KAPADOKYA

The Cappadocia region is the place where nature and history integrate most beautifully in the world. While geographical events created the Fairy Chimneys, in the historical process, people carved houses and churches into these fairy chimneys and decorated them with frescoes, carrying the traces of thousands of years old civilizations to the present day.

 

Strabo, one of the writers of the Ancient Period during the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus, states in his 17-book book 'Geographika' (Anatolia XII,

 

Today's Cappadocia Region is the area covered by the provinces of Nevşehir, Aksaray, Niğde, Kayseri and Kırşehir. The rocky Cappadocia Region, which is a narrower area, consists of Uçhisar, Ürgüp, Avanos, Göreme, Derinkuyu, Kaymaklı, Ihlara and their surroundings.

 

Traditional Cappadocian houses and dovecotes carved into the rocks express the uniqueness of the region. These houses were built on the slopes in the 19th century, either from rocks or cut stone.

 

Stone, which is the only architectural material of the region, is soft after coming out of the quarry due to the volcanic structure of the region, so it can be processed very easily, but after contact with air, it hardens and turns into a very durable building material. Due to the abundance of the material used and its easy processing, the stone workmanship unique to the region has developed and become an architectural tradition. has received. The material of both courtyard and house doors is wood.

 

The upper parts of the arched doors are decorated with stylized ivy or rosette motifs. The dovecotes in the region are small structures built in the late 19th and 18th centuries. Some of the dovecotes, which are important for showing the art of Islamic painting, were built as monasteries or churches. The surfaces of the dovecotes are decorated with rich decorations and inscriptions by local artists.