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Cappadocia is located in Central Turkey inside the
triangle of Aksaray, Kayseri and Nigde.
Cappadocia's lunar landscape was formed from a
vast volcanic plateau created millions of years
ago by the eruptions of Mt. Erciyes (3916m) and Mt.
Hasan (3268m).The forces of erosion and wind
shaped the tuff (volcanic ash) into fantastic
shapes cones, pyramids, columns, mushrooms,
animals etc.) known as "Peribacalar" or "Fairy
Chimneys" and sculpted out breathtaking valleys.
Steep canyons of |
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andesite and basalt join these valleys to the
plateau. Soganli and Ihlara are canyons in this
mold, attaining a depth of 200m in places.
Cappadocia was already settled in ancient times.
Neolithic settlements discovered at Hacilar,
Canhasan and Catalhoyuk date back as far as ten
thousand years! Sometime around 1900 B.C. a folk
arrived in the land of the Hatti. They called
themselves the Hittites. Because of the Hittites,
who were excellent breeders and trainers of horses,
the area became known as "Katpatuka" or "Land of
the Beautiful Horses". Near here you can visit the
Hittite cities of Hattusas, Alacahoyuk, Yazilikaya
and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
(Ankara).
Early Christians seeking refuge from the world's
distractions in wild remote areas, came here to
pray, fast and to do penance. In the 4th century
A.D., three prominent Cappadocian saints made the
area one of the earliest major centers of
Christian religious life in the world. They were
St. Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus (Nigde)
and Gregory of Nyssa (Nevsehir). There are
estimates of more than one thousand churches,
chapels and monasteries cut into the rock, nearly
150 of which have original frescoes or mural
paintings. The largest concentration is found near
Goreme, Urgup, Ortahisar, Soganli and Ihlara
Valley. Sometimes the only way to really discover
them is on foot. To see all the mysterious valleys,
churches and rock dwellings in Cappadocia would
take months, years and maybe a lifetime would not
be enough.
During the 7th century Cappadocia was a
battlefield of Arab-Byzantine confrontation. The
Early Christians and others began taking refuge in
underground cities originally carved thousands of
years ago, by people whose origins are still
unclear. They re-developed ingenious defense
systems such as stone doors in the shape of a
millstone which could be rolled across an entrance
to seal out intruders, wells that could not be
accessed from above ground, and labyrinth escape
routes. There are more than thirty underground
cities in Cappadocia, some of which may be visited
by the public. Here also, the Seljuk Turks left
behind a legacy in the excellent architecture of
the caravanserais on the Old Silk Road.
Cappadocia is a wonder of nature and man, unique
in its history at the crossroads of civilization.
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