Star of the East: Roadtrip: Cappadocia

On our way back home from Georgia we made a 3 day stop in Cappadocia.

Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.

In respect of the 'voluminous eruption deposits in a fluvio-lacustrine sequence with 'fairy-chimney' development produced by uplift and erosion', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Miocene Cappadocian ignimbrites sequence' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organization defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'

We had been here a few times before but the last time was about 25 years ago! While the rock formations were the same, the cities around it has grown. Also back then there was no Instagram and no hot air balloon rides, but we didn't see them as they start at the crack of dawn and I did not feel like getting up at such an ungodly hour.

Cappadocia lies in eastern Anatolia, in the heartland of what is now Turkey. The relief consists of a high plateau over 1000 m in altitude that is pierced by volcanic peaks, with Mount Erciyes (ancient Argaeus) near Kayseri (ancient Caesarea) being the tallest at 3916 m. The boundaries of historical Cappadocia are vague, particularly towards the west. To the south, the Taurus Mountains form the boundary with Cilicia and separate Cappadocia from the Mediterranean Sea. To the west, Cappadocia is bounded by the historical regions of Lycaonia to the southwest, and Galatia to the northwest. Due to its inland location and high altitude, Cappadocia has a markedly continental climate, with hot dry summers and cold snowy winters. Rainfall is sparse and the region is largely semi-arid.

It was wonderful to revisit, not a fan of using animals for tourist attractions, dromedary rides are not something cultural Turkish, but apparently tourists lie it for photos, I never take any rides that uses animals.

The name, traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history, continues in use as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular, characterized by fairy chimneys, in addition to its religious heritage of being a center of early Christian learning, evidenced by hundreds of churches and monasteries (such as those of Göreme and Ihlara), as well as underground cities that were dug to offer protection during periods of persecution.

I loved seeing the beautiful mountains again after so many years. And back then they were not lightened at night which was a nice update.

Cappadocia was known as Hatti in the late Bronze Age, and was the homeland of the Hittite power centered at Hattusa. After the fall of the Hittite Empire, with the decline of the Syro-Cappadocians (Mushki) after their defeat by the Lydian king Croesus in the 6th century BC, Cappadocia was ruled by a sort of feudal aristocracy, dwelling in strong castles and keeping the peasants in a servile condition, which later made them apt to foreign slavery. It was included in the third Persian satrapy in the division established by Darius but continued to be governed by rulers of its own, none apparently supreme over the whole country and all more or less tributaries of the Great King.

Cappadocia and the famous mountain houses is spread over a large area, you can easily spent a week here and actually visit places where there is no one. We visited in August, high season and still had lots of peaceful places which I prefer.

Like this church was completely empty, it felt like discovering it on an expedition.

And the old towns nearby are lovely as well. This house is famous for a tv series that was extremely popular, Asmalı Konak. It ended more than 20 years ago but still a lot of people were taking pictures of it as it was extremely popular.

During the day it was very hot so the streets were pretty empty.

The old town also satisfied my love for old doors.

We also came across a beautiful part where no one was there but us, a happy coincidence. The road was not great so that stopped most people I think.

It had these amazing cave like tunnels, it was quite magical.

And of course the dug out house in the mountains. Cappadocia is so much more than hot air balloons, it really is a magical place.

Cappadocia contains several underground cities (see Kaymaklı Underground City), many of which were dug by Christians to provide protection during periods of persecution.[5] The underground cities have vast defense networks of traps throughout their many levels. These traps are very creative, including such devices as large round stones to block doors and holes in the ceiling through which the defenders may drop spears.

The underground tunnels were tough to visit, very narrow, and steep and often you had to bend down as well, you have to be in good physical condition to visit them, plus not being claustrophobic is a must as there was only one way in and out.

I went there in the morning and it was not too crowded, which was good. the amount of work that was put in to there underground cities is amazing, I only saw a tiny fraction of it, and still new places are discovered as the area is so large.