About Cappadocia

The National Park of Cappadocia 

The National Park of Cappadocia occupies the centre of Turkey, the region between the Black Sea in the north and the Taurus Mountains in the south, between the capital Ankara and the city of Malatya to the east. The region covers over 24,000 square kilometres with a distinct and highly unusual landscape. The Valley of Fairy Chimneys is the most popular area, roughly within the triangle formed by the three main towns of the region, Avanos, Ürgüp and Nevsehir.

There’s really no adequate way of conveying the surreal landscape – even photographs struggle to do it justice. In fact, the English Geologist, W.J. Hamilton, said in 1837, ‘Words fail one in attempting to describe the appearance of this extraordinary locale.’ It’s one of the most incredible landscapes on the planet and you quite simply have to experience the gargantuan landscapes, the enormity of the skies and the awe-inspiring natural beauty first hand.

The unusual light is why so many artists have made the region their home. Along with painters, many literary travellers before and since Hamilton have struggled to capture the essence of this astonishing region. Paul Lucas, reporting to the French Royal Court in approximately 1730 wrote: ‘Here stood countless – heretofore unknown – pyramidal formations... Each of these formations possessed a beautiful door, a charming staircase by which to gain entrance and large windows in all the rooms to secure illumination. Within a single rock mass had been hewn a number of living quarters, each lying one above the other... They numbered not several hundreds, but more than a couple of thousand.’

History

The bizarre landscape, fertile soil and central location have attracted many peoples from the Neolithic period onwards. 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, each leaving behind some of their traditions.

Cappadocia makes its first entrance into history courtesy of Heroditus, writing in the fifth century bc. However, it’s with the advent of Christianity that it becomes of significant interest. Christianity came early to the region, with St Paul passing through on his way to Ancyra (Ankara). The remote and sometimes harsh nature of the landscape and climate appealed to the early anchorites who favoured an ascetic existence in which hardship brought them closer to God. Gradually these individuals formed loose knit communities. 

Upon the arrival of the Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in the fourth century, St Basil the Great wrote the rules for monastic life that are still followed by monks and nuns of the Greek Orthodox Church. These groups were formalised and grew over the following years. St Basil advocated community life, prayer and physical labour rather than the solitary asceticism that was popular at the time and it was under his guidance that the first churches were built in Göreme Valley. Here, a number of small communities with their own churches formed the large monastic complex that is now the Open Air Museum. Hundreds of churches are reported to have been built in this valley but no churches from St Basil’s time remain.

After the Turks arrived in Asia Minor, the Christian communities dwindled and local inhabitants moved into the more convenient of the excavations that were left behind. Cappadocia effectively vanished from the point of view of the West until it was rediscovered by a French Jesuit priest in 1907.

Today the many churches and monasteries throughout the valleys house an amazing array of frescoes which are protected from the light, are immaculately preserved and depict scenes from the Bible.

The frescoes can be divided up into Pre- and-Post-Iconoclastic. The earlier works rely entirely on symbolism to communicate their messages and may look simple in comparison to later works. Their form is a result of the early church’s disapproval of the portrayal of the human form in religious art. Later works (mid-ninth century) are much more figurative. By comparing them it becomes apparent that both styles are telling the same stories of Christ and the Saints. It’s very difficult to find a section of fresco work that hasn’t been damaged, and the root of this lies partly in the abhorrence of representations of the human form felt by strict Muslims at various times over the last half millennia. Another, possibly apocryphal, story tells us that local maidens believed that the blue eyes of the figures in the frescoes, if removed and powdered, could be incorporated to make a powerful love potion.

Over the years, traditional Cappadocian houses, churches, stables, storage places and dove cotes (small structures constructed during the eighteenth century and the end of the nineteenth century) were chiselled out of the eroded soft tufa, which is easily shaped when moist and hardens fast in contact with air. Some of the dovecotes, which portray important Islamic art, were constructed as monasteries and churches. The surfaces of the dovecotes are adorned with inscriptions and decoration by regional artists.

Seljuk Turks built ‘motels’ for camel caravans travelling along the Silk Road, and Ottomans constructed mosques, medreses (religious school) and bridges.

Cave dwellings, ancient monasteries and painted chapels are well camouflaged, with entrance-ways that are barely noticeable among a landscape of perforated cliff walls and rock fissures. Houses of volcanic stone blend unobtrusively into the natural surroundings, and many people still inhabit the cones and chimney formations. Now they have a different use: as the famous Cappadocian Cave Hotels. They are naturally air-conditioned – cool in hot summers and warm and easy to heat in harsh winters.

Geology

The name Cappadocia is derived from the Old Persian Katpatuka, meaning ‘kind and loving land’. Thirty million years ago the region was the scene of immense volcanic activity from the cones of Mt. Erciyes, Mt. Hasan and Mt. Gollu.

These volcanic eruptions covered the area in a thick layer of volcanic ash which solidified to form a soft volcanic rock known as tufa, which characterises the surface strata. The tufa was cemented with the chalk from the Kizilirmak River and its surface hardened upon contact with the air.

Thousands of years of heavy rains, strong winds, floods and temperature changes gradually eroded the tufa. This resulted in deep narrow canyons, valleys and ravines being carved out. The hardened larva caps of resilient stone protected the column of softer material below, while the surrounding tufa was eroded, eventually sculpting the hundreds of peculiar rock formations and rugged landscape that we see today. These rock formations are between five and eleven million years old. The cones and strangely shaped pillars and pinnacles which comprise the landscape span 300 square kilometres and some reach forty-five metres in height. They vary in colour from extraordinary shades of pink through to hues of yellow ochre and russet brown. The cone-like peaks are known by the locals as Peri Bacasi (Fairy Chimneys), a name that has endured throughout the ages.

Over the centuries, man has contributed to the landscape further by carving the soft tufa rock to create a warren of caves, underground cities, rock churches and chambers. Museums allow visitors to explore some of these fascinating settlements, some of which extend an astonishing seventeen storeys below the ground. They have been used over many years as a way of escaping the attentions of invaders. It’s almost certain that there are more such sites waiting to be rediscovered.

Flora & Fauna

The region is home to all manner of flora and fauna as well as being an ornithologist’s delight.

Cappadocia Hotels - why our selection?

As is also the case in Istanbul, our carefully selected portfolio of properties provides our guests with the opportunity to experience the region in a way only very few are able to. All offer a real sense of character and individuality that certainly suits our philosophy, a long way removed from the feel of an antiseptic and impersonal city hotel chain.

No matter which property you choose, all are ideally located with the major sights of the National Park of Cappadocia right on your doorstep.