Fairy Chimneys and Hot Air Balloons

This is the view from the landing outside our room at the Aren Cave Hotel in Göreme.

We arrived on Thursday, October 23 from Istanbul to Nevşehir airport on Turkish Airlines. We were picked up by a local van transport and drove about thirty mintues to arrive in Göreme where we had a reservation to stay at the Aren Cave Hotel for the next three days. This area is well known for its fairy chimneys, eroded rock formations, many of which were hollowed out in the Middle Ages to create Christian churches, houses and underground cities. It is located in Cappadocia, an ancient district in east-central Anatolia, situated on the rugged plateau north of the Taurus Mountains, in the center of present-day Turkey.

Göreme sits at the heart of a network of valleys filled with astonishing rock formations. Being a center of early Christianity, it also has the most painted churches, as well as hermitages and monasteries, in Cappadocia. The region had early contact with Christianity. The Acts of the Apostles reports that Cappadocian Jews were present in Jerusalem during the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and the First Epistle of Peter mentions Cappadocia among the persecuted Christian communities of Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1). In the 4th century, three Cappadocian theologians—Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus—made important contributions to Christian thought in their writings, refuting Arianism and elaborating on the doctrine of the Trinity.

After arriving at our hotel we walked to the center of town to find the office of a tour guide who was recommended to us by a waitress we met while traveling through Idaho from Washington this summer. We met her when we went out to dinner and got on the subject of our future trip to Turkey. She is also a travel agent and had recently been to Turkey and used the services of this tour guide while in Cappadocia. What a small world!

Hami has a bike rental business but also takes visitors on hikes through the area. We hired him to guide our group of seven through the Red Valley hike in Cappadocia on Friday, October 24. This trail features a number of historic churches, excellent views of the entire area around Goreme and passes tea gardens where you can rest. The trail begins just north of Goreme. After passing over an initial hill, the trail that travels to Rose Valley begins close to a substantial rock formation filled with cut out homes. From there it is easy to work your way to Rose Valley before crossing the crest and descending Red Valley. If you make your way to the very top of the valley you reach the car park at the well frequented view point, but a number of trails will take you back down before then. Because of the make up of our group we started at the top of Table Mountain and walked down the 3 miles instead of up.

Around the 4th century CE, Christians seeking refuge from persecution by Roman forces hid in the valleys and carved their dwellings and chapels into the soft volcanic tuff rock.

People of Göreme, at the heart of the Cappadocia region, realized that these soft rocks could be easily carved out to form houses, churches, and monasteries.

These Christian sanctuaries contain many examples of Byzantine art from the post-iconoclastic period. These frescoes are a unique artistic achievement from this period.

The chimneys are a result of a geologic process that began eons ago, when volcanic eruptions rained ash across what would eventually become Turkey. That ash hardened into tuff, a porous rock, which was covered by a layer of basalt.

By the end of the hike I was done for the day, but Karen and the rest of the group continued touring in the afternoon and visited the Kaymakli underground city. The number of underground cities in the Cappadocia Region is estimated to be between 150 and 200, with varying sizes. The majority of these rock settlements are constructed by carving soft tuff rocks downwards into the ground. The primary objective of their construction was to ensure the security of the inhabitants. The rooms are connected to one another through long galleries and labyrinth-like tunnels.

The purpose of constructing low, narrow and long galleries is to restrict the mobility of the enemy.

Underground City of Kaymaklı: The inhabitants of the village of Kaymaklı, whose ancient name is “Enegüp”, have constructed their homes near 100 or more tunnels of the underground city. Even today, villagers pass through these tunnels and utilize the appropriate places of the underground city as cellars, storerooms and stables. The underground city of Kaymaklı differs from Derinkuyu City in terms of both its plan and its establishment. Its passages are low, narrow and sloping.

The number of storage rooms in such a limited area lends support to the hypothesis that a considerable number of people resided here.

Currently, four floors have been unearthed, with the spaces concentrated around the ventilation shafts.

The first floor of the underground city contains stables, while the second floor houses a single nave and two apses. In front of the apse is an altar, and on the sides there are seating platforms. The most significant areas of the Kaymaklı Underground City are located on the third floor. In addition to numerous storage areas, wineries and kitchens, the block of andesite with relief-texture found on this floor is of particular interest. The stone was not brought here from outside but was part of the andesite layer that was not uncovered during the process of hollowing. A total of 57 holes were carved into the surface of the stone for the purpose of crushing and grinding. Despite the fact that the entirety of the city has not yet been fully uncovered, and that only four floors have been discovered thus far, it is clear that Kaymakli is one of the largest underground settlements in the region. It is accepted as the widest underground city of Cappadocia, among the cities that have been explored.

I rested in our room while they toured the underground city. I eventually spent time on our private patio balcony and wrote an update to the blog and enjoyed the quiet. Later we enjoyed another delicious Turkish dinner together on the patio of the Anatolia Kitchen restaurant down the street from our hotel.

Saturday morning, October 25 we were up early. Richard, Portia and Silas were scheduled for a hot air balloon ride. We would stay with Owen and Eli while they got the opportunity to experience this excursion. Fortunately the weather was working in their favor. We decided to walk up to the top of the hill above the hotel with the boys and witness this amazing event from the ground.

Just before dawn these lighter than air craft lifted off all around us. This was a bucket list dream for Portia, so we were happy they got to experience a balloon flight. The days prior to their flight had been canceled due to strong winds but their flight was a go.

The number of balloons in the air at one time is truly remarkable to witness from our vantage point on the overlook. It looks serene and magical but not so on the ground. The traffic and the crowds made our viewing site less than ideal, but it was still wonderful to experience this event.

Karen and I had a balloon ride scheduled for the next day on Sunday before we departed Capadoccia but alas, it got canceled due to rain. It was a bummer but we all had a great time visiting this magical land. We knew we wouldn't get to see and do everything but we were very happy we got to experience so much in the three days we were there.