Cappadocia is a mysterious natural museum, a surrealistic lunar landscape of fairy chimneys and strange rock formations chiselled by the able hand of nature.
Additon to this the early Christian rock churches, the pre-historic underground cities and the vineyards producing the characteristic local wines, and you have a unique experience, which will be forever imprinted on your mind. The resort is also one of the most important congress centres of Turkey.
No one knows when the underground cities of Cappadocia were built, perhaps in Hittite times or as late as the 6C AD. There were certainly underground cities as early as the 5C BC. They are referred to by a 5 and 4C BC Athenian historian Xenophon in his Anabasis. So far 36 underground cities have been discovered some of them being very recent. It is also estimated that most of them are connected to each other. But it is difficult to identify these connections.
The ground consists of the same volcanic tufa. Cappadocians created vast cities which cannot be noticed from the ground level. They carved airshafts as deep as 85 m / 300 ft into the rock and then made holes laterally at different levels in all directions. They hewed an elaborate system of staircases and tunnels to connect all layers to the surface. They dug dwellings, bathrooms, kitchens, dining halls, storage rooms, wine cellars, chapels, graves and suchlike. In times of danger they provided security by rolling big round hard stones across strategic tunnels. Entrances at the surface were also camouflaged.
Today even from some of the modern houses there are man-made holes leading to underground passages most of which are used as cellars.
Kaymakli Yeralti Kenti (Underground City of Kaymakli)
It is one of the largest underground cities in Cappadocia with eight stories. It covers an area of approximately 4 km² / 1.5 sq mi. Visitors can see only about 10% of the city by going down a maximum of five floors. It probably is connected to nearby Derinkuyu. It was opened to visitors in 1964. The population of Kaymakli is thought to have been about 3,000.
Derinkuyu Yeralti Kenti (Underground City of Derinkuyu)
The underground city of Derinkuyu which means "deep well", like Kaymakli, is one of the largest. It was opened in 1965. It is 70-85 m / 230-300 ft deep with 53 airshafts. The original ventilation system still functions remarkably well. It is not recommended that visitors having problems of claustrophobia or restricted movement go inside since there are many passageways where one has to squat.
The first two floors under the surface housed a missionary school with two long rock-cut tables, baptismal place, kitchens, storehouses, living quarters, wine cellars and stables. Third and fourth floors were for the tunnels, places to hide and armories. The last floors had water wells, hidden passageways, a church, graves and a confession place.
It is estimated that there are more than 600 rock-cut churches in Cappadocia. These churches that people carved were similar in plan to the ones in the capital. Walls were covered with beautiful frescoes and they were also influenced by the Iconoclast period in the 8C and 9C. Most of the frescoes date from the 11C and 12C.
Two different techniques were employed for the frescoes, they were either painted directly on the rock or on a very thin coat of plaster. In churches where it was not plastered over, the painting became extensive. The predominant color of this style was red ocher.
In many pictures it is noted that eyes or faces of people are obliterated as it was believed that this action killed the painted subject in the Islamic period. In addition to this there are also many scratches of vandals’ initials which is strictly forbidden today. The visitor should be reminded that the use of flash with cameras inside the churches is not allowed.
The simplest church had a rectangular vaulted nave with an apse covered by a projecting arch. There are many variations of the churches, some with triple apse and a dome, cross-planned and so on. Because the churches were carved into the rock, they did not need to be supported by columns. Therefore columns and vaults are only structural symbols. Names of the churches are based on their archeological style or decoration, for instance the Buckle or Sandal Church. The apses of the churches face different directions as they are carved in accordance with the natural formations and availability of suitable rock pieces.
In most churches there are many grave pits which are thought to have probably belonged to donors or the church dignitaries as this was the tradition.
Avanos is set on the banks of the Kizilirmak, the Red River, which gets its name from the clay that it deposits. This clay has provided Avanos with pottery for centuries and the town is still dominated by this industry despite the inroads that tourism has made in the area. The main street has numerous shops and workshops selling plain and decorated pots and plates and you can watch the potters at work using kick wheels, the design of which has remained unchanged for generations. Many of the workshops will encourage you to have a go yourself. It's harder than it looks.
The present population of the district is 15.900.
In 1750 there existed 56 dwellings at Avanos. Kurena Arif Bey of Avanos, who was an official of the palace during the reign of Abdülhamid II, had made great efforts for the development of Avanos. A revival is observed at Avanos after the first half of the 18th century. Houses were being built with reliefs on the facades and magnificent interior decorations. One of these houses, an Ottoman house remaining up to the present day, was built 1872 and still preserves its original beauty.
There are around 10 hotels and two three pensions to be found. Avanos is reknown for its restaurants, bars and discos.
History of Avanos
We learn from the findings obtained in the excavations initiated in 1967 at the Topaklı village by Italians and still continuing at present, that the oldest known history goes back to the bronze and iron ages. It has been determined from a Hittite tablet found at Boğazköy, Hattuşaş in 1926, showing that the residents of the region had communicated with each other and read by philologist Emile Forrer, that Avanos was called Zuwinasa in the Hittite era. Michel Condoz found out from an Assyrian tablet in the region that Avanos was called Nenassa in the Assyrian era. The Geographia1 of Strabon writes that the emperor of Rome, Tiberius Caesar (14-17 AD) and the Roman Senate had resolved to make this region a Roman province after the death of Archelaos, the last king of the Cappadocian Kingdom (17 AD). The Byzantine sources mention the Region as Venasa at the earlier Christian era. Strabon mentions this name as Ouenasa as written in Hellenic and says that the region is renown for the Ouenasa Zeus temple. Moreover, he makes no mention of other towns in the region. Accordingly, we can assume that the town in the Venasa region had flourished in the late Middle Ages and named after the region.
As for the origin and meaning of the Ouenasa / Venasa, we know that Vanassa means queen in the Anatolian Pamphillian language, a successor of the Luwi language of 1000 BC. We can mention the script on the town coins (Pergessus) which describe Artemis of Pergessus as Vanassa Prella (the hill of Pergessus). Most probably, the Venasa in the Cappadocian language, which is another successor of the Luwi language, is not anything other than the mentioned Venassa, which signifies the Mother Goddess. It is again probable that the Mother Goddess temple in this area in the Morimene region, which proves by its name that this was a centre of Mother Goddess worship dominant at Cappadocia, had been owned, as seen in many regions, by a Hellenistic goddess during the Hellenization age. While this owning is generally attributed to Artemis or Apollo (sometimes both jointly), here as in Euromos and few other places, the temple of Mother Goddess was owned by Zeus.
If you intend to travel to Cappadocia, then you should plan to stay more than only three days! There are many places to must see in Cappadocia like: Fairy Chimneys, Göreme Valley National Park and rock churches, underground cities of Kaymaklı, Derinkuyu, Mazı, Özkonak, Tatların; Zelve Valley, Avanos with its pottery, Uçhisar and Ortahisar rock fortress, Ürgüp, Mustafapaşa (Sinasos) with old greek houses, Ihlara and Soganlı valleys, Hacıbektaş with its Alevi culture, Sultansazlığı bird paradise. In summer (from 6th of May to 8th of November) several alternative tours can be arranged: Hot-air balloon trip over the chimneys; trekking; walking; horse riding; motorbike or mountain biking around the valleys.
Cappadocia's name was derived from Katpatuka, probably "land of the thoroughbred horses", in Persian language. Cappadocia is generally regarded as the plains and the mountainous region of eastern central Anatolia around the upper and middle reaches of the river Kızılırmak (Red River). It was here that several ancient highways crossed and different cultures came into contact with each other. It was also the land of the Hittites. The sparsely inhabited landscape of Cappadocia is characterized by red sandstone and salt deposits of the Miocene (Tertiary) period. However, the relatively small areas of fertile soil on volcanic tuff is where the population tends to concentrate. This southern part of Cappadocia, the more densely populated, is often spoken of as the heart of the region and yet it lies in the extreme south-western corner. As well as cereals, Cappadocia is best known for potatoes, fruits and wine.
The origins of this unusual region can be traced to the Tertiary period some 50 million years ago, when craters and chimneys dominated the landscape. Since then huge quantities of volcanic material have spewed out of the many volcanoes. Forces of erosion have shaped the incredible and unique Cappadocian tuff-coned landscape. For hundreds of years men have dug into the soft but firm tuff to create dwellings, monasteries, churches and underground cities.
The history of Cappadocia began in prehistoric times.
Hatti culture (2500-2000 BC.) had its way during the Bronze Age and in about the 2nd millenium BC. The Hittites settled in the region.
Soon the Assyrians (2000-1800 BC.) had established their trading posts.
Phrygians probably ruled Cappadocia from 1250 BC., but
the Lydians were expelled by the middle of the 6th century BC by the Persians who ruled until 334 BC.
In AD. 17 the region became a Roman province, trade and military routes were built and urban centres and settlements were encourage.
As Asia Minor came under Christian influence, the first Christian communities appeared in Cappadocia and those persecuted for their religious beliefs elsewhere sought refuge in the region.
Cappadocia thus became a melting pot of a variety of ethnic groups, all of which have influenced the culture and religious beliefs. Basilius the Great (329-379 AD), bishop of Caesarea (Kayseri), inspired many religious colonies and for a thousand years an active monastic way of life endured throughout Cappadocia. Invasions first from Turkmenistan and Mongolia and then from Seljuks and Ottomans put an end to the movement.
One note for tourists traveling with guide (I call it sheep tourism!): shopping should be rather done without accompaniment because there are sometimes commissions of over 30 percent for the guide!
