The Derinkuyu underground city (Cappadocian Greek: Μαλακοπή / Malakopi; Turkish: Derinkuyu Yeraltı Şehri) is an ancient multi-level underground city of the Median Empire in the Derinkuyu district in Nevşehir Province, Turkey, extending to a depth of approximately 85 metres (280 ft). It is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20,000 people together with their livestock and food stores. It is the largest excavated underground city in Turkey and is one of several underground complexes found throughout Cappadocia. read more…
Istanbul, historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province (municipality) had 14.4 million people living in it, which is 18% of Turkey’s population and the 2nd largest metropolitan area in Europe (including the Asian side of the city) after London and Moscow. The city in its administrative limits had 8.8 million residents counted in the latest Turkish census from 2000. Istanbul is a megacity, as well as the cultural, economic, and financial centre of Turkey. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. Istanbul is a designated alpha world city. read more…