Fairy chimneys, Hittite underground cities, Byzantine churches and frescos, rolling pigeon hills- this is Cappadocia, or Kapadokya in Turkish. Julio first suggested going to this region in turkey and I am so glad he did. The video blogs and guide books did not prepare us for being enveloped by magical landscapes every where we went.
Besides the mesmerizing landscapes and picture ops every few steps, the history of the region is absolutely jaw dropping. Maybe it's just me but I love history and old things and things/places that make me feel connected to the past.
The night before arriving I was doing some last minute research and I was reminded that The Desert Fathers lived in Cappadocia- something I vaguely remembered learning about in college. The three most famous were part of a group of Christian mystical monks that actually continue to have a big impact on the church today seeing as they promoted the idea of the trinity as we know it today: Basil the Great (330–379), who was bishop of Caesarea; Basil's younger brother Gregory of Nyssa (c.332–395), who was bishop of Nyssa; and a close friend, Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), who became Patriarch of Constantinople.[1]
The first day we enjoyed the sunset on a look out point from our hostel in Goreme- one of the most picturesque and central villages in cappadocia.
Then we took a bus back towards Goreme and got off at the Uchisar kalesi- castle. We got an amazing view.
Then we headed to the Goreme open air museum. Maybe it is called that because you walk outside from one rock church to the next or maybe because the rock formations themselves are like a historical artifacts on display for the public to ooh and ahh at. It is one of the main attractions in Cappadocia and for good reason. It has a group of monasteries and churches -built into the rock faces- and the most amazing frescos we had seen. Some had frescos depicting the desert fathers. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the most beautiful and in tact frescos- but here are some pictures from another site. Some pics we were allowed:
The next day we set out to explore the Rose valley, also known as the Gulludere Valley, which we had heard was one of the best hikes in Cappadocia. The receptionist at our hotel made it sound super easy to arrive and that we would get back in three hours. We couldn't find any description or good map on how to get there so we just headed towards where we thought it was. Luckily the gps on our phone have us a little direction.
The whole round trip took about five hours- probably because we accidentally hiked in Rose AND Red valley. And getting there was a little more roundabout than our return. It was worth the sunburn and dirt clouds and exhaustion!
I especially enjoyed seeing a few 11th century churches hidden away on the hike. They had some unique features that we hadn't seen at the open museum.
Uzumlu Church (this one may date to the 9th century):
Hacli Kilise (church of the cross)- named for the huge sculpted cross on the ceiling
Walking back to Goreme we reflected on these historical wonders that we had seen in Istanbul and now Cappadocia. We had seen so many historical gems and we hadn't even been to the many other places Turkey has to offer like Ephesus and Sparta to name a few.
Besides the mesmerizing landscapes and picture ops every few steps, the history of the region is absolutely jaw dropping. Maybe it's just me but I love history and old things and things/places that make me feel connected to the past.
The night before arriving I was doing some last minute research and I was reminded that The Desert Fathers lived in Cappadocia- something I vaguely remembered learning about in college. The three most famous were part of a group of Christian mystical monks that actually continue to have a big impact on the church today seeing as they promoted the idea of the trinity as we know it today: Basil the Great (330–379), who was bishop of Caesarea; Basil's younger brother Gregory of Nyssa (c.332–395), who was bishop of Nyssa; and a close friend, Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), who became Patriarch of Constantinople.[1]
The first day we enjoyed the sunset on a look out point from our hostel in Goreme- one of the most picturesque and central villages in cappadocia.
The next day we took local buses to the two famous underground cities of about 137 that probably exist in the area. While Derinkuyu is a little deeper and Kaymakli is a little bigger, they both were underground mazes of tunnels and rooms- they looked similar to us but there were signs that differentiated them- living room, kitchen, animal stall, food storage, winery, missionary school. Hittites in the 4th c BC built these and in 8 c AD escaped from persecution here And expanded them.
Then we headed to the Goreme open air museum. Maybe it is called that because you walk outside from one rock church to the next or maybe because the rock formations themselves are like a historical artifacts on display for the public to ooh and ahh at. It is one of the main attractions in Cappadocia and for good reason. It has a group of monasteries and churches -built into the rock faces- and the most amazing frescos we had seen. Some had frescos depicting the desert fathers. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the most beautiful and in tact frescos- but here are some pictures from another site. Some pics we were allowed:
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| A backlit altar in one of the many rock churches |
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| A table that used to fit up to 50 people. Buen provecho! |
The next day we set out to explore the Rose valley, also known as the Gulludere Valley, which we had heard was one of the best hikes in Cappadocia. The receptionist at our hotel made it sound super easy to arrive and that we would get back in three hours. We couldn't find any description or good map on how to get there so we just headed towards where we thought it was. Luckily the gps on our phone have us a little direction.
The whole round trip took about five hours- probably because we accidentally hiked in Rose AND Red valley. And getting there was a little more roundabout than our return. It was worth the sunburn and dirt clouds and exhaustion!
I especially enjoyed seeing a few 11th century churches hidden away on the hike. They had some unique features that we hadn't seen at the open museum.
Uzumlu Church (this one may date to the 9th century):
Hacli Kilise (church of the cross)- named for the huge sculpted cross on the ceiling
Kolonlu Kilise (Columned Church)- named for the magnificent columned nave inside this non-descript exterior. This one really blew us away.
Walking back to Goreme we reflected on these historical wonders that we had seen in Istanbul and now Cappadocia. We had seen so many historical gems and we hadn't even been to the many other places Turkey has to offer like Ephesus and Sparta to name a few.
Fascinating about the Desert Fathers, caves, tunnels, rock formations ... thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow, amazing photos.
ReplyDelete