Cappadocia: A Turkish jewel

Cappadocia: A Turkish jewel

As our tour group's bus rounds a corner late one evening, there is a collective intake of breath. It's as though a curtain has suddenly been drawn to reveal an eerie landscape of white-caped limestone peaks standing fold upon fold like an army of pale ghosts looming against the gathering dusk.






Cave Dwellings, Near Goreme, Cappadocia, Anatolia, Turkey


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The next day, at a lookout near the town of Goreme, the scene is a children's fairytale book come alive. An enchanted land of twisted rock turrets, mysterious caves, fairy chimneys and gigantic magical mushrooms; a place where rocky outcrops transform themselves into imaginary stone wizards with tall hats, gaping mouths and hollow eyes.

Then, a little further away, at Uchisar an immense cream-coloured limestone cliff pocked with cave holes comes into view, prompting one of our group to exclaim: "Looks like a hunk of Swiss cheese!"

Cappadocia has secrets that pierce the veils of time. In Kaymakli I step warily into a narrow aperture that fans out into a labyrinth of underground passages. The air smells dank and our voices bounce off the walls.


This was once the hideout of as many as 5,000 early Christians forced underground by Roman persecution. The settlement had eight storeys (only four have been excavated so far) and apart from private living quarters, the complex also had a granary, water cisterns and animal barns. The community worshipped in a small chapel, celebrated festive occasions with wine from their cellar, and prepared meals in their kitchen.

A ventilation chute provided fresh air even to a depth of four storeys. I stand in silence for a second or two imagining how the walls around me had once echoed with the voices of people who'd loved, laughed, cried, married, raised their families -- and endured a mole like existence rather than forsake their Faith. Amazing!

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