no clear agreement on the matter. For instance, Ousterhout in his article states that wooden tables may have been used in some monastery refectories and that a ‘trapeza’ is not a prerequisite (Ousterhout, 2010). Cooper and Decker, in their work called “Life and Society in Byzantine Cappadocia” write: ... a refectory contained either a long table or several smaller tables called sigmata, which were stored in special niches in the refectory when not needed and could be made of wood. The possibility of moveable tables has led to the identification of sites with halls or large rooms as monasteries (Cooper & Decker, 2012).

Regarding the existence of more than 25 refectories with ‘trapezai’ in the area immediately around the main settlement at Göreme—as Pierre Lucas points out in his article—the authors also state that it is not possible for such a small region to

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have so many monasteries, and they further emphasize that a ‘trapeza’ may not essentially signify a monastery (Cooper & Decker, 2012; Lucas, 2003). We will return to this still controversial topic in Chap. 5 with an interesting and different example. Finally, we think that Subaşı Rock-cut Complex with a church, small court, refectory, kitchen, living spaces, and even with a huge meeting chamber has all the essential architectural items for a monastery and that identification of this rock-cut complex as a monastery by the Ottoman registration, dated 1872, is accurate.

4.3 Churches of Ağırnas Village Ağırnas Village is located 4 km north of Subaşı Village, on the slopes of Koramaz Valley. In accordance with the population and tax records of the Ottoman Empire, there were 53 Christian and 3 Muslim families in 1500. In 1520, this changed to 72 Christian and 2 Muslim families (Inbaşı, 1993). The oldest houses in the village are on the first two lines facing Koramaz Valley. The house of Mimar Sinan (“Sinan the Architect”), who was born here in 1489, is among these houses (Yamaç & Tok, 2015). Apart from the two churches which were constructed during the nineteenth century, there are a total of 15 rock-cut churches in and around Ağırnas Village, and only one of them is in the village. This church is inside the “Ağırnas Underground City,” which is located 200 m south of the village center, dug on a rocky slope on the left bank on the east side of Koramaz Valley. On the other hand, located approximately 500 m west of Ağırnas Village, there is an enormous cliff settlement on three different walls of Koramaz Valley, where the valley is forked. As explained in detail in Chap. 3, a total of 195 rock-cut dwelling structures have been explored and surveyed here. Though most of these structures are houses, storage units, barns, or dovecotes, there are also 14 churches. Containing a total of 154 rock-cut structures, ‘West Wall’ has eight different churches which can probably be dated to the Late Byzantine Era. Luckily, we know the local names of all of them. These names, given by the inhabitants of the village centuries after the construction of these churches, have nothing to do with their history. As there are no frescoes inside those churches, they are not names originating from images like in Göreme. However, we think naming the churches is more original than numbering, as we have had to do in the case of the churches of Vekse and Ispıdın villages. As for the ‘Northwest Wall’, three rock-cut churches are available. There is a large hall measuring almost 16 m × 4.5 m in the middle part of the wall. The main entrance of the church, which was reached by a chimney in front of the western wall of this building, was clogged with rubble. Probably it was turned into a dovecote long after its construction, and at this stage, the entrance part should be blocked, and

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a chimney would have been opened. There is a small chapel with a double apse next to this church and at the same elevation. There are two more different rock-cut churches on the ‘East Wall’, which has few rock dwellings on it, and one of them is the Gilaburu Church. Another interesting church in the valley is the Gormis Church, mentioned below, standing alone on a wall with no rock-cut settlements. The most important three churches out of the 15 rock-cut churches in Ağırnas Village and at the cliff settlements are explained below.

4.3.1 Ağırnas Underground City Church As observed in Derinkuyu and St. Mercurius, there are churches in some underground cities of Cappadocia. Even though the church located in Derinkuyu Underground City is at the lowest and deepest point, we can consider that the churches, which were dug close to the entrance of the structure, were also used at normal times other than raids, as can be seen in the Underground City of St. Mercurius (Yamaç et al., 2014). Very similar to St. Mercurius Underground City, this church is also located at the entrance of Ağırnas Underground City. The main entrance to Ağırnas Underground City, which is currently open to tourists, is protected with a millstone door. Beyond the entrance and the first room in the structure, there is a single-nave church with a length of 8.40 m and the main axis on a northwest-southeast direction. This church, in which there are no signs of frescos today, has the traces of underground plaster in the form of small pieces with simple and elaborate architecture, as often encountered in Cappadocia. It also has a barrel-vault ceiling and a horseshoe apse (Figs.  4.4 and 4.5). There are three arcosolia on the south wall of the church and a single arcosolium on the west and north walls. Apart from this, there are also two graves on the ground at the entrance part that looks towards the north. When their dimensions are considered, these graves initially appear to have been for more than one deceased individual. At the top of the upper arches of arcosolia and at the point where barrel-vault starts, an architrave surrounding the entire church was processed. The bema was elevated with a step and the templon in front of the horseshoe apse consists of a parapet which is double-barrelled and 1.20 m in height. The arcosolium on the west wall, as well as the door of the gate that reaches up to the storage chambers in the west wall that is located beside the arcosolium, is in the “mushroom form” alike. Most possibly the church must have been excavated within the underground city, between the nineth and eleventh centuries. To see the location of this church in the underground city, you can check the “Ağırnas Underground City” plan in Chap. 5, Fig. 5.13.

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Fig. 4.4 Ağırnas Underground City Church. (Photo R. Straub)

4.3.2 Gilaburu Church Although all the rock settlements of Koramaz Valley near Ağırnas were dug into the western walls of the valley, an exception is a small number of rock settlements on the eastern wall of the stream. At the point where the valley made a fork, and under the newly built houses of the village, there are seven rock-cut settlements and two are churches. At the most south-eastern end of the complex, there is Gilaburu Church. The ceiling height of this church, which is 6.90 × 6.00 m in size, is 3.10 m. With double-nave and double-apse, this church is one of the rare churches in the region thanks to such characteristics. This must be the “double nave” church mentioned by Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne in his 1963 article (Lafontaine-­Dosogne,

4.3  Churches of Ağırnas Village

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Fig. 4.5  Plan of Ağırnas Underground City Church. (Drawn E. Tok, Ç. Çankırılı)

1963). The north nave of the church is significantly larger than the south nave and the flat ceiling is supported by a single column carved into the main rock. One small chamber is present on the west wall of the south nave, as well as on the north wall of the north nave, and there are silo-like underground structures dug into the ground in front of both apses. On the other hand, there are no floor graves or an arcosolium in the church, which are frequently encountered in the region. Several frescoes on the southern apse of the church, which has been exposed to intensive destruction by the illegal diggers, are still visible, and the construction of the church may be dated to tenth–eleventh centuries, based on such fresco parts. A rough plan of Gilaburu Church can be seen on the map of “Ağırnas East Wall Cliff Settlement” located in Fig. 3.6 of Chap. 3.

4.3.3 Gormis Church The peculiarity of this structure is that it is the only structure on the east slope of Koramaz Valley around Ağırnas. All other rock-cut structures on the mainline of the valley are located on the opposite, western, wall. The entrance door of this church faces north and a total of six graves, probably belonging to the donors of the church, are located within the atrium of the church. This atrium section of the church, which

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Fig. 4.6  Entrance of Gormis Church. (Photo A. Yamaç)

has a very smooth architecture, may be accepted as an exonarthex. There is an arcosolium to the west of this exonarthex and the entrance door. It appears that the access to the church was partially destroyed, but the templon and the altar of the church have survived to the present day. The church is located in a southwest-northeast direction and has a rectangular plan. The ceiling is barrel-vaulted. This church, which is possibly a Late Byzantine structure, measures 7.00 × 2.60 m with a height of 3.50 m, has been well preserved compared to its counterparts. The church has a horseshoe apse, an altar carved in a rock protrusion, and there are three arch-niches on the north wall of the nave (Figs. 4.6 and 4.7).

4.4 Churches of Dimitre Village Four kilometers after Ağırnas, Koramaz Valley reaches Dimitre Village. In the Ottoman registrations, dated 1500, 37 dwellings were recorded in the village. By the Ottoman registrations of 1520, 48 dwellings had been recorded (Inbaşı, 1993). Old Dimitre Village is not located on the mainline of Koramaz Valley but on the north slopes of a branch extending to the east. This region is the deepest point of

4.4  Churches of Dimitre Village

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Fig. 4.7  Plan of Gormis Church. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

Koramaz Valley. In Dimitre branch, the maximum difference between the altitude of the plateau and the bottom of the valley reaches 80 m. The total number of cliff dwellings on the walls of this branch is higher than the cliff dwellings of Ağırnas. The most important reason is that, differently from Ağırnas, the residents of Dimitre Village continued to live in these rock-cut structures until recently. When the village became uninhabitable due to collapses, in 1966, it moved to its current settlement on the plain on top of the valley. The rock-cut settlements of Dimitre have changed a lot because they have been inhabited and used for a much longer period than other settlements in this region. We explored and surveyed a total of 229 rockcut settlements in Old Dimitre Village in our study. Among these structures, there are also seven churches. Those small rock-cut churches are architecturally quite similar; most of them have a length of 6–7 m and a horseshoe apse. Three of these churches are located in the west of the settlement (Fig. 4.8) and the remaining four churches are located in the eastern end, which is the final part of the settlement. Located in the second section to the west of the settlement and converted into a dovecote in time, Dimitre Church No. 1, with its 9 m long naos and double arcosolium on both walls, is the largest church in the settlement. The narthex and the nave in front of the entrance gate have barrel vaults. Although the function of the rooms, which were dug on both sidewalls of the narthex and that are accessed through a wide gate, is unclear, they were certainly carved following the construction of the church.

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Fig. 4.8  Dimitre Church No 3. (Photo D. Albov)

4.5 Churches of Vekse Village The next village after Dimitre in Koramaz Valley is Vekse which is located 2.5 km west. It is known that this settlement located on the skirts of Kanlıhöyük Hill is centuries old, the presence of the underground city, which we identified in the

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basement of a few houses but which we couldn’t survey since it was turned into a storage unit by division, is the evidence of this historical background. Although the rock-cut dwellings, which have been identified today in Vekse Village are rather a small part, there are six rock-cut structures on the other wall of the valley opposite the village and four of them are churches. Apart from the four churches carved in these red-colored volcanic rocks, which reach a height of 20 m in places and continue like a wall along the valley, it is evident that the other two structures are not simple dwellings because of their sizes, chambers, and the presence of tunnels and millstone doors. It is possible that these structures were used by the clergy. All those four churches are single-nave and have approximately a 6 m long axis and a horseshoe apse plan. The fifth church in the village; Vekse Church No. 1, is different from these four churches in all respects as described below, and it -along with Subaşı Church- is one of the largest churches of Koramaz Valley.

4.5.1 Vekse Church No 1 The rock-cut church of Vekse Church No 1 is situated 400 m southeast from the main settlement of Vekse, on the top of a cliff. The entrance of the church is located on the north wall. It was partly destroyed but on the broken wall we still can see the square exonarthex overlapped by the semicircular vault. The protruding wall in the foundation of the vaults forms the impost of the rectangular shape that gives some “mushroom form” to the profile of the arch. This combination of arch and impost is very common in Cappadocian architecture and used in facade decoration, arch, and interior vaults construction, and so on (Teteriatnikov, 1996). In the lower parts of the west and east walls, the semicircular niches are carved. The doorway of rectangular shape has the constructions for bracing the door on the corners. There is a small window over the door. The nave is a Byzantium type “cross-in-square” style. The connection with the dome is made by flat pendentives of triangular shape. To the south of the naos, the parekklesion of rectangular shape that extends on the axis north-south is adjoining. It is covered by a barrel vault. Along the west wall of the parekklesion a rock-cut bench has been obtained and in the south corner, a burial pit of rectangular shape is situated. On the east side, the second apse was excavated with a rock-cut altar in the center and two rock-cut shelves. To the west of the naos adjoining, a large narthex extends on the east-west axis. It is overlaid by a high barrel vault. In the east part of the narthex, two arcosolium niches were carved in the walls on each side. In the western part of the southern wall, a big arcosolium niche semicircular-shaped in plan-section is positioned. In front of that niche on the floor, there is a burial pit. One more burial pit was cut on the floor between two eastern arcosolium niches. Girth arches are based on the pillars of rectangular shape protruding from the corners. The main feature of those pillars is that they have the shape of the so-called “with ejected quarter”. The semicircular vault overlaps the cross branches. The

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impost in the apse, which was cut in the abutment of the walls, has a protruding and widening section (triangular shape). In the other branches, it has an M-shape in the section. On the incoming corners of the pillars, it became the flat tape apse that has an egg-shaped form in the plan. It is overlaid by the conch. In the apse, a constructed rectangular-shape altar was made from rock protrusion. There are three arch-niches over the altar. On the north wall, there is a small rock-cut table (prothesis). Flat pendentives of triangular shape connected with the dome. On the top of the pendentives, cut decorative details of the cone form protuberances. Above the pendentives is situated the flat foundation of the dome. This foundation makes the dome smaller in diameter regarding space beneath the dome. The junction between the foundation and the dome is constructed in the shape of a narrow and smooth ledge. It is possible that such a reduction was necessary because of the risk of destruction. The dome was cut very near to the surface of the cliff. To the south from the naos adjoining the parekklesion of rectangular shape that extended on the north-south axis. It is covered by a semicircular vault. In that way, the parekklesion appeared to be merged with the south branch of the main church. Along the west wall of the parekklesion is a rock-cut bench and in the south corner, a burial pit of rectangular shape is situated. From the east, the second apse with the rock-cut altar in the center and two rock-cut shelves—prothesis and sacristy—are constructed. Naos and parekklesion have rock-cut altar gates. The altar gates of both apses are mostly preserved. A large narthex extended on the east-west axis adjoins the naos. It is overlaid by a high semicircular vault. In the eastern part of the narthex, there are two arcosolium niches. In the western part of the southern wall, a big arcosolium niche semicircular shape in plan-section is cut. On the floor in front of that niche is made a burial pit. One more burial pit is cut in the floor between two eastern arcosolium niches. The burial pits are cut in the cliff sarcophagus which is covered by stone slabs. The remains of the slabs are still preserved here in the church (Figs. 4.9, 4.10, and 4.11). The church almost has no decoration. Taking into account the remains of the plaster on the walls, we can suggest that at some time, it was covered by paintings or ornament but now all such decoration has vanished. On the altar gate of parekklesion remain two graffiti of the blossom crosses painted by the ochre. One more graffiti remains on the western wall of the exonarthex over the semicircular niche. One fresco is preserved on the east wall between the apses of the main church and parekklesion. It is preserved fragmentarily but there still can be seen two human figures. The left one is higher and possibly standing and facing us and is probably a male. The right one is lower, turned to the left one, and holds a scroll near the shoulder. On this scroll, we still can see three rows of partially preserved Greek letters. Such a type of church (the church with enlarged space beneath the dome) is rare in rock-cut architecture. Although the construction date of this church is not clear, we can assume that it was built in the late tenth—early eleventh century.

4.5  Churches of Vekse Village

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Fig. 4.9  Vekse Church No 1. (Photo R. Straub)

4.5.2 Vekse Church No 2 A good example of the adaptation of a relatively large rock-cut church to the natural form of the rock body is a structure we call Vekse Church No 2, located to the north of today’s Vekse settlement. The effort to dig a double-nave church deep into the solid part of the rock probably caused the church to deviate so much from the east. As we wrote above, it is a frequently encountered phenomenon in Cappadocia that the rock-cut churches do not face east because the position or the formation of the rock they were carved does not allow. Though the west apse and nave in Vekse Church No 2 are a little smaller than the east apse and nave, this west structure is not a side chapel, and the entire church is a double-nave church as in Ispıdın Church No 7. Barrel-vault ceilings are carried with a single column, and there are two round-arched niches on the east of the nave. The east apse is connected to the west apse by a passage, and there is a simple templon wall in front of both apses; there is no fresco that remains in sight. The total distance between this church and Vekse Church No 3, on the same slope, is about 200 m (Fig. 4.12).

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Fig. 4.10  Vekse Church No 1. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

4.5.3 Vekse Church No 3 This rock church is probably the most damaged structure among the rock churches in Vekse. With only two of the columns supporting the naos in the southwest-­ northeast direction remaining stable, this small church with a barrel-vault and the

4.5  Churches of Vekse Village

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Fig. 4.11  Plan of Vekse Church No 1. (Drawn A. Yamaç, E. Ianovskaya)

main axis length of 8 m has undergone such great changes and destruction over time that it is difficult to even guess its original architecture. Nevertheless, its asymmetric rectangular plan is quite interesting as observed. Although the south wall of the structure partly maintained its original formation with two narrow niches on that wall and the remains of frescoes signs of which are observed on the niches, the other sections underwent a big change. For example, the two large niches, which were carved on the wall in the west of the entrance, that are almost 1 m in diameter, and whose function is not clear, do not belong to the original architecture of the church, and they might likely have been dug on a later date when the church was being turned into a dovecote. The pigeon niches on the wall just opposite the entrance and the funnel in front of the apsis are the proofs of such activity. Probably, the main aim was to attach the big dovecote, which was 6 m in diameter and that was carved to the northeast of this church, with a hole to the apsis of the church, and obtain more yield thereby turning the church into a dovecote. The collapse of the south wall of the apse of the church and the opening of the structure to the earth at this point must have prevented this project (Figs. 4.13 and 4.14).

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Fig. 4.12  Plan of Vekse Church No 2. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

4.5.4 Vekse Church No 5 This is the last structure to the east on the northern wall of Vekse. This church, which is located in the middle of the rock wall, on top of the slope, is entered through a rock-carved courtyard that has been carved neatly and has three niches on its east wall. This outdoor space, similar to but larger than the courtyard at the entrance of Ağırnas Görmis Church, can be thought of as a kind of exonarthex. The church lies in the direction of southeast-northwest and it has a rectangular plan. The ceiling is barrel-vaulted and on both walls of this 7.5 m long church, there are three rectangular deep niches with arched roofs which were most possibly arcosolia. There is an altar carved into the rock body on the east wall of the horseshoe apse.

4.5  Churches of Vekse Village

Fig. 4.13  Vekse Church No 3. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

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Fig. 4.14  Plan of Vekse Church No 3. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

The purpose of the room, which was dug in the southeast direction inside the church with a nearly square plan, is uncertain. There is no niche on the walls and the floor is filled with debris falling from the ceiling (Fig. 4.15). Although one chimney was opened both at the entrance of the church and the ceiling of this room, there are no pigeon niches, and the structure was not turned into a dovecote.

4.6 Churches of Ispıdın Village Ispıdın is the last and smallest village of Koramaz Valley. In accordance with the Ottoman registrations, in the 1500 population census, there were 19 dwellings in total and 15 of these dwellings were stated to be Christian. In the 1520 population census, the number of houses increased to 35 and the number of Christian houses was 23 (Inbaşı, 1993). There are 14 different rock-cut churches on both walls of Koramaz Valley in this small village and all these churches are scattered to different parts of the valley (Fig. 4.16). Apart from 3 to 4 small rock-cut dwellings, the

4.6  Churches of Ispıdın Village

93

Fig. 4.15  Plan of Vekse Church No 5. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

lack of cliff settlement is as interesting as the excessive number of churches in such a small village. In a village with 19 dwellings in total in 1500, it is hard to explain the existence of 14 different rock-cut churches approximately 500  years before this date. Most of these 14 churches that we numbered are roughly in similar sizes and are small structures with the main axis of approximately 6–7 m. Although most of these churches are the structures that can be identified as ‘private church’, there are relatively large ones among them just as ones with different architectural plans. In addition; the frescoes observed in Ispıdın Church No. 1 and several traces of which

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Fig. 4.16  Rock-cut churches of Ispıdın Village. (After Google Earth-elaboration A. Yamaç)

remained in Ispıdın Church No. 12, suggest that there used to be frescoes in at least some of these churches, which have disappeared today. Apart from one church, all other churches have a horseshoe apse. In three churches, there is a windowed templon carved into the main rock between the apse and the nave.

4.6.1 Ispıdın Church No. 1 This small rock church, located on the rocky ridge next to the bridge that crosses the Koramaz Valley in the southwest of Ispıdın Village, was the only frescoed church we came across in Kayseri. We say “it was” because the intense destruction by illicit diggers that we have observed in this church only in the last year is incredible. Dated to the eleventh–thirteenth centuries and mentioned by Prof. Nilay Çorağan Karakaya, a major portion of the frescoes cited below were almost completely destroyed in the last few years. In her article, Karakaya describes the frescoes: There are wall pictures on the wall and cover system of the church. In the structure, scenes from the Bible and Apocrypha are available such as Gospel, Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth, Voyage to Bethlehem, Birth of Christ and First Bath, Appearance of Angel to Three Shepherds and Arrival of Three Chaldaic Kings, Hypapante, Baptism, Resurrection of Lazarus, Christ on the Crucifix and The Descent From The Cross, Anastasis (Descent to Hell), The Rise of Jesus Christ, Koimesis (The Death of Mary) as well as symbolic descriptions consisting of Eleousa and Hodegetria Mary, single saint bishop and martyr figures (Karakaya, 2013) (Figs. 4.17 and 4.18).

The church has an irregular rectangular plan and there is a small narthex in the north. The central section where the cross arms meet is square-shaped and covered with a dome that is crossed by pendants. The cross arms, which are rectangular and

4.6  Churches of Ispıdın Village

Fig. 4.17 Ispıdın Church No 1. (Photo R. Straub)

Fig. 4.18  Frescoes of Ispıdın Church No 1. (Photo R. Straub)

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Fig. 4.19  Plan of Ispıdın Church No 1. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

covered with barrel vaults, differ in size. In the east of the cross arm forming the bema, there is a half-round apse and a prothesis in the northeast (Karakaya, 2013; Straub et al., 2019). Some of the other structures in the northeast and northwest of the church collapsed and were damaged seriously (Fig. 4.19).

4.6.2 Ispıdın Churches No. 2, 3 and 4 To the north of Ispıdın Church No 1, on the rocky slope opposite the bridge, there are three small churches, which are separated by 10–15 m and which are very similar to one another in terms of architecture (Fig. 4.20). Church No. 2 towards the west, like the other two, is in the northwest-southeast direction and has an amorphous rectangular plan. The ceiling is barrel-vaulted, and the nave is full of debris due to illicit digging in front of the horseshoe-shaped apse. There are two round

4.6  Churches of Ispıdın Village

97

Fig. 4.20  Plan of Ispıdın churches No 2, 3 and 4. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

vaulted rectangular niches on the north wall and one niche each on the south and west walls (Fig. 4.21). Although the templon wall has been largely destroyed, it is clear that it has a three-arched arrangement. Decorations surrounding the round arch on the architrave of the templon, and the crosses directly imprinted on the rock with red-brown paint on both sides as well as a small piece of inscription, are still visible. An altar is dug on the main rock and there are two niches in the apsis. On all walls of the church, there are numerous pigeon niches -which were excavated while the construction was being turned into a dovecote- within the four large niches and even above the architrave. For the same purpose, a chimney was opened in front of the entrance. From this church to the southeast, Church No. 3 is located on the same rocky ridge. Unlike Church No. 2, there is a narthex in front of the western entrance of this building, which was later turned into a dovecote. The church has an entrance both from the south and from the narthex. There are rectangular niches with round arches on both walls of the naos (Fig. 4.22). Although Church No. 3 was destroyed to a greater extent, compared to the others, there are small pieces of frescoes both on the pediment on the entrance door from the narthex and around the niches at naos. The cross figure imprinted directly on the rock with red-brown painting on the entrance door, and the decorations on both sides of the door—along with the decoration fragment painted on the plaster on the north niche—are very clear. Church No. 4 is located 15  m southeast of Church No. 3. There is a narthex, which is 5 m in length, at the entrance of this church, which is located northwest-­ southeast direction, like the other two churches. Although no grave can be seen in

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Fig. 4.21 Ispıdın Church No 2. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

Fig. 4.22 Ispıdın Church No 3. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

4  Rock-Cut Churches of Koramaz Valley

4.6  Churches of Ispıdın Village

99

this part due to the rubble on the ground, the human bones scattered around are proof that there was more than one grave around the narthex. This structure, like the other two churches, has a horseshoe apse with an altar dug into like the other two churches, has a horseshoe apse with an altar carved into the bedrock and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Its rock-carved decorations are still visible on the portal of the entrance door.

4.6.3 Ispıdın Church No. 5 The church is entered through a door on the rocky slope facing south and to the valley. The building has a rectangular plan measuring 7.5 × 2.5 m in the northwest-­ southeast direction. The ceiling of the building is a barrel vault, and there are four square-shaped, round-arched niches and a transept arm lined side by side on the north wall of the nave. As the rock block in the southern part of the church was too thin to allow a transept to be carved here, just like Vekse Church No. 1, only one arm of the transept was made. The only interesting feature of this small church, which has no fresco today, is the templon wall, which was carved from the main rock with its windows and that separates the apse and the nave (Figs. 4.23 and 4.24).

Fig. 4.23 Ispıdın Church No 5. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

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Fig. 4.24  Plan of Ispıdın Church No 5. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

4.6.4 Ispıdın Church No. 7 There is a double-nave church, which is 4 × 5 in size in the east-west direction and located on a rocky slope in the eastmost end of Ispıdın Village. The naves were divided by a column carved from the main rock. And the second column separates the south nave from the aisle, which is 3.20 m in length. The ceiling of the naves was shaped like a double barrel vault. Both apsis has a horseshoe plan, and they have different sizes. Since one of the two round-arched and square-shaped niches on the northern wall of the nave was blocked completely due to the debris falling from the ceiling, it is not clear if this niche is a gate opening to another chamber or an arcosolium (Fig. 4.25). Just beside this niche, the nave is connected to two big chambers through a tunnel which is apparently to be carved later. Although the construction purpose of the first chamber, which continues towards the north, 9 × 4 m in size and that has three large niches on the west wall, is not clear, the second room, accessed

4.6  Churches of Ispıdın Village

101

Fig. 4.25  Plan of Ispıdın Church No 7. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

following this chamber with silo holes on the ground, was turned into a dovecote at later dates.

4.6.5 Ispıdın Church No. 10 This interesting structure located on the edge of the same road before nearly 300 m of Ispıdın Church No. 9, is in the east-west directions and has an amorphous square plan. The ceiling of this church, which has three naves were divided by arched axes and supported by two more columns carved as adjacent to the wall in the north-­ south axis in addition to the double-column on naos in the same direction as these columns. Likewise, the ceiling support between the apsides was ensured with the walls separating these apsides. The architraves of all these load-bearing elements in the building had round arches, and the ceiling had to be carved much more openly than the barrel-vault, almost with a soft curve. Also, the horseshoe-shaped apse, which we are accustomed to see in the region, is not present in this church. Every three apses of the structure are quadrangles, and this church is probably the only example known in the region that has a quadrangle apse. The construction of Ispıdın Church No. 10 is out of the ordinary for the region both due to its shape and size.

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Fig. 4.26 Ispıdın Church No 10. (Photo D. Albov)

The structure can be said to follow a kind of cross-in-square plan, although it is different from the classical definition, and it can be dated to around the tenth century, during which such architectural plans started to be applied in the region. On the other hand, wide and thick arched architraves that cross the ceiling between the columns are not very common in such rock-cut churches, and it is natural to stay away from such architectural decorations, considering the difficulty of rock-cut workmanship. On the northern wall of the structure, there is a side-chamber that is as large as the church itself and that has no niches or frescoes therein. Although an entrance in the same style was opened also on the south wall just opposite the northern entrance, it was blocked with rubble because of the collapse of the ceiling; therefore, it is not clear if there is another chamber that resembles the one in the north, at the back of this entrance (Figs. 4.26 and 4.27).

4.6.6 Ispıdın Church No. 11 The main road down to the Koramaz Valley in Ispıdın Village turns towards the west after the bridge. There are seven churches in this section in the rocky place in the north of the valley. The currently used south entrance of Ispıdın Church No 11, which is around 100 m to the east of Church No 6 mentioned above, was opened because the main entrance in the west and the narthex in front of the same were completely blocked with the rocks falling from the slope. In the north of the narthex,

4.6  Churches of Ispıdın Village

103

Fig. 4.27  Plan of Ispıdın Church No 10. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

there is a grave chamber that was excavated with a neat workmanship. The church, which is nearly 3 × 6 m in length, is located towards the southeast-northwest direction, and it has a rectangular plan. The ceiling of this structure is a barrel vault and the apse has a horseshoe plan. The north chamber, which was separated from the nave of the church with a column carved on the main rock, and the size of which is larger than a church but that has no apse, cannot be considered a parakklesion by its structure. The fact that the entrance holes of two big rooms on the northern wall of this structure were carved both as a small hole and 1 m above from the ground suggests that these two rooms could only be used as a storehouse (Fig. 4.28).

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Fig. 4.28  Plan of Ispıdın Church No 11. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

4.6.7 Ispıdın Church No. 12 Located on the eastern end of Ispıdın Village and 20 m above Church No. 7, this church is in the direction of east-west and it has a rectangular plan. This building, which can be regarded as one of the largest churches in the region with its dimensions of 3.5 × 8.5 m, has a very elaborate architecture and workmanship with its barrel vault, horseshoe-shaped apse, and three niches with arched ceilings. The altar on the east wall of the apse is carved into the rock body. Among all rock-cut churches in Koramaz Valley, Ispıdın Church No. 12 is one of the few frescoed churches that has survived until today. Although a few fragments of these frescoes remain, the few human motifs that can be detected are remarkable. The function of the south chamber, which is 3.5 × 4 m in size, and is considered to have been built in the same period with the church because of the passage gallerywhich has the same architecture with the niches on the walls of the church and an arched architrave similar to these niches- is uncertain. There is a mihrab-like niche on the south wall of this room and the southwestern corner of the chamber has collapsed (Figs. 4.29 and 4.30).

4.7 Discussion

105

Fig. 4.29 Ispıdın Church No 12. (Photo D. Albov)

4.7 Discussion The first traces of Christianity in Cappadocia dates back to the first century, i.e., much earlier than when Constantinus 1, the first emperor of Byzantium, adopted Christianity as the official religion of the empire in 313 (Heine, 1999). It is asserted that St. Paul the Apostle passed through Cappadocia during his journey to Galatia and Phrygia, known as the “Third Missionary Journey”, which is considered to have taken place between 52 and 53. St. Paul, who was also a citizen of Anatolia, from Tarsus, was carrying during this journey a ‘Letter to Galatians’ which contains a message that Christianity is not only the religion of Palestinians, but it is also a universal religion. St. Peter, another apostle, talks about a Christian community in Cappadocia in his ‘First Letter’ (Feldmeier, 2008; Kostof, 1972). Although evidence is scarce, Christianity must have spread extensively in these provinces during the late second century. Eusebius, on the authority of Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis in the second century, indicates that there were Christians in Melitene during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161–180) (Heine, 1999). On the same date, there were even the bishops assigned to the churches in the region. For instance, Alexander was a bishop in Cappadocia before he became bishop of Jerusalem in 212. He is the first Cappadocian bishop whose name is known (Heine, 1999). The Christian activities that started in Cappadocia during this period would lead the region to become an important theological center a century later. Caesarea is significant in Christian history and was the first in precedence among the Christian

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Fig. 4.30  Plan of Ispıdın Church No 12. (Drawn A. Yamaç)

bishoprics of Anatolia and during the fourth and fifth centuries it was a center of Christian thought in the region. St. Basil, one of the three clergymen known as “Cappadocian Fathers”, used to preach to his followers to work jointly with a communal perspective, to worship and eat together, to consider richness a shame and poverty an honor, and to create small and self-disciplined communities based on brotherly love, that are self-sufficient economically. Thus, he laid the foundations for self-sufficient Orthodox monastery life, thereby determining the subsequent monastery doctrines. Over the course of time, he gathered the dispersed community of priests in the territory under this monastery organization and set the rules for this organization. He built a large complex just outside Caesarea towards the east of the city called the ‘Basiliad’, or ‘Basileiad’, which included a poorhouse, hospice, and hospital. It became a lasting monument of Basil’s episcopal care for the poor and was compared by Gregory of Nazianzus to the wonders of the world. Byzantine emperor Valens visited Caesarea in 372, and he was impressed with St. Basil‘s wit and presence (McSorley, 1907).

4.7 Discussion

107

Fig. 4.31 Kırık Church at Şar Komana, photo by J.H. Haynes, dated 1884. (Photographs of Asia Minor, 2014)

In his letters that St. Basil describes holding religious ceremonies in a church in Caesarea during the 360  s. Unfortunately, almost none of these churches, built before the fourth century, exist today. Although some of the literature dates (Cooper & Decker, 2012) the free-cross churches at Hanköy—Tomarza and Kırık Church at Şar Komana in Cappadocia to this century, the date of the first of these buildings cannot be determined clearly because of the scarcity of the ruins at the location; and excavation reports confirm explicitly that the second building was built as a mausoleum in the fourth century and then it was turned into a church at an indefinite date (Harper & Bayburtluoğlu, 1967; Thierry, 1990) (Fig. 4.31). After the fourth century, there are no documents of any kind to inform us of medieval Cappadocian churches. Despite such a lack of knowledge, the studies of some art historians confirm the existence of some of the churches dated back to this period in the region can be documented. Üzümlü Church in Zelve, which has a double-nave or Church No.1 in Ortahisar, which are both dated to the sixth or seventh century, may be cited among the other samples of the early period (Restle, 1967; Teteriatnikov, 1996). Rock-cut churches in Cappadocia can be classified according to their architectural structures as follows: Single-nave churches; double-nave churches; three-nave basilicas; churches with free-cross plans; and, churches with cross-in-square plans. Although there are sketches of these five different church types in Fig. 4.32, this architectural categorization varies based on the formation of the excavated rock and

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4  Rock-Cut Churches of Koramaz Valley

Fig. 4.32  Simplified sketch plans of five major types of rock-cut churches of Cappadocia: 1. Single-nave 2. Double-nave, 3. Three-nave, 4. Free-cross, 5. Cross-in-square, modified from. (Pekin, 2014)

as the plans of the churches change significantly. Whereas a major portion of the 42 churches explored in Koramaz Valley consists of single-nave churches with small and simple architecture, there are also churches of different architectural types and the plan of which was tried to be adapted to the rock they were excavated. To illustrate, there is a cross-in-square church of which one arm of the transept of which was not excavated, since the thickness of the rock did not allow to do so. There was also a double-nave church, two naves of which are rather different from each other since the rock where it was excavated is not suitable. Although the orientation of the church, i.e., the apse being in the east of the church, had become obligatory in the Byzantine Empire in the eighth or nineth century (Livingstone, 1997), we observed that many rock-cut churches, which are known to have been built after that date, are not in compliance with this orientation; some of the churches were excavated towards the direction allowed by the structure of the rock, as it can be seen in the example of Vekse Church No. 2. So, in a sense, we can say that the rock-cut church architecture in Cappadocia was shaped by geology. Single-nave churches are the most frequently encountered architectural style in Cappadocia since they are easily carved in the rock and this type of churches are architectural solutions for the worship of small religious communities. Apse of this type of church is mostly horseshoe-shaped and, for the most part, has a simple barrel-­vault. Double-nave churches can have single or sometimes double apses. To put it differently, double or triple-nave churches consist of single-nave chapels joined together (Akyürek, 1998; Ousterhout, 2017; Teteriatnikov, 1996). The three-­ nave basilica plan, in particular, is a surprising expression in the organization of Christian space at this time, since it had fallen out of favour in Constantinople and elsewhere in the Empire. The Cappadocian persistence in basilica churches is another mark of regional peculiarity (Cooper & Decker, 2012). On the other hand, the cross-in-square church plan appeared in Cappadocia during the tenth century and was popular in this area, much as it was elsewhere in Byzantium. There are many churches of this type in Cappadocia dating from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries (Teteriatnikov, 1996; Wallace, 1991).

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On the other hand, side chapels, which are also called ‘parekklesion’, are a common feature within Cappadocian religious structures. These are secondary rooms carved in the north or south side of the main church, and they functioned foremost as burial locations. Even though these private and/or funerary side chapels are mostly excavated as adjacent to the nave, some examples were detached, using a parapet. The total number of the rock-cut churches in Cappadocia that have been explored and scientifically studied up to now is a matter for speculation since there are different numbers listed in many different references. For instance, there are only 118 rock-cut churches in “Une nouvelle province de l’art byzantin, les églises rupestres de Cappadoce”, Guillaume de Jerphanion’s comprehensive study regarding all rock-cut churches in Cappadocia, which consists of five volumes and continues to be a resource after a century (Jerphanion, 1925–42). Considering the churches around Peristrema, which are not included in Jerphanion‘s book, and all the other rock-cut churches that have been discovered and published in the region over the past 100 years, the total number of churches could be as high as 300. According to “The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey” (www.tayproject.org), which is one of the most comprehensive inventories ever made on this subject, and other cited sources, there are 359 rock-cut churches in and around the Cappadocia region (Akyürek et al., 2015). Even if we acknowledge that there may be some deficiencies in this inventory, we suppose that the number of the rock-cut churches in the territory will not exceed the foregoing number much. On the other hand, Lyn Rodley writes in his study regarding Cappadocian rock-­ cut churches: My estimate of the number of churches, based on published lists and field observation, used to be ‘around 300’, but a recent count suggests that this number should be doubled: Y. Ötüken, Kappadokya Bölgesi Bizans Mimarisi Araştırmaları (Hacettepe Universitesi, Ankara, 1981; Doçentlik Tezi). Dr Ötüken’s catalogue (publication forthcoming) lists 703 Byzantine monuments in Cappadocia (Rodley, 1985).

Since the thesis of Prof. Yıldız Ötüken has not been published yet, we have no idea about what this number ‘703’ contains and what her references were. Similarly; Although Jolivet-Levy and Ousterhout wrote in their works that there were 600 and 700 religious structures, respectively, in Cappadocia, they did not specify any sources for these numbers (Jolivet-Lévy, 1997; Ousterhout, 2010). There can be several different explanations for this large numerical difference. First, although some researchers consider a church and a side chapel (parekklesion) excavated side by side as a single structure, some other researchers see them differently. To illustrate, there are five chapels built only for arcosolium around the Kubbeli Church in Soğanlı. Can we consider all these chapels, which function only as a graveyard, as different religious structures? Another explanation for such difference in number maybe that some researchers include in their list some small rock-cut chapels which are not included in any scientific literature. This large numerical difference may even be related to how antique Cappadocia is defined by researchers. In the Roman

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and the Byzantine empires period, Cappadocia was the largest province of these empires in Asia Minor with a surface area of around 50.000 km2. Today, the region defined as Cappadocia is much smaller than its size in ancient times. Therefore, such a big difference in the number of rock-cut churches may be related to the boundaries of the territory that researchers consider to encompass Cappadocia. The fact that many researchers working in the region give different numbers to the churches further complicates the problem. On the other hand, as you can see below, recent rock-cut churches are still being explored in Cappadocia, and it is essential to have a detailed inventory not only of the churches but also of all ancient structures in this region, which has such a rich cultural heritage. In Koramaz Valley, before we conducted our research, only three studies had been conducted regarding rock-cut churches in the entire region, and only two churches were surveyed in detail. Jacqueline Lafontaine-Dosogne, who first explored rock-cut churches around Ağırnas, wrote the following lines in his article, dated 1963: In the valley that stretches south at the foot of the village of Ağırnas, I could see, during a quick walk, a series of rock establishments dug in the wall. They got me appeared to be of rather modest interest. Of the three churches visited, only one keeps very small fragments of paint where we recognize, in the apse, the traces of an archaic ‘Christ in glory and cherubim’, another is a double nave (Lafontaine-Dosogne, 1963).

We explored and surveyed 15 different rock-cut churches in Ağırnas. As there are no drawings or photographs in her article, we have no idea about which churches in the valley are the three rock-cut churches to which Lafontaine-Dosogne refers. Out of 15 churches located at the cliff settlements of Ağırnas, only one church has a ‘double nave‘. This is the Gilaburu Church, as it is called in the East Wall, and the characteristics of this structure are detailed below. Nilay Karakaya, however, described the church that we named Ispıdın Rock-Cut Church No.1 (Karakaya, 2013) and Subaşı Rock-Cut Church (Karakaya, 2014) in two different articles. If we do not count the short note of Lafontaine-Dosogne, only two of the 42 churches in the Koramaz Valley have been the subject of a scientific publication, and the remaining 40 churches have not been studied and published by any scholar until now. Although a great many of these churches are single nave, small churches without any ornaments, a few others are large and some have partial frescoes. That there are no frescoes in most of the churches and that they have similar architectural plans also makes it difficult to date these churches. Neither the rock-cut churches in Koramaz Valley nor the rock-cut churches in the northern part of Kayseri Province have never been surveyed scientifically before now, and thus, it is not possible to set the ground for comparison. Even though Karakaya dates the two churches; Ispıdın Church No. 1 and Subaşı Church to tenth–eleventh and eleventh–thirteenth centuries, respectively, these dates either cannot be considered as references for all other churches in the region or they are rather argumentative. For instance, one out of two rock-cut churches, which we photographed and surveyed at another cliff settlement in Değirmendere Valley -located nearly 3 km in the south of Koramaz Valley- was

References

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dated by Catherine Jolivet-Levy to mid to late eighth century, despite its destroyed frescoes (Jolivet-Lévy, 2020; Tok & Yamaç, 2015). In our opinion, examining all these rock-cut churches in and around Koramaz Valley, which have not yet been extensively researched by experts, will give us new information about the region’s Christian past and its architectural history. A major portion of these small churches in the Valley are likely to be ‘private churches.’ Although the Byzantine Empire tried to forbid this type of churches in different periods and to build all churches as ‘episcopal churches’ -those under the direct control of the church with priests who were appointed by and answered to bishops- private churches were built in almost every region of the empire and at any period (Cooper & Decker, 2012).

References Akyürek, E. (1998). Fourth to eleventh centuries. In M. Sözen (Ed.), Kapadokya (pp. 227–395). Ayhan Şahenk Foundation. Akyürek, E., Çömezoğlu, Ö., Tiryaki, A., Yamaç, A., Karakaya, N., Mimiroğlu, M., et al. (2015). Türkiye Arkeolojik Yerleşmeleri 8 – Bizans / Iç Anadolu. Istanbul Ege Yayınları. Cömert, H. (2008). Koramaz Vadisi. Kayseri. Cooper, E., & Decker, M. (2012). Life and society in Byzantine Cappadocia. Palgrave Macmillan. Feldmeier, R. (2008). The first letter of Peter: A commentary on the Greek text. Baylor University Press. Harper, R., & Bayburtluoğlu, I. (1967). Preliminary report on excavations at Sar Comana, Cappadociae in 1967. Türk Arkeoloji Dergisi, 16(2), 107–112. Heine, R. (1999). Cappadocia. In E. Ferguson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of early christianity (Vol. 1, 2nd ed., pp. 213–214). Routledge. Inbaşı, M. (1993). 16. Yüzyıl Başlarında Kayseri. Kayseri. Jerphanion, G.  D (1925–42). Une nouvelle province de l’art byzantin, les églises rupestres de Cappadoce. Paris. Jolivet-Lévy, C. (1997). La Cappadoce, memoire de Byzance. Édition CNRS. Jolivet-Lévy, C. (2020). Personal communication. Karakaya, N. (2013). Ispıdın Kaya Kilisesi Kayseri Ansiklopedisi (Vol. 3, p. 248). Kayseri Ulusal Yayınevi. Karakaya, N. (2014). Kayseri’nin Gesi Beldesi, Küçük Bürüngüz (Subaşı) Köyü ile Ağırnas Vadisi’ndeki Bizans Dönemine ait Sivil—Zirai Kaya Yapıları. Turkish Studies—International Periodical For The Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic, 9(10), 335–358. Korat, G. (2003). Taş Kapıdan Taçkapıya Kapadokya. İletişim. Kostof, S. (1972). Caves of god: The monastic environment of Byzantine Cappadocia. MIT Press. Lafontaine-Dosogne, J. (1963). Nouvelles notes Cappadociennes. Byzantion, 33(1), 121–183. Livingstone, E. (1997). Orientation. In E. Livingstone (Ed.), The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church (p. 1193). Oxford University Press. Lucas, P. (2003). Les établissements monastiques de la basse vallée de Göreme et de ses abords. Dossiers d’Archéologie, 283(Mystérieuse Cappadoce), 32–41. McSorley, J. (1907). St. In Basil the great the Catholic encyclopedia (Vol. 2). Robert Appleton. Norris, F. (1999). Basil of Caesarea. In E. Ferguson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of early christianity (Vol. 1, 2nd ed., pp. 169–172). Routledge. Ousterhout, R. (2010). Remembering the dead in byzantine Cappadocia: The architectural settings for commemoration. In O.  Ioannisian & D.  Jolshin (Eds.), Architecture of Byzantium

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and Kievan Rus from the 9th to 12th centuries (Vol. 53, pp. 89–100). Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum. Ousterhout, R. (2017). Visualizing community: Art, material culture, and settlement in Byzantine Cappadocia (Vol. 46). Harvard University Press. Pekin, F. (2014). Kapadokya Kayalardaki Şiirsellik. İletişim Yayıncılık. Photographs of Asia Minor. (2014). Retrieved from https://antiquities.library.cornell.edu/photos/ anatolia Retrieved 16 Aug 2021. Restle, M. (1967). Byzantine wall painting in Asia Minor. New York Graphic Society. Rodley, L. (1985). Cave monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia. Cambridge University Press. Straub, R., Yazlık, B., & Yamaç, A. (2019). Die Untergrund-Christen—Isbidin Kaya Kilisesi, eine stark gefahrdete Hohlenkirche in Kappadokien. Mitteilungen des Verbandes der Deutschen Höhlen und Karstforscher, 65, 25–29. Teteriatnikov, N. (1996). The liturgical planning of Byzantine churches in Cappadocia. Pontificio Istituto Orientale. Thierry, N. (1990). L’église paléochrétienne de Hanköy, monument inédit de Cappadoce. Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot, 71, 43–82. Tok, E., & Yamaç, A. (2015). Dovecotes and cave dwellings of Gesi—Kayseri (Turkey). Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Rome. Wallace, S. (1991). Byzantine Cappadocia: The planning and function of its ecclesiastical structures. (PhD), The Australian National University, Canberra. Yamaç, A., & Tok, E. (2015). An architect’s underground city. Opera Ipogea, 1–2015, 37–46. Yamaç, A., Tok, E., & Filikci, B. (2014). St. Mercurius underground city of Saratli (Aksaray-­ Turkey). Opera Ipogea, 2–2014, 37–46.

Chapter 5

Underground Cities of Koramaz Valley

Abstract  In Cappadocia, as in many different parts of the world, there are numerous underground defense structures. The volcanic tuff, which is easy to excavate and spreads over hundreds of square kilometers, has allowed the excavation of many underground defense structures in this region. So, in almost every village of Cappadocia, there is at least one, possibly more than one, underground city. Although some of these structures -which are scattered over such a large area and of which only a small number have been explored- are small, singular structures, some other underground cities are thousands of meters long and have countless rooms. In this chapter, four different underground cities in Koramaz Valley are described, after giving an overview of the historical background of these defense structures in Cappadocia, discussions about their first construction dates, and the great examples that have been researched so far. Apart from these four big defense structures, there are also numerous small underground cities in the valley. Keywords  Underground City · Koramaz Valley · Cappadocia

5.1 Introduction People have been using the underground for thousands of years to hide and protect themselves. Entrances of these cities dug underground were difficult to detect. Numerous rooms connected to one another by intricate tunnels filled with traps and doors that are almost impossible to open from the outside have turned these structures into defense centers indispensable against all types of attacks throughout history. Therefore, in numerous different geographic regions, from Vietnam to France, there are countless underground defense structures today and these relevant structures have been used for thousands of years (Triolet & Triolet, 1996, 2013). Small or big, almost every village in Cappadocia has at least one, probably numerous, underground city, and this situation are not only limited to the provinces of Nevşehir and Kayseri. In the provinces of Aksaray, Niğde, Kırşehir, and Yozgat, there are also several underground cities. Yet, there is still very little scientific © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0_5

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research of these relevant structures. The two most comprehensive inventories prepared until now are “Cappadocia: Records of the Underground Sites,” published in 2012 under the editorship of Roberto Bixio (Bixio, 2012), and “The Archeological Settlements of Turkey” (www.tayproject.org), prepared with the inclusion of 33 underground cities mentioned in the preliminary reports of Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project, in addition to the information received from the aforementioned resource (Akyürek et al., 2015). Just like almost every corner of Cappadocia, there is more than one underground city in all the seven settlements located in Koramaz Valley. We explain comprehensively below the four large underground cities we surveyed in Koramaz Valley.

5.2 Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City Büyük Bürüngüz Village, located 22 km east of Kayseri, at the starting point of the Koramaz Valley and at the foot of the İvriz Mountain (1.858 m), has always been the largest settlement in the valley. According to the Ottoman records of 1500, there were 99 houses in the village (Inbaşı, 1993). Unlike the other six villages located in the Koramaz Valley, there are no rock-cut structures or cliff settlements around Büyük Bürüngüz. As a result of our visits to this village during our explorations in the region, we were made aware of the existence of an underground city that can be accessed from the gardens of the houses. We note that there are defensive structural similarities in various settlements of Cappadocia. These individual structures that were dug under the houses were connected to one another as a result of the increase in the population of the village which also helped to form a defense network that extended under the entire settlement area. Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı underground cities which are located 70 km southeast of Kayseri were formed as a result of these several individual defense systems connecting from the underground, forming one interconnecting defense system. We started exploring the Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City from an underground storage room entering from a garden of a house that is still inhabited today. This first underground city (Entrance No. 1) begins with a stone cut tunnel, continues with eight different storage rooms, and the floors in most rooms are partially filled with rubble falling from the ceiling. The millstone door on the floor of the second room is inoperable. Likewise, the tunnel on the north wall of the third room ends after 16 m. The main underground city begins after passing the eighth storage room (Fig.  5.1). Interestingly, the millstone door of the first room in the underground city defends opens towards the continuation of the tunnel. Presumably, the rooms that currently appear as warehouses at the entrance were originally rooms of the original defense structure and most probably had been converted into warehouses. The second room had a two-way defense system both towards the entrance to the first room and the continuation of the tunnel and had a double millstone door. This defense system is not an active system at the moment, but the “operating room” is evident.

5.2  Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City

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Fig. 5.1  Beginning of the first section of Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

The defense towards the inner tunnels proves that there are more connections with the tunnels of other houses. This second room that is mentioned should be a redoubt, i.e. a “last defense room” that defends against possible enemies coming from both directions. The redoubts, which are frequently encountered in the underground cities of Cappadocia, are almost always in the last room. On the other hand, this is the first time we can see the formation of this room at the beginning of a tunnel in this underground city. Another tunnel, which continues eastward from this room, reaching an underground warehouse with a barrel roof after an “operating room” without a millstone door and reaches to the surface (Entrance No 3). There are two blocked side tunnels in the eastern branch (Fig. 5.2). Continuing to the southeast area, the main tunnel reaches another millstone door defending the entrance after two side branches. The last part of the underground city looks like a labyrinth because of its net-like tunnels, most of which have been closed by debris. Although such tunnels are dug from time to time to confuse the enemies, it is not possible to understand their main purpose without opening the blocked areas. On the other hand, the fact that at least three millstone doors were defended towards both the entrance and toward the continuation of the tunnel, even in the last section, shows us that the underground city continued after the last point and can lead us to conclude that there are different entrances from the south. After the first search that was done in Büyük Bürüngüz Village, we found another entrance. The entrance to this second underground city was close to the first structure we studied and similarities begin with the underground storage rooms. Despite the solid construction of the first basement floor, which is accessed by stairs, there

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Fig. 5.2  Plan of Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City. (Drawn A. Yamaç, B. Yazlık)

are serious ceiling collapses in the second, third and fourth warehouses. The tunnel of this second underground city starts from the south of the last warehouse. The width of this tunnel, which continues for 41 m, is 65 cm (Fig. 5.3). The first millstone door that we encountered in the tunnel defends towards the entrance. The side tunnel, which continues to the east for 4 m after this millstone door, is closed shut after another millstone door. Two more millstone doors protect the entrances in the four-room system accessed from the main tunnel. After the last room, there is another room, an “operations room” that defends towards the continuation of the tunnel. Continuing southeast from this point, the tunnel was closed after three small

5.2  Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City

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Fig. 5.3  Some tunnels in the second section of Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City were tight. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

rooms (Figs. 5.4 and 5.5). The other tunnel, which continues to the west from the same room, is 54 m. The room that is located almost in the middle of the tunnel, and on the side branch from the east, is protected by a double millstone door that defends both towards the entrance and to the exit. The other millstone door that is located in the last room of the tunnel, which would be protecting the room towards the western tunnel, is the largest door we have ever encountered in the entire Kayseri region with a diameter of 1.85 m and a thickness of 40 cm. Interestingly, this millstone door, like various other millstone doors in these two underground cities, was carved with a rock different from the rest of the structure. Both underground cities were completely excavated in a porous ignimbrite containing large pieces of a volcanic rock. However, the rocks of some millstone doors in the structure are harder and non-porous. The tunnel, which turns north in the continuation of the room protected by this giant millstone door, is closed by another millstone door 18 m further. After the four large warehouses (Entrance No 4), a west-turning branch opens to the surface in the continuation of the tunnel. However, the main tunnel continues for 44 m to the east without any rooms or side tunnels, and after going in a very large circle, it connects to the room of the entrance of this underground city. Thus, we explored and mapped two different underground cities under Büyük Bürüngüz Village. The first underground city was 701  m, and the second underground city was 572 m. Apart from the entrances being used in our research, we found two more entrance or exit points of the opening to the surface. Therefore, we have four different GPS coordinates to enter these underground cities. When we put

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Fig. 5.4  A chamber that continues with four different tunnels in Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

Fig. 5.5  A chamber with a double tunnel at the beginning of the second section of Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

5.3 Subaşı Underground City

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these coordinates into Google Earth, we noticed that these two underground cities intersect at one point. Afterward, we examined these intersection points to find out that both were filled with rubble. First, we started digging the earth pile in the first structure and after a while, we reached a hole. Then we entered the other structure and found the same point and connected these two underground cities. To conclude, the total studied length of this underground defense system reached 1.273 m. The fact that it is the longest underground city ever explored not only in the Koramaz Valley, but also in the entire province of Kayseri, and that a total of 27 millstone doors found in this defense structure is a record for this region. On the other hand, we know that this underground network that has been measured and mapped to date covers only a small part of its original part. These 23 different blocked tunnels prove that this structure most probably extends under the entire village. As we continue to clear these tunnels and explore different entrances, we expect to discover that Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City will certainly be much longer than its current length (Yamaç, 2019).

5.3 Subaşı Underground City This relevant structure, located 4  km west of Büyük Bürüngüz Village in Kazlar Mevkii of Subaşı Village, is one of the most interesting and different underground cities of the region. The structure is located on a deserted plain, which rises towards Koramaz Mountain approximately 2 km northeast of Subaşı Village, and on which there is no settlement today. When considered from this aspect, it can be stated that this defense structure is similar to Doğanlı (Kırkmerdiven) Underground City, located on a deserted plain 2 km outside of Doğanlı Village on the south of Kayseri. Subaşı Underground City, which looks like a small hill on an earthen surface and was excavated in highly fractured tuff, has three entrances, one of which was opened due to a collapse. The main entrance to the underground city is a tunnel in the back wall of a rock-­ dwelled structure that is thought to be a dwelling or feed-lot. The first tunnel, extending in the northwest direction as of the entrances, reaches another entrance on the west after making a non-functional circle. At this point, there is an operation room and a millstone door semi-buried in the ground. Another tunnel extending in the north direction from the operation room continues for 55 m turning in the east direction after four small storage rooms. Although the defensive millstone door at the northwest entrance is in place, in the north and south tunnels, the millstone door, the beds of which are apparent on the opposite wall of the tunnel, does not exist anymore. This second tunnel on the north parallel of the previous tunnel reaches a quite big chamber with the dimensions of 9 × 9 m. Following this big chamber with two small rooms, in which there are silos, the lower floor of the underground city is reached (Fig. 5.6). There are four rooms on the lower floor, which are reached by a staircase carved into the rock. All

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Fig. 5.6  Stairs leading to the lower floor in Subaşı Underground City. (Photo A.Yamaç)

of the tunnels that continue after these rooms are clogged with debris and it is not possible to determine in which direction and for how long they continue. Though it seems quite simple in its plan (Fig. 5.7), Subaşı Underground City, the total surveyed length of which is 430 m, completely has the qualifications of a labyrinth with its interconnected and low-ceilinged rooms. On the other hand, when the meaninglessness of the digging of a defense structure 2  km away from Subaşı Village is considered, the existence of an old settlement near Subaşı Underground City with no trace today is possible.

5.4  Mimar Sinan Underground City

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Fig. 5.7  Plan of Subaşı Underground City. (Drawn E. Gilli, Ç. Çankırılı)

5.4 Mimar Sinan Underground City Mimar Sinan (Sinan the Architect), was the most important architect of the Ottoman Empire. This extraordinary architect, who lived during the reign of four Ottoman sultans and who built structures for three sultans, was born in the Ağırnas Village in 1489 (Akın & Crane, 2006; Necipoğlu, 2010). It is said that Sinan built or supervised approximately 400 buildings, 196 of which are still standing. According to the official list in Tazkirat-al-Abniya, Sinan built or supervised 92 mosques, 52 small mosques, 55 theology madrasas, 7 madrasas, 20 tombs, 17 public kitchens, 3 hospitals, 6 aqueducts, 10 bridges, 20 caravanserais, 36 palaces and mansions, and 48 baths (Akın & Crane, 2006). This is the largest number of buildings ever built by a single architect in the world. At the age of 70, Sinan finished constructing the Süleymaniye Mosque. Located on one of the hills of Istanbul overlooking the Golden Horn and built in the name of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, this building is one of the most symbolic structures of the Ottoman Empire. After this work, in the name of Sultan Selim II, he built Selimiye Mosque in Edirne. This mosque is the most outstanding example of the level of success he achieved. Sinan completed this mosque at the age of 80 and reached his artistic peak with his design, architecture, incredible tile decorations, and exquisite stonework that was exhibited in this mosque. Today, both the Selimiye Mosque and

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the bridge he had constructed over the Drina River in Visegrad / Bosnia, are among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Kuban, 2011). The house in which Sinan was born in Ağırnas was restored and turned into a museum. Under this house, there is a very impressive and complex underground city that expands into two floors. The restoration and landscaping of Mimar Sinan’s house was carried out by a team supervised by Prof. Metin Sözen (Sözen, 2004). During this work, some of the underground structures under this house were cleaned and made accessible to visitors. With this organization, it was understood that the underground city not only covered the house of Mimar Sinan but that it covered all Ağırnas Village. It was seen that all these houses were interconnected by underground structures like a spider web. Many homeowners have closed connecting tunnels by building masonry walls to prevent access to their homes from the underground. The underground complex under Mimar Sinan‘s house is a double-storey spread over a total area of 1850  m2 (Fig.  5.8). As some of the connections have been blocked, we can see only four different underground structures under Sinan‘s house today. But it is clear that they were the pieces of a single underground structure. The

Fig. 5.8  Plan of Mimar Sinan Underground City. (Drawn E. Tok, E. Gilli, Ç. Çankırılı, A.Yamaç)

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fact that the first and fourth underground structures continue under the neighbouring houses and have different exits to the surface indicates that this underground structure complex in Ağırnas Village can be dated from centuries ago. The presence of four millstone doors -three of them are in situ- indicates that the building was built for protection for at least for a certain period of time (Fig. 5.9). Two of these millstone doors, with diameters of 140 cm and 155 cm, respectively, are gigantic, even by Cappadocia standards. However, as defense concerns were overcome over time, these underground shelters have undergone structural changes. As a result, there are four separate underground structures within the Mimar Sinan Underground City today. The first underground structure right next to the museum house can be passed through a large room where the ceiling is supported by stone vaults. This large underground room with a barrel vault roof, which is very common in many parts of this structure and also under many houses in Ağırnas Village, is probably the oldest structural design of the village (Sözen, 1988). This first underground settlement continues under different rooms and neighbouring houses to the east, as can be seen in the plan (Fig. 5.10). The second underground structure is inside the main building and is accessed from under the stairs. It is a small storage area, both of which are connected to other neighbouring underground shelters, covered with stone masonry. The holes where the pots were placed on the floor of the main room of this small building show us the main purpose of this structure. A third underground structure, which can be accessed from a narrow street on the side of the main building, is also a stand-alone storage area. Although it is possible for this building to be a living space connected with other underground structures, we can see that centuries ago it lost this function and started to be used as a warehouse. The fourth largest and most important of all the underground structures is under Mimar Sinan‘s house. The entrance to this underground structure is at the end of the

Fig. 5.9  A millstone in the main section of Mimar Sinan Underground City. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

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Fig. 5.10  The ceilings of many large chambers of Mimar Sinan Underground City are supported by stone vaults. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

Fig. 5.11  A small chamber downstairs in the main section of Mimar Sinan Underground City. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

same street mentioned above. To the south of this entrance, inside a room with a barrel-vaulted roof, are the furnaces, which are considered an iron foundry. After this warehouse, the underground structure continues east and exits from the start of the street after passing through a house. The building was built as a double-storey up to this part and was cleaned and opened to tourism (Figs. 5.11 and 5.12). After this segment, the underground city continues under the other houses with a narrow

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Fig. 5.12  Although this chamber is a part of Mimar Sinan Underground City and below the surface, a chimney was opened to the surface relatively recently and it was turned into a dovecote. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

connection. The following parts of this structure have not yet been cleared and, even more interestingly, some of them are still used by residents of neighbouring houses. The last storage to the east was clogged with rubble stones, and another millstone door highlights the original purpose of the building. After this research, we found parts of the same underground city with blocked or closed tunnels under three different houses of Ağırnas Village. One of them had double millstone doors; there are three blocked tunnels in another underground structure, and this structure is located approximately 450 m northeast of the Mimar

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Sinan Underground City. For this reason, we think that the Mimar Sinan Underground City is originally a gigantic underground defense structure that covers not only this house and its surroundings but also the entire Ağırnas Village, as we had observed the same in the Büyük Bürüngüz Underground City (Yamaç & Tok, 2015a).

5.5 Ağırnas Underground City We have carried out the first comprehensive exploration and survey of this defense structure, located 200 ms south of Ağırnas Village on the east slope. The millstone doors in the tunnels right behind the church, which is located at the entrance of Ağırnas Underground City, were constructed by digging on a rocky slope and comprehensively explained in Chap. 2, proves that the church was used in normal times apart from the raids (Fig. 5.13). The big chamber, with a length of 24 m and width of 4 m from place to place and reached from the east of the church, has quite impressive workmanship. Another entrance on the northeast of the hall has been recently closed. However, another millstone door defending the entrance still exists. In the main tunnel extending for 60 m in the southeast direction of the hall, there are 11 living areas/storage rooms. All of these relevant rooms are incomparably bigger than the rooms of other known underground cities of Cappadocia. Another door almost in the middle of the tunnel and opening outside has been blocked with rocks. Though the millstone door, which should be 5 m inside from this entrance, does not exist today, the operation room, in which this door is located, is apparent. At the southeast of the underground city, in the last part, there is another big chamber with two rooms in the dimensions of 11  ×  5  m and carved with very neat workmanship. After this chamber, there is another entrance/exit point and millstone door. The interesting point is that the tunnel connecting this big chamber to the previous rectangular chamber is protected with another millstone door (Figs. 5.14 and 5.15). As we have stated when explaining Mimar Sinan Underground City in the previous section, the existence of a very large underground city extending under almost the entire Ağırnas Village is certain. Though the connection tunnels are blocked, the fact that the same underground defense structure can be reached under four different dwellings apart from the house of Mimar Sinan is proof that there is a big underground city also under Ağırnas Village just like under Büyük Bürüngüz Village. The existence of another independent underground city dug 200 m away from the village despite the existence of such a big defense structure, which extends under the entire Ağırnas Village and can be reached from all dwellings, can seem meaningless and unnecessary at first. The first explanation of this situation is that a 1000 years ago, in this region, there could have been another small settlement, which was a part of Ağırnas Village with no trace today, and the residents could have dug a different ‘defense structure’ for themselves. But while all the centuries-old structures in this village are still intact, it is unlikely that even a trace of a different settlement 200 m away from the village remained but was completely destroyed.

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Fig. 5.13  Plan of Ağırnas Underground City. (Drawn E. Tok, E. Gilli, Ç. Çankırılı, A.Yamaç)

Another more interesting theory about Ağırnas Underground City is that this relevant structure could have been a religious structure independent from Ağırnas Village. Several different rooms observed in this structure and not found in almost any of the other underground cities in Cappadocia support this second theory. First, similar to the church right at the entrance of St. Mercurius Underground City, there is a church within the entrance of Ağırnas Underground City which was comprehensively explained in Chap. 4. Second, after this church, the ‘table and sitting places’, engraved to the bedrock and located in the next room on the east of the big chamber and known from the other examples in Cappadocia, is another interesting architectural feature. Though a part of the structure has collapsed and the lower floor has come to light, the undamaged part is apparent enough (Fig. 5.16). These refectories named ‘trapeza’ (plural ‘trapezai’) in the Byzantine architecture are

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Fig. 5.14  Millstone door protecting the entrance of the last chamber of Ağırnas Underground City. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

encountered in numerous rock-cut monasteries and there are several researches about trapezai located in the region (Lucas, 2003; Ousterhout, 2010; Öztürk, 2012). Also, in the same part, opposite the hall where the trapeza is located, there is another circular hall with a 5.50 m diameter and a high ceiling. It has a huge chimney and a fireplace on the ground, suggesting the possibility of this other hall being a kitchen. If we accept these two structures as a refectory and kitchen, the existence of chambers in this underground city, which are incomparably larger than the similar examples in the region, brings forward the possibility of this structure being a religious settlement and even a monastery in normal times (Fig. 5.17).

5.6 Discussion Though they have been used for hundreds or even thousands of years in numerous different countries, the first place that comes to mind when it comes to ‘underground defense structures’ is always Cappadocia. The two main reasons are the excessive number of underground cities in the region and the enormous size of some of these cities. Derinkuyu Underground City is an extreme example of these types

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Fig. 5.15  Another millstone door closing the side passage of Ağırnas Underground City. (Photo R. Straub)

Fig. 5.16  Table and sitting places carved into the bedrock on the upper floor of Ağırnas Underground City. (Photo R. Straub)

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Fig. 5.17  A large chamber towards the end of Ağırnas Underground City. (Photo A.E. Keskin)

of structures. This underground city, which we surveyed in 2013, is excavated on five floors, with a total length of 1.880 m and a depth of 55 m; many connections are still closed (Yamaç & Tok, 2015b). It is predicted that this relevant defense structure extends under the entire Derinkuyu Village and its total length is much more than currently known. Similarly, the part of Kaymaklı Underground City, located 11 km north of Derinkuyu and which can be visited today, is a very small part of its total length (Bixio, 2012). Although more than 120 underground cities in total are registered in the two inventories that are “Cappadocia: Records of the Underground Sites,” published in 2012 under the editorship of Roberto Bixio (Bixio, 2012), and “The Archeological Settlements of Turkey” (www.tayproject.org), the survey and plan of only a small part of these structures are available. The fact that a part of these plans are only sketches roughly drawn years ago without any comprehensive research shows the lack of scientific studies for the relevant issue. Since there is so little study and research, it is inevitable that numerous controversial issues arise concerning these structures. For example, though commonly used for touristic purposes, even the term and definition of ‘underground city’ are controversial in the international academic community. How appropriate it is to name the structures such as Derinkuyu, which have started to be dug as small defense structures under the dwellings and interconnected in time and extended under the entire village and became an enormous system, same with a defense structure of a small village with few rooms and very short tunnel as ‘underground city’? Small or big, without any distinction, all of these types of ‘underground defense structures’ have been called ‘underground city’ in numerous different works (Ayhan, 2004; Gülyaz & Yenipınar, 2007; Ousterhout, 2017; Triolet & Triolet, 1993; Yörükoğlu, 1989). On the other hand, some researchers believe that it is more appropriate to call these types of structures a ‘town’. “The largest rock-cut settlements were subterranean towns, defined here as likely containing at least 1000 people. ‘Town’ is a more appropriate term for these large subterranean urban centers than City” (Cooper & Decker, 2012).

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Even if we ignore the polemic of ‘city or town’, the distinction of Roberto Bixio is remarkable. In his book, Bixio argues that it is necessary to examine these types of structures as two different groups. First, he contends that complex structures which have been dug as local underground shelters and interconnected underground in time should be referred to as ‘underground cities’ while those comparatively smaller and singular structures that have been dug under dwellings should be referred to as ‘underground shelters’. He uses Derinkuyu Underground City as an example (Bixio, 2012). Although these two different terms suggested for these structures have their own consistent and logical aspects, we think that they refer to the dimensions and manner of construction and are open to discussion. Even if this approach is logical from a technical and architectural point of view, it is difficult in terms of implementation and, consequently, naming. In almost every village in Cappadocia, there is at least one underground defense structure and this number can be even higher, as in the example of Ağırnas Village. The architecture and method of construction of the major portion of the underground cities are different from one another. In more than 40 underground cities that we have researched and surveyed so far, there are horizontal defensive structures that cover the underground of an entire village, as well as those that continue vertically underground. In addition to very large structures with a single entrance, we have explored small defensive structures connected to four separate houses on the surface. Therefore, though the suggestion of Bixio is logical, we believe that there is no measure or standard yet to distinguish between an ‘underground shelter’ and an ‘underground city’ for these defense structures. Thus, we will describe these types of structures as ‘underground cities’ to be consistent and to avoid confusion. Determining the first excavation dates of all these underground cities in Cappadocia is another controversial issue. Because of the lack of information, the first construction dates of these defense structures -about which there is no historical record and for which archaeological finds do not provide clues- are open to speculation. This region, as of the seventh century AD, became the easternmost point of the Byzantine Empire. Because of its boundary with the Sasanian Persian Empire, the Byzantine Empire faced attacks by Persian armies. During the occupation of Caesarea by the Persians in 611, the residents fled, most eluding death or capture, and the city was destroyed. Afterward, in 622 and 627, Herakleios, the Byzantine Emperor, campaigned against the Persians in Anatolia, winning a string of victories. The Persian Wars of the 610 s and 620 s had placed Cappadocia on the frontline of a bitter, sustained conflict, a position the region has not seen since the first century. Once a major world power, the Sasanian Empire had exhausted its human and material resources after decades of warfare against the Byzantine Empire. Between the years of 628 and 632, the civil war started in the Sasanian Empire which quite weakened this empire, and the Arabic armies, which took advantage of this situation, started to attack Iran and Anatolia. In 646, Muawiya, the Governor of Syria, attacked Caesarea and caught the citizens by surprise. Khalifa ibn Khayyat reported an unsuccessful attack on Caesarea by Abdallah bin Asad in 681, but in 725 Maslama

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bin Abd al-Malik sacked the city. In 739, Said bin Hisham attacked Caesarea again and, though the damage done is unknown, it was the fifth major attack in a century suffered by the capital; there may well have been others not recorded in the sources (Cooper & Decker, 2012). Arab raids, which continued until the tenth century, had an identity of a kind of ‘looting raid’ that was repeated nearly every summer, rather than an invasion of the region. Raids by the Persians and the Arabic against Cappadocia continued for approximately 400  years, increasing especially during the weak eras of the Byzantine Empire. After the Arab attacks, the region was faced with the Seljuk Turks’ raids. Seljuk armies destroyed Melitene in 1057 and Sebasteia in 1059. In 1067 they captured Caesarea, burnt it to the ground, and massacred all the people. As a result, the city remained uninhabited for the next half-century. Four years later, in 1071, Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV came to the region with a big army to take the control of Cappadocia. After his defeat in the Battle of Mantzikert, the whole region was completely occupied by the Seljuk Turks (Ash, 2006; Hild & Restle, 1981). It is known that as a result of all these wars and plunder raids, which continued for almost four centuries, there was a breakdown of the civil and military order, and colossal displacement of population in Cappadocia. Those centuries were probably very unkind to the people of Cappadocia, as the chaos of invasions further slackened the government control in an already chaotic landscape troubled by thuggery and lawlessness (Cooper & Decker, 2012). Therefore, it is considered that all these underground cities located in Cappadocia were dug by the local Christian population to defend themselves and survive in this chaotic environment between the seventh and eleventh centuries and numerous different researchers also support this opinion (Kempe, 1988; Triolet & Triolet, 1993, 2002). There is a church in several underground cities explored in Cappadocia; there are crosses engraved on the walls of most of these cities and during the excavations of Aydıntepe, Kavlaktepe and Oymalı underground cities only Byzantine pottery fragments have been found (Bilici, 2002; Erkmen, 1998; Faydalı, 1992, 1993; Özkorucuklu, 1991; Şahin, 1993). The churches were constructed right at the entrance of the structures in Ağırnas and St. Mercurius Underground Cities that we surveyed, and the tunnels continuing after these churches are protected with millstone doors. This shows that these churches were used in normal times but that during the raids, people hid inside the churches (Yamaç, 2017; Yamaç et al., 2014). On the other hand, Cappadocia was a ‘buffer-zone’ between the Phrygian and Assyrian kingdoms a 1000 years ago, eighth–seventh centuries BC, just as it was in the seventh–eleventh centuries AD. During the era, Cappadocia was managed by the Tabal Kingdom, which was under the control of the Phrygian Kingdom and paid taxes to the relevant state. It is known that, despite the apparent power of the Phrygians in the region, with the pressures of the Assyrian kings up to the boundaries of the Tabal, the Tabal kings changed sides from time to time. There were several Assyrian attacks on Cappadocia in 718 BC and the following years. Following the destruction of the Assyrian Kingdom by the joint powers of Babylonia, Scythian,

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and Med (612  BC), the Med and Lydia kingdoms started another conflict in Cappadocia (590–585 BC) (Sevin, 1998). Urban, one of the first to research the underground cities in the region, proposes a hypothesis that these defensive structures in Cappadocia were not first excavated by Christians, but by residents to defend themselves in this chaotic environment experienced in the region eighth–seventh centuries BC. Urban points out that maybe those underground cities not only had the defensive function but also the function of holding together the fighting Phrygians (Urban, 1973a, b, c). Other recent studies have confirmed Urban’s hypothesis, arguing that it cannot be ignored (Mora et al., 2020). In addition to the aforementioned hypothesis, due to the fact that some Neo-­ Hittite inscriptions in Topada, Karaburna, and Sivasa are very close to these defense structures and the military operations are mentioned in one inscription, there is also a theory stating that these types of refuges -just like in the Phrygians era- were dug by the residents for military purposes or defense needs in eighth–nineth centuries BC even before the Phrygians (Mora et al., 2017, 2020). As we have stated above, all rock-cut structures in this region have been changed and re-used for centuries and even today they are still used. There is, of course, the possibility that defensive structures are no exception, that they began to be excavated long before Byzantium and continued to be used, enlarged or altered, over the centuries. Certainly, big and interconnected underground cities such as Filiktepe, Göstesin, and Derinkuyu cannot be dug in a short time (Bixio, 2012). On the other hand, even if they had been started to be dug before the Byzantine Empire, as a result of the uninterrupted use for centuries, it is normal that the archaeological excavation of these structures would not produce any result. Moreover, Mehmet Arif Bilici, carrying out the cleaning excavation of 16 small underground cities located in Oymalı Village, has stated in his report that “It is not possible to encounter dense findings in the underground cities which were used in every period” (Bilici, 2002). When considered from the scientific aspect, we believe that the theories concerning when all these defense structures were first started to be dug can only be proven with the archaeological findings and for now, since the findings in these structures are just crosses engraved on the walls, churches, and few Byzantine pottery fragments, we argue that these structures need to be dated to the Byzantine Empire and seventh and eleventh centuries until there is a contrary archaeological finding. We partially explored the areas beneath the Ağırnas and Büyük Bürüngüz villages, where two huge underground cities cover the entire settlement and have an underground connection from almost every house. Centuries later, residents of the dwellings above ground closed the passages to these defense structures to use them as underground storage rooms, thereby making a real survey of these structures impossible. A similar situation has also been observed in Vekse, another village of Koramaz Valley. Under the two houses we visited in Vekse, there were two storage rooms, the tunnels of which were closed; on the ground of one of these storage rooms, there was a millstone door with a diameter of 1.70 m. Therefore, we believe that there is one huge defense structure under all villages in the valley, not only in

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Ağırnas and Büyük Bürüngüz. Apart from these big underground cities, as we have stated in Chap. 3, also in the cliff settlements there are numerous small underground shelters. These are mostly singular and independent structures dug to protect the residents of one or more dwellings.

References Akın, E., & Crane, H. (2006). Sinan’s autobiographies. Brill Academic Publishers. Akyürek, E., Çömezoğlu, Ö., Tiryaki, A., Yamaç, A., Karakaya, N., Mimiroğlu, M., . . . Evcim, S. (2015). Türkiye Arkeolojik Yerleşmeleri 8 – Bizans / Iç Anadolu. Istanbul Ege Yayınları. Ash, J. (2006). A byzantine journey (2nd ed.). Tauris Parke Paperbacks. Ayhan, A. (2004). Geological and morphological investigations of the underground cities of Cappadocia using GIS. (PhD), ODTU, Ankara. Bilici, M. (2002). Yeraltı Şehirleri Kazısı. Paper presented at the 13. Müze Çalışmaları, Ankara. Bixio, R. (2012). Cappadocia: Records of the underground sites. Archaeopress. Cooper, E., & Decker, M. (2012). Life and society in Byzantine Cappadocia. Palgrave Macmillan. Erkmen, M. (1998). Aydıntepe Yeraltı Şehri Çalışmaları. Paper presented at the 9. Müze Kurtarma Kazıları Semineri, Ankara. Faydalı, E. (1992). Kavlaktepe Yeraltı Şehri Kurtarma Kazısı. Paper presented at the 2. Müze Kurtarma Kazıları Semineri, Ankara. Faydalı, E. (1993). Kavlaktepe Yeraltı Şehri Kurtarma – Temizlik Kazısı. Paper presented at the 3. Müze Kurtarma Kazıları Semineri, Ankara. Gülyaz, M., & Yenipınar, H. (2007). Underground cities of Cappadocia. Nevşehir. Hild, F., & Restle, M. (1981). Kappadokien (Kappadokia, Charsianon, Sebasteia und Lykandos). Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenshaften. Inbaşı, M. (1993). 16. Yüzyıl Başlarında Kayseri. Kayseri. Kempe, D. (1988). Living underground. London. Kuban, D. (2011). Sinan’s art and Selimiye. Istanbul. Lucas, P. (2003). Les établissements monastiques de la basse vallée de Göreme et de ses abords. Dossiers d’Archéologie, 283(Mystérieuse Cappadoce), 32–41. Mora, C., Balza, M., Bixio, R., & De Pascale, A. (2017). A link between “ancient words” and the “underground world”: Cappadocian landscape, Rock-cut structures and textual evidence from Hittite documentation. Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Cappadocia (Turkey). Mora, C., Balza, M., Bixio, R., & De Pascale, A. (2020). Cappadocia, a “hidden” landscape: “Underground world” and neo-Hittite evidence. Paper presented at the 11th international congress on the archaeology of the ancient near east, Munich. Necipoğlu, G. (2010). The age of Sinan: Architectural culture in the Ottoman empire. London. Ousterhout, R. (2010). Remembering the dead in byzantine Cappadocia: The architectural settings for commemoration. In O.  Ioannisian & D.  Jolshin (Eds.), Architecture of Byzantium and Kievan Rus from the 9th to 12th centuries (Vol. 53, pp. 89–100). Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum. Ousterhout, R. (2017). Visualizing community: Art, material culture, and settlement in byzantine Cappadocia (Vol. 46). Harvard University Press. Özkorucuklu, H. (1991). Aydıntepe Yeraltı Kenti. Paper presented at the 2. Müze Kurtarma Kazıları Semineri, Ankara. Öztürk, F. (2012). The unusual separation of Cappadocian refectories and kitchens: An enigma of architectural history. METU JFA, 2012(1), 153–169. Sevin, V. (1998). MÖ I. Binyıl Demir Çağı: Krallığın Koruyucuları. In M. Sözen (Ed.), Kapadokya. Ayhan Şahenk Foundation. Sözen, M. (1988). Sinan, Architect of ages: Arts in the Age of Sinan. Ankara.

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Sözen, M. (2004). Mimar Sinan Evi Restorasyon Projesi. Istanbul. Şahin, S. (1993). Özlüce Yeraltı Şehri. Paper presented at the 3. Müze Kurtarma Kazıları Semineri, Ankara. Triolet, J., & Triolet, L. (1993). Les villes souterraines de Cappadoce. Torcy. Triolet, J., & Triolet, L. (1996). Deux conceptions du grand Souterrain -refuge Villageois Hiermont (Picardie – France) et Sivasa (Cappadoce -Turquie). Subterranean, 97(Arche!ologie des Mondes Souterrains). Triolet, J., & Triolet, L. (2002). L’organizzazione difensiva. In R.  Bixio, V.  Castellani, & C. Succhiarelli (Eds.), Cappadocia. Le città sotterranee (pp. 253–264). Istituto Poligraficoe Zecca dello Stato. Triolet, J., & Triolet, L. (2013). Underground refuges and war tunnels (France, Cappadocia, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Lebanon). Opera Ipogea, 1–2013. Urban, M. (1973a). Das Rätsel der unterirdischen Städte Südostanatoliens. Dritter Teil: Maginotlinie der Frühgeschichte. Vorland, 8, 205–212. Urban, M. (1973b). Das Rätsel der unterirdischen Städte Südostanatoliens. Erster Teil: Der Befund. Vorland, 6, 150–153. Urban, M. (1973c). Das Rätsel der unterirdischen Städte Südostanatoliens. Zweiter Teil: Geschichtlicher Rahmen und Deutungen. Vorland, 7, 174–181. Yamaç, A. (2017). Underground settlements and cave dwellings of Agirnas Village, Kayseri (Southeast Turkey). Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Cappadocia, Turkey. Yamaç, A. (2019). Büyük Bürüngüz Underground Shelter (Kayseri  – Turkey). Opera Ipogea, 2–2019, 65–76. Yamaç, A., & Tok, E. (2015a). An architect’s underground city. Opera Ipogea, 1–2015, 37–46. Yamaç, A., & Tok, E. (2015b). Surveying some of the touristic underground cities of Cappadocia (Turkey). Paper presented at the HYPOGEA, Rome. Yamaç, A., Tok, E., & Filikci, B. (2014). St. Mercurius underground city of Saratli (Aksaray-­ Turkey). Opera Ipogea, 2–2014, 37–46. Yörükoğlu, Ö. (1989). Underground cities in Cappadocia. Ankara.

Chapter 6

Funerary Architecture of Koramaz Valley

Abstract  Over the past thousands of years, various burial techniques and architecture have been developed in Cappadocia. In Koramaz Valley, which is a part of this region, other than the Islamic tombs of relatively recent dates, there are at least five different examples of rock-carved funerary architecture dated to different periods. Apart from the first group that can be classified as rocky and floor graves, there are columbaria and wall tombs in the region that can be dated to the Roman periods. Since these structures were subject to many changes over time and used for different purposes, they are both difficult to identify and open to discussion. Nevertheless, in the light of the findings and expert opinions, it is possible to assert that these structures can be dated to the Roman periods. In addition to these tombs, many tumuli have also been identified around the valley. In this chapter, a general summary of the funerary architecture types in Cappadocia is provided and the tomb structures that have been found so far in Koramaz Valley are explained in detail. Keywords  Funerary architecture · Koramaz Valley · Columbarium · Roman wall tombs

6.1 Introduction The reality of death and the tombs that emerged in relation to this fact have been an important phenomenon for people since the earliest times. Humankind could not embrace death and the obscurity of the afterlife, and therefore, they built tombs that would preserve their earthly existence, based on the belief that 1 day they could somehow return to a similar life. The beginning and the end of human life, i.e. birth and death, have formed the main core of religious themes in all cultures. The tradition of the grave, which started with the simple ground burial of the deceased in the Paleolithic Period, varied over the following centuries and tomb architecture has diversified continuously throughout the history. As a result of the researches, at least nine different examples of funerary architecture are found in Cappadocia Region (Durukan, 2012; Ousterhout, 2010). On the © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0_6

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other hand, there are only six different styles of funerary architecture in Koramaz Valley. The sarcophagus, mausoleum, or underground tomb-style funerary architecture that is not found in the valley are also not a common practice in Cappadocia. The examples of funerary architecture identified so far in the Koramaz Valley probably span more than 3000  years, and possibly it’s the greatest variety and time period found in a single site in Cappadocia. Examples of these structures are described below.

6.2 Rocky Graves These graves were excavated in the horizontal surface of rocky outcrops and on the top of cliffs. The tops of these tombs, which were formed by carving a deep cist into the rock, are covered with a stone cover similar to the free-standing tombs (Sarcophagus). This type of graves, which can be seen in almost every part of Cappadocia, was widely used in the Roman and Byzantine periods. It is not possible to determine the period of the open rocky graves found today since there are not many scientific excavations of these structures, most of which were destroyed as a result of illegal excavations as well as agricultural activities. Although most of these graves were carved into the parent rock, some were carved into the soil and surrounded by cut stone masonry and covered with a stone cover, as in other graves. It is interesting that such ‘simple tombs‘, which are widely observed throughout the region, are less in number than expected, and there are different interpretations on this subject (Durukan, 2012). In Koramaz Valley, especially in regions close to cliff settlements, the plateau on the upper flat area of the valley looks like a necropolis. For instance, there are tens of rocky graves called chamosorium in Latin, carved into the rocks above the plateau around Dimitre. Although limited in number, the same graves are also observed in other parts of the valley, especially in Ağırnas and Dimitre (Figs. 6.1 and 6.2). Interestingly, in addition to the rocky graves on the plateau in Ağırnas, the same type of graves are also found in the lower parts of the valley, in the cliff settlement, and in front of the houses carved into the rocks. Furthermore, away from these settlements, 120 m after the point where the building density ends in the southwest of the valley, there are dozens of graves carved into the parent rock on the ground in front of another detached rock-cut complex, consisting of six structures, including a church. Even in the year 1500, the Muslim population in the valley was very small, and since then all Muslims were buried in cemeteries that are still used today. There are even Seljuk graves at several different locations (Inbaşı, 1993). Therefore, it is certain that all of these rocky graves found in Dimitre, Vekse, and Ağırnas belong to Christians. However, it is difficult to date these rocky graves in the valley precisely because none of these graves have been found because all of them have been opened and destroyed, and no archaeological research has been conducted for graves that have not been destroyed yet if any exist. Nevertheless, it would not be wrong to

6.2  Rocky Graves

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Fig. 6.1  Rocky graves in the ‘west wall cliff settlements’ of Ağırnas Village. (Photo A. Yamaç)

Fig. 6.2  Rocky graves in Dimitre Village. (Photo A. Yamaç)

think that these rocky graves on the plateau and around the cliff settlements can be dated to the Byzantine Period by looking at similar examples frequently

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encountered in Cappadocia and considering the period when they were widely used in the settlements where they were found.

6.3 Pithos Graves The earliest known examples of this burial style, which had been practiced for centuries in many different regions of Anatolia and can be summarized as burying the deceased in a pithos, dated back to 3.000 BC. The only two pithos graveyards in Cappadocia dated to the Early Bronze Age, are 10 km away from Koramaz Valley. First one was found in the excavations at Kültepe  – Kanish Karum, which is at the north of Koramaz Valley, and another pithos cemetery was recently found and explored on Inler Mountain, at 2 km distance from the southeast of this ancient settlement (Fig.  6.3). The pithos graves found in this newly discovered cemetery are also dated to the Bronze Age as are those found at Kültepe. Archaeologists believe that new pithos cemeteries from the same period may be discovered at different points in the region (Öztürk & Kulakoğlu, 2019).

Fig. 6.3  A pithos grave from Inler Mountain Cemetery. (Photo F. Kulakoğlu)

6.4  Floor Graves

141

6.4 Floor Graves The first graves carved into the inner floor of a building are observed in in-house burials found in Aşıklı Höyük (Aksaray) and date back to 7.000 BC. This tradition was also observed in later periods, continuing throughout the Neolithic and even the Early Bronze Age. St Basil’s Chapel, St. Heiron’s Tomb, Tatlarin Church (Göreme), Kubbeli Church and St. Barbara Church (Soğanlı), St. George (Ihlara Valley) are all filled with floor graves. In the cluster of cones around the Kubbeli Kilise, for example, there are more than 100 tombs of all types, ranging from floor graves to single and multi-tomb arcosolia, to isolated burial chapels. Graveyard near Geyikli Monastery in the same region consists of six different structures completely covered with arcosolia (Ousterhout, 2010). These “funerary chapels” are a common architectural form. These are small, single-nave churches carved into the landscape, with a few graves in the narthex or nave. Funerary chapels were made primarily as private resting places, not for public worship. In the Byzantine Period, the floor graves in rock-cut churches and chapels became a part of the Christian burial tradition. Some churches are so filled with graves cut into the floor that; they became, in effect, small cemeteries. Those are most often located in the narthex and the nave of the church, typically towards the back of the room, but never in the apse. Names were inscribed on the flat stones covering the graves. Unfortunately, as a result of destructions and vandalism, there are no examples of these inscribed stones today. The burials in the arched niches, carved into the sidewall of the church, which is called arcosolium (plural arcosolia), can also be considered as ‘floor graves‘, although they are not on the ‘floor’ (Fig. 6.4). There are several floor graves in many of the 42 churches in Koramaz Valley. Many rock-cut churches, such as Vekse Church No 1, Subaşı Church, Ağırnas Church, have one or sometimes multiple graves. Although terminologically this type includes graves carved in a church or chapel, the graves found in the narthex in front of the churches or graves carved near the churches, such as in Ispidin Church No 4 or in Ağırnas Görmis Church, should also be evaluated in this context. Similarly, arcosolium found in many different churches, such as Vekse Church No 1 and No 2, can be considered as ‘floor grave’, although it is not on the ‘floor’. In most of the churches, there are both arcosolium and simple floor graves existing together. In some examples such as Ağırnas Underground City Church, the floor is almost completely covered with graves and the walls are almost completely covered with arcosolia. Chapter 4, Fig. 4.6, shows the floor graves and arcosolia found in this structure. Traditionally, these ‘floor graves’ belong to the father or the beadle of the church and sometimes the deceased may have been a local holy person or the grave of an important individual or individuals. In 12 of the churches in Koramaz Valley, inside the church or in the narthex there are floor graves and/or arcosolia. The distribution of floor graves and arcosolia in these 12 churches are shown in the table below.

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6  Funerary Architecture of Koramaz Valley Church Subaşı church Ağırnas Und. City Ağırnas Gilaburu Ağırnas Görmis Dimitre no 1 Dimitre no 4 Vekse no 1 Vekse no 2 Ispıdın no 1 Ispıdın no 2 Ispıdın no 4 Ispıdın no 12

Floor Grave + + + + − + + − − + + −

Arcosolium − + − − + + + + + + − +

Fig. 6.4  An arcosolium and several floor graves in a Cappadocian church. (Photo E. Soner)

6.5 Wall Tombs These chamber tombs, dating to the Hellenistic and Roman periods and carved into a rocky wall, often contain two, three, or even more burials. Although the deceased were buried in sarcophagi in some wall tombs, they were mostly buried in beds, called klines, carved into the parent rock.

6.5  Wall Tombs

143

There are very beautiful examples of these structures in many different regions of Cappadocia such as Mazıköy, Karlık, Yahyalı – Keklicek, Yahyalı - Akbaş, Terece and Ayşepınar (Durukan, 2012; Pani, 1995). The two wall tombs in Mazıköy are thought to be from the Late Hellenistic Period, second or third century BC and they are the earliest known examples of such structures in Cappadocia (Ousterhout, 2017) (Fig. 6.5). There are 18 Roman rock-­ cut tombs dating to around the second century AD in Kurtderesi, near Karlık Village. Considering the similar stonework and decorations, the same dates are suggested for two different wall tombs in Keklicek, three in Terece, and ten in Ayşepınar (Durukan, 2012) (Fig. 6.6). On the other hand, the five Roman wall tombs in and near Göreme have a completely different architecture. In the front facade of these tombs, all carved into rock cones named fairy chimneys, there are two columns, creating a ‘templum in antis’ like look (Fig. 6.7). The fact that these five wall tombs are of the same style suggests that they were constructed at the same time. In the Ağırnas section of the Koramaz Valley, in the main part which is called ‘West Wall Cliff Settlements’, there are six structures that are thought to be previously carved as Roman wall tombs. These rock-carved structures are within the dense settlement area on the northern part of the wall, and this part consists mostly of houses and warehouses. Different from Dimitre Cliff Settlements, it is obvious that these Roman wall tombs had been used continuously for more than a 1000 years, even if it is thought that the settlement in Ağırnas was abandoned in the Middle Ages, long before Dimitre. This situation makes it difficult to identify the

Fig. 6.5 Mazıköy Late Hellenistic wall tomb. (Photo M. Gülyaz)

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Fig. 6.6 Ayşepınar Roman wall tombs. (Photo A. Yamaç)

Fig. 6.7  A Roman tomb at Göreme, Cappadocia, 1884 (Photo J.H. Haynes). (Photographs of Asia Minor, 2014)

6.6  Tumulus (Plural Tumuli)

145

Fig. 6.8  Entrances of two Roman wall tombs in West Wall Cliff Settlements of Ağırnas Village. (Photos A. Yamaç)

exact purpose of the construction of the structures. However, the rock ornaments observed at the entrance doors of these six rock-cut structures are similar to the ones in the Ayşepınar Roman Rock-cut Cemetery in the south of Kayseri (Durukan, 2012), and these types of entrance door ornaments do not exist in any other structure in the valley (Fig. 6.8). Apart from these characteristics, there are klines in three of the aforementioned six structures, although one of them has been partially broken and altered, and each of them has three klines. In the light of all these findings, it is believed that the six rock-cut structures in Ağırnas West Wall Cliff Settlements may be Roman wall tombs.

6.6 Tumulus (Plural Tumuli) The largest known examples of this type of graves, which are formed by piling soil or stones on a grave chamber, are found in Anatolia. This grave style, which is thought to have started with the Phrygians in the ninth century BC, also continued during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. It is known that around the second century AD, tumulus-style graves were completely abandoned and masonry tomb-style structures began to be built for important people. There are numerous tumuli in Cappadocia. One of the first studies on this subject belongs to Kurt Bittel and he wrote that the large tumuli in the region may belong to

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the Cappadocian kings (Bittel, 1939). The Çeç Tumulus located in the south of Avanos, is one of the biggest tumuli of Central Anatolia, with its 70 m diameter and 25 m height. Although all of the large tumuli in the region have survived to the present day without being destroyed, most of the small tumuli are excavated by illegal diggers. These small ones often have a base diameter of 5–10  m and a height of 2–5  m (Durukan, 2012). Grave chambers of these tumuli are small, mostly with a length of 3–4 m. Chambers mostly contain shelf-shaped klines and are designed as family tombs where many can be buried, and naturally, all those grave chambers have a dromos. The architectural features of these grave chambers of tumuli in Cappadocia do not give a definite idea for the dating of these structures. Likewise, the fact that scientifically excavated three tumuli around Kayseri are dated to the first century BC does not mean that the other tumuli in this region were built in the same period. A substantial example of this fact is the Phrygian tumulus found near Kaynarca Village located in the south of Kayseri Province, dated to the last quarter of the seventh century BC, with its artifacts in the grave chamber (Sevin, 1998). This tumulus is a Phrygian tomb structure that has been found in the easternmost of Anatolia. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there is at least one tumulus on almost every hill in Kayseri, around Koramaz Valley (Fig. 6.9). It is noted as “at least one” because the name of Beştepeler (Turkish: Five Hills) in the east of the city of Kayseri is derived from the fact that there are five tumuli on this hill. According to the registration and inventory of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, there are 81 tumuli

Fig. 6.9  A small tumulus near to Vekse Village of Koramaz Valley. (Photo B. Yazlık)

6.7  Columbarium (Plural Columbaria)

147

in Kayseri Province, and it can be predicted that this number may increase even more with the addition of those that are not yet included in the list. Unfortunately, most of these graves were robbed by illegal diggers years ago, and very few of them have been subjected to an archaeological excavation. The two largest tumuli in the region are in the north of the city of Kayseri, in Erkilet and Yılanlıdağ and it is possible that these unexcavated graves belong to the Cappadocian kings (Bittel, 1939; Eskioğlu, 1989). Cappadocia was ruled by a local administration known as the ‘Kingdom of Cappadocia‘for more than three centuries, from the appointment of a satrap to the region by Alexander in 332  BC, until the Roman Emperor Tiberius conquered the region in 17  AD.  It is possible that all the Cappadocian kings who were in power during this time and all the rulers of Cappadocia, which was divided into provinces during the same period, had tumulus graves as a continuation of this Hellenistic tradition. The most concrete findings that can support chronological determinations come from the Beştepeler 1, Beştepeler 2, and Garipler Tumulus excavations located around Kayseri. It is an interesting detail that there is a gold coin in each of these tombs, in addition to the many finds unearthed during these excavations (Eskioğlu, 1989; Şahin, 1996). The coin found in the Beştepeler 1 Tumulus was coined in the third year of Caesar‘s consulship (46  BC). The coin in the Beştepeler 2 Tumulus date from 95–62 BC, and the coin in the Garipler Tumulus date from 27 BC to 14 AD. Therefore, these three tumuli can be dated to approximately the first century BC (Eskioğlu, 1989). On top of the hills around the Koramaz Valley, there are 14 tumuli of various sizes. Most of these graves, which are distributed all over the hills around the valley, such as both the northern and southern hills of Vekse, in the north of Büyük Bürüngüz, northwest of Ağırnas, have been destroyed as a result of illegal diggings, like many others found in the area. For instance, the tumulus located in Büyük Bürüngüz, Aydos, was opened and robbed by treasure hunters in 1975 (Eskioğlu, 1989).

6.7 Columbarium (Plural Columbaria) The Columbarium is a mass burial monument carved under the ground, where urns containing the ashes of the cremated deceased are placed in the niches in its inner walls. Usually, the ashes of non-elite Roman citizens, mostly slaves, and later freed slaves who served in aristocratic homes were stored in these structures. The practice of cremation in the Roman Empire started in the fourth century BC and was abandoned in the third century AD. In the tradition of cremation burial, the dead body was placed on the woodpile and burned in a ceremony. Ash was collected and filled into the urn, which was then placed in the grave chamber or its niche in the columbarium (Borbonus, 2014; Toynbee, 1996). Although this grave style is observed in many different regions of the Roman Empire (Kloner & Zissu, 2013), few columbaria have been found in Anatolia so far. In their study in 2016, T.  Akçay and

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B. Erdem describe a columbarium they discovered in the city of Olba in the Cilicia Region, and refer to the discovery of another grave structure of the same type in Elaiussa-Sebaste in 1967 by A. Machatschek (Akçay & Erdem, 2016). Apart from these two limited examples found in Olba and Elaiussa-Sebaste, it is believed that a third columbaria group in Anatolia exists in Cappadocia, specifically in Koramaz Valley. The tradition of pigeon feeding, which lasted for centuries and continued until recent times in Cappadocia, has resulted in the construction of rock-cut dovecotes in many different styles (Özen, 2012). Some dovecotes encountered in Koramaz Valley were found seriously suspicious. Although these rock-cut structures looked like classical house-type dovecotes at first glance, they resembled the “columbarium” of ancient Rome, rather than the known dovecotes, both in their construction style and regarding the niches in the wall. Although these two structures – dovecotes and columbaria – are often confused with each other due to their architectural similarities, they should be considered as different structures with certain differences. It is important to emphasize the architectural differences between the two in order to raise the awareness of the audience on this nuance. At first glance, it is difficult to perceive the difference between a dovecote and a columbarium. Furthermore, all columbaria carved in the ancient times in Koramaz Valley were later transformed into dovecotes (Yazlık, 2019, 2022). Considering that the name “Columbarium” comes from the Latin word “Columbo” (pigeon), it can be observed that the changes these structures have undergone throughout history are surprisingly parallel to each other (Borbonus, 2014). Thinking that different dovecotes in Koramaz Valley, which are concentrated around Ağırnas, also found in different parts of the valley, maybe first constructed as a columbarium, Dorian Borbonus, one of the experts on these structures, was consulted together with the plans and photographs. Borbonus stated that the structures could most likely be columbaria. The difference between a columbarium and a home-type dovecote can be understood by the craftsmanship observed at the entrance door and in the interior. When the columbarium is examined from the inside, it is seen that it was built with a very elaborate workmanship, appropriate for a monumental structure. However, the fact that the chimneys opened when it was converted into a dovecote, later on, were not even in the center of the ceiling of the structure, which was so elaborately built, and the fact that these chimneys were opened by breaking the ceiling clearly confirms that they were opened later. Columbarium niches were carved in a fairly neat and orderly arrangement compared to the dovecote niches. In addition, the interiors of the columbarium were built with an understanding of monumental architecture. There are niches for decoration in some columbarium ceilings and walls. It is seen that these niches start from the corners of the walls and merge at the center of the ceiling and they were made with due care. The two most exceptional examples of such structures in the valley are as follows: In Vekse, among the four structures on the south wall, the last one to the west is a dovecote in its current appearance. There are numerous dovecotes carved into the

6.7  Columbarium (Plural Columbaria)

149

Fig. 6.10  A columbarium in Vekse Village. (Photo R. Straub)

rocks in the Koramaz Valley, but none of them can be compared with the aesthetics and delicacy of the work in this dovecote at Vekse (Fig. 6.10). This two-level structure with dimensions of 5  ×  3  m, has a ceiling of 3.20  m at its highest point. Interestingly, a load-bearing column was carved at the center, although it is not usually needed in such small rock-cut structures. The entire structure, including the surfaces of the column, is covered with approximately 200 niches of regular triangular shape, with dimensions of 28 cm × 26 cm. There are traces of madder on one side of the column. There is an underground storage with a 47 cm diameter cover width and 120 cm depth at the floor level of the structure. In the southwest corner of the building, there is a fracture for the chimney with a diameter of 86 cm and a small 10 cm chimney connected to the outside (Yazlık, 2019, 2022). The last rock-carved structure at the north end of the wall in Ağırnas East Wall Cliff Settlements is the largest dovecote in the region. Behind the ruined 95 × 40 cm entrance door, which is three meters above the road level, there is a 6.20 × 3.80 m room. The other room to the east of this room measures 3.10 × 4.20 m and has a dome of 4.50 m in height. All the walls of this room and the room next to and connected to it are filled with niches. There are more than 150 niches in total in the two rooms (Fig. 6.11). The initial purpose of the structure may be a columbarium as suggested by the following elements: the elaborate stonework in the whole building, in the dome and arch decorations, and the architrave and niches; the triangular ceilings in most of the niches in lieu of oval ceilings like in other pigeon niches; the larger cavities when compared to normal dovecotes; and, the similar but larger cavities when compared to niches in the Roman period for offering gifts to the deceased.

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Fig. 6.11  A columbarium on the East Wall Cliff Settlements of Ağırnas Village. (Photo R. Straub)

The plan of this building is given in Chap. 3, Fig. 3.13 ‘Ağırnas East Wall Cliff Settlements’. In Koramaz Valley, there are also structures built in the form of dovecotes as an original function. There are obvious differences between these structures and columbaria. The entrance doors of the dovecotes are very small in dimension to prevent wild animals from entering and the ceiling heights are lower when compared to the columbarium. Furthermore, workmanship in the niches of the dovecotes is highly unelaborate. High labour cost was avoided in these structures and a rough interior design was obtained since there was no need for a better design (Yazlık, 2019). The columbarium, on the other hand, has flamboyant entrance doors, relatively high ceilings, and finely carved interior spaces and niches. There are also feeding holes in Koramaz Valley’s columbaria. These slender and long chimneys with an average diameter of 10 cm open directly into the columbaria from the outside, and it is known that these chimneys were used to offer the deceased their favorite wine, especially on commemoration days (Borbonus, 2014).

6.8 Discussion

151

6.8 Discussion Graves, the earliest examples of which date back to the Paleolithic Period, are among the oldest ritual and religious traditions of humanity. In the societies that were transforming into states, graves, which were practiced in various manners depending on culture, have become a political and social symbol over time, turning into a tool to show power and social status after death, rather than just a pit in which the deceased is placed. Parallel to this understanding, tomb architecture has also diversified continuously throughout history, and people have been buried in various tomb types according to their social class and wealth. In the beginning the deceased were simply buried into the ground; however, these graves began to diversify in a short time. The presence of rock-cut chamber tombs in different parts of the Western Mediterranean, such as those found in Sardinia dating to the first half of the 5th millennium BC, reveals that there was a diversity in tomb architecture even before the Chalcolithic Age (Melis & Porqueddu, 2015). On the other hand, in the Early Bronze Age, the Anatolian people preferred the tradition of burial in residential areas (intramural), and through this period they used different graves such as pithos (plural pithoi), stone cist, and chamber tombs with coarse stone masonry, in addition to simple earthen graves (Öztürk & Kulakoğlu, 2019; Yıldırım & Ediz, 2007). In some articles, researchers terminologically distinguish between chamber tombs and cist tombs: chamber tombs are often constructed under the floors of houses, while cist tombs were constructed outside the houses with stone walls, creating a rectangular-shaped stone-lined pit in the earth. Some cist tombs were built with stone-lined dromos, or shafts, that led down to the chamber from the surface (Selover & Durgun, 2019). In these tombs, both collective or singular burials can be encountered. During the excavations in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia, many chamber tombs dating to this period were unearthed. The prevalence of such tombs in both Upper and Lower Euphrates valleys indicates the presence of an intense chamber tomb tradition in this region in the Early Bronze Age. The ‘Royal Tombs’ found in the Arslantepe excavations near Malatya are dated between ca. 3100–2900 BC and are the richest findings among the chamber tombs from this period so far discovered. Further south and again in the Euphrates basin, chamber tombs -which were found in many different excavations such as Carchemish, Birecik, Hacınebi, Hassek Höyük- dated to the same period, and are observed together with pithos burials and simple earth graves (Palumbi, 2007; Yılmaz, 2006). In the Mid Bronze Age, burial structures were a little more diversified. The “Hattian Royal Tombs“in Alacahöyük, for which the archaeological excavations began in 1935, consists of 13 shaft-graves dated to ca. 2350–2150 BC. These tombs, which have the richest Bronze Age burial gifts ever found in Anatolia, are thought to belong to the Hatti kings who ruled in the region before the Hittite period (Arık, 1937).

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Furthermore, studies carried out on different Hittite pithos graveyards dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, such as Yanarlar graveyard (Emre, 1978), revealed that this pithos burial style, which was used in Anatolia in the 3rd millennium BC, continued in the same region by the Hittites even a 1000 years later. In a pithos burial, the deceased was placed in a flexed position into a large ceramic jar. Then, the opening of the pithos was usually closed by a broken pottery fragment or small stone slab and the pithos was buried under the ground in a tilted position (Selover & Durgun, 2019). These four or five different and all very simple tomb structures remained unchanged for almost 3000 years in Anatolia but began to diversify intensively after 1.000  BC.  For instance, the tradition of burial in mounds (tumulus) of different sizes, depending on an individual’s social status, reached its peak during the Phrygian and Lydian kingdoms reigning in western and central Anatolia following the collapse of the Hittite Empire, especially between the ninth and sixth centuries BC. Gordion was the capital of the Phrygian kingdom and there are over 100 tumuli in the vicinity of this settlement, dating from the nineth to the sixth centuries BC.  The largest of these burial mounds have traditionally been associated with kings. Among these graves, Tumulus W, dating to ca. 850 BC, is the earliest known. Tumulus MM (for “Midas Mound”), or the “Great Tumulus,” is the largest burial mound at Gordion, standing over 50 m high, with a diameter of about 300 meters. It was built in 740 BC, and at that time was the largest tumulus in Anatolia, only surpassed later by the Tumulus of Alyattes in Lydia. The lowland at the southwest of Sardis, the capital of the Lydian Kingdom, is known as Bin Tepeler (in Turkish, “Thousand Hills”). If not ‘thousand’, there are 115 tumuli in this region, just as in Gordion. Among these, the tumulus which is thought to be belonging to the Lydian king Alyattes (reigned c. 618–561 BC), is the largest ever built, with a diameter of 360  m and a height of 69  m. Herodotus described this tomb: “But there is one building to be seen there which is more notable than any, saving those of Egypt and Babylon. There is in Lydia the tomb of Alyattes the father of Croesus, the base whereof is made of great stones and the rest of it of mounded earth” (De Selincourt, 2003). The tumulus tradition, which started with the Phrygians and Lydians in Central Anatolia, became increasingly widespread during the Hellenistic and Roman periods and spread all over Anatolia. In the same period, the diversity in funerary architecture reached an incredible level, especially in the Roman Empire. Throughout this period, many different burial styles were used, from simple graves to rocky graves, from underground tomb structures to sarcophagus, from tumulus to mausoleum or columbarium. Wealthy Romans built tombs for themselves, their families, and even their freed slaves. Reliefs and decorations were engraved on the outer walls of these rock-cut structures and sometimes on the main rock walls inside. While sarcophagus was an expensive, rare, and exceptional practice, tumulus and masonry tombs were almost exclusively a privilege granted to kings and senior local officials.

References

153

Even if the graves simply dug in soil or rock are set aside, many original practices in Anatolian funerary architecture have remained unchanged for thousands of years. For instance, as mentioned above, pithos tombs, the oldest examples of which date back to the third millennium BC, were also used by the Hittites a 1000 years later. Similarly, much of the funerary architecture practiced during the Roman Empire was a continuation of long-standing traditions in Anatolia. For example, it is known that tumulus tombs were built for almost more than a 1000 years, from 850 BC to 200 AD (Avşar, 2016). Also, wall tombs or masonry tombs are a tradition of funerary architecture that lasted for thousands of years in almost every part of Anatolia. In Ancient Greece and Rome, where the cult of the dead was important, the dead were both respected and feared because of the fear of the polluting effect of the dead on the living. This fear was effective in the burial of the dead outside the cities and burial outside of the residential areas (extramural) became a strict practice determined by the laws. This process led to the emergence of necropolises outside the settlements. It is observed that, after the people of the Neolithic Age, who buried their deceased relatives under their houses 10,000 years ago, the dead are increasingly removed from the areas where people live, only with some exceptions. With the spread of Christianity, the construction of flamboyant, temple-tomb-­ like structures for people with high social status was abandoned, but this time high ranking, rich people began to be buried in the arcosolium (plural arcosolia), under the floor or in chapels built only for burials within the churches for which they were benefactors, and in a sense, intramural burial was adopted again. People have been living in Cappadocia for thousands of years, and naturally, throughout this long period, all different societies that existed in this region practiced their own burial traditions, and thus, many different burial practices developed. For example, Teteriatnikov states that Christian burial modes in the region, particularly the use of rock-cut tombs, are largely a continuation of Roman funeral architecture (Teteriatnikov, 1996). Such funerary structures influenced each other throughout this period and emerged with new architectural styles similar to their old examples but compatible with the characteristics of their region. The pillar tombs carved in fairy chimneys in Cappadocia are a good example of this change. Nevertheless, some examples of funerary architecture in the region continued without any change for a very long time, not only in Cappadocia but throughout Anatolia. The funerary architecture styles found in Cappadocia and its surroundings, span hundreds and thousands of years. The vast majority of the Roman period rock-cut tombs in the region could not preserve their original structures and were later transformed into dovecotes, barns, or churches.

References Akçay, T., & Erdem, B. (2016). Doğu Dağlık Cilicia Mezarları, Olba’daki Yeni Mezar Tipleri ve Terminolojisi Önerileri. Seleucia, 6, 261–286. Arık, R. (1937). Les Fouilles D’Alaca Höyük 1935. Türk Tarih Kurumu.

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Avşar, G. (2016). Anadolu Tümülüslerinin Tipolojik Açıdan İncelenmesi. (MS), Hitit Üniversitesi Çorum. Bittel, K. (1939). Beobachtungen in Kappadokien. Archäologischer Anzeiger in: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 54, 548–568. Borbonus, D. (2014). Columbarium tombs and collective identity in Augustan Rome. Cambridge University Press. De Selincourt, A. (2003). Herodotus, the histories (Vol. Book 5, Chapter 49). Penguin Books. Durukan, M. (2012). Kappadokia’da, Argaios Dağı Çevresinde Hellenistik-Roma Dönemi Mezarları ve Ölü Kültü (Graber und Totenkult In Der Hellenistisch-Römischen Zeit In Der Umgebung Des Argaios In Kapadokien). Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları. Emre, K. (1978). Yanarlar: Afyon Yöresinde Bir Hitit Mezarlığı/A Hittite Cemetery Near Afyon. Türk Tarih Kurumu. Eskioğlu, M. (1989). Garipler Tümülüsü ve Kayseri’deki Tümülüs Tipi Mezarlar. Türk Arkeoloji Dergisi, XXVIII, 189–224. Inbaşı, M. (1993). 16. Yüzyıl Başlarında Kayseri. Kayseri. Kloner, A., & Zissu, B. (2013). The subterranean complexes of Maresha. An urban center from the Hellenistic period in the Judean foothills, Israel. Opera Ipogea, 2-2013, 45–62. Melis, M., & Porqueddu, M. (2015). New documentation on digging techniques of the prehistoric funerary hypogea of the Western Mediterranean (pp. 129–150). ORIGINI. Ousterhout, R. (2010). Remembering the dead in byzantine Cappadocia: The architectural settings for commemoration. In O.  Ioannisian & D.  Jolshin (Eds.), Architecture of Byzantium and Kievan Rus from the 9th to 12th centuries (Vol. 53, pp. 89–100). Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum. Ousterhout, R. (2017). Visualizing community: Art, material culture, and settlement in byzantine Cappadocia (Vol. 46). Harvard University Press. Özen, R. (2012). Bird shelters in Turkey: Birdhouses and dovecotes. Kafkas Univ Vet Fak Dergisi, 18(6), 1079–1082. Öztürk, G., & Kulakoğlu, F. (2019). Kızılırmak Kavsinin Güneyinde Yeni Bir Ölü Gömme Geleneği: Kültepe İnler Dağı Extramural Mezarlığı. DTCF Journal, 59(1), 693–716. Palumbi, G. (2007). From collective burials to symbols of power. Scienze dell’Antichità, 14. Pani, G. (1995). Note Sulle Tombe Rupestri de Filiktepe e Sivasa. In G.  Bertucci, R.  Bixio, & M. Traverso (Eds.), Le Citta Sotterranee della Cappadocia (pp. 68–70). Erga. Photographs of Asia Minor. (2014). Retrieved from https://antiquities.library.cornell.edu/photos/ anatolia Retrieved 16 Aug 2021. Şahin, S. (1996). Sarılar 2 No’lu Tümülüsü. Paper presented at the 6. Müze Kurtarma Kazıları Semineri, Didim. Selover, S., & Durgun, P. (2019). Reexamining burials and cemeteries in early bronze age Anatolia. In S. Steadman & G. McMahon (Eds.), The archaeology of Anatolia, recent discoveries (2017–2018) (Vol. 3). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Sevin, V. (1998). MÖ I. Binyıl Demir Çağı: Krallığın Koruyucuları. In M. Sözen (Ed.), Kapadokya. Ayhan Şahenk Foundation. Teteriatnikov, N. (1996). The liturgical planning of byzantine churches in Cappadocia. Pontificio Istituto Orientale. Toynbee, J. (1996). Death and burial in the Roman world. Johns Hopkins University Press. Yazlık, B. (2019). Koramaz Vadisi Columbarium Mezarları. Turkish Studies, 14(3), 669–733. Yazlık, B. (2022). Columbarium tombs of the Koramaz Valley. Speleology and spelestology, 1/2022. Yıldırım, T., & Ediz, İ. (2007). 2005 Yılı Resuloğlu Eski Tunç Çağı Mezarlık Kazısı. Paper presented at the 28. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı, Ankara. Yılmaz, D. (2006). Burial customs of the chamber tombs in Southeast Anatolia during the early bronze age. Anadolu/Anatolia, 31.

Chapter 7

Conclusion

Abstract  Koramaz Valley has the largest number of rock-cut structures found not only in Cappadocia but also in all of Turkey. The diversity of these structures, some of which date from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, as well as their sheer quantity, make this valley a historical and cultural treasure. Our ongoing research has successfully shown the exceptional and frequently overwhelming diversity of these underground structures, and a serious protection strategy is needed to pass on to future generations all of these rock-cut structures with a history of hundreds and thousands of years, including churches, columbaria, dovecotes, underground cities, tumuli, and Roman tombs in the Koramaz Valley. Keywords  Rock-cut structures · Koramaz Valley · Kayseri

7.1 Conclusion The different natural formations of Cappadocia and numerous rock-dwelling structures dug in these formations, especially the rock-cut Byzantine churches, have drawn the attention of several travelers starting approximately 300 years ago and have been subject to various research and scientific studies. These works and studies began with the frescoes in numerous rock-cut churches in the area and have expanded to other rock-cut structures. Today, from the underground shelters to the hydraulic structures and from the dovecotes even to the rock-cut apiaries of the area, there are hundreds of different scholarly works and studies. Though the surveys are being carried out are named Cappadocia, nearly all of these researches were performed only in Nevşehir - Ürgüp - Göreme triangle, and this area is a tiny part (ca. 5.500 km2) of the ancient Cappadocia. Cappadocia was a province of both the Roman and Byzantine empires. In AD 371 it was the Roman Empire’s largest province, with a total area of 50.000 sq. km, and its capital was Kayseri (Mitchell, 2018; Ramsay, 1890). Kayseri was named “Mazaca“from the Hattians to Strabo, and it was changed to “Caesarea“in honor of

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0_7

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Caesar Augustus in AD 14. During the third century AD, it was the largest city in Central Anatolia (Baydur, 1970). Despite being the capital of Cappadocia during ancient times, no comprehensive scientific research has been carried out until now in terms of the rock-cut architecture in Kayseri. To fill this deficiency, we started to work for the “Kayseri Underground Structures Inventory Project” in January 2014. When we started this project, our first and foremost aim was to inventory all these structures that have never been explored before in terms of rock-cut structures and which are being destroyed by nature and people every day. This primary aim of the project, which spread all over Kayseri Province, continues today. Then, for many different reasons, we concentrated our work around Koramaz Valley. The main reason we focused on this region was that the valley contained the largest number of rock-cut structures found not only in Cappadocia but also in all of Turkey. With a total number of 476, it has more than the sum of all the rock-cut structures in all other valleys of Cappadocia. Secondly, there is no other valley within the whole of Turkey with such a variety of rock-cut structures. Here in Koramaz, we can find not only rock-cut houses, barns, dovecotes, or churches, some of which date to the ninth and eleventh centuries (Karakaya, 2013, 2014), but also monasteries, columbariums, and even Roman tombs. And finally, it’s the only valley in the region that people still live in or around. Apart from the rock-cut structures and cliff settlements in the valley, the villages of Koramaz Valley are full of centuries-­old buildings, some dating back to thirteen and fourteen centuries. In addition, there are several historic stone bridges, fountains, and watermills. Most stone houses were built in the places formerly used as a cave. From the moment we started working in this valley, in addition to inventing all these vanishing structures, which is the first and foremost aim we wrote above, we set ourselves two more goals: To include the Koramaz Valley to UNESCO World Heritage List and to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan and restoration projects. Recently accepted to UNESCO World Heritage Site tentative list, we are more than happy to be able to achieve our first goal after years of work. On the other hand, we are also aware of how difficult to achieve our final goal is. In this 16 km long valley, there are seven different villages, and the interior and surroundings of these seven villages, located on the slopes of Koramaz Valley, are full of structures carved into the rocks. We know it is challenging both politically and financially to carry out conservation plans and restorations in this valley with so many settlements and countless people. Our ongoing research has effectively demonstrated the exceptional and often overwhelming diversity of these underground structures, and a serious protection plan is required to transfer all these rock-cut structures, churches, columbarium, dovecotes, underground cities, tumulus, and Roman tombs in Koramaz Valley, which have a history of hundreds and thousands of years, to future generations, and our efforts in this regard continue.

References

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References Baydur, N. (1970). Kültepe (Kaneš) ve Kayseri Tarihi Üzerine Araştırmalar. Istanbul Istanbul Universitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi. Karakaya, N. (2013). Ispıdın Kaya Kilisesi Kayseri Ansiklopedisi (Vol. 3, p. 248). Kayseri Ulusal Yayınevi. Karakaya, N. (2014). Kayseri’nin Gesi Beldesi, Küçük Bürüngüz (Subaşı) Köyü ile Ağırnas Vadisi’ndeki Bizans Dönemine ait Sivil - Zirai Kaya Yapıları. Turkish Studies – International Periodical For The Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic, 9(10), 335–358. Mitchell, S. (2018). Cappadocia. In O. Nicholson (Ed.), The Oxford dictionary of late antiquity (p. 279). Oxford University Press. Ramsay, W. (1890). The historical geography of Asia minor. John Murray.

Glossary

Aisle  A space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other. Altar  A block of stone in a rock-cut church contiguous with the east wall of the apse or a free-standing block of stone not attached to the apse walls. Apse (plural apses or apsis)  In Byzantine architecture, the term is applied to a semi-circular or polygonal termination of the main building at the liturgical East end. Regardless of the shape of the roof, which may be flat, sloping, domed, or hemispherical, the shape of an apse arch may be horseshoe or semi-circular. Architrave  A lintel or beam resting on a column head. This term can be used for all edges of a frame around a door or window of a frame, including vertical members. Arcosolium (plural arcosolia)  An arched recess used as a place of entombment. Early arcosolia were carved out of the main rock in catacombs. At the very earliest of these, the arched recess was cut to ground level. Then a low wall would be built in the front, leaving a trough in which to place the body. A flat stone slab would then cover the chamber containing the body, thus sealing it. Barrel Vault  Architectural structure mostly used for the top cover of a rectangular planned building. It is in the form of a half-cylinder. Bema  Floor of the apse, usually elevated above the naos floor. The ceremonial use of a bema carried over from Judaism into early Christian church architecture. Catedra  The bishop’s seat in the apse of a church and the middle of the sythrona. Chamosorium (plural chamosoria)  i.e. ‘Rocky Graves’ which were excavated in the horizontal surface of rocky outcrops. They are generally rectangular and covered with a stone, thus resembled sarcophagi. Chapel  The term has several senses. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that has their altar; Secondly, chapels are small places of worship or funeral, built as satellite sites by a church or monastery.

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0

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Glossary

Chancel The space around the  altar, including the  choir  and the  sanctuary, at the liturgical East end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Cist-grave  A prehistoric grave containing either a body or ashes, usually made of stone. The grave might be lined with stones and covered with slabs. Cists were for one or several burials and could be totally or partly buried. Cliff Settlement/Wall Settlement  A cliff or wall settlement means a rock-­dwelled village with all the buildings, houses, storage rooms, barns, cisterns, even religious buildings, and defence shelters. The term ‘wall settlement’ is used for structures dug on top of each other on a steep wall, and ‘cliff settlement’ is used for settlements with more inclined slopes. In some different sources, all such structures are named ‘cliff dwelling’ or ‘rock settlement’. Columbarium (plural columbaria) A burial chamber or structure, typical of ancient Rome, with rows of niches made to place the containers (urns) in which the ashes were placed after the cremation, and mostly built underground. Common columbaria in the early Roman period belong to the middle and lower classes. Those buried here were generally poor people, slaves, or freed ex-slaves. Dovecote  A structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be freestanding structures in a variety of shapes or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeon holes for the birds to nest. These structures facilitate the accumulation and collection of pigeon manure. The pigeon manure collected in this way has been used both in agriculture and in gunpowder throughout history. Dromos  Entrance passage to a building or a tomb. Extramural  In archaeology, the name was given to graves built outside the settlement. Since “mural” means wall or fortification in Latin, its literal translation means “outside the walls”. Floor Grave  A grave cut directly into a floor of a chamber, sometimes with a lip incised around the edge to support a lid. Horseshoe Apse Architectural design of an apse in a church, plan view of it is similar to a horseshoe. Hypogeum (plural hypogea)  Meaning “underground”, from Greek hypo (under) and ghê (earth) is an underground temple or tomb. The term hypogeum can also refer to any antique building or a part of a building built below ground. Intramural  In archaeology, the name given to the graves dug in the settlement. Kline  In ancient Greece and Rome, a stone bed, on which the dead were laid in a chamber tomb. Mausoleum (plural mausolea)  A free-standing, monumental tomb structure. The earliest known example of such tombs, which are also called ‘Masonry tomb’ was built in 350 BC for King Mausolus at Halicarnassus (Bodrum – Turkey) and these tombs, named after this king, are found in almost every region of Anatolia. Millstone Door Circular stones, similar to millstones, used to block tunnels in underground cities excavated for defence purposes to prevent the entry of the enemy. In Cappadocia there are extreme samples with a diameter of 1.90 cm, a thickness of 40 cm, and a weight of 700 kg.

Glossary

161

Narthex  An architectural element typical of Byzantine churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave. The narthex is the connection between the church and the outside world and for this reason  catechumens (pre-baptized Orthodox) and non-Orthodox are to stand here. Naos  The name was given to the whole middle and side naves of a church. Naos is the body of the church consisting of a single-aisle or a central aisle and side aisles. Nave  The main place in the architecture of the church, extending perpendicular to the apse, separated by columns or rows of pillars and where people pray. The nave is the main body of the church where the people stand during the services. This structure is divided into the middle nave and side naves. Niche  An functional cavity incised into a wall, possibly for placement or storage of objects since most niches are at approximately chest height. Operation room  A small room excavated behind a millstone door, on the side of the tunnel, to close or open those millstone doors in underground cities. Parekklesion  A side chapel which is a common feature of Cappadocian churches. These are secondary rooms carved on the north or south side of the main church and functioned foremost as burial locations. These private and/or funerary side chapels are mostly excavated adjacent to the main nave, although parapet-separated ones can be found. Pithos Burial  In a pithos burial, the deceased was placed in a flexed position into a large ceramic jar called a pithos in the archaeological literature. Then the pithos usually closed by a broken pottery fragment or small stone slab and buried, usually lying on its side. Prothesis In Byzantine architecture, the Prothesis is  a small room in a church behind the wall of icons. This part of the sanctuary is where the bread and wine are prepared for Mass and stored after Mass. The Prothesis often includes a small table that is used for the preparations. Rock-cut (Rock-hewn) General term for all human-excavated structures in a bedrock. Rock Dwelling  Name given to structures dug into bedrock and mostly used as a house. Redoubt  A ‘last defence or refuge room’, the final chamber of an underground city. Sarcophagus (plural  sarcophagi)  Is a box-like funeral receptacle for a  corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word “sarcophagus” comes from the Greek sarx meaning “flesh”, and  phagein meaning “to eat”; hence sarcophagus means “flesh-eating”. Shaft-grave  A deep rectangular burial structure, similar in shape to the much shallower cist grave, containing a floor of pebbles, walls of rubble masonry, and a roof constructed of wooden planks. Synthronon  Rows of seats adjacent to the wall inside the apse circle, made for the clergy. Templum in Antis  It is one of the oldest and simplest forms of Greek temple, consists of a rectangular central (cella) and a pronaos. The pronaos, which can also be seen as the forecourt of the building, has two antes and two columns between these antes.

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Glossary

Templon (plural templa)  An architectural formation of Byzantine churches consisting of a barrier separating the nave from the  apse. The solid templon first appeared in Christian churches around the fifth century and is still found in many Eastern Christian churches. Transept  The name given to the right and left arms of the cross-shaped church plan in church architecture starting from the Middle Ages until today. Each half of a transept is known as a semitransept. The nave of a church with a cruciform plan usually extends toward the west from the crossing, the choir, and sanctuary toward the east. The arms of the transept are then designated by direction, as north transept and south transept. Trapeza (plural trapezai)  The ‘table and sitting places’ in a monastery complex, used only for dinner. The dining table and seating rows in this place, which can also be considered as a common dining room, were carved from the bedrock in some rock-carved structures. Troglodyte  This word, which was used to mean a human cave dweller, from the ancient Greek trogle “hole, mouse-hole” and dyein “go in, dive in”. The word is also used today to mean “living underground”. Tumulus (plural tumuli)  A grave mound created by piling soil or stones on top of a burial chamber built underground or above ground. Underground City  A complex of underground structures located in many different parts of the world, used by locals to hide during an attack or raid. In the examples in Cappadocia, the tunnels of the buildings were closed with millstone doors and additionally protected by traps. These defence structures, whose small and singular ones are also named as “Underground Shelter” or “Underground Refuge”, are thought to have merged over time to become “Underground City”.

Index

A Africa, 11, 12, 17 Afyon, 14 Ağırnas, 19, 32–34, 47–58, 60, 61, 70, 74, 78–83, 90, 110, 121–123, 125–134, 138, 139, 141–143, 145, 147–150 Ahlat, 15–17, 65 Ahurian, 15 Ainsworth, W.F., 22, 23, 27, 29 Aisle, 100 Aksaray, 17, 26, 31, 65, 113, 141 Alacahöyük, 151 Al-malik, 132 Altamira, 12 Altar, 82, 85, 86, 90, 97, 99, 104 Alyattes, 152 Anabasis, 21 Anastasis, 94 Anatolia, 3, 6, 7, 10–16, 18, 19, 23, 24, 27, 65, 69, 70, 105, 106, 131, 140, 145–148, 151–153, 156 Andesitic, 7, 8 Ani, 15–17, 21, 65 Ankara-Nallıhan, 14 Apiary, 19, 20, 155 Apocrypha, 94 Apollinaris, 105 Apostle, 105 Apses, 54, 81, 85–87, 89, 94, 96, 99, 101, 103, 104, 108, 110, 141 Aqueducts, 2, 30, 31, 68, 121 Arab, 18, 21, 22, 33, 132 Aragena, 34, 49

Architrave, 79, 97, 101, 102, 104, 149 Arcosolium, 79, 81–83, 85, 86, 100, 109, 141, 142, 153 Ardahan, 16, 65 Argillaceous, 30 Armenian, 15, 16 Arpaçay, 15 Arslantepe, 151 Asia, 11, 21, 22, 24, 25, 107, 110, 144 Aşıklı, 12, 17, 141 Assyrian, 2, 12, 18, 31, 132 Augustus, 18, 26, 156 Aurelius, 105 Avanos, 16, 26, 31, 66, 146 Avedik, 44 Avladağ, 17 Aydıntepe, 132 Ayşepınar, 19, 29, 143–145 B Babylon, 21, 152 Babylonia, 132 Baptism, 94 Barbara, 141 Barrel-vault, 77, 79, 83, 85, 87, 88, 96, 99–101, 103, 104, 108, 123 Basil, 73, 106, 107, 141 Basileiad, 106 Basilicas, 74, 107, 108 Batman, 14 Bema, 79, 96 Beştepeler, 146, 147

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. Yamaç, Rock-cut Architecture and Underground Cities in Koramaz Valley of Kayseri, Turkey, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29374-0

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164 Bethlehem, 94 Birecik, 30, 151 Birkleyn, 12 Bishopric, 34, 106 Bitlis, 14 Bosnia, 122 Bürüngüz, 32, 33, 45–47, 60, 61, 70, 74, 114–120, 126, 133, 134, 147 Byzantine, 2, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 26, 29–31, 34, 35, 60, 61, 66, 68, 73, 74, 77, 78, 82, 106, 108–111, 127, 131–133, 138, 139, 141, 155 Byzantium, 21, 85, 105, 108, 133 C Caesar, 18, 26, 147, 156 Caesarea, 18, 26, 27, 34, 73, 105–107, 131, 132, 155 Çakıltepe, 17 Çakmaktepe, 17 Caldera, 8 Cappadocia, 2, 3, 6, 7, 13, 14, 16–29, 31, 32, 44, 48, 65, 66, 69, 70, 73, 74, 77, 79, 87, 105, 107–110, 113–115, 123, 126–128, 130–133, 137, 138, 140, 143–148, 153, 155, 156 Carchemish, 151 Castle-village, 20 Çatalhöyük, 10, 12 Cave-dwelling, 2, 13 Caves, 1, 2, 11–13, 15, 17, 19–22, 29–31, 33, 156 Çavuşin, 66, 74 Çeç, 146 ÇEKÜL, 30, 31 Cellar, 77 Cemetery, 15, 30, 138, 140, 141, 145 Chalcolithic, 12, 17, 151 Chaldaic, 94 Chamosorium, 138 Chapel, 53, 75, 79, 87, 108, 109, 141, 153 Chauvet, 12 Christianity, 18, 73, 105, 153 Church, 2, 3, 12, 14–16, 18–21, 23–25, 29–31, 33, 34, 45, 48, 50–55, 60–64, 66–70, 73–111, 126, 127, 132, 133, 138, 141, 142, 153, 155, 156 Cilicia, 148 Çıralı, 14 Cisterns, 14, 19, 29, 30, 43

Index Cist-grave, 138, 151 Civelek, 19 Cliff-dwelled, 33, 35, 48 Columbarium, 2, 34, 45, 49, 50, 55, 64, 147–150, 152, 156 Constantinople, 73, 108 Constantinus, 105 Çorum, 14 Cremation, 147 Cretaceous, 10 Croesus, 21, 152 Cross-in-square, 85, 102, 107, 108 D Dacitic, 8 Değirmendere, 32, 44, 67, 110 Derevenk, 27, 32, 44, 67 Derinkuyu, 31, 79, 114, 128, 130, 131, 133 Develi, 6, 11, 29 Dimitre, 13, 27, 33, 47, 57–70, 74, 82–84, 138, 139, 142, 143 Diyarbakır, 14 Diyarbakır-Hilar, 14 Doline, 14 Double-apse, 53, 54, 79, 80 Double-barrelled, 79 Double-nave, 80, 87, 100, 107, 108, 110 Dovecotes, 2, 15, 19, 20, 29, 31, 34, 48–50, 53, 55, 60, 64, 69, 76–78, 83, 89, 92, 97, 101, 125, 148–150, 153, 155, 156 Drina, 122 Dromos, 146, 151 Dülük, 14 E Ecemiş, 11 Edirne, 121 Elaiussa-Sebaste, 148 Eleousa, 94 Elizabeth, 94 Eocene, 10, 30 Erciyes, 6–8, 10, 23 Erdemli, 29 Erkilet, 7, 8, 11, 147 Eskişehir, 14 Euphrates, 15, 21, 30, 31, 151 Eurasian, 5 Europe, 11 Extramural, 153

Index F Filiktepe, 133 Frescoes, 16, 20, 21, 24, 29, 75, 78, 81, 86, 87, 89, 93–95, 97, 99, 102, 104, 110, 111, 155 G Galatia, 105 Galatians, 105 Garipler, 147 Gaziantep, 15, 17, 30, 31 Gaziantep-Dülük, 14 Georgia, 16, 21 Gesi, 11, 29, 32, 44, 67 Geyikli, 141 Gilaburu, 35, 79–81, 110, 142 Ginosa, 44 Gödet, 15, 17, 23, 65 Golgoli, 31 Gomeda, 67 Gordion, 152 Göreme, 16, 22, 32, 66, 67, 75, 77, 78, 141, 143, 144, 155 Görmis, 90, 141, 142 Gospel, 94 Göstesin, 133 Graves, 17, 51, 61, 75, 79, 81, 97, 99, 103, 137–142, 145–148, 151–153 Greece, 21, 44, 153 Gülşehir, 19 Güvercinlik, 31, 67 Güzelöz, 29 H Hacınebi, 151 Halfeti, 15, 17, 31 Halys, 18, 21, 22 Hanköy, 107 Hasandağı, 10 Hasankeyf, 15, 17 Hasanlar, 17 Hassek, 151 Hatti, 18, 151 Hattian, 26, 151, 155 Hauqal, I., 22 Haynes, J.H., 24, 25, 107, 144 Hellenistic, 12, 18, 29, 142, 143, 145, 147, 152 Herakleios, 131 Herodotus, 18, 21, 26, 152 Hierapolis, 105 Hilar, 14 Hittite, 18, 151–153

165 Höhlenstein, 12 Holocene, 7, 8, 10 Homo antecessor, 1 Homo erectus, 1 Homo heidelbergensis, 1 Homo Neanderthalensis, 1, 12 Homo sapiens, 1, 2, 11–13 Horseshoe apse, 61, 75, 79, 82, 83, 85, 90, 94, 99 Hromgla, 15 Hypapante, 94 I Ignimbrites, 7, 8, 117 Ihlara, 25, 66, 141 İncesu, 8 Inler, 140 Intramural, 17, 151, 153 Ispıdın, 64, 74, 78, 87, 92–106, 110, 142 Istanbul, 29, 30, 121 J Jerphanion, G. de, 24, 25, 29, 109 Jerusalem, 105 Jesuit, 24 K Kadıini, 12 Kaletepe, 16 Kandovan, 44 Kanlıhöyük, 84 Karaburna, 133 Karain, 12 Karaman, 15 Karez, 30 Karlık, 143 Kars, 15 Kaunos, 14 Kavlaktepe, 132 Kaymaklı, 114, 130 Kaynarca, 146 Kayseri, 2, 3, 5–7, 9–11, 18, 19, 23, 26–35, 44, 48, 65, 67, 73, 94, 110, 113, 114, 117, 119, 145–147, 155, 156 Keçiboyunduran, 7 Keklicek, 143 Khalifa, 131 Kılıçlar, 67 Kilistra, 14 Kırık, 107 Kırkmerdiven, 119

166 Kırşehir, 26, 113 Kışla, 17 Kızılçukur, 67 Kızılırmak, 22 Kline, 14, 19, 29, 142, 145, 146 Koimesis, 94 Komana, 107 Kömürcü, 17 Konya, 14 Kültepe, 17, 18, 140 Kura, 16, 17 Kurtderesi, 143 L Lascaux, 12 Lazarus, 94 Leo, 21 Limestone, 10, 14, 15, 19, 30, 32 Livas, 30 Loess, 13 Loire, 44 Lucas, P., 22, 27, 77, 78, 128 Lydia, 133, 152 M Malatya, 73, 151 Manazan, 15 Mantzikert, 132 Mao, 13 Marcus, 105 Mardin, 14 Mary, 22, 94 Maslama, 131 Masraffa, 44 Matera, 44 Mausoleum, 107, 138, 152 Mazaca, 18, 26, 155 Mazıköy, 19, 143 Melendiz, 6, 66 Melitene, 73, 105, 132 Mercurius, 31, 79, 127, 132 Meskendir, 67 Midas, 152 Midyat, 14 Miletus, 21 Millstone, 3, 19, 33, 45, 47, 49, 50, 53, 58, 60, 61, 63, 68, 79, 85, 114–117, 119, 123, 125, 126, 128, 129, 132, 133 Miocene, 5, 7, 10 Mokisos, 18 Monastery, 15, 19, 20, 30, 31, 51, 74, 77, 78, 106, 128, 141, 156

Index Muawiya, 131 Mugharet, 12 Myra, 14 N Naos, 83, 85, 86, 88, 97, 101 Narthex, 75, 83, 85, 86, 94, 97, 99, 102, 141 Nave, 54, 55, 81–83, 85, 87, 94, 96, 99–101, 103, 108–110, 141 Nazianzus, 73, 106 Necropolis, 50, 138 Neogene, 6 Neo-Hittite, 133 Nevşehir, 7, 16–19, 23, 26, 31, 65, 66, 113, 155 Niaux, 12 Niğde, 16, 17, 26, 113 Nikephoros, 21 Nize, 32, 44 Nyssa, 73 O Olba, 148 Oligo-Miocene, 10 Ophiolits, 10 Orogenic, 5 Ortahisar, 19, 107 Orthodox, 106 Ottoman, 27, 30, 33, 35, 49, 58, 74, 78, 82, 92, 114, 121 Oymalı, 132, 133 P Paleolithic, 11, 12, 16, 17, 137, 151 Parekklesion, 85, 86, 109 Peristrema, 25, 66, 67, 109 Persia, 30 Phrygia, 105 Phrygian, 14, 15, 17, 132, 133, 145, 146, 152 Pithos, 140–141, 151–153 Prothesis, 86, 96 Pteria, 21 Pyroclastic, 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 32, 44, 65 Q Qafzeh, 12 Qanat, 30 Qastels, 30 Qesem, 12

Index R Redoubt, 115 Refectory, 76–78, 127, 128 Rochemenier, 44 Rock-dwelling, 14, 16, 44, 79, 155 Rome, 148, 153 S Sandstone, 44 Santorini, 44 Sapiens, 11–13 Şar, 107 Saragossa, 44 Sarcophagus, 86, 138, 152 Sardinia, 151 Sardis, 21, 152 Sasanian, 131 Saumur, 44 Scythian, 132 Sebasteia, 34, 132 Selime, 66 Selimiye, 121 Seljuk, 35, 132, 138 Shaft grave, 151 Shalmaneser, 12 Shkul, 12 Sigmata, 77 Sille, 14 Simeon, 27 Sinan, 78, 121–126 Single-nave, 74, 79, 85, 107, 108, 110, 141 Sivas, 34 Sivasa, 133 Sivridağ, 32 Skopi, 74 Sobesos, 18 Sofular, 17 Soğanlı, 29, 109, 141 Spain, 12, 44 Sterkfontein, 12 Strabo, 8, 10, 18, 21, 26, 155 Stratovolcanoes, 10 Subaşı, 64, 74–78, 85, 110, 119–121, 141, 142 Süleymaniye, 121 Sultan Sazlığı, 10, 11 Suvermez, 17 T Tabal, 132 Tarsus, 105

167 Tatlarin, 31, 141 Taurides, 5 Tazkirat-al-Abniya, 121 Tchihatcheff, P. De, 15, 23 Tectonics, 11 Telmessos, 14 Templum, 143 Tepebağları, 17 Tephrostratigraphic, 17 Terece, 143 Texier, C., 22, 23, 27, 28 Thales, 21 Tiglath, 12 Tigris, 15 Tomarza, 107 Tombs, 2, 14, 18–20, 29, 32, 34, 45, 48, 50, 55, 121, 137, 138, 141–147, 151–153, 156 Topada, 133 Topakhöyük, 17 Topkapı, 29 Transept, 99, 108 Trapeza, 77, 78, 127, 128 Troglodyte, 2, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20–22, 44, 60, 65, 69, 70 Tumulus, 145–147, 152, 153, 156 Turkey, 2, 5, 10, 12, 14–20, 26, 30, 31, 35, 44, 60, 109, 114, 130, 156 Tyana, 18, 26 U Uçhisar, 19, 23–25 UNESCO, 2, 16, 30, 34, 122, 156 Ürgüp, 8, 16, 22, 23, 26, 32, 155 Üskübü, 33, 74 Üzümlü, 107 V Van, 16 Vekse, 33, 35, 61–64, 70, 74, 78, 84–93, 99, 108, 133, 138, 141, 142, 146–149 Velibaba, 8 Viburnum, 35 Vietnam, 19, 113 Visegrad, 122 Volcanoes, 7, 9, 10 W Warehouses, 18, 19, 32, 60, 62, 114–117, 123, 124, 143

168 X Xenophon, 21 Y Yahyalı, 29, 143 Yan'an, 13 Yanarlar, 152 Yaodong, 13 Yassıhöyük, 17 Yassıkaya, 12 Yeniköy, 19

Index Yenipınar, H., 130 Yeşilhisar, 11 Yılanlıdağ, 147 Yozgat, 26, 113 Z Zelve, 13, 66, 107 Zemi, 67 Zhoukoudian, 12 Zindan, 12