About Cappadocia

About Cappadocia

Since ancient times, Anatolia has played an important role as a geographical, historical and cultural link between the East and the West, allowing numerous tribes and civilisations to pass through, develop and flourish until the present day. Today, the best remains of these civilisations can be seen on these ands in covered or open-air museums. Sixteen centuries ago, during the infernal era of increasing wars and religious pressures, Amatolians and early Christians from Palestine and Syria felis safe between the rocky valleys of Cappadocia. In order to live there, they dug into the rock with methods used by the Hittites and built churches, monasteries and underground cities. With all these characteristics and geological infrastructure, Cappadocia, the high plateau of Anatolia, is an important legacy of nature and history with no equavalent on the earth. In this website, when describing Cappadocia, we have also tried to draw attention to the lesser known but equally important places with the same emphasis as the most popular places.

Cappadocia is a name given to a historical region during the first era. At present, Cappadocia region stands in Central Anatolia region in the central part of Turkey. The region used to cover a larger area during the first era, later it diminished Presently, the touristic Cappadocia covers the city of Nevşehir as the centre, Historically and geographically, the neighbouring cities of Aksaray, Kayseri and Niğde cover the land of Cappadocia.

Here are some must-visit places:

Göreme Open-Air Museum: This UNESCO World Heritage site features rock-cut churches and monasteries with stunning frescoes.
Hot Air Balloon Rides: A breathtaking way to see the fairy chimneys and valleys from above.
Uçhisar Castle: Offers panoramic views of the region and is the highest point in Cappadocia .
Derinkuyu Underground City: Explore this fascinating subterranean city that once sheltered thousands of people.
Ihlara Valley: Perfect for hiking with beautiful rock formations and historic churches along the river .
Avanos: Known for its pottery, you can even try your hand at creating your own piece.
Zelve Open-Air Museum: Another open-air museum with rock-cut churches and a charming village feel .
Kaymaklı Underground City: Another impressive underground city with extensive tunnels and room .
Love Valley: Famous for its unique rock formations that resemble mushrooms .
Rose Valley: Offers stunning views and is great for hiking and photography .
These are just a few highlights, but Cappadocia has so much more to offer.

Where should I stay?

The Cappadocia region offers a variety of accommodation options to suit the preferences and tastes of visitors. From luxury hotels to small boutique hotels, from guesthouses to campsites and caravans in the various centres of the region, there are many choices.

Since the Hittites, the traditional way of life in the region has been based on using carved cave houses as homes. When the Greeks lived in the region, the cave houses were joined by dome-shaped houses made of tuff, a typical stone of the region. In parallel with the development of tourism in the region, we can see that cave and tuff houses have been transformed into boutique hotels, keeping the traditional structure but re-decorated in a modern style. We can say that the number of hotels of this type has increased rapidly in recent years. If you want to feel the real Cappadocia, we strongly recommend you to stay in this kind of hotels, which stand out with their original structures. The star hotels are generally preferred by large tourist groups and private meetings such as conferences and meetings.

Gastronomy

There are many factors that influence the culture of the local cuisine, including geographical and economic conditions, ethnic and historical characteristics. It is possible to say that the culinary culture of Cappadocia has been determined by the production and consumption habits of the past. The keystone of the Cappadocian cuisine includes the local products (at the end of the related parts of our guidebook you can find the specialities of the cities of Cappadocia region).

The most striking feature of Cappadocian cuisine is that it carries the tradition of ‘tandır’ (tandoori), which has survived from the archaic period It is interesting to note that a 2500 year old tradition is still alive in the area in a similar way Tandoori is the name of a hole, It is easy to prepare the hole for tandoori in Cappadocia as the ground is generally soft rock A wood fire is used in a tandoori and the embers cook the food. As well as being used like an oven to cook bread, another function of a tandoori is to heat the rooms. During the winter months, the tandoori room, called the ‘tandoori house’, is used as a living room.

Wine

When wine production is considered in Central Anatolia, one of the most important centres is Cappadocia. The region, which has a deep-rooted tradition of producing wine, is famous for its high quality white wines produced with the Emir grape, peculiar to the region. The vineyards in the Cappadocia region are so noted due to the soils with tufa formed as a result of volcanic eruptions in the region. Another significant feature of the volcanic rock structure in Cappadocia for wine production is that there is a rocky structure that is not rough and these rocks can be easily carved and wine cellars can be prepared. Places in the rocks in Cappadocia are cool with a stable temperature that they are really perfect for producing wines. The temperature during the fermentation realised in the cool cellars carved in the rocks is not so high and there is a comfortable temperature.

Outdoor activities in Cappadocia

In a short period of time, Cappadocia has become one of the outdoor sports destinations of Turkey due to its geological position, unique nature, history and cultural richness. Within the region many outdoor activities can be realised. But still the hot air balloon and mountain bike are the ones always remembered with Cappadocia and loom large Besides these, a great variety including horse safari, trekking, ATV safari, jeep safari, abseiling, canoe, canoe rafting, rafting and cross golf which is very first for Turkey are waiting for you.

The hot air balloon tours in Cappadocia started to developed since 1989 and gained another dimension after the organization of 1 World Air Games in Cappadocia in 1997. Today, the hot air balloon companies, numbers are increasing every year, are almost in a race to serve you unforgettable visual feast. It is better to know that without a hot air balloon tour your Cappadocia visit will be unfinished. The other activity loom large in Cappadocia is mountain bike. Do not get shocked as you see people cycling on the roads, in the valleys and among the fairy chimneys. The history of mountain bike in the region goes back to old times. The region met for the first time with mountain bike in 1989 and then the first races were organized in Urgup in 2000. In 2001, the races were accredited officially and later on they continued with a tradition and reached today. In 2007, Cappadocia hosted European Mountain Bike Championships. If you like riding horse or if you think that you have to try riding horse, Cappadocia, means “the land of beautiful horses” in Persian language, offers you its unbelievable nature. There is no other activity which enables you to listen to your soul In order to experience it you just need to contact with your agency or with the firms expertise on horse safari.

Possibly the most common activity in Cappadocia is the trekking in the valleys. Everyday, the Cappadocia valleys host hundreds of people. We highly recommend that.