Archaeological site · Camii Kebir Mahallesi, Kaymaklı, Nevşehir Merkez, Nevşehir

Kaymaklı Underground City

Name: Kaymaklı Underground City
Address: Camii Kebir Mahallesi, Nevşehir, Turkey

Kaymaklı Yeraltı Şehri

A Ministry-run underground settlement in Kaymaklı, Nevşehir, carved into volcanic tuff. The Ministry has opened four of its recorded eight levels to visitors since 1964, and it is a listed component of the Göreme National Park and Rock Sites of Cappadocia UNESCO property.

A carved underground chamber at Kaymaklı Underground City, Cappadocia, showing rock-hewn passageways, a circular stone door, and modern lighting and safety grates. — An interior chamber of Kaymaklı Underground City. · Photo: Nevit Dilmen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Where it is

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38.4600, 34.7523

Why go

Kaymaklı Underground City is in the Kaymaklı neighbourhood of Nevşehir Merkez district, about 20 km from Nevşehir, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The Ministry states the settlement was carved downward into soft tuff for shelter and describes narrow, low, sloping passages that differ from Derinkuyu's plan; it records eight levels in total, of which four are lit and open. The Ministry lists stables on the first level, a church with an altar and seating on the second, kitchens, storage rooms, wineries and a relief-carved andesite grinding stone on the third, and storage jars on the fourth. It attributes the settlements' large stone doors, which could be closed from inside, to defence, and their narrow galleries to slowing an intruder's advance. UNESCO's inscribed property Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia (1985) lists the subterranean city of Kaymaklı as one of its seven components.

Getting there

The Ministry gives the address as Camii Kebir Mahallesi, Eşref Ayhan Caddesi No:46, Kaymaklı, about 20 km from Nevşehir. It does not publish separate coordinates for parking, a ticket booth or the cave entrance itself.

Best time to visit

The Ministry does not name a best season for this site. See the Cappadocia destination record for the region's official climate figures.

Through the year

Operating hours change with the season: 20:00 closing from 1 May to 1 October 2026 under the Ministry's tourism-season extension, and a shorter winter schedule from 1 October according to an operator-portal listing (not the Ministry's own page, which still showed the extended hours on the day read). The underground passages are not exposed to weather, but access to the surface entrance and any queuing area could be. No official statement on this was found.

Safety

The Ministry describes low, narrow, sloping passages and does not publish a safety notice for the pages read. Move carefully on slopes and steps and mind your head in low sections.

Accessibility

The Ministry's own description calls Kaymaklı's passages narrow, low and sloping ('dar ve eğimli geçitler'), which distinguishes it from Derinkuyu. It publishes nothing on stroller or wheelchair access, handrails, lighting levels away from the main route, or a suitable age. Confirm with the operator before visiting with a stroller, a wheelchair, or anyone who finds confined spaces difficult.

Visiting

Type: Archaeological site
Where: Camii Kebir Mahallesi, Kaymaklı, Nevşehir Merkez, Nevşehir
Time needed: The Ministry does not state how long a visit takes.
Opening: The Ministry's muze.gov.tr page, read 22 September 2026, gives 08:00 to 20:00, open every day, with no closed days stated. The Ministry's 2026 tourism-season announcement extended this closing time to 20:00 for 1 May to 1 October 2026; its turkishmuseums.com listing gives a regular schedule of 08:00–19:00 (1 April–1 October, box office 18:15) and 08:00–17:00 (1 October–1 April, box office 16:15), so confirm the hours after 1 October on muze.gov.tr. Kaymaklı is not on the Ministry's 2026 night-museum list (only Derinkuyu is, in Nevşehir). The site is not on the Ministry's list of temporarily closed museums and units read the same day.
Cost: Admission and any Müzekart rules are set by the Ministry; check current prices on muze.gov.tr.
Parking: The Ministry's turkishmuseums.com listing shows car parking, a shop and toilets. Their exact location is not published.
Best for: Travellers who want to see how a Cappadocian underground refuge city was laid out, with its stables, church, kitchens and storage rooms, in one of the region's most completely opened examples.
Not ideal for: Visitors who are uncomfortable in confined, low, sloping passages, or who need a stroller or wheelchair route: the Ministry does not describe the passages as accessible and its own wording emphasises how narrow and low they are.

Details last verified 2026-09-22. Conditions change — check locally before setting out.

Base yourself nearby

Region

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a region of central Türkiye, mostly in Nevşehir Province, where volcanic tuff has eroded into valleys and rock pinnacles known as fairy chimneys. People cut churches, dwellings and whole underground settlements into the rock from about the 4th century. UNESCO inscribed Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia in 1985; the property includes the underground cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu. Three Ministry-run sites anchor a first visit: the Göreme Open Air Museum, Kaymaklı Underground City and the Zelve-Paşabağları site.

Near Kaymaklı Underground City

Related guides

Göreme, Kaymaklı and Zelve: Cappadocia's open-air museums and underground city, explained
Göreme Open Air Museum, Kaymaklı Underground City and Zelve Open Air Museum sit within the same part of Cappadocia but are three genuinely different kinds of site: a museum of painted rock-cut churches, an underground refuge city, and an evacuated village valley. This guide sets out what the Ministry of Culture and Tourism publishes on each — hours, tickets, closures and what tells them apart — including why Göreme and Zelve, despite the similar name, are not the same place.