Somewhere in Outer Space

I am totally at a loss of adjectives for the next few days of our journey. As we travelled from Nevsehir to Göreme I was astounded with the incredible scenery like none I had ever seen before - lunar like or something from Mars.

 

So what makes this place so special? These rock formations or Fairy Chimneys are the result of volcanic eruptions and erosion by wind and water. Within these rock formations people have excavated a network of caves which served as refuges, residences, storage and places of worship dating from the 4th century. 

 

Our guide, Turan, lead us on a journey back in time. He kept us mesmerized , for the next two days with his knowledge of the sights in this area. We visited the Devrent Valley, the Göreme Open Air Museum, Kaymakli Underground City, Kesklik Rock Monastery, Sahinefendi Village (Sobesos), Taskinpasa Village with its Kahramanian Mosque and the old Greek town of Mustafapasa.

Göreme Open Air Museum

This is in the underground city of Kaymakli. These underground cities were carved out of the ground for the inhabitants to store food, animals and hide from the marauding armies that crossed this land on their way to other countries. This city is 7 layers deep.

 Not sure if you can see the round dips in the floor. These were used to put large vessels in to store food.


Some of the openings in the wall were for storage or sleeping.

This round rock was used to seal the entry - sort of like a "Fred Flintstone" door. You can see the base looks like a cradle with a block to keep it going back too far. In one place three of us tried to move it and it barely budged.




Sobesos excavation site near Sahinefendi Village. Archeologists have recently. This site shows is a recent discovery of Roman baths, tombs, basilica and mosaics.

We hiked in the Red Valley.



Our Guide

Pigeon Houses and painting on the walls



There is so much to see in this area and this post does not do it justice. I have included only enough pictures so that you can see how amazing it is.