Cappadocia Tours & Turkey Tours
Professional Licensed Tour Guide
Cappadocia Boutique Cave Hotels
Istanbul, Ephesus, Antalya, Nemrut
The Turkey Culture Tour Specialists
Walking, Trekking, Ballooning, Rafting, Jeep Safari, Bird Watching, Skiing Tours
Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia are on UNESCO's World Heritage List
Essential CAPPADOCIA Tours
Cappadocia Ihlara Nature Tour
Fairy Chimneys
Let me introduce you to Urgup's most famous family of fairy chimneys:
mother, father and daughter! Three million years ago, volcanic eruptions
left pyroclastic deposits over the area that have been eroded ever since by
heat, frost, wind, and rain water into these neat pinnacles
with hats. These fairy chimneys are the official symbol of both Urgup
and Cappadocia, and I can't imagine living anywhere that doesn't have
such interesting rock formations!
Ortahisar
Ortahisar, or "Middle Castle Fortress", is an ancient rock riddled with
rooms into which locals ran for safety in times of danger. Traditional
Byzantine Greek-style houses are still inhabited at the foot of this rock, which
offers breathtaking views of the countryside in all directions.
The village of Ortahisar is famous for its cave depositories which can
hold 60,000 truck-fulls of fruit and vegetables, most of
which come from the Mediterranean region.
Citrus fruit, which is not indigenous to the
region, can be stored in these natural refrigerators for up to 10
months so that the sweetest oranges and juiciest lemons are sold at local
and national markets during the summer months. Any rotten citrus fruit is
not wasted as locals use it for fuel in the winter.
This village is also a traditional centre for authentic local handicrafts, and local women still make and sell the most beautiful Turkish carpets, kilims (traditional flat-weave carpets) and sumacs (a special type of silk-embroidered kilim with nomadic motifs). The local centers are open to visitors, who can watch carpets and kilims being made in designs passed down through the generations. These women are proud to keep this rapidly-disappearing art alive and want to encourage visitors to buy direct from the village itself.
Underground Cities
Although all towns and villages in Cappadocia once had safe and secure
secret rooms dug out of the soft tufa (tuff) rock, the underground cities of Kaymakli,
the "Land of Cream", and Derinkuyu, "Deep Well", are intrinsically
different because their size, scale, and evidence of underground city
planning. Up to 50 meters deep and 3 kilometers wide, as many as
5,000 people were able to hide safely underground out of site of the
enemy, with their store of food that could last for months if necessary.
Life (and death) could continue relatively normally in these well-ventilated
cities lit by linseed-oil lamps, which had their own water supply, stockpiled
food, kitchens, toilets, churches and even graveyards safe behind their gigantic
circular mill-stone doors which could only be
opened from the inside. The people could even cook food
safely, as multiple chimneys dispersed the smoke imperceptibly so their
presence would not be discovered by the enemy.
When were the underground cities "built"?
Nobody knows, but the first mention of them is in Xenophon's "Anabasis" or
"account of his military expedition" carried out between 401 BCE and 399 BCE. He reported that
"the houses were underground structures with an aperture like the mouth of a well by which to enter,
but they were broad and spacious below.
The entrance for the beasts of burden was dug out,
but the human occupants descended by a ladder. In these dwellings were
to be found goats and sheep and cattle, and cocks and hens, with their
various progeny. The flocks and herds were all reared under cover upon
green food. There were stores within of wheat and barley and vegetables,
and wine made from barley in great big bowls. The grains of barley malt
lay floating in the beverage up to the lip of the vessel, and reeds lay
in them, some longer, some shorter, without joints; when you were
thirsty you must take one of these into your mouth, and suck. The
beverage without a mixture of water was very strong, and of a delicious
flavor to certain palates, but the taste must be acquired." Xenophon
also describes the wonderful hospitality offered to foreigners, a
tradition that still exists in the region today and an aspect of my
culture that I'm very proud of.
Narligol (Volcanic Crater Lake)
Narligol, or "Lake Pomegranate", which is invisible until one
enters the crater in which it sits, was formed when a volcano blew its
top some time in the not too distant past. The hot, sulfurous water,
which still bubbles up from somewhere below the surface, is supposed
to be good for curing all kinds of skin problems, and people travel from
miles around to bathe in the mud on the lakeside.
Walking around on the burnt-looking soil of the crater sides you may notice that it has become the home of a wide variety of birds, and it’s also possible to come across the shiny jet black obsidian that was prized by Paleolithic and Neolithic people for making tools and weapons that were sharper than surgical steel. (For those who want to swim in thermal waters and have a relaxing masage, it is best to visit Bayramhaci, a hot water swimming pool and thermal bath complex situated the other side of Urgup.
Guzelyurt (Gelveri)
Guzelyurt means "Beautiful Homeland". Unlike Zelve museum, which is an
abandoned village, Guzelyurt is still inhabited. This old
town was home to many Byzantine Greeks until the exchange
of populations after the foundation of the Turkish Republic. Connections
with its Byzantine past are still in evidence.
The old name for the village, Gelveri, is still used by many locals, and the stone houses
they live in are typical of the traditional Byzantine Greek architecture
of the region. Most surprisingly, the village mosque is a converted
Byzantine church originally built from local stone in 385 CE. It has a
spring of Holy water near the entrance and is a site of Christian
pilgrimage. There are the remains of a few cave churches in the
village, and not far away is the reddish stone-built Kizil Kilise, "Red Church", which
dates from the 5th century.
Ihlara Gorge (Ihlara Canyon)
The Melendiz River, originating from a spring and fed by the melting
snows from Mount Hasan (3,268m) has carved a 14 kilometer long gorge
with depths of up to 110 meters through rock deposited during
volcanic eruptions. We know this mountain was active during Neolithic
times because of the wall painting found at Catal Hoyuk (now on display
at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara).
Because the gorge is invisible from the plateau and the zigzagging valley means you can’t see more than a few hundred meters ahead at any one time, it formed a wonderfully hidden and sheltered place. This is undoubtedly one of the main reasons why it became home to many Byzantine monasteries, and 24 of the remaining cave churches are still in reasonable condition today.
The walk along the gorge can be either a sedate 4km or a rather more adventurous 7km one. The
three villages on the willow-lined
banks are still the home of traditional rural life, and you may spot
women drying foodstuffs, spinning wool and milking
goats on the roofs of their houses, and even washing their clothes
in the river. You should also look out for villagers using horses to
plough their small fields and carrying their wood back to their villages
on donkeys.
Lunch at Belisirma (the middle village), gives an opportunity to sample local dishes of fish while relaxing to the sound of the water flowing by. After lunch, it’s fun to visit the remains of the old mill, which once produced linseed oil used for lighting. Finally you’ll pass through the village of Selime where the pinnacles down the valley side formed the dramatic landscape for part of the original Star Wars film.
Selime
Right at the end of the gorge, emerging from the slope of the cliffside,
are the rock cones among which the original Star Wars movie was filmed.
Let’s stop at the breathtaking viewpoint overlooking the dam on the
Melendiz River, the old and the new part of Selime, and the castle with
tunnel and lookouts. We can also take a walk among the houses with fairy
chimneys around them and get a better feel of village life.
Agzikarahan Caravanserai
The Silk Road was probably used for 3,000 years by Assyrian traders, but
it was the Seljuks who built the Caravanserais, or "Caravan Palaces", every 10-15 kilometers
(a day’s walk on foot). There are roughly 350 of them in Turkey, 7 of which
are in Cappadocia. A caravanserai was at the same time a fortress, a
hotel, a stable, and a market place where silk, paper, carpets,
gunpowder and spices were traded. These caravanserais, the
first Turkish works of art in Anatolia, are where some of the best
decorative Seljuk architecture can be seen.
In the beautiful stonework at the entrance of this particular caravanserai, the architect subtly disguised a woman’s face. In the centre of the main courtyard is a mosque with a gorgeous ceiling of carved stones, and around the courtyard are rooms for the keeper and the sultan as well as the kitchen, bath, marketing chambers, and a huge covered area which the traders and their animals shared for warmth during the winter months.
The Mystery of Onyx
The beauty of onyx, a type of microcrystalline quartz, has been
appreciated throughout history. The word onyx comes from the Greek
"onux" meaning "fingernail". The story of how onyx was created goes like
this: One day, Cupid was very bored and, for amusement,
set about cutting the fingernails of the sleeping Venus
with an arrowhead. He succeeded in doing this without waking her, but left the nail clippings on the
sand. The Fates intervened and turned the fingernail clippings to stone (onyx), so that no
part of her divine body would perish.
We can assume that Venus painted each fingernail a different color because onyx comes in various shades
of green, yellow, blue, pink, red, brown, beige,
grey, black and white!
The Bible mentions onyx several times: it is one of the precious stones
on a cherub (Ezekiel 28:13) but is not powerful enough to buy wisdom
(Job 28:12). In Islam, Bektashi dervishes wear a 12-pointed onyx star
they call the "stone of submission". 
In folklore, onyx is the mystical
birthstone for December, one of the many birthstones for February, the
lucky charm for Leo, and the anniversary gemstone for the 7th
wedding anniversary. In addition, black onyx is the anniversary gemstone for the
10th wedding anniversary, perhaps because it is supposed to
have mystical properties that help a person change their habits!
In Turkey, Cappadocia has the onyx mines where the
highest quality onyx is found (brown-veined green onyx is the highest
quality, followed by brown-veined beige).
Local artisans are experts at making items of jewellery as well as beautiful vases, chess sets, and
numerous other attractive artifacts and knick-knacks. Watch a
demonstration of how this very hard and brittle stone is cut, shaped and
polished, before seeing the many beautiful onyx products.
Workshops often sell other traditional and precious items such as hand-beaten copperware, meerschaum pipes, and jewellery made with precious and semi-precious stones, silver, and 22 and 24 carat gold. Local specialties include Hittite-style jewellery and traditional Turkish woven silver bracelets and necklaces. You will be amazed by the cheap prices!
For All Your Cappadocia Tours Contact Adnan
This website has been visited times!
Adnan is an active member of KARED (Kapadokya Tourist Guiding Association),
TUREB (Federation of Turkish Tourist Guide Associations), and WFTGA (World
Federation of Tourist Guide Associations).
Adnan's guiding services are brought to you by Honeycomb Tours, Urgup, a TURSAB member
(Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, License Number 5361).
This website is designed by Colleen Ridgeway and Adnan Tanguler. All rights reserved.
Web Design by Colleen Ridgeway. All rights reserved.
This is a copyrighted website.
Version 3.1
