Cappadocia
Cappadocia


The Location of Cappadocia
The magical landscape has been well documented throughout history. During the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus, Straban, a writer of antiquity, described the borders of the Cappadocian region in his 17 volume book Geographika ( Geography-Anatolia X11,X111,X1V) At that time, the area known as Cappadocia extended from the Black Sea coast in the north down to the Taurus Mountains in the south, to Aksaray in the west and Malatya in the east. Today, the area known as Cappadocia is smaller and confined to the city provinces of Nevşehir, Aksaray, Niğde, Kayseri and Kırsehir. The earth pillars for which the area is renowned are located around Uçhisar, Göreme, Avanos, Ürgüp, Derinkuyu, Kaymakli and Ihlara.
Formation of the Landscape
The present day landscape is the result of volcanic activity. During the Early Miocene period, 10 million years ago, there were numerous active volcanoes in the region. The lava produced by these volcanoes formed a layer of tufa between 100-150m thick on the plateaux which varied in hardness. Other rocks in the volcanic layer are ignimbrite, soft tufa, tufa, lahar, ash, clay, sandstone, marn, basalt and other agglomerates. These rocks all vary in hardness.
The landscape was altered by later eruptions from smaller volcanoes. Subsequently, the interesting rock formations, known as fairy chimneys, were formed by erosion of the soft tufa layer by rain, flood water, ice and wind. Water found its way through the valleys creating cracks and ruptures in the hard rock. The softer, easily erodable material underneath was gradually swept away receding the slopes. In this way, pillars protected with basalt caps were formed. The fairy chimneys with caps, mainly found in the vicinity of Ürgüp, have a conical shaped body of tufa and ash with a cap of hard igneous rock such as lahar, basalt or ignimbrite. Various types of fairy chimneys are found in Cappadocia. Among these are those with caps, cones, mushroom like forms, columns and pointed rocks.
Fairy chimneys are generally found in the valleys of the Uçhisar-Ürgüp-Avanos triangle, between Ürgüp and Şahinefendi around Çat in Nevşehir, in the Soğanlı valley in Kayseri and in the village of Selime in Aksaray.
Another characteristic feature of the area are the sweeping curves and patterns on the sides of the valleys formed by rain water. These lines of sedimentation, exposed by erosion, display a range of hues. The array of colour seen in some of the valleys is due to the difference in heat of the lava layers. Such patterns can be seen in Uçhisar, Çavuşin/Güllüdere, Göreme/Meskendir, Ortahisar/Kızılçukur and Pancarlık valleys.
This is truly a fascinating landscape.
Tour Itinerary
This tour is by arrangement. It would require at least 3 days but could be tailor made to suit individual requirements.