Aydıntepe Underground City: Rock-Cut Galleries Under a Town

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1. What is Aydıntepe Underground City?
2. How do you get to Aydıntepe Underground City?
3. When is the best time to visit Aydıntepe Underground City?
4. What is the history of Aydıntepe Underground City?
5. What is Aydıntepe Underground City famous for?
6. What can you see at Aydıntepe Underground City?
7. Common misconceptions about Aydıntepe Underground City
8. Frequently asked questions about Aydıntepe Underground City
9. What do the official records say about Aydıntepe Underground City?

What is Aydıntepe Underground City?

Aydıntepe Underground City (Aydıntepe Yeraltı Şehri) is a set of tunnels and rooms cut into soft volcanic tuff beneath the houses, shops and streets of Aydıntepe, a small district town in Bayburt province. The 2002 inventory describes galleries reaching 2–2.5 m below the surface, carved into the bedrock without any other building material, with vaulted rooms and larger spaces onto which those rooms open.

It is much smaller and shallower than the multi-level underground cities of Cappadocia. The corridors are generally 1–1.5 m wide and 2–2.5 m high, so most adults can walk upright.

How do you get to Aydıntepe Underground City?

The entrance is in the centre of Aydıntepe town, which is linked to Bayburt by road. The simplest way to visit is by car or taxi from Bayburt; ask in town for the entrance if it is not signposted. Bayburt itself is about an hour and a half by road from Erzurum Airport.

Combine it with Bayburt Castle and, in July, with the Aydıntepe yayla, where the Dede Korkut festival has held its closing concert and bard contests.

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When is the best time to visit Aydıntepe Underground City?

The galleries stay at a steady, cool temperature all year, so the season matters more for the drive. Late spring to early autumn is easiest. Summer weekends are the busiest time; press reports in 2019 put visitor numbers at 25,000 to 50,000 a year.

The site has had problems with water and with modern additions, and specialists have argued that it can only be visited safely once drainage is improved and conservation work is done. Check with the Aydıntepe district authorities that it is open before making the trip.

What is the history of Aydıntepe Underground City?

Nobody knows exactly who dug it or when. The KÜRE encyclopedia, summarising the research, says it was probably built in the 3rd century AD, but that this is uncertain. Some researchers have suggested that early Christians hid here before the Edict of Milan of 313; others connect it with the nearby ancient city of Halde. It may have been reused from the late Roman to the middle Byzantine period, perhaps as a refuge during Sasanian raids between the 4th and 7th centuries.

The underground city came to light by chance during building work in the town. The Erzurum Museum Directorate carried out limited excavation and cleaning in 1989–1990 and in 1997, when Bayburt’s finds were still administered from Erzurum, and the galleries were opened to visitors. A survey in 2022 documented a section about 580 m long. Local accounts claim the tunnels continue much further, even as far as Bayburt Castle, but this has not been shown.

What is Aydıntepe Underground City famous for?

• Rock-cut construction. Every gallery and room is carved directly into the tuff, without walls or added materials.
• Walkable galleries. At 2–2.5 m high, the corridors are more comfortable than the cramped tunnels of many underground sites.
• Mystery. Its date and purpose are still debated, which keeps it in the Turkish press.

What can you see at Aydıntepe Underground City?

The galleries. Long corridors, generally 1–1.5 m wide, cut through the rock just below the town’s streets.

The vaulted rooms. Rooms with barrel-vaulted ceilings open off the galleries. Some are about 3 by 8 m in plan.

The larger halls. Wider spaces onto which several rooms open.

Common misconceptions about Aydıntepe Underground City

Is Aydıntepe Underground City 3,000 years old?

What people often assume: Turkish news reports often describe it as a “3,000-year-old underground city”.

What the record says: The research does not support that figure. Research summarised by the KÜRE encyclopedia places its construction probably in the 3rd century AD, with possible reuse into the Byzantine period, while noting that even this date is uncertain (KÜRE encyclopedia).

Frequently asked questions about Aydıntepe Underground City

What do the official records say about Aydıntepe Underground City?

The city, located in Bayburt’s Aydıntepe district, consists of galleries carved into the tuff, descending 2–2.5 m below the surface and cut into the bedrock without the use of any other building material, of vaulted rooms, and of larger spaces onto which these rooms open. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bayburt Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)

The inventory adds that the mounds of the province have been declared archaeological sites but not excavated, and that finds from the excavations at Çiftetaş-II hill in 1993–95 were then displayed in the Bayburt section of the Erzurum Archaeology Museum. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bayburt Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)