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Cappadocia |
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Cappadocia (Kapadokya) is a region of
exceptional interest, because of the
fantastic and almost unreal character of
its landscapes, because of its history
and because of the way of life of its
populations. Cappadocia covers a
triangle area between Kayseri, Nigde and
Nevsehir where two volcanoes, the
Erciyes Dagi (Mount Argaeus) and the
Hasan Dagi reach 3916m /12,850 ft and
3268m / 10,720 ft at their highest
point. |
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Cappadocia is a vast tuff plateau which
relief has been ragged by thousand
million years of erosion: wind, rain
water and snow have sculpted this unique
scenery with canyons and fairy chimneys
(Peribacalari) which are soft conical
formations with hard basalt caps that
defy the laws of balance... Troglodytism
which has been a way of living for
centuries, can be seen everywhere:
cave-dwellings, caves, pigeon houses,
churches, monasteries. Cappadocia has
been declared by the UNESCO to be one of
the Eminent Cultural Heritages of the
World. Assyrian, Hittite and Persian
domination succeeded to one another
until Alexander the Great came to Asia
Minor. The kingdom of Cappadocia was
founded, but the native rulers joined
Rome in the 1C BC. The penetration of
Christianity came early with St Paul who
passed through Caesarea (Kayseri). Later
in 396, its annexation to the Eastern
Roman Empire favoured the complete
conversion of the region to
Christianity. In spite of the Arab
invasions, local populations remained
faithful to Christianity and kept close
contacts with Byzance. Many religious
communities and monasteries developed in
remote places of retreat where they
could lead an ascetic life. Men used the
geological formations to shelter their
churches and monasteries. The hermits
prefered to distance themselves from the
world by cutting into remote cones or
fairy chimneys. Beautiful
early-Christian and Byzantine frescoes
reveal their sacred art and the
succession of the "iconoclastic" and
"iconographic" periods. The apogée of
Christian Cappadocia took place
approximately between 915 and 1065.
After the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in
the 12th century, lots of mosques,
caravanserais and other monuments rose
in the region which entered a period of
economic prosperity. Under the Ottomans,
the region became very peaceful, but
arts and trade declined. The monasteries
were abandoned but a Christian
population continued to live here until
1923, when the exchange of populations
took place between Greece and Turkey. In
addition to the usual visits, Cappadocia
offers opportunities for hiking, horse
or donkey and mountain-bike riding. It
is highly recommended to experience a
hot-air balloon trip that will take you
for a breathtaking flight over the
lunar-shaped landscapes of Cappadocia. |
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