Today we take our first excursion in Cappadocia. We will see an underground city, visit a local winery, have a panoramic view of a Greek city , have lunch in a cave restaurant and watch a pottery demonstration, visit Pasabagi or Monks Valley with its mushroom shaped fairy-chimneys, drive through Devrent Valley with animal shaped fairy-chimenys, and stop for a picture at the family fairy-chimneys in Urgup. In my photo you can see an image from Kaymakli underground city. This is a rock-cut underground city in seven levels. It is believed that it was excavated by the Hittites and was in use in early Christian times as a shelter against Arab raids and religious persecutions, sometime between the sixth and the eighth centuries. It is estimated that this underground city had a capacity of 20,000 people and also their animals. In the underground cities you can see on each level rooms that serve a purpose like store rooms, kitchens, livestock pens, churches. The entrance of each level was closed from the inside by a round rock which was impossible to open from outside. The church in Kaymakli underground city is on the first level and has an altar in the center. The cross motif on the wall was engraved during the Byzantine Period.There are tunnels to link this city to other underground cities like Derinkuyu.