Cappadocia - Landscape

Extraordinarily spectacular, like a lost world with a searing brilliance of colour - the landscape of Cappadocia is be-fitting of a fairy tale complete with 'fairy chimneys.'Millions of years ago lava and volcanic ash from the now extinct volcanoes Erciyes, Hasandagi and Golludag, covered the plateau with tuff, creating a malleable medium for Mother Nature's artistry. Her wind, rain and floodwaters have gently sculpted the area creating unforgettable valleys, magical cone-shaped monoliths, and a landscape that almost defies description.Humans have added their touch to the landscape as well. Beginning in the 2nd century BC, Christians fleeing persecution carved small, defensible refuges, high up in the rocks of hard-to-find valleys and gorges. A very positive crowd of early hermits, they dug monasteries and churches and completed their work with heavenly frescoes of Jesus and stories from the Bible. Others who added their touch to the landscape included the Hittites, Phrygians, Medes, Persians, Romans, Seljuks and the Ottomans.There are countless monasteries, chapels, churches, dwellings and pigeon lofts carved into the Cappadocian landscape as well as 37 known subterranean cities, one (Derinkuyu) is more than 8 stories deep!