You can
taste some of the finest
of Turkish cuisine here. Hi, I am Rebecca Brayton and welcome to watch mojo.com and today we'll continue our travel series with a look at a region in Turkey called Cappadocia.
Cappadocia is a famous and popular tourist destination as it has many areas with unique geological, historic and cultural
features. Cappadocia is generally
regarded as the plains and the
region of eastern central Anatolia, around the
upper and middle
ridges of the Red River.
It was here that several ancient
highways crossed and different
came into contact with
each other. There are many must-see places in Cappadocia, for examples Fairy Chimneys, Goreme valley National Park and the rock fortresses.
Cappadocia is in the middle of a once active
. Over many millions of years,
,
, rain and ice sculpted what we know now as Cappadocia. As the land eroded, the
remained and formed conical
, sometimes
reaching as high as a hundred and forty-five feet.
Today we see hundreds of
pillars and minaret-like forms. The volcanic deposits are soft rocks that the people in the villages at the heart of the region
carved out to form houses,
and
.
The local people call these unique rock formations Fairy Chimneys, a name that has
endured
throughout the ages. Visitors can see the
from a
, by walking, horse-riding or biking around the valleys.
Although referred to as cities, the underground cave communities of Cappadocia probably served more as temporary
shelters rather than as permanent
hidden cities.
give way to elaborate subterranean systems with air
shaft,
waste shafts,
wells, chimneys and connecting passageways. The upper levels were used for living quarters while the
lower levels when used for storage,
,
flour grinding and
worship in simple
.
The Goreme open-air museum is the most visited site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia and even one of the most famous sites in Central Turkey. It is a complex comprising more than 30 rock carved churches and chapels containing some super
dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries. These cave frescoes are evidence of the fact the Cappadocia was one of the earliest areas for
activities.
Every civilization has its distinct type of
, so the archaeologists say, and Cappadocia is far from the exception. The soil and
clay of the region are
and have encouraged
potters from
to modern times. Several establishments that specialize in contemporary pottery welcome visitors today, not only to
display and sell their
wares, but to
how they are made.
The finest
carpets are made in Cappadocia and there, so it is said, the best
bargains can be found. They’re made in much the same way that they were made in Marco Polo’s time and on the same materials,
, cotton and
silk.
.