Cappadocia
Canyons, plateaux, valleys and Fairy Chimneys were created approximatively 60 millions years ago. Nowdays these Fairy Chimneys are the symbol of a dream land called Cappadocia, in turkish Kapadokya.
You may wonder how they came to life: it is the result of volcanic eruptions, rain, changes in temperature, wind erosion: a wonder of nature.
Human hands added, later, their own work carving shelters into the rocks, churches, huge undergroung cities.
The Persians first called the region Kapatukya, literally “the land of beautiful horses”, then came the Romans, the Byzantines, the Selucs and the Ottomans.
Less famous than Turkey coastlines, Cappadocia is really worth a travel and I would suggest a motorcycle to visit the area in the most flexible way.
Do stop at Goreme: a settlement of some 2000 locals, many of them still living in homes carved out of the Fairy Chimneys. It’s a kind of open air Museum you cannot miss.
You can find a good choice of hotels, from guest houses to four stars hotels, in Urgup, the most developed tourism centre in the area with the highest bed capacity of any town in Cappadocia. Some of these hotels and resataurants have part of their structure cut into the stone.
