Capadocia Wonderland: Exploring Fairy Tales Wonderland.

With the relaxation of travel restrictions in novel coronavirus, the Capadocia region in central Turkey is ready to welcome tourists. Capadocia is one of the most important tourist centers in Turkey and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a magical place with a vast landscape integrating nature and history, attracting millions of tourists every year.

The area is famous for its unique honeycomb hills, fairy-tale scenery, cave houses, extraordinary rock formations carved by volcanic ash and hundreds of hot air balloons soaring in the sky at sunrise. According to official data, there are 30 unique valleys in this area, which attracted 2 million tourists in the month before 202 1.

The region is also known as the handicraft capital of Turkey, with incredible masters weaving carpets, molding ceramics and carving agate stones.

Because of people's love for these handicrafts, almost all of Avanos' 35,000 people have mastered the technology of weaving carpets or shaping exquisite pottery. A person may be a senior government official or an executive of a multinational company, but it is necessary to study art.

The patterns and designs produced by this small town decorate the landmark buildings in Istanbul, such as Topkapa Palace, Sultan Ahmed Mosque and Selimier Mosque.

The river that flows through Avanos? z？ l？ The rmak River brought this unique red mud, which was shaped into a unique shape by craftsmen, making the town famous for its pottery.

This area is so attractive to tourists that there are hardly any local residents in the nearby town of gleim. They changed their residence into a hotel because they are located near the famous fairy chimney rock. There are about 400 hotels in this town, and all of them are full during the tourist season. During the restrictions related to novel coronavirus, the area became a ghost town, although it has been revived recently.

60 million years of history

Geologists say that the Capadocia area was formed 60 million years ago by the soft layer erosion of lava and volcanic ash from Mount Ye Si, Mount Hasan and Mount Gulu in Elsee. Qizil mark river (k? z？ l？ Rmak) runs through the northern part of the area, with Taolus Mountains in the south, Kesseli Plain in the east and Tuzi Lake salt flats in the west.

Driving through the Chere Plain in Naawer from Ankara, people can find small volcanoes all over the area.

According to geologists, the violent eruption of the rocks that now form the Fairy Chimney is thought to have started from110 million years ago and reached its peak 6 to 7 million years ago. He thinks that when the volcano erupts, the volcanic ash cloud may have reached more than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) in the sky.

"The sound of the explosion may be heard as far away as Spain and Moscow. Geologists wrote in Capadocia's Fairy Chimney: "The rock tells us that it is very big, including violent explosion.

Among many valleys, Zelve Open-air Museum is an amazing cave town with honeycomb houses and religious and residential rooms. The 2007 Hollywood film Ghost Rider is based on Marvel Comics's cartoon characters, starring Nicolas Cage and eva mendes, and was also filmed in this cave town.

According to Kay? K said that people lived in caves in this area until fifty years ago. The existence of cave mosques and churches proves the fact that Christians and Muslims live in harmony in this area.

He said, "Later, Christians had to leave this valley because of the minority exchange between Greece and Turkey. Due to soil erosion, the rest of the population was forced to leave the valley in the1960s. They left here and established a modern village not far away. They named it Yeni Zeff.

Zelve may be a ghost town due to continuous soil erosion, but tourists climb rocks in droves, making it a lively place.

Valley of imagination

At the other end, Devrent Valley, also known as the Valley of Imagination, has no caves. However, the rock formations present various shapes, leaving room for tourists to exert their imagination. Some rocks are shaped like camels, horses, marching troops and birds. One of the rocks even resembles a famous photo of French military and political leader Napoléon Bonaparte giving orders to his army.

But the best scenery in Capadocia is at sunset from Uchisa Castle in the center of Uchisa town. The castle is about 100 meters high and is placed in two huge fairy tale chimneys. Through the bottom of the castle, the residents built their own houses in the mountains.

Who said Neanderthals were extinct? Many residents of Uchisa still live in caves, but these caves have modern facilities. In fact, houses in caves are more expensive than ordinary houses, and the local government has also implemented regulations to ensure that the original structure remains unchanged. But even under strict guidance, hotels carved in caves have built swimming pools and spas and provided almost all modern luxuries.

However, history is in Kaymakl? ), Delinkuyu and Ozkonak (? Zkonak) and other ancient underground cities have become lifelike. Among them, Ozkonak is built on the north slope of Idis Mountain, which is14km northeast of Avanos Town. Its larger area is connected by tunnels and contains a pipeline communication system reaching each floor. When the city is besieged, each carved room has further pipes to provide ventilation.

According to Kay? K said that the city must have been built around the second or third century, when Christianity was popular and the Romans still hated it. In order to avoid prosecution, people who converted to Christianity once lived in these places, away from the prying eyes of persecutors.

It is believed that Latif Acar, a local farmer, accidentally discovered the city in 1972, when his curiosity about the disappearance of water for crops led him to find it. When it was excavated, it found an entire city, which could accommodate 60,000 people for three months. Although only four floors are open now, the building complex has a total of 10 floors, extending to a depth of 40 meters.

As a defensive measure, a hole was dug above the tunnel and hot oil was injected into the invading enemy. Other features of the city include wells, ventilation systems, wineries and moving stone gates. Kaymakl (Kaymakl？ ) is the widest underground city in Turkey, and 1985 was awarded the status of World Heritage by UNESCO.

cradle of civilization

Although the cost is high for tourists with limited budget, the trip to Capadocia is not complete without a hot air balloon. When the sun rises in the east, the skyline around here is dotted with colorful balloons. The hot air balloon potential in this area was first discovered by two pilots of the US Air Force when they visited this area in the 1960s. However, it began in 199 1 year, and the competition among professional balloon pilots from all over the world.

"At present, Capadocia is considered as one of the best places to take a hot air balloon in the world. The number of balloons is increasing every year. However, the civil aviation authorities are very strict in maintaining standards and only allow them to fly when the wind speed is suitable.

This means that hot air balloon operators can only fly for about 200 days a year when the weather conditions are just right. In order to ensure flight safety, pilots can only obtain a license after completing two years of courses in the flight club.

The scenery in Capadocia is not only for making perfect postcards. The cradle of civilization makes the ancient history alive in this fairyland, and tourists seem to be taken back to ancient times.