Cappadocia

Last week, my mom and I visited Cappadocia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in central Anatolia (central Turkey). Here is a map of Göreme, where we stayed.
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According to the UNESCO website,

"In a spectacular landscape, entirely sculpted by erosion, the Göreme valley and its surroundings contain rock-hewn sanctuaries that provide unique evidence of Byzantine art in the post-Iconoclastic period. Dwellings, troglodyte villages and underground towns – the remains of a traditional human habitat dating back to the 4th century – can also be seen there."

Probably a much better summary than I could write. It was truly an amazing place. The spectacular landscapes, the hundreds of churches filled with paintings, the "fairy chimneys." It was definitely one of the best places I've visited and I've posted some pictures below. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to capture the true beauty of Cappadocia with my camera.





This is in Göreme Open Air Museum. Inside that cave is an awesome church from around the 13th century.










This is a view of the town of Göreme. Many people still live in those caves today.










In a different area of Cappadocia. You may recognize this picture from the 4th (?) Star Wars movie as they filmed a fight (?) scene here.











And finally, my favorite place. Selime Monastary. It is the biggest rock-cut monastery of Cappadocia with a cathedral sized church. It was carved by the monks in the 13th century and has a kitchen and school as well as some other rooms. A few frescoes still remain and you can barely make out Jesus in one of them.





Ok, I have over 700 photos so I am going to post a few pictures at a time. Note: if you have subscribed via e-mail you may need to visit the actual webpage to see the pictures.

Next stop: Efes.