Hewing the rock formations in Cappadocia has possibly been an activity that has been executed of necessity by human beings from earliest times. First of all, the lack of wood in the natural surround and the frequent earth- quakes that have shaken the area would have urged the inhabitants of Cappadocia experiencing the need for a sound shelter to carry on their daily activities to take refuge in the stone blocks.

The fresco that portrays the eruption of Hasan Dağı, which the British archeologist James Mellaart recovered at Çataltumulus and which is regarded as the first landscape depiction, has been dated by Carbon 14 to 5734 B.C.; from that date onwards, both the mountains of Erciyes and Hasan and, especially in that epoch, the small-scale local volcanoes on the Nevşehir plateau constituted unpredictable and unavoidable hazards for the regional inhabitants.

These eruptions of volcanic activity continued with close frequency in Central Anatolia until ca. 2000 B.C.; in fact Michel Thierry has indicated that the depictions  of  erupting volcanoes  on Roman  coins  found on the Cappadocian plateau represent Mount Erciyes.  The people of the region, which was sanctified by its mountains, believed that a giant monster occupied the depths of the volcano and that this monster spewed lava and hurled stones, and they have left depictions of this.  In a Hittite rock relief at Imamkulu from the thirteenth century, the forms of three mountain gods have been drawn. A tunnel that has been discovered, which was excavated for the purpose of sanctifying the mountain cult at the peak of Mount Erciyes, demonstrates how intensely volcanic activity occupied the thoughts of the people of the region.

The earthquakes and fires that occurred as a consequence of volcanic eruptions continued until the Hellenistic period (323-17 B.C.). Strabon cautions that there were fires beneath the earth in certain areas in the proximity of Mount Erciyes and that it constituted a hazard for the most of the people in this area, particularly for the cattle, and that it was necessary to be vigilant against the danger of falling into the fire wells below the surface of the earth. Moreover, he notes that fires were visible in this region after darkfall.

Mount Erciyes, in particular, due to its frequent spews of flames posed a constant threat to the local residents throughout history; for the neolithic house of sunbaked brick, which had supporting posts of wood and whose roof was of packed earth, could be easily overturned.For example, the Italians, who initiated their excavations at the Topaklı tumulus in 1967, ascertained in the third level below the cultural strata dating from the late fifth century to the middle of the seventh century, of the Roman and Hellenistic periods (first century B.C. to first century A.D.), that in almost the settlements of these four structural levels emerged evidence of earthquakes and fires. The fourth level settlement was terminated by a violent fire and the fifth level revealed the bodies of two elderly human beings who were caught in the act of an attempt to ward off something descending upon them and the two tortured bodies of young people clearly express the terrors of an earthquake.

As a result, these geological events urged the people of Cappadocia to take shelter in the rocky formations and to produce these spatial units. But finding an answer to the question of when these spaces were first created is difficult. The archeologist Ö.Yörükoğlu indicates that when a comparison is made between the underground dwellings and the way of life developed in parallel with them and the houses of the Neolithic era they exhibit a strong similarity; just as with the inhabitants of the dwellings in the early settlements, 400 different examples of houses in the underground settlements were built on the same plan in an attached fashion and the entrances and exits were secured through the roof.

This hypothesis suggests that underground settlements were one of the oldest residential units for the inhabitants of Cappadocia. In the eras when the construction techniques of the houses of early human beings were still primitive, so that the houses lacked sufficient soundness to resist the natural disasters of earthquake and fire, the hewing of houses out of rock provided sound, unshakeable, fire resistant houses that maintained a temperature, stable in both winter and summer. In other words, they appear to have been the ideal and the most secure structure. In the rock-hewn spaces and the underground cities no evidence of any natural disaster, frost, rain or the damages of earthquake is visible. These spatial units constituted a perfect foil against the natural harshness of the Cappadocian region, where few trees grew and the summers were very hot and the winters very cold.

Generally, such structures were built on the tops of mountains or their slopes situated in spots providing security and defense. Thus, human life was protected from dangers, which enabled them to pursue life in tranquillity.  The interior space and its divisions of the fairly large underground areas occupied by the subterranean cities exhibit a parallel with each other from the perspective of being multifunctional in nature. The underground cities, therefore, sometimes give the startling impression of being living quarters that have been reproduced on a gigantic scale; such cities whose spaces have been carved out of rock leave no clues concerning their age. The time epochs during which the rocks were carved are buried in historical darkness.

The fact that the underground cities were multifunctional in character and were organized to meet all kinds of need, it is unknowable under which special conditions and demands they were created, which obviates the dating of these structures, and we are hindered in comprehending why they were created.For instance, the matter is complicated by the fact that they were equally convenient for purposes of continuous or temporary residence or emergency seclusion.These spatial units generally had no toilet facilities-with the exception of the underground cities of Tarlarin and Güzelyurt. Under the circumstances, this lends weight to the possibility that they were utilized for the purpose of going into hiding for defensive purposes.  We might posit that they each represent a "spare" city that acted as a temporary life insurance policy against life-threatening events encountered on the surface of the earth.

The constant enlarging of the underground cities and the effects of permanent residence and because succeeding civilizations have effaced the traces of those that preceded them makes it difficult to assign corresponding time phases.  The oldest levels are the entrance levels. Excavations into subterranean cities began in 1964-65, when the view was widespread that they were used by Christians for hiding. The weak aspect of this concept was that it concentrated on dating the construction of the underground cities to the Christian era while the previous eras were kept at a remove from the conceptual framework.

The recovery of a statue of a hawk eagle belonging to the Hittites in the Derinkuyu underground city, however, demonstrates that these settlements extend to a very distant past. Taking that as a starting point and tracing the historical strata, we were able to determine that the underground spaces were also used in the Phrygian period. At Tyana in the environs of Niğde, two Phrygian inscriptions exist containing the name "Mida;" of greater significance than the contents, however, is the fact that one of the inscriptions was carved on a round door stone.  Similarly, a square worship space belonging to the Phrygian period is located at the entrance of the under- ground city Mazıköy, and this temple contains signs indicating that it was dedicated to the goddess Kybele.

Historical soundings confirm that these underground areas were in use in a continuous manner.The most detailed information associated with the subterranean spaces belongs to the fifth century B.C.Historical evidence confirms that they were iri existence in 401 B.C. For example, Xenophon tours one such city in Cappadocia in 401 B.C. and states that "...the houses were underground and the doors were each like the mouth of a well-a nar- row outer surface beyond which its circumference is enlarged. Paths had been excavated for the use of livestock, but the human inhabitants used step ladders.Goats, sheep, câttle and fowl jointly occupied the dwellings with the children. A great quantity of wheat, barley, dried vegetables and barley wine was stored. The wine was kept in earthenware vessels, on the surface of which grains of barley were floating....This drink was too strong unless it was diluted with water.  Its taste was quite pleasant once you became accustomed to it....”What is of interest here is that Xenophon provides detailed information about the interiors of the underground dwellings and  that the people of the region were found beneath the surface of the earth at the time of a pillaging raid by Spartan irregulars and mercenary Greek soldiers. It displays the importance of these dwellings for security and defense.

In conclusion, we might inquire whether the cities on the face of the earth were built above the underground cities or whether the underground cities were hewed out of the living rock beneath the cities on the surface above or whether their construction was contemporaneous?At present no answer is forthcoming.But, currently, our interest is piqued by the knowledge that underneath or in proximity to each of the settlement areas in Cappadocia lies a subterranean city.

But, the real danger on the Nevşehir plateau was its own geopolitical position rather than any natural disaster.  In Ramsey's words, it represented a frontier between the East and the West and a region where the spirits of the East and the West came into collision and where their respective cultures made an encounter.Consequently, Anatolia was the scene of continuous warfare and military troops were constantly on the move from east to west and from west to east to conduct warfare. The dusty roads of Cappadocia were therefore witness to very swift raids and invasions and the local inhabitants hid themselves in the underground cities to defend their lives and protect their property.

Such a practice had be implemented from the time of the coming to Anatolia  of  the  Thracians  and  continued  with  the  Scythians,  the Achaemenids, the Macedonians and the Turks, among others. Coins, for example, from the reigns of Hadrian ( 117-38 A.D.) and Justinian II (565-78 A.D.) and artefacts from other similar civilizations have been recovered from various levels of the underground cities. From the seventh and eighth centuries onwards, attacks by the Arabs were increasing in intensity.

The Arabs called the underground cities “Matamir.”  Rather than conquer the Cappadocian region, they hoped to seize the wealth of the region in the form of wheat, barley, slaves and livestock and, for this reason, they orga- nized swift assaults.According to the Arab chroniclers, a number of matamir were also captured during these raids; for instance, Yakubi reports that El-Mamun seized many matamir.Tabari also relates that Gaffar ebu Dinar conquered the citadels and matamirs on the Nevşehir plateau in the year 863-64. In the tenth and subsequent centuries, references to matamirs increase in number in the Arab sources; Masu'di informs us that another underground city was seized in the fifth Byzantine province “Al-Q,abadug,” where the Cappadocians kept their stores of wheat. Among the Arab chroniclers,  Ibn  Hurdadbeh  makes the  most  intriguing definition  of  the “Underground Land or Land of Subterranean Cities” and names the following cities as underground settlements: Magida (Niğde), Balansa, Malandasa (Melendiz),  Koumla,  Malakouba  (Derinkuyu),  Badala,  Barnawa  and Salamoun.

In times of war, the underground cities were utilized by the local inhabitants and even as fortresses by military garrisons.  Further, N. Thierry's research indicates that these cities were situated on the Byzantine military lines.  Nicephor Phocas in reference to the military strategical elements of the Cappadocian region states that special observer units were stationed to  south of the great Karahöyük and the subterranean settlements of the tumuli that are visible 500 meters east of the underground village of Ören associated with the village of Yeşilöz that lies on the Avanos-Gülşehir road.

In the Derinkuyu underground city, the transition from the first level to the second level is linked by a corridor with a stone door. The entrance to the first floor exhibits no resemblance to the other floors, because it possesses no similar system. It opens directly to the outside and displays characteristics that differ from those observed in the Roman Byzantine periods.  Our attention is drawn by the late Hittite rock inscriptions that appear in the vicinity of the underground cities in these and even earlier periods.The aim of constructing these underground cities was to provide temporary shelter for the local inhabitants in the face of hostile elements of all kinds. Once the danger had passed, a return was made to normal life on the surface. In the flow of history, the Cappadocian region was constantly under threat of various kinds of assaults, and the local inhabitants constructed these kinds of places, which are unique and have no equal in the world. From every house on the surface, a secret passage led to openings in the earth that provided temporary refuge in the underground city in times of danger.

Regardless of whether the underground cities were built for military, civilian or defensive purposes, the reason for their existence requires a simultaneous search for both the associated data and events that have vanished in the depths of history.