After the eruption of Mount Erciyes about 2.6 million years ago, ash and lava formed soft rocks (tuff stone) in the Cappadocia Region, covering an area off about 20,000 square kilometres. The softer rock was eroded by wind and water, leaving the hard cap-rock on top of pillars, forming the present-day fairy chimneys (also called tent rocks or earth pyramids). People of Göreme, at the heart of the Cappadocia Region, realised that these soft rocks could easily be carved out to form houses, churches, and monasteries. The Christian sanctuaries contain many examples of Byzantine frescos.
Due to covid, Turkey would go on hard-lockdown over Christmas and New Year (2020 – 2021). We booked a “cave hotel” in Göreme, smack in the middle of Cappadocia, a week before the lockdowns would be implemented. Cappadocia Inn had a romantic setting and a good “cuisine”. Click photo to enlarge.
It is known that Göreme was inhabited during the Hittite era (1800BC). For many centuries, the location was central between rival empires, such as the Hittites, Assyrians, Persians and the Greeks, leading the natives to tunnel into the rock to escape the political turmoil. During the Roman era, the area became home to Christians retreating from Rome. Later the population fled underground to seek shelter from the marauding Arabs. Christianity prevailed as the primary religion in the region, which is evident from the many rock churches that can still be seen today.
Upon arrival we took an afternoon stroll in the village. The impact of the travel restrictions was clearly felt by the low occupancy rate of the hotels. Below is a photo impression of Göreme. (Click to enlarge).
We arrived at the launching site at dawn and crews were already inflating the balloons. They use a petrol engine driven fan to blow air inside the balloon. Once there is enough air inside the partly inflated balloon they will apply the burners. Initially the flame-throw is horizontally. Once the balloon rises and pulls the basket upright then the flame-throw is vertical. We were surrounded by the swooch – swooch sounds of the burners and the balloons lit up like giant lightbulbs.
Once up in the air it becomes remarkably quiet. There is some chatter from the passengers and the occasional swooch of the burners that radiate their heat into the basket. There is no windsound and we peacefully glide over the remarkable landscape of Göreme National Park. Click photo to enlarge.
Landing and touchdown was a bit chaotic. The windspeed had increased during the flight and many balloons needed to land in a small area. After we touched down, another balloon almost crashing into us. The approaching balloon had to crashland its basket against a ridge to prevent our baskets from crashing into each other. We had already braced for impact. The enormous balloons did bump which caused our basket to be “repositioned” a few meters. Even the pilots were a bit shaken but nobody got hurt.
Our following stop was Kaymakli underground city.
The ancient name was Enegup. Caves may have first been built in the soft volcanic rock in the 8th–7th centuries B.C. In Roman times, the native language was replaced with Greek and the inhabitants, now converted to Christianity, expanded their caverns adding the chapels and Greek inscriptions.
The city was greatly expanded and deepened in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) era, when it was used for protection against Muslim Arab raids during the four centuries of Arab–Byzantine wars (780-1180).
After the region fell to the Turks of Persia, the city was used as refuge from the Turkish Muslim rulers. As late as the 20th century the inhabitants were still using the underground cities to escape periodic waves of Ottoman persecution.
When the Christian inhabitants of the region were expelled in 1923 in the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey the city was abandoned. This major compulsory population exchange was based upon religious identity, and involved the indigenous Orthodox Christian peoples of Turkey who were sent to Greece, and on the other side the native Muslims of Greece were expelled to Turkey. Each group were native peoples and citizens of the state which expelled them.
A stable is located on the first floor. To the left of the stable is a passage with a millstone door. To the right of the stables are rooms, possibly living spaces. The houses are constructed around nearly one hundred tunnels, that are still used today as storage areas, stables, and cellars. Of the four floors open to tourists, each space is organised around ventilation shafts.
At the village entrance and at strategic locations along the corridors, doors looking like large millstones are hewn out of the rockwalls and can be rolled into place to block the passage.
Located on the second floor is a church with a nave and two apses. Located in front of the apses is a baptismal font and on the sides along the walls are seating platforms. The church level also contains some living spaces.
The third floor contains the most important areas of the underground compound: storage places, wine or oil presses, and kitchens.
The level also contains a block of andesite with relief textures. This stone was used for cold-forming copper. The stone was hewn from an andesite layer within the complex. The technique was to put copper into each of the holes and then to hammer the ore into place.
The high number of storage rooms and areas for earthenware jars on the fourth floor indicates some economic stability. Kaymakli is one of the largest underground settlements in the region. The large area reserved for storage in such a limited area appears to indicate the need to support a large population underground.
Currently only a fraction of the complex is open to the public.
After lunch we hiked the Ihlara Vally, a national park famous for its rock-hewn churches and the scenery along the river.
The Ihlara valley is a 15 km long canyon formed by the Melendiz river. It is a relaxing “walk in the park”. From the 7th century AD, the valley was settled by Byzantine monks who dug their houses and churches out of the tuff stone, which had been deposited by the eruptions of Mount Hasan that has been active for 13 million years with the last eruption 34,000 years ago.
Many Orthodox Churches in Cappadocia are named by the Turks, who had to find names, since the original dedication to each Church was not known to them. This has created many misunderstood names and many unique ones. An example is the name of the Daniel Pantonassa church, where the dedication to St. Daniel and the dedication to the Pantanassa (Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus) are merged.
Many of the churches were closed due to Covid, an incomprehensible measure since this resulted in a concentration of tourists instead of a distancing of people. Below the Hyacinth Church, a painted church within a two-story monastery complex. In the blueish wall painting to the left the deceased Mary lies on a royal bed as the apostles watch from the side. Jesus holds her soul (the doll-like figure). The reddish wall to the right of the nave depicts St. Theodore.
It was mid December so there were pomegranates galore. The juice is refreshing and full of vitamines.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped at an Onyx processing shop where they “manufactured” gemstones and “glassware” from the mineral.
The production of Onyx is rather limited in Turkey. Also when we requested to visit the workshop we were informed “that was in a different building”. After some research afterwards, we suspect that the “glassware” like the wine bowels on display are actually imported from Pakistan.
The first stop the following morning was Uçhisar, a settlement situated on the edge of Göreme National Park, dominated by a 60-metre-high castle-mountain, which is visible over a wide distance. This massif is crisscrossed by numerous underground passageways and rooms, which are now mostly blocked or impassable. They served as residential areas, as well as cloisters in Byzantine times. Originally, around 1,000 people lived in the castle, but it is no longer inhabited today. The landscape is also marked by the fairy chimneys scattered through it. Click image to enlarge.
After about an hour of strolling in this remarkable landscape we entered Göreme Open Air Museum.
The Göreme Open Air Museum occupies a small section of the river valley known as Göreme Valley. The broader valley contains at least 60 churches, 45 refractories, hundreds of burials graves, and countless agricultural rooms. The high density of carved churches suggests Göreme Valley was a hive of religious activity.
Why are there so many carved structures in this small area? The answer is a combination of three interrelated factors: 1) funerals, 2) monasticism, and 3) pilgrimage.
In pre-Christian Roman times, Göreme Valley was a burial location with rock-carved tombs. As the Roman Empire Christianized, the burial spaces became Christian in character.
Around 800 AD monks formed small monasteries in the area to pursue the contemplative life. The valley had several advantages for monastic living. Spiritually, the area was considered “sacred” because previous saints were buried there. Geologically, the surreal topography created a mystical, spiritual context. And practically, the churches and living spaces were easy to construct.
Once Göreme Valley became populated with monks and hermits, lay Christians came as pilgrims. The influx of pilgrims enhanced the sacred reputation of the region. This, in turn, meant more people wanted to build a memorial chapel or monastery here. Thus, the three motivations of sacred burial, monastic life, and spiritual pilgrimage reinforced each other and this lead to the highest concentration of Christian churches in Cappadocia.
The Göreme Open Air Museum includes, in a very compact area, 15 churches and 11 refectories. According to best estimates, all the churches were built in the 11th century.
Examples of refectories with stone hewn benches and table.
The most impressive church, “Dark Church” is fully plastered and painted. The painting program fills the entire church. Most likely, the master and his team painted Dark Church around 1000 AD. The paintings are very accurate and detailed and are very well preserved. These frescos are definitely a highlight of a Cappadocia visit.
Göreme Open Air Museum looking South. The small “letterboxes” hewn into the rocks are pigeon houses. Pigeons were kept for food, but more important for their manure that was harvested as fertiliser.
The following stop was the viewpoint at “love valley” that we flew over in the hot-air balloon two days before.
The following stop was at “Kapadokya Seramik” a pottery still handcrafting traditional and modern “china”. Frits had a first lesson at the kick-wheel making his custom designed beer mug.
We bought a Hittite wine jug, hand made as they did 4000 years ago. One of the most important gods for the Hittite Empire was Ra, the sun god. The traditional wine jug is shaped as a circle which mimics the shape of the sun. It also holds a functional usage in that traditionally, whomever was pouring the wine would thread his or her arm through the center and rest the jug on their shoulder.
This concludes our trip to fascinating Cappadocia. We could easily see why this part of Turkey is such a main tourist attraction. We hope you enjoyed the read. We definitely enjoyed making it.
To be continued; Liza and Frits.