The Turkish region of Cappadocia, a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage, boasts one of the most dramatic sights in the world.
Visiting Cappadocia is such a change from visiting many other busy bustling sights all over Turkey. It is a great pleasure to wander in the vast open space filled with captivating natural attractions which have seen human history dated back in the Bronze Age.
While in Goreme Open Air Museum , the conical formations resulting from the volcanic eruptions that took place millions of years ago, just follow the path up to the top of one of the ridges where a spectacular view of the fairy chimneys awaits you. The natural cone formations contain caves and labyrinths. As early as the third century, those chimneys became a hiding place for early Christians who fled persecution from the Romans, and then later from raiding Muslims. In modern tourism, many caves have been turned into cave houses for tourist stays and the lunar-like setting of Goreme Valley has become popular for hot-air ballooning.
Many say the extremely unique landscape of Cappadocia resembles some scene in a Star Wars movie and yet you may be surprised to discover that no major commercial movies have been filmed there. It would be a perfect setting for movies such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter series.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We rented mountain bikes for an afternoon and took teh singletracks that lead to the red/rose valey. Lovely mountainbike area, beautiful singlerack with very nice backdrops. Will have to go back to Goreme for more of this.
We were to visit this attraction in the morning as per the tour schedule, our tour guide decided to keep it for afternoon after seeing the heavy rush to get in (good decision although it was still crowded in the afternoon.
Rose Valley was a very nice place to walk, very scenic. Our mistake was going mid-day. It was very hot and dusty. Some cars and ATVs whizzed by us. Wish we would have thought of that. If you hike, load up on water and sunblock!
Watch the pigeons swoop round and then vanish into their rock nests. Chill out and enjoy. This is yet another facet of the wonderland that is Capadoccia
Cappadocia fell in love with the original culture. Magic cave churches, underground cities and fairy chimneys and caves are living in magical history.
Perfected organization. hot air balloon, whirling, Turkish nights and had intra-day tour of Cappadocia.
And it made me wonder why we ever stopped living in caves! They stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter and have so much charm. This is a must see in the area. The history is incredible.
Very interesting place to explore. We did not have a Guide or an audio tour so we probably did not get as much out of this as we could have but our kids ages 5&9 really enjoyed peeking in all the caves. Beware of the camel rides outside the museum, they are crooks! To visit the church a little further…
You can hike through this valley but most only see it from overlooks. Holes carved into the rock for pigeons gives its name. Worth the quick stop and see.
This is just a nice view, one that you can get from countless locations around Goreme. Don't go out of your way to visit here.
Derinkuyu is the largest of all the underground cities in the region. It has 7 floors underground that are open to visitors as compared to 4 floors open at Kaymakli. We took a guided tour and we fascinated by the various rooms shown to us. Its certainly worth visiting.