Cappadocia

is a historic region of Central Anatolia, generally taking shape around

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owes its unique landscape and its fairy chimneys to

The name, traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history, lives on as an international tourism term for the extraordinary natural beauty characterised above all by

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The earliest record of the name Cappadocia dates from the late 6th century BC, where it appears as one of the lands of the Persian Empire in the trilingual inscriptions of two early Achaemenid kings, Darius I and Xerxes. According to some researchers, the name derives from Huw-aspa-dahyu, “land of beautiful horses”.

Others suggest it comes from the Luwian Kat-patuka, “low country”. Later research showed that katta, an adverb meaning “down, below”, is Hittite, and so Hittite Cappadocia was understood to derive from “katta peda”, “the place below”. It is no coincidence that this name was given to a region known for its underground cities and hidden shelters.

The first Cappadocians came to the region because they had to hide on account of their faith. The fertility of the well-watered alluvial land around the deep valleys already made it a good place to settle. By hollowing out the tuff to make homes easily, the Christians who took refuge here were able both to live their faith freely and to stay safe. The Ihlara Valley is full of churches and hidden settlements that are the finest examples of this.

Lying in Central Anatolia, Cappadocia is like the heart of Türkiye. Its location and high altitude give it a marked continental climate with hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. Rain is scarce and the region is mostly semi-arid. With many areas of unique geological, historical and cultural interest, the region is a popular tourist destination. Tourist Cappadocia covers four provinces: Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray and Niğde.

Near Göreme, the rocks of Cappadocia have taken the shape of hundreds of magnificent pillars and minaret-like forms. The people of the region carved houses, churches and monasteries out of the soft rock of the volcanic deposits, so much so that Göreme became a monastic centre between AD 300 and 1200. The natural formations called fairy chimneys are made of tuff and basalt below and capped with harder rock, which is why their tops wear away more slowly. Because fairy chimneys are a natural formation still in progress, they are always changing.

The most important places in Cappadocia are Ürgüp, Göreme, the Ihlara Valley, Selime, Güzelyurt, Uçhisar, Avanos and Zelve. The underground cities worth seeing include Derinkuyu, Kaymaklı, Gaziemir and Özkonak. Ürgüp, Göreme, Güzelyurt and Uçhisar have many historic mansions and cave houses. Many of the cave houses have now been turned into boutique hotels, so visitors can stay in them and experience that atmosphere for themselves.

Hot-air ballooning is very popular in Cappadocia, and several companies in Göreme offer the experience. When you sign up for a balloon flight, you book in advance and the balloon company picks you up from your hotel in the morning. The balloons are prepared before sunrise, and you wait with this unique view before you. Once the balloons are inflated with hot air, you climb into the baskets with the help of a ladder. Those who wish can also book a balloon flight in a private basket. Then, with the first light of day, the balloons rise and the whole of Cappadocia spreads out beneath your feet. It is one of the essential experiences that let you say you have really seen Cappadocia, and something everyone should do once in their life. A balloon flight shows you everything you would see from the ground anyway. There are also hiking trails in the Ihlara Valley, the Monastery Valley (Güzelyurt), Ürgüp and Göreme, but by balloon you pass through and around all these places and can take in their magnificent views.

The first settlement in Göreme dates back to the Roman period. The churches of Yusuf Koç, Ortahane, Durmuş Kadir and Bezirhane in Göreme, and the rock-cut houses and churches of the Uzundere, Bağıldere and Zemi valleys, are examples of this history that can still be seen today. The Göreme Open-Air Museum is the most visited of Cappadocia’s monastic settlements and is known as one of Türkiye’s most important archaeological sites. The complex contains more than 30 carved rock churches and chapels from the 9th to the 11th centuries, some with superb frescoes that survive to this day.

Thanks to its topography, the area has appeared in several films. The 1983 Italian-Turkish film ‘Il mondo di Yor’ was shot in Cappadocia. The region was used as a setting in the 1989 science-fiction film ‘Slipstream’. In 2010 and early 2011, ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ was filmed in the region. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s ‘Medea’, based on Euripides’ play, was shot in the early Christian churches of the Göreme Open-Air Museum. Crews also came to the region for ‘Star Wars’, and images of the area were used in a frame of the first film’s posters. In Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Cappadocia is an underground city run by the Templars. In the tabletop game Vampire: The Masquerade, the Cappadocians are an extinct clan of vampires living around Mount Erciyes. Cappadocia’s winter landscapes and wide panoramas also take centre stage in Winter Sleep, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.