Cappadocia

In Cappadocia, nature and history comes hand in hand to form one of the most beautiful scenes of the world. While wind and water formed the fairy chimneys (Peri Bacalari) in thousands of years, humanity built thousands of years old civilizations with carving houses and churches within these rocky pillars and decorating them with beautiful frisks. Cappadocia was derived from Katpatuka, which means "the land of beautiful horses" in the Hittite language. The name was first seen on the records on the 6th century BC. According to Herodotus, Persians called Cappadocia Katpatuka while the Greeks called Cappadocia as Syrians.

According to the Antic Period writer Strabon, in his 17 volume book Geographika, the Cappadocia Region was lying between the Black Sea coast at north, Taurus Mountains at south, Aksaray at west and Malatya at east during the Roman Emperor Augustus. Today the Cappadocia Region is the area covered by the cities of Nevsehir, Aksaray, Nigde, Kayseri, and Kirsehir. The touristic area of Cappadocia, the rocky Cappadocian Region is composed of Goreme, Uchisar, Avanos, Urgup, Derinkuyu, Kaymakli and the Ihlara Gorge.

Traditional houses and churches carved into stones in Cappadocia are showing the uniqueness of the region. These houses were constructed on the feet of the mountains by rocks or cut stones. Being the only construction material of the region, rock, can be easily processed (because of its soft form) but after contact with air it hardens and turns into a strong construction material. Due to being plentiful and easy to process of the used material, regional unique masonry is developed and turned into an architectural tradition. Materials of neither courtyard nor house doors is wood. Upper parts of the doors built with arches are decorated with stylized ivy or rosette motifs.

Caves within the region are small structures constructed within 18th century and end of 19th century. Some of the caves, which are important for showing Islamic picture art are constructed as monastery or church. Surfaces of caves are decorated with rich inscriptions and adornments by regional artists.

The must see places in Cappadocia are the Fairy Chimneys, Goreme Open Air Museum and rock churches, underground cities of Kaymakli, Derinkuyu or Ozkonak, Zelve Valley and Pasabag, Avanos with its pottery and carpets, Uchisar rock fortress, Ortahisar rock fortress, Urgup, Ihlara Gorge, Soganli, Sinasos and Hacibektas. Urgup Museum at Cappadocia region, opened in 1971, contains pieces of art from the Prehistorical, Ancient Bronze Age, Hittite, Frig and Persian periods. The museum contains an etnographic section.

The St. Theodore's Church with its famous T-Shape is located about 15 km southeast of Urgup. It is possible to see the arts gallery in the upper floor by a ladder making the church unique in the Cappadocia Region. Scenes depicted on the walls of the St. Theodore's Church include the prophets, Christ and the angels Michael and Gabriel.

Cappadocia can be reached by bus from Istanbul (11 hrs), Ankara (5hrs), Antalya(10 hrs) or by plane from Istanbul (2 times a week) to Nevsehir Airport. There are various hotels and pensions for accommodation in the Cappadocia Region.