Schmidt Adventures: November 2012

In Cappadocia, with a group of 'fairy chimney' formations behind us.

Last year we met a smart, personable American named Cassie on a city tour in Barcelona on Thanksgiving weekend. We spent a few hours trading travel memories and life stories (hers is captivating!) and by the end of our shared paella lunch she had convinced us to visit Istanbul and the inland area of Cappadocia in Turkey. As coincidence would have it, we ended up there exactly a year later doing just as she suggested: flying through Istanbul to Kayseri to explore the Cappadocia region and then back to Istanbul for a couple days before flying home. As always, we would’ve benefited with a little more time, and would’ve loved a lot more sun this trip (it rained all but one day we were there!) Despite the crummy conditions we were captivated by the people, land, history, and inimitable culture of Turkey.

The first part of this trip was to Cappadocia, a landlocked region in central Turkey famous for its natural formations and importance to early Christianity. We arrived into the town of Kayseri and took an hour shuttle to the little town of Göreme, where we spent a couple nights. Göreme is in the heart of the Cappadocia region and is unique in that it is built right into the surrounding rock formations called fairy chimneys. Take our hotel for example:

Our cave hotel in Goreme, Turkey.

It may be difficult to see, but the room (including the columns aorund the bed) is literally carved out of the rock!

The entire Cappadocia region was formed by a long series of volcanic eruptions that deposited 100’s of meters of ash that was then covered in a layer of harder basalt rock. As water seeps through the basalt it wears away the softer rock below, oftentimes making columns which are then further sculpted by wind erosion. The harder basalt on top wears away more slowly leaving behind some very interestingly shaped spires, columns, and other formations. Starting with at least the Hittites in 1500BC, people have taken advantage of the ‘tuff’ (strong but softer volcanic ash layer) by excavating dwellings from the formations and surrounding hills. These excavations range from simple rooms to extravagant churches to massive underground cities as deep as eight stories!

We spent most of the first day wandering around tiny Göreme and exploring its Open Air Museum, a fascinating valley full of the cave dwellings. Christ’s followers were first called Christians a few hundred miles south in Antioch, Turkey. Close by, Cappadocia was a safe hideout during the earliest years of the religion when Christians were being persecuted by the Romans (and then later by the Arabs). The area was a stronghold for early Christianity and this one valley alone contains more than thirty churches built during the THOUSAND consecutive years it served as a monastic community. It was for this area that Saint Basil wrote his ‘rules’ on monastic life in 340AD, describing how to follow the biblical precedent of living and communing with other like-minded individuals as described in Acts 2. Wow.

Entrance to the Open Air Museum. That's the 6-story 'nunnery' with kitchen and dining hall on the first floor, chapel on the second, and bedrooms throughout.

Open Air Museum in Goreme
These were all part of the monastic community that functioned from year 340 to around 1300.

So guilty, we didn't know we weren't supposed to take photos (and didn't use flash so hopefully didn't do any damage to the frescoes). This is one of the cave churches (of which there are 30 in this valley.)

Stunning ceiling

Another of the cave churches with its early frescoes.

Within a mile of Göreme are a few valleys with especially magnificent examples of the fairy chimneys. Of these, we were particularly interested in hiking along Rose Valley. Although we loved that most of the region is wide open and walk-able, there were almost no signs and the closest thing we had to a map was a sketch of the area. We walked for a couple hours and did run across countless fairy chimneys and pigeon houses but sadly never quite made it in to Rose Valley. As the temperature was due to drop to the mid 20’s, we abandoned our search as the sun was setting and opted instead for a warm shower in our cozy cave room.

Hot air balloon in the background near (but not in!) Rose Valley.

We wandered for hours in and out of caves, through old vineyards and orchards, and around weridly eroded land.

Just another view on the walk.

The next morning dawned cold, gray, and rainy. We decided against the classic hot air balloon ride over the area and instead ‘had a bit of a lie in’ as they say here in England. We headed out with a guide after breakfast, stopping first at an amazing underground city. The softness of the tuff (aka tufa) made it possible for ancient civilizations (since at least the Hittites in the Bronze Age around 1500 BC) to excavate vast underground cities that served as bolt holes to escape invaders. We visited the ancient underground Hittite city of Kaymakli, which had been enlarged to its present vastness by early Christians attempting to resist Arab conquerors.

Inside Kaymakli underground city.

Sone door that could be rolled in to block certain passageways.

Kaymakli is eight levels deep and is one of 36 known (they keep finding more) underground networks in the area. The cities weren’t particularly hidden - most homes and churches aboveground had entrances - but were impenetrable to passing armies. The confusing network of narrow tunnels filled with traps and doors meant likely death for invaders as they walked single-file, hunched over through the labyrinth of passageways.

We loved exploring Kaymakli and would’ve spent a day just at this site if not for our tour guide Mr. Happy, who kept us moving and became slightly annoyed (mostly amused) when Chris kept darting off along the side tunnels only to pop up below or above or next to where we were standing. Can you say “kid in a candy store?”

Although the weather is oftentimes worse in the winter (we can attest to that), the sparse crowds make it more enjoyable to explore some of the more intimate sights. Apparently this place is packed with tourists in the summer; we were able to wander around at our own (well, Mr. Happy’s) pace and never felt crowded.

Our next stop was the “Castle” of Uçhisar, the tallest of the fairy chimneys. Climbing to the top allows for a panoramic view of the region… if it wasn’t shrouded in fog. Ah well, can’t change the weather!

Yep, cold and foggy!

Afterwards we visited Cavuşin, a once-Greek city built into the cliff that was mostly abandoned during the Greek-Turkish population exchange (euphemism for ‘agreed mutual expulsion’) that was part of a deal signed in Lausanne in 1923. Two million people were affected by the forced outing of Muslims from Greece and Greek Orthodox from Turkey, the purpose of which was to stabilize the region. The area was completely abandoned in the 1950’s after a deadly series of rock slides (or ‘land slips’ in England).

Cavuşin

Great example of just how many dwelling were cut out of the cliff face at Cavuşin.

After exploring the ruins we hiked about a mile around the back of the cliff to see an amazing panoramic view of the area, including a really sweet little fairy chimney “family” (bottom right corner). We had to stop and take some photos, of course!

Chris (in blue) gives some perspective to how tall the formations are.

From there we went to an ancient town Avanos whose residents have used the red clay from its river to make pottery since the Hittite times. We were especially impressed with the hand painting of the pieces… talk about detail work. Yikes. We tried our hand at the potter’s wheel and with a *little* help were both able to make a pot using the kick wheel. We didn’t get to keep it, though. What a bummer.

Yeah, made it myself.

Imagination Valley - There's a camel coming out of our heads!

Fairy Chimney

Chris climbed through a hole in the first story ceiling to get to that window. The Spaniards below were laughing and yelling "don't jump, it's not worth it!"