Editorials, Travel Inspiration  •  Turkey

Fairy Chimneys and Forgotten Churches of Cappadocia

October 20, 2014 Aleksandra Boguslawska

Cappadocia, a region in central Turkey is one of the most exciting and impressive places in this country – and this is saying something because Turkey is huge and quite amazing. Cappadocia is especially famous for its natural formed rocks called fairy chimneys or tent rocks, which look exactly how their name would suggest. As the material of these chimneys is soft, people living in this area have been carving them to form houses they can live in. Some of them are used even to this time and the most notable ones are in Goreme village.

There’s another secret of Cappadocia, located in the valleys around Goreme. This area was the site of early Christian activity, where people came to flee Roman persecution. There’s still lots of old, forgotten churches and monasteries, with walls painted with Christian symbols and saints. The faces of some figures have been destroyed during the iconoclast period, which opposed showing people on religious paintings.

Some of the churches are even a thousand years old, now abandoned and used by locals as storerooms. They are literally everywhere in Goreme and you can easily find some to explore.

The most precious buildings are safe though and protected by the Goreme Open-Air Museum. It’s a vast monastic complex, with churches and monasteries built side by side – and all of them carved in rocks. The impressive frescoes and somewhat mysterious atmosphere of these churches is unmissable and must be on your list if you plan to visit Cappadocia.

The post is from the series about Cappadocia and all the photos this time are mine.

BI-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Receive a newsletter full of wonders every 2 weeks, just enter your email below.