Cappadocia
Is a historical region of Turkey located in the center of Anatolia. In 1985, UNESCO inscribed it on the list of protected heritage sites of humanity.
Cappadocia is an extraordinary region for three reasons:
It is a unique landscape with its canyons, cliffs, caves, eroded hills and fairy chimneys scattered in an environment of pink, yellow, red, gray, white and even chocolate ochres; you sometimes think of yourself on the moon, sometimes in the setting of a fantastic film, sometimes amidst giant pastries.
It is a place very rich in churches, in fact the monks and Christian communities have settled there en masse since the 6th century, one can admire dozens of churches with magnificent frescoes more or less well preserved.
It is a place where man has melted into nature by building troglodyte villages and immense subterranean cities like Dirinkyu, a subterranean city of 8 floors.
The tourist heart of Cappadocia is not very big, about fifteen kilometers in diameter and can easily be visited on foot, by bike, by scooter, on horseback or by minibus.
The must-see sites
Göreme
It is the tourist center of the region, it nevertheless remains a charming and very typical village with its fairy chimneys inhabited in the village; it is the starting point for all walks, it is the ideal base for furrowing the area (moreover there is an immense choice of guesthouses cheap and typical); to see also the open-air museum, with ten churches in a unique setting
Ihlara Valley
A bleeding in the Anatolian Plateau with lush vegetation, a half-day walk to explore dozens of houses and especially troglodyte churches decorated with frescoes, along a magnificent river.
Güzelyurt
A small village near Ihlara with troglodyte houses, an underground city and beautiful Greek homes.
Avanos
A charming little town with an old picturesque neighborhood at the top of a hill with a holes like a Gruyère.
Uçhisar
Once there, you must attack the ascent of the rock to reach the top of its fortress from where the view of Cappadocia is unforgettable.
Ortahisar
A small quiet village with its rock transformed into a castle.
Urgup
A small town at the foot of an imposing rock dug by dozens of houses.
Çavuçin
This village was built near the ancient Greek village abandoned due to landslides, it has a very beautiful troglodyte church, the church of Nicéphore Phocas.
Zelve
A troglodyte village abandoned in a canyon of beauty (actually three canyons in the shape of a fork, two connected by a tunnel dug in the rock).
Pasabagi
The most beautiful place in this region, a gathering of graceful and colorful fairy chimneys in a clearing.
Mustafapaşa
An old Greek village being restored to the beautiful mansions.
Gülşehir
A charming open-air palace, a ruined monastic zone, with the famous "mushroom"
The underground cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu (8 visable stages, which can accommodate thousands of people) are also to be seen, their visit is discouraged claustrophobic.
