Underground Cities- the Caves

This is called pigeon canyon because the whole canyon was devoted to pigeons. They made these little homes for the pigeons up on the rocks. If you look closely you will see ledges where they could stand because they would collect the poop and use it for fertilizer for their crops. Some continue to use this a bit still.

Taking a break at the end of the hike for a little water and a little rest. These people are awesome. We loved being with them. F. ElderCasey & Sister Mariln Abney; 2. Du, Sister Jenette & Elder Les Paskett; 3. Sandy

If you look at this picture closely you will see it is a diagram of the underground city we are visiting. You can see the top layer above ground and then all the tunnels and living areas under the ground. They would hide in here when attackers were present. They say there are over 300 underground cities in this area and would house about 1000 each. There are stables, kitchens, living areas, etc. Of course they have put in lights for the tourists. There water would come from below at the water table and they would bring it up, so there was no need to come above ground during stressful times. The temperature is the same year round.

We are in one of the underground rooms. From left to right there is Les Paskett, Casey Abney, Janette Paskett, guide-Aleul, and Sandy

To seal themselves in so no one could enter, they carved these massive stones that remained in the walls as they carved them. When rolled across the door entrance they were unmovable from the outer areas. It took a great of effort to roll it away when they wanted to move it. I weighs about 2 tons.


We are entering one of the downward tunnels here. The area to the right is a storage room. They also made wine in here and kept huge pottery vessels full of wine.