–

–

After a very full and exciting week last week we seem to have slowed down a little over the past seven days. Our blue sky weather in Cappadocia finally came to an end, and we’d seen a lot of fairy chimneys by the time we left. On our last full day of exploring we headed to Cavusin, a small village at the base of an impressive honeycombed rock outcrop. We clambered up and got to the Church of St John the Baptist, which dates from the 5th century and is one of the oldest churches in Cappadocia. Access is now assisted by a platform because the structure of the entire outcrop is so eroded that the original route no longer exists. It was impressive. A huge cave carved out of the rock in the shape of a traditional church, complete with columns, wall carvings and the remains of frescoes. We scrambled around the rest of the outcrop, climbing in and out of rooms, peering out of high windows and wondering if a huge cracks in the rock meant the whole thing was going to collapse in the next 5 minutes or the next 5 years.

From there we walked to an area called Pasabag, known for its mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys. The shape is a result of the more solid rock on top being eroded slower than the layers underneath. The image you see on a lot of local postcards is the three-headed fairy chimney. A single chimney splits into three at the top, with each of the small chimneys being topped by a basalt hat. It was cool, but actually some of the nicer scenery was further up the valley where the basalt tops have all but toppled off chimneys that have eroded away to narrow tips. The discs of basalt balance at odd angles, waiting to be jolted off by the next earthquake.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Aksaray, Ankara, Ataturk, Cappadocia, Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, Pasabag, Sultanhani, Zelve