Cappadocian region is the place where nature and history
come together most beautifully within the world. While
geographic events are forming Peribacaları (fairy
chimneys), during the historical period, humans had carried
the signs of thousand years old civilizations with carving
houses and churches within these earth pillars and
decorating them with frisks.
For
millions of years, the mighty volcanoes of the Central
Anatolian Plateau erupted and spewed their contents across
the land that would become the cradle of civilization.
Blessed with a moderate climate and fertile soil, one of the
world's earliest known communities was founded 10,000 years
ago at Catalhoyuk along the river banks of the Casambasuyu
near Konya. Mankind's first nature painting was found here
and it portrays the most recent eruption of Hasan Dagi
almost 9000 years ago. Today, its snow capped peaks dominate
the Konya plain, awash in golden hues where vast wheat
fields blend subtly with the ochre colored soil and the
monochromatic palette is interrupted only where rivers flow
and tall poplars flaunt their greenery.
Another great volcano rises in the distance to the east
of Hasan Dagi. Once called Mt. Argeus, the awesome presence
of Erciyes Dagi inspired legends as the "Abode of the
Gods" and the Persians built a Zoroastrian fire temple
nearby. These two ancient volcanoes mark the western and
eastern boundaries of a region known for its curious
volcanic landscape that has been relentlessly carved by
nature and by the people who have lived here. 'Fairy
chimneys,' cones and strange rock formations have been
sculpted by wind and rain while subterranean towns were
excavated by a populace seeking shelter from the conquerors
and would-be conquerors who crisscrossed the wide open
steppes of the Central Anatolian Plateau. Ancient Anatolian
tribes, Assyrians, Hittites, Phrygians, Turkic tribes from
Central Asia, Mongols, Persians, Syrians, Arabs, Kurds,
Armenians, Slavs, Greeks, Romans and Western Europeans have
all passed through leaving behind some of their traditions
as well as their genes and rendering Cappadocians as exotic
as their surreal surroundings.
Although the Hellenistic kingdom of Cappadocia once
encompassed a much greater area, the name now refers to the
region east of Konya that is defined by Aksaray to the west,
Kayseri to the east, Nigde to the south and Kirsehir to the
north. Guide books and tour buses focus on the underground
cities of Kaymakli and Derinkuyu as well as the rock
formations and Byzantine churches found within the
triangular area bounded by Avanos, Nevsehir and Urgup. For
those who take the time to explore the less traveled byways,
Cappadocia is a land of discovery. Away from Goreme, Zelve
and the major tourist sites, there are partially excavated
Hittite centers, cavetowns and hundreds of churches that are
rarely seen, gorges to explore and some of the most vivid,
pastoral scenes to be captured in all of Turkey.
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Aksaray
is located on the Melendiz Cayi (Melendiz River) along the
old trade route that connected Persia to the Aegean Sea. It
was once the city of Garsaura that was later renamed
Archelais but little of its ancient past survives. During
the Seljuk era (1071-1300), Aksaray was transformed into an
exemplary Muslim city where a hospital and schools were
built. One of the first two Islamic theological schools, the
Ibrahim Kadiroglu Medrese was built here in the 12th
century. The other was built in Konya, one of Turkey's
oldest continuously inhabited cities and the capital of the
Seljuk Sultanate of Rum. These and later schools attracted
some of the greatest Islamic scientists, philosophers and
theologians of the age including Jelaluddin who escaped the
Mongol invasion of Afghanistan. He is better known as
Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, a renowned mystical Master and
favorite saint of Konya.
The reign of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat I (1219 - 1236)
brought prosperity to the empire when he renovated the long
neglected road system and constructed a series of hans
(inns) along the way. Generally, they are massive
fortress-like structures with impressive entrances framed by
intricately carved honeycomb portals. Inside, a large
courtyard with a central mescid (small mosque) is
surrounded by arched porches where animals were tended.
Another portal leads to the living quarters for travelers. Hans
were located about a days distance apart by camel and they
provided travelers with food, lodging, entertainment and
protection. Twenty four miles to the west of Aksaray, the
Sultanhan Caravanserai was the last overnight stop before
reaching Konya. It was built about 1229 and has been
partially restored. The Agzikarahan Caravanserai nine miles
to the east of Aksaray retains its original features and is
one of the best preserved in the area. This somnolent
farming town now serves as a base for exploring the Ihlara
Valley or as a rest stop on the way to Cappadocia but during
the 13th century, it was an enclave of culture,
refinement and scholarship that attracted visitors from all
over the known world including the great Spanish scholar and
mystic, Ibn El-Arabi.
A few miles past Aksaray, a good road leads to the main
Nevsehir-Nigde highway by way of the Ihlara Valley and Guzelyurt.
Rick Steves highlighted Guzelyurt in his Turkey travel video
for television and now, even 'the pension where Rick Steves
stayed' is offered as a place of interest for tourists!
Guzelyurt is one of the most tourist friendly communities in
Cappadocia with a multi-lingual aide who seems to
materialize out of nowhere and whose job it is to assist
visitors with practicalities like parking, food and lodging.
Villagers and children will stop to chat and give directions
to the 'antique city' of the old Greek quarter where the
mosque was once an old Byzantine church that honored St.
Gregory Nazianzus. He was born and died nearby and is
prominent as one of the 4th century Cappadocian
Fathers who defended the Nicene Creed against Arianism which
denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ.
Formerly known as Karballa then Gelvere, Guzelyurt means
'beautiful land.' It is built on the cliffs surrounding a
narrow gorge that is but a small appendage of the more
impressive Ihlara Gorge. There are over fifty rock cut
churches inside Monastery Valley which lays beyond the old
village, past semi-troglodytic houses that line a narrow,
winding road. People still live in these old cave dwellings
and visitors are apt to see women baking bread in 400 year
old communal ovens or children making mud pies on the roofs
of their cliff houses carved in the rocks below. Guzelyurt
has been declared a conservation area requiring new
buildings to be constructed of natural stone so as to
maintain its distinct Cappadocian architecture. The boxy,
stone buildings with flat roofs and large arched doorways
are more similar to houses of Northern Syria and Upper
Mesopotamia than to structures in other parts of Turkey.
This is hardly surprising because the earliest mention of
Cappadocians by Herodotus in the 5th century BC
refers to them as 'Syrians.'
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The Melendiz River finds its source in the numerous springs
of the Melendiz Daglari and the adjacent Hasan Dagi to its
west. These mountains comprise a series of currently
inactive volcanoes that, over millions of years, deposited a
thick layer (1500 feet) of volcanic lava, ash and mud. This
material hardened to form a soft volcanic rock known as tufa
which was overlaid with a thinner layer of hard basalt. With
the passing of time, the Melendiz River has carved a steep
sided gorge on its way toward the marshes of Toz Golu (Salt
Lake) leaving behind expanses of flat, basalt topped
plateaus that characterize this region. Further erosion of
the basalt layer expresses itself in the surrealistic
landscape of Cappadocia but in the Ihlara Valley (Peristrema),
rock cones are only seen near Yaprakhisar and Selime.
Throughout the years, this verdant valley has remained
relatively untouched by the tides of invaders that have
swept the land. Sheltered by a natural barrier, the massive
Hasan Dagi to the south, the valley is located away from the
major travel routes that are still evidenced by the main
roads from Aksaray to Kayseri and Kirsehir to Nigde. It has
therefore served as a physical and an intellectual oasis for
the people who have lived here. Hittites found refuge from
the Phrygian invaders while early Christian monks sought its
isolation in a remote corner of the kingdom during the 2nd
century Roman persecutions and were later sheltered from the
Arab invasions in the 7th and 8th
centuries.
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The valley became an important center of monasticism that
lasted from the 4th to the 14th
centuries. There are an estimated 150 churches and several
monasteries in the canyon between the villages of Ihlara and
Selime. A walk through the tranquil 14 km gorge is a
delight. The dappled light under poplars and wild olive
trees as well as the constant murmur of the water provide
relief from an unrelenting sun and the monotony of endless
wheat fields that make up the Cappadocian landscape. Near
villages, the river continues to be the focus of village
life: women wash their laundry amid chatter and laughter,
children splash nearby and shepherds bring their animals for
a drink.
The main churches are marked although a few have been
closed to the public. The most popular churches are those in
the canyon area between the villages of Belisirma and Ihlara.
However, Yaprakhisar and Selime are more interesting
architecturally with stone houses that extend into the rock
caves. The village of Selime is named after the sultan whose
conical tomb stands on the river's bank and numerous facades
are carved into the cliffs at Yaprakhisar. For the
adventurous, the entire length of the Ihlara Valley is a
wonderful place for exploration. The children know the
hidden entryways and they offer some of the most incredible
'tours' to be found in Cappadocia as they share their
extraordinary playground, scampering up tracks through the
rocks to a labyrinth of caves and tunnels that open to
unexpected hideaways.
Only nine miles from Ihlara, the village of Helvadere
sits among the foothills of Hasan Dagi. Its peaks are both
over 10,000 feet high and its northern face is threaded with
ribbons of snow where ravines have etched the mighty
volcano. The mountain beckons for it abounds in secrets and
legends. It has witnessed the comings and goings of Central
Anatolia since the dawn of civilization. Roman ruins,
Byzantine churches and Seljuk graves lay scattered along its
northern slopes and mountain villagers tell tales of
intriguing snake legends. In his book, Caves of God:
Cappadocia and Its Churches, Spiro Kostof interprets the
symbolism of the paintings in the Yilani Kilise (Snake
Church) located across the bridge from the Tourist Pavilion
in the Ihlara gorge. For one painting, he suggests that a
woman is being punished for not nursing her children because
2 snakes are attached to her nipples. It seems likely that
the real meaning may be hidden within the snake legends of
these mountain people. While we long to uncover the secrets
of Hasan Dagi, there is only enough time for a half an hour
hike behind Helvadere to visit the ruins of Viransehir
(Destroyed City). There was a large monastic complex here
and remnants of a Byzantine fortress and two churches can be
seen.
A drive through the region to the north of the
Aksaray-Nevsehir road is to visit the true heart of Turkey.
Numerous farming communities are located along the streams
and rivers that empty into the stalwart Kizilirmak, Turkey's
longest river that is over 800 miles in length. Farming in
Turkey is generally highly mechanized, but here, reapers
still wield the scythe and plants are sometimes hand-watered
with scoops dipped into nearby irrigation canals. When the
sun reaches its zenith, workers gather under shade trees for
their midday meal and a well earned rest in a scene
reminiscent of Bruegel's 16th century painting,
"The Harvesters." This centuries old way of life
continues, seemingly indifferent to the encroachment of mass
tourism.
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Underground Cities
Although referred to as "cities," the underground
communities of Cappadocia probably served as temporary
shelters rather than as permanent hidden cities. The
incessant darkness is hardly conducive to life and some of
the passageways are little more than crawling spaces that
would have been intolerable in long-term situations. No one
is certain as to the number of underground communities that
exist or even by whom they were built.
The two largest communities that have been unearthed are
located at Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, 20 and 30 kms. south of
Nevsehir on the Nevsehir-Nigde road. It is thought that the
Hittites may have excavated the first few levels in the rock
when they came under attack from the Phrygians around 1200
BC. However, some archaeologists believe that the oldest
caves, those hewn with stone rather than metal tools, are
substantially older. These chambers were later expanded into
an extensive troglodytic complex by Christians escaping the
Arab invasions of the 7th and 8th
centuries.
Discreet entrances give way to elaborate subterranean
systems with air shafts, waste shafts, wells, chimneys and
connecting passageways. The upper levels were used for
living quarters while the lower levels were used for
storage, wine making, flour grinding and worship in simple
chapels. Everywhere, walls have been blackened from the use
of torches. There is a connecting tunnel between Kaymakli
and Derinkuyu that allowed three people to walk through at
the same time but it is not available to the public as parts
of the tunnel have collapsed.
0nly 10 kms. to the east of Kaymakli is another cavetown
at Mazikoy that may be connected with Derinkuyu but this
remains to be proven. This community was built within the
walls of a cliff. Unlike Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, there are
no stairs or grades that pass from one level to the next.
Instead, the different levels are well defined with
connecting tunnels through which people climbed up or let
themselves down by means of footholds carved into the walls
of the shafts. Mazikoy is often bypassed because it is a
smaller community, its location is away from the main road
and a certain agility is required to fully appreciate its
features.
Pigeon Houses
Near Uchisar is a valley that has become quite popular with
hikers. It is known by many names (Valley of the Pigeon
Lofts, Dovecote Valley, Pigeon Valley) but they all refer to
the thousands of pigeon houses that have been carved into
the soft tufa since ancient times. Although they can be
found throughout Cappadocia, they are especially plentiful
in this valley which must have one of the greatest
collections of pigeon lofts in the world. They were carved
wherever space allowed including abandoned caves and the
walls of collapsed churches. They lack the architectural
interest of the doocots of Scotland or the elaborate Persian
pigeon towers but their sheer numbers are astonishing. In
Cappadocia, pigeons have long been a source of food and
fertilizer. The advent of chemical fertilizers has reduced
the use of pigeon fertilizer. However, some farmers still
maintain their lofts because they insist that the reputation
of Cappadocian fruits as the sweetest and most succulent in
Turkey is entirely due to the pigeons' droppings.
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