Cappadocia: From Above and Below

Luckily, the weather cooperated for our hot air balloon ride over the unique landscape of Cappadocia. Last night, it was pouring rain with spectacular lightning displays!

We floated above the valleys in baskets that held 30 people—it was like a stand-up bus. But everyone had enough space and good viewing. Our pilot gently sailed us above small olive groves and eye-level with the “fairy chimneys” or hoodoos. It was magical!

The landscape was formed by successive eruptions of volcanic ash and minerals, creating a layer cake of soft material protected by hard basalt. Later, a huge lake developed, and when that subsided, wind and rain gradually eroded the area, leaving columns, cones and mushroom shapes.

The crazy thing is, these structures have been used as living spaces since the Bronze Age. The relatively soft rock was hand-carved into homes, monasteries, and vast underground cities. These ancient dwellings offered security from invaders and insulation from extreme temperatures. They have windows and doors, and sometimes chiseled cavities in the rock face for a ladder entry.

We’re staying in a cave hotel, a very popular form of lodging in our town of Göreme—we don’t need to use a ladder though! There are no windows in our room, but various terraces on the property give it an airy feeling.

A really impressive site we visited today was the Underground City of Kaymakli, a vast, 8-level subterranean complex dating back to the Hittites (~3000 BC). It was used by Orthodox Christians for safety from a succession of invaders.

Other than having no access to daylight, it appeared to have all a civilization could need—water cisterns, kitchens, grinding stones, food storage spaces, wine cellars and livestock stables— all protected by large rolling stone doors (like in Indiana Jones!). Small holes in the walls provided access to ventilation as well as communication between rooms. The city could house up to 3,500 people, with tunnels that were very low and narrow in places!Read more