H11: We Go Underground, in Valleys, and Heights
The next day, we toured some of the rock formations of Cappadocia.
learning from our guide about the rock formations
one of the many lookout points we stopped at, with amazing rock formations
the sandstone rock was easy to carve, plus cool and convenient to live in, so people did, for houses, churches, stables, hidey-holes, pidgeon-dwellings, etc.
we went to the Valley of Ilhara, where you can hike along a path through the valley. It was inhabited by Christian monks for one thousand years. The valley was almost hidden...we drove along flat-looking countryside, and then it opened up before us, this cleft down into the rocks, with greenery and a stream running through it
at one time, there were nearly 500 chapels in the valley, but many have fallen in and only a few are open to the public.
it felt crazy to see them and think that they were even older than the Hagia Sophia and built by the earliest Christians
the valley was so peaceful, cool and pleasant, that you could see why it had been a fabulous habitation. i pictured early monks doing their laundry, hauling water from the stream, singing or chanting, with their psalms echoing off the rocks along with the coos of their pidgeons (pidgeons have been kept in this area like chickens for centuries, and their excrement was widely used until modern farming for fertilizer. many of the little cutaways in the rocks in the pics that you will see here were nesting places).
we had lunch at a restaurant by the stream (which also had pavilions with tables *over* the stream)
more interesting rock formations that people made into dwellings centuries ago (and our guide said that people in this area really only moved out in the 1950s)
a local minaret blasted the afternoon prayer while we were there (prerecorded/dialed-into prayer, we could hear them dialing on the loudspeaker...interesting)
Next, we went to an "Underground City", Derinkuyu. (Mostly used by people in the area over the centuries for hiding and defending against invasions or attacks). I felt like a kid here, totally excited by going underground and following a guide, stooped over, and peering into neat holes and tunnels. I would have just loved to spend an afternoon, exploring and ducking in and out of tunnels; it was easy to forget how old it was, because I was busy thinking how neat it was.
inside: a storage-area, with cutouts for holding large pitchers/vases
amazing warren of tunnels
"Man-traps" for hostile invaders
Also, a rolling-stone door for defense
protection against the evil eye, set right into the street
i simply couldnt believe how much farming there was in this area; squash, watermelon, sunflowers, potatoes, wheat, etc.
The day didn't even end there, but we were certainly on visual-overload. Coming up: a spice-route caravansary, and our trip into town with a viewpoint and a tomb.