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A rock temple in Cappadocia |
In ancient
geography, Cappadocia or Cappadocia (Turkish:
Kapadokya) was the name of the extensive inland district of Asia
Minor (modern Turkey).
Cappadocian region is the place where nature and history come
together most beautifully within the world. While geographic
events are forming Peribacalari (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.
Cappadocia contains several underground cities, largely used by
early Christians as hiding places before they became a legitimate
religion. The Cappadocian Fathers of the fourth century were
integral to much of early Christian philosophy. It also produced,
among other people, another Patriarch of Constantinople, John of
Cappadocia who held office 517–520. For most of the Byzantine era
it remained relatively undisturbed by the conflicts in the area,
first with the Sassanid Empire and later against the Islamic
expansion led by Arabs.
The area is a world famous and popular tourist destination, as it
has many areas with unique geological, historic and cultural
features.
The region is southwest of the major city Kayseri, which has
airline and railroad service to Ankara and Istanbul.
The Cappadocia region is largely underlain by sedimentary rocks
formed in lakes and streams, and ignimbrite deposits erupted from
ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago (late
Miocene to Pliocene epochs). The rocks of Cappadocia near Goreme
eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret-like
forms. The volcanic deposits are soft rocks that the people of the
villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form
houses, churches, monasteries. Goreme became a monastic center
between 300-1200 AD. First period settlement in Goreme reaches to
the Roman period from Christianity. Yusuf Koc, Ortahane, Durmus
Kadir and Bezirhane churches in Goreme, houses and churches carved
into rocks till to Uzun Dere, Baglidere and Zemi Valley carries
the mystical side of history today. The Goreme Open Air Museum is
the most visited site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia
and is one of the most famous sites in central Turkey. It is a
complex comprising more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels
containing some superb frescoes, dating from the 9th to the 11th
centuries.
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