Ersele Underground City
Massive underground complex near Ozancık village in Ortaköy district, Aksaray Province, also referred to locally as Ozancık Underground City. The complex spans approximately 2.5 km² with seven separate entrances and is documented as five levels deep. Includes 22 preservation pits, water channels, wells, and dedicated rooms for cheese and wine production. Significantly larger than most published references suggest and remains under-investigated relative to its scale. A Bronze Age mound (Ozancık Höyük, ~100 m diameter) sits adjacent on the surface above. Conventional reading : Byzantine-era defensive refuge consistent with the broader Cappadocian underground-city tradition. Independent reading : the tool-mark patterns, the chamber design (welcoming entrances inconsistent with a hiding place), and the relationship between the underground complex and the surface mound point to a much older substrate predating the regional defensive-refuge interpretation.
Walkthrough videos (1)
Ersele Underground CityAgeless Rock