Caves and Fairy Chimneys

History in a nutshell. Ancient Hittite civilization occupied Cappadocia from 11th to 7th century BCE. These folks made do with the fact that there was little wood for buildings, but plenty of soft sandstone bluffs. They carved out homes within the living rock, and created communities. Conjecture is that this society was decimated by a plague. The homes were abandoned and stood empty many centuries. Long after the Roman empire became officially Christian, and began to decline, Christians in Anatolia (Turkey) took to living in these caves which they expanded considerably. With constant military incursions, the people took to elaborate underground communities with water supply, impressive ventilation, storehouses, and built-in defenses.

They of course grazed their cattle and raised crops above ground. But when enemy armies marched in, these armies would find tended crops and dwellings with smoking fires, but no people or even livestock to be seen anywhere. All had fled underground. Some marauders thought the place was haunted. This was a fortunate advantage to the clever cave dwellers. The caves are thought to have been occupied for up to a thousand years, roughly from 700 to 1700 A.D.

We saw more of this strange landscape today. We also saw whirling dervishes. Oh yeah, and there was a balloon ride in there somewhere too.

Tomorrow we fly back to Istanbul for our last days in this beautiful land.